02.05.2014

A walk at the Port of Symi
Island, Greece
Be Awe – full
Look out on life with
amazement, not shock. The variety, the diversity, the
manner of every person, the beauty amidst the drudgery,
the contrasts, the opportunities, the heroism in the
lives of ordinary people, your gifts, your talents, your
friends - even just one friend - is all awesome. Live in
awe, and entertain wonder, and you will be knocking on
the door of true love. Don't kill it with cynicism or
criticism; don't sabotage your life with moaning and
complaining. Open the eyes in your head and the eye in
your intellect and choose to see the stunning, awesome,
diverse beauty of life happening around you right now.
Meet it with your heart and you will enrich and be
enriched in one single moment.
Shedding Off The
Attachment To A Positive Past
A very
powerful mis-identification (incorrect identification)
that each one of us indulges in, to different extents,
is identifying with our positive or glorious actions of
the past. This identification is so strong that almost
every day it comes to the surface of our consciousness
when we switch on the movie of this story of these
actions on the screen of our minds. By rehearsing this
story repeatedly we love experiencing the same emotions
and feelings that we felt at that time, emotions that we
had enjoyed very much. We not only re-experience that
pleasure but we also love to share the pleasure by
persuading others to see that movie by broadcasting that
movie in front of whoever we come across.
This is normally done in the form of words by speaking
about our professional or personal achievements, our
educational qualifications, our experiences, actions for
which we gained recognition, our history, etc., all a
thing of the past. But this is not talking about the
real self, this is just a story, thus it is a false
identification with something we are not. Every time we
indulge in this type of identification, we strengthen
the incorrect belief that we are talking about our self.
We believe the past is us. This is the incorrect
identification. If someone were to ask us to describe
ourselves in a few words, instead of talking with
humility about our spiritual self, our virtues, powers,
strengths, etc., which is the real self, we quickly
mention all of the above features of our past, thinking
this will give the other an impression of our
credibility. Even when we communicate with people over
email or some other mediums, we are quick to mention all
these things in our signature, etc. believing this is
our story and portraying that we are in love with it and
other people should identify us with this story as we do
and love us for the same. To remember and identify with
any memory of action that we created yesterday is to
identify with what we do. And we are not what we do.
(To be continued
tomorrow ...)
Soul Sustenance
Understanding Anger
What is anger and why
does it happen? It’s simple. Anger is a response to
someone who does not do what you want them to do, or who
does do what you do not want them to do. That someone
could be one individual or a group of individuals. It
could also be something, where a certain situation has
not happened the way you wanted, needed or expected it
to. As we watch the world events we become angry at the
actions of one nation towards another, one group towards
another, a few towards many, and many towards one etc.
This is because a) we are attached to the way things are
b) we identify with the pain experienced by one side and
feel that pain ourselves (in fact we create it in
sympathy) and our response is to become upset. Anger is
the emotion. What we do not see and realize is that we
only hurt ourselves, and we cannot help others who are
suffering from their own anger, when we ourselves create
anger in response.
Message for the day
The one who is
loving is the one who experiences freedom.
Expression:
The root of suffering is attachment,
because attachment makes one bound. To be truly free
means to learn to love and appreciate while remaining
independent. Others' state of mind or task does not
negatively influence one's own responses to the outside
environment. There is the ability to be free and express
one's own specialities without being coloured.
Experience:
If I cannot keep myself free from attachment I am
constantly experiencing suffering. Because I am
attached, I am dependent on someone or something I have
created a space for in my mind. When that person or
object is criticized, neglected or not with me, I feel
pain in my mind and I experience a sense of loss. Then I
am not able to be loving.
Going with the flow
Everything that comes to us, comes to us to pass on. Not
just the money in our pocket, but wisdom, objects,
ideas, even opportunities, all come to us, so that, at
the right moment, we can pass them on. This is called
flow. Being in the flow means being aware that the river
of life is flowing to us at every moment. It means
accepting whatever comes and putting it to good use,
before passing it on. Going with the flow means allowing
whatever comes to move on freely, without holding on in
any way. If we do not pass on, we are trying to block
the flow, and that's
when we feel pressure in our life. Pressure is always
self-inflicted. Every time you feel 'under pressure'
look at what you need to release and to pass on to
someone else. Once you do you can ...relax...again.