Lego My Ego

Last night, I randomly happened to come across information regarding Self-referral and Object-referral.

We often define ourselves by things that are outside of us: I am a student. I have many friends. I am rich. I am tired. I went to the store. I bought some eggs. In all of these examples, the "I" is being defined by external circumstances. This is object-referral.

It becomes difficult when we solely operate from this perspective because we seek constant approval from others. We are always anticipating a response to situations, circumstances, people, and things.

I acknowledge that one of my greatest flaws is letting my own ego get the best of me, feeling an intense need to control things.

The ego becomes an internal reference point, but the ego is not who we truly are. The ego is a self-image or a social mask, and it thrives on approval because it lives in fear of rejection.

The true Self is free of these things.

Money, friends, power, etc. all bring us a temporary joy or high, but this will only last as long as those objects are around.

Self-power is permanent because it is knowledge of the Self.

Everything around you is in a state of decay, even your own body. Life is transient, and we will all one day lose many of the physical things we cherish. Therefore, we should take time to cultivate our awareness of the Self, our Soul, for that is the source of permanent contentment.

Medi(c/t)ation

I meditate therefore I medicate? Sort of...

In the past, some doctors may have prescribe meditation as a means of reducing a patient's stress or anxiety levels, but now scientists are beginning to better understand exactly what goes on in the brain of a person while he or she meditates.

"[Andrew Newberg] has found that those who meditate have increased activity in the frontal lobe -- the part of the brain involved in concentration -- and decreased activity in the parietal lobe — the area of the brain that is related to sensory information and helps us form our sense of self."

People who meditate often describe a feeling of oneness with the universe and their surroundings. Could this possibly be related to the decreased activity in the parietal lobe?

I have been practicing traditional Buddhist techniques for meditation and concentration, and I always come from the experience feeling more energized and at peace. Often times during deep meditative states, we focus our concentration on our breath and ask ourselves who is the "I" experiencing the experience of the present moment. With practice, it becomes easier to let go of our worries and enjoy simply being alive in the infinite moment that is "now."

Not only can meditation/prayer affect our outlook on life or our emotional well being, it can also have physical healing affects as in the case of Sheri Kaplan who has had HIV for the past 15 years and "has never taken medicine, yet the disease has not progressed to AIDS (and she is not part of the population that has a mutation in the CCR5 gene that prevents progression of HIV to AIDS)"

Kaplan explains it's her faith in God that has granted her this unique ability, but one does not necessarily have to believe in God to experience such benefits. Whether it is God that created the brain or the brain that created God, prayer and meditation seem beneficial to the practitioner.

I found this website to be extremely informative, and it is also where I got most of my information for this entry.

Here are some guided meditations which I enjoy. I recommend starting with Prana, and once you have mastered focusing on the breath, you can move on to the others.

ADD

Attention Deficit Disorder...is it possible to escape?

I feel like the older I get, the more ADD I become. Thoughts, hopes, desires, the media, the past, the future, teachers, bosses, parents, friends, activities and events...all of these things vying for our attention. How is it possible to keep up with it all!?

One of my worst habits is scarfing down food. I can eat four orders of sushi in under 10 minutes! Well...I actually haven't timed myself, and I don't particularly care to try that experiment. Point is...I do eat fast.

I think we tend to do many things at a fast pace so we can hurry up and get to the next 'event' looming over us. As a result, we're often cruising through life on autopilot, mindlessly existing through one event until we get to the next.

It is important to take time to enjoy where we are...here and now. Take time, and appreciate the flavor of your food. Recognize the hardness of the ground with every step you take. Acknowledge the sensations of inhaling and exhaling and simply being alive!

All is beautiful when we take time to appreciate it with awareness.

Eye Sea Ewe

How do you perceive the world? How do you perceive different situations?

I was with a friend recently who had had a pretty rough day at work. He went on and on about how his boss is always in a bad mood and cussing everyone out. The more he expressed every wrong doing of his boss, the more frustrated and angry he became.

I don't necessarily agree with the way the boss treats people, according to my friend, but I tried explaining to my friend that maybe there is an underlying reason for her attitude. Everyone has a history, and many times we don't give thought to the personal lives someone may experience outside our realm of interaction with them. Rather than focusing on these negative events, I thought it would be more beneficial to develop an understanding for his boss' actions.

My friend eventually came to find out that his boss was going through a pretty difficult time, and while she may be in a bad mood from time to time, my friend now has a better understanding and level of tolerance for his boss.

Rather than simply believing someone is a bad person, we should try to look deeper for the true reason a person acts the way that they do. It has always been my belief that there are no bad people on this planet; there are only bad actions that may be committed by a person.

This ability to look deeper into the true nature of things is not limited to people. Take time to find the true source of being in all things. You may be surprised to find that things are as different as they seem.

By the Pond

I began reading Walden by Henry David Thoreau a couple of days ago. I had gotten the book when I was in the 8th grade for a research project about Thoreau's life. We didn't have to read the book, and I didn't bother to.

However, I wanted something to read, and it seemed to perfectly fit with present circumstances in my life.

One line that caught my interest was, "What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate."

How often do we think to ourselves that we are incapable of doing something?

I know someone in my life that when presented with a challenge, the first words out of his mouth are "I fail." I know he's just trying to be funny, but at the same time, I believe that he also believes he'll fail at the challenge ahead of him.

If you believe that you're a failure, you're doomed to fail before you even begin.

Society also has a way of telling us what to believe about ourselves. Advertisements are meant to sell us dreams...not items. We buy into the dream and believe we become something else. If you define yourself by what you own, then you will not find happiness in life.

And if you only look at what you don't have, you will miss everything that you do have!

Sure, our peers can play a part in all of this too. Positive affirmations from them are always helpful, but sometimes, we are met with criticism that can be very hurtful.

How do you perceive yourself?

KNOW that you are great, and you will become it.

Crimes of the Heart

I went see a play last night called Crimes of the Heart.

It was mainly about three girls growing up and finally having to face the difficulties in their lives. Rather than just giving in and believing that they can't go on, they all manage to find a way through the hard times that their family is experiencing.

Many times in our own lives, we often feel that we can't go on. We believe that there is no way of overcoming the emotional hurt or betrayal we experience deep within our hearts and minds.

But eventually, time passes, and we learn to cope with our pain and eventually overcome it.

The key is to accept the difficulties in our lives with love and compassion. All things are transient, including both joy and suffering.

No matter how hard we try to hold on to pleasant experiences or push the bad ones away, they all begin to fade with time.

If we are willing to acknowledge our sadness and then let it go, the hurt we feel today will eventually diminish.

During difficult moments, we can always remember the joy we've experienced in the past and know that the future holds just as much joy and love for all of us.

Thoughts on Beauty

It's been a while since I've actually posted anything on here, so I decided to take an excerpt from my real life journal.

This entry stems from the fact that many of us are influenced by what we see. However, the way we perceive things is not always the way objects truly exist.

We may think to ourselves, "He has the perfect body," or, "Her skin is flawless."

The truth is, in the physical sense, nothing is ever perfect or imperfect. Each and every living being is beautiful in its own unique way.

My goal is to begin to recognize the beauty that exists within all beings and objects.

I believe we set ourselves up for this way of thinking--the duality of beauty; "this is beautiful, and this is not as beautiful."

We may define one object as being beautiful, and when being compared to a similar yet different object, we automatically declare one superior over the other.

In actuality, the fact that we perceive these objects as being different results in an illusion that prevents us from seeing the true beauty existing in all things.

For there is no inherent existence. All things arise from another, dependently existing on all objects and beings within the universe.

Here's a way you can practice seeing the beauty in all things:

Take a piece of paper. Look at the paper. Is white? Does it have lines on it? Is it a certain color?

What else do you see?

Maybe you'll begin to see a tree from which the paper was made. Deeper and you may be able to see an entire forest. Even deeper and you'll begin to see energy from the sun giving life to the tree from which the paper came. Therefore, in essence, you are holding the energy of the sun in your hands when you hold that piece of paper. To me...this is beautiful.

Practice.

Can you see clouds in the paper?

Can you see the entire universe?

What do you see when you look in the mirror?