Unlock Your Inner Growth with the Right Zen Picture
Relax and breathe deeply, connect with your essence, ask yourself a question, and choose the picture that appeals the most to you. It will bring an exciting message to you.
Then, meditate on the message. It will allow for inner growth and make you reach spiritual peace.
Which one do you choose?
1. DEVOTION: THE DANCE OF MEERA IN THE TEMPLE
Devotion is a way of mixing and merging with existence. It's not a pilgrimage but simply losing all the limits that separate you from reality: it is a love story. To love is to mix with an individual, the deep intimacy of two hearts, so deep that the two hearts begin to dance in the same harmony. Although hearts are two, harmony is one; music is one, and dance is one.
The love between individuals is the devotion between an individual and the totality of existence. The individual dances in the waves of the ocean, dances on the trees that dance in the sun, and dances with the stars. His heart responds to the fragrance of the flowers, the birds' songs, and the night's silences.
Devotion is the death of the personality. You voluntarily abandon what is mortal in you; only the immortal remains, only the eternal remains, what death doesn't know. And naturally, something that doesn't die always goes on and knows no beginning or end can not be separated from existence. Devotion is the highest form of love.
ZEN ADVICE: With faith, discipline, and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve.
2. AUTHENTICITY: MILAREPA AND THE FALSE TEACHER
The real is not the path. The real thing is the authenticity of the search for excellence. This is something we want to highlight. You can take any direction. If you are sincere and authentic, you will reach the goal. Some roads may be easier and others more complex; some will have green meadows on both sides, and others will advance between deserts; incredible landscapes will surround some, and others won't pass through any terrain, but that is not important. What matters is if you are sincere and honest, authentic and trustworthy, each path will take you to the goal.
Therefore, everything can be reduced to a single thing: the way to live and love is authenticity. Whatever path you follow, if you are authentic, any direction will lead you to the goal. And the opposite is also true: whatever way you follow if you are not authentic, you won't get anywhere. Only authenticity will take you back home, nothing more. Everything else is secondary. The essential thing in life is to be authentic and true; only then can you say you have lived life fully and truthfully.
ZEN ADVICE: Don't let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It's your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don't let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others' prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being.
3. MEDITATION: HAKUIN AND THE LITTLE BOY
The ordinary man often places too much value on the opinions of others, believing that he has nothing original to offer. He has been told that he is "precious" by one person and "intelligent" by another, and he has been collecting these phrases like precious gems. As a result, he constantly fears losing his reputation and respectability, always concerned about what others will say or think of him. He has no idea of his being, as he relies solely on the opinions of others to define himself. However, this is different for the man who meditates. He is self-aware and knows himself intimately. He does not need the validation of others, and therefore their opinions hold little weight. He can laugh it off even if someone says something against his experience. He does not feel the need to change the opinion of others, for they are merely attempting to label him without genuinely knowing themselves. In short, the man who meditates is secure in his own being and not beholden to the opinions of others.
ZEN ADVICE: Reject labels and say: "I am what I am, and that is how I am going to be. Nothing else matters, and I'm going to leave my life my way. Nothing you say matters to me because you are invisible to me.