3 things

[EARTH DRAGON]

I recently was invited to a yogi's house who spent 39 years in secultion in india practicing yoga in the mountains. What a facinating and humbling experience. the night was too long to talk about but I would like to share 3 things he shared with us.....

3 things to understand life.

1. do not live in the past, forget the past; it has already happened and cannot be changed

2. do not live in the future, you cannot predict future it hasnt happened yet, what is to be will be you cannot change fate, one cannot control what one does not own, all things good and bad happen for a reason.

3. live in the now, do right by others and all things, be aware of whats hapening around you and understand, make no judgment of the now based on what has or what will happen.

if you take the time to really understand these words your life will make sense,,,, it did for me

[Nexus]

It is nice to see you are able to take his words to simplify your life. It appears he was wise enough to not only have an understanding of such things but to teach them to you in a manner that allowed you to accept them comfortably. Thanks for sharing.

[shaolinboxer]

Not accepting your past and using it to understand your present and as a guide into your future is foolish.

Your past is a part of you, your future will be a part of you. To focus only on the present is certainly a valid and applicable ideal, but to do so to the point that you cannot see where you are going is naive, and to ignore your past is unwise.

[EARTH DRAGON]

I dont think that it means ignore your past but rather not waste present energy on what has already happened for it cannot be changed, kinda like worry or being upset about something that happened yesterday, things of that nature..

as for the future I interpreate in the means of dont count your chickens before their hatched or dont make plans that will upset you if they dont happen or go your way

[shaolinboxer]

A good common sense interpretation.

Buddhist wisdom = common sense?

Seems like it from this example.

[shaolinboxer]

A good common sense interpretation.

Buddhist wisdom = common sense?

Seems like it from this example.

39 years in the mountains to figure out what my mom told me....

[dwid]

I gotta agree with Shaolinboxer here...

39 years does seem like an awfully long time to come to those conclusions. I presume the guy had some other insights to share as well, but these alone sound the same as those found in countless introductory texts to eastern philosophies/religions.

[EARTH DRAGON]

Agin the night was 5 hours long and many things were discussed, like praynna hatha yoga, tibieten animal stance training and even leviatation, but as I said I just found this to be interesting and wanted to share for it has helped me.
If you see a buddah in the road kill it is a pretty simple saying but the meanings are endless, so I guess it depends on how deep one looks for meaning, for to know yourself is enlightenment.

[taooftaichi]

Earth Dragon, I agree with you.

There are many times that I have read and studied various texts, to the point of memorizing them, but the depth of meaning continues to change based on my life experiences, training and just thinking about these things.

We can easily see that what are considered to be the most valuable traditional texts of any culture usually translate into what initially appear to be quite simple ideas and statements.

Also, in most martial arts, when you atttend the workshop or seminar of a highly experienced teacher they will often spend a great deal of time on basics. (I don't think that this has anything to do with the actual levels of the participants since I have attended some that were restricted to only advanced practitioners and yet they also preceeded like this.) And most participants remarked how much "more" this information was even though they had been exposed to it and had worked with it for many years.

It is in fact, the layering of individual interpretation that will make these "simple" statements so meaningful.

[Eight_Triagram_Boxer]

True this message is common sense. True 39 years is a long time. True everyone knows this. However, how many people truly understand this? How many people truly live their lives with this type of philosophy. There is a big difference between knowing and understanding. This even applies to Martial Arts. For instance, I know a lot of forms, I know a lot of applications. I'd say I only completely understand and thoroughly comprehend maybe 10 techniques. I'm just talking Mantis here. I feel Bagua is approached in a different way. That's besides the point...

[Ka]

While I would never doubt the comitment and sincerity of monastic traditions of any Faith,I would prefer to listen hard earned advice of the ordinary Mum and Dad.For me the most selfless thing and the most fulfilling endivor of having and raising children (even in these overpopulated times)is the pinicle of Life.While I don't mean to say the advice is always enlightened or even sensible but it is made though adversity.Much the same as many Religonous Beleifs.

[guohuen]

Very few people live in the now. How many times a day do you find yourself thinking about something that's already happened and you've already burned brain cells on. How often do we think about what were going to say when someone was talking. Daydreaming while performing mundane tasks. Imagining senarios with other people. The list goes on. Living in the now requires turning the internal dialog off which is darn near impossible for some of us.

[EARTH DRAGON]

WOW, I am thoroughly impressed with the last few posts, I felt like I was alone in my pondering and selfunderstanding when I was told those 3 things, especially after shaolin boxer and dwid thought so little of such a true comprehension of life and how it should be lived, they commented on 39 years being a long time to come up with such a simple statement but as eight traigram boxer said knowing it and truley doing it are two totally different things.

Here another extremly "simple thing" he said before we started into our meditation... he said O.K now close your eyes relax and empty your mind of all thought.................

[prana]

Earth Dragon

[Nexus]

Living in the now is a self-learned process, and one that can only be pointed towards and watched in example. It is interconnected to ones ability to let go of the now as well.

Living in the now and letting go of the now are the same and different simultaenously.