Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of Insight

Such a Waste of Time ...

This is all such a waste of time ... We could be working together building Utopia. Instead, we lie, cheat, steal and take from one another. We are afraid of one another and that fear has us guarded, contracted and unable to give. This results in a tug of war between ego's that no one ego can ever win because for an ego to destroy another ego it subsequently destroys itself - which it would never do. An ego is useless without another ego with which to be in conflict. The former is a direct result of our feeble misunderstanding of our own minds. The majority of our time should be spent understand and releasing the mind. Thus we lose the identification with the mind/body and get in touch with our true nature of being Loving, Kind, Compassionate and Patient. In this lies the answer to every problem. A peaceful mind has no problems - only opportunities. How much time will we spend today creating the causes and conditions for our peaceful mind to flourish?  


                            Tom Notarianni Jr.


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Something Still Remains

When you remove all of the concepts in your mind, all the labels, the judgements ... All the ideas and duality ... All the words, notions and observations ... Something still remains ... Something that's always been there ... Something that's never changed ... Can you see it through the noise in your mind? The quieter and more still you are the more clearly you can see it ... You experience it ... There are no words to describe it yet it is undeniable ... Just breathe and pay attention to attention itself ...


  Tom Notarianni Jr.


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Fully Fearless - Mooji

The Function Of Music

The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.

Sir Thomas Beecham
English conductor (1879 - 1961)

A Tree Is Not A Tree

"A tree is not a tree and you are not you ..."


   Tom Notarianni Jr. 


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

On This Memorial Day 2011, I Honor You

While most of us can agree that war is an awful arising, it is my observation that currently it is a necessary evil. The current state of consciousness - or rather mostly unconsciousness and egocentric minds/governments - to me, require two things. One, is Peace through strength. And two, the notion that the free people of the world must stand up for those who are not free or soon none of us will be free. Yes, we can argue the validity of certain wars and the sometimes seemingly dubious motivations of certain aspects. I think it is more useful to agree that instead of wars being good or bad, its more accurate to say that they are good and  bad. If the soldiers and the guns were not there to free people from tyranny there would be very little citizens could do to free themselves. We see clear examples of this in many places like Tibet and Iran. Without outside help there is little these people can do. China has absolutely destroyed a beautiful and peaceful culture of people who had no resources and nothing anyone wanted. They destroyed it out of fear that free thinkers were an obstacle to allowing the egocentric government of China to control everything. A country capable of such selfishness and malice with power similar to that of the United States is extraordinarily troubling for the world. Peace through strength seems to be the antidote for now but not forever.

I have continued to witness an extraordinary leap in consciousness in the world the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime. The Chinese have unwittingly taken the wisdom that was, for the most part, contained in Tibet and disseminated it throughout the world. We never know what's for what in this interconnected and interdependent world in which we live. Although the people of Tibet continue to suffer greatly, the world as a whole has benefited greatly. The peaceful mind, warm heart and compassion practiced by the Dalai Lama during the destruction of his country and culture has demonstrated to the world what is possible. Imagine what the world will look like in the future. Imagine a world full of Dalai Lamas. Imagine when we all realize that the success of our neighbor IS our own success. Imagine when we realize that we need not fear one another, that there is plenty for everyone and there is great peace in sharing and taking care of one another. Imagine the world when we all realize that our true nature is being Loving, Kind, Compassionate and Patient and we Lovingly become that way towards one another. Imagine when we realize that staying connected with our true nature is what brings us true happiness in a deep and meaningful way ... That's the world we have begun to consciously create. People everywhere are gravitating to this truth.

Until this paradigm shift is complete soldiers will be necessary. To those who bravely fight to free people, who give limbs and lives, who are sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, who are brothers and sisters ... To those who try to live with the pains and brutal realities of war trapped inside their heads ... To the families and friends of those who have only memories left of loved ones tragically and prematurely lost in wars ... I say to you that your loss is not in vain. It is by your sacrifice that the causes and conditions are created such that we, the fortunate ones who remain behind, have the homes, places, freedoms and time necessary to realize our true nature - to be Loving, Kind, Compassionate and Patient. Every time I meditate I honor you. Every time I help another in need I honor you. Every time I look to give instead of get I honor you. Every time I smile with joy and happiness bubbling up from inside me I honor you. People who have realized their true nature have no need to fight. As more and more of us awaken to this truth war and conflict will naturally and inexorably become a thing of the past. It will simply become outdated like horses and buggies. You have done your part and now it is time for us to do ours - realize our true nature and maintain our Peaceful Minds. On this Memorial Day 2011, I honor you with my Loving, Kind, Compassionate and Patient Nature and Peaceful Mind. Thank you for helping to create the opportunity for me to find it. 

Thomas Notarianni Jr.

©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Pema Chödrön - Why I Became a Buddhist

Pema Chodron "This Lousy World"

Gratitude - A Rare One Sees

Whoa ... This is one of the most powerful ones ... Enjoy!

Cat Mom Hugs Baby Kitten

Suffering From Freedom

"I've never seen anyone anywhere suffering from Freedom." 


  Mooji

Thought For The Week: "Our Minds Hold Us Hostage"

"The Mind must have something to threaten you with in order to hold you hostage." Mooji

Something is missing?

Money is (not) missing

What is Nirvana ?

Moving in Life Without a Plan ~ Mooji

Wisdom from Suffering - Ram Dass

100th Post!!! Thought For The Week: "What Should I Do With My Life?"

Focus on who you are being. Practice being genuinely Loving, Kind, Compassionate and Patient with EVERYTHING you do everyday. From that Loving state your purpose will naturally arise.


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Ric Elias: 3 things I learned while my plane crashed

The Dalai Lama On Osama Bin Laden's Death

His Holiness Talks About Secular Ethics and Human Development at University of Southern California


(The excerpt regarding Bin Laden)
His Holiness then answered questions, some of which were submitted through the Internet. The first question was on His Holiness’ emphasis on compassion as a basis of ethics.   It asked whether in some situation ensuring justice is more important than being compassionate to the perpetrator of a crime. It referred to the news of the death of Osama Bin Laden and the celebrations of it by some, and asked where compassion fit in with this and ethics. In his response, His Holiness emphasized the need to find a distinction between the action and the actor.  He said in the case of Bin Laden, his action was of course destructive and the September 11 events killed thousands of people.  So his action must be brought to justice, His Holiness said. But with the actor we must have compassion and a sense of concern, he added. His Holiness said therefore the counter measure, no matter what form it takes, has to be compassionate action. His Holiness referred to the basis of the practice of forgiveness saying that it, however, did not mean that one should forget what has been done.


View the entire article.

A Happy World Depends On Individuals ~ The Dalai Lama

His Holiness said the common aim of humanity is to have a happy world. Such a happy world will have to be based on the existence of a healthy community, which in turn needs to be based on a healthy family, which fundamentally depends on individuals, he said. His Holiness therefore added that without changing individuals a happy world is not possible. 


  The Dalai Lama

Who Do You Think You Are, Anyway? Neale Donald Walsh

‎

"Who do you think you are, anyway?" I've spent my life trying to answer that question, just as you are trying to answer that question, too. Of this I can assure you: who you think you are is exactly who you will wind up being. You are your own thoughts about yourself, manifest.


  Neale Donald Walsh

Thought For The Week: "Be content with what you have ..."

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." 


  Lao Tzu

Revolution Of The Spirit ~ Osho

There can be no political revolution, no social revolution, no economic revolution. The only revolution is that of the spirit; it is individual. And if millions of individuals change, then the society will change as a consequence, not vice versa. You cannot change the society first and hope that individuals will change later on." 


  Osho

Turn It Around - Byron Katie

Byron Katie - Turn It Around, The Movie by Jenny McCarthy from This That on Vimeo.

Thought For The Week: Who We Are Being

"It's who we are being that determines whether or not we suffer. Nothing else. External circumstances are opportunities that reveal areas in our own psychology that cause us to suffer."


  Tom Notarianni Jr.    


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Think different

Waiting is a state of mind, the usual state of mind. Presence is when you're no longer waiting for the next moment, believing that the next moment will be more fulfilling than this one.


Eckhart Tolle

Bodhichitta Teachings In Tampa

There Is No Evil Like Anger

"There is no virtue like patience, no evil like anger."


  Sogyal Rinpoche

Thought For The Week: My First Love Is Kindness ...

"My practice and first Love is kindness. The only regrets I have about my life are the times I was not being kind to others."

  Tom Notarianni Jr.

©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Anxiety

"Anxiety is a result of inaction. Look at your choices and take action."


  Dr. Stephanie May-Camacho
  http://www.drstephaniemay.com/default.html

All You Have All You Need To Get To The Next Moment

If you look closely at your life, you will see that you have always had whatever you have needed in order to get to the next moment, and ultimately, to bring you here, where you are, right now. You may have wanted something more, but you have needed nothing more. All your needs have been met.


  Neale Donald Walsh

Know The Change, Then Be The Change

We must first understand the change we wish to see in the world. Then, as Gandhi said, be that change ourselves. Be an example of that change - that's the difficult part. It takes much devotion and selflessness on a daily basis to become the change we wish to see. The best way to change the world is to change ourselves. Then, and only then can we teach others to do the same. They will naturally gravitate towards that pure energy. 


  Tom Notarianni Jr.

©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Thought For The Week: How We Think About Ourselves Causes Pain

"The thoughts we have/believe about OURSELVES are what cause pain. Other people just trigger our own beliefs about OURSELVES, then we experience the pain. Then we falsely believe THEY are causing pain." 


  Tom Notarianni

©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Opinions

"What other people think of me is none of my business. One of the highest places you can get to is being independent of the good opinions of other people." 


   Dr. Wayne Dyer

Forgive

"It takes much more courage, strength of character, and inner conviction to forgive than it does to hang on to low-energy feelings." - Dr. Wayne Dyer

Work And Play

The master of the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both. 


  Lao Tzu

Unbiased Compassion, Genuine Compassion

Thought For The Week: Run Towards What We Love

"We tend to run away from what is uncomfortable or painful landing wherever we land. Let's instead intentionally run towards what we Love."


  Tom Notarianni Jr.


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Thought For The Week: Who Do We Take Our Cue's From?

"Many times in life we look at someone else's actions towards us and make inaccurate decisions about ourselves"


  ~  Tom Notarianni Jr.


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Let It Come and Let It Go

A friend of mine recently posted this on facebook: 

"ugghhh please get off mind....it's haunting!"

In this simple yet profound post lies the struggle of humanity. All pain and pleasure exist only in the mind. "Haunting" is a great way to describe it. What we are haunted by is our own thoughts that come from nowhere and go to nowhere. They are not real but our minds make them real and thus we suffer. This is the primary reason addictions arise. Addictions provide a rapid but momentary relief from our circle thinking. However, addictions soon create more problems then they solve (Really, they don't "solve" any problems). The nature of mind is to think. Thoughts will arise and emotions (feelings in the body) will follow. The idea is to let them come - don't resist them. What we resist persists. Conversely, we don't want to hold on to the thoughts and emotions. Often we become attached to them and it's our own mind that can make something tiny grow to enormous proportions and soon our monkey mind turns into an 800 pound gorilla effortlessly tossing us about. The practice is to "Let it come and let it go". When the thoughts and emotions come, let them come - and, just as quickly let them go. In the blue sky of our clear mind clouds will drift in. Let them drift in and let them drift out without much notice. The clear blue sky doesn't ever worry about the clouds.

  ~  Tom Notarianni Jr. 

©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Japan and Lao Tzu

Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.
- Lao Tzu

Medicine Buddha Mantra Offering For The Suffering Caused By The Tsunami In Japan

The Peaceful Minds Center would like to offer this Medicine Buddha Mantra to help ease the suffering of those affected by the tremendous earthquake and tsunami that followed. We also offer this Mantra to end the suffering of all sentient beings. Recite it if you wish, while holding the well-being of those affected in your heart. 

Rhymes and Reasons

So you speak to me of sadness
And the coming of the winter
Fear that is within you now
It seems to never end
And the dreams that have escaped you
And the hope that you’ve forgotten
You tell me that you need me now
You want to be my friend

And you wonder where we’re going
Where’s the rhyme and where’s the reason
And it’s you who cannot accept
It is here we must begin
To seek the wisdom of the children
And the graceful way of flowers in the wind

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

Like the music of the mountains
And the colours of the rainbow
They’re a promise of the future
And a blessing for today
Though the cities start to crumble
And the towers fall around us
The sun is slowly fading
And it’s colder than the sea

It is written from the desert
To the mountains they shall lead us
By the hand and by the heart
They will comfort you and me
In their innocence and trusting
They will teach us to be free

For the children and the flowers
Are my sisters and my brothers
Their laughter and their loveliness
Could clear a cloudy day

And the song that I am singing
Is a prayer to non believers
Come and stand beside us
We can find a better way

Words and music by John Denver

Thought For The Week: Pain

"Pain is what we feel

as we let go of the person we've always been

to become the person 

of which we have no conception." 

   ~  Pema Chojor

©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org

Osho: Why Is Love So Painful?

Love is painful because it creates the way for bliss. Love is painful because it transforms; love is mutation. Each transformation is going to be painful because the old has to be left for the new. The old is familiar, secure, safe, the new is absolutely unknown. You will be moving in an uncharted ocean. You cannot use your mind with the new; with the old, the mind is skillful. The mind can function only with the old; with the new, the mind is utterly useless.

Hence, fear arises, and leaving the old, comfortable, safe world, the world of convenience, pain arises. It is the same pain that the child feels when he comes out of the womb of the mother. It is the same pain that the bird feels when he comes out of the egg. It is the same pain that the bird will feel when he will try for the first time to be on the wing.

The fear of the unknown, and the security of the known, the insecurity of the unknown, the unpredictability of the unknown, makes one very much frightened.

Thought For The Week: Excellence

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."

Aristotle

The Paradoxical Commandments

The Paradoxical Commandments

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway. 

(These verses apparently added by Mother Theresa)

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. 
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. 
Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. 
Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and Spirit.
It was never between you and them anyway

Looking Into Laziness

By Pema Chödrön

Rather than feeling discouraged by laziness, we could get to know laziness profoundly. This very moment of laziness becomes our personal teacher.


Traditionally, laziness is taught as one of the obstacles to awakening. There are different kinds of laziness. First, there’s the laziness of comfort orientation, we just try to stay comfortable and cozy. Then there’s the laziness of loss of heart, a kind of deep discouragement, a feeling of giving up on ourselves, of hopelessness. There’s also the laziness of couldn’t care less. That’s when we harden into resignation and bitterness and just close down.

Comfort Orientation

Comfort orientation comes in a variety of forms. Sogyal Rinpoche writes that in the East, for example, laziness often manifests as flopping down in the sun with one’s cronies, drinking tea, and letting the days pass by. In the West, he observes, laziness frequently manifests as speed. People rush from one thing to another, from the gym to the office to the bar to the mountains to the meditation class to the kitchen sink, the backyard, the club. We rush around seeking, seeking, seeking comfort and ease.

Whether we flop or rush, and wherever on the globe we happen to be, the comfort-orientation brand of laziness is characterized by a profound ignoring. We look for oblivion: a life that doesn’t hurt, a refuge from difficulty or self-doubt or edginess. We want a break from being ourselves, a break from the life that happens to be ours. So through laziness we look for spaciousness and relief; but finding what we seek is like drinking salt water, because our thirst for comfort and ease is never satisfied.

Some Antidotes To Lack Of Self-Confidence

SOME ANTIDOTES TO LACK OF SELF-CONFIDENCE

- Find the courage to really open your heart to someone; self-confidence is deeply related to trusting others. Our deepest secrets are often not as hidden to others as we may think, or simply so common in the experience of others, that there is actually nothing special about them. We often consider ourselves very special, and forget that all the others around us are just as human as we ourselves are.
- Try reality checks with others, and do not tell yourself that, "he/she is lying when saying that I am a nice person" - this is actually quite a negative attitude to people, as you assume they are lying...
- Practice compassion and loving-kindness to others, also if they do not immediately react positive.
- Analyse reality to discover that "life is not perfect, I am not perfect (yet), and neither are other people".
- Try hard to give up unrealistic expectations of needing to be perfect right now, then forgiving and having compassion for yourself becomes possible.
- Be realistic: I am just as much a human than others (equanimity), are they really that much better?
- Study and meditate on the Noble Truth of Suffering, realising that if you do not take any action, nothing will ever improve.
- To overcome frustration afterwards, try to act when negative situations can be changed, better to have no success than never having tried. What is there to loose, really?
- Meditate on your potential; unveiling your Buddha nature
- Meditate on purification; this may make your potential clear.
- Meditate on impermanence: everything changes, even my bad "I" will change for the better!
- Meditate on karma: the only way that things will get better is to do something positive.
- Meditate on emptiness; the ultimate antidote to all delusions.
- Try taking some precepts/vows to build your self-esteem, or simply any positive commitment to yourself which you are certain you will manage to keep.
- Dare to laugh at yourself and the world!

" Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
but for the patience to win my freedom." Shantideva

A few thoughts as examples of what you could reflect upon during a meditation session on self-confidence:

- If I cannot accept myself as being human, how can I ever accept and trust others? If I cannot accept and trust others, how can I respect and love them? If I cannot respect and love others, how can they respect and love me?
- Spirituality is going beyond our self and self-interested focussing, it requires courage, independence, faith in our own potential as a human being, even our potential to become a Buddha, and peace of mind. Note that these aspects all refer in some way to self-confidence and self acceptance.
- By falling over and getting up many times, children learn that walking is possible. In judo, falling many times teaches you to fall without pain; we cannot always avoid falling, but we can often learn to avoid the pain!
- Self-confidence comes from being challenged to one's limits, meeting them and then setting new limits.
- If I let the fear of making mistakes control my life, I could not do anything at all but lead a completely useless life, is that not something to be very afraid of?
- Perhaps the following prayer can be a powerful motivation as well as dedication for any (meditation) practice:

"May I become at all times, both now and forever
A protector for those without protection
A guide for those who have lost their way
A ship for those with oceans to cross
A bridge for those with rivers to cross
A sanctuary for those in danger
A lamp for those without light
A place of refuge for those who lack shelter
And a servant to all in need." His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Laziness

Laziness: (in Buddhism defined as "being attached to temporary pleasure, not wanting to do virtue or only little".) The reason for this kind of laziness could be based on the fear responsibility or making mistakes, based on the unrealistic:"I should be perfect and not make mistakes, so I better do nothing at all". 

Once more in the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from How to See Yourself As You Really Are:

Laziness comes in many forms, all of which result in procrastination, putting off practice to another time. Sometimes laziness is a matter of being distracted from meditation by morally neutral activities, like sewing or considering how to drive from one place to another; this type of laziness can be especially pernicious because these thoughts and activities are not usually recognized as problems.
At other times, laziness manifests as distraction to thinking about nonvirtuous activities, such as an object of lust or how to pay an enemy back. Another type of laziness is the sense that you are inadequate to the task of meditation, feeling inferior and discouraged: "How could someone like me ever achieve this!" In this case you are failing to recognize the great potential of the human mind and the power of gradual training.
All of these forms of laziness involve being unenthusiastic about meditation. How can they be overcome? Contemplation of the advantages of attaining mental and physical flexibility will generate enthusiasm for meditation and counteract laziness. Once you have developed the meditative joy and bliss of mental and physical flexibility, you will be able to stay in meditation for as long as you want. At that time your mind will be completely trained so you can direct it to any virtuous activity; all dysfunctions of body and mind will have been cleared away.

The Eight-Fold Noble Path

THE TRUE PATH, OR EIGHT-FOLD NOBLE PATH

If we can control our body and mind in a way that we help others instead of doing them harm, and generating wisdom in our own mind, we can end our suffering and problems.

The Buddha summarised the correct attitude and actions in the Eight-fold Noble Path:

(The first 3 are avoiding the 10 non-virtues of mind, speech and body:)

1. Correct thought: avoiding covetousness, the wish to harm others and wrong views (like thinking: actions have no consequences, I never have any problems, there are no ways to end suffering etc.)
2. Correct speech: avoid lying, divisive and harsh speech and idle gossip.
3. Correct actions: avoid killing, stealing and sexual misconduct
4. Correct livelihood: try to make a living with the above attitude of thought, speech and actions.
5. Correct understanding: developing genuine wisdom.
   (The last three aspects refer mainly to the practice of meditation:)
6. Correct effort: after the first real step we need joyful perseverance to continue.
7. Correct mindfulness: try to be aware of the "here and now", instead of dreaming in the "there and then".
8. Correct concentration: to keep a steady, calm and attentive state of mind.

The Buddha explained that we can use the Four Yardsticks to assess if we are practicing the correct way:
one should feel happiness, compassion, love and joyous effort when practicing.

Superficial Pleasures Never Satisfy

"Hundreds of stupid flies gather
On a piece of rotten meat,
Enjoying, they think, a delicious feast.
This image fits with the song
Of the myriads of foolish living beings
Who seek happiness in superficial pleasures;
In countless ways they try,
Yet I have never seen them satisfied."


  The 7th Dalai Lama

The Patience To Win My Freedom

"Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain,
but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
but for the patience to win my freedom." 



  Shantideva

Thought For The Week: Attachment

"No matter what it is in life, if we can't be without it, it owns us. 


  Tom Notarianni Jr.


©2011 All Right Reserved The Peaceful Minds Center™LLC 561-531-3626 peacefulminds.org