Nirvana – The kingdom of god, the kingdom in me: a note from the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh

/ jonathan / Leave a comment

Am I in the prison of the past or the prison of the future? Or am I free? 

The kingdom is available 24 hrs a day. Am I available to the kingdom?

mindfulness helps to get out of the prison and touch the kingdom. 

To be alive – is to have the mindfulness energy, in me. To generate the energy of – mindfulness, concentration and insight.

The flower, the cloud, rain, body are manifestations of the wonderful Nirvana. 

Nirvana in the here and the now. 

Not just the lotus but also the mud.

Touch the kingdom of god in the everything.   

Suffering is mud, happiness is lotus. And we make good use of the mud also. 

Breathe in mindfully, bring your mind home to your body, in the here and in the now.

and you become fully present and alive. Just one in-breath. 

I always go back to the wind, the trees, the rain. To Thich Nhat Hanh’s voice and words.

Minor change, major experience

/ jonathan / Leave a comment

Not a big fan of WFH. Never tried a real remote work from a complete non work related area. I see many benefits to office life. If you are still here 🙂 I’d like to share a an experience.

I found a place, with surprising windy conditions, as much as a summer day, in a hot, too hot place can be. With shades. With a chair and a desk. Outside. And amazingly, almost no one around. Hearing cars for a far road, listening to birds, a train passes not so far from here. We are talking mid city yes? but with an unusual set that causes no one to be here. And those that pass by are focused on their destination I guess.

And what’s super amazing, I sat there, opened my laptop, and just worked. Enjoying the wind, not losing focus to random web scrolling. And without the constant unease of people around me.

And the progress I make, and the set around me made me feel good. And the dry wind brought on a smile. Drinking cold water, feeling it flowing down inside and fueling my body.

Maybe I can make a habit out of it? starting a day few times a month like that? what if this an everyday thing? what if tomorrow I go back to office and forget this feeling? I’ll just be here, now, smile now into the dry wind.

Anger

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A reasonable person does not want or like to be angry. There’s energy cost for being angry. Your mind is constantly working and gets tired. And your body and muscles are stiff. You finish the days exhausted. It’s hard to control yourself when angry, it’s difficult to concentrate. It’s hard to accept your limited control on things around you.

It’s easy to be self focused, it’s easy to feel self pity. It’s easy to sit on a chair and move your leg in a fast and pointless way. Your body wants and need to be in motion. But a good chance you cannot move.

This is fuel. Remember, this is fuel. Take it, breath it, rest more but use it.

What is it that you wanted to do and left behind, what is that is important to you but you were lost in your comfort zone.

Now is the time. I mean literally this second. Go and do this one little step.

Or just breath in. In the here and in the now.

Hope

/ jonathan / Leave a comment

Stressed. Feeling tired. It’s difficult to sit straights. You want to cry, to release it a bit, but you hardly cry. Tired from fighting or from seeing people fight.

You have everything but there is something missing. A hope. There is a little hope but it’s covered by fear. A fear that your kids will not grow up in a better world. A world that everybody is unite. Where information or misinformation is not weaponized, where technology is not used by bad actors, where power is not a weapon. Where we all go together towards a better place.

A kind place. A good place. A place where you belong. And it belongs to you.

Take the time you need. Deal with it in your way. And know – you have only one choice, to find a way to live your truth, and find the best future you can for your kids.

So maybe today is off, and the week is also but you will make it happen. Know this, you will make it happen.

You don’t want to

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Be too busy, but also to have too much time to think

Be too stressful, but also not have a reason to act

Be too tired, but also not to be too much in bed till you can’t sleep

You don’t want to be with many people, but also not to dwell in your inner world

You don’t want to be angry with your kids, but you are

You want to be kind to yourself, but it’s hard

You want to smile

You want to feel the breeze

You want to hear the music

You will

Here it comes again, grey, low

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It’s cyclical. The feeling is well known. The energy is down. The anger is higher. The body is heavy or hurts. Something is missing, but it’s impossible to know what. Endless lists that were done in the past floats up again, without any new insight. You don’t even try to filter the reasons. You look at it from the inside and from the outside. Looking from the outside is a skill you developed in the countless times it felt like this in past. The meta look, the external look, was supposed to be a powerful tool, helping you pull yourself up, providing you with a clear fresh perspective. It does not help this time. Your friend is movement, alone time, and patient.

It’s grey. It will stay grey for some time. Don’t fight it, be it. And it will pass.