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