AI & YOU: Love it, Hate It, Or Indifferent?
Welcome to LeadingME® Wee Gems where we delve into the omnipresent topic of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is everywhere and we asked you four questions: Does AI fascinate you? Does it worry you or Do you perceive it as a threat? Are your feelings mixed? Or, do you simply not care? Your results are truly fascinating, and we’re excited to share them with you in this video. But if you prefer to listen, you can head to our Podcast https://bit.ly/AIandYOU_Audio. We’d love to hear what you’ve got to say. Reach out to us here in the comments section! 💎
Do Your Beliefs Limit or Boost Your Potential?
Embrace the LeadingME® mindset and embark on a journey from rational thinking to intuitive understanding. Discover your authentic self, not just what you think you are, but who you truly are at your core.
What Defines Leadership?
Leaders who are inconsistent in their words and actions are difficult to work with, right? If you are leading people, you must not only talk about your values and vision but also demonstrate them through your actions. We need to understand BEHAVIOUR and the role that RESPONSIBILITY has in changing behaviours. Our goal is to provide value and help leaders like you improve your skills and become more effective in your roles. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity to learn about LeadingME®… The New Paradigm In Leadership. Sign up now for your FREE Masterclass. https://bit.ly/LeadingMEWebinar1
Does Positive Thinking Actually Work?
Was there a time when you felt that positive thinking wouldn’t work for you? After the results of the poll came up, it will shock you why positive thinking does NOT work. Here’s the video explaining why and I’ll introduce you to ways that can work for you instead. Check out my webinar to find out more: Silencing Your Inner Critichttp://bit.ly/SilencingYourInnerCritic… #magsbell #leadingme #positivethinking
Let’s Talk Abundance
Everyone has an abundance mindset. The question is: where do you focus your mind? #magsbell #leadingme #weegems #abundance #lawofattraction #mindset #manifest #prosperity #manifestation #gratitude #affirmations #wealth #positivethinking #positivethinkingquotes #consciousness #opportunity #growth #selfawareness
Something Great is coming
Mags Bell Speaker
See Mags Bell Speaker In Action And Hear What Attendees Experience.
The Last Full Day of Vipassana Course…The Last Morning of Silence!
Awoke to the gong at 4am as always and realised this was the last full day of the Vipassana course…the last morning of silence. Wow, where did that time go! Today would be different from all other days on this course as today we get to break the vow of Nobel Silence. I really wasn’t sure how I felt about that, after all I had gotten to know these people through silence not conversing with them. Also for the first time in my life that I remember, I was very deeply conversing with myself. I had really enjoyed the silence, stillness and meeting Me. It was good starting to get to know all of Me. We started our day in the usual way 4:30am – 6:30am Mediation in the hall, followed by breakfast until 8am. We were back in the hall for meditation and discourse as S.N. Goenka’s words and stories helped us to learn and grow. He told us a story about the black stone. I had, had a question for my teacher in the first few days, that had not been fully discussed nor had I had a satisfactory answer, due to the lack of time to discuss. She had asked me to listen out for this very story that would help me. The Story Of The Black Stone This is a very brief and crude version of that story, that I give you…The Black Stone. A mother in India prepares a wonderful sweet dish for her young son. She puts it down to him and he looks at it and says, “I won’t eat that.” She asks him why and he says “it’s not in my own dish.” So his mother transfers the wonderful sweet food into his own dish and places it in front of him again. He says “I won’t eat that.” She asks again why he doesn’t want such a delicious sweet dish of food. He says “I don’t like that black stone in it.” His mother then says “that black stone is cardamon pod and makes the food taste so much nicer.” “I don’t like it,” explains the boy. “Then take the black stone out and enjoy this delicious pudding.” The point of this story rang true for me. Just because there was one part of the teachings that I was not understanding or not willing to accept, didn’t mean I had to through the whole technique out. Just as the boy not liking the black stone didn’t mean he had to through the whole pudding out. Just remove the black stone and enjoy the rest! Aha! I at that moment relished that I had actually already taken out that black stone, as I had forgotten all about the question throughout the course and just concentrated on the Vipassana technique. This was very unlike me…dog with a bone springs to mind! The learning for me here was, at times my mind holds onto things that really doesn’t matter and I was capable of letting go of the small black stone and enjoy the learnings of this amazing technique. Metta We also learned about Metta (self love, good will, loving kindness, developing unconditional love for all beings), which helps with gratitude, happiness and developing a pure mind. We learned that Metta is now being done for 5 mins after each meditation. This is a beautiful part of Vipassana, taking time for gratitude and sending out what you want into the World/Universe. Metta was now to be practiced after every sitting of Vipassana and it is a beautiful way to finish off a session of self discovery by focusing on others and all beings in this Universe. Giving thanks, being grateful, feeling deep joy and sending that out to the world. After this discourse, it was explained the Noble Silence was to be upheld in and around the meditation hall but that we could speak to each other around the rest of the centre. So Noble Silence was now, no more and we had about half an hour before our two hour lunch break at 11am. I sat in the hall as people headed out, I was one of the last to leave. As I stepped out of the meditation hall I could here people speak, laugh and it all seemed so loud. As I stood listening to what sounded like a gaggle of excitement, I realised I just was not ready to speak. So I headed back to my room, where I cleaned my living space and prepped myself to meet and speak for the first time to others in 10 days. This was really weird as I speak and present to people for a living, and find people really interesting, I had fully expected to be excited and looking forward to chatting and finding out more about these strangers, who I had shared so much with in silence. However it was the opposite. I really didn’t want to talk yet. I didn’t want to break this Noble Silence. It must have taken about 20mins before I was ready to start reintegration into normality again. A few people have asked me what my first words were. I hadn’t really thought about what I would say, it just came out. As I got ready to meet the people who had given me strength, courage and love through our time together in silence, I walked down the path, through the trees and came across three women standing on their porch. I looked up at them and with a great big smile I said “Congratulations Ladies, what a great experience and achievement we have all had.” They smiled back and returned the congratulations. We all knew what we had been through individually and now had great empathy of each other. I continued down towards the dining area as lunch would start soon and encountered a few more people, greeting everyone with a “congratulations.’ We all started to share, find out more about the the people we had just shared an extraordinary experience with
Snake Encounter Of The Penultimate Kind
As I entered the 9th day, the penultimate day Vipassana Meditation…in actual fact it was the penultimate to the end of the offical course but as the 10th day of the course ends late in the evening we have another day before we leave…I was feeling very balanced and I now truly understood what was meant by being centred. What encounters were left for me to experience? All through the course we had been sitting in our own designated spot in the same position for 10hrs a day. I had watched many people over the days add another meditation cushion to their place mat, trying to get comfortable and ‘cushion’ the pain. No matter how many cushions you sit on, it still feels like you are sitting on concrete or a piece of very hard wood. Decision made that morning was I’m going to go without my small cushion on my meditation stool, that I had sat on all the previous days, in hope that it would ease my pain. It didn’t really matter whether it was there or not, my arse was in pain. The other reason was, that I was not in as much pain as I had been and I reckoned that the stool would be just as uncomfortable without the cushion. I was right; the cushion made no difference but I was starting to feel way more comfortable sitting on it for an hour at a time. That’s what happens when you keep diligently working though your sankhara’s. On one of the morning sessions I came out of the hall on my own. I was heading to my room to do some Vipassana practice. I put my feet into my shoes and as I turned to take a step onto the path I abruptly stopped and took one step back. There in front of my path was a Green Tree snake sliding majestically across the tarmac right in front of me, minding it’s own business. All I could do was watch in awe! I have been living in Australia for over nine years and I’ve only ever seen four other snakes, one about 500 metres way, one about 100 metres away, two others on the road, all of them from either inside a building or a car. I’ve never been this close up to a wild snake before and it was beautiful. Knowing that Green Tree Snakes are not dangerous, and too be honest I don’t fear snakes, I just stood there memorised by this beautiful creature and the significance of its symbolism hadn’t eluded me either. Snakes symbolise transformation and new beginnings as they shed their full skin and transform many times in their life span. For me this gorgeous reptile was reminding me of my own transformation and the continual changes going on in my own human body…arising and passing. Anicca (imperminance)! I mentioned to the manager that there had been a snake spotted that morning, just to be alert. As I went about the daily routine and practice. Later we all came out of the meditation hall for our few minutes break. Some people headed to their rooms, others for a walk, me I always do a few stretches, had some water and took some time to just ‘BE’ with nature. As I stood at the same spot I had seen the snake that morning I took in the view and the trees. At that moment on the trunk of tree nearest me, there he/she was…the Green Tree Snake once more. About twenty five people had walked right past this tree, that was positioned just to the left and right outside of the meditation hall, and not one had noticed this beautiful creature pinned to the bark. It was about one and half metres long and just sitting pretty. I went down the path to the manager and told her the snake was on the tree. We both headed back to the tree and just watched as the snake lifted it’s head up and look straight at us, moved it’s head froward slightly and flicked it’s tongue to smell and feel the air in front of it. It was at a very safe few mertres away from us. We were both mesmerised as it then decided to come down off the trunk and make it’s way into the long grass. We followed it for a bit and then a few others realised we were watching something and guessed it was a snake as they asked the manager. About 8/9 people got to see that beautiful reptile make it’s way over ground to a safe haven. They witnessed their own symbol of transformation that day too. The deep appreciation for this technique was growing for me day, by day! Note: Vipassana (insight – seeing things as they really are) is a different experience for every individual, as we are all so unique and interpret the world around us and within us so differently. We have also had our own experiences in life that are unique to us. So this article is all about Mags Bell’s experience and self discovery through Vipassana.
The Marvels of Impermanence and Balance
At lunch on day six, after the learnings of the morning session on aversion and craving causing misery and suffering and the ignorance of the mind to reaction, impermanence and balance; I took a walk to the pond. Having looked in that pond for a number of days now, I could not see any fish. At lunch on day six, after the learnings of the morning session on aversion and craving causing misery and suffering and the ignorance of the mind to reaction, impermanence and balance; I took a walk to the pond. Having looked in that pond for a number of days now, I could not see any fish. I knew there must be fish in there, as it was such a wonderfully healthy pond. I also notice some pond skaters that sat on the surface but never once did I see them moving. So that day I decided to be very still and use my new technique to enable me to see what I’d been Utilising The Vipassana Technique There was no-one else around and as I stood very still. I felt a pressure sensation on my foot. I took my awareness and observation to that area and done a sweep of observation over it. Wow…as if by magic the pressure sensation disappeared; arising and passing (anicca). It’s at this point we usually move our feet to get relief from the pressure/pain, without thinking. The automatic response of our mind is aversion. This was amazing to observe and practice and I had my eyes opened watching the pond. Just at that amazing moment a tiny fish followed by others started to come out of their hiding places…wow. Then the pond skaters started skating around the surface and to top it all, a spider came down her web to have a look at her surroundings. It was a magical moment to realise that it was my stillness both on the inside and outside, that was allowing me to see things that were happy in that vibration of safety. I wondered away from that pond a very happy, balanced and very calm woman, understanding the power of human beings and the power of practicing this amazing Vipassana technique in purity of mind! Encounter Of The Marsupial Kind I wondered up the hill through plants and trees, marvelled as I often did, at the magnificence of nature and how good it makes me feel. I practice awareness/mindfulness everyday but today was even more special, as I was truly experiencing it from a different space. Walking up towards the meditation hall heading back to my room I saw a Kangaroo. They often grazed in this area and I had watched them on a number of occasions with my peers. A few days before, around 6:30, I had observed at a distance a Joey coming out of mums pouch, all gangly and trying to hop around then falling over. I had laughed inside at how ungainly it was and it had jumped out bobbed around and fell over twice. It was a wonderful sight to see. This time it was just one mother who was grazing on her own, which was unusual as they are normally together. You could see the Joey was in her pouch by the size and movement and also two feet sticking out. I walked up to the rail and lent against it as I observed her grazing on the juiciest and newest grass. She avoided all the weeds apart from one leafy one, which was obviously tasty. Clever girl! Again I could feel the pressure build up on my foot, also where my back was hitting the railing. Again I swept my awareness over those areas, as I keep watching this amazing marsupial. I was able to stay perfectly still and not have any pain build up. I found this fascinating and brilliant fun to play with. The Roo got closer and closer and closer to me, as I stood still with a great big smile on my face. I could easily touch her if I had wanted but I realised that to try and touch her was again just a reaction to a craving, so instead I just stood still with respect to this wonderful creature and moment. Then…wow…the Joey; who takes its lead from the mother’s vibrations to fear by either staying in the pouch or sneak a peek out, popped it’s head right out the pouch and looked right at me as if to say “who are you?” or “what are you?” I just had to laugh but I didn’t flinch. At that moment I cried for the first time on this course, tears of deep, deep joy! I was sure that I would cry and expected to be crying from day one from pain but this was with joy and it was day 6….wow!!! I decided to sit down beside these two and at that point mum righted herself, stopped chewing and looked right at me, while Joey sensing mum, popped straight back into the pouch. I looked away from them and sat in the grass right next to them, keeping my eyes averted, then mum resumed eating and Joey then appeared about a half a metre from my face. What joy! This was such an astounding technique on many, many levels including on a practical level. I stayed there for quite some time with mum and bub. Feeling blissful and blessed. An Aside With Fran & Anna As an aside, I had promised to tell you of the funny made up scene in my head, that involve the two women I called Fran & Anna. It was at a 5pm tea time one day when we only have herbal tea and if you were a new student you were allowed some fruit that was portioned out for you. I was sitting drinking my tea when I noticed Fran with a different sort of plate that had a plate lid too. I was intrigued as we were only allowed fruit? Fran lifted the