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It is wonderful to read Dalai Lama's excerpt from The Book of Joy. Below is my reflection to it:
There is a wise saying: Prevention is better than cure. This wise saying can be applicable to physical pain as well as to mental and emotional pain. When we have physical pain we take pills to reduce the physical pain. A better way to deal with the physical pain is to find out what causes physical pain and to take actions to prevent it coming, by taking preventive measures to create physical immunity. Likewise, we can prevent or avoid our mental and emotional pain by knowing what causes difficult and destructive thoughts and emotions. And that way we cultivate our mental immunity. I have been suffering from physical pain for quite some time. In order to reduce my physical pain I take pain reducing pills. I also have consulted experts to discover the cause of physical pain and do whatever is prescribed to reduce the physical pain. I also apply other ways for managing my physical pain such as relaxing breathing and Yogic stretchings. I have learned not to dwell on painful thoughts and not to get obsessed with these thoughts. The same way I deal with mental and emotional suffering. I follow three steps:
Namaste!
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On the outer surface we all are different in shape, size, strength and in many other ways. On that level some may join hands with us in friendship and some may punch us, beat us or even kill us. But when we go deeper we can see the Reality, the oneness, Christ consciousness, the unitive consciousness, the cosmic consciousness. In that state the egoic mind which creates division within us and between us gets dissolved and we become children of God. That is essentially who we are. In that state there is no trace of fear or intention to harm. Sadly, most of us live on the surface and create walls of divisiveness and fight like cats and dogs.
Once I was driving with my family to do a workshop for counselors. It was a rainy day. I had to stop at a gas station for filling up gas. As I was about to get out of my car, there were two guys who seemed to be very angry and hateful. One guy came out of the car, cursed me and pointed his gun towards me. Something happened in my heart and felt for the guy pointing gun towards me. He must have picked up that feeling in me. He waved at me and left me unharmed. Awareness of the situation and remaining centered calmed him down. How I relate to the situation makes the difference. I responded to him with empathic awareness and did not react to him. With practice of mindfulness, I have been able to relate to difficult and sometimes dangerous situations successfully. From a spiritual perspective the outward differences fade away and a deeper sense of Reality of oneness shines within me. I have realized that treating others with loving awareness and kindness transforms us. I pray that we relate to others with the deeper understanding of our true nature. Namaste! What is consciousness? Do we reside in individual consciousness or universal consciousness? What happens when we break the intrinsic connection of oneness between our individual consciousness and universal consciousness? What blocks or breaks our perception and connection between our individual consciousness and universal consciousness? These are profound philosophical, spiritual, and scientific questions. According to my understanding and experience, both individual and universal consciousness are the same. We do not see and experience this union when we see ourselves and others including the environment with physical, mental, emotional and social lenses or filters.
I experience such Reality, such Truth or my True Nature when I get deeply connected with the Upanisadic Hindu prayer mentioned by Judith Blackstone. This prayer is an invocation to the Divinity or luminous light within to lead us from Illusion to Reality, from Darkness to Light. The prayer is in words. Experiencing the truth of the prayer removes the darkness of ignorance and separation and unites me with light of Divinity. As mentioned before, invoking the light of Divinity by daily morning prayers helps me stay on the path. Practicing Mindfulness Meditation and remaining mindful with loving awareness have been very helpful to me to know my real and true nature and stay on the spiritual path. Namaste! Based on the article by - Justin Faerman, I wrote my reflection below:
It is my experience and understanding that unconditional love can solve world's multiple problems on different dimensions of life: physical, mental, emotional, relational, natural and environmental. Love unites people regardless of external or outward differences. Love is sharing. Love is giving. Love is offering. Love is serving and nurturing. Love is connecting. In the world we live in, there is a lot of divisiveness. We need to find a common ground based on empathic understanding and compassion to respect people with different ideologies without fighting and hating. If we do not wake up the future looks very dismal and dark. Love can remove that darkness. I have friends with different political and religious ideologies. We have been able to maintain our friendship by having an empathic and open-minded and open-hearted stance. Differences do not create distances by empathy and compassion-the core components of love. It is not always easy to maintain equanimity and balance. If we do not maintain that stand life becomes a battlefield, causing a lot of internal emotional damage. I have learned not to give up but to persist with compassion and humbleness. What helps me stay rooted in love? As I have mentioned before, open- mindedness and open- heartedness, empathic understanding and compassion and humbleness help me stay rooted in love. Namaste! Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu monk, philosopher and author. Based on the excerpt from his talk in 1900, I am writing my reflection below:
My slavery or freedom depends on the state of my mind. My mind binds me, my mind frees me. Who controls my senses and my thoughts and feelings? My mind. Who is driving my life? My mind or my senses? If and when I let my senses be my master, my senses will pull me down into the ditch of all kinds of pain and suffering, If I let my mind be the master, I will be able to make wise and right choices. And this way I will be free from my compulsive thoughts and actions. Have I fallen into the ditch and emotionally hurt myself and others close to me? You bet! Being a human being I have fallen down and ethically done wrong things called sins for which I have paid the price for suffering. I have learned from my downfall and have learned how to rise up. I woke up from my dark and gloomy sleep. I am mindful of not repeating the same hurtful cycle of misery. There is always inner light for guiding me on the right path. I need to keep my inner eyes open. I need to remain awakened. What helps me develop an intelligence that goes beyond the senses and thoughts? The light of awareness keeps me awakened. Regular practice of mindfulness meditation helps my mind to be calm and clear. Reading, inquiring, reflecting, and implementing the wise teachings from spiritual resources and the weekly satsanga meetings have been very helpful to me for staying on the path of awakening. There is always hope, hope for finding and staying on the Divine Path! Namaste! This is a great Birthday Kevin! There are many wonderful lessons cited by Kevin and that makes it difficult for me to choose a couple of lessons. The one that applies to me is " Don't wait for the storms to pass; dance in the rain." This statement took me back to my little home town in Gujarat where I was born. On a hot summer day we were eagerly waiting for the dark clouds to show up and rain for hours. It was the right day and time for us to dance. And we keep on dancing until we got tired. Now I am old and I relate to this statement differently. I see the value of living fully in the present moment fully and joyfully. The present is the real time. Not to dwell on the past and be anxious about tomorrow. Now is the real time.
The second lesson "Your growth as a conscious being is measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have." I find it rather difficult to relate to conversation with people who have rigid and fixed different positions in politics and religion and are unwilling to keep their minds and hearts open. I try to remain open with them but it is hard to walk on one way street. I like to be astonished and that's a great way of aging wisely and gracefully. And such "wow" moments happen frequently for me. I see two little children running around in a grocery store near their mother. I look at them and smile. They return their smile to a stranger! Seeing a variety of colorful flowers in my backyard and birds singing song fills my mind with wonder and heart with delight. I have been practicing and teaching Mindfulness Meditation in my Zoom classes. Living mindfully offers many opportunities to us to view and relate to life as dancing in the falling rain. When we are not living in the present moment we miss seeing the rain falling, flowers blooming, children smiling and seasons of life changing. May we be aware of the power of presence, the only dance there is! Namaste! Wonder Increases As Speed Decreases makes me think slowly and deeply. I wonder how many times I slow down to see the sun rising and setting, the birds chirping in my backyard, or the flowers changing colors. We live in a fast moving world with a sign 'I Don't Have Time'. I used to slow down and relate to nature and human beings without rushing. I would pay my undivided attention to what was happening in the present moment and embrace it with wonderment. Walking on the fast moving lane I miss seeing the wonderful unfolding of natural beauty. I need to slow down to appreciate what David Haskell says " Wonder Increases As Speed Decreases." I have been learning the art of living, living fully in the present moment. Living this way I enjoy the wonderment of the present moment unbound by the past and the future. Daily practice of sitting quietly and letting revealed the joy and light of the now consciousness helps me to live fully.
Namaste! Here is my reflection after reading the poem by Courtney Martin:
There are two ways of learning and knowing. One way is reading, talking, and discussing and reflecting. The other way is knowing by doing, by experimenting and by experiencing. I use both ways. However I know from my own experience that real and deep learning happens by doing, by deeply reflecting with an unclouded and quiet mind. When I learn with an open, clear and quiet mind I learn from myself and by myself. Such learning has helped me walk in the right direction and that helps me how to "fish", how to get what is really precious and how to enrich my inner life. I have learnt from my experiences the way how to relate to life. Such learning requires an open and unbiassed mind. It requires quiet and clear mind and an earnest desire to let go what binds me and blinds me. Namaste! Below is my reflection to a thought provoking excerpt from Shannon Lee's "Be Water, My Friend".
We all need relationships to learn and grow. According to my understanding, there are two kinds of relationship: intrapersonal and interpersonal. How do I cultivate my relationship with me and my relationship with others? I mindfully attend to my inner world of thoughts, feelings and emotions and examine them with an open mind which helps me to arise and lift me up and what brings me down. In that way I face myself and learn from myself. The same way I keep my mind and heart open to receive feedback from others. This is the way I learn and grow. When I was participating in an encounter group, I learned about what blocks me from expanding my consciousness. There have been times I when I am blind to my inner world and actions. In the encounter group I saw my own blindness and that helped me to see the light. Open mindedness has been very helpful to me. Awareness what is happening in my mind and heart also helps me. I know this is an ongoing process and that helps me continue growing. Namaste! Below is my reflection after reading an excerpt written by Reb Zelman:
Faith is like roots of a tree. It is firm and steady, unwavering. Belief is like a leaf of a tree. It gets swept away by external forces and change colors according to seasons. Faith is like an anchor that keeps me grounded, steady and balanced in the midst of small and big changes in me life. Beliefs change as they are do not have firm roots. I may believe in some body in certain situation but not in all situations. I may believe in some one for some time and disbelieve and doubt at other times. I have faith in people in my life who love me unconditionally with no strings attached. I love folks in my life who serve people selflessly. This is divine way of living in this world. I have unwavering faith in them. And when I love them unconditionally they have faith in me. This is the divine way of living. and living this way fills the cup of my life joyfully and spiritually. May we all cultivate the divine way of living, living truthfully and faithfully. Namaste! |
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