HEALTHY LIVING: 'THE 10 GOLDEN RULES TO A FREE MIND'

'THE 10 GOLDEN RULES TO A FREE MIND'

Poetic Monthly Magazine, Enlightenment Column - April 2010

Freedom is a state of mind that is completely independent from your external circumstances. You can live in the most difficult circumstances and be free or live like a prisoner amidst your golden palace.  Whether you see the glass as half-empty or half-full is directly influenced by your past life experiences and conditioning. The only way to free yourself from the old patterns and suppressed fears and desires that are preventing you from reaching your highest potential in life and enjoying a long, healthy and happy life is to learn to know your mind and transcend it.  There are many ways to do this and all it takes is a little effort on your part.  It is well worth the benefits you will reap as a result.  For more, read below and visit www.letloverule.us.

Last month, we talked about Freedom and how getting back to the roots of who we truly are by honoring our inner child and living in the now can help us regain this freedom.   This month, I’d like to offer some more practical suggestions on how to access that realm of Infinite Freedom that lies at the core of each and everyone of us.  The “rules” to apply are so simple, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been using them all along.  They’ll help you decondition your mind and ultimately set you free from all the antics and idiosyncrasies that keep us entrapped in unhealthy behaviors... After all life and the way we experience it is all a matter of perspective, a question of mind... And so why not free ourselves from the confines of a limited mind and gain access to self knowledge and the freedom that comes with it?  So go inside, introspect a little, decondition a little so you can love and live a lot!

10 GOLDEN RULES TO A FREE MIND

Code 1  - ACCEPTANCE OF OTHERS 

Learn to accept other people for who they are without judging them in relation to your expectations.  Understand people’s personality as the result of their own conditioning.  

While their mental programming may vary from yours, the same process of conditioning has brought it into existence and while you may be aware of yours, they may not have shed light on theirs yet.  As you start accepting others, they in turn will start to accept you.  And remember to always laugh at yourself, your behavior, and your antics…

Code 2  - ACCEPTANCE OF YOURSELF

Accept yourself with all your qualities and present limitations.  In order to prevent unnecessary anguish, understand that all your actions are the result of your mental makeup and therefore do not dwell on your problems and shortfalls.  All the while, remain intent on cleansing your mind’s content of all inner conflicts which cause all perceived limitations, so you may continue to grow on the spiritual path and come closer to personal freedom.

Code 3  - DETACHMENT

Watch your habituated reactions to your environment and the people around you.  Understand how your attachment to the external can result in discontentment and reduce your need to find happiness in outer activities.  Do not suppress external desires for such suppression causes even more harm then acting them out, but become detached to the outcome of your actions even when it is not as desired.

Code 4  - IDENTIFICATION OF ONE’S OWN EGO – Mental & Emotional Attitude

Identify your greatest needs, attachments, desires, hang ups, etc… One of the best ways to discover your attachments is to trace the cause of your present anger or unhappiness to its source.  This will point out the mental and emotional attitude that causes disturbances.  Focus most intently on the things and people that cause you the most intense dislike as they will unveil, and eventually help you remove, your emotional hang ups.  Treat the whole world as your teacher… 

Code 5  - LIVE FULLY IN THE NOW

Try to live each present moment as fully as possible by giving your full attention to the now, whatever the task may be without thinking about the outcome or completion.  Forget about the past, i.e. do not worry about past “failures” and stop trying to replicate pleasurable experiences too.  Do not anticipate the future either.  You can make plans but see planning as part of the present.  Enjoy every action as you perform it and enjoy the fact that you exist and that your every action is an expression of your very existence. 

Code 6 – DISSOCIATE FROM THE EGO (body, mind, and actions)  

Do not fully identify with your actions, body, or mind, which only make up the Ego.  Realize that your consciousness, i.e. the witness that sees it all, is separate from your Ego and underlies everything in your life.  The more you purify body and mind, the more you will begin to see and identify with the “ever-present” Consciousness rather than with your mind and body.

Code 7  - - BE YOURSELF AND OPEN UP TO OTHERS

Open up and express your true feelings to others. Instead of putting up a wall that causes mental tension and alienation and creates a greater divide with others, be willing to open yourself and be vulnerable.  Do not try and hide your weaknesses for others will most likely feel a sense of falseness emanating from you.

Code 8  - SEE UNREALIZED POTENTIAL IN ALL

Remember (however difficult that may be) that everybody has the potential to reach higher levels of awareness, a potential that lies dormant, awaiting to be tapped.  One’s mental programming is causing a person’s current circumstances, but these can be changed and made more harmonious as soon as one starts understanding himself and his own mind.  

Code 9  - EMBRACE DIFFICULTIES AND ENEMIES

Do not avoid difficult situations and enemies but treat them as your greatest teachers.  Rather than continually associating with people and situations which tune in with your emotional programming and therefore reinforcing and satisfying your individual prejudices, let so-called controversial circumstances bring your emotional conflicts and prejudices to the surface and unveil your mental programming.  Once this is clearly identified, you will be able to deal with it and free yourself from it. 

Code 10  - RECOGNIZE MENTAL PROGRAMMING IN YOURSELF & OTHERS

Try to put yourself in other people’s shoes.  Instead of reacting blindly as programmed, try to see the other person’s point of view.  Remember that all reactions – yours and those of others – are purely automatic.  Try to change your response to all of life’s situations so that they may only cause the least possible emotional upsets.

For more information on mental deprogramming and freeing your minds from the grooved you find yourself stuck in, be sure to check out my recently released novel, “Spiritual Enlightenment In The Age Of Cybersex” (Dec’09), a comedic spiritual gem that introduces basic concepts of Spirituality through the innovative platform of an urban satire, exposing the biased belief systems, prejudices and conditioned behaviors that keep us prisoners to our own selves, @  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1449906818

The “Ten golden rules to a free mind”  will also be the subject of our “Let Love Rule” Radio Show next month.  Be sure to check us out @ www.letloverule.ning.com

Delve deeper, rise above, and spread the Love!" "Let Love Rule!"

The key to living a long, healthy and happy life

'The key to living a long, healthy and happy life'

Enjoying a full, healthy and happy life doesn't take that much; it's all about the little things that make an incredible difference.... For more, read below.

Following are a few small deletions or additions to make to your daily life that will not only make you healthier but will also make you happier.

1. EXERCISE: Exercise is vital to human health and exercising today can be the key to your later quality of life. Pace your exercise program to your health, in times of illness, range of motion exercises will insure you maintain as much movement as possible. When you are healthy, exercise will help build muscle or aid in lung and heart health. Listen to your body and pace your exercise program by what it dictates.

2. REST: Rest is a form of therapy and it is essential for your body to have when you are under physical or emotional stress. If you need it then don't fight it. Try to lay down each day for a 20 minute total rest period. Total rest meaning that you do absolutely nothing during this brief lay down. Although you do not need to sleep to receive the benefits of this rest period it is amazing the amount of energy that it will replenish you with.

3. ALLOW YOUR BODY TO SWEAT: In today's world of deodorants and air conditioners we don't sweat enough. Like the kidneys excrete waste from the body so does the process of sweating allow our bodies to rid itself of harmful waste. Sweating helps reduce the accumulation of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and nickle and also serves to secrete toxins such as alcohol and nicotine residues from our bodies. Sweating reduces bacteria in our bodies and can actually strengthen our immune system. When you sweat profusely, just remember to add additional water so that dehydration does not occur.

4. REDUCE THE POLLUTANTS THAT YOU ARE EXPOSED TO: Be aware of the pollutants that you are exposed to and take the appropriate measures to reduce that exposure. If you smoke; find a way to quit. If your water system is an older one than it may contain lead and other contaminants. Most water purifiers are very reasonably priced and can be purchased at your local department store. With the amount of water we ingest daily it is very important to insure that it is as pure as it can be. If you live in a very polluted community consider a move to a cleaner environment. Eliminate the use of as many plastics as possible and instead switch to glass, wood, cast iron or steel containers and surfaces. Do not use non-stick baking utensils as the coating currently contains a toxin which leaches at high temperatures. Reduce the amount of electricity that you are exposed to. Evening and night is when you are most likely to be home and exposed so simple things like throwing out the electric blanket, reducing the amount of lighting you use, removing the electric clock from the bedside ( or better yet replacing it with a wind-up one), sitting back from the T.V. or computer and reducing the amount of time you spend doing those activities. Instead spend more time outdoors.

5. DETOXIFY YOUR DIET: Eat foods rich in antioxidants. These combine with those dangerous free radicals in your body and serve to strengthen your immune system. Reduce sugars and starches, chemicals and preservatives, also fatty foods such as french fries and red meats. Eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Switch from fatty red meats to leaner white meats, or no meat at all if you can. Minimize alcohol consumption. If necessary add vitamins from a natural source, such as the blue-green algae E3Live, to supplement your diet.

6. REDUCE YOUR STRESS: Stress can cause irreparable damage to the immune system which leave you open to all kinds of future illnesses. Stress kills! Reduce it any way that you can.

7. BE PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE: We each have our own unique qualities and these are our gift to this old world that we live in. Be proud of all those special qualities that make you......you. Also know that sometimes changes in your life can alter who you are and require you to set new attributes and goals for yourself. Always push yourself to be the best that you can be but also understand that there are times when you just need to hide away and recuperate.

8. SMILE: When you put that sweet little grin on your face your brain does an amazing thing and it releases a little chemical known as "endorphins". These endorphins are the body's natural pain killer and will reduce feelings of emotional or physical pain. The more that you smile, the more often that you will find yourself smiling, without your even thinking about it. Then without knowing when it happened, you will discover that you have actually become, a much happier person.

9. LAUGH: You may have heard the saying that, "Laughter is the best medicine". Well this is a fact. Laughter is one of those things, like smiling, that makes you feel good. It is also a great form of exercise with all the same great variety of health benefits for your body that exercise will give it. Find any reason that you can to laugh, the more that you practice laughing, the more often that you will find it occurring naturally.

10. LOVE: Love with all your heart and soul. Don't be afraid to give freely of yourself and your emotions to as many living creatures as you are able to. The kindness that you give will not only make you more content with your life, but it will create a wave of kindness, that stretches out far beyond what your eyes are capable of seeing.

'Goodwill Makes You Feel Good' - 'The Art of Happiness' as defined by his Holiness, the Dalai-Lama'

"'The Art of Happiness' as defined by his Holiness, the Dalai-Lama' - 'Good Will Makes You Feel Good'"

The Aquarian, Spring 1999

If you want to know if you need to change anything in your life, simply ask yourself this question, "Are my really happy?".  If the answer is 'yes' then just keep ding what you have been doing all along, but if it is 'no' then you may want to find new sources of inspiration that will bring the zest and carefree fun back into your daily life. For more, read below.

"Are you happy?"  Not many people would dare ask His Holiness, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, such a pointed, personal question. But Howard Cutler is an American psychiatrist, and by then he had known this most open and transparent of holy men for years. "Yes. . . .Yes . . . definitely," was the Dalai Lama's reflective reply. Cutler, the scrutinising clinician, didn't doubt it one bit.

So begins our vicarious audience with a God-man who "ought" to be overwhelmed by despair, seething with misanthropy, and bent on revenge. After all, the 63-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monk named Tenzin Gyatso has spent all of his adult life living in exile from his ravaged homeland and nonviolently butting his head against a brick wall of international resistance to putting things right. Yet, in the process, he has a won the Nobel Peace Prize and charmed millions with his utterly unpretentious Buddha good-nature. In this unique self-help book, the Dalai Lama allows a Western psychiatrist to pick his brains on the obstacles that stand in the way of the goal we all seek, including the Dalai Lama. "I believe," His Holiness professes to a large audience in Arizona, "that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness....the very motion of our life is towards happiness." And thus is set the agenda for Cutler's book. Schooled in Freudian pessimism and given to playing Devil's advocate, Cutler doesn't hide his doubts. "But is happiness a reasonable goal for most of us....Is it really possible?" he privately asks HH. "Yes," is the reply. "I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind." Training the mind? Whoa! Aren't we talking to the sweet guru of loving-kindness here? Why is he suddenly sounding like some beady-eyed behaviourist? The Dalai Lama, Cutler's book reveals, is a much more logical, analytical, "left brain" kind of guy than most people would think. In the course of this 315-page attempt to separate the wheat of true happiness from the chaff of compulsive pleasure seeking, self-centred gratification, dysfunctional relationships, etc., we learn that the world's most prominent Buddhist approaches the challenge from a rational perspective that echoes the orientation of modern cognitive therapists and their philosophical predecessors, the ancient Greek Stoics. It's Buddha meets Epictetus meets Aaron Beck (the founder of cognitive therapy). But the Dalai Lama would not be the Dalai Lama if he were merely a cool-headed technician of mental hygiene.

To begin with, he explains that it is the Tibetan concept of mind - Sem - to which he refers. Sem "has a much broader meaning, closer to `psyche' or `spirit'; it includes intellect and feeling, heart and mind." So it's not just "positive thinking" that's the key, it's positive being. "By bringing about a certain inner discipline," the Dalai Lama continues, "we can undergo a transformation of our attitude, our entire outlook and approach to living." And central to that attitude is a deepening realisation that our happiness as individuals depends on the happiness of other "sentient beings," including our perceived enemies. This is the heart of Buddhism. Is everybody happy? Well, if not, then you can't - mustn't - really be completely happy yourself. In one chapter, zeroing in on a major obstacle to happiness, Cutler asks: "I'm curious, from your standpoint, what's the best way to overcome fear and anxiety?" Earlier, the Dalai Lama had proposed that openness is one of the keys to happiness. And now, as elsewhere in the book, he demonstrates it. In the course of his characteristic, professorial dissertation on the varieties of worry and anxiety, he offers: "One type of anxiety, which I think may be common, could involve fear of appearing foolish in front of others or fear that others might think badly of you..." "Have you ever experienced that kind of anxiety or nervousness?" Cutler interjects, seizing the opportunity. "The Dalai Lama," writes Cutler, "broke into a robust laugh, and without hesitation he responded, `Oh yes!'" His Holiness then recalls his nervousness as a youth upon first meeting China's intimidating leaders, Chairman Mao Zedung and Chou En-lai, and winds up admitting to "a little bit of anxiety" to this day whenever he gives a lecture. So how does the Dalai Lama deal with his anxiety, Cutler asks. The Dalai Lama plunges into thought and then surfaces with a self-help solution that is as moral as it is therapeutic: "[If] I'm anxious before giving a talk, I'll remind myself that the main reason, the aim of giving the lecture, is to be of at least some benefit to the people, not for showing off my knowledge." (Hmm... So even the Dalai Lama has to wrestle with vanity, and he isn't shy about admitting it.) "So those points which I know, I'll explain. Those points which I do not understand properly - then it doesn't matter; I just say, `For me this is difficult.'...With that motivation, I don't have to worry about appearing foolish or care about what others think of me. So I've found that sincere motivation acts as an antidote to reduce fear and anxiety." Here and elsewhere, the Dalai Lama's prescription for happiness seems to come down to one essential ingredient: the will to do good.