Spiritual Lesson 2

Taken from 'Why Worry? How to live without fear and worry'
by the Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, J.S.M., Ph.D., D. Litt.
(Laser Press Sdn Bhd: 11th print, September 1998)

1. 'We attract what we fear and when we confront fears they disappear.' - pg 21

2. 'A noted British anatomist was once asked by a student: "What is the best cure for fear?" His answer was, "Try doing something for someone."' - pg 22

3. 'One should learn to recognize the nature of one's thoughts as they arise from moment to moment, distinguishing the wholesome thoughts from the unwholesome ones.' - pg 23

Inner Strength in the Face of Adversity

The Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda also quoted an extract of a poem by American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox. I found the rest of it from www.ellawheelerwilcox.org. Here it is:

WORTH WHILE
It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth,
Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent,
When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it's only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honor on earth,
Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,
Who had no strength for the strife,
The world's highway is cumbered to-day,
They make up the sum of life.
But the virtue that conquers passion,
And the sorrow that hides in a smile,
It is these that are worth the homage on earth
For we find them but once in a while.

Poems of sentiment by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Chicago, IL : W. B. Conkey Company, c1906.

Spiritual Lesson 1

Taken from 'Why Worry? How to live without fear and worry'
by the Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, J.S.M., Ph.D., D. Litt.
(Laser Press Sdn Bhd: 11th print, September 1998)

1. '... all conditioned phenomena, including suffering and all problems, arise out of causes and that nothing can arise by way of independent causes.'

2. '... we can put an end to each and every form of suffering by discovering the root cuases of our problems.'

3. On facing problems: '... act wisely in overcoming [problems] ... it is not so much who experiences problems that marks the difference between a wise and an unwise person, but the manner in which he faces them.'

4. The Buddha said: 'Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own mind, unguarded. But once mastered, no one can help you as much, not even your father, mother or any other relative.'

5. 'When we are faced with fear, considerable courage is required to recognise the truth of its origin, and still greater courage to accept the truth after we have experienced it.'

My Resolution for the week starting Sunday, 21 May 2006

It's been over a month since I blogged. I haven't had anything profoundly interesting, intellectually stimulating or heart rendering to say. Plus I've spent two weeks working on my plan for the next three years. It's a start.

I do not feel compelled to record my meanderings as it would be a complete waste of time and a further reaffirmation of my tendency to be wishy washy. But I feel compelled to do something about these unproductive personal traits.

My resolution for this week:
1. Note down spiritual lessons every other evening.
2. No specific number of lessons so long as I understand them.

I hope that in my quest to dig deeper to the core of myself, I may relief others of their troubles, even if only temporarily.