Awakening of Intelligence 2

Down with flu the last few days and low energy level in dealing with the daily routine of no routine. Doing nothing and being nothing is not as easy s it may seem and as a matter of fat it seems much easier to be doing something or at least make it looks like i am. So what is the problem here? What is it that is not working or what is suppose to be be working when one decides to take on the idea of doing nothing? Nothing! yes by right nothing, not-a-thing. But here it is everything is happening and all at once or so it seems. How does one describe the perimeters of 'doing nothing' or being nothing'? Perhaps this whole exercise is a futile attempt at nothing and there is no answers to the issues as there is no way of drawing the lines as to when or how one goes about being nothing. Unless someone yells at you, " You are good for nothing!" perhaps that is a good place to start. 
When you have looked deep enough within and come to realize a little of how your mind works in relation to your everyday activities, your relationships and your assumptions of what life is all about, you begin to see that you are living everyone else's life on top of your own and you cannot escape from doing so. This is perhaps the significance of the Bodhisatva vows whereby you swore to awaken with all beings and that you swore to overcome all delusions for the benefit of all mankind. Finding peace and harmony for oneself is not the end but just the beginning of the journey of a 'meditator'. Humanity is in need of a healing power that can eradicate so much of the Universal suffering that is presently infesting the planet that, to find peace and solace, comfort and joy for one's self alone is of no significance or benefit to mankind. When humanity itself has learned to sit and meditate upon its own self healing process then and only then can we find peace for all or make headway at least towards healing this planet that is on the verge of entering another dark age, darker than ever before.
To be able to enter into the sphere of collective consciousness where the collective mind can project simpleminded positive  healing energy to counter the plague that is infesting humanity one needs to be able to be totally absorbed in silence where only consciousness prevails. In this state of being here in the moment absolutely present is like being a reed that is hollow or a conduit that is free to allow any form of energy or current to flow through it without any resistance. No blockage, no veils, no masks, only pure being and for this to happen one has to have mastered a certain amount of ability to sit in silent meditative state. It takes some doing and never too late to begin for anyone can do it given the desire and mindfulness to take it on. Man has to clear his head from all the clutter that he has accumulated through all forms of conditioning since the day he was able to say Mama or Dada. We all go to the grave with our heads full of ideas of who we thought we were yelling and screaming to our last breath that we were framed! Conditioned! Trapped in bondage towards serving all the demigods of Greed, Hate and Ignorance. Only very few made the effort to free themselves from this bondage, the Buddhas and the Prophets, the Saints and the Sages and lately some Scientists, Artists  and philosophers are joining in calling for the awakening of Humanity's Collective Consciousness.

The Four Sublime States - Loving Kindness.

Loving Kindness is in this day and age is a very rare commodity that is if one is fortunate enough to even come by, it is like seeking for a very valuable antique or digging for the greatest find in history. Loving Kindness is something not many care to even understand the significance of its meaning much less put it to practice. In my observation of the day to day activities of those around me i come to realize how far we have become such a self serving self aggrandizing and selfish individuals without even knowing it.
What is Loving Kindness?
The word chosen by the Buddha for this teaching is metta from mitta, a friend (or better "the true friend in need").Metta in the Buddha's teaching finds its place as the first of four kinds of contemplation designed to develop a sound pacific relationship to other living beings. The four are:metta, which will be rendered henceforward by "loving-kindness," karuna, which is "compassion" or "pity," mudita which is "gladness at others' success," and upekkha,which is "onlooking equanimity.
Metta (loving-kindness) is defined as follows: "Loving-kindness has the mode of friendliness for its characteristic. Its natural function is to promote friendliness. It is manifested as the disappearance of ill-will. Its footing is seeing with kindness. When it succeeds it eliminates ill-will. When it fails it degenerates into selfish affectionate desire."
Nanamoli Thera - 1994

It is commonly accepted in the West the fact that 'Money talks and bullshit walks.'One can elucidate all the higher principles of life, quote the ancients and reflect upon the masters teachings but if one is not of financial or fame standing in the community, nothing one share is acknowledge or even recognized and the as such the ancients' teaching is today falling on deaf ears like raindrops upon the lily pads. For that matter, how many people do really read anymore and especially reading such boring dry subjects like Loving Kindness or the Four Noble Truth. Even those who have been over the years striving for an understanding of these ancient teachings are beginning to waver and give up in their pursuit often discouraged and disillusioned. I have been a perhaps is still guilty of this often full of doubts and not having the will to forge forward my intended journey every time i am faced with a trial or tribulation. Perhaps age and my failing health has something to do with it but of late i feel like i am loosing ground in my progress towards better grasp of what the teachings are calling for.
What is it that I am expecting to find beyond what i already have? I am flip flopping from my practice letting my attention and awareness be taken over by external events and those i do really care about like my two children. I even tried to break from my promises to do nothing and accomplish nothing and decided to have a solo exhibition next month and even sent some of my works to be framed but i doubt i can afford it anymore as even the framing is too costly. So i am trapped again into making choices of doing something and accomplishing something with the hope that it will help me financially or help my children for that matter...I am getting myself sucked into the whirlwind of being busy again. I guess that is why they call it being in 'business'.  
What has all these got to do with Loving Kindness? Nothing really. I am just letting out my steam and no one has to read this boring personal crap but such is...even keeping my on going blog alive has become tedious as it is. However such is Loving kindness, to be doing something for the benefit of others even if it touches one heart or reader. Loving kindness is to give despite the fact that there is nothing more to give and giving has become a cliche. Loving kindness is overlooking the despair around you and striving to overcome your dull witted mind from regression and rebound yourself to greater heights so that you will not succumb to defeatism. Yes i may be down, but i am far from out. I may moan and groan over silly nothings this life has to throw at me but it does not mean I have to eat crap  and die.
To be able to bring a smile to a solemn and depressed person is an act of loving kindness. To share one's joy and success with those who have been downtrodden and despaired and elevate their condition is an act of loving kindness. To give a little when it is most needed without any thought or attachment to the giving in other words to give selflessly is an act of loving kindness. To feel empathy towards the suffering of others is an act of loving kindness and just to simply be there for someone when they most need you to be is an act of loving kindness. Your heart contains the universe within and without and there is plenty of room for you to share it with those who need to find solace in. 

The Cause of Pain.

What is Pain? What is physical, emotional or psychological and spiritual pain? Why do we suffer any single one form or another of these pains throughout our lives? Our parents suffer pain from the day we were born and so did we, we came into the world screaming and crying like our mother did; so why the pain? Nothing is more excruciatingly painful than a tooth ache some say while others felt the lose of their only child an unbearable pain. Being left out of the loop can be quite a painful experience for some while for others being spiritual poverty is a major pain. I am suffering from all of the above at one time or another every moment of my existence or so it seems. 
There is no sense anymore of trying to escape from this condition that i am trapped in as from much looking into and experiences i have had the more I try the less i find myself free from this condition. I realize a a certain point in my life that i need to trust in my own self realizations and work on finding my way out of this circle of Birth - Life and Death - Rebirth in my own being.All that I have learned and acquired through knowledge have led me to this moment in time to realize that if i stay my course as i see it I stand the chance of transcending this trap that is of no trap. There is no trap, none to be trapped and none to free from the trap; it is all part of the conditioning of the trap that I see a trap that is not there. When you are making the choice to swallow the Red or Blue Pill as in the matrix your are taking a leap of faith or selling your soul to the devil.  
It is fear that led you to have to make choices, to choose between what is best for your own survival or what is best for others, choices whether to believe in this God or the other One, choices between who to believe the Jews or the Arabs. Fear is the Key to your feeling trapped or is actually living in one. The fear of ending up in hell as opposed to heaven and the fear of the unknown that surrounds you when evening falls. Fear is the Controller and to understand what is fear listen to the talks by J.Krishnamurti on You Tube or a host of other Great minds on the subject. How does fear affect our mind when it comes to making choices?
"Conquer fear and i promise you , you will conquer death!" ..Alexander the Great at the battle of Gaugamela.
Deep down within our hearts and Soul we each and everyone of us feels that there is something more to than just me as I am. There is a higher order and there is a lower that governs our lives our very being, our choice is to make sure that we do not end up suffering even after this life is completed because we have been making the wrong choices. The we have just jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. Heaven or hell as in the Jewish - Christian and Islamic religions, the final Pari Nirvana or Complete and perfect Enlightenment of the Buddhas or the dispersal of every unit of cells and molecules that had comprised the human body into the Cosmic Consciousness of the Universe; pick your choice. Only through Right Understanding can we come to a realization for our own self and for that to happen one has to ask the simple question, Who Am I. Not finding the answer to this question is the cause of Pain. As I am, I suffer Pain...when the I is no more pain also vanish.

The Four Sublime States. - Compassion..

‘ Compassion’ is the most frequently occurring word in the Qur’an. Each of its 114 chapters, with the exception of the 9th, begins with the invocation ‘In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful…’ yet a great deal of the escalating violence and terrorism that we are living with today can be attributed to Muslims. How can we come to terms with this obvious contradiction?
The World Community of Christian meditation.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

Dalai Lama

Compassion is the ability to provide for a space in your heart for someone else to exist.

David Lueck, a fellow Dharma brother at green Gulch.

The second of the Four Sublime States of Mind is Compassion and not religion, belief or faith in the history of man is compassion not a Cardinal or Golden Rule for mankind. A man does not deserve to be called a Man if he does not hold compassion in his heart for his fellow beings. 
It is out of Compassion that revelations and teachings of great religions comes into being as a part and parcel of humanity's survival kit.
Every single being that walks, crawl swim or fly upon this earth was at one time your mother...The Dalai Lama.
How can we be cruel to or own mother? Why are we killing our Planet? When was the last time you grew a tree? 
" And with a little kindness, you'll overcome the blindness of the narrow minded people and their narrow minded ways..."

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.

Dalai Lama

At the heart of Muslim belief is the principal of tawhid or oneness. This oneness, or unity, has been described as that which dominates the mind in Islam, while the heart is intrinsically linked to the concept of compassion. “My Mercy encompasses all things” (Qur’an 7:156). “My mercy takes precedence over my anger” (hadith qudsi, a saying in which God speaks through the Prophet). Islam sees the sentiments of love and compassion, ‘com passio’ - the ability to feel with the other, as expressions of the interconnected oneness of all human beings, reflecting the oneness and unity of God.

Sheelah Treffle Hidden - London.

When the White settlers almost wiped out the 'Savages' of North America, there was very little Compassion being present at the time in history. Man was ruled by hate and greed. Only through acts of compassion can Karmic consequences be wiped out as only through patience can anger be pacified. I have not learned to become a master at any of these two virtues thus late in my life but i try to keep reminding myself that i am am Meditator, by practice and as such I am duty bound to strengthen my position when upholding compassion and patience.

M

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October 31 at 10:56pm · 

Magnifique, bravo l'Artiste!

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O Sol Negro - Livro

June 9 · Edited · 

How far or How near are we?

Posted:2/11/2015

So Bahari! Nanda Sena! Sam! Mamu! Uncle! Maca! Whatever you are called by these days, where are you at? Where is this moment in time and space are we at? Who are you? Where have you come from, where have you been and where exactly are you headed? Are we near or are we far from our final destination? Where is our final destination,; what is afterlife? How have you spent your lt of sixty odd years on this Planet? Fruitful? Worth you while? What have you learned from being here for that allotted time and space? What have we got to share between us and our fellow creatures, large and small, crawling and running, flying and swimming in our oceans by our having been here sharing all the comforts, joys, beauty and Love, sharing all the horrors of pain and suffering inflicted upon ourselves by ourselves ; what have you left us behind?
You have walked the sacred lands of the Apache Nation in the Gila National Monument, in Silver City, South of New Mexico on the borders of the Sonora Desert. Sat on in the nest of the Bald Eagle at the edge of, Sandpoint,  the middle of the Aleutian Chain. You who have braved the cold Alaskan winds and sat in meditation on top of pillar of rocks out in the Bering Sea, where are you at Now! 
For three years, I spent meat cutting, 9 - ten hours a day in a cold environment of below 45F where you can see your breath as you work, boning beef separating meat from bones, sometimes one hundred heads of cattle a day, for hamburger. I was working for Packerland Packing and Green Bay Meats and Cold Storage in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was the worst and the best of times in my life where i had a wife and a five-month-old baby to raise in a place I had just landed after having arrived all the way from Penang, Malaysia. Green Bay, Wisconsin, was a cold and Welcoming place I sat in at one time. I was there and I did that...and survived.

Where I have been and what i have done are all part and parcel of the past of who I am, and I can only keep looking back to share my stories...my path; getting myself to where I want to be. I have lived my life as closely according to my will as I could, and often I have let my ego override my sense of judgment. I let my head and not mu heart rule, and for these times in my life, I have paid and am still paying my dues accordingly, like having a divorce and letting go of my first son when i was living in Green Bay and being a meat cutter. If i have any regrets, this was one of them and it was as it should be. However, on a more positive note, my son is a Captain in the Emirates Fleet and his mother lives much better off than most in Germany. Not such a bleak ending for all, concern nothing that a little Love and Compassion cannot erase.
When I walked the empty streets (except for a few groups of tourists) of Pompei, Italy, on one cold, wet afternoon with the wind blowing from the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.Vesuvius, I came to a realization of who I am although that who I am is now no more...has become who I was. When I completed arranging a tray full of heavy Chinese Soup Bowls into the rack for washing, It turned into a White Lotus of a Thousand petals right before my eyes. I had a realization of who I am, and it was an awakening experience shared by two people, my Practice Instructor at the Green Gulch Zen Center and Myself. I looked up from the Lotus and stared right into his eyes behind thick glasses, and we bowed to each other as he mumbled, "Sometimes it happens!" I, who I am and this too is no more...has become who I was.
No, I have not done enough, worked hard enough to alleviate the cause of suffering in myself or my fellow beings. I have merely come to understand my purpose in life most recently, and even then, i am not fully clear as to what my Divine purpose in being who I am. I have learned to imitate the Masters or walk in their footsteps, I have listened to and followed in their footsteps, and i have sat before them and among them. I am who I am...and this too will pass... 

The Four Sublime States - Sympathetic Joy ( Mudita)

Sympathetic Joy (Mudita)

Not only to compassion, but also to joy with others open your heart!

Small, indeed, is the share of happiness and joy allotted to beings! Whenever a little happiness comes to them, then you may rejoice that at least one ray of joy has pierced through the darkness of their lives, and dispelled the gray and gloomy mist that enwraps their hearts.

Your life will gain in joy by sharing the happiness of others as if it were yours. Did you never observe how in moments of happiness men's features change and become bright with joy? Did you never notice how joy rouses men to noble aspirations and deeds, exceeding their normal capacity? Did not such experience fill your own heart with joyful bliss? It is in your power to increase such experience of sympathetic joy, by producing happiness in others, by bringing them joy and solace.

Let us teach real joy to men! Many have unlearned it. Life, though full of woe, holds also sources of happiness and joy, unknown to most. Let us teach people to seek and to find real joy within themselves and to rejoice with the joy of others! Let us teach them to unfold their joy to ever sublimer heights!

Noble and sublime joy is not foreign to the Teaching of the Enlightened One. Wrongly the Buddha's Teaching is sometimes considered to be a doctrine diffusing melancholy. Far from it: the Dhamma leads step by step to an ever purer and loftier happiness.

Noble and sublime joy is a helper on the path to the extinction of suffering. Not he who is depressed by grief, but one possessed of joy finds that serene calmness leading to a contemplative state of mind. And only a mind serene and collected is able to gain the liberating wisdom.

Sympathetic joy means a sublime nobility of heart and intellect which knows, understands and is ready to help.

Sympathetic joy that is strength and gives strength: this is the highest joy.

How does one feels sympathetic joy towards others when oneself cannot find the joy in being alive within oneself? 

In putting the practice of sympathetic joy to action the mind has to become quiet when in dealing with others otherwise it is almost impossible for it to happen. Sympathetic joy happens in relationship to others, your wife, your son your daughter, you brothers and sisters, cousins nieces and nephews, your neighbors and friends throughout the Internet connections all over the world; sympathetic joy means loving what others are doing, being and manifesting who they are. With a busy mind this is never easy as the busy mind likes to over indulge and mess up this virtue with analysis, judgement, comparisons and so forth, a busy mind cannot allow for others to be joyful so long as it is busy.

My son said to me, "Dad you always think you are right and everyone else is wrong, you do not allow me to talk. You talk of one small thing an you drag on to a whole range of issues..."I was hit by a loaded gun and fell flat on my butt not knowing what to feel. For once my son spoke up for himself which was great even if it was to lay it good on his father. So I said thank you and I am very happy that can speak for yourself, God bless your heart i feel free from my worry that you still have not grown up. What he said woke me up to the fact that i and my sons have drifted into our own adult hood and that my care for their well being is becoming irrelevant. In other words i cannot do much to help them anymore or that they do not need my help anymore or so they think. I will just have to keep an open mind.

God created man with two ears and one mouth, speak less and listen more was my lesson to be learned.

To be happy along with the rest of humanity in this day and age is a great miracle in itself for humanity id going through some heavy duty crap all over the Planet. But to be in sympathetic joy along with your children, your parents, friends and relatives, your co-workers is not a far fetched practice to adopt for the benefit of the well being of others. Listening with sympathetic ears is another strong practice for those who care to listen to the cries of suffering in the universe and the sound of a ukalilli or a mandolin floating gently in the airwaves of your mind. The Heart is a lonely hunter, it is often said and it does not have to be when your mind is silent the heart id filled with the vibes from around the universe, all you have to do is open you heart and allow for it to happen. When the heart is able to listen without any interruption or redefining or interpretation, judgement and so forth of the mind, no veils or disguises or any hidden agendas, then the healing of the soul happens.

  

  

Back to basics

Am at present dealing mostly with my daughter's karmic consequences in her work situation at the Merchant Hotel where she is on the verge of quitting for the second time. She had handed her resignation letter once before but it was rejected by her employers talking her into staying on. However now matters are getting worse or so it seems and she has shown signs of deep depression and burn out which is showing in her demeanor. Yes, i told her yesterday it is time to move on in her career as this present one is becoming detrimental to her health. Never do what your heart rebels against doing for all the money in the world, it is a waste of you time at the end of the day. 
My daughter is a rebel who is bound and determined to stand on her feet and not work under an employer, she sees herself as her own boss. I have been trying to make her believe that all that she is going through is part and parcel of being a boss in training. She has had some of the best teachers even if a few were dick heads and ass holes, they make the best teachers sometimes cause they help to bring out the worse in you and you learn best when you are at your worse. But maybe it is time for her to embark upon her own journey of self discovery through her destined career. I assured her that i am right behind her no matter what she chooses to do with her life. As a matte of fact i am proud of her determination and her feisty spirit not to take any crap from no matter who. Now I am beginning to see myself in her and how i can help by simply being aware and supportive of her decisions no matter if they seem negative or would have a negative impact for her especially financially. 
I really don't know  how of what to say to her that would empower her to face all these trials she is facing but I know that I can stand by her in Love, not just because she is my daughter but also because i have just realized how Love is the answer to all in Honesty.
I have no idea where it will all lead to for her and for myself, but I will be as honest in dealing with what may come and accept whatever is destined for us. In the meantime there is a good movie to go to with Vin Diesel I think called "The Last Witch Hunter." And a pizza to go along with should be okay. 

The Four Sublime States of Mind - Right Equanimity (Upekkha)

Right Equanimity;
Upekkhā (in devanagari: ऊपेक्खा; Sanskrit: उपेक्षा), is the Buddhist concept of equanimity. As one of the Brahma Vihara (meditative states), it is a pure mental state cultivated on the Buddhist path to nirvāna. ..Wikipedia.

It is evenness of mind, unshakeable freedom of mind, a state of inner equipoise that cannot be upset by gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Upekkha is freedom from all points of self-reference; it is indifference only to the demands of the ego-self with its craving for pleasure and position, not to the well-being of one's fellow human beings."

Thich Nhat Hanh says (in The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, p. 161) that the Sanskrit word upekshameans "equanimity, nonattachment, nondiscrimination, even-mindedness, or letting go.Upa means 'over,' and iksh means 'to look.' You climb the mountain to be able to look over the whole situation, not bound by one side or the other."
Thich Nhat Hanh says that Buddhist equanimity includes the ability to see everyone as equal. "We shed all discrimination and prejudice, and remove all boundaries between ourselves and others," he writes. "In a conflict, even though we are deeply concerned, we remain impartial, able to love and to understand both sides. [The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, p. 162]." 

Another Pali word that is translated into English as "equanimity" is tatramajjhattata, which means "to stand in the middle." Gil Fronsdal says this "standing in the middle" refers to a balance that comes from inner stability; remaining centered when surrounded by turmoil.

The Buddha taught that we are constantly being pulled in one direction or another by things or conditions we either want or hope to avoid. These include praise and blame, pleasure and pain, success and failure, gain and loss. The wise person, the Buddha said, accepts all without approval or disapproval.

Here, monks, a disciple dwells pervading one direction with his heart filled with equanimity, likewise the second, the third and the fourth direction; so above, below and around; he dwells pervading the entire world everywhere and equally with his heart filled with equanimity, abundant, grown great, measureless, free from enmity and free from distress.

— Digha Nikaya 13

There are days if not moments in my life when i am doing nothing but wasting my life and all these efforts of keeping an on going record of my practice is nothing but a form of self justification and truly nothing has really changed for the better or worse. I keep stumbling into potholes of doubts and depressions and making the grave errors of comparing myself to others who I see as leading a more profitable and meaningful life. These moments of deviation from my chosen path of practice occurs more often as i get older and more committed into the practice or so it seems. However it is mostly occurring in my mind in the forms of thoughts and not so much as in what I experience externally or physically which at times baffles me especially when things happens according to how I had foreseen it happening in my mind. I find that being patient is also the key that can make things happen the way one has envisioned it to be as opposed to trying or making an effort for it to happen.

Small somewhat in significant episodes takes place that is not worth relating her but none the less happened and I was aware of it and how it is connected to my practice or so I think have triggered some positive reflection upon the validity of my practice, that something is beginning to happen, something out of the ordinary although small but still significant. When this happens I feel a little more uplifted am motivated to move forward with what I am doing. I will never split the sea or walk through fire as result of my practice but the fact that I am not as angry or judgmental over others or the fact that I feel a sense of freedom about being myself is more than i can bargain for.
No doubt my mind still is as busy as a bee whenever i am lax or not consciously aware of my being like waking up from my sleep or after chatting with my friends or relatives if and when I needed to. My mind still clings on to its chatty state of analyzing, judging, accusing and praising until I have to sit to slow it down; it is still subjected to attachment. But I am getting a better handle on it or so it seems of late and am able to tone it down or bring it to become quiet if not still while dropping off al the unnecessary gossips it had attached itself to.
Perhaps i have arrived at being able to stand in the middle of it all, like being in the eye of the storm instead of being sucked by its turbulence in the periphery. Perhaps unknowingly i am approaching the state of equanimity not fully but perhaps to a very small degree whereby i can stand and watch how my mind works within and without, without being attached to what I am experiencing.My doubtful mind still resist from making a full acceptance of this beautiful feeling of being in a state of 'semi-detached', but i still am convinced enough that with a little more perseverance I will be free from my doubts.
        

IKIGAI - The Reason to Live.

Tomi Nagai-Rothe shared Paweł Rewucki's photo.

10 hrs · 

‎Paweł Rewucki‎ to Philosophy

September 29 at 8:50am · 

Ikigai is a Japanese concept meaning "a reason to get up in the morning", that is, a reason to enjoy life.

Everyone, according to the Japanese, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self. Such a search is regarded as being very important, since it is believed that discovery of one's ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life.

The word "ikigai" is usually used to indicate the source of value in one's life or the things that make one's life worthwhile. Secondly, the word is used to to refer to mental and spiritual circumstances under which individuals feel that their lives are valuable. It's not necessarily linked to the economic status or today state of things. Even if a person feels that today's dark, but has a goal, he may feel ikigai. Behaviours that make one feel ikigai are not actions which individuals are forced to take - these are natural and spontaneous actions.

The term "ikigai" is composed of two Chinese characters : iki and kai. Iki refers to life and kai is a suffix meaning roughly "the realisation of what one expects and hopes for."

People can feel ikigai only when on the basis of personal maturity, the satisfaction of various desires, love and happiness, encounters with others, and a sense of the value of life, they proceed towards self-realization.

Adapted from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai

More at theviewinside.me/what-is-your-ikigai

As one matures into adulthood having passed through the various phases of growth as a human being, one learns to accumulate eclectically what is worth taking and letting go of what is not of value to one's growth. For a spiritually awakening soul the discrimination between holding on to and letting go of becomes more and more acute with age and development and understanding of the spiritual practice. Unless one is gifted with instant wisdom or insight, like most people we will have to go through the whole process of spiritual growth like one has done in one's schooling or education and upon finally graduating from some higher studies one becomes a master at something or other and with this expertise one is called to put to use what one has learned for the benefit of others.
Th same is true if one is a spiritual practitioner, one becomes more and more of a servant to humanity as one grows in knowledge and wisdom, to serve mankind by elevating their suffering by liberating them from their ignorant views of life. One becomes a teacher directly or indirectly sharing one's accumulated wisdom and applying it by 'skillful means' to help others free from their delusions. There are those who qualified to give physical administration to elevate suffering such as dentists and doctors, shamans and midwives, these after having put their livelihood in order can devote their time and expertise in serving the poor and needy; this is the Bodhisatva virtue that most Mahayana Buddhist aspire to.
    

Awakening of Intelligence in practicice.

Antares Maitreya shared Antares Maitreya's photo.

2 hrs · Edited · 

Thank you, Monsieur Bergson. Powerful observation indeed.

Antares Maitreya

To really be in the moment, to taste and touch life in its ever present space and time there must not be a veil in between the observer and the observed. Remove the shroud from your perception, your senses and be in the presence of consciousness itself, become the observed. The only way to achieve this state of consciousness is through absolute silence of the mind, through no agitation in the mental state where consciousness becomes blurry from affected external vexations and conditioning. It is like the mirror image of the pond when a pebble in thrown into the water it causes ripples and distorting the mirror image of the surrounding scene. For so long as the pond is undisturbed the reflection of the surrounding area appears upon the surface of the water as it is, but when the water is disturbed the image becomes distorted.
How to remain in constant  state of complete awareness is the mystery that most spiritually awakened people strive to master. Observing daily life without distortion of the mind is a tough act to follow but it is far from impossible as the ancient adepts, Rishis and Yogis, have proven in their lifetime of faith and devotion to practice and mastery of working of the mind. Stepping out of the box of conditioning is no easy feat but through understanding and diligent practice we can find our own way to the truth. Most teachings have disciplines leading to right understanding in the journey of self discovery and it takes some doing and often intense study for the mind to be subdued and brought to be silent. 
One of the best teachings of the Vajrayana Buddhism or the Tibetan form of Buddhism is the discourse given on Nagarjuna's Text by Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche which is available on You Tube. In this lecture given in Berkeley, California, the essence of the Buddha's teachings is spelled out for lay practitioners and Monks alike, it is well delivered and covers a great amount of information leading to the attainment of Bodhicita -

Bodhicitta is a spontaneous wish to attain enlightenment motivated by great compassion for all sentient beings, accompanied by a falling away of the attachment to the illusion of an inherently existing self.
I have shared as much as possible whatever knowledge that i have had the privilege of coming across in my own personal pursuit of self discovery ever since I understood what it meant. As my own personal knowledge is never complete and is more often then not are from sources not of my own original thoughts words or deeds, i employ quotes and teachings of others that deem most effective to follow or best convey what i have in mind. It is my hope that by doing so anyone interested to further their study in these matters have an idea of where or what to look at and in doing so might even venture to discover more sources for themselves.

The Internet is a God given miracle of miracles to man. For those who live in this dimension, this day and age, this matrix that we call the End of Time, the Kali Yuga, the Dharma Ending Age, al-Khiyamah; have to a certain degree have an understanding of the basic truth that governs our human consciousness, that we are not helpless beings waiting to be taken to the slaughter  house at the end of our days. Collective we have the ability to harness the knowledge and the wisdom afforded us from the ancient till this day of the computerized existence. To die in ignorance and to be reborn in Hell or some heavy karmic realm of existence is not and option. Mankind for whatever it is worth and whatever fault we may have deserves better ending than just subjected to wars and decadence; we have Consciousness, of Love and Compassion and we have Wisdom, if only we are awakened to them.
"Suffering is the utter ability to see the immense potential quality of a human being and yet never having the possibility to put it into practice."
...Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche.