negative – A Value Creating Life

Power of thoughts

June 7, 2013 Creative BuddhaLeave a comment

The power of the mind has been in the news this week a lot- from Indian mystic who claims to have lived on ‘cosmic energy’ harnessed by the power of the mind for 70 years (yes, 70 years!) to the volunteers at the University of Minnesota who managed to fly model helicopters through hoops using the power of thoughts (you can see it on youtube if you like).

What many new age thinkers have been saying based on age old traditional wisdom, has now been proved scientifically. Buddhism talks about the one-ness of mind and body and for too long, mind and body have been treated separately by medical practitioners and science. So it is worth looking into what we have been thinking when we fall ill- did we have negative thoughts about ourselves or for others? Does a particular food or surrounding trigger off negative emotions or depression? How does lack of exercise make you feel?

While it is not always practical to remove ourselves from negative environments or people, we can limit their presence and as soon our interaction with them is over, we can send out positive thoughts to them and ourselves. I did that recently with a woman I met on the street- although I initially felt angry at what she said to me, as I walked on, I continued to smile and send her smiles as well. I had the most amazing day!

As Daisaku Ikeda says- “One thing is certain: That is that the power of belief, the power of thought, will move reality in the direction of what we believe and conceive of it. If you really believe you can do something, you can. That is a fact.” I truly believe this now. So do start using this from now on- it may be the best thing you have done for yourself and for others!

Inspiration

June 6, 2013 Creative BuddhaLeave a comment

At one of the train stations I use, one of men working there has been putting up inspirational quotes every day on the notice board. The quote today was particularly apt for women who want to change themselves in order to attract a partner. This quote from Wilson Kanadi, a modern ‘twitterer’, said- “You might not think that you are not worthy. But I guarantee you that there is someone out there who thinks you are.” To which I have added another one from Wilson Kanadi- “If you have choices, choose the best. If you have no choice, do the best.” Many times we, particularly women settle for the second best, thinking that nothing good will happen or who would want me, etc. Those negative thoughts have these exact outcomes as ’cause and effect’, i.e. we meet potential partners and nothing good happens or we don’t even meet them. So I am trying to positive from now on, keeping those thoughts in mind constantly.

Good luck, bad luck, who knows?

May 1, 2013 Creative BuddhaLeave a comment

I read this parable a long time ago in a book edited by Mark Tully. The name of the book escapes me but I remember the parable so well. In that book, it was attributed to a Chinese man but on the Internet, I have seen it attributed to Jewish, African, Indian and other cultures- perhaps it is universal. It goes like this-

There once lived a farmer who owned a horse. He had a son. One day, the farmer’s horse ran away. The neighbours came to console him on his bad luck. But the farmer said, “Good luck, bad luck- who knows?”

After a few days, the farmer’s horse came back with other wild horses. Now, the neighbours were slightly jealous and said, “You are so lucky- this is such a good thing!” But the farmer said again,”Good luck, bad luck- who knows?”

The next day, the farmer’s son fell off while trying to tame one of the new horses and broke his leg. The neighbours came over to commiserate, “Your only son has broken his leg. Now you don’t have anyone to help you- what bad luck!” The farmer said again,”Good luck, bad luck- who knows?”

Soon came the news that a war had broken out and all young men needed to be conscripted into the army. However due to his broken leg, the farmer’s son could not be drafted. His neighbours remarked enviously, “How lucky! Your son won’t get killed or maimed in battle.”

As usual, the farmer replied, “Good luck, bad luck- who knows?”

Who knows what happened to the farmer or his son after that. But what is clear is that the farmer had great wisdom and did not get carried away by immediate things. This parable shows that life, luck and things happen to everyone and everything has its positive and negative. Sometimes our short sightedness does not allow us to judge the long term effects.

John F Kennedy said in 1959 that the Chinese word for ‘crisis’ has two characters- one for danger and one for opportunity.

Although some experts believe that the second character means ‘crucial point’, I like that even better- the idea that danger brings one to a ‘crucial point’ in life- one where choices are very important if you want to keep following your heart. That crucial point is when you view everything as a positive.

And sometimes we can turn anything that happens to us into a good thing over time!