Suffering

“Disciple: What is Enlightenment?

Buddha: The end of suffering.”

Pain and pleasure are the way our higher self, experiences the material world.

They are both entangled, connected like the two sides of a coin.

One defines the other and could not exist without.

They are both equally vital and necessary to our lives.

Pleasure lets us know that everything is fine, that we are doing the right things in life.

Pain lets us know that something is wrong, that we are not doing the things we should do, to better and benefit our life.

Suffering is the way our Ego experiences the material world.

The opposite of suffering is enlightenment.

Suffering and enlightenment are not given to us; they are a choice we make.

Knowing and understanding this is the first step to enlightenment.

We cannot avoid the pain in our life. We get hurt physically and emotionally.

We may harm our body, accidentally or willingly in so many ways. We burn, bruise and broke.

We abuse drugs and food. We punish and desecrate our body in any imaginable way.

And even if we don’t do it, somebody else will do it to us. We are used and abused by the people and the society we live in both physically and mentally all the time.

 All this pain is real but the way we react to it is a choice.

SUFFERING IS A CHOICE

How do you react to pain? Do you reach out for the easy way out, for the “pain killers” so ready available, or do you look for a solution to your problem? How do you react to the people and the negative situations they create in your life? Do you react with anger or compassion?

I grew up in a society riddled with the scourge of alcoholism. My father died of alcoholism when I was just 17. Looking at his dead body, for some miraculous reason I decided at that moment that I will never give in to that disease and I never did. I looked at my friends and my peers following the path of self-destruction and I always heard the same excuse “My father was an alcoholic therefore I am one too”

That’s nothing but an excuse. It is a choice not a law. But something else happened that day. I felt like my father betrayed me, I felt abandoned and short changed. I wasn’t sad, I did not cry. I was just mad.

That resentment followed me all my life and had a lot of negative influence on my life decisions, on my relationships with others. It was only after years of suffering that I learn compassion. Only when I was able to look at my father and see just another tortured, imperfect soul, that I was able to let go of my anger and resentment. I could have choose that when I was 17 and save me years of grief but I did not know any better. I made the wrong choice.

So look at your past and present negative experiences in your life. How did you choose to react?

Did you choose suffering or did you choose the enlightened path?

The Flow

Life is the Flow.

Sickness is obstruction or stagnation of the Flow.

Everything that happens is Life. Everything that happens is Flow.

When the Flow is natural and effortless Life prospers and evolves.

When the Flow is obstructed Life withers and devolves.

We are mistaken assuming that we know the purpose of Life.

Life must flow naturally and effortlessly, like water.

The water doesn’t have a purpose. The purpose of water is to flow.

In flowing water finds is course and destination.

Life doesn’t have a purpose. The purpose of Life is to Flow.

In flowing Life finds its path and destination.

Purpose is created by Life not dictated by it.

Don’t force your Flow.

Water doesn’t “fight” its way. Its flow is effortless but never the less it will cut through the hardest rock.

Don’t force your life. Just like water seek opportunity. Look all over. Look to all places and all people. Eventually, you will find the effortless path and your Life will Flow like water.

All water flows to the Ocean.

All Life flows to the “Oneness” to the ocean of consciousness from which it was born.

The return to your “original self” enriched and enlightened by your travel, your Flow.

Do not stay idle. Do not stop. Do not force.

Like a child, let wonder be your guide. Be restless, be curious, be brave.

Find your flow and stay in your flow.

You’ll know it by the joy that Life journey should be.

You’ll know it by the light glowing more intense in your soul.

You’ll know it by the power of your actions and the change you will bring to the world

Namaste!

The silence between thoughts Or The 3 second Enlightenment

Enlightenment is a state of mind, just like being in love or being asleep.

It doesn't require any special skill, knowledge or training.

It occurs naturally every single day of our life, but unfortunately, we were never taught how to recognize it, how to master it and how to take advantage of its enormous powers.

Have you ever watched a sunset so magnificent in its beauty that for a moment your mind went overwhelmed with awe?
That for a moment you felt one with the universe, infinite in time and space, infinite in knowledge and power?

That moment is enlightenment, or to be more specific "spontaneous enlightenment"

Of course, if you have experienced such moment of spontaneous enlightenment you know that the split second after it, your "Ego" will try to "capture" it, analyze it, understand it, and control it.

And the moment the "Ego" steps in, the magic is gone. The enlightenment disappears and we revert to our every day "Ego" state of ignorance.

Here is another "spontaneous enlightenment" moment that occurs in our life, not as spectacular but quite common; the "silence between thoughts" moment of enlightenment, aka “The 3 second Enlightenment”

We falsely believe that our brain never stops its rumination. That our thoughts keep going on and on, without any pause.  But the fact is that between every train of thought we have, there is a brief moment when the “Ego” lets go of its control and our “Enlightened mind” takes center stage. Of course, that doesn’t last for more than 3 seconds before our “Ego” finds another useless mental entertainment or just starts repeating the previous useless bit of mental rumination, and thus another day goes by…

If you are not yet sure what we are talking about here is a sure moment of spontaneous enlightenment: the first seconds of the morning when you wake up.

When we wake up, we always wake up in our enlightenment state. That means we are one with the universe, infinite in time and space, infinite in knowledge and power – for about 3 seconds…

For about 3 seconds we have the power to make the most absolute, outstanding, relevant decision in our life, which usually never happens because instead of doing that “first thought” in our mind, we let our Ego take control and in 99.9999999 % of the time the Ego will convince us to get into the pleasurable “mental masturbation” of our daily life. Of course, the Ego has to keep us trapped in the “prison of reason”, doing pleasurable but futile things, instead of doing the hard, life changing things we ought to do. Of course, the Ego sooner or later will go silent, for about 3 seconds, and in that space once again our enlightened mind will manifest.  But in 99.9999999 % of the time the Ego, again will convince us to get into the pleasurable “mental masturbation” of our daily life. And thus another day goes by…

So the moral of this story is: Catch the moment of enlightenment in the silence between your thoughts.

LISTEN TO THAT INNER VOICE AND DO EXACTLY AS IT ASKS! Before the Ego steps in and you revert to your every day "Ego" state of ignorance.

Do that and your life will change. 

Do that and you will become the master of your destiny!