Once, when I was teaching, I was reminded of the importance of making connections through stories. I shared a personal story with my students and they, in turn, opened up with many stories of their own. I was grateful for this reminder and continued the practice in future class lessons. On the drive home from work that day, it occurred to me that it is the ego that keeps us from sharing personal stories because it is what causes us to be afraid of being judged. That thought revealed a simple fact to me; ego gets in the way of truth.
Zen Professor
A Path to a More Fulfilling Life
Tag: relativity
A while ago I sat on the back porch and witnessed an amazing sunset. The trees framed vibrant colors in a select location, almost as if it were done on purpose just as a special gift to me. I could sense the difference of coming from the place of being a part of everything, intimately connected in every way, versus perceiving oneself as separate from everything and continually being acted upon by the environment. The former brings a sense of peace and joy while the latter brings a sense of pain and suffering. The difference is quite profound.
The World We Live In
Our bodies are an inner universe, in relation to the outer universe, and the two together form our Universe, Buddha Nature, Christ Consciousness, God consciousness, or whatever you want to call it.
First, always keep things in perspective. When we look at the vastness of the Universe, both inside and out, things we consider as problems don’t appear nearly as great. Second, this demonstration shows the physical side of the teaching, so within, so without.
However, so within, so without goes deeper. Our inner state becomes our outer experience. For example, when we are angry, or agitated, or frustrated inside, we attract people into our current life situation who are angry, agitated, or frustrated. Or, if we are currently working on a project, such as home repair or attempting to learn a new skill, and we become frustrated, agitated, or angry, all the problems or obstacles that might come up when attempting to learn a new skill or make repairs will come forward in full force. Anyone who reflects back on their experience often enough will clearly see the truth in this fundamental teaching, so within, so without.
Look Inside to Find Karma
When you are experiencing difficulties in life, ask yourself this: What is my inner state? In addition, when you are experiencing life flow along smoothly, ask yourself the same question. Soon you will be in a position to notice any inner disturbance and consciously choose to calm the inner self, BEFORE the consequences of the inner turmoil manifest into your physical reality. In turn, you will be creating the experience you want to have in your life.
This is the meaning of karma, and it is what Jesus meant when he said, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” Moreover, the higher we rise in consciousness, which is to say, the more we discover the conditioned ego in us and act independent of it, the sooner we will notice and experience the effects of karma. Before long, we will find ourselves in a position to consciously manifest our desires in the physical world, with no need to learn from karmic energy.
With Growth Find Freedom
That is what karma is. It is our teacher, in that it helps us to learn how to grow spiritually. In other words, with the growth of conscious awareness, the need for lessons from the cause-effect nature of karmic energy lessons. And it is the conditioned ego that creates the karmic energy, or tension in the body that presents itself as our teacher. To release yourself from karmic energy, just become intensely present, feel the energy in the body, and allow it to flow, without acting on it. When your inner body is calm and you are completely in the now, you are free. Liberate yourself, and be here now!
How important is our perspective when it comes to how we experience the world and all its happenings? How much control over our environment do we have? Do we create our own reality? In order to answer these questions, lets have a look at some of the overarching ideas in science, and how they seem to support the suggestion that we have more say in our everyday reality than we choose to believe.
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In this book series I have described a path to total self-awareness. For me, it all started with reading inspirational literature, contemplative walking, introspective reflecting and journaling. In the first book of the series, Peace: The Art of Mindfulness to Eliminate Stress, I wrote about mindfulness and how we can program the mind to change our default progressively from constant mind chatter, to less inner dialog, to mindful chatter, to mostly silent with intentionally directed internal dialog.
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