I so love the way you explain things. Principles that seem hard to grasp are much simpler and more achievable with your explanations. This principle you describe is a long-term work in progress for me, but today it got a whole lot clearer. I tend to forget as my day goes on how it is ALL projection, and that experiencing appreciative joy for whatever I am enjoying is the key - not trying to have more of it, less of it, or find that same experience again. Just yesterday I had the experience you speak of listening to Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Very timely. Thank you David!
Hello David, I'm glad I discovered your newsletter, I feel I get a lot out of them, so thank you! I just wanted you to know you have inspired me to find out if my company matches donations to Twala animal sanctuary. What I found was an organization called Animal-Kind International that lists Twala as one of the organizations among others that it helps. Since my company matches those donations, I set up a recurring through my company. May all beings be blessed with happiness, and all of it's causes! May all beings be free from suffering, and all it's causes!
So so appropriate tonight, David! We are just home from the most sublime (to my mind!) concert by Ludovico Einaudi, here for the Perth Festival. We have both loved his compositions for many years so tonight was the opportunity of a lifetime. How perfect to come home and read your post and reflect on the good fortune we have had to experience such happiness! And the reminder to celebrate and dedicate this happiness, guaranteeing more moments of joy in our futures! Much gratitude, Maria and Renae
Appreciated this perspective on and practice for being aware of what we choose to embrace and reject. It reminded me of this segment from my book (Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life), "Becoming conscious and claiming your personal power to neutralize the judge will yield immeasurable benefits. You will literally be able to redefine your world, because there is no absolute reality, only the story you tell yourself about what is happening and what it means. Every being, encounter, and experience that comes my way is filtered through a conglomeration of lenses that results in my unique perceptions. These lenses cause me to see my world in a certain way. They are influenced by my unique and complex mix of myriad factors: the family, cultural, and societal norms I was taught; my physical and mental abilities; my personality and natural talents; my birth order; the patterns I deduced from all my past experiences; and the assumptions I’ve presumed concerning what’s likely and possible in the future. I create my reality in each moment by choosing what I will think, believe, feel, and do based on what my lenses allow. I can choose to look through the lens of fear and remain weighed down and self-imprisoned, or I can choose the lens of love and embrace a life of freedom and flow. No outside event or situation, no other person can dictate my attitude." Thank you, David, for all you do to help us reclaim our power to choose constructively.
Uplifting and joyful listening to happiness. Cuteness overload , Wilhelmina, brings me the inner quivers. Thank you for these weekly offerings. I look forward to them every Saturday morning.
As a retired professional musician (performing pipe organist and choral director), your message resonated deeply with me. I share the following: from a very early age I started telling everyone that I was going to go to college and learn to play the pipe organ. I must have been 8 or 9 when I started saying this. I had started piano lessons at age 4, then switched to organ lessons around age 10. Fast forward - I did study pipe organ as an organ major in college, then was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for organ study in Germany upon graduation. Off I went to Hamburg for an entire year! I got to practice on the organs Bach had performed on. It all felt so natural to me, and I loved speaking in German! For years after that experience I told people that I felt as though I had come home, living there that year. One day, while walking down the streets in Hamburg, I came across one named Armbrust Strasse. Armbrust is not a really a very common name in German. It happens to be my maiden name! Fast forward again- years later while receiving counseling from a therapist for help with a family challenge, I told him this story, and he responded “You’ve been there before.” That, David, was the beginning for me of contemplating the possibility of a past life, which then lead me to the study of the concept of karma, which then propelled me to the study of Buddhism, which led me to you! All because of my mind’s perception of organ music, and who knows, whatever past life I may had lived!
This was great on so many levels for me David. I am an admirer of Buddhism and try to see its commonality with what I am currently practicing, A Course In Miracles.
The lesson that states “Nothing I see means anything “ kept leaping out to me. We have indeed given meaning to all that we see. And none of that is true in reality.
And the music reminded me of how much I do enjoy a variety of music. At one point at a younger age Beethoven’s 9th was a revelation. Progressive rock moved in but often lifted me into the higher realms.
This is a fantastic practice! I actually consciously did it while reading your piece as I love reading inspirational material. I then used the practice while meditating and it was so expansive. Each step elevates the heart even more. Thank you!
Are sunsets, sunshine, nature, pets, wildlife etc. Worldly pleasures? What about pleasure from friends and family? Aren't all pleasures and displeasure of the mind?
I just finished reading The Dalai Lama's Cat Awaken the Kitten Within Paperback! Wonderful book! They're all so good, and this one was outstanding! I always learn so much about appreciation of life. Thank you for writing them all - hope you continue!
Yes! The Buddha never said we couldn't enjoy life's riches ( which are different for everyone , dependent on their karma as you pointed out), but that we should realize that the joy something brings comes from our side, not the object/music etc itself! As you pointed out, I may LOVE that music, and you may hate it. The music hasn't changed, just the person experiencing it.
And also, that we not become attatched to the thing or feeling it gives us. Kinda of like saying.....I really love this music, food, trip, etc but if it is not there later, that's OK because I was able to enjoy it at this moment! And of course ....May this joy I am feeling benefit all living beings, and, Buddha's 🙏🙏🙂❤🙏🙏
I so love the way you explain things. Principles that seem hard to grasp are much simpler and more achievable with your explanations. This principle you describe is a long-term work in progress for me, but today it got a whole lot clearer. I tend to forget as my day goes on how it is ALL projection, and that experiencing appreciative joy for whatever I am enjoying is the key - not trying to have more of it, less of it, or find that same experience again. Just yesterday I had the experience you speak of listening to Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Very timely. Thank you David!
That cuteness IS in my mind and it makes me so happy!
Hello David, I'm glad I discovered your newsletter, I feel I get a lot out of them, so thank you! I just wanted you to know you have inspired me to find out if my company matches donations to Twala animal sanctuary. What I found was an organization called Animal-Kind International that lists Twala as one of the organizations among others that it helps. Since my company matches those donations, I set up a recurring through my company. May all beings be blessed with happiness, and all of it's causes! May all beings be free from suffering, and all it's causes!
So so appropriate tonight, David! We are just home from the most sublime (to my mind!) concert by Ludovico Einaudi, here for the Perth Festival. We have both loved his compositions for many years so tonight was the opportunity of a lifetime. How perfect to come home and read your post and reflect on the good fortune we have had to experience such happiness! And the reminder to celebrate and dedicate this happiness, guaranteeing more moments of joy in our futures! Much gratitude, Maria and Renae
Appreciated this perspective on and practice for being aware of what we choose to embrace and reject. It reminded me of this segment from my book (Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life), "Becoming conscious and claiming your personal power to neutralize the judge will yield immeasurable benefits. You will literally be able to redefine your world, because there is no absolute reality, only the story you tell yourself about what is happening and what it means. Every being, encounter, and experience that comes my way is filtered through a conglomeration of lenses that results in my unique perceptions. These lenses cause me to see my world in a certain way. They are influenced by my unique and complex mix of myriad factors: the family, cultural, and societal norms I was taught; my physical and mental abilities; my personality and natural talents; my birth order; the patterns I deduced from all my past experiences; and the assumptions I’ve presumed concerning what’s likely and possible in the future. I create my reality in each moment by choosing what I will think, believe, feel, and do based on what my lenses allow. I can choose to look through the lens of fear and remain weighed down and self-imprisoned, or I can choose the lens of love and embrace a life of freedom and flow. No outside event or situation, no other person can dictate my attitude." Thank you, David, for all you do to help us reclaim our power to choose constructively.
Uplifting and joyful listening to happiness. Cuteness overload , Wilhelmina, brings me the inner quivers. Thank you for these weekly offerings. I look forward to them every Saturday morning.
Hi David You should visit the jungle buddhist monasteries in the mountains of Sri Lanka sometime.
As a retired professional musician (performing pipe organist and choral director), your message resonated deeply with me. I share the following: from a very early age I started telling everyone that I was going to go to college and learn to play the pipe organ. I must have been 8 or 9 when I started saying this. I had started piano lessons at age 4, then switched to organ lessons around age 10. Fast forward - I did study pipe organ as an organ major in college, then was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for organ study in Germany upon graduation. Off I went to Hamburg for an entire year! I got to practice on the organs Bach had performed on. It all felt so natural to me, and I loved speaking in German! For years after that experience I told people that I felt as though I had come home, living there that year. One day, while walking down the streets in Hamburg, I came across one named Armbrust Strasse. Armbrust is not a really a very common name in German. It happens to be my maiden name! Fast forward again- years later while receiving counseling from a therapist for help with a family challenge, I told him this story, and he responded “You’ve been there before.” That, David, was the beginning for me of contemplating the possibility of a past life, which then lead me to the study of the concept of karma, which then propelled me to the study of Buddhism, which led me to you! All because of my mind’s perception of organ music, and who knows, whatever past life I may had lived!
This was great on so many levels for me David. I am an admirer of Buddhism and try to see its commonality with what I am currently practicing, A Course In Miracles.
The lesson that states “Nothing I see means anything “ kept leaping out to me. We have indeed given meaning to all that we see. And none of that is true in reality.
And the music reminded me of how much I do enjoy a variety of music. At one point at a younger age Beethoven’s 9th was a revelation. Progressive rock moved in but often lifted me into the higher realms.
Thanks for this and all you are.
This is a fantastic practice! I actually consciously did it while reading your piece as I love reading inspirational material. I then used the practice while meditating and it was so expansive. Each step elevates the heart even more. Thank you!
How wonderful are your words that allow me great understanding. Thank you David.
Are sunsets, sunshine, nature, pets, wildlife etc. Worldly pleasures? What about pleasure from friends and family? Aren't all pleasures and displeasure of the mind?
I just finished reading The Dalai Lama's Cat Awaken the Kitten Within Paperback! Wonderful book! They're all so good, and this one was outstanding! I always learn so much about appreciation of life. Thank you for writing them all - hope you continue!
Then, I have a very cute mind!
Important reminders. Thank you very much for the valuable weekly inputs xx
Yes! The Buddha never said we couldn't enjoy life's riches ( which are different for everyone , dependent on their karma as you pointed out), but that we should realize that the joy something brings comes from our side, not the object/music etc itself! As you pointed out, I may LOVE that music, and you may hate it. The music hasn't changed, just the person experiencing it.
And also, that we not become attatched to the thing or feeling it gives us. Kinda of like saying.....I really love this music, food, trip, etc but if it is not there later, that's OK because I was able to enjoy it at this moment! And of course ....May this joy I am feeling benefit all living beings, and, Buddha's 🙏🙏🙂❤🙏🙏