#43.33 clues revealing awakening / enlightment.12MAY15

This list is not in any specific order & probably not exhaustive.

1. To have the ability to keep body and mind together at the present moment preventing the mind to  wander too much in the future or in the past that are only virtual components of time.
2. To have a good sense of humor with frequent attacks of smiling if not laughing.
3. To have the ability to contemplate things, thoughts and emotions without an analytic, discriminative and judgmental mind.
4. To be conscious that everything is transient including self.
5. To be aware that graveyards are full of indispensable people.
6. To see things as they are reflecting them like a mirror and not as we want them to be.
7. To have an unmistakable ability to live in the present moment that is the only reality of time.
8. To plan for the future is OK understanding that 1) the future is a human invention and that it is totally unpredictable, 2) we do not control life.
9. To realize that our wonderful mind is also our most powerful deceiver from its ego component.
10. To understand that ongoing and everlasting happiness comes only from inside self and not from outside
11. To be aware that desire, anger and illusions are our main causes of unhappiness, dissatisfaction and worries.
12. To focus on 1) what we are doing, 2) our 5 senses, 3) our thoughts, 4) our emotions moment to moment.
13. To keep an open mind in order to learn and progress spiritually.
14. To have the ability to empty our ego centered mind from our preconceived ideas, opinions and judgments.
15. To have an aversion for conflict.
16. To have a revulsion for judging when no decision / action is needed.
17. To recognize that everything is interconnected to and dependent of each other.
18. To accept that no living being has a permanent, unique, independent separate self-entity.
19. To be conscious that aging, disease and death are unavoidable.
20. To accept that “life” is what it is and does not care too much about each of us.
21. To be cautious that words can trap our mind.
22. To enjoy silence and its surrounding noises.
23. To be aware when our body is “now” and our mind elsewhere. This slip personality may cause anxiety and stress at the subconscious level.
24. To have a strong attraction to help others including understanding, compassion, generosity and forgiveness.
25. To differentiate contemplation from passivity.
26. To observe, contemplate and meditate on our emotions without being judgmental and emotional.
27. To recognize that almost nothing can be under our control.
28. To have the ability to see our ego as the main source of our dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
29. To maintain an ethical behavior with others, our environment and self.
30. To respect life, our own body & mind and our environment.
31. To have the strong feeling that we are all interconnected and blended with Nature without boundaries.
32. To realize that there is nothing in us that is not part of the Universe.
33. To realize that awakening is simply to be aware of what our body & mind are doing at the present moment nothing more.
34. To enjoy the practice of meditation (solo and in group) in order to control the ego mind and achieve all of the above.

Thanks.

Ven. Ji Gong Sunim. May 12^th 2015