Ponder This Paradox

Here's a paradox for you to ponder:

How can you love and desire something with all your heart and soul, and also be able to let it go completely and not worry about it?

...

Why would this be important? Because it is the secret to manifesting all of your dreams.

Allow me to explain.

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There is an old story about a young man who is searching for wisdom. This young man goes off and one day finds a great and wise master. He asks the master to be taught the ways of wisdom. The master, watching, motions to the young man to follow. They walk down to the waters' edge and kneel. The master turns and asks, "do you really want wisdom?", to which the young man replies, "yes". Suddenly, the master grabs the youth's head and pushes it under water. At first he is alarmed and tries to escape the master's hold, but then realises that this might be a lesson. So the young man, with breath held, waits underwater, trying to grasp the lesson.

But the master was not letting go and the youth's breath was running out. In desperation, the young man starts pushing back a little bit, and then more an more violently in an effort to avoid drowning. Still the master holds his head under the water.

When the youth was spent from struggling and just about to black-out, the wise master released the hold and allowed air to once again fill his lungs.

As the wet youth finally got enough breath back to speak, the master asked him, "when you were struggling, towards the end, what was it that you wanted most, more than anything else in the world?", to which the young man answered, "to breathe!". The master then stared intensly in the exhausted youth's eyes, and replied, "only when your desire for wisdom matches your desire for a breath of air a moment ago... only then you will find it".
*

What is the lesson here?

Only when you truly desire something, as much as a drowning person desires a breath of air, will you be ready to do all that is required to reach your goal. If you don't want it that bad, you won't go far enough to succeed, past the point where you cease to struggle...finally letting go and "just do it" as Nike says. It's the "massive action" that Anthony Robbins refers to, or the proverbial "swift kick in the pants" we all seem to need at times to get ourselves to move.

In other words, how bad do you want it?

And there is another famous story:

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A seeker of wisdom goes to see a Zen Master one day. The seeker asks for wisdom, for true eyes on the world, for enlightenment/nirvana. So, the master invites this person to sit with him and have a cup of tea.

The master prepares the tea with full awareness on every movement, gesture and proper placement of the table. He then begins to serve the tea, pouring it into the other's cup as the seeker once again asks many questions about wisdom and finding nirvana. As the seeker speaks, the cup slowly fills and suddenly overflows. Alarmed, the seeker tells the master to stop pouring because the cup has overflowed.

Calmly, the Zen Master explains, "your mind is like this cup. It is filled with thoughts. To add more thoughts is to overfill your cup. If you seek true wisdom, you must first empty your cup so that it may then be filled with wisdom. "
*

What this story points to, is the essence of meditation. To empty or quiet the mind of thoughts, so that true wisdom, from the depths of your being, may rise to the surface and fill your mind. It's where inspiration comes from. It's where true knowing comes from.

What does this have to do with achieving your desire?

It has to do with the second part of the paradox stated above: how do you let go of that which you most desire?

This is how: release all attachment to your thoughts.

What!

I know it may sound strange, but the truth is that we are so attached to our thoughts and ideas that we believe that we are nothing without them. We believe that thinking brings us our ideas. Actually, not thinking is where ideas come from.

Huh?

Haven't you noticed that you get your best ideas when you are not trying to think about something? It happens when you "sleep on it", when you are relaxed, when you are playing, when you take a shower or go for a walk or when you do something different to "clear your head" and let go of trying to find a solution. Those can all be forms of meditation, if we generally define meditation as "emptying the mind of thoughts", or "a state of inner silence or stillness".

The reason why letting go of your attachment to thoughts and ideas is so important for your life, is that when we truly desire something, bad enough to do whatever it takes, we must also remain open to the opportunities and possibilities that there may be better ways to achieve our desire than following the ideas we originally had.

In other words, let go of wanting it in a specific way so that you may be open to your true desire manifesting in the best possible way.

And the best possible way may not be one you have thought of, hence the wisdom in not attaching ourselves to thoughts.

So this is the secret.

Want it badly enough to do whatever it takes, and at the same time, be completely open to new opportunities as you move forward. Just keep moving forward.

It is both a paradox - a deep truth that seems contradictory on the surface - and an act of balance - like the eternal symbol represented by the Yin and Yang. Integrate it into your being and watch yourself begin to soar.

CHB

Copyright © Charles Begin

True Strength

This past weekend I was visiting a very good friend of mine, and since we both have an interest in strength and bodybuilding, I brought along a few DVD's from my strength collection to watch: some of Ronnie Coleman's training (he is gigantic!), some footage of Mike "the Machine" Bruce doing his thing (incredible!), and some of Dennis Rogers' DVD's (unbelievable!). You know, visuals to get us really pumped up to train.

Anyhow, as we were going from dvd to dvd, I noticed that these guys were all really different physically (Ronnie is 300 lbs, Mike is 200 lbs, and Dennis is 170 - up from 150 in his younger days) but they all had one thing in common: they were all superhumanly strong.

That got me thinking.

When we can see three people with outward appearances that range all across the board, and they all display seemingly super-human strength and power, that should tell you that true power comes from somewhere other than what is immediately perceivable.

I'm sure everyone has had the experience at some time or another of seeing someone who looked strong, but really wasn't, and also of meeting someone who did not particularly stand out physically, but was as strong as a bull. And what about the stories of tiny, 90 lb women lifting the ends of cars to rescue a trapped child? Where does that power come from?

True strength comes from the inside. That means going beneath the skin and muscles (which are also necessary) and delving deeper... to the bones, tendons, ligaments, the nervous system, hormones, internal organs, and the infinite... MIND. And bigger is not necessarily stronger. It can be. But you can find some pretty small people who are ferociously strong. And some pretty big ones who are as weak as a wet rag. And when it comes to matters of the mind, size is pretty much irrelevant.

True strength comes from inside.

And by "strength" here I am not only talking about physical strength. I am referring to all types of strength: power, courage, willpower, faith, focus, toughness, confidence, vision, wealth, clarity, health, love...

Yes, it is possible and often desirable to develop the outer appearance of strength and power for it can lead to better health and attractiveness in all areas (through developing good habits) and it can also open the door to greater, deeper development. Yet so few have the courage to dive deep enough inside to find their own true strength, that extraordinary power to move mountains.

Take some time right now for these questions:

How can I develop greater strength inside of me, in my body and in my mind?
How can I develop strength with roots that go deep inside of me?
How can I awaken the deep inner strength that is already there, waiting, sleeping?

And how can I look and feel great at the same time? (hey, we ALL want to look and feel great!)

Have fun and bring forth the tremendous power that lies within.

CHB

Copyright © Charles Begin

What's On Your List?

I just saw a short, 7 minute video about John Goddard- "The World's Greatest Goal Achiever", that got me thinking about my own list of goals... and had me dreaming up new ones.

Check it out (it's midway down the page) at:

http://johngoddard.info

Then, pull out a pad of paper and start jotting down every crazy, stupid and "impossible" dream you ever had, from the most gigantic desire to the tiniest want. In ten years' time, you just might surprise yourself - and everyone else - by how many of those goals you actually achieve.

Like John said: "a goal is a commitment", not something you forget about. Plan, prepare, save money, get training...do whatever you have to do to make it happen. Just keep moving forward and soon enough you will be putting a nice star or checkmark next to those life goals.

And remember, if you can imagine it... there is a way for you to achieve it.

You just have to find the way.

Go for it.

CHB

Copyright © Charles Begin

Curing Restlessness

I've been feeling a little bit restless lately.

All summer long I've been kept very busy with constant weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and the like, and about two weeks ago all of that suddenly stopped. Not that I have nothing to do, far from it, it's just that the pace of everything changed dramatically and changing gears hasn't gone as smoothly as I had hoped. Last week I cleaned pretty much my entire appartment, and my car, and then met with my cousin to watch movies over the long weekend... actually, that was only on one day!

And the worse was that the entire time I was feeling very restless... like there's something that needs to be done and I'm not doing it right now.

I'd go over my list of things I wrote down that I wanted to do, and seeing everyting on there, I didn't know where to start. I'll tell ya, going back and forth and not getting anything done for two hours is not very productive!

I did finally start cleaning though. And today, I woke up and again felt restless because there was so much I wanted to get done and didn't know where to start. So here's what I did.

First, I took the time to breathe. I started by breathing very quickly through my nose for about 30 seconds, to raise my energy and wake me up (I do that every morning) and then I inhaled deeply and blew all the air out of my lungs. I took another three or four deep inhales and exhales until I felt myself filled with oxygen. Then I just felt my body and concentrated on breathing deeply and letting go of as much tension and stress as I could. I relaxed my body and mind as much as possible.

Aaaahhh, yes. Much better.

And from that state of relaxation, from that calm and clear mind, inspiration comes. This morning, it told me to go for a walk. That may sound like a waste of time when there is so much to do, but trying to get things done when you are out of sorts-flustered-restless is a perfect recipe for screwing things up. Or hurting yourself. Or getting into debt.

So I went for a walk.

I went to a second-hand bookstore, looking for some books I wanted to buy for a while (so I guess it was kind-of on my list). I didn't find them. Once again, that feeling of restlessness surfaced, along with thoughts about being in a hurry and to stop wasting my time. I was even about to buy one of the books I had picked up. I wasn't really going to read it, it would have been just an impulse buy because I had the cash in my wallet and I could have told myself that my walk wasn't a waste of time because I brought back a book. I caught myself, and started to breathe deeply once again. I asked myself, "do I really need this book right now, or can it wait?". Something inside of me told to just take another deep, relaxing breath. I did. Then I knew that I didn't need the book just now.

The voice of impatience started talking again. If you're not going to buy anything, then let's go. This is a waste of time. That's what it said. So I took another deep breath and relaxed into my body even more.

Everything is fine, I am here for a reason. Even if it is only to learn to be more present and relaxed, and comfortable just taking everything in... without needing to take anything home.

However, as I continued to browse and breathe, feeling better and better, I found a rare two volume set of hardcover health and fitness books from the 1920's. Called MacFadden's Encyclopedia of Physical Culture, and originally written by physical culture pioneer Bernarr MacFadden in 1911, these beautiful hardcover editions are something that I would never have ever imagined finding in that store. I love collecting these types of old and rare mind and body power gems, so this was a fantastic find.

You see, you never know what you will find, or what experiences you will have, so always follow you gut (intuition). And that is my only advice for you on this topic. Actually, it could be my only advice on any topic. You are feeling restless for a reason. Listen to your intuition and you will find yourself exactly where you need to be. And to listen to that inner prompting, you must learn to relax, to release or dissolve all tension in your body and mind, so that the inspiration can flow freely into your awareness.

That's it. Practice that for the rest of your life and you will be happy.

That's my plan.

I know some of you might want a few more "practical" suggestions to help you be on your way when you feel restlessness, so here's the first "trick" you can use (I do):

Make a list. That helps because you don't have to try to remember everything now. Just look at your list.

You might then reply, "yeah, but you said that you were looking at your list and not knowing where to start, so how does that help?". Very true. So here is the second tip:

Prioritize. What do you want to get done right now, and what can wait? What will make you feel better once it's done? All of it you say? C'mon now, be honest with yourself.

OK. So now you have a list and you've prioritized what's on there. Now what? Here's technique number three:

Do it. I know may sound too simple, but if you just go with your number 1 on the list and start doing it, it will get done. Duh!

There is however, another very important step here, and it is this:

Think of nothing but what you are doing until it is done. That's what what making me feel restless even when I was doing something. I kept letting my mind think about all the other things on the list and then I'd jump from doing one thing for a bit, then another, then another, then back to the first... and meanwhile not getting anything done. Once you've picked your task or activity, do it until it's done. Then, cross it off your list (or put a checkmark beside it) and go on to the next task.

Yes, there are ways to "multi-task" and get more than one thing done at a time, like the laundry and working out, but that's only when one thing can be set to run on automatic. Anything that needs you to be there, needs you to be there fully. Yes, once we know a route like the back of our hands we can drive and listen to a self-help CD or MP3, or talk with someone, but only because the unconscious part of our mind puts our driving on auto-pilot. We still need to be aware enough to handle anything unexpected that comes up. And when that happens, all of your attention returns to the driving, or you could die. That's an extreme example, but the point here is that whatever you are doing, do it with your full attention, always. Be fully awake and aware at all times (yes, it's even possible to be fully awake and aware while your body is sleeping at night...but that's for another time...hehe).

There you have it, how to cure resltessness. And the answer is:

Relax completely and follow your intuition.

Try that and see what happens.

CHB

Copyright © Charles Begin