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Writings and Readings Blog

Madhu Bazaz Wangu

To Carve A Statue Of Authentic Self

Posted on January 9, 2013
in Being in Nature
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Dear Mindful Readers, I would like to share with you an excerpt that hangs on a wall in my study:  I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of a man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture or to carve a statue and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it far more glorious to carve or paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. The excerpt is from Henry David Thoreau's classic, Walden (1854). It  inspires me in all areas of my life: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. How do I elevate the quality...

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Posts by Mindful Writers

Posted on December 26, 2012
in Being in Nature
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Since 2010, I have posted short pieces about the Mindful Writers Group and the benefits of the Writing Meditation Method. The Method consists of daily practice of fifteen minutes of body, heart or mind meditation followed by fifteen minutes of Free Writing. (For detailed descriptions of MWG and WMM please read the following previous posts: The pieces posted during 2011: October 11 & 18, November 13 & 30 and in 2012: July 2 & 30 and August 21) The half hour meditation and writing ritual energizes the writers, builds the momentum and inspires them to work on their manuscripts for five to six hours, for some longer. It is amazing to experience how a narrow thought pattern at the beginning of the session turns into something larger than life. Writing Meditation Method...

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Meditating On A Word

Posted on December 11, 2012
in Being in Nature
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December is a busy month. But I must write every day. The number of words do not matter, 200 or 2000, and daily practice is necessary for honing the skill. Prior to my meditation, I drink a glass of water and follow it with a free writing session. This morning, I had just fifteen minutes to write. In such a short time what was I to write about? The word "water" came to mind. So I wrote the following: The letters W-A-T-E-R in themselves have no meaning. When I read these five letters as one word 'water' that too sounds meaningless. Until my mind connects it with the meaning, water. The water that falls and flows, ripples and reflects; that I have gulped down my thirsty throat and gurgled my mouth with....

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Mindful Writers’ First Draft

Posted on September 28, 2012
in Being in Nature
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THE FIRST ROUGH DRAFT One of the two goals of the Mindful Writers (MW) is to complete the first rough draft of a book in nine months. The draft is rough but it is the seed of the final manuscript that emerges after one or two revisions. Without this draft no book would sprout and grow. At the beginning stage writers' intuitive energy is at its peak. And by its very nature this energy pours out positive as well as negative material. Bad stuff pushes down the good stuff. Personal problems and anxieties surface as do familial and social troubles. Fear of expressing ideas openly and freely takes the shape of knots and obstacles. The nine months are long and filled with pitfalls. But the three tools of the Writing Meditation Method (WMM):...

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Mindful Listening

Posted on August 21, 2012
in Being in Nature
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An Elegant Closing for the Mindful Writers Workshop The Writing Meditation Method (WMM) has come full circle. The Method followed by the Mindful Writers (MW) teaches how to tap into the infinite wisdom and unlimited potential dormant in all of us. This unique and proven practice combines mindful meditation, free writing and mindful listening to maximize their writing potential and live a wholesome life. I began developing the WMM in August, 2010. It is rooted in my twenty-years of meditation, writing and teaching experiences. But it was not complete until this July when a closing session was added to the four-hour workshop. The meeting begins with fifteen minutes of body, heart or mind meditation, followed by fifteen minutes of free writing and up to four hours of working on each writer's current...

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Mindful Writers Guidebook for Writing Meditation Method

Posted on July 30, 2012
in Being in Nature
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Writing Meditation Method: How does it Work As an introduction to Writing Meditation Method, my previous post with the same title, "Writing Meditation Method: How does it Work" was not as clear as I would have liked it to be. Thanks to some of you who suggested that I break the subject down in smaller parts the way I did during the previous years when I wrote, As I Understand It. Those posts were a joy to write. Hundreds of you continue to read your favorite posts from the Bhagavad Gita, Tao Te Ching, Dhammapada, and Devi Gita. Currently, I am writing, Mindful Writers Guidebook for Writing Meditation Method. As I write the manuscript, I have decided to share sections of it in my future posts. The book is about the method...

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Rebirth of My Golden Pothos

Posted on July 2, 2012
in Journaling
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This morning one of my twin golden Pothos plant delighted me! As I turned this lush indoor climber around I discovered three stems lying on the ground waiting to be trimmed. Here is the story of why this sight was so pleasant. One of the many things that thrilled me when I came to the United States was luscious indoor plants. Seven years later, when my parents visited us my mother too was delighted with plants thriving inside our home. She added a philodendron to my small collection. That plant is a quarter of a century old now. Its attractive foliage, although gone through many ups and downs, continues to grow in soil enriched with humus. Through years I have placed it in shade, under filtered light or in indirect sun....

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Writing Meditation Method: How does it Work?

Posted on July 2, 2012
in Being in Nature
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Activating Writer's Energy Centers  The aim of the Mindful Writers is to complete a book length manuscript in nine-months using Writing Meditation Method. By the end of the first cycle of three months they find their productivity increase, voice deepen and blocks eliminated. Before joining the Mindful Writers Group most writers feel fragmented, unable to achieve their writing dream. But by the end of the nine-months of practice their body, heart and mind feel integrated. Equilibrium returns. And changes begin to occur within that affect their without. At the beginning of each session, I lead all participants (novice as well as professional writers) with body, heart or mind meditation. I bring their attention to each and every limb, each and every organ of the body as we scan various parts...

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A Frozen Crust on my Computer Screen

Posted on June 1, 2012
in Being in Nature
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At times, why does facing a computer screen make me fearful? I sit to do something that I love to do but can't begin? Does it happen to you too, whether you are a writer or not?  Does it feel that your talent and skill have dried up, never to blossom and grow again?   It happens to me. But I also know that this feeling is fleeting. I usually experience it due to some emotional disturbance or a cognitive knot. The interference forms like a frozen crust over my computer screen reflecting my inside. The emotional or intellectual imbalance may be mild or massive but it's affect squeezes out the zest that I have for my work. In your life, at one time or another, you too must have faced...

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Aftermath of Writing Meditation Method Presentations

Posted on May 24, 2012
in Being in Nature
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I returned from Pennwriters 25th Silver Conference last Sunday, exhausted.  However, the conference was an outstanding gathering of award winning professionals and novice writers. The two keynote speakers, Hank Phillipppi Ryan and Maria V. Snyder are  New York Times bestsellers. They shared their own writing journeys with personal humorous anecdotes. Their addresses were not only informative and enlightening but also left us entertained and energized.   I offered a four-hour Writing Meditation Method seminar and one-hour workshop Writing Meditation After 50. I also pitched my book The Guidebook of Writing Meditation Method to an agent, attended Bobbi Carducci's workshop "No Means Nothing" and an agent panel moderated by Nancy Martin. Throughout the meeting I met hundreds of writers of all levels and genres. Once back home, it took me a cycle of...

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