Seeing Things That Aren't There

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west. People create the distinction and regard it as an absolute. But everything is relative.

What you may see as fact through the lenses of your experiences, beliefs and thinking may not exist.

This is a powerful thing to keep in mind when one seeks the truth.

Using this as a tool, one may be able to see that misfortune in life may be turned into a stepping stone into something completely positive.

Mental Endurance -- Going the Distance

In this journey of life, the easiest thing to do, is to coast. Most people do it. They do not apply the full force of their mental faculties unless they are forced to by external circumstances.

It is far easier to let the mind have control, and entertain each thought in the stream of consciousness. Rather than applying rigor to controlling our thoughts, we let them control us.

When things are tough for us, it is much easier to do the same. It is easier to let the mental rigor lapse. However, when things are not going our way, it is more important to display mental endurance. We must actively work to keep a positive frame of mind, to meditate, to beat stress and to achieve serenity. Like a marathon runner, when things are tough for us in Life, we must display mental endurance to go the distance.

The Mind is a Muscle -- Train it

The mind is a muscle. It needs exercise in the form of rigorous thinking. It needs exercise in the form you suppressing thoughts that aren't good for you, and initiating thoughts that are.

The mind is a tool for your life. Don't let the tool control you. Doing that is like letting the screwdriver tell you where to hang the painting.

To have the mind work for you with peak efficiency, you must exercise it like a muscle. Meditate. Gain relaxation and serenity. Beat stress.

When a muscle works to capacity, it is capable of wondrous things. Train your mind to do that for you.

Overcoming Mental Stumbling Blocks

The key to unlocking our potential is our own mental stumbling blocks.

The mind is very powerful and influences our actions in the outside world.

We must train the mind, like we train the body when we exercise. The mind requires exercise too.

Meditation is a good start to exercising control over our thoughts. It can be a good step to getting our minds in shape.

A Happy Morning Makes A Happy Day

Today's message is simple: A happy morning makes a happy day.

It sets the tone of the day. So when you wake up, do the things that make you happy. Listen to music. Eat your breakfast outside. Indulge yourself for a few minutes. It will linger with you through the day.

Have a happy morning.

Life's Most Powerful Truth

Lifes Most Powerful Truth:

If a person speaks and acts with a good mind, happiness will follow like a shadow.

It bears repeating:

If a person speaks and acts with a good mind, happiness will follow like a shadow.

The Ox, The Cart and The Wheel

The ox moves forward.

It pulls the cart attached to it.

The wheel turns.

The wheel follows the ox.

This is a parable for the way your life unfolds.

The ox is the power source. That is your mind. The cart is the physical manifestation of converting power to motion. That is your body.

The wheel represents the events and outcomes of your life. You can see it all starts with the mind. If you have half-baked mush in your mind, that is the way that your life will turn out. It is never too late to steer the ox. It is never too late to change the way you think. That is perhaps the most power that you will ever possess over your life.

Bewilderment Begone!

A bewildered mind arises out of a mind that is unenlightened. It creates unrest and drives away peace and serenity. Bewilderment also springs from delusion -- self-delusion and delusion by others.

Another contributing factor is unhealthy surroundings created by unhealthy desires, thoughts and actions.

Clarity is needed. Clarity comes from quieting the mind enabling it to do its job and think rationally.

Once you achieve clarity and rationality, then you can find a path that is in your best interest and bewilderment tends to disappear.

Lighting Up The Shadows of the Mind

Even though the mind creates its physical surroundings first with thought, it is never completely free from shadows in the mind.

It remembers fears, defeats, laments, hurts and all of the slings and arrows of existence.

All of these negative shadows influence our thoughts, actions and surrounding more powerfully than positive thoughts because of the depth of emotion attached to them.

Emotion maturity enables us to examine these shadows of the mind, and eliminate them through the conscious effort of rational thinking and seeking serenity. Once we learn how to illuminate the shadows of the mind, we become illuminated ourselves.

Paint Your Own Life Picture

The surroundings of your life are created by the activities of your mind, just as a picture is drawn by an artist.

A single picture is capable of an infinite variety of details.

The human mind fills its surroundings with an infinite variety of details.

You are at the controls. You paint your own life picture. You have a choice of what details to include or omit.

When you paint your own life picture, paint a good one for you.

The Mind Forms The Surroundings of Life

The activities of the mind form the surroundings of your life.

An impure mind surrounds itself with impure things.

A negative mind surrounds itself with negative things.

An appreciative mind surrounds itself with beautiful things.

A peaceful mind surrounds itself with peaceful things.

A mind forms the surroundings of life. Thus surroundings are reflections of the mind, and have the same limits as your mind's activities.

The Single Biggest Thing That You Can Do For Yourself Today

The single biggest thing that you can do for yourself today, is for a few moments, relieve the stress of daily living. If you can do that, then you will have a window of opportunity to find serenity, calmness and a few moments of happiness.

How does one relieve stress? One must get the happy brain chemicals flowing. This can be done by exercise. If you are unused to exercise, now is the time to take your legs out for a walk in the outdoors to clear your mind. If you are fit, your exercise can be a little more strenuous, like swimming, jogging or going to the gym. The best exercise is outdoors because not only are your eyes seeing different things, which is like candy for the brain, but you are getting fresh air as well.

Other ways of relieving stress are visiting a relative or friend and giving a hug. Human contact makes our bodies secrete oxytocin, which is a happiness hormone. One can also change brain chemistry by meditating, or relaxing to music.

You deserve a break from stress today, and you should give your body and mind such a break. It is the single biggest thing that you can do for yourself today.

The Power of the Mind

The power of the mind can be astonishing. Activities of the brain form the surroundings of our life.

A negative mind surrounds itself with negative thoughts, which will translate into negative actions.

A positive mind surrounds itself with positive thoughts.

A positive mind is much more conducive to serenity, happiness, creativity and fulfillment.

Like any form of power, the mind must be harnessed to do effective, useful work.

The Mind is The Wellspring of Everything

The human mind is the wellspring of everything. It is the source of both enlightenment and ignorance.

All creativity arises from functions of the mind.

All technology arises from functions of the mind.

The earth-altering activities that we do as humans arise from functions of the mind.

On the other side of the coin, all superstitions and evil thoughts come from the mind, just as different things appear from the sleeve of a magician.

There Is Joy To Be Had

Worry should not be a constant element of our lives. Sadness should not be a constant element of our lives. And it is obvious that joy is not a constant element of our lives.

But would should be fairly constant in lives, is mental serenity.

This is something that we can achieve, because we have some measure of control over our thoughts. Often we do not have total control of our lives, due to external factors. But we do have control of our thoughts.

It is not an easy task to control thoughts. It takes practice. It can be done through reflection, meditation and even distraction. The ultimate aim is serenity, such that our thoughts are peaceful and unworried. And when you reach that state, there is joy to be had. Even a fleeting moment of joy, will redeem a whole day.

Five Immutable Things

There are five immutable, unchangeable things that are present in all human lives. These are:

1) no one is able to cease getting old.

2) no one is able to completely avoid illness.

3) no one is able to escape dying.

4) no one is able to deny dissolution. Things fall apart all by themselves by the passage of time.

5) no one is able to deny extinction.

These points are part of the underlying framework of life on this planet. We must work around these things to make our own lives significant and fruitful in spite of the immutable things.

It is Never Too Late

It is never too late in your life.

It is never too late to recover from past mistakes.

It is never too late to change careers.

It is never too late to add significance to your life.

It is never too late to do something special.

It is never too late to learn new things.

It is never too late to change the way you think.

It is never too late to say "I'm sorry".

It is never to late to love someone.

It is never too late.

Toxic Attachments

We as people have toxic attachments to ideas, people, things and habits.

These attachments do us no good. They are a detriment to our health, our spirit, and our ultimate enjoyment of life.

We know what these toxic attachments are. We sometimes think that these toxic attachments are comforting. Ultimately they are very destructive, and we usually know that too, but still do not sever these toxic attachments.

One of the steps of enlightenment, is to realize the toxic attachments that we have, and get rid of them.

True Nature of the Human Mind

The human mind, in its unending change, is like the moving water of a river or the burning flame of a candle.

It is like an ape, forever jumping about in the forest canopy, not ceasing for even a moment.

It is a massive stream of consciousness, and unless the flow is controlled, like a tsunami, it will take us to places where we do not want to go.

The Art of Being Happy

Happiness is a learned skilled. The only things in life that we can control, are our thoughts. It is difficult to do, but we can master it. We can make it a habit. Imagine making happiness a habit.

The first step is calmness. The second step is taking the calmness to serenity. Happiness follows naturally.

To get to that state, we must practice pushing out the negative and relaxing the body. Meditation is excellent for this, but exercise works as well. Music also soothes the savage breast.

Once we are calm and the body is relaxed, we can actually feel the serenity as a state of mental and physical relaxation. When the mind is free from the angry rambunctious dogs of anxiety, happiness will follow. One last thought -- Happiness is not getting what you want -- it is wanting what you have.

Materially Powerful People

Materially powerful people have the power to raise up or put down. They have the power to punish others as their wishes. They wield a lot of power over a lot of people and things.

Yet these people come to old age unwillingly. Their fortune and wishes have little to do with each other.

It is part of the human condition.

How The World Works - Short and To The Point

This is how the world works. Everything is a succession of appearances whose source is the succession of causes and conditions.

This holds true for everything from quantum physics to human dynamics.

It also explains why we are here on Earth in the universe.