Hi Folks,
How clear is your mind?
A Buddhist saying says, “The mind is like water. When it’s turbulent, it’s difficult to see. When it’s calm, everything becomes clear.”
It seems like these days we need to keep a clear mind as much as possible. It is difficult to do this when we are bombarded with bad news. But letting in all of this bad news doesn’t help us. I don’t think we should ignore the news, but we have to be careful consumers. We each have to figure out what this balance means, but it requires mindfulness in paying attention to how I respond to this media import.
For me personally, I limit news to about 30 minutes a day and I spend almost no time on social media. Just these two things alone reduce a tremendous anxiety.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.” I think this is a time when we need to really stay in touch with our dreams. Then we have something positive to do with our minds. Even under these new conditions we can set aside some time each day to do something positive to make our dreams powerful. Perhaps we can read more or watch a video about how other people met their goals. We need this inspiration.
Ken Wilber wrote: “Ken Wilber, I rise to taste the dawn, and find that love alone will shine today.” We need contact with this love to thrive. The main way I know about how to do this is that I need to consciously withdraw my mind from all the negativity and find the deeper self, which is in touch with this love. It never loses this contact. Instead, we lose contact with this inner depth as we get caught up in just the surface things.
Another Buddhist teaching says, “In the end, only three things matter, how much you have loved, how gently you have lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” This is so important to keep in mind because this is where our real power lies. We cannot control much about our outer lives, but we can practice choosing love over fear. When we do this, our mind settles and becomes clear.
So, how clear is your mind? Is love shining today for you?
To Clarity!
Apophat
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