"Kindness (desire to ease burden), Compassion (desire for well-being) , Teaching (nurturing growth), Love (unconditional acceptance) are linch pins for happiness." 3 minutes mantra, 8 minutes contemplation.
Kindness, compassion, teaching, love are aspects for happiness. I'm not sure this truth is accurate. It is an attempt to express truth that is difficult if not impossible to put into words. Does happiness flow from acting on these values, or do these values flow from happiness? I think these values flow from happiness. Though, the DL, says it the other way around. If it is as the DL says, then if one is alone, if one is left as the only living sentient being that can be happy, then you cannot practice these values. Therefore, I believe they flow from happiness. Happiness is at the core of our beings. We do not change from being not happy to happy. Our happiness is masked by our sufferings. This might be a question of the boundary of happiness being feelings or happiness being a state of mind or happiness being an inherent part of being human and it is just it's manifestation in feelings that we are aware of. I am convinced for myself that happiness is not a feeling or state of mind. It is my natural state. It is anxieties and sufferings that hide my happiness from myself. They are "unnatural" and stripping away the unnatural reveals the true nature. So, happiness is a state of mind, but it is the natural state of mind. Anxieties are a normal part of being in dealing with crises of our lives. But, they pass with the crises. You are a beautiful person inside with a natural state of happiness, that when apparently lost, is only covered by our fears and anxieties. This may all have an amount of bullshit in it because of the workings of the brain.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
"Happiness comes most strongly from making others happy." 3:00 mantra, 8:00 contemplation.
Happiness comes most strongly from making others happy. What does it mean for someone else to make me happy? It means to make be feel valued, to make me feel good and at peace with myself. The DL would have you make people happy through compassion and peace. My loving values are helping people with their well-being, their burdens, their growth and accepting them as they are. Why is it making others happy makes me happy? It means letting go of my pleasures and ego, letting go of the energy and resources I use for those things and directing them to others to share my loving values. And, it also means, making myself happy, by pursuing my loving values for myself in place of pursuing pleasures. And, it doesn't need to be in place, but in priority over. Pleasures are delighting in the universe which I think may really be our purpose instead of being happy. Being happy enables us to delight in the universe. When suffering arises, then it gets in the way of enjoying and delighting in the universe. Going back, turning towards making others happy helps us to let go of commitments we've made toward what we think are the things we're supposed to want to do for ourselves. Jeez, the words are hard to get here. We become wrapped up and dedicated to our ego that we become slaves to our ego and lose our freedom. We become slaves to that which we believe is the right way to be for the sake of being right and that serves no purpose other than to allow ourselves to live as children with adults dictating our every action. Living as children blindly following the rules of our parents and teachers chokes us from living as children taking delight in the universe.
Happiness comes most strongly from making others happy. What does it mean for someone else to make me happy? It means to make be feel valued, to make me feel good and at peace with myself. The DL would have you make people happy through compassion and peace. My loving values are helping people with their well-being, their burdens, their growth and accepting them as they are. Why is it making others happy makes me happy? It means letting go of my pleasures and ego, letting go of the energy and resources I use for those things and directing them to others to share my loving values. And, it also means, making myself happy, by pursuing my loving values for myself in place of pursuing pleasures. And, it doesn't need to be in place, but in priority over. Pleasures are delighting in the universe which I think may really be our purpose instead of being happy. Being happy enables us to delight in the universe. When suffering arises, then it gets in the way of enjoying and delighting in the universe. Going back, turning towards making others happy helps us to let go of commitments we've made toward what we think are the things we're supposed to want to do for ourselves. Jeez, the words are hard to get here. We become wrapped up and dedicated to our ego that we become slaves to our ego and lose our freedom. We become slaves to that which we believe is the right way to be for the sake of being right and that serves no purpose other than to allow ourselves to live as children with adults dictating our every action. Living as children blindly following the rules of our parents and teachers chokes us from living as children taking delight in the universe.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
"No one has any less or more right to be who they are." 2:30 mantra, 7:30 contemplation.
No one has any less or more right to be who they are. I'm not sure I believe our actions define who we are. They may be representative of our current state of mind. I believe we are loving creatures who want to be happy and that our states of mind get clouded by defenses mechanisms in response to how we've been treated. I'm going on here and rationalizing. I can't get socio and psychopaths out of my head. There are people who cannot feel empathy. Then, can they desire compassion and kindness, well-being, easing of burdens, growth of others and accept others? I don't know. I can only know about myself and project that on to others. I should read up on social and psychopaths. Of course, if I define how people can or can't be, then I am closing my mind to all the possibilities of how people can be. I cannot allow the picture of myself and it's projection on to others be a generalization of others. I can only say if you are like me, then maybe what is true for me is true for you. I try to share what I have learned. It may not apply to you as a unique and beautiful person different from myself. Drink of it and decide for yourself if it is helpful or not on your path of life. You have the right to be who you are and to be that person. Being a murderer, a lover, a rapist, a giver describes your actions, they are not representations of who you are. There is a question in my mind about what it means to be human. If someone is hard wired to murder and they cannot be changed does that mean they are a person who's being is fundamentally one who harms others. Can there be people who fundamentally have sin that cannot be overcome. I don't know. It is something to thing about.
No one has any less or more right to be who they are. I'm not sure I believe our actions define who we are. They may be representative of our current state of mind. I believe we are loving creatures who want to be happy and that our states of mind get clouded by defenses mechanisms in response to how we've been treated. I'm going on here and rationalizing. I can't get socio and psychopaths out of my head. There are people who cannot feel empathy. Then, can they desire compassion and kindness, well-being, easing of burdens, growth of others and accept others? I don't know. I can only know about myself and project that on to others. I should read up on social and psychopaths. Of course, if I define how people can or can't be, then I am closing my mind to all the possibilities of how people can be. I cannot allow the picture of myself and it's projection on to others be a generalization of others. I can only say if you are like me, then maybe what is true for me is true for you. I try to share what I have learned. It may not apply to you as a unique and beautiful person different from myself. Drink of it and decide for yourself if it is helpful or not on your path of life. You have the right to be who you are and to be that person. Being a murderer, a lover, a rapist, a giver describes your actions, they are not representations of who you are. There is a question in my mind about what it means to be human. If someone is hard wired to murder and they cannot be changed does that mean they are a person who's being is fundamentally one who harms others. Can there be people who fundamentally have sin that cannot be overcome. I don't know. It is something to thing about.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
"There is no absolute moral right or wrong." 2:30 mantra, 7:30 contemplation.
There is no absolute moral right or wrong. There are only actions that are consistent with our personal, individual values and consequences for those actions. If you act in a way inconsistent with your values, then that is wrong for you, it may be also be wrong for someone else with some common or similar values, but it may also be right for another person as they do have values that are different from yours. I value happiness and not suffering for all. Because of that I value for myself and others well-being, ease of burden, growth and acceptance. To act contrary to those values, is wrong for me, not morally wrong, but wrong because, well, wait, wait a minute. I forget that wrongness brings about anxiety and punishing of my self-esteem. I am what I am. If I act contrary to my values, then in reality, those aren't my values. However, those values are values I know will make me happy if I follow them. But, we our constantly in flux, influenced by our past, by things in this moment in time. Our values, what we really believe at any moment shifts and ebbs and flows. So, I will act according to my values at any moment. The next moment I may feel differently and the past action be contrary to my new moment. I do have an over arching set of values that generally govern my actions and that I know are better for my happiness and the happiness of those around me. But, in moments of stress, my values my shift. But, that is okay. I am who I am at any moment. Amen. You, as a beautiful individual different from me, have different values, and hence, different codes of right and wrong.
There is no absolute moral right or wrong. There are only actions that are consistent with our personal, individual values and consequences for those actions. If you act in a way inconsistent with your values, then that is wrong for you, it may be also be wrong for someone else with some common or similar values, but it may also be right for another person as they do have values that are different from yours. I value happiness and not suffering for all. Because of that I value for myself and others well-being, ease of burden, growth and acceptance. To act contrary to those values, is wrong for me, not morally wrong, but wrong because, well, wait, wait a minute. I forget that wrongness brings about anxiety and punishing of my self-esteem. I am what I am. If I act contrary to my values, then in reality, those aren't my values. However, those values are values I know will make me happy if I follow them. But, we our constantly in flux, influenced by our past, by things in this moment in time. Our values, what we really believe at any moment shifts and ebbs and flows. So, I will act according to my values at any moment. The next moment I may feel differently and the past action be contrary to my new moment. I do have an over arching set of values that generally govern my actions and that I know are better for my happiness and the happiness of those around me. But, in moments of stress, my values my shift. But, that is okay. I am who I am at any moment. Amen. You, as a beautiful individual different from me, have different values, and hence, different codes of right and wrong.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
"Love is unconditional." 2:30 mantra, 7:30 contemplation.
Love is unconditional. That might just be loaded. If I rationalize its unconditionality, then the conclusion is that none loves anyone. This happens if I make it black and white. Pure love is unconditional. That is better. The love I have with Mary is predicated on a reciprocal relationship. At least, I think it is. It's come about because of the reciprocation. If love is not pure in its condition, then there is a power situation if the other person wants your love. But, what if they don't, then there is no power. The things they can want are well-being, easing of burden, to grow, to be accepted. Someone may not care if I offer or give them these things. That may not care if I am kind or compassionate towards them. Then, there is no power in my hands. Love is about the desire of these things for another person. It isn't the actual acts of providing them. We may not have the opportunity nor the means. But, it is the desire for anyone, and we do have the opportunity and means to provide them for some people. It isn't about indiscriminately acting on the futures for others. We have to balance what we can do against what we desire to do. We physically cannot give these virtues to everyone. That is not possible. We give them as we can as we encounter them or decide to give more later when we encounter them. To love is to desire happiness without condition or judgment for others and yourself as you and all are beautiful creations of the universe.
Love is unconditional. That might just be loaded. If I rationalize its unconditionality, then the conclusion is that none loves anyone. This happens if I make it black and white. Pure love is unconditional. That is better. The love I have with Mary is predicated on a reciprocal relationship. At least, I think it is. It's come about because of the reciprocation. If love is not pure in its condition, then there is a power situation if the other person wants your love. But, what if they don't, then there is no power. The things they can want are well-being, easing of burden, to grow, to be accepted. Someone may not care if I offer or give them these things. That may not care if I am kind or compassionate towards them. Then, there is no power in my hands. Love is about the desire of these things for another person. It isn't the actual acts of providing them. We may not have the opportunity nor the means. But, it is the desire for anyone, and we do have the opportunity and means to provide them for some people. It isn't about indiscriminately acting on the futures for others. We have to balance what we can do against what we desire to do. We physically cannot give these virtues to everyone. That is not possible. We give them as we can as we encounter them or decide to give more later when we encounter them. To love is to desire happiness without condition or judgment for others and yourself as you and all are beautiful creations of the universe.
Monday, February 2, 2015
"Never do something for the sake of it being right. Be mindful of the reason it is right and do it for that reason instead." 2:30 mantra, 7:50 contemplation.
Never do something for the sake of it being right. Be mindful of the reason it is right and do it for that reason instead. You are a beautiful diverse person. What you think and believe is right for you. And, I'm talking about what is deep inside you, the part of you that makes you who you are. We all have different values and different perspectives on what makes things right and wrong. A problem we all struggle with is the things that other people tell us are right and wrong and what we learned as being right and wrong growing up. These things get ingrained in us as absolutes and we follow them without reason, only because we have been told they are right or wrong. Our choices have consequences and it should be in those consequences that we decided what our choices will be, not because someone told us which choice is right or wrong. We give power to them and take it away from ourselves. Each of us knows better than anyone else what is best for ourselves and what we value. But, we often hide our sense of what we as individuals value for the ease of letting someone else make our choices for us. It is hard to break through all the lessons we've be taught by rote. They become of voice in our heads that direct us away from our own mindfulness and towards the wants and desires of others. Take a stand and decide what is in your best interest, the path that follows your values and not what has been dictated to you as unquestioning right and wrong.
Never do something for the sake of it being right. Be mindful of the reason it is right and do it for that reason instead. You are a beautiful diverse person. What you think and believe is right for you. And, I'm talking about what is deep inside you, the part of you that makes you who you are. We all have different values and different perspectives on what makes things right and wrong. A problem we all struggle with is the things that other people tell us are right and wrong and what we learned as being right and wrong growing up. These things get ingrained in us as absolutes and we follow them without reason, only because we have been told they are right or wrong. Our choices have consequences and it should be in those consequences that we decided what our choices will be, not because someone told us which choice is right or wrong. We give power to them and take it away from ourselves. Each of us knows better than anyone else what is best for ourselves and what we value. But, we often hide our sense of what we as individuals value for the ease of letting someone else make our choices for us. It is hard to break through all the lessons we've be taught by rote. They become of voice in our heads that direct us away from our own mindfulness and towards the wants and desires of others. Take a stand and decide what is in your best interest, the path that follows your values and not what has been dictated to you as unquestioning right and wrong.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
"Attachments bring worry; with the right choices and balance, they also bring added richness and a sense of belonging to the universe." 2:30 mantra, 7:50 contemplation.
Attachments bring worry; with the right choices and balance, they also bring added richness and a sense of belonging to the universe. We are attached to our families. They bring us fulfillment in helping each other and loving each other and nurturing each other. However, they can be taken away at anytime by disaster, then we are left with a huge empty void into which we might collapse if we don't take care for them to not be the only thing that sustains us. This lessons speaks to us that we have a higher purpose than anything we are attached to, a purpose that does not have the risk of transiency. That is ourselves within. That is the very definition of who we are. If we don't have that, then we don't have existence. All else that we experience in our lives depends on our existence, on the selves that we are within. For me have recently decided to make myself a priority and have two practices to nurture and protect it. I have started writing to nurture myself. It pulls out from me who I am and what is important to me and affirms that what is important to me is independent of what is important to any one else at the most fundamental level. Attachments to other people can drive some importance, but not fundamentally. And as I realize more what is important to me and that it is important that I make what is important to me the priority among all that is important to me. The other thing I've done is make exercise a priority. Life is about experience and experience happens through our bodies. Therefore I need to maintain my body. The first step I've chosen in that regard is to exercise. I am important, so it is important that I exercise. I am the most important thing in my life, so I've made writing and exercise the most important things in my life. I'm not always perfect about the discipline, but I am doing well, and that is what is important. And it is a healing action for my self that I have decide and I act on me being the most important thing to me. Amen.
You are the most important person in your world of experience. You deserve that and have that right. Live your life for the well-being of that person.
Attachments bring worry; with the right choices and balance, they also bring added richness and a sense of belonging to the universe. We are attached to our families. They bring us fulfillment in helping each other and loving each other and nurturing each other. However, they can be taken away at anytime by disaster, then we are left with a huge empty void into which we might collapse if we don't take care for them to not be the only thing that sustains us. This lessons speaks to us that we have a higher purpose than anything we are attached to, a purpose that does not have the risk of transiency. That is ourselves within. That is the very definition of who we are. If we don't have that, then we don't have existence. All else that we experience in our lives depends on our existence, on the selves that we are within. For me have recently decided to make myself a priority and have two practices to nurture and protect it. I have started writing to nurture myself. It pulls out from me who I am and what is important to me and affirms that what is important to me is independent of what is important to any one else at the most fundamental level. Attachments to other people can drive some importance, but not fundamentally. And as I realize more what is important to me and that it is important that I make what is important to me the priority among all that is important to me. The other thing I've done is make exercise a priority. Life is about experience and experience happens through our bodies. Therefore I need to maintain my body. The first step I've chosen in that regard is to exercise. I am important, so it is important that I exercise. I am the most important thing in my life, so I've made writing and exercise the most important things in my life. I'm not always perfect about the discipline, but I am doing well, and that is what is important. And it is a healing action for my self that I have decide and I act on me being the most important thing to me. Amen.
You are the most important person in your world of experience. You deserve that and have that right. Live your life for the well-being of that person.
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