As You Think, So Shall You Become --Bruce Lee

"The Words You THINK Become the HOUSE you live in." 

--Nishit Patel 

Join me in conversation with the author of this title quote, Nishit Patel, the first Wednesday of every month. Tomorrow our topic will be Mantra Initiation: Mastering Your Second Birth. Subscribe for the monthly teleconference here: Better Existence Events 

by Jennifer Rose & Better Existence | February 3, 2015

You are what your deep, driving desire is. 
As your desire is, so is your will. 
As your will is, so is your deed. 
As your deed is, so is your destiny. --Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5

Introspective people have a tendency to bring cautionary attention to our thinking. 

We are what we think. 
All that we are arises with our thoughts. 
With our thoughts we make the world. 
Speak or act with an impure mind 
And trouble will follow you 
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.  --The Buddha, from The Dhamapada

When wisdom appears similar across different traditions, that really gets my attention. 

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. --Proverbs 4:23

There is a battle of two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth. Which wolf wins? The one you feed. --Cherokee Proverb

You can take their word for it, or you can find out for yourself. 

I guess I am the do-it-yourself kid. I want to run my own tests. I don't want to know it's true, want to experience this truth. I want to empower you to run your own tests, too. 

One concept in all of these quotations is that our thoughts have a creative effect. Mr. Patel is very concise and contrasts the subtle, interior "words you THINK" with a tangible, exterior "HOUSE."

What will you do with this wisdom?

When we set out to work on our "words" we are on in internal mission.

Meditation may be the most useful practice to empower a person who wants to change their thinking. Meditation introduces you to your interior life, of which your thoughts are a part. Many of the words we think are completely unconscious. And the "house" we find ourselves living in may seem alien, and not of our making. Meditation can make the unconscious conscious, and we can take responsibility not only for ourselves, but for our circumstances. (Read more about not being a victim of circumstances.) 

Meditation takes attention from the outside world and turns it inward. We become attuned to our bodies. And we benefit. We become more aware of how the food we eat affects us physically and mentally. We notice the effects of how much we sleep. We make better choices. 

People who meditate notice their emotions and the effects of emotions. They know how long they stay mad once they get started, for example. And there are glimmers of peace and joy that might otherwise have been missed. 

Meditators become more aware of their thoughts, the words they think. Then, they are ready to answer the question for themselves, Do the words I think build the house I live in? That is a question that is worthwhile to ask. If you could build a better house, would you build it? Next week I will give you a method. 

For now, let's get you started meditating. You can call me, 646-831-2675, or order my 2-Minutes to Meditate Cards on Etsy. These cards are beautiful and friendly. Their handmade, jewel-tone envelopes are a sacred space where you can keep your cards.

Especially good for beginners and experienced meditators who have lost track of their daily practice somewhere along the way, these cards provide support for your practice. In just two minutes a day you can lay a reliable foundation that you can build on. 

Do You Wake Up and Have Trouble Going Back to Sleep? This Pose Could Be The Fix

Reclining Buddha Is Trying to Help You Rest

by Jennifer Rose & Better Existence | September 29, 2014

Beautiful. Yes. Exotic. If you are a 24-year-old American girl, yes. The first time I traveled to Thailand and visited Wat Po, that is what I saw: a beautiful, exotic, enormous statue. That was half a lifetime ago. 

Today I see compassionate instruction. Perhaps we are not meant just to ogle this pose; we are meant to assume it, to see what the effects are. Perhaps its enormous size, more than 141 feet long, nearly half a football field, is an exclamation point on its meaning. This is a powerful pose. 

This pose healed my lifelong insomnia and terrible night anxiety. There must be someone else out there that it can help. I hope you will give it a try. 

How to Do the Pose

Notice these most important points about the position of the Reclining Buddha:

• He is lying on his right side.
• His platform is elevated under his right armpit.
• He is supporting his head.

Here is a photograph of the position I learned in yoga class with Nishit Patel, Vishnu Asana. This is the position I rest in when I wake up in the middle of the night and want to go back to sleep. 

• My left knee is bent, creating stability in the pose.
• My left elbow is bent, also for stability. 
• I am using a pillow to apply gentle pressure under my right armpit.

This pose changed my life. It gave me control over restlessness and nighttime anxiousness. If you are interested in understanding why it works, I can tell you, but try it first, and tell me what you experience. 

Use this pose to drift off to sleep, perhaps reading something calming to end the day, or use it to attain a calm state of mind if you wake up in the middle of the night. If you wake up anxious at 4am you are just like me. Lying in this pose might make as much of a difference in your life as it has in mine. 

If your right arm starts falling asleep, it is fine to move it.

If you do not find peace lying on your right side after twelve minutes or so, try lying on your left side in the same pose. I know 1 person who is more soothed on the left side than on the right side. 

I hope this helps you find relief. 

2-Minute Practice Cards: 2-Minute Bedtime Practices -- Wake Up Happy

No!-Mind, Christopher Isherwood, and Support for Your Best Intentions

Minds Say, "No!" They Just Do

You have probably heard of the Buddhists' "No-mind." Let me introduce you to its counterpart No!-mind. No!-mind was referenced in the previous blog post as a part of the mind that undermines our best intentions.

No!-mind can be very frustrating as long as it remains mysterious. A lot of my work with clients centers on revealing the machinations of No!-mind.

Minds Are Like Toddlers

Think of a toddler going through that stage of development where the answer to everything is "No!" What happens to the habit of mind that is developed at that time? Does it remain lurking somewhere inside?

Minds Say No! In Many Ways

No!-mind wears many costumes. It may say, "I don't deserve it," "I am bored by it," "It is too hard for me," "I am too busy," "I have already done that," "I can't," "I am not lucky that way," "That is unworthy of me," "That is disgusting," "Someone already took mine," "I cannot...," "I am not good at..." There are so many ways to say, "No."

Oddly, Saying No! Is Foundational to Experiencing Mind At All. Egad

And what of this Buddhist No-mind? If No-mind is the truth, what is this thing I am calling my mind? The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali identify No!-mind as foundational to experiencing oneself as having a separate mind.

"I say 'No!' therefore I am." It is very reassuring in a way. No! NO! NO!!! Can you feel the wonder of it? That feeling of pushing-away is actually, in part, creating the feeling that mind exists.

If you look for it, you may find a little No!-mind in almost every thought-process you experience.

You Can Learn Skills And Master No!-mind

So, if, in fact, No!-mind is an essential element of our individual human identity, it makes a whole lot of sense to do work on our goals with support.

I can help you identify the myriad costume changes that No!-mind undertakes as you struggle toward your goal.

Employing No-mind in the mastery of No!-mind is another skill that I can teach you.

Christopher Isherwood on No!-Mind... Because, Christopher Isherwood.

Christopher Isherwood co-wrote with Swami Prabhavananda a commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In the commentary, the experience, roughly speaking, of an individual mind is called ignorance. That's kind of harsh. Oh well. It turns out wonderfully in the end, so let's hang in there.

Here is Isherwood and Prabhavananda's translation of Yoga Sutra 2.3

These obstacles--the causes of man's suffering--are ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and the desire to cling to life. 

Isherwood and Prabhavananda here use the word aversion the way I am using No!-mind. In Sanskrit, the word is dvesha.

The constant, necessary presence of No!-mind in the fabrication of our human individuality makes it, let us say, amusing, to undertake positive, transformative change. Again, I point to the good sense it makes to have support, and I enthusiastically make myself available for this.

In Yoga Sutra 2.8, Patanjali defines dvesha. Isherwood and Prabhavananda translate:

Aversion is that which dwells on pain.

Their commentary states:

Aversion is also a form of bondage. We are tied to what we hate or fear. That is why, in our lives, the same problem, the same danger or difficulty, will present itself over and over again in various aspects, as long as we continue to resist or run way from it instead of examining and solving it. 

No!-mind Accompanies Positive Change

I add that there is a little bit of hate and fear involved in every effort we make to achieve a positive goal. When one part of the mind becomes the authority that says, "You would be better off doing X," No!-mind is there to assert that we are just f@*!ing fine as we are, thank you very much.

I Am Here To Help You Make Your Wishes Into Realities

Don't let No!-mind dominate your better angels. Call me, and I will teach you the skills that will allow you to get 'er done. Check, check, check, right down your 'to do list." Will be a hoot, too.

Turn your "to-do" list into your "ta-dah!" list. Oh. I am on a roll.

jelyrose@gmail.com / 646-831-2675

The Little Bird

One of the most inspiring stories I have ever heard is the Buddhist tale, The Little Bird. I have retold this tale in my book in progress, Journal Workbook for Finding Peace Within (It's a working title.). I have a question for anyone who would comment. Many tellings end with a god being moved to bring the rain by the little bird's actions. I removed "god" from this retelling. Do you think it is still warm with that caring consciousness when told this way? Click on "comments" below to share your view.

The Little Bird

Once there was a little bird whose nest was high in the treetops of a beautiful, living forest. On a clear, blue morning the little bird awoke to a sense of panic all around. The forest was on fire. Looking down, he saw his four-legged, six-legged, and many-legged friends running away from the flames. Looking up, he saw all the birds of the forest flying in fear in every direction.

The little bird flew high above the forest. He saw that the flames were coming much faster than many of his friends could flee. To the west was a river. Quick as he could, he went to retrieve water. “Come with me,” he cried to the other birds, who were flying away from the dangerous heat. “Help me put out this terrible fire. See how our friends are suffering below in the forest.” The little bird filled his beak and began to fly back to the fire.

“Turn around, little bird,” the other birds pleaded. “You are flying into harm’s way.”

The little bird shook his head. He flew so hard that his wings ached. Below him the fire licked the heels of a family of deer. He opened his beak and dropped the water. His beak was so small that the little drop of water it held fell glinting in the sunlight only to evaporate in the fire’s rising heat. The little bird did not notice. He was already half way back to the river.

This time, he filled his beak and dipped his feathers in the river. The water made his wings heavy, but he flew back to the forest where so many of his friends had no means of escape. He opened his beak and shook his wings. Still, not a drop reached the fire below. Back and forth the little bird flew from the river to the forest fire.

His wings were scorched, his eyes watered from the smoke, his muscles ached, and his tiny lungs burned. Now, standing alone at the river, he gathered the last of his strength to make the journey back to the fire. The little bird did not notice the rain clouds gathering behind him. This time, as the little bird flew, silently, rain clouds followed. And back at the forest, just as the little bird shook his wings over the fire, the clouds burst open, and it began to rain. Tiny drops from the little bird’s wings fell with giant raindrops from the life-saving clouds. Rivulets traveled sizzling down tree trunks, and rolled across the scorched forest floor extinguishing every spark of the forest fire.

The little bird flew into the cloud to see who had saved the forest. But the cloud was heavy; it was hard to see, and wherever he flew, it seemed it was he alone.

Bird photo by Rob Palmer.