Everyday Zen

pp. 26-27 "So what should we do when the thoughts come up? We should label the thoughts... Until we have labeled for four or five years, we don't know ourselves very well. When we label our thoughts precisely and carefully, what happens to them? They begin to quiet down... I can't emphasize enough that we don't just do this three times, we do it ten thousand times; and as we do it, our life transforms. That's a theoretical description of sitting [meditation]. It's very simple; there's nothing complicated about it."

p. 42 "As we make this effort over time, more and more we come to value the jewel that our life is. But if we continue to stew and fuss with our life as if it were a problem, ... the jewel will always remain hidden."

pp. 44-45 "We learn in our guts, not just in our brain, that a life of joy is not in seeking happiness, but in experiencing and simply being the circumstances of our life as they are; not in fulfilling personal wants, but in fulfilling the needs of life; not in avoiding pain, but in being pain when it is necessary to do so. Too large an order? Too hard? On the contrary, it is the easy way."

p. 64 "False fear exists because we misuse our minds... this almost ceaseless mental activity entails a constant, uneasy evaluation of ourselves and others."

p. 79 "Practice is to be with... unease, distress. And this is the turning around."

p. 100 "We can be aware of irritability, annoyance, impatience. And such thoughts we can label. We can patiently do that, we can experience the tension the thoughts generate."

p. 107 "Day by day we all meet events that seem to be most unfair, and we feel that the only way to handle an attack is to fight back; and the way we fight is with our minds. We arm ourselves with our anger and our opinions, our self-righteousness... And we think this is the way to live our life. All that we accomplish is to increase the separation, to escalate the anger, and to make ourselves and everyone else miserable."

p. 108 "Finally we become willing to experience our suffering instead of fighting it."

p. 110 "So please be very clear with yourself about what must be done to end suffering;...We never do it by our complaints, our bitterness and anger; and I don't mean to suppress them. If they come up, notice them; you don't have to suppress them. Then immediately go back ..."

p. 112 "Even on the calmest, most uneventful day we get many opportunities to see the clash between what we want and the way it really is."

p. 117 "One way to evaluate our practice is to see whether life is more and more OK with us."

p. 126 "The aim of practice is to increase that impersonal space. Although it sounds cold — and as a practice it is cold — it doesn't produce cold people... it just means that when I look at another person, I look at them; I don't add on ten thousand thoughts to what I am seeing."

p. 131 "we're always thinking about how our lives might be (or how they once were)... The first stage of practice is to realize that we are rarely present: we're not experiencing life, we're thinking about it..."

pp. 137-138 "The biggest error we make in our life ... is to think that ... our life just as it is, with all of its problems, ... — has something wrong with it. And because we think that, we get busy... Our life is always all right. ... But since we refuse to accept life as it is, because of our preference for things that are pleasurable, we pick and choose from life."

pp. 146-147 "Instead of saying, 'I should not be impatient.' we observe ourselves being impatient. We stand back and watch. ...When we start working like this — which means to really observe our minds — we should see that we are constantly spinning dreams of how we should or shouldn't be or how someone else should or shouldn't be; ... of how we can arrange matters to get what we desire."

p. 157 "First, we need to know we're upset... If we're upset we have to experience being upset... And such experiencing is physical; it has nothing to do with the thoughts going on about the upset... If I feel that I've been hurt by you, I want to stay with my thoughts about the hurt. I want to increase my separation; it feels good to be consumed by those fiery, self-righteous thoughts. By thinking, I try to avoid feeling the pain."

pp. 158-159 "... develop through practice an acute awareness of when we are separating ourselves from our life."

p. 168 "In times of confusion and depression the worst thing we can do is to try to be some other way."

~Charlotte Joko Beck

Buddha Quotes 1

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.”

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”

“There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.”

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.”

“To understand everything is to forgive everything”

“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky”

“A jug fills drop by drop.”

“The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood.”

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”

“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”

“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.”

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others”

“He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.”

“To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”

“There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.”

“Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law.”

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”

~Buddha

"Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
but for the patience to win my freedom."

~Shantideva

"What I point out to you is only that you shouldn't allow yourselves to be confused by others. Act when you need to, without further hesitation or doubt. People today can't do this... what is the affliction? Their affliction is their lack of self-confidence. If you do not spontaneously trust yourself sufficiently, you will be in a frantic state, pursuing all sorts of objects, unable to be independent."

-Zen Master Linji

MINDFULNESS by Philip Shapiro

MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness: a way to stay open and ready for whatever life brings to us.

I am Awake

When the people asked the Buddha if he was a god, an angel, or a saint, he said, “No.” “Then who are you?”
Buddha replied. “I am awake.”

What is the Buddha trying to tell us? What is it that we are to awaken from? Why is it important to be more conscious?

This article describes the importance of awakening from ordinary to spiritual consciousness and how mindfulness, a 2500 year-old practice taught by the Buddha, can help us with this transformation.


ORDINARY CONSCIOUSNESS OR MINDLESSNESS

The field of awareness in ordinary states of consciousness is contaminated with a variety of negative patterns of thought, feeling, and reaction. We remain largely unaware of these negative patterns and how they prevent us from reaching higher states of consciousness. In mindless states of unawareness, we are hypnotized, functioning like robots on automatic pilot, sleepwalking our way through life.

The biggest culprit is the mind. The undisciplined mind disrupts our lives by taking us out of the present moment, where our life is at its fullest. The story of life is unfolding in the now, the place where we learn, enjoy, help others, find our courage, and experience inner peace.

The undisciplined mind reaps havoc on our peace. Repeatedly, the mind takes us out of our current moments when it does not like what is going on. It fights when angry, runs when afraid, competes when jealous, creates imagined calamities, and projects fantasies from its desires.

The mind is strongly attracted to the past and the future. While it is good to learn from the past and have hopeful plans for the future, the mind goes overboard in its replays and projections. We relive past hurts, resentments, and regrets, which only serve to recycle anger, depression, and guilt. Our projections of the future breed unnecessary fear and insecurity.

We build a rigid structure of selfish, dogmatic, overvalued thoughts, opinions, likes, and dislikes. We try to get our needs met by controlling and pushing events and people. However, the world does not conform to our egotistical desires; when things do not fit, we create new desires. Instead of working with what we have that is good, we escape into fantasy, to what we think we want next. The result is an increase in mental restlessness and turbulent emotions.

The mind is at its best when it accepts and works with one moment at a time. It is not set up for the excesses of attraction, aversion, high emotional reactivity, and the avoidance of problems all of which lead to restlessness and rumination, signs that the mind is overheated.

SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Mindfulness, an ancient technique of Buddhism, helps us manage our inner reactions to a turbulent and unpredictable world. We want to respond with poise and peace but all too often, our thoughts and feelings will not cooperate. While there can be no respite from troubles and pain, mindfulness helps us receive the tests and trials of life in calm repose. Practice of this simple technique helps us increase our attention and awareness so we can be awake and ready for anything. By avoiding the destructive excesses of the mind and emotions, we can receive what life brings with even-minded tranquility.

In the transformation to spiritual consciousness, we can bring the mind under control by placing it where we want it to be: in the current moment, awake, attentive, and ready. It is in this alignment that we are most able to learn, solve problems, relax, serve, and enjoy. We can enter this state by cultivating the witness as an antidote to the restlessness and ruminations of the mind.

The witness is an aspect of the higher self from which we can observe the changes of life with calm neutrality. Change is not the objective of the witness. We do not add, subtract, delete, or edit. We accept reality as it is while we change our frame and attitude. We focus on the stillness and silence within and the outer present moment. As the witness grows through the practice of mindfulness, we can slowly bring the dimensions of spaciousness and serenity to the events of life.

In ordinary consciousness, we identify with the stream of negative and disruptive thoughts, feelings, desires, impulses, and fantasies that pass through our awareness. With the practice of mindfulness, we create a space large enough to hold the negativity. In this space, we do not identify with the rubbish and therefore do not need to repress or express it, both of which are destructive. Instead, we go to the compassionate witness of the true self and create a healing space within. This is a furnace of sorts: here we can burn up the junk thoughts, feelings, desires, and fantasies that keep our consciousness from rising.

Love is more powerful than any of the wayward forces that traverse our consciousness. By invoking and affirming love and her consort qualities, we create an inner atmosphere conducive to healing. As our compassion burns up the troublemaking negativity, there is a corresponding shift to peace and strength.

Aligning the mind and attention with the present is a crucial element in the healing process. The next step in our spiritual evolution is in these moments. They hold the continuity of our story, a story pregnant with lessons, entertainment, and opportunities to produce, create, love, and serve. In the lower state of ordinary consciousness, we miss these opportunities because we are preoccupied with other fields of awareness.

To practice mindfulness, there is no need to make any changes other than the placement of the mind as we go about our usual activities. With practice, the mind remains calm and poised no matter what occurs in the material world. We remain in balance. We get the rhythm of the story. There is no force in it. We are ready for anything.

A MINDFULNESS TECHNIQUE

Steps:
1. Stop
2. Breathe
3. Present moment
4. Frame:

a.) Witness
b.) School
c.) Entertainment
d.) Service
e.) Warrior
f.) Ritual

5. Repeat
6. One continuous sacred ritual

STEP 1: STOP
The mind lapses into one of its negative habit patterns, drawing us away from the opportunities of the moment. We go for a ride on the negative thought train. Because we identify with the negativity, we think this is who we are. When we become aware that our mind is wandering, we stop thinking and focus on our breath.

STEP 2: BREATHE
Take a breath and gently bring the mind back to the reality of the moment. By simply becoming aware of our breath, we can stop the rambling mind and return to the present moments of our lives. This simple maneuver of using our breath to control the mind helps us develop our power of concentration. We develop single-minded consciousness by continually bringing our attention back to our breath, every time the mind wanders. With practice, we can stay increasingly in the present, bringing our mind out of its aimless spin, back into alignment with the present moment.

STEP 3: PRESENT MOMENT
We give our full attention to each moment. We focus on the stillness within, the present moment without, and on what we are doing.

STEP 4: FRAME
When we use the breath to calm the mind and place it in the present moment, we have an opportunity to choose from a variety of frames of reference for life, as it occurs. We cannot control most of what is going on outside, but we can control how we respond. We can choose frames that inspire, heal, soothe, purify, entertain, and transform. We can create any frame we wish. In this lesson, we will review six frames: the witness, school, entertainment, service, the warrior, and ritual.

THE WITNESS
The silent witness observes without reacting. The witness watches events unfold from a position of stillness and peace. With a single breath, we can invoke the witness. Here there is serenity, space, and observation. With the breath as a means of centering ourselves, we can begin the process of disengaging from our identification with the negative patterns of the uncontrolled mind. Instead, we create a peaceful and compassionate space large enough to hold all. Breathe and refocus on the calm witness early and often to reach for the peace and enjoyment that resides there, inhibited only by our undisciplined mind.

SCHOOL
Life is school. Students in the school of life study their inner being to learn about the self and its complexities. Mindful introspection allows us to see the distracting power of the forces that control us. Through continuous observation of the flow of our thoughts, feelings, desires, aversions, impulses, and fantasies, we come to understand ourselves better. We can see how our desires, fears, and insecurities cause tension and how, with the technique of mindfulness, we can release ourselves into stillness, spaciousness, and serenity.

When life gets difficult inside or outside, we try to get away. We run and resist by going into unawareness or fantasy. But the school of life is merely presenting a lesson that we need to learn. The teacher and the lessons are found in the moments of our lives. We cannot move up the chain of awareness without learning from them, and we cannot learn if we are not in school: that is, awake, aware, and focused on the present.

Allowing your mind to wander is the equivalent of playing hooky from school. In mindfulness, we do not fight with the teacher or run. We pay attention, listen, and cooperate in order to graduate to the next level. Peace is not found by running away; rather, we find peace by facing the problem or difficulty and going through it. Through the breath, we can enter rather than run from unpleasantness. By entering deeply into the present, we can extract the lessons and move on.

The goal is to stay calm and suffer at the same time. We can do this if we create a healing space large enough to hold any problem or pain. Then we can allow our painful problems to exist in consciousness without the destructive aspects of denial, repression, or expression.

Denial and repression drive our painful problems into the subconscious and into the body, where they are stored as negative energy. The problem remains hidden and unresolved. Destructive expressions of our pain manifest in a variety of ways, including exerting power and control over others, irritability, anger, and aggression. In effect, we spread our pain and problems to others.

Alternatively, we can cultivate an internal healing space for the pain. We can do this by invoking affirmations related to Love, kindness, acceptance, and forgiveness for ourselves. We set up a favorable environment for healing; these soul qualities are more powerful than any pain or problem. By being patient, understanding, and gentle with the self, we can learn from our problem and diffuse its charge.

When we let our pain and problems play in an enlarged, peaceful, compassionate space, negative energy is released that has been repressed over the years within our subconscious and the body. By accepting pain and problems with compassion, we end the fear of releasing negativity. By stopping the fight within, the tension of repression dissolves.

There is a profound feeling of peace when we turn the table on our suffering by offering no resistance. By fully accepting the inevitable suffering of life without repression and resistance, we gain internal power. When we gently and courageously enter our pain, we gain the knowledge and strength that will help us take on the next set of problems or lessons. This is pain control through surrender.

To shift gears from ordinary to higher consciousness, we need to think less, be aware of our breath, remain in the present, and accept pain as the teacher. Stay calm, be kind and gentle with yourself, and do the work. The result is strength, serenity, spaciousness, and stillness.

ENTERTAINMENT
The unfolding drama of life is not always about school and learning. Life is entertainment. Our stories are filled with beauty, joy, laughter, and fun. It is difficult if not impossible to see life as entertainment, however, if we are immersed in the drama, consumed by our problems and suffering.

By taking a step back from the role we are playing, we can take ourselves less seriously. We can do this by framing life as a movie or a sport. We are actors in a role, players in a game. By not identifying completely with our role, we gain distance and perspective. When we reduce our tendency to exaggerate the importance of events, we eliminate some mental restlessness and high emotional reactivity. When we calm the mind and create more operating space within, we can enjoy the show.

SERVICE
Mindfulness practice helps us escape the influence of negative thoughts and turbulent emotions. This helps us act with the consciousness of love and service, fulfilling our innate desire to nourish all who come our way with peace, kindness and joy. Gracious, warm, loving service to all of humanity and creation is a natural consequence of the sustained practice of mindfulness.

WARRIOR
The practice of mindfulness slowly replaces unbridled thoughts, feelings, and desire with serenity and stillness. Mental reactivity and turmoil subside. With a more powerful and resilient mind, the difficulties of life are less likely to throw us off course. We can deal with whatever comes and hold our ground. We do not have to run or hide. We can stay in the moment, take a stand, and hold our position. We are awake, aware, and ready for anything including work, pain, change, the unknown, even death. This is the stance of a spiritual warrior.

RITUAL
We spend a lot of time in routine daily activities: eating, strolling in the park, chatting on the phone, standing in line, cutting the grass, running to the store, baking, washing dishes, brushing teeth, tying shoes Е. There is meaning in any of these routines of life, but we miss it. Because we assume the mundane is boring, the mind wanders. We lose touch with the magic and miracles secreted in every moment, everywhere, outside and inside.

The practice of mindfulness brings awe back to the routines of life in focusing on our activities and creating a context of special meaning and importance. For example, we can appreciate the moments that might otherwise be lost in boredom by recognizing the Omniscience that is always with us.

Omniscience is the infinite intelligence that permeates our body and the entire universe. As we perform any routine activity, we can think of how the body follows our command when we tell it what to do. We can think of the unfathomable intelligence that creates and operates our vision and hearing as we go about our chores and tasks. When reading, we can think of the brilliance that allows us to understand these words right now. While eating, we can think of how the stomach and intestines digest food by breaking it into molecules that are sent to the right places in the body for energy, repair, immunity, and a host of other functions. When washing our hair, we can think about how the body responds to our commands.

The intelligence that creates and operates the body is phenomenal. We are magicians, performing astounding feats throughout the day but ordinary consciousness makes the miraculous mundane. To maintain awareness of the Omniscience that permeates the universe is part of capturing the wonder, magic, and mystery of being alive, in what might otherwise appear to be the humdrum of everyday routines.

We can start such a practice with any routine, anywhere, any time. By consciously looking for the positives inside and outside, we can find them. A blessing in disguise lurks everywhere; we must only work to uncover it. If we bring the full powers of a calm, concentrated, and positive mind to our routine activities, we can capture the blessings and make them our own. With breath, focused attention, and creative framing, we can extract the gifts of life: peace, joy, beauty, and the magic of being, from the most mundane activities.

STEP 5: REPEAT
It takes years to bring the mind under control. Expect it to wander from the present moment into its old negative habit patterns. Do not frame this as success and failure, as this will cause frustration and tension. When you go for a ride on the train of thought and find yourself back in a lower state of consciousness, remain kind, compassionate, and gentle with yourself. Stop, breathe, and reenter the moment with the frame of your choice.

STEP 6: ONE CONTINUOUS SACRED RITUAL
With practice, we can become increasingly aware, awake, and attentive in each of the moments of our lives. As our will power and concentration increase, we can begin to string the moments together. By maintaining our focus on what we are doing at all times, we learn to stay in the present more and more, even when life gets rough. We see that we can remain in reality whether it turns good, bad, or ugly.

When we recognize that all we have are these moments, that there is nowhere else to go, we gain strength and peace. When our concentration is highly developed, we can stay in the present and maintain harmony and balance no matter what life does. All of our moments become part of one continuous ritual in response to the truth of life just as it is, with all of its sorrow, beauty, and joy.

When we bring the unruly mind under control through mindfulness, we gain access to the calm witness, the student in school, the actor in the movie, the servant of humanity, and the warrior who is ready for anything. The witness remains even-minded under all conditions. When difficult or painful, life is school. We enter our pain to extract the necessary lessons. When life is entertaining, it is like a movie or a sport. When we frame life as a movie, we are observing the show or acting in a role. This gives us some perspective and protection from over-involvement. Playing with life as though it is a sport or game lightens our burden. We donТt take it so seriously. We are in service when we help others. We feel peace and joy. The warrior is ready for anything. The ritual transforms the ordinary and mundane to sacred and special. When we rotate these frames, life becomes one continuous sacred ritual, offering up its knowledge and lessons, entertainment and joy, and opportunities to love and serve.

BENEFITS FROM THE PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS

Х An all-purpose increase in awareness

Х Improves powers of concentration

Х Enhances the ability to stay on task

Х More present and calm

Х Better at listening

Х Removes debris and rubbish from our consciousness

Х Purification and healing

Х Helps us to accept the realities we cannot change

Х Helps us get some distance from our trains of thought

Х Stops the pursuit of negative thoughts

Х More compassion, love, and kindness to the self and others

Х Reduces mental restlessness and emotional reactivity

POINTS TO REMEMBER

Х We can practice mindfulness anywhere, anytime.

Х To be fully aware of all of the elements of our lives, we need to pay attention. We can turn every action into a mindful meditative exercise by giving whatever we are doing our full attention. Mindfulness is a walking meditation, or meditation in action.

Х The present moment is both the teacher and the entertainer. There are lessons to be learned and experiences to be enjoyed. Sometimes the lessons are painful. Other experiences are enjoyable and entertaining. Stay alert to get the most out of life, whatever the experience.

Х Stay awake and aware in the present moment, since it is in the here and now that life offers up its knowledge and lessons, entertainment and joy, and opportunities to love and serve.

Х The mind is geared to deal with the present. The past and future are too much to bear. There is more than enough reality here and now. Why add to the burden by leaning forward into the future or bending backward into the past?

Х Mindfulness is an exercise designed to increase our concentration and attention so we can be awake and ready for anything, including work, pain, change, the unknown, or death.

Х Highly developed intense concentration in the present moment results in a sense of flow, rhythm, harmony, and balance.

Х Mindfulness is a part of the performance of all of the spiritual methods described in this work. Attention, concentration, and awareness are part of all spiritual practice.

Х The peace, joy, love, power, and wisdom we are looking for is right here in the moments of our lives. However, we must be awake, aware, and focused; otherwise, restless thoughts, reactive emotions, and excessive desires will take us away.

Х Rather than being negative, panicky, or agitated when life gets rough, ride the ups and downs like a rodeo cowboy on a bucking horse. With continued practice of mindfulness, the restless mind, hyperactive emotions, and excessive material desires will not bump you off the horse.

Х Be compassionate, yet unencumbered. Give peaceful, joyful, loving service to all of humanity, and enjoy the show. With deep, sustained, long-term practice of mindful service and meditation, our inner space expands so that we can receive the harsh realities of life and maintain perfect peace and poise.

AFFIRMATIONS

Х I calmly embrace the present moment.

Х I invoke the witness, watching and observing.

Х I invoke the witness, still and silent.

Х I invoke the witness, patient and breathing.

Х I invoke the witness, serene and spacious.

Х Compassion is the fire that burns up my problems in the healing furnace inside me.

Х By steady absorption in the moment, I get to flow and rhythm.

Х I respond to the show with peace and poise.

Х I am kind and gentle with myself under all conditions.

Х I add love and compassion to every moment of my inner life.

Х I receive all events with gentle compassion for myself.

Х I live fully in the present.

Х I practice the presence of peace.

Х I live fully in the present where change and healing occur.

Х I am grateful for the blessings of entertainment and joy.

Х I am grateful for the blessing of suffering for its cultivation of soul qualities.


EXERCISES

1. What is the difference between ordinary and spiritual consciousness?

2. Describe the six steps of the mindfulness technique.

3. Describe and discuss the six frames of reference listed in step 4 of mindfulness practice.

4. Can you think of any additional frames that might help you?

5. Life is school. How might the practice of mindfulness help you learn the lessons meant for you?

6. Life is entertaining. How might the practice of mindfulness help you enjoy life more than you do now?

7. When completely immersed in the turbulence of ruminative thoughts, feelings, sensations, fantasies, and impulses, remember the witness, that place inside where there is stillness, silence, space, and serenity. When you are in turmoil, try these one-word affirmations:
Х Stillness
Х Silence
Х Spaciousness
Х Serenity
This may help you get through difficult times.

8. Be aware of your inner being, your body, and the sights, sounds, and feel of the environment. Look for the positives within yourself and in your present environment.

9. Always practice mindfulness with an attitude of compassion and understanding for yourself. Try this now.

10. To create a healing atmosphere for yourself, affirm Love and kindness. Try this now.

11. Meditation and mindfulness work in tandem. Both techniques reduce the excesses of the mind so it can be in alignment with the higher purposes of the heart and soul. Both techniques require one-pointed concentration. If you practice meditation and mindfulness, you will build a powerful control center at the very core of your being. Events, the doings of other people, and your own reactivity will not ruffle you because you have more space and strength inside. This takes time to develop. Begin your practice now.

12. The Sacred is with you all the time. Relax, open, listen, attune, and receive. Can you feel it?

13. Every action, no matter how mundane, is a part of one uninterrupted holy ritual. Offer every action in service to humanity and God. Then you will have strength, and you will know peace.

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewArticle.asp?id=19847

We Can Influence More Than We Think

Given enough time, courage and determination, we can modify, impact, transform and re-invent almost everything in our lives.

The Undisciplined Mind Can Make You Sick.

It is generally agreed in the medical profession that as much as 90 percent of health problems, or even more, are psychosomatic. Psychosomatic means that the mind (the psyche) wrongly influences the body (the soma), causing a health problem.

It all starts with fear. Fear is always interpreted by the body as a threat to life. Worrying about anything is a form of fear.

Fear causes the autonomic nervous system to prepare the body for fight of flight. There is wear and tear on the body adjusting to the fight or flight condition.

Wear and tear causes stress, and stress weakens the body's immune system. It is then that health problems begin.

In order to correct this condition, we must learn to place our mind in neutral. When the mind is in neutral, it frees the immune system to do its job, and that is to keep the body healthy by normalizing the abnormal.

Doctors and medicines to not heal; they help the body to heal itself. For some health problems, the mind needs to be placed in neutral once a day for 15 minutes. For other health problems, the mind needs to be placed in neutral two or even three times a day, for 15 minutes each time.

Learning to place your mind in neutral helps your doctors accelerate the healing process.

When worry triggers the "fight or flight" response, this activates the body's survival mechanism, causing stress, which in turn causes wear and tear on the body, and the wear and tear causes even more stress.

The autonomic nervous system (a body's survival mechanism) is composed of: the sympathetic nervous system, which accelerates the function of glands, organs, and organ systems; and the parasympathetic nervous system, which decelerates the function of glands, organs, and organ systems.

The autonomic nervous system should function according to body needs, but false fear sends false signals and can cause a gland, organ, or organ system to overwork. This results in stress weakening the immune system, and eventually results in a gland, organ, or organ system breakdown. This causes more stress, and the cycle continues getting worse and worse.

In lay terms, when worry or fear activates the fight or flight response, your heart beats faster, your muscles get tense, and your whole system starts working overtime.

When you put your mind in neutral at alpha, you cannot worry. This allows your
parasympathetic nervous system to decelerate the function of your glands, organs, and organ systems, and function only according to the body's real needs.

Some people develop a habit of wrong thinking that eventually develops into what is called a disease.

A chronic health condition can be the cause of a fixed pattern of thinking, holding onto false concepts. This condition causes the glands to deposit into the circulatory system the chemicals that cause the health problem.

When the mind does not interfere with the functioning of the human body, the body knows naturally how to heal itself.

You will accelerate the healing process when you are able to place your mind in neutral from time to time and combine this with any medication that your doctor has prescribed for you.

Sill Mind

When the mind begins to become still, we then begin to truly see it. When you first try to stabilize and pacify the mind, initially it will become very busy because it’s not accustomed to being still. In fact, it doesn’t even necessarily want to become still, but it is essential to get a hold of the mind to recognize its nature. This practice is extremely important. ... Eventually you will find yourself in a state where your mind is clear and open all the time. It is just like when the clouds are removed from the sky and the sun can clearly be seen, shining all the time. This is coming close to the state of liberation, liberation from all traces of suffering. ... The truth of this practice is universal. Anyone can practice this because this is the nature of the mind, the nature of everyone’s mind. If you can get a handle on your mind, and pacify it in this way, you will definitely experience these results, and you will see them in your daily life situation. There is no need to put this into any kind of category, any kind of "ism."

~Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche

The Greatest

The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

Dhammavadaka Wisdom

• Remember always that you are just a visitor here, a traveler passing through. Your stay is but short and the moment of your departure unknown.
• None can live without toil and a craft that provides your needs is a blessing indeed. But if you toil without rest, fatigue and weariness will overtake you, and you will denied the joy that comes from labor’s end.
• Speak quietly and kindly and be not forward with either opinions or advice. If you talk much, this will make you deaf to what others say, and you should know that there are few so wise that they cannot learn from others.
• Be near when help is needed, but far when praise and thanks are being offered.
• Take small account of might, wealth and fame, for they soon pass and are forgotten. Instead, nurture love within you and strive to be a friend to all.
• Truly, compassion is a balm for many wounds.
• Treasure silence when you find it, and while being mindful of your duties, set time aside, to be alone with yourself.
• Cast off pretense and self-deception and see yourself as you really are.
• Despite all appearances, no one is really evil. They are led astray by ignorance.
• If you ponder this truth always you will offer more light, rather then blame and condemnation.
• You, no less than all beings have light within. Your essential Mind is pure. Therefore, when defilements cause you to stumble and fall, let not remorse nor dark foreboding cast you down.
• Be of good cheer and with this understanding, summon strength and walk on.
• Faith is like a lamp and wisdom makes the flame burn bright. Carry this lamp always and in good time the darkness will yield and you will abide in the Light.

~Dhammavadaka

http://www.buddhistfellowship.org/bf_new/pages/interests/nib_poster_Dhammavadaka.html

Practice For The New Millennium

1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected to one another.

2. Spend 5 minutes breathing in, cherishing yourself; and, breathing out cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway.

3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc) or people you dislike.

4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you. These thoughts are very simple, inspiring and helpful. The practice of cherishing can be taken very deeply if done wordlessly, allowing yourself to feel the love and appreciation that already exists in your heart.

We Must Take Care Of Ourselves.

That means you, the readers, and us the bloggers, and all of those we hold near and dear. In the end, fuck money, fuck prestige—fuck it all...all we have really, is our health.

Detached And At Ease

I am already given to the power that rules my fate,
And I cling to nothing, so I will have nothing to defend,
I have no thoughts, so I will see,
I fear nothing, so I will remember myself.

Detached and at ease, I will dart past the Eagle to be free.

Awareness and Two "me's"

You may have noticed that sometimes it appears as if there are two different 'me's.

There's the me that delights in playing in the world - the one that gets caught in the daily drama of our lives. This is the one that has a ferocious appetite for anything it deems worthy of it's attention: an inflated invoice, a sporting event, another grey hair, tsunamis, sex offenders, AIDS, terrorism, the latest bug in my code, global warming, that last remark he made, corrupt governments, a favorite TV show, the pretty girl that just smiled at me and economic inequities. This is the one that creates expectations and then gets riled when life has a different plan, spraying our innards with toxic bio-chemicals in righteous indignation whilst simultaneously denying any part in creating the circumstances that catch us.

Then there's the 'me' that's not fazed by any of this. Maybe it's no more than a distant feeling calling us back when we get too lost in the play of life, or we recognize it again in those still moments when our masks slip and we allow ourselves to connect with someone. Although it's perhaps mostly forgotten, it's always there.

This is the Self that's largely unknown because our egos would rather be right than happy. Better to stick to the business of earning a living, raising a family, or serving the community than summon the courage to deal with the unsettling immensity of what reality might really be.

Instead of just thinking about this, let's see if we can experience these two ‘me's directly. Here's a little experiment that I'd like you to try. For this exercise I'd like you to become aware of your thoughts and not let the act of reading distract you. It may help if you record this paragraph and play it back to yourself, or get a friend to read it to you.

Please take a few moments now to let your mind relax a little.

Just as we can be aware of the feelings and movements in our body we can also step back from our thoughts and simply watch them. We are not normally aware of our thoughts - one thought arises which then leads to another and then another, until we become lost in our own world. But right here, right now, step back in your mind and simply be aware of your thoughts as they come and go.

Just watch them for a few moments, nothing more. Simply sit still and wait for a thought to arise and then just be aware of that thought without following it or attaching any meaning to it. This is something we can all do. Simply watch them come and go. Feels good doesn't it?

And just watch that thought come and go too.

Now, as we are doing this, simply be aware of who is doing the watching, the feeling of your own Presence. Who we think we are, our self concept, is in the realm of thought - those things that we are stepping back from right now and are able to watch. But who we really Are is who it is that's doing the watching.

You can see now that they are two distinctly separate entities. Who you really Are is the observer.

As you are aware of your Self watching your thoughts, recognize now that who you really Are cannot be known or deducted from thought. Who you really Are can only be known through this awareness, through direct experience.

This is a simple yet profound understanding that is easy to forget but will stand us in good stead later on.

So what was the point of this little exercise?

It may have seemed silly but it has an important purpose, - to help us see that who we think we are cannot be true. Who we think we are is bound up in thought - those things our real Self has just been watching. As we start to step back from our everyday thinking mind and allow ourselves to relax deeper into the experience of who we really Are we come to recognize that this true Self is far more intelligent, alive, creative, loving, resourceful and unlimited than anything our thoughts could even conceive of.

As we have just experienced, there is no effort or journey required to access the awareness of our true Self-just a letting go of our attachment to our thoughts and the changing world they picture so we can step back in our mind and relax - letting our attention rest in the experience of what always Is. This is so simple and easy it is almost universally overlooked.

~The little book of Flow

Meeting The Monkey Halfway

If you really want to resolve your problems, you must sit with them patiently until the solution reveals itself. If a solution doesn’t come, then it isn’t your problem and there is nothing you need to do.

Follow your gut feeling about what is right and do it! Do what you need to do with a willing heart and with all the energy you can muster.

Do the difficult and meet the challenge!

Patience is the most important element in “problem solving.” Action is next in importance. We usually get it backwards.

By continually putting yourself in the present, the future sorts itself out.

Focus on the big problems. Then, the small problems will sort themselves out.

Silence is a great asset. If you don’t have any in your life, be kind to yourself and create some. Silence is a form of mercy.

The best medicines are those that work gradually to restore the original balance of the body, such as herbs and homeopathic remedies. Medicines that are formulated to kill the problem end up overkilling it. Nature will not tolerate this type of problem solving, as it presents the same situation in another form.

Keep your body balanced and nourish it with healthy food.

Illness is more a warning than a problem. It is a signal that something is out of harmony.

Moderation and balance are a way to honor your life. On one hand, there is intoxication. On the other despair and depression. When you find the middle way, your life unexpectedly gets better.

Shocking but true: we are all going to die.

The less you take things personally, the more cool and at peace you will feel.

Be modest. Be content and grateful for whatever you have.

To get exactly what you need at precisely the right time, put yourself in a mindful and reflective state of mind. You will put yourself directly into the hands of the universe.

The way in which you do things is more important than what you do. The way we do anything is the way we do everything.

If you don’t do good, who will?

Can you be as happy when things are “just okay” as when life is “high”? If you can, you have passed the course.

Leave everything better than when you came upon it.

Be careful of overthinking. This can lead to total confusion.

Meditation is not just sitting on a cushion. Awareness of reality should be seamless, continuing on and off the cushion.

Future plans are built on banana peels. Cultivate an effort to do your best in the present without expectation. Be at peace with whatever comes up, whether it is cherries, oranges, or the big jackpot.

Remember: everything, yes everything, changes.

Unplug yourself from that which drains your heart.

Don’t feel stuck at red lights. Use them as opportunities for reflection. The red light is actually our ally. If life were all green lights, we would have run ourselves over the edge by now.

Peace means no trouble. Period. If you live peacefully, you don’t make trouble.

To connect to the present moment, take five deep breaths. Five deep breaths can take you out from under any heavy situation.

Five things to encourage awakening: 1) Don’t take things personally, 2) All situations are really lessons, 3) Be a student in every moment, 4) Exceed your patience barrier (i.e., feel the distress of impatience), 5) Listen to silence.

Subdue the fear of death until death is afraid of you. Fear of death is a cultural implant.

The harder you drive your life toward money and security, the harder it is to get enough of it. You can never get enough of what you don’t need.

Life is more about letting go than about grasping more and more.

~ Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu (“Meeting the Monkey Halfway”)

Mindfulness

In both child rearing and love relationships, we will inevitably encounter the same hindrances as we do in sitting meditation. We will desire to be somewhere else or with someone else. We will feel aversion, judgment and fear. We will have periods of laziness and dullness. We will get restless with one another, and we will have doubts. We can name these familiar demons and meet them in the spirit of practice. We can acknowledge the body of fear that underlies them and as a way t deepen our love.

Mindfulness is a technique that a person uses to become aware of their thoughts. It is similar to meditation except, instead of letting thoughts flow away, you bring them in and study them.

Part of the idea of mindfulness is to recognize thoughts and then be able to let them go freely. Many times people struggle with their thoughts when trying to meditate. If a person first practices mindfulness they will be able to train themselves to accept a thought, let it go, and move on. They will be able to stop their thoughts from ruling or controlling them when they are trying to reach that meditative state.

Mindfulness is recognizing that the mind is always thinking. Thoughts are constantly coming and they can really clutter up the mind. Mindfulness allows a person to judge these thoughts and get rid of the useless ones.

Usually done in a meditative state, mindfulness can be done whenever a person likes. It does not require sitting or being in a meditative position. A person can practice mindfulness while doing almost anything. It is simply the practice of recognizing and processing all thoughts that flow through your mind.

Inner chatter is very distracting. It is something that many people have a hard time dealing with. They may even be kept up at night because of this endless chatter. This is where mindfulness can be of benefit.

Being able to practice mindfulness gives a person control over their mind. It allows them to manage the chatter so they can gain mastery over their thoughts.

-Jack Kornfield

Taoist Meditation

An undisciplined mind keeps us from living in the present moment. Sometimes our minds run wild with uncontrollable thoughts. We lose sleep, cannot concentrate and sometimes stress ourselves – even to the point of becoming physically ill. While extraneous thoughts are unavoidable at times, if we allow them to consistently take control, we become habitually mentally lazy. Like muscles, our minds actually atrophy and become less effective.

When we’re unable to concentrate, we ultimately lose the ability to remain fully engaged in the moment, and our minds jump from one useless thought to the next. This mental wandering impedes our ability to live in the present moment, which is really the only place we will ever find contentment.

Think about it: the past is gone – and unchangeable. Memories of pleasant times bring sorrow because we lament the fact that those times are gone forever, and unpleasant memories are just simply … unpleasant. Yet the future is not a better place for our minds to be. It is unknown, unpredictable and is therefore a frightening place.

Unfortunately, Western values actually encourage us to focus on anything but the present. From a very young age we are trained to plan for things. Save for college, prepare for retirement, save for our kids’ college educations. If most of us were not so frightened of the future, and specifically of retirement, we might actually be able to decide on a sunny day that spending some time outside, enjoying the day with some friends, would be far more important then working in an office.

We constantly sacrifice the present in the hopes that there will be a payoff in the future. One of the most common reasons people give for having children is that they expect their kids to provide companionship and comfort to them in their elder years. Many people view rearing children as in investment in the future. Raising children requires a tremendous sacrifice of present time. In fact, people sacrifice the best years of their lives to provide for a person who may or may not return the sacrifice later on in life. In struggling to invest in children, people work more than they should. They spend more than they can afford. They have to do more and sacrifice more time, more of the present, just to keep up.

Many of us become overwhelmed and depressed worrying about the future and what it might bring. When that happens, people turn to psychiatrists and psychologists for help. They explain that that they are sad and frightened because they are fearful that they will not be able to meet their commitments and provide for the future of their families. They are bitter and angry because they feel isolated and used, unable to share time with anyone because they have none available.

The first thing a psychotherapist does when a patient sits on the coach is ask them to relive the miseries of their childhood. Reliving miserable moments never changed the present for anyone. In fact it, can sink a person deeper into depression. One problem begets another. Planning for the future brings anxiety; and in this culture, we turn to the past to relieve the stress. What we really should be doing is living in the present. Forget about the future for a moment and enjoy some time with yourself! Rest and listen to your body and your mind, and understand that you are discontent because you have become a slave to time.

Constant jockeying in time causes your mind to race, and it produces endless chatter in your brain. Your mind and body actually become disconnected and your unhealthy mind, out of control, begins to manifest its dire state physically.

As Taoists, we strive to harmonize our bodies with our minds to bring them together so that they may function as a holistic entity. We study martial arts and Qi Gong to train the physical vessel so that it will accurately execute the commands of the mental vessel, the mind.

A body free from the effects of an anxious mind is a stronger body. A healthy mind actually allows for a stronger immune system. A stronger immune system fights disease more effectively; and, with luck, we achieve the ultimate Taoist goal, to live longer and healthier lives.

To train our minds, we incorporate into the Qi Gong and Kung Fu regime a regime of mental hygiene. Most people call this regime meditation. Only through mental exercise, meditation, are we able clear our minds, eliminate distracting mental chatter, and free ourselves to find contentment in living in the current moment. Clear focus on the present also enhances our perception of the true reality and eliminates confusion. We are less apt to make mistakes and take actions in life that lead us from our paths when we eliminate or reduce mental confusion.

Meditation appears to many to be a mysterious, complex and esoteric exercise. When you ask some people how to meditate, they may simply say, “just sit quietly, clear your mind, become one with the universe, and meditate.”

This sounds purposeless, and mediation is purposeful. If you have ever tried to just sit quietly and let go of all thoughts all at once, more often than not, the mental chatter begins. You become frustrated and you believe that meditation just simply is not for you. It takes time, training and patience to learn how to sit quietly and control the noise in your head. You cannot simply say, “today I plan to clear my mind and focus on nothingness,” any more than you can say, “today I plan to lift three hundred pounds even though I’ve never lifted anything greater then fifty pounds in my life.”

If you want to meditate, you need to first train your mind. In learning Taoist meditation, you learn how to deal with the thoughts that distract you when you try to rest your mind. You begin to realize the mental and physical benefits of sitting quietly. You give your mind a break. You cleanse yourself mentally – because it is a refreshing thing to do. You simply feel better when you’ve eliminated your mental waste.

Meditation is an instrumental element in Taoist studies. As with any Taoist practice, we meditate because we achieve a tangible result. It improves our ability to concentrate and relax, while strengthening our immune system and increasing the body’s ability to heal itself. It improves the accuracy and flow of communication between the body and the mind. We acquire mental stress and fatigue through our daily interactions. If we don’t deal with this stress and fatigue, we can experience serious health consequences. We talked about discontent (stress) in the last newsletter and the effect it can have on our physical body. Because we acquire this stress and fatigue mentally, we must dispose of it mentally also – through meditation.

Taoist meditations are actually visualization exercises. They require strict adherence to procedure. With practice, the ability to concentrate and focus the mind improves and people achieve a greater result. It is like any other type of exercise: the more you do it, the better you get at it. This newsletter article is by no means intended to be an instruction manual on how to meditate! It is intended to introduce you to the concept that mental hygiene has a direct correlation to your health, and to provide examples of the exercises we perform as part of our mental hygiene program. By incorporating meditation in your life, you can feel physical improvements. Just remember that as with any new exercise, it takes a while to learn meditation: do not get discouraged if you are not good at it immediately and do not get discouraged if you lack the stamina to complete the exercise.

When we meditate, we first sit in a chair with our backs straight and our hands on our knees. A straight back, with a slight inward curve in the lumbar region to accommodate the natural curve of the spinal cord is incredibly important as it ensures the proper flow of blood and Qi throughout the body. We sit in chairs because, as Westerners, we have learned to be comfortable in doing so. It is also legitimate to meditate lying on your back if that is a more comfortable position.

We then place a candle on the floor and focus on it for several minutes, creating the image of the candle in our minds, to begin the concentration and relaxation process. In the background we play a soundtrack of ocean waves moving against the shore. Taoists believe the ocean to be the greatest source of Qi. The sounds in the background also aid in our visualization.

Once we have focused on the candle for a time, we close our eyes and bring ourselves mentally to the beach. We also bring the candle with us to serve as a link between the world of imagination and the physical world. It is important to create and hold the image of the beach in your mind. Over time, the quality of the visualization should improve. Try to see the sand and seaweed and the waves crashing against the shore. Watch the clouds moving through the sunlit sky.

Once on the beach we begin a formal relaxation exercise.

We start from the left toe and focus on relaxing every part of our body. We move from the left toe, up the left side of our body, then down the right until we end with the right toe. If we do not feel sufficiently relaxed after having done this exercise, we repeat it until we do. We start on one side of the body, as opposed to moving uniformly up the body because of the inherent structural imbalances present in the body. Most people wrongly believe that the body is a symmetrical organism. This is not true; you have a heart on one side of the body and not the other. One arm is stronger then the other. The body is not symmetrical.

Relaxation is incredibly important to your health and well being. What most of us consider to be relaxing activities are not necessarily relaxing at all. Activities like watching television can actually increase stress, especially if you are watching the gruesomeness of the nightly news or viewing something about which you feel emotional. Even sleep is not as relaxing as meditation. When we sleep, we dream, we toss and we turn and maybe grind our teeth. Many people wake up still feeling exhausted.

Only through meditation and consciously relaxing our bodies do we reach a desired state of rest. Through meditation, we focus our intentions on relaxing every muscle and cell in our body. You may find once you have relaxed you will feel aches or pains that you did not feel before. Perhaps for the first time you are “listening” to your body, and your body is telling you that there is something disturbing it. In mediation and relaxation you are becoming in tune with your physical self.

Cloud

Once you have achieved a state of relaxation, visualize yourself still at the beach with the candle present. You may be on the beach or on a cliff above the beach. Visualize a white cloud coming toward you. The cloud touches you and then permeates your body. As it passes through from left to right it takes with it a black substance, causing the cloud to become dirty and blackened. We literally visualize the stress, taking the form of a black substance, leaving our bodies through our skin. As the blackness leaves your body you then imagine it burning in a bright red flame. Now do this exercise for as long or as short a time as you wish. If it works for you, stick with it.

Golden Rain

Next imagine a golden-colored rain falling from the sky. As the rain makes contact with your body, it washes over and through the body, drawing out the black substance, and causing it to pool at your feet in a black puddle. After a sufficient pool of this black substance has gathered around your feet, again imagine a bright red flame igniting the substance and burning it away. The most important part of the exercise is that you burn away the black substance. Mastering the ability to burn is the first step in learning how to rid your body of the mental stress and fatigue.

We do this exercise for at least one hour per week – and more frequently if we can find the time. It aids immensely in helping us to learn to relax our bodies and quiet our minds. In order to achieve results, the mind must concentrate wholly on the task at hand. Intrusive thoughts only interfere with the result. Regular practice teaches us how to quiet the mind and how to deal with intrusive thoughts. When we meditate and thoughts enter in, we simply tell our minds to wait until “later” – and we keep saying it until the thoughts are gone. If the thoughts won’t go away, you can visualize burning them away. Do not be frustrated if thoughts return; it is a constant struggle, and even the most advanced practitioners of meditation struggle with thoughts. Meditation is actually an antidote for the fractured mind.

http://www.tao.org/CMS758/introduction_to_taoist_meditation.html

New You Is Possible

People may make themselves over and change their entire natures. This is not mere idle theory--but is a working fact which has been demonstrated by thousands of people.

We Have The Remedy In Our Own Hands.

The brain may be trained and cultivated in a manner incredible to one who has not looked into the subject. Mental attitudes may be acquired and cultivated, changed and discarded, at will. There is no longer any excuse for people manifesting unpleasant and harmful mental states.

We have the remedy in our own hands.

~William Walker Atkinson (Thought Vibration)

You Can Not Make Everyone Happy

You can not make everyone happy, and if you try to then you will end up being unhappy.

Making Tough Decisions

Is fear your problem?

At times FEAR is the thing that stops us from making a decision. You may recall times when fear has frozen you in your tracks. Some of the FEARS or False Evidence Appearing Real that regularly occur for some people are:

• Fear of making a mistake
• Fear of failing
• Fear of looking or feeling stupid
• Fear of rejection
• Fear of losing friends
• Fear of not being liked

These fears are always totally unfounded.

Maybe you're a worrier?

Worriers worry about things that will never happen. What a waste of energy! This is not to dismiss these fears, because at the time they are incredibly real. Any of the above fears can actually manifest into headaches, pain, stress or a multitude of physical ailments.

However, if we look at the real reason these symptoms appeared, it is sometimes started by an imagined fear, similar to those listed above. The more we stay in the moment and stop the endless chatter in our heads, the more clarity we have around decision making.

Dodging Pain

~an immense amount of fear is created as we spend our lives dodging pain~

Beginning To See

http://weblife.org/beginning/

Affirmations For Growth and Expansion

• I am the power, the master, and the cause of my attitudes, emotions and behavior
• I have perfect self-control and self-mastery in everything I do
• I have everything within me to move forward in life
• I move forward to my greatest potential with ease and grace
• I always experience “button pushers” as angels in disguise and opportunities for my growth
• I AM a center of pure self-consciousness and will, with the ability to direct my energies where ever I choose
• I embrace change with confidence, courage, trust and anticipation
• I love challenges and embrace them with excitement and anticipation
• I enjoy taking risks and growing
• Every day in every way I AM expanding my awareness
• I am willing to change and grow
• I enjoy change and stretching my boundaries
• Everything always works out for me
• I am creator of my destiny.
• I am conductor of the choir that is my life.
• I am writer, director and producer of the movie that is my life.
• I am responsible for all my actions.

5 Steps To Melt Any Mental Snowball

A mental snowball occurs whenever you allow negative thoughts to build up and race out of control. It’s the mental equivalent of your tires being stuck in the mud. The more you spin the wheels, the deeper you’re stuck.


5 steps to melt any mental snowball:

1. Write it down, write it down, write it down.

When you begin to snowball, immediately grab a piece of paper and write down whatever is going on in your mind at that moment. What exactly are you thinking? What exactly are you saying to yourself? The act of writing out your thoughts and clearly defining your snowball helps you focus on and destroy the catalyst for your negative thoughts.
Just “thinking things through” is unrealistic when your mind is racing and bouncing in a million different directions.

2. Identify the thought distortion in your snowball.

Mental snowballs are generated from unrealistic and distorted thoughts, often reflecting “worst case scenario” thinking. When you write out your thoughts you expose this thinking in black and white. Take a look at what you wrote in step 1. Do you recognize any of the following thought distortions?

§ Jumping to conclusions - without any credible evidence, you predict things will turn out badly.

§ Over generalizing - you view a single negative event as an infinite pattern of defeat, using such words as “never” and “always.”

§ All-or-nothing thinking - if a situation falls short of your expectations of perfection, you see it as a total disaster.

§ Mental filtering - you pick out one negative detail and dwell on it until you can’t see anything else, discarding any positive thoughts along the way.

§ Mind reading - you assume without any evidence or verification that others are reacting negatively to you, are angry with you, etc.

§ Control delusions - you either feel that you have total responsibility for everything and everybody, or you feel that you have no control or influence and you’re a helpless victim.

§ Emotional reasoning - you assume that things are in reality the way you feel about them emotionally.

§ Disregarding the positive- you overlook any positive occurrences or actions by insisting they don’t matter. Everyone around you may see that you’ve done well, but you may tell yourself it wasn’t good enough or doesn’t count.

§ Self blaming - you blame yourself for things that may not really be your fault, under your control, or your responsibility.

§ Labeling - you call yourself or others a global name when you or they make a mistake.

§ Personalizing - you assume that everything has something to do with you, and you tend to compare yourself negatively to everyone else.

3. Talk back to your distortion.

After identifying which of the distorted thoughts underlies your mental snowball, talk back to them and poke holes in the logic that appears to support the distortion. Come up with counter arguments, as if you were participating in a debate and your goal was to knock out your opponent’s position. Read your writing out loud. Respond to each assertion you wrote with one of the following questions or statements:

§ “How do I know for sure?”

§ “What evidence do I have?”

§ “What is the probability that is going to happen?”

§ “Maybe, maybe not.”

§ “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

§ “One day at a time.”

§ “Perhaps.”

§ “I’m jumping to conclusions.”

This step will help you identify whether you are accepting your thoughts as facts without first assessing reality.



4. Exaggerate the snowball until it becomes ridiculous.

Psychologist Albert Ellis calls this technique “awfulizing.” In your mind or on paper, exaggerate your negative thinking and extend your snowball to the most ridiculous degree. The inherent humor in exaggeration counteracts the physical effects of the stress and panic that accompany mental snowballs. If you can ridicule the snowball, it won’t have power over you anymore. You can do this one on paper, but it works even better if you have the courage to say it out loud to a trusted friend.

5. Attack the process of snowball thinking by asking, “What is this costing me?”

If you can’t identify any distortions, focus instead on the process of snowball thinking rather than the content of your thoughts. Ask yourself the questions, “What is it costing me to engage in snowball thinking? How does a mental snowball help my situation?” Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of snowball thinking. One person shared with me that he engaged in snowball thinking whenever he thought about his wife, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. He melted this snowball with the following thoughts: “My wife does have cancer, and I can’t change that fact, but the more I get worked up over this, the less I’m going to be able to be there for her. Also, the more she sees that I’ve lost it, the more she will lose it.” A powerful example that attacking the process itself can work in even the most difficult circumstances.

Remember, the goal is not to control every negative thought you ever have, but rather to control whether or not you focus on your negative thoughts and allow them to snowball. As one recent seminar participant told me, “There is so much snow in the world, and I’m surrounded by it, but it is so empowering and uplifting to realize I am in charge of what I let snowball.” Imagine what your life would be like if you melted just half your snowballs. What if you melted them 5 minutes faster than you used to? Give the techniques above a try and see what happens. Believe you’re in charge of it and you can do it!

Do Not Be Too Moral

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.

!Henry David Thoreau!