Tag Archives: self-mastery

The Warrior and the Chopsticks

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Often times we have varying ideas of reality. With differences in religious beliefs, political views, and plain day-to-day events, we all have different realities. Within this lifetime we have som any varying views, who’s to say it stops at the end of this world. Here is a story and reflection of  Warrior who witnesses first hand that our varying perceptions do not stop at death’s door.

There is a legend about a warrior in the East who died and went to heaven. “Before I enter,” he said to the gatekeeper, “I would like you to take me on a tour of hell.”

The gatekeeper found a guide to take the warrior to hell. When they got there, the warrior was astonished to see a great table piled high with every tasty food he could imagine – anything one could possibly want to eat or drink. The warrior then looked at the people. They were all starving.

“How could this be?” he asked the guide. “Are they not allowed to eat?”

“Oh yes, they can eat,” said the guide “but they must use the chopsticks they are given. They are five feet long and they must hold them at the end. Just look at them. They miss their mouths every time!”

“Enough,” said the warrior, “This is hell, indeed! Please take me back to heaven.” In heaven, to his surprise, he saw a similar room, with a similar table loaded with all the same food. But, the people were in radiant health, happy and well-nourished. The warrior turned to the guide and said, “I see – no chopsticks here.”

The guide replied that yes, the people were still issued chopsticks and yes, they were still five feet long and that they still must be held at the end – but, the difference was that in heaven the people learned to feed each other.

Just as the Warrior found in the afterlife, we are witnesses too. Often we see the negative side of thins when there is always a silver-lining to every darkened cloud. We can choose to see ourselves as helpless or we can choose to be self-sufficient, allowing a higher source to work within our lives.

Stepping into the Canvas with the view of a Warrior. Instead of seeming helpless and not being able to eat, we work collaboratively as one…never going hungry again. Lending a hand to another, I invariably help myself to eat.

 

A Taste for Positivity

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Every living thing has a beginning and an end….some longer than others. We all follow a cycle that inevitably ends…for ourselves and those around us. Instead of living as today was the last, doing what we always dreamed of, we subscribe to a false belief that  invariably cripples our true essence of being. For the mere fact we attach to everything: material things, people, relationships.

Although we come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing, we horde everything and accumulate as much monetary value in our lives. Told to work our fingers to the bone and live the lives we dream of, falsely, we think it is with more stuff. While not our fault we still have an opportunity to change.

While attaching to things in fear of losing them, this belief extends out toward family members and relationships. Afraid of losing them we are crippled, once again, remaining in fear. We instinctively gather, hoarding as much as we can. With the false sense of being at the top of a food chain, we think we are responsible for governing the world, collecting everything we can as if there was no tomorrow. No guarantees for a tomorrow, we are too busy gathering ‘stuff!’ If we are too busy gathering, then how will we enjoy the things or company we have now?

So are we at the top of the food chain? Do not believe in food chains. See all things as equals with their own distinct job to do. Whether homeless or working, a rat living in the sewer, or a little mushroom that grows from the decay of another living organism, we all have a purpose.With our own  purpose, we have an equal investment in this thing called life.

I want to know God’s thoughts. The rest are just details.

~Albert Einstein

Instead of seeing ourselves as superior to anyone or anything, we see our selves as divinely apart of the greater whole. Equality for all persons becomes a normalcy whilst sharing space in harmony, all the while co-creating a new reality with new thoughts of positivity.

With thoughts of equality and positivity, we change the world as we know it. Giving replaces taking, Love replaces hate, darkness becomes Light and we see ourselves as all things. “We think, therefore we are” elevates universally and we see ourselves as one.

Give thanks for today, for it may be the last. Give thanks for this beautiful day, the daily lessons, humility, and service to others. The service we offer may differ from person to person, but guaranteed it is all service. The food we eat, the words we speak, the ear we lend, it is all apart of the greater whole. Be mindful of the daily actions and consumption. What we consume, we become a part of.

Do we continue consuming negativity or would we rather chew on a nice piece of positivity. Personally, I think positivity tastes better but whatever your choice I hope it comes out ok.

Stepping into the Canvas with a taste for positivity. While positivity makes everything taste better, negativity still lingers. Take a bite of positivity…it may just change the way you see things and the world around you….