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Jack Kornfield

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The Calm Within

The Calm Within

India can conjure up a lot of juxtaposing images: people meditating in quiet spaces versus people living in loud, chaotic and unclean communities. If you are used to the calm suburbs or life in a small town, it must be difficult to imagine living in such a place and maintaining sanity at the same time. Steve Ross and Olivia Rosewood, however, say that you are really testing your meditation and calmness skills in this kind of environment. How do you fare?
 
They write, “…it’s not really much of an accomplishment to maintain some semblance of tranquility in a climate controlled, well decorated, padded room.” If you are used to such a room, how will you possibly stop from freaking out when something small sets you off in the real world? Or something big? “Chaos is precisely where you need inner calm.”
 
It’s okay, and encouraged actually, to begin meditating in peaceful places, but try to transfer what you do to the day-to-day. Are you able to use certain meditation practices to “keep your cool” in a chaotic environment? What works for you? [Huffingtonpost.com]

Posted: 9/5/08