Archives for July 2016

Compassion: 4 reasons it’s good for you

July 30, 2016 by Andrew Marshall Leave a Comment

The incredible, dynamic nature of compassion

Compassion is extraordinary. The transforming effect it can have is so powerful that it can change an individual for the better for the rest of his or her life.

Compassion has the power to change because it is dynamic. It releases something within us and unleashes energy that alters our perceptions and the way we think. It breaks down blockages of energy in our system and brings a sense of fulfilment that nothing else quite equals. We sometimes talk about the amazing energy of love; compassion takes that a step further.

Why wise compassion brings joy and completeness

In essence, we are not separate from anything or anyone else. At the deepest level, there is no “else”. As we move a little closer to realising that in life, barriers and prejudices in our thinking and in our communications begin to dissolve. As they do, we feel more complete.

What is compassion? It is a loving, deep awareness of the needs of others. More than that, it is coupled with a spontaneous desire to remove others’ suffering. It is an attitude of total selflessness, yet it brings immense benefits.

Four reasons we need compassion

Compassion liberates us. It gives us freedom because we have to let go of self-interest. In energy terms, that means we let go of all clinging or grasping and as we do that our energy channels become more open. We release mental and emotional tension and consequently physical tension, too. We feel freer in ourselves because we focus less on our own problems or what we perceive as our problems. As we do that, they fall into perspective and shrink in importance.
Compassion helps us in our relationships because we become less concerned with what we want out of them. The same principle applies whether it is a close, personal relationship or a business one, for example. Outwardly, our behaviour may not change very much. The important thing is our attitude. Our view of the relationship will be easier and often the other person will sense we are easier with them. Sometimes we may see a difficult relationship in a different light. For example, we may have been straining to be liked and discover we can let go.
Compassion can benefit our health. Both physical and mental health will tend to improve as we let go and start to give of ourselves more easily. The brain produces more endorphins and so we feel happier. As a result, the immune system tends to be stronger and the quality of life improves. The prospects of life being shortened by stress are much reduced. We could say, therefore, that compassion is good for health, for quality of life and for longevity!
Compassion develops the heart energy centre. The heart centre or chakra unfolds as we develop our spiritual qualities. As it does so, energy to the other chakras in a very natural and safe way. Those who try to “open their chakras” by artificial means are often being misled by those who really ought to know better. Artificially trying to force our energy centres to open rarely works satisfactorily. It is always safe to work with the heart centre by developing the qualities of love and compassion. The results are strong and stable.

Compassion needs wisdom, too

These wonderful results come from wise compassion. Being compassionate does not mean being soft or being a do-gooder. A truly compassionate person is strong, stronger than most in fact, and is not easily manipulated. The compassionate person can say no when necessary. He or she doesn’t have a hidden agenda which demands that they need to please the other person. True compassion requires honesty and truthfulness. That doesn’t mean we have to be blunt. If to tell someone the truth is going to them pain, the compassionate person will strive to reduce that hurt to a minimum and will know not to say anything at all if it isn’t necessary.

To know which is right takes wisdom and wisdom comes from being in touch with our own nature. This doesn’t happen overnight. Developing true wisdom and compassion is a task for life. But every step on the way brings us closer to completeness and being a better, and more useful, human being.

From The Secret Power of Compassion, chapter 7 of The Great Little Book of Happiness

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Insight: 3 reasons you need this mind-power

July 25, 2016 by Andrew Marshall Leave a Comment

Insight is mind-power. It can’t bend spoons or produce helicopters out of thin air. No, insight isn’t a conjuring trick. Rather, it sees the through deception of the conjurer. There can be fun in being deceived, of course. Magicians can produce good entertainment. But we are in the habit of seeing the appearances of everyday life as something that they’re not. That can cause a huge amount of misery for all of us.

Insight penetrates the trickery of the mind

The mind is amazing. It is a magician that assembles unconnected components into images. For example, a mass of pixels may be just billions of tiny dots. Put them together and the mind sees them as a picture. Similarly, programmes are broadcast across the world and appear to the mind as images on television screens.

If the mind didn’t work in this way, it would not be possible to communicate using images. If all we saw in an artist’s painting were various coloured pigments, the work would be meaningless. And yet there is something of a deception going on because the mind is making out something that isn’t really there. Up to a point, we manage. We’re okay because we know that the weather man is not really inside the television. The photo of a mountain is not the mountain. But if we accidentally break a favourite ornament, we feel upset. But is anything really lost? The pieces are still there, so what’s gone?

Insight lets us know we’re okay

Making appearances seem real is a trick that the mind applies to almost everything. The downside is that we want things to be just right and are not so happy when they’re not. We become attached to things, circumstances and people. We’re happy when they are with us but often fear losing them. Anything we don’t like is unpleasant.

What if we could see things differently? The environment we see now is an ever-changing collection of images. Moreover, we all have different cultural backgrounds, beliefs, education and emotional baggage. So every human being sees a different world. No wonder there are problems!

Insight helps us to see things for what they really are. Then our emotions don’t swamp us. So if we can look beyond the apparent, our problems become less pressing and gradually disappear. Just as a mirage disappears as we approach it, our worries dissolve as our insight grows.

No-one can do that for us but as it is the mind that is the cause of all the complexity and error, we can use it to heal itself. As that progresses, the mind relaxes. We feel happier and at greater ease with our world, no matter how crazy it may seem.

Insight wakes us up from our dream-state

When we are dreaming, everything in the dream seems real. It may all be rather bizarre but it seems real while we are in it. But when we wake up, we know the dream was no more solid than a phantom or a mirage and usually we forget it quite quickly, if indeed we remember it at all. In the dream, the imagery is as real to us as when we are awake.

It is only when greater awareness comes to us as we wake up that we can dispel it as unreal. In the dreaming state there is awareness but not as great as when we are awake. Similarly, when we are awake there is awareness but not as great as in the enlightened state.

A first step: see the world as a play of energy

Our world seems very solid and real but science tells us it isn’t. Everything that looks and feels solid is made up of countless particles – atoms and molecules and the minute particles that make them up – and, just as importantly, the space between the particles. The physicist would tell us that the space between the particles is enormous – far greater than the “mass” of the particles themselves. The particles are whizzing round at enormous speed in a vast amount of space and this gives the appearance of solid matter. This means that when we look at or feel something solid, we perceive something that is not solid at all. It’s an illusion.

Unless we have exceptionally sensitive and subtle vision, it is impossible for our eyes and mind to see solid things as mainly consisting of space. However, it is not such a great stretch of the mind to think of everything in terms of energy. In fact, even all the particles are simply energy taking form, so whether something appears solid to us or not depends on how densely the energy manifests.

Understanding is part of insight

Insight begins with understanding. So we can begin to understand that the whole world is a play of energy that is an amalgam of billions upon billions of energy systems. Just like the solar system itself, you and I are each an energy system, as is a tree, a bird, an ant and so on. All these patterns of energy are composed of billions of smaller ones. We can think of the organs in our bodies, and indeed every cell, as interdependent composite forms of energy.

Every family, community, anthill, shoal of fish, every nation is a complex system or organism composed of energy. That means that everything is energy and is moving and vital. Nothing is dead because energy is dynamic. It’s extraordinary if we take the trouble to think about it.

If we can begin to see everything in life as energy, we start to break down the concepts embedded in the mind that convince us that everything is solid and real. Instead of solidity, see everything as fluid and vital. Gradually your perception will change and your mind will become freer. It really is amazing –but you have to discover that for yourself.

From Chapter 6 –Deeper insight equals greater happiness in The Great Little Book of Happiness

Be happier in 7 easy steps

July 9, 2016 by Andrew Marshall Leave a Comment

Be happier and bring some lightness into this crazy world! Finding and increasing happiness is a fundamental human desire. In fact we could say that being happier is part of our life’s purpose. We have physical requirements – food, shelter and so on. Then there are emotional needs such as feeling loved, nurtured and appreciated. Happiness is more than the satisfaction of these needs. It may include them but essentially is a state of mind. We may be loved and well but can still be unhappy and feel sorry for ourselves.

Be happier: improve the mind

Improving the mind is essential. This doesn’t mean we have to study a foreign language or spend our leisure time doing endless brain exercises. It means seeing ourselves, and consequently others, in a different light. Before we can do that, our mind has to become clearer. But how?

A major problem most of us have is that we think too much. Our minds are cluttered and that is uncomfortable. To avoid that discomfort, we think about something else. Let’s book a holiday. Or buy this. Or eat some chocolate. Any dream will do. Then the mind starts getting busy again and we are back on the treadmill.

The mind needs to be calmer. We need to become calmer. That’s easier said than done, you may say, and you’d be right. But it’s not that difficult. Not really. We just need to ease our foot off the accelerator (that’s the gas, if you’re on the other side of the pond). Apply a little gentle pressure to the brake. In fact, take a break. Just slow down and allow your mind to be at ease.

Once is never enough

To improve our quality of life, there needs to be more than just an occasional top-up of greater calmness. There has to be some adjustment to how we approach life. Learning how to be happier is a process of forming new habits and dropping some old ones.

Seven easy things that will increase your happiness

Slow down your activity. Although it is not possible for many of us to slow down all our activity, it is surprising how much we can adjust and actually perform what we have to do better simply by slowing down. Sometimes do something deliberately slowly, in slow-motion almost, and this will help to break the habit of doing everything at a fast pace.
Slow down your thought processes. Rapid-fire thinking is not helpful because it agitates the subtle energies and creates tension in the body. Try to think calmly and clearly and on one thing at a time.
Be aware of the breath as much as possible, even in activity.This will help to slow the mind down and it will increase awareness. This doesn’t mean we should concentrate on the breath – simply be aware of it in the background.
Live in the present moment and do whatever is in hand with full awareness. If you are eating, for example, be fully aware of what you are chewing and not thinking about the next mouthful, the next course or what you have to do next. If you are listening, listen fully and give the other person your full attention without the mind wandering. If you are walking, enjoy feeling your steps.
Smile. Smiling releases endorphins in the brain, increases the sense of well-being and helps to promote stillness. Just a light smile is enough – we don’t have to walk round with a fixed grin!
Ensure you have some time each day by yourself. For some people, that may not seem so easy but if we are constantly in the company of others, it drains the energy and keeps the mind over-stimulated.
Do something that you feel good about each day. This helps build self-esteem and calms the mind.

Inside not outside

Remember that quality of life depends not so much on external factors but on how we feel inside. In discovering how to be happier, the aim is not to become artificially still by cutting ourselves off from everything. The emphasis is gradually to bring more and more stillness into what we do. If we can achieve that, we will begin to touch the deeper parts of our being. Life rises from still waters rather than noisy, shallow rapids. We have more to offer life. In return, life offers so much. Happiness is restored.

From The Great Little Book of Happiness

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