Welcome to the
seventh 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 discuss
what you do when you face obstacles
in your meditation. How do you get back to peace, when your mind
seems to be like a storm?
When you face suffering,
how do you use meditation to untangle your
life and to untangle your mind? How can meditating on your own
Self- Nature alleviate your suffering so that you can be free?
See our new e book, "Making
Your Wisdom Come Alive."
If you have questions
or comments please send an e-mail to:
michael@light-up-your-life.com.
We look forward to your comments and questions.
If you missed an issue
of our Newsletter click on:
http://www.light-up-your-life.com/Newsletter/newsletterindex.html.
First, here is a poem:
My mind is dripping in
the evening light,
a white glow that turns my thoughts back
to their source, as if they never came to be
to skim the milk of happiness off the pond
of life.
Now I bask in its glow
as it sets behind
the trees, turning orange, playing in the
waves for a while, then sinking to the
ocean's depth.
Will its gentle glow touch this mind again
and turn the thought's back home, where
they can ride the sun of bliss and play
forever in that land. And as those rays
do touch my mind I wake up and find
that paradise is here to stay.
Empty
yourself of everything.
Let the mind rest at peace.
Ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness,
which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
Knowing consistency is insight.
Not knowing consistency leads to disaster.
Knowing consistency, the mind is open.
With an open mind, you will be open hearted.
Being open hearted, you will act royally.
Being royal, you will attain the divine.
Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.
Being one with the Tao is eternal.
And although the body dies the Tao will never pass away.
The
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu
Translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English
©
Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English
One common question that
people ask is, "How can I get peace of mind?
With the kids yelling, deadlines at work, and my spouse shouting at me,
how can I ever get peace of mind?" "When I finally sit down for a
few
minutes to meditate all I can think about is the fight I had with my boss
yesterday, or what I have to do today."
Now I said that by meditating
on the Wisdom and Joy at your own center,
you can be free from suffering. Let's put this assertion to a real test. Can
my assertion really hold up to the stress of everyday life?
Generally your mind thinks
in "duality." That means your mind thinks in
terms of opposites. For example you know a small hill because you've
seen a large mountain. You know an infinitesimally small insect because
you've seen a humongously large bug.
Similarly your mind imagines
how you are bound and it imagines how you
will become free. For instance it might say, "Now there are too many
thoughts running through my mind. In order to be at peace I have to calm it
down." or, "It's too noisy living in the city. I have to move to the
country."
Or it could say, "Now I sometimes get angry. I will know that I am free
when I never get angry." or, "Now I feel insecure. I will know I am
free
when I always feel self confident."
Now my question is what
if you can step outside of this duality? What if
you could look at your mind, your life, suffering and freedom in a whole
new light? What if you could see life as being full of surprises, where you
discover freedom by your direct experience, not by what you think?
You know that your thoughts
are in motion and that the world is constantly
changing. But what is the unseen part of your experience? The part that's
so close to you that you just miss it. This is your Awareness. This is who
you are and this is where you see from. Now you are aware of the
boundries of your body and you see the limits on your mind. But you are
probally not quite sure if there is limitations to your Awareness. At least
you know that it is expansive enough so you can see where your mind and
body are limited.
Now back to the challenge
how to obtain peace of mind in a busy, noisy
environment. As you might guess just trying to get rid of thoughts is very
difficult. Even if you succeeded you would only produce a very fragile
state.
The tinniest shift in your
environment can blow away a quiet mind, let
alone some crying children, an exasperated spouse or a rough day at
work. I think that's why the Buddha warned against environmentally
based meditations.
A monk could sit in a cave
and be at peace and then take one trip to
the noisy city where he finds his years of meditation being blow apart
in an instant. When you look from any angle quieting the mind is an
arduous task with one big pitfall; the results are just temporary.
Now that you know this,
you can re-look at the usual methods that
people use to quiet their mind: watching their breath, chanting
mantras, running or walking fast etc.
Ok, you still want peace,
don't you? Just because I showed you the
pitfalls of trying to get peace of mind I didn't mean to imply that you
couldn't have peace. So now we get back to our challenge. How can
we find peace in a busy world?
Just notice the peace that
is already there. You find it in you innate
Awareness. Your Awareness is a lot bigger than just a few thoughts
in your head. In fact it encompasses everyone and everything in the
whole universe. And when the Universe disappears your Awareness
remains. This Awareness is what the Buddha called "The Buddha
Mind" and he said that the Buddha mind is your mind, or the one
mind.
In the Buddha mind your
thoughts arise, stay for awhile and then go
back to the place where they came. Although you see the moving
thoughts you miss the still, space-like, Awareness that they go
through. If you look closely you will find that the thoughts are
nothing but this Buddha Mind. This Awareness is the peace that
you are looking for. It is there when your thoughts arise; it is there
when they seem to bother you for a moment, and it is there when they
recede back into their source.
This is the peace that
passes all understanding. You did not create it
and you cannot destroy it. You experience it because it is you. It is a
feeling of coming back home.
You thought you could find
peace by doing something to your mind and
your thoughts. But what you didn't notice was that the whole universe
is moving through your mind. The crying of the child was just in your
mind. So was the irritated spouse and so was your reaction to them.
The insecurity and anger were also just in your mind.
That's why even though
I talk about the calm center I never give you
instructions on quieting your mind. From one point of view I see
that it would be impossible to quiet the whole universe, which is
just in your mind, and then again, I don't want you to try and imitate
the lasting silence that's yours naturally.
If you want lasting peace
don't try to do anything with your mind.
Rather look in a more expansive way where you are the space
that not only encompasses the mind, but also encompasses the
whole universe. Then you will find the peace that will support
you forever. And no matter what the conditions are in your life
you will be able to meet your challenge by remaining free and
at peace.
For more information on
finding your innate peace, your
Awareness, being and joy directly at its source,
click on "Making
Your Wisdom Come Alive".
"Making Your Wisdom Come Alive" is an e Book
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Often times we equate meditation with sitting. But most of us do a lot more
moving then sitting. Can we still meditate when our bodies are a few feet
higher and our eyes are a few millimeters wider?
Start by just looking at things afresh. We are so used to hopping into the
car or on the bike and rushing off to work that we miss seeing the sky and
the clouds; we miss the trees and don't even see the stream that we cross
and the unique buildings that we pass, and the sounds, smells and tastes.
Here we are living in a rich universe and we never take a moment to enjoy
it. If you just do this you will be astonished by how much your life will change.
You will once again appreciate the pictures on the wall and you will start
seeing your spouse afresh. You'll remember why you love her (or him as
the case may be). You will become a tourist even when you're at home.
People used to ask me why I don't travel a lot and I would tell them,
"I'm where everyone wants to be anyway." If you meditate like this
you
will see the richness in life and become a tourist in your own home.
You can, however, take this meditation one step further. Try to see the
space that everything is in; it is the space that you travel through on
your way to work. If you are used to just looking at objects you may
miss this space. Just take your time as this meditation is more subtle,
but if you continue trying to do this, you will start to see that the world
is not outside of you. That this space is your own Awareness and that's
what connects everything together. When you see that this world is just
your mind, the Buddha Mind, you will find an inside secret that makes
the people who know it very happy. Good luck in your exploration.
It is amazing how often we try to create our peace of mind when if we
took a direct look we would find that it is already there. The fruit is ripe
and waiting for us to harvest it, so we can eat to our hearts content.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments
at: Michael@light-up-your-life.com.
Sincerely,
Michael Gluckman