Long Time No See, you say? Well sorry people I was in a bit of meditation.

Now that I am out and writing – I thought let’s tell you about some new changes at Meditation Rocks!

I am changing the way all of this works. Earlier – you used to get the updates 5 days a week (+/- 5 Posts) in your mail your you could just visit the website and see wassup. Well that was real good for you but all of us were missing something big – a community.

I mean, c’mon people I know so many of you and I think it’d be great for us to know each other (us as in you awesome people who are reading this). So I am changing the way things work here at Meditation Rocks! And I need your feedback, support and a bit of effort to make it work.

Meditation Rocks! Will now be more like a closed group (anyone can join but it’s gonna be more of one-on-one).

You will get one post every week in which I will share something new or oldy goldy and I want you to discuss what you think. Why? Because it matters – I know you will come up with brilliant ideas which we all will benefit from – so I want you to get talking to each other.

The format will be this:

To get update about latest weekly post on Meditation Rocks! you will need to sign-up for it. It’s free and just ask you your name and email and hit enter. Do it now!

This is the link click on it for your sake →

That was my first step towards making us into a nice big community. Now, I need your ideas and feedback. How can we be a better community who talks and cares about our spiritual living?

Do me a favor, tell me what you think.

PS: Someone suggested that we should have a forum, but I don’t think they are good. So I redesign to focus on content and interaction. Lemme know what you think.

Photo By xMissgigglesx

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Today I wan to ask you some question, take as many words as you want to answer them. You can use the comment section or just drop me a mail.

What change have I brought about in your life?

Have I added any value? How can I do more for you?

How can we create a better community here?

Is there any problem of yours that I can solve or help in solving?

+ Any other comment you want to leave for Meditation Rocks?

Think of it as my energy booster to do more stuff here. It’s been great to be with you awesome people.

Cheers!

Photo by Hiddenloop

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So what we didn’t post anything new past week? We were having a bad fight. By ‘we’ I mean me and my alter ego which wrote 2 hideous posts to you last week and some of you loved it. Alright! Almost all of you loved it.

Now we are in big time fight here: Who writes for ‘Meditation Rocks!’ ?

We are both going to go in for making you our offers, choose wisely (that is choose me). Here we go:

King Sidharth’s Offer:

I’ve built this blog from ground up and I know each one of you. We have great thins in common – we are like friends, aren’t we? So wouldn’t it be nice for me to share with you all the experiments and insights that I share with you all the time and an occasional new teaching (once every two weeks or so).

I keep reading good books and blogs on meditation and have written so much for you and I want to write more because that is what I love doing – sharing my love for meditation with others who love it too.

If you think meditation rocks, vote for me.

Alter Ego’s Offer:

I know everything Siddy knows + more. And guess what? I don’t keep thing secret like he does. He hasn’t told you more than half of things he wish he’d tell you. Shy kid. Ha

You know what? I am not a f*cking boring teacher like him. I talk in your good tongue.

If you will learn from me, you will be super cool. Anyways, I am not in a mood to make any stupid offers. It was Siddy’s stinking idea anyways. So buzz off and vote for me anyways or maybe don’t as if I care.

Meditate or whatever… just stop bugging me already!

Vote

Did you hear him? He swears for God’s sake! I mean shit!

Anyways, you better help us out resolve this. All ideas are invited. I am sure they will be better than my lazy ass alter ego’s no brainer ideas.

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Hello People,

I am the new owner of Meditation Rocks! I bought Meditation Rocks from King Sidharth in $4,000. What a great fool he is! He didn’t just sell me this blog, awesome design and invaluable content but also his most prized possession – his relationship with you!

He really is a bad businessman, he has spend countless hours writing, researching and experimenting for you. He even went on to have sleepless nights to create a design that you would enjoy. He, at times has cancelled many meetings just to connect with you on twitter and facebook etc. All this for what? To be sold off in $4k?

Anyways, that’s not important. I am the new owner here … the new King. I don’t care as much as old owner if you comment or not – I don’t give a heck! I know I am damn good and make sense!

I won’t even ask you to take surveys and shit to help me improve experience around here – I have brains enough to do that on my own. I am not going to ask you to share posts written around here with your friends because I am not a fool to put my hard work into it and I don’t give a damn if it’s for a good cause.

Now buzz along, if you like. Or if you guts, snatch this blog and give it back to your old friend Siddy!

Happy April Fool’s Day XD

Photo Credit: Drunk Guy by Bistrosavage, on Flickr

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It’s weekend again. Time to look back at progress through we made this week. I said ‘we’ so you got to tell me what all you learned and what all you experienced. Is there any transformation you noticed in yourself? Some changes begin to occur? Do share.

Remember we had last week? There were loads of responses, and thanks for that.( If you have not taken it take it now, there are just 5 questions.) Most of readers described meditation precisely. It was so awesome to see that we all have really learned a lot.

But!…. I don’t Know How to Meditate

But there were many people who were not meditating. ‘I don’t know’ how was the biggest problem. Now, one can easily dig this blog to learn how to meditate. But those posts are scattered so I made a guide on ‘How to Meditate’.

This guide is for those who want to meditate but don’t know how. It’s still under construction; I need your help to complete it. Go through the guide and let me know if I’ve missed something, suggestions comments- all are welcome.

Please note that many articles mentioned there are not yet online and will be published in future. I really want to build something that you can refer to your friends when they ask you, “What happened to you? You are just calm and happy all the time!”

and you will tell them, “Ah! I meditate.”

And they will say “Wow! I wish I could do that…”

“Well why not?”

“I don’t know how!”

“That’s not a problem. There is awesome guide on internet on how to meditate. I will send you the link.”

Good freinds spread awesomeness, so we will teach you!

Here is the link to guide again.

Is that ‘guide’ something that you can talk about like this? Maybe not yet – that’s why I need your help to develop it.

Here is a small survey you cal fill up to provide a feedback or just leave comments.

Enjoy your weekend.

Namaste

Photo Credit: school friends by woodleywonderworks, on Flickr / UX Help by betsyweber, on Flickr / Phil and The Treasure Map by cameronparkins, on Flickr

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It’s been almost 150 days since launch of Meditation Rocks! In first 2 months I shared the progress of our journey with you but then I stopped doing it – it wasn’t a good decision. A blog is supposed to be a family and as a family we should know where we stand and where we are headed.

Please take this small survey to help us do better

Here are some stats from that show how much we have progressed:

• We’ve had over 75,500 hits, from 11 Feb to 11 March. That’s a real progress.
• We have 990 people following us on twitter.
• 270+ fans on facebook love us.

Join us on social networks if you have not already done that.

Most Popular on Meditation Rocks!

We talk a lot, don’t we? In fact we talk 5 days a week. And you are invited to talk as much as me (write a guest post). So here are our conversations that you guys liked the most:

1. 10 Most Inspiring People to Follow on Twitter: This post was so famous that I decided to make it into a page with not only 10 but more people who tweet inspiration on twitter. What do you think?
2. Ultimate Guide to Meditation with Music: We loved it! This was most rocking thing we ever tried, keep rocking.
3. 10 Greatest Meditation Secrets of All Time: they were real secrets.
4. Zen Story: Why you must throw it away: So you guys like stories eh? More are on their way.
5. 19 Awesome Places Where You Can Meditate: Thanks to Ryan for this awesome guest post.

Decision Time

I think real success of a blog is success of the blog as family. Your progress in your practice is the real success of Meditation Rocks! We are family, aren’t we?

Family takes many decisions. And it is time for us to take some together. Here are a few things that I think you should know and I want your thoughts on it:

How to Meditate eCourse

I’ve been working on it for quiet a while. It will be a free eCourse for those who want to start meditating but don’t know how. It will be delivered by email. If you want to help me out with this just take this little survey and ask your friends to do that too.

Content on Meditation Rocks!

Most content on ‘Meditation Rocks!’ is related to meditation. I was thinking of including posts about following things in too:

1. Buddhism, Buddha’s Sutra and Teachings.
2. Personal Development Related Articles.
3. Interviews with some awesome people.

Now they are not for me, they are for you. I want to know if you’d like to read that here on Meditation Rocks! or should we just stick to ‘Meditation’ and explore more about it. Go on and tell me what you think.

Some Other Stuff

Most Awesome People

I know you know but I will tell you anyways, I’ve added ‘Most Awesome People’ in sidebar where the people who comment most are displayed. If you have a blog or website and you’ve put it in there at time of commenting in relevant field, your name will link to your website. If you want your picture to display there, go and register with Gravatar.

Design Updates

I am constantly working on design of our blog to make it easier to use and fun to surf. Please let me know if you experience any problem with website.

Let’s Talk

Comment section is for you guys, use it. How would I know if you like or dislike something if you won’t tell me? Speak your mind there and as we progress with discussion, it will benefit us all.

Once change you will notice, the comment forum used to appear above all comments just below the author bio, but now it will appear at the end of all the comment so on your way you can read what other people have said and comment on that too. Discussion adds so much more value to content for all of us.

If you are reading this in your email, just reply to the email and it will reach me.

Special thanks to Ram and Ryan for being honest and helping me with progress of Blog so far. You guys rock!

I’ve blah-ed enough now I want to hear from you:

Photo Credit: The curve in the middle of the path …. its gone what do you think???

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This week I want share with you some of the best articles, from around the web that I really loved. I know you’ve plans but if you’d take time to read the one you feel attracted to, you’d have a new improved you for next week! And you know what that means? A happier and more vibrant – you!

Dealing with Dramatic People

We all have people in our life who just love to create drama out of anything. And it’s so hard to be around them, let alone deal with them. But my friend, Hulbert Lee, has a great piece of advice for us on dealing with dramatic people.

Email Sanity

Zen Habits is one of my favorite blogs. The guy has got just awesome advice on making life easier. When you read him first you think, ‘Oh! I might miss somehting.’  but you will never miss what you do not want -clutter. This week he shared awesome advice on keeping inbox under control. I am trying to follow it. Let me know how it works for you.

Burner Out

We all have those ‘work hard’ thing going on in our mind – which never works and we think we are at fault. So we work harder – until we burn out ourselves. Thanks to Ryan, for pointing out the early symptoms. If you see any one of these with you then be warned. If you do not start having fun right away, you will suffer demotivate and  maybe even disease.

Want to do More? Take a Week Off!

Steve Pavlina is one of the most reputed self-help bloggers around the web and why not? His advice is just brilliant. I am attracted towards his new go and take a week off after a week on advice. How about you?

Meditation Rocks! Weekly Recap

A brief recap of what we did this week. This week we didn’t share much. Just 2 post and 4 comments and 7 emails. Looks like you are busy, but I’d really appreciate a comment even if it says. ‘Liked the Post’ or ‘Disliked the Post’. But I know you are wise enough to leave a longer comment when you have time to.

I Love You

It was Valentine’s day and I said that I love you (I really do) and shared some tips on how we can love more.

Throw it Away

We all love stories. So this was a Zen Story which was all about emptying your mind to learn more.

If you are reading this in your inbox, just reply to this email and let me know what you think about out progress this week, ask a question or just let me know what would you like to read more about here on Meditation Rocks!.

What’s on your list? Did you read something awesome this week? Watched a good video? Share it here in comments!

Have a Great Weekend.

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Meditation is not some airy-fairy stuff that isn’t proved. In fact scientists are amazed by the wonders of meditation. It’s what even out latest science can’t explain. I, myself, am a science student and I know how wonderful it is.

So here is a recent interview of Matthieu Ricard, a French Buddhist monk with a PhD in molecular biology. He has participated in numerous experiments into the effects of meditation on the human brain.

New Scientist, a popular weekly science magazine interviewed him I think will love the questions and the answers. Here we go:

How did you become involved in the science of meditation?

The Dalai Lama often describes Buddhism as being, above all, a science of the mind. That is not surprising, because the Buddhist texts put particular emphasis on the fact that all spiritual practices – whether mental, physical or oral – are directly or indirectly intended to transform the mind.

Read the full interview here.

Do let me know what do you think of this interview in comments section. I know you will have questions and point of views, both of which I really enjoy and love so keep them coming.

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Now we are even more rocking! Yes, the new design is live. I know you already know that it is but I wanted to tell you so much more about the redesign. So here is all you need ter know…

More Rocking Design

I know selfless shame promotion… wait! I mean shameless self promotion but I love this new design. What do you think? I will keep on making some small amendments to the design but from now on I will be focusing on content and community building.  The new design is easier to read, navigate and more pleasing.

I am open to suggestions. Do let me know if you think we can improve on something.

Thesis Theme Framework for WordPress

I cannot tell you how awesome Thesis is. Only those who use it can know it.  Even my own official site is on thesis. Google’s Matt Cuts is on thesis. Thesis is one awesome theme framework which is Search Engine Optimized, Great Design, Ready-to-use out of box, great support, awesome features, highly customizable and what not!

If you have a blog on WordPress just go ahead and buy Thesis.  If you need Thesis Customization just contact me ( I am a freelancer web designer too).

Exciting Sidebar

Our new sidebar is full of features. – an eye-candy Subscribe button, Advertisement of our own awesome content (selfless shame promotion, again!) and much more. I’ve added new quote section where I will keep adding awesome quotes from around the world. You can suggest if you know any.

Enchanting Footer

Scroll to the end of this page and ye shall see what I call a true site base. We have tag cloud and much more. And one more exciting things –we are showing off our top commentors!

Related Stuff

You just read an awesome post and you want more. Don’t you? Wanting is a very good thing. Here the ‘Related Stuff’ green box will suggest you some more reading stuff. Or just click any of the tags at the end of article or from the ‘Tagged Cloud’ in footer. Voila! You have much more to read!

Share the Love

Love grows when you share it. So don’t forget to share your favourite article on facebook, twitter, orkut etc. Just click the icon of the site you want to share it on. Don’t have your favourite site in the list? Just let me know and I will try my best to put it there.

And more..

And then there is new menu, refreshed logo and much more is on it’s way. I am repeating myself – your suggestions are always welcome. I cannot promise that I will use them all. But when I will refresh the design – I will know the direction of it.

Report Problems

If you face any problem using the site, do let me know so I can correct it. For next few days I will be tweaking the site.

Want a Redesign for Your Website? Contact me and we will see what we can create.

What’s Your Take.

It’s your turn now – have your say and let me know if I’ve have missed something.

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A very Happy New Year to all the awesome readers of Meditation Rocks!

A new year, a new decade, a new day, a new life – it’s perfect time to be what you want to be, have what you want to have and yes – meditate. I personally spend last minute of 2009 and first 5 minutes of 2010 in meditation. How exciting is that? Year ling meditation!

So have you included ‘Meditation’ in your new year’s resolution? Here is a bit of help – a free wallpaper for you that will remind you to meditate.

You can download it here.

OUR New Years Resoultion

Here are some more resolutions that we could take as a community of meditators. What say? Well go ahead and give it a read. If you like them follow them (and lemme know) also you can add to them in comments section.

Communicate:

Information is everywhere. To tell you the truth, there are better sites out there who can give you more information on meditation. But what makes us different is that we interact. We as in you and me. So let’s keep the good thing alive- ask, tell, advice, help. Why not reply to someone else’s comment and start a discussion? This will take us long way and help the new ideas come to fruition.

Not only here, interact with your friends, family, work-mates … everyone. You will be surprised how many wonderful things unfold.

Share

Love increases when shared. So let’s share more. Share what you have- time, love, gratitude, knowledge. You will feel wonderful and new things will flow unto you. I cannot tell you how much I’ve learned after starting this blog.

So remember to use ‘Share the Love’ when you read an article on this blog, you can share link to the article on facebook, twitter, orkut etc. just by clicking on the icon of the site.

Educate

Education is must if you want to keep up with thoughts from leading edge. As in keeping up with that which is new. So read inspiring books, read blogs, magazines (good magazines) try and educate yourself on the subjects that interest you most.

So, are these resolutions worth following? Lemme know what you think in comments.

My New Year Resolution for Meditation Rocks!

And as a blogger I’ve some more resolutions for 2010. Here I will share them with you. Add to them if you want to:

1. Redesign Meditation Rocks! – DONE!
2. Complete Writing ebooks for Meditation Rocks.
3. Do at least 2 videos for Meditation Rocks every month.
4. Find a blog buddy for meditation rocks. Any applicants?
5. Talk to you guys more often.

This year is going to be awesome. Thank you all for the wonderful support you’ve given me all the time. Let’s rock this year.

Reminder

Use comment section and tell me how you like ‘our’ new year resolutions?

Is meditation in your new year resolution?

Do you like the wallpapers?

Say everything that’s on your mind. Don’t be shy!

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