Lucky me, just yesterday I could attend a teaching by Lama Kelzang. “How to train your mind?” and “How to get a good friendship with the mind?” were his initial questions. According to Lama Kelzang, our mind is funny or even interesting. It’s like a camera, it takes many pictures. Maybe, it’s even like a CCTV, always active on a subtle level, even in our sleep.
If our mind takes nice pictures, we are in peace. If our mind is overloaded we get crazy and suffer. Craziness or harmony, peace or bullshit; it’s the mind which picks between suicide or Buddha.
How can we be more stabilized? How do we become best friends with our mind? First, it’s about compassion. Second, we need wisdom. When we are more balanced, we transform ourselves in a more relaxed person. So how do we get there?
Through formal and informal meditation, we give a full education to our mind. Yes, there are many methods. Think of a potato. You can cook it, make French fries, salad or chips from it. But at the end, it’s a potato. When you are more relaxed, you have more compassion with you, your surroundings and even with your sickness. Oh and don’t smile, when you don’t feel like it!
Compassion is no theory. Remember: “Anger is really painful!” If you transform your angry mind, which is most probably full of fears, into compassion, something can change. “This anger is really important for me right now!” Sounds strange? Maybe, but this can also be a starting point for your journey of compassion, your very own compassion project.
Imagine yourself like a network hub of compassion. The more you open, the more you can send out. “When you are stronger, your lines get stronger!” When we suffer, everybody else suffers; our partner, our friends and family. How can we recharge our compassion battery?
“How many people work for one potato to get it on your plate?” Everybody is contributing a lot. Think like; everybody wants to support you! Everybody? What do you do with the person who throws bad words at you? Ask yourself: what’s my weak point?
If you manage to remove the borders around you, the more you become like at home. And you relax, when you are home.
Compassion alone is already a fine thing. If you team it up with wisdom, you rock! With wisdom, you have compassion at the right moment which is very effective. “Wisdom we need. And clarity.” Remember: everybody wants to benefit to you. So how do we apply wisdom?
“No judgment, no expectations, no conception.”
Remember the shouting person? After the loud acoustic waves did hit you, go into your room, sit down, relax and say “wow”. Hint from Lama Kelzang; if you can’t go into “your room”, e.g. at work, go to the toilet and lock the door. Wisdom is knowing clearly. If you are right into an emotional discussion, it’s very hard to say, who is right or wrong. Remember: “Only you go with YOUR ideas.” Try to give up anything and just see what is happening (at least for a moment).
Here’s a tiny summary, how to rest your mind:
- Compassion: Everybody is a supporter for you.
- Wisdom: Don’t take them for too real.
- Network: nothing is separate from me. It’s a connected network.
“When it’s all so easy, why do we do it wrong all the time?” The answer is: Habit. Meditation on the one side and everyday life on the other side have to come together. We fail, that’s normal. If we start with 1% meditation in our everyday life and slowly increase it to 2, 3, 4, 5% – we experience more peace and more harmony. Nobody can steal it!
“Why are there so many meditation techniques?” Having only one meditation technique would make us crazy. Imagine: one doctor would have the same patient for 10 hours a day. Crazy! Finally, become a deeper explorer. If meditation techniques 1, 2, 3, 4 did not work, go out and get some fresh air!
Thanks Lama Kelzang. Namaste!
