Imagine sitting on a hilltop overlooking a crystal clear lake; a gentle breeze moves through mountain grasses and rustles the tree leaves while a chorus of birds send their harmonies throughout a vast and cloudless sky. All troubling thoughts seem to dissolve into the peace of the Mother naturally, simply.
Then out of nowhere, storm clouds gather on the horizon. The gentle breeze morphs into a sharp, biting wind and the birds take flight; sweet songs replaced by the ominous rumbling of distant thunder. As if rooted to the ground by a mighty force of gravity, you cannot move, helpless as the storm rolls in and pelts the physical with cold rain.
If the mind follows these external conditions like a loyal dog with its master, then peace will be followed by misery. Longing for the sweet past will torment the mind as it resists the more challenging landscape.
Yet so many brave people of history have described riding out tormenting storms by maintaining an inner balance that never wavers despite external conditions. They live to appreciate the beneficence of life returning with renewed vigor.
For some people, this fortitude can be attributed to maintaining a hopeful vision; events would eventually change for the better, despite all outward appearances. Others say that their belief in God held them in good stead, and the mystics describe an ability to merge into a Light that delivers them from all worldly conditions.
Having a practice that builds a stable foundation for the mind is not a luxury, but an imperative. Each person has unique qualities that dictate his or her own path, but not a cookie-cutter solution.
Regardless of one's belief system, a universal process is expressed in an ancient scripture:
"Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you."
Then out of nowhere, storm clouds gather on the horizon. The gentle breeze morphs into a sharp, biting wind and the birds take flight; sweet songs replaced by the ominous rumbling of distant thunder. As if rooted to the ground by a mighty force of gravity, you cannot move, helpless as the storm rolls in and pelts the physical with cold rain.
If the mind follows these external conditions like a loyal dog with its master, then peace will be followed by misery. Longing for the sweet past will torment the mind as it resists the more challenging landscape.
Yet so many brave people of history have described riding out tormenting storms by maintaining an inner balance that never wavers despite external conditions. They live to appreciate the beneficence of life returning with renewed vigor.
For some people, this fortitude can be attributed to maintaining a hopeful vision; events would eventually change for the better, despite all outward appearances. Others say that their belief in God held them in good stead, and the mystics describe an ability to merge into a Light that delivers them from all worldly conditions.
Having a practice that builds a stable foundation for the mind is not a luxury, but an imperative. Each person has unique qualities that dictate his or her own path, but not a cookie-cutter solution.
Regardless of one's belief system, a universal process is expressed in an ancient scripture:
"Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you."
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