May my enemies sleep well tonight
May they feel safe and loved
May they heal
May they be joyful like small children
For they are not my true enemy
My true enemy lies within my own greed, hatred and fear
With love,
Johnny
Tag: meditation
The Miracle of Life
The Miracle of life
Is a seed of mustard
With water, soil, and sun
This tiny seed grows into a large tree
Giving food and shelter to many birds and insects
There are many miracles around us each day
Yet we can’t seem to them
With mindfulness we can see that a cloud is a miracle
It transforms into rain or snow
Giving us life through water and food
We are a miracle
From one cell to a trillion
We can only grasp this if we are still
Not distracted
Not striving
Living in the moment
Jesus spoke of the mustard seed
Just by being still we can see the Kingdom of God right now and it’s many miracles
With Aloha
Johnny
The Three Poisons: Attachment, Aversion, and Ignorance
In Buddhist philosophy; attachment, aversion, and ignorance are the three main obstacles from achieving inner peace within. They are the three poisons of true happiness.
Attachment is said to be the root of all suffering.
Attachment to wealth, youth, ideology, the past, loved ones, life itself etc can drain us and make us miserable. Think of a middle aged woman attached to her youth. You can imagine her worrying about every wrinkle and what others perceive of her. By not accepting ones aging process, we suffer deeply.
Aversion on the other hand drains us of our joy by judgment, anger, or disgust. For example, an aversion to bugs can ruin our time in nature. An aversion to homeless people can stop us from having compassion for them; compassion and understanding can be the root of much joy.
Ignorance can blind us too. When we purposely or unintentionally don’t see information about a topic, we can make decisions that destroy our health and happiness. Cigarettes are a good example of this, most of the population were ignorant for many years of the risk of cancer and heart disease of smoking.
So instead of seeking pleasure or trying to find happiness, could we try to find a middle path between attachment, aversion, or ignorance? Can we learn about a topic so we are not ignorant but also not getting attached or averse to it? Blissful peace is found in the middle of this triangle.
I think it’s possible if we practice. Never think you know everything and the opposite of what you believe is true to someone else in the world.
Zen mind, beginners mind
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
Anxiety
Anxiety
The illness of our times
Our minds wander to the future
Grasping for control
Wanting to know what will happen
The truth is that the future is completely unwritten
Because of impermanence, anything is possible
Let’s stop trying to control the uncontrollable
If we want a better future, we must take care of the present moment
With aloha,
Johnny
Sitting With Uncertainty
There might be a heaven
There might be reincarnation
Or there could be nothing
I do not claim to know anything for certain
When I am firm with a belief of what happens after life
I lose all grace
I lose all faith
I lose all wonder
Instead of claiming to know anything
I sit closely to uncertainty
And whole universe opens itself to me
It’s everlasting wisdom humbles me each day
Be weary of those who claim to know anything for certain
With aloha,
Johnny
Truly Helping
To truly help others
Focus all your energy on healing yourself
Be kind always but don’t sacrifice your own health & well-being by focusing your energy on others
It is possible to reduce others suffering and help others see the inner Buddha that lives within all of us
But if we are drowning in our own suffering we can’t help others who suffer
It is possible to awaken
To not let fear, hatred, anger, and ignorance run & ruin our lives
No matter your skin tone, gender, age, or wage
Thanks to impermanence, we can transform our suffering into joy
And we can help others do the same
Not by force but through understanding, compassion and forgiveness
Namaste,
Johnny
Thích Nhất Hạnh
No mud, no lotus
Thay you touched my heart & soul many times with your compassionate actions & words
Thank you for sharing your light upon me
Watering the seeds of compassion, peace & love within my mind
Teaching me that impermanence is what makes life so special
You have passed but I know you live on
No birth, no death
Your energy still flowing through the clouds, earth, water, and each one of us
Photo credit: Kelvin Cheuk Lotus in a Sea of Fire:Honoring Thích Nhất Hạnh Thích Nhất Hạnh, pronounced Tik-N’yat-Hawn, was a Vietnamese monk of the Zen tradition, part of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. The first word in his name, Thích, is actually a title…
Thích Nhất Hạnh
Lost at Sea
At times we can feel so lost
Lost in an emotion
Lost in the worries of the path unknown ahead
Lost in the past mistakes & regrets
I know what it feels to be lost
Not knowing what is up or down
My life falling in pieces
What I thought was the end was actually the beginning of something much more beautiful
For every storm runs out of energy
The trick is to not run from it but embrace it
Life doesn’t give us what we want
It gives us what we need
To grow, adapt and eventually move on from
So if you’re feeling lost just know everything is temporary
That each day can be a start of something fresh and beautiful
With aloha,
Johnny
Letting go of the Pursuit of Happiness
For us to be truly happy we must let go of the pursuit of happiness
Because when we feel temporarily happy, we desperately cling to it
We become restless and fearful of losing happiness, which causes a vicious circle of suffering
So for us to be truly happy we must be calm and centered
You can’t be truly happy if you’re not calm
So instead of seeking pleasure or avoiding pain
Seek the discomfort of stillness
Look within that restlessness, anger, or hatred
And let go of the pursuit of happiness
Instead of trying to find this elusive happiness, practice the middle path of awareness, peace, and being calm
Each time we fall off the path of clarity & calmness we self reflect, let it go and move forward
From my experience, this way of living seems much more sustainable than chasing elusive happiness
A friend shared this with me and it has enriched my life significantly and I hope it does the same for you
With aloha,
Johnny
