We all wish that things are perfect in life, but they are not - life is never perfect. The only path to fully enjoy is to understand the innate nature of our life - imperfection, accept it and believe in a better future, by repairing our mind.
Why the life is imperfect? In Buddhism, this world is called 娑婆(suo po) world, and suo po means must endure. The reason we appear in this world is that we are not perfect, and our consciousness has affinity with this world. In Buddhism, there are billions of worlds in this universe, and each world attracts consciousnesses that bear similar type of energy. We come to this world that need to endure because our consciousness bear an imperfect energy - don't blaim your parents, our own consciousness chose the family and life path for us.
The first step in changing life for better is acceptance. When we complain about the society, the system or other people about how unequal, unfair, unwise things are, we will not focus on ourselves to look for improvement, and will not looks for any change. However, the real reason acceptance is important lies in the mind - if you don't understand what I mean, take a moment to imagine that you can complaining, and then imagine you accept your life, what is the taste of your mind in different state? Do you feel bitter, tension and pain in the first state, but feel settled and secure in the second state? Our mind is a strong energy that shapes our life. If our mind is in a secure state, life will follow.
Once we accept life is imperfect, it becomes much easier to live with it. As a matter of fact, enduring suffering can release passive karma that causes suffering, and endurance can lead life for better. Buddhism practice, such as reciting sutra, can reduce the passive karma from the past, and practicing Eightfold Path can avoid renewing passive energy, so that future will be different.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Life is Beautiful
It was just another Sunday, peaceful and happy. I started working on my project that I have harbored for long.
The effect of Buddhism on our life is mystic, we simply feel secure, peace and happy, and things simply roll out as in a fine dream. Even dreams are beautiful, less and less nightmare, for both of us. Is it from reciting sutra? Is it from chanting Amitabha? Is it from trying to do the right things? Is it from doing the right things? Is it from donations? Is it from helping others to know Buddhism? I don't know, but we simply enjoy this feeling. It is getting stronger everyday. Things are simple, isn't being happy as simple as choosing to be happy? It is!
This project I wished I could accomplish is to help Buddhism temples and non profit organizations with dynamic functionalities. I wouldn't be able to do it if I didn't leave a job, lose a job and get a job, which I am still struggling to do better. It carried out as if I knew the future. How did I step on my path without knowing it?
life is mystically beautiful, and we never know what is tomorrow going to give. I can't express enough appreciation for the salvation, for the mystic power guided me, for present and the even brighter future.
The effect of Buddhism on our life is mystic, we simply feel secure, peace and happy, and things simply roll out as in a fine dream. Even dreams are beautiful, less and less nightmare, for both of us. Is it from reciting sutra? Is it from chanting Amitabha? Is it from trying to do the right things? Is it from doing the right things? Is it from donations? Is it from helping others to know Buddhism? I don't know, but we simply enjoy this feeling. It is getting stronger everyday. Things are simple, isn't being happy as simple as choosing to be happy? It is!
This project I wished I could accomplish is to help Buddhism temples and non profit organizations with dynamic functionalities. I wouldn't be able to do it if I didn't leave a job, lose a job and get a job, which I am still struggling to do better. It carried out as if I knew the future. How did I step on my path without knowing it?
life is mystically beautiful, and we never know what is tomorrow going to give. I can't express enough appreciation for the salvation, for the mystic power guided me, for present and the even brighter future.
Monday, February 14, 2011
How to Control My Mind?
The first step in controlling your mind is simply to strengthen your consciousness against wandering thoughts. All the wandering thoughts are a manifest of your external objects, not your true self, as explained in Who am I?, your mind is simply a reflection of past experiences imposed on you, coupled with your current experiences. All experiences are external to you, not your true selves.
If you come to this article, you might have noticed it is hard to control your own mind, and it can cause real trouble in life. That actually shows your mind is not you. There are people who know they shouldn't use drug, shouldn't gamble, shouldn't drink, but can't help it - they have to follow their destiny to experience a tragic life. Addiction is a sever form of losing control of one's own mind.
Form Who am I?, you understood you are your consciousness, and you mind is a monster that your consciousness need to tame. You mind actually carries habits from both your past experiences in this life and your experiences in past lives, which explains why everybody is born with unique personalities, even in the same family. Why an inherited weakness is very difficult to change? It has been carried from many past lives. And finally, do you believe in spirits? Spirits are actually consciousness in different dimensions, which can interact with our mind if there is a reason. Some spirits try so hard to control your mind, to make you do things that satisfies them. All of these forces are controlling the way you think, so you are not your mind! Your thoughts can be injected by your enemy from past lives. Many people who have addiction are actually influenced by spirits from different dimensions, spirits that try to kill them by first isolating them from family and friends, then take their lives when there is a chance. Don't call them demons or evils though, they ruin people for a reason too. They are just suffering spirits same as human beings. People do the same thing, carry grudges and make enemies, makes other people's lives more difficult. When they die, if there is a chance to interact with their enemies' mind, they sure follow their hatred to do so! About Addition there are a lot more to it, which we will cover in Why am I addicted?
Why do we want to control our mind? For people who have addiction, it is obvious. For ordinary people, it is less obvious. Have you read the book The Secret? We may not notice it, our mind actually controls our fate, our lives are shaped by how we think, as explained in Do we have a destiny and How to change destiny. When you have full control of your mind, you can do anything as you wish - it is mind that made this world.
So leave out after life, just focus on this life, how to control our mind to generate the right thoughts, or simply eliminate thoughts? It takes practice. Many ancient practices, from meditation to Yoga, are both physical and mind exercise. There are all kinds of meditations, focus on different things, either a meditation sound, or your own breathing, or peaceful music, for the same purpose - control your mind.
As a Buddhist my favorite form of mind exercise is chanting the name of Amitabha. Amitabha established the pure land for after life, and if we chant his name upon death, he will meet us and guide us to the pure land. The daily practice of chanting his name is a mental exercise, so that the mind can focus at the last moments of this life. If pure land is not your drama door, you can chant anything that makes you happy, say your parents' name, or Jesus Christ if you are a Christian, anything that carries the message of kindness and compassion.
By the way, Buddhists are not involved in the discussion of which religion is a better religion - There are 84000 darma doors in this world, and in the history there has never been war at the cause of Buddhism - the religion that suits you and makes you a better person is a better religion for you, and it would be wise not to impose a personal choice upon other people, unless they ask for it.
No matter what you decide to chant, just make sure it is a positive word and makes you feel secure and perceful, not excitement or anger. For example, if you choose the word Get Rich Quick, you have made a wrong choice. The message carried in it is greed, and that ruins people's life, including yours. Just for comparison, the word Give to Others is also about money, but gives a different feeling. Try to chant ten times of each to sense the tension Money raised in your brain. That sense of greed is harmful and will make you poor - opposite to what you have thought. I don't want to contradict with what is explained in The Secret - if you look at money everyday you will get more money, only if you can do that with a relaxed mind with no worries.
You can chant anytime when you feel bored, say on the bus or on the train, so you can save money on smart phone and 4G services. Holding your purse in good position, you can half close your eyes and chant the word you choose. You can count too, every ten chants accumulates to one count, and compete with yourself see how big a number you can go.
If you can chant and you can count, little by little you can strengthen your consciousness through chanting, and gain higher control of your mind.
If you come to this article, you might have noticed it is hard to control your own mind, and it can cause real trouble in life. That actually shows your mind is not you. There are people who know they shouldn't use drug, shouldn't gamble, shouldn't drink, but can't help it - they have to follow their destiny to experience a tragic life. Addiction is a sever form of losing control of one's own mind.
Form Who am I?, you understood you are your consciousness, and you mind is a monster that your consciousness need to tame. You mind actually carries habits from both your past experiences in this life and your experiences in past lives, which explains why everybody is born with unique personalities, even in the same family. Why an inherited weakness is very difficult to change? It has been carried from many past lives. And finally, do you believe in spirits? Spirits are actually consciousness in different dimensions, which can interact with our mind if there is a reason. Some spirits try so hard to control your mind, to make you do things that satisfies them. All of these forces are controlling the way you think, so you are not your mind! Your thoughts can be injected by your enemy from past lives. Many people who have addiction are actually influenced by spirits from different dimensions, spirits that try to kill them by first isolating them from family and friends, then take their lives when there is a chance. Don't call them demons or evils though, they ruin people for a reason too. They are just suffering spirits same as human beings. People do the same thing, carry grudges and make enemies, makes other people's lives more difficult. When they die, if there is a chance to interact with their enemies' mind, they sure follow their hatred to do so! About Addition there are a lot more to it, which we will cover in Why am I addicted?
Why do we want to control our mind? For people who have addiction, it is obvious. For ordinary people, it is less obvious. Have you read the book The Secret? We may not notice it, our mind actually controls our fate, our lives are shaped by how we think, as explained in Do we have a destiny and How to change destiny. When you have full control of your mind, you can do anything as you wish - it is mind that made this world.
So leave out after life, just focus on this life, how to control our mind to generate the right thoughts, or simply eliminate thoughts? It takes practice. Many ancient practices, from meditation to Yoga, are both physical and mind exercise. There are all kinds of meditations, focus on different things, either a meditation sound, or your own breathing, or peaceful music, for the same purpose - control your mind.
As a Buddhist my favorite form of mind exercise is chanting the name of Amitabha. Amitabha established the pure land for after life, and if we chant his name upon death, he will meet us and guide us to the pure land. The daily practice of chanting his name is a mental exercise, so that the mind can focus at the last moments of this life. If pure land is not your drama door, you can chant anything that makes you happy, say your parents' name, or Jesus Christ if you are a Christian, anything that carries the message of kindness and compassion.
By the way, Buddhists are not involved in the discussion of which religion is a better religion - There are 84000 darma doors in this world, and in the history there has never been war at the cause of Buddhism - the religion that suits you and makes you a better person is a better religion for you, and it would be wise not to impose a personal choice upon other people, unless they ask for it.
No matter what you decide to chant, just make sure it is a positive word and makes you feel secure and perceful, not excitement or anger. For example, if you choose the word Get Rich Quick, you have made a wrong choice. The message carried in it is greed, and that ruins people's life, including yours. Just for comparison, the word Give to Others is also about money, but gives a different feeling. Try to chant ten times of each to sense the tension Money raised in your brain. That sense of greed is harmful and will make you poor - opposite to what you have thought. I don't want to contradict with what is explained in The Secret - if you look at money everyday you will get more money, only if you can do that with a relaxed mind with no worries.
You can chant anytime when you feel bored, say on the bus or on the train, so you can save money on smart phone and 4G services. Holding your purse in good position, you can half close your eyes and chant the word you choose. You can count too, every ten chants accumulates to one count, and compete with yourself see how big a number you can go.
If you can chant and you can count, little by little you can strengthen your consciousness through chanting, and gain higher control of your mind.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
What Is the Purpose of Life?
We all have a predetermined destiny, but our purpose in life is a matter of personal choice. We came to life and followed a path driven by forces in the universe, but we also carry consciousnesses to choose the purpose of our own lives.
Our Lives Just Happen - Driven by the Forces in the Universe. Our birth and life experiences have been driven by the forces in the universe, just like rain drops fall when air can't hold them any longer. There isn't a purpose for rain to fall, it just happens. Sometimes I reflect on the animals we raise on the farm. Do they ever wonder what is the purpose of their lives? Do they try to escape their fate? There is a reason for us to raise them, but from their perspective, there isn't a reason to come to this world and suffer; their circumstance is a result of our will. As human beings, our situation is much better, but similarly, our lives are a result of the interaction of the forces in the universe external to our consciousness. Life just happens.
We Need a Purpose to Live For!
What is the purpose of Life - We cannot escape this question, and need to find the answer. There are two types of answers: one believes our consciousness will live on after life, so today is a preparation for the after life; and the other one believes the consciousness ends with us, so this life ends in itself. Apparently the first belief makes it easier to live on, however is there really an afterlife?
The existence of an after life cannot be totally clear to people who are living, although there are signs of afterlife. Even if we believe in an after life, we are still trapped and struggling in this life. So my resolution is to approach my own purpose in life as a compromise of both - doing things that benefit both this life and afterlife.
Life is Like a Stock Chart, of Karma
On the surface, life is impermanent. It is constantly changing. However, the accumulation of Karma is continuous, and Karma determines our future. If we accumulate positive Karma, we will have a brighter future, for both this life and the afterlife. Karma is the energy our thoughts and our behavior created, which we carry on with our consciousness.
So the purpose of my life is to cultivate positive Karma, what is yours?
Next Topics
What is Karma?
How to Cultivate Positive Karma?
Our Lives Just Happen - Driven by the Forces in the Universe. Our birth and life experiences have been driven by the forces in the universe, just like rain drops fall when air can't hold them any longer. There isn't a purpose for rain to fall, it just happens. Sometimes I reflect on the animals we raise on the farm. Do they ever wonder what is the purpose of their lives? Do they try to escape their fate? There is a reason for us to raise them, but from their perspective, there isn't a reason to come to this world and suffer; their circumstance is a result of our will. As human beings, our situation is much better, but similarly, our lives are a result of the interaction of the forces in the universe external to our consciousness. Life just happens.
We Need a Purpose to Live For!
What is the purpose of Life - We cannot escape this question, and need to find the answer. There are two types of answers: one believes our consciousness will live on after life, so today is a preparation for the after life; and the other one believes the consciousness ends with us, so this life ends in itself. Apparently the first belief makes it easier to live on, however is there really an afterlife?
The existence of an after life cannot be totally clear to people who are living, although there are signs of afterlife. Even if we believe in an after life, we are still trapped and struggling in this life. So my resolution is to approach my own purpose in life as a compromise of both - doing things that benefit both this life and afterlife.
Life is Like a Stock Chart, of Karma
On the surface, life is impermanent. It is constantly changing. However, the accumulation of Karma is continuous, and Karma determines our future. If we accumulate positive Karma, we will have a brighter future, for both this life and the afterlife. Karma is the energy our thoughts and our behavior created, which we carry on with our consciousness.
So the purpose of my life is to cultivate positive Karma, what is yours?
Next Topics
What is Karma?
How to Cultivate Positive Karma?
How to Keep a Happy Marriage?
When I was a young single girl, Love was the most sacred sentimental words in the vocabulary, and the pursue of my life. However, now I realized that language confuses us, if we replace love with the appropriate synonyms it becomes much clearer - desire and control, or mercy and compassion. A marriage is bond by mercy and compassion, and ruined by desire and control.
We have been cultivating desire and control all our lives - it is part of our human nature. Remember the gorilla and human genes are 98% identical? The trait is built in the design of every species, to prosper the species. It is selfish mindset because a species can only survive if every individual survives, and can only grow if the stronger win. Both our nature in gene and our society grow us to be selfish, greedy, desire to control, desire to win, and it is not our fault. It is the law of the universe.
However what makes a species survive is basically animal nature, and may cause human sufferings, may make a marriage miserable. What differentiates us from a gorilla is mercy and compassion. If we desire to live a happy human life, we have to apply the emotion that is unique to human beings to our spouse. Here we come to the eight words from How to be Happy again: I am always positive and helping other people. The first person to help is your spouse!
The happy couples are all similar, and miserable couples have their distinctive issues. The mission of a happy marriage is to help each other to be come a better person, to live better life. You and your spouse are both human beings and both have flaws, and if you ever noticed how difficult it is to change yourself, you can understand it is hard for your spouse to change. The only way to accomplish the mission is through mercy and compassion, understanding and patience, influence your spouse little by little without annoying him/her. Stay off anger, argument and finger pointing, those emotions and behaviors are generated by desire and control, will push your spouse away from you.
Mercy is the word I borrowed from Bible, Compassion is the word from Buddhism, both refers to a feeling we have for all sentient beings, same origin as our sympathy for poor people and abused animals, our pleasure watching happy kids and pets. The mild sadness when we observe suffering and the mild happiness when we observes happiness, when the subject is distantly related to ourselves. No matter where your spouse comes from, your spouse's life is not easy just like yours, is not perfect just like you, can't control own behavior and fate, just like you. After all the initial excitements of a big wedding and sentimental honeymoon, in the end you are just two people trapped in this planet under the same roof, trying to help each other to make each other's lives more livable, influence each other to be a better person which result in a better life for both. Think about what will make your spouse a happier person, and always focus on it, never focus on yourself.
To help another person to be happy, you have to be a better person first, you makes half of your marriage. If you are a happy person yourself, you will never criticize your spouse, always speak gently with understanding and patience, influence with your behavior. If you want your spouse to wash the dishes, wash them yourself and wait for the moment of change. If you want your spouse to change for better, change yourself first.
Every person is different and every marriage is different. When people are married, they are blind to see flaws in each other. After they are married, they are blind to see merits in each other. The society is cultivating a big ego for everybody since their birth, which resembles a balloon we carry around, when two people are so close, the balloon we each carry will squeeze each other and that is called conflicts. What is in our balloon? Our values, our viewpoints, our behaviors, our taste, our style, our blind definition of who we are including our bad habit, anger, desire, greed and ignorance. If you want to avoid conflicts, take a needle and poke your own balloon to deflate it, your spouse will feel much more happier than before, if the happiness of your spouse is all you are concerned about.
Wait a moment, where is yourself if you lose your ego? It is time you read Who am I? if you haven't got a chance to do so - Your ego is not yourself. Don't worry about what you will get from your spouse in return. After all you picked the one and only from the big crowd, I believe your spouse will do the just sensible thing - think about how to make you happy in return. It is the law of the universe - we receive what we gave.
If you want to delve more into the secret of marriage, Buddhism has a one size fits all solution - recite sutra. It is like casting secret spells in the household, you can be the only person who practice it but everybody in the household simply enjoys a smooth and happy life without knowing what is going on. If you think that is for you, you can explore further.
We have been cultivating desire and control all our lives - it is part of our human nature. Remember the gorilla and human genes are 98% identical? The trait is built in the design of every species, to prosper the species. It is selfish mindset because a species can only survive if every individual survives, and can only grow if the stronger win. Both our nature in gene and our society grow us to be selfish, greedy, desire to control, desire to win, and it is not our fault. It is the law of the universe.
However what makes a species survive is basically animal nature, and may cause human sufferings, may make a marriage miserable. What differentiates us from a gorilla is mercy and compassion. If we desire to live a happy human life, we have to apply the emotion that is unique to human beings to our spouse. Here we come to the eight words from How to be Happy again: I am always positive and helping other people. The first person to help is your spouse!
The happy couples are all similar, and miserable couples have their distinctive issues. The mission of a happy marriage is to help each other to be come a better person, to live better life. You and your spouse are both human beings and both have flaws, and if you ever noticed how difficult it is to change yourself, you can understand it is hard for your spouse to change. The only way to accomplish the mission is through mercy and compassion, understanding and patience, influence your spouse little by little without annoying him/her. Stay off anger, argument and finger pointing, those emotions and behaviors are generated by desire and control, will push your spouse away from you.
Mercy is the word I borrowed from Bible, Compassion is the word from Buddhism, both refers to a feeling we have for all sentient beings, same origin as our sympathy for poor people and abused animals, our pleasure watching happy kids and pets. The mild sadness when we observe suffering and the mild happiness when we observes happiness, when the subject is distantly related to ourselves. No matter where your spouse comes from, your spouse's life is not easy just like yours, is not perfect just like you, can't control own behavior and fate, just like you. After all the initial excitements of a big wedding and sentimental honeymoon, in the end you are just two people trapped in this planet under the same roof, trying to help each other to make each other's lives more livable, influence each other to be a better person which result in a better life for both. Think about what will make your spouse a happier person, and always focus on it, never focus on yourself.
To help another person to be happy, you have to be a better person first, you makes half of your marriage. If you are a happy person yourself, you will never criticize your spouse, always speak gently with understanding and patience, influence with your behavior. If you want your spouse to wash the dishes, wash them yourself and wait for the moment of change. If you want your spouse to change for better, change yourself first.
Every person is different and every marriage is different. When people are married, they are blind to see flaws in each other. After they are married, they are blind to see merits in each other. The society is cultivating a big ego for everybody since their birth, which resembles a balloon we carry around, when two people are so close, the balloon we each carry will squeeze each other and that is called conflicts. What is in our balloon? Our values, our viewpoints, our behaviors, our taste, our style, our blind definition of who we are including our bad habit, anger, desire, greed and ignorance. If you want to avoid conflicts, take a needle and poke your own balloon to deflate it, your spouse will feel much more happier than before, if the happiness of your spouse is all you are concerned about.
Wait a moment, where is yourself if you lose your ego? It is time you read Who am I? if you haven't got a chance to do so - Your ego is not yourself. Don't worry about what you will get from your spouse in return. After all you picked the one and only from the big crowd, I believe your spouse will do the just sensible thing - think about how to make you happy in return. It is the law of the universe - we receive what we gave.
If you want to delve more into the secret of marriage, Buddhism has a one size fits all solution - recite sutra. It is like casting secret spells in the household, you can be the only person who practice it but everybody in the household simply enjoys a smooth and happy life without knowing what is going on. If you think that is for you, you can explore further.
How to Change Destiny?
We Change Our Thoughts to Change Our Destiny. However, it is hard to change our thoughts, and the change of our external experiences lags behind. The difficult part is to keep positive thinking through life before things turn positive.
It a loop. If everything goes well for you, you are happy, and if you are happy, everything goes well for you - a positive loop, a chicken and egg dilemma. However, if you are in a miserable loop, how to make yourself feel happy? You need to learn to maintain the happy mindset independent of your external experiences, since your experiences follow your mindset.
I Changed My Destiny, How Did I Make It? In Do I have a destiny , I mentioned I used to encounter hardships with career and relationships before I started practicing Buddhism. I was smart and hard working, however I felt I was simply short of the touch of luck. I was asking myself what's wrong with me, why I was simply short of luck? Now I realized I was in a negative loop, and negative emotions lead to negative behaviors, as well as negative outcome no matter how hard I tried.
There is a Chinese saying, whoever deserves sympathy must have some condemnable character. We all have different character flaws, which lead us to suffering. I myself used to be obsessed, angry and greedy, which hurt many people and shaped my fate.
My friend Warren handed me the book Changing Destiny (PDF), and the book changed my view point towards life and myself. Mr Yuan Liao Fan. Mr Yuan, a prominent high-ranking officer and administrator, born during the Ming dynasty in the 16th century, in Jiang-Su Province, China, went through the same experience as I did. He elaborated his experience in Liao-Fan's Four Lessons - Change Destiny. These lessons were originally written for his sons, to whom he related that through cultivation and practice of virtuous deeds, he had changed his own destiny. The principals of this book is illustrated in short video series Liao Fan (youtube video) and Liao Fan's Four Lessons (PDF) .
I still couldn't sense the change in my character after reading the book, although agree with all the points in the book. However, I started monthly donations to charities and templates for printing sutra. Later on I changed myself through reciting sutra - a core pure land Buddhism practice. Through cultivating good virtues and practicing good deeds, I turned my fate for better. Everybody has a different path in changing destiny, and everybody can do it although requires resolution.
First, Accept Suffering as Retribution for Previous Wrong Thoughts and Wrong Deeds. We need to accept our living condition before cultivating Change. I accepted my hardship, after my friend Warren convinced me of the existence of fate.
Consider one of the major obstacles in life - Poverty. Poverty is retribution for past stinginess and greed. Wealthy people are benefiting from their cultivation of wealth from the past, however, if they stop cultivating wealth through continuous giving, there can be one point they magically lose all the money. We receive what we give, if we failed to give wealthy, we have to accept the fact of poverty - blame nobody but ourselves for suffering
Secondly, Reduce Bad Karma Through Repenting. Sometimes we may not understand what did we do wrong, but as long as we understand suffering is always caused by our own fault, we can still repent. We don't know everything about ourselves, we don't know what happened in our past lives, and are forgetful about this life as well.
I start to remember that in my childhood, my brother and I used to catch dragon flies and other insects and kill them just for fun, and now I feel so scary about it. For that I am sure there is a passive impact on our lives, however it is hard to identify the suffering caused by killing dragon flies. But when I experience suffering, I repent for all the known and unknown bad thoughts and bad deeds. Repent is like cleaning up the poison our heart holds, so that a healthy change is possible.
Thirdly, Cultivate Virtue and Good Deeds to Change Destiny. Wealth is cultivated from generosity. If you think you are poor, gives money to others living in even worse condition, and you will grow wealthier over time. We can always find people wealthier than us, and people poorer than us. There are homeless people living on the street, or malfunctioned African kids, that you can help out.
The impermanence of our lives is reincarnation. Reincarnation happens at every moment, not just after life. We never step into the same river again, because both our external environment and ourselves are constantly changing, and changes can be a good thing if we understand how changes occur. Our present virtues and weaknesses determine both our next lives, and tomorrow.
Do you wonder what is your fate? Knowing your fate is not as important as you think, as long as you believe there is a fate which was made by your own past, and you can change your future for better by changing your present thoughts!
It a loop. If everything goes well for you, you are happy, and if you are happy, everything goes well for you - a positive loop, a chicken and egg dilemma. However, if you are in a miserable loop, how to make yourself feel happy? You need to learn to maintain the happy mindset independent of your external experiences, since your experiences follow your mindset.
I Changed My Destiny, How Did I Make It? In Do I have a destiny , I mentioned I used to encounter hardships with career and relationships before I started practicing Buddhism. I was smart and hard working, however I felt I was simply short of the touch of luck. I was asking myself what's wrong with me, why I was simply short of luck? Now I realized I was in a negative loop, and negative emotions lead to negative behaviors, as well as negative outcome no matter how hard I tried.
There is a Chinese saying, whoever deserves sympathy must have some condemnable character. We all have different character flaws, which lead us to suffering. I myself used to be obsessed, angry and greedy, which hurt many people and shaped my fate.
My friend Warren handed me the book Changing Destiny (PDF), and the book changed my view point towards life and myself. Mr Yuan Liao Fan. Mr Yuan, a prominent high-ranking officer and administrator, born during the Ming dynasty in the 16th century, in Jiang-Su Province, China, went through the same experience as I did. He elaborated his experience in Liao-Fan's Four Lessons - Change Destiny. These lessons were originally written for his sons, to whom he related that through cultivation and practice of virtuous deeds, he had changed his own destiny. The principals of this book is illustrated in short video series Liao Fan (youtube video) and Liao Fan's Four Lessons (PDF) .
I still couldn't sense the change in my character after reading the book, although agree with all the points in the book. However, I started monthly donations to charities and templates for printing sutra. Later on I changed myself through reciting sutra - a core pure land Buddhism practice. Through cultivating good virtues and practicing good deeds, I turned my fate for better. Everybody has a different path in changing destiny, and everybody can do it although requires resolution.
First, Accept Suffering as Retribution for Previous Wrong Thoughts and Wrong Deeds. We need to accept our living condition before cultivating Change. I accepted my hardship, after my friend Warren convinced me of the existence of fate.
Consider one of the major obstacles in life - Poverty. Poverty is retribution for past stinginess and greed. Wealthy people are benefiting from their cultivation of wealth from the past, however, if they stop cultivating wealth through continuous giving, there can be one point they magically lose all the money. We receive what we give, if we failed to give wealthy, we have to accept the fact of poverty - blame nobody but ourselves for suffering
Secondly, Reduce Bad Karma Through Repenting. Sometimes we may not understand what did we do wrong, but as long as we understand suffering is always caused by our own fault, we can still repent. We don't know everything about ourselves, we don't know what happened in our past lives, and are forgetful about this life as well.
I start to remember that in my childhood, my brother and I used to catch dragon flies and other insects and kill them just for fun, and now I feel so scary about it. For that I am sure there is a passive impact on our lives, however it is hard to identify the suffering caused by killing dragon flies. But when I experience suffering, I repent for all the known and unknown bad thoughts and bad deeds. Repent is like cleaning up the poison our heart holds, so that a healthy change is possible.
Thirdly, Cultivate Virtue and Good Deeds to Change Destiny. Wealth is cultivated from generosity. If you think you are poor, gives money to others living in even worse condition, and you will grow wealthier over time. We can always find people wealthier than us, and people poorer than us. There are homeless people living on the street, or malfunctioned African kids, that you can help out.
The impermanence of our lives is reincarnation. Reincarnation happens at every moment, not just after life. We never step into the same river again, because both our external environment and ourselves are constantly changing, and changes can be a good thing if we understand how changes occur. Our present virtues and weaknesses determine both our next lives, and tomorrow.
Do you wonder what is your fate? Knowing your fate is not as important as you think, as long as you believe there is a fate which was made by your own past, and you can change your future for better by changing your present thoughts!
Do I have a destiny
You have a destiny, even if you are not aware of it. Our lives are just like the falling leaves in the wind; if we know the exact wind condition, we know the shape and weight distribution of the leaves, we can predict the exact falling course of the leaves, through classic physics calculation. Similarly, your destiny is the result of predetermined forces, just like the wind which carries the leaves. However, your destiny can be changed, if you become aware of your consciousness as explained in Who Am I , and turn on your internal drive.
Have you tried been intrigued by palm readers, fortune tellers or others claiming to read the future? The fortune tellers may not be able to accurately predict your destiny, but that doesn't mean you don't have a destiny. After all reading the future is not an easy task - even predicting the course of falling leaves takes quite some effort. However, not believing in fate doesn't protect you against your fate, just like the leaves' ignorance of physics doesn't prevent them from falling to the ground.
Believing In Fate Allows You to Change Your Destiny. I started to believe in fate a couple years ago, when I encountered a lot of difficulties with my career and relationships and started to wonder why I simply didn't have luck? I was smart, hard working, but was lacking the touch of luck in life.
It seems all by chance that I stumbled into Warren, a Chinese Feng Shui Master and fortune teller, who offered me a reading by my birth time. He introduced me to Buddhism and set me on a path (though I was unaware at the time), that profoundly changed my destiny.
Even a rare fortune teller may predict some of your fate, nobody can change your fate but yourself.
As explained in Who am I , being connected to your consciousness is critical for affecting your fate.
If you have never been aware of your consciousness, your life so far resembles the falling leaves, carried by the wind on autopilot without a driver.
Why Everybody Has a Different Fate? The autopilot driving our fate is the forces in the universe. Your consciousness carries energy history accumulated from your past, in Buddhism terms this energy history carried from the past is called Karma, which determines your fate. Starting from the point you were born, up to this moment, you are adding to your Karma with every single thought and action.
Control your mind to change your Destiny. Positive thoughts add positive energy to your Karma, and vice versa. Since your brain has been programed by your past and present experiences, you have been following your fate. However, you can change your destiny by start using your consciousness, filling your mind with positive thoughts.
Changing destiny is as simple as changing your thoughts, but doing is more difficult than saying. If you want to control your own fate by changing your thoughts, proceed to How to change destiny? to learn to drive your own destiny!
Have you tried been intrigued by palm readers, fortune tellers or others claiming to read the future? The fortune tellers may not be able to accurately predict your destiny, but that doesn't mean you don't have a destiny. After all reading the future is not an easy task - even predicting the course of falling leaves takes quite some effort. However, not believing in fate doesn't protect you against your fate, just like the leaves' ignorance of physics doesn't prevent them from falling to the ground.
Believing In Fate Allows You to Change Your Destiny. I started to believe in fate a couple years ago, when I encountered a lot of difficulties with my career and relationships and started to wonder why I simply didn't have luck? I was smart, hard working, but was lacking the touch of luck in life.
It seems all by chance that I stumbled into Warren, a Chinese Feng Shui Master and fortune teller, who offered me a reading by my birth time. He introduced me to Buddhism and set me on a path (though I was unaware at the time), that profoundly changed my destiny.
Even a rare fortune teller may predict some of your fate, nobody can change your fate but yourself.
As explained in Who am I , being connected to your consciousness is critical for affecting your fate.
If you have never been aware of your consciousness, your life so far resembles the falling leaves, carried by the wind on autopilot without a driver.
Why Everybody Has a Different Fate? The autopilot driving our fate is the forces in the universe. Your consciousness carries energy history accumulated from your past, in Buddhism terms this energy history carried from the past is called Karma, which determines your fate. Starting from the point you were born, up to this moment, you are adding to your Karma with every single thought and action.
Control your mind to change your Destiny. Positive thoughts add positive energy to your Karma, and vice versa. Since your brain has been programed by your past and present experiences, you have been following your fate. However, you can change your destiny by start using your consciousness, filling your mind with positive thoughts.
Changing destiny is as simple as changing your thoughts, but doing is more difficult than saying. If you want to control your own fate by changing your thoughts, proceed to How to change destiny? to learn to drive your own destiny!
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