I was recently blessed to have a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks stay with me while they were in Cleveland for the Sacred Arts of Tibet tour. I learned so many valuable lessons form these beautiful people, and it was truly a life-changing experience. I saw that through intention and dedication it is possible to be truly kind, generous, compassionate, peaceful, loving, and caring.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE MONKS
- Our primary responsibility in this life is to help end the suffering of others
- You achieve your goals through hard work, practice, and dedication
- Ego and fear are the cause of most problems
- Remember how to laugh and see life though the eyes you had as a child, before ego and fear took effect
- Everything that comes to you is made possible by the kindness of others. Be grateful to all of the people and animals, no matter how “lowly”, who make it possible for you to live the life you live
- Concentrate on making all of your actions virtuous – think positively, practice patience and tolerance, be kind and generous, show compassion
- Anger fuels anger. Instead, respond to anger with patience. Break the cycle.
- Patience is the highest virtue to practice. Before you get angry at someone, try to see it as an opportunity they are giving you to practice patience.
- Meditation brings us back to the present moment, where true peace resides. It frees us from anger, fear, attachment and desire.
- Stay humble. Everything you have achieved, and everything you do for others, is because you are blessed to be able to do so.
- As long as we are on earth we will experience some difficulty. Our task is not to eliminate difficulty, but to remain loving and peaceful despite it.
- Make sure that your motivation and intention is always pure and unconditional.
- Generosity is unconditional giving, without expectation.
- You can’t control the past. You can’t control aging and death. But you can control the rest of the future, including your rebirth, through right action.
