According to many, our mind plays a major role in the quality of our life and how we relate to both oneself and others. Understanding this, we can come to better understand ourselves and, thereby make extraordinary advances in what Aristotle called eudemonia, or the good life. Eudemonia is a sense of well-being, a deeply seated feeling of joy. Not the happy-happy-joy-joy type but, a grounded feeling of contented joy that is both stable and constant. One that is unshakable even in the face of modern life with all its problems and difficulties.

You Are Your Own Friend

All living beings want a happy life and, every living being wants to be free of any form of suffering. Everyone has this innate wish, the wish for greater happiness, and it is not a selfish wish. However we often employ erroneous methods in our endeavor to find happiness or eudemonia. Many people, believing that happiness can be found through physical stimuli or financial security, spend their entire lives chasing after money, power and fame only to be exhausted by their efforts. They may spend countless hours building businesses and careers only to find themselves struggling with feelings of loneliness or even guilt for being away from their families. Does this mean you cannot have a good job or career? Does this mean you cannot enjoy a wealth of resources? Good cars, nice restaurants or the latest pair of shoes? No, it certainly does not. But, if we think that happiness will be gained once we have this or that item, this way of thinking will surely end in tears! It is not money, fame or power that are the causes of problems, rather it is how we relate to them that is the real cause of our problems. We usually struggle to gain them and when we finely do achieve this or that we grasp onto them thinking…my precious…my precious.

This shows that happiness or suffering is generated from within our own mind. Clearly everything is dependent on mind. And this is great news.

Knowing that happiness can be found from within the mind, we have a real chance, right now, right here, to begin softening our mind to include the actual causes of happiness.

1. Compassion.
2. Friendliness.
3. Patience.
4. Wisdom.

All these minds can be cultivated. It is possible through practice to increase compassion for both oneself and others. In the Buddhist tradition compassion starts with being compassionate towards yourself. Do you really think it is possible to have real compassion for others yet, not for yourself? By having compassion for oneself we are able to have faults yet not let these faults become overwhelming and all consuming. If this were to happen these so-called faults become obstacles. We can start to identify with them. I am a terrible person. I have this problem or I have that problem. But these faults can also be our teacher. They can show us what we need to work on. By not identifying and grasping onto our faults we can place some space between them and us. We simply recognize faults as faults and, we endeavor to remove them from our minds.

This is where the tool of meditation comes into play. Meditation is not just something you do in order to lower your blood pressure, or remove stress. It is also a tool used to develop positive minds like compassion, love and wisdom. This is why monks meditate and it is also the object of their meditations. They meditate In order to develop their minds and to remove neurotic states of consciousness. The end result is what in Buddhism is called enlightenment. Enlightenment is merely the experience of infinite love, compassion and wisdom. It is the final experience of a fully developed mind. It is something that you and I can achieve. Once this is achieved you are then in a real position to help others. You don’t stop living. An enlightened person carries on life after life showing others how to achieve this same experience called enlightenment.

You Are Your Own Protector

No one can force you to begin the process of turning inwards. It is something that you must decide to do for yourself. Turning inwards is something that Buddhist monks have done for more than 2500 years. The process of introspection is not about focusing only on yourself at the exclusion of everyone else, nor is it about sitting in a cave blanking out. Rather, turning inwards, is an active investigation into who we really are and how life really works! What western philosophers call doing philosophy. Only you can make the choice to begin doing philosophy.
The Buddha once said:

You are your own protector
Who else will be this protector.
By thoroughly knowing themselves
The wise will attain higher status.

This investigation is not an easy task. It can take time, effort and patience. That is why unfortunately, most people don’t even begin. However it can be an extremely satisfying and incredibly rewarding journey. Not only for yourself but, also for your family, friends and others you meet through life. You don’t need to go off to a mountain cave or wear funny clothes in order to start. Changing your life starts right now, right here!

There is a funny story that will illustrate my point quite well. It is an old Tibetan story about the meaning of practising patience.

There was once an old lama who was the abbot of a monastery in Eastern Tibet. The monastery like many in Tibet sat at the base of a mountain. He lived there with his attendant, a cook and many many students. The lama was a famous scholar and a great yogi (meditation master). People would come from all over Tibet to hear his lectures. One day the cook came to the abbot and said, ‘Lama I have decided to go off to the mountain caves to meditate. I now see that my life is impermanent and, I think it is important that I no longer waste time with mundane things’. The Lama asked the cook what he planned to meditate on, what subject. The cook replied patience, and then said, ‘will you let me go?’ The Lama agreed. So the cook prepared for his journey, all excited that he was finally getting his chance to meditate and practice the dharma. The following day he set off, taking with him just the clothes on his back and some tsampa (Tibetan roasted barley)to eat. It took two hours of trekking to reach the cave but, once he did he felt so good, so happy he almost cried. He told himself, ‘Now I will achieve enlightenment’, or so he thought!

About a week later the lama called for his attendant. He said, ‘Please go up to the mountain and find my cook. Once you have found the cave he is in, sneak in and slap him across his face!’ And so the attendant did as he was asked. He found the cave, snuck up to the cook and, slapped him across the face as hard as he could.

The cook angrily leapt from his meditation shouting, ‘How dare you interrupt my practice you fool!’ The cook chased the attendant down the mountain, all the way back to the monastery. As they reached the monastery and came around the last corner, there was the lama waiting. ‘How is your meditation now?’ he asked.

So, the meaning behind this story is, we have all the necessary circumstances to transform our lives right here and right now. We don’t need to go off to some exotic land of Lamas or some magical shangri-la to find happiness. It is found right within our own minds.

The process of transformation to a being endowed with compassion, empathy, love and wisdom begins with one simple thought…I can do this…I will do this!

The rest will naturally follow. In this way we are our own protectors.