Knowledge of Immortality

I know there is a universal Spirit of which my own awareness is an integral part. I know this Spirit consists of joy and love. I know these things because I also know my body must die and dissolve, and that part of my consciousness that depends upon support from the physical body must pass away.‏

Knowing my physical mortality allows me to accept the inevitability of physical death and move past it.  It is insane to fear the inevitable.  Still, even calm acceptance of mortality is far from the exuberance of joy and love. If physical existence were all we had, then the sure knowledge that life is limited would be sobering, if not saddening. 

Yet in meditation, and any time that I sense my connection with Spirit, joy and love are all that I feel.  These cannot have their source in the body or the mind that depends upon it. They can only emanate from a Source that is eternal, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.  That Source is Spirit, God, Life, or Oneness . . . I am, the unnamable.  Mortality does not dampen my enthusiasm for Life because I am an individual manifestation of this universal Spirit.  I am as immortal as God Itself, because God and I are one.

The God In You, the God In Me: Love Without Attachment

The God In You, the God In Me: Love Without Attachment

Focus on Spirit

Place your entire attention on Spirit, and no harm can come to you.

Have you ever noticed that when you are completely absorbed in a thought or an activity, other concerns disappear?  The egoic mind uses this phenomenon to distract us from Spirit.  However, you can turn the tactic around by concentrating on Spirit.  When you do, all worldly fear, pain, and distress vanish.  The bliss that is found in meditation is like a light banishing the darkness.  Mind, body, and soul become attuned to the harmony of the Universe, which naturally expels negative thoughts and attitudes, and the physical and mental ills that they produce.

Banishing Fear and Insecurity

Some people live closely guarded lives, fearful of encountering someone or something that might shatter their insecure spiritual foundation. This attitude, however, is not the fault of religion but of their own limited understanding. True Dharma leads in exactly the opposite direction. It enables one to integrate all the many diverse experiences of life into a meaningful and coherent whole, thereby banishing fear and insecurity completely.

- Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Wisdom Energy"

Defining Prosperity

If you define prosperity as having everything ego wants, you can never be prosperous.  If you define it as having what Spirit needs, you are likely to find you are prosperous already.

Equanimity

Equanimity and mindfulness go hand in hand.  The person who is totally aware of his environment but unable to view it with detachment may go insane.  But equanimity without mindfulness may be no more than avoidance and denial.

By practicing both mindfulness and equanimity, you are able to face your fears and demonstrate that they have no power over you.  You can experience chaotic conditions and view the panicked reactions of others without being infected by that virus yourself, enabling you to deal calmly and successfully with the situation. You can enter into unfamiliar surroundings in full confidence that you will be able to handle anything you encounter. You can refuse to take on other people's problems as if they were your own, and compassionately allow solutions to emerge naturally. You can distinguish between situations requiring action and those that are purely ego-generated distractions. Anxiety fades as you rest in the awareness that you and all beings are perfect and invulnerable children of God.  Your "comfort zone" expands to fill your entire Universe.

Namaste

Illness

Illness is not a demon to be cast out, but a misperception to be lovingly corrected; a darkness to be gently illuminated; an emptiness to be filled with gratitude and Grace.