Happiness and peace of mind

You might like to take a look at a little article called simply "The Physical and Mental Benefits of Daily Meditation". Here's one paragraph:

Is there anybody who does not, in some way, seek after happiness? Meditation takes us to the source of happiness, which is to be found in our own peace of mind. If we have no peace of mind and are constantly attacked by negative thoughts, happiness will remain elusive, no matter how successful we are on an outer plane. It is perhaps hard to imagine that happiness can occur from the simple act of being. However, if we can meditate with a still mind, we will discover an unexpected source of happiness within our own self. Meditation shows us that happiness is not dependent on outer circumstances, but on our inner attitude.

Really, our inner attitude is the only thing we can always choose. Everything else is subject to the ordinary (and sometimes not so ordinary) vicissitudes of life.

The path of loveliness

I think you can see why I think these two sayings go together:

Ananda said: "Friendship with what is lovely, association with what is lovely, intimacy with what is lovely--that is half of the holy life."

The Buddha responded: "Don't say that, Ananda. It's the whole not the half of the holy life. One so blessed with what is lovely will develop a right way of being, a thinking that no longer grasps at what is untrue, an aim that is concerned and ready, a contemplation that is unattached and free. Association with what is lovely is the whole of the holy life."

- From The Buddha Speaks, edited by Anne Bancroft

~~~

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

- St. Paul (Philippians 4:8)

Don't forget about beads

Rosaries are used as a meditative practice in many spiritual traditions:

Use a rosary of meditation beads if you practice a school of meditation that involves the repetition of a mantra. Advance one bead per repetition of your mantra, and continue in reverse when you reach the point you started from if you want to keep going.

Beads not only help us count our prayers or mantras; they also give us something to do with our hands. Personally, I find the use of a rosary (or mala) helps minimize distractions. Here are some sources:

Anglican and Lutheran rosaries

Buddhist malas

Baha'i prayer beads

Orthodox prayer ropes

Goddess rosaries

Catholic rosaries

Worry beads

Finger rosaries (I love these!)

Islamic prayer beads

Friday cat blogging!

Harriet

Photo by Cynthia Burgess

A big fear about meditation

Many people resist meditation because they're afraid of what might "come up". Well, stuff is supposed to come up:

Spiritual progress is like detoxification. Things have to come up in order to be released. Once we have asked to be healed, then our unhealed places are forced to the surface.

--Marianne Williamson

Why would you prefer to have toxic stuff inside you that you don't even know about? Only if we know what's there can we do anything about it. Otherwise, it will rule our lives and we won't even understand why.

Earth, Teach Me

Earth teach me quiet ~
as the grasses are still with new light.

Earth teach me suffering ~
as old stones suffer with memory.

Earth teach me humility ~
as blossoms are humble with beginning.

Earth teach me caring ~
as mothers nurture their young.

Earth teach me courage ~
as the tree that stands alone.

Earth teach me limitation ~
as the ant that crawls on the ground.

Earth teach me freedom ~
as the eagle that soars in the sky.

Earth teach me acceptance ~
as the leaves that die each fall.

Earth teach me renewal ~
as the seed that rises in the spring.

Earth teach me to forget myself ~
as melted snow forgets its life.

Earth teach me to remember kindness ~
as dry fields weep with rain.

- An Ute Prayer

Wednesday life form blogging

Photo by Cynthia Burgess

Learning to shape your mind

I just found a wonderful little article on meditation called "Meditation on your feet" by Stephen Schettini. Here's how it gets started:

The most stubborn misconception conjured up by the word “meditation” is that it’s all about silence and concentration, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Sure, peace and quiet help you look into your mind more clearly, but what are you looking for? The most common answer is balance. Under ideal conditions, mental silence and concentration help a lot, but the nine-to-five frenzy is still waiting out there for us, and it’s even harder to go back to once you get a taste for real downtime.

Beginners often come to meditation in search of control. They want the mind to obey, and its blithe refusal to do so comes as quite a shock. The thing to remember is that it’s not the mind that’s at fault — it’s the expectations. The mind isn’t some sort of command central, but a non-stop stream of consciousness. It will never politely obey your instructions. How many times have you commanded it to stop torturing you with guilt, to crave food less, or to make you think before you speak?

Although the mind isn’t compliant, it’s not hostile either. It can be cultivated like a plant or anything else that grows in familiar but unpredictable patterns. The idea is to gradually nudge your mental patterns into the shape you want. The big question is, what shape?

To answer that question we first have to become familiar with the patterns that are already there, which is where mindfulness comes in. It also enables us to see how those patterns unfold, and what good or harm results. It helps us decide what to cultivate and what to restrain. This all takes time and the ability to turn your mind inwards.

What to cultivate, what to restrain. Important discernments! And meditation will definitely help.

Your life, your duty

Jan posted the following poem at Yearning for God:

Wake up. Day calls you

to your life: your duty.

And to live, nothing more.

Root it out of the glum

night and the darkness

that covered your body

for which light waited

on tiptoe in the dawn.

Stand up, affirm the straight

simple will to be

a pure slender virgin.

Test your body's metal.

Cold, heat? Your blood

will tell against the snow,

or behind the window.

The colour

in your cheeks will tell.

And look at people. Rest

doing no more than adding

your perfection to another

day. Your task

is to carry your life high,

and play with it, hurl it

like a voice to the clouds

so it may retrieve the light

already gone from us.

That is your fate: to live.

Do nothing.

Your work is you, nothing more.

~ Pedro Salinas ~
(My Voice Because of You, translated by Willis Barnstone)

Monday meditative picture blogging

Photo by Cynthia Burgess

The most important of all voyages

How very true this is and how beautifully expressed:

What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.

-- Thomas Merton

Don't forget candles

I found another meditation blog today. It's called "Meditation is Easy.com". A recent post talks about candles:

Meditation candles are very useful accessories in your meditation activities. If you have a separate meditation room, using candles while meditating can be an excellent idea.

Candles can help give you that great feeling of a little warmth and light in the room while you are meditating. Some specialized candles are perfume based and they will fill the room with a pleasing aroma producing a sense of relaxation and calm... Gazing at the tip of the flame of the candle constantly is also one form of meditation, which helps in increasing concentration.

Even if you can’t have a separate meditation room, using candles while meditating can be very helpful. The light from the candles has a charm in it.

Also the very act of lighting the candles in the first place helps settle the mind and bring it to awareness. When we light a candle we are saying to ourselves, "Now it's time to meditate." Lighting the candle is a little mindfulness ritual.

No fear of not surviving

I know I've made many decisions out of a fear of not surviving. I imagine we all have. So this is a challenging statement by an always bold spiritual teacher:

To find out what you love to do demands a great deal of intelligence; because, if you are afraid of not being able to earn a livelihood, or of not fitting into this rotten society, then you will never find out. But, if you are not frightened, if you refuse to be pushed into the groove of tradition by your parents, by your teachers, by the superficial demands of society, then there is a possibility of discovering what it is you really love to do. So, to discover, there must be no fear of not surviving.

- Krishnamurti

Friday cat blogging!

Simon

Photo by Cynthia Burgess

A very moving blog post

Today I stumbled upon a blog named "Inspirations and Creative Thought". I know I came across this site before but it's been several years. I'm glad to have found it again. Here's a post from June of 2005:

I'm a Muslim because I submit myself to the Lord of the world. also because I testify that "There is no god but One True God, and Mohammad is the last messenger of God."

I'm a Hindu because a hindu is a person who seeks the Truth. And God is the Eternal Truth, the Reality behind everything.

I'm a Christian because I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in his second coming as the messiah. Jesus is the Spirit from God (Isa ruhullah).

I'm a Jew because I believe in Moses as great Prophet of God who spoke to God (Musa kalimullah).

I'm a Buddhist because I seek enlightenment (Nirvana) of my soul. I pay my respect to Gautama Buddha who is one of the most brilliant personalities who walked on this earth.

I'm a Taoist who believe in Tao, the Ultimate Reality behind everything.

And I have no hesitation to say to all other religion that I belong to them as well. They are all my beloved brother and sisters as One God's creation. We belong to the same family. Our blood is the same, our feelings and emotions are same. We are all seeking the same goal only at different path. And all the atheists are my brothers and sisters as well. They also have a different path to seek the Knowledge.

We are all on a journey, knowingly or unknowingly we are trying to reach to the Ultimate goal.

Some will struggle more, some will less.

Some are on straight path, some are not.

But can we deny our aspirations to Love our Beloved God?

Can we condemn other just because they speak different language and have different culture?

Can we deny their faith just because they call the same God in different name, the same God who is beyond name and form ?

Needless to say, there were commenters to this post who claimed the writer could not be what he says he is.

But I undersand. And I would say the same things - although my reasons would be different from the ones this writer has proclaimed.

One of the reasons there is such conflict in the world is the widespread intolerance of paradox and ambiguity. Black-and-white, all-or-nothing thinking is very immature and very dangerous indeed.

Make friends with your shadow side

I've been thinking a lot about the shadow side of human nature lately and how it can take over if we do not acknowledge it and find a way to give it skillful and legitimate expression. The poet William Blake understood this:

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole.
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see,
My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.

No forcing

Here's an illustration by Steve Gillman I just found that I like very much:

Imagine a wonderful evening with new friends. You prepared dinner, bought a good bottle of wine, and cleaned the house. Now the guests are here, the conversation is great, and you are happy. Can you make this happen? Yes and no.

You can prepare in every way to make it a pleasant event, but in the end, the guests can decline your invitation, or not arrive, or show up late, right? You can’t force them to come, or if you try, you’ll ruin the atmosphere or even the friendship.

That is how meditation is, too. You do what is necessary to prepare for a good experience, but in the end, you can’t force it. Work and discipline help, just like cleaning up and chilling the wine are necessary to prepare for a good dinner party, but there is no forcing the result. When the experience is a good one, enjoy it, but if it doesn’t happen, just prepare again.

So when you want to invite inspiration into your meditation, or into your life, don’t try to push the guest through the door. When you are tempted to do so, turn back to your preparations, and concentrate on that. Just send out the invitations, prepare yourself, and relax.

So let's not judge our meditations or get attached to having a particular experience.

Tuesday meditative picture blogging

Photo by Cynthia Burgess (I think!)

A good thought discipline

We would all do well to cultivate this approach to life:

For me, a lovely day is any day I wake up.

-- Bernie S. Siegel, Prescriptions for Living

This is so true

and so inspiring:

We people of the world need to find ways to get to know one another - for then we will recognize that our likenesses are so much greater than our differences, however great our differences may seem. Every cell, every human being, is of equal importance and has work to do in this world.

- Peace Pilgrim