It’s in the recent news that some Mexicans had turned to methanol as COVID-19 had brought about a shortage in alcohol beverage provision which led to some deaths due to consumption of the adulterated alcohol.
For many people in the modern society, life revolves around work, money, family and…. alcoholic beverage. The things that makes people happy are having people (friends and family members) around to socialise, to love, money which can buy whatever we want, and of course, many turn to beer, which can trigger different emotions in different people. Ultimately, as human beings, we seek to feel good (confident, stress-free, loved, good spirits). However, alcohol’s effect on humans, whether it is to elevate our mood, to reduce stress or to gain confidence, are momentary and comes with a side-effect on our health.
The other thing humans turn to is shopping, that is, using our hard-earned money to buy ourselves things to pamper our mind. Whatever our mind tells us is useful, is good for us, is a necessity, we buy. But why is there a saying that “money can’t buy happiness”? Is there a logic for that well-known phrase? Well, there is a saying in economics that wants are never satiable. After all, if money can truly buy happiness, what about the children whom we see are always as happy as they are, content with being able to play with a pebble, observe an insect crawling or being able to draw, dance or play.
Many of us must have heard about the story of Buddha, also known as Siddharta Gautama. He was a prince, who left his much-sought-after life in his palace to seek a realm beyond sufferings and sorrow. I believe in everyone of us, there must be a desire like Buddha. However, as we are thrown into the sea of modern society, our focus on swimming to stay alive in the society gradually led us to lose touch with that little seed of desire within us.
As we go through different phases of life, let us never forget the seeking, as within us we never did, we took to drinking to seek elevation of our moods, to be stress-free and to be confident. What if, we could actually achieve all these without the side-effects of alcohol, i.e. the negative impact on our health and have longer-lasting effects?
All we need is to desire, desire to be in that realm that is free from the sorrows of life, that is stress-free, that is so fairy-tale like.
Let’s place our right hand on our heart and feel our heartbeat. What is it that our spirit desire? Let me feel the love and joy of my spirit. Close our eyes and feel the silence in our heart for 1-2 mins.
Secondly, let’s place our right hand on our forehead. Our minds are full of clutter. Let us declutter our minds by forgiving everyone and everything. We can say innately, “I forgive everyone, including myself.” With our eyes closed, enjoy the state of forgiveness for 1-2 mins.
Lastly, let us place our right hand on top of our head, with a little pressure and rotating in a clockwise manner, let us desire, like Buddha, to establish our connection, to enter to the realm of emptiness or thoughtlessness. Let us close our eyes and enjoy this state for 1-2 mins.
If you have felt the silence within and enjoy that realm, do visit our meditation resources link for more info! Hope you’ve enjoyed the silence!
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