These States of Consciousness Lead to Immense Suffering

[Wake Up World]: What is stopping you from being happy right now? It’s probably some form of delusion. What this means is that you are not seeing Life and Reality as it is, within this present moment, and placing it into a macrocosmic perspective. Simply put, delusion distorts Reality.

Buddha saw delusion as anything that shifts us out of peace and leads to someone or something else controlling our minds. All delusions are illusions that are given life due to feeding them attention. It’s almost akin to an individual version of an egregore, or our own self-created wetiko. Delusions distort how we see ourselves, others, and reality. It’s essentially like a funhouse mirror that is distorted and so it reflects a distortion back to us.

Delusion is a net unlike any other. There is the First Net that most people have gotten trapped in, which is what we today call being Basic. Then, there is a Second Net that is even more dangerous than the first. We find people like the Woke and Spiritual Narcissists in this one, among others. There is even a Third Net that, albeit rare, which leads to apathetic nihilism after escaping the first two nets yet falling into this last potential one.

Getting out of the nets of delusion is one of the most difficult undertakings because it means your ego has become so entrenched as the controller of your being that it’s taken several precautions to make sure it’s not put in its rightful place as a servant rather than a master. However, there are steps you can take to free yourself from delusion.

What causes suffering? You could say it’s desire, attachment, and fear, and you would be right. However, other states of consciousness also lead to profound levels of suffering that could be avoided with a consciousness shift.

Siddhartha Gautama, aka Buddha, taught much when it comes to suffering. In the Dhammapada, which is a collection of Buddha’s aphorisms, there are four specific states of consciousness he calls out as leading to immense suffering.

In Buddhism, fire is sometimes seen in a harmful context. While it has the ability to purify, it can also burn.

Lust is the expression of overactive and imbalanced sacral energy. When energy is not brought up the central channel throughout the rest of the energy body, it gets stuck in the sacral, growing so great that it leads to lust, a form of desire. This lust can lead to actions that can cause immense suffering for both the person experiencing the lust, as well as others who are the target of that lust.

Lust can arise in anyone but it can be fleeting and be treated like a transitory event, without focusing on it and making it grow. Watch your feelings of lust arise and notice that you previously did not experience this state of consciousness, while also realizing that there will come a time when you will no longer experience it as well. Allow it to flow through you while you close your eyes and take nice long, deep breaths. Allow this pranic inflow and outflow to be gentle.

Hate stems from anger and feeling that you were wronged. Buddha calls this one of the Three Poisons, and can also be considered to include anger based on how he described it.

Hatred and anger will burn you more than they will anyone else. It’s essentially self-sabotage. However, people who you direct your anger to can also suffer, be it mental, physical, or emotional suffering, especially if you act on those states of consciousness with your words and actions. It is hatred that has led to much of the enslavement we have seen of humans, both on an individual and collective level, in the past and present through various means....<<<Read More>>>...

Neuroscience Learns What Buddhism Has Known For Ages: Mindfulness

[Collective Evolution]: In its most basic form, Mindfulness means to pay attention to what’s happening, on purpose, in the present moment, and to do so without judgement. Originally from Buddhist roots, it was introduced into the West by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zin and the University of Massachusetts. Since its appearance in the West around twenty years ago, many people have participated in the Mindfulness based stress reduction course and similar programs. Research shows that participants may experience profound benefits such as reduced stress, a greater sense of well-being, increased clarity and focus, and improved sleeping patterns.

According to Dr. Kabat-Zin, by paying attention in a certain way, we can switch off our so-called autopilot mode, in which we often go through life unaware of what’s happening within and around us. Living on autopilot not only means that we miss out on a lot of the richness of life, but we are also more likely to be stressed. Stress and autopilot are linked because when we are on autopilot, we are much more likely to act out unhelpful or even damaging patterns of behaviour. In other words, we react instead of respond to challenging experiences in our life. Mindfulness helps us to become aware of these habitual patterns and gives us a choice to change how we relate to challenging experiences. It’s not about taking stress away or hoping to live a life without any stress, but rather fundamentally changing how we relate to the things we experience.

On the other hand, many of us spend much of our time living in our heads. We live in a kind of virtual reality consisting of thoughts and inner dialogue, and thoughts tend to relate either to the past or to the future. Mindfulness helps us to learn how to return to the present and to what’s actually happening rather than our perceptions of what’s happening, which are often inaccurate. We practice it by cultivating greater somatic awareness — that is, awareness of the body, because the body is always in the present moment....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

Quote for the Day

"Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it" - Buddha

“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” ― Gautama Buddha

How to Communicate Like a Buddhist

[Daily OM]: To communicate like a Buddhist means you use words that are true, balanced, necessary, and kind. You listen intently to others and to yourself. And while you realize that you are only responsible for what you say (not what others hear), you still take great care to choose your words skillfully so that the recipient is more likely to hear and understand them. You don't speak negatively about people. You speak from the heart, and once the words are said, you let them go.

The idea of speaking to others in a way that is kind, honest, and helpful sounds wonderful in theory, but how do you actually do it? How do you move away from the dream of interacting differently and truly communicate in this way?

This is what the action plan helps you do. It's daily action that helps you move away from the theory and into implementation. Each morning you commit to speaking differently, and in the evening contemplate your communication throughout the day. There are also exercises to help you understand your default ways of interacting and how to shift out of them. Communication is not something we are born knowing how to do.

We learn to talk, not how to communicate. Communication is a practice, and for you to change how you interact, it's all about practicing in your day-to-day...<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

Exploring the Difference Between Being and Beingness

[Wake Up World]: There’s a good deal of emphasis in the spiritual mainstream about coming into “Being”, but what does that mean exactly and does the spiritual journey simply end there? Absolutely not.

When we come into Being, it unleashes a flow of authentic soul energy that is wanting to express as “Beingness” of which there are different qualitities, different harmonies, depending on the situation the Being is flowing into.


Understanding this dynamic is crucial to coming into full Enlightenment, which is far from a static phenomenon…

Beingness to Being is like Running is to the Runner

When you hit the hallowed space of Being for the first time, it makes all the sense in the Universe. It answers (at least temporarily) all of the efforting and seeking in the outer world. You’ve come back to your true home, the destination of every quest, the answer to every question. It’s heavenly and sublime. In its deepest state, you’re in the pure presence of the One. At Openhand we call it the Sacred Ground of Being. It feels simply divine....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

Neuroscience Learns What Buddhism Has Known For Ages: Mindfulness

[Collective Evolution]: Neuroscience and spirituality have been complementing each other for many years now, and one area we see a connection is with regards to mindfulness. This is defined as an attention training which can benefit health and general well-being.

How often do you practice mindfulness? Is it something you think about? How often do you use your consciousness and mindfulness techniques to help you with your overall health and well-being? Why was this stuff once considered 'pseudoscience?'

Mindfulness is defined as an attention training which can benefit health and general well-being. There is a lot scientific research confirming it. In its most basic form, Mindfulness means to pay attention to what’s happening, on purpose, in the present moment, and to do so without judgement.

Mindfulness helps us to learn how to return to the present and to what’s actually happening rather than our perceptions of what’s happening, which are often inaccurate. We practice it by cultivating greater somatic awareness — that is, awareness of the body, because the body is always in the present moment.

Ultimately, the more we practice Mindfulness and observe the changing nature of experience, the more we may begin to sense that what we previously thought of as being tangible and solid, such as our sense of self, is actually quite transitory and ephemeral. We may begin to understand what lies beyond objects arising in awareness such as sensations, thoughts, and emotions. We may begin to experience awareness itself. This is an extremely significant moment in practice and in life, when we start to experience ourselves as something greater than what we observe and our sense of being the observer....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...

A Zen Master Explains the Art of ‘Letting Go’, And It Isn’t What You Think

[Wake Up World]: The Buddha taught that detachment, one of the disciplines on the Noble Path, also called ariyasaavaka, is not a physical act of withdrawal or even a form of austerity.

Though the Buddha teaches of a “non-action which is an integral part of the Right Way,” if it is taken out of context it can give the impression that we should develop a lack of concern for others, and that we should live without truly feeling or expressing our emotions – cutting ourselves off from life.

These type of misinterpretations are sadly common, since there are not always direct translations from the Paali language into English.

This form of “detachment” is an erroneous understanding of the Buddha’s message. Master Hanh states that to truly let go we must learn to love more completely. Non-attachment only happens when our love for another extends beyond our own personal expectations of gain, or our anticipation of a specific, desired outcome.

Hanh describes four forms of complete detachment, which surprisingly, aren’t about holing yourself up in a cave and ignoring everyone who has broken your heart, or ignoring your lust or desire for a romantic interest. This is not detachment. Letting go, means diving in...read more>>>...

Some Buddhist Inspiration ...

Some Buddhist Inspiration

A Buddhist Insight

Buddhist Inspiration

How to Communicate Like a Buddhist

Daily Om: To communicate like a Buddhist means you use words that are true, balanced, necessary, and kind. You listen intently to others and to yourself. And while you realize that you are only responsible for what you say (not what others hear), you still take great care to choose your words skillfully so that the recipient is more likely to hear and understand them. 

You don't speak negatively about people. You speak from the heart, and once the words are said, you let them go. 

The idea of speaking to others in a way that is kind, honest, and helpful sounds wonderful in theory, but how do you actually do it? How do you move away from the dream of interacting differently and truly communicate in this way? This is what the action plan helps you do. It's daily action that helps you move away from the theory and into implementation. 

Each morning you commit to speaking differently, and in the evening contemplate your communication throughout the day. There are also exercises to help you understand your default ways of interacting and how to shift out of them. Communication is not something we are born knowing how to do. We learn to talk, not how to communicate. Communication is a practice, and for you to change how you interact, it's all about practicing in your day-to-day...read more>>>...

 

The Physics of Karma You Never Learned in School

Waking Times: They say karma is a bitch. But that’s true only when you are.

Karma is the philosophy of "What Goes Around Comes Around". And karma is created with each choice we make. An action for an action.

In Hinduism and Buddhism, karma is defined as an action, work or deed. It refers to the principle of causality where the intent and actions of an individual influences the future of that individual.

The idea that past lives dictate current reality is a belief system that ties us to past lives in a negative feedback loop to repay past sins. We have to be leery of any belief system. This belief system also causes us to worry about the future consequences of our current actions. It is a dictate that mirrors the ideology of the Catholic Church that tells us to repent for our sins. It is a mindset that takes us out of our truth as co-creative beings.

Knowing who we really are is powerful. We co-create through our own energy just by being present. Everything is energy and energy flows as a waveform, as color waves, sound waves, thought waves, atomic waves, and love. Love is energy. We originate from love which comes from the Creator....read more>>>...

A Zen Moment ....

A Zen Moment ...

A Zen Moment ...

A Zen Moment ...

A Zen Moment ...

A Zen Moment ...