You dont need to do big things to change the world, you only need to change yourself. Determination and positivity gives positive life experiences, and when many of us focus our thoughts in this way it inspires positive world events. The same happens when we think too much on the undesirable. Focusing too much on your distaste for 'war', for example, and the decisions surrounding it will never bring lasting peace. Although you intend peace, you also feed the conflict.
A love of peace and a demonstration, or manifestation, of peace in our own lives is a far more efficient method for lasting peace. The peace you create within yourself then inspires you to speak and behave differently which has immediate effects with the people that you come into contact with, and it vibrates through the web of collective unconscious minds, inspiring peace in other people and other places, that you don't even know or never even have been.
Overall, every person and every thought, emotion, idea and dream contributes to the landscape of humanity. There is no one more important or less important than you, only people with different roles. Everyone's presence aids to the collective consciousness. If we want the world to be different, each of our intentions contributes to the whole and changes it in someway, like creating a website changes the information content of the internet. Every thought, emotion, value is valid. However, consistency is the important part. If you want to see something change, take a look at your own mind and thoughts of what you are consistently projecting out there for everyone to see. Of course its hard and many people have to resolve personal suffering first in order to bring thoughts, attitudes and actions into alignment with what you wish to see. Individuality in this way is heroic as our values and personal validation really do reflect and effect society. We are all more powerful than we think we are.
Many people will look down on events that are undesirable, almost hating people for not doing anything to change things while never realizing that they themselves have a constant hand in their creation. Mindfulness of yourself is what I am trying to say. Being mindful is taking personal responsibility for your own life and for the part you play in the world. We are all separate pieces of inspiration to people all around the world. Who you choose to be impacts people you come into contact with, and through the web, the people you do not and the places you've never been.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Small Thoughts, Heavy Gravity
=Hope=
If anything has ever held me back in life it has been the concept of hope. I am realizing that hope is important for many people because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow we will be better we can bear a hardship today. But that is the most that hope can do for us - to make some ridiculous hardship lighter. But when I reflect deeper into the concept of hope, I see something pretty tragic. Since we cling to our hope in the future, we do not focus our energies and capabilities on the present moment, and thus life is literally flying by. We use hope to believe something better will happen in the future, that we will arrive at peace sometime soon..hopefully. Hope becomes a kind of obstacle. If you can refrain from hoping, you can bring yourself entirely into the present moment and discover all the joy that is already there...We must go back to the present moment in order to really be alive.
Western civilization places so much emphasis on the idea of hope that we sacrifce the present moment. Hope is for the future. It can not help us discover joy, happiness or peace in the present. I do not mean that we should not have hope, but essentially that hope is not enough. Hope can create an obstacle for you and if you dwell too much on it, we can not live entirely in the present, where we can find that joy and peace are inside of us and all around us.
=Essence of Cohabitation=
Every person has an essence. Our essence defines our existence, likewise our existence does not predetermine our essence. When it comes to living with someone in equilibrium and happiness, we have to see the essence of the person. Once we see it, we understand him or her, and there will be no trouble. We can live peacefully and happily together.
For instance, when we bring natural gas into our homes for heating and cooking, we know the essence of the gas. We know that gas is dangerous, it could kill us if we are not mindful. But we also know that we need the gas to cook, so we do not hesitate to bring it into our homes. The same is true of electricity. We could get electrocuted!, but we know the essence of the electricity. A person is the same way. If we do not know enough about the essence of that person, we may get ourselves into trouble. But if we know, then we can enjoy each other person to his or her full potential and benefit a lot from one another. The key is knowing a person's essence. We do not expect a person always to be a flower. We have to understand his or her garbage that is the foundation of the flower...
=What's not wrong?=
Why is it such a familar practice to ask..WHAT'S WRONG? For the lord's sake, doing this we invite all the painful seeds of sorry to come up and manifest 1 or 100 times over in that person. We feel suffering, anger, and depression, and produce more such seeds. We would be much happier with our relationships and with ourselves if we tried to stay in touch with the healthy, joyful seeds inside of us and around us. We should learn to ask WHAT'S NOT WRONG? and be in touch with this. There are so many elements in the world and within our bodies, feelings, perceptions, and consciousness that are wholesome, refreshing, and healing. If we block ourselves, if we stay in the prison of our sorrow, we will not be in touch with these healing elements.
Life is full of little things and instances compact with simple beauty, and many of us have to change the way we look at them to fully appreciate them. Like breathing for example. We don't need to wait until we have Asthma to enjoy our breathing. Awareness of the precious elements of happiness is itself the practice of right mindfulness. Elements like this are within us and all around us. In each second of our lives we can enjoy them. If we do so, seeds of happiness will be planted within us, 1 to 100 times over again. The only way to or to get something is through that something. The only way to happiness is happiness itself. Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine, a tree, the presence of a friend, numerous simple things. We don't have to travel anywhere else to do this. We can be in touch with these things right now...
If anything has ever held me back in life it has been the concept of hope. I am realizing that hope is important for many people because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow we will be better we can bear a hardship today. But that is the most that hope can do for us - to make some ridiculous hardship lighter. But when I reflect deeper into the concept of hope, I see something pretty tragic. Since we cling to our hope in the future, we do not focus our energies and capabilities on the present moment, and thus life is literally flying by. We use hope to believe something better will happen in the future, that we will arrive at peace sometime soon..hopefully. Hope becomes a kind of obstacle. If you can refrain from hoping, you can bring yourself entirely into the present moment and discover all the joy that is already there...We must go back to the present moment in order to really be alive.
Western civilization places so much emphasis on the idea of hope that we sacrifce the present moment. Hope is for the future. It can not help us discover joy, happiness or peace in the present. I do not mean that we should not have hope, but essentially that hope is not enough. Hope can create an obstacle for you and if you dwell too much on it, we can not live entirely in the present, where we can find that joy and peace are inside of us and all around us.
=Essence of Cohabitation=
Every person has an essence. Our essence defines our existence, likewise our existence does not predetermine our essence. When it comes to living with someone in equilibrium and happiness, we have to see the essence of the person. Once we see it, we understand him or her, and there will be no trouble. We can live peacefully and happily together.
For instance, when we bring natural gas into our homes for heating and cooking, we know the essence of the gas. We know that gas is dangerous, it could kill us if we are not mindful. But we also know that we need the gas to cook, so we do not hesitate to bring it into our homes. The same is true of electricity. We could get electrocuted!, but we know the essence of the electricity. A person is the same way. If we do not know enough about the essence of that person, we may get ourselves into trouble. But if we know, then we can enjoy each other person to his or her full potential and benefit a lot from one another. The key is knowing a person's essence. We do not expect a person always to be a flower. We have to understand his or her garbage that is the foundation of the flower...
=What's not wrong?=
Why is it such a familar practice to ask..WHAT'S WRONG? For the lord's sake, doing this we invite all the painful seeds of sorry to come up and manifest 1 or 100 times over in that person. We feel suffering, anger, and depression, and produce more such seeds. We would be much happier with our relationships and with ourselves if we tried to stay in touch with the healthy, joyful seeds inside of us and around us. We should learn to ask WHAT'S NOT WRONG? and be in touch with this. There are so many elements in the world and within our bodies, feelings, perceptions, and consciousness that are wholesome, refreshing, and healing. If we block ourselves, if we stay in the prison of our sorrow, we will not be in touch with these healing elements.
Life is full of little things and instances compact with simple beauty, and many of us have to change the way we look at them to fully appreciate them. Like breathing for example. We don't need to wait until we have Asthma to enjoy our breathing. Awareness of the precious elements of happiness is itself the practice of right mindfulness. Elements like this are within us and all around us. In each second of our lives we can enjoy them. If we do so, seeds of happiness will be planted within us, 1 to 100 times over again. The only way to or to get something is through that something. The only way to happiness is happiness itself. Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine, a tree, the presence of a friend, numerous simple things. We don't have to travel anywhere else to do this. We can be in touch with these things right now...
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Truth and Conundrum
I feel that some times reading and learning too much too early about our track record of societal ignorances on earth can make any one person miserly in the future. As can preferring solitude and or living alone. For solitude lets us see ourselves plainly and simply which essentially is a huge prerequisite to befriending, understanding and eventually loving that person we finally allow ourselves to be. If we are able to see ourselves plainly then we too should be able to see others simply as well. In this way I no longer can accept much dishonesty in my life, not from my relationships nor from myself, so I no longer tolerate it in others.
However the concept of truth has ambiguous effects in our relationships. I tell the truth as I see it because I feel I have to. It's a punishment and reward for coming to gather the strength and courage to face myself and those around me. However, there is some pieces of falicy when saying that people can't deal well with the truth, especially when it comes from others. This few will accept, much less embrace the absurdity of the human condition when its put there by someone else, the truth is something that we need to tell ourselves, to find in our own hearts which partly explains, why people take it occasionally in an offensive manner. Moreover, the offensive reaction of truth from others reflects our past and its success in telling us what we WANT to hear as opposed to telling us what we NEED to hear. Its evident our generations are shifting and going through radical changes of perspectives which gives me at least a glimmer of hope that lifetimes of holding it all in or being held in states of suspended animation, when holding back information that is crucial to the actual mental state and quality of that persons life, is slowing.
With this shift of perspective comes one of the most fundamental concepts to individual fulfillment, a strong sense of self-reliance. It assumes full responsibility of one's emotional well-being, rather than those attachments to work, friends, family, or any demands of society, and embracing our uniqueness and individuality for the majority is a hard thing to do and to accept. Sometimes to me it seems that people have drifted so far away from what they really are at heart and mind and choose run away from themselves, because the truth of their embodiment maybe isn't all what they expect out of themselves. For this I blame our mental equanimity of being brought up with a 'hidden' subconscious believe that our fulfillment lies in others, that whatever the cost, others are essential to the equation, that without them, our lives simply don't add up. I can't speak for society, but my value is my own. It comes from a deep emotional powerful conclusion that I hold to be true about myself that concludes my personal validation.
Overall, injecting truth and honesty into our interpersonal relationships and the relationships with ourselves has liberating effects, ones which bring us closer to ourselves and those people and things we choose to surround ourselves with.
However the concept of truth has ambiguous effects in our relationships. I tell the truth as I see it because I feel I have to. It's a punishment and reward for coming to gather the strength and courage to face myself and those around me. However, there is some pieces of falicy when saying that people can't deal well with the truth, especially when it comes from others. This few will accept, much less embrace the absurdity of the human condition when its put there by someone else, the truth is something that we need to tell ourselves, to find in our own hearts which partly explains, why people take it occasionally in an offensive manner. Moreover, the offensive reaction of truth from others reflects our past and its success in telling us what we WANT to hear as opposed to telling us what we NEED to hear. Its evident our generations are shifting and going through radical changes of perspectives which gives me at least a glimmer of hope that lifetimes of holding it all in or being held in states of suspended animation, when holding back information that is crucial to the actual mental state and quality of that persons life, is slowing.
With this shift of perspective comes one of the most fundamental concepts to individual fulfillment, a strong sense of self-reliance. It assumes full responsibility of one's emotional well-being, rather than those attachments to work, friends, family, or any demands of society, and embracing our uniqueness and individuality for the majority is a hard thing to do and to accept. Sometimes to me it seems that people have drifted so far away from what they really are at heart and mind and choose run away from themselves, because the truth of their embodiment maybe isn't all what they expect out of themselves. For this I blame our mental equanimity of being brought up with a 'hidden' subconscious believe that our fulfillment lies in others, that whatever the cost, others are essential to the equation, that without them, our lives simply don't add up. I can't speak for society, but my value is my own. It comes from a deep emotional powerful conclusion that I hold to be true about myself that concludes my personal validation.
Overall, injecting truth and honesty into our interpersonal relationships and the relationships with ourselves has liberating effects, ones which bring us closer to ourselves and those people and things we choose to surround ourselves with.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Body Schema
How often to we pay tribute to our bodies? I read recently something that for some peculiar reason impacted me...it said, 'The two most obvious things about human beings is that they have bodies and they are bodies.'
A sense of awareness, ownership, that your body belongs to you. Feeling movements, balance. Our abilities to locate ourselves, to sense our body size and shape and the awareness that our body has boundaries that separate us from other bodies and objects and within them lies countless mechanisms.
Suppose the human body is just a thing, a flesh and blood thing, but a thing nevertheless, an object, a machine. Like many machines, the body has its fuels and lubricants, its ways of relaying sensory information to and from the central processing unit, and the functions which it performs. Like all machines, it needs maintenance, cleaning, and maybe even some polishing up. This may be true of your body, but not mine. My body is a thing only up to a point, after which I start to take it personally. The pleasure and pain that emanate from my body are uniquely mine and no one else's and they establish not just a sense of ownership but a sense of being. I am a person by virtue of the fact that I am located in my body and nowhere else, and that body has a historical and physical location from which I can identify myself within the world.
I used to compare my body to a temple, as I can understand now, I was right. We have nothing much more to care for in our time than for ourselves and our bodies which serve as our mode of transporting and communicating with the outside world. It allows for perspectives for others, its all they can see and its all they can link us with, if not upon a fresh friendship. Our bodies are viewed in many many different ways throughout the day. Our posture at work, our position on a bicycle, our stance in line, our form, shape, fat, muscle, hair, and those things that we cloth our bodies with, which are mainly superficial. However, what's important here is to know that we need to create and craft our bodies into something we are proud of and that we love and we can embrace, our bodies should be cherished and loved.
Moreover, a sense of self worth or personal validation should not be greatly influenced by our expectations of external embrace, of that of our bodies nor of our mentality. Our value and sense of self worth comes from within ourselves, a deep emotional powerful conclusion that we hold to be true about ourselves...
A sense of awareness, ownership, that your body belongs to you. Feeling movements, balance. Our abilities to locate ourselves, to sense our body size and shape and the awareness that our body has boundaries that separate us from other bodies and objects and within them lies countless mechanisms.
Suppose the human body is just a thing, a flesh and blood thing, but a thing nevertheless, an object, a machine. Like many machines, the body has its fuels and lubricants, its ways of relaying sensory information to and from the central processing unit, and the functions which it performs. Like all machines, it needs maintenance, cleaning, and maybe even some polishing up. This may be true of your body, but not mine. My body is a thing only up to a point, after which I start to take it personally. The pleasure and pain that emanate from my body are uniquely mine and no one else's and they establish not just a sense of ownership but a sense of being. I am a person by virtue of the fact that I am located in my body and nowhere else, and that body has a historical and physical location from which I can identify myself within the world.
I used to compare my body to a temple, as I can understand now, I was right. We have nothing much more to care for in our time than for ourselves and our bodies which serve as our mode of transporting and communicating with the outside world. It allows for perspectives for others, its all they can see and its all they can link us with, if not upon a fresh friendship. Our bodies are viewed in many many different ways throughout the day. Our posture at work, our position on a bicycle, our stance in line, our form, shape, fat, muscle, hair, and those things that we cloth our bodies with, which are mainly superficial. However, what's important here is to know that we need to create and craft our bodies into something we are proud of and that we love and we can embrace, our bodies should be cherished and loved.
Moreover, a sense of self worth or personal validation should not be greatly influenced by our expectations of external embrace, of that of our bodies nor of our mentality. Our value and sense of self worth comes from within ourselves, a deep emotional powerful conclusion that we hold to be true about ourselves...
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