Sundays With Buddha

(Photo courtesy of http://yogagoddess.us/, a very inspirational blog written by Jennifer Miller, Heart Based Healing)






Watch the thought and its ways with care, and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.
                                                                                                      --Buddha


Week 47


It is definitely not easy, or always practical, to watch our every thought, as it seems suggested here. I could lie and tell you I am becoming a master at this, but the truth is, the only thing I am becoming a master of is trying. For now, that is good enough, because, whether or not I ever get there, at least I want to get there. And to me, that's better than doing nothing at all.

But it is worth it to at least try to be more mindful of what we allow to come through (as our thoughts). If we learn to observe our thoughts more so than feeling we have to control them, if we think of it that way, we may be more open to the change, as it will seem like less of a challenge.


You've heard me talk about being in the "Now", and you've probably heard this idea quite often, by now. It simply means to stay present in your day to day life, or to remember to pull your awareness back to the present moment whenever you realize your mind is taking you someplace else, usually as an escape from reality. While this can seem useful in times of duress or even boredom, escaping reality isn't always the answer. 'Observing your thoughts' only requires you to pull yourself back into reality whenever you can and really look at what you are thinking about. Just realize that you are having racing or chaotic thoughts and what they are. Don't judge, don't admonish.  Just observe. You can choose to change the ones that you want, and let the rest go. You don't have to study every though that you have; just have a mild recognition as they come and go. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later, and can decide which thoughts to change and which to let go.

Once we start to get comfortable with watching our thoughts, we can move to practicing to guide those thoughts. Patience is key, here. This isn't just a one week learning situation. With this observation you will surely be able to see how your thinking affects your life. When you tire of how life is going, the natural path to then follow is to change something; your thinking, your actions and reactions, etc. You need to love yourself enough to know that you deserve better and to make those changes to better your situation. You will find, as I did, that once you show compassion enough for yourself in this way, your compassion will spread to others. You really do have to learn to love yourself first, for what you dislike in another, you actually already dislike in yourself.

You will eventually learn that it feels better to forge thoughts based on concern for all living beings, than from conceited, one-sided thoughts concerning yourself alone; that can prove to be very isolating over time. I can think of several situations, just recently at work, even, where I felt completely cornered by someone's hateful tendencies.  Their actions and words were demeaning and degrading, hurtful and just all around emotionally upsetting. Definitely not the way you should be or expect to be treated in your work environment. And the last thing on my mind was to have loving thoughts towards this man. However, I have gotten to a place where this is mostly second nature because I was able to still keep my actions and emotions (mostly) under control. He wanted to be upsetting and it worked. March is a really sorrowful month for me, and I am filled with sadness, so my emotions are a bit on edge this time of year. But I'm at least proud of the fact that I was able to not react like I would have several years ago. It was still very upsetting, but I did not have the anger I would have had before. I still retained some of the compassion that I have learned to have for others.

If I had not taken the time to care about my own well being (and my own mental health) and started the practice of more positive and loving thoughts, scenarios in my life would have far different outcomes than they do. So, you see, it's not always about changing your ways to treat others better. You have to also try to incorporate how you will be affected, as well.

So, no, it's not always practical to monitor every single thought you have every single day, but to make the effort to be more of a witness of the majority of your thinking, more at ease and connected you can start to become with yourself and the more joyful and connected you will feel to others. You can be proud of the fact that you care enough about yourself to care more about the people around you. The more connected you feel toward others, the more apt you are to let your thoughts about them spring from love and concern.

Everything in life is a learning process. Most of everything you learned as a child you did so through trial and error, practice and patience. No one learned to ride that bicycle for you, you had to do it yourself. Once you got the hang of it, though, it became second nature. You never forgot how to do it. All that's left now is to enjoy the ride.

Thanks so much for being here today.

Namaste

Nanette