Welcome to the
nineteenth
issue of Light-Up-Your-Life
Newsletter.
The aim of this newsletter is to guide you as you discover
the very source of Happiness and Wisdom. This source is
so deep that it is unaffected by the conditions of your
environment, your body, and mind.
In this issue we will show you the secret for lighting up
your life. You may be surprised to learn that knowing
less may be the answer to your problem.
For more
information read, Want to light up your life,
take another look.
And don't forget to read the last article in this newsletter,
A story that is not a story. Recently, after discovering
her freedom, my wife wrote this article.
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To learn more, go to: "Making Your Wisdom Come Alive"
for a guide that will take you to the core of the universe.
In “Making Your Wisdom Come Alive” we take you, step by step,
through the process of putting aside limitations, and waking up
to your own true nature, so that you can stand in this Freedom
and Bliss without interruption.
So don't delay your happiness and freedom. Get to the core of
life itself and live in peace.
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michael@light-up-your-life.com.
We look forward to your comments and questions.
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Master Bankei spent his life showing how easy it is to
become the Buddha. Here is a great example from
one of his dialogues.
A layman asked: "For years now I've entrusted
myself to the teaching of the old masters, [trying
to answer the question] 'Who is the one who
sees and hears? What sort of practice can I do
to find 'the one who sees and hears'? I've searched
and searched, but today I still haven't found him."
The Master said: "Since my school is the School of
Buddha Mind , there's no duality between 'the one
who sees and hears' and the one who searches for
him. If you search outside, you'll never find him,
even if you travel the whole world through. The
One Mind, unborn—this is 'the one' that, in
everybody, sees images in the eyes, hears sounds
in the ears, and, generally, when it encounters the
objects of the six senses, reveals whatever is seen
or heard, felt or thought, with nothing left concealed."
Bankei Zen: Translations from the Record of Bankei
Translated by by Peter Haskel , and Yoshito S. Hakeda, (Editor)
© copyright Peter Haskel and Yoshito S. Hakeda 1984
For more information go to: Bankei Zen
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If you feel that your life is dull or if you feel that you
want to get more out of life, then it's time to find your
beginner's mind.
That is when you take a fresh look at what you call life,
what you call your mind, and what you call “me”. You
will be amazed at what you find. The freshness and
excitement that you were looking for is right inside
of you.
Making a fundamental shift
What we are talking here is making as shift that will
fundamentally change your life. Breaking out of
assumptions or frameworks is called a paradigm shift.
It is surprising how often fundamental changes in
sciences and the arts come from laypeople, who don’t
know as much about the subject as the experts do.
The most famous example of this is Albert Einstein
who was just a clerk at the patent office. In his free
time he developed the theory of relativity which turned
the science of physics on its head.
Also Buckminster Fuller invented geodesic domes and
cars that were very advanced for his time. The reason
he could make inventions in such diverse fields is that
he looked at these fields with fresh eyes.
The reason that you do not go to experts if you want to
make fundamental changes is because they know too
much. Because they know so much they make too many
assumptions about the way things are and about what is
possible.
You're an expert at your life and mind
Now most of you aren’t experts in physics or car
designing. But you are experts on your life, on your
mind, and on who you are. What I am asking you to
do is give up some of this expertise so that you can look
afresh.
Even if you don’t believe another word that I say, if
you just look afresh, you will begin to make shifts that
will change your life at its core. Do you want to know
how large these changes can be? If you find your own
Self-Nature, you will find the essence of the universe
itself.
Is it true because you think it?
But let’s start small. How many of you, when faced
with a challenge think, “I can’t.” An example might be,
“I can’t find enlightenment, only the Buddha or Christ
can do that.” There is nothing wrong with thinking this,
but do you live by these thoughts?
Do you back off from the challenges that you face in
your life because of this little thought, “I can’t.” What
are you assuming here? Are you assuming that,
“Because I think it, it must be true.” Of course if you
dreamed that you were a green rabbit, you wouldn't
take those thoughts to be true, would you? So why do
you take the thought “I can't.” to be true?
Step out of frameworks
There are also frameworks that we live our life in.
An example might be that the world is a dangerous
place, so I have to keep my distance from people and
things.
To find these frameworks that seem to cause suffering
and limitation you can start with the results like, “I am
afraid of relationships.” Trace the results, which are
ways that you live your life that seem to cause suffering,
back to the cause, which could be your assumption
about the world being a dangerous place.
When you find these assumptions or frameworks, just
know that when you become conscious of them, you are
free of them. You don’t have to replace your current
assumptions with new or better assumptions.
Don't forget the big assumptions
While you are looking into the small assumptions and
frameworks that seem to create your suffering and
feeling of limitation, remember that you can also look
into the big assumptions too, like, what are my thoughts
anyway?
You may assume that you know what thoughts are, but
did you ever take a direct look? For instance, what color
are are your thoughts? Are they square or round? Do
they move fast or slow?
What is your mind anyway
Take a fresh look at your thoughts and see what you
find. Maybe the sense that your thoughts are solid
blocks is just another assumption.
Could it be that your thoughts are only the Buddha? That
the reality you feel belongs to your thoughts, comes from
the the Buddha and not from your thoughts? That the
freedom you are looking for is the essence of your mind?
Look for yourself and see if this is true. Maybe here you
will find the meaning of The Buddha Mind.
Freedom is hidden in the center of limitation
Perhaps the ultimate way to have an interesting life
that’s free from boredom and feelings of limitation is
to find the freedom of the Buddha or of Christ. Hidden
in what you now call thoughts or mind is the freedom
from limitation that you want. Take a direct look and
see if you can find this freedom.
We don’t need more experts in meditation. Become a
beginner again so you can look at things afresh. Look,
and right where you think there is a problem, you
can find your freedom. Then your meditations and
your life will take on a whole new meaning.
To find out more about stepping free from limitation go to :
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/wisdom.html
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If you think that this freedom is far away here is a note
from my wife.
“ Ok, so I let go of various ideas of who I am, seeing that
they are just concepts, and then I tried to take down the
sense of being a separate entity. However, suddenly I
realized that there is nothing to take down, because
even this sense of being separate is just a concept.
This feels like complete freedom and now my life is lived
from a different place. When I am with people, it feels
new, because I did not only lose all concepts about
myself, I also lost all concepts about other people. And
I can see the freedom in everyone. It does not feel that
there is me and others, we are all the same and share in
the same freedom.
I kind of feel like shouting it from the roof tops, that we
all are free. All that is needed is the recognition what is a
concept and what is reality. Thoughts are always dividing
and who we are cannot be divided. Thoughts do not have
an independent existence, they only make sense in
comparisons or oppositions. We are not a thought, we
are free.
With Love,
Brigit Ananya
P. S. I finally recognized the Truth of my last name,
Ananya, which I gave myself a while back. It is a Sanskrit
word, "A" means not and "anya" means separate entity,
so it means not being a separate entity, which is just a
concept.
Truth is so simple: We are not a concept, we are alive! ”
Please write your stories that are not stories and tell about your
insights and realization. I will gladly put them in this newsletter.
Right in the center of the problem you can find your freedom.
So, take a close look, and the problem will evaporate into
freedom.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments
at: Michael@light-up-your-life.com.
Sincerely,
Michael Gluckman