More Happiness

http://www.stumbleupon.com/toolbar/#topic=Buddhism&url=http%253A%252F%252Fvideo.google.com%252Fvideoplay%253Fdocid%253D-1424079446171087119

Freedom: The Path To Happiness

If something in your past is stopping you from enjoying your present, an abuse of some kind, or bad memories, lost of someone you loved, grab a cup of tea, and watch this. You deserve to be happy!

Butterflies

Did you feel that, Mom? Was it fun? Questions from my son, after some turbulence flying home from Alberta. Yup, that was fun I say lying through my teeth, gripping the armrest as though it can actually save me if the worst occurred.

Why is it I can easily accept the notion of death until life flips upside down (not literally) and spins me out of control (slight exaggeration for effect). Really, it is not difficult to acknowledge death on a cognitive level because it is a fact of life, we know that. Don't we? Yet, when faced with a real possibility (or a perceived possibility) of death like this incident, my heart beats faster, well more like a pounding jack hammer under my sweater. My mind starts filling up with inconsequential thinking like how is my kamma bank. I am acutely aware that I'm not in control, and we are at 35, 000 feet high and traveling hundreds of miles per hour above the earth.

My son, on the other hand is enjoying cloud potholes. Bring on the turbulence, the rougher the better says he. Love those butterflies, he laughs. I say, so do I, to which he replies you're lying, mom! You can't hide from a kid. It is true we accept that we are going to die, but, not really.

I surrender, and take a moment with a meditation focusing on my breath. All is good. I'm here for the ride.

How does One reconcile Goodness with Badness

My home, My sanctuary, My illusion.

I often contemplate on the many sufferings in our world, and wonder how do we continue to accept these sufferings. World poverty, war, and disease are just an example of what humans have lived with since the beginning of time.

How can people be both good and evil? I don’t have an answer but for sure there is a possibility for goodness in everyone. Do people do evil deeds because they are afraid? I read a interview with Laura Huxley, in which she answered the question "Why is there so much unhappiness in the world?

"LH: Fear and rage. They are there all the time. The fear that is now in this country is incredible. It’s really like a contagious germ.

NS: That’s a marvelous metaphor: Fear as a contagious disease. How do you inoculate yourself against that contagion?

LH: Well the answer is always vivid awareness. This is the core of healthy psychology—learning to trace the source of experience. Is this my fear, or is it Mr. Bush’s fear? I don’t drive anymore, but in driving you can learn some tremendous lessons about how people respond to what they think they need. Sometimes before they even respond to you they attack you. If you don’t want to perpetuate that rage, you have to respond in a different way. It’s very easy of course to speak of these things, but they are very difficult to apply. Yet even if we apply them just a little bit, the world becomes a very different place."

Check it out the entire interview at http://www.hazymoon.com/Huxley/tabid/78/Default.aspx

Blessing and Accepting what is

I saw this on Danny Fisher's blog, and thought it was worth showing here too. What an amazing presentation.

Counting Blessings

I followed a link from Danny Fisher's blog, and thought it worth linking to here. It is about 18 minutes, and worth every second. This link did not work, view the you tube version above. For more information on Jill Bolte Taylor go to http://www.speakers.ca/bolte-taylor_jill.aspx

Practice, Practice, Practice and more Practice

Mindfulness is my passion. Each day I sit quietly and silence my mind, each moment is made of new seconds. If my mind drifts, I notice it, let it float on, and start over again. No need to attach to those thoughts, they are nothing. My mind goes into silence. Deeply breathing in and slowly exhaling. I follow my breath and smile.

I noticed that being present is difficult and takes practice. I begin slowly, picking one or two actions to be present. For example, making and drinking tea. When I make my tea, I am 100% present, pouring the kettle, whisking the powdered tea, holding the tea, raising the bowl, touching my lips with the rim of the bowl, swallowing the tea I smile.