The Art of 'Being'

Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind

Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts

Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves

In the infinite ocean of samsara

Rest in natural great peace

~ Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

A very good evening everyone. As a hot summer's day comes to an end, and the quiet evening envelopes my being, this paragraph above calls for quiet contemplation. I was reading an article by Sogyal Rinpoche last evening and he used the above paragraph to emphasise the importance of 'just being'. This state of 'being' is an art in today's world, because most of us are in a constant rush to get somewhere. I understand, that in-between a career and other responsibilities, the state of 'being' gets more and more difficult to practice. However, just give yourself 30 minutes daily, just 30 minutes to 'be', just be - no distractions whatsoever. This is an integral journey towards inner-peace and all journey's start with tiny steps.

Most wonder what they should do while they're in this state of 'being'. Do the most important thing ever - nothing. Yes, nothing. The state of 'being' allows your mind to breathe, rest, empty itself of all negative thoughts and be in its natural undisturbed, unaltered form. When I am in my state of 'being', I experience a great sense of serenity and oneness with God and myself. I close my eyes and imagine a great wave washing my soul, taking with it any seeds of negative thoughts that threaten my well-being. This process of emptying is a purifying one because once empty, I choose to fill my soul with God's message of love; love for all beings, animals, nature, the world - everything that our good God has so graciously blessed us with.

I've learnt that to truly appreciate and love God, we must be on a constant quest to know our souls. It is through our own souls that we know God. This emptying and filling process is one that each of us must do on a daily basis. There is so much of God's love and goodness that no matter how much we believe we've filled ourselves, there will be place for more. I like to begin my mornings with this process. After I wish God, my guardian angels and life a very good morning and thank them for a new day, a new blessing - I close my eyes, imagine that cleansing wave cleaning my soul and once empty, I breathe in all of God's love and goodness. In fact, I find myself doing this during the day sometimes, especially when I feel like a negative thought may be threatening to sow its seeds in my soul. We're all human and sometimes it's natural for the seeds of doubt to threaten our peace, but God has blessed us with the power to take those seeds out at the very roots.

Quiet contemplation and the state of 'being' involves just you being with your true-self and God. Just sit there in his presence; feel him, experience him, love him through yourself. These journey's are difficult, especially when we just start them, but once we're on our way, there really is no turning back. It's time to stop running away from ourselves and, it's time to stop running away from God.

If you really want to know how you see yourself, all you need do is look at someone else. What do you see in him/her? How do you feel when you look at him/her? The great masters tell us, that we see in others only what we see in ourselves. If you see beauty in everything, then that's how you see yourself; you are so close to God. You see God within. You may argue that not everyone is necessarily pleasant; however, remember, all of us are born with inherent goodness and purity. It's situations and people that become the cause of change. Some of us realise this and some don't. We must help the people that don't realise this. So yes, see beauty in everyone and everything, because everyone, everyone is born pure.

The state of 'being' helps us reacquaint ourselves, with ourselves. As we sit in quiet contemplation, we realise that God is within us. Once we break down our barriers (negative, impure thoughts) that we built between our pure selves and our God, we'll experience bliss, a great sense of peace, an amazing sense of oneness with God and the universe.

Contemplation and the state of 'being' is a journey and like all journey's, this too will have its share of difficulties. But remember, God and the universe wants us to continue on this journey and understand that besides 'being', it requires application and discipline in our daily lives. Our true self and our God awaits us with loving open arms, let's begin and let's continue once we begin... we've kept them waiting long enough already.

Solace in Silence tells you more on 'The Art of Being'.

Have a fabulously blessed evening everyone. :)