Awakened Heart

Now is a time more than anytime that changes are taking place in our lives. We are evolving into much more aware human-beings, or should I say, most of us are. There will be some forever brain-washed and lost; but for those of us witnessing the changes, it is a time to be joyful and grateful and a time to seek out what tools we may use to continue our blossoming as a human race. As through our many experiences in life thus far as well as from reading philosophies and/or religious texts from across the board we can come to the conclusion that life is cyclical. When it pours, it rains, both good and bad; in theatre there is the 'comedy-tragedy' masks which signify that a play either symbolizes comical or melancholic human emotions. These masks were worn in ancient Greece in honour of the God Dionysus around 500 to 300 BC. In Buddhism, they believe that we humans are constantly repeating and turning in 'The Wheel of Life' and this never-ending suffering is called 'Samsara'. Christians believe that suffering that befalls us are in fact tests given to us to show how strong our faith can be.

There are probably many more theories from which one may conclude but what remains ultimately is how we deal with the constant situational changes that arise. For no matter where on the ladder of life you may be; how much success, wealth, fame etcetera that you may acquire the fact remains that life is not a smooth journey. Now just because it's an eventful ride doesn't mean we should toss our towels in or begin pulling our hair out! It just means we should learn different useful strategies with which we can survive whenever there is fear of our boats tipping over into the cold, tumultuous sea.

I had the pleasure of reading the book entitled "Turning the Mind into An Ally" (Dadsy recommended) by Sakyong Mipham which speaks about the essential steps necessary in stabilizing the mind as most times it can become our worst enemy. It goes on to reiterating the power behind meditation and its many positive benefits. Once we form an alliance with the mind then we are able to reduce the turmoil and suffering when it arises as well as becoming resilient after being taunted with this negativity we most times bring to ourselves; it is a way to be in a more peaceful state of bliss on a more frequent basis. I will leave you with some excerpts of the book, which I hope may inspire you as much as it did me:

"…It is fine to use spiritual practice to get what we want. People have always made offerings to the gods in order to ensure a plentiful harvest. It should be clear, however, that at the heart of this motivation lies the desire to please ourselves. The danger of this motivation is that we can trick ourselves into thinking that we're becoming less worldly when what we're really doing is distorting practice to fortify our comfort zone. This is a common pitfall, not a crime…"

"…We can create a Goldilocks zone out of our practice and hide there. We can become "spiritual junkies," motivated only by what makes us feel good. So much of what passes as spirituality these days is really about pleasure seeking, getting high. This self absorption disguised as spirituality only leads to more suffering. Real spirituality is getting grounded. Once we understand who we are, we can realize the needs of others and do something about helping them. Being grounded in who we are is known as basic goodness…"

"…We all want to be happy. No one wants to suffer. So the point of contemplating karma is to look at what causes and conditions come together to produce happiness, and what causes and conditions come together to produce suffering. Then we can point ourselves in the direction of happiness. If we're engaged in aggression and greed for the purpose of making our life better, the end result will be pain…"

"…Whenever we seek more self-satisfaction, we end up with more suffering, from minor to extreme. In every case the suffering results from some kind of selfish intent. We see that we've acted this way because we took our emotions, concepts, and thoughts to be real. Through the power of meditation, we also see that these emotions are fundamentally illusory and empty. We've sat through hours of being angry and hours of being desirous and at the end if was all like a dream. It becomes clear to us that this simple misunderstanding is working against our happiness and well-being…"

"…Compassion gives rise to love. Love is the wish for others to be happy, for them to accomplish whatever their mind desires – whether it's material or mental – whatever they wish for in order to be fulfilled…one who vows to develop his enlightened mind in order to help others…"

"…Meditation is how we prepare ourselves for death – and for life. Meditation is a process of becoming comfortable with our own wisdom, which is direct experience of the ultimate truth…If you want to be miserable, think about yourself. If you want to be happy, think of others. This is how you bring enlightened mind down to earth…Discipline in keeping our heart and mind open increases patience…Generosity dispels self-centeredness and the desire to consume, which obscure basic goodness and dampen our ability to love…"

I will say that this book was very easy to read and welcoming to people from all different backgrounds; it is good to gain insight and intellect, but it is even greater when we can put what we learn into practice; keep doing the right thing. Reach out and help or simply share a smile with a stranger, there is no better fulfillment or expanse of joy than spreading your love and positivity to everyone that you meet.

Bless up! J

Jair