Making Peace with the Troublemakers

Have you ever felt this way?

"I was feeling all this oneness and peace and then you had to go and ruin it all!"

Have you ever felt this way?

I never have. Just kidding, it happens more than I care to admit.

It's all well and good when I am in my happy place, all spiritual and centered and inspired, reading from my "Essential Ernest Holmes" preparing for class. It's all happy happy happy when I am setting my iPhone's "Insight Timer" to a prescribed amount of time to meditate and everyone knows to "leave Mommy alone."

But my path is not to meditate all day nor is it to read wisdom literature in a secluded room. At some point the rubber has to meet the road and I am called to apply these lessons when I am not in that quiet, inspired, peaceful place.

So today in the "Joyous Living Journal" we are gifted with a lovely thought that helped me so I will pass it along. "Learn to disagree with ideas, not people."

When we find people "disagreeable" or when they appear to be the catalyst to a strong negative reaction it's not them, it's an idea. What is the idea they are triggering? Is it judgement, fear, anger? If we can honestly identify the idea this person triggers we can heal it.

We can read all the theory we want but until we internalize the truth till it cannot be shaken we still have work to do. These "troublemakers" as Pema Chodron calls them, point us to our work. Until we are no longer "hookable" by this person, who is just an idea carrier, we still have healing to do.

Where are you hookable? Come join me in some heightened neurosis.

What's Up With Buddha Anyway?

My days were getting chaotic.

The kids have been out of school.

They are bored with beaches, the pool and bike riding.

I was getting impatient.

What's a girl to do?

Paint!

Just as the Dalai Lama has said, the busier he is the more he meditates.

Painting has become a kind of meditation for me.

I turn on some classical music, and I allow my intuition to guide me to what to paint, what colors to use and for how long.

I let go of any frustration.  Any distractions and simply allow myself the calming energy of just being in that moment.

Maybe it's because I secretly wished I could spend 40 days under a tree meditating to find some peace, I decided to paint Buddha.

It is my first attempt at it, however, I contemplated Buddha's life as I did it.

Leaving his life of privilege, his wife and son, he set out on a journey to find the meaning of life and, well, as we know, he found it and thousands of years later, we are learning to incorporate his teachings in a life very different from the one he knew.

As I contemplated further, I became aware of the peace within me.

My boys were still playing trains on the floor.  The weedwackers were still running outside.  My phone was still buzzing and vibrating as text messages and emails rolled in, however, as I honed in on my painting and the next color I'd choose, I found myself at peace....

...the very God quality I have been affirming for myself for weeks now...

...and there I was....in peace.  I mean, really in  peace.

What I came to realize is that, although I wouldn't choose to leave my family and sit under a Bodhi tree choose to meditate...

for 40 days to find the meaning of life, it comes to me in those moments when I do

....my meditations might be traditional in the early morning hours of the day, or they may be painting, or taking a walk, or driving in my car to the grocery store in utter silence. 

The meaning of life, to me, is inner peace.

I experienced it while channeling and painting my inner Buddha....it's not a perfect rendition of Buddha's face, nor does it reflect that talents of many artists who have painted his face prior to me...

....but what it does reflect is a brief glimpse into his ultimate realization that changed the world for thousands of years and will continue to change it for thousands more....so it got me wondering...

....what magic can I make in this world because of my realization amidst the "chaos" of 21st Century living?

Here's what I came up with...

I'm pretty sure I can make magic happen in this world.  I'm pretty sure I can make a mark in the world as big as Buddha's and I'm pretty sure you can to...

Mark your calendars for October because we're about to announce a magical month that will enlighten you to the magic you can make happen in this world!

Yes, you, my dear....your magic is needed as badly as Buddha's has been needed and CSLCV is gonna rock out YOUR magic in October!  Stay tuned....