Travel

Find Focus by Going to an Australian Retreat Centre

Some people find it easier to take a step back and refocus more than others. For these people, they can find that special thing within themselves wherever they are. It could be influenced by personality and/or upbringing, or it could be the result of long years of practice.

For some, going away on dedicated retreats is the best way to find focus amidst a busy life. And even those who are more centred than others can benefit from going on a retreat. After all, being away from one’s hectic routine and simply taking the time to reflect and meditate is beneficial to anyone.

Whether you are based in Australia or you’re there for a trip, visiting an Australian retreat centre is one of the best gifts that you can give yourself. The good news is that there are many retreat centres around the country, so the chances are that you will find one that is easy to get to. [Read more…] about Find Focus by Going to an Australian Retreat Centre

Originally posted on March 23, 2013 @ 1:10 pm

Tips for the mindful traveller

I’ve not mentioned this before, but I’ve been writing my blog posts for the Daily Mind whilst travelling through South East Asia.

It’s been an enlightening journey in many ways, but I was particularly struck this week by the behaviour of my fellow travellers. We’ve been visiting some fascinating sites, from the Buddha park in Vang Vieng, Laos, to the Grand Palace at Bangkok, yet so few travellers seem to be living in the present moment and absorbing what they are seeing. Most people are busy clicking away on their cameras or filming the view that I wonder how much of the actual experience they are taking in. Others are texting or updating their Facebook and Twitter, telling their friends about what they’re seeing.

I’ve been guilty of this myself in the past, so I’ve decided to make it a bit of a project to be more mindful and present during my travels/holidays in order to fully appreciate the experience. Here are some ideas I’ve come up with, which I think can also be relevant to everyday life:

photo credit: Venturist
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Originally posted on November 15, 2011 @ 9:51 am

18 of My Best Travel Tips to Make Your Holiday Truly Amazing

photo credit: Shutterhack

As my long time readers will know I travel to India every year for a holiday. Over time I have picked up some excellent travel tips which have allowed me to make the most of my overseas adventures. As the holiday season is looming I thought it would be a good idea to share some of these tips to help you have a holiday that is truly amazing.

18 travel tips to make your holiday truly amazing

1. Prepare (REALLY) early
Something I always intend to do but never end up doing is early preparation. I leave Visas and immunizations to the very last minute even to the point where I jeopardize not being able to travel. Take this year for example. I knew I needed an Indian Visa but I still left it to one day before the cut off deadline. This meant I had to race around and beg the Embassy to be kind to me. I got the visa but it caused me a lot of stress.

If you want to make sure your holiday is stress free and enjoyable it is a good idea to prepare a few month in advance. Yep, that’s right. Months in advance. Go to the doctor and get immunizations. Go to the Embassy and find out when to get Visas. Make photo copies of your credit cards, passports, plane tickets and book your accommodation as early as possible. Many a holiday has been ruined due to late preparation. You always forget something.

2. Tie up loose ends at home
Something that I always do now is make sure I prepare my home as much as I do my holiday. You really do not want to be worrying about your dog or your birds or your gardener or your letterbox while you are supposed to be relaxing in the sun.

The first few days of my most recent trip overseas were marred by the fact that I had arranged a business meeting with an important client while I was supposed to be on an international flight. He rocked up to the cafe and I never showed up. I felt terrible. Make sure you tie up all loose ends at home before getting on that plane.

3. Keep your mind open
One of the worst things you can do to yourself and the people you are traveling with is keep your mind closed. Closed minded people are the WORST to travel with because everything bothers them and nothing is good enough. This is especially true if you go to an Asian country where hygiene might not be up to your standards, customs are completely different and the food might make you sick.

Originally posted on September 24, 2008 @ 7:54 am

Lessons From India 5: Appreciating the Kindness of Others

photo credit: greenapplegrenade

These days people are so quick to point out the flaws in others but very hesitant to recognize their kindesses. You notice this happening a lot in the workplace. People take credit for other people’s work, blame others for their own mistakes and so on. However, in India I discovered an interesting thing – all of us would be f#$*ed without the kindness of others.

How are others kind to us?

If we take the time to look closely we will see that people are kind to us all the time and often in ways that we don’t even notice.

There are the easy ones to recognize, like our family. Our parents love us unconditionally and take care of us through thick and thin. Even if we had really crappy parents we can still appreciate the kindness of our dear mother who gave birth to us, fed us and protected us from harm in the early years.

Then we have our friends and distant relatives. These are the people you go to when you are sad or need a few bucks for lunch. It is easy to see how these people are kind to us. They put our needs ahead of their own and take care of us and entertain us when we are bored.

However, there is one group of people I am particularly interested in. This group is the kindest we know but we never recognize this kindess. In fact, quite often we hate these people.

They are our enemies.

How are our enemies kind to us?

If you look closely you will see that our enemies are the kindest people in our lives. The reason is simple. Without our enemies we would have no opportunity to practice patience and develop other similar qualities.

This is a basic buddhist mind training strategy. Instead of getting angry at our enemies we should treat them like our own personal teachers for without them we would not be able to practice and develop patience.

This is a very different approach to the traditional western view.

I wonder how you all will react to this strange idea. What do you think?

Originally posted on August 10, 2008 @ 11:59 am

Lessons From India 4: The Importance of a Smile

This is part four in my Lessons From India series. As you all know, I have been travelling the Indian Himalayas for the past three weeks and during this time I have been planning and writing a series based on all the things I am learning. My aim in doing this is to bring you all along with me on my trip – you can learn what I learn and experience what I experience.

The importance of a smile

His Holiness the Dalai Lama often says that he thinks he would be a lonely old man if he didn’t smile so much. He thinks this simple physical act has brought him closer to people from all walks of life.

And he is right.

On my travels in India I am often amazed at how powerful a simple smile can be. You can be down in the dumps feeling sick and tired and then someone will flash you a smile and your whole day can be transformed.

Let me tell you a story.

Two years ago in India I got extremely sick. I had a bad case of food poisoning and over a period of a week lost seven kilograms. I was really ill. I was in Sarnath and I ate at a small cafe called Ice Spice. Never again.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to be staying next to a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and during the first few days of sickness I was looked after by all my monk friends. One monk in particular (who is now one of my closest friends) stayed with me all night patting my forehead and making me sugar and salt drinks to get me hydrated.

And the whole time he was smiling.

When I look back on this experience I realize how much his warm and loving smile meant at the time. It reassured me that everything was going to be okay and that I wasn’t alone. At that point in time (when I thought I was going to die!) that sense of affection meant more than anything in the world. I was being taken care of.

And that is the power of a simple smile.

A smile can can also transform not only other people’s day but also your own. Scientific studies have shown that smiling causes your body to release chemicals that make you happier. What better way to make yourself a happier person than by smiling at others. This also shows that you don’t have to wait to feel happy to start smiling, if you smile first you will cause yourself to feel better.

Now for another story.

A friend of mine from England told me that on the London subway no one looks at each other. No one smiles, greets the person next to them or even makes eye contact. It is an environment of pure fear. Everyone just sits there looking down or out the window like a bunch of anti-social zombies.

Sounds horrible.

I really feel that a smile can change all of that. A genuine smile puts a person at ease and shows them you are a friendly person and that you have good intentions. It can disarm even the most angry of situations if done correctly.

So the question is: do you smile enough?

Originally posted on August 5, 2008 @ 5:41 am

Lessons From India 3: Dealing With Hardships

photo credit: Kannan Kartha

“There is no vice like anger and no virtue like patience.” – Shantideva

As you all know I am currently in India on my yearly battery re-charging holiday. One of the best and most important things you learn in India is how to deal with hardships. In this post I want to give you some tips so that you might be able to better deal with your own personal hardships when you next encounter them.

Dealing with hardships – the Buddhist approach

I want to give you some of the Buddhist methods for dealing with hardships. This makes sense because I am here studying buddhism and meeting with my buddhist teachings. These methods are therefore the freshest in my mind.

Using patience
The first method of dealing with hardships is to develop patience. The old master Shantideva used to talk about how hardships have no solid reality. They aren’t intentionally trying to hurt you so why do you get angry with them?

Shantideva also used to use the example of mucas. He would ask his students why they don’t get angry at mucas and other illnesses but you get angry at other circumstances that are causing you hardships. He said this was illogical because both are due to causes. That is, nothing that causes you hardships has a solid reality – nothing is inherently trying to make you suffer.

So… be patient.

Meditating on karma
Another method that buddhists use to deal with hardships is meditation on karma.

Buddhists assert that everything that happens to us is because of things we have done in past lives. For example, if we are sick it might be due to something we did in previous lives that left that imprint on our mindsteams.

When hardships occur it is then considered to be a positive thing. The reason for that is that the negative karma is being purified. If bad things happen because of bad things we have done then when we experience hardships we are exhausting the cause for bad things to happen for us. Therefore it is a positive event.

While this may be too farfetched for some western mind’s to accept it is a useful thing to contemplate the next time we are undergoing some hardships. It helps us to be less selfish and self centered and stops us from becoming someone who blames everyone else around them when things go wrong.

Meditating on compassion
Compassion is the king of all meditations. The whole point of buddhism is to get people to become more compassionate.

When you are undergoing hardships it is a great time to develop compassion. You can think that there are other people undergoing similar things to me and arouse compassion in your mind thinking how horrible it is that other people have to feel this crap.

When buddhists get sick we have a short aspiration that we recite that helps us make our compassion more limitless and less ego driven. It goes:

“May all the sufferings of all sentient beings ripen on me right now. May I take on their pain so that they don’t have to.”

This is a powerful thing to do because for the first time in a long time we are putting other people ahead of our own needs.

These are only a few methods but they are some of the most important that you can encounter if you want new ways to deal with hardships.

Originally posted on July 20, 2008 @ 11:45 am