Tag: meditation

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So She Died

Lost tree picture by Chris Remspecher in 2012.So She Died.

About a year ago I wrote about ”žyour problems“. It’s been a year with many ups and downs. And a few weeks back, she died at the age of 34. One of her last sentences was “Please,  don”™t forget me”.

Every time some buddy (somebody…) you know checks out unexpectedly, you have another chance to reflect about your own life:

“The past is gone, the future is uncertain. What do you do with your remaining time?” Buddhist saying

At that time she died, my life was very busy and I had to postpone my reflections about her early check-out. One thing though, was very clear to me: I wanted to buy a hourglass to constantly remind me of the floating nature of time. And to make sure I really get one, I told several good people about it. Jen from Moscow told me, she even has one which works upside down, what is really ZEN to me for various reasons.

Time flies and 7 weeks later, I still haven’t bought a sand glass. Sounds like a mission for karma: first day at work in my new position, sitting at my desk, looking around and there it is. A hourglass, with red “sand”, floating from bottom to top. Me being speechless, staring at it, my colleague tells me: “Oh, somebody brought it as a promotional gift.” Clever cosmos…

What lessons did I learn so far:

  • We waste way too much time on low priority topics in our lives.
  • We complain way too much about things we don”™t even remember after 3-4 weeks.
  • We often act like we have an infinite amount of time left in our lives.

Be kind. Use your time wisely. Smile.

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One Way Stress

Uphill in Porvoo for the blog post "One way Stress" by Chris Remspecher.One Way Stress.

Stress seems to work like a one way street. From somewhere outside yourself the rivers of stress flow directly to your central nervous system just to make you, well, nervous. Some might stress now, that there are SO MANY people who radiate stress. Correct. But have you ever seen a peaceful, meditating monk creating a stressful situation for others?

Now what to do with all this incoming stress? Instead of complaining ”“ move. Walk uphill, find the origin of your stress. Yes, this can be quite a hike! The reward of climbing up that hill can be a better overview over your current situation. Maybe the source of your stress is super supportive to you but you just don”™t get the link of an unfriendly boss and your freedom of choice to upgrade to a new workplace.

Imagine you are traveling in a very fast train. If you stand up and walk around slowly, all seems fine and pleasing to you, unless you look out of the window and try to focus on a very near spot besides the train. Some of us ride in a hyper stress train, without even noticing it. Suddenly, out of nowhere it’s Christmas again, again! Do yourself a favor and check speed and destiny of your current voyage from time to time. Godspeed!

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Balance Mind Body Soul

Sitting on a Spring. Picture by Chris Remspecher.Balance Mind Body Soul.

Sometimes life delivers so many challenges and changes in a very short time. Maybe you know the feeling of being drowned in information, tons of stuff to do and still, nobody refilled the fridge for you.

Then you read about to balance mind body soul but you don’t have time for it. The guys of the Lift app came up with the idea of creating groups to join a bunch of Jedis, who face the same struggles. So we have set up the body.speech.mind group which will sign you up for the habits of Exercise, Tell a story and Meditate.

If you feel stressed and run on a 24/7 schedule of your (business) life, joining the group might be something for you. Namaste

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Best friends with your mind

Picture of Lama Kelzang.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!

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Lessons learned in 2012

ecole by Chris Remspecher.Some say, time is a healer. Maybe time is also a teacher. What did 2012 teach you?

Let me recall some of my lessons learned:

  • Maya apocalypse done. Survived. Another “end of the world” is over. I wonder how much stress it did sell…
  • You can”™t be happy for somebody else. If they decided to be unhappy, which leads to illnesses on the long run, there is nothing you can do. Ok, you can wait. By the way, being unhappy often precedes a long series of decisions. Consciously, or unconsciously.
  • There is a final frontier of what you can give, personally or work wise. It”™s not a point of no return, for some it”™s just the “you are here” point and you have no idea, how you made it to that point. Most probably, your inner light is burned out. Without any light, it gets difficult and often dangerous to see and pick a healthy way to go on. Make sure you have an emergency candle with you”¦
  • There are more people out there, who need a good friend. They don”™t even look like they have a problem. They are just good actors. Listen carefully to what they say and be a good friend. (Reminder: listening, that”™s the thing where you don”™t talk”¦)
  • Travel. Leave your home, switch off the phones and tablets, and give the World Wide Web a break, at least for 2-3 days (I know, I know”¦). Learn new stuff, take photos to remind you for the time, when you can”™t travel anymore. That time will come. Eckhart Tolle would say: “”¦it will come, soon. Twenty, fifty years, that is soon”¦”

On top of all this, visit yourself. Check frequently, how you are doing. You also invest enough money in your car services, right?

Hope this is useful for you. Have a great 2013! Namaste

 

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Body Speech Mind

Body-Speech-Mind balance in Lerab Ling.

Picture for the blog post, body speech mind, by Chris Remspecher.Recently I was lucky to attend a teaching about body speech mind by Khenpo Tsündu Tarching. Here”™s my tiny summary for you:

“Is everybody in good health? Yes? Good. Because no health, not good for anybody.”

We are tired after a five minutes”™ walk. We have become so lazy. We do this and that and waste so much time. Remember, you never get again, again this life. What”™s right or wrong ”“ you decide. Engage with your body speech mind.

Always watch yourself: who am I?

Our true nature of mind is full of wisdom. Disturbing emotions always lead to trouble.

Tsündu Tarching”™s opinion is “the more religions, the more benefits”. On the bright side, it leads to more communication about religion, on the dark side, it creates human suffering. Try to remove bad thoughts; they will poison every action from the start of your bad intention until your final action.

“All mistakes come from misunderstandings.” Khenpo Tsündu Tarching

“So what is Buddhism” somebody asked. His answer: “It”™s a way of life, a message, a description of phenomena.”

And remember: whatever you are looking for, it”™s only for this life!

Namaste

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Blocked Paths

Picture for the blog post "Blocked Paths" by Chris Remspecher.

You have a plan. You have a map. And sometimes blocked paths are a gift.

In most cases, you get something like a pre-warning, a sign, a phone call, a bad feeling in your stomach. Since many of us are busy and stressed, we tend to overlook those hints and suddenly we are totally surprised by blocked paths.

What can you do now?

  • You can wait. Meditate and hope the barrier disappears.
  • You can turn back. And go back the same path that brought you here…
  • You can look around. Use all your senses, maybe you overlooked a tiny new path that navigates you into a new direction.
  • You can ask: yourself, your true friends and your family. You might not like the answers at first.
  • You can do something. Change some mosaic pieces of the picture. If impossible right now in the outer world, start with your inner world. Start with a smile.

Remember: blocked paths can also be a gift. They force you to stop, recalculate your life, change. Namaste

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Lift your self

Logo of Lift.doThe past is gone, the future is uncertain – what will you do with your remaining time? Lift your-self!

Thankfully the guys at Lift.do did create an app (currently for iPhone only) to help you to track and improve your habits.

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” Buddha

Thoughts form actions, repeated actions create habits and habits build your character. Are you happy with your current state of mind?

Since you might not be the only one with some not-yet designed future potential, have a look at the uplifting community over at Lift. Improving your habits is much more fun and effective with your pals around!