Sorry everyone for the silence, I was volunteering to be a counsoler at a Jr High Girls Camp and my phone could not tap into the weak wi fi signal. So instead of sending like what 8 days worth of Buddhist Principles at once ill just start the count where I left off and do them one at a time to not overwhelm myself nor those reading my posts =)
4 - Recognize the mental states that fill consciousness. Shift from unhealthy states to healthy ones.
Rolf Gates had written: 'I often lose sight of this. My practice becomes an obligation, a necessity, yet another thing to knock off my to-do list. When I approach my practice with this attitude, not only is it a whole lot less fun, but I am also missing the point. A fundamental principle of yoga is that the conjuction of the seer (us) with the seen (life) is intended to be educational. Our entire lives are one big lesson. In microsom, our time spent on the mat is meant to be an exercise in self-study, or svadhyaya. ... the divine spark, the magic, the beauty that we yearn for are our own. This is what we are studying, and the asana are our classroom.'
This just highlights an example of an unhealthy state of mind, where he had a poor attitude about what he was doing, he then recognized he was thinking this way and how it was negatively affecting him and his practice and then he made the choice to shift his mental state to a healthy postive one.
Sure i,or Google, could give you lists full of healthy and unhealthy states, but the main point is you know if how you are thinking is causing you or your experience or others around you to not feel your best|their best, then its apparent that the opposite mindset will give you and others the opposite reaction.
As Honey Nut Cheerios says: 'Bee happy, bee healthy!'
3 - When we shift attention from experience to the spacious consciousness that knows, wisdom arises.
'What could it mean to be beyond right and wrong, beyond good and bad? Wouldn't that just lead to chaos? What would be the principle upon which human beings lived? What would keep us from acting in unkind and hurtful ways? But of course, those kinds of questions come from the limitations of egoic consciousness, which is an expression of relativity. Egoic consciousness can't even imagine another state. All it can do is project its own understanding of another state, but it can never actually attain it. Spiritual awakening isn't for our egos. Its for our deeper, inner nature. Its for the source and substance of what we really are. ...
'Very few people understand what true nonseperation is, but this is the invitation that's offered to us in any moment: that who we are is everything and nothing, and far beyond them both. The Heaven we've been looking for is here now, that very place that we've been looking from. Of course the mind will say, "It can't be! What about all the pain and sorrow and suffering?" The dualistic mind deeply wants, and it deeply believes, that ultimate reality has to be something other that this, but of course, if its all one, then its all one, and it includes everything. It is not necessary that we continue to experience suffering, despair, and conflict. These things are merely the product of a state of confusion, of being identified with a very small piece of the mind.
'So its not necessarily a fact that life is destined to include suffering, strife, and sorrow, but neither is life made to be perfect and absolutely heavenly, because neither one of those are the truth. What's real is beyond them both. And when you begin to feel or even get a sense of what I'm pointi8ng to here, you might start to get a whole different view of the life of this moment. But you don't need to run away from anything, because there's nowhere to go. Here is the only place there is. Here is a wider vision, of our unborn, undying nature, of our essence and source as pure spirit. And here it opens even more, and goes beyond the greatest heaven we've ever experienced. It opens into the dazzling dark, into the greatest mystery of being, where the mind will always be bewildered.
'This may sound far off for some people, a place unattainable, a state made available only for the few, but I can assure you that it doesn't require you to change or to become different at all to know this firsthand. It only requires a willingness to stop. The more we stop and the more we let go, the more our consciousness naturally opens. ... ' - Adyashanti writes in his book 'Falling Into Grace'.
Even though he was not directly discussing this principle, I think it beautifully illustrates the point. When we shift our attention from experience (meaning human experience, or the human condition- looking at what we know to be 'real' and 'true' or day to day, our seperations and frustrations) to shift then to the spacious consciousness (the 'heaven on earth', the truth beyond our egoic 'knowledge' the purity of what and who we are, the 'heaven' and 'hell' alive and present all around us, within us, in the sky above and the water below, the truth in the fish and bird and all the life around us in the present moment, in the past and the future yet to come- the peace and clarity of our true divinity, of all that is divine in everything we 'like' and 'dislike', everything that is 'good' and 'bad') to take all this into the consciousness that knows (when we truly are Awake and its clear that everything is pure, and there is no more suffering) this is the ultimate wisdom that will arise.
When we shift attention from experience to the spacious consciousness that knows, wisdom arises.
1 - See inner nobility and beauty of all human beings.
Now this seems easy to grasp just in this one sentence, we think 'treat others the way you want to be treated', but its more than just behaving well or reframing from lashing out or being judgemental. The word Namaste means 'the divine in me sees the divine in you'. Its more than a bow or a handshake of respect. In Buddhist philosophy everyone is already perfect, we are all divine, noble, whole, complete, and perfect. Its not something we need to earn, or gain, or achieve, its already with us, in this moment, just the way we are. So to say 'i see the divine in you' is seeing the nobility and beauty of all human beings, to acknowledge and regonize that there is no shame, no fault, no good nor bad, we are all beautiful.
2 - Compassion is our deepest nature. It arises from our interconnection with all things.
First off, something I've been meaning to cover is the word 'interconnection'. We all have heard this from yogis, but what is it they are really trying to say? Am I a rock and a bird, and a car, a man and a woman and a child, all at the same time? No, its not quite that literal. First off, on an abstract, artistic level, you could say the above sentence is true, that in a way we are all these things. However, when we talk about innterconnection, its more like the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon. Example being, when we get a bag of chips from the store, we are not just grabbing a snack, the chips are not just food. They are a collection of the men and women who stocked the chips on the shelves, the individuals who transported the cargo, the people at the service stations providing fuel for the semi trucks and rest for the drivers, its the ppl in the shipping department loading the trucks and making the palets, the people who created the convayer belts that the chips pass through, the people working in the factory making the chips, inspecting them, packaging them, the owner of the business, the graphic designer of the bag, all the way back to the farmer who havested the potatoe and all the people I forgot to mention inbetwen, and then we are connected to the earth that the potatoe spuds grew from, the wild life that surrounded it, the changing seasons and weather that effected it... all of that was involved in satifying the rumbly in our tumbly.. that is the power of interconnection!
Now coming back to compassion, one its about our love, understanding, thanks and compassion to all those individuals and elements that fed us.
Bigger than that, compassion is our truest nature. We see films where destruction is the nature of man, but if you think about it, unless you have your nerons firing wrong or have a chemical imbalance, who can say that they feel most fulfilled and at peace and happy when they are enraged? We don't! We feel good when we do right by ourselves and others. Its true for all nature. Ever watch Discovery or Animal Planet or National Geographic? All these animals accept and nurture and take care of babies of other species, because they are young and need love and support. Humans are the same, with babies and animals or the sick and injured it more obvious and common. We do though have innate compassion for everyone, even those who have 'wronged us' or give us a 'funny feeling'.
I once read that in the 1800s or so men went out into the Congo with guns and received aggression from gorillas. Some other men studying the natural inhabitants were accepted into the family groups. When asked how they did it, they said that they did not appraoch them with guns. The point illustrated here, what we display, we receive. If we open our hearts to love, and really open, people will feel inspired to shine from your compassion, from your love.
The divine in them will see the divine in you from the divine in you seeing the divine in them...
Feelings vs. Feeling- A little shout out to Downtown Vancouver Yoga Center Shanti Yoga, as well as a post highlighting that we are not our experiences, and when we realize that, we are free to be happy.
Six Days, Seven Nights- if you don't create it, you won't find it. Happiness does not come from 'this' or 'that', its a choice, you are happy now, its just about learning to tap into it.
Yoga Reminder- 'its called yoga practice, not yoga perfect!'
Boy Meets World- A post about exploring our 'dark' by turning on the light.
Learning Our Own Responsiblity For Our Anger- Thich Nhat Nanh insights and reflections on our anger and learning to accept and overcome our self created suffering.
Whale Song- even whales repeat mantras.
AA + AA cont.- was the longest post to date, just felt like being brutally raw and honest about where I've come from to highlight that love and compassion, peace and understanding can come from any background, not just those that are 'cookie cutter perfect'.
Full of Life *^_^* - a post on my current events and being in Awe of the splender of life. All around everyday, everywhere we go, in everyone we meet and everything we interact with.
Freedom to be Free - a Nelson Mandela quote
Coming into the Light - a post reflecting how to condition ourselves to ditch the easy, not accepting limitations, and discovering our full potential.
Dalai Lama and Worry- a brilliant quote looking at stress and anxiety differently and instantly relieving ourselves of our worry.
Morning Clouds Roll In- another one of my creative writings- also serves as a reminder to everyone to just pause and take it all in every once in a while.
The Secret to NonSuffering- letting go of the illusion of control, and not being attached to any outcome - true satisfaction and utter peace is knowing we have no control and being ok with that truth.
26 Principles of Buddhist Psychology- something to reference for the remaining days of July. I shall be covering each one at a time.
Thank you for the love and support- my heart goes out to you all!
Rolf Gate quotes one of his student, here is what Amy L. Has to say about her yoga experience:
'I have had fibroystic breat disease. Within the first month of yoga, the disease-and all of the painful symptom.- went away completely. Emotionally, I felt as if I had lot go of something, and then I realized that my illness was completely gone. Yoga makes me feel more like taking care of myself, so I am more conscious of what I put into my body, and I am more present, more aware of how things are affecting me. I feel more committed to taking care of myself.'
I was listening to this song last month and got too excited not to share it today.. I know some people may not be a fan of Pop music, but it really is a beautifully perfect message, great video, and im even going to post the making of video because its a remarkable story.
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag, Drifting through the wind Wanting to start again? Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin Like a house of cards, One blow from caving in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep? 6 feet under screams but no one seems to hear a thing Do you know that there's still a chance for you 'Cause there's a spark in you
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework Come on, show 'em what you're worth Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh" As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework Come on, let your colours burst Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh" You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
You don't have to feel like a wasted space You're original, cannot be replaced If you only knew what the future holds After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow And when it's time, you'll know
You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework Come on, show 'em what you're worth Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh" As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework Come on, let your colours burst Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh" You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
Boom, boom, boom Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon It's always been inside of you, you, you And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough
'Cause baby you're a firework Come on, show 'em what you're worth Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh" As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework Come on, let your colours burst Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh" You're gonna leave 'em all in "awe, awe, awe"
Boom, boom, boom Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon Boom, boom, boom Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
