The first week of 2011 ~ uneventful but interesting development nevertheless.
I started by reviewing the resolutions I made for 2011: to have more happier thoughts and smile, smile, smile.
Throughout the week I continued reading Destructive Emotions: How can we overcome them? The first time I started reading this book (in Jun 2010), I couldn't relate to the contents. I left it after the first chapter.
What I read in the week reafirms my resolution; firstly, to have happier thoughts. According to the Dalai Lama, emotion and cognition are intertwined; these two elements are inseparable. An emotion is a mental state that has a strong feeling component. To have happy thoughts all the time, I need to learn how to control my mind and to understand what's destructive emotion (not to allow it to control or blind me). It is said that, the true mark of spiritual development lies in how well a person manages disturbing emotions such as anger, envy and jealousy. Through training the mind, one can become more calm and compassionate.
Secondly, to smile, smile, smile. It is said that the Dalai Lama's face has the muscle tone of someone in his twenties, not a man of sixty-four. Apparently, that is a consequence of him never restraining his emotions, but instead letting them show clearly on his face - which means the muscles are used a lot more than usual, thus have more elasticity. This would be a good tip for those who wish to have youthful face muscle tone.
So there, I have justified that my new year resolutions are indeed inline with my spiritual growth. By end of the year, I will not only have better facial muscle tones and be at peace with myself but have compassion for others as well :))
The Dalai Lama is actually not what he appears to be. He uses fear tactics with his Tibetan exhile community to violate their human rights and restrict their religious freedom. Recent CIA documents released also show that he has been involved in supplying arms, a direct contradiction of his nonviolence stance and the premise of his Nobel Peace Prize. Visit www.westernshugdensociety.org to see the proof and read more.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, all Buddhists should not do harm to anyone at all. Even when one knows that a person is not doing things the right way, one should not be spreading bad things about that person. Life is short, we should be living our lives according to the Buddhist way so that we will be reborn into a higher, happier existence.
ReplyDeleteAnd to me, the Dalai Lama does not represent Buddhism in totally. Buddhism to me is the teachings of Buddha, not the Dalai Lama. I am, in fact, currently reading the book narrated by Daniel Goleman, "Destructive Emotions", which contains scientific dialogues between reknown experts such as Richard Davidson, Paul Ekman, Mark Greenberg, Owen Flanagan and others with the Dalai Lama. It is indeed interesting to see that these experts seek the Dalai Lama's opinions and thoughts.
Reading your site will definitely help me understand Buddhism much better.