Vipassana Meditation

I am an old student of Vipassana Meditation. What does this mean? It means that on more than one occasion I've sat a 10 day meditation course of noble silence. No talking, no eye contact, and no touching other people. There are many different forms of meditation, but Vipassana is the only one that goes to the depths of the mind and eradicates misery.

The schedule is to wake up at 4am and meditate all day long until taking rest at 9pm. There is a breakfast, lunch, and tea time. The art of Vipassana meditation is to observe the sensations within the body. To observe in non-reaction while remaining calm and treating all sensations equally. The idea being that you are experiencing the laws of nature within the framework of the body.

I personally have noticed profound positive changes in myself towards external circumstances. Ever since Vipassana, I have been more tolerant, patient, calm, and focused. I wake up earlier and I am more productive throughout the day. My health has improved greatly and my worrying about the future has diminished considerably.

One is to keep in mind that 10 days is not a long period of time, although it may be difficult for some to find the time to take 10 days away from life. However, I feel that everyone must take at least one 10 day course in their lifetime. You will find the only thing ever holding you back is YOU. You are responsible for your actions, reactions, thoughts, feelings, emotions, behaviours, habits, and lifestyle.

Just like no one can eat, drink, and go to the bathroom for you. No one can save you from yourself.

3TARDED in Toronto

Over the weekend I played drums with The 3Tards at the Annex Wreck Room in Toronto on Bloor and Bathurst. It was an unforgettable evening. Fatality opened and destroyed, as they usually do when they perform. I was very happy to see them, it had been too long.

We were dressed like metal heads. I was the devil. Body painted red, horns, the works. We killed it! Punk rock at its best. Here's a video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBd7hfpU10

Enjoy! I sure did!

The 6 Year Old Drumming Genius

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of setting up sound for a concert at the Newmarket Legion. It was a great event raising money for a wonderful cause. One of my drum students Matthew, was there. Matthew is 6 years old and stands about 2 1/2 feet off the ground. He is a shy, well mannered, rambunctious youth, who is a musical genius.

On this particular evening his grandfather was playing bass in the live band Hardwyre, performing at the fund raiser. Matthew was asked to play a song in front of this 200+ crowd. He had never performed in front of that many people before, most of them being his family.

The song he chose was "Times Like These" by the Foo Fighters. Before getting on stage Matthew was expressing that he didn't want to go up there alone. I asked him if he wanted me to come with him and he said: "Yes."

Together we took the stage, the crowd going crazy with anticipation, cheering and applauding, eager to see how Matthew would perform. Matthew was so small that when he got behind the kit, he couldn't even reach the pedals. I lowered the seat for him, asked him if he was okay, and he was ready to go.

The band started the song and I kept time beside him, watching to see if Matthew could hear the rhythm. When his part came, he dropped a beat like thunder, bang on, perfect! The crowd went nuts! Every hit, every roll, the cheering got louder and louder. The place erupted as this little boy who had troubles reaching the pedals because of his size, defied all obstacles and pounded the beat home.

This was the proudest moment of my drum teaching career to date. Watching the young Matthew take the stage and shine as he shared his inner passion with the world.

Day 151: Wants

"There are only two tragedies in life: one is
not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
Oscar Wilde

What is a want? Why do we desire things? As soon as we
acquire what we want, our attention turns to something new
that we want. This is ego. It is important to know that a want
is different from a need. We need to be well nourished and
well rested, and to have the right amount of exercise. For these
necessities there are expenses. However, after our needs are
met, desires follow. We want more, or so it seems. More will
never make us happy. Association with material possessions
is one of the main causes of human dysfunction. Advertising
agencies know this and so feed the ego. They give you images
of how perfect your life will be by using their products or
services.

Look around your living space. How many unneeded material
possessions do you own? How did this come to be? Would you
be any less of who you are without these things?

He will never be the same

It was a beautiful evening in Port Perry, Ontario. I was visiting my parents at the trailer on lake Scugog. While watching the sunset at the beach I overheard from about 100 yards away a couple arguing. I thought nothing of this until the male started to become violent. He was raising his voice in anger and began hitting inatimate objects around him to make his point.

That little voice in my head said I should go over there and do something. So I did. I approached slowly as the arguing ensued. When I got to within 15 feet the two stopped arguing and split up. For what seemed like an eternity, but couldn't have been more than 5 minutes, I stood between them not saying a word. She was sitting on a bench, and he was pacing back and forth fuming. Now that I was close I could see that she was in her mid 30's while he was only about 16 years old.
Eventually I decided to approach the boy. I introduced myself and we started talking. The boy opened up. We talked for over an hour, and as it turns out he doesn't understand why he gets so upset, but it gets to the point where he scares himself. I gave him some advise that I learned from Dr. Joe Vitale. It is the Ho-oponopono method and it utilizes the theory of auto-suggestion. I told the boy to repeat the following phrases to himself everyday:

I love you, I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you.

In doing this he would never be the same. Try it, you will be surprised at the results.

Your mind is like a garden. If you leave it unattended, weeds will grow without you being aware. You must pull out the weeds and plant good seeds to have great results.