Signs of accomplishment.

Sometimes it can be hard to know where you stand.  You might find yourself looking for signs that you are headed in the right direction.  Here are a few:

A sign that your mind has turned towards the Dharma is that everything- all good and bad circumstances, all your hopes and fears- becomes the ground of your practice.

A sign that you have loosened some of your fixation and grasping is that your body and emotions will be less painful and your interactions with the world around you will be more peaceful.

A sign that you have loosened the tight knot of self-grasping is that you will naturally adopt a gentle, humble and kind demeanor.  You will rejoice in generosity and virtuous acts.

A sign that you are more open-minded is that you will stop creating problems for yourself because of your complicated position.  A narrow mind is easily caught up by the sway of negative thoughts and emotions. 

Where do you stand?

Loneliness, or Love?

Look deeply at loneliness.
Cut away all the selfishness,
the self concern and speculation.
When you get down deep,
deep into loneliness,

You find love.
An unbridled, boundless love.

Your heart aches because it wants to be shared.
It aches because you are holding it back.

Opportunity is everywhere.

How does a raccoon satisfy its thirst?

I love this video.  It's hilarious.

This raccoon is confused.

Not knowing the nature of water, he hopes to grab onto it, hold it in his hands.  Of course that water keeps slipping through his fingers, and the cute little thing is in a frenzy to keep trying.

What he doesn't know is that if you want to hold water in your hands you need to be skillful.  Then you can drink the water, feel its refreshing nature, enjoy it and quench your thirst.

How often do we feel like life is slipping through our fingers?  Like we lost an opportunity and now it is gone?  How often do we find ourselves in a frenzy, trying to accomplish our aims and hoping that this is the time we are finally satisfied?

In order to take hold of our life we need to be skillful.  We need to create a container that can accommodate something that always keeps rushing past us.

We need attentive mindfulness.
Authentic presence.
Clarity and understanding.
Empathy and compassion.
Patience.  Patience is a must.
An open mind and unbiased attitude.

Most of all we need to stop the impulse to grab onto things.  That is where so much of our confusion springs from, from grasping and fixation.  When we understand the nature of our own mind and the nature of reality, we can skillfully work with that in order to quench our thirst, find satisfaction.

Being awake doesn't mean that we become awake to some kind of better reality, or our life becomes the fairy tale and everything goes our way.  Being awake means to see genuinely.  Truly.  You awaken to the truth.  You see your mind and reality as it is, and knowing that there is nothing to hold onto, you can use skillful methods to accomplish your aims and the aims of others.

Stop the confusion. 

Link to the video is here.