What does your heart reflect?

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Look at the wondrous picture: after a spring rainfall, a lot of raindrops left on the leaves and flowers. In each of several crystal raindrops reflected a whole beautiful daisy, magnifying the refreshing beauty of the delicate blossoms.

After a rain, the meadow is greener; the air is fresher; the sky is bluer; and perchance there is a rainbow highlighting the sky. Without a rainstorm, how can we appreciate a magnificent rainbow?

Wind and rain are natural phenomena, just as ups and downs are inevitable in life. After the rain, a raindrop reflected a beautiful daisy; after adversity, what left in our heart?

During the past several years, I read extensively from a lot of writers and bloggers. The writers teaching people how to overcome depression ever endured depression; the writers coaching people how to rise above poverty ever lived through poverty; the writers telling people to be strong and kind ever encountered financial problem and social difficulty. The bad situations make them stronger, kinder and gentler. Disruption can be turned into the light of a new day.

Each of us is a unique expression of life; our individual choice has greater effect than we know; the peace within us creates peace in the world; the beauty within us breeds beauty in the world.

Maintaining inner harmony takes patience, hope and love. Our inside world can have impact on the outside world. Remember to be kind, generous, loving and grateful.

Ask yourselves what your heart reflects? What ripple effect do you generate in the ocean of life?

Master Our Emotion

I read this story from a book for kids, but I think the wisdom is deep enough for any adult. In the African prairie, an intrepid wild horse can often be killed by a tiny bat. When a bat attacks a horse, it attaches to a leg of the horse, and then pricks into the horse skin with its sharp teeth and sucks blood from the horse. However hard the horse runs and jumps, it cannot get rid of the bat. The horse can be exhausted to death by raging, running and bleeding. Scientists analyzed the situation and concluded that the small volume of blood loss can’t kill a horse; actually, the horse dies of its uncontrolled fury and wild running.

Usually, we allow the outside events to take charge of our emotions, to stifle our wisdom and to control our reactions. We are not hurt by the other people, but by our own anger, hatred, anxiety or fear. If we lose tempers, we lose our concentration and wisdom; hence, we can’t judge well and react properly. Our uncontrolled emotion can eat us alive. We had better master our emotions and keep calm in any situation so that we can protect ourselves unharmed.

Some researchers believe spiritual living can lead to emotional freedom. Likewise, in Buddhism, as you reach the realm of enlightenment, you can be unmoved by eight kinds of circumstances: - fortune, misfortune, slander, honor, insult, praise, hardship and happiness. If you don’t have right control of your emotion, the good situations can make you go wild with joy and the bad situations can make you feel infuriated or mortified, and then you will become vulnerable. Either good or bad situations can become hindrances.

Slander and insults are most intolerable things for most people. Zen advises people not to dispute or debate when slandered. Being slandered or insulted is helping you eliminate your karmic obstacles and slanderers are collecting their own negative karma. The more you are insulted, the more you are blessed. To remain unmoved by slander is deep concentration and is the revelation of wisdom. It may not be enjoyable, but it is helpful. I think it works sometimes, but you have the right to fight back by resorting to law to get just dues.

As my understanding, to control our emotion means to keep our peace of mind undisturbed and to stick with our principle and belief system at any circumstance. Some people can be mean-spirited and narrow-minded, we can still be kind and fair; some people can be spiteful and slanderous, we can still be warm-hearted and reasonable; some people can play tricks, we can still be generous and graceful.

If we can maintain an undisturbed mind and be our true self unconditionally, we are close to emotional freedom. An emotional mature and strong person is reliable and likable. As James Allen said, “The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.”

Zen and Meditation

Did you reminisce your past and worry about your future so much that you couldn’t live at present and enjoy life? Did you feel so miserable and aimless that you couldn’t focus at the moment and achieve nothing? I did.

Zen tells us not to dwell on the unchanged past, not to worry about the unknown future, but to focus at the moment, the only thing we can control and make use of is today. It is crucial to live well today.

Sometimes we feel miserable and unfocused because we have too many illusory and wandering thoughts. Meditation is a practical way to obtain a peaceful and quiet mind. When the mind is tranquil, we will reach a state of relaxation or awareness, wisdom will naturally arise.

How to meditate?

1. Wear loose, comfortable clothing, so that you can breathe easily and feel physically free.
2. Find a quiet and relaxing place. It is essential to find a place without distractions and noisy appliances. If you want to play music, only silent and soothing music is allowable.
3. Sit in a comfortable position. There are several leg positions, such as lotus position, half lotus position, and so on. I don’t follow this strictly. Sit in a way you feel comfortable, either on the floor or on the chair, keep your back straight, close your eyes and relax.
4. Breathe deeply, slowly and evenly. Close your mouth, begin inhaling deeply and exhaling gently, put your attention on your breath. When your mind wanders, return your attention to the breath (or to the counting).
5. Focus on one thing, i.e. the feeling of joy. When you breathe in, you think about joy, the joy of being alive, the joy of breathing, the joy of seeing, and the joy of hearing.
6. Calm and clear the mind. Focus on your breath and your body, relax all your muscles. Get rid of all the wandering thoughts, have a pure and lucid mind.
7. Set yourself a minimum time (at least ten to fifteen minutes) that you want to meditate and try to abide by the minimum.
8. Be consistent. Meditate regularly, generate the automatic meditation response, try going to deep concentration each time, and within a week you'll start having deeper meditation.

Our life can be cluttered with material objects and stresses; meditation can bring us inner peace and bring us back to our true selves. Compose ourselves; our peace and serenity are untouched by the ups and downs of life.

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Happiness is Everywhere

Zhuangzi and Huizi were sauntering along the dam of the Hao waterfall.
Zhuangzi said, “The minnows swim freely and play at ease in the water – they truly enjoy.”

Huizi asked, “You are not fish - how do you know that fish enjoy?”
Zhuangzi rejoined, “You are not me. How do you know that I do not know that fish enjoy?”

It is a famous debate in Chinese philosophy. I would like explain it in this way: You are not me - how do you know that I do not enjoy my time watching the fish swim? You are not me, you can’t judge my happiness. Happiness is a self definition.

When you are in good mood, you think everything is happy, swimming fish, flying birds, running dogs, playing kids and more. When you smile, the world smiles back to you; when you are happy, you transmit frequency of happiness around.

Happiness comes from peace of mind. How hard the outside world is, with peace of mind, you can take the tense situation calmly, drinking a cup of tea, reading an uplifting book, and listening soothing music, taking pleasure in a quiet moment. Keep cool you will win through.

Happiness comes from generosity. Be broad-minded towards others, be kindhearted to the needed, and be tolerant to the different. Spend less time on criticizing others, more time on improving oneself.

Happiness consists in contentment. Either being rich or being poor, either staying home or travelling, enjoy what you have, proactively develop yourself for better. Feel grateful for people who ever help you and show your true appreciation. A contented mind is a perpetual feast.

To smile or not to smile is an attitude. Happiness is in your heart; happiness is everywhere.

Helping Others Is Helping Yourself

In a dark night after rain, there were no moon or stars, a nonlocal walked carefully on a narrow and winding alley, and saw a spot of yellow light come closer and closer. Finally, the nonlocal saw clearly that it was a blind old man holding a walking stick in one hand and a lantern in the other hand. He asked with surprise,

“Sir, why do you hold a lantern? It is useless for you.”

“Though I am unable to see, by lighting up the road, the other people can see me so as to avoid me.” The blind man replied.

The nonlocal nodded, “Right. I was bumped into twice on the dark road, but I can easily avoid you.”

The enlightenment from this story: Lighting up the road for others is lighting up the road for yourself; if you make things easy for others, it will also offer convenience to yourself; helping others is helping yourself.

In the competitive world, we may think if we help others we will harm ourselves, but the truth is that humans are interdependent and can only obtain sufficiency working as a community. We survive better by supporting and complementing each other.

You help one person and plant love in his heart, he may help someone else and so on and so on. You hurt one person, he may hurt someone else and so on and so on. Do you want to live in a world full of love and kindness or full of hatred and violence?

You can make the world a warmer place by sharing your love, kindness and wealth. You can make the world a happier place by sharing your humor, artworks and sense of beauty. You can make the world a better place by sharing your knowledge and skills with someone else.

Helping others can reduce your stress, bring you happiness and boost your self-esteem, eventually improve your mental health. Helping others bring good feelings to the giver and the receiver of the good deeds.

We are committed to a world where I win, you win, others win and the Earth wins.

Words, Mirror of Heart

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There was a famous poet and politician called Su Dongpo, who befriended with a monk called Foyin. They enjoyed time together and occasionally battled of wits with each other. One day, they sat still practicing meditation. After a while, Su opened his eyes and asked Foyin,

“What do I look like sitting in meditation?”

“You look like a poised Buddha.” Foyin took a look and praised with nodding.

Su was pleased. Foyin asked in reply, “How do you think about me?”

“You look like bullshit.” Su teased Foyin intentionally.

Foyin smiled and put his palms together continuing meditation.

After Su returned home, he told his sister proudly,

“I poked fun at Monk Foyin today.”

After she learned the whole story, she laughed at Su,

“Foyin has Buddha in his mind, so he sees everything as Buddha; you have bullshit in your heart, so you see everything as bullshit. Foyin wins with more cultivation.”

We not only use our eyes watching the world, but also use our heart perceiving it. Our heart colors our view and our view reflects our mindset.

The internationally renowned inspirational author Wayne Dyer ever said, "When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself."

When a person makes judgment about another, it reveals more the speaker’s morality and personality, fair or unfair, biased or open-minded, kind or mean, decent or obscene. Also, from one’s assumptions of others’ life and activities, we can tell that person’s moral standard, inner being, and hidden desires.

Words are mirror of one’s heart.

Stories of Zen

Help Yourself

A man was troubled by the hardship of life, so he went to a temple, kneeled down, worshipped a Buddha, and prayed with a string of beads in his hand.

Afterwards, he noticed the Buddha was praying with a string of beads in his hand, too. He was bewildered.

A master in the temple said, “You ask the Buddha for help, but the Buddha has his own trouble, too. He has to help himself first.”

Asking for help is no better than helping yourself first.


Gift


A Zen master met a man on his journey, who disliked the Zen master and tried all his means to insult the master.


Finally, the Zen master turned to the man and asked, “If someone wants to give you a gift, but you refuse to accept it, then who owns the gift?”


The man replied, “It still belongs to that person who intends to give me the gift.”


The Zen master smiled, “Right. Likewise, if I don’t accept your insults, you are insulting yourself.”


A Tea Cup


A student went to visit a Zen master for Zen philosophy. The Zen Master asked the student to sit at a table and he prepared tea for him. The student was very talkative and he told the master he knew a lot of ancient classics.

The master poured tea into the tea cup until it was full; however, he continued to pour tea into the cup. Tea flowed out from the cup to the table, dropped off from the edge and wetted the student’s clothes.


The student watched the master pouring the tea, and shouted, “It is overflowing. Don’t pour again.”


“You are like this cup, full of your own opinions and thoughts.” The master said, “If you don’t empty yourself first, how can I teach you Zen?”


The Light of Comprehension


When studying the Buddhism scripture, a student asked his master, “You described the pure land; I can’t see it, how can I believe it?”


The master led the student to a dark room and said, “There is a hammer at the corner of the room.”


The student opened his eyes wide and then narrowed his eyes; however hard he tried he couldn’t see anything in the deep darkness.


The master lit a candle, for sure, there was a hammer at the corner of the wall.

That you can’t see it doesn’t mean that it does not exist. You have to light the lamp in your heart to vision the pure land.