Allen moved to Flagstaff in 1998 to work at Northern Arizona University (NAU) as a professor of Finance. He has been interested in meditation since first learning Transcendental Meditation (TM) in college. After college, in 1978, he was introduced to Vipassana and it has been his main practice ever since. He sits a retreat of at least a week or so almost every year. He sat the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) three month retreat three times and in 2000-2001 took a leave of absence from work to spend the year practicing at IMS and in Burma, Thailand and India. Allen taught yoga and meditation in Texas from 1979-1983. He has been teaching a six-week beginning Vipassana course each semester at NAU since 1999. The course is currently being taught with Cathy Small. His other main hobbies include music, singing and cycling.
This talk stars with a bit of introduction to the book written by Ram Dass in 1971. Then it shifts to a deeper discussion of what Now means and what Here means. When we focus on the Now and the Here, there is always a sense of “I Am” that accompanies it. The direct knowledge of Being.
Brief synopsis. At first there is a discussion of why this might be useful. Then there is a discussion about various ways you may approach this contemplation.
Nisargadatta Maharaj said, “The greatest guru is your inner self.” Whether you are grappling with issues in your daily practice or larger issues concerning the direction of your spiritual path, look to your inner “Coach” or guru. You may find it provides the best guidance you can find.
We all have wants and needs that are required for our survival. Sometimes those wants expand far beyond what is needed.
There are also acquired desires that are destructive to our survival. Buddhist techniques on Mindfulness can be extremely helpful in beginning to deal with these desires.
Discussed working with thought and the difference between noticing thinking and getting lost in thinking. Some techniques were discussed and tried. First was just counting thoughts. Second was labeling categories of thoughts. Some readings were presented and some discussion of ways to notice and label thoughts.
