‘Everything changes in a blink of an eye’ – Buddha

There is no greater opportunity than now to look at the part you choose to play in the greater world. Of course no one likes change or hardship of any sort. Buddhism teaches us that change is good and suffering is necessary. We all want everything to be easy and to feel no pain in life, this is natural. There is always something to be learnt in all pain, no matter whether good or bad.

There is a great shift happening on the inside of each one of us. The isolation that we feel penetrates our blood and our bones. Anxiety is in the air and our lives are changing. There is something called the domino effect, some things will be born from this pandemic, others will collapse.The most amazing opportunity is in front of us at this very moment. What are you choosing to create?  Personal power is the gift of being able to make choices that support yourself and your family. Look at your thoughts , habits, behaviours, self limiting beliefs and attitude.  This time can be so incredible for us to change and heal. We will all lose something in this pandemic but will gain something too.

There are more entrepreneurs produced out of disasters, tragedies and discomfort than from a safe environment. How do we cope and progress from this? How do you chose to react?

The Covid -19 plus other disasters were not unexpected, the atmosphere and mother nature was ready to fight back. Something had to break, a catalyst of chaos for the next change.  Our lives are presently castrophic and frightening but are part of our path. We can shape a new life with positive thoughts.  When there is a storm, such as a typhoon or hurricane, the greatest amount of energy is on the outside where all the chaos is. If we want to find calm, we need to go inwards and reflect . “When you don’t go within , you go without” -Yogi Bhajan.

Consider where you are choosing to sit at this present moment? Are you playing the victim archetype? Are you blaming everyone and everything outside of yourself? Having victim consciousness is an opportunity to empower ourselves. Buddha talks of four noble truths. The noble truths liberate us from suffering. They are Buddhist basic teachings encapsulating the entire Buddhist path. Everyone has a different experience of suffering. This is based on our conditioning, background, schooling , environment and our experiences in life. I remember trying to sleep on a crowded overnight train carriage in India. Everyone else was able to roll out some newspapers and place it on the dirty floor and go to sleep. I found this tough, but adjusted to the environment. There is a silver lining in all suffering if we chose to see it and are open to find it.

How are we navigating in these times? Where are we focused? Where are your thoughts?  We have the opportunity to focus on new possibilities  and potential, stepping into the unknown with fear. We can be trapped and paralysed by this fear . What is it that you are focusing on?  Apply the laws of the universe, these are the laws of the soul. It’s magnetic attraction. What are we attracting?

1. Suffering

Life always involves suffering, in obvious and subtle forms. Even when things seem good, we always feel an undercurrent of anxiety and uncertainty inside.

2. The Cause of Suffering

The cause of suffering is craving and fundamental ignorance. We suffer because of our mistaken belief that we are a separate, independent, solid “I.” The painful and futile struggle to maintain this delusion of ego is known as samsara, or cyclic existence.

3. The End of Suffering

The good news is that our obscurations are temporary. They are like passing clouds that obscure the sun of our enlightened nature, which is always present. Therefore, suffering can end because our obscurations can be purified and an awakened mind is always available to us.

4. The Path

By living ethically, practicing meditation, and developing wisdom, we can take exactly the same journey to enlightenment and freedom from suffering that the buddhas do. We too can wake up.

The question is this – Are you ready to change after the Covid-19 experience, or will you just go back to the same everyday thoughts, patterns and behaviours that you held before?

Buddha said: “Everything changes in a blink of an eye”.

 It’s the analogy of the caterpillar crawling into the cocoon, ready to emerge as a butterfly. As we watch the world change for the worse, it can just as quickly change for the better at the speed of light.

Every word we say is heard. We need to heal and love ourselves before we can heal and love anyone or anything else. Every relationship we have is a spirit connection or path.

When we feel a deep spiritual crisis, this is known as depression. The suffering felt throws us to the depths of our soul. How quickly we could heal if we could access our inner net rather than external net.

Bibliography

Paul Chek blogs

Jo Rushton post

The lions roar – Buddhist philosophy