A couple of months ago, I had the honor of sitting in on a lecture by his holyness, the Dalai Lama. His amazing joyfulness made my mind wonder about the origin of his path.
Regardless of one’s particular religion (or lack, thereof), one cannot help but be impressed with the life of Buddha. An actual prince who, after seeing the sickness and dying of his people, couldn’t help but take notice and feel it his duty to try to help.
According to various historical documents, he decided that the only way to do this was to achieve enlightenment and pass on his enlightenment to others. He also determined that in order to do this, he would first have to give up all his worldly possessions and live “without.”
Perhaps it wasn’t that difficult to defy his parents, leave his palace and live in a state of fasting and doing without. I can’t say – I’ve never walked in his shoes; however, I can’t say this would be my first choice.
Come on, give up the good life? There’s a reason the lottery is so successful. We are (most of us) looking to better our lives and most think that involves money.
Not to mention the fact that early in 500 BC, health care was likely, at best, little more than guesswork.
So this man chose to deny himself the comforts of palace living. All research points to the fact that he wasn’t concerned about his own health rather that he wanted to ease the suffering of those around him.
Now, anyone who has rubbed the belly on a statue of Buddha knows that he did eventually reach enlightenment and through that enlightenment knows he did eventually pick up a fork (although given his home was in modern day Nepal, he likely picked up chopsticks) and eat something.
Although we of course can’t really say for sure if the Buddha belly was a factual picture or just represents a spiritual abundance, modern day nutritionists would likely look at his statue and recognize that he was just a tad on the overweight side and would not recommend this as a healthy weight. But they can’t deny the smile on his face.
Even when surrounded by the “common man,” no evidence supports his being a sickly sort. Of course, one might argue that this was the reward of enlightenment, but I think the power of positive thinking is the real source.
Buddha lived without anger, without hate, and didn’t seem the type to hold grudges. How many of us can say the same? It doesn’t have to be a big life tragedy to get one down. Sometimes it’s dwelling on the small stuff so much that we are consumed with negativity.
There are too many studies which have shown that a positive outlook can greatly improve or maintain one’s health. Likewise, negativity, depression and the like can just as easily destroy one’s health.
I agree but I also believe that one sometimes needs a starting point in order to focus. If weight loss and/or high blood pressure are your ailments, I recommend my Weight Loss Breeze program or my High Blood Pressure program. If it’s stress that’s led to headaches you should try my Migraine and Headache program. They are all natural and guaranteed to show amazing results!
EL331002
