ChantandChill

It's a rare thing, to be free within from all the desires and manipulations of the world at large. It's a rare thing, to have compassion and strength in the heart, able to witness suffering without being fettered. Let's practice together and cultivate! Mantra Resource: https://www.visiblemantra.org/manjusri.html Meditation 101: http://chuaphuocbinh.com/Chapter%202%20What%20Meditation%20Is%20not.htm We live in such strange times. But perhaps, the times were always strange. Reeling from the Pandemic. Battling global inflation. Tempering supply chain shortages. Everything is politicized now. Everyone must take a side. Everyone is tense to show their identity is moral and virtuous. Racism and separation is being fomented purposely and accidentally offline, online, and in the media. Or does it have to be so? When I go into the world I still see many kind well meaning people even if they don't get everything perfect. Living here and now, feeling the breathe, concentrating on what is useful. Cultivating that which grows for the benefit of ourselves and maybe even others. Mindfully aware of that which harms, hurts, addles, and addicts us. Everything seems so certain and so fast. The 24 hour news cycle keeps us in a state of certain fear but an uncertain future. A certain panic and negativity but an uncertain path forward. A certain narrative but an uncertain action plan for the individual and the family here and now. Breathing deep, we are aware of breathe in. Breathing out we are aware of breathe out. Only here and now can we plant the seeds and make the changes that give us a better future. Is it just about being kind to each other? More understanding? Perhaps that is only the bare minimum. What is compassion? Is it just empathy and a shoulder to cry on for the mass of tears in our current world? Compassion perhaps is more active than that, a peaceful warrior that names and stares suffering in the eye. Processing trauma bravely with patience. Many people nowadays report feeling anxiety and even suicidal thoughts. People talk about communities feeling fake and dating apps being even faker. If we truly wish to feel connected to each other with a sense of good faith then we must tend to the garden within. We must question what is feeding us and what is draining us moment to moment. Delete the things digital and non-digital that drain you. Ask who you were and who you are and who you intend to be before the world bombarded you with ideas of what should be for you and others.

http://visiblemantra.org/heart.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satipatthana https://accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html 17:00 Cat visits Visualize the sun within yourself. Let light fill your body. Observe the things that perturb you and simply be with them, don't let your thoughts boss you around, observe them and let them be. Let thoughts flow as they wish but you are the steady observer unmoved. We are all connected by the sun. The food we eat, the beings that we share space with, and the seasons that change, they are all connected to us. There are times in life when we are attached to things that don't serve us. There are times in life when we are carrying the weight of others unconsciously. There are times in life when we are holding on so tightly that we are bleeding and burning our own tissue, burning our emotional candle with abandon. We have good intentions. We mean well. We are doing our best based on what we know in the current moment, or...what we can recall in that present moment. Compassion means to witness pain and suffering without judgement but hold it in the heart to create balance and even perhaps a plan of action. Emptiness means we don't judge people based on our own circumstances and world view and beliefs. We shift into their circumstances and we see how good and bad is all connected. No man is an island. No one succeeds solely on their own. It is always a team effort. Even the ones who exploit and deny know that they stepped on the backs of others to climb. Most people are not willing to exploit others. Most people want to live peacefully and harmoniously with the other. We are all in this together. Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha This is known as the ultimate mantra for some practitioners in Far East Asia. Spiritual followers of the Buddha passed on teachings from India, to Tibet, to China, to Japan, to Taiwan and the rest of the world in good faith. In the spiritual world, the Asian countries are united and understanding of each other. It is only in the physical world that our countries fall under the illusion that we are adversaries. It is only in the physical world where media and government can work together to heavy handedly promote a narrative that likely serves the elite of the world, the ones who hold all the control, money, and gunpowder. My first Guru who is a Chinese doctor living in Taiwan learning from a Tibetan Medicine Buddha and Guan Yin lineage shows me that the world is not always what it seems. My first Guru is the one who taught me to meditate with the principle of Let it Be or Sway Ta Chu in Chinese, let "it" flow. "it" can be your thoughts, your beliefs, your anxiety, your depression, your disturbing perturbing thoughts. Let it all flow and observe, visualize the sun in yourself, and give yourself time to evolve. You will evolve. The light of meditation is simply attention shining onto yourself. Will you do it? The world is what you make it. Your life is based on your every action, deed, and belief. What do you believe? Who are you? Where are you going? You can do it!!