Key to happiness?...

By Vichara


Is there one key to happiness? So many books, TV shows, magazines and all of them claim to know the key to happiness that will change your lives. While admirable in their attempt this topic has been investigated by hundreds and hundreds of people both young and old and for centuries but here I believe as naïve and simple as it may seems is the key. There is no one key to happiness. With each individual person there is an individual key unique to that person. As much as there may be commonalities that we may share in one way or another when we try to apply one measurement of happiness to all it will fail. The one thing that I believe we can all agree on is the foundation was happiness could flourish is when each person can maintain love, hope and compassion for those seeking their own key to happiness.

Rolling up the hill...

By Vichara


We arise from our slumber to once again take up our roles as phosphorus beings rolling up the cumulative obligations and duties into various sized spheres. We assemble and push them along whatever incline that has been created to wherever it has been determined. What are these tasks that we assume? Do they serve a greater purpose or just a means to an end? Are these spheres that we labor with part of a greater lesson or just an excuse to fill our time? I would venture this that if we were to be more unified in approach to this “journey” here and help each other find the commonalities instead of laboring in a vacuum then perhaps the incline that has been created becomes level and easier to manage together. I don’t know it’s just a thought.

Roadside assistance...

By Vichara


You get up and empty the dustbin of your mind of the things from yesterday. You think everything has been emptied and carry on for the day. Then as you reach the 5-mile marker of the day something shakes loose. A memory, a thought or a concern and it gets stuck in the gears and thing begin to create a gnashing sound. You try to ignore it like some single fly that keeps coming back to buzz in front of your face but it’s no good, it get louder. If you stop now to inspect it will it disrupt your day but the insistent grind will not subside. You can’t call a technician to handle this; it’s up to you. Stop the truck and pull out the tools. The wrench of compassion, the hammer of patience and the saw of decision, pull them all out. Open the gearbox in the shade on the side of the road and quietly through introspection locate the jiggly part that has got loose. It may take a while and you may need some illumination but in these situations you are the only mechanic suited to adjust these matters of the heart and mind. After all it is your machine. You should know and how to fix it.

This day that we have been given...

By Vichara


If we were to be literally given the same imagined 9 lives that cats are granted I’m afraid we would waste them as well. I know that may seem harsh and pessimistic but I’m sure you have witnessed, as I have, the number of chances, reprieves and literal stays of execution from this life that we may have witnessed or have read about. Face it today the majority of us are wasteful. We are wasteful with time, energy, thoughts and possessions. Without a defined set of parameters we believe that the “well” will never run dry. But given this life is underscored with definite impermanence there is finality to everything. As they say “nothing lasts forever” and the key is to enjoy the moment and what has been given to you and temper all of this with a deep sense of gratitude. Embrace this day that has been given to you. Don’t fritter it away frivolously.

Homework...

By Vichara


“Homework” even in the traditional sense is never done. There will always be something that you need to brush up on or learn and things you will need to teach to the many classes that pass through your home. Then there is the homework of the heart. The bell may have rung, the classroom empty but there are lessons we have been given that need to be processed. The episodes of the day where personal interactions left you contemplating their meaning. The moment unexpected when someone really needed your help. The look that someone you never met before gave you in that brief conversation. That one comment that left you feeling good about everything. All of these equations and problems will only need one formula to be used to process, gain understanding and receive the answers and that is the formula of the compassionate heart. Used for many centuries this formula will take any problem and render it clearer and understandable. The magical thing is that we already know this formula; we just need to take it out more often and use it.

Now is waiting...

By Vichara


Between the internal and external dialogue that rattles around in our brains it is a wonder that we can ever achieve the clarity and focus to accomplish things in a day. The inner dialogue repeats snippets of what we have heard and conjures up potential dialogue that could happen given an arbitrary set of circumstances. Both are not based in anything that exists anymore or could. They are the padded walls of noise that we bounce around in an effort to make sense of the frenetic energy that surrounds us. This does not mean you are wacky koo-koo it is just another coping mechanism that tries to steer you into being “present”. Like rounding up a dozen slippery eels while your hands are wet and greasy it is challenging. Breathe and carefully put all of these snippets in a bucket and them put it aside. You don’t need them; you just need what is going on this moment. It is what is present now that is important. The past has slid off the table and the future can’t make up its mind which door to enter. Let them deal with themselves you don’t need them. They don’t exist anymore but you do and the present does right now as well. Walk with it.

Being in the middle...

By Vichara


They say that youth is wasted on the youth and that there is no appreciation for what is being given to them. I think much worse is that “present” is wasted on the majority. There are so many fixated on the past and possible regrets and what if’s and just as many consumed with the anxiety of the future. Either one of these states, especially the past, can’t be changed. Being caught in either one of these states robs you of what is going on right now and the guidance to be received for the next step. Being present can be a difficult state of mind for most as most of our daily activities dictate the desire to be in both. But being present has a way of smoothing out the rough spots of the perceived past and will open up the vistas that will come next.

A new resolve...

By Vichara


Until we reach the dawn and greet it with open arms we will be only embracing darkness. Until we hear the sound and open up our hearts the silence will be deafening. Until we see through the fog of deception we will only be deluded. Until we taste the truth warmth of life all that we have ingested are cold scraps. There are times when we need to push ourselves from our complacency and engage ourselves to the next level. It may seem daunting, reaching into the unknown dies have that effect, but unless this is ignited we remain stagnate. I hear “well what do I do”? “what shall I do”?, “I’m not sure which way to go”? Well pull up your socks, shakes off the dust that has settled on your shoulders and look up with the resolve to engage with something foreign to you today. Just one new thing. It may not pan out or it may but one thing is fore sure whatever way it goes it will open up a new door to something else. Now get up and make sure your shoelaces are tied.

Message in a bottle...

By Vichara


When I was a kid living close to the shoreline of one of the Great Lakes I used to imagine it was a vast ocean. In those years of reading stories like Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson, Kidnapped and having a wild imagination this body of water might as well have been a vast ocean. At one point I wrote a note of who I was and where I lived, placed it in a corked bottle and sent it adrift in my vast ocean, ok the lake. I imagined this bottle silently bobbing and drifting along making a very long journey to some exotic foreign shore where another boy just like me would find it and be inspired to cast a note back. This exchange could take months, even years but somehow you believed that it would and you would connect with someone out there in the world. Now that we have got older a lot of those young imaginative thoughts like that have drifted away but I do believe on some small level they still exist. We all want to cast out a message in a bottle and connect with someone, even on the smallest level. Regardless of how vast this ocean of humanity may appear there are others that want to connect like you do. Trust that they are out there and send out your message in a bottle today.

The landscape...

By Vichara


We are grasping for straws of humanity in a desperate need to make sense of lives that sometimes intersect with such indifference it leaves us little strength and resolve to more forward. Even if we close our eyes to the events around us we still see images with eyes closed. We need to change our vision. Change what is out “there” and inside our hearts. Easier said then done but there are ways. As I stated in other times it will not be in the grandiose actions that will necessarily make the difference in the world around us it will be in the small gestures initiated with the heart that will have the most profound effect. Try to do something very small for someone else today to try to change the human landscape out there and in your heart.

Fill the pages...

By Vichara


The heavy rain clouds form a quiet somnambulistic pillow that created an opportunity for the mind to tuck into its fold, relax and drift into introspection. Somehow by being isolated because of the inclement weather did not feel claustrophobic but freeing. The overcast corridors lent themselves to be soft corners to lean into and be safe instead of the harsh edges that would be present in the cold light. While some have problems with these days I find comfort and variety in them. A change, a new vista and an opportunity to ponder a new avenue of thought. I know, I know you have perhaps read my suggestions before about taking on a new path but since we are in the change of seasons why not add a change of thought. Make a new discovery. Our lives have only a limited number of pages. Fill that book up on each page until the binding splits and it becomes heavy with joy.

Help out our friend...

By Vichara


The paddles were out, they charged it up to 360 jewels and there was a nervous, highly charged feeling in the air. Will this be enough? Clear!...nothing…clear!...nothing, one more time…clear!! Wait a minute I think I feel a pulse. It’s weak but it’s there. Our comrade has fallen but it seems that there is still hope. We have seen better days, better moments when the clouds broke open and the light shot through with confidence. Yes there were times before when our comrade seemed to be weak but fooled many of us and it can happen again. History has taught us there will always be adversaries of our dear friend but if we, and I mean every one of us, tried to find that linking point that does exist we could help sustain our friend’s heartbeat. It truly is not that hard. Just one single small act a day will sustain our friend. Come on Compassion; get up now and put your arms around our shoulders, we got you.

A few words...

By Vichara


It is truly amazing and a frightening thing that a simple collection of words combined with intent can hold so much power. One way it can uplift and inspire you and others to elevate your efforts to do well in the world and make a difference. In another way a few words planted can infect a person so much that they kill themselves. I am of course referring to a number of recent suicides by young people that as noted in the press as being “bullied” in the classic sense. Because they were considered by a few as being different that these alleged differences made them a target of persecution and torment and drove these individuals to reconsider their self worth and their right to exist. Yes we all know that persecution and bullying has been around for countless ages and people have been tortured and killed for simple differences but it does not justify or validate these actions. The root of all this bullying of course is fear in the classic sense. Fear of the differences these persecuted individuals supposedly represent or portray. Fear that whatever lifestyle these people have is not normal in the eyes of the bully. We need to teach the young and re-enforce at any age is that all beings have a right to exist. Period. That the interconnection we share is essential regardless of lifestyle to solidify the foundation of a just society. Lofty yes but I still believe attainable. As Gandhi said “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.

The right thing...

By Vichara


Today’s sermon will be interrupted by the following message from our local sponsor.

Do you know what time it is? Don’t bother to look at your watch, you won’t find the answer there folks. No the time we are in is not to be found on the face of your watch, not with the LED lights of your microwave or on that trusty grandfather clock patiently ticking over in the corner. No folks the time we are in, as a particular honored songwriter once said, is a changing. Changing to what folks? Well that is up to you. I’m only here to offer up suggestions and put down the guideposts it will be up to you what path you will step forward on. No need to pull out your credit cards folks just lace up your shoes, open your eyes and heart and step forward with equanimity, passion and resolve to do the right thing folks. That’s all, the right thing with the support of compassion and love. With that the path will become clearer and more meaningful.

Now back to the sermon of the day…

Step right up...

By Vichara


Dispense with the fragments and shards of yesterday, they will not fit into what today brings. They may seem small and translucent but they carry remnants of thoughts that sit heavy in your pockets and will throw off your balance. It is not to be said that they could have some merit they just need to be processed through the filter of being “present” now in order for them to be useful. Regardless this new day that has unfolded into your hands is another gift that has been given to you. There may not be a big fanfare (other than your alarm clock or a nudge from your cat or dog) but it will most definitely be a parade. Yes there will be lions and tigers of conflict but there will also be horses of reason, elephants of patience and giraffes of vision. You will need to don the barker’s hat to assume control of this cacophony of sound and vision because you know what is coming next…that car full of clowns that will most assuredly contain the surreal and the needed levity. Step right up folks your day has started.

The next shoreline...

By Vichara


There are some moments when I feel the very simple act of eating is just merely to gain enough sustenance for the journey somewhere. Where I am not sure. As if the acts or requirements needed to get through a day was only intended as means to accomplish the next step. It isn’t like there is no joy in the act of these things there is but it is tempered by some expectation of reaching somewhere. Again where I am not sure. Is there an end point, a harbor or some hallowed ground to reach that will provide the answers? I am not even sure of the question(s). Regardless of these musings time is the engine that is propelling us continuously. The shoreline of where we were is a distant line. The shoreline ahead is sometimes greeted both with some anticipation and trepidation. Again regardless we will all need to reach the shoreline of tomorrow and the next day and then the next and then…

The band CLP...

By Vichara


While Sanity went out of the hallway to make yet another phone call, Reason stepped outside to have a smoke. That left Judgment and Justification at the table with me. Even though they were twins they were nothing alike. Judgment kept looking around the room and sat silently scowling at others while Justification kept either knocking items off the table or spilling things just enough on the linen tablecloth. Indifference kept walking past our table and less than discreetly glared and slightly shook it’s head. While Envy and Disgust instigated little arguments around the room Unification tried desperately to get everybody to talk. The waves of frenetic energy started to crest higher and higher and it felt even though Sanity came back into the room that things were about to explode when the band started to play. The dulcet and calming tones of CLP, better know as Compassion, Love & Patience, sent soothing sonic waves across the room and everything seemed to calm down and feel brighter. Unification seemed to relax and Envy and Disgust were sharing a bowl of ice cream, Reason came back into the room and even though the twins really had no rhythm they were cutting up the dance floor like Tony Manero and Ren McCormack. Life is a whole lot better when CLP is rockin’ the world us.

The interdependence...

By Vichara


In the area where I “sit” when I write these thoughts I have noticed a new little friend has joined me. This very tiny long legged spider has constructed a haphazard web that looks more like fluff stuck in mid-air than your traditional geometric web. For most the reaction upon seeing this would be to take some tissue or a magazine and eradicate this scene from existence. For some there is great fear attached to spiders but placed in the interconnectiveness of life this little guy has a form and a function that justifies it’s existence. It sits quietly and calmly in it’s bed of fluff and if any little bug get snared…well you know the rest. Regardless of any fears or apprehension we are all fundamentally connected. The Dalai Lama says that this interdependence is a fundamental law of nature and concerns more than just the more evolved forms of life. “For even the smallest insects are social beings who, without the slightest religion, law, or education, survive thanks to mutual cooperation, based on an innate recognition of their interconnectiveness”. So not only keeping in mind our mutual cooperation to each others as humans (based in compassion) I will keep in mind this little guy next to me and turn away from our higher life form’s compulsion to destroy and invite all of your reading this to think for a moment of our interconnectiveness and employ a little more compassion today.

The day...

By Vichara


The day has been waiting all night for you. It has been nervous with anticipation and is ready as soon as your feet touch the floor next to your bed. It knows when you open your eyes. Don’t try to fake it, the day knows. The only thing left to do is to just get up, get your shoes on and go. But wait…what are you going to do with the day? Fritter it away with functions that merely just fill up the day? The day expects more than just that! The day’s light is the beacon that is there to illuminate the multitude of paths that are given to each one of us. You all know that but embrace that. Since you are reading this you of course know that you have been given another day so why not fully use it as intended. Don’t fill it with mindless Pablum find one small meaningful thing to do, read or act upon. It doesn’t take much and when the day is done you’ll feel better and the day will be smug and proud of you. Then you can actually call it a day.

I expect...

By Vichara


There is an implied sense of expectation that exists even though it may not be clearly stated sometimes. If you are an adult and you drive a car it is expected that you know how to drive it and follow the rules of the road. With the enormous amount of variables that exist wit each human being we question if some people know how to follow the rules. Regardless there are many basics that are understood (drive on the right side if you live in N. America, turn your headlights on to be seen at night, signal when turning, etc.) and hopefully are followed. The same applies in many ways in our daily lives as humans. If you consider yourself a member of society there are basics that we should all follow. Things are expected of you. If you are human it is expected that you treat others humanly and not with malice and manipulation. If you are human it is expected that if you recognize that you need compassion then you should give compassion to others. None of these cost a single penny, they are currency of the heart and from what I have witnessed there is always plenty of reserves in those banks and I expect there always be.

Windows of opportunity...

By Vichara


There are two windows of opportunity in front of you. One you have a good idea of the terms, conditions and outcome. The other is a complete unknown. You have no idea once that window is opened and you pass through what could happen or where will it take you. Which window do you pick? There is no right or wrong answer here, just a choice. The choice you make will be predicated on where you are morally rooted. If your actions and motives are based in a truly selfish manner I think there is a very good chance that the outcome will be skewed and fail…sooner or later. If your actions are based in compassion and empathy I believe the results and proceeds will be more in the positive column. But again, it’s your choice. These are your windows of opportunity and how your heart is directed.