Buddha Balboa Archives - Page 9 of 9

Trying Times

Thank Buddha It’s Friday….big time!

For those of us who live in the Northeast (of which I am one), it’s been a bit trying lately. Between Hurricane Sandy and the recent Nor’easter, we are “saturated” (pun intended) with our share of hardship.

It is heartbreaking to see those who have lost “everything” – ie: homes, material goods, mementos – and more importantly, those who have lost their lives. It is a sobering reminder that life is fragile, that nature has her own agenda.

It will take a very long time to rebuild…and there will be a sea of tears shed along the way. But, as many a victim and elected official has said, we will be ok, we will persevere.

Should we learn something from this horrible event? Absolutely. If we don’t, then we are blind and unwilling to grow. We need to face the reality that in many ways, things are out of our control. Yet on the flip side, we need to understand that what is in our control, is something we need to pay attention to and prepare for.

Years ago, and this is by no means a comparison, I lost a number of photo albums and family items in a basement flood. It made me very sad. I lost memories that could not be replaced. I had no choice but to let it go. To chalk it up to that element of life which is beyond my influence.

The loss of a home and our possessions is gut-wrenching….there is no escaping that. We are only human – and part of that experience is to feel sorrow and pain. Another piece of the puzzle is to also feel hope and faith and renewal…that we will pass through the darkness and back into the light. It won’t be easy – but it WILL happen.

My lesson in this is a restoration of my faith in people…that we can truly help each other when we are down…in even the smallest of ways. And that’s not some rhetorical mumbo jumbo (as we’ve heard too much of lately in our presidential race – don’t get me started), but a truth that lies deep within each of us as members of the human race.

We are in this together – this journey, this world, this life. – BB

Carry A Banana

On the bus to work today, I saw a guy get on, holding a banana. That’s it, just a banana. He had ear buds in, listening to music off his phone (which was tucked in his pocket), but all he was carrying was a simple piece of fruit.

What struck me was the apparent “lightness of being” he had. He wasn’t weighed down by any type of bag – lunch, work or gym – so he was free to move about his morning commute with ease. His needs were met – breakfast in hand, what more did he need to start his day?

Many of us, unnecessarily carry a ton of personal objects around. Ask any woman to dump out her purse, and chances are she doesn’t even know half the contents she is carrying. And with the explosion of portable electronics, between our phones, iPods, tablets, laptops and video games, we are buried in our techie treasures. Never mind our briefcases, backpacks and gym bags – which are filled to the brim with all the goodies we need to get through the hours. Some of us even carry several bags at once – essentially turning ourselves into human pack mules. (Guilty as charged.)

It reminds me of the old program “Let’s Make a Deal.” At the end of each show, as the credits rolled, Monty Hall would ask the costumed crowd if they had a particular, random or obscure, item on their person. If they could produce such item, they would receive a cash prize. It could be anything from a safety pin to a wrench. And the crazy thing was, 9 times out of 10, the audience member had it. Digging deep within their bounty, they would whip out a wrench, smiling and clapping.

So here’s my version of deal making – let’s all try to lighten our load – both spiritually and physically. Let’s discard or remove that which we don’t need to carry around with us…let’s get rid of the thoughts and the objects that burden us, that take away our ease of movement, our peace of mind. Let’s only bring through our day, that which enhances our experiences, and leave the rest at the bottom of the bag. We don’t need it.

Carry a banana. It’s healthy. – BB

You’ve Got Soul

“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” CS Lewis

I saw this written on my horoscope one day (yes, fun to read whether you “believe” or not) and I loved the quote. It’s all in the wording, isn’t it?

We tend to consider ourselves as having a soul, a conscience, an intangible self. We talk about this soul as if it’s something we have inside ourselves. But if we look at living, being alive, in its purest form, we are merely living in a vessel we call our bodies. A mass of blood and skin and veins and organs, that we inhabit. That which makes up the true self (our spiritual core, if you will) is that unseen personality which defines who we ultimately are.

We aren’t our bodies…our bodies don’t define the kind of people we are, the kind of emotions we feel, the kind of greatness we can achieve. It is our spirits, our souls, that speak of who we are. It’s the twinkle in someone’s eye that comes through the body from somewhere far greater.

The best evidence, in my opinion, that we aren’t our bodies is when we pass away. A dear friend of mine died not too long ago and at his wake all I could think to myself was this wasn’t him. This was his human form – his body which had ceased functioning on a biological level, but it wasn’t HIM. It wasn’t who he was – it was his shell. His soul was still present although I could not touch it. We are always present, even in death.

Although it’s important to keep our bodies healthy – so we can enjoy our lives – we need to always remember it is our souls that need attention and care. We need to remind ourselves that we are more than our physical appearance – way more. That what we truly ARE is not bound by biology and genetics.

You are a soul.