A total surrender is required on the spiritual path
Surrender of our fears, worries, and doubts
A total surrender of our will to the power of unconditional love within our heart and soul
We must surrender our addictions, destructive habits and wrong views
Let the power of love transform you from within
Let it heal you and shape you in its image
Humble yourself and you will be free
Surrender everything and you will be liberated from fear, hatred, greed and addiction
Alcohol scarred my childhood
I have lost close friends to it
Alcohol has slowly consumed many of my family and friends
I even had close calls with alcohol overdose in my university years
Yet I will not judge or hate alcohol
I knew 7 years ago that one day I would walk away from alcohol and the destruction it cases
Today I will choose to walk away peacefully in the night
With aloha
Johnny
Behind every broken man or woman
Is a hurt child
Crying for help
This child needs our love
It needs tender care
This child needs our compassion
To heal from the deep pain it feels inside
We must remember this when encountering others
Behind every criminal or addict, is a hurt child
The most violent and destructive people are the most wounded
It is easy to show compassion to the vulnerable but it’s much harder to show it our enemies
But to preserve the deep compassion in our hearts we must show understanding to those who harms others
They suffer deeply
We don’t condone harmful behavior
But we don’t need our judgement or more punishment
They need our deep love and compassion
With aloha,
Johnny Hoffman
The Buddha and Jesus lived a message of love, compassion and forgiveness. Their message was a way out of unnecessary suffering caused by the egos destructive nature. The ego is run by fear, hatred, and greed. I imagine the ego has a group of hurt, lonely, angry, sensitive, and greedy children inside our inner family. Those with strong addictions have hurt children running the show but most of society is being ran by parentified children frozen in trauma. Some become narcissistic, some cold emotionless, and some develop addictions but they are all responses to trauma. Jesus and the Buddha taught a way out of the ego and into the inner Self that heals all these wounded children. It forgives them, loves them, and holds them tenderly like a mother to a crying infant. We first must surrender to the battle in our mind. This is the first major step in our transformation. We admit we are powerless and need help from others. The ego wants to do life on its own, never wanting help from others out of fear and arrogance. We think we are Gods until we surrender fully to our suffering. We need a higher power to help guide us now because we realize the ego always takes us to complete destruction and suffering. Our will never leads to happiness, we need something bigger than ourselves to believe in. You don’t have to call it God, you can call it mother nature, the Universe, etc. It doesn’t matter what we call the mysterious force that created me and keeps the universe together but we have to be grateful for it. This is key to our transformation and resurrection into a more kind peaceful joyful person. Keep surrendering each day and the God of your understanding will fill you up with pure joy, you won’t need drugs, casual sex or consumption to fill the hole inside you anymore. This world needs more of us to wake up to our unnecessary suffering and delusional thinking that we are an all knowing God. Pleasure seeking isn’t the way towards true happiness. Practicing self love, compassion and forgiveness is the way. Shine that light into the darkness of your soul. The darkness of hatred, greed and fear.
With aloha,
Johnny
Jesus once said a rich person’s chances of getting into the Kingdom of God is like a camel going through the eye of a needle.
This quote makes many in the Western world cringe because our whole society is based on greed.
Greed takes us away from Jesus’s message of compassion, love, humility, and grace.
From a young age we are taught from society that the accumulation of wealth is the source of all joy.
That we should strive to be a millionaire and buy luxurious goods, expensive vacations, and fancy candle lit meals at five star restaurants.
Nothing could be further from Jesus’s message of the narrow road and what the Buddha taught as the middle path.
Both wise men were speaking of the destructive nature of greed and fear.
Greed takes us away from the smooth sailing towards the pure joy of living a simple, humble, and grateful life centered on giving to others.
Jesus and the Buddha were both born into nobility but chose the narrow/middle path between extreme wealth and extreme deprivation that also was around in their times.
So look around you? Do you see much happiness in those who seek only pleasure? Pleasure seeking in my life only leads to self destruction and unnecessary suffering.
Jesus and the Buddha both taught a way out of suffering. A way towards resurrection and rebirth on this planet. By surrendering to our suffering like Jesus on the cross we can be reborn right now. By living like them through the narrow/middle path we can relieve our suffering and be very joyful and peaceful people.
Letting go of the need to strive is a huge challenge for most of us in the west. It took me many years to find serenity just being myself, not striving to be someone else. The only striving worthwhile is striving to live like Jesus or the Buddha. Strive to be the best version of yourself and you will naturally be very joyful and want to help others who still suffer deeply.
With aloha,
Johnny
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
My life is impermanent
Knowing this, I vow to live deeply each day
Love unconditionally
Have deep compassion for all, even those who harm others
Forgive anyone who has harmed me
Including myself
Let this be my legacy
My legacy will not have dollar signs or job titles
My legacy is not purely words
But my actions
With Aloha,
Johnny
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
Each day I surrender
Each day I admit defeat
In surrendering, I’m liberated
In admitting defeat, I’m free
Liberated from the obsession
Free from the mental slavery of addiction
Fill the hole in my heart
Fill the deep gap within my soul
Take away the discomfort
Numb me to my suffering
Distract me
Comfort me
I don’t want to feel anymore
Consumption of drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling or junk food seems to be the solution to our pain
Temporarily they are good numbing agents, that’s what hooks us in; especially when we first try them at an early age
But in the end it causes more suffering & new financial & health problems
Like quick sand we can fall deeper & deeper into the depths of addiction
With aloha
Johnny
The Narrow Path 