Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast

Can you look at the world with a fresh, unbiased mind, and trust your own discernment instead of looking for someone whom you deem "credible" to validate it for you? 

If your image (how people perceive you) is more important to you than your own values, you'd allow people to cross some boundaries (or not even set them in the first place), all to protect your image. Your actions convey your priorities, so where does your image rank compared to your core values?

In response to the Buddhist invitation to "Do No Harm," which I think is impossible, I prefer contemplating "Doing LESS Harm," which triggers awareness of our decisions' ripple effects on ourselves and the world around us until we find ways to minimize (not eliminate) the harm we cause when we eat, drink, read, watch, etc.

It's not about controlling your thoughts, it's about getting to a point where your thoughts don't control you.

What are you stubborn about, and to whose benefit?

We've been raised to never talk about it, and told that any mention of it is morbid, so how can we ever be prepared for the death of our loved ones or ourselves if we never discuss it?

The problem with being goal-oriented and future-focused is that at no given point are you where you want to be. When one eye is fixed upon the destination, only one eye is left with which to find the way.

Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent so much time making it.

If your happiness depends on something you can lose, you will spend your entire life afraid of losing it. But if your happiness depends on who you are in relation to each moment, then nothing and nobody can take that away from you.

Even if the wound is not your fault, healing from it is your responsibility.

Insecurities are the result of accepting the media's and other people's projections about us as truth until we no longer hear our highest selves reassure us of our inherent worth, which isn't measured by our job title, skin color, tax bracket, waist size, etc. 

If we're dependent on outside validation for a sense of self-worth, then we run the risk of living our entire lives polishing an image that pleases others rather than having awareness of our inherent worth by simply living and working with integrity. We've been told a story of hierarchy and then urged to make it to the top so we can look down on others, but I don't think our value is a contest or a competition; we all serve a purpose.

Is it the load that breaks our backs or the way we carry it?

Not forgiving is a form of self-imprisonment. Liberate yourself by doing away with the existing apology-and-forgiveness model that is similar to loan transactions in which one person is indebted to another, and get unstuck by taking the lesson from every experience, throwing away any grudge or resentment, and moving forward. 

Focus on the teachings, not on the teacher. Your life is your message.