For this week I practiced the Universal Loving Kindness meditation exercise and found it to be a very simple yet effective exercise for developing a higher state of consciousness. The four phrases to repeat are:
May all individuals gain freedom from suffering
May all individuals find sustained health, happiness, and wholeness.
May I assist all individuals in gaining freedom from suffering
May I assist all individuals in finding health, happiness, and wholeness.
What I got out of this exercise is that happiness and sustained health should not be an individual goal but a collective goal. We are not separate entities trying to survive in the world but rather a connected entity that shares the whole life experience with one another. This exercise does a great job of pushing ego driven thoughts away and then pushes love and happiness to the front of your thoughts. In the past I was very ego driven to be "better" than everyone else in my life as if that held some form of status or level of measureable achievement. Happiness in life is not determined by how much better you do than other people but rather how you raise your level of consciousness to look beyond that type of thinking.
When I conducted the Integral assessment I easily found the aspect of my life that creates the most hardship and suffering. I am continually trying to predict the future and prepare for any possible negative circumstance. This is a problem because the future does not exist and therefore I have absolutely no control of the future. I can only have an immediate influence on the present moment and therefore I need to stop envisioning future scenarios in my mind that may or may not happen. In an attempt to stop doing this I am trying to keep my focus on the now and use my witnessing mind to see when I am drifting out of the now and into future thoughts. One thing that I find helpful as well is using positive thinking to manifest positive events. Rather than thinking about negative future scenarios I envision positive ones, which the mind does not want to do naturally for some reason. I guess the inherent goal of our ego is to make us think that we are alone in the world and we need to be constantly vigilant to survive. Not true at all and by living with this way of thinking you actually inhibit your ability to live and be happy.
James I enjoyed reading your blog. I agree with you when you said one thing that you find helpful is using positive thinking to manifest positive events. Rather than thinking about negative future scenarios I envision positive ones, which the mind does not want to do naturally for some reason. I try to have positive thoughts most of the time, but sometimes it's hard. But when I do I feel better about myself and I end up having a great day. Great Job
ReplyDeleteSoraya,
DeleteI try to do the same thing but sometimes those negative future scenarios in my mind are very powerful and take a lot of influence to change it to a positive. One thing that helps me when the scenario is stubbornly negative is to try to let go of the situation and send it to my higher power. Sometimes a little bit of faith is all we need to get past a problem.
James,
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that you mention how your are always anticipating the future however it is not a present state so it seems frugal to worry and envision those ideas. I think almost every person does this or at least until they learn otherwise. The future may not be foreseen but it can be a place of imagery that can help you evolve to where life may flow. I think it is ok to have some anticipation otherwise why dream! I think this is a great post and very in-depth and very much thought through.
Stephanie!
Stephanie,
DeleteYou are right about needing some form of future anticipation or you would never want to dream big and have goals. I think having goals is great and a powerful tool that makes us better however being in the present moment should always be the priority in my opinion because that is where we live our lives. Thanks for your input!
Super blog post this week, James! I agree with you, we are not entities in and of ourselves, we must strive for the greater good if we are to experience health and happiness in a way that allows us to flourish. I can get overwhelmed with the problems of the world, but then I can also forget that there are other people in the world with their own problems and concerns. When I do this exercise, it softens me to the plight of my fellow man, so I can smile when I am tearing through the isles at the grocery store and maybe be kind to someone who needs to get in line in front of me. I can not tailgate because I don't like the way someone drives and I can think of solutions for the suffering around me, instead of being the cause of them. Thank you for laying those concepts out so clearly in your post this week.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insight Holly! I think you bring up a good point that everything in life is relative. If you think you have a stressful a hard life I can guarantee there are people that have it way worse than you do. Another thing that I have found is that usually when I imagine a negative scenario I think of it as this very traumatic experience and when the situation resolves itself it wasn't tragic at all but rather pointless.
DeleteYou did a great job on the blog, loved it. It is hard to anticipate the negative things that might happen. I try to live in the moment and one day at a time. My biggest problem is at work with all the strong personalities and working in a face paced laboratory so we all get on edge and I catch myself biting my tongue a lot! Usually I just have to smile and let it go. Thanks for the great post! Very inspiring!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the post Angela! I just started a great job and it is a very fast paced and challenging job but also very fun most of the time. It does entail dealing with discipline of students and angry parents however so I am curious how I will handle some of the more heated events that I am sure will show up in the future.
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