Stop Thinking

How long will you think about this painful life?
How long will you think about this harmful world?
The only thing it can take from you is your body.
Don't say all this rubbish and stop thinking.

~Rumi

Long Time in the Making

When you think objectively about how much work went into creating your own capacity to have the experience you are having in this very moment – fourteen billion years of hard work - then it might even begin to strike you as immoral to spend too much time sitting around and worrying about the fears and desires of your personal ego. Surely the purpose of all that cosmic effort and creativity and positivity – from nothing to energy to light to matter to life to consciousness to you - could not possibly have been just for that. When you awaken to the evolutionary process and its endless creativity, and you discover how profound and complex the structure of our universe is, you start to recognize and appreciate, at a soul level, what a precious gift it is to be here.  (p. 37, Andrew Cohen, Evolutionary Enlightenment: a new path to spiritual awakening,ch. A Big Yes)
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When looked at from that perspective it seems like more than just a grand fluke!  It gives life so much more meaning.  I should keep this in mind when I'm feeling down and wondering if there really is any meaning to life after all.  Since before the beginning of time I was an idea, a thought that became an action!  Now here I am, and to get me here the Universe had to line things up JUST SO.  I was a long time in the making, and SO WERE YOU.

Just Try

With each morning’s awakening try to live through the day in harmony with the Higher Self. “Try” is the battle-cry taught by the Teachers to each pupil. Naught else is expected of you. One who does his best does all that can be asked. There is a moment when even a Buddha ceases to be a sinning mortal and takes his first step toward Buddhahood. (Blavatsky Collected Writings, Vol. 12, Esoteric Instructions)
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In the mornings I have been doing exactly that - trying.  I may be forgetful when it comes to thinking positive thoughts or showing gratitude to the Universe but some mornings I have succeeded in remembering.  I feel that if I work with the Universe then the Universe will work with me.  We get out of something what we put into it.  As above so below.  Have you heard this koan below?

"A new student approached the Zen master and asked how he should prepare himself for his training. "Think of me a bell," the master explained. "Give me a soft tap, and you will get a tiny ping. Strike hard, and you'll receive a loud, resounding peal."

OK, Universe.  I'm pounding on that bell with my thoughts and I'm putting feeling into them.  Hope You can hear me.  Thanks for listening.  (Since gratitude is important.)

What To Do With All These Thoughts

Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this because almost everyone is suffering from it, so it is considered normal.  This incessant mental noise prevents you from
finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from Being.
-Eckhart Tolle
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I don't know that I could ever stop the incessant chatter inside my head but I have been trying to replace the negative thoughts with positive ones.  We'll never be able to watch all our thoughts because we have about 60,000 thoughts a day, but anytime I can become aware of them and catch myself "in the act", so to speak,  is a good thing.  So, anytime I can I'm going to think good thoughts and thoughts of gratitude to the Universe.  As someone with OCD I tend to think the same thought over and over and over again.  (...and did I say "over and over and over again"?  Good.)  So, I'd much rather say, "It's a great day!" many times, instead of, "Oh, it's a gloomy old boring day."

Dear Universe

" Your happiness depends on your ability to change your state of consciousness, to extricate yourself from the realms of the unconscious, the subconscious, and even the self-conscious, in order to elevate yourselves to the realms of the superconscious, or divine consciousness, so that you may dive into it as into an ocean of light. Doing this, you realize not only that you are free from the limitations of your physical body and the impressions of the five senses, but also that your whole being extends to infinity. In this fusion with divine light, even if it only lasts for a brief moment, you feel that you are gradually being taken over by your superior self, which is a tiny part of the Godhead. And then, one fine day, all of a sudden, you will be given all the comprehension, sensations, or achievements you previously lacked."  ~Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov
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I've been very pumped up and excited about the Law of Attraction.  My main goal at this point in time is to make myself feel good.  I'm putting effort into thinking positive thoughts.  So, my first order from the Universal Catalog is HAPPINESS!  Ever since I put my order in I've been feeling some of these blues lifting.  It's an actual sensation that I can feel physically when depression starts to fade away, and I'm feeling it.  I'm starting to realize that I need to put a little bit of effort into making myself feel good beside just taking some magical pill which really isn't very magical at all since it doesn't work 100%.  It might work 50% but I need to do the rest.  I am programming myself like a computer.

Universe, I will be happy.
Universe, I am the Master of my thoughts.
Universe, thank you for all that you have given me.  (Because gratitude helps bring more good things into one's life.)

Tosui's Vinegar

Tosui was the Zen master who left the formalism of temples to live under a bridge with beggars. When he was getting very old, a friend helped him earn his living without begging. He showed Tosui how to collect rice and manufacture vinegar from it, and Tosui did this until he passed away.

While Tosui was making vinegar, one of the beggars gave him a picture of the Buddha. Tosui hung it on the wall of his hut and put a sign beside it. The sign read:

"Mr. Amida Buddha: This little room is quite narrow. I can let you remain as a transient. But don't think I am asking you to help me to be reborn in your paradise."
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This is a funny Zen koan.  Just yesterday I was joking around with Ray about how I was hoping it could be possible to hop off the merry-go-round of reincarnation, as if we had a choice.  Round and round we go again, and I am getting rather dizzy!

I know that my speaking of koans probably defeats the purpose, which is to silence the mind, but I can't help myself.  :)

The Law of Attraction and OCD

A humorous - or not so humorous - thought occurred to me yesterday.  I've been listening to the audio book _The Secret_ by Rhonda Byrne.  It's about the Law of Attraction.  I'm a firm believer that we can at least affect our own moods by our thoughts.  (...and at times our moods affect our thoughts.)  I've been trying to push myself out of the doldrums by thinking positive thoughts.

...but on to the humorous thought.  How does the Law of Attraction work for someone with OCD?  I'm sure our thoughts cause things to happen tenfold, since OCD is obsessive thinking.  I have OCD.  I tend to think negative thoughts, so if I can change my thoughts to positive thoughts, instead of ruminating on the gloomy past, I could be happy day and night, not just during my bipolar up phases.

"I am the Master of my thoughts."

Is That True?

One day the Master announced that a young monk had reached an advanced state of enlightenment The news caused some stir. Some of the monks went to see the young monk. "We heard you are enlightened. Is that true?" they asked.
"It is," he replied.

"And how do you feel?"

"As miserable as ever," said the monk.
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I like this parable.  I think it gives a very realistic idea of what enlightenment is.  Enlightenment is not going to solve all the problems one has.  Enlightenment is not going to take away depression, or solve money problems. Enlightenment is not going to solve relationship problems or employment issues.  Enlightenment just is.

Depends on How You Look at Things

Life is the same for the saint and for Satan;
and, if they are different, it is because of their
outlook on life. The one turns the same life
into Heaven and the other into Hell.

-Hazrat Inayat Khan

Earth can be our heaven or it can be our hell.  Right now, to put it in simple terms, there is a lot of $#|% going down on my part of the planet and I can either choose to focus on this small part of life when the rest of life going on around me is wonderful and beautiful.  I can pump my head full of sad gloomy thoughts or I can pump my head full of happy gratitude thoughts.  So, will I be the saint or the Satan?  I choose to be the saint.

A Course in Miracles... and Other Odds and Ends

My fiancé and I started the lesson portion of A Course in Miracles the other day.  We're on the third day.

I've started a new blog as a sort of journal of my experiences with it.

http://acourseinmiraclesjournal.blogspot.com/

Elsewhere, yesterday I signed up to get "Notes from the Universe" from the TUT's Adventurers Club and a statement on their website today made me smile.  I'd say it applies to me.  "The reason old souls enjoy spending time alone is because they never really are."

The first letter I received from today says,

"Sophia, you don't even have to ask.

I know, I'm there, and I'm already busy.

The Universe

On the other hand, Sophia, a little wink, "the chicken" when no one's watching, or a soft "hubba, hubba..." wouldn't hurt, either."

I laughed at the synchronicity because earlier today I made a joke with Ray about being beaten with a rubber chicken.  (Ray is my fiancé.)