The Art of the Way

October 23, 2019October 24, 2019

9 Things to give up if you want to be happy

Here is a favorite list that I like to meditate on. It is a list that will help you live a happier life. If you give up on these nine things you will have a more peaceful life and bring more peace to the people around you.

You can spend a meditation session for one day on each of these on the list.

The Need for Approval. If you are looking for approval outside of yourself you will never be happy. Just think about it one thing that you did will be approved by one person but not the next. “What other people think of you is none of your business.” If you feel what you did aligns with your spiritual self then that should be enough. You will never find the correct approval from outside of yourself. If you try to get approval from other people to make them happy you will never be happy yourself.
The Need to Impress Others. Why do people do this? Most of the time people do this because they do not think too much of themselves and have low self-esteem so they want to take the easy way out and get quick recognition from others to make themselves feel better. The only trouble with this is that recognition does not last long and does not really solve the problem. You would really need to become a person that naturally impresses other people and you will find that when you are you will have no desire to impress others and are whole/complete inside.
The Need to Always be Right. Wayne Dyer has said, “Would you rather be right or at peace?” One time I remember in high school I have gotten into a big argument with someone over the lyrics of a song. I started jotting them down and another student recognized the lyrics and said he liked that song but corrected me on what the lyrics were. But I was 100% positive what I wrote down was right, he was 100% right that his lyrics were right and what started out as a bonding experience turned into a heated argument that left bad feelings on both sides. Was it worth it to be right? I don’t think so.
Dwelling on the Past. This is a bad one for me. Some people can handle it better than others though. Really, it happened in the past. It is done with, nothing can be done anymore about it except learn from it and move on. Read the Time and Money Quote to help you conquer this inner demon.
Resistance to Change. When I read of this one I immediately thought of the book “Who moved my cheese?” by Spencer Johnson. One instance in this book a group of people were discussing their lives and one shared a story of the encyclopedia business his family was in where they were resisting change from paper to CDs and because of that they almost went out of business. Unfortunately, resistance to change is a common human reaction. This book has a duel story of two mice named Hem and Haw that go through the maze with their reactions to blocks along the way. The other part of the book is a group of people discussing the book and how it compares to their own lives. An excellent read to help you get rid of stumbling blocks.
Negative Self-Talk. Why! Why fill yourself with negativity! Garbage in is garbage out. People do this on a constant basis and never feel fulfilled in life! Worse yet there are many people that do this out loud and are looking for self-pity.
Limiting Beliefs. This reminds me of the quote from Michelangelo, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” If you have limiting beliefs you can never achieve personal greatness. Do not think poorly of yourself but instead think of all the things you would be proud of what you have done, what you are capable of and you will get rid of your limiting self-beliefs. Focus is the key here.
Blaming Others. Blaming others is a classic shift of responsibility. All this will do is keep you from fixing yourself and create anger and negativity with those around you. Especially the one that you blame. If you cannot accept responsibility and look inward you will live an unbalanced life and never take care of the true source of the problem.
Complaining. Yes, you may want to vent to someone and complain to them and hope that you will find someone that is a good listener. In a Barbera De Angelis tape program about relationships the mistake men make when a woman comes to them with a problem is that they try to give suggestions on how to fix their question but all the woman really wants is somebody to listen to. They are not seeking answers. Yes, you may want reassurance and that will help you but sometimes complaining can become more strong than what it should be. Instead of complaining try thinking of what is good about this situation? It will help you focus on the positive and eventually help you solve the problem. Too many times people complain to others without looking within and realizing how minor it really is in the grand scheme of things. This inner-awareness will help you tremendously.

October 10, 2019

Wealth Comes to Me

Sometimes I need a reminder like this and I read this before meditation. Particularly in rough financial times.

This can be more than wishful thinking or repeating a positive affirmation. When meditating to this one I do not allow my mind to be quiet. Instead, I think about how fortunate I am when compared to many others. I think about how much better off I am now when compared to 10 years ago and 20 years ago. I let me mind drift and think of new ways for residual income so that I can earn more money while I sleep. I am also reminded that I already earn money while I sleep with renters, web hosting, affiliate marketing, Google AdSense, and more.

This is definitely not a mediation for a quiet mind, but more of a brainstorming session for at least twenty minutes. After twenty minutes when you come up with good ideas and realize that things are not as bad as they seemed at the beginning of the meditation then quiet your mind for another twenty minutes or more to let the universe share their ideas with you. If you put out to the universe how can I serve then the universe will respond with how can I serve you?

Wealth does not have to mean money. You can be wealthy in so many other ways. You can be more wealthy than an unhappy millionaire.

October 10, 2019

What you Gain and Lose from Meditation

Buddha was asked, "What have you gained from meditation?" He replied "Nothing! However, let me tell you what I have lost: Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Insecurity, Fear of Old Age and Death." — What you Gain and Lose from Meditation

Buddha’s response makes the person who asked the question remember it even more just because of the unexpected shock value at first.

This is an excellent way of teaching that will make the student remember the lesson even more. Buddha was good at this. I know there are some Buddha quotes out there on the internet that is not actually from the Buddha. There is a site dedicated to straightening this out at https://fakebuddhaquotes.com/, but who knows how accurate this website is? Be careful of what you read and believe on the internet. Question everything! Even this website! These posts are my own opinions that I like to share hoping that they will help whoever is reading them. The real truth is inside of you, you will never find it outside of you. One way to practice this is to read something and ‘feel’ how it resonates with you.

Despite the quote, I have gained peace of mind and relaxation when meditating. The only thing I am guilty of is that I do not spend enough time meditating giving the excuse of having to do too much in my life.

“You should meditate twenty minutes a day and if you don’t have enough time then you should meditate for an hour!” – From an old Zen book I read.

October 10, 2019

Whatever you Accept

This quote by Eckhart Tolle is a good one. I am not sure if it is from the book, “The Power of Now” or not but it is a quote that makes you think twice and re-read it.

When reading this quote I first thought what if what I accepted is about the negative in life then I realized that fully accepting something even if it is negative puts a lot of pressure aside and it feels like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. You no longer have thoughts like, “How could she/he do this to me!” and “Now what am I going to do!”. Instead, your mind will accept it and you will find that your mind will switch a flip and start thinking of ways to solve it instead of coming up with ways to make yourself feel even more awful. While deep in a meditiation I was told that the two most important words were acceptance and understanding. They may not be the best words for you but I have found to help with my own self issues and to better myself, they are the best words for me.

I would recommend sitting down and meditating and let your mind go blank and notice where your mind wanders too. Is it a good place or a bad place? Notice that, accept it, understand it, then let it go and go back to leaving your mind blank. When your mind wanders again repeat the procedure and try to go a little longer the next time before your mind wanders. Eventually, with practice, you will be able to sit still long and quiet enough that the universe/God will speak to you and give you what words are the best for you.

October 10, 2019

What’s on your Mind and Heart?

If you want to know where your heart is, look to where your mind goes when it wanders. — What’s on your Mind and Heart

This particular quote really got me and I have included it with my meditations.

Think about it where does your mind wander most of the time? Is it a good place or a bad place? Is it full of positivity or negativity? This is where your heart is!

Meditating/Pondering on this quote can be a real good wake-up call for anyone. You may come to a realization that you have to change your life for the better after thinking about this quote.

If you are stuck in a rut not enjoying the job or career that you are in sit down and meditate upon this quote and think about where your mind wanders when you are in a good mood. If you discover where your heart is when you are in a good, pleasant, excited, or feeling worthy kind of mood then maybe that is the type of job or career path you should look towards. Where your mind wanders when you are in a good mood. What kind of career can you do that relates to this? How can you make money on the place where your mind wanders when you are in a great place emotionally? If you want to turn this into a business instead of a career how can you put this out to the universe in a massive way to as many people you can at once?

Wayne Dyer once said in a taped program I listened to that he was being interviewed at a station where the last day everyone was going to be there because the radion station was changing the format and everyone was getting laid off. Needless to say, everyone was down and out and told Wayne, “Isn’t this terrible! This is my last day here!”. Then Wayne would say, “Congratulations!” They looked at him like he was crazy and then Wayne explained that this might be God’s way of kicking them in the butt to start doing what they really should be doing and that within one year’s time this all wouldn’t matter because they would be in a better place. He asked one person what he REALLY wanted to do in his life and he said that he always wanted to write an opera. Another person said they always wanted to open a small metaphysical book store, etc. He touched base with a few of them later and found out of the few that he contacted a year or two later that all of them were much happier now than when they worked at the station after following their dreams.

Of course, there may have been some that ended up in a job they didn’t like. But you have to think did they follow their dreams or did they grab a job that they thought would pay the bills better? What do you think?

October 10, 2019

Where to Seek Happiness

Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside. - Sri Ramana Maharshi — Where to Seek Happiness

A lot of times we seek happiness outside of ourselves. We won’t be happy unless this happens or until that happens or until this person does this, etc.

When you put conditions on being happy you will end up spending life with the goal of being happy out of your reach.

“Happiness is like a butterfly. When pursued it is always beyond your grasp but if you sit still it enlightens upon you.” I am not sure but I think I read that quote in the book, Zen and the Birds of Appetite by Thomas Merton. If I am wrong and the quote is not in there the book has a wealth of information in there to take the confusion out of life and make you look at life in a different way which in turn makes your life so much better. It is one of the most favorite books that I have ever read. This is the book that I read that helped me reach a level of enlightenment.

Wayne Dyer paraphrased a famous quote, “There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.” This is so very true! For too many times in my life, I have always put conditions on my happiness. This has given me great drive to succeed in almost every area of my life. But at what cost? I have missed out on a lot of happiness in my life with this limiting self-belief. I could have been happy the whole time and just as ambitious. The funny thing about this quote is that if you seek happiness from within and become truly happy success will follow you like a shadow that never leaves.