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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Haemin Sunim
Read between
December 26, 2023 - January 6, 2024
When everything around me is moving so fast, I stop and ask, “Is it the world that’s busy, or is it my mind?”
According to the Buddha’s teaching, however, the boundary between the mind and the world is actually thin, porous, and ultimately illusory. It is not that the world is objectively joyful or sad and produces a corresponding feeling in us. Rather, feelings originate with the mind projecting its subjective experience onto the world. The world isn’t inherently joyful or sad; it just is.
When we look at the outside world, we are looking at only a small part that interests us. The world we see is not the entire universe but a limited one that the mind cares about. However, to our minds, that small world is the entire universe. Our reality is not the infinitely stretching cosmos but the small part we choose to focus on. Reality exists because our minds exist. Without the mind, there would be no universe.”
The world depends on our minds in order to exist, just as our minds depend on the world as the subject of our awareness. Put differently, our mind’s awareness can be said to bring the world into being. What our mind focuses on becomes our world. Seen this way, the mind does not seem so insignificant in relation to the world out there, does it?
Given that the world we see through our mind’s eye is limited, if we can train our mind and choose wisely where to focus, then we will be able to experience the world corresponding to the state of our mind.
When your mind is joyful and compassionate, the world is, too. When your mind is filled with negative thoughts, the world appears negative, too. When you feel overwhelmed and busy, remember that you are not powerless. When your mind rests, the world also rests.
When you have an unpleasant feeling, don’t grab hold of it and turn it over and over. Instead, leave it alone so it can flow. The wave of emotion will naturally recede on its own as long as you don’t feed it by dwelling on it.
If we know how to be content, we can relax our endless striving and welcome serenity. If we know how to be content, we can enjoy the time we have with the person next to us. If we know how to be content, we can make peace with our past and let go of our baggage.
With love in our hearts, we find even the most mundane things sacred and beautiful.
The wise do not fight the world. In the most relaxed and playful manner, they simply embody the truth that they are one with it.
On a piece of paper, write down everything that stresses you out. List everything you ought to do, including minor things— watering plants, replying to e-mails. The stresses are now contained on a piece of paper, away from your mind. So, relax tonight.
Life teaches us through our mistakes. When you make a mistake, simply ask yourself what you were meant to learn from it. When we accept such lessons with humility and gratitude, we grow that much more.
Before your children are all grown, travel as frequently as you can as a family. Although we see our family every day, we don’t really get to be with one another. A change in environment can do wonders and can bring families closer. A good family trip can prevent divorce.
It is difficult to quickly control a strong negative emotion; the more we try to control it, the more it becomes agitated and resurfaces. Even if we control it, we may end up merely suppressing it, only for it to reemerge later.
pure attention without judgment is not only the highest form of human intelligence, but also the expression of love. Observe the changing energy both attentively and lovingly as it unfolds in the space of your mind.
When people who don’t know you well admire you, they are seeing their projected illusion, not your real self. In contrast, when people who know you well respect you, it is probably because you deserve it.
If I had to summarize the entirety of most people’s lives in a few words, it would be endless resistance to what is. As we resist, we are in constant motion trying to adjust, and yet we still remain unhappy about what is. If I had to summarize the entirety of an enlightened person’s life in a few words, it would be complete acceptance of what is. As we accept what is, our minds are relaxed and composed while the world changes rapidly around us.
If you are sincere about reaching enlightenment, you can learn even from a child, or from the person who insults you on the street. The entire world becomes your teacher.
The person leading you toward spiritual awakening is not the one who praises you or is nice to you. Your spirituality deepens because of those who insult you and give you a hard time. They are your spiritual teachers in disguise.
Remember that you are neither your feelings nor the story your mind tells about you to make sense of them. You are the vast silence that knows of their emergence and their disappearance.
When the mind looks outward, it is swayed by the heavy winds of the world. But when the mind faces inward, we can find our center and rest in stillness.
There is no listener. There is only listening. “When I gaze upon water, I become water. When I look at a flower, I become the flower. The flower riding on the water, yippee!” —ZEN MASTER SEO-ONG (1912–2003)
No matter how effective the medicine may be, if you demand that someone take it, it can taste like poison.
A vow to help others can summon immense energy from within.
When you are making a decision, try to assess how many people it will benefit. If it satisfies only your ego and unnecessarily hurts many, then it is the wrong decision.
Isn’t it better to be happy together than to be right alone? Trying to convince someone to adopt our views is largely the work of our ego.
There are only those who know their shortcomings and those who do not. Nobody is perfect. Everyone has shortcomings.
Do you want to be happy, or do you want to appear happy? Never mind what the world tells you to do to be happy. Be truthful to yourself and discover what you really want. Choose happiness, not success, as your life’s goal. If you become successful but aren’t happy, then what is the point?
From this experience I realized that the art of maintaining a good relationship can be compared to sitting by a fireplace. If we sit too close for too long, we become hot and possibly burned. If we sit too far away, we cannot feel the warmth. Similarly, no matter how well we get along with someone, if we stick too close without building in some personal space, we soon feel trapped and burned out; it is easy to take the relationship for granted and feel resentful about not having enough privacy and independence. On the other hand, if we put in too little effort to stay in touch with friends and
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We should love people like the sun loves the earth. The sun loves the earth without choosing to. It nourishes trees and flowers, expecting nothing in return.
There are many more ordinary hours in life than extraordinary ones. We wait in line at the supermarket. We spend hours commuting to work. We water our plants and feed our pets. Happiness means finding a moment of joy in those ordinary hours.
Stop worrying about what others think and just do what your heart wishes. Do not crowd your mind with “what ifs.” Uncomplicate your life and own up to your desires. Only when you are happy can you help to make the world a happier place.
We can love our family and pray for their happiness. We can give advice and help when needed. But we can neither make decisions for them nor make them act the way we want them to. There are many things we cannot control in life. That includes those closest to us.
Do not be envious of those who are good at many things. First learn to be good at one. You will soon be able to do two or three.
Dream big but start small. A small adjustment can have a big effect on your life.
Knowledge wants to talk. Wisdom wants to listen.
One word of encouragement, said with kindness and hope, can change a person’s future,
the essence is forgotten, ritual takes over. When ritual dominates spiritual practice, our outward appearances become more important than our inner experience. For instance, if you meditate in the hope of enlightenment, how long and with whom you meditate is not as important as how your practice has changed your heart and your relationships.
We must cultivate all three intelligences for our overall health: critical intelligence, emotional intelligence, and spiritual intelligence. If one falls to the wayside, it slows the growth of the other two.
We don’t receive more love from God by asking for it. Rather, we awaken to the truth that God has always loved us unconditionally. We don’t turn into a buddha by striving for it. Rather, we awaken to the truth that we have been buddhas all along.
In the beginning, our prayer takes the shape of, “Please grant me this, please grant me that,” and then develops into, “Thank you for everything,” and then matures into, “I want to resemble you.” Eventually it transcends language, and we pray with our whole being in sacred silence. As my prayer deepens, I hear more of His voice than my words. As my humility grows, I feel more of His love overflowing in my heart. As my mind quiets down, I sense more of His presence in every moment.
Do not force yourself on a spiritual path. Let its teachings gently open your heart and lead you. Like salt gradually dissolving in water, let the teachings dissolve in your heart.
Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, it arises naturally as we slow down and notice what is already there.
As we notice more and more in the present moment, we come to a deeper realization that a silent observer is within us. In the primordial stillness, the silent observer witnesses everything inside and outside.
