Joy

How do we cultivate the conditions for joy to expand?
We train in staying in the present.
- Pema Chodron

Cue your song:
Yolanda Be Cool - A Baru In New York ft. Gurrumul (Flume Soundtrack Version)  - CLICK here to listen

Awake My Soul

To think that we can finally get it all together is unrealistic.  To seek some lasting security is futile.  It does not - and can not - exist.  To undo our stuck habits requires that we begin to turn around some of our most basic assumptions.  Believing in a separate self, continuing to seek pleasure and avoid pain, thinking someone "out there" is to blame for our pain - one has to get totally fed up with these ways of thinking.

Holding onto beliefs or habitual stories we have been telling ourselves limits one's experience of life.  That doesn't mean that our beliefs or opinions are the problem.  It's our stubborn attitude of always wanting things to be a particular way.   Using our belief system in this way creates a situation in which you may be choosing to be blind, rather than to see;  to be asleep rather than awake.  Without calling your belief system right or wrong, simply acknowledge it. See it clearly without judgement and then try letting it go.  From now until the moment of your death, you could do this.  You could wake up.

- Pema Chodron (adapted)



Mumford and Sons - "Awake My Soul" - mp3 download





When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambhala Library)



Sigh No More

Like A Fading Rainbow

On a very basic level, we all seek happiness.  When life becomes difficult or painful, we feel that something has gone wrong.  But in life, difficulty is inevitable.  There are the realities of aging, illness, death, loss, not getting what we want, and of getting what we don't want.  Even if you were the most enlightened person on earth, you would experience sorrow at losing what you love.  If you got cut or burned, it would hurt.

But this is not really what causes misery in our lives. What causes misery is our always trying to avoid pain and seek happiness - this sense there could be lasting security and happiness if we could only do the right thing.  It is so basic in us to feel that things should go well for us, that if we start to feel depressed, lonely, or inadequate, we feel that there's been some kind of mistake or that we've been wronged in some way.  In reality, when you feel depressed, lonely, sad or any other unwanted feelings, this is an important moment when real transformation can take place.

- adapted from The Pocket Pema Chodron




"Like A Fading Rainbow" - Jenny Wilson      mp3 download

Purchase related source materials at links below:


The Pocket Pema Chodron (Shambhala Pocket Classics)

Hardships!

King of Pain

Life is glorious, but it is also wretched. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, and energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others. We make ourselves a big deal and want life to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction.

On the other hand, wretchedness—life's painful aspect—softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is an important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling grief, you can look right into somebody's eyes because you feel you haven't got anything to lose—you're just there. The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all be so depressed and hopeless that we wouldn't have enough energy to eat an apple.

Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.

Pema Chodron



Alanis Morrisette - "King of Pain"






Purchase source materials at links below: 

King Of Pain (Live/Unplugged Version)
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambhala Library)

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