France Roy

Five Minutes to a Happy Life: Breathing Meditation

The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make our mind clearer and more lucid.

This can be accomplished by practicing a simple breathing meditation.

We choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. We can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any other position that is comfortable. If we wish, we can sit in a chair. The most important thing is to keep our back straight to prevent our mind from becoming sluggish or sleepy.

We sit with our eyes partially closed and turn our attention to our breathing. We breathe naturally, preferably through the nostrils, without attempting to control our breath, and we try to become aware of the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. This sensation is our object of meditation. We should try to concentrate on it to the exclusion of everything else.

At first, our mind will be very busy, and we might even feel that the meditation is making our mind busier; but in reality we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but we should resist this and remain focused single-pointedly on the sensation of the breath.

If we discover that our mind has wandered and is following our thoughts, we should immediately return it to the breath. We should repeat this as many times as necessary until the mind settles on the breath.

From http://kadampa.org/en/meditation/breathing-meditation/

Ten Most Closely Guarded Possessions of Kadampas

1. Ignoring this life and devoting oneself wholeheartedly to the Dharma.
2. Being prepared to become a pauper.
3. Being prepared to die a pauper.
4. Being prepared to die alone with no one to take care of one’s body. 
5. Being prepared to practice Dharma regardless of reputation.
6. Being prepared to keep all vows purely.
7. Being determined to avoid discouragement.
8. Being prepared to be an outcast.
9. Accepting low status. 
10. Attaining exalted Buddhahood as the natural result of successful practice.

by Pabongka Rinpoche

Dharma by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso on Google Books

Descriptions of these books can be found at Tharpa.com

The New Meditation Handbook
Introduction to Buddhism
Transform Your Life
How to Solve our Human Problems
Living Meaningfully, Dying Joyfully

Joyful Path of Good Fortune
Universal Compassion
Eight Steps to Happiness
Heart of Wisdom
Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life
Understanding the Mind

Clear Light of Bliss
Great Treasury of Merit
Tantric Grounds and Paths
Essence of Vajrayana

3 Easy Ways to be Healthier This Spring

1) Drink tea every morning

Studies show that drinking tea protects against cancer and heart diseases and has many other health benefits. I drink tulsi tea which has even more health benefits and is used in ayurveda as a remedy for many common diesases. Organic India has a wide variety of flavors of tulsi tea. The honey chamomile and passionfruit flavors are delicious! If you get allergies in the spring you can reduce them by adding honey (made locally) and fresh ginger to the tea.

2) Stand instead of sitting for a few hours at work

Many articles like this one have been coming out about the benefits of standing vs sitting during the work day. By standing an few hours a day instead of sitting you can reduce lower back pain, loose a few extra pounds, and improve your concentration.

3) Eat barley a couple times a week

Barley is a high-fiber, high-protein grain packed with anti-oxidants and has numerous health benefits. Here is a simple recipe I created for an easy barley breakfast.

Ingredients: 3 cups water, 1/2 cup pearled barley, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/2 cup chopped dates, 1 cup vanilla almond milk

Preparation: Bring the water to a boil and then set it to low heat. Add the barley and cinnamon stick and cook for about 45 minutes (this can be reduced to 15 minutes by soaking the barley in water overnight), stirring occasionally. Drain any remaining water and add the dates and almond milk. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Enjoy!

Migtsema for Dispelling Obstacles and Fulfilling Wishes

Migtsema A special prayer of praise and requests to Je Tsongkhapa composed by Manjushri in the Kadam Emanation Scripture. The prayer appears in various forms, such as the nine-line and five-line versions. This prayer is very blessed, and those who recite it with faith are able to accomplish great results. See Heart Jewel.

Tsongkhapa, crown ornament of the scholars of the Land of the Snows,
You are Buddha Shakyamuni and Vajradhara, the source of all attainments,
Avalokiteshvara, the treasury of unobservable compassion,
Manjushri, the supreme stainless wisdom,
And Vajrapani, the destroyer of the host of maras.
O Venerable Guru-Buddha, synthesis of all Three Jewels,
I request you please grant your blessing to free me from all outer and inner obstacles
And fulfill all my Dharma wishes.

Boost Your Website Traffic With Google Webmaster Tools

1) Login to Google Webmaster Tools using your business Google account.

2) Click the “+ Add a site…” button and enter the URL of your website.

3) Verify ownership by copying the meta tag given into the header of your home page.

4) Once you have added the site go to the Dashboard for it.

5) The most important thing to boost your traffic is to submit your sitemap to Google so it indexes all the pages of your site. You can use this sitemap generator to create it. Enter the URL, Frequency (how often pages are updated), and set the priority to automatic. Once the generator is finished, download the xml file and edit it in notepad as necessary. Then upload this xml file to your website and submit it in webmaster tools.

6) In the settings under site configuration you should set the geographic target and the preferred domain.

7) In the “your site on the web” section you can view all incoming links to pages on your site.

8) Explorer the other tools available to gather information and improve your site!

Free Advertising on Google Maps

This is a quick and easy way to advertise your business using Google Maps!

1) Create a Gmail account for your business to tie all of your Google accounts to.

2) Go to Local Business Center and login with your Google account.

3) Click the link “+ Add new listing” and fill out your businesses information.

4) If your business already exists in Google Maps select “Claim Listing” otherwise “Add Listing”.

5) Follow the remaining steps until your business shows up on your dashboard.

6) Now you can control your listing and see how many people view it in Google Maps!