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harmony
May 2009 
Good Day,
Many times I am asked what is the point of the things I personally strive to acheive in my daily life. My answer was apparent to me from the very beginning . . . I wanted to become a better person.
But for each of us being “better” means taking a good hard look at the things that are making us feel “not so good.” The effort required for this is difficult and thus the reason so many of us never take the work up. So does one begin? What type of work are we talking about? And how do we sort all the things out that our minds, hearts and emotions are telling us?
For me it was my exposure to Buddhism in college; not so much as a spiritual source at first, but certainly the type of insights and information that made more sense to me than anything I had heard or thought of before.
The practice of Buddhism is very much about becoming a better human being. To be a better human being means being able to help others as well as oneself, avoiding negative patterns of behavior and embracing positive ones. Being a better person means thoroughly understanding ourself, our desires, our good and our bad. It means sitting down and thinking about our choices, our possibilities and the forces that drive us to choose between them.
At the age of thirty-five a man came to Bodh Gaya and sat beneath a tree, determined not to get up until he had attained enlightenment. As he meditated, he came to understand the nature of existence and a path that led to release from the inherent suffering we all experience. He also realized that the idea of a permanence was an illusion.
Out of compassion, the Buddha chose to share his teachings to all those who were willing to listen. For the next forty-five years or so, he lived as a wandering monk, amassing many followers. He died at the age of eighty, leaving the following instruction: “Strive on with diligence”.
May we all take up the work of becoming a better person for it’s how we become a better world.
May we all strive on with diligence.
Peace and Love, Jim
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Amen to that, becoming a ''better'' person is not always easy and can get very challenging. It brings about a lot of change in your life, and sometimes there are changes that are unexpected. Suddenly the work life you had cut out for yourself does not seem so ''right'' anymore, and to let go of the identification with this work is not easy to do as it feels so safe and secure, even if it is not running well anymore. Letting go of all of the attachments we have, of how we think we are, of how we think we should be, of what we think we should have and to accept fully and compasionately our ''shortcomings''. To embrace every single aspect of ourself, to love ourselves unconditionally - to become ''better''. So we can offer this same unconditional love to others around us.
Namaste
Katerina
I could not have said it better my friend.
The work is hard, yet the effort is the most beautiful and worthwhile effort we can put forth. For those few who take up the journey it can be quite frightening and enlightening all at once. When we have no where to stand, we can feel quite at odds and then we settle into the wholeness of our bewilderment and realize we are understanding as much as we can grasp at that point and time.
Once we face these truths we become open to the beautiful posiblities that our life offers us.
Thank you for your wonderful insights, you are truly aware of the truths life ask of us.
Namaste
Jim