How to find a meditation teacher?

Gordon, modified 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 11:16 AM
Created 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 11:16 AM

How to find a meditation teacher?

Posts: 2 Join Date: 6/18/19 Recent Posts
Hello,  I'm looking for a meditation teacher. I live in Boise Idaho and don't know where to begin looking. I'm reaching our to this group because I just finished Daniel Ingram's book MCTB and want the real deal to help me along the path and not some phony that is going to waste my time or charge a lot of money. I'm old and getting a late start and don't have time to waste and want to recognize and experience the ultimate nature of reality. 

I’m a recovering Mormon and come from a long lineage going back to the beginnings of that strange organization. Because this dogma was in my bone marrow from birth it took me another 37 years to GET OUT. I have been totally against any organized religion of any kind for the next 13 years until I stumbled onto a YouTube video on Mindfulness where Jon Kabat-Zinn was talking to a group of Google employees. He had them participate in a guided meditation (I joined in) and from that moment on I was hooked. At about 10 minutes into the meditation I noticed a physiological change come over me and said to myself this meditation sh#^ is real. I know absolutely nothing about it other than it really works. I developed my own daily practice of formal sitting for 10 to 20 minutes a day for the next 8 years. I’d listen to various guided meditations or practice concentration meditation on my own. I didn’t really ever get much beyond my first experience, but did reach much deeper levels of concentration and peace. I did notice if I didn’t meditate or forgot my irritability, fear and anxiety levels would go up. 

In 2017 I wanted to learn more about where meditation originated so I began listening to the podcast Secular Buddhism by Noah Mayo Rashetta. I then signed up for the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Lay Minister program in 2017 and just graduated here in May 2019. The general knowledge taught was good but as far as meditation goes we didn’t get any training and were left on our own.

What I’ve come to realize after reading Daniel’s book and others like THE PROGRESS OF INSIGHT by The Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw is that I know next to nothing about meditation and how to achieve deeper levels of concentration along with more insight and how to recognize different states. I’m not sure I can reach my goal doing it by myself without some instruction, insight and wisdom from someone who has already experienced this. What do you all recommend? How would I go about finding a meditation teacher?

Because Meditation has helped me so much in my life at some point I would like to feel comfortable enough to teach others. I’m not big on teaching credentials and don’t know if this would ever come to fruition but I would like to teach it later if I felt so inclined.  
JP, modified 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 12:33 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 12:33 PM

RE: How to find a meditation teacher?

Posts: 175 Join Date: 3/31/17 Recent Posts
Probably your best bet is to find a meditation teacher who you can video chat with.  Noah has one list of  pragmatic dharma-adjacent teachers on his blog, and there's another list on the streamentry subreddit.  Good luck!
Gordon, modified 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 3:38 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 3:38 PM

RE: How to find a meditation teacher?

Posts: 2 Join Date: 6/18/19 Recent Posts
Thank you JP
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Hac Phi^2 Vita, modified 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 8:19 PM
Created 5 Years ago at 6/25/19 8:19 PM

RE: How to find a meditation teacher?

Posts: 132 Join Date: 5/27/19 Recent Posts
Thank you so much for posting those lists. I too have been trying to figure out how to find a teacher, and this should help immensely!

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