Monthly Archives: January 2013

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January 31, 2013

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Effects of Our Surroundings

I have been thinking more and more about the effects of our surroundings.  I go though ebbs and flows on this path like anyone else.  Sometimes spiritual pursuit is in the forefront of my mind but sometimes life gets busy and it is easier to just slack off.  By the time I have this realization I am consuming without thought and certainly without mindfulness.  I get into what I call autopilot, just going through life and not experiencing so much.  I do not control as much of what I am consuming, with my eyes, my mouth, my ears and my mind.  In the beginning little effect is seen I listen to a little negative music no worries.  Watch a little too much news and some bad TV not too bad.  Eat some bad food that is not good for me what can it hurt.  A little gossip just for fun cause after all I am just talking.  Then wham straight to the face with negative thinking and I am in a rut.  Everything around us has the potential to effect us physically, spiritually and mentally.  While a little of this would not hurt us if we are keeping a spiritual mindset the cumulative effects add up but it does seem to hit suddenly or maybe the realization just comes on that way.  I try to stay mindful of what I am in taking in these days try to set aside some time each day to meditate and pray.  Maybe listen to some uplifting music and read some scripture.  The effects of these small actions can have a great and sudden impact on myself and those around me cause I am  better equipped to be in the world when in a spiritual mindset.  If a fraction of the world spent a little more time on the positive and a little less time on the news, reality TV, the latest want, junk food and gossip to name a few the world might be a much brighter place to live in.  While I think with how busy we are now with all our distractions we spend less and less time on spirituality and more and more time on mindless endeavors.  A good test for me is when I drive to work in the morning if I am disturbed about the traffic I am not doing what I should but when I am checking out the trees and the clouds I’m on the right path.  With so much advancement in the world these days I think everybody could use a little more time to advance their hearts.

 

What did you consume today?

 

 

Peace Love Das

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January 30, 2013

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Poseidon

Spirituality can come from anywhere, anything can be shown to help us better find our peace.  To prove that point this blurb is about what I learn from Poseidon my cat or P Man for short.  My cat is a wonderful creature he is a rescue from the local animal shelter.  An adult cat when I got him his time was limited as he had been in the shelter for a while, when I found out how much time he had left before they put him down he was boxed up and I took him home.  Very highly recommend rescuing an animal they may even do the same for you.  Back to the point, this furry little guy is  really in the moment, just about all of the time.  His ability to sit on my meditation cushion for hours would impress anyone  He does still get a little mad when I work too much but he is ultra quick to forgive, never holds a grudge for any longer than it takes to pet his head.  He is a cat of few words, I actually didn’t think he could make noise for the first couple years but now he grunts very kind words now and then.  He very much so seems to be at peace most of the time, must be all his napping.  There is much to be learned along this spiritual path from just about everything in our lives and we can learn much from our animal friends.

 

What has your animal friends shown you?

 

 

Peace Love Das

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January 29, 2013

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Forget It

We think many times when walking on a spiritual path that we need to add something, that there is some piece of knowledge or a chant that will unlock to door.  While this stuff can be helpful, very helpful at some points, most if not all the answers can come from within.  It’s not so much what we have to learn all the time as what we have to forget.    This was brought back to mind by the magnet that sits on my fridge.  The spirit or ease of life we so desperately seek is always present.  Inside of you, right now, is true love and even enlightenment, the problem is all the stuff we have collected over our lives to cover it up.  For example I used to drink and act out a lot, as an action of ego I would blow up my problems and make them worse and worse.  I needed to have the worst problems around, then I thought nobody could blame me for drinking and acting out.  After many years of this behavior I stopped drinking and acting out and really trying to seek a better way of life.  The problem was I was still making a mountain out of a mole hill, I would stub my toe and by the time you heard about it I nearly ripped my leg off.  I was stuck in this thinking and the smallest problem would keep me down and depressed for way too long.  I had to forget this defense mechanism that was no longer needed.  It took time and pain to see things as they really were, to see how important or non important things were.  This was one of the many things I had to forget to open my way up to a happy life.  There were many more that’s for sure but as I began to forget this negative way of life, the positive was just there.  This is when I came to believe that the positive, happy, peaceful way of life was natural and what we were meant to be living.

With all we learn from the world around us it is very hard for most of us to be in a natural state of peace but if we are mindful of what we are taking in and forget what is not needed I think we can go far.  Not so much that we need to learn love but forget hate, the love will shine forth I promise.

 

What have you had to forget on your journey?

 

 

Peace Love Das

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January 27, 2013

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Physical Pain

Physical pain much like anything else can be a gateway to spiritual growth.  Many times it can keep us in the moment like no other time.  Our thoughts and anxiety’s for the future can slip away.  It can also let us be free of lingering resentment for the past.  I have a bad back, I am in some state of pain often, some days are better than others.  It is easy on the bad days, to fall back into a very ego driven defensive state.  Lashing out at those around us but it doesn’t have to be that way.  If we are mindful of the pain we are in and let it be a constant reminder of the spiritual growth we seek some good can even come of these situations.  Sometimes when the pain kicks into high gear I lack motivation to do much physical work or be out and about.  I try to use this down time to look within, catch up on some reading or meditate.  These down times forced or not can put me in a state of mental well being and make my ability to tackle problems and be out in the world far greater when I am feeling better.

 

The point is and always is for me life will throw you curve balls and instead of swinging like mad at them all the time sometimes is nice to take a breath and watch the ball fly by.

 

 

Peace Love Das 

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January 24, 2013

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Blowing Sunshine

You may be shocked to know that not everyday am I blowing sunshine out of my butt.  Yes I do consider myself to be very happy and positive person but some days are better than others.  When I look back before I started the path I am on now most days flat out sucked.  I was miserable and if some of the circumstances that happened today happened then I would probably be pissed off for a couple months.  Today I am just not as happy as I normally am but I sure don’t feed into it like I used to.  Ego can not only make you feel better than, it could also take great pride in going the other direction, making you feel worst than everyone else like you have the biggest problems in the world.  Trust me you don’t nor did I, its ok.  Today when things aren’t going my way I just kind of role with it, do what I can and forget the rest.  I could spend my whole life focusing on what isn’t perfect but that whole time I would be missing what is and when it comes down to it, in the end, its all perfect, we just don’t see it yet.

 

So tonight I will read a joke, say a prayer, meditate, read some spiritual text and refocus and I am pretty sure it will pass.

 

What do you do on days like these, when the smile fades from your face a bit?

 

Forget it my cat just made funny faces at me I am back to blowing sunshine out of my butt.

 

and remember when all else fails don’t take yourself so seriously

 

Peace Love Das

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January 23, 2013

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Prayers Without Borders

As I grow spiritually my prayers cease to have borders. When I used to pray the prayers were for myself alone. My world was very small and painful for myself and those around me. My world was small cause my ego was large there was much pain as I thought all the negative in the world was directed at me. Little things, it wasn’t that gas prices went up but they went up for me. As I grew under the direction of teachers, books, music and the influence of many things. My ego began to shrink ever so slightly and my prayers started to go from money, success, houses and such to health and peace for those around me. I eventually started praying for Gods will for me and direction to better myself as it would be useful to others. Things started effecting me less and I found more peace on a daily bases. Over time I started praying for the people I did not like that they might find happiness and peace. I know pray for just about everyone that they might find happiness and an end to their suffering. I try to help people regardless of their relationship to me. I don’t feel we should hold back our love or prayers cause the people are not me, or part of my family and friends, or don’t live in my town, state, country. We are one big family and someone’s suffering is no less important cause they live on the other side of the world.

Our capacity for love for others knows no bounds what are you doing to enlarge it today?

Peace Love Das

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January 21, 2013

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Conduit

As a goal I seek to be a conduit for the divine.  A channel of peace and love.  Through spiritual work, any kind of spiritual work I feel the channel becomes more free flowing and allows that energy to pass through better.  It keeps me acting out of love instead of reacting out of ego.  That divine energy is always there to tap into but it can be blocked as in the way the sun is always shinning but it is harder to see with the clouds in the way let alone feels its warmth.  When someone is lashing out at me due to some suffering in their life I can either react out of ego and lash back ruining both of our days or I can act out of love.  This type of reaction can change not only the way I conduct business but also the person receiving it.  It can let them know that someone cares show them a little understanding.  I have seen this approach stop people in their tracks and it dawn on them that their actions are not appropriate.  It has the power to turn a negative experience into a positive one.  Two people may even gain a friend when they so desperately need one.  This is a practice and like any practice it most be strengthened in the presence of those we love so it can be used towards people who may not love us.  Being mindful of any situations we can provide that conduit for love to all, it isn’t always easy but it is always worth it for our happiness and others.

 

Peace Love Das

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January 18, 2013

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Judging People On Their Past Mistakes

Another suggested topic this one was brought to me by someone who is near and dear to my heart so here goes. Lets start with judging -1.Form an opinion or conclusion about. Judging never works well as we think we have absolute understanding of where people are coming from. Which usually is not the case and if we did have that understanding we would not judge so harshly. We would have an understanding of why someone does what they do and reach out to them with compassion. We also tend to judge from a position of ego looking down on our fellow man separating us. Having a judgment on anything brings attachment to that judgment and a need to defend that position and be right which only causes more suffering. We can have views on certain things but its good to have an understanding that people are making the best decision they can at any given time even if it looks completely different from the outside.

On to judging people on their past mistakes. Assuming that here are mistakes in this life to me the only mistake you truly make is the one you don’t learn from or can’t help someone else with the experience of having made it. To judge someone on a mistake they made in the past is just wrong if you can’t accept them for who they are and what they have done you probably should not have them in your life. Everyone makes mistakes I at one time in my life was very miserable and mistreated people on a daily basis out of my suffering, it brought on more suffering to myself and people around me and seemed to be an endless cycle but made me who I am today. I am truly sorry to the people I have hurt and try to make up for it everyday not only with words but with actions but I needed that part of my life to grow into where I am now. I would hate for someone to judge me by what I did at a low point in my life thinking they know something about me now. We all make mistakes and should not throw stones no matter what type of house we live in.

You would not judge a rose when you just planted it you would wait for it to bloom to realize its true beauty so don’t judge people on what they did while they were still growing and hopefully the will show you the same patience.

If you love someone for who they are don’t judge them on what has brought them to who they are.

Peace Love Das

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January 17, 2013

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Endless Needs

Many of us confuse our needs and wants and through our brainwashing and constant hypnosis through outside sources we think we need so much to be happy. We think that when we receive our latest desire that we experience happiness and that level of happiness is there but not for the reasons we think. I believe we return to our natural state of happiness when that need/want is filled the trick is if we never had the want we might of stayed in our natural state of happiness the whole time. Many a time I have been perfectly happy but see something I want and that want turns quickly in my head into a need (something I try to stay away from). Once I make up my mind that I want that thing it ruins my peace and takes over my thinking many times this thing is something I have lived without my whole life but now it is super important. Once I get this thing then its importance dies. The happiest I have ever been was never because of things but cause of my relationship to others and God centeredness. With the current state of the media putting celebrities at god like status many people believe we need that type of money so we can buy anything we want to be happy and its just not the case the problem is we get away from our peace and happiness in our struggle for the new shinny thing. You can’t fill a god sized whole with cars, money or anything else sure they are nice to have but they lose there shine quick. Look at how many celebrities and people of seemingly endless means who have everything money could buy are miserable. In such a state of suffering that they turn to drugs and many destructive behaviors to change the way they feel. We watch them on the news and think they are just crazy I don’t believe that to be the case they are just suffering like many of us do and they thought they would be happy when they got everything they wanted. We as people of lesser means tend to think of our suffering as lack of this or that and when we see people with the things we want and they are not happy we can only come up with “they are crazy”. That’s why so many of these people turn to spirituality to be happy and after that we say they have gone even further off the deep end, when I see it I think thank God they are on the right path now.

Yes basic needs are important and a level of comfort is great but once that it satisfied it up to us to get back to happiness, forget all the negative we have learned and find peace.

What do you think? I would love to know your views.

Peace Love Das

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January 17, 2013

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Friendship….and what makes a true friend.

Another good suggested topic by one of my fine readers. To me friend is a title and with all titles it loosely dictates behavior.  There are all different kinds of friends from someone who is a bit more of an acquaintance to someone who is a best friend.  To me a best friend is family without the blood relation.  My best friend is just about a brother to me but so much more as we choose to be best friends we are not bound to each other  by any other thing but friendship.  That relationship is the one of the purest form of friendship I have experienced so I will talk about that here.  I met my best friend by chance and we started hanging out out of mutual interest and boredom.  Our friendship is based on a large level of respect we don’t pressure each other into anything and we support each other in whatever we do.  We click and we never force views on one another, in actuality when we first started hanging out it kind of confused me, we could not be more different in some aspects but our friendship works I really don’t think we have ever fought about anything.  I think the key to this relationship as well as most friendships for that matter is respect, loving someone as they are, having understanding, showing support and loyalty.  I have been there for my best friend to the best of my ability on any given day and trust me some days that ability sucked but a level of forgiveness was given to me that I am forever grateful for and hope to return some day.  We do understand that we both have separate lives and they may get in the way of hanging out and goofing off sometimes but the key is we understand that and when we do come together we make the most of that time.

 

Maybe he will drop a comment and give his side or you can stop by his blog http://www.quixoticjedi.com/ and ask him.

 

Reader who suggested the topic I hope this helps and what you were looking for if you want more on a specific situation that has caused friendship to come into question let me know.

 

 

Peace Love Das