How a mantra can impact your day in a positive way.

tonight i’d like to share with you the

idea of how a mantra can impact your day

in a positive way

i will discuss what a mantra is and how

to create one

of an empowering nature utilizing the

buddhist concepts

of equanimity and emptiness

the word mantra is derived from two

sanskrit words

manus the mind and a tool

so the word mantra is literally

a tool for the mind

some of us might be aware of mantras

as a word or other words in another

language

said in meditation or yoga om

is a popular mantra used in meditation

and namaste is how you would end a yoga

session

affirmations are also mantras

i used to write my affirmations on a

piece of paper stick it on my um

my mirror and then look at it and say

the words every morning before i went

off to work

some of the affirmations that i used to

say was

i am loved i am beautiful

and i am a money magnet

it works it really does you should try

it

in the sport of triathlon i created a a

mantra for my run

and it was fast light feet i found this

really helpful because what it did was

it gave me something to focus on in the

run but it also distracted me away from

the heavy legs that i was experiencing

after getting off the bike

now all of these mantras might sound

empowering in nature

however not all mantras are created

equal

i’d like to present to you that a mantra

is also a script that is repeated

either consciously or unconsciously

many times per day until it then becomes

your truth

the question is what is your truth

what are some of the mantras that you

are saying

here’s some of my old mantras i wonder

if any of these resonate with you

don’t upset the apple cart

don’t speak your truth ultimately you’re

going to hurt someone else’s feelings

i am not enough

people won’t accept me for who i truly

am

and what do i know

we can look at these mantras and think

that they are quite

of an undeserving nature and even maybe

even

negative in perspective however

maybe these mantras these truths

these scripts are actually trying to

tell us something different

maybe there’s a hidden meaning

there’s a phrase that i say or a mantra

you could call it

and it goes like this thoughts and

emotions are indicators of something of

a deeper nature

now i’ll say that again thoughts and

emotions

are indicators of something of a deeper

nature

i like to use the analogy of the fuel

light

indicator in your car so whenever the

light comes on you know you need

fuel so you find the petrol station you

pull over you go to the bowser you get

the nozzle out

and you put the nozzle into the fuel

tank you don’t get the nozzle and pour

it on the indicator light do you

because that would be silly it’s the

same thing with our thoughts and

emotions

maybe these undeserving thoughts

emotions mantras and truths

are actually trying to point us

to looking deeper into what they

represent

maybe they have value

this is where i’d like to introduce to

you the buddhist concepts of equanimity

and emptiness equanimity was described

as

an even-minded mental state or

dispositional tendency

toward all experience unpleasant

or neutral i like to look at this in

another way

i like to see it that equanimity means

everything has value

from an evolutionary psychology

perspective

we chase carrots and we avoid sticks

carrots a reward sticks the discomfort

our thoughts and emotions also fit into

this category

there’s some thoughts and emotions that

we try to get away from because they

cause us discomfort

but there’s other thoughts and emotions

we try to bring towards us because they

give us a reward if i want to lose

weight get stronger get fitter get

faster

i need to experience the discomfort of

the exercise regime i might have to

employ a coach

and i’m certainly going to feel a lot of

discomfort in changing the food and my

dietary requirements when i start to see

that this pain is actually part of

the achievement and the outcome that i’m

working to

i can then start to see my pain and

discomfort

as being purposeful i can start to see

it

in essence through the lens of

equanimity

equanimity allows us to see that both

the reward and the discomfort

are part of the same experience

now emptiness is very similar to

equanimity

emptiness suggests that everything is

empty of essence

other than the essence that we place

upon it

so what this is saying is that i

am the one who gives things meaning i

am the one who has the relationship with

something

a way that i like to explain that is

through the mighty pen

i’ve got this beautiful pen it’s a

parker pen i’ve got a wonderful

loving relationship with this pen

my dad used to write with the parker pen

so whenever i think

about using this pen i think of my

father

i absolutely love this pen i love it so

much

that i’d like to gift it to somebody in

the audience so as i walk over and i

give it to the person

i trip and i fall the pen takes my eye

out there’s blood

everywhere i know it’s dramatic but stay

with me okay

i get carried off to the hospital you

don’t see me i don’t get to finish the

speech i’m sorry

but i am here it’s only a story

for the next couple of days i then spend

in hospital recovering

having eye surgery recovering and then i

go home

and what i notice when i go home is that

things have changed

for me i don’t want to go out in public

anymore i’m feeling quite anxious and

social

occasions i certainly couldn’t get up on

the stage again and speak

in the way that i am now i then start to

feel depressed my life has changed

this pen it’s taken away everything that

i’ve loved in life

my livelihood my purpose my meaning now

i hate this pen

bloody pen the question i put to you has

the pen

changed or

is it my relationship that has changed

one thing to be mindful of here is that

what is the relationship that i have

with

people with objects with experiences

that are placed upon my path each and

every day

am i falling prey to the default

mechanisms of the mind which judges

things is either

good or bad or right or wrong or

can i start to use the lens of

equanimity to these

then start to see that everything has

essence well everything has value i

should say and what is the essence that

i then place upon it

i’d like to share with you a story about

how i found

both equanimity and emptiness

with emotions particular emotions

of sadness of grief of loss

i found this in the passing of my father

my father passed in 2015. he died of

emphysema as he was a smoker for most of

his life

this man i loved deeply and

compassionately

he carried both light and dark qualities

within him

but i had a beautiful connection to him

about six months ago i started to notice

that

this sorrow was starting to arise within

me

now naturally because it was

uncomfortable i wanted to get away from

it so let’s just push it away maurice

let’s distract myself with something

else but then what i found

was the the more i tried to push it away

the more intense it became and it

continued to

arise within me and show up so then one

day i thought

you know i’m going to sit with this i’m

going to move closer to it

i’m going to feel into this emotion of

sorrow

now as i sat with it i then started to

notice that it was accompanied by

other emotions there was sadness there

was grief there was loss

there was guilt and there was anger but

you know what

i found something else i found a deep

compassionate love as well

the reason that i had sorrow was because

i loved my father

as i started to move towards the love

and experience the love i then started

to notice

that the sorrow was dissipating moving

away

even dissolving and then i got to that

point where

my sorrow was gone and i was only

experiencing the love for my father

now you might think to yourself that’s a

really great thing maurice good on you

it’s a beautiful story however this was

not my experience

i started to miss my sorrow

i started to yearn for it

because what had happened was now i had

changed my relationship with my sorrow

because my

sorrow introduced me to

the love both

the sorrow and the love were part of the

same experience so i can thank my sorrow

and i can also thank my love for my

father

that example holds both

value in everything as well as changing

the relationship

it’s the essence that i place upon these

emotions

so rather than trying to push them away

or pull them towards me

i can allow myself to experience the

full range of emotions

i’d like to share again with you my

mantra

i found this mantra whilst i was in

meditation

and this mantra also carries the essence

of equanimity and

emptiness i wonder what life will place

upon my path today

that will bring me to a greater

awareness of self

and other selves let’s explore these

words

because there is a profundity within

this mantra

i wonder what life will place upon my

path today

imagine waking up every morning in a

state of wonder

wanting to engage in the world a sense

of intrigue curiosity

excitement looking forward to what the

day will bring

what life will place upon my path life

that thing that is greater than

all of us that thing that

sits upon the precipice of the known and

the unknown

some people call it the universe some

might call it god

prana chi maybe even the unified field

or even consciousness

that thing that is living you

with every breath that you are given

to place something upon one’s path

that word placement sort of suggests

that there is maybe an intent

maybe a purpose maybe a meaning there’s

a thoughtfulness a consideration

of placing something upon your path that

maybe has value to you as well

now your path your own individual path

just as the snowflake has its own

individual blueprint so do you have your

own individual

footprint upon this earth within this

life each and every one of you tonight

are having your

own experience through the words that

are being shared by myself

and others some of these words will be a

catalyst of suffering for you

but also some of them will be a catalyst

of growth and awakening

this is your own unique journey your own

unique path to bring me to a greater

awareness of self and other selves

this is where the opportunity is the

gift

that anything that is placed upon your

path has great value

no matter what medium it comes about

self and other cells this is the uniting

component of this mantra

this allows me to recognize

the light and the divinity that exists

within me and acknowledges the light and

the divinity that exists within you

that when i love my brother my sister i

then love myself

however when i judge

and separate and hate my brother and

sister

i also do that to myself

this mantra has been very powerful

powerful for me

in my life it allows me to move through

my days with ease and grace

it allows me to be in a perpetual state

of growth

and understanding and looking at the

deeper nature

within my life when things

come out of the blue when things don’t

go to plan when things happen that i

don’t expect

i draw upon this mantra

and i listen to the words within it and

it

connects me to life it connects me to

other cells and it creates a greater

union

upon every path that i stake

mantras can be very powerful in both

positive and

negative ways equanimity suggests

that everything has value

emptiness suggests that we are the ones

who place meaning upon the things the

people the situation the experiences

within our life

imagine if you could place the meaning

of value

upon everything that happens to you

within your days

that would be a powerful space

i encourage you to invite equanimity and

emptiness into your days

i encourage you to allow life to live

you

as you live life i encourage

you to live the fullness of life in

recognizing the fullness that you

are i encourage you

to say these words of this mantra

with me in this moment

ladies and gentlemen i give you

our mantra i wonder

what life will place upon my path today

that will bring me to a great awareness

of

self and other selves