Tag Archives: Buddhism

The Stoic Hero’s Triad of Virtue

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In your preparation for taking on life, there are three facets of your training that are key. You’ve heard them before, as they are nothing new.  They are Body, Mind, and Spirit.  A Stoic Hero, of course has his own spin on these three aspects.  I know these seem kind of cliche. I tried to be more original but there really is no other way to break it down. To be ready, to be virtuous (which means to be happy), I have to work on all three.  They are not independent of each other…no way!  Your physical health is affected by your mind and spirit, your mind is connected to your body is connected to your emotional well being, and on and on.  Interestingly, each of these aspects fit quite nicely with the buoys on my philosophical raft.  Continue reading →

What is Your Set Point of Happiness?

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I need to spend more time in the now.  Like everyone, I spend far too much time grasping, chasing, and hunting for things that just aren’t that important.  I told my wife the other day, that my problem is that I want to “make a million dollars, help a million people, and live a million years.”  When I said this, she thought “live a million years” meant I wanted to leave a legacy with my work.  I thought about it for a while, and indeed that is something that I want; it’s one of those motivators that puts me back on the grasping trail.  However, what I really meant by “live a million years” was that I wanted to literally “live a million years.”  Talk about unrealistic expectations! Continue reading →

10 Things in our Control to Give our Love…and Receive Love

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“So the question is not:  How can we obtain love and understanding?  The question is whether we have the capacity of generating love and understanding ourselves…true love is like that too.  Loving one person is really an opportunity to learn to love all people. If you have the capacity to love and to understand, you can do that now, you don’t have to wait.  When we succeed in this, our worry and fear go away, and we feel wonderful right away.” –Thich Nhat Hahn Answers from the Heart

Oh, the eternal questions about love (read more here).  What is love?  When will somebody love me? Continue reading →

Doing What You Love v. Loving What You Do (The Sequel)

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We should all be so lucky to find our dream calling.  That thing that we are so called to doing that we are “self-actualized” (see Maslow’s Hierarchy; also see The Problem with Maslow).  I wonder if any of you have had a self-dialogue like I have had similar to the ones below:

“As soon as I find my calling, then I’ll be happy.  Certainly, what I am doing now certainly is not it.  I am definitely not fully satisfied doing this/being here.  I need to find my dream job/life/place to live/love/home/etc., and then I will find happiness.” YOU ARE STUCK IN A TASK THAT IS NOT YOUR LOVE.

or maybe you’re here:

Continue reading →

Take a Breath, Reflect

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“Adorn thyself with simplicity and modesty and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God.” –Marcus’ Meditations Book 7

In this case, Marcus Aurelius wants to stress to himself that to be simple and modest is best.  As for the things which “lie between virtue and vice,” maybe we really don’t know it all.  Maybe we don’t know the answer.  We all have our judgments of right and wrong, but maybe we should stop judging, at least a little bit.  Sometimes, we might just be better to just breathe…to just “be.”  Don’t judge, like we always do as humans…just exist, take a breath, take several breaths.  Be like the stone at the bottom of the river and let the water flow over you, and just be there and exist…not judging.

Take some time, and just be.

Take some time, and just be.

When you’ve mastered that, then love everything around you (especially “mankind”).  Sometimes this is hard to do, no?  ALL of mankind?  Really, really try.  Don’t hold back.  Love all of mankind.  All that is happening now, is meant to happen.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  It is all under the auspices of the cosmos, our divine existence.

Young or old...

Young or old…

Be good to yourself, be good to those close, be good to those beyond (me, we, they…).