Dealing with the changing times

 

Dealing with the Changing Times

The basic premise of Buddhism is that “Life is suffering.”

Suffering does not refer to the real world, where life is expressed as the Absolute Divine, the eternal formlessness of Spirit and  bliss, but to the world of Maya, the collective and personal dreams or illusions in which we imagine ourselves living.

It is easy to see that life in the Maya dream world is a nightmare for some unfortunate souls, but those of us who feel abundantly blessed are usually unaware that our lives are also suffering.

People imagine that life is about fulfilling meaningless goals, about their own families, ambitions, power, and success in careers, about expressing their individuality, enjoying earthly joys and making their bodies more secure and comfortable.

While devoting time to any or all those pursuits, they  tend to ignore the most important activity, the search for Self Realization, or discovering and making a direct contact with the God within.

People go to psychics, listen to channelers, and read books written by others who seem to have established a connection with their God, their own Higher Selves.

Each one of us is a diamond in the rough.

Within us is the divine Buddha or Christ Consciousness, sleeping serenely until we choose to turn away from the world and awaken, and ask it to guide us to the light.

The years we spend on this planet should be devoted to Self Discovery.

Along our way, we must establish a direct contact with the God within.

We need to grow and learn which ideas and habits to root out of our lives, and which to cultivate.

Every challenge that comes to us must be viewed not as a hindrance, but as an opportunity to polish our diamond and refine our personalities and ultimately increase our powers.

Most of the world has been recently faced with such challenges, due to the pandemic.

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone and do nothing,” wrote the French philosopher Blaise Pascal.

As people, we tend to cover up our unexamined lives, by filling our time with things that we love to do, eat or believe.

We tend to do anything but examine and change our beliefs.

But now, without all the ways which we have used to plaster over our unexamined ideas, we have been left with many uncomfortable concepts, and no way to pacify or lie to ourselves.

Here are some examples of what I mean to say.

A woman might suffer from poor body identification and thus might feel self hate, as a result of weight gain or lack of fitness.

Normally, she might go to the gym or to a yoga class, hike a mountain or go for a long walk, in order to elevate her moodiness coming from her dissatisfaction with her body.

But in the past year, when most of the world has been under quarantine, she might have felt frustrated by the lack of activity imposed on her.

The correct way to deal with this issue is to deeply examine what is a body, and to learn to understand this amazing energy field, shaped by our thoughts, feeling and beliefs, called a human body.

You are NOT your body, you are a free divine and unlimited spirit.

Your body is constantly influenced and shaped by your limited beliefs and ideas, imposed on and embedded into your environment, which includes your body.

Stop imposing limitations of time, aging and decay on your body, and it will become a serviceable instrument for as long as you wish to have it.

Another person might feel lonely, and normally would fill her days with classes, courses, or with social gatherings and activities..

Recently, when these outlets have not been available, the person feeling lonely might have felt frustrated and forgotten, or made unreasonable demands on her families and friends.

The best way to deal with feeling lonely is to truly realize that you and God are a majority.

Only those who do not realize their unity with God, can feel sad or lonely.

With God, the whole universe streams within your consciousness, and loneliness is inconceivable.

Those of us who love to travel and have had to stay home, must now realize that this whole life is a journey through infinite space and multi dimensions of being.

Yes, I do miss walking pilgrimages and I do love exploring the places we roam through, but we have never really stopped traveling.

We travel at night when we dream, or we travel in our thoughts in just a few seconds to our past, to events that happened many years ago.

I have used this time to be still and to learn and remember a lot of the truths that guide our lives.

I will continue to do so, while I paint and contemplate these principles.

I am adding to this post two of the three scroll paintings that I have completed this season.

The Saffron robed Rakans or Arhats, are enlightened students of the Buddha.

The orbs and bubbles signify our own individual little orbs or bubbles of identity.

Our ultimate goal is to burst the bubble of our false little identity, and become the whole ocean of life.

Inside the bubbles, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse represent our personality that is ever evolving.

It is sometimes angry, temperamental, moody, demanding, exhausted, manipulative, happy, etc.

The enlightened students, who overcame the world by lots of effort and self discipline, are standing on the bubbles, reminding us that we live in the infinite, and that The I AM, is ALL there really IS......

What is enlightenment?

Enlightenment is finding unity in the midst of opposition, 

Enlightenment is finding simplicity in complexity, 

Enlightenment is finding understanding in difficulties,

Enlightenment is finding liberation from shackles.

Stay strong and look within for the infinite...

With love,

Tali