death, the armor, antidotes, om-ah-hum
Went to a second night of this series at the Buddhist center I've been part of for a while now. Last week we spent most of class talking about death. I found a few sites that help sum it up with a chart based on what is shutting off, external signs, and internal signs. Death and dying in the Buddhism tradition.
One of the coolest concepts was how the body and mind are separate but held together by the breath. That is living vs death.
Living each moment as if it might be our last. The realization here being that if we lived knowing that we could die at any moment, what would we do differently? Who would we forgive? What hinderances would we let go? The things that seemed like a big deal, no longer are.. If I were to die today I would... blank. What really matters?
We talked about "putting on the armor" too. Something I really appreciated. It is to protect ourselves from events that blind side us. Being blindsided is something I've had to deal with, maybe if I had this armor on back then I would be father along in my growth now. Who knows. Putting on the armor was in regards to being calm, cool, and collected in all situations. Being prepared, yet safe. Knowing triggers too is part of the armor. Inner and outer obstacles. For example I feel this way with social media, I get anxiety and I ruminate and it puts me in a place I do not want to be in. I definitely keep things that upset me at arms length, that is my armor. Feeling rejection and humiliation are negative and very painful minds I've gotten much too acquainted with. My protection is avoiding the triggers and redirecting myself toward virtuous actions and thoughts. When I feel I am being treated unfairly at the work place I feel misunderstood, so I have been putting up an armor there too. I cannot control what people think or how they rationalize their actions, being misunderstood is hurtful but it is also something I have no control over. I've been approached by others about this treatment, so I know it is clear to others and not a delusion in my mind. I don't want to suffer by this anymore, so I put on the armor. With it on or not, mainly on nowadays since I feel unsafe, I continue to do good work with passion and strong ethic letting what doesn't serve me in a healthy way float into the distance away from me and who I really am.
I enjoyed the reminder of antidotes tonight too. For every negative mind and or experience, there is an opposing view. This is the power our minds possess. This is why controlling our minds is so key. Shifting those negative moments by realizations such as thanking the challenging situation or difficult person for being a spiritual teacher. Like our spiritual guide tonight said, how could we improve without challenges? How could we practice difficult and challenging events and people without them appearing? How else can we grow? There is no other way to go, we need to practice. I would like to aspire to see challenging situations and people as lessons to practice, and be grateful for the practice for that is how I grow stronger. If it wasn't for all that traffic I have had to deal with, maybe I would be less patient than I am today. :) It is certainly a good place to practice the virtue of patience!
Anvil-like mind. No situation or anything can cause a dent in my inner peace and positivity.
At the end our teacher taught us a really cool meditation, something I hope to do during drives (eyes open hah), during hikes, during runs, and during formal meditation. She said we could use it too as we talk to someone who is venting to us, she said that this om-ah-hum is almost like our armor from taking the negativity in.
Om- Ah- Hum
Breath in is "om," you hold slightly "ah," and then release "hum."
In through the crown charka ("om" representing body), held at the throat chakra ("ah" representing speech), and released at the heart chakra ("hum" representing mind).
She compared it to a roto rooter hahahaha. It cleanses the winds that go through our system. I didn't know that "chakra" was the sanskrit for word for wheel. The winds turn the wheels in our system.
Switching gears back to death.. in Buddhism when someone is dying each wheel represents an element, and when dying the wheels slow down and then shut off. For example, water element - the external sign is lack of water in the person dying. Less saliva and not needing to urinate for days are external signs. The internal sign is the appearance of wisps of smoke. So interesting. So that cycle ends and the wheel no longer turns.
Back to om-ah-hum.. As we breath we take breaths of pure winds. By pure winds, it is meant to have positive and virtuous thoughts. Impure winds are like minds of sorrow or anger. So we take breaths into those three chakra's to clean out our system and its efficiency in how it runs. A meditation of inner purification.
I found this link to a teaching by Lama Thubten Yeshe that helps sum it up.
One of the coolest concepts was how the body and mind are separate but held together by the breath. That is living vs death.
Living each moment as if it might be our last. The realization here being that if we lived knowing that we could die at any moment, what would we do differently? Who would we forgive? What hinderances would we let go? The things that seemed like a big deal, no longer are.. If I were to die today I would... blank. What really matters?
This is to live by.
We talked about "putting on the armor" too. Something I really appreciated. It is to protect ourselves from events that blind side us. Being blindsided is something I've had to deal with, maybe if I had this armor on back then I would be father along in my growth now. Who knows. Putting on the armor was in regards to being calm, cool, and collected in all situations. Being prepared, yet safe. Knowing triggers too is part of the armor. Inner and outer obstacles. For example I feel this way with social media, I get anxiety and I ruminate and it puts me in a place I do not want to be in. I definitely keep things that upset me at arms length, that is my armor. Feeling rejection and humiliation are negative and very painful minds I've gotten much too acquainted with. My protection is avoiding the triggers and redirecting myself toward virtuous actions and thoughts. When I feel I am being treated unfairly at the work place I feel misunderstood, so I have been putting up an armor there too. I cannot control what people think or how they rationalize their actions, being misunderstood is hurtful but it is also something I have no control over. I've been approached by others about this treatment, so I know it is clear to others and not a delusion in my mind. I don't want to suffer by this anymore, so I put on the armor. With it on or not, mainly on nowadays since I feel unsafe, I continue to do good work with passion and strong ethic letting what doesn't serve me in a healthy way float into the distance away from me and who I really am.
I enjoyed the reminder of antidotes tonight too. For every negative mind and or experience, there is an opposing view. This is the power our minds possess. This is why controlling our minds is so key. Shifting those negative moments by realizations such as thanking the challenging situation or difficult person for being a spiritual teacher. Like our spiritual guide tonight said, how could we improve without challenges? How could we practice difficult and challenging events and people without them appearing? How else can we grow? There is no other way to go, we need to practice. I would like to aspire to see challenging situations and people as lessons to practice, and be grateful for the practice for that is how I grow stronger. If it wasn't for all that traffic I have had to deal with, maybe I would be less patient than I am today. :) It is certainly a good place to practice the virtue of patience!
Anvil-like mind. No situation or anything can cause a dent in my inner peace and positivity.
At the end our teacher taught us a really cool meditation, something I hope to do during drives (eyes open hah), during hikes, during runs, and during formal meditation. She said we could use it too as we talk to someone who is venting to us, she said that this om-ah-hum is almost like our armor from taking the negativity in.
Om- Ah- Hum
Breath in is "om," you hold slightly "ah," and then release "hum."
In through the crown charka ("om" representing body), held at the throat chakra ("ah" representing speech), and released at the heart chakra ("hum" representing mind).
She compared it to a roto rooter hahahaha. It cleanses the winds that go through our system. I didn't know that "chakra" was the sanskrit for word for wheel. The winds turn the wheels in our system.
Switching gears back to death.. in Buddhism when someone is dying each wheel represents an element, and when dying the wheels slow down and then shut off. For example, water element - the external sign is lack of water in the person dying. Less saliva and not needing to urinate for days are external signs. The internal sign is the appearance of wisps of smoke. So interesting. So that cycle ends and the wheel no longer turns.
Back to om-ah-hum.. As we breath we take breaths of pure winds. By pure winds, it is meant to have positive and virtuous thoughts. Impure winds are like minds of sorrow or anger. So we take breaths into those three chakra's to clean out our system and its efficiency in how it runs. A meditation of inner purification.
I found this link to a teaching by Lama Thubten Yeshe that helps sum it up.
"The purpose of meditation is to awaken us from the deep sleep of ignorance—to awaken us to universal reality, not to our usual fanatic reality. Mantra touches a wider reality; that’s why it’s useful."
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