Unpleasant Fact of Life

Here is one of the more unpleasant facts of life.

Due to the nature of the universe, the key to success, happiness and enlightenment is ....

....

....

work!

You have to work at what you want to achieve. Sometimes the road to success is the steepest hardest road.

The Lens of Human Wisdom

One can get fire if you hold a lens between the sun and some tinder, but where does the fire come from?

The lens is an enormous distance from the sun, but the fire appears on the tinder by means of the lens.

If the tinder did not have the innate nature to kindle, there would be no fire.

In the same fashion if the truth of Enlightenment is concentrated on the human mind, its true nature will be illuminated and its light will illuminate the minds of other people by its brightness.

Hold the lens of human wisdom before your mind.

Giving Up Mind Attachments

If people would only give up their mental attachments to false discriminations and ideas, and restore the rationality of their original minds, then their minds, bodies and life would be free from false ideas and useless ways of thinking and living. They will find a new freedom.

Once this happens, you will know the peacefulness that goes with that mental and physical freedom.

When Events in Life Are Not Going Your Way

There are two things to remember when events in your life are not going your way.

The first precept that you must remember is that you must never lose confidence in yourself.

The second thing to remember is that the way out is often right under your nose, and not immediately obvious to you because it is so close at hand.

Daily living requires courage when events in life are not going your way. That courage is very life-affirming.

Shapes of The Unenlightened Mind

Water is round in a round receptacle.

In a square container, water is square, but water itself has no particular shape.

In the same manner, the unenlightened mind takes the shape of its circumstances and surroundings.

Profound Thought - Find Meaning In this for Yourself

It is only the unenlightened mind that dwells on the fact that a place is light because of daylight or dark because of night.

You will have to find the meaning of this for yourself.

If Things Aren't Going Your Way -- How to Change your Circumstances

If things are not going your way on your Life's journey, and you are stuck, you must remember that the situation is not permanent.

The wheels of change are always turning and soon you will find yourself in different circumstances.

However, if you want to accelerate the process, you can possibly do it by the confronting the biggest fear that is holding you back.

What is your biggest fear related to the situation that you are in? You must seize the bull by the holes and tackle your biggest fear. In time, it will melt into nothingness and you will be in an entirely different set of better circumstances. When it comes to faith, you must have faith in yourself.

The Nature of Enlightenment

Think of a lecture hall.

During the day, it is well lit.

At night it is totally dark.

The mind is nothing like a lecture hall.

Once you light up a mind with enlightenment, it stays bright.

A mind in the morass of ignorance is always in the dark.

Changing Your Mind -- I hope the new one works better

We know that change is continuous. In spite of the continual rate of change, our true mind must never stray from the true path.

The human mind that changes with with changing external conditions is NOT the true nature of the human mind.

Once you find the truth of Enlightenment, you must not let external conditions change your mind.

Serenity in Surrender - Do Not Seek Revenge

As we travel Life's road, and seek enlightenment, sometimes the dark forces of evil in other persons meets us head on.

The easiest way to overcome this, is to pick ourselves up, and carry on our own road, leaving the evil person and situation behind us.

On the road to enlightenment, there is no room for revenge. Exacting revenge consumes too much energy and resources that could be spent gaining advantage for ourselves.

There is serenity in surrendering the urge to gain retribution and revenge. It is not a very satisfactory strategy and it sucks happiness from our lives. The goal is serenity and from that, one can see clearly towards enlightenment.

Derailing the Path To Enlightenment

What derails the mind on its way to Enlightenment?

If you unduly react to trivial circumstances, you derail your ability to think clearly.

If you let negative passions like greed, avarice and jealousy occupy your mind, you derail your ability to think clearly.

If you subsume changing external circumstances, you derail your ability to think clearly.

It is the mind that is trained not to be disturbed by trivial things and circumstances is the mind that can achieve enlightenment.

Remember, the mind should be the master, and should not be influenced by lesser things.

The Truth is Out There

People must continually remind themselves that the truth is available to the clear-thinking inquiring mind.

To find it, they must undergo a continuously awakening within themselves, to the pure ideals of Enlightenment.

Normally people wander through life deluded by ideas that are not true or perverted by the world of delusion.

The Moon Is Often Hidden By The Clouds

The moon is often hidden by the clouds, but it is not moved by them. Its integrity and purity remains untarnished and unblemished by the clouds.

The true mind is often hidden by the clouds of socialization, discontent, and worldly, unwise longings and desires.

However in spite of being hidden, it is still true and capable of enlightenment.

What Happens To Our Minds -- Socialization

Fundamentally, everyone has good mind to start with. However, it is usually covered over with messages and dust from worldly socialization that has arisen from one's Life circumstances.

This is not the essence of your true nature, but rather something added like an intruder or a guest in your home. It is not the host.

You must wade through the socialization to find Enlightenment.

Knowing Thyself

One would think, that if you live in a house, you would get to know every single nook and cranny of the house. It would be foolish to just live in one room of the house closest to the door without opening the other doors.

Yet people do this with their minds. They do not explore the depths and recesses of their minds. They do not know themselves inside out. Rather, they seek external distractions without thinking deeply.

Doing this is like living in one room of a house closest to the door. Every time that you want to do something, you run outside to look for something to do.

Knowing yourself means exploring every room in your mind, and thinking for yourself.

Getting the Bigger Picture -- Self Awareness

When a person is in a house and opens their eyes, they will first notice the interior of the room.

Only later will they see the view outside the window.

In the same fashion, we cannot conceive the eye or our senses noticing external things before there is coordination of the eye or senses with the things within us.

This is the path to total self awareness.

The World Can Be Unfair

The world can be unfair. Unfairness doesn't make wrong things right.

The world is chaotic. The world is evil. We provide the balance with altruism, fairness, hope and goodness.

It is this that makes us transcend the animals and adds significance to our lives. Leave the animals to the animals -- including the human animals.

Getting to the Root of the Problem

If a king is plagued by bandits, he must find out where their camp is before he can attack them.

So when people are beset by unhealthy thoughts, desires and passions, they should first ascertain their origins. Knowing this begins the path to Enlightenment.

You cannot solve a problem unless you get to the root of it.