Go beyond selfishness, replace performing actions "to achieve what I want to do" with "to benefit all beings"...

Some say that they need "passionate" desires or reasons to motivate them to do their best to be successful in what they want to achieve, or to give them the strength to do what they want to do for themselves or for other people...

When we go beyond the egoism or selfishness, then the strength that motivate us, or the "reason" for us to perform all actions is compassion.

Out of compassion towards all beings (including ourselves is also one of the beings), we perform all our actions whether it is for ourselves or for other beings. Even if the actions seem like is being performed for ourselves, it doesn't seem like it has anything to do with other beings, but when we know how to take good care of ourselves, when we have peace and love in us, our entire existence will be benefiting all other beings naturally... We will be generating vibrations of peace and love into the environment, and there will be less a being generates negativities into the world, even if we don't have any intentions or desires to benefit anyone...

There is no "I" am benefiting the world, or "I" want to benefit the world, or "I" want the world to be benefited by "my" actions...

We don't need "passionate" motivations to motivate us to do good for others, but out of compassion, to benefit all beings (including ourselves is also one of the beings), we perform all actions without selfish desires, or selfish intentions, or selfish expectations...

It is not because "I" want to do good. It is not because "I" want to feel good. It is not because "I" want other beings to be helped and be happy. It is not because "I" want to be the strong one to be able to help other beings who are weaker than me. It is not because "I" like to help other beings. It is not because "I" want the world to be a better place... and so on.

Replace all these "I" and "I want" with "for the benefits and convenience for all beings (including ourselves)"... There's no difference between other beings and "I". This being ("I") is also one of the beings that need to be compassionate at...

There is no need to have "I" being there to be motivated by certain reasons, or any desires, or any intentions, or any expectations to perform all these actions... All these actions are merely "to serve the universe, to serve all beings"... Without the "I" identify as the doer of actions and the receiver of the fruit of actions...

There is no attachment towards the actions and the result of the actions.

There is no difference between success and failure, praise and condemn, compliments or criticisms, appreciation and inappreciation...

Om shanti.

How to be happy or have a happy mind?

Before this mind can go beyond the identification with the modification of the mind, the intellect, or the ego, there's an idea of 'I' identifying with the mind and all its modifications as "I", or "me", or "my thinking and my feelings"... 

 

The thinking mind under the idea of 'I' wants to feel pleasantness, or it wants to feel good, or it wants happiness, or in general, we, or all minds under the idea of 'I' want to be happy. What we want is a happy mind. We like ourselves when we are happy, and other people will also like us, when we are happy. And then, out of attachment and identification and craving, we will be more happy when other people like us when we are happy, and so on...

If so, we need to start with understanding the elements or qualities that influence or determine the states of mind. And try to remove, or eliminate, or reduce the qualities that make the mind feels bad and unhappy, and try to cultivate, or develop, or increase the qualities that make the mind feels good and happy.

Most of the time, the mind is swaying between the state of happiness and unhappiness. Occasionally, the mind is in a state of neutral, neither happiness nor unhappiness, as there is no elements of happiness or unhappiness occupying the mind. There is no reason or cause for the mind to feel happy or unhappy. That is similar to momentary peacefulness, neither elevated nor depressed... But all these states of mind are impermanent. They will change and disappear. That's why we can never be truly satisfied if we identify with the fluctuating mind as "I" or "me".

An unhappy mind is when the mind is being occupied by impurities like anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, dissatisfaction, disappointment, pride, arrogance, agitation, depression, anxiety, irritation, frustration, insecurity, fear, worry, craving, aversion, hurts, resentment, vengeance, emptiness, meaninglessness, low self-esteem, cowardliness, non-accomplishment, non-productiveness, suppression, offensiveness, defensiveness, doubts, and etc, that make our mind feels disturbed, unhappy or bad... And so, when the mind is being free from all these impurities, elements or qualities that give rise to unhappy or unpleasant sensations, the mind will be in a state of being absent of disturbed or unhappiness... That's why we try to avoid these elements, as we don't like or don't enjoy the state of disturbed or unhappiness.

A happy mind is when the mind is being in a state of calmness, contentment, satisfaction, high self-esteem, courageous, clarity, joyfulness, love, meaningfulness, creativeness, productiveness, blessedness, gratefulness, thankfulness, appreciativeness, accomplishment, doubtless, fearless, worryless, and etc, that make our mind feels happy or feels good... And so, when these elements or qualities that contribute happy or pleasant sensations are absent from the mind, the mind will be in a state of being absent of happiness... That's why we keep looking for all these elements and try to maintain them, as we like and enjoy the state of happiness.

But know that these two groups of elements that give rise to either the sense of happiness or unhappiness are impermanent, it doesn't give true and lasting satisfaction... It is the absent of the idea of 'I', where there's no identification in the mind towards its selfless restless modifications that will bring realization towards the truth of the selfless impermanent existence and function of a selfless physical body and selfless thinking mind, where beyond all kinds of impermanent changes, is timelessness, selflessness, non-separateness, attributelessness, namelessness, formlessness, birthlessness, deathlessness, beginninglessness and endlessness, which is unconditional and unlimited peace and contentment...

There are many different elements or qualities that are influencing or determining the state of our mind. And all these elements or qualities can be cultivated, as well as can be eliminated... Sometimes when we don't relate any of these elements with how we feel, we will say it is the hormonal system controlling how we feel, or the normal or abnormal condition or function of the brains that is determining the states of mind. Sometimes we just feel depressed without any particular reasons, because certain part of the brains is not functioning properly as it is, where many mental health experts are still trying to figure out how to make correction to that type of abnormality in the brains that trigger depression... But know that the hormonal system is also influenced by the energy fields and the inputs that we feed the mind... And so, by influencing or changing the energy fields or filtering what types of inputs that we feed to the mind, through performing certain physical activities or yoga exercises, controlling the breath, controlling our food consumption, filtering what we read, watch and listen, choosing who we mix with, and etc, can help us to have certain control of how we (the mind) feel...

Even if the mind is suffering from depression that even the mental health doctor also can't do much, but to be under control via certain drugs medication, which is not great, but the mind can still be trained to be eradicating egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment and expectation, and learn to be aware of the state of depression without association towards the state of depression, or being over-powered by the state of depression that is also conditional, that is also selfless.
 

Usually our mind is in a mixture of these elements or qualities. That's why we feel confused (not sure about whether we are happy or unhappy) and keep swaying between the state of happiness and unhappiness unceasingly, or we are not being purely happy or unhappy... Sometimes we feel happy and some other times we feel unhappy. We can't really tell or distinguish whether we are happy or unhappy people. But that's not important. There's no need to categorizing ourselves as happy or unhappy people. All are selfless and impermanent.

When qualities that give rise to good and happy feelings are predominant in the moment, then we can say that we have a rather "happy" state of mind in the present moment...

These qualities that give rise to good and happy feelings usually are (but not limited to) positive thinking, optimism, patience, tolerance, acceptance, adaptation, adjustment, accommodation, forgiveness, cheerfulness, loving kindness, friendliness, thoughtfulness, respect, self-discipline, self-control, empathy, confidence, faith, correct understanding, right views, calmness, non-offensiveness, non-defensiveness, good-wills, unselfishness, humility, forbearance, and etc... As all these qualities make our mind not so easily to be annoyed, disturbed, irritated, frustrated, disappointed, upset, angry, depressed, unhappy and any other unpleasant states of mind, whenever the mind comes in contact with the objects of the senses that the mind doesn't like, doesn't want and disagrees with, or when our mind doesn't come in contact with the objects of the senses that the mind likes, wants and agrees with.

When qualities that give rise to bad and unhappy feelings are predominant in the moment, then we can say that we have a rather "unhappy" state of mind in the present moment...

The qualities that give rise to bad and unhappy feelings usually are (but not limited to) negative thinking, pessimism, impatience, intolerance, non-acceptance, non-adaptation, non-adjustment, non-accommodation, resentment, anger, hatred, animosity, greed, jealousy, pride, arrogance, impulsiveness, apathy, low self-esteem, faithlessness, incorrect understanding, wrong views, aggressiveness, offensiveness, defensiveness, ill-wills, selfishness, and etc... As all these qualities make our mind easily to be annoyed, disturbed, irritated, frustrated, disappointed, upset, angry, depressed, unhappy and any other unpleasant states of mind, whenever our mind comes in contact with the objects of the senses that the mind doesn't like, doesn't want and disagree with, or when the mind doesn't come in contact with the objects of the senses that the mind likes, wants and agrees with.

Our personalities, behavior, actions and reactions, feelings and emotions are reflected upon the presence and absence of all these elements or qualities in our mind in the present moment...

It also depends on how strong is the attachment and identification towards the selfless restless modification of the mind, the intellect, or the ego, or attachment and identification towards all the beliefs, educational, religious, cultural, social and family background that make up this "I", that determining or influencing us whether our mind will easily be happy or be unhappy...

A person who was very calm and happy can suddenly become very agitated or disturbed. A person who was agitated or disturbed can suddenly become very calm and happy. This is all due to the nature of fluctuation of the different impermanent qualities occupying the modification of the mind...

Usually when we get the things that we agree with, that we like and want, we (our mind) will feel good and happy... And when we don't get the things that we agree with, that we like and want, we (our mind) will feel bad and unhappy... When we get the things that we disagree with, that we don't like and don't want, we (our mind) will feel bad and unhappy... And when we don't get the things that we disagree with, that we don't like and don't want, we (our mind) will feel good and happy...

It is about what our mind likes and dislikes, wants and doesn't want, agreements and disagreements... It is not because of the things that we come in contact with are "good" or "not good"... As everyone has different points of views and categorizations about what is "good" and what is "not good"... And so, if we ever feel unhappy about something, it is because our mind doesn't like and doesn't want or disagree with the things and happenings that we come in contact with. It is not the things and happenings that make us unhappy. Like wise, if we ever feel happy about something, it is because our mind likes and wants, or agree with the things and happenings that we come in contact with. It is not the things and happenings that make us happy.

All these things and happenings have no qualities or intentions to make anyone happy or unhappy. For the same thing and same happening, some people will feel happy, but some other people will feel unhappy...

If we truly want to have sustainable happiness that lasts longer, we need to work with reducing, minimizing or eliminating the qualities that give rise to bad and unhappy feelings, and increase, maximize or cultivate the qualities that give rise to good and happy feelings... As well as working on letting go of craving and clinging towards what we like and agree with, and letting go of aversion towards what we don't like and disagree with, that will eventually lead us to realize unconditional peace that is always there, unconditional and unlimited...

And this practice is about letting go of the ego, or the idea of 'I', as likes and dislikes, wants and don't wants, agreements and disagreements, are all coming from the ego...

If we have a mind occupying with lots of elements or qualities that contribute to good and happy feelings, then we can say that, we are happy people with happy personality and behavior. But this won't guarantee us pure and lasting happiness if we are still influenced by the qualities that give rise to bad and unhappy feelings that are existing in the mind together with the qualities that contribute good and happy feelings... And so, it is very important to try to eliminate all the qualities that give rise to bad and unhappy feelings.

Ultimately, if we know how to let go of the idea of 'I', void of identification with the selfless impermanent modification of the mind, then all these qualities are just qualities, they have no value or power to determine or influence us to be happy, or not... There's no need to hold onto, or identify with, or associate with, or attached onto all these good and bad feelings that keep arising and passing away, as their nature is also selfless and impermanent... It is just the mind being happy or unhappy being influenced or determined by all these qualities in this moment, it is not "I", it is not "me"... There is no "I" or "me" being there experiencing all these impermanent feelings, but there's a selfless awareness that is aware of the mind is experiencing all these impermanent feelings and emotions... And this selfless awareness is a silent witness or observer... It is unaffected, undisturbed, undetermined, uninfluenced, uncontaminated by all the impermanent modifications of the mind about good or bad, happiness or unhappiness, positive or negative, meaningful or meaningless...

But before we are able to be completely be free from the idea of 'I', as long as there is still an idea of 'I' identifying with the modification of the mind, as "I" or "me", and thinking that "I" am experiencing all these feelings and emotions, then we can work on countering negativities with positivities, or eliminating the "negative", "bad" and "unhappy" elements or qualities from the mind, and replace with "positive", "good" and "happy" elements or qualities... And be a happier person with a happier mind. Or else we can still be happy with ourselves for being an unhappy person with an unhappy mind, that is impermanent... Or, allowing and accepting ourselves (the mind) to be happy sometimes and be unhappy some other times... All are impermanent.

Most important is that we are aware of all these good and bad feelings, and accept ourselves (the mind under the idea of 'I') as we are, and have control over our actions and speech, so that we do not generate or inflict harmful, hurtful or disharmonious actions and speech unto other people or beings that we come in contact with, especially when our mind is in a disturbed or unhappy state of mind...

Sometimes when our mind is over-powered by impurities or qualities that are "unpleasant", we are not happy, we might intentionally do or say something that will irritate or hurt some other people to feel better, good and excited, as that will make our ego feels strong and powerful by bullying other people or beings, by inflicting painful sorrow onto other beings physically or mentally, to get some sort of superiority, control, satisfaction, excitement, stimulation, or happy sensations... And sometimes we like the sensations that come from being angry and jealous. It gives the mind some sorts of stimulation or excitement... We enjoy being in a state of anger and jealousy. It makes our mind feels stimulated. We constantly looking for contradictions and arguments with other people to excite or stimulate our mind... Especially when we "think" we win over the arguments, it's really empowering our ego, to feel "I" am strong, "I" am superior, "I" am in control... Most of the time, it isn't because we are right and intelligent, and other people don't want to argue with us and let us "win", but it is actually other people being emotionally matured and are wiser than us, and don't need this kind of mind games to boost their egos, to feel strong, to feel superior, to be in control of anything...

If that is the case, we really need to seek consultations from somebody who doesn't need to depend on hurting or harming other beings to be happy, who is self-controlled and is happy as he is or as she is... Or else, when we are totally or completely over-powered by this type of behavior, we can't control our own behavior anymore, then we might have to end up in mental institution or psychiatric hospital, and be controlled by drugs, and this will be wasting our life time and life existence to have the opportunity to do so many wonderful things for ourselves and other beings... 

 

In the beginning, we are behaving like this is because out of ignorance and egoism, we want to be strong and superior, we want to have control over things or other people, we want to be the one in control of everything, but we end up losing control over ourselves (our mind), our sanity, our strength and ability to be "what we want to be"... What a destructive way to try to gain superiority, control and power...

Om shanti.

Non-comparison, non-judgment and non-expectation?

We may hear about somebody complains about this or that teacher is not good, or this or that school is not good, or this type or that type of yoga is not good... But it is actually our mind is not pure, full of negativities, defects, likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements... That's why we see or recognize all the negativities and defects in other people or in things, as that is the reflection of what our mind is...

If there is a quality that our mind cannot perceive or recognize, that is because in our mind there is no such quality. Just like when we couldn't see or recognize the good qualities in other people, it's because there is no such good qualities in our own mind to reflect upon... It doesn't mean that these people don't have good qualities in them but we just don't see it or recognize it... And usually our mind is having a mixture of good and bad qualities, and thus we will see or recognize the same qualities in other people but not something that is beyond what our mind can perceive...

And we judge everything according to what our mind likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, as good or not good... If it is something what our mind likes and agrees with, we will say it is good... If it is something what our mind doesn't like and disagree with, we will say it is not good... But this judgment of "good" and "bad" is coming from our mind according to what our mind believes what is "good" or "bad"... It is not what things really are...

For example, we ate "particular food" for the first time, and it tastes what we don't like, and that was what our mind recognized or perceived - "That particular food is not good", "It's not tasty", "I am not happy eating it", and "I don't like it"... When other people say to us, "That particular food is so good", "It's so tasty", "I am so happy eating it" and "I like it", as it tastes what they like, and we (our mind) will disagree with that. We might even argue with people to prove that our opinion is right and their opinion is wrong... But that particular food has no intentions or qualities to be good or not, to be tasty or not, to make us feel happy eating it or not, to make us like it or not... All these judgments are coming from what our mind believes what things are, according to our likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, but it is not what things really are...

We can only be aware of all the different qualities in each person, and accept everyone as they are without comparison, judgment and expectation, as everyone is also in the process of learning and transformation... We also be aware of all the different qualities in ourselves, and accept ourselves as we are without comparison, judgment and expectation, as ourselves are also in the process of learning and transformation... And if we are already pure and perfect, there won't be any judgments towards anyone, nor comparing everyone, nor expecting everyone should be behaving, act and react in certain ways that we think that is what they suppose to behave, act and react... With the pure mind, all the qualities of names and forms disappear. The pure mind will perceive and accept everyone and everything as they are... They are not good or bad. They are not positive or negative. They are not happiness or suffering... They are just what they are.

When we see or attached to the different qualities of names and forms, we will start to have comparison and judgment about this person or that person is better or worst, and start to generate preferences and discrimination, likes and dislikes, and craving and aversion... Due to strong attachment toward all these judgments towards the different qualities of names and forms, the veil of ignorance in our mind is growing thicker and thicker... Our own evolution becomes more and more difficult, as the veil of ignorance is growing stronger than before... Why be disturbed and be bothered by other people being different from each other or being different from us, or expecting all of them to be the same, or to be like us, to determine, or to control, or to influence our own practice and evolution?

We respect and accept everyone to be free to think and believe what they want to think and believe, to behave, to act and react the way that they want to behave, act and react... And allow everyone to be different with one another, and be different from us. Why do we want to control other people or to change other people to think and believe, to behave, to act and react the same ways like us? Meanwhile we are full of aversion, rejection, anger and hatred if other people don't like us the way that we are, and they want to control us or to change us to be the way that they think we should think, believe, behave, act and react...?

When we think we are good people, we do good things and don't do bad things... We judge ourselves as "good beings". And we criticize and judge other people whom we think they are not good like us, they don't do good things like us, and they do bad things, as "bad beings"... We think we are more superior than them, and we are better human beings... We get angry and hating these people, and we don't like them and don't want them to be here in this world, or we want to control them and change them to be the way that we want them to be... We think we deserve to be here and all these "bad beings" don't deserve to be here... We want to kill them all or we want them to be killed by somebody, and we curse and condemn them into hell... CAN we see now, how evil and selfish we are? We are not any different from these people whom we think they are bad and evil...

For example, alcohol exists for some medical reasons. When somebody abuse the use of alcohol and cause damages in their physical and mental health, it is not the fault of the alcohol... It is not the alcohol being bad... It is people's own responsibility for abuse the use of alcohol and to consume it to the point that causes damages to themselves... Alcohol itself is not something good or not good... It has no quality or intention to be good or bad... It is whether we use it wisely or abusively, and reflect it as something good for medical reason, or reflect it as something not good for damaging our body and mind... It is our own intention and self-control that is responsible for our own behavior and the consequences of our behavior...

Even though there are many people practice yoga and meditation in the world, but everyone evolves on different levels and speeds. We cannot expect everyone has the same understanding and practice, and having the same way of thinking and behavior, actions and reactions, even though everyone is practicing "yoga and meditation", or is practicing different types of "yoga and meditation" practice. Everyone has different degrees of ignorance and realization, different degrees of attachment, craving and aversion, and different strength of the egoism... Even though in the same Ashram or school of yoga, not everyone who involves in the teaching, administrative and management will be having the same characteristic and personality, actions and reactions...

Our practice is our own effort and for our own transformation, it is nothing to do with other people's practice and transformation... It doesn't matter if the teacher is not perfect nor completely pure yet, but it should not be an obstacle or distraction to influence or affect our own practice, nor stop us from performing our own practice and evolves on own level and speed. As the path of realization of truth is very personal. It is nothing to do with the quality of the teacher or the school...

Just like some people look at some "yogis" who are behaving "badly" in the world, and they judge and criticize "yoga" or "yoga practice" as something not good or evil, that it will make people behaving badly like all these "bad yogis"... Or they blame and judge the teacher of the "bad yogis" as bad teacher and is responsible for the "bad yogis" bad behavior... Or they judge the yoga schools where these "bad yogis" went to as bad schools... But this is complete ignorant way of seeing things and judging things... The "bad yogis" themselves is responsible for their own behavior...

People who learn under the same teacher or same school, also will have different levels of understanding, different degrees of ignorance and realization, different types of characteristic and personality, different degrees of attachment, different speed of evolution and etc... And all these different levels and degrees of transformation is nothing to do with the teacher or the school... Our own understanding, perception of things, degrees of ignorance and attachment, actions and reactions, characteristics and personalities, and speed of transformation is our own responsibility, it's not the responsibility of the teacher or the school...

Even if we are aware of the imperfect or impure qualities in the teachers, that should not become obstacles or distractions in our own evolution... At the same time we ourselves accept the teacher as he is or as she is, without expecting the teacher should be perfect or should be on a higher level of understanding or transformation than us... As real teachers can be anyone and anything, not necessarily has to be a perfect saint or sage who is completely free from the ego, or who is completely selfless... The teacher or the happening is there to allow us to see or recognize the ignorance, impurities or selfishness in ourselves, and it's not about seeing and recognizing the ignorance, impurities or selfishness in the teacher or in the happening, and be disturbed and affected by them...

A very good teacher or good school cannot guarantee all the students will be having the same degree of ignorance and realization, and evolve at the same speed of transformation... Buddha couldn't make everyone be enlightened and be free from ignorance, nor could he give peace to anyone, nor could he remove suffering from anyone... As well as the ignorance, restlessness and suffering of everyone could not affect Buddha's enlightenment, liberation and peace...

Everyone has the opportunity and should be given the opportunity to experience what they need to experience for them to learn and evolve in their own way and speed... Even though if they have to repeatedly go through many unnecessary meaningless unpleasant experiences... They have to learn from themselves and realize the truth by themselves. And through out the journey of transformation, there's no judgment, comparison and expectation towards ourselves and other people even if they are our teachers... The teachers have their own evolution, and we have our own evolution...

If we haven't realize the truth by ourselves, then no matter how many books talking about the truth that we have read, how many yoga classes and courses that we have attended, and how many good teachers that we have, we will still be influenced by the veil of ignorance in us and be disturbed by the impurities in our own mind, and be in miseries...

We read or heard about the terms about "being in the present moment" and the ways to be in the present moment, but it won't liberate us until we know how to be in the present moment...

When we think we are disappointed by the teachers who are not as perfect as what we think they should be, actually we are disappointed by our own expectation towards the teachers, we expect them to be perfect... The disappointment is not coming from the teachers being imperfect... They and their imperfection didn't disappoint us.

Mind our own mind, not other people's mind, not even our teacher's mind...

Om shanti.

Quality of life?

Quality of life is not determined by life conditions, wealth status, health status, possessions, social status, success in education or career, relationships, material and sensual enjoyments, physical conditions or abilities, and etc.

Without the correct understanding about things, or not knowing the truth of things, all these impermanent good and bad qualities of names and forms do not guarantee us peace and happiness. We still can be dissatisfied and be disturbed by anger, hatred, greed, jealousy, dissatisfaction, disappointment, pride, arrogance, agitation, depression, fear and worry, and etc, as we have attachment, craving and aversion towards things that we like and dislike, things that we agree with and disagree with...

Peace of mind doesn't come from good quality of names and forms. It is going beyond the identification with all these impermanent good and bad qualities to determine who we are or what we are... It is non-attachment towards all these names and forms. We are able to accept the reality of everything as it is, not necessarily the way that we like it to be or what we think it should be...

Only when we are not attached to, nor determined by all these impermanent qualities of names and forms of good and bad, positive and negative, happiness and suffering, as who we are or how we should feel, then we can fully make the maximum out of this life existence...

We are leading our life to do our best in what we can do with this life, this body and this mind. But if we depend on all these impermanent qualities of names and forms to determine us, then it will be the opposite, we will be lead by all these impermanent changes of names and forms...

We will never have peace or be truly happy as we will be forever restless and dissatisfied because the nature of life and all the things that come along with life are impermanent. Even if everything is the way that we like it to be in the moment, we might feel satisfy and happy about all these good quality of names and forms that we like and want in the moment, but this satisfaction and happy feelings are not pure. It is a mixture of dissatisfaction, fear and worry. It's because everything is impermanent, constantly changing. And we have attachment towards this good quality of things to feel good and meaningful. Due to craving and clinging towards all these good quality of things, we don't want them to change into something else that we don't like, but we couldn't stop all these things to go through changes or impermanence... Eventually when all these good or happy things changed or disappeared, we feel dissatisfy, disappointed, lost and empty...

And even if we don't experience any things that are not good in the moment, we are still full of aversion towards bad things, bad happenings or bad conditions. We are full of fear and worry even though nothing bad is happening now. We are disturbed by imaginations and anticipations about bad things, bad happenings and bad conditions that might going to happen on us...

There is no peace no matter everything is good now and nothing bad is happening, because we cannot avoid fear and worry and dissatisfaction that derived from attachment, craving and aversion, due to being ignorant about the truth of things. If we are able to let go of craving and aversion that comes from attachment towards the qualities of names and forms, then naturally peace and happiness is here, unconditioned and undetermined by all the impermanent qualities of things...

That should be the guideline for quality of life (existence)... It is not determined by whether our living condition is abundance or scarcity (in terms of all the basic needs and wants in life, such as food, clothing, shelter, things, education, career, wealth, possessions, relationships, friendships, enjoyments, physical health and abilities, and etc...). People who live a life of luxury and enjoy high quality things don't necessarily have a high quality of life. A monk who renounced the worldly way of life, or even a man living on the streets can have a high quality of life. People who have very good physics, health condition and physical abilities don't necessarily have a high quality of life. People who have poor physics, health condition and physical abilities can have a high quality of life. We are able to live life to the maximum and meaningfully without being determined by the different qualities of things, conditions, situations, physical conditions and abilities, and etc, that we have or don't have...

There is nothing wrong with people who believe in accumulation of wealth, good condition of health, good physics and abilities, success in relationships or career, material possessions and sensual enjoyments as the foundation of happiness and value of life... There is nothing wrong also with people who believe in contentment, generosity and kindness as the source of happiness and value of life... It can be anything depending on what we really want. At the end it is our own choice and believe in what we want and whether we are going to be happy with what we want and what we can achieve... Most people don't really happy or be satisfied with what they want... Some people think having more things in life will be happy but not necessarily. Some people think having less things in life will be happy but not necessarily... It is up to us whether we are satisfied and be happy with what we have and what we don't have in the present moment now...
  
Happiness and value of life is not to be judged or determined by how the society think or believe what happiness and value of life are... Our life is centered on how we feel and think, and not how other people feel and think... This is not selfishness or being unthoughtful... Everyone is responsible for themselves for how they feel and think... Even if other people intentionally throw some abusive words and actions towards us, we don't have to be disturbed or determined by it... We can choose to move away... We can still be peaceful as we are... When we are not happy and angry about certain things, it is coming from our own mind... It's not caused by what other people say or do. We are not happy and angry is because what other people say or do is not something that our mind can agree with or it is not how our mind like it to be...

Be confident in our own belief and our belief should not be influenced or shattered by the thinking and belief of the society...

Om shanti. 

Non-attachment or non-identification?

Yoga asana practice without collaborate with the yoga philosophy is just a form of physical movement... We can still be restless and have no peace. When we implement yoga philosophy into every actions, no matter it is yoga asana practice or any forms of action that we perform in daily life, perform all our actions without attachment towards the actions and renounce the fruit of actions, then all these actions are not merely physical movements but it is Sadhana that will bring us to unconditional love and peace...

This is non-attachment or non-identification with the doer of actions.

There is no "I".
There is no "I" am performing actions.
There is no "I" am or will be receiving the fruit of actions.

Hearing of philosophy vs implementation of philosophy

Hearing, or reading, or studying, or talking, or discussing, or debating about tonnes of philosophy about the mind and the ego is useless, unless we implement the philosophy into our everyday life existence.

The yoga philosophy or the teachings of yoga is there for us to implement them into our everyday life existence to realize the truth about suffering and how to transcend suffering. Suffering exists due to the veil of ignorance in the egoistic mind. Once we let go of the ego, remove the veil of ignorance, there is no suffering, by knowing and accepting the truth about all and everything is subject to selfless impermanent changes.

Yoga and meditation practice is changing the habits of the mind, changing how we think and behave. It is not about changing other people’s thinking and behavior to become like us, or become something that we can agree with, or to change the world to be the way that we like it to be. If we don’t like our mind being in a state of “dissatisfaction”, or “disappointment”, or “unhappiness”, we change how our mind feels and transform this unhappy or discomfortable state of mind into something “contented”, or “peaceful”, or “happy” that we prefer it to be. Nobody can change our mind for us, but ourselves.

If we think we are happy with the way that we are, and think that our thinking and behavior is fine, we don’t need to change anything about our thinking and behavior, then there’s nothing wrong about it. But when we start to feel dissatisfy or unhappy with how we feel or think about ourselves and other people, or disturb by how other people feel and think about ourselves, then know that it is our own responsibility for “being happy with the way that we are”, and it is us who decided that we don’t need to change anything about our own way of thinking and behavior. Be happy with our own decision made. Nobody is going to punish us if we don’t want to change our own habits of the mind. If we ever feel unhappy, it is coming from our own ignorance towards the truth of things. It is due to the veil of ignorance, we generate unhappiness or inflict suffering onto ourselves.

If we are happy with our mind being in a state of dissatisfaction, disappointment, frustration, agitation, restlessness, or unhappiness, then be happy with it. But then be responsible not to “condemn”, or “punish”, or “hurt” other people and things out of this disturbed state of mind.

Om shanti.

Women vs men?

Why do women want to think and feel that their biggest enemies are men, that they are in competition with men, or they have to compete with men? It is not necessarily so... Even if a woman has been abused by men in the past, she shouldn't think and feel that all men are her enemies now and forever...

Free ourselves from being conditioned by past unhappy experiences that continue influence our present relationships with other people... Let go of bitterness, revenge, anger and hatred towards anyone whom had hurt or abused us in the past, and move on with complete openness of the heart and mind...

Being strong vs real strength...

We think that we need to be strong, hard and aggressive to protect ourselves from being bullied or hurt by other people... But if we are really that strong, why do we still need to "be" strong, hard and aggressive to "protect" ourselves?

That means we are not really strong. We "pretend" to be strong. This is due to low self-esteem, not trusting ourselves, and need to depend on some external "protection shields" of being hard and aggressive to "protect" or to defend ourselves from potential bullies and hurts. Because of this sense of defensiveness, we will become offensive even before other people try to "bully" or "offend" us. In fact, nobody has the intention to bully us, it is our own fear and projection, thinking that "All these people are going to bully me, and so, I have to defend myself, I need to be strong and aggressive, so that I attack them first before anyone attacks me..."

Those who are truly strong, they don't need to show that they are strong by being hard, aggressive, offensive or defensive. Instead their whole being projects gentleness and calmness.

Real strength comes from compassion and wisdom. It is being compassionate and wise. It is being free from doubts, anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, dissatisfaction, disappointment, pride, arrogance, low self-esteem, aggressiveness, violence, offensiveness, defensiveness, agitation, depression, fear, worry, craving, aversion, and attachment towards qualities of names and forms... There is no fear towards other people's harshness, aggressiveness, bully or "potential" bully, offensiveness, arrogance, jealousy, criticism, condemn, slander, unfriendliness, and etc...

We are able to tolerate, adjust, adapt, accommodate, withstand, forbear and accept...

We are able to accept the reality of the present moment now as it is, not necessarily the way that we like it to be. We are able to adjust, adapt, accommodate, withstand and forbear any uncomfortable conditions and situations that we don't like or disagree with...

We are able to perform actions without being influenced by any impurities in the mind. We are able to perform actions to help everyone including ourselves to evolve, to be peaceful and happy...

We are able to perform all our duties and responsibilities without attachment, without judgment, comparison and expectation. We perform actions and renounce from the result or the fruit of actions...

This is real strength.

We don't need to be hard, aggressive, offensive or defensive to "protect" ourselves from getting bully or hurt from anyone...

It doesn't matter what are the behaviors, actions and reactions of other people towards us, it is our own ego doesn't like or disagree with their behaviors, actions and reactions, and feels irritated and unhappy about them. It is our ego that feels that we are weak, but we don't like to be weak and don't want other people to think that we are weak, and so we "pretend" to be strong, by being hard and aggressive to defend ourselves from any potential "attacks" from anyone...

No one can bully or hurt us but our own mind creations of fear. It is our own mind being ignorant and influenced by impurities... It is absence of compassion and wisdom.

Whenever we feel irritated or getting angry about other people's offensive behavior, it is ourselves being defensive... We feel offended by other people's actions and speech... It is coming from being low self-esteem and feel being intimidated by other people's confidence all the time. This intimidation is not coming from other people. No one can intimidate us unless we allow that to happen by being low self-esteem. It is our own low self-esteem thinking that other people are trying to press us down, or bully us, or hurt us... Even if other people have the intention to intimidate us, but it won't affect us if we are truly confident...

If  we don't like other people to contradict with our actions and speech, we like and want other people to agree and support our actions and speech, as we will feel irritated, frustrated and unhappy when other people don't like and disagree with us or our actions and speech, but out of our own offensiveness and defensiveness, we constantly contradict with other people's actions and speech, criticize and attack other people with harsh speech and aggressiveness, then how can we expect other people not to be offended by our own offensiveness and aggressiveness? And when other people feel offended by our own offensiveness and aggressiveness, and react by being aggressive towards us, and we criticize them as "aggressive people" who bully and hurt us, and blame them for causing us painful sorrow and unhappiness?

When we start to attack other people with aggressiveness to show that "I am stronger than you, and I won't let you bully or hurt me...", then make sure that we will take full responsibility towards the consequences of our aggressive behavior... Don't blame other people for being aggressive towards us.

And if there's somebody is being aggressive towards us even though we didn't offend anyone intentionally, we can choose to be gentle and remain calm, and move away... Allow this person to express what he or she wants to express, and let him or her be irritated and unhappy for being aggressive. We don't have to disturb our own peace and happiness by throwing back aggressiveness towards him or her... Or we can choose to feel offended and start to be aggressive and offensive to defend ourselves and be irritated, frustrated and unhappy.

Om shanti.

Being angry with other people's violent behavior?

The mind is the source of happiness or unhappiness... When we are angry with other people's violent behavior, aren't we also behaving exactly the same of whom we are angry with? Ourselves are also committing violence.... No difference. How can we judge and criticize other people for committing violence when we ourselves are as violent as them?

Om shanti.

Yoga Teachers Training Course and Certification?

After attending the yoga class, the student told the teacher, "I will not come back for classes tomorrow. I know all the things that you said and taught in the class is true and good. I read from many yoga books about all these yoga philosophy. Your teaching is not different from the books. I know the word "non-attachment"... But my yoga master said that we have to start with perfecting the physical body with asana practice. And only when the physical body is perfected, then only we start practice pranayama, then we practice concentration, then we practice meditation, then the yoga philosophy will come to us. We should not listen to, nor study and practice yoga philosophy, nor perform pranayama, nor concentration or meditation, before our physical body attained perfection... Your yoga class teach about yoga philosophy. Your yoga class consists of pranayama, meditation, inverted pose, balancing pose, forward bends, backward bends, twists and side bends. Our "x" yoga only do one type of practice in one day. If we practice backward bends in that class we don't do forward bends. Your sun salutation is very different from ours. I don't want to do your type of sun salutation. I don't want to disappoint my yoga master. The "x" yoga is the only yoga I want to practice. I don't want to learn any other kind of yoga practice. I don't want to get confused with other yoga practice. I really need to practice my "x" yoga asana. It is very important to me because I need the certificate from my yoga master. I need this certificate because I need it to work. I want to work as a yoga teacher... You can see from the facebook about the yoga teachers training course certification from my yoga master..."

The teacher said, "Do you think all the yogis in the world have certificates? Do you think Buddha had a certificate for him to share and teach Dharma to the world?"

The student replied, "They don't need certificates. But I need a certificate. I am not like them... I need the yoga teacher training's certificate from my yoga master for me to work as a yoga teacher to teach yoga..."

"What do you think yoga is?"

"I show you what we do in our yoga class... We bring the feet apart about 4 feet wide with the four points of the sole of the feet touching the floor firmly. Then we inhale lengthen the spine upward with arms stretch out to the side and this foot turn to the side, and then as we exhale we bring the body to one side with this hand supporting on the shin, or put our hand on this block while the other arm extending over the head. And we stay in this position for 8 to 10 breaths...."

"Good... Most important is that you are happy with yourself and what you want... Sorry we don't teach this "x" yoga. I wish you good luck in your yoga practice and best wishes to you and your family..."

Om shanti.

Fear?

Fear will not leave us, nor go away, nor disappear even if we installed security system in the house, or installed additional steel gate at the front door and steel bars on all the window's frames, transforming our house into a "prison"... As fear is in our mind, it follows us every moment no matter how, where and when...

Especially if this fear is directed towards people, not just people, but particular "coloured skin" people... Thinking, or believing, or imagining, or anticipating that all these particular "coloured skin" people are going to harm or hurt us and our loved ones, or invade our home, or steal our properties, then no matter where we are, being inside or outside our "prison" house, we will still be haunted by fear all the time...

We are "imprisoning" ourselves with imaginary fear 24 hours a day...

We just need to "install" wisdom and compassion in our heart, and free ourselves from imprisonment of fear and imagination, and free all other innocent people who were being "accused", or "judged", or "condemned" as "potential criminals" by our fearful imaginary mind... Our "imagination", "projection", "judgment" and "fear" towards these particular "coloured skin" people, are not any less crime committing than those who are actually committing crimes... Ourselves are criminals.

Be fearful towards the ignorance, ill-wills, ill-thinking and impurities in our own mind, fear not anyone whom we project as "potential criminals" by our own "wicked" ill-thinking, imaginations and anticipations...

Om shanti.

Confidence? Success? Happiness?

In this world of names and forms, when we talk about happiness, somehow we will relate it to how successful we are in life, which also leads to how confident we are in order to be happy, whether we relate happiness to being successful in life or not...

As what we usually believe in our mind, is that success is very much relate to confidence even though confidence is not a guarantee of success. We believe that confidence is the key to success. But, sometimes, we are not confident at all, but still we are able to be successful in what we want to do, unless we don't act at all... Sometimes maybe we are very confident, but it doesn't mean that we will be successful in all the things that we want to do.... Above all, whether we will be successful in what we want to do or not, we still can be confident without being affected by whether we are successful in what we want to do or not...

Confidence doesn't guarantee success, and success doesn't guarantee happiness. Why? As long as we identify ourselves with the impure mind and the selfish ego, we will still be affected by ignorance and impurities in our mind, affected by craving and aversion coming from the ego, then no matter how successful we can be, we will still be in miseries, full of fear and worries, anger and hatred, pride and arrogance, dissatisfaction and disappointment. There is no peace. How can there be happiness?

In the untrained mind, usually we will feel good and happy (or confident) when we are able to do what we want to do, or attain what we want to attain, or else, we will be feeling bad and unhappy (or not confident) if we couldn't do what we want to do, or couldn't attain what we want to attain... But this is not real happiness. This is just impermanent good feelings that fluctuate according to the qualities of names and forms, or determined by the conditions and abilities of the body and mind...

There is nothing wrong to put some make up on the face or the body, or to wear certain style of clothing, or decorate the face and body with some accessories and ornaments.

Just know that all these qualities of names and forms that we apply onto the face and body, are just some appearances with certain style of image that we try to apply onto this physical body and telling ourselves and the world, "Hey! This is me...", but it doesn't determine us for who we really are.

We can allow our ego to enjoy itself by changing the physical appearance through changing how we look and what we wear, but without attaching to the ego to identify as who we are, nor allowing the ego to determine whether we will be happy or not, as confidence, thinking and feelings are "products" derived from the ego attaching to the qualities of names and forms to think and feel good or not. But know that this is just the function of the ego. It is not who we really are.

We are who we are. We are not the ego. The ego is not us.

The ego needs to look good to feel good. The ego needs to be successful to be confident. Our true nature doesn't need to look good to feel good. Our true nature doesn't need to be successful to be confident. It is always peaceful and truthful as it is. It doesn't need to be confident, to think positive, or to feel good.

If we attached to the ego, or identifying with the ego as us, then we will believe or think that we need to depend or rely on how we look, or what we wear, or what we can do and attain, to be confident, to feel good and be happy about ourselves and our life, and we don't know the unconditional true confidence which is not coming from the physical appearance, physical condition and physical ability, nor determine by how the mind feels whether it is positive or negative feelings. That real confidence is our true nature being aware of the truth of things as they are, and not being determined by all the impermanent changing qualities of names and forms, nor being determined or influenced by the impurities that are arising and passing away in the mind.

The conditional confidence that comes from physical condition, ability and appearance, and which is influenced by the state of mind as well as achievements or success that we could attain in life, is impermanent. It is forever fluctuating and will fade away eventually. It is not real.

How can we hang on to something that is not permanent, not real, to be "somebody" who we identify as who we are, or what we like us to be?

True confidence is a state of being that is being free from ignorance or impurities like doubts, anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, arrogance, dissatisfaction, disappointment, craving, aversion, fear and worry, etc... It is not what we think "confidence" is, which built on how we look, how we feel, what we have, what we know, what we can do, where we are, or who we think we are...

It is only when we are not attached to all these impermanent qualities of the condition and ability of the physical body and its appearance, stop identifying with the ego, stop identifying with the qualities of names and forms, then our whole being will be naturally "confident" as it is, which is unchanging or unmovable. We don't need anything nor do something to give us confidence. There is nothing can take away this unconditional confidence which is our true nature, because it is the truth, being free form ignorance, doubts or any impurities, uncontaminated by the qualities of names and forms.

That is unconditional confidence that is beyond the qualities of the body and mind...

Realize this and be free, be truly confident as we are, not because who we think we are, or how we look, or how we feel, or what we have, or what we know, or what we can do, or where we are...

I am that I am. I am not this nor that. Without qualities. Fearless. Doubtless. Unconditioned and unlimited by names and forms...

We don't need to be "pretty", or "beautiful", or "slim and fit", or "strong and flexible", or "successful", or "famous and influential", or "in good health", or "in good relationships", or be "positive", or be "happy", or be anything that we relate to what we think "confidence" comes from.

Om shanti.

Empowerment for women?

Someone suggested that I write something about empowerment for women.

First thing that came into my mind was, why do we condition and limit ourselves as "women" or "men" or any particular gender? Why do we limit ourselves as "women" or "men", and condition ourselves that we should behave, think and express ourselves as "women" or "men", and can only be empowered in certain ways specifically for "women", or just for "men"?

 

Any types of empowerment don't need to be existing in the first place, not to say, women empowerment, if the minds are free from ignorance and egoism.

If we practice the teachings of Yoga Vedanta about attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness, non-dualism, non-separateness, oneness, or "all is one", in our everyday life, there will be no problems or less problems than what we think we have now in the world that derives from the perception of separateness due to ignorant egoistic attachment and unnecessary identification with the qualities of names and forms.

We are what we are, and all minds are existing and functioning under the law of impermanence and selflessness, unconditioned by the different gender and sexual characteristics or physical appearances. The only difference is whether the mind is free or not free from the influence of ignorance, egoism and impurities. We can think, or act, or express ourselves freely without conditioning ourselves that we can only think, act, or express ourselves in certain ways restricted by the different gender and sexual characteristics or physical appearances. Although the worldly human affairs are being conditioned by such limited thinking and belief, as well as under the human made law of constitution in different countries, has been creating so much social/cultural/religious/legal discrimination among the different names and forms due to many human beings in the world are not free from ignorance, egoism and impurities.

This is not about denying the gender or sexuality of women or men, or neither women nor men.

We are aware of our physical body having female or male gender and sexual characteristics and it is being conditioned by hormonal distributions and changes to have certain bodily functions according to the respective genital organ that our body has. But, the capability of our mind to think, believe, act or express, can be free without being restricted or conditioned by the different gender or sexual aspects and appearances.

We can also be aware of, and be able to accept the fact that there are certain things that the female or male physical body can and cannot perform. Different genital organs have their own duties to be performed or to be carried out. But, one who knows non-attachment and non-identification towards the body and the mind is not determined by the different duties/functions or dysfunctions of the different genital organs.

Other than these physical restrictions due to having specific genital organ in our physical body influencing the hormonal system as well as our emotions and feelings, we can be free to be "what we are" without being restricted by the specific genital organ and physical appearance that generate the qualities of name and form that categorize us into "women" or "men". Ignorance, egoism, impurities and suffering don't discriminate whether one is a woman or a man, or neither woman nor man.

We acknowledge and respect our body as it is, but we do not identify ourselves with the physical body and conditioning/limiting this life existence as the existence of "women" or "men", as the nature of all beings is without qualities of name and form, attributeless, nameless and formless. We are what we are. The consciousness is neither "women" nor "men". We might recognize or identify ourselves as a specie called "human beings", and even this name and form of "a specie called human beings" is not the truth of who/what we are.

Once the minds are free from being conditioned by the differences of the qualities of name and form, we are who we are or what we are. We are neither "human beings" nor "non-human beings". We are neither "women" nor "men", nor "neither women nor men". The mind perception of a worldly life existence is not determined by all these qualities of name and form. We are not being conditioned by how worldly minds believe that how "human beings" should or shouldn't think and behave, or how "women" or "men" should or shouldn't think and behave in certain way respectively.

Once we let go of the attachment and identification of "I am a woman or a man, and I should think, act or behave like what a woman or a man should think, or act, or behave, then naturally we are just what we are." We are free. We don't need to be empowered to be a woman or man with certain empowered qualities, strength, ability and achievement.

Only when we are totally being free for being "we are what we are" and not being restricted or labelled as "women", or "men", or "human beings", or any other identifications with particular name and form, the sense of separateness disappears. There's no discrimination or separateness between ourselves and what we think or believe that is different from us, that are not being the same specie or having the same quality of name and form like us.

We accept ourselves as we are, without the need of having competition or comparison between "women" and "women", or between "women" and "men".

We accept everyone as they are, not because they are "women" and they behave like "women" or "good women", or they are "men" and they behave like "men" or "good men".

We let go of expectation towards we, or other people, as "women" or "men", should think, act or behave in certain ways according to the particular type of gender or sexual organ and physical appearance that our physical body has.

This allows everyone to be free to be what we are, not because we are "human beings", or "women", or "men", or any other "names and forms".

There is no difference in terms of how to be truly confident or be truly happy in life between "women" and "men", or between all the different qualities of name and form.
 

When we are ignorant about the truth of who/what we are, and conditioning or limiting ourselves as "this" or "that" of particular names and forms, it indicates that there is no difference between "women" and "men" when the mind is under the influence of ignorance, egoism and impurities. When we have desires of craving and aversion, we are the same. When we are jealous or angry, we are the same. When we feel hurt and disappointed, we are the same. When we have fear and worry, we are the same.

Under the influence of ignorance and egoism, we will be conditioned by the thinking and belief about we should think, act and express in the way that we think or believe what a "good woman" or a "good man" should think, act and express, or else, we are "bad" or "not good" women or men.

It doesn't matter whether we are human beings or non-human beings, women or men, young or old, healthy or unhealthy, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, having or not having a religion, or having different beliefs and values, or having different cultural backgrounds, or knowing different languages that we can understand and speak, or having different points of view and different ways of doing things, or having different nationalities, skin colours, or body shapes, or sexual appearances/orientations, or having different lifestyles, personalities or characteristics, when we are under the influence of ignorance, we all are the same.

 

When we realize the truth of things and be free from ignorance and egoism, we are the same. When we are in a state of peace and happiness, or in a state of disturbance and painful sorrow, we are the same.

By practicing Yoga Vedanta in life, we let go of what our mind is being educated or informed about what is worldly "success", "happiness", or "meaningful life". We let go of what our mind is being conditioned to believe or think what is "good and bad", "positive and negative", "happiness and suffering", "meaningfulness and meaninglessness", and etc. The truth of things is that everything is just what it is. It is not something "good or bad", "positive or negative", "happiness or suffering", "meaningful or meaningless".

When we realize the truth of things and are able to accept the reality as it is, without judging or categorizing the objects of names and forms as "good or bad", "positive or negative", "happiness or suffering", "meaningful or meaningless", then we will not be affected, or influenced, or determined by the forever changing qualities of name and form that our mind perceives and experiences from moment to moment, through the senses of what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. We will not generate attachment and identification towards the qualities of name and form. There is no craving or clinging towards what our mind used to believe or perceive as something "good", "positive", "happy", or "meaningful". There is no aversion towards what our mind used to believe or perceive as something "bad", "negative", "suffering", or "meaningless".

This is the state of non-duality, non-separateness, oneness, attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness.

This is because real peace and happiness, or true confidence is unconditional or unlimited. It doesn't come from the qualities of name and form that are subject to selfless impermanent changes. It's not determined by the different appearances or conditions or ability/disability of the physical body, or the objects and experiences that we come in contact with, or the names and forms that our minds perceive through the senses.

Real peace and happiness and confidence is not attained from what we think or believe is "strength", "success", or "achievement".

 

Out of ignorance, we think and believe that "strength", "success" or "achievement" is related to peace, happiness and confidence, that if we possess the "strength", "achievement" or "success" that we want, we will be peaceful, happy and confident, and vice versa. We are being conditioned to think and believe that only when we are able to do what we want to do, go where we want to go, be what we want to be, and achieve what we want to achieve, we will be peaceful, happy and confident. Or else, if our wishes and desires are not being gratified, if we don't possess what we like and want, we won't be peaceful, or happy, or confident.

We also have different points of view about what is being categorized as "achievement" and what is not. Some people take being successful in relationships as "achievement" in life. Some take being successful in career as "achievement" in life. Some take doing volunteer works as "achievement" in life. Some take accumulating wealth and power as "achievement" in life. Some take having a happy marriage or happy family as "achievement" in life. Some take having a "beautiful", "healthy", "strong and flexible body" and "super fit body" as "achievement" in life. And so on.

There is nothing wrong with setting all these "objects" or "qualities" as goals that we want to achieve in life. But then we will be conditioned and limited by all these impermanent qualities of name and form to be happy, peaceful and confident, or not.

If we can let go of the conditioned way of thinking and belief about what we think who we are, how we should think and behave, and what we should possess and achieve in life, then the real confidence is there as it is, where the mind is undetermined by any qualities of name and form, about whether we are "women" or "men", whether we are "good" or "not good" according to the standard that we categorize everything into "good" and "not good", whether we are being "successful" in life, or not, or how we look, or what is our worldly self-image, or how many "achievements" we had attained, or how other people think of us and judge us as "this" or "that".

We are limited by what our minds want to believe what things are. If there's identification with the modification of the mind and association with the egoistic likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, craving and aversion, desire and expectation, we (the thinking) will be determined by all these conditions that come from our own mind, to be happy or not, to be confident or not, to feel meaningful or not.

For example, we are being educated, or told, or informed that having fair and smooth skin is "beautiful" in Asia, and if our skin is dark and not smooth, then we think we are not "beautiful". If we attached towards what "beautiful" means in this commercial world of beauty products, naturally we will be conditioned by the term "beautiful", and we want to look and feel "beautiful". We will be determined by our skin colour and texture to define whether we are "beautiful", or not. We will suffer from low self-esteem, dissatisfaction, disappointment and unhappiness about ourselves, if our physical body image and appearance does not comply with the worldly standard or belief about what is "beautiful".

If we are free from this ignorance about what is "beautiful" and free from the desire of looking forward to be "beautiful", whether it is to feel good about ourselves, or to attract other people's liking and attention, or for pleasing other people so that they will accept us and love us, or to get support and acknowledgment from certain people or groups in order to feel confident and meaningful about ourselves and our life existence, then we will be happy and confident as we are, regardless of whether we are "beautiful" as what the worldly standard and belief about what is "beautiful", or not. We accept ourselves as we are, regardless of whether we possess the quality of "beautiful", or not. We don't need to be "beautiful" the way that the world categorized what is "beautiful". We are neither "beautiful" nor "not beautiful". We are what we are, and we accept and love ourselves as we are.

True confidence is unconditional. It's unlimited by the qualities of name and form. When we realize true confidence, we can perform all our duties and responsibilities without fear and worry. We are not determined by "success" or "failure" to be happy, or not. We can do our best in whatever we want to do, but without being affected or determined by the result, or the fruit of our actions. We don't push the body and mind beyond its limitation, and hurt the body and mind in the process of achieving certain qualities of name and form in order to be happy and confident, or to feel meaningful. There's no low confidence or high confidence. There's no low self-esteem or pride and arrogance.

Real peace, happiness and confidence are not determined by whether we are "successful" in life, or not, whether we achieve what we want to achieve, or not, whether we can do what we want to do, or not, whether we get what we like and want, or not, whether we live in "good" conditions, or not, and whether our relationship with somebody is "good", or not.

Real peace, happiness and confidence are unconditional and unlimited. By knowing the truth of things and about ourselves (the thinking), we accept and love ourselves and other people as we are, as they are, without expecting ourselves to be what we want us to be, or expect other people to be what we want them to be.

 

Women, don't need to be empowered. Neither does anyone need to be empowered for anything. All just need to be free from ignorance and egoism, realizing selflessness and compassion and unconditional peace.

Be happy.

Yoga workshops?

Strength, flexibility, stamina and skills to perform the asana poses are not attained just by a few hours of practice in a workshop, but consistent practice regularly after attending a workshop, will bring tremendous improvement in all these elements.

Peace and compassion is not determined by how fit and strong we are physically, but with a strong and healthy body it allows us to perform yoga sadhana and karma yoga selfless service for ourselves and other beings to evolve in life.

Om shanti.