Saturday, September 25, 2010

Acceptance

Russell, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

The problem is not so much that we wish things were different than they are. The real problem is that we refuse to even accept reality as it is. We tell ourselves stories to justify the divergence between our beliefs about reality and how things really are.

Regardless of how cruel and horrible our lives may be, we must accept that they are what they are
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This does not mean that we have to be complacent. Once we accept reality as it is, if things are capable of being changed, we can take steps to change them.

Let's accept things as they are by looking at them clearly, without labels or judgment.

Friday, September 17, 2010

This Moment

Kamakura, Japan

We sometimes feel as though life is bearing down hard on us. We feel lost in desire, frustration, loneliness and despair. We believe that life is unjust and unfair. We think that it is possible to awaken and become enlightened, but it seems like an unattainable goal.

There is an idea which can lighten the load. Every moment is a new opportunity to change course and awaken. Even if we cannot bring ourselves to awaken in this moment, it is comforting to know that every moment brings a new opporunity. No matter how bad things may seem, freedom is just around the corner.

Let's bring our awareness to this moment. Let's start now.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Confidence

Dylan

We judge constantly. We judge instantaneously. We judge everything that happens to us. We judge everything we wish would happen to us. We judge others immediately. We judge ourselves relentlessly. We judge because we are insecure and have low self esteem.

If we are confident, it is unnecessary for us to judge. We judge to boost our ego, regardless of whether we are criticizing someone or envious of them. Our judgments prevent us from seeing clearly. Our judgments prevent us from being who we really are.

We believe that our judgments are absolute truth. Although they may or may not be true, they do not help us see clearly or enhance our lives. They only serve to reinforce our fragile egos. We cannot stop judging. However, by bringing pure awareness to our thoughts, judgments will fall away because we no longer need them.

Let's see things as they are, Not as we are afraid they are or wish they were.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Peace

Sedona, Arizona

"Choose peace" is a cliche. However, it is also a truth that can help us become more peaceful.

In any given moment we have a choice. We can be lost within our emotion and become the frustration, impatience, rage or hopelessness that we feel. Or we can bring awareness to our feelings, and experience the calm that is beyond thought and emotion. Once we are aware of our feeling, a separation instantly occurs between our Selves and the emotion and we realize that we have a choice. With awareness,the emotion soon dissipates. Isn't it reassuring that, no matter how badly we screw up, every moment is a new opportunity to choose peace and freedom?

When we are lost in the emotion, we tap into our unconscious conditioned responses and we can feel trapped within it for hours, weeks or months. To create awareness of our emotion at the time that we are feeling it, we can bring our attention to our bodies without judgment and without acting upon it. We feel the heat and want to react to it, but we just let it be as it is.
After a few moments, or at most a few minutes, it subsides. We have realized that we are not the anger and other emotions that we feel. We have become transcendent.

Let's choose peace.