Recently, the death of someone I knew brought home to me again the wisdom of living every day as though it were your last. Not in the sense that many people would make of that … whooping it up, granting your wildest wishes … but in a Buddhist sense: being at one with your heart, at peace, surrounded by people and things that nourish you.
Of course one can’t spend every moment of every day surrounded only by people and things that nourish you. The world is after all the dysfunctional place it is and you don’t live in a bubble. There are things you have to do each day, as part of your work or otherwise, that bring you into contact with that dysfunction and thus have the potential to disturb.
But you can each day through meditation and your spiritual practice ensure that you are one with your heart and at peace and happy, regardless what life throws your way. With a positive energy flowing outward from you to yourself and everything around you, you can create a virtual forcefield that negativity cannot penetrate. (See my post, “Changing Your Life by Changing the Direction of Its Energy Flow.”)
Critical to accomplishing this is being present and free of the control of your ego-mind for as many moments during the day as you can muster. This is critical because unless you are free of your mind, you are ipso facto not at peace and happy, you are not one with your heart. You cannot generate a positive energy flow.
To help maintain this positive ambience, in addition to maintaining a disciplined practice including daily meditation, make sure that at least when you’re in your home you’re surrounded by things that nourish you, that feed your soul. Whether it’s artwork, music, good food, whatever. (Hopefully no one in your home is an antagonist, who drains your strength from you.) And when you’re not at home, seek out things whenever and wherever possible that nourish your heart, for example nature, which when you look for it can be found in the most unlikely places.
Living each moment as though it were your last is not a morbid thought, at least it shouldn’t be for a Buddhist. It’s a prescription for life; it’s knowing how to live. Knowing what’s important, and what’s not.
And as for death, we know that it’s a natural part of life and can come at any time. Hopefully you’ve reached the point in your practice where one has no fear of death and is prepared and ready for it when it comes. If not you should meditate on death. See my post, “Death and Life.”
The point is that every moment we have is precious. Make the most of it. Don’t waste a moment.
Of course one can’t spend every moment of every day surrounded only by people and things that nourish you. The world is after all the dysfunctional place it is and you don’t live in a bubble. There are things you have to do each day, as part of your work or otherwise, that bring you into contact with that dysfunction and thus have the potential to disturb.
But you can each day through meditation and your spiritual practice ensure that you are one with your heart and at peace and happy, regardless what life throws your way. With a positive energy flowing outward from you to yourself and everything around you, you can create a virtual forcefield that negativity cannot penetrate. (See my post, “Changing Your Life by Changing the Direction of Its Energy Flow.”)
Critical to accomplishing this is being present and free of the control of your ego-mind for as many moments during the day as you can muster. This is critical because unless you are free of your mind, you are ipso facto not at peace and happy, you are not one with your heart. You cannot generate a positive energy flow.
To help maintain this positive ambience, in addition to maintaining a disciplined practice including daily meditation, make sure that at least when you’re in your home you’re surrounded by things that nourish you, that feed your soul. Whether it’s artwork, music, good food, whatever. (Hopefully no one in your home is an antagonist, who drains your strength from you.) And when you’re not at home, seek out things whenever and wherever possible that nourish your heart, for example nature, which when you look for it can be found in the most unlikely places.
Living each moment as though it were your last is not a morbid thought, at least it shouldn’t be for a Buddhist. It’s a prescription for life; it’s knowing how to live. Knowing what’s important, and what’s not.
And as for death, we know that it’s a natural part of life and can come at any time. Hopefully you’ve reached the point in your practice where one has no fear of death and is prepared and ready for it when it comes. If not you should meditate on death. See my post, “Death and Life.”
The point is that every moment we have is precious. Make the most of it. Don’t waste a moment.
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