Welcome to the official channel of Sonam Hoani! I teach meditation in my community as well as online - right here!
The essence of this channel is about how to live more informed and peaceful lives, for the benefit of ourselves and others.
New videos every other week covering topics such as sustainable living, abundant and loving life tips, minimalism, meditation (beginners and advanced), non-duality and ethics.
Sincerely pursuing a better world for all and the end of suffering. May we all come to know such wonderful ways of being!
Private Meditation & Spiritual Life offerings: www.SonamHoani.com
2:55 - i have a question, not being able to keep the focus on the sensation for long, for example 5 second, can keep happening also at the level that you are at? i want to know that to accept myself better in those moment and also to have some metric for progress... thanks in advance!
I’m not sure exactly when I first saw this video, maybe almost 2 years ago but I keep coming back to it every so often. Your straight talking, blunt approach is a welcome change from most other minimalism videos. Addressing the backlash from family and friends in such an honest way was particularly helpful. I also like the part about taking responsibility for our things and the link to our egos. Very useful video, thank you.
Would it be fair to say that the thinking mind is "loud" like 110% but thinking is really a sensation like any other? Because of the "loudness" it feels like the ego/thought is primary? That is, we're fundamentally the world/experience but since the ego/thought is so incessant and intrusive things appear like sensation are in service/subordinate to the ego? I wouldn't say the sensation of an itch is me, then can I confidently say that a thought I'm experiencing isn't me? If this is true, how then when I'm not meditating, the talking watching interactive me still feels like it's "primary". Or do I need to recalibrate and see this too as just another experience? NOTE: I'm a faithful user of the waking up app and I find it incredibly frustrating when Sam snaps his finger. It's a bit demoralizing as I'm a long time user of his app and I have yet to experience or recognize non-dual nature. Totally get your snapping finger reference and thought it funny.
Does thinking about the thing that you're meditating on count as thoughts or awareness? Like, if I imagine the bird that's chirping or if I wonder what material your ring is made of--am I meditating or getting distracted?
i used to do that kaleidoscope kinda thing. i'd let images and scenes just morph about while not being invested...just observing random things that pop in my head as kind of an overseer. i ended up lucid dreaming a lot from that though and had an awful experience lol. anymore i kinda basically just focus on the "blackness" from having my eyes closed and just push out thoughts that enter and refocus on the black behind my eyes lol. works so i just go with it. i'm gonna try that visualizing a nice space though!
Thank you for your contributions to reducing confusion over this concept. One thing I believe that is missing from the “look for the looker” instruction is context- in what sense are we supposed to? Those who haven’t had a moment of awakening could be confused, and believe it’s meant spiritually or as an instruction to imagine headlessness etc. When in fact it is an instruction to help you notice firsthand the reality of the subjective experience. To that end, I appreciate that you don’t attempt to assert that the subjective conscious experience is definitely the only reality that exists. So many get hung up parroting this assertion without understanding what it truly means. Again, thanks
I think so many of us millenials have grown up in overcluttered houses by parents of the boomer generation who are massive hoarders (because they were deprived as children) that we ended up detesting stuff.
I think that’s it! Hoarding is definitely, I think a fear of not having. Because I understand having, but what I find strange is the not revaluating and letting go part 🤔
Thank you! I make one each year because there’s SO MANY apps out there these days. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nJGQDCEHEYA.html this is my latest one if you’re interested. 😄🙏
Thank you so much for addressing my question so comprehensively in your video. Your insights have provided valuable perspectives that I will certainly apply to my practice. Regarding my meditation practice, it is based on Lama Lena's live online teachings on "The three words of Garab Dorje" .
You're welcome 😄🩶. This was a really great question for me. I searched the rest of youtube, and no one was really answering it too directly. So maybe together, we bring benefit for many beings 🙏☺. Uh, yes. I'm familiar with Lama Lena, and Dzogchen instructions. Some people find them quite steep.
You’re the first person (and I’m addicted to minimalists videos) that has described sentimental things the way you do. It’s very insightful and profound. Thank you. If you wrote a book, I would buy it… especially if you recorded your own audio because your voice is soothing.
Hello , I hope you are doing well. Lately, one of the seemingly biggest hurdles which I have been personally been facing during practice is that of - boredom and dullness. This automatically disincentivises me from following my daily meditation routine . Is their something that I am doing wrong or is it just plain laziness and lack of discipline on my end. Kindly advise upon how you deal with monotony if at all you face it .
Due to this feeling of boredom - I prefer doing informal meditation (off the cushion) way more than formal meditation sessions. (For eg: 1-2 minute meditations during break times in between study sessions, meditating while looking at the horizon/ tree tops while outdoors. ...... etc.). However, it seems that without longer sessions- my progress seems to be awfully slow .
I’d try insight timer and searching for focus and concentration. Because I don’t think you need to sign up, and you’ll get specifically what you’re looking for. Waking up isn’t the one. Maybe Medito, very quick to pick up the practice. Not all meditation is aimed at focus and concentration so it’s actually a bit of a niche. I like Moments of Space, but it isn’t geared toward focus and concentration and the libraries quite small. Honestly, something like headspace probably has concentration meditations, but they’re up there in price.
I applaud your stomach. I’ve always mixed it with my baked chicken so one day i decided to try “golden Milk” and it tasted like chicken flavor milk 😂 I’ll stick to spicing it on my chicken.
Thank you. My stomach likes that! 🤭 Golden milk! I've never heard of that. Chicken milk - now that doesn't sound any good 😆 The spicing is probably a better idea 🤭🧡
does it help? i actually found the Mediterranean diet by googling "diet that's good for inflammation." i have awful reflux and had to take nexium everyday or i'd choke on food. that's gone (mostly) and i don't take nexium but once every other week or so now instead of daily. i don't even follow the diet 100% but i've cut out most processed foods and i eat out probably once a week now. feel like a different person. my joints still hurt at 40, but i started yoga and that seems to be helping maybe? 2 weeks into that. i ended up buying a year of the waking up app. i'm like 2 weeks in. i like it. some of his ideas seem wild to me, but trying to keep an open mind even if i don't agree with everything he says all the time lol. oh, and i tried out a sensory deprivation float tank, that was defintely cool! pricey though so probably won't do it again lol. good luck on whatever you're trying to achieve here!
Wow, we might have some things in common here. Years a go I had very bad reflux too, and it made it very hard for me to eat any meal comfortably. I think this was mainly caused by too many donuts 🍩😆 Years later when I started eating "whole-food plant based," my problems went away. This is why I drink the turmeric nutritionfacts.org/blog/why-pepper-boosts-turmeric-blood-levels/ nutritionfacts.org/questions/what-is-turmeric-good-for/ and ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MqmSMunAtss.html which I'm going to start eating in tandem with the Mediterranean diet (which is also recommended by this resource). I think and believe it helps. It might be directly good for joint pain too, which might be inflammation. The Waking Up app can be a steep introduction to meditation and its' esoterica, but I think the materials meaningful. The prices with the float tanks are why I've only done it once as well. However, I did find a place which will let me do 1 x 3 hour session, and I'm particularly interested how that might trip my perceptions. Thank you for your kind wishes, and I look forward to connecting more with you. We have similar interests. 😄🙏
@@SonamHoani a good example of the waking up app here that challenged me. it did get me thinking in a way i've never really even considered. him saying something along the lines of we have no free will. if your life was rewound every choice and thought you have would play out exactly the same because there is no science to show that it would be any different. i immediately thought, there is probably no science to prove that it wouldn't either lol. but, an interesting thought. who knows? i guess i prefer my life to be more akin to an instrument being recorded in real time on a recording more than my life is just a movie being played. still, it did get me thinking, he's potentially right? sorry that was long winded, but ya..despite that being a slightly uncomfortable subject, i guess i'm happy i heard it as i've never really considered it before. but thanks, i'm gonna get that app from that dr greger daily dozen. everything on that list is basically what i eat. lots of bean stuff, oatmeal or eggs for breakfast. i've made lots of italian kinda dinners, but there are some really good indian kind of dishes too that i've never had till this diet. lentil beans and curry kinda stuff. i just don't really know how to portion food at all. i'll try the tumeric too! and real quick, as a newcomer to meditation, luckily it comes easily to keep my mind still. to go to sleep i always just concentrated on the black blankness...and when thoughts popped in i imagined pushing them away to keep my head clear. it is nice to spend some time and just...be. life throws a lot at you, so having even 10 minutes to just pause is pretty beneficial. take care!
@meeee32156 @meeee32156 I actually made this video about freewill ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-odTylzoa20E.html that’s similar to Waking Up. I actually think it seems more important than it is, like I don’t think the conversation changes much. I think it can make us a little bit more pragmatic, and a lot less feeling shameful. That daily dozen could help with the portions. By time I’ve eaten the 12 of them I have a lot less room for my own continued eating. I’m happy to hear the meditation is helping with your sleep! My next video will actually be on this topic 😄😴
Thank you for your support 🙏🙏🙏 I'll try get you a new video soon. (I've just moved countries). If you ever miss me you're welcome to check out my partners channel: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QCvyGUsxTV0.html I'm thinking about trying some new tactics. My shorts get as many views as my meditation videos and require a fraction of the time (but I do have a meditation and sleep video on its way!)
Very astute observation, sometimes work involves so many extra items and even belongings. I worked in construction for a while and I had to have so much safety gear.
It depends on multiple factors I guess. I calculate my number of clothes based on how often I do laundry + the time it takes for it to dry. So, if I do laundry once per week, I will own 9 T shirts (to have 2 to use while the others dry out) and 5 long shirts (I wear long shirts twice in a row as they are usually worn in the winter, which is a time I don't sweat much at during the day.)
My daughter in law lost all four grandparents in less than a year...it took another 8 or 9 months for the family to go through the hoards of stuff and clean the homes out to be sold. Very sad, but also very overwhelming, it made me realize that I don't want to put all of my stuff on my family and im steadily trying to minimize my possessions now.
It was when my mother died that I felt the same way. I had another reason which was health-related, it just makes sense to make it easier to live by reducing my load.
