5 Ways Meditation Can Make You Happier and More Successful at Work

by Deepak Chopra

Let’s look at the five ways that meditation can help you prevent burnout, and experience more fulfillment and happiness at work.

1. Meditation Reduces Stress

Chronic, unmanaged stress can make you sick and accelerate aging. As many scientific studies have found, prolonged stress contributes to the development of high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach ulcers, autoimmune diseases, anxiety, cancer, insomnia, chronic fatigue, obesity, and depression.

In meditation, your body releases stress and reverses the effects of the flight-or-fight response – that ancient instinct we all have to either run from perceived danger or take it on in battle. Intended as a short-term protection mechanism, fight or flight causes our body to speed up our heart rate, increase our blood sugar, suppress our immune system, reduce insulin production, pump out stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, and reduce the blood supply to our digestive organs. All of these reactions happen so that our body can focus on either running away as fast as it can – or staying to fight. Although few people reading this article face daily threats to their bodily existence, many live in a prolonged state of fight or flight, generating stress in response to bad traffic, criticism from a supervisor, or a workplace disagreement.

2. Meditation Helps You Create Harmonious Relationships
When you’re feeling balanced and centered, it is much easier to respond rather than react, to be present with a client or co-worker and really listen to what they are saying and what they may need.

As you meditate on a regular basis, you develop what is known as “witnessing awareness” – the ability to calmly and objectively observe a situation, notice when you are being triggered, and consciously choose how you want to respond. The ability to be present and aware is valuable in the workplace and every other area of your life. During the upcoming Meditation Challenge we will be focusing on specific tools and approaches to creating relationships that support greater happiness and fulfillment in our lives.

3. Meditation Improves Focus and Concentration

Many people feel frazzled because they’re trying to do more than one thing at a time. As neuroscientists have discovered, the conscious brain cannot multitask. If I’m speaking to you and checking my emails at the same time, I’m doing neither. Meditation helps us to train our brain to stay focused on the task at hand rather than letting our attention be pulled away by every passing thought and distraction. This one-pointed attention makes us more productive and less stressed.

There is a lot of interesting research showing how meditation and mindfulness improve the brain’s focus and concentration. A study carried out by the Kyoto Convention Bureau found that when people meditated for at least ten minutes before a meeting, they were much better at focusing, listening, retaining information, and completing tasks. The next time you’re leading or attending a meeting, you may want to suggest just a few minutes of meditation for everyone to get centered and present. It doesn’t have to be complicated – just have people close their eyes and focus on their breath for a minute or two.

4. Meditation Enhances Your Creativity

We each have between 60,000 and 80,000 thoughts a day – unfortunately, many of them are the same thoughts we had yesterday, last week, and last year. The mind tends to get stuck in repetitive thought loops that squeeze out the possibility for new ideas and inspiration. Meditation takes us beyond habitual, conditioned thought patterns into a state of expanded awareness. We connect to what is known as the field of infinite possibilities or pure potentiality, and we open and receptive to new ideas, fresh perspectives, and flashes of insight.

The world’s great innovators, athletes, and other high achievers have described this state as “being in the flow,” being in the right place at the right time, or a state of grace. Time seems to stand still and instead of struggling and trying to force things to happen, everything you need comes naturally to you. You do less and accomplish more. You aren’t burdened by the past or worried about the future; you’re flowing in the ever-present, eternal now. This higher state of consciousness, which we can access through meditation, is the birthplace of all creativity.

5. Meditation Improves Health and Vitality and Enhances the Power of the Brain
When we’re feeling healthy and energetic, it is much easier to stay focused and meet the daily demands of work. Meditation is now recognized as a healing tool with numerous benefits for the mind-body system. In the state of restful awareness created by meditation:

• Your blood pressure normalizes
• Your heart rate slows
• Your immune function improves
• You use oxygen more efficiently
• You produce fewer stress hormones, such as adrenaline, cortisol
• You make more sex hormones particularly DHEA
• Your pituitary gland release more growth hormone (an anti-aging chemical)

In addition to all of these benefits, the deep state of rest produced by meditation triggers the brain to release neurotransmitters that enhance feelings of wellbeing, focus, and equanimity, including dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins. Meditation choreographs the simultaneous release of these neurotransmitters, something that no single drug can do – and all without side effects.

Source: http://www.linkedin.com/influencers/20130718224205-75054000-5-ways-meditation-can-make-you-happier

The World in a Bright Light

by Madisyn Taylor

There is always something to be grateful for even when life is hard and times are tough.

Everyday is a blessing, and in each moment there are many things that we can be grateful for. The world opens up to us when we live in a space of gratitude. In essence, gratitude has a snowball effect. When we are appreciative and express that gratitude, the universe glows a bit brighter and showers us with even more blessings.

There is always something to be grateful for, even when life seems hard. When times are tough, whether we are having a bad day or stuck in what may feel like an endless rut, it can be difficult to take the time to feel grateful. Yet, that is when gratitude can be most important. If we can look at our lives, during periods of challenge, and find something to be grateful for, then we can transform our realities in an instant. There are blessings to be found everywhere.

When we are focusing on what is negative, our abundance can be easy to miss. Instead, choosing to find what already exists in our lives that we can appreciate can change what we see in our world. We start to notice one blessing, and then another.

When we constantly choose to be grateful, we notice that every breath is a miracle and each smile becomes a gift. We begin to understand that difficulties are also invaluable lessons. The sun is always shining for us when we are grateful, even if it is hidden behind clouds on a rainy day. A simple sandwich becomes a feast, and a trinket is transformed into a treasure.

Living in a state of gratitude allows us to spread our abundance because that is the energy that we emanate from our beings. Because the world reflects back to us what we embody, the additional blessings that inevitably flow our way give us even more to be grateful for. The universe wants to shower us with blessings. The more we appreciate life, the more life appreciates and bestows us with more goodness.

The Golden Rule

by Madisyn Taylor

All over the world, there exists a simple precept that, when followed, has the power to end conflict and banish strife. It is the Golden Rule, a key concept in many philosophies and spiritualities that admonishes us to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” Its meaning is clear: treat others only in ways that you would want to be treated. However, the golden rule is not always easy to follow. It can be a challenge to honor others as we wish to be honored. Yet, when we do so, we bestow a gift of loving kindness on our fellow human beings. And, in honoring others, we honor ourselves.

It is as uncomplicated a tenet as one could wish for. When we live by it, harming another person becomes nearly impossible. The Golden Rule is rooted in pure empathy and does not compel us to perform any specific act. Rather, it gently guides us to never let our actions toward others be out of harmony with our own desires. The Golden Rule asks us to be aware of the effect our words and actions may have on another person and to imagine ourselves in their place. It calls on us to ask ourselves how we would feel if what we were about to do were directed toward us. And yet this rule invites us to do more than not harm others. It suggests that we look for opportunities to behave toward others in the same ways that we would want others to act toward us. Showing compassion, being considerate of others, caring for the less fortunate, and giving generously are what can result when you follow the Golden Rule.

Adhering to the Golden Rule whenever possible can have a positive effect on the world around you because kindness begets kindness. In doing so, you generate a flow of positive energy that enfolds everyone you encounter in peace, goodwill, and harmony.

The Magic of Enthusiasm

by Kate Corbin

“Make sure that your life is a rare entertainment!  It doesn't take anything drastic.  You needn't be gorgeous or wealthy or smart -  just very Enthusiastic!”
- Bette Midler

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Enthusiasm!  When you enter this magical realm, you ride a wave of Life Force Energy that carries you easily and joyfully to the fulfillment of your desires.  Want more money?  Get excited about it!  Ready for your ideal relationship?  Feel passionate about it!

What a vibrant, potent force the Vibration of Enthusiasm is!  With Enthusiasm and Passion, you broadcast your desires at a zillion watts and the Universe responds with equal intensity.
The word, Enthusiasm, comes from the Greek for “filled with God.”  How about that?  The etymology confirms that Enthusiasm is the state of being plugged in to Source.

Enthusiasm is that twinkle in your eye, that spring in your step.  It’s that fire in the belly that says “I’m alive and I know who I am and what I want.”  Enthusiasm is wholeheartedness.  With Enthusiasm, you’re aligned, you’re connected, you’re open to receive the juicy abundance of life.

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enthusiasm determines the difference between ordinary and extraordinary, between mediocre and meteoric.  In sports, politics, business, the arts - in every field of human endeavor - the ones who make it to the top are invariably fueled by Enthusiasm.  What greatness are you ready to achieve with the power of Enthusiasm?

Here’s how to get the Magic of Enthusiasm flowing freely in your life:

Acknowledge that Enthusiasm is your birthright, which means it’s always there - like the sun on a cloudy day.
To align with your natural state of Enthusiasm, do what you love.  Let your heart steer the ship.  What have you always felt drawn to do since you were a kid?  What activities make you come alive?  What totally absorbs you so you lose track of time?  Find things you love to do and give yourself permission to DO THEM.
Hang around with happy kids, playful pets, vibrant friends and PLAY!
Stop postponing joy.  Life is supposed to be fun, so have some fun today! Say YES more than NO.   
Act NOW rather than “some day.”
Choose your heart over your head.
Be yourself - who YOU really are, rather than who “they” say you should be.
Go for your big dreams and refuse to settle for less than the best.
Show up!  As the song says, “when you get the chance to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.”

A hearty dose of Enthusiasm can mean the difference between an OK life and a life of magnificence.  Your vibration of Enthusiasm is a powerful magnet summoning and attracting your highest good, your most heartfelt desires.  Re-discover your natural exuberance.  Give the Universe a crystal clear, unequivocal statement of your desires by focusing with full-on Enthusiasm.  When you engage the Magic of Enthusiasm, you’ll be supported and empowered to Live Your Best Life Now!

Violence and Nonviolence

"What is violence? What is nonviolence?" the Dalai Lama had once asked me in one of our interviews in Dharamsala. "Very difficult to make clear. It is related to motivation. If we have sincere motivation, with compassion and caring in our minds, even if we speak harsh words, use physical force, these actions are nonviolent. But with negative motivation, a friendly gesture using nice words and a big smile, and try to exploit others, it is the worst kind of violence. Because of the motivation.”

"Today's reality is whole world just one body. Everything is a part of me. Understanding this helps reduce negative emotions. Hatred comes because we don't appreciate interdependence. Suffering comes because we don't understand interdependence. We cause harm, sometimes unintentionally, because we are greedy for money, power. We think these things will make us happy. This is misunderstanding. Real happiness comes from peace of mind. The only way to obtain is be altruistic, be compassionate.

Nonviolence for him is not passivity: the absence of violence is only part of it. We need to actively help others and we should do that with a genuine sense of compassion, not pity. At a minimum, we should not harm others. Not harming others is a logical extension of the idea of interdependence. Since everything is a part of us, harming others would hurt ourselves.

So, taking care of other, taking care of other part of the world, is actually taking care of yourself. Because individual future depends on the humanity as a whole. So that's new reality - global economy and also population and technology and also the environment. So long as you have the feeling, you have the sense of concern about the  well-being of others, then there is no room to cheat, no room to exploit, no room to bully. All is part of you, all part of me."

~ His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Source: http://www.awakin.org/read/audio.php?op=play&tid=939

Perspective taking

"Perspective taking goes far beyond empathy; it involves figuring out what others think and feel, and forms the basis for children’s understanding of their parents’, teachers’, and friends’ intentions. Children who can take others’ perspectives are also much less likely to get involved in conflicts."

Children learn perspective taking skills when we are willing to understand their perspective.

When we are gentle with ourselves, especially when we feel we are at our "worst," we begin the process of moving through our past and creating a present with children where everyone's perspective and everyone's needs have value.

We go beyond the either-or mentality and open the possibility that we can meet everyone's needs.

Read more: How children learn perspective taking

The Little Guide to Contentedness

by Leo Babauta

There has been little in my life that has made as much an impact as learning to be content — with my life, where I am, what I’m doing, what I have, who I’m with, who I am.

This little trick changes everything.

Let’s take a look at my life before contentedness:

I was addicted to junk food and fast food, and overweight and unhealthy. I bought too many things on impulse, owned too much clutter, and was deeply in debt and struggling to make it to the next payday. I was unhappy with who I was, wanted desperately to change, tried a thousand different programs and books. I was always worried I was missing out on exciting things, and wanted so much to be out doing the fun things everyone else was doing. I was always changing the way I did things, because it seemed everyone else had a better system or tools. I strove to meet goals, because they would get me to a better life.

And as I learned to be content, here was what changed:

I learned to be happy with healthier food, with less food, and my health improved and waistline shrunk. I relied on a good book, spending time with people I loved, going for a nice run … and my debt began to be reduced as I learned I didn’t need to spend money to enjoy myself. I learned to be happier with who I was, and what I was doing, and so no longer needed self-improvement books and programs, no longer needed to try all kinds of new systems and tools. I became happy with myself, with those around me, and with what I had — and so didn’t need to strive to change everything. Letting go of goals helped me to simplify things so I had less to worry about, less to do.

That’s just the start. There is no way to account for the tremendous change that happens when you learn to accept who you are, when you tell yourself you are perfect just as you are, when you love yourself and everything about yourself. You stop criticizing yourself, you are happier, you are a better person to be around, and you can now help others and work without the insecurities you had before.

This is not a magical state, and doesn’t require any new tools or books. It’s simple, and I’ll share what has worked for me.

Learning to Be Content 

If you are in a bad place in your life, and are unhappy with everything about it (job, relationship, yourself, house, habits, etc.), it can be a miserable thing. But here’s something interesting: it can also be a happy thing.

I’ve been in situations where you might think things were bad, and sometimes I was very unhappy, and other times I was happy. The difference wasn’t in the external circumstances, but in my mindset — I learned to appreciate what I had, instead of focusing on the things I didn’t have or didn’t like. I was grateful for my health, for the people in my life, for having food and being alive.

If you can learn to develop the right mindset, you can be happy now, without changing anything else. You don’t need to wait until you’ve changed everything and made your life perfect before you’re happy — you have everything you need to be happy right now.

The mindset of waiting for happiness is a never-ending cycle. You get a better job (yay!) and then immediately start thinking about what your next promotion will be. You get a nicer house and immediately start looking at how nice your neighbors’ houses are, or the faults in the house you have. You try to change your spouse or kids, and if that works (good luck), you’ll find other things about them that need to be changed. It keeps going, until you die.

Instead, learn that you can be content now, without any external changes. Here’s how to start:

1.  Take a moment to be grateful for something. What in your life is amazing? Even if everything seems to suck, there must be one good thing. It might simply be that you have beauty somewhere nearby, or that you are alive, or that your kids are healthy. Find something, and give thanks for that.

2.  Catch yourself thinking, “This sucks.” It’s amazing how often people think this thought. “This sucks!” “My co-worker is the worst — he sucks!” “My wife doesn’t understand me — this suuucks!” It might be in different words, but if you catch yourself thinking something like that, pause. Reverse the thinking. Find a way to be thankful for the situation. “My wife is a caring and sweet person — maybe I should give her a hug.” “My co-worker might be annoying sometimes, but he has a good heart, and maybe I should get to know him better.” “My room might be messy but at least I have a roof over my head.”

3.  Find the little things that can give you simple joys. What do you need to be happy? I love simple things, like taking a walk, spending time with a loved one, reading a book, eating some berries, drinking tea. These cost very little, and require very little, and can make me very happy. Find the simple things that give you similar happiness, and focus on those rather than what you don’t have.

4.  Find the things about yourself that you’re happy with. We tend to criticize ourselves easily, but what if we turned it around and asked, “What do I do right? What am I good at? What is loveable about me?” Make a list. Start to focus on these things rather than what you’re unhappy with.

5.  Do the same with others in your life. Instead of criticizing them, ask yourself, “What is good about this person? What do I love about them?” Make a list, and focus on these things above all else.

6.  Assume that you, others, and life are perfect. You are great, and don’t need improvement. You aren’t a piece of clay that must be shaped and molded into something better — you are already perfect. Other people are also just as perfect, and don’t need improvement. You just need to appreciate them for who they are. The moment we are living in is not a stepping stone to something better — it is exactly wonderful, and we have already arrived at the perfect moment.

The Contented Life

It might be useful to look at what life would be like if you learned to be content:

1.  Self image. We compare ourselves with the images in our head of perfection — movie stars, models in magazines, other people who seem to have it all together — and we can never measure up to those perfect images. But those images are not real. They are an imagined ideal. Even the beautiful people have bad hair days and feel flabby, and if you take away their photoshopped and heavily-made-up façade, you see that they are every bit as human as you are. Even the people who seem successful, living exciting lives — they have the same self-doubts you have. So if they don’t live up to this ideal image, why should you? And even if they did (which they don’t), why would you need to? When we let go of this image of perfection, we realize that we are already exactly who we should be. And then, all our need for self-improvement, and all the activity and effort and pain that implies, fades away. We are happy with ourselves, and nothing else is needed.

2.  Relationships. If you are content with yourself, you are more likely to be a good friend, partner, parent. You are more likely to be happy and friendly and loving, more likely to be as accepting of others as you are of yourself. Relationships improve, especially when others learn to be content with themselves, from your example.

3.  Health. Much of our culture’s unhealthiness comes from unhappiness — eating junk food to give ourselves comfort and relieve stress, not exercising because we think we can’t (because we have a bad self-image), being glued online because we think we might miss something if we turn off the computer or iPhone. When you realize that you aren’t missing anything, and you don’t need junk food to be happy, and you are good enough to exercise, you can slowly return to health.

4.  Possessions. The overload of possessions in our lives comes from unhappiness — we buy things because we think they’ll give us comfort, coolness, happiness, security, an exciting life. When we become content with ourselves and our lives, we realize none of that is necessary, and we can start getting rid of these extraneous crutches.

5.  Busy-ness. Much of our busy-ness comes from fear that we should be doing more, that we might be missing out, that we aren’t enough already. But we are enough, and we don’t need more, and we aren’t missing out. So we can let go of a lot of unnecessary activity, and just focus on doing what we love, and give ourselves the space to enjoy a contented life.

This is all just a few scratches on the surface of a contented life, but it gives you a picture of what might be. And the truth is, once you learn the simple trick of contentedness, it’s really a picture of what already is. You just need to let go of the fears, and see what is already here.

‘Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.’ ~Lao Tzu

Source: http://www.dailygood.org/story/311/the-little-guide-to-contentedness-leo-babauta/

Life is a Dream

by Jeff Mason

Metaphors draw two unlikely suspects together in an illuminating way. The metaphor “Achilles is a lion” is not literally true, unless I have a lion named “Achilles.” Yet it draws attention to the courage and strength of the hero with a punch that straight prose lacks. “X is brave and strong” applies to many people. The metaphor distinguishes Achilles from others who are also brave and strong. Metaphors make readers think about the deeper identity that underlies surface differences. A good one sparks new thoughts and connections between ideas, but metaphors are never literally true.

“Life is a dream” is a well known metaphor. On the surface, seeking an identity between waking life and dreaming seems unpromising. After all, we distinguish ‘dreaming’ from ‘waking life’, and without this contrast, it would no longer make sense to speak of ‘dreaming’ in the first place. Life is real, but dreams are not. No matter how vivid at the time, what happens in dreams does not actually happen. I dream that I marry the boss’s daughter, but wake up to find it is time to go to work sweeping her dad’s factory floor. I can fly in my dreams, but not in waking life. There are other contrasts. Time is disjointed in dreams, but can be mapped using clock time in ‘real life’. I wake to a continuing life, but each dream is complete in itself. It is extremely rare, I would imagine, to continue last night’s dream tonight. Dreams certainly appear illusory in comparison with normal waking life.

At this point, we might ask why “Life is a Dream” has captured so much attention over the years? From what direction do we hear it? The metaphor seems to be coming from an esoteric tradition, from mysticism, Taoism, or perhaps Buddhism. As a realistically-minded philosopher, I have resisted the idea that life is somehow a dream. And yet, I have thought about it over the years. I stub my toe. It hurts. Is this a dream? I lose my job, my wife, my cat and my dog. Are these just dreams? The world aches with war, plague, death, hatred, hunger and despair. Are all these dreams? Are the suffering of millions just illusions?

Another way I have resisted the life/dream metaphor is by rejecting mysticism as not sufficiently rational. In one strand of the mystical tradition as I understand it, what the ignorant normally call ‘life’ is actually illusory. It is the veil of Maya, fueled by craving for the unreal and delusional delights of trying to satisfy endlessly proliferating desires. Everything is changing in every way all the time. Nothing stays the same. We are supposed to escape from the illusion of Maya and the wheel of life (Samsara) by understanding that life is just a dream, and all this ceaseless striving is a kind of sleepwalking. Best to give up the desires which give birth to the world of craving. This sounds good, but once again we are up against the fact that life feels real to those who are struggling to survive in a difficult and frightening world. Thinking that life is just a dream seemed to me just an excuse to forget about the world and all the problems we find there.

After coming to these dark reflections, I found a question to move forward. Are dreams actually the same as illusions? Consider an optical illusion. Once we find out that it is an illusion, our minds corrects for the faulty perception. A straight stick looks bent when it is half under water. Once we learn a little optics, we see why it looks this way. Of course, it might be a bent stick after all, but that would just be funny. Are dreams illusions like this? I think not. No matter how sure I am that it was a dream after I wake up, there is no way to ‘correct’ for the illusion while in the dream itself. Dreams just do seem real at the time.

First of all, a dream is not illusory on its own terms. While dreaming, the dream is real. Second, dreams have meaning. To say that something is a dream is not to say that it is meaningless, pointless or trivial. Third, and most importantly, though dreams do vanish upon waking, the ephemeral nature of dreams does not detract from their existence or significance.

From this standpoint, there is a deep identity between dreams and waking life. For me, it has to do with the varnishing of days and dreams together. Yesterday has all the phenomenological reality of yesterday’s dream. It is gone, not to be retrieved. Yesterday is like a play that ran its course, stirred up actions and passions, and then passed away in sleep. What is the memory of the wonderful trip you took to the sea shore last summer but a dream? This is the deep structural identity of memories, dreams and waking life.

Source: http://blog.talkingphilosophy.com/?p=1767

Life is but a dream

 

“Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.”

This is my all-time favorite rhyme. Although it’s considered a children’s song, it is packed with meaning and inspiration for us big kids too!

Over the years, several different metaphors and meanings have been ascribed to this ditty. Following is my own take on these four wonderful lines.

The boat

The boat signifies this body, the transitory home to one’s pure awareness. It is the vessel for moving, learning, and growing. The body serves as the basis through which we can actualize our full potential and realize the true nature of our mind and the universe. How marvelous!

If you look around, you will notice that humans are far outnumbered by the millions of other beings on this planet. Just the number of insects in a big pile of dirt is enormous. In my spiritual tradition, this is the logic behind the belief that it is extremely rare and also precious to be born a human.

Why precious? Because – unlike animals – humans have the awareness and intelligence that can bring about complete personal transformation. We can train our being in limitless love, kindness, compassion, and equanimity. We can learn to let our wisdom mind shine forth.

But a human life isn’t thought to be particularly special if it’s wasted on materialistic pursuits alone. It only becomes unique when we recognize the extraordinary spiritual opportunity it provides to us.

Now, you may not believe in reincarnation, and that’s OK. But the main point to extract from all this is to recognize and appreciate the tremendous opportunity this lifetime holds. You never know when or if you will have the chance of a lifetime again. Afterall, death is real and comes without warning.

So, as the saying goes, make hay while the sun shines. Don’t waste this precious opportunity! Celebrate every moment and use this life for the highest purposes. At the same time, be sure to take good care of your boat – it is a precious vehicle.

Row, row, row

Without rowing, your boat won’t move – will it?

It may end up stuck on the shore, swept violently along by turbulent flows, or crashed to bits over a waterfall. Reaching your destination requires effort, discipline, and clarity of direction.

Distractions abound – don’t let them pull you off your course. At the same time, hold your destination lightly in mind and heart. Stay open. The universe may hold entirely different possibilities for you! Don’t be so tightly focused on one destination that you miss your true path.

Rowing may require effort, but it doesn’t have to be a struggle. When you have a glimpse of the mystery and magic all around you, diligence is naturally infused with joy.

Gently down the stream

Pushing too hard only creates stress, tension, and illness. As popular wisdom tells us, “Don’t push the river, it flows by itself.” The stream of life passes magically before us. Enjoy the fullness of the moment as it streams by. Don’t cling to the past. Just let go!

Merrily, merrily, merrily

Attitude is everything. A gentle, playful spirit will magnetize positivity and good results.

Chances are suffering and challenges will arise on the journey. Use them well. With the right perspective, they will fuel personal evolution. Persevere in choosing joy, whatever comes your way.

Life is but a dream

Life is often likened to an illusion – a dream, a magic show, a visual aberration, a mirage, an echo, a reflection. All that arises in our mind and in the world around us appears yet is empty of inherent existence.

In The Words of My Perfect Teacher, the illustrious 19th century spiritual master Patrul Rinpoche explains how it is when you come to taste the dreamlike quality of reality:

“…objects that appear to it [the mind] do not stop appearing, but the concepts that take them as having any true existence subside. To leave the mind in the realization of the nature of reality, empty yet clear like the sky, is transcendent wisdom.”

Although the world continues to appear before us, and thoughts and emotions continue to arise in the mind, you recognize their transitory, ephemeral nature. When you gradually take to heart the illusory quality of existence, joy, ease, wonder, and spaciousness bubble up inside.

At the same time, a sense of universal responsibility awakens within as you come to observe and appreciate the truth of interdependence. You understand that your actions matter. They have an effect, positive or negative. Understanding this and knowing that negative actions harm you too, you act for the better of all. In fact, compassion naturally pervades your every thought and deed when you hold this profound view of reality lightly in your heart.

The brilliant 14th century spiritual master Longchenpa wrote these beautiful words to capture the unceasing play of emptiness and appearance.

“Since things neither exist nor don’t exist,
are neither real nor unreal,
are utterly beyond adopting and rejecting -
one might as well burst out laughing.”

Imagine what the world would be like if we all adopted such a carefree yet compassionate view of life!

What meanings do you find in this 4-line “children’s” rhyme? Is there another rhyme that resonates meaning and inspiration for you?

Please Note: This is a guest post by my dear and wise friend Sandra Lee from Always Well Within.

About the Author: Sandra Lee writes about living an awake, authentic, happier and healthier life on her personal development blog Always Well Within. Her articles offer a unique blend of personal transformation, wellness, ecology, and essential wisdom to help you realize your best self and be part of creating a better world.You can keep up with her by following her on Twitter @AlwaysWellWithn

Source: http://positiveprovocations.com/2010/09/17/life-is-but-a-dream/

A true message that should be taught in schools across the world

Timber Hawkeye has a very simple guide to happiness - 2 words: be grateful. Gratitude turns what we have into enough. In this TEDx talk, Hawkeye observes that all of our suffering is self-inflicted, and that we have a misguided notion that happiness is something we have to "pursue." He shares some simple prescriptions for inner peace and tranquility: slow down, sit. There is nothing you need to buy; nowhere you need to go. Just spend a few minutes each day taking inventory of everything in your life that is worth appreciating.

Source: http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3631