F-E-A-R Has Two Meanings: Forget Everything And Run Or Face Everything And Rise. The Choice Is Yours.

“F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.”

— Zig Ziglar

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Don’t Stray From What You Truly Are

I offer these short pieces of advice, mostly to remind myself of what is important….

Bodhisattvas don’t go around the universe looking for beings to save - the stars of compassion simply shine brightly and their light continues to illuminate long after their lives have been extinguished.

Since all appearances are inseparable from mind - it would be irrational to imbue your mind with anything less than the seamless light of natural love and heartfelt compassion, and then - do not forgo the highest of practices:

Pristine Mindfulness means to always remember the ultimate Guru, the intrinsic nature of awareness, because it is quite literally is all that really is - the intricate majestic fabric which reveals and unfolds itself as the perfect presence of every moment.

Because there is nothing separate from mind, it would be both unconscious and irrational to harm a wholly imagined other, therefore non-violence in thought, speech and action is the conduct of the realized and awakened.

Do not disturb your teacher’s mind, and your teacher is reality itself - therefore there is no point in demanding that things be different then they really are.

Do not seek extraordinary circumstances and spiritual visions. Remain as you are, humbly experience the extraordinary ordinariness just as it is - relax and peer into the divinity of detail - the grandeur that is encompassed in every moment.

As marks of realization - surrender ambition, and always offer the victory to others. Remain non-attached, patient and generous to no end.

Whatever calamity life offers you, do not negotiate, accept it as a gift with a calm mind, and no matter the circumstance - you will rob every perceived misfortune of both its burden and its power.

It’s never too late to discover: Your true path and purpose is within you, not in the fantasy of external worlds. Do not be complicated and become obsessed with what you are not, find the courage to walk away from what is harmful and untrue: you are not these imaginary outer identities and inner personas - there is a sovereign that is conscious of your every mask, your true nature - it is primordial awareness.

From this day forward become increasingly aware of the influential capacity of the stories you tell yourself - it is imperative that you recognize the difference between the dramas of the mind and the direct experience of this moment - the distinction couldn’t be any more stark: one is to live unnecessarily in the depths of unconscious darkness, and the other is to joyously smile drenched in the utter simplicity of being.

When you finally decide to walk away from the mindless chatter and insubstantial pettiness of the egoistic self, then change the conception of yourself to mirror the natural state of your divinity - you will then have no choice but to experience the pure realm and the mandala of heaven in this very life, perhaps even now in this very moment.

When you are ready to lay down the tiresome burden, when you are ready to discover the peaceful quietude of your true nature - then softly see that all of reality is the reflection of your innermost vision, and it is this very light that shines so exquisitely upon this inseparable world.

No matter the circumstance, don’t stray from what you truly are….

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"Normally we operate under the deluded assumption that everything has some sort of true, substantial reality. But when we look more carefully, we find that the phenomenal world is like a rainbow — vivid and colorful, but without any tangible existence.

When a rainbow appears we see many beautiful colors - yet a rainbow is not something we can clothe ourselves with, or wear as an ornament; it simply appears through the conjunction of various conditions. Thoughts arise in the mind in just the same way. They have no tangible reality or intrinsic existence at all. There is therefore no logical reason why thoughts should have so much power over us, nor any reason why we should be enslaved by them."

- Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

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The undercurrent of mental wandering ...

"When thoughts come while you are meditating, let them come;

there's no need to regard them as your enemies.

When they arise, relax in their arising.

On the other hand, if they don't arise, don't be nervously wondering whether or not they will.

Just rest in their absence.

If big, well-defined thoughts suddenly appear during your meditation, it is easy to recognize them.

But when slight, subtle movements occur, it is hard to realize that they are there until much later.

This is what we call "namtok wogyu", the undercurrent of mental wandering.

This is the thief of your meditation,

so it is important for you to keep a close watch.

If you can be constantly mindful, both in meditation and afterward,

when you are eating, sleeping, walking, or sitting, that's it - you've got it right!"

~ Dudjom Rinpoche

from the book "Counsels from My Heart"

“She may have looked normal on the outside, but once you’d seen her handwriting you knew she was deliciously complicated inside.”

— Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot