Helpful information

Posted on Happy Minds!

We are living in times of unimaginable evil. Instead of helping each other out, an enormous obsession with fancy mobile phones, fast cars, villas, private swimming pools and overflowing bank accounts has arisen.



Stealthy forces try to “steal our minds”. By showing us tremendously infantile pictures of how things should be - so-called “commercials” - that actually are nothing more then greed transformed to a visible image.

This turmoil, is similar to a storm in a glass of water. There’s nothing to it. It’s just ignorance, wrong views, leading to a lack of compassion.

We are full of compassion. Humans are born with an innate talent for that skill. The only reason for our ignorance, is because we choose to be so. We choose to be so, because we are like little children, playing in the woods. We have lost our way, and we are trying to get back to the village. Instead of using logic, we try to use force, but that isn’t working too well, is it?

So, cool down, get your sanity and yourself back together. Stop wasting your live, and lets start creating a future that’s similar to a dream instead of a nightmare.

I’ve found some really helpful information that may provide you with some tools sufficient for achieving this task ahead, and you can find it here!

Exercise nine: creating your own Paradise

Posted on Happy Minds!



Exercise 9: creating your own Paradise

This exercise is based on the technique of visualisation. Just try it once or twice, and if you like it, do it whenever you like. It is useful for creating a peaceful, happy mood. You need to be able to envision a picture of a beautiful place in your mind, with your eyes closed.

If you find it hard to envision such a place, use any book or go on the net and use a search-engine and find some images of beautiful places. Personally, I love to look at the pictures by Matthieu Ricard, but any picture that you find irresistibly beautiful will do. Look at these pictures until you feel you will be able to create a similar picture in your head with your eyes closed.
Maybe you’ll find it hard to concentrate, if so: first do the simple breathing exercise described in exercise 3.
After that, again look at some pictures until you’re ready.
Some suggestions: The Medicine Buddha Mantra, The most beautiful places in the world, Beautiful nature.



OK, when you’re ready, Sit down in a comfortable position. Straight spine, head straight up, as if a thread comes from your crown-chakra and pulls you up. Close your eyes. Picture in your mind a beautiful, natural place. It doesn’t matter whether that place exists, or not.

Now see yourself sitting there. See yourself sitting in deep meditation. Probably you see yourself sitting in Lotus position, but sitting straight up with your back supported by a tree is also great. Look at yourself. Your face is so bright. It is full of joy, peace, beauty. Look around you. All kinds of animals like to be around you. Butterflies. Deer. Bears. And there’s no aggression in any of them, they are also full of joy just because they can be around you. There’s nothing negative or black here! Look further. Look at the forest or mountains in the distance. Look at the ocean, whatever is in your picture. Breath in deeply. Let go. Enjoy!

A beautiful rainbow is now forming right above your head. Try to see it as clearly as possible! There’s only light, love, relaxation, loving kindness, compassion. Now in the distance some children may be playing. Watch them. Enjoy.



If you start to feel completely relaxed, and a wonderful, warm, loving feeling is rising in your chest, imagine this: A sphere of white light is in your chest. It expands rapidly. In just seconds it envelopes the whole globe. And more spheres like that rise in your chest. What you are doing, is expanding your feeling of relaxation and love. Wooosh, let that energy expand from your chest. And again! And again! More! More! It is not possible to exaggerate this! Do it! Go for it!

The trap in trying to better your life

Posted on Happy Minds!



One of the traps that you might encounter when you start doing meditation, mindfulness exercises, changing your thinking patterns etcetera, is the following: You may start to realise that you judge other people ànd yourself, quite harshly. You may start to realise that deep down, you’re not such a good friend to others ànd yourself as you always imagined you would be. You may find that there’s a lot of anger, egocentricity, jealousy, pride, hunger for bliss and (sexual) fulfilment inside of you, which really makes you want to push all others aside without any consideration for their feelings. As long as you get your satisfaction. This way of putting it may sound a little exacerbated for most of you, but there is a dark side in all of us!

It takes a lot of courage to stay with these things. Not to walk away from them. Not trying to change them into something else. Seeing things for what they are, and just staying with them, so your learning process can really start. If you do not allow your anger and the reasons for it arising to be examined, how do you expect to get the full benefit of learning how to deal with these forces in your mind? You just do not want them to be there, that is the whole problem to begin with!

Fact is, you will not always be able to allow these dark sides of your persona to manifest fully in the open. It is not called your subconscious for no reason at all. You will run away from your negative traits at times. You will suppress them at times, you will try to drink/smoke/snort/meditate/yoga or think them away from time to time.

There’s a big trap in here. You can either accept that your process is not perfect, or you can make your process another reason for feeling resentment and disapproval for yourself. Also, you can either try to fight the facts that all human beings are going through a lengthy, faulty, troublesome journey which provokes them to big mistakes from time to time, or you can try to accept them for what they are. You can fool yourself, but really, are you without fault? Is there no ignorance, greed, jealousy, dishonesty or anger inside you? So you have attained Buddhahood already? Then answer these questions honestly: how come you feel so depressed or apathetic sometimes? How come other people have a problem with you from time to time?

The trap is, that trying to change your life for the better, can turn into a fight and another reason for discontentment itself.
It seems that the first thing you should focus on, is not loving yourself, others, the world or anything in it. The first thing you should try to see with some acceptance, warmth, gentleness and love, is the process of life itself. Try to accept that this process is not perfect, and similarly, you are not perfect. Life is not the way you want it to be, and it will never be the way you want it to be. Life has its own beauty. It helps a little if you try to accept that your life sometimes seems like a harsh, lengthy process, even though in reality it is very short. You are just not able to let go of your ego today!

Confucius said: “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” If you can truly accept this, maybe you will not be completely dishearted when you meet setbacks. When you find it is very hard to change your behaviour. When you find you do everything right but still feel bad.

Happiness!

Posted on Happy Minds!

I was inspired to create this blog by my friend Erik Baaijens, who has a blog "In balans met onrust", on http://in-balans-met-onrust.blogspot.com/. It is in Dutch, so if you can read that language, do visit his blog!

I decided to create a blog on the specific subject of happiness, because of what I read in the book by Mathieu Ricard: "Happiness". On youtube, you can see him talking about happiness: http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E

I will try to post all I have found out on obtaining happiness, but any tip you may have: please do send it to me! If it is respectful and not yet on my blog somewhere, I will post it!