A Free Mind

A friend sent me this recently and I wanted to pass it on to you. It is from the website www.thoughtfortoday.org.uk

It may be a bit difficult to grasp at first, but once you get it, it really is a step towards being free and happy.

 

Free Mind      A free mind is a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing. Most people spend much of their time looking for reasons to be offended.        An open mind is never offended because it is free of any attachments. It is never the self that is offended but always the illusion that the self has of itself that is affected by insult!        If you can really understand this, deeply grasp it's truth, live it each day, then pain will be no more. Next time you 'feel' offended look closely within yourself at yourself and ask yourself what was offended?        If you remain aware you will see that it was only an image of yourself which you had become attached to, and that image did not resonate with the image contained in the insult.        If you weren't attached, if you didn't identify with the wrong image of yourself then there would be no offense taken. You would then remain free and therefore happy.

 

Another Country

Last week we had an enriching discussion using ideas from the internationally known Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. For me, and I suppose most of us with Western-trained minds, the Buddhist concepts of no death, impermanence, etc. are a bit hard to grasp, but it is good to try. Stretching our minds is like exercising our bodies--we become more flexible and healthy.

This coming Thursday we will be looking at a number of excerpts from the book, Another Country: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Our Elders by Mary Pipher, Ph.D. There are so many great  ideas and stories in this book we will probably be with it for several weeks.

One of my favorite and most powerful quotes in the book was written by a widow after the loss of her husband of sixty years:

"As sweetly as an opening bud you came to me. As silently as the setting sun you left. Between, one long and glorious day."

May your week be filled with wonder.

Embracing Change

Our discussion this past Thursday had to do with how we adjust to change. We discussed how we handled the changes that naturally occur throughout our lives--graduating from school, finding jobs, changing jobs, getting married, becoming parents, etc. Did we embrace the changes, or resist them? What is it about us as individuals that caused us to face the changes the way we did?

The discussion was playful as well as serious as we answered questions such as: If I develop arthritis, I'll...
              If I lose friends and loved ones, I'll...
              If I have fewer things I must do anymore, I'll...
...and other provocative questions.

How do you think you will face your future? Think about it in a playful and a serious way.

We used Spiritual Passages: Embracing Life's Sacred Journey by Drew Leder, M.D., Ph.D. as a guide for our discussion. 

Finding Your Purpose

        Last Thursday we had a lively discussion regarding finding our purpose in later life. We recognized that in earlier years, as students and later  employees and parents our purpose was often narrowly defined by our role. We would strive to move ahead in our career, we worked hard at becoming good parents and we rarely had time to think about whether we had another purpose in life.

        Now, most of us are retired and our children are grown and making their own lives. So does this mean that we no longer have a purpose other than to enjoy ourselves, enjoy the fruits of our hard work from years past?

        Most of us, if not all of us, felt that we do still have a greater purpose other than enjoying our lives. Of course enjoying our later years is something we can and should be doing. Not only is enjoying our later years good for us, it also serves as a role model for the younger generation, letting them know that old age is something to look forward to and not to fear. 

        We can serve other purposes as well. We can use our experience to help others navigate along the way of life's difficulties. Not by preaching to them, of course, but by telling our story. Volunteering in activities that we choose to become involved with and letting our voice be heard in community, state, and national policy decisions are other ways to use our experience.

        What do you think is your purpose? Give it some thought and let us know.