anitamo I am glad you asked the questions you asked. Many of the things you ask can be answered by reading the links about Vipassana meditation and what it is and isn't. Your thoughts are not silenced so much as re-directed when they arise. You learn to focus your breathing on a point at the base of your nose on your upper lip area ...a spot the size of your fingertip. Breath normally...don't try to regulate your breathing. As you concentrate on the breath and the spot there will of course be thoughts that will arise..gently...smilingly let them go and refocus on the breath and the spot. This is why it is necessary to meditate for an hour. Some days it takes almost 1/2 or more of that hour to get the mind to settle. The reason people have repeat behaviors ...negative, addictive...whatever they are is because they don't have the patterning in their brain to waylay those thoughts and behaviors. Meditation allows you to get into that calm place that , over time, allows your brain to short circuit the behaviors and reactions that you want to change. There is a split second between the time something touches one of your 6 senses and you react. Meditation allows one to enter that split second and change the response. It is a simple and as complicated as that. This does not happen on a time table. Each person is different. You do really need the intense 10 day course to learn the entire technique. The part I told you about above is only the first 3 days of the course. It is a start though. Meditation is not secular...it is NOT related to any religion. it is a way of life. it is based on the 3 premise that I linked to above. Anyone can learn and anyone can practice and change the habit patterns of the mind. It is an experience that requires a very alert and sharp mind. it is not a passive practice. Sit up right and be alert and allow yourself an hour 2x a day. Set aside a place that is only for your meditation...a pattern will begin to form. Please feel free to email me and we can talk more. I am SO glad you asked. c

I hear ya...what life? Not really, but I don't usually have any interesting news to share and have no way to post any pictures. KT will always be a part of my day and my life, I hope. :)

Yeah I'm in NY also and even tho the sun is out, my plants are not (yet). I did buy some primroses at the grocery store and stuck them near my front sidewalk. At least the malman can see them. I need a little color this time of year. Oh, shoot, one extra day in February!

I've been to Viet Nam twice but we've done it self-tour both times. We're not really organised tour people. It is remarkably easy to self-tour in Viet Nam, easier than you would think. April is a nice time to visit. For ideas you could check out the Vietnam forum on TripAdvisor. Some people have recommended reputable tour companies they have used. One thing I would say is that if you do use a tour company you should use one based in Viet Nam, as overseas companies tend to add on a huge markup. You will need a visa to enter Viet Nam and you can either pay a lot and get one beforehand by sending your passport, passport photos and the application form (available online) to the Vietnamese Embassy in the US along with the payment (fairly expensive) or you can get it for less than half the cost by getting an approval letter from a Vietnamese travel agent, then taking the letter, appropriate paperwork, passport photo and USD 25 to the Visa on Arrival desk when you get to Viet Nam. If you arrive in HCMC the wait to be processed can be up to an hour, in Ha Noi it's not generally much of a wait. If you take USD to exchange for VND, take clean, crisp, undamaged and undefaced bills- they won't accept even a tiny tear in a bill. Don't use USD to pay for things- some will tell you you can, and some places will accept them but at an exchange rate favourable to them :-) You can also get VND out of an ATM if your bank doesn't have a huge foreign use/exchange fee (some do, some don't). Three star hotels are very nice, about the equivalent of a nicely furnished, clean ordinary hotel, and they cost about $30-50 a night. Often they include a simple breakfast. Just make sure there's an elevator, if that's an issue for you.Five star hotels have a lot of things you may never use (business facilities, gym, etc) and cost about ten times that (I kid you not). We've loved the three star hotels. What sort of things do you want to do and see? How long do you have to visit?