What Do Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Dr. Dean Ornish And Actor Ed Begley Jr. Have In Common?

What could an astronaut who walked on the moon, a brilliant doctor who has proved that yoga and diet helps heart disease, and an actor who is committed to helping the environment possibly have in common? Firstly, they all care about people and want a better world, and are doing what they can to make it happen. And secondly, they have all found that one of the best ways to work with our limitations is through meditation.

What is it that stops us from being the best we can be, from giving unreservedly, from caring for others more than ourselves? Self-centeredness and selfishness, the hallmarks of the ego, affect not only our own lives and relationships but also influence the way we behave in the world. There is no limit to the damage a strong ego can do, from the arrogant conviction that its own opinions are the only right ones, to wielding and abusing power at the expense of other people’s lives or liberties.

Through meditation, from being self-centered we become other-centered, concerned about the welfare of all rather than being focused on just ourselves and our families. We become more acutely aware of how we treat each other and our world, and seek to become a positive presence rather than a negative one. Meditation can do more for the world than all the money and good works, as we are no longer contributing suffering to the world but offering our peace. This gift is priceless.

Our long awaited book, BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World, has just been published (yea!!!). In our last blog we highlighted seven of the inspiring women who contributed to it. This week we are highlighting seven of the men in the book, men who are each making a difference to our world.

When we look at the world from the moon, as astronaut Edgar Mitchell explained to us, it is just a small round ball. As Apollo 14 moved closer and the earth became larger, Mitchell’s life changed forever. From exploring the far reaches of outer space, he began to seek a deeper meaning for his experience and turned to explore his inner world, which came to include meditation. Due to this he co-created the Institute of Noetic Sciences to encourage and lead research into human potential.

Robert Thurman, professor of Indio-Tibetan studies at Columbia University, NYC:

"When I see my attitude about my own egotism and I realize that I am just one of all beings and I am interrelated with everyone else, then meditation is like a weight that pushes that realization down deeper into my gut until it finds the 'I, me, mine' level where it transforms it. Meditation is what makes my understanding experiential."

Dean Ornish, Medical Editor for the HuffPost:

"People who have had a heart attack sometimes say it was the best thing that ever happened to them, and I say, 'Are you crazy?' They say, 'Well, no, but that is what it took to begin making these changes that have made my life so much more profoundly joyful and meaningful.' Change is hard, but if we are in enough pain, the idea of change becomes more appealing and we will try just about anything. When we make these changes, the pain subsides, and not only the physical pain like angina from heart disease or back pain, but deeper levels of pain that are more difficult to measure but are often more meaningful. When we can focus on something, which is what meditation does, it enhances our inner communication, giving us more personal power and peace of mind.

"When people are stressed out, they may say, 'My fuse is shorter and I explode more easily, but when I meditate on a regular basis, my fuse is longer. The situation does not change, but how I react to it does.' Meditation allows us to experience more of an internal sense of well-being. It dampens our sympathetic nervous system. It enhances our parasympathetic nervous system, so we can relax. Our mind quiets down. Our breathing becomes slower and deeper. Our metabolic rate balances."

Marshall Rosenberg, director of the Center for Nonviolent Communications: 

"In 60% of the television programs watched by children, the hero either kills somebody or beats him up. History teaches about the good Americans who killed innocent people. I believe engaging in self-empathy supports us to stop and transform the thinking that creates violence. It is a very important part of peace on our planet. We need to take time each day to remind ourselves of the preciousness of compassionate giving and receiving. If we have played violent games with other people—guilt games, shame games, anger games, punishment games—then we can grieve for this in a way that changes us and creates a more caring world."

Ed Begley, Jr., actor nominated for six Emmy’s and an environmental activist devoted to green living: 

"We can make it a saner and happier world if we just slowed down and had less focus on wanting or needing more stuff. If stuff made you happy, there would be nothing but happy people living in Bell Air and unhappy people living in Fiji where they have nothing, but I have been to Fiji and there are plenty of happy people there. I have never seen a hearse with a luggage rack on top. We have got to get away from stuff and appreciate what is here."

Matthew Fox, the founder of the Friends of Creation Spirituality:

"Meditation is calming the reptilian brain. We have all got three brains in us: One is a reptilian brain, which is about 420 million years old, our mammal brain is half that old, and our most recent one is the intellectual creative brain. The reptilian brain is very prominent; it runs our respiratory and sexual systems; it is action and reaction. We have to calm this reptilian brain so that the mammal brain, which is the brain of compassion and is here to bring kindness and kinship and bonding, can function. I mean, reptiles do not make good lovers; that is not their thing. Meditation allows us to treat the reptilian brain well: 'Nice crocodile, nice crocodile.' When we calm the crocodile, then the mammal brain can assert itself. Meditation is not just for professional monks; it is a survival mechanism for us all, especially in this time of crowdedness and rubbing shoulders with people of different faiths and traditions. We all have to learn to calm our reptilian brain."

Bernie Glassman, founder of the Zen Peacemakers:

"Take care of the person next to you. It might be your spouse, your child, your parents, or it might be a stranger. It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't matter who it is, and it doesn't matter if they have nothing to give you; you just do it because it is there to be done. Meditation leads us to the experience of oneness. In that state, we automatically take care of everything we see because it is ourselves; it is not separate from us. That is the bottom line for me: Once you take care of the delusion of separateness, then everything else is taken care of."

Mingyur Rinpoche, author of Joyful Wisdom:

"Who makes problems? We humans. And who is the controller of the human? The mind. And how to control the human mind? Through meditation. If you can control the pilot, then the pilot can control the plane."

 

Do you have any meditation stories of how meditation has helped you? Do comment below. You can receive notice of our blogs every Thursday by checking Become a Fan at the top.

Join us for a booksigning: MAIN EVENT November 16^th at Barnes & Nobel, 150 East 86^th St., NYC, with guest speakers: Ellen Burstyn, Robert Thurman, Cyndi Lee, Andrew Cohen and Mark Matousek.

Other events: Nov 11^th at Powell's, 1005 Burnside, Portland OR; Nov 13th at Barnes &Noble, 2675 NW University Village St., Seattle WA; and Nov 17^th at Gasoline Alley, 250 Albany St., Springfield MA. More details at: www.EdandDebShapiro.com 

 

 

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Ed and Deb Shapiro’s new book, BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman, with contributors such as Marianne Williamson, astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Beckwith, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jane Fonda, Jack Kornfield, Byron Katie, Dean Ornish, and others is published by Sterling Ethos. Deb is the author of the award-winning book YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND. Ed and Deb are the authors of over 15 books, and lead meditation retreats and workshops. Enjoy their 3 meditation CD’s: Metta - Loving kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation, available on their website: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

 

Follow Ed and Deb Shapiro on Twitter: www.twitter.com/edanddebshapiro

Comments

[AndiG]

Hi Ed & Deb,
First and foremost focusing on our own inner healing is paramount to positive change in the world...and yes, indeed, meditaion is a fabulous tool for going deeply within ourselves to heal and understand and accept ourselves.­..meditati­on quiets and stills my mind, giving me those precious moments to breathe in the essence of my being.
My husband has written many wonderful and healing songs, and I'm now reminded of the words to one of my favorites...
"We heal ourselves and we heal the planet...We heal the planet, and we heal ourselves!!!
Meditaion is a great tool for just this purpose!!!
Thanks and lots of Love,
AndiG

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

CR46... Arithrianos... Andrew .. Kiri...... DOA ... CMF .... Gnrshrtd .... Shiroe

all of you are great and make our connection a beautiful sharing

I will connect .. we are now leaving to go to Powell's in Portland to do our evening event.. off to Seattle at 6:00AM

Joyfully,

Ed

[khanti]

Insight
Many people experinece some form of sipirtual insight albeit for a fleeting moment. it may happen during meditation or under certain conditions. Attachment to such experiences will create an ego hindering progress . It is good to put aside such experiences after examining it and continue with our practice proper.

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Spot on

you have great insight

Thank you

BE THE CHANGE

Ed

[Pema]

I am so happy for you and Deb.
I wish I lived on your route, but it sounds like youre keeping us all in the mandala :)
much success
hugs,
p

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Pema - thank you so

In Buddhist teachings

taking joy in other peoples happiness is known as Mudita

Much metta,

BE THE CHANGE

Ed

[Pearlswan]

HuffPost's Pick

As a young athlete, I was always meditating during long training sessions but I just didn't realize it. As a mother, I found meditation indispensable and then as a single mother, meditation grounded me in what was real and without it, I would never have succeeded in handling the trauma in my life in a peaceful and compassionate way. Meditation grounds behavior and thought in peace, understanding and harmony.

Best of luck with the book tour and here's hoping you can open the minds of many more people to become meditation practitioners. Its truly the best way to change our world for the better. Even my 6-year old grandsons have been learning to meditate since kindergarten. They are learning it in school and watching them meditate gave me the best feeling of hope I've felt in decades! Now, whenever they get stressed and frustrated, the boys will just set themselves aside and take a two minute meditation break and are able to calm themselves down without being disciplined. Its amazing.

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Pearlswan

This is the most heartwarming blog... I just love3 this:

Even my 6-year old grandsons have been learning to meditate since kindergarten. They are learning it in school and watching them meditate gave me the best feeling of hope I've felt in decades! Now, whenever they get stressed and frustrated, the boys will just set themselves aside and take a two minute meditation break and are able to calm themselves down without being disciplined. Its amazing.

Treasure yourself,

Thank you

Ed

[Pema]

bows

[CaveatMagnusFrater]

Hi Pearlswan,

I think it's wonderful that your grandsons have learned to meditate and that they are able to calm themselves thanks to the practice. That's going to save them a lot of pain in the years to come if they continue.

[Kiri Westby - Huffpost Blogger]

I love this from Ed Begley Jr: "I have never seen a hearse with a luggage rack on top."

We've become obsessed with material wealth and think that it leads to happiness, having bought into some Hollywood version of success. But the wealthiest people I know are also some of the most dis-abled when it comes to taking care of themselves and their community.

I can attest from working in developing countries that people who have nothing are often the happiest and most focused on what they do have...we seem to only focus on what we don't have and what we need to be happier.

Thanks for your book...may it ROCK THE WORLD!!

Travel safe and Ill see you in NYC,
Kiri

[Dr. Andrew Lange - Huffpost Blogger]

ego where I go, is the common way. the ego is like a small island in the ocean of consciousness. and there is nothing more profound than shifting that balance through meditation. without meditation you can believe whatever you want, but beliefs only carry the boat so far. i have a deep respect for anyone who delves within.

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Dr. Andrew - I have deep respect for you and I 'm am joyful for people who meditate.

As meditation is the greatest gift you can give your self.

I connects you to your authentic self which is joyful, peaceful and unconditionally happy

one taste of your essence is sweeter than anything in this world

BE THE CHANGE,

Ed

[Kari Henley - Huffpost Blogger]

good luck on the tour!
I will try to catch you in NYC or Springfield!
Kari

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

come too both if possible

Springfield will be a reception first so we would be able to have more time I would think

BE THE CHANGE
Ed

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi all of our Huffpost friends

Deb and I are on our long awaited book tour. It is very exciting and heart opening.

We started in Boulder, Colorado, we are in Portland, Oregon, next Seattle then

NYC ... our main event, at upper east side Barnes and Noble ... with a panel --- Robert Thurman, Ellen Burstyn, Linus Roache, Cyndi Lee, Andrew Cohen and Mark Matousek.

Then Springfield, Mass wit Bernie Glassman, William Spears and Chloe Goodchild

We will be back home by Nov 20th.

WE will do our best to reply and communicate with you as I miss you all already. Saying that I know I will get back to you all tomorrow.

Oh, Boulder event was standing room only and we were so honored. It was very humbling.

May all people be happy,

BE THE CHANGE

Ed

[Shiroe]

Hiya Ed and Deb! No events in Fort Myers, FL? *pouts*

I can relate to what Dr. Ornish said about heart attack patients saying that the coronary was the best thing that ever happened to them. Granted, for me it was a mental illness, not a physical one, but when I had my breakdown in August 2007 it was a slap in the face saying "Get back to what's important!" I'd been meditating and doing other spiritual exercises for years by that point, but the chaotic twirl of workaday life had absorbed me and I wasn't maintaining my spirit or my mind. Ultimately, I lost control.

The effects of this were interesting, too. If measured by college degrees, I was at "bachelors'" level before the breakdown. Recognizing it as an obstacle that needed to be overcome, it's fair to say I've begun my "masters," connecting all the "bachelors'"-level work into a cohesive whole. The study of myself has always been intriguing to me but these days, I know myself implicitly. I had to - in order to regain control, I had to be able to recognize when it's my mood or my bi-polar disorder manifesting itself. My book on the topic is the culmination of all this work.

In the end, though, spirituality gave me hope for my future because it gave me control. When you can control your own life, you can do anything.

[Gnrshrtd]

Your quotation from Bernie Glassman really caught my eye.

I was raised Catholic and went to seminary. There is a long tradition of meditation in Catholicism. The Rector asked a visiting monk from the Cistercian Order (silent) to introduce us to some very basic Hatha yoga practices meant to calm the mind for meditation.

One of the things he said (tho from a silent order, he was visiting for educational purposes and had a dispensation to speak) was that as we experience life we should be aware of our surroundings. He then repeated the word 'experience' and related to us that life is an experience, not a goal. We steal from ourselves when we fail to make room for experiencing life, with its vicissitudes.

Glassman's advice to give simply because it's there to be done makes my heart light (and I needed that this weekend). When we do open our hearts to the world, the "separateness" diminishes.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

Since my mammal brain anticipates a lot of reptilian brain response situations for the future, I just decided to gear up by ordering your book.

[Ed and Deb Shapiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi DOA - Thank you!

I hope you enjoy what you read/

We have been fortunate to have been getting a great response so far.

Let us know what you feel.

BE THE CHANGE

Ed

[CaveatMagnusFrater]

Hi Ed and Deb!

When I read Matthew Fox's advice to calm the crocodile of course Ed's monkey mind metaphor leaped to the forefront of my mind. Then those two images sparked an epiphany. I've been ignoring signs for nearly 20 years, too much thinking and not enough being.

In the early 90s, I took a parenting class, my kids were 4 and 6 and I was at wits end. One of the sessions dealt with treating child rearing as wild animal training. Basically, people and animals do what works for them and try something different when their efforts fail. The tooI I took home with me was 1-2-3 Magic. I think that saved my kids from a bad path because they learned trust and it saved me from premature baldness with self-inflected scalp wounds.

What I didn't relate from the lesson was how it applies to me.. I get all caught up in doing well and gertting things right that I don't spend enough time realizing what's important. I let my reptilian brain make important decisions because I dont' realize at the time that I'm making a decision. My monkey mind sure gets a kick out of that later after something gets scattered by the fan. I sure have a lot of un-learning to do.

With a little luck and meditation maybe I'll learn to lengthen my fuse as Dean Ornish did. Nice crocodile, nice crocodile. Thanks for this fantastic article.

Warm hugs,
little brother

[Arithrianos]

Take care of the pilot is exactly right, don't try to control the plane, that is the province of the controlled ego, the kingdom of doing. Once you clarify or as Bob puts it transform the nature and role of ego then everything else falss into place, there is nothing wrong with the monkey or the reptile if they have their space and are ruled over by the highest mind, for they are the servants. Meditation happens all the time for me now, it is that which provides the vantage point to look into all the emotions and thoughts that erupt without having to keep feeding them, it points out the Awareness that is never tainted or changed by the contents of awareness, the space of the throne of mind, the indestructable nature of compassion mixed with awareness, the actual nature of all beings. If i abandon the throne to try and control or manipulate thoughts of emotions i give all my power away, then i are engulfed in the whirlpool of emotion and create suffering. This is the negative negativity, the attempt to control, not the emotion itself. It is fine to get angry or whatever, as long as you give it no power it will suffocate itself when it runs out of fuel, the trick is not to give it any more. Very hard trick though sometimes.

[khanti]

Don't forget about the other nine paramitas.

[Arithrianos]

You are correct, the 9 work together, they are all interdependent co-arising, none exist without all, and all can't exist without one, so there is no way to lean just on one, that is an extreme, you need to work within th "machine" or "mandala" created by the interaction of all the paramitas. If you split asunder morality so it becomes OK to forget one in favor of another there are going to be karmic consequences.

[CR46]

Good Morning Ed and Deb,
Well I tried yoga, I started a class that is supposed to be more about spirituali­ty...found out it was more about exercise. I guess I do meditate in my own way and will continue to do so. I think for me I need to just be by myself and outside in a quiet spot. My attempt at yoga (not too many choices in this area) did not work right now, but maybe its something I will try at a different point in time.
My meditation for the day was walking out of the horse stable this morning and watching the sun rise as I sat on the fence. I think personally I need to be outside when I think(or don't think) and not closed in at all, an elder of my tribe told me a many years ago that to be at peace you need to be with mother(nature). The more I read and the more I try I still come back to I what works for me.
Everyone has there own path and must find their own. Content for now (at having explored a new option) But even that option has given me things to think about(more from reading books though) and understanding what "works" for others.