The words "lack" and "abundance" don't feature much in Buddhist teaching, but they fit well with that teaching and help open up the door to experiencing peace and happiness. As I've always said, the words we use to express concepts make a big difference in opening doors or creating barriers to the Buddha dharma.
One of the challenges of freeing oneself from the control of the mind is having faith that regardless what we experience, what the universe provides, we will be ok, because we have returned home to our true Buddha nature, are sustained by its love, and so are at peace and happy. And we let nothing disturb that peace and happiness.
The mind doesn't believe this so it throws all sort of things at us – mainly fear – that disturb our peace and happiness.
Perhaps the biggest barrier to having faith is our consuming fear of lack. Whether it be fame or fortune, spouse or children, job . . . whatever, most of us are consumed with the fear that at some point in the future we will loose what we have or never obtain what we want. It's impossible to be at peace and happy if that is your driving force.
What is missing from a life consumed with the fear of lack is gratefulness for what one has and has had, an awareness of the abundance in one's life – all the good things that we experience every day. The old, "Is the glass half empty or half full."
When we renounce our mind, free ourselves from its control, we must not only replace it with faith in our true Buddha nature, but the knowledge that the peace, love, and light that flows from our Buddha nature, from our divine essence (see my post, "Buddhism and the Divine"), will allow you to experience the abundance that we have, have always had, and will always have in our lives. It may not be the abundance that our mind wishes, but it is abundance nevertheless, and not just in a spiritual sense.
When Buddhist teaching tells us to free ourselves from cravings and attachments and instead be grateful for what we have, that is in effect freeing ourselves from the fear of lack – because that is what cravings and attachments are – and realizing instead the abundance that is in our lives.
It has been a great comfort to me in recent months, empowering, to be constantly aware of all the abundance in my life, both now and in the past. The word "abundance" is a sustaining, life-affirming, word.
And I know that I will always experience abundance because it is not dependent on anything being provided me by the outside world. It is coming from the peace and serenity within me. The knowledge that I have everything I need inside myself to be at peace and happy. I have been told it has brought a glow to my face.
I just discovered that this is the third post I've written about abundance. Clearly. being consumed with the feeling of lack and not being aware of the abundance in our lives is a major barrier to experiencing peace and happiness while walking the path. For the other posts, see, "Being Aware of Abundance," and "Prosperity and Abundance."
One of the challenges of freeing oneself from the control of the mind is having faith that regardless what we experience, what the universe provides, we will be ok, because we have returned home to our true Buddha nature, are sustained by its love, and so are at peace and happy. And we let nothing disturb that peace and happiness.
The mind doesn't believe this so it throws all sort of things at us – mainly fear – that disturb our peace and happiness.
Perhaps the biggest barrier to having faith is our consuming fear of lack. Whether it be fame or fortune, spouse or children, job . . . whatever, most of us are consumed with the fear that at some point in the future we will loose what we have or never obtain what we want. It's impossible to be at peace and happy if that is your driving force.
What is missing from a life consumed with the fear of lack is gratefulness for what one has and has had, an awareness of the abundance in one's life – all the good things that we experience every day. The old, "Is the glass half empty or half full."
When we renounce our mind, free ourselves from its control, we must not only replace it with faith in our true Buddha nature, but the knowledge that the peace, love, and light that flows from our Buddha nature, from our divine essence (see my post, "Buddhism and the Divine"), will allow you to experience the abundance that we have, have always had, and will always have in our lives. It may not be the abundance that our mind wishes, but it is abundance nevertheless, and not just in a spiritual sense.
When Buddhist teaching tells us to free ourselves from cravings and attachments and instead be grateful for what we have, that is in effect freeing ourselves from the fear of lack – because that is what cravings and attachments are – and realizing instead the abundance that is in our lives.
It has been a great comfort to me in recent months, empowering, to be constantly aware of all the abundance in my life, both now and in the past. The word "abundance" is a sustaining, life-affirming, word.
And I know that I will always experience abundance because it is not dependent on anything being provided me by the outside world. It is coming from the peace and serenity within me. The knowledge that I have everything I need inside myself to be at peace and happy. I have been told it has brought a glow to my face.
I just discovered that this is the third post I've written about abundance. Clearly. being consumed with the feeling of lack and not being aware of the abundance in our lives is a major barrier to experiencing peace and happiness while walking the path. For the other posts, see, "Being Aware of Abundance," and "Prosperity and Abundance."
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