Recognise the Other

AA wrote:  I want to thank you very much for the happiness network as it really helped me a lot.  I myself was not too much in contact with people rather with my own family as i needed time to reflect but coincidentally or not?! Your topics were always of right timing and they were my guidance support! So, please keep on doing this....you make people more aware of themselves and their surroundings and realise the real priorities in life! So thank you very much once more and stay in contact...you are a katalysator to small miracles happening to a person's life!!

Recognise the Other

 What is loving? It is recognising the presence of the other with your love.

                                                                 Thich Nhat Hanh: You Are Here

By now you know my vision of love - a feeling of warmth, acceptance and care not only reserved for your family or partner, but for all living beings. Why should we be stingy with a feeling like that? The moment you feel love for whoever it might be, you radiate it and become happy yourself too!

My favourite definition of love is the quote by Thich Nhat Hanh: love is actually recognising the presence of the other with that warm feeling. It’s about seeing your fellow human beings, and being there for them. Be it the shabby elderly man next to you on the bus, the neighbour’s screaming child, the scary looking skinhead in the street - or your near and dear ones. 

Take the time to look at the people you meet, and with your smile you might just make their day. And your own, too! :-)

Find Peace in Yourself

Find Peace in Yourself

If you cannot find peace in yourself, it is useless to look for it elsewhere.

                                                                   François de la Rochefoucauld

Try to find a quiet moment during the coming week for the following meditation:

Sit straight on a chair or a cushion. Follow your breath for a while. In your mind, double yourself. One part remains sitting peacefully, and receives the other, which takes place in this protective lap, calmly resting.

Consciously enjoy the sensation of rest and protection, and store it to nourish you later.

At several occasions during the day return to this feeling of security and warmth and know that you can always refill the cup. It’s all in yourself.

The Needs Wish List

AA wrote: Oh super! But right - not so easy. I will try though. Thank you <3

The Needs Wish List

 Expressing our own needs and responding to somebody else’s is an important function of any loving relationship. But often we’re so out of touch with our needs that we can’t even figure out what they are, much less express them or know the joy of having met them.

But you can’t have your needs met unless you know what they are: so today, even though it might be scary, strange and unfamiliar, allow yourself to identify three very specific things that you need – in whatever area of your life – and know that identifying them will be the beginning of getting them fulfilled. 

                                                 Daphne Rose Kingma: A Garland of Love

There is nothing more to add to above quote; thank you Ms. Kingma for the inspiration! :-)

Promote Awakening

AA wrote:  Tack för små påminnelser i mailen om det viktiga i livet! Jag läser alltid dina mail och tar till mig det du skriver. 

BB wrote: I loved todays letter by the way.. I am thinking of my action to take to slow down..

Promote Awakening

Everyone has to do the work of promoting awakening. Awakening is the foundation of every kind of change.

                                                 Thich Nhat Hanh: Answers from the Heart

I know it sounds presumptuous, but I actually feel like a kind of messenger. Just a very humble one and in a very small scale, but still… And as such I want to do what I can to spread the message, to “promote awakening”.

Our world needs a shift, and I am convinced that shift is on its way. More and more people become aware of the fact that there are other things to life than material welfare, making a career, or rushing around the globe, chasing for exciting new experiences.

More and more people stop the crazy rat race they’re in, and notice that slowing down is not something negative, a sign of weakness or stupidity. 

More and more people discover their souls, and become responsive to its needs. And that’s the first step to awakening.

What little change can you do this week to promote your own awakening...?  Eat your breakfast mindfully? Take a silent walk for lunch? Take 5 minutes before going to bed to recollect your day?

Be a Witness of Your Thoughts

Be a Witness of Your Thoughts

Awakening is a shift in consciousness in which thinking and awareness separate.

Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth

Many spiritual traditions talk about Enlightenment, or Awakening. I find Eckhart Tolle’s definition and his explanations both easy to understand and helpful.

”For many people, the first indication of a spiritual awakening is that they suddenly become aware of their thoughts.

You become a witness to your thoughts, so to speak. You can then make a conscious choice to be present rather than to indulge in useless thinking. You can invite awareness into your life, that is to say, make space.”

Try to take some time this week to sit down in silence. Breathe quietly, and make space in your mind. See if you can become the awareness floating behind your thoughts, if only for a short moment…