Questions to ask yourself …..
Reflect – Contemplate and Meditate:
One of the fundamental Truths of Realty – which the Buddha 2500 years ago taught us to appreciate, is the immutable & timeless fact of ‘Impermanence’!
For better or for worse – the hallmark of existence is change, transience and transition.
Nowhere is this more significant than in the passage of time in our life.
Again we find ourselves at the beginning of yet another month of July; new & never to occur again. Half way through our year of 2017.
Amazingly, no matter when our birthday is, we are all exactly six months older than we were at the beginning of this year!
Yes, half of our life for this year is now over, gone, finished; how does this feel for us and what does this mean for us and how do we skilfully accommodate this inevitable fact?
Part of being mindful and using mindfulness for Conscious Living, can be to take a moment to pause and ponder –what is going on for us? where have we come from?… and where are we going? Contemplating this is a skilful use of the past and the future and is likely to help us save time and energy – our two most vital assets of our life.
As a Mindfulness Practice, this reflects one of the important considerations that Buddhist Monastics are required to look at on a regular basis; which many of you have heard me mention and talk about: “The days and nights are relentlessly passing, how well am I spending my time?”
Ideally we ourselves are the discerning director and mindful manager and mentor of running our life, making sure that our life is supporting our well-being, not just physically and financially but emotionally and spiritually.
So as a mindful check-in and check-up, what might it be helpful to ask our self….?
· So, in being our self and running our life – how has the first 6 months of this year 2017 been for us – mentally, emotionally and spiritually?
· Did we have any 6 months goals and aspirations – determined at the beginning of the year for our Mindfulness, Meditation and Spiritual Dhamma Practice? If so what are they and how are we going with those? (Being Mindful, Daily Meditation, Reading and Learning Buddhist Wisdom, Being a Wiser and Kinder Compassionate person, Practicing and Developing The Ten Spiritual Virtues etc)
· Are we mentally, emotionally and spiritually where we expected or planned to be; if not – how do we feel about that and what can we do about that?
· Is there any specific or special insight, learning, understanding or point of wisdom that we have discovered or developed over the last 6 months, worthy of noting and developing.
· Are we maintaining and engaging a healthy mental, emotional and spiritual life into the fuller context of our very own life situation?
· If it could be better, what can we do to make it so?
· Is there some mental, emotional or spiritual part of our life that we need to give particular attention to so that it can be fulfilled by the end of the year, and thus not create confusion and complication because we have not yet attended to it?
· What is our mental, emotional, spiritual aspiration, motivation and inspiration for the next 6 months of our life this year; what moves us and what are we moving towards?
These are a few of the many questions that we can ask ourselves for the proper management and running of our Psycho-Spiritual life.
The more mindful we are, bringing calm clarity, caring and insight to our self and our life, the more we potentiate the possibility of improving our life for ourself and for others.
Aspire to a Mindful Life through Mindful Living.
Mindfulness and Meditation will make this happen.
I wish to invite you to our ‘End of Winter Mindfulness and Meditation Half Day Retreat’ at ‘Ratanagiri’ – my country home on the Tweed Coast.
Those of you who are based in Sydney that may wish to attend and stay over night, there are several Air B & B available close- by on Farrants Road and beyond.
Details click here – Sunday 27th August 2017
Mindful and warm Regards
John – Javano
