Backsliding

24 Oct 2011 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Scales Don't LieI’ve been on this diet since early August, and it’s been going really well. I’ve lost over two stone (13kgs) and I feel terrific, but it’s so easy to get back into bad habits and undo all the good work. Saturday was a perfect example. Being invited to the cafe for breakfast was going to be a treat, teacakes, coffee and all. But it’s all too easy to think, ‘well I’ve had this and that, so I might as well go for it’. Stupid and a big mistake.

Like most challenges in life, it’s far more difficult to stick to the goal than it is to ignore it and let your urges take over. Sadly the scales don’t lie, and I know it wasn’t the teacake that caused all the trouble. One way I have stayed on course is by not having temptations in the house. But Charlotte’s place was full of goodies. A half eaten birthday cake, a box of flapjacks, even a box of Dunkin’ doughnuts.

I managed to avoid most of them, but whether it was because I was tired I don’t know, but I just felt hungry, and gave in to temptation. A couple of crumpets with cheese, coffee with sugar and several Caramel and Crunchie mini bars later I was feeling better, but suitably miffed with myself.

I knew that things would have taken a backwards step when I weighed myself yesterday, but having ‘been good’ all day I was even more dismayed to find things were no better this morning either. So today has been a day for quiet contemplation and sticking strictly to my self imposed rules.

It’s so much easier, and pleasant, to put weight on than it is to get it off. But the hardest of all is to lose it, and then put it back on when you know that you let your fundamental darkness take control. Double the pain, knowing that there is a chink in your determination, and that it really wasn’t worth all the angst. So get thee hence Dark Passenger. My new cycling bits arrived today, so I’m going to put them to good use and burn all those stupid calories off again.

Being Aware

16 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Tour de FranceOut on the bike again, I started to see things that related to the weight issue we discussed yesterday. The contrast between the other cyclists, the runners and skaters, and those folks tucked in their beach huts, was amazing.

Cycling burns about 250 calories an hour, even if you are just out for casual bimble. Hard riding burns considerably more, for example the riders in the Tour de France burn over 4000 calories a day. Now admittedly I’m no where near the pro-cyclists league, but there is a real satisfaction in the tiredness you feel after an aggressive ride.

But back to the beach huts. Most of the occupants were slouched in deck chairs, most were rather overweight, and the ice cream salesmen must have been having a bumper day, judging by the number of folks who were tucking into a cornet or lolly.

Now I’m not a party-pooper, and I have eaten my share of Ben and Jerry’s in my time, but it just served to show why some people are so overweight, while others are slim. It goes back to karma, to the cause and effect principle. It is so simple, if you make bad causes, in this case eating more calories than you need, you will see bad effects, namely weight gain.

I know a number of people who would like to be slimmer, I was one of them. But unless you make that a heart-felt goal, that you are aware of how much you are eating, it will never happen. I’m not going on some one-man crusade to get people to lose weight, but if you are one of the people who would like to, all you have to do is stick to the simplest formula. Eat less calories than you need, each and every day.

Measuring Self Discipline

14 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Measuring Self DisciplineI’ve been listening with interest to the news regarding the government plans to stem the growing number of obese people, particularly children. There are ideas regarding emulating the Scandinavian ‘Fat Tax’ idea, where fattening foods would be taxed at a higher rate than less fattening foods, discouraging people from buying them. There are also plans to involve the food manufacturers, suggesting that they reduce the fat content, or even the size of packaged foodstuff portions.

One reason that I have been so interested is that I have been ‘dieting’ myself since the beginning of August. I put dieting in quotes because I haven’t had any hard and fast rules, no real ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, I just been eating a lot less than I was and doing more than I was too. The good news, from my own point of view, is that I have lost well over ten kilos, or more than a stone and a half in old money, in that time.

But there really isn’t any magic, it’s exactly the same as karma, it’s cause and effect. The nice thing is, that compared to karma, the results are pretty instant. On days where I have been strong, stuck to my self regulated plan, I see a weight loss. On the odd day when I have eaten more than I planned, I usually see a small gain. Good causes, good effects, bad causes, bad effects, it’s as simple as that.

So is there really any need to go to all this trouble to help obese people to lose weight? I don’t really think there is. The real problem is that people often lack the determination or self disciple to reach their goals. It is much easier to gain weight than it is to lose it, and it’s a far more pleasant process too. But if you want something bad enough, and set achievable, smaller goals, it’s not beyond the reach of anyone.

If I can do it, you can do it. It’s simply a case of finding the self disciple to consume fewer calories than you burn each day. The one thing that I can say, is that there is very little to compare with the pleasure you feel when you reach each small goal, one after another, after another. Self discipline is a wonderful thing. If you can find it within yourself, it will reward you time and time again, and when people notice and comment, that’s a bonus.

Make That Change

21 Sep 2011 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

All ChangeWhen your life isn’t going the way you want it to, change it! We are all in control of our own lives, though at times that may seem a little hard to believe. We are all where we are today, doing what we are doing and being what we are being, because of the choices we have made along the way.

Karma is a perfectly imperfect science. Perfect because, as with everything in the universe, every effect has a cause, every cause has an effect. Imperfect because, with karma, the effect will only appear when the situation is right, so it’s rather difficult to predict. But that doesn’t detract from the truth, that everything we think, say or do has some form of effect, on us or others.

So if you are in a rut, if you are unhappy with your lot, if it feels as though the world has a personal grudge against you, change it. Sitting there feeling sorry for yourself will not help, sitting there blaming everything from the economy, your partner, your boss, all the way to the dog, will not help. Fix your mind on the changes you want to see in your life, decide the best route to achieving those changes, then make causes to bring that change about. Don’t wait, set about it with determination, there has never been a better time to make that change.

Economic Karma

17 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Broken EuroI don’t know about you, but all this talk of world wide economic strife is starting to get me really worried. We know all about the stringent cuts that the government are pushing through here in the UK. The problem is that we all know we have to do something to reduce our deficit, but there seems to be a growing sense of, that’s fine, just as long as it’s not me that has to reduce my own standard of living.

I don’t want to pick on one country in particular, but Greece is seeing more immediate result of all the irresponsible causes they have made through many preceding years. Their situation appears hopeless, not helped, in my opinion, by loans from the rest of the economic union. Now, either Greece is going to get on with sorting it’s economy out and be beholding to the likes of Germany and France for decades to come. Or they are going to default on the loans, plunging the whole world into an even worse economic situation.

Don’t get me wrong, we are all guilty of spending more than we could afford, not just recently, but for years, all egged on by the ‘buy now, pay later’ society. It just seems that Greece, Portugal, Ireland and even Italy seem to have got themselves in deeper than the rest, but that’s fairly academic.

Just as we are all connected through the universe, our economies are all connected too. Like a set of dominos, if one country falls, there is a pretty good chance that they will all fall, and that will affect every single one of us. That’s how universal economic karma works.

Karma doesn’t only work at the personal level, it works at all levels. The causes we all make, in this case regarding our spending and banking practices, will and are causing effects that we are all feeling. And because we have been making short-sighted crazy causes for years, we can expect to see damaging effects for a long time to come.

Cause And Effect

29 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

iPad2As I said yesterday, karma is all about cause and effect. We make causes and later we see the effects that result.

Now I never was very lucky in games of chance or competitions, so image my surprise and delight when I received a phone call last week informing me that I had won an iPad2 for simply completing an online survey, quite a spot of luck eh? Of course there is no such thing as luck in Buddhism, and I should have known better.

It’s not the fact that I’m typing this on said iPad2 that’s important, it’s all about the fact that I made the cause that resulted in this rather delightful effect.

I always thought I was unlucky, but in hindsight it was all to do with my attitude toward these competitions. I didn’t really believe that anyone actually won the prize on offer, so I never bothered to fill them in.

No cause, no effect. I have to say that if you are going to learn a lesson, this was the nicest way I can think of doing it.

300 Not Out

24 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

300 Not OutThis is my 300th post on The Search For Enlightenment, quite a milestone for me, a post a day since the 30th of September 2010. So wanted to share the one thing that I feel has most changed my life in that time.

My Practice has become a major part of my life, a routine that keeps me on track and provides a constant beacon that keeps me on the path, but that’s not it.

My understanding of how life works has improved in leaps and bounds, that we are all connected with the Universe and that our actions ripple out to affect everything and everyone else, but that’s not it either.

What has changed my life most in the last 300 days is the realisation that through the laws of Karma, those of cause and effect, my life, my happiness, everything is in my own hands. It is such an empowering feeling, to take control, and to look back and see where I went right and wrong in the past, and learn from it.

Of course, with control comes responsibility, but that is one of the main principles of Nichiren Buddhism. As there are no rules, no do’s or don’ts in our practice, the effects of the causes we all make, through the thoughts, words and deeds, are our responsibility.

If you feel your life is like a leaf in the breeze, that you are being blown along by external factors or the whim of others, take time to study the laws of Karma. Take back control, take responsibility and start living your life the way you want for the very first time.

A Simple Case Of Karma

03 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Cause-and-EffectBuddhism, which is founded on the law of cause and effect, stresses the concept of karma.

This principle explains that life at each moment is subject to the cumulative effects of causes made in the past. What we do, what we say and what we think are all causes.

According to Buddhism, the moment we do something, say something or even think something, an effect is registered in the depths of our being. Then, as our lives meet the right circumstances, the effects become apparent.

Personality traits are strongly connected to out karma. The good news is that, unlike fate, our karma can be changed by causes we make from this moment forward.

Buddhist practice is therefore, essentially the practice of continually changing our karma.

Expect Effects

14 May 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: ,

Cause and EffectMany of us have a mental wish list, the things we would like, or would like to happen, in our lives.

Karma is, as we know, all about cause and effect, we make, or have made causes and we see the effects in our daily lives.

There is a wise old saying about being careful what you wish for, so formulate your wishes very carefully. Make sure that you are precise, with both the wants and the don’t wants, that is very important.

Remember too, that for every positive, there is an equal an opposite negative, to maintain the balance in the Universe, so be ready to embrace both. Like shoes, they come along in pairs

So if you have some deep seated wish, you must make that wish part of your heart, embed it into your life and make causes towards that goal, you have nothing to lose. But when you start making causes, don’t be surprised when the effects come along, sometimes much sooner than you expect.

The Best Laid Plans

22 Mar 2011 6 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

ButsudanTonight, ten of us attended the study group at Jayne and Ken Hawkins’ flat in Sandbanks.

The meeting had been planned by the Youth Division, there were several young people there and the topic had been set based around several poems about youth and the importance of youthfulness. The youth of today are, after all, the future.

We started to discuss a couple of the poems, but one lady, who had practiced Nichiren Buddhism in her youth, rather derailed the discussions when she started to explain that she had been rather ill, both physically and mentally. She wanted to know why she was being punished and told us that there were times when she felt she just could not face the future.

Whilst it wasn’t the planned discussion, it gave us all the opportunity to show our support and to help her see that she wasn’t being punished, that is was simply her karma to be suffering in the way she is.

Ken pointed out, that although she had been through some very difficult times, that was in the past and by focussing on the future, and making the right causes, that she could be confident of a much better future. We all tried to explain that the future was under her control.

I don’t think that this single meeting will change her current plight, but it will, if she is supported and resumes her practice, be the trigger for her to create a much better future for herself. After all, we are responsible for our own lives, and for creating the causes for the happiness we wish in our lives.

The meeting ended and I had offered Simon, the head of the youth division in Poole, a lift home. I had no idea that he had been cured, or rather, had cured himself, of Hodgkin Lymphoma, a form of cancer that attacks the body’s lymphatic system.

Whilst Charlotte’s cancer is slightly different, it had spread to the lymph glands under her arm, so is similar. Simon was very helpful and during the journey to Bournemouth, jotted down several natural remedies as well as some useful website addresses for me.

So an evening that was intended to be all about youth, turned into a support group for one of the members and a fact finding mission, albeit unwittingly, about cures and treatments for Charlotte’s condition.

When we chant, it always brings results, but as I have said on so many occasions, not always the results you might expect.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

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