Brighten Your Inner Light

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to watch children play you’ll notice they’re full of laughter, joy, compassion, and love. 

They find amazement with so much of what adults consider the

mundane, the routine, the boring. From a Ladybug walking on a blade of grass, a caterpillar inching its way up a tree, or even a stick laying on the ground. Everything is bright and warm.

They are filled with an inner light.

But what makes your adult life qualitatively different from when you were a child? Where did the curiosity you once had go? When did the days of your life begin to blend into one another without much distinction?

Very often we are bombarded with negativity, hourly, daily, weekly…moment by moment.

 

Whether it’s some form of political news, an unexpected bill or expense, a vehicle accident, a wildfire or natural disaster, or a violent altercation between human beings. Or even your daily routine. 

All of these events, when taken collectively, can diminish the light you have inside. They can make you cynical, uncaring, and unfortunately disconnected from others and ourselves.

That same inner light that you witness in children is still within you. But like any flame that is suffocating or lacking oxygen it gets smaller and smaller never quite extinguished but flickering on the brink.

So how may we bring back the ever important light inside us?

We cannot control much on the outside like natural disasters, political decisions, or accidents but we do have control over our daily mindset and activities.

And very often our typical daily activities, our routine if you will, is the reason our light begins to flicker. And our routine starts right when we wake up.

 

Perhaps when your alarm goes off you think, wow, I need to go back to work, a place I don’t like’.

Instead, reframe, try a more positive perspective, like wow, I woke up this morning. And today, I will walk with peace and spread joy and goodwill to all I meet. 

Morning gratitude is a wonderful way to introduce nurturing oxygen into your new day and into your inner light.

Now that you’re awake it is time for breakfast. Skip the sugary cereals, donuts, toast, bagels, or even worse fast food breakfast. You are what you consume.

 

Instead, cook. Dice peppers, chop onions, and slice carrots for your omelet if you choose. Or maybe some hard boiled eggs and fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Try not to use the reasoning of ‘I’m not hungry’ or 'I'm not a breakfast eater’ or 'I don't have the time in the morning. These are mindsets that suffocate your inner light. Instead, use this as a wonderful opportunity to practice mindful cooking. Become engaged with what the earth has so lovingly provided for you.

 

When you arrive at work or school, remember, everyone, teachers, coworkers, other students, supervisors, are all doing their best just like you. And just like you, they will have difficult days too, even though they won’t express it, just like you might not. If someone is short with you or is argumentative, instead of replying with anger or bruised ego, offer them a smile. They are suffering inside and a warm friendly smile is often what this person needs. Compassion and not more suffering. 

Compassion is a wonderful source of oxygen for your inner light - as well as for theirs.

When it’s time for lunch, are you reheating leftover pizza from a box? Maybe you’re going to the drive through for a bland fast food meal.

Food that has no color to it, bread or fried food, does not spark joy as Marie Kondo would say.

How could it, it’s not visually stimulating nor is it healthy. Heavily breaded food or food that is friend weighs you down. 

This part of your day really begins the night before or perhaps while making breakfast. It takes mindful effort and thought to prepare. Preparing food connects you to what you’re about to ingest or unite with your being. The smells, the texture, the vibrant colors, and the crisp sounds of cutting firm and nutritious foods.

Making your lunch visually appealing and well as wholesome breaths oxygen to your inner light right in the middle of your day.

After your day has ended or perhaps it’s a weekend, play. You may not bring out your old toys and dolls like a child but engage your mind in something creative. Paint. Take pictures. Write. Draw. Scrapbook. Bake or cook something new.

Creativity keeps the mind engaged in a way that is exploratory. And when you’re exploring, you’re engaged. And when you're engaged oxygen is being diverted from areas of stagnation to the light that is within you.

 

Another way to increase that oxygen to your inner light is to get outside. It doesn't even need to be a forest or lake but even a city street will do. Cities have cats, birds, dogs, and insects. Just observe and make it a point to take a few moments to watch the bird fly. Open your curiosity from oh, it’s just a bird to I wonder where it’s going. Is it looking for water or food? Is it flying back to its nest?

Throughout your day do good for others without any expectation of reciprocity. There is no good deed that is too small. In fact, as with most things in life, it's the small things that offer the greatest joy.

Your inner light has been hidden by years if not decades of routine, fear, anxiety, societal pressures and constructs. A light may only shine as bright as the flow of oxygen to the wick.

To change the flow you must change your mindset to one of love and empathy and non judgment towards yourself. Only then will you begin to brighten your inner light.

And with that my friends I wish you all peace and ease,

Vladimir

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

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

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Shoveling and Driving In The Snow: A Mindful Perspective

 Promoting Wellbeing In Any Circumstance

I live in Minnesota and if you are unfamiliar with what our weather is like in the winter you may be assured it is cold. And snowy. Our temperatures do hover around the -20 C (-4 F) during this time but often get lower and on occasion in the low positives. As you may imagine the state is well prepared to handle what mother nature offers during this season. An abundance of snowplows and road salt and sand are not in short supply. The state does a well enough job to be sure of.

Our driveways, well those are a different story. That task is up to us.

Overnight we were gifted by nature about 35 cm (14 in) of snow. The snow is continuing as I write this too. I have always enjoyed the snow and still do to this day. Ever since I was a young boy, I would always be outside with my friends playing in it. From sledding down a nearby hill, to making snow forts, to snowball fights. I did not easily give in to the cold back then.

The snow was no surprise, it had been forecasted for several days. Looking outside it was a perfect winter landscape, almost like a Bob Ross painting. So peaceful. Very serene. It did not want to be disturbed.

But as with significant amount of snow it is necessary to shovel and clear your driveway. After my morning coffee and breakfast, it was time to begin.

At first glance the amount of snow may seem insurmountable.

But to think that way would be to water the seeds of negativity. It is not Right Thought.

Instead, I choose to view this important task with mindfulness and love.

When we are faced with a task that oftentimes may seem to be hard, time consuming, or cumbersome, we are given a wonderful choice.

We may face shoveling with negativity, “Ugh, I hate the snow and I hate the cold. And I hate shoveling snow’.

Or we may face shoveling with positivity, “How fortunate I am to be outside and how pretty the snow is but I need to remove it from the driveway for my family’s safety in case of an emergency’.

Whatever choice you chose is up to you but with either decision you still must shovel snow.

If you choose the negative mindset, you are more likely to not engage the task with mindfulness and the final product is sloppy.

This would not be Right Though and continuing with this mindset waters thoughts and emotions like criticism and anger. You are not truly living in the present moment because you are busy chastising nature rushing a necessary task.

Whereas if you view this action with positivity, you are cultivating Right Thought and the nurturing thought and emotions such as joyfulness, awareness, and love. You are living in the present moment and completing the task with mindfulness.

The same awareness can be brought to when it comes to driving in the snow. First, you do want to make sure conditions such as visibility are sufficient or that roads are not too icy. Again, you have two options, you can view this as a negative which does not promote wellbeing. Or as a positive which does promote wellbeing. And that is the beauty of what we are offered in life, choice.

And that is also the beauty in what we offer ourselves.

 

I wish you peace and ease,

Vladimir

How Social Norms Control Our Wellbeing

How A Pastor Released Guilt And Shame

Last week my family and I, including my in-laws from overseas, we all able to meet my mother and her husband for the first time. It was such an enjoyable experience for all of us. We rented a home in Florida for four-days along the Gulf of Mexico. Mornings were leisurely consisting of a light breakfast of coffee, fruits and vegetables, rice, and pastries.

After breakfast we would all go to the beach and collect shells, talk, and just enjoy all the beauty that nature has provided us along the oceanside. This was also the first time my daughter met my mother, her grandmother. There were many firsts, and sadly, a few lasts as well. My wife’s parents are elderly and live overseas making this trip potentially the last. This is a mindful moment.

One evening while we sat at the dinner table having coffee and dessert, my mother who also is Buddhist, began to relate to me the first time she went to the Thai temple in the late 1980s. She told me how different it was than what she has experienced at a Christian or Catholic Church. All the different ornamentations throughout, smells of incense burning, and even set-up of the hall was not like she had ever experienced. Overall, it was certainly an enjoyable experience.

But the revealing aspect to this entire experience was how she felt afterwards, a little guilty and a little shameful for going ‘against’ Christianity. How was she supposed to reconcile participating in a non-Judaic-Christian religious service? And that’s where a Pastor came in to help ease her mind.

At the hospital where she worked as an ICU nurse, she ran into the hospitals pastor where she began to relate this experience and her current dilemma regarding her feelings. The kind pastor, with a warm and inviting smile, said to her ‘out of all of the religions out there, Buddhism practices love, kindness, empathy, and compassion towards all beings and is in no way against what Christianity’s message promotes’. There was nothing for her to wrestle within her mind now. This too is a mindful moment. 

But what I’d like for you to consider from this story is one of how society, and that may be any society, uses social norms to keep people behaving in a certain, safe, and predictable way. And that if you stray too far from what is acceptable, feelings of guilt, shame, and unworthiness begin to form and be watered. 

As I’ve talked about before in posts and during my Dharma livestreams, guilt and shame are controlling behaviors because we’ve conducted ourselves in some fashion outside of what is expected of us. And that conduct doesn’t even need to be harmful to others or ourselves to allow these feeling to begin grow.

When we live and follow the Noble Eightfold Path the Buddha has laid out for us, we know that our actions and thoughts are wholesome and positive right from our very intention. So it's important to be aware of when were feeling these controlling emotions. Recognize when we’re feeling them and say to them ‘I see you guilt’, ‘I see you shame’. Thank them for their brief visit and let them go. This too is a mindful moment.

I wish you peace and ease,

Vladimir

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

What Is Our True Being

Looking Mindfully Inward.

Who are we deep inside? Are we a complex or  simple beings? Are we still or in motion, always doing?

Consider for a moment water flowing in a gentle stream. You may see small amounts of debris or leaves gently moving along the surface. Maybe you see the small undulations of the ripples. Or perhaps small grains of sand moving along the bottom with the flow. This is the nature of water. Even the stillest of lakes has some movement.

Now, consider if you will, the water in a calm lake or pond on an sunny, windless day. Water fills the depression of the land to a point of equilibrium, a separation of water and land. 

As a result of your perspective, you can see the bottom only near the shoreline but not closer towards the center. 

But even in the depths there is gentle movement. Small currents beneath the surface are present as the sun warms the water. This is the being of water. And this is the being of you and all living organisms.

Even down to the molecular level, the water molecule is vibrating. And this too is the being of water.

Now bring attention to yourself, your being. 

What is your being? Are you doing or not doing? Do you exist or do you not exist? Is it true that you think therefor you are?

When you are walking, you are doing more than moving your feet from one spot to another. You are breathing in. You are breathing out. You are looking, hearing, feeling the air and temperature on your skin. You are observing what is around you. Utilizing your senses you are connecting to the world around you. This is your being.

When you are sitting you are doing more than being stationary. Again, you are breathing in. You are breathing out. You are feeling the pressure of your bottom pushing on the seat. You are thinking, smelling, observing your surroundings. Here too, you are utilizing your senses to connect to the world around you. This too, is your being.

When we look at our actions, no matter how big or small, our thoughts, our words, our emotions, that is our being. And this is our doing. 

We carry our being with us where ever we go and in all of our doings. We are always true to our being, observing mindfully our thoughts, our actions, and our feelings. Not judging them in any way, only observing. Our being is our loving companion as we walk along our mindful journey.

We are more than a collections of bones, organs, skin, blood, thoughts, feelings, and actions. Our being is more than a sum of the physical body we see in the mirror and more than what anyone else may see when they gaze upon us. Or being is loving kindness and therefore extends beyond the physical and into the spiritual which connects us all.

It is with that connection that we all share the same world, the same presence. Much as a single molecule is connected to an entire lake and is no more or less important than another, so too are we. Connected to each other in a meaningful way. 

I wish you peace and ease,

Vladimir

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

How Can Pets Teach Us About Mindfulness

The Mindful Pet Owner

A lot of us had pets as kids. And even now as adults some of us still do. We enjoy their company. Wagging tails after a long day at work. A furry face sitting on your chest in the morning saying 'feed me, I'm hungry'. Or just sitting on the couch watching TV or reading a book with your companion on your lap.

As children we learned that our beloved friend needs us to feed them, take them outside, play with, housebreaking, and to provide them with the love and security that all living beings need.

When we were sick they provided us comfort. When they were sick we lovingly reciprocated. When we cried they offered us comfort. When they cried we offered them comfort. 

And they certainly made us laugh when they acted silly.

When they were afraid, we offered them solace and refuge. If they used the floor as their restroom, we cleaned it up, perhaps we got a little angry with them (or ourselves) but that soon dissipated.

All of these actions were how we learned love, compassion, empathy, and patience for living beings. These are the seeds of mindfulness that enable us to also offer compassion and empathy towards all loving being.

So how can we use what we have learned from our pets and translate those considerations to people, including ourselves?

All sentient beings have emotions. When our pet experienced sadness we didn't minimize that feeling. We offered them reassurance and love.

When any person feels sadness why should we treat them any differently? We may hear from someone justifying their sentiments with 'Oh, I told you they were trouble'!

When we see a stray animal on the street we immediately offer it food. 

Why should we treat a person differently? Some may justify not doing so by thinking 'They must be on drugs or an alcoholic'!

If an animal needs a new home we go to a shelter and offer them ours.

Why should we treat a person differently? (Oh, they are from a poor country and will steal our jobs and bring disease).

Use what you have learned with your beloved and precious pet and offer the same compassion, love, and empathy to people, including yourself.

When you do, the world changes. You change. You become more connected with yourself, others, and the entire world.

Sadly, they too are very often the ones who teach us a final and very precious lesson, death. If you had a pet as a child that you grew up with you experienced what happens to a body as it ages and then succumbs to passing. 

When this happens, we experience loss for the first time and it is difficult. But we learn to accept that death is a natural part of life, just as much as birth is.

Every living being you encounter will die and as mindfulness practitioners we can carry this reverence for life into all we do.

Pets do offer us a wonderful opportunity to truly develop our mindfulness practice.  

Wishing you peace and ease,

Vladimir

If you find our posts uplifting and positive, please feel free to follow on us on Facebook and Instagram @bluelotuscenter

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

Realizations From A Walking Meditation

Taking Time To Enjoy Nature

Each day, weather permitting, I enjoy a mindful walk. Removing myself from the confines of my home offers me the mindful opportunity to strengthen the connection I have with the natural world we all are a part of. This connection is vital to maintaining a mindfulness practice. 

Observing the small changes that occur over the course of the day are sometimes hard to notice. Leaves on trees grow at a slow pace, animal tracks are hard to distinguish as well, the fragrance of blooming flowers can be hard to discern as well depending on the breeze. But every now and then there is a large enough change that is readily seen, even from a distance.

Today, I had the fortune to find this large feather. It's from a Turkey Vulture. They come to roost every night on some of the trees nearby. Looking this feather with openness and curiosity I begin to wonder where this feather has been? What has it seen while it was still attached to this magnificent birds wing while in flight? Or even what it has witnessed when it had landed doing the necessary function that a Turkey Vulture does for our ecosystem.

As I let my mind flow freely, I then let my thoughts move to what we need in order to function and what we can let go. What am I holding onto that I no longer need? 

Perhaps this feather was bothersome to this individual bird and as a result not able to soar has high and far as it was able and let this feather go. It clearly had no need of this feather any longer as I do not see a Turkey Vulture walking on the ground.

Concepts, notions, and ideas can hold us back from achieving what we are capable of doing or seeing the best in people. For example, when you say to yourself 'I am no good at that task'. You promoting the notion that you are incapable of learning or improving. Or the idea that people cannot change is very limiting and does not take into account the adaptability that any one individual possess. 

Greed, anger, jealousy, and ego are only some of the ailments that hold us back as well as each of these further perpetuates suffering of self and others. Each one of these ailments may be viewed as a smoldering coal from the previous night's campfire waiting to burst into flames for destruction.

When we are mindful of ourselves and surroundings we are opening up to what the world truly teaches. When we are observant we begin to understand that letting go is important if we want to soar. It relieves us of the unnecessary burden of attachment. Whereas holding on to what no longer serves us is the baggage that keeps us from flight. 

Here, in this wonderful example nature has given, the loss of a single feather, we can learn the importance of letting go of what does not serve us in growth, lovingkindness, compassion, and empathy.

What are some of the observations or realizations you have experienced on a walking meditation?

Feel free to comment below.

Wishing you peace and ease.

Vladimir

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