Eight Worldly Thoughts

Being happy when….

we get something

we feel good

we become well known

someone speaks well of us

 

Being unhappy when…

we don’t get something

we feel sick

we aren’t well known

someone puts us down

These are the things that keep us chained in samsara or cyclic life.  To be free of the eight worldly thoughts is to be free or close to freedom.

More on Milarepa

After I had posted my review of the Milarepa movie I began to rewatch the second movie in the form of a storyboard.   The story of Milarepa always touches me deeply and brings tears to my eyes.  This time the first words of the storyboard seemed to jump out at me.

May those who only hear, narrate, or listen to my story receive innumerable blessings and achieve liberation!

And those that emulate my life and meditate on it, may they find me in the Buddha pure land.

It was as if Milarepa was blessing me personally.  I knew in that moment that he would guide me.  Further, as I continued to watch him talk about his experience with his teacher, Marpa the Translator, I could feel the faith rise in me.  I could feel that closeness that  a student experiences with their heart teacher (and vice versa).  Very sweet.  I could physically feel my crown chakra.  I acknowledged to myself that my teacher was on my head (a traditional place to keep your teacher when you meditate).  And resonated with the joy that Milarepa expressed when talking about Marpa in his autobiography.

Throughout the next couple of days I continued to feel an open heart and the presence of my teacher and guide.  People that I gave massage to could feel the difference as well.  Really nice energy!

Today, I went to my ThetaHealer, Lynne Cockrum-Murphy, to deal with an unpleasant reaction I was having to a minor issue that arose last night.  She’s great with helping to remove dysfunctional automatic reactions and other obstacles such as those involving karmic patterns.  Since she is also an gifted channel, towards the end of our session, I asked her to find out “who my teacher was”, meaning the presence I could feel.  I also wanted confirmation of Milarepa’s aid.  This is the fun part of life for me.  If there is no magic then why bother living.

She did confirm that Milarepa was involved in what she termed “a lifting of several veils”, as was my teacher and myself.  This made me wonder what I had been doing that created a cause for this event.  Certainly, it wasn’t just the pledge or blessing that Milarepa had put into his story.  I knew this because I had already seen the story board before and I had already read the book.  As for what I did specifically to merit this, heaven only knows.  Perhaps the seeds were planted several years ago when I read two volume set of The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa.  Or maybe it was other internal work or meditation I’ve been doing lately. (shrugs)  Probably everything is involved.

Now that I think about it, the funny thing is that I’ve been reading Madame Guyon lately and I’m in the section that has inspired me to be happy with being unhappy or whatever miserable state I am in.  She talks about how there is a tendency to lust after the good feelings one gets when they are close to the divine.  She claims true devotion means to be just as happy when the divine is not with us (because the divine is certainly out somewhere being happy) as when we can feel the close presence of divinity.  So here I am cultivating being happy with absence of connection to divinity when I am suddenly blessed with a real sense of connection to a divine and holy presence I call my teacher.

Anyway, I highly recommend that everyone read or watch Milarepa’s autobiography and emulate his life!  Although being able to give up those eight worldly thoughts are certainly harder than just deciding to do it.

My favorites:

Airing My Laundry in Public

This is in celebration of my 100th blog laundry hanging on the line post!

I began the blog on June 16th, 2014 and have been enjoying sharing my thoughts with the world.  Today, I am inspired by a guest I recently had at my home to share more of myself.

This guest refused to use my washer and solar drier because they didn’t want my neighbors to see their underwear.  They opted for the laundromat instead.

This is my response.  Not only is my underwear available for all to see, but many more intimate details of my mind are available to read within this blog.  Feel free to subscribe by using the button on the right and you’ll be sent an email each time something new is put up.  Of course, you are under no obligation to read each.  I appreciate your interest.  Thanks!