The garden...

By Vichara

Trying to find your place in the world is yes very difficult. We believe that when we find that “one thing” that all will settle down and be all right. The thing is however everything is in a constant change and never remains the same. Impermanence underscores every movement of everything and there is no way to escape this fact. Given that you may ask when I find that one thing it will be gone. No the one thing that you have reached for is still there but it will be evolving with each movement. The key is to wrap your heart around it and with openness celebrate, learn and explore this one thing that makes you happy. From this one “seed” other things will grow and the garden that is your life will be abundant and fulfilling.

Grateful...

By Vichara

There are those that even if you were to put everything they need right in their hands there would always be a desire for what “else” is out there. An obsessive desire to acquire and to have more than is necessary. Yes it is nice to be comfortable but in excess it is obscene, especially in our current world and it’s troubles. There are those even in this fast paced electronic world that are thankful for a single pencil and a piece of paper. A single vital meal and the ability to stand on two legs and walk. While yes the element of guilt lays in this message it is only set there to try to have us all be a little more grateful today.

Compassion footprint...

By Vichara

These days there is a great deal of emphasis in recognizing our “carbon footprint” in this world and try to reduce it. I think the same kind of principles can be applied to increase our “compassion footprint” in the world. As we do little things to lesson the carbon footprint (i.e. using reusable water bottles, fluorescent light bulbs, etc) likewise we can do little things to increase our compassion footprint. Like be more forgiving of yourself and others, telling someone you love and care about them for no apparent reason, help someone that looks lost and discover the answer together, hold the door for one more person, make a phone call to someone just to tell them how much they mean to you. You get the picture. Reduce carbon, increase compassion.

Embracing change...

By Vichara

If there were ways to reassure ourselves that tings on a daily basis would be ok I am confident most of us would seize the opportunity. However the undercurrent impermanence of everything has domain over every aspect of every moment of every day and creates challenges for us. We can choose an erratic existence and be troubled by everything or we can be strong like water, flowing along, embracing and learning from change.

Your wake...

By Vichara

Be cognizant of your own wake, both internally and externally. Internally in your thoughts that you do not create deceptive and negative thoughts that will impede the growth of your heart and keep it from compassionate actions. Externally with your voice and actions so that words and deeds will not hinder another's growth. You have a choice, your wake can create a malicious intent or it can ply the waters of life with grace tempered by love, patience and compassion. It's up to you, you're in control.

Waves of emotions...

By Vichara

Emotions and thoughts can be like large waves crashing in succession all around you. A wave of worry followed by a wave of remorse followed by a wave of obligation and concern. It never seems to stop, they gather strength from what is churning in our heads and perpetually keep rolling one after another after another until you feel that the storm never seems to stop. While it may seem that there is no way to stop these waves there may be ways to quell the intensity of them. After all, your mind is creating these waves so our mind should be able to control them, right?

Portals of realization....

By Vichara

For most of us we rarely get time to contemplate and reflect with our daily busy schedules but sometimes here are small windows along the way. Portals of realization. Like when I'm sitting in traffic that is not really moving and one of the voices in a podcasts says something intriguing and it lifts the bottom of the big circus tent just enough where you might be able to see / feel something...then the light changes. However there was this one broadcast the other night that was taking about the sense of meaning to it all...and I mean to IT all. He referenced Nietzsche and something he posed called the "most difficult question". You may have heard this but it is not something inherently we all deep down think about too much. What if all of "this" is meaningless and is all just a complete waste of time? Not a comforting thought to have whilst driving the freeway and trying to battle my way over 3 lanes to get to the correct lane to get home right? But while it is a tough nugget to bite on it does (at least for me at this time) act as a catalyst to react in a different way. Don't let it gnaw on you in a nihilistic way and to submission but rather find the impetus and look for that sometimes illusive portal to find meaning. Be it in something creative, musical, writing, painting, something that uses the hands with the earth, uses the hands to build a cabinet, uses the hands to help others. It does sound a bit Pollyanna-like but I think we do face and see way too much nihilistic behavior everyday and if we can all try to turn the "boats" around against this current we would realize that the current is actually going the other way. Well that's the way I see it anyway.

The parade...

By Vichara

Again the day breaks and awakens from whatever part of the globe you live in, today’s parade of events. At any given time there are millions of parades, some trumpeting quietly, some acknowledging themselves with the not so subtlety of clanging metal of tanks and bullets. We will all participate in one of more of these parades in a day and join others in celebration and communication of unfolding events around us all. We are at times drawn into a parade somewhat unwillingly but once we are there we do all have a choice, to follow along with that parade or guide that parade with others in a new direction based in love, compassion and patience.

The bus is waiting...

By Vichara

Reflect for just a moment on how you are feeling right now, this very minute…don’t drift over to something you need to do next or what happened yesterday, stay here, right now, without drifting. Happy? sad? anxious? peaceful?...it doesn’t matter as long as it is right now. Far too much time is spent in the abstracts of past and future. Yes we do learn from our past and we plan for the concept of the future but by not being here, cognizant of this moment is like waiting at the bus stop and missing the bus. It only stops “now” for you. Get your ticket and don’t miss the bus, there is always a seat waiting for you…now.

More than a scratch...

By Vichara

Look into the eyes of those you meet. Ask them really how they are doing without judgment and know that they just want the same things that you want. Perhaps you can help; perhaps you have some words of encouragement. Maybe they have words to help you. Extend that “hand” with all that surrounds it. Change the world around you, even if it is just a little bit. The playwright George Bernard Shaw said that he wanted to leave a mark in the world, even if it was just a scratch. I think we can all do better than just a simple scratch.

On guard...

By Vichara

Tradition calls upon one self to react and feel specific ways to various events in life both happy and sad. Being somewhat dictated by these expected and pre-described reactions can only lead to confusion and self-deception. You need to trust in how you feel and what you feel and in reacting naturally to the situations your response will be honest and in the present. Try to be cognizant of the possible manipulation that may be used on you. Breathe and figuratively step back to check in with yourself. Allow you to gauge the best way to participate or step away from every situation. This will guard your heart, your mind and bolster your natural mechanism to deal with fools and manipulators.

Smoother sailing...

By Vichara

A boat without a rudder or proper steering mechanism will aimlessly and recklessly travel in all directions and create conflict and havoc with other boaters. There are some boats that even have a rudder but in their organic elements is self-centeredness, anger and an isolationist attitude whish creates a disruptive wake. But out on the horizon are those boats that have rudders created in compassion, courage and confidence. Instinctively you will know when you crossed into their calming wake. Decorate your boat with bright colors and unique personality, turn the rudder and join others in the calming waters of compassion.

A change...

By Vichara

If there is acknowledgment within yourself with a desire for change, you are half way there. If your awareness of the world around is heightened, the seed has been planted. If you find yourself talking about social and moral values, the shift has already happened. Sooner or later and hopefully sooner awareness arises inside you and creates the catalyst for change and moves your dialogue from internal to external. From this point you will be drawn to other voices that will encourage your steps and like kindred souls finally meeting, will set down the demarcation point for change. Not only for you but the world around you. But please remember this, be kind to yourself and move forward with patience, love and compassion.

Lighten the load...

By Vichara

The “road” stretches out in front of us and we question which way to go. We seek guidance of direction for this journey from many sources in hope that whatever advice we have been given or follow will be right. It won’t be some of the time but that is just part of the plan. Mistakes will be made but it is wise not to discard them as they benefit you as much as the triumphs, in fact maybe even more. Sounds simple enough right? Sounds a bit remedial but we will sometimes forget this and fall again over the same “rock” in the road. Pick it up, put it in your “satchel of lessons learned” and take it with you. By having it’s figurative presence with you will raise the cognizant attention you will pay to similar situations and with the other lessons you have learned, lead to the most efficient and logical answers you need. The satchel will not get heavier but lighter. Simple yes, but good things to remember.

The hidden road...

By Vichara

I look at the moon nestled in a bed of stars floating out there, calmly passing through the night sky and think; I will never go there. But I think of where I have been and what I have seen and I believe that lay out, end-to-end, I would probably reach that illuminated orb that has beckoned many. We all regardless of the physical miles, traveled so far in our lives that a conventional map would not adequately translate the twists and turns, the peaks and valleys and of course the lost roads and dead ends. But of course the moments when we stand stalled, not seeing the next step from these dead ends, we need to take a moment and breathe. Allow the vista to unfold that hidden road and soon you will be on your way…maybe to the moon

Waiting for Godot...

By Vichara

I find in a number of ways we are all like the characters in the Samuel Beckett play “Waiting For Godot”. We at times are anticipating the arrival of “something” but it fails to show. We bicker and pass time in an endless round of self-deception and mindless viewing while a cast of characters mill in and out filling the canvas of life with muted colors and incomprehensible conjectures. What to do, what to do…nothing. Nothing can be done, we must wait for Godot. What is Godot anyway, God, a wish unfulfilled, an answer to a life puzzle? And as we wait, sitting in just one place taunting our existence with self pity and delusions of grandeur we miss out what may be just pass that Tree and around the corner. Get up Vladimir; put your boots on Estragon, Godot is not coming. You must go to it. Get up it’s around the corner for all of us.

One red light at a time...

By Vichara

Keep your eyes & ears open as much as you can folks because what you see and hear in this second, this minute, this hour will never, ever happen again…ever. It is just part of he wonderful kaleidoscopic ephemeral universe that we all and I mean all, live in. At the core and the key to all of this and the basic element is to be cognizant of this with the simple act of mindfulness with each minute and hour. I know, I know easier said than done right? But even driving we can practice mindfulness and try to arrive peacefully. The wonderful meditation teacher Thich Nhat Hanah suggests that even at a red light we can practice. The red light can be used as a signal, a reminder that there is tension in your body from possibly needing to get somewhere. Use the 10 seconds at the red light to practice some mindful breathing and release the tension in your body. And with the number of red lights we face we might even arrive peacefully.

A better understanding...

By Vichara

It’s one thing to acknowledge another one’s existence on the external level without too much fanfare; it is to acknowledge that person’s internal existence without judgment is where the challenge exists. The physical form is just a collection of bones, skin and blood adorned with fabrics but what that person believes in, dreams about and feel can seem as vast and large as looking out into the ocean. Some things people believe in we will not totally understand because each of our personal experiences and how they are personally interpret them. But here is the tripping point and if we stop, listen and try to understand we can find the commonalities that we could share. From there will be a starting point that will ignite the conversation not to argument and disagreement but to understanding and compassion.

Setting your sails...

By Vichara

Depending on when you read this “thought” your day may have either just started or maybe drawing to a close. If the curtain of the day has just been pulled back you have an opportunity to set your course with the right intent. Now here at this point many of us may get overwhelmed in the list we may mentally create. We may get all excited and the laundry list of actions we may want to follow backs us into a corner of inactivity. Stop! Before this happens breathe and focus on maybe just one for the day. Temper your persistence with patience. Be more open to things difficult to understand. Just something that can act as one guidepost in your journey. Something that will make the day more substantive rather than vacuous. And for those reading this at the end of the day, set your sails with honest reflection on what you can do tomorrow. Either way guide your intent with compassion.

Your energy...

By Vichara

You are one of the billions of un-tethered energy sources of the world. Within you is a power source that is immeasurable and renewable that can change the physical world around you. While yes this energy can do harm but it is at it’s best and most effective when it is connected and unified with others to do well. There will be times when you think the amperage that is present within you is too low to be any good to anything or anyone. This is where your limitations are misguided. Every energy inch of what you embody is extremely powerful. Do not discount that. You have the complete ability to increase this internal energy at any given moment by the switch of love & compassion. This is the A/C and D/C of existence. Power up and use this and the world around you will be brighter and better. Not solar powered but soul powered.

Terms of acceptability...

By Vichara

On numerous levels our lives come down to terms of acceptability. How much emotional or physical pain, how much incompetency, how much information, how much nourishment and yes even how much love. At what level will you be able to feel a sense of accomplishment with yourself and others. There are some yes that more or less just shade in the day in an attempt to do what is acceptable and while this may be acceptable for one they forget a crucial element – nothing is isolated. There is an interconnection of all things and as hard as that may be to fathom, it is a solid fact. You and you alone will set the level of acceptability for yourself of course but how much will you be able to live with and how does that affect the world around you? In a world that is gauged by the accomplishments of one’s actions and deeds what will be your terms?