Finding Happiness

            

When we meditate, we relate to that unsettling, ineffable commodity: the present. We train in letting go of thoughts and feelings as they arise, and settle back into the present: that gap between two concepts—past and future—that don’t actually exist. We’re simply being, here and now. - Pamela Gayle White, "The Pursuit of Happiness"

I always find it amazing when life intersects with synchronicity or magic.  Yesterday, I was writing about happiness.  And today, my guidance is that we need to focus on happiness in order to shift.  The quote that I have noted above was in my mailbox today.  

I read this over and over and decided that what the message was, for me, said “If you are focused on the now moment, then you do not have time to think of the past and you will not have a need to feel unhappy.”  

What this also said to me was that most people are either unhappy about the past or unhappy about the future.  To stay in the present means to be mindful of what focus your thoughts take.  It is very difficult to focus on love and and happiness when someone has just yelled at you or cut you off in traffic….. or, done whatever.

Be happy,

Judy 

Butterfly on Metamorphasis

My dog and I were walking along the top of the hill, revelling in the hot sun, shining down on us so beautifully.  The warmth was so welcome after a week of rain.   My dog was trotting along, doing his thing, and the two of us were simply feeling happy and alive.  As we walked, two butterflies came out of no where, and flew on each side of us, much like an honour guard, holding in the space of happiness.  They stayed with us until we returned to the car.

I thought a lot about the sacredness of what the butterflies did for us – to keep us in that space of happiness and contentment.  I was so grateful.  And then I thought about what the butterflies are about – metamorphosis and change.  And, I started laughing!

You see, meta in the metamorphosis, is actually written “metta”, and means “Loving Kindness”.  If I did not get the connection, Spirit is determined that I understand this concept, because when I was listening to my Buddhist lesson, the Master talked about a colleague of his, Sister Metta, who, as her name suggested, carried loving kindness with her where ever she went.  She was a purveyor of change.

I realized that the Butterflies was moving us (my dog and me) forward into a stronger alignment with loving kindness. They were fanning us with new energy.  This seems like it is a great gift at this time of change.d Butterflies’ actions made me think of this writing by Buddha, "May you be at peace.  May your heart remain open.  May you awaken to the light of your own true nature. May you be healed.  May you be a source of healing to all beings."  The Metta of the Buddha

May each of you have a very transforming week!

Much metta,

Judy

Letting Go

“You cannot understand life and its mysteries as long as you try to grasp it. Indeed, you cannot grasp it just as you cannot walk off with a river in a bucket. If you try to capture running water in a bucket, it is clear that you do not understand it and that you will always be disappointed, for in the bucket the water does not run. To "have" running water you must let go of it and let it run.”   Alan Watts from The Wisdom of Insecurity.

Over the last several months, I have been working on understanding the Buddhist concept of “attachment”, and at the same time, I have been working on understanding all the things that I am attached to. I am finding that attachment comes in many forms.  It does seem to be about being attached to things being a certain way.  If I can get to a point where I accept all things and allow them to be as they are without my ideas of how they should be, then I will be free of attachment.  I hope to get there by letting go of one attachment at a time.

As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery.  We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace.  The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger and attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness. 
~Dalai Lama

Many Blessings,

Judy 

Suffering Is Not The Enemy

 

We are constantly encouraged to reject what is unpleasant, disappointing or difficult. 'What's all this suffering? Let's be happy! Have fun!' But our suffering is not our enemy. It is only through a relationship with my pain, my sadness, that I can truly know and touch the opposite—my pleasure, my joy, and my happiness.  - Claude AnShin Thomas, “Conceptions of Happiness”

Blessings,

Judy

Using Right Speech With Yourself

The Buddha saw that we are always engaged in relationships, starting with that most significant relationship: the one with ourselves. On the cushion we notice how we speak to ourselves—sometimes with compassion, sometimes with judgement or impatience. Our words are a powerful medium with which we can bring happiness or cause suffering.   - Allan Lokos, "Skillful Speech"

I was sitting at my laptop this morning, trying to send out emails to friends and family.  My email was acting strange, and stopping, not refreshing, or simply not sending out my outbound mail.  I started to get frustrated.  I started to watch myself talk to myself.  I saw that I was not upset with the email or with the computer.  I was upset with myself for not being able to FIX IT.  I realized that the words I was saying were unkind and not helpful.  I realized how unrealistic my actions were.  

Where did this come from?  Where did it send me?  I think that the words came from the shadow side of me that remembers the unkind things that people have said in the past – things about how I was unworthy, or stupid, or…..   Well, you get the picture.  I think that most of the time that words like that can send us down a dark current that moves us away from the light.  

I am now back on track.  This is a good day for you to get on track as well. 

Blessings, 

Judy

Be A Happiness Engineer

The message from Creator and the Angels today, is about creating happiness for yourself.  Think of all the great monuments in the world, and that they were built by architects, engineers, and willing builders.  

Each day, you can be the architect of your day, and plan happiness.  Each day, you can be the engineer that makes happiness happen by looking at all the things that are in your life – the abundance, the home, the family, the friends, and even the dog, and seeing that everything, not just ONE thing, does contribute to happiness.  All of the components are the willing builders that work with you to build happiness, if you allow them to be part of your life.  This means that you do not control them, but, you can suggest to them all the things that build happiness.

Blessings,

Judy

Spirit Talks About Catharsis

 

Catharsis is about being able to release pain – emotional pain – by watching someone else’s pain, and being able to recognize the pain and feel it in you, and then release it in yourself.  Many of us do this by crying at movies or even at commercials on TV.  The process, for some people, is quite embarrassing, that is, to be crying at a movie. 

However, Great Spirit and our Angels and Guides reassure us that this is a healing mechanism that humans have so that we do not overload on emotions that we store inside our bodies.  From the time that we are born, it is in our nature to laugh, cry, be sad, celebrate, and all the other emotions that exist.  If we cannot feel great sadness, then there is a good chance that we will not be able to feel great happiness.

Feeling emotional release based on someone else’s experience, real or performed in a movie, is a great confirmation that we are all connected; that there is Oneness.  What I mean is that if we were all separate, we would not feel that tug of pain in a nerve around our heart, or, we would not feel the fear in our solar plexus when we watch that scary movie.  Emotion is an energy that radiates outward until it is absorbed by “something”. Often that something is another being.

The nick name for emotional movies is “tear jerker”.  Literally, the nick name describes the process of the movie pulling the tears that have been locked away, out into the open.  Some spiritual teachers believe that a good tear jerker is as good as a meditation in helping a person release pent up emotion.  In either case, during the movie or during meditation, the person is so absorbed that they are completely in the present moment, and, in the present moment, there is no pain, so the body releases it as tears.

What a beautiful process!  Catharsis!

Blessings,

Judy

Buddha Talks About Attachment

The following words come from a teaching by Venerable Jagaro of the Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre in Perth.  These words were a lesson that I needed around understanding attachment, and to help clients who are attached.  May these words help you as well.

Picture from Microsoft Clip Art

 

In Buddhism we are interested in freedom the freedom of non- attachment. We carry around an immense burden of attachment to everything we consider 'me' and 'mine' , like a big heavy stone on our shoulders. When a wise person points out to us that we could throw off this burden, we regard them with suspicion. 'Throw it off? Then I wouldn't have anything left! I couldn't do that!' Thinking they will bring us happiness, we continue to lug around our personal investments and self interests this great big heavy burden! The Buddha taught that nothing is worth attaching to. Do not attach to anything: that will bring true peace and happiness. Reflect on the process of what we call suffering: what it really is how it arises. Only then can one begin to appreciate what attachment really is, what the result of attachment is, and begin to glimpse the idea and the possible results of non-attachment. 

Attachment is something we create in the mind. When we let it go, we begin to experience the silent empty mind. This still, peaceful mind can be found when sitting in meditation. Is it possible to bring it also into our daily lives? Can we live as ordinary people with this non-attachment? There is one vital factor needed if we wish to live skilfully, and that factor is mindful awareness. This factor of knowing, of being present, is essential if we wish to go beyond our continual stream of thinking, projecting, analysing and reacting. It is difficult, isn't it? Without awareness, we are locked into our stale conditioning, like a monkey with its paw stuck in the biscuit jar . All it has to do to become free is let go, but this is just what it won't do. Actually , non-attachment is not something you have to do: all you have to do is stop attaching. This is natural for the enlightened mind, and it is awareness which makes this a real possibility in our lives.

The Buddha taught a Path, gave us a method of skilful means. Meditation is the tool to help us with the process of being present, of seeing attachment and tensions arising, of knowing when to relax and let go. The practice of meditation is very highly emphasised. The more you become aware, the more you can begin to experience true peace and happiness. There is no need to have anything else, no need to achieve anything.

Many blessings,

Judy

On Being Happy

A picture of infinite possibilities taken from pull out on Highwood Trail

For the last several weeks, the quote below, on happiness, keeps popping up either in my email or on sites that I look at.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. - the Dalai Lama 

I decided that I really needed to look at my happiness and look at whether I was truly happy.  We know that happiness comes from inside you and not from external sources.  And yet, as I examined my life and my home and yard and all our friends and neighbours, I concluded that I am happy.  I love my life!  I love that we have beautiful flowers and a bountiful garden and herb garden. I love that we can sit and have coffee on the deck in the morning.  I love that I have time to meditate and to walk in Nature, and to sit on the Earth and feel the life that flows from it.

I then looked at my compassion.  The meaning of compassion as defined by the University of Berkeley in California is:

Compassion literally means “to suffer together

.” Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another's suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering. Compassion is not the same as empathy or altruism, though the concepts are related. - https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/compassion/definition#:~:text=Compassion%20literally%20means%20%E2%80%9Cto%20suffer,though%20the%20concepts%20are%20related.

Based on this definition, compassion is at the far end of my bar of happiness. I do not feel compelled to search out people that are suffering.  I realize that compassion is something that I need to work on.

May you all have much happiness in your days.

Many blessings,

Judy

 

Truth and Willingness

My challenge for the day is to meditate on the words “truth” and “willingness”.   These are really tough words to put together to come up with an “aha” moment.

Truth, of course, is always the way that the different parties understand a situation.  Truth can be altered by the emphasis put on different words in a sentence.  Truth for me is different than truth for you.  When I looked up “truth” in the dictionary, I had a difficult time determining what the “true” definition is.  

Albert Einstein said, “The ideas that have lighted my way have been kindness, beauty and truth.”

Gustav Le Bon has said, “Science has promised us truth. It has never promised us either peace or happiness.”

Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, had this view of truth - Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

The truth, for me, is intangible, however, it has a feeling.  It has a rightness about it.  So I guess that “willingness” then, is the determination to move through life acknowledging the feeling of truth, and following what feels right.  

I can do that.

Many Blessings,

Judy

Archangel Uriel’s Chant

 Picture from Angel Speaks – Archangel Uriel

 When I took my Angel Therapy Training years ago, one of the Archangels that I have really come to enjoy working with is Archangel Uriel.  I love the feeling of joy and love that flows around me when I work with this angel.  Below is one of the chants that Archangel Uriel shared with me.  I hope that it helps you.

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Dearest ones of light!  I greet you!  I, Uriel, am delighted that you are all now looking at the changes taking place in a kinder, more loving light.  I give to you this chant to use to move forward with grace.

Chant for Grace

I call on the Goodness in the heavens and on the earth

To bring me to forgiveness of myself and all souls.

I call on all souls to forgive me for my actions in all my lifetimes.

I offer love and compassion to all those that I have scorned.

I offer loving kindness to all those in need.

I surrender my need to clutter my life.

I choose my actions each day, and accept the responsibility of my choices.

I now choose actions of love, health, and happiness.

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Use this chant to help shift all the thoughts that go around in your head and make you unhappy.  

Have a blessed day!

Sending many blessings,

Judy

Making Choices

 

Over the past year, have you noticed that you seem to need to make a big choice and a bunch of little choices each week?  While it may not seem like the choice is part of your spiritual journey, most of the time it does end up supporting one of truth, health, happiness, wisdom, love, kindness, and compassion.  

For quite a few people, the Covid pandemic caused them to make a choice to withdraw from daily life - work, friends and family, and making choices/decisions on a daily basis.  For many, it was the end of relationships. Choices were made taking in to account health, happiness, and love, especially self-love.

Many people like to judge the choices that others make, labelling the choice as right or wrong, good or bad.  It is impossible to know what the best choice or right choice is for another person because we can never know exactly what is going on in another person’s life.

My suggestion is that you make a choice not to judge, but to allow.  

Many blessings,

Judy