Spiritual Poverty and Material Poverty

I was listening to a talk a few days ago and Zen master was talking about poverty and he was specifically referring to what he described as 'spiritual' poverty.

Spiritual poverty includes the negative qualities of greed, indifference, apathy, laziness, jealousy, anger, envy...and more. Spiritual poverty is all of the negative attributes that perpetuates the suffering of an individual or group or society. 

Material poverty is what we would define as a lack of means such as financial stability, clean clothing, food, shelter, clean water, and employment.

In considering quality of life which do you think is most important to nurturing a more rewarding life? Material growth or spiritual growth?

Spiritual growth, of course.

Let's explore this a little more so we may understand why spiritual growth is more important than material growth.

Let's consider a financially wealthy business owner. Her goal is be the number one provider of shoes in her city. There is nothing inherently wrong with having aspirations that help others in their daily life, and shoes are an important item to quality of life. As part of her aspirations she buys a smaller shoe company and immediately fires all of the previous employees and fills their positions with lower paid workers. She does this so she may save a few cents per item while raising the price. Her motivation was not to help others but increase her own greed. 

This is an example of spiritual poverty and material excess. She was more concerned about 'being number one' at the expense and wellbeing of other human beings.

Now, lets consider a different example. An elderly man of limited means who lives in an economically depressed neighborhood. Each morning he rises and expresses his gratitude for waking up and for all that he has. He walks outside and sweeps the sidewalk in front of his humble apartment and greets the morning passer-by's on their way to work. Shortly thereafter he enjoys a simple meal prepared with love and gratitude from money he earns from collecting cans and turning then into the local recycling facility. By the end of the day and before bed has offers thanks for what he does have, and not resentment for what he does not have.

Material poverty by itself does not necessarily lead to criminal behavior either, this is a common misconception. Criminal behavior is always a result of spiritual poverty. So when we have an abundance of spiritual wealth we are happy for what we have, we are happy to help others with no expectation of reciprocity, we do good because doing good is its own benefit. 

I wish you all peace, ease, and wellbeing.

Vladimir

You are warmly invited to follow on us on Facebook and Instagram @bluelotuscenter for more ways to improve your mindfulness practice and wellbeing.

Blue Lotus Meditation and Mindfulness Center is a registered 501(c)(3) religious organization.

Website and monthly newsletter: www.bluelotusmeditation.us

For guided meditations and Dharma talks, please visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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My Mindfulness Morning Routine

Earlier this week was World Mental Health Day. A day in which we bring awareness to the importance of our mental wellbeing something of great human importance. If we were more honestly connected to our thoughts and emotions we would begin to see that the vast majority of our problems are truly not problems at all. We have become accustomed to reacting and not responding to our current situation.

Although I am pleased that we are affording a day in where we shift our focus to this nurturing and developmental habit, one day is not enough...but it certainly is better than zero days of awareness. We need to have this paradigm shift taken more sincerely.

To help those of you that may be interested in developing your own mindfulness routine I am pleased to offer you my simple, yet purposeful, morning routine. In actuality my morning routine really begins when I go to bed the previous evening. As I lay in bed I offer gratitude for the gift of living through another day and gratitude to all of the people I've encountered and helped in one way or another. My day concludes around 11:15 PM each night.

I only allow myself about six and one-half hours of sleep and waking up around 5:35 AM or so. I've been doing this for years and I follow this schedule for several reasons with the primary reason being moderation and balance. This amount of time is not too long nor is it too short. I'm not tempted to watch television in bed for the simple, yet deliberate reason that there is not one in our bedroom. That's what the living room is for. As I lay in bed for the next few moments, I offer gratitude for the gift of life, my wife, kids, furry friends, home, safety, and the wonderful opportunity I have to do good for others this day.

By about 5:40 or 5:45 I'm on the floor seated in meditation. My morning seated meditation session lasts for 35 minutes. Although I have different meditations I nurture during this time (lovingkindness, gratitude, connectedness, etc.) what I do not use this time for is to think about the upcoming day's to do list. When stray thoughts do make their way into my thoughts I simply let them go and shift back to my original meditation.

When my meditation session is over I remain seated, allowing my awareness to shift back to where I am. A few moments later I get up, make my coffee or tea, maybe do a dish or two that one of my kids left in the sink when they snuck down late at night for a snack, and I'm outside by about 6:40 AM to wait and watch the beautiful sunrise.

Most people miss this part because they're either not awake or not paying much attention to it. But to me this is truly the most rewarding part of my day. Seeing how the colors change from dark purples to pinks to light blue and then rich, crisp blue is truly amazing.

Sure, I know that the colors we see are the result of the incident angles of sunlight light penetrating the atmosphere but that doesn't matter. And in no way does that take away from the beauty that the world gifts us each and every day...if we only approach our days with mindfulness, curiosity, and gratitude.

That's how we improve our wellbeing.

And that's my morning routine.

I wish you all peace, ease, and wellbeing.

Vladimir

You are warmly invited to follow on us on Facebook and Instagram @bluelotuscenter for more ways to improve your mindfulness practice and wellbeing.

Blue Lotus Meditation and Mindfulness Center is a registered 501(c)(3) religious organization.

Website and monthly newsletter: www.bluelotusmeditation.us

For guided meditations and Dharma talks, please visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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What I've Learned From Water - And Bruce Lee: A Mindfulness Perspective

The famous martial artist Bruce Lee is often quoted as saying:  

'Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.'

The story goes that one day he was riding in a boat and was very agitated and struck the water with his fist several times. And with each blow the water did not attempt to fight back. Nor did the water did not get angry. It simply moved out of the way. Shortly there after a bird flew by and its reflection was cast upon the water. Bruce then realized that he was a reflection of his own thoughts and emotions.

These were teachings his only formal master taught him but only then did it make sense to him. 

Very often we get in our own way when a challenging circumstance presents itself to us, we resist instead of accepting. When we accept a circumstance, the circumstance is still there but we may examine it more deeply. When we resist a circumstance, the circumstance is still there but we react with fear, ignorance, and anger.

As the bird few over the water, its reflection moved with it. The water did not try to hold onto this reflection or become the bird. It simply let the bird go. Emotions and feelings are much like this birds reflection. They come and they go. 

It's normal to have whatever emotion you're experiencing but like the reflection, don't hold on to them for long. Let them fly in and let them fly out. In other words, experience whatever emotion arises but do not try to hold on for too long. This is non-attachment.

Water doesn't try to get to the highest mountain top but instead always moves towards what is called 'base level', the ocean. All forms of water and reservoirs like lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and rain all eventually return to the ocean. And they do so effortlessly.

So to achieve the balance you seek, accept yourself by going with your nature and not against. Learn to respond and not react. Flow around the obstacle. See the reflection but do not try to always be the reflection for it too is impermanent.

I wish you all peace, ease, and wellbeing.

Vladimir

You are warmly invited to follow on us on Facebook and Instagram @bluelotuscenter for more ways to improve your mindfulness practice and wellbeing.

Blue Lotus Meditation and Mindfulness Center is a registered 501(c)(3) religious organization.

Website and monthly newsletter: www.bluelotusmeditation.us

For guided meditations and Dharma talks, please visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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