The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows. Buddha

With six months to go before the next election, President Obama has officially launched his campaign. This is an important time for him not to take anything for granted, but also to stay true to his beliefs and ethics.

It is extremely hard to stay balanced during difficult and challenging times, as there are always those who want to bring you down, who disagree, criticize, or act like they know better. It is obvious that it will be a nasty presidential campaign. Both Obama’s religion and his birthplace are constantly questioned yet he holds his head high, speaks calmly and intelligently, and seems to have no malice. His reaction to such dissenters has simply shown his determination to keep going forward. As he said: “What we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That’s what I strive to do, that’s what I pray to do every day.”

When people speak badly about you, you should respond in this way: Keep a steady heart and do not reply with harsh words. Practice letting go of resentment, and accept that another’s hostility is the spur to your understanding. Be kind, adopt a generous standpoint, treat your enemy as a friend, and suffuse your world with affectionate thoughts, far-reaching and widespread, limitless and free from hate. Buddha

The Buddha’s teaching is based on our interdependence and interconnectedness. In a very broad sense, the role of the president is similar — to recognize how we all affect each other, which is our basic interconnectedness. Obama’s recent announcement of his support of gay marriage is an example of this, as it reflects the desire that all beings be treated equally. As Obama said four years ago: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

We are delighted that Obama has recognized gay marriage as a fundamental right, for the soul is neither male nor female, gay or straight. The latest Newsweek features an image of Obama with a rainbow-colored halo above his head. The cover story is: “The First Gay President.” We all breathe the same air, drink the same water, eat, sleep, and want to be happy. Love is not determined by gender. Why should anyone be denied the right to live the life they want, as long as they are not creating suffering for another? When we first met with the Dalai Lama at his residence in northern India we prostrated before him, as is the custom. He quickly lifted us up saying, “We are all equal here.”

But the differences between us can be huge. Although Obama pledged bipartisanship, in the last four years we have seen the worst partisanship ever, with the Republicans determined to say “no” to whatever Obama proposes. To find unity, we have to go beyond those differences; we have to surrender our own needs for the benefit of all. In the process, our enemies can teach us great patience and even compassion!

It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways. Buddha

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. Buddha

There have been some great achievements in the last four years as well as promises that haven’t been kept. But perfection is knowing ones own imperfections, which gives us the ability to get up each time we fall.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. Buddha

Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman and Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Gold Book Award. Deb is the author of the bestselling book, YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, winner of the 2007 Visionary Book Award. They are featured bloggers on Oprah.com/spirit, HuffingtonPost.com/Living, and Care2.com. They have 3 meditation CD’s: Metta — Loving Kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

Read more from Ed and Deb Shapiro:

Gitmo or Gandhi by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Why Do We Enjoy Making Fun of Others? by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Technorati Tags: appreciation, authenticity, gay, gratitude, inspiration, personal development, politics, self-discovery, Spirituality

A while ago, at the Royal Ontario Museum I went to the public restroom. Just before I came out of the stall I heard a high clear voice say, “Who’s going to get me soap?”
I walked out and saw a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, the arms of her white sweatshirt rolled up as she stood at the sink. She couldn’t reach the soap dispenser. I wasn’t sure to whom she had addressed the question. The room was empty except for the two of us.

“I can help with that,” I said and proceeded to offer her soap from my hands.

“What’s your name?” she asked as she scooped up some of the foam.

Seeing she couldn’t reach the faucet I pressed it down for her and replied, “Oriah.”

“I’m Dakota,” she offered promptly.

“Hi, Dakota.” She nodded and proceeded to rub her hands under the flowing water.

“And how many years old are you?” she asked in a matter of fact voice.

“Fifty-five,” I replied. She frowned a little and then held up four fingers. “Ah,” I said, “and you are four years old.” She nodded and moved over to the hand dryer putting her hands under the warm air. My own hands now washed and dried, I headed for the door.

“Good-bye Dakota. Nice to meet you.” She smiled and waved good-bye.

Just outside the doorway, a young man stood waiting. “I bet you’re waiting for Dakota.” He smiled and nodded, and I assured him she would be right out.

The incident could not have lasted more than three or four minutes but I keep going over it in my mind and smiling, wondering why it touched me so. Physically Dakota reminded me of myself at that age- I was also slight, blonde and blue-eyed. But Dakota was so at home in her own skin, it took my breath away. She was not trying to be precocious, or ingratiating or demanding. She needed soap and she couldn’t get any so she wondered out loud who was going to help her, and seemed to take my appearance as a reasonable answer to her question. She was confident but aware of her own limitations. She was curious but not invasive, willing to give whatever information she asked of the other. She was. . . . whole and at home with herself and the world in way I could not remember being as a child.

Thinking about Dakota I remember being the same age and visiting Buffalo NY to shop at Grant’s Department Store with my family. It was 1958, and I was carrying a small pink purse. As my grandmother and I waited for my grandfather at the entrance of the store, an elderly black gentleman walked up and squatted down in front of me smiling. I heard Nana gasp and felt her suddenly grab me and pull me back against her as she stepped away. I could feel the fear coursing through her body hitting mine like an electric shock. The gentleman looked up at her. His smile faded and he slowly shook his head as he held out my purse.

“Your little girl dropped this,” he said. He looked so tired and so sad I felt like crying, but I didn’t know why. I wanted to say something, but he quickly got up and walked away. I felt confused and embarrassed for my grandmother who just stood there, her body rigid, her arm across my chest pressing me against her.

Dakota was not afraid. I have no doubt that if anyone tried to harm her she could fight and yell for assistance very effectively. And of course she was too young to be there alone, and her guardian was close by. But she did not start from a place of fear. She did not expect me to be anything but helpful. No one had yet taught her to be afraid of everyone she did not know. My grandmother had been taught to be afraid of strangers, and a racist culture has taught her to be afraid of people- particularly men- of colour. I have been privileged to live in a city of such multi-cultural diversity that many of the fears she passed from her body to mine have been expunged and healed. But I remember them and how they affected me, how they put up a barrier to the other.

Encountering Dakota made me feel hopeful. Maybe we can raise children who do not approach unknown people or places or ways of being with fear and hostility. And maybe, if we do not meet the stranger with fear, we can get to know each other a little, can find ways to live and work together.

Oriah (c) 2009

Oriah is the author of the international best-selling books: The Invitation, and The Dance, and The Call (published by HarperONE, translated into eighteen languages.) Her much loved poem “The Invitation” has been shared around the world. Trained in a shamanic tradition, her medicine name Mountain Dreamer means one who likes to find and push the edge. Using story, poetry and shamanic ceremony Oriah’s deeply personal writing and her work as a group facilitator and mentor explore how to follow the thread of our heart’s longing into a life where we can choose joy without denying the challenges of a human life. www.oriah.org www.oriahsinvitation.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/Oriah.Mountain.Dreamer?sk=wall 

Read more by Oriah Mountain Dreamer:

Resisting What We Want by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

What Is Compassion by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Technorati Tags: Childlike, fear, inspiration, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, reflection, self help, Spirituality, vivid life

What’s the hurry?
The Practice:
Avoid the rush.
Why?

As I was meditating this morning, our cat hopped up in my lap. It felt sweet to sit there with him. And yet – even though I was feeling fine and had plenty of time, there was this internal pressure to start zipping along with emails and calls and all the other clamoring minutiae of the day.

You see the irony. We rush about as a means to an end: as a method for getting results in the form of good experiences, such as relaxation and happiness. Hanging out with our cat, I was afloat in good experiences. But the autopilot inside the coconut still kept trying to suck me back into methods for getting relaxation and happiness – as if I weren’t already feeling that way! And of course, by jumping up and diving into doingness, I’d break the mood and lose the relaxation and happiness . . . that is the point of doingness.

Sometimes we do need to rush. Maybe you’ve got to get your kid to school on time, or your boss really has to have that report by end of day. OK.

But much of the time, we rev up and race about because of unnecessary internal pressures (like unrealistic standards for ourselves) or because external forces are trying to hurry us along for their own purposes (not because of our own needs).

How do you feel when you’re rushing? Perhaps there’s a bit of positive excitement, but if you’re like me, there’s mostly if not entirely a sense of tension, discomfort, and anxiety. This kind of stress isn’t pleasant for the mind, and over time it’s really bad for the body. Plus there’s a loss of autonomy: the rush is pushing you one way or another rather than you yourself deciding where you want to go and at what pace.

Instead, how about stepping aside from the rush as much as you can? And into your own well-being, health, and autonomy?

How?

For starters, be mindful of rushing – your own and others. See how other people assume deadlines that aren’t actually real, or get time pressured and intense about things that aren’t that important. (And yep, you get to decide for yourself what you think is real or important.) Notice the internal shoulds or musts or simply habits that speed you up.

Then, when the demands of others bear down upon you, buy yourself time – what the psychologist and Buddhist teacher Tara Brach calls “the sacred pause” – in order to create a space in which you are free to choose how you will respond. Are you letting the rushing of others become your own? Slow down the conversation, ask questions, and find out what’s really true. Consider the sign I once saw in a car repair shop: “Your lack of planning is not my emergency.”

On your own side of the street, try not to create “emergencies” for yourself. You can get a lot done at your own pace without rushing; plan ahead and don’t procrastinate until you’re forced into hurrying. More fundamentally, be realistic about your own resources. It’s a kind of modesty, a healthy humility, to finally admit to yourself and maybe others that you can’t carry five quarts in a one gallon bucket. There are 168 hours in a week, not 169. It’s also a kind of healthy renunciation, relinquishment, to set down the ego, drivenness, appetite, or ambition that overcommits and sets you up for rushing. And it’s a matter of seeing clearly what is, a matter of being in reality rather than being confused or in a sense deluded.

Nkosi Johnson was the South African boy born with HIV who became a national advocate for children with AIDS before dying at about age 12, and not one of us can do more than what he said here: Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, in the place where you are.

Also watch how the mind routinely gets caught up in becoming: in making plans that draw us into desires that draw us into rushing. The trick is to see this happening before it captures you.

Most deeply, try to rest in and enjoy the richness of this moment. Even an ordinary moment – with its sounds, sights, tastes, smells, sensations, feelings, and thoughts – is amazingly interesting and rewarding. Afloat in the present, there’s no need to rush along to anything else.

Even when you don’t have a cat in your lap.

* * *

Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (in 20 languages) and Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time (in 8 languages). Founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom and Affiliate of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he’s taught at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and in meditation centers worldwide. His work has been featured on the BBC, NPR, FoxBusiness, Consumer Reports Health, U.S. News and World Report, and O Magazine and he has several audio programs with Sounds True. His weekly e-newsletter – Just One Thing – has over 35,000 subscribers, and suggests a simple practice each week that will bring you more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind and heart. If you wish, you can subscribe to Just One Thing here.

Read more from Rick Hansen:

MAKE THE OFFERING by Rick Hanson, M.D.

DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP by Rick Hanson, Ph. D.

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. Mahatma Gandhi

The prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, built on a legacy of fear, was established to deal with violent terrorists but, instead, became the cause of further suffering and chaos. It is a prime example of the mindless, cruel and inhuman way we abuse our fellow human beings. For despite whatever these men may or may not have done they are our human beings and inflicting pain, especially the methods used at Gitmo, achieves nothing but further pain. Two wrongs do not make a right; to meet violence with more violence does not bring peace. Closing Gitmo does not say we condone violence, but that we do not intend to continue to act in such a barbaric way.

Of course, there are those who oppose closing the camp. Fear is a powerful seductress waiting around every corner to grab our attention; hatred is like a snake always ready to bite. The nature of fear is to hold us back, to keep us in a place of closed heartedness. It will create an enemy even if one does not exist. Being fearless does not mean we have to stop or deny the fear; fearlessness is not a state of being without fear. Rather, it is fully feeling the fear, getting to know it, and then making friends with it.

If we divide reality into two camps—the violent and the nonviolent— and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace.  Thich Nhat Hanh, Noble Peace Prize Nominee

Mahatma Gandhi changed the course of history in India by proving that non-violence is more powerful than violence, bringing an end to British domination as he inspired millions of others to follow his lead. The Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize for practicing non-violence towards the invading Chinese. Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Ang San Suu Kyi, and Archbishop Tutu have all stood out as practicing harmlessness or pacifism, often in the face of tremendous opposition, while Swami Satchidananda taught ahimsa or non-injury is the one practice in yoga that leads to Self-realization.

Deb was raised a Quaker, whose creed is found in the statement, To travel over the earth meeting that of God in every man. This is reflected in the Buddhist and Yoga teaching of ahimsa. This sounds so simple, but harmlessness actually requires a complete shift in attitude. In a world where selfishness and self-interest are the norm it takes great courage not to react with greed or anger, which only cause harm. Simply by causing less pain, each of us can bring greater dignity to or world. By recognizing the fundamental equality of all beings, harm is replaced with harmlessness, disrespect with respect.

We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence in ourselves. We must work on ourselves as well as with those we condemn if we wish to move towards peace. Thich Nhat Hanh

Aspiring to live harmlessly confronts us with the many ways we may be causing harm without realizing it, whether by ignoring someone’s feelings, by using more of the earth’s resources than we need, or by buying products made by underage and underpaid workers. What to do when ants or cockroaches invade the kitchen or slugs eat away at the vegetable garden, yet we do not want to harm them?

And how often do we do things that are hurtful or harmful to ourselves? How many times a day, subtly or otherwise, do we put ourselves down, reaffirm our hopelessness, dislike our appearance, or see ourselves as incompetent or unworthy? How much resentment, guilt or shame are we holding on to, thus perpetuating past negativity?

Are you ready to honor yourself and others? Is it not time to end the war within? For only then can we end the violence in the world.

Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman and Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Gold Book Award. Deb is the author of the bestselling book, YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, winner of the 2007 Visionary Book Award. They are featured bloggers on Oprah.com/spirit, HuffingtonPost.com/Living, and Care2.com. They have 3 meditation CD’s: Metta — Loving Kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com 

Read more from Ed and Deb Shapiro:

Why Do We Enjoy Making Fun of Others? by Ed and Deb Shapiro

What The Buddha Might Say To Mitt Romney by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Technorati Tags: appreciation, gratitude, Happiness, inspiration, love, Personal Growth, self-discovery, Spirituality

About a year or so ago I started playing a game with my two girls, Samantha (our six year old) and Rosie (our three and a half year old). The game goes like this; I ask each one of them, “How much does daddy love you?” They respond by putting one or both of their arms up into the air as high as they can and say, “This much.” Then I say, “That’s right! And how come I love you so much?” To which they say, “Just because I’m me!”

It’s a fun, sweet, and powerful game that I love playing with each of them and something I hope to continue to do for many years. I play this game as much for them as I do for myself. For the girls, I want them to know that my love and appreciation for them is not based on what they do, how they look, how well they listen, or any other conditions or expectations.

For me, I do it for two main reasons. First of all, as a father I find it challenging at times to keep my heart open and to stay connected to my love for my girls when they do or say things that upset, disappoint, or anger me. This game serves as a reminder to me that my intention is to love them unconditionally (i.e. to love them even when I don’t like them or approve of what they do). On another level, by playing this game with my girls, I feel like I’m healing something deep within me that I’ve carried around for most of my life – the belief that my value as a human being is based on certain conditional, material, or external factors (accomplishments, appearance, approval of others, status, money, outward “success,” etc.)

How about you? How much of your own worth do you place in the hands of other people’s opinions, material success, or other outside factors or influences? If you’re anything like me and many of the people I know and work with, probably quite a bit (or at least more than is probably healthy or ideal).

This belief that many of us carry that we have to do specific things, produce certain results, look a particular way (and so on), in order to be acceptable, valuable, and lovable, causes a great deal of stress, pressure, and suffering in our lives.

From a very early age most of us have been doing whatever we can (in various ways based on our personality, background, and orientation) to gain approval and love from those around us. It starts with our parents, siblings, and family members when we’re very young. As children and adolescents, it extends out to our teachers, coaches, and especially our friends. As we move into adulthood it continues to expand to include our colleagues, clients; anyone we deem “important” to our success in life.

While there’s nothing inherently “wrong” with our desire to have the respect, admiration, and appreciation of those around us or to accomplish our most important goals, we often give away our power, consciously or unconsciously, to the people, circumstances, and results (or lack thereof) in our lives.

What if we stopped doing this so much? Our true value has nothing to do with any of these external factors. At the deepest level, we’re valuable as human beings just because we’re us – not because of what we do, how we look, what people think of us, or what we produce or accomplish. What would your life look like if you got this, embodied it, and lived from this perspective?

How can you start loving, accepting, and appreciating yourself (i.e. getting your inherent value) just because you’re you? Share your thoughts, ideas, insights, actions, and more.

Mike Robbins is a sought-after motivational keynote speaker, coach, and the bestselling author of Focus on the Good Stuff (Wiley) and Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken (Wiley). More info – www.Mike-Robbins.com

Read more by Mike Robbins:

Are You Addicted to Struggle? by Mike Robbins

The Benefits of Tears by Mike Robbins

It’s been a very busy time for me recently, because I’ve got a new book coming out called The Mystery Experience. This book was a real labour of love and I can’t tell you how pleased I am with it. In this blog I’d like to share with you the big idea that inspired me to write it, because it’s essentially very simple but it changes everything! Then if you’re intrigued you can download a taster ebook/kindle verison for free on my new website.

I’ve been exploring spirituality since a spontaneous awakening when I was a twelve-year-old boy. This lead me to study and eventually write books about all of the major spiritual traditions of the world. In my latest book I’ve drawn on this perennial wisdom to create a revolutionary new way to awaken, which combines lucid philosophy with simple practises to make the ‘deep awake’ state easily accessible.

Since Ive been sharing my new approach to spirituality with people, I’ve been astonished by what has happened. Nearly everyone who comes to one of my ‘mystery experience’ retreats experiences a profound awakening over the course of just three days. This has convinced me that the ‘deep awake’ state is available to all of us if we approach life with the right understanding and practical tools.

It’s hard to describe the awakened state with words, but I’m going to give it a go. When I immerse myself in the deep awake state there’s an awe-inspiring sense of oneness with the universe. It feels as if I’m dissolving in an ocean of love. The search for meaning is resolved into a wordless understanding, which is so deep it must be felt not thought. There’s the silent certainty that all is well; and such a feeling of relief… like coming home.

When I am deep awake the familiar world is transformed into wonderland. My sensual body comes alive. I am amazed by all I see and hear and touch. The mundane becomes magical. It feels as if I am seeing things for the first time. And I am overcome with gratitude for my life.

I want to suggest that this awakened state is available to everyone all of the time. It’s available to you right now. The doorway into the ‘deep awake’ world is wide open, we only need to enter in. And the way to enter is easy. We simply need to remember to wonder. We need to rouse ourselves from the numbness we call ‘normal’ and become conscious of the breathtaking mystery of existence.

If we wonder deeply enough we spontaneously start to awaken. It’s as simple as that. In my new book I take the reader on an extraordinary journey that starts with simple wonder … and leads to the discovery of the ‘deep self’ and the bliss of ‘deep love’. But you don’t need to wait to read the book. You can experiment with wondering deeply right now. You can you enter the mystery of this moment as you are reading this blog:

o Pay attention to how profoundly mysterious it is to be alive.

o Recognize the obvious truth that you truly have no idea what life is.

o Be conscious of this moment with that deep part of you that appreciates music and art … that feels the beat and dances to its rhythm … that finds truth in poetry as well as theory.

o Dive deeply into wonder and the world will start to sparkle.

o There will be an experience of intense gratitude that arises when you see how glorious life really is.

o There will be an experience of immense humility that arises when you see how impossible it is to comprehend such a mystery.

If you wake up to wonder you’ll come to life. Try it out … as an experiment … and let me know what happens. This is the beginning of the journey of awakening. If you want to go further, then check out my new website www.themysteryexperience.com. If you look deeper … you’ll find what you’re longing for.

Deep love

T!M

SEE TIM FREKE LIVE! CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION

TIM FREKE is a pioneering philosopher and the author of many groundbreaking books, which have been translated into 15 languages. These include How Long Is Now? (LINK: http://www.timothyfreke.com/now.php) Lucid Living (LINK: http://www.timothyfreke.com/lucid.php) and The Jesus Mysteries (LINK: http://www.timothyfreke.com/mysteries.php), which was a ‘Book of the Year’ in the Daily Telegraph and a top 10 bestseller in the UK and USA. His cutting-edge work on Gnosticism and pioneering spiritual philosophy have established his reputation as a scholar and free-thinker. He is often featured in documentaries and interviewed by the global media, such as the BBC and the History Channel. Tim runs ‘mystery experience retreats’ internationally, in which he guides others directly to a spiritually awakened state. He also performs as a ‘stand-up philosopher’ – a concept he developed from the ancient idea of a philosopher as a traveling ‘spiritual entertainer’ who transforms people’s consciousness. Tim lives with his wife and two children in Glastonbury, England. For free videos and talks visit www.timothyfreke.com

Read more by Tim Freke:

THE POWER OF CONNECTING ‘I’ TO ‘I’ by Tim Freke

I am intrigued by the fact that what I experience depends on my state of consciousness.  Something I play with often is seeing what happens when I connect ‘I’ to ‘I’ with other people in my daily life. This means looking below the superficial appearances of things, so that I’m conscious of my ‘deep self’ within … and then connecting with the deep self in others.

MAKING MISTAKES by Tim Freke

I’m feeling embarrassed because I’ve made a series of silly mistakes.  I run retreats internationally in which people come together to experience a spiritual awakening to oneness and ‘big love’, so I regularly send out emails to tell people about new events. In my last email I managed to get the details wrong, so I sent out an apology and the correction.  Then I realized I’d got other details wrong as well, so I had to send out another email to apologize.

Two men and a woman videoed themselves enthusiastically laughing as they beat up an old man. Nineteen year-old Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate and a friend secretly video taped him having gay sex and put it out on the internet. Children giggle when another child falls down; when the opposition team wins we call them nasty names; when someone is bloodily beat up in a boxing match we shout hooray. America’s Funniest Home Videos is full of images of people falling, crashing, making mistakes, and the resounding laughter that accompanies them.

Why do we find this so amusing? We may not always agree with others, but why do we need to make fun of their suffering? Why do we think it’s funny to put down, hurt, or even abuse another person?

In the political arena constant put-downs are normal, especially this year with all the Rep versus Dem barbs. Rush Limbaugh has repeatedly called Sandra Fluke a slut for defending women’s rights and said he wants President Obama to fail: “If Obama fails, America is saved.”

When we find fault in someone we feel good, we belittle another as a way of making ourselves look better, finding fault or putting them down makes us feel superior. This tends to happen more when we are down ourselves, as misery loves company: feel bad and we invariably make others the problem.

You would hope that as healthy human beings we would be concerned about another’s good fortune and happy to respect their preferences and choices. When we have a genuine regard for ourselves we naturally extend that by wishing others success. Mudita is a Sanskrit term meaning “sympathetic joy,” or taking joy in other people’s happiness and well-being.

Now, in essence, this sounds very easy and obvious—feeling joyful for another’s joy—but someone else’s good fortune may be at the expense of our own (they got the job but we didn’t) so can we still be happy for them? It may highlight our own lack of good fortune, or challenge our self-worth and value. In other words, taking joy in someone you may have a negative feeling toward certainly does not happen overnight.

Mudita confronts us with those places that are wrapped up in our ego, such as jealousy, envy, judgment and greed. Jealousy isn’t going to get us anywhere other than into further pain and suffering, but how often do we wish someone does not succeed because their success highlights our own sense of failure? We judge others in comparison to our own beliefs and preferences but we can respect their choices, even if they are different to our own. Greed and self-centeredness take us out of the present and stop us from appreciating what we have right now.

Mudita asks that we let go of envy and comparison by seeing the other as ourselves, that there is no difference: we all experience the human condition, we breathe the same air, and we all want to be happy. Releasing judgment means stepping outside of our limited view and letting go of fixed and predictable patterns of thinking and behaving.

As mudita takes root, so we genuinely wish others be well. We actually want them to be happy! It makes us feel good. We want them to be free from suffering and to succeed at whatever they do. We recognize that our happiness and their happiness are no different and so we experience a deep joy in their well-being.

Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman and Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Gold Book Award. Deb is the author of the bestselling book, YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, winner of the 2007 Visionary Book Award. They are featured bloggers on Oprah.com/spirit, HuffingtonPost.com/Living, and Care2.com. They have 3 meditation CD’s: Metta — Loving Kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com 

Read more by Ed and Deb Shapiro:

What The Buddha Might Say To Mitt Romney by Ed and Deb Shapiro

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. Buddha
One of the truly great things in life is to discover our genuine and authentic self, to dance to the beat of our own drum. And so, conversely, one of the greatest challenges is to know what we think, feel, and believe, for ourselves. It is far easier to agree with others, or be influenced by them to believe as they do, than it is to be firm in our own convictions.

Compassion The Dalai Lama Way by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Shortly after we were married we went to India and spent our honeymoon in ashrams and monasteries, and then in McCleod Ganj, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile in northern India along with other Tibetan refugees who have escaped Chinese rule in Tibet. Once there we went to the Office of Securities to request a meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Technorati Tags: appreciation, gratitude, Happiness, inspiration, Meditation, Personal Growth, self-discovery, Spirituality

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. Buddha

One of the truly great things in life is to discover our genuine and authentic self, to dance to the beat of our own drum. And so, conversely, one of the greatest challenges is to know what we think, feel, and believe, for ourselves. It is far easier to agree with others, or be influenced by them to believe as they do, than it is to be firm in our own convictions.

Trying to please others by always agreeing with them, or saying what he thinks they want to hear even if it means constantly contradicting himself, is an obvious trait of Mitt Romney’s. He appears to have no idea what he really thinks, feels, and believes for himself. As a result he is constantly flip-flopping to fit in with current policies. Hence the comparison to Etch-A-Sketch. For instance:

Flip: “I saw my father march with Martin Luther King.” Flop: “I did not see it with my own eyes.”

Flip: “Roe v. Wade has gone too far.” Flop: “I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it.”

Flip: “I respect and will protect a woman’s right to choose.” Flop: “I never really called myself pro-choice.”

Flip: “I have a gun of my own. I go hunting myself. I’m a member of the NRA and believe firmly in the right to bear arms.” Flop: Asked by reporters at the gun show whether he personally owned a gun, Romney said he did not.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. Buddha

Another word for flip flop is confusion. When we are confused we lose sight of what is real or where we are going. This is what can happen when money and power take over and add to the delusion that we are invincible.  The Buddha taught of the dangers of greed, hatred and ignorance, that he called the three poisons. Where greed grabs our desires, hatred abuses our fears, while ignorance clouds our vision.

Greed has many relatives, such as jealousy, ambition, self-centeredness, pride, and grasping, which lead to dissatisfaction, irritation, even depression. The craving to possess generates a fear of not having and limits our generosity. Romney personifies greed, not just in his many houses and cars, but in his desperate desire to win, no matter how.

Hate is destructive, indiscriminate, like a snake it can rise up out of nowhere and attack. When we are fixed in the belief that we are right then anything that questions or threatens that belief becomes the enemy to be done away with. Such hatred becomes its own worst enemy, however, for no matter how much we try to annihilate the hated one the hate remains within us.

Words have power to destroy or heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world. Buddha

Where hatred closes our heart, delusion makes us believe there is a permanent, separate and fixed ‘me,’ which means we take ourselves much too seriously; it is the belief that ‘me’ is all-powerful, and the ignorance of our essential connectedness with others.  But when we constantly focus on ourselves we create suffering; such selfishness means there is no room for kindness or compassion.

When we met with the Dalai Lama, he said to us: “We are all equal here.” This is something that Mitt Romney seems to have a real difficulty with, as he continues making insensitive comments such as: “I like being able to fire people who provide services to me,” and how his wife Anne “drives a couple of Cadillacs”. Or, as Arianna Huffington said in her last Sunday Roundup blog: “Mitt Romney once again failed to defuse the dog-on-car-roof controversy, conceding that if given the chance he’d do things differently — not because it was cruel but because of the flak he’s received in the ensuing years.”

Surely it’s time for Mitt to stop trying to be loved and convince everyone he is the man of the people. He comes across as hopelessly awkward when he attempts to put himself in someone else’s shoes or equate himself with their problems, such as saying that he too was unemployed while at the same time having $100 million in the bank. Rather, it’s time for him to discover who he is and what he genuinely believes.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. Dalai Lama

Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman and Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Gold Book Award. Deb is the author of the bestselling book, YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, winner of the 2007 Visionary Book Award. They are featured bloggers on Oprah.com/spirit, HuffingtonPost.com/Living, and Care2.com. They have 3 meditation CD’s: Metta — Loving Kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

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Compassion The Dalai Lama Way by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Shortly after we were married we went to India and spent our honeymoon in ashrams and monasteries, and then in McCleod Ganj, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile in northern India along with other Tibetan refugees who have escaped Chinese rule in Tibet. Once there we went to the Office of Securities to request a meeting with the Dalai Lama.

What Is Compassion by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Recently, a woman I met told me about her daughter who is living in South America. Her daughter is being threatened by a powerful crime family for setting up a business in their geographic area. The mother said, “I just told her, when the universe knocks you around it’s because you need to be knocked around. It’s to make you stronger for something coming down the road. You have to take it!”

Technorati Tags: appreciation, authenticity, gratitude, Happiness, inspiration, personal development, self-discovery, Spirituality

As coaches, counselors, therapists, teachers, HR professionals, organizational leaders, or team members, it is essential we learn how to access and use our Heart Wisdom. The more skillful we become, the better our lives, as well as those around us, become.

We experience the world primarily through the three intelligences of our mind, our body and our heart and they operate in union. It is always worth stating that these three intelligences are linked together, so whenever we attempt to discuss one of them, we must keep in mind that the other two are connected and at work as well.

In short, the Heart Wisdom is the realm of our emotional experience and our interrelatedness to the world and all that is in our life from the past, present and future. All of our emotional experiences are in present time, regardless of what is creating the emotion:
• When we remember a past experience and have an emotional response to it, we are having a present-moment emotional experience of the past.
• When we imagine a future experience and have an emotional response to it, we are having a present-time emotional experience of an imagined future.
• When we are in a real-time situation, we are having a present-time emotional experience of that situation.

Our Heart Wisdom is a gift we can learn to use in a good way, but the vast majority of us never really take the time to learn how to use this gift. Instead we often ignore or push away an emotion rather than embrace it and allow that energy to inform us. With emotional energy, it is important to learn to experience the emotion fully, so as to reveal the root source of the emotion and release that energy. We must allow it to move through us, rather than avoid it or create an addiction to it by attaching ourselves to a particular emotional experience, and then recreating it over and over to feed that addiction.

While the Mind Intelligence leads us forward with great ideas and vision, it is the Heart Wisdom that leads us with resonance, yearning and energies of “being drawn towards” someone or something. The “voice” of Heart Wisdom is not based upon a language nor a rationale that the mind can understand. Therefore, there is often a conflict between what the heart wants and what the mind understands. The Heart Wisdom is fueled by the desire to be in relationship—in resonance—with what is important for the human. It is like radar for purpose and meaning. The heart is naturally open and generous, joyous and loving, and we need to learn how to return to this resonant state.
By Patrick J. Ryan, author of #1 bestseller book, Awakened Wisdom: A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance, which blends Buddhist, Native, and collected wisdoms into a beautifully crafted healing message for our modern culture. Patrick is an executive coach, leadership trainer, Vision Quest leader, author, and former Buddhist monk. To order his book, or to learn about the Awakened Wisdom Experience programs for corporate leadership, coaches, personal development or the new Vision Quest programs, go to www.AwakenedWisdom.com

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The Point of Authentic Inquiry by Gangaji

There is a point that appears in a lifetime, regardless of chronological age, when healthy, true doubt appears. We doubt what we have been taught, and we doubt what others insist we must believe. This is the point at which true spiritual inquiry can begin.

Is Your Health Powered by Love? by Mache Seibel, MD

Huey Lewis sang about “The Power of Love.” Now a relatively new field called interpersonal neurobiology is proving your brain is constantly in a state of being rewired based on life and love. And the basis of it all is our interpersonal relationships; those contacts we love deeply, and those we love, well, a whole lot less.
The thought is that all our relationships change our brains. The hard wiring may not really be that hard wired after all. From our first reactions following birth with our mothers, brain scans reveal an unspoken bond between mother and child that imprints his or her brain so powerfully that many of our future relationships evolve from it.

I received a thought-provoking email that I would like to share with you… someone wrote and asked: If I could ask God three questions… what would they be?

My mind immediately jumped to questions like: Who killed John F. Kennedy? Did you really make Mickey Rourke in your own image? And do you think Morgan Freeman does a good job of playing you in movies?

Then, after spending some time getting in touch with the deeper meaning of what I was being asked, I came to a surprising conclusion… I honestly don’t feel compelled to ask God anything!

At first I was honestly and deeply surprised by this revelation. The conversation in my head went a little like this: “Come on Panache… if given the chance, you really wouldn’t ask the most omnipotent being in all creation about anything? No questions at all? ”

No, I really wouldn’t. Not about the past. Not about what is unfolding right now. Not about what is going to happen in the future.

The simple truth is this. The daily interaction I have with God has shifted dramatically as I have progressed along my vibrational journey. As my own vibrational density is lovingly integrated I’ve reached deeper levels of internal harmony. Rather than questioning how life is unfolding, I simply say “thank you.”

My daily practice is one of gratitude.

From my vantage point, I have humbly witnessed that life is about trusting in the experiences I am having. Rather than getting caught up in what ifs, I chose to focus on where I am right now. If this moment is exactly where God wants me to be then who am I not to embrace and accept what’s unfolding? It is all a Divine journey and in truth I’m just along for the ride.

When you reach the point where you can accept that all that is transpiring TODAY is leading you to a greater TOMORROW, something shifts. The profound recognition and loving acceptance that you are whole and complete is unveiled. And with this realization there is nothing more you need to know.

Indeed, at this level of conscious awareness the only question left to ask is, “What’s for dinner?”

Panache Desai is an inspirational visionary and contemporary spiritual master whose gift of vibrational transformation has inspired and shifted the lives of tens of thousands. He shares eternal truths, inspirational insights, and vibrational tools to create the life of your dreams. Panache is a modern-day avatar who acts as a direct link to Divine consciousness empowering people of all ages, economic and educational backgrounds to transform their lives by connecting them with their limitless Divine nature. Young, hip and funny, Panache brings his global community together weekly via LIVE webcasting.

http://panachedesai.com/

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SCHMALTZING MY WAY TO GOD by Jeff Brown

On my spiritual journey, I searched for God everywhere: the yoga studio, the holistic workshop circuit, the shiatsu mat. A well-practiced head tripper, I hunted for God in my thoughts, somehow certain that God would arise in the form of a concept. During my materialistic phases, I imagined God a slick car, large house, a Hugo Boss suit, as though God himself wore Gucci. And for some time, I looked for God on the skyways of self-avoidance, mistaking the short-term benefits of the ungrounded bliss trip for enlightenment itself. I went down this road for some time, seemingly joyous on the outside, but a bubbling cauldron of unresolved feelings and memories in the deep within.

God is IN the People by Jeff Brown

At the heart of Soulshaping is a profound faith in the human experience, in the karmic significance of our personal identity. This stands in real contrast to some of the detachment models that are gaining favor in Western culture. These models present true-path as something distinct from the emotional body, as though our usual self-identifications are inherently inauthentic, as though our physical forms are inferior. At the extremes, they seem to suggest that God made a mistake when she placed us in human bodies. These models worry me and present an image of heightened consciousness that often feels more robotic than human, more heady than hearty.

Technorati Tags: conscious awareness, energy, gratitude, if you could question God?, internal harmony, mindfulness, panache desai, Panache Desai blog, Personal Growth, present moment awareness, questioning god, spiritual teacher, Spirituality, the importance of gratitude, vibration