1) The real test is in the real world.
“It is very simple to be simple minded when you are alone…But that doesn’t mean that you have changed or transformed. The real test is in the real world. So, never leave the world—change yourself. It is very easy to change the circumstances but that is not the real thing—change your consciousness.”
This pretty much speaks for itself—it’s a nice reminder that we don’t have to be a lonely, meditating hermit sitting in silence in order to meditate. You don’t need to go on expensive retreats in faraway places. In fact, the opposite circumstances are true. In the chaos of everyday life is often when we need awareness the most.
2) Meditation is compassion for others.
“Whenever you meditate, surrender all that you’ve earned to the universe. If you are blissful, pour it back into the universe—don’t carry it as a treasure. If you are feeling happy, share it immediately—don’t become attached to it. Otherwise your meditation itself will become a new process of the self, and the ultimate meditation is a process of getting more into un-self, non-self.”
This is a great lesson on both non-attachment as well as compassion. Meditation can be healing, but its ultimate goal is love. What is the point in love and happiness if we cannot share it with the world?
3) Don’t judge thoughts.
“Awareness is not a fight. Awareness is neither accepting nor rejecting. When we accept, we indulge, when we reject, we repress. Buddha says, don’t accept, don’t reject—just be alert, just see. Look, with no prejudice for or against.”
This truly changed the way I thought about and practiced meditation. It helped to eliminate some of that struggle I felt when acknowledging my thoughts, especially negative ones. I would scold myself for certain thoughts and praise myself for others. But instead, to simply acknowledge them as thoughts was enough to let them go.
4) Trust others
“Trust people, because people are nothing but a manifestation of the universe, a manifestation of the universal soul. When you share with somebody, in fact you are sharing with the whole—because everybody is a manifestation of the whole.”
This is a good meditation to ease anxiety. Trust is important to take with us no matter where we go or who we’re with. Though things may not go as my ego wished—I trust it’ll still be ok.
5) Don’t take anything too seriously.
“Try to understand the word ‘faith’ does not mean ‘belief’. Belief is dogma…Faith is personal; Belief is theoretical, conceptual. Faith is like love—you fall in faith as you fall in love…it is a conviction, a personal conviction. It is not an argument, it is not theology—it is a love affair.”
This is an important reminder not to get bogged down in theory, ideas, and beliefs. To have faith is to trust in the power of love and kindness.
