“Everyone experiences tough times, it is a measure of your determination and dedication how you deal with them and how you can come through them.” ~ Lakshmi Mittal; steel magnate.
I was walking my dog this morning under the half-asleep but beautiful sky of Provo, Utah, while enjoying the perfect whispers of air. I started looking around me and observed the trees, the singing birds, the colony of ants working early in the spot of dry dirt near me, and I was reminded of the beauty of nature even here in the city. And then I kept on walking and encountered the giant stones and rubble from construction–i.e. a construction site of building apartments which we sometimes visit for our morning walks at about 6 am. My eyes fell onto the giant stones and, for some reason, I was reminded of the other side of life, the duality we must deal with in this life in order to achieve progress, the man-made structures, relationships, and challenges; because looking at that rock made me acknowledge and understand further the stone we sometimes design over our hearts, just like a shield or a covering wall around the beating heart.
Life is beautiful and rich, both in spiritual wisdom and in the material growth of man, but it is plagued by challenges which can either make us or break us, and it is always up to us to decide despite the ugliness and unfairness we may meet along our journey, either become masters of the wonderful fate we create or become victims of the destructive fate we create. Quite often we fall prey of constant fear and stress, whether in our jobs, relationships, chosen lifestyles, etc., and, more often than not, prey of others, whether our bosses, our own family and friends, our neighbors, even people we do not even know; however, we must understand beyond pain and sorrow that everything and anything which happens to us is never random, is never a source of “luck” or a lack of it, but that all which befalls has a purpose. Life, beyond the egotistical and, often wicked, schemes and designs of man, is the ultimate teacher of wisdom and Higher Intelligence, and life works for us if we have an open heart to hear it; however, if we close our hearts and let the ego-mind scream loudly, as it always does with its pitiful and obnoxious whining, then we won’t hear the teaching of the master and instead we’ll hear our own stressful and fearful thoughts.
If we have a problem, let us say for example, an economic one and so we cannot pay mortgage or rent this month, what do we do, we wallow in the fear of the deadline and we start following our own thoughts of hate and self-pity; however, this creates more stress and nuisance to our well-being, our mental strength decays and our views of life narrow because we only allow our problem in our consciousness, and, going beyond that, we must remember that our minds and brain processes are attached or connected to our bodies, thus via our strained nerves and poisoned blood now our immune system falters and we become more prone to disease and all kinds of more serious mental and bodily injuries. One thing that most people ignore or even deny is this: Our minds and the contents we put there are electric and vibrational emitters and receivers; therefore, we truly attract and repel whatever lies in our conscious, our waking mind and the one we know, and whatever lies in our subconscious, the mind which is divine and hidden from our reach and the one which contains many traits of our personalities, views, fears, etc. etc.
Let us explore something more terrible of the human condition, namely rape: Rape is an extreme form of violence against the body and mind of a person, the wicked and injurious act robs the person of mental peace and security and leaves the same with a massive and profound wound which affects that person and the ones he loves; but, it does not stop there, because rape also distorts reality in the victim, life turns fearful and full of ugliness wherever that person goes mentally and physically. But, like Buddha says, “Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind, the goal is to find it.” So, the rape victim has two choices, one is destructive and much more painful, the other one is a blessing if the right perspective is chosen. One can either think about it for the rest of one’s life and live in misery and contempt, perhaps after a while kill oneself; or, the other one, one can get professional help dealing with the emotional trauma, become stronger and deal with the present, not the past or the future, life as it is and in time just put it in the past regardless of what happened. I know it must not be easy, but there is always time and wisdom that cures all. Man does ignorant, sometimes called evil, deeds, but that fact shouldn’t be an excuse to live a life full of hatred and misery.
See, the ego in man resides in the conscious, where the fear and stress is born from the chattering thoughts of everyday. But life is beautiful and rich, and, beyond the pain and suffering we may encounter along this man-made world, our minds always decide how to see what we have experienced, our minds decide if we attach ourselves to self-pity and ego or if we continue stronger and more resolute than ever before; so, better pay attention and use higher rationale from an open heart, we should take control of our minds lest we start hating life itself.
Let your heart speak to you, and more in times of trouble.
- Asa Rodriguez - 