The Buddhist meditation masters know how flexible and workable the mind is. If we train it, anything is possible. In fact, we are already perfectly trained to get jealous, trained to grasp, trained to be anxious and sad and desperate and greedy, trained to react angrily to whatever provokes us. In fact, we are trained to such an extent that these negative emotions rise spontaneously, without our even trying to generate them.
So everything is a question of training and the power of habit. Devote the mind to confusion and we know only too well, if we’re honest, that it will become a dark master of confusion, adept in its addictions, subtle and perversely supple in its slaveries. Devote it in meditation to the task of freeing itself from illusion, and we will find that with time, patience, discipline, and the right training, the mind will begin to unknot itself and know its essential bliss and clarity.
What is the nature of mind like? Imagine a sky, empty, spacious, and pure from the beginning; its essence is like this. Imagine a sun, luminous, clear, unobstructed, and spontaneously present; its nature is like this. Imagine that sun shining out impartially on us and all things, penetrating all directions; its energy, which is the manifestation of compassion, is like this: Nothing can obstruct it, and it pervades everywhere.
"Glimpses" by Sogyal Rinpoche
The Four Agreements talked about replacing those old agreements and beliefs with four simpler ones: keep your speech impeccable, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions and always do your best. The simple exercise of consciously replacing bad thoughts with more workable ones is retraining your mind.
How many times have I gotten myself totally lost in a worry, dwelling on the thought until I thought I would lose my mind entirely, tying myself in knots, fretting about what would happen next?
Most of the things I worried about never happened!
Life moves on and for the most part, things have a way of working themselves out.
Of course, there are some things we can't ignore ... If our children are sick, it is our responsibility to stop what we are doing and care for them. It is in the way we care for them that we teach them they are valuable and deserving of care. We are teaching them to nurture others by our example ... and one day, they will grow up to nurture their children and those children will grow up to nurture their children ... One day our great, great grandchild will reach for a cup of mint tea to sooth their child's tummy ache and they won't even realize that we were the ones who served the first cup of tummy mint tea ...
One simple act of loving care will become a tradition, a source of comfort and a smile to generations of loved ones ... some of whom we will never know ...
There are other things we can't ignore ... things that demand our attention ... If we are in a car accident, the car will have to be repaired or replaced ... If a storm causes a tree to fall in our front yard, of course, we will turn our thoughts to cleaning up the fallen tree. If our pantry is in need of restocking, we go to the grocery store. If our car is low on gas, we stop and refuel. We have to pay for food and fuel so we get up everyday to go to work and all of these things are a part of the journey ... and ripe with opportunities.
Opportunities?
Let me show you what I mean ... Let's walk through a day ...
What happens when you get in a car accident?
What is your first thought?
Life moves on and for the most part, things have a way of working themselves out.
Of course, there are some things we can't ignore ... If our children are sick, it is our responsibility to stop what we are doing and care for them. It is in the way we care for them that we teach them they are valuable and deserving of care. We are teaching them to nurture others by our example ... and one day, they will grow up to nurture their children and those children will grow up to nurture their children ... One day our great, great grandchild will reach for a cup of mint tea to sooth their child's tummy ache and they won't even realize that we were the ones who served the first cup of tummy mint tea ...
One simple act of loving care will become a tradition, a source of comfort and a smile to generations of loved ones ... some of whom we will never know ...
There are other things we can't ignore ... things that demand our attention ... If we are in a car accident, the car will have to be repaired or replaced ... If a storm causes a tree to fall in our front yard, of course, we will turn our thoughts to cleaning up the fallen tree. If our pantry is in need of restocking, we go to the grocery store. If our car is low on gas, we stop and refuel. We have to pay for food and fuel so we get up everyday to go to work and all of these things are a part of the journey ... and ripe with opportunities.
Opportunities?
Let me show you what I mean ... Let's walk through a day ...
What happens when you get in a car accident?
What is your first thought?
Was it your fault? Are you mad at yourself?
Do you automatically blame the other guy?
Are you angry?
Are you angry?
Are you thinking about your next appointment (which you will be late for)?
Is your first thought to check on the safety of all the people in both cars or are you counting the costs in time and money?
What about the tree falling?
What about the tree falling?
Are you thankful it didn't hit your house or mad that it broke the sidewalk or ruined the shrubbery?
Do you think about who to call and what to do?
Do you think about who to call and what to do?
Do you make a list of things you will need to do to clean it up?
Are you mad?
Are you thankful that it was only one tree?
What about restocking the pantry?
Easy for some of us but daunting if you just lost your spouse and it was the thing they always did ...
Do you make a list of the things you have always bought or do you make a list of a few new recipes you want to try?
What about restocking the pantry?
Easy for some of us but daunting if you just lost your spouse and it was the thing they always did ...
Do you make a list of the things you have always bought or do you make a list of a few new recipes you want to try?
Do you have a favorite grocery store?
Do you like the comfort of knowing where everything is?
What happens when you run into a friend?
What happens when you run into a friend?
What happens if you run into someone you don't like so much?
What do you feel?
Are they any different really?
Your heart speeds up. You wonder what to say. There is a moment of discomfort right before you settle into conversation or the lack of conversation ... a smile or a nod ...
Stopping at the gas station is the same ... Seeing people you know and people you don't know ...
Each person, a trigger for a memory ... a woman could be wearing the same color jacket that your Mom used to wear ... another person might have the same color hair as someone you liked in school ... you might see a car like one you used to have ...
Do you grumble at the price of gas?
Does someone cut you off in traffic?
Does it make you mad? What if the one who made the mistake is you?
Stopping at the gas station is the same ... Seeing people you know and people you don't know ...
Each person, a trigger for a memory ... a woman could be wearing the same color jacket that your Mom used to wear ... another person might have the same color hair as someone you liked in school ... you might see a car like one you used to have ...
Do you grumble at the price of gas?
Does someone cut you off in traffic?
Does it make you mad? What if the one who made the mistake is you?
Work. The way we pay the bills.
Do you like what you're doing?
Are you doing the thing you dreamed about?
Would you do what you're doing now, even if they didn't pay you?
What about the people you work with?
There are always people we like and others we don't likeso much.
Some customers are a joy to work with.
Would you do what you're doing now, even if they didn't pay you?
What about the people you work with?
There are always people we like and others we don't likeso much.
Some customers are a joy to work with.
Other are a real pain!
We are supposed to treat them all the same, but do we really?
You know the nice ones get better service.
We are supposed to treat them all the same, but do we really?
You know the nice ones get better service.
Which one are you when you are on the other side of the counter?
Who can even count the fleeting thoughts and memories that pass through our minds as we wander through the day?
Who can even count the fleeting thoughts and memories that pass through our minds as we wander through the day?
How many times has one bad thought or one bad memory completely derailed a day ... Shoot! Even a bad dream could follow me through the day like a cloud full of lightning, just waiting to strike! Learning to quiet those thoughts wasn't a choice ... It was a matter of survival! When the things I worried about got bigger than my life, it was time to take another look at the things I worried about!
The Toltecs called those things that would consume us poison and suggest that eliminating the poison, one negative agreement at a time sets our minds truly free. We can choose to keep your speech impeccable, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions and always do your best.
The Buddhists talk about simplicity, mindfulness and compassion. We can choose to simplify our lives, consider something from both sides - the side we are now and the side we may be later, consciously accept that where we are is where we are and learn from THIS PLACE so that we can go to the next place, doing all things with COMPASSION for ourselves and for others because we are all connected in ways we can not even imagine.
As a small child, I remember hearing: whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4: 8-9)
Is it my imagination or do they all seem to have been saying the same thing? How many times did I have to hear it before I understood? Apparently ... the answer is as many times as it took for me to understand!
The Toltecs called those things that would consume us poison and suggest that eliminating the poison, one negative agreement at a time sets our minds truly free. We can choose to keep your speech impeccable, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions and always do your best.
The Buddhists talk about simplicity, mindfulness and compassion. We can choose to simplify our lives, consider something from both sides - the side we are now and the side we may be later, consciously accept that where we are is where we are and learn from THIS PLACE so that we can go to the next place, doing all things with COMPASSION for ourselves and for others because we are all connected in ways we can not even imagine.
As a small child, I remember hearing: whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Philippians 4: 8-9)
Is it my imagination or do they all seem to have been saying the same thing? How many times did I have to hear it before I understood? Apparently ... the answer is as many times as it took for me to understand!
I can choose my thoughts. I can choose my actions and reactions. When bad things happen (and they will), I can deal with them (to the best of my ability) before they deal with me! Once again ... I can say ...
God grant me the serenity to ACCEPT the things I cannot change ... the COURAGE to change the things I can ... and the WISDOM to know the difference.
(Serenity Prayer)
I always liked this prayer too ...
Lord, make me an instrument of your PEACE.
I always liked this prayer too ...
Lord, make me an instrument of your PEACE.
Where there is hatred ... let me sow LOVE.
Where there is injury ... PARDON.
Where there is injury ... PARDON.
Where there is doubt ... FAITH.
Where there is despair ... HOPE.
Where there is darkness ... LIGHT.
Where there is sadness ... JOY.
(Prayer of St. Francis)
My dear friend, I hope your path includes Simplicity, Mindfulness, Compassion, Acceptance, Courage, Wisdom, Peace, Love, Pardon, Faith, Hope, Light and Joy and much, much more ... Thank you for sharing this part of the path with me!
My dear friend, I hope your path includes Simplicity, Mindfulness, Compassion, Acceptance, Courage, Wisdom, Peace, Love, Pardon, Faith, Hope, Light and Joy and much, much more ... Thank you for sharing this part of the path with me!
Love and Light,
Taylor
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