More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Jay Shetty
Read between
January 17 - January 29, 2023
Mudita is the principle of taking sympathetic or unselfish joy in the good fortune of others.
Kṣamā is Sanskrit for forgiveness. It suggests that you bring patience and forbearance to your dealings with others.
The next step is something called transformational forgiveness. This is forgiveness in the mode of goodness. In transformational forgiveness, we find the strength and calmness to forgive without expecting an apology or anything else in return.
If you want the negativity between yourself and another person to dissipate, you have to hope that you both heal.
Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life. —Buddha
But by repeating a question rather than rephrasing it, we essentially corner our brain.
Recognizing our fear patterns helps us trace fear to the root. From there we can decipher whether there’s truly any cause for urgency, or whether our fear can actually lead us to recognize opportunities to live more in alignment with our values, passion, and purpose.
Admittedly, we do our best celebrating in hindsight. When we are actually experiencing challenges, it’s difficult to tell ourselves, “This could end up being a good thing!” But the more we practice looking in the rearview mirror and finding gratitude for the hard times we’ve experienced, the more we start to change our programming; the gap between suffering and gratitude gets smaller and smaller; and the intensity of our fear in the moments of hardship begins to diminish.
Fear motivates us. Sometimes it motivates us toward what we want, but sometimes, if we aren’t careful, it limits us with what we think will keep us safe.
When monks talk about happiness, they tell the story of the musk deer, a tale derived from a poem by Kabir, a fifteenth-century Indian mystic and poet. The musk deer picks up an irresistible scent in the forest and chases it, searching for the source,
not realizing that the scent comes from its own pores. It spends its whole life wandering fruitlessly. In the same way we search for happiness, finding it elusive, when it can be found within us.
Success doesn’t guarantee happiness, and happiness doesn’t require success. They
In Sanskrit the word for intention is sankalpa, and I think of it as the reason, formed by one’s own heart and mind, that one strives for a goal.
“Everything you do in the day from washing to eating breakfast, having meetings, driving to work… watching television or deciding instead to read… everything you do is your spiritual life. It is only a matter of how consciously you do these ordinary things…”
Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth When you inhale, feel your stomach expand (as opposed to your chest) When you exhale, feel your stomach contract Continue this in your own pace, at your own time When you inhale, feel that you are taking in positive, uplifting energy
When you exhale, feel that you are releasing any negative, toxic energy Lower your left ear to your left shoulder as you breathe in… and bring it back to the middle as you breathe out. Lower your right ear to your right shoulder as you breathe in… and bring it back to the middle as you breathe out. Really feel the breath, with no rush or force, in your own pace, at your own time
Breathe for energy and focus (kapalabhati) Do this after you’ve done the breathwork preparation above: Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4 Then exhale powerfully through your nose for less than a second (You will feel a sort of engine pumping in your lungs.) Breathe in again through your nose for a count of 4
When your natural talents and passions (your varna) connect with what the universe needs (seva) and become your purpose, you are living in your dharma.
If you think you’re too good for something, you succumb to the worst egotistical impulses, and you devalue anyone who does that chore.
No one varna is better than another. We all seek different types of work, fun, love, and service. There is no hierarchy or segregation.
Sat, Chit, Ananda. The word ‘Sat’ means being. ‘Chit’ means consciousness. ‘Ananda’ means bliss or rapture.
Dharma is passion in the service of others. Your passion is for you. Your purpose is for others. Your passion becomes a purpose when you use it to serve others. Your
When the five senses and the mind are stilled, when the reasoning intellect rests in silence, then begins the highest path. —the Katha Upanishad
Bhagavad Gita states, “For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.” The
The Gita defines detachment as doing the right thing for its own sake, because it needs to be done, without worrying about success or failure. That sounds simple enough, but think about what it takes to do the right
Monks don’t have an official stance on trauma, but the focus is always on healing the internal before dealing with the external. In your own pace, at your own time.
The Dalai Lama says, “Love is the absence of judgment.” Love is also patient. It’s kind. And apparently, love is all you need.
The vibrations from om have been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve, which decreases inflammation. Vagus nerve stimulation is also used as a treatment for depression, and researchers are looking at whether chanting om may have a direct effect on mood. (It’s already been shown to calm one of the brain’s emotional centers.)
