Edition 16: Your diamond and how to make it even brighter.
Hi LifeLong Learners,
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As you can see from last week’s edition, I’m sharing quite a few things from my spiritual studies with you now we’ve covered the practical physical ways to create a mindful study space. Perhaps you didn’t know that I’m not only a mindful teacher of academic/professional topics and skills but also a lifelong Buddhist. So, I thought I should give you a little background so you are sure I’m qualified to guide you in spiritual matters.
My family are Christian, and I was brought up in Christian schools. My maternal grandmother was my idol because of her depth of faith as a Roman Catholic and her incredible serenity and open-heartedness. But as I got older and became more enquiring, I started to ask her questions about her practices and reasons for fervently believing in the omnipotent power of God and the Trinity. She couldn’t really answer me, and after reading and talking with intellectuals, I concluded that the fundamental holy Book, the bible, was wonderfully poetic. Still, I couldn’t make these stories the basis of my life as she had. Of course, she was disappointed but understood and gave me her blessing to explore other ways of cultivating faith.??
Then, my life changed as I encountered the Buddha in lectures and books! But it wasn’t the first time. I suddenly remembered hearing his name on the radio when I was a child, about 8 years of age. I lived in northern Britain in my childhood, so there were no Buddhists around me that I knew of, although there were many Muslims and Hindus from India and Pakistan. What had caught my childish attention was these words:
“Encountering the teachings of the Buddha is about as unlikely as a sea turtle poking its head up through a hole in a floating log.”
Later, I realised this was so true, so I was so grateful to have heard his name and had the opportunity to explore my faith as a youngster. Since then, I have done many trainings, explored virtually all the Buddhist sects, and was ordained as a Priest in Japan 8 years ago. I am also a qualified Dharma teacher: Dharma is perhaps the most essential Buddhist word, meaning: ‘the eternal and inherent nature of reality regarded as a Cosmic Law underlying right behaviour and social order.’
My Buddhist pathway led me naturally to mindful education, as mindfulness and meditation in its many different forms are the foundation of Buddhism. It also allowed me to remain religiously neutral when I encountered, and still meet today, people from theistic religions —religions with 1 all-powerful God. Buddhism is not a religion but a way of life and is quite scientific in many ways.?
Buddha Nature
Last week, I mentioned Buddha Nature and the notion that all humans have a fantastic diamond inside them. It could be described as your essence or spirit and its amazing potential. It is adamant, just like a diamond, and can reflect and refract light so brightly. Your spirit or Nature is like this, and if we get in touch with our diamond, our treasure, inside us a little every day or every quiet moment, then it will significantly guide us to happiness, healthiness, good fortune, and success.?
The 3 primary Laws of Attraction fit wonderfully with your Buddha Nature. Here they are again:
Returning to the diamond’s image, we also say it is a good thing if you encounter a problem or obstacle in your life or maybe something fearful or overwhelming. If we face the negative and difficult things we encounter in our life and deal with them, this will make us a better person. These experiences will help us to develop compassion for others who are probably facing even worse problems. Compassion is an intense universal love that allows you to embrace all human beings no matter what wrongs they have committed or how you have an aversion or dislike for them.
Compassion was the greatest of the Buddha’s teachings. If more of us had more compassion, many atrocities and conflicts that fill the headlines could have been avoided. You can also have more compassion for yourself as you study or learn challenging things, learn to accept what you see as your shortcomings and inadequacies, and love yourself even more because of them. Compassion comes from mindfulness when we are calm, centered on our listening and breathing, and grounded in the Earth by sitting well and caring for our spines. When you are mindful, you can become a bright beacon to attract good energy and radiate it.
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Mindful Practice 3 - focus
Please sit mindfully, taking care to lengthen your spine. If you wish, you can read this article to remind you about taking mindful care of your spine.
If you have a candle, light it and place it where you can see the flame easily. If you don’t, switch on a light or desk light, which will do just as well.
When you feel you have brought all your attention to now and here, and there are no distractions, and you are smiling because it is such a perfect place to be, slowly raise your eyelids and gaze at the candle flame or light beam/bulb. Keep your eyes soft and uncritical.??
Just gaze at the flame/bulb, continue listening and breathing.
Your Buddha Nature is like a candle flame burning brightly out into the world, giving light to your studies/training — insights —, light to your teachers/trainers and colleagues/study mates. Sometimes, the flame may gutter or even go out, but it will always burst into flame again because that is your eternal Nature.
When you return to your busy life, occasionally recall the flame burning steadily and strongly. You can radiate your light into any situation; others will notice and be attracted to it. This will add to your sense of well-being.
Well, I hope these mindful practices are helpful to you. Please do not be disappointed in yourself if you can’t manage to do them every day. But I hope that as time passes, you will crave to go to your mindful place and rest in the dead centre of the moment as if it were a marvelous cushion.?
The Buddha said that all beings are worthy of respect, so each one of us is a Buddha in the making.?
How wonderful to share the Earth with so many millions of Buddhas!
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Have a beautiful, focused week ahead.
See you next week.
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Linden
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PS: Some of you have intimated that it is difficult to remember to keep in touch with mindfulness and your inner diamond when things get busy, deadlines are looming, or problems arise in your daily life. So, I will soon invite you to subscribe to a mailing list called ‘Touch Your Heart Everyday’ to receive a concise email from me most days containing an image or a quotation to reflect on. I’d like to stay in touch to guide you more often.