Day 263

Thoughts: You are always doing your best.

You are always doing the best you can, based on your current belief system. It is almost as if when we are born we have a built-in mechanism for survival; To repel from pain, and move towards feeling good. It's in all its creatures.

It is HUMAN NATURE.

I hear this word often and today I explored it as I never had before to avoid stagnancy.

The word nature (dhammatā or pakati) has several meanings but can be used in the sense of the basic quality of a thing. The English word comes from the Latin natus meaning ‘born’ and in the term ‘human nature’ refers to the in-born or innate character of human beings. Religious thinkers and philosophers have long pondered the question of whether human nature is good or evil. Confucius implied that humans are basically good, Mencius made this idea explicit in his teachings and it came to be accepted in Confucianism from that time onwards. The Christian doctrine of Original Sin asserts that humans are born sinful and prone to evil, having inherited sin from Adam and Eve. Theologians like Luther and Calvin deduced from this that humans are incapable of good and are saved only by the grace and mercy of God.
The Buddha never directly addressed the question of whether humans are essentially good or evil. However, he said that we have the capacity to do good and implied that given the right circumstances, we have a leaning towards goodness. He said: ‘Develop the good! It can be done! If it were impossible I would not urge you to do so. But since it can be done I say to you “Develop the good!” And if developing the good caused you loss and sorrow I would not urge you to do so. But since it conduces to your welfare and happiness I say to you “Develop the good!” ’ (A.I,58).

The Milindapaṭha (a Buddhist book) says that our natural tendency to do what makes us happy causes us to gravitate towards goodness. ‘The King asked: “Venerable Nāgasena, which is greater, good or evil?” “Good is dominant, evil less so.” “Why is that?” “Sir, someone doing evil is remorseful and therefore avoids evil. But someone doing good is not remorseful, free from remorse he becomes glad, from gladness comes joy, being joyful the body is tranquil, with a tranquil body one is happy, the happy mind becomes concentrated and one who is concentrated sees things as they really are. And so it is that good is dominant’ (Mil.84).

How many times have we heard, “if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have acted any differently, based on what I knew at the time”? A example on what you knew at the time. To be in that space thinking that, entertaining that, and even talking that we have taken ourselves out of the present and into the past which does not exist. Based on the philosophy of the Buddha, this kind of living as suffering.

SUFFERING

The Pāḷi word dukkha is usually translated as 'suffering' and is the first of the four Noble Truths. The Buddha defined it like this: 'Birth, old age, sickness and dying are all dukkha, separation from the liked is dukkha, being joined with the disliked is dukkha (Vin.I,9). Dukkha is more than just physical suffering, it is the general incompleteness, unsatisfactoriness, inadequacy and the jarring nature of existence. To give but one example. In the past there was a high rate of infant mortality. This problem was solved by better nutrition and health care and now the well-being of humanity is threatened by a burgeoning population. Birth results in death, satisfaction leads to boredom, the solution to one problem contains within it the seeds of a new problem.

The Earth Diet’s principles are to maintain a consistent healthy lifestyle; and ultimately if you create it, free of fad diets, binge eating, dis-empowering thoughts, over eating, experiencing guilt, extremity of any kind.

CONTENTMENT

Contentment (santuṭṭhi) is the ability to be happy and fulfilled in one's present state. The Buddha said: 'Contentment is the highest wealth' (Dhp.204), meaning that when we are content we do not need to get anything, go anywhere or be anything to be happy because we already are, and thus, contentment is more valuable than any possession or accomplishment. The Buddha describes the monk's contentment like this: 'He is satisfied with a robe to cover his body and alms food to satisfy his stomach and having accepted no more than is sufficient he goes his way, just as a bird flies here and there taking with it no more than its wings'(D.I,71).

Now go and feel good!

Hopefully this blog has made you feel good and you can remember these words at times to create a feeling of goodness in you.

Hope fully it happens.

Love Liana :) xxx



Source: http://buddhismatoz.com/atoz.html a website that offers the Buddhist perspective on over 430 subjects.

Challenges: “The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not.”- Stephen Sondheim, from his song "Move On"

Triumphs:“At any moment each person is always doing the VERY BEST he can, based on his total conscious and non conscious prevailing awareness and which is within his capabilities, energy, time, and developed talents and abilities.”
- Sidney Madwed

What I Ate Today:

Food fest 1: A strawberry, grapefruit and orange juice mmmmm!



Food fest 2: A avocado and two sweet nectarines after my workout :)

Food fest 3: A Raw Chocolate Brownie! Created from raw soaked almonds, walnuts, cacao powder, coconut oil, dates, vanilla extract (optional), goji berries and blackberries.



Food fest 4: A Curried Lentil Sprout Carrot Salad :) Created from lentil sprouts, olive oil, cumin, tumeric, cayenne pepper, carrots, corriander (cilantro) and lemon.



Food fest 5: Some blueberries.

Recipe: A strawberry, grapefruit and orange juice, A Curried Lentil Sprout Carrot Salad and the A Raw Chocolate Brownie recipes are available on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.com

Exercise: A workout at Big Al's Gym that required total consistency, empowerment and strength to complete! Yes my husband trained me, and it was the most physically and mind demanding workout I have had for some time. I did squats with a free weight, lunges with hand weights, and other leg workouts for the entire leg and butt he says! My legs felt wobbly after that!

102 days to go!!!