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Charity Based - By Respectable Ajarn Patana

If This Doesn't Change Your Destiny, Nothing Else Will.

The Practical Buddhist Blog – Practical Advice on Integrating the Practice of Buddhism in Contemporary Life

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I recently watched a spiritual video on YouTube that was all about rejoicing, praising the Lord, being grateful for being alive and all the good things in your life, past, present, or future.   The video was by a charismatic Christian and I was originally put off by the display; it was over the top.   I couldn’t relate to it.   But after listening to Sister Sharon (Firm Foundation Radio Ministry) for a while, I realized that she was expressing her true faith, her connection with God.   She had incredible energy and it was wonderful to be in her presence.

There has been nothing in my practice that even approximates the energy that she had.   And I realized something.   To successfully counter the influence of the ego-mind and all the emotions we have in response to the things we experience consistently, it would be extremely helpful to have that energy, that joy as part of our being, our spiritual life.

I certainly couldn’t see myself doing what she did.   But I tried reaching back into my background to find something that had a similar energy, in a prayer-like setting, that I would therefore be able to do and feel natural doing it.

In one of my meditation images, I visualize me joining hands with my true Buddha self (the toddler) and my unborn Buddha mind on the “other shore” and dancing a joyful Jewish dance I learned as a child/adolescent.   As I was searching for something in my past, that experience came to mind, and specifically one song we would sing as we danced the Hora – Hava Nagila.   It certainly had the right energy,  And when I looked up the lyrics, found that they translated as (which I never knew), “Rejoice and be happy, sing and be happy, awake my brothers and be happy.”  I couldn’t have found anything more appropriate.

And so now, at the end of my morning meditation, before I get off my cushion, I sing Hava Nagila.   What a wonderful way to start my day.   And come back to it throughout the day.   I also have connected with Sister Sharon’s energy numerous times.   A real blessing.

When you are in this space, you are able to experience the benefits of faith being one with mind and mind being one with faith.   Here there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today, there is only the present moment.   This is the only reality; all else is thought.

And when you are in this space, there isn’t a felt need to manifest anything because you are filled with joy and gratitude and faith.   But it you do manifest, it will be coming from a pure place; your heart not your ego-mind.    

Actually, one morning recently when I woke up, the words of Hava Nagila instantly came to mind, and I couldn’t believe what popped out of my mouth next, “I manifest abundance and know that I will want for nothing.”  It felt totally natural coming from within me.   And as a manifest should be, it was totally undefined, unspecific.   What that abundance will entail, how it will come about, what “I will want for nothing” means – it could mean that I have so much money that I can have anything I want or it could just as well mean that I will be in a spiritual place where my wants are modest or nonexistent.   

And this manifest, as compared to other manifests, did not provoke any push back from my ego-mind, at least not initially.   It did later in the day, questioning how I could achieve abundance financially given my circumstances.   It took me out of my energized space and slapped me down.   Only the next morning when I meditated was I aware of what had happened and said “no” to my ego mind and returned to my heart, my faith, and to Sister Sharon’s energy.



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