Sister Jenna: America Meditating: Pause For Peace Today At 7 a.m. and 7 p.m

Today, June 9, 2012, the Meditation Museum officially launches its nationwide initiative entitled "America Meditating -- Pause for Peace." The goal is to light up America and invite everyone to pause for peace at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. or whenever you can during the day. The initiative aims to foster peace and happiness within each individual, beginning in the nation's capital, and spread these feelings into the world around us! Imagine, for a moment in time, where everyone just felt GOOD.

As an ongoing process everyone is invited to: 1) create spaces for peace, 2) visit the interactive map on Facebook and check out who is pausing for peace in their neighborhood, 3) experiment with some of the "Just a Minute" meditation videos and audio selections available for everyone, and lastly, 4) create an America Meditating -- Pause for Peace event and let us know!

Meditation is an awareness that we cultivate, and it creates a positive, more productive state of being. It is not just something that you "do," but it is primarily a state of being. This means you can meditate even while you are walking and moving around. We are planning a number of events that will be held in several major cities throughout the year. "America Meditating -- Pause for Peace" events are scheduled for the Anubhuti Retreat Center in Novato, Calif. in November and events in Farming Hills, Mich. and in Washington D.C. in August 2012. Feel free to follow the journey by visiting our Facebook page and "like" us at www.Facebook.com/AmericaMeditating, and share your meditation experiences online for others to see. Spread the word about this initiative and let's pause for peace for the self, for our country, and for our world.

Today's Meditation Tip: ALGAE

We have talked a lot about awareness. A very important aspect of this awareness is that there will be thoughts that come into our consciousness that will "block" our ability to meditate deeply. These thoughts come from A.L.G.A.E. And just like real algae, its like a layer of green slime that is undesirable and may cause you to feel unclean.

A-Anger
L-Lust
G-Greed
A-Attachment
E-Ego

These vices feed the thoughts that cause us sorrow or anger. They are rooted in fear. Sometimes they even keep us from being okay with meditating. We get uncomfortable when we aim to meditate, thinking that someone else will think we are strange. These thoughts come from ego. We may sit around feeling sad, listening to sad songs and perpetuating sad thoughts. This comes from attachment. We may feel it is a waste of time since we could be out there making money. This comes from greed. We may even judge our meditations, saying it wasn't good enough or comparing it to someone who is having deep meditation. This is unhealthy and one reason why we give up easily on the path to meditation. So you see, not only does A.L.G.A.E. get in the way of our day-to-day happiness, it can interfere with our depth in meditation.

In order to burn the vices, we must use the fire of yoga (deep detachment of the physical awareness and connect to a higher source) and the fire of meditation. We replace anger with peace, lust with purity, greed with joy, attachment with love and ego with truth. When thoughts and scenes come up in our meditation, we have to ask ourselves, where is this coming from? Is it a vice? If so, emerge the virtue that will burn that vice, remember your true self, and know that these vices that are external will not give you what you want. When these vices are fed, they may give us happiness, but this happiness will be temporary. A new car gets old, a new house gets old, even a new job can lose its humph for you along the way. But what will always travel with you are the eternal qualities within the soul: love, peace, purity, truth and joy! Keep feeding them, and they will be a companion for life or many lifetimes, if you believe in that!

For more by Sister Jenna, click here.

For more on The Meditation Museum, click here.

For more on America Meditating and Pause For Peace, click here.

For more on meditation, click here.

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