Category: freedom

The Ultimate Reality

What a blessing it is to be alive!!

You might know me as Johnny Hoffman, as some separate person but I am much more than that.

Look deeper and you will see the ultimate reality of me.

I am my ancestors

I am the soil

I am a cloud

I am the sun

For without these I would not exist

So whenever you feel lost or alone just know you are not separate from the universe.

You and I are made up of our ancestors, stars, soil, clouds, and rivers. Without them we would not exist. This is the ultimate reality of things.

You are my brother or sister

To feel this at a deep level is to awaken to our Buddha nature and help others who still suffer

So when someone looks at a cloud 100 years from now they may see me again 🙏🏼☁️

With aloha,

Johnny

What is Success?

It’s part of American culture to worship rich “successful” people. Who defines what is successful? Many famous celebrities with lots of money, power and fame commit suicide because they feel hallow inside. Many do illegal or hurtful things to become successful. I wouldn’t exchange my life with any celebrity or rich person! I feel like the most successful person in the world at times even with all the suffering I have gone through with my gambling addiction. I have a purpose & meaning to reduce suffering in the world through deep compassion, love, and forgiveness. Money could never buy that and often the obsession of money diverts us from finding our deeper purpose in the world.

Idol worship is not the way. It diverts us from the path of love, compassion, and forgiveness. It takes away our own self worth and puts a hierarchy in our mind. We are all equals in this universe. Don’t let society define what success is for you. Success for me is happiness, health, and helping others. I have had plenty of all three as of late. Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way.🙏🏼

With Aloha,

Johnny

Instrument of Love

God of my understanding

Use me as your instrument of love

Where there is violence

May I practice peace

Where there is apathy

Compassion

Where there is doubt

Faith

Thank you for the gift of life

To show gratitude

I will practice compassion, love, forgiveness and grace to the best of my abilities

With aloha,

Johnny

Healing

For too long we have ignored our suffering
For too long we have abused our suffering
Through this endless cycle of neglect & abuse
Our suffering grows stronger
Our addictions become more intense
The pain deep in our heart is calling out for us
It needs compassion
It needs the healing nature of forgiveness
The darkest parts of us need the tender care of loving kindness in order to transform
When we learn how to suffer
We suffer much less
So go home to your suffering
Do not ignore or abuse the hurt parts
Show compassion, love and forgiveness to them

With aloha,

Johnny

Lost in Self Doubt

Life comes with challenges for us to learn from. I have had many challenges come my way from my many experiences in college, breakups, moving to Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. I always had a great attitude about it because you learn so much about yourself by experiences; good & bad. You can always make a new decision today that can better your life.

I never doubted my decisions until this year. Early in this year I kept making decisions out of fear that put me in living situations that compromised my health & happiness. In February, I started feeling hopeless & lost. I lost faith in my own intuition. I felt like I lost my own ability to make decisions for me thrive physically, mentally, and spiritually. It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe. It’s like you’re lost in a maze and you keep questioning every decision. This can lead to feelings of hopelessness, fear, and despair. Eventually you question yourself so much that you just stop trying & depression sets in. You start living your life paralyzed by fear & self doubt.

I know this situation will end eventually, all is impermanent. A huge part of me wants to move back to Australia & start making decisions out of love instead of fear of failure or not having enough money. A part of me wants to move back to the central coast of California and a part of me wants to stay in Colorado Springs with family. I keep bouncing back n forth in my decision. Thank you to my family & friends for your patience & love while I try to figure out the next step in my life. 🙏🏻

With aloha,

Johnny

Attitude Adjustment

Entitled, bitter, and upset

I cause my own suffering

What’s the antidote for this mental condition?

Gratitude

How could I lose sight of all the things I could be grateful for?

Grateful for my job

Grateful for friends and family

Grateful for life & it’s infinite possibilities

The conditions of happiness are always available at any moment

Even through the darkest times we can cultivate joy through gratitude

We can bring our breath back to this exact moment

Peace & joy can only be found in the here and now

With aloha,

Johnny

I Have a Gambling Addiction

One of the fastest growing addictions in the world is gambling addiction

With more availability than ever, more people are going through challenging circumstances because of this addiction

Many lose their house, job, and family

Some even lose their life to this addiction

1 in 4 attempt suicide, the most out of any addiction

Losing money from gambling is tough to deal with but nothing compares to the guilt, shame, and regret that haunts you

I’m 3 weeks sober right now

I’m determined not to gamble

I have lost 50k in my lifetime but also have put untold stress and anxiety on myself because of this addiction

My life purpose is on the line

True freedom is not the freedom to self destruct

But to be free of our addictions running and ruining our life

With aloha,

Johnny

Attachment: The Root of Our Suffering

Attachment is at the root of all suffering

Attachment to youth

Attachment to wealth

Attachment to our spouse, family & friends

Attachment to life itself

If attachment is the root of all suffering..

What is the root of joy?

Freedom is the root of joy

Freedom not to hurt ourself or others but freedom from fear, anger, and hatred running and ruining our lives

Liberation from old ways of thinking & doing that make us miserable

Today is the day to start changing, even small changes can lead to huge results in time

When we look at nature, we see that everything is impermanent.

Even our own sun has a shelf life

So why do live as if relationships, wealth, family members, and our own life will last forever?

If we live a full life, one life is enough.

With aloha,

Johnny

Outdated Identity

We spend our life building our identity.

From a very early age; the music, tv, & friend group shape our identity. What we consume, becomes part of us.

But we often struggle with letting go of this identity, even when this identity is responsible for the destruction of our own joy.

We fear that if we let go of this outdated idea of who we are that we lose ourself in the process.

But the truth is that old identity was never truly us.
It was shaped by our family, culture, religion and media

So who do we truly want to become?
Do we want to self destruct our own lives clinging to the past?
Or do we want to liberate ourself & embrace a new life that is inline with our values & vision?
The first step is to release that you are worth taking care of.
Your life & happiness does matter.

The chose is ours, even minute of each day.
We can always change at any moment
Even the smallest shifts can snowball into a radically different life.

If not now, then when?

With aloha,

Johnny