Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye. I was at a friend's house the other day and she had one of those mirrors in the bathroom, that if you flip over then everything is 10-times magnified and nothing looks good that close-up.
I think the world is very much the same way: if we focus on the wars and the violence that are going on in the world, sometimes in our own homes, then it's going to feel like we're absolutely doomed as a species; it's very discouraging. But if we Zoom Out, if only for a few minutes each day, then everything seems strangely balanced when we look at the big picture, doesn't it? For every child that dies another is born, and each time a heart gets broken, another couple is falling in love.
It's like this natural ebb and flow of the universe, just like waves in the ocean. But if we don't learn to float, then it's going to feel like we're drowning. And that's where Buddhism is of most comfort to me: the waves are inevitable, the drowning is optional. As I always say: you cannot calm the storm, so stop trying... but what you CAN do is calm yourself, the storm will pass. All this turmoil inside of us is rooted in thoughts that things or people "should be"
other than how they are. But if we learn to accept that we are all mangoes on the same tree, but we do not all ripen at the same time, then other people shouldn't be anywhere other than where they are. So, the only problem is our thoughts that someone or something "should be" other than what it is. So, we can either let go of our need for things to be different, or we can get dragged by the anguish that such stubborn thinking is surely going to
cause. The choice is ours. As Carlos Castaneda said, "You can make yourself happy," "or you can make yourself miserable, the amount of work is the same." This is why I practice Zooming Out, which isn't the same as sticking our head in the dirt. I'm not suggesting we pretend that none of this calamity is happening in the world.
On the contrary, I'm actually suggesting that we also look at everything else that is happening simultaneously, which is only possible to do if we broaden our minds, our vision, our hearts, and perspective, to include ALL beings. I, personally, have tremendous faith and trust in the Universe, or in God, if you're okay with that, and I believe that everything is actually perfectly balanced.
I can't possibly see or pretend to understand the multiple dimensions of our existence, so I trust and have faith instead of fear, and that seems to work just fine for me. But every once in a while, when I do experience a bad moment, I just sit quietly with my eyes closed, and picture myself like a buoy in the ocean: aware of the turbulence, yet never so deeply disturbed by the waves around me. I Zoom Out and I look at the big picture; it is a beautiful world we live in.
This practice of Zooming Out is also really helpful in our personal lives: we tend to be urgently rushing towards a goal or a dream or an ever-elusive finish line of some sort. Under the pretense of pursuing happiness and the heavy weight of questions like, Where do you see yourself five years from now? We imagine a different version of ourselves existing in a distant future somewhere, often richer, calmer, stable, and wise. As a result, we spend very little time appreciating where we are today.
I think that by being so focused on how things "could be," we are under-appreciating how great things already are. Unfortunately, this mindset affects how we approach almost everything else in life: instead of being grateful for what we already have, we exhaust ourselves with cravings
and longings for what we haven't yet achieved. And rather than seeing the beauty and the blessing of the friendships and relationships in our lives, and how fortunate we are to have them in the first place, we regard them as inferior to the imaginary versions we've created of them in our minds. If we give ourselves very little credit for how far we've already come, we tend to give others little to no credit for their own efforts in life.
When we're impatient with ourselves, how can we possibly be forgiving of others? And as long as we continue judging ourselves when we look in the mirror, we'll be doing the same to everyone around us. Wouldn't it be great to stop, if only for a minute on a regular basis, and reflect on how wonderful everything is? Pause for a moment and honor the progress you've already made in your life. Acknowledge the gifts you DO have, and appreciate life itself for a few breaths.
That is actually the intention behind these podcast episodes: I hope they serve as an anchor for you during a stressful time in your day, an opportunity for you to close your eyes for a few minutes and be reminded of the blessings in your life. The feedback I've gotten so far on these podcast episodes, is to keep making them short and keep producing them because they really help. Thank you for being a part of this journey with me.
Take a step back and notice how the small details we fret about seem to disappear when we Zoom Out and look at the big picture. Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless and Buddhist Boot Camp. For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com where you can order an autographed books to support the Prison Library Project, watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.
We hope you have enjoyed this episode, and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions. Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏