Tomorrow Will Take Care of Itself

Interviewer:
"You've said in one of your most popular books Living Buddha Living Christ. What do you see the similarities between Buddha and Christ?"

Peace Activist:
"Jesus Christ is a Buddha of the West. And his teachings are also about understanding and compassion. In the Gospel there is also the teaching of living happily in the present moment."

Interviewer:
"Yes."

Peace Activist:
"In the Gospel according to Matthew, he said that... 'Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself.' It's very clear. And 'Give us the bread of today'. "

"We care about today. We live today. And if we know how to handle the present moment, we don't have to worry much about the future. If the present moment has peace and joy and happiness, and then the future will have also. "

What's Your Love Language?

I recently discovered a really cool quiz on a website called The 5 Love Languages by American relationship counsellor and author Gary Chapman. The concept of the 5 Love Languages is to help people speak and understand emotional love when expressed through one of these forms.

The 5 love languages are:

Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, Physical Touch

Upon completion of the quiz, participants will receive a score sheet telling them which of the following 5 love languages are most essential to their character and how they perceive love. I hope that by sharing this information, it will help others be more aware of themselves along with their capacity for love towards others. Try it out, it's fun.

A Little Something About Being Angry With God

Part of the journey that comes with growing up is understanding how the relationship between heaven and Earth works. As someone who was raised to believe in a higher power, I found myself resenting the heavens when things don't play out in a way that would give me the closure I seek.

Yesterday, I watched something life-changing about being angry with God that completely altered the way I will ever again live my life. The scene shows a life coach trying to help a widow deal with her overwhelming anger with God because she lost her husband to cancer.

Life Coach:

"Who are you angry with now?"

Widow: [silent]

"..."

Life Coach:

"Tell the truth."

Widow:

"God."

Life Coach:

"Absolutely..." 

"Powerful awareness?"

Widow:

"Yes."

Life Coach:

"Powerful courageous acknowledgement?"

Widow:

"Yes."

Life Coach:

"Many of us are angry with God." 

"And we think because we don't say it, God doesn't know it."

Widow:

"I know he knows."

Life Coach:

"You know, God knows you're angry and he really is just waiting for you to admit it to yourself. And you're angry with God because...?"

Widow:

"I thought He was going to let him live."

Life Coach:

"He is living! Just not the way you thought it would be..."

Widow:

"Okay, keep him here with me."

Life Coach:

"So you're angry with God because God didn't do what you wanted God to do."

Widow:

"Yes."

Life Coach: [turns to the crowded workshop audience]

"Is she alone? Raise your hand! Let me see your hand! I am angry with God because God didn't do it the way I wanted it to be done."

[Hands raised]

Life Coach: [back to the widow]
"And how were you trying to communicate to God what it is you wanted God to do?"

Widow: [tears up]

"Daily prayer."

Life Coach:

"Prayer..." 

"Now you know prayer is not your bargaining chip with God. You see a lot of us go off like that." 

"Prayer is the way we align our mind with divine mind. Prayer is the way that we commune with the God within and align that with divine mind." 

"But we started using spiritual tools to do human things."

Widow:

"Yes."

Life Coach:

"And then when we don't get what we want, we get pissed off with God. Yeah."

"Where did you make up... in your mind that God was supposed to do God the way you want God to do God?" 

"Where did you get that from?"

Widow:

"In my mind, if I did everything that I thought I was supposed to do, which is from prayer to staying at his side, never leaving..."

Life Coach:

"You made up a story about what you were supposed to do and then held God hostage to that. You get that? Is it working for you?"

Widow: [tears and smiles]

"No."

Life Coach:

"Okay. Are you willing to try something else?"

Widow:

"Yes."

Life Coach:

"So here's what I wanna offer you my beloved. You have made this about your husband. Your love for him. You love him he loved you... So here's what I wanna offer you."

Widow:

"Okay."

Life Coach:
"You said that... you loved your husband for the last 8 years of his life and you know that God sent you to love him, chose you to love him and take him out! Is that accurate?"

"I wanna offer you... Suppose God sent your husband to you, to show you the depth of love you are capable of. Suppose this ain't about what you did for your husband, but what about what your Husband did for you."

"Because your husband didn't bring in the love, the love was already there! What your husband did was give you an opportunity to experience and express the depth of love you are capable of. And you keep making it about outside, when what I wanna offer you is all going on on the inside."

Does Love Fade After Some Time?

A few months back, I remember having a chat with the elder Irishman who told me he has been in a couple of relationships. The most recent one of ten years, ended about a year ago because they both grew apart.

Me:
How did the two of you grew apart? So does love die or fade, eventually?

He:
You have to nourish. Love like it is a flower. Over watering and under watering can kill it. So you need balance. We lost both of this, and I guess the balance could not be restored.

Me:
But you know that feeling when people 'fall out of love'... I know it happens, but I have trouble believing in 'how' it can happen. Like you said, when 2 people say they love each other, they love each other.

And also, how could you still limit yourself now to still being a hopeless romantic when you personally have experienced that love doesn't last forever and that people fall out. Just like your last relationship.

He:
Because the human mind is strange. You can listen to a song for many many times and love it. One day you may listen to it and it does not touch you any more. Bit like love. But after you grieve from past love, you start to feel there is another love out there.

I have no experience in love. Neither do I have the confidence that I will get to experience it any time soon. To be honest, I feel so weird discussing about love in the shoes of somebody who has never before had the capacity and luck to be in a relationship. I hope it won't be too long from now.

God Doesn't Give You the People You Want

"God doesn't give you the people you want, he gives you the people you need. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you the person you were meant to be." - Unknown