Living Awake's topics - tribe.net

from dali lama ;)*

2008-05-31T16:35:15Z

For those of you who are not able to devote all your time to meditation, there is nevertheless the possibility of engaging in practice in a serious way. For example, the students at the monastic universities in South India can, with some effort, do meditations during the prayers. When you recite the prayers, you can mentally do the contemplation. The lifestyle and daily routine at these monasteries have been structured by the great masters of the past in a way that is most conducive to individual practice as well as to the flourishing of the dharma.

If you find that your mind is in a very fluctuating emotional state--displaying anger, hatred, attachment and so forth--then you should first try to calm down that state of strong emotion. This should be done by first transforming it into a neutral state of mind, because there is no way that one can switch directly from a negative state of mind to a positive one. Therefore, you should first reduce the force of these emotions and fluctuations and try to bring about some sort of calmness, using any means--such as taking a stroll or concentrating on the inhalation and exhalation of the breath--that will enable you to forget what you are immediately feeling. This will help you to reduce the force of strong emotion, thereby giving you the calmness necessary for the practice of dharma. Like a white piece of cloth which could be dyed any color that you desire, such a neutral state of mind could then be transformed into a virtuous state of mind.

You could also engage in the preliminary practices of performing 100,000 prostrations, recitations of the Vajrasattva mantra, and so forth. When you undertake these practices, you should do them properly, not being only concerned about the number. Many great masters of the past of all traditions have emphasized the importance of these preliminary practices--they will enable you to have a very firm start. If through them you can acquire a fertile mind, then when the seed of meditation is planted, it will readily bear the fruits of realizations.

Having successfully neutralized the emotional fluctuations within your mind and having restored a reasonable degree of calmness, engage in the practice of taking refuge and generating the altruistic aspiration to attain full enlightenment. Taking refuge in the Three Jewels is the factor that distinguishes one's practice from that of an erroneous path, and the generation of the altruistic mind makes it superior to the paths aiming at individual liberation.

--from The Path to Bliss by H.H. the Dalai Lama, translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa, edited by Christine Cox, published by Snow Lion Publications

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posted in Living Awake - 0 replies

SO MUCH has been forgiven to me,

2008-05-23T00:00:40Z

I have NO TIME to ponder what has been denied ;)*

LIVE in ABUNDANCE!

posted in Living Awake - 2 replies

SelfAwareness*~--ThinkingRevolution--;;Listening;;

2008-05-14T00:56:11Z

http://sitepalace.com/StevenMannettetje/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/selfawarenessthinkingrevolutionlistening-
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/realize2actualize/

posted in Living Awake - 1 reply

learn how to live AWAKE & in abundance! ;)*

2008-05-14T00:55:08Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/eckarttolle

posted in Living Awake - 0 replies

Remember Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

2007-04-28T02:17:34Z

Did you know that the number one reason relationships fail is due to money?

Specifically, financial stress -ie. *lack of money*.

No matter how great someone is,
no matter how enlightened they seem to be,
when it comes to Nature, resistance -or denial- is futile.

For those of you savvy with the chakras, you'll get this too.

If you're stuck on survival -ie. the 1st Chakra- there's no
hope of thriving on the next level.

When you're pre-occupied about how your going to make
the rent by the end of the month, and keep your electricity
or phone on, it's naturally inevitable to fall short on your creative
interests.

Priorities are priorities after all, and there's simply no way
around the facts of life.

Think about how often you've been distracted from being
truly present with your partner, much less romantic, because
you're sweating over some bill.

How often have you felt self-conscious because you're in
a lower income bracket than your peers, or afraid to unimpress
some cutie you'd like to engage?

A key word here is Security.

There's a reason Mind/Body is used together -like two sides of
the same coin. That's because they are. If you feel emotionally
depressed, you get physically depleted, and vice-versa.

If you're not feeling financially secure, be assured you'll find you're
not feeling very secure on other levels.

How can you be giving, sexually, financially, or emotionally, if you're
in a perpetual state of desperation, which makes one selfish by necessity?

The saddest part though about this dynamic is that no one wants to see
the truth of this. No one wants to see themself as unable to give as much
energetically or otherwise as their peers and loved ones. Thus they end
up acting out their insecurity unconsciously only to discover growing
alienation in their relationships -and with themselves.

Have you ever noticed someone acting out as "poor me"? Ever notice
what their income and/or relationship to money is? There's a hint.

So just cut it out. *Choose* to not be stuck in survival.
You're not serving yourself or anyone else by being poor.
It's stale and boring. Who needs it?

Have you *ever* heard someone say, "I wish I didn't have so much money"?

Have you ever heard someone say "I have too much love in my life"?

Believe it or not, these two are intimately connected.
And if you work on one, you will inevitably find that the other takes shape in kind.

Part of love requires people skills, communication and self-awareness.
These are learnable things but they're not exactly courses in grade school.

Getting financially free is no different.

You wouldn't ask a miserable lonely person for love and relationship advice would you?

Well just the same, if you're looking to be financially free, you need to find someone
who's got that going on, and get some pointers.

Imagine what the quality of your relationships would be like if you weren't toasted
on your cashflow all the time.

Imagine the feeling of being free to do what you want whenever you want.
That'd feel pretty wonderful wouldn't it?

You know the saying, "misery loves company".

So if you're financially miserable, think about how your relationships would be.
Do you think anyone who was doing really well would want to stick around you long?

If you were trying not to smoke, would you keep hanging around smokers?

If you were alcoholic, would you hang around other alcoholics to stop being one?

Alright then, so just get real.

Stop denying that you're justifying your poor conditions and choose to change them.

Don't daydream about where you'd like to be financially. Create your desired financial
destination and then look squarely at how you're going to get there.

Find a mentor.

Find a vehicle that will get you there.

If your finances are limiting your happiness, and limiting your social life or relationships, and
you're ready to get over all that and take some positive action, then contact me today to find out
what others are using to get free -and live the life of their dreams.

posted in Living Awake - 0 replies

newborn

2007-04-11T16:23:42Z

i am newly awakened...it's beautiful i knew there was something more for me it's a good feeling and i just found tribe- full of beautiful people just wanted to say hello

posted in Living Awake - 2 replies

Awake & Alone?

2005-10-25T13:56:38Z

Sometimes I wish I didn't see things so clearly as people don't always 'get it'. Anyone else have this experience? I seem to be more intuitive then ever before, eatting veg/ macrobiotic for several years now. I see a lot, from the food industry to advertising, to politics. The avg. person seems to just walk through it all going through the motions. Many people I know think I'm 'way out there'...no, just living more consiously. How do others handle this each day? Maybe I need to live on the West Coast or something?? Ha Ha !

posted in Living Awake - 1 reply

Living Awake in the midst of work, bills, chores...

2005-08-26T06:12:49Z

when i was enrolled in a school of the martial arts, enrolled at UNCC in post-bach psych classes, a member of a (somewhat too yuppified for my taste) social activities organization, more active at the local Unitarian church, i was getting some Needs met that are not now being met. for one thing, just that neurochemicalemotionalcognitivespiritual high of doing things that i didn't feel totally confident in doing... i do miss that. everything is so routine right now. so predictible. i'm not really being challenged. except the challenge of slogging through the grey mundanity of an uncomfortably large proportion of each day.

i think i'm just starting to realize that for me, the Act of facing the Unknown and meeting difficult Challenges generates for me experiences of passion, inspiration, Awareness, Magick, hightened Reality, and Meaningfulness.

i've cut out almost all of that out of my life for budgetary reasons and also just because of being tired from work, chores, obligations, and daily living responsibilities. that is definitely going down the WRONG Path. WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! that is, in fact, a failure to meet my True Responsibilities. the Responsibilites of Cultivating a vibrant, passionate, inspired, and Authentic Self, so that i have vibrant, passionate, inspiring, and Authentic Energy to offer to the people in my life and to the World, the One Interdependent Universal System.

so, here's to Waking Up (again, i suppose,) of meeting my True Responsibilities (Cultivating vitality, passion, inspiration, etc,) which will be of great benefit to me, my wife, relationships, the world, the universe, my self, my wife, my relationships, the world, the universe, my self, (and around, and round, and round.)

posted in Living Awake - 2 replies

how,why,when,where

2005-07-10T21:50:13Z

This tribe is dedicated to discussing the awareness and care that CAN be brought into our lives - how to do it, why do it, when to do it, and where to do it!

how-by looking at and seeing the beauty that surrounds us everywhere
why-am I missing something? is there any other reason to talk?
when-always in all ways
where-everywhere, for me the forest is favorite, but a leaf of grass sticking out of the sidewalk will do, the face of another person is good one too, what a f-ing miracle

posted in Living Awake - 24 replies

relationships

2005-03-23T19:17:07Z

Ok - it's been too quite in this group so I thought I'd start up conversation again.

How do you live awake in your relationships? Does living awake ever mean changes you don't really want? If a connection isn't existing but the love and care is there - how does living awake lead to change?

Some of this is from current personal experiences but it seemed like a good question for the group.

posted in Living Awake - 0 replies

Communication styles

2005-02-21T19:31:46Z

Ok - so I've had this conversation recently with some friends and an arguement in another tribe about it so I thought it worthy of asking.

What communication style do you default to?

Is your style:
1) Predominatly about assuming your right and challenging others to prove you wrong?
2) Focused on sharing your opinion on a subject and making clear that it's simply YOUR opinion?
3) Concerned with understanding the needs and feelings of others and reflecting them with care and consideration?
4) Something different?
5) Some combination of the above?

Subsequently - what is it that you think leads people towards one or the other communication styles and how does it relate to them Living Awake?

posted in Living Awake - 5 replies

Stereotypes!!

2005-02-11T18:44:47Z

Stereotypes drive me fucking nuts!!!

They feed the unconscious way of living - they assume I'm just like everyone else who shares these random characteristics - they presume I have nothing unique about me.

I don't fit stereotypes. It's the quickest way to insult me!

What is it about stereotypes that make people feel so comfortable? Why are they perpetuated? Why can't people recognize the unique in all of us?

posted in Living Awake - 14 replies

Greetings to kindred spirits

2005-02-10T17:43:04Z

I was reading the description of this tribe and I thought - hey, that sounds like something Heatherlyn would say - and lo - they are her words indeed. Big smile.

I completely concur with Stephen regarding fear being the driver of so many behaviors that are counter-productive... fear of ridicule, fear of rejection, fear of not becoming who you can be.
Fear can keep at arm's length the best part of ourselves.

I have to be cognizant of the fact that most folks are not on the same path and that's okay. I wasn't on this path my whole life either. I find that through compassion, kindness, empathy, and openness that others engage me in kind. I have seen bigotry, apathy, anger, etc. fly out the window when I am mindful of how I interact with people.

Everyone's on their own path and their own timetable. Establishing mutual and sincere respect goes a long way.

I'm thankful to be part of your tribe. Take care y'all.

posted in Living Awake - 2 replies