Free your mind

The gentle art of blessing

I am so incredibly grateful to my lovely friend Rosemary for buying a copy of this book for me:

 

” A down-to-earth and deeply inspiring work of applied spirituality, this book explores the history and practice of the act of blessing. To bless means to wish, unconditionally, for total, unrestricted good for others, from the deepest wellspring in the innermost chamber of one’s heart. This book provides tools and information that enable people to ground their spiritual practice in everyday life, in the street, the workplace, the kitchen, the supermarket, everywhere. Discussed are the law of positive expectations, the law of unconditional love, and blessing as a spiritual bath. Practised daily, the blessings provided will foster a deep and lasting inner calm.”

 

I can’t wait to start reading it, and will share it with you all.  I just know this book is going to change my life ♥

Love and blessings to you all dear friends

….and don’t forget to check out Rosemary’s beautiful Facebook page “A Sprinkle of Kindness“

 

Namaste 

Everyday Wisdom #41

Something I passionately believe…

 

You really can change the world if you care enough.
– Marian Wright Edelman

 

Kindness Crusade

One should cherish all living beings – radiating kindness over the entire world

I listened to a great talk on the Metta Sutta this week, and it really gave me pause to think about kindness and the conditions needed to cultivate and increase kindness and tenderness in the world.

 

An excerpt of the Metta Sutta:

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in saftey,
May all beings be at ease.

 

What if we all made the decision to live according to this sutta?

If we made an intention to live ethically and kindly?

Peace would be possible.  Inner-peace would be possible.   And peace on Earth.

“Although attempting to bring about world peace through the internal transformation of individuals is difficult, it is the only way”.  The Dalai Lama

We can further cultivate peace, and increase kindness by:

• Not taking the life of any living thing
• Not taking things that are not given
• Not engaging in sensual misconduct
• Refraining from false speech
• Abstaining from substances which cause intoxication and heedlessness

In order for our hearts to manifest the desire – “may all beings be at ease” we must first have gladness and safety in our minds and hearts.

Living with gratitude, kindness and love all gladden and reassure the heart and mind.

As does finding the joy in each moment and each situation.

And with wisdom, and the development of wisdom, we can look around us and see that everyone is suffering.  That everyone has a story filled with difficulties and challenges, loss of hopes and dreams.

Really realising this and seeing this brings a true tenderness of heart.

My personal desire is to develop the equanimity needed to be able to see what is happening in the world around me.  So I can bring kindness to every situation and make a difference.

Being kind is taking a stand.

 

“Do not fight against pain, embrace with tenderness.” 
~ Thich Nhat Hanh 

Everyday Wisdom #13

Rise & Shine

There is an innate wisdom in allowing ourselves to wake naturally each morning.

It’s much better to begin the day by letting your body catch up to sleep-cycle cues that it collects, and letting it tell you when it is ready to wake up.  By coming out of “sleep mode” naturally, you help your body get off to more relaxed and peaceful start to the day.

Tonight don’t set your alarm, and trust yourself to wake naturally in the morning (unless of course you have something important you have to do first thing 🙂 ).

Trust in your inbuilt body wisdom and capabilities to know when you need to wake up.

The key is to get up soon after you first wake up – rather than lying in bed dozing.

This will help you to tune in to your internal body clock.  It will tell you how much sleep you need.

If you find you have overslept, it’s a good opportunity to think about shifting your bedtime to an earlier time.  Or consider what may be happening in your life that is making you feel extra tired.

 

Everyday Wisdom #8

Say no to violence

Spend some today thinking about the ways in which you may unconsciously be committing acts of violence.

Do you push yourself beyond your limits?  Physically or mentally?

Do you continue exercising even if you are injured or in pain?

Do you use harsh speech – to yourself or others?

 

All of these could be considered (non extreme) acts of violence.

Great wisdom and peace can be attained through living a life without violence.

 

Non-violence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. 

 

Spreading kindness

I was inspired by reading this great blog post today Be Kind Anyway.

Mother Teresa was truly such a beautiful person.

She was a great reminder to us all that as human beings, we are capable of bringing about a world based on kindness and compassion.

This blog post is dedicated to remembering her, and the kindness, compassion and love she brought to the world.
 

“Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house…let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”
 

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
 

“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
 

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is a dream,realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game,play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure,dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it!”

 

 

Together we can create a society based upon peace, harmony, wisdom and compassion.

 

A peaceful life

One of the things I feel truly blessed to have is a calm and peaceful life for my son and I.

I have strived to create a very relaxed and nurturing home environment for us, and I thought I would share some of my techniques for cultivating calm.

• Avoid watching, or listening to, the news as much as possible.  See my earlier blog post here for more.
• Listen to classical music.  Especially the “lighter” pieces.  This is my favourite radio station.
• Lavender oil.  Not only is this fantastic essential oil relaxing, it also helps dispel negative energy.  Use it in an oil burner.  Sprinkle it on your pillow before bedtime.  Or wear it instead of perfume (to stay calm during the day).
• Practice deep breathing.
• Smile – even if you don’t initially feel like it.
• Go for a walk everyday.  As you walk, use the opportunity to really notice your environment.  What can you see?  Hear?  Smell?
• Practice meditation
• Write out your intentions each morning.  Including the intention to be calm.
• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
• Drink tea, mindfully.

and my favourite, and I most highly recommend:

• Avoid harshness.
  Harsh speech.  Harsh thoughts.  Harsh influences.
  Be mindful of what you exposure yourself to.  For example – music, books, movies…
  Are they adding to your feeling of calm and peace?

I must admit that I used to read a lot of horror and crime novels.

Until I read this enlightening blog post:

I won’t Kill Bill

“On a personal level, I question how I can claim to dedicate myself to a life of peace and nonviolence when I’m watching movies like Predator and Goodfellas on the weekends.”

The points in the blog post can also be extended beyond movies, to what other influences you expose yourself to.

Reading this blog post really opened my eyes.  And made me aware of how I felt after reading those types of books – depressed, anxious and jumpy.

Now I tend to stick to non-fiction books.  I usually spend my time reading to learn something, or improve myself.

Remember that peace generates peace.  By cultivating calm and peace within ourselves, we influence those around us , thereby making them feel more calm as well.

Love is all you need

Special thanks to derekcheyyim for the suggestion for today’s post 🙂

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared” ~ The Buddha

Among all the helpful emotions developed on the Buddhist path, love is perhaps one of the most important.

It helps to ensure that a person’s spiritual life is based on healthy and open relationships with the people around them, and with other forms of life.

It also creates the right inner conditions for the heart to relax and be at peace.

It is usually easy to have kind and loving feels towards those people that we love – our friends and family.  Focusing on developing those feelings towards the people you care about is an important basis for developing a loving kindness practice.

The stronger the foundation of our loving-kindness practice is, the easier it is to expand our loving-kindness practice to those people towards whom we would not normally feel kindness.   The ultimate goal in developing a loving-kindness practice is to feel the same level of goodwill, love, friendliness, and acceptance towards everyone – friends and strangers alike.

The sense of “self” and “other” will fall away, and be replaced by an extensive feeling of open heartedness.

Here are some of my favourite tips for strengthening loving-kindness:

• Practice loving=kindness meditation.  Here is a great resource to find out more
• Be a good listener.  Listen fully and openly without thinking about what you are going to say next, or trying to offer advice or a solution
• Smile at everyone
• Practice random acts of kindness (RAOK’s)
• Cook a meal for family of friends
• Call or visit someone who is sick
• Tell someone you appreciate them
• Pass on feedback if you receive good customer service – let the person’s manager know
• Be generous with compliments
• Be positive
• Share inspirational quotes
• Be grateful for what you have
• Treat everyone equally and with respect

And my favourite:

• Act on feelings of warmth and compassion.  Don’t be afraid to express feelings of kindness and goodwill.

I am really excited about developing my own loving-kindness practice.

I have only recently started focusing on it intensively, and practising loving kindness-meditation as well.  However I can already feel a huge difference.

A real sense of an opening and softening of my heart, and a very deep desire to help people, and to ease their suffering.

It’s such a beautiful feeling ♥

May you be happy

May you be safe

May you be healthy

May you be peaceful