Buddha’s teachings are universal, regardless of what religion you practise or what culture you were born into. His lectures have the power to wake people up to reality and make them reflect on their own lives. The teachings of Lord Buddha have not only provided a greater understanding of one’s own life but have also helped to liberate one from daily mental problems.
Here are some of Buddha’s teachings that will help you gain a fresh perspective on serenity, happiness, and how to break free from life’s shackles.
1. It is not necessary to engage the mind
It is our fascination and concentration with thoughts, rather than the thoughts themselves, that causes us pain. We spent our time nibbling on them, indulging in them, sulking in them, and generally devoting an excessive amount of time and attention to them.
We don’t have to do anything. The less you engage with your mind’s activities, the more tranquilly you will find. Allow your mind to do its thing while you relax. It is not required of you to participate.
2. Stand back and observe your thoughts
We must establish some distance, some breathing space, between ourselves and our thoughts to separate ourselves from our thoughts.
The majority of our robbing-us-of-peace thinking processes operate on autopilot. Day in and day out, the same old patterns repeat themselves like broken records. And it’s so automatic that we don’t even realise we’re doing it.
The aim is to make these unconscious tendencies more visible. When learning to meditate, the first step is to take a step back and observe the mind objectively—with an open mind and a willingness to accept whatever comes up.
3. Immerse yourself more in the present moment
One of the most important lessons learned during meditation is that your awareness can only be in one place at a time. You can’t be aware of your surroundings and think at the same time if you’re lost in your thoughts.
Similarly, when you focus your attention on the current moment, thinking comes to a halt.
When you are fully present in the moment, your mind naturally goes silent.
Stop and engage your senses whenever you become aware of yourself sliding into habitual thought patterns.
4. Understand the distinction between generating thoughts and thinking
Although you have no control over the thoughts that pop into your head, thinking is a different storey. For most people, useless thinking is the primary source of suffering—and whether we choose to engage in it or not is totally up to us.
Rehashing the past, predicting the future, and wallowing in erroneous beliefs and assumptions are just a few of the patterns that can lead to a lot of avoidable suffering. It’s also completely avoidable.
Pause when you realise you’ve become engrossed in a mind-movie that’s not constructive. If you don’t want to continue, there’s nothing that can force you to.
5. Accept the fact that your mind is occupied
Did you know that the average person’s mind generates over 70,000 thoughts per day? That’s a lot of ideas.
It’s no surprise that it’s so crowded in there! Even the most laid-back individuals have a lot of information flowing through their heads.
So don’t be surprised if your thoughts are racing. Don’t add to your misery by believing there’s anything wrong with you because you have a lot of thoughts. There isn’t any. It’s like expecting the grass not to be green if you don’t expect your thoughts to be occupied. Allow it to be occupied.
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Also Read: Ways of Buddha that will help one in finding peace
