Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Well-Being and Spirituality


Handy Woman went to see the Dalai Lama, and I asked her how it was. She said he sounds like Grover the Muppet and is very funny but basically said what you’d expect him to say. What she thought was interesting was what the scientist studying meditation had to say. He says that well-being has four components that have been studied and proven neurologically:
  • Resilience – how long it takes you to bounce back from adversity
  • Positive outlook
  • Attention – this is the part that meditation helps with
  • Generosity
So, gentle readers, I suppose we should all strive to be more resilient, positive, attentive, and generous. Haven’t we heard this message before? We are told to look for something wonderful about every day and be “in the moment,” which takes care of the middle two. Resilience is always a good idea, and of course generosity is emphasized right now during this almsgiving season of Lent. I am apparently more generous than I’d realized, judging by all the letters I’ve been getting this tax season that say, “Thank you for your generous donation!” Half the time I don’t remember giving to the charity at all, and sometimes I’ve given way more than I’d remembered. Oops! So maybe I need to focus most on the first one, but how do you measure something like that? It seems to me that growing in the spiritual life should help with all four of these, because a spiritually mature person would be resilient (not concerning herself with the things of this world), focused on the good God does in her life, and of course attentive to the spiritual things, as well as generous. In this matter, Buddhism and Christianity can certainly agree!

Famous Hat

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