Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism by Ani Tenzin Palmo

Author:Ani Tenzin Palmo
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Snow Lion
Published: 2002-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

However hard we may try to make this the best of all possible worlds, it is not happening, is it? So maybe each one of us should try changing the quality of our own consciousness. The results are amazing! Everything transforms! As we find more clarity in our lives, our hearts will also begin to open up. We will he able to deal easily with stressful circumstances which we find so difficult today. We experience everything through the mind. Do you realize that? Nothing we know can he experienced except through the mind. Everything outside is transmitted to us through the senses, the sense consciousnesses, and the mind. Without a mind, we would he dead. We would he like chunks of wood cut at the base. You might say that we actually live within our own minds, rather than in this country, this house, this body.

We pay it lot of attention to our bodies. We clean them, adorn them, feed them, and exercise them. But how much attention do we give to our real home? How often do we clean out our mind? How much do we exercise it? How much do we adorn it? How much nourishment do we give it? Think about this seriously. All experiences come through the filter of our mind. If our minds are in chaos, it doesn't matter where we are, our lives will he in chaos. If our minds are at peace, it doesn't matter where we are, we will he at peace.

I would like to give you a very simple example. Once I was staying with my mother in London. At that time she was housekeeper to a very wealthy Canadian who lived in a luxury flat just off Hyde Park. They all went off for a while, and I had the flat to myself. There I was in London, living in this luxurious flat, with two huge color television sets and all the food I could possibly eat! I had enough money for whatever I wanted, lots of records, lots of everything. But I was so bored! I told myself, "Please remember this. If you are ever tempted to think that physical comfort gives happiness, remember this." But then, another time I was staying in it cave, not my cave but another cave, which was very small. It was so small that you couldn't stand up in it, with a tiny box you could only just sit in, and that was the bed as well. It was full of fleas, so I was covered in flea bites. There was no water. You had to go half a mile down a very steep track to bring up water. There was also almost no food at all, and it was hot. But I was in bliss. I was so happy. It was a very holy place, and the people there were wonderful. Although from a physical point of view the situation was difficult, so what! The mind was happy. I remember that whole place as being bathed in golden light.

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