Last October, I made a decision that was based on pure chance but as luck would have it, it turned out to be an amazing experience for me. I had the honor of seeing the Dalai Lama give a speech at the Western Connecticut State University and I was completely spellbound. Brought up by a Buddhist mother, I learned what the religion was about and though I went through phases of what I believed throughout my life, in the end, I always knew that my beliefs were closest to Buddhism.
In this day and age, we give so much importance to money and material things, we forget to nurture humanity. His first thoughts were that we should stop relying on money or material things to bring us happiness. It never works because we get stuck in a vicious cycle of trying to buy something better than the last item and what we end up with is a bunch of stuff and a lot of emptiness inside us. What we need to do is to focus on helping others in less fortunate circumstances. The more you help, the more it fills your insides. And the less you spend on stuff that does not fulfill you, the more money you have to pay your bills (his words, not mine.) The funny thing is that the less I spend, the more that seems to come into my life so then I am able to help others or donate to worthy causes.
He spoke about topics he felt were important to humanity; tolerance, compassion and forgiveness. With different cultures around the world, we are taught to keep within our own society and learn to live within it. We are taught to be intolerant and to hold onto grudges because anything else is a sign of weakness. But the truth of the matter is that it is the opposite. We have to start teaching that anger and holding onto grudges are the weaknesses. It is easy to stay angry, it's easy to hold on to negative thoughts, it's easy to seek revenge but it saps our energy and eats away at our hearts and our souls. We become less tolerant and cold. If we can learn tolerance, compassion and forgiveness, a calmness, serenity, an inner peace starts to grow within us. That shows a true sign of strength; being able to forgive those who are negative or want to do or say harm to you or others.
He talked about the topic of making decisions for yourself, on how to find your own happiness. He said no one can do it for you. Only you are the one that decides to be compassionate. You are the one that decides to find your own inner peace. You decide to be tolerant or forgive. Stop over thinking and analyzing and just let things be simple. (I am very guilty of doing this a lot!) Compassion is simple to do. Kindness is simple to do. Forgiving is simple to do. We all know what it feels like when someone does or says something nice for/to us. If we can do that to others all the time, it could start a chain reaction of people starting to care and be more compassionate, more kind, more forgiving.
I am a compassionate person but I am also human and still trying to find my way in this journey. I still tend to hold on to the hurts when I am wronged but I also have found that I am learning to let it go much more quickly so that it is released from me.
I moved far away to be in solitary and am starting to find who I am and what I am willing to endure. I am finding my strength in being alone. I am seeing what I am willing to give to those who are important to me but also doing what I have to by giving up those who have no time for me. I have a lot of love to give to those who are worth it and to walk away from those who are not.
With that, on your journey in life, may you find happiness, serenity and love.
In this day and age, we give so much importance to money and material things, we forget to nurture humanity. His first thoughts were that we should stop relying on money or material things to bring us happiness. It never works because we get stuck in a vicious cycle of trying to buy something better than the last item and what we end up with is a bunch of stuff and a lot of emptiness inside us. What we need to do is to focus on helping others in less fortunate circumstances. The more you help, the more it fills your insides. And the less you spend on stuff that does not fulfill you, the more money you have to pay your bills (his words, not mine.) The funny thing is that the less I spend, the more that seems to come into my life so then I am able to help others or donate to worthy causes.
He spoke about topics he felt were important to humanity; tolerance, compassion and forgiveness. With different cultures around the world, we are taught to keep within our own society and learn to live within it. We are taught to be intolerant and to hold onto grudges because anything else is a sign of weakness. But the truth of the matter is that it is the opposite. We have to start teaching that anger and holding onto grudges are the weaknesses. It is easy to stay angry, it's easy to hold on to negative thoughts, it's easy to seek revenge but it saps our energy and eats away at our hearts and our souls. We become less tolerant and cold. If we can learn tolerance, compassion and forgiveness, a calmness, serenity, an inner peace starts to grow within us. That shows a true sign of strength; being able to forgive those who are negative or want to do or say harm to you or others.
He talked about the topic of making decisions for yourself, on how to find your own happiness. He said no one can do it for you. Only you are the one that decides to be compassionate. You are the one that decides to find your own inner peace. You decide to be tolerant or forgive. Stop over thinking and analyzing and just let things be simple. (I am very guilty of doing this a lot!) Compassion is simple to do. Kindness is simple to do. Forgiving is simple to do. We all know what it feels like when someone does or says something nice for/to us. If we can do that to others all the time, it could start a chain reaction of people starting to care and be more compassionate, more kind, more forgiving.
I am a compassionate person but I am also human and still trying to find my way in this journey. I still tend to hold on to the hurts when I am wronged but I also have found that I am learning to let it go much more quickly so that it is released from me.
I moved far away to be in solitary and am starting to find who I am and what I am willing to endure. I am finding my strength in being alone. I am seeing what I am willing to give to those who are important to me but also doing what I have to by giving up those who have no time for me. I have a lot of love to give to those who are worth it and to walk away from those who are not.
With that, on your journey in life, may you find happiness, serenity and love.
