INTRODUCTION
The information presented here in is nothing that has not been written, talked about or practiced for eons. This writing is simply my take on a few ideas that most everybody utilizes to a greater or lesser degree. The degree of conscious awareness brought to these matters is also of a wide range. I like to call these, universal helpful hints along the way.
If this writing can help inspire one person to find and utilize one universal helpful hint weather from this, another manuscript or from some other experience, than it would serve a greater purpose than it will inevitably serve the writer, had he not publicized it.
There is a question that has been explored perhaps ever since that point in time ware unhappiness became felt in an individual soul. A seemingly very simple question. What will make me happy? The answers to this question have been of wide variety. From the material to the divine. From the unselfish to the selfish. From the harmful to the harmless. From physical objects to intellectual prowess to emotional security. With a little insight we see that many types of happiness come and go. With this insight come some new modifications of the original question. The new revisions might go something like this. What if anything will bring lasting or even everlasting happiness? Is their such a thing as everlasting happiness? As we start to have more and more glimpses into temporary types of happiness, and how they come and go, arise and fall away, we may start to question what we use to think made us happy. If there is suffering we have brought upon our self or another, we may start to actually desire to become aware of the causes that were not seen before. If there is a peace, a joy that is more permanent than the joys that come and go what are some things that we can do and or think that will help cultivate this? Indeed, what are the things that we can do to bring this about in an integrated balanced way? All right enough of these serious questions, lets get to the task at hand.
GRATITUDE
TUNE OF GRATITUDE
Have you ever sat,
for just a moment in time
and with your mind,
focused on gratitude.
If your in a low mood,
when you tune to gratitude,
you will notice a change in attitude.
You can ware that hat.
It seeps into your day.
Appreciation that,
is one of the freedom ways.
If your in a low mood,
when you tune to gratitude,
you will notice a change in attitude.
This seams to be more than my own truth,
but rather a universal tune.
We can sing that tune,
in all the cycles of the moon.
We can lift our gloom,
just sing your tune of gratitude
If your in a low mood,
when you tune to gratitude,
you will notice a change in attitude.
I will now relate a short story of the affects of gratitude on my life. Their was a music store ware I use to teach piano at. On this particular day I was far from my best. In fact I was both physically and emotionally under the weather that particular day. It wasn’t a virus at least to my knowledge, but I was most definitely in a funk. The kind of funk that negatively affected the teaching process as well as the kindness process. I had a brake in my schedule, so decided to go next door to the pizza restaurant. I ordered ziti and tomato sauce. For some reason I decided to try something different while waiting for the pasta to be prepared. I decided to place my mind on gratitude. More specifically, gratitude in relation to the meal that was currently being prepared for me. I thought of the immediate preparation that was occurring in the restaurant. I thought of the people involved with that preparation. I poured out thoughts of gratitude to them. I extended this thought process to include the people who built the stoves and ovens in the restaurant. The people who built the building and the chair that I was sitting on. The inventors of the plastic fork that I would soon use to eat my meal. The farmers and other hard working individuals who made it possible for the tomatoes to be used to make the pasta sauce. All individuals involved in the wheat harvesting process which makes the pasta possible. All the people involved with inventing and building all the machinery at all steps along the way. All of these steps that is, which were necessary in order to bring to me this meal. I thanked the earth, air, rain and sun for making it possible to have this meal.
With these thoughts, I new that I wasn’t even scratching the surface of what went in to bringing me this meal. The meal arrived and I ate it. After eating, I returned to lessons. When I returned though, I realized that I had been lifted out of the funk. I simply felt better, both on a psycho emotional level as well as a physical level. I became more focused and better able to play my role as a piano teacher.
Now the person who is skeptical of such things might say, you were just hungry, and that is why you felt better. And of course sometimes that is the case. We just need some food. But I can say for certainty, that I have tried this many times. I place my mind on gratitude regardless of hunger, and sure enough, positive results are reaped. Of course to read about this or any other technique is only the first step. The next is to experiment in order to discover for ones self what is helpful
As far as gratitude is concerned, of coarse we may appreciate and give thanks to much more than food. However, regularity in the practice, can more greatly reap upliftment not only in the individual who practices but surly to those souls with whom they may come in contact with and beyond. Since we all eat food everyday, focusing on gratitude in connection to our meal can help ground one to a regular practice. In addition, food is analogous to thinking, in that thought is a type of food for the mind. Just as various types of food affect the body, so to does thought create the states of mind in an immeasurable variety of ways.
We may chose to practice gratitude in many other arenas in life. As we look, we find a lot to be grateful for. Even the most physically, emotionally or psychologically sick individual can greatly improve his or her overall being, by focusing on appreciation. Depending on our circumstance, we may have a challenge thinking just one thought of gratitude. We may have an even bigger challenge feeling our thought of gratitude. But this does not mean that we have to resign our self to not think along these lines. This is the point ware we may utilize our will power. That will power in and of it’s self is enough for us to say, “how beautiful it is that I even have the will power to choose or not to chose to have thoughts of gratitude”. What a miracle it is that even though life can sometimes challenge us, we have some degree of will power. We have some control over our faculties. Some ability to help shape our own life.
Sometimes all it takes to lift us up and out, is one thought of gratitude. I of course am not advocating putting up a wall so that we do not see our own discomfort. And in fact at many times it may very well be best to be with our discomfort (or what we are defining as discomfort) to the best o our ability. Actually and ideally we may at some point have the perspective of seeing our past or even current discomfort with appreciation. If we look into it, we may reveal to ourselves wisdom that is lodged inside the “uncomfortable” situation. Authentic gratitude may occur at this point. From this, the light of wisdom may cause the shadow of hardship to reveal it’s transitory nature.
What does it mean to stand firmly planted in appreciation? It means the unveiling of lack, underneath witch lies a great reservoir of beauty. When we lift the cloak of lack to see what marvels we do have, then authentic hope arises. And why does hope arise? Because we notice that we are far more than our limitations. Hope nurtured and cultivated turns to transformation.
To be grateful is simply that, to be full of greatness. Not in an egotistical sense, but rather in an inspirational way. It is to recognize within the self a vast abundance. We tune to gratefulness within our own being. We may sometimes express it externally but it first must be a recognition within, at least on some level. By some level I mean that it may sometimes be recognized in some other level than the mental sphere. For example we may feel grateful without the mental words or pictures. With this point of seeing, this recognition on what ever level it may manifest, we see that there is greatness within. When we are full of gratitude, (lets say it again) we are full of greatness. What happens is the authentic gratitude spills over onto others. Giving occurs, with no effort when we are selves are spilling over with the gifts from within.
Even the slightest focus in this direction can sometimes have a big impact on our self and others. If we uplift our self, we naturally bring upliftment to those around us. In time the whole world is affected only by seven degrees of separation. Seven degrees of separation is simply that person A knows person B who knows person C who knows person D who knows person E who knows person F who knows person G. We normally think in terms of having very little influence upon the world at large. But, if we look into it a little, we see that this is not true. Even if the findings on seven degrees of separation are inaccurate, we can see here how vast our connection with many people really is.
ASSUMPTIONS, FLUID OR SOLID?
THE GRAND RUSE
There is a time and there is a
place that we can go.
To find ourselves
and also find authentic flow.
I really know that I don’t know
this much I know.
It could just be that this is all
a great big show.
Why can’t we find out
Just one clue
To me and you?
Can we reveal
All of the lies
And all of the truth?
There is something
That I can do
For me, not you
I can reveal that part of mind
That is a ruse.
This next experience that I had, reveals both the power of falsely assuming as well as the potential for seeing those false assumptions for what they really are.
One day, I arrived at a home where I was to teach piano to a brother and a sister. The father of the siblings was there, but the mother and my two students were not. It turned out that they had left me a message to this fact. But not in time for me to receive it. They would be thirty minutes late, which would cut my time with the siblings in half. These things happen from time to time in this line of work. Thankfully, I was at a point where lateness on the part of students was less often rather than more frequent.
I waited, watching the news on TV. Thirty minutes later the siblings and the mother arrived. It was decided that the sister would take the lesson due to the fact that her brother had a full schedule of homework due the next day at school.
I sat down with the student and it went relatively smoothly, but towards the second half of the lesson, I noticed that I was growing a bit impatient. Why? Because their lateness as well as the potential lack of compensation for my time was creeping into my mind. After all, I should be paid for the time that I was there. At least in my mind this seemed fair.
After the lesson ended, I had to promptly leave in order to get to my next student on time. The parent who was going to pay me was currently preoccupied with a chore. I decided to have them pay me at the next week’s lesson because I didn’t have time to wait. I did not want to be late for my next appointment.
I left abruptly with some resentment of the fact that not only were they late, but owed me payment for last week’s lesson and were not prompt about paying me this week, resulting in me having to leave without getting paid for both weeks. I drove off with some anger inside me. Of course, this didn’t feel too good. I noticed the feelings for a minute and some of the accompanying thoughts. I also noticed that it had been a while since I experienced this type of frustration, at least on a conscious level.
I then turned my attention to my breathing. Feeling the inhale and exhale entering and exiting the nostrils as well as the breathing in the body. In addition, feeling the body sitting in the driver’s seat of the car. After a few minutes of being with the body and the breathing I noticed the drama that had just occurred creep back to the forefront of my mind. For a moment, I lost myself in it. Emotions of anger were beginning to take me over as my mind began to create its own script surrounding this little event.
But then I woke up to the fact that I was modifying the story I was telling myself. The story that wasn’t even completely true to begin with. And the more I modified the story, the more I was straying from the truth. I saw myself expressing my point of view that I saw to be so important.
After seeing clearly the fact that the story that I was telling myself was untrue, I broke out into laughter. This is the point where the anger and frustration short-circuited itself and I was left with peace.
This kind of script modification of our little dramas is of course quite common amongst most of us to a greater or lesser degree. The meditation technique I used is an ancient as well as common practice to most meditation practitioners.
With a little looking into our assumptions, we may find that they are to a greater or lesser degree false. But without looking, we will take the assumptions to be true. False assumptions may not always cause oneself or others suffering. However, if we choose as part of our path to relieve our own and other’s suffering, then looking at our assumptions to the best of our ability is very important.
If we choose this as part of our path, then our goal becomes to replace untrue assumptions with clear seeing. And to reveal the falsity of those untrue assumptions that cause suffering to ourselves and others.
Let us look at the words ‘point of view’ or as I like to say, ‘point of you.’ As we know, the typical understanding of what ‘point of view’ means is to see something from a particular perspective. It could be a person, a subject or anything else. In fact, this little exploration of point of view is in fact another point of view or ‘point of me.’ If you share this perspective, then in a sense it is also a ‘point of you.’
Now what do I mean by point of you or point of me? The reason that I think of a point of view as actually a point of you or me is because it is like we become a point, and then we see, act, feel, speak, and think from this point. More accurately, we think ourselves to be this point because our belief in it holds us firmly in place. The more strongly we hold to our beliefs in a point, the more it becomes part of our identity. A point that we belief ourselves to ultimately be may become the cause of pain, joy, or anywhere in between for ourselves and others in the world. But the question is this, are we choosing our point’s of view or are we locked into them so firmly that we no longer can see any other points to consider as options?
If we look further, we see that the suffering we cause ourselves, whether consciously or unconsciously, is affecting those around us. If we care about ourselves, then looking into ourselves is essential. If we care about others, then the same applies. If we cause ourselves and or others suffering and we choose to not play that game anymore then looking for the causes is very important. If we don’t find the causes, then we must keep looking with the eyes of alert awareness so that we may start to see how, what and why we are creating pain in ourselves and others. But gentleness with the self through this process is most essential. Pureness and simplicity may be helpful words as well as an idea I use with my piano students. I call it “focus softly”. The standard idea of focusing is to focus hard. But this is not the best means all of the time. Sometimes perhaps, but not all of the time. To go too far in the polar opposite direction of focus is to be either focused so firmly, trying too hard or in the other direction, which is to be so soft that we fall asleep or are so spaced out that nothing registers on our radar of awareness.
What is meant by focusing softly is simply to notice with interest, but not such an intense interest as to cause fear if we don’t get it. As if we were going to die if we don’t become aware. Of course, what will happen in that case is that our own self-created fear will act as a barrier to our own awareness.
