Author Topic: Buddhist lama presents students with methods to find inner peace  (Read 5678 times)

bambi

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Nice! I like the part where Rinpoche said that it has nothing to do with whatever your religion so long as you meditate from within and relax. To me its still part Buddhism and part to suit the current mindset of people everywhere. Its true, people get stressed out over minor issue and building up anger that is very unhealthy, mentally and physically. So sit back and relax whenever you find yourself overwhelmed by stress.  8)

Rinpoche said that the key ideas to finding inner peace with Buddhism are wisdom and compassion. He said understanding one's surroundings in a positive point of view and compassion is how a person should carry out their actions.
Arjia Rinpoche, director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Indiana, spoke to students March 4 about finding inner peace. Rinpoche is also a Buddhist lama, which is a title for a teacher of Buddhist actions.

He said that hardships throughout his life guided Rinpoche to inner peace.

He spent 16 years being forced to work in a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution, a Chinese political movement to enforce communism that started in 1966.

After his release, Rinpoche was reinstated as a leader of the Buddhist monastery and held a prominent government position. In 1998, he was about to become a leader of the Chinese National Buddhist Association but chose to escape China to go to the United States.

State of mind also plays a large role in finding inner peace.

Rinpoche said that there are three states of mind: Happy, unhappy and apathy. He said that one can change their state of mind by trying to understand and relax.

“Instead of greed, we can share generosity," Rinpoche said. "Instead of having hate or jealousy for someone, we can share kindness. Instead of being ignorant, we can try and understand them. If we change how we think, we have the ability to change our unhappy state of mind."

Relaxation is an effective way to achieve a happy state, which is key in finding inner peace.
“The best way to relax is through meditation," Rinpoche said.

Everyone who attended the lecture participated in a 10-minute meditation exercise led by Rinpoche.

We must relax our mind then our body will relax. Once our body is relaxed, then the people around us will relax and so on. The same goes for peace — it starts from the mind and, from there, spreads to the world,” Rinpoche said.

Many students thought the meditation experience was something that they can use for their everyday lives.

“I think meditation is very important,” said Connor Bright, junior in psychology, who is also Buddhist. “A lot of people these days lack relaxation, [and] they don’t know how to calm down. As a psychology major, I have noticed that the anxiety in our culture is really overwhelming. Sometimes they have no idea where it comes from, and it's nice when you can use meditation to help calm down."

Some students realized how meditation can help with the pressures of the typically hectic, college life.

“If I’m stressed with design, I will remember that I can relax through meditation,” said Leah Zeller, freshman in design.

Rinpoche said meditation isn’t restricted by religion and that anyone can find inner peace.

Inner peace has nothing to do with your religion or ideology," Rinpoche said. "Our mind has to be relaxed, then students can study more and focus easier. We always struggle with all the things we do in life, and sometimes we are doing it right and sometimes wrong. But when we have inner peace, we can calm down and focus on what’s important."



RedLantern

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Re: Buddhist lama presents students with methods to find inner peace
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2014, 05:04:49 PM »

Finding inner peace is not easy,it's actually one of the most difficult things to find in life.Inner peace can only be found if you are decisively ready to change yourself.
Peace like many other states of being are a choice that we make.It is easy to get caught up in negatively and that for sure will create our reality unless we choose something else.
Practicing love,kindness,a shift in attitude- inches me closer to it.Thank you for sharing,Bambi

dondrup

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Re: Buddhist lama presents students with methods to find inner peace
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2014, 03:31:12 PM »
Meditation is a mind that focuses on a virtuous object and this mental action is the main cause of mental or inner peace.

There are two types of meditation - analytical meditation and placement meditation. When we use our imagination, mindfulness and reasoning to find the meditation object, this is called analytical meditation (vipashyana). After we have found this meditation object we hold it single-pointedly, this is called placement meditation (shamatha). There are many types of meditation objects. For example, impermanence or emptiness, are objects apprehended by the mind whereas love, compassion, and renunciation, are actual states of mind.  We do analytical meditation until the object that we seek appears clearly to our mind (e.g emptiness) or until the particular state of mind (e.g. compassion) that we wish to generate arises. This object or state of mind is our object of placement meditation. Shamatha is necessary in order for the mind to observe and understand the meditation object during the vipashyana meditation.

Yes.  meditation is a means to inner peace.  We can gain temporary peace of mind when we calm our mind through for example the breathing meditation.  So during the breathing meditation, our meditation object is our breadth or the rising and falling sensation of our abdomen.  When we focus on this object, we are doing placement meditation (Shamatha).  While we do the breathing meditation, our mind can also be mindful and aware of the sensation of the breath at our nostrils or the movement of our abdomen.  In time due to the concentration and awareness of our mind, we develop wisdom understanding the nature of our meditation object i.e. our breadth.

Other means of temporary peace of mind is through e.g. recitation of the mantras of Buddhas for example the recitation of Dorje Shugden mantra.

But to obtain the ultimate peace of mind which is the state of perfect enlightenment, we must continue to perform the Shamatha and Vipashyana meditations on various essential objects of meditation for example meditation on the Lamrim (or the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) topics such as renunciation, bodhichitta and correct view of emptinesss.

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Re: Buddhist lama presents students with methods to find inner peace
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2014, 04:20:56 AM »
In the modern world today, most people subscribe to meditation like they would to a Yoga session or a body massage. Its mainly to achieve a "feel good" state of mind and body . When you feel good it seems to equate to inner peace too . But this sort of meditation can only bring you temporary happiness and peace. Don't get me wrong, I think its great that more people have a "willing" mind to try out meditation.

But in actual fact there are much greater achievements  and goals that one can have with meditation. Meditation is a conscious effort to change how the mind works. The Pali word for meditation is 'bhavana' which means 'to make grow' or 'to develop'. No matter how much we may wish to be good, if we cannot change the desires that make us act the way we do, change will be difficult. For example, a person may realize that he is impatient with his wife and he may promise himself: "From now on I am not going to be so impatient." But an hour later he may be shouting at his wife simply because, not being aware of himself, impatience has arisen without him knowing. Meditation helps to develop the awareness and the energy needed to transform ingrained mental habit patterns.
As one gets familiar and make progress with meditation, it can even bring you to mental states of bliss which we call the Enlightened mind, free from worries and sufferings. Hence, meditation is a powerful tool to bring us happiness and peace on the ultimate level. Its great that one gets a chance to learn to do meditation because its positive potential is remarkable.

Klein

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Re: Buddhist lama presents students with methods to find inner peace
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2014, 12:20:36 AM »
If you search online on the benefits of meditation, you will see many websites around the world explaining how to meditate and the long list of benefits. Just like going to the gym to strengthen the physical body and make it healthy, we meditate to strengthen our mind and make it healthy as well. Meditation is not exclusive to Buddhism but to all who wish to train their mind. This is the key method to realizing inner peace which transcends all religions and ideologies.

 The following is extracted from http://www.artofliving.org/benefits-meditation

"Meditation has two important benefits:

    Meditation prevents stress from getting into the system
    Meditation releases accumulated stress that is in the system

Both of these happen simultaneously, leaving one refreshed and joyful.
Physical Benefits of Meditation

With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with more prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in the body increases.

On a physical level, meditation:

    Lowers high blood pressure
    Lowers the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks
    Decreases any tension-related pain, such as, tension headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle and joint    problems
    Increases serotonin production that improves mood and behavior
    Improves the immune system
    Increases the energy level, as you gain an inner source of energy

Mental Benefits of Meditation

Meditation brings the brainwave pattern into an Alpha state that promotes healing. The mind becomes fresh, delicate and beautiful. With regular practice of meditation:

    Anxiety decreases
    Emotional stability improves
    Creativity increases
    Happiness increases
    Intuition develops
    Gain clarity and peace of mind
    Problems become smaller
    Meditation sharpens the mind by gaining focus and expands through relaxation
    A sharp mind without expansion causes tension, anger and frustration
    An expanded consciousness without sharpness can lead to lack of action/progress
    The balance of a sharp mind and an expanded consciousness brings perfection"