One of the biggest battles that takes place within me is the battle between right and wrong. In essence it is the battle between the heart (emotions) and the mind (thoughts). The heart can often be protected from pain by committing selfish acts. For example the daughter of a hard working single mother may rebel when introduced to the thought of her mother meeting other men. Pain is avoided and she selfishly creates an ideal situation for her heart to smile regardless of her mothers wants and needs. However the other side of the battlefield has a strategy too tactical to let the battle end that easily. The mind takes a shot and feelings of guilt become harder to suppress. The question becomes what is better: a narrow path of happiness accompanied by a noisy mind, or a guilt free mind with an aching heart?
Neither, both suck.
When we analyze the cause of war within us we see that we don't have to pick either option. One of the main reasons that people attempt to do what is right is because of the belief that good things happen to good people, whether it be labelled karma or going to heaven. Thus the belief is that if you do good things now, you will be rewarded later. This delay of gratification is a lie.
Rule of Happiness # 2: The concepts of heaven and hell are not confined to places above and below us in the afterlife. Heaven and hell can be achieved during life, everyday, through a state of mind and being.
With this mindset the battle within us becomes incredibly skewed. Doing right becomes so much easier as it now serves two purposes: 1) it eliminates feelings of guilt and 2) allows an aching heart to be healed by heaven this very day. Thus is it better to be guilt free then guilty. Heaven can cure an aching heart because heaven makes you FEEL good. Heaven cannot however CONVINCE you of your innocence. Thus the next time you have a hard decision to make do not decide to do the right thing because hopefully later on in life it will pay off. Know that doing the right thing will take you to heaven on earth today. Heaven is a feeling within you.
It is better to have wrong done on to you then to do wrong on to others. When we realize this only then will heaven be reached.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Rule # 1
Some think god is simply human consciousness. This may be true, who am I to disagree. All I know is that the thought of god helps me get through my days and that's what really counts. Whether you believe in god or not, during times of need you tend to look up dont you? My views are influenced by my religion. That is not to say that I agree with everything sikhism stands for or everything the gurus have said because I don't. However a lot of what I know stems from the teachings of Sikhism. A lot of what I say may seem like common sense however I've learnt that common sense isn't as common as we think. My posts are not intended to offend anyone or imply anything. They are intended to share a wealth of knowledge that I like to think I have.
Happiness Rule # 1: Be Grateful - Don't view life like a 4x6 photo. When you open your eyes and see the bigger picture, only then will you truly be content with all you have.
The rich teen wants a car. The average teen wants a plasma tv. The poor teen wants a new pair of shoes. The dead teen died 8 years ago of starvation and thus...is not a teen at all. Our wants are irrational at times aren't they? We are incredibly ungrateful at times. When something goes wrong we are so quick to look up and ask for help. Why is it that we only remember God when we need help? If this is the case, shouldn't we be saying thank you every time he blesses us with something? We are all guilty of it. Take a second to appreciate what you have. Maybe while driving instead of giving the bad driver infront of you the finger, take a longer look at the sunset beside you. Instead of complaining about not getting what you wanted for your birthday, take a look around and appreciate all the things your single mother struggled to buy you. Instead of torturing yourself with the thought of relationship problems, realize that god has given you the beautiful ability to love and no matter how much you hurt sometimes, you will love again.
The argument is usually that when you are living a certain life, its hard to disassociate yourself from your own problems. Of course everyone knows that someone out there has it worse but the difficulty is applying this knowledge. In other words, the difficulty is moving away from the 4X6 shot of your life you are looking at and instead realizing the bigger picture of life.
Thus, don't cry over not getting a few toys here and there, because then your eyes will be too swollen to see that god has given you the world as your playground.
Happiness Rule # 1: Be Grateful - Don't view life like a 4x6 photo. When you open your eyes and see the bigger picture, only then will you truly be content with all you have.
The rich teen wants a car. The average teen wants a plasma tv. The poor teen wants a new pair of shoes. The dead teen died 8 years ago of starvation and thus...is not a teen at all. Our wants are irrational at times aren't they? We are incredibly ungrateful at times. When something goes wrong we are so quick to look up and ask for help. Why is it that we only remember God when we need help? If this is the case, shouldn't we be saying thank you every time he blesses us with something? We are all guilty of it. Take a second to appreciate what you have. Maybe while driving instead of giving the bad driver infront of you the finger, take a longer look at the sunset beside you. Instead of complaining about not getting what you wanted for your birthday, take a look around and appreciate all the things your single mother struggled to buy you. Instead of torturing yourself with the thought of relationship problems, realize that god has given you the beautiful ability to love and no matter how much you hurt sometimes, you will love again.
The argument is usually that when you are living a certain life, its hard to disassociate yourself from your own problems. Of course everyone knows that someone out there has it worse but the difficulty is applying this knowledge. In other words, the difficulty is moving away from the 4X6 shot of your life you are looking at and instead realizing the bigger picture of life.
Thus, don't cry over not getting a few toys here and there, because then your eyes will be too swollen to see that god has given you the world as your playground.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Happy Birthday Blog
No it is not my birthday. Today is the birth date of my blog and similiar to most irresponsible teenagers these days, I did not intend on giving birth, it just happened. I've never read a blog and I've never written one. In fact similiar to the irrational activity of twittering, blogging seemed absolutely useless to me. However as I was doing my usual Facebook stalking I came across Remy's profile. A combination of boredom and procrastination of school work encouraged me to click the link for his blog. Honestly, it was about nothing (sorry remy) but entertaining none the less. The idea of a blog suddenly seemed so "freeing". Shruthi later told me the word I am looking for is "liberating". Her advanced vocab sealed the deal and here I am. Happy Birthday Blog!
At 14, I couldn't wait until I turned 21. I am 21 now and I wish at 14, I wasn't so stupid. No, actually that's a lie. Everytime we are in a bad situation we just can't seem to wait until we can move on to that next stage of life. However every stage of life has its rollercoaster rides. I am currently on one. As cliche as it sounds I am trying to find myself and bring peace to the internal battles that take place within me everyday. Here it is in a nutshell: 2 years ago I had a decent amount of faith in the world and in people. I was a pretty religious sikh and loved the feeling of serenity that prayer could bring. Then, my rollercoaster pulled a Behemoth and came shooting down. I need not bore you with the details but as a result I have become cynical, pessimistic and somewhat bitter. Do I want to stay this way? No. Do I want to go back to my old ways? No. What I do want is to restore my faith, however not at the expense of my newly gained knowledge. Faith will not protect you from the realities of life and this I have learned the hard way. Thus welcome the new Lilly, a faithful person with positive views who knows very well that not all people are good, not all promises are kept and every rose has its thorns. But you know what, in the end, it doesn't even matter. I'll show you why... I am going to tell you the rules of happiness.
At 14, I couldn't wait until I turned 21. I am 21 now and I wish at 14, I wasn't so stupid. No, actually that's a lie. Everytime we are in a bad situation we just can't seem to wait until we can move on to that next stage of life. However every stage of life has its rollercoaster rides. I am currently on one. As cliche as it sounds I am trying to find myself and bring peace to the internal battles that take place within me everyday. Here it is in a nutshell: 2 years ago I had a decent amount of faith in the world and in people. I was a pretty religious sikh and loved the feeling of serenity that prayer could bring. Then, my rollercoaster pulled a Behemoth and came shooting down. I need not bore you with the details but as a result I have become cynical, pessimistic and somewhat bitter. Do I want to stay this way? No. Do I want to go back to my old ways? No. What I do want is to restore my faith, however not at the expense of my newly gained knowledge. Faith will not protect you from the realities of life and this I have learned the hard way. Thus welcome the new Lilly, a faithful person with positive views who knows very well that not all people are good, not all promises are kept and every rose has its thorns. But you know what, in the end, it doesn't even matter. I'll show you why... I am going to tell you the rules of happiness.
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