In this episode, I have a talk with Frank Leder about mindfulness, compassion and vipassana meditation. Frank Leder is the founder of the TouchLife School of Massage in Europe. Frank is a direct descendant of Ruth Denison and is a teacher in her lineage in Europe. One of the central questions in this episode is: How do we develop patience and loving kindness in these hurried and stressful times? He talks about his personal journey into meditation, his experience in the practice and his advice for each of us applying mindfulness in daily life.
Setting the intention
Setting intention is a way to direct our life. Where are we going? Where do we like to go? Compassion is all about setting the intention to have the best intent for every person. May they be safe, may they be happy, may they be free, may they find peace. Our mind is an incredibly powerful tool and the effect of setting intentions and repeating them has been studied in both Psychology and Neuroscience. Practicing compassion and loving kindness is a radical way to shape our lives into something different from our sometimes reactionary and uncontrolled behavior. Compassion has the power to change us into a more loving, kinder and more happy person. Frank talks about ways to achieve this.
Cultivating compassion in the midst of turmoil
Compassion is easier said than done, there is no doubt about that. One of my favorite quotes on that matter is from Ram Dass “If You Think You’re Enlightened, Go Spend a Week with Your Family”. It proposes an important question: how can we practice loving kindness in stressful and difficult times? With both environmental and political changes that aren’t always that positive for us, how do we keep close to compassion?
Reflecting on interconnectedness
One of the main tools besides setting an intention is reflecting. Reflecting on the reason behind someone’s behavior. If someone hurts others, they are hurt themselves. Our interconnected state of being (made simple: monkey see, monkey do) means we are connected to the suffering of others. Take a moment to return to the breathe, and reflect on how you have behaved in times when you were hurt. Realize the change can only happen when setting the intention of compassion and doing it differently. “But aren’t they dangerous, shouldn’t they be stopped?” Mindfulness will give us the tools to respond in the best way possible in each and every moment.
Find out more
If you enjoyed what Frank talked about, make sure to watch the video above or visit his website here (in German):
http://www.achtsamkeitsmeditation.net/
I’m glad to hear what you think of this podcast. Leave a comment here or join our community and simply @Christiaan there in our chat channel. We are also uploading all of our podcast episodes to Insight Timer, so make sure to visit us there.
With warm regards,
Christiaan Neeteson
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