Set your bags down here.

So how many of us have used the phrases:"That person has a lot of Baggage","They have issues" or "Why can't they just let it go?". But I wonder how many of us realize the excess baggage that we are carrying around. All those things that we hold deep down inside our hearts that cause us so much sadness and pain. So many of us carry so much that it slowly drags us down to the point where we feel like we can't go on. We have these feelings of resentment and anger towards people that may have been out of our lives for years. Maybe we are still upset about something unfair that happened to us. Or maybe we lost someone we loved. No matter what it is that each of us carry or cling on to, we have to learn to let it go.


We all have to learn to let go of the person we used to be. We have to let go of all the negative attitudes and feelings that have been growing in our hearts for all these years. We have to replace those feelings of hatred with compassion, replace jealousy with generosity and replace resentment with forgivness.How many of us have hated someone, and that person never knew how we felt? Who is really suffering from that hatred? How many of us still wallow in sadness from losing a loved one? Do you think that loved one would really want you to be sad because of their passing? Or would they want you to get on with your life and be the happiest you could be? How many of us still hold onto feelings from a past relationship? Even though the other person has moved on and found happiness somewhere else. Clinging onto things is one of the major reasons of suffering.


We have to learn to live in the here and now. To take things for what they are worth and to deal with them as they come. Nothing in this world is permanent. Things come and go and we can't waste our time clinging onto the things that have gone. It's great to hold onto memories but don't let them monopolize your mind so that you lose the chance to make new ones. What would happen if when you were driving down the road and your eyes were fixated on the rear view mirror? You would most definitely miss that turn ahead. We have to stay aware of the world around us."They call today the present because it truly is a gift." I know we have all heard this saying before but how many of us really believe it. Today is the first day of the rest of your life and it is up to you whether you want to live in the past or live for today. I am choosing to live for today and I would love for you to be here with me. Blessings and love to you all.

It's a work in progress

For as long as I can remember I have thought I was leading a good life, being a good person. I always considered myself a good friend to those I cared about. But through all my reading about Buddhism and on my search for finding my spiritual path I have realized that I have a lot of room for improvement. I realized I can be so much more. We all can be so much more. The thing that amazes me most is that the teachings of the Buddha are pretty much common sense. All his teachings are probably things we have all heard at some point in our lives. Whether they were taught to us by our parents, grand parents or maybe a teacher or religious figure. Whoever it was, they were people who wanted us to grow to be good, hard working, honest, loving and compassionate people. But as I read on and reflect on my life I see that somewhere along the way I lost some of those wonderful life lessons.


These lessons are so simple, they can be found in almost any religious beliefs. Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and even Islam. All these religions tell us to live good lives and love each other as we love ourselves. They tell us to show loving compassion for all God's creatures. Big or small. Human or animal. Man or woman. Black or white. We are all dependent on each other. It is not possible for an island of happiness to be surrounded by an ocean of suffering. It is impossible for us to be happy if everyone around us is suffering. What a wonderful place this would be if we all cared about each others happiness. If we all went out of our way to help our fellow man. Could you imagine what that would be like.


But after so many years of being a certain way I am finding it really hard to change the way I think and feel about certain things. But I am making a conscious effort to not let the negativity creep back into my mind. For way too long if I saw someone on the streets that I disapproved of I would either think or say something really awful about them. I disliked certain groups of people just because they weren't like me or believe what I did. So the first step I took was when I see someone like that I try not to have any thoughts about them. I just see them, as another human being. I have also made an effort not to use profanity any more. I just don't see the need for it anymore. It really is amazing the power our words have. What we say can hurt someone so badly that it takes years to heal from it, but on the other hand what we say can be so positive for someone that it changes their life forever. To many of us speak without thinking of the consequences our words could have.


The word Buddha has a very simple meaning. It means enlightened one, we all have the potential to become a Buddha. We all know what it really means to be a "good" person. All we have to do is look deep inside ourselves and find that loving compassionate person that is in us all. I know now that my happiness is dependent on the happiness of others. So I will continue to do all I can to help everyone be the happiest you possibly can be. Blessings and Love to you all.

Let go of your Ego!

I once read somewhere that "If you only think of yourself, you will be the only one thinking of you!".Although it is very important to love and respect yourself I truly believe that this world has gone from a self-respecting state of mind to an egotistical attitude. To many of us, somehow, have become disillusioned that the world revolves around us and everything that happens in our lives. That our life journey is far more important then the journey's of others.That our good news is much more interesting then your neighbors. And that our accomplishments should be shouted out from the mountain tops. There are people who think they can live without others, but the more disillusioned person is the one who thinks others can't live without them.

I have been reading a wonderful book for the past week and it has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. It never occurred to me that there are two sides to the "Ego" coin. The first side is when we are so wrapped up in ourselves that we constantly remind people about how great,successful,lucky and blessed we are. Walking around like the sun never sets before we lay our heads down to sleep. These people believe that any wrong doings that fall upon them are do to the faults of others not to the faults of themselves. Because in their eyes they can do no wrong. They have built their Ego up so much that they have pushed out any remnants of Honor that they had left.

But let's not forget the flip side to this coin. These are the people who can't stop talking about all the bad things that have happened in their lives. They manipulate the conversation telling everyone about how life is so unfair to them. About how if they didn't have bad luck, they wouldn't have any luck at all. Or maybe the complain about their physical appearance, or are always putting themselves down to get a laugh from the crowd (I am just as guilty as anyone on this subject.).They believe that their problems out weight everyone else's problems, whether they realize it or not. Do they do this for the sake of maybe getting pity from others? Or do they do it because they want reassurance that their life really isn't that bad? For what ever reason they do it, it is their ego's that make them do it.

When did it become so important to us to have the acceptance of others? When did "Ego" become more important then "Honor"? When did so many of us stop caring about our fellow man? Like everyother problem that we have in this world it is much to big for one person to fix. But like any journey it starts with the first step. All we can do as humans is try and better the little piece of the world that is our lives. By trying to live an Honorable life filled with love and compassion for all we can start the ball rolling. You will find more people follow you when you lead by example then if you lead with words. I have always tried to go out of my way to help someone in need, but there was always limitations to who I would help. Maybe I would exclude a specific race or class of people because I didn't believe they deserved my help. But who am I to determine who is worthy and who is not? How egotistical would that be? The world would be a much better place if we all stopped thinking of ourselves and reached out a hand to others. We can't let our ego's cloud our judgments anymore. We are all in this together. Love your life and it will love you back.