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 mush, 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.

Waves of Time & Light...

By Vichara

The days roll on like giant waves of time and light. The illuminated wave crests and folds into the dark wave that rolls back and opens back to light and so on. Within these waves, the souls, the dreams, the love, the anguish and the energies of billions of beings riding these waves all in an effort not to be pulled into the riptide of negativity. Common fact, we all struggle in various in various degrees, some more than others but we all need to keep trying or we can get sucked under. Our efforts in riding these waves may seem futile at times but it is only with some effort will you at least be able to survive. The key is not blind optimism but in a steady resolve with a kind and compassionate heart. We are all expert surfer dudes and dudettes but at times we may be a bit shaky riding these waves. That is where as fellow compassionate surfers we keep a peripheral watch with our wave companions and lend our support when needed and warranted. Be careful out there today and cowabunga!

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 does 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 for 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.

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.

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.

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.

Key to happiness...

By Vichara

Is there a key to true happiness? So many books, TV shows, magazines all of them claim to know the key to happiness that will change our lives. While admirable in their attempt this topic has been investigated by hundreds and hundreds of people both young and old for centuries and what they have come up with hundreds and hundreds of answers. I believe as naïve & simple as it may seem I have 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 all 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 where happiness can flourish is when each person can maintain love, hope and compassion for others seeking their key to happiness.

Guideposts...

By Vichara

In the early dark morning as I “sit” there is this one single bright star in the west. At the time I arrive it sits just above the dense foliage of one of the trees that border our property. I have now come to look for it before my meditation time. It has become my “north star” that is set there to guide me into the morning. Of course I want to fantasize a bit and believe that my Mum is embodied in the star and is saying good morning to me and is guiding me. Do you have a north star that is helping guide you along the way? A moralistic compass that provides the direction to turn to when confusion rears itself onto your path? For me I keep a journal that I fill with quotations and things I hear that I use to remind and help guide my path. I dip into this journal from time to time to find "guideposts". Perhaps this type of thing may benefit some of you. My north star is fading with Mr. Sun as it rises so I will leave you with this one from my journal. “Patience is always in the slow lane”.

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.

A shift...

By Vichara

The foundation of the world, which is viewed as being formibidle, is more like a house of cards and the cards have started to bend, tumble and tear to revel the true nature. The scandals, the deceit, the manipulation, greed and all of the frailties are being exposed but what do we do when the ruins of greed and deception have been cleared away? Do we finally in a collective resolution bond each other to a more truthful existence? How can this be really done when the extreme desperately still exists and is precariously held together by the human ego? Perhaps we can start stripping away some of the “I” of our existence and shift some energies to the “we” and rebuild through patience and compassionate understanding.

A renovation job...

By Vichara

There are times when a renovation job needs to be done on us. I’m not talking about a physical overall as in the cosmetic surgery, although sometimes a new haircut can be fun. No I’m talking about a review of the floor plan of your heart and spirit. To really sit with yourself and see what walls need to be torn down and which parts need to be re-enforced. Yes, it is like when you decide to change the physical structure you live in to accommodate the changes with the way you live or with your family. Some things need to just go to make room for the changes. You are of course not the same person that you were 10 years ago. Hell, you are not even the same person from 10 minutes ago. There will be times when you should call in the architect, contractor, plasterer, painter and decorator to overall parts of your spiritual structure to gain a new perspective on how you see the world.

A new vantage point...

By Vichara

The innocence of the heart can only be revealed when chronic skepticism is torn from the fabric of the person and an open space is created for the heart to discover that it really is not a truly bad world. Bad comes from indifference and the lack of compassion. When your vision is refracted by intolerance and dismissive behavior it becomes myopic and you will always have great difficulty in connecting with the world in a truly meaningful manner. While a innocent heart can be interpreted or viewed as naïve and Pollyanna like the vision from this vantage point is much more expansive and is filtered with much more acceptance. But if you prefer to live in a narrow hallway that has little to choose from or to see that is your choice. My guess is that for the most opening up the expansive window or vision with innocence is preferable and more enjoyable than existing in the hallway of indifference.

Leave it behind...

By Vichara

Over the last number of years there has been an extreme blending of our work lives and our personal, much to the detriment of both. With the increased use of technology it allows those “little notes” that may seem like harmless work issues to follow us home. A wise man said “when we put a leash on our work and bring it home like a pet poodle yapping at our heels, we are neither here or there, neither at work nor at home which means we are not going to be at home anywhere.” Try to separate from it, turn it off. You tend to the poodle for roughly 8 hours a day which leaves maybe 4 hours for you and home before slumber. Leave the poodle at work.

Fear...

By Vichara

There are some days that I am truly frightened with our lives that exist on this tenuous thread. The fragility on many levels where something is here then gone in an instant. Of course this is the nature of life and the built-in impermanence of everything but I still have this fear. But what and how do we deal with this type of fear? Platitudes are merely balm and even if applied generously will still fade away to expose the fear again. Perhaps we take it by the hand and bring it closer and by this intimacy see the fragility in it and realize how small it really can be. It is a process that we sometimes need to enlist to expose that what needs attention and release. We all have this ability; we just need to ensure that we engage this as always with compassion for ourselves.

Keep curious!!!...

By Vichara

For the sake of the future of mankind keep curious! Don’t be spoon-fed ideas, concepts and dreams. Remember the excitement when you would turn over a rock to see what was underneath? Use this same methodology for everyday. The mass media wants you to listen, buy, use and watch what they are showing you unconditionally. Don’t be a sucker to a traveling medicine show and be curious. Ask question and keep those sparks flying in your brain. Engage others, kids, friends and parents to use their brains for more than receptacle for someone else’s ideas, thoughts and stories.

Lessen your suffering...

By Vichara

Right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. Some may recognize these from the Buddhist “eightfold path”. Guideposts that leads to the cessation of suffering. Regardless of where they come from they are powerful things to set in place to create a mindset that encourages and helps us lead better lives. Can we achieve all of these, yes. Will it be easy to achieve all of these, no. There are many temptations linked to desires that will be tempting. They are “smoke and mirrors” of Maya presenting itself daily in our lives. While in any culture the desires to obtain, own, hold and collect is difficult to overcome but in those with media manipulation it becomes even harder. Recognizing this fact is half the battle but from that perspective you can gain a better resolve and create a starting point where you can build the foundation of components of the eightfold path and lesson your individual suffering and of course lessen suffering globally.

Truth...

By Vichara

What we need is a truth inspector. A new super hero for our day to reveal what truly is going on in the world. Now wouldn’t that be handy? You are at the mechanic with your car and this guy tells you need a whole bucket load of things to make your car run again. The truth inspector, let’s just call him Truth, zips in behind you, assesses the situation in a matter of seconds and declares that it is a single switch and some oil is all that is needed. Ok that may sound small but what if during some intense discussions between two countries that have been battling for years Truth makes an appearance. Suddenly the air shifts in the room and not only that these two leaders admit what truly is essential for peace but everybody else there admits what they can do and the waters become calm. I know this is a naïve thought but imagine the incredible opportunities and savings of time and frustration if the essential truth could be stated and acted upon with each breath in each moment of each day. Imagine…

Do something big, that's small...

By Vichara

The world will keep turning no matter what happens. Unless George Lucas knows of a Death Star hovering nearby I believe we’ll go on spinning. So what do we do while on this ride? Bitch, complain, or whine that there is nothing we can do to help out the world condition? If you feel helpless stop and pull back from thinking on a large scale where we may not have all the tools to be effective and refocus on perhaps the smaller. From small gestures and compassionate acts you will build a foundation and see immediate results and a sense of purpose. Try a couple today. Send a silly postcard through the regular mail just to say hi to someone. Put a post-it note in someone’s sock with a message that you care. Call someone for no apparent reason just to let him or her know you were thinking of him or her. Call your brother, sister, whomever. Small things create big things for you and those around you.

A guidepost for now and always...

By Vichara

“What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The standards such people create will be followed by the whole world”. Taken from the Bhagavad-Gita that dates back between the 5th and 2nd century B.C. These words have even more relevance considering the moral and political changes we are witnessing. There is a need and cry to cut away the obese malignant weeds of greed and excess and to form a new standard of fairness and compassion. “The ignorant work for their own profit, the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought for themselves”. Again from the Gita. This short 18-chapter book was used, as the moral compass for M. Gandhi for most of his life and even today still can be one of the many texts to guide our lives. “Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion”.

The cautionary cloak...

By Vichara

It’s funny we will gauge from the weather outside what protection we will need for our physical bodies but there are many times that we blindly enter situations without protection for our heart. It may not be totally that reckless but there are times we do not button up the cautionary cloak. We can sometimes see things heading our way by certain emotional tremors that could be radiating but we may ignore them. In those cases you have nobody else to blame if there is emotional upset. You are solely responsible to make that trip to the emotional closet as you encounter situations that could have an impact. We all have experienced those for some reason that seek and exploit the weakness in others. Do not give them this opportunity or pleasure. It is in their deluded actions that will fracture their foundation and lead to their fall. If you wear the jacket of integrity and compassion it will protect you from the elements of emotional storms.