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.

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.

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.

Awareness

The Catlins, South Island, New Zealand

Our mind is designed to think continuous thoughts. It is easy for us to lose awareness of our current circumstance and be lost in thought. When we our lost in our thoughts, all of our feelings and actions will reflect the patterns of our thoughts. Unfortunately, the patterns of our thoughts are created by the conditioning that we have received since birth. They are based in fear. Since our thoughts are based in fear, all of our feelings and actions also arise from fear. This is why we are fundamentally frustrated in our lives. We identify with our thoughts and believe that they are our reality, and therefore, we are trapped in an existence in which we do not feel fulfilled.

We can break this cycle of fear-based actions by realizing that our thoughts are not real. They may or may not be true, but they are certainly not who we are. We are not our thoughts.

There is a much more powerful reality. We cannot stop our thoughts. However, we can become free and in harmony with our true selves by bringing awareness to them without judgment. Once we are objectively aware of our thoughts , they slow down and they begin to lose their power over us.

Let's bring awareness to our thoughts, feelings and actions.

Gratitude

Lettuce, Coromandel, New Zealand

The Buddha said that the cause of our suffering is desire.

We desperately want prosperity, love, and peace. Our desire is what is keeping these things from us. Our lives are a reflection of what we think, believe and feel. We attract into our reality what we think, believe and feel. We cannot change our reality by wanting. If we are in a state of constant dissatisfaction and desire, that is a signal to the universe to attract more lack into our lives.

In a state of gratitude for what is, we are open to receiving more abundance. As we attract, so shall we receive.

Let's be grateful.

The Body

Clivedon, England

The body is the instrument with which Spirit interacts with the material world. Just as the Infinite Energy Source is as real as the body, the body is as divine as Source. The more that the body is nurtured and respected, the more effective it will be in fulfilling our desires.

The elements of maintaining a healthy body are well established: nutritious fuel (more fruits and vegetables and less saturated fats and processed foods), exercise, and sleep and relaxation.

Once we fully inhabit our body, it will generally tell us what it needs. Also, by fully being present within our body, our consciousness is connected with Source and Source can freely express itself through us.

Let's respect our bodies. It is so much more than we think it is.

Freedom

Santa Fe, New Mexico

We are prisoners of our thoughts and beliefs. They are keeping us from happiness and fulfillment. Until we realize who we really are, we will unconsciously move through life, saying and doing what we were conditioned to do from birth.

We can find freedom and peace by moving our attention away from compulsive thinking and towards presence. Once we are willing to give up our judgments about who we are and how the world is, we will be able to live our lives in freedom. Our problems and our frustrations will dissolve. Every action that we take will be deliberate and in harmony with our true selves.

Let's surrender to freedom.