Training Our Hearts to Create Joy and Freedom
In our practical Buddhist philosophy class last night, we discussed this sentence:
If everything depends on the outside (outside forces), then you will not be free and will become the slave of the external.
If everything depends on the inside (inner forces), then you have wise discipline able to develop the power to become Buddha.
I've heard this several times before, and I always had many questions about it:
How can we learn to develop so that everything develops from the inside?
If the inside is so important, why do we exist with an 'outside?'
Where are harmony and patience if everything depends on internal?
Where does being ego-centric / selfish end and 'inner force' start?
Buddhism covers three steps to help us work through these for ourselves.
Stage One: What is Inner Force? Consciousness
Internal has many explanations in Buddhism I know of.
All together can help us to build more force.
Body, Mind and Spirit represent our inner force.
Internal can be about causation. Our intention becomes our thinking, becomes our speaking becomes our action.
Internal can represent feelings. Feelings are created through the 5 Skandhas or 5 Developments: Information changes, we receive it, calculate, act and awareness.
Internal can represent our consciousness. The ability to be aware of everything. Because everything going on internally is our feeling, we can understand our inner reality by understanding how this feeling is created.
We will use the last definition in this post, but I have included links for the others.
Step Two: Develop your consciousness to be aware of all 8 functions
What are the 8 Functions of consciousness?
1 - 5 Senses: The body is our tool to learn everything else about life.
6 Thinking/calculation ability: Understand what is thinking and how to use it properly.
7 Ego / Identity - separate from everything else
8 Hidden Consciiounses: Mysterious force only open when we leave the body
How to start to develop our consciousness? Start with the body.
Mostly we think we should think more.
But our thinking is also painful when our body is in pain.
So healing the body back to feeling great makes our thinking great too.
But life is not just about thinking of something!
In Buddhism, they explain this is a gift.
Without a vulnerable body, we would never learn the wisdom to train it.
Without poor thinking, we would never be curious. to improve it.
With a heart that feels temporary even though it is not, we are curious to learn what it means to be eternal.
Through - tai chi and healing, observation, meditation and reading philosophy, and kindness.
Let's summarise them below:
Healing opens up and corrects our bodies. Help us to stay bright and share with others. How can we become more tension-free?!
Tai Chi helps us train and unite our energy and force, creating inner peace and free joy anytime. we want.
Training Feng Shui develops our observation of the space around us to influence if we can in a healthy direction.
Reading philosophy helps us to understand our psychology, moods, emotions and inner world deeper to create inner peace.
Training our observing ability through observing meditation and enjoying nature opens our minds
Practice Kindness/generosity helps us to make our ego less important. Which in turn expands our consciousness.
Level Three: Use our consciousness to become a creator of our body, mind and spirit.
Once we practice the above, we develop abilities inside.
You can never find them, but they are truly our own. No one can give to you. No one can take from you if you remain disciplined.
In this stage, we no longer rely on the outside for our mood, feelings, opportunities, and direction.
With these new abilities, we can create and share the skills from Level Two.
We become our disciplines.
Now the creation has changed direction. Our direction to be aware of consciousness influences others around us to improve their body, mind and spirit.
Not force, not an order, but what Buddha calls convenient wisdom.
What is Convenient Wisdom? A harmonious way to help others to develop their internal force
So when we are in Level Three, we learn the wisdom to be the wisdom.
That is the true inner force.
Then our power comes from inside but is practised and honed outside.
Then according to Dharma, life is perfect:
either we have the wisdom and can share it. Or;
we have not developed the wisdom yet and can practice it!
When my heart is back to this feeling, I truly feel my life is perfect, and everyone's life can be perfect also with this incredible wisdom from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Special thanks. to my friend Vincent for his awesome notes from class!