In the previous blog, I mentioned having a regular meditation practice which allows us to contact our spiritual being, which is our true reality . . . And then, through this spiritual reality, we can access the JOY which is an integral part of that reality . . . It will grow and grow, and over time we'll begin to notice that on a moment to moment basis, we're beginning to feel differently, but definitely in a good way!
At this point, we must say . . . The spiritual path is not for the faint of heart, because it isn't easy . . . We're pushed, pulled and dragged this way and that by life circumstances and let's face it, the messages society bombards us with aren't necessarily the best . . . and we also might experience our own inner enemy (you know . . . the one that creates all that negative, destructive self-talk some of us deal with) . . . No, it isn't an easy path, but it IS the path with the greatest benefits for those with the Warrior mentality, and who are willing to be disciplined and struggle and get up and get back on the path when we're pushed off it . . . And pushed off we WILL be at times . . . Resiliense is necessary!
Which brings us to the the crux of this message . . . Do we allow our JOY to be stolen by people, by events, or both? Life is a constant challenge, filled with constant choices . . . And our choices are so much about how we decide to meet the challenges . . .
It might be a great challenge to maintain our JOY, but it CAN be done . . . When we're faced with an event, or a person, that seems to suck the positive energy out of us, we can have a mindset which screams . . . THIS WILL NOT STEAL MY JOY!!! . . . Because, our JOY becomes the anchor which is one of the best manifestations of our spiritual core . . .
Once we're on the spiritual path, with a meditation practice, doing good things, being generous and grateful, we'll begin to feel our JOY, and become the JOY, and then it is our own responsibility to protect and nurture it . . . One of the best ways to do that is to regularly repeat the phrase, NOTHING CAN STEAL MY JOY!!, as a reminder to ourselves . . . Affirmations are tremendously powerful when said and felt at our core . . .
NOTHING CAN STEAL MY JOY!!!
More on this later . . .
Until next time . . . Ciao!!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
What is JOY?
Happiness, joy, contentment, spiritual peace . . . We all want it, we think we should have it, and in fact, we all CAN have it . . . But, how many of us DO have it?
If we ask 100 people about happiness, we might get as many different answers . . . But in fact, happiness/joy is something that we won't find without . . . It isn't a Mercedes or a house on the beach in Maui or receiving a letter saying we've just been accepted into med school at Harvard . . . No, JOY is found deep in our soul . . . JOY comes from the basis of our being, which is our spiritual being . . . The problem is, we tend to lose that JOY after our first few years on the planet . . .
So, in order to find our JOY, we must find our spiritual core . . . But, HOW?
First, we MUST develop a meditation practice, which does NOT mean going into a cave in the Himalayas wearing a safron robe and sitting for hours each day . . . It means sitting down for a few minutes a day, perhaps more than once each day, and simply BEING . . .
There's more . . . It also means good works, such as volunteering one's time and resources . . . It means cultivating loving kindness, exhibiting gratitude, passion, patience, and a willingness to sit and truly listen to others . . . In all of that, JOY begins to grow and thrive in our hearts . . .
JOY must be constantly nurtured and cultivated, encouraged, and defended against those who would steal it . . . More on that later . . .
Please think about it . . .
Until next time . . . Ciao!!
If we ask 100 people about happiness, we might get as many different answers . . . But in fact, happiness/joy is something that we won't find without . . . It isn't a Mercedes or a house on the beach in Maui or receiving a letter saying we've just been accepted into med school at Harvard . . . No, JOY is found deep in our soul . . . JOY comes from the basis of our being, which is our spiritual being . . . The problem is, we tend to lose that JOY after our first few years on the planet . . .
So, in order to find our JOY, we must find our spiritual core . . . But, HOW?
First, we MUST develop a meditation practice, which does NOT mean going into a cave in the Himalayas wearing a safron robe and sitting for hours each day . . . It means sitting down for a few minutes a day, perhaps more than once each day, and simply BEING . . .
There's more . . . It also means good works, such as volunteering one's time and resources . . . It means cultivating loving kindness, exhibiting gratitude, passion, patience, and a willingness to sit and truly listen to others . . . In all of that, JOY begins to grow and thrive in our hearts . . .
JOY must be constantly nurtured and cultivated, encouraged, and defended against those who would steal it . . . More on that later . . .
Please think about it . . .
Until next time . . . Ciao!!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Existing is not EXPERIENCING!! III
Human beings have choices in life . . . One of the most profound choices we can make literally every second of our existence is, WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH THIS MOMENT? Shall we fully EXPERIENCE the moment . . . or shall we make the moment mundane and be distracted by thoughts of past or future?
There is a best answer to that question, and it's rather obvious . . . However, another question can be asked, and that is, How can we train ourselves to fully experience the moment within our ability to perceive through the five senses?
This is a terrific centering exercise, and it's great practice for being AWARE and ALIVE in the moment . . .
Suppose we allot five minutes to this exercise, one minute dedicated to each of the five senses . . .
Let's start by closing the eyes and focusing entirely upon what we hear . . . There are no thoughts, there is only awareness . . . no judgements . . . There is no good or bad . . . Do this for one minute . . .
Eyes closed, and focus on taste . . . What are we tasting in this moment? No thoughts or judgements . . . One minute . . .
Eyes closed, and focus on smell . . . One minute . . .
Eyes closed, and focus on touch/sensation . . . This one is VERY interesting, as it can be external ie.skin, or it can be internal . . . Touch/sensation is our most important sense, as it keeps us in touch with the physical body, but can sometimes take us beyond that . . . One minute . . .
Finally, open the eyes and for one minute, simply look around the surroundings, and make no judgements . . . Simply see what IS . . .
This exercise is about BEING and mindful centering . . . no thoughts or judgements . . . Just slide into it, and EXPERIENCE and BE . . .
Of course, we can shorten the times . . . It doesn't have to be one minute per sense! It can be ten seconds if we wish . . .
I hope you'll try it, and practice it a few times daily . . . This exercise has remarkable spin off effects, which we'll discuss later . . .
Until nest time . . . Ciao!!
There is a best answer to that question, and it's rather obvious . . . However, another question can be asked, and that is, How can we train ourselves to fully experience the moment within our ability to perceive through the five senses?
This is a terrific centering exercise, and it's great practice for being AWARE and ALIVE in the moment . . .
Suppose we allot five minutes to this exercise, one minute dedicated to each of the five senses . . .
Let's start by closing the eyes and focusing entirely upon what we hear . . . There are no thoughts, there is only awareness . . . no judgements . . . There is no good or bad . . . Do this for one minute . . .
Eyes closed, and focus on taste . . . What are we tasting in this moment? No thoughts or judgements . . . One minute . . .
Eyes closed, and focus on smell . . . One minute . . .
Eyes closed, and focus on touch/sensation . . . This one is VERY interesting, as it can be external ie.skin, or it can be internal . . . Touch/sensation is our most important sense, as it keeps us in touch with the physical body, but can sometimes take us beyond that . . . One minute . . .
Finally, open the eyes and for one minute, simply look around the surroundings, and make no judgements . . . Simply see what IS . . .
This exercise is about BEING and mindful centering . . . no thoughts or judgements . . . Just slide into it, and EXPERIENCE and BE . . .
Of course, we can shorten the times . . . It doesn't have to be one minute per sense! It can be ten seconds if we wish . . .
I hope you'll try it, and practice it a few times daily . . . This exercise has remarkable spin off effects, which we'll discuss later . . .
Until nest time . . . Ciao!!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Existing is not EXPERIENCING!! II
Yes, well . . . If we want to fully experience the moment, and all those other moments which follow, how exactly can we make that happen? How do we move away from the monkey mind of endless, unproductive thoughts that swirl around in our consciousness and perhaps drag us into negative mindsets?
We are given five senses . . . touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight . . . Those are the doors to our consciousness that connect us to the physical world around us . . . We can focus on and make use of those senses to experience the moment . . . This is mindfulness . . .
Simply try this . . . For one minute, stop all thinking and simply become aware of your physical surroundings with the five senses, and make no judgements about what you feel, smell, taste, hear, and see . . . Just experience your surroundings through your senses . . . If we do that a few times a day, for one minute only each time, we will begin to get into the habit of just BEING, and it's a way of connecting with our center, our core, our true self . . . JUST BE!!
We can take it a step further . . . Let's face it, chores can be tedious, but we also can turn them into exercises in mindfulness . . . For example, if I'm washing dishes, I can turn off my thoughts and use my five senses to truly experience the moment . . . How does the water feel on my hands? How have the soap bubbles formed on the water? Is there an odour to the soap? What sounds am I hearing? If we just stop thinking and become aware and mindful, a whole new vista of experiencing becomes available to us, and we can can make ourselves available to a higher existence of being completely present in the moment in which we live, which is all we have . . .
In the next blog, we'll look at a simple but very effective mindfulness exercise that can really make a difference . . .
Until next time . . . Ciao!!
We are given five senses . . . touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight . . . Those are the doors to our consciousness that connect us to the physical world around us . . . We can focus on and make use of those senses to experience the moment . . . This is mindfulness . . .
Simply try this . . . For one minute, stop all thinking and simply become aware of your physical surroundings with the five senses, and make no judgements about what you feel, smell, taste, hear, and see . . . Just experience your surroundings through your senses . . . If we do that a few times a day, for one minute only each time, we will begin to get into the habit of just BEING, and it's a way of connecting with our center, our core, our true self . . . JUST BE!!
We can take it a step further . . . Let's face it, chores can be tedious, but we also can turn them into exercises in mindfulness . . . For example, if I'm washing dishes, I can turn off my thoughts and use my five senses to truly experience the moment . . . How does the water feel on my hands? How have the soap bubbles formed on the water? Is there an odour to the soap? What sounds am I hearing? If we just stop thinking and become aware and mindful, a whole new vista of experiencing becomes available to us, and we can can make ourselves available to a higher existence of being completely present in the moment in which we live, which is all we have . . .
In the next blog, we'll look at a simple but very effective mindfulness exercise that can really make a difference . . .
Until next time . . . Ciao!!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Existing is not EXPERIENCING!!
We wake up . . . we do stuff . . . we think . . . we converse . . . we EXIST . . .
It takes no wisdom, no intelligence, no special qualities to simply exist . . .
In fact, existing is the lowest form of being . . .
So let's discuss EXPERIENCING . . . that stuff of life we ALL need to be reminded of occasionally . . .
To EXPERIENCE the moment . . . Truly, what else is there? Thinking back to that which was . . . thinking ahead to a future that doesn't exist . . . It's pointless . . .
We live in a series of present moments . . . As we become mindful of that experience, we begin to see that there is NOTHING beyond the RIGHT NOW . . .
How do we do that? How do we become aware of our MOMENT?
Until next time . . . Ciao
It takes no wisdom, no intelligence, no special qualities to simply exist . . .
In fact, existing is the lowest form of being . . .
So let's discuss EXPERIENCING . . . that stuff of life we ALL need to be reminded of occasionally . . .
To EXPERIENCE the moment . . . Truly, what else is there? Thinking back to that which was . . . thinking ahead to a future that doesn't exist . . . It's pointless . . .
We live in a series of present moments . . . As we become mindful of that experience, we begin to see that there is NOTHING beyond the RIGHT NOW . . .
How do we do that? How do we become aware of our MOMENT?
Until next time . . . Ciao
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