DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - The Stillness of being, -and a question about 'emptiness'

**Soypopetype** · 10-07-2010, 10:34 PM

Originally Posted by Truelotus I have studied for 2 years with Rodney Smith in Seattle. I currently meditate with a group that is Advaita Vedanta but who welcome people of all faiths, including Theravada.

Hi Truelotus,

I did some checking, because I don't live in the USA. I found that Rodney Smith teaches at the Seattle Insight Meditation Society. I'm therefore wondering if it might still be possible for you to get some meditation instruction from that group by phone or e-mail if its too far away. *Wow, that was really a loooooong time ago, and I'm sure he doesn't remember me. That must have been around 12 years ago, where I decided to do a meditation class right after work at the U of W, and then by the time the class was over, the traffic died down. We ultimately moved away from Seattle, partially due to traffic.

*I did email him once, and he got back to me.

*I also have a person who I can call, who I consider a teacher. He studies the suttas, lives by them, and has a small group who practice with him. I can call him any time I have questions. But what the DVDs and CDs do is raise those questions.

*Third resource for me, is Vedanta meditation school. My psychotherapist, is a advanced meditator, and again, since I'm at such a basic level, anything he tells me is great. The current meditation I'm doing is called 2:4 breathing. It is inhale and count two and exhale, count four. I also found this type of breath recommended on a very expensive set of CDs/DVDs for anxiety and depression, and so I had a practice! That is what I do with my first 20 minutes, but often do 20 more or 40 more. I cut the meditation time at 20 minutes as my foot falls badly asleep and I get up every twenty minutes so that if I have to get up quickly I won't trip over myself!

Anyway, I'm not a meditation instructor myself, so I'm not sure how best to advise you - all I can say is that I really admire your continued interest and involvement and to most definately "keep practising" as Element has said already. *I think the 2:4 breathing is a "tranquility" practice, or, I think in Buddhism, called "samatha"(?).

Element has given you some very good advice - and he's an experienced meditator himself.

with kind wishes,

Aloka-D *Thanks. Uh, when I preview this, it is in normal font, not any markup language and wonder if this is the correct way to specifically respond to a person?? Usually, I'll add an asterisk to my answer, to make it clear that I am answering vs. what has already been posted.

Best,
True

Cold wet and windy here in the UK !

with kind wishes,

Aloka-D

10-07-2010, 10:34 PM	#27
Soypopetype Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 382 Senior Member	Originally Posted by Truelotus I have studied for 2 years with Rodney Smith in Seattle. I currently meditate with a group that is Advaita Vedanta but who welcome people of all faiths, including Theravada. Hi Truelotus, I did some checking, because I don't live in the USA. I found that Rodney Smith teaches at the Seattle Insight Meditation Society. I'm therefore wondering if it might still be possible for you to get some meditation instruction from that group by phone or e-mail if its too far away. Wow, that was really a loooooong time ago, and I'm sure he doesn't remember me. That must have been around 12 years ago, where I decided to do a meditation class right after work at the U of W, and then by the time the class was over, the traffic died down. We ultimately moved away from Seattle, partially due to traffic. I did email him once, and he got back to me. I also have a person who I can call, who I consider a teacher. He studies the suttas, lives by them, and has a small group who practice with him. I can call him any time I have questions. But what the DVDs and CDs do is raise those questions. Third resource for me, is Vedanta meditation school. My psychotherapist, is a advanced meditator, and again, since I'm at such a basic level, anything he tells me is great. The current meditation I'm doing is called 2:4 breathing. It is inhale and count two and exhale, count four. I also found this type of breath recommended on a very expensive set of CDs/DVDs for anxiety and depression, and so I had a practice! That is what I do with my first 20 minutes, but often do 20 more or 40 more. I cut the meditation time at 20 minutes as my foot falls badly asleep and I get up every twenty minutes so that if I have to get up quickly I won't trip over myself! Anyway, I'm not a meditation instructor myself, so I'm not sure how best to advise you - all I can say is that I really admire your continued interest and involvement and to most definately "keep practising" as Element has said already. I think the 2:4 breathing is a "tranquility" practice, or, I think in Buddhism, called "samatha"(?). Element has given you some very good advice - and he's an experienced meditator himself. with kind wishes, Aloka-D Thanks. Uh, when I preview this, it is in normal font, not any markup language and wonder if this is the correct way to specifically respond to a person?? Usually, I'll add an asterisk to my answer, to make it clear that I am answering vs. what has already been posted. Best, True Cold wet and windy here in the UK ! with kind wishes, Aloka-D
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