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.