My 14 Practices for Living

1. Be Still & Meditate (Clarity) "Let it be still, and it will gradually become clear."— Lao Tzu.

  "Busyness is Laziness"
   Breath Deep

2. Seek OBJECTIVE Truth (reality)

    Observable, Testable, Falsifiable 

    Be open to truth wherever it leads- Bart Erhman

    "One of the Great Challenges in this world is knowing enough about a subject to think you are right, but not                 enough to know you are wrong!"  Neil DeGausse Tyson

    Start by understanding that we live on a tiny spec,  a "pale blue dot", in a vast multiverse - -Carl Sagan

    "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change" - Wayne Dyer

    Our beliefs shape our reality -Hidden Brain

3. Relish Exploring Mystery above Finding Answers (purpose and humbleness)

  "The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery."  (Ken Kesey)

4. Simplify (calmness)

    “I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” —         Lao Tzu.
    "Tis a Gift to be Simple" - song

5. Cherish Others (compassion)

    "Seek first to understand",  H.J. Coble
    "Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity"  Simone Weil

6. Love without attachment (joy)

    "Love is not a feeling.... Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's         growth."  (Peck & Johnson from HMT)

7. Live Healthfully  (Vigor) via Longevity Diet, Exercise, Fasting,  and Sleep

8. Drop egoic cravings (ie attachments) via Awareness & being in nature

    Buddhists believe that suffering is part of life and most suffering is caused by a tendency to crave or desire things.     To end emotional suffering,  search for ways to avoid ignorance, hatred and cravings.

    Meditate to become empty and see reality, which is fluid, open-ended, and interconnected without fixed ideas or         labels

    "What makes you happy or unhappy is not the world and the people around you, but the thinking in your head...it is your desires and attachments that make you tense, frustrated, nervous, insecure, and fearful...,
How do you drop attachments? First recognize that it is a falsehood that obtaining what you crave will bring real happiness...With that recognition, cling to nothing, enjoy everything and allow it to pass, to flow..," Anthony de Mello, "The Way to Love", 

    "If you learn to enjoy the scent of a 1000 flowers you will not cling to one or suffer when cannot get it."  Anthony         DeMello

    In modern parlance, "remember the art of not giving a f...k "(Medium)

    "Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks of changing himself" -Leo Tolstoy

9. Cultivate Gratitude (happiness).  

    Focus on what I have rather than on what I don't have right now. TWTL "Discipleship. 

    Journal gratitude with memories of events. Anchor with sensory touch per ShaRee

10. Live in the Now (contentment)

    "Recognize emotion is not the ultimate truth, but rather the truth of your state of mind at this time. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future and not enough presence.  Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence." Eckhart Tolle

    "Tension in life comes from attempting to control external events"  Epictitus

    "Fear does not prevent death, it prevents life" Bhudda

11. Take Responsibility (self-actualization) 

"The attempt to avoid legitimate suffering lies at the root of all emotional illness- One must confront problems. The journey to contentment requires taking responsibility to;  Delay gratification, Be Dedicated to Truth, and Balancing, particularly with respect to ones actions and relationships."  M Scott Peck from "The Road Less Traveled"

12. Practice Stoicism* (Equanimity)

    Four Virtues: Wisdom, Courage,      Moderation, Social Justice https://howtobeastoic.wordpress.com/stoicism-101/13. Be courageous in a stoic manner

13. Write a Good Story (meaning)

    Cultivate virtue, drop cravings, and write a good story using 3 tactics: 1) Cultivation of selflessness or compassion for others, 2) Living more in the present moment, 3) Cultivating gratitude.  Stephen Cave

14. Follow Your Bliss (Liberation)
    "The waters of life are wherever you are - If you follow your bliss you are enjoying that life within you, all the time."  (Campbell) 

    And you will write a good story...(Cave) 


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