inventory of your decisions’ far-reaching consequences, and make sure they are in line with your values. Bridge the gap between what you believe and how you act in the world.
You’re not stuck in traffic; you ARE traffic. We blame society, but we ARE society. —Anonymous
True Luxury
Have you noticed how we view every situation from a relativity perspective? We immediately contemplate ways to make things different than they are, be it better, faster, bigger, warmer, bolder; it’s exhausting! Now imagine letting go of labels and evaluations, and allowing everything to be just as it is, without wishing for it to be any other way. Accept yourself, and then others, without needing to change anything.
Feelings and emotions will inevitably continue to rise (both pleasant and unpleasant). Buddhist Boot Camp is simply reminding you to relax, to acknowledge that everything is temporary, including youth, health, and life itself. All experiences are as transient as clouds in the sky: anger comes and goes, excitement rises and falls, and tears dry on their own. So practice tenderly watching your feelings and emotions as they move in and out of your mind, just like traffic on a busy street.
Remain aware of what goes on around you, but try to do it without the mind’s commentary. Observe without judgment, and experience life without resistance.
Opinions change, perspectives widen, and the opposite of what you know is also true. Take a step back and you’ll see that all of our anguish is self-inflicted. We assign meaning to everything, and simply refuse to accept it all as impermanent.
Instead of spending so much time thinking about what’s missing from your life, remind yourself (if only for twenty minutes a day), of everything you already have: from a comfortable bed to sleep on, to a roof over your head, to clean air, drinking water, food, clothes, friends, functioning lungs, and a beating heart.
When you approach each moment with gratitude, not only will you stop experiencing life from a place of lack, you will experience abundance!
THAT is luxury. THAT is being rich!
Some people are so poor, all they have is money. —Anonymous
Careers Are Overrated
I was working in Corporate America, sending creditors a thousand dollars of my salary every month to slowly pay off my outrageous credit card debt, and one day I realized that I was only a couple of payments away from being debt-free for the first time in my adult life.
“What am I going to do with that extra thousand dollars a month after my debt is paid off ?” I wondered. My mind started racing with all sorts of crazy spending ideas, but then I had one of my big AH-HA Moments and decided that I didn’t actually have to make that “extra” thousand a month. I could quit my job, change my lifestyle, work less, and live more!
It became a fun game of “How little can I live off of and still have a great time?” Moving to Hawaii was an obvious choice at the time (even though many people consider it to be a really expensive place to live), because everything I enjoy doing outdoors, like tennis, volleyball, hiking, biking and kayaking, is not only fun and free, but I can do it all year round!
I sold everything I ever owned, moved to Hawaii with no savings account, but no debt either, filled with determination to live a simple and uncomplicated life.
That was over six years ago, and I’m still having a great time.
True, I could have continued working a full-time job and used the “extra” money to help others, but there are many ways to help people that don’t involve money (like volunteering my time, skill, talent and devotion). An old lady alone at the hospital after a stroke, for example, doesn’t necessarily need money; she needs a hand to hold, and I can do that now that I only work part-time!
A nine-to-five job is not the only way to spell success.
Man sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And
You’re not stuck in traffic; you ARE traffic. We blame society, but we ARE society. —Anonymous
True Luxury
Have you noticed how we view every situation from a relativity perspective? We immediately contemplate ways to make things different than they are, be it better, faster, bigger, warmer, bolder; it’s exhausting! Now imagine letting go of labels and evaluations, and allowing everything to be just as it is, without wishing for it to be any other way. Accept yourself, and then others, without needing to change anything.
Feelings and emotions will inevitably continue to rise (both pleasant and unpleasant). Buddhist Boot Camp is simply reminding you to relax, to acknowledge that everything is temporary, including youth, health, and life itself. All experiences are as transient as clouds in the sky: anger comes and goes, excitement rises and falls, and tears dry on their own. So practice tenderly watching your feelings and emotions as they move in and out of your mind, just like traffic on a busy street.
Remain aware of what goes on around you, but try to do it without the mind’s commentary. Observe without judgment, and experience life without resistance.
Opinions change, perspectives widen, and the opposite of what you know is also true. Take a step back and you’ll see that all of our anguish is self-inflicted. We assign meaning to everything, and simply refuse to accept it all as impermanent.
Instead of spending so much time thinking about what’s missing from your life, remind yourself (if only for twenty minutes a day), of everything you already have: from a comfortable bed to sleep on, to a roof over your head, to clean air, drinking water, food, clothes, friends, functioning lungs, and a beating heart.
When you approach each moment with gratitude, not only will you stop experiencing life from a place of lack, you will experience abundance!
THAT is luxury. THAT is being rich!
Some people are so poor, all they have is money. —Anonymous
Careers Are Overrated
I was working in Corporate America, sending creditors a thousand dollars of my salary every month to slowly pay off my outrageous credit card debt, and one day I realized that I was only a couple of payments away from being debt-free for the first time in my adult life.
“What am I going to do with that extra thousand dollars a month after my debt is paid off ?” I wondered. My mind started racing with all sorts of crazy spending ideas, but then I had one of my big AH-HA Moments and decided that I didn’t actually have to make that “extra” thousand a month. I could quit my job, change my lifestyle, work less, and live more!
It became a fun game of “How little can I live off of and still have a great time?” Moving to Hawaii was an obvious choice at the time (even though many people consider it to be a really expensive place to live), because everything I enjoy doing outdoors, like tennis, volleyball, hiking, biking and kayaking, is not only fun and free, but I can do it all year round!
I sold everything I ever owned, moved to Hawaii with no savings account, but no debt either, filled with determination to live a simple and uncomplicated life.
That was over six years ago, and I’m still having a great time.
True, I could have continued working a full-time job and used the “extra” money to help others, but there are many ways to help people that don’t involve money (like volunteering my time, skill, talent and devotion). An old lady alone at the hospital after a stroke, for example, doesn’t necessarily need money; she needs a hand to hold, and I can do that now that I only work part-time!
A nine-to-five job is not the only way to spell success.
Man sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And
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