Through the eye of the storm, or around it?

Go around or go through? {Click to see larger view}

I made this today, whilst thinking about all the people in my life who have suffered and who are suffering great challenges. Be it cancer, death, abuse and the myriad of other spirit crushing challenges that land on top of us like a giant tornado crushing our home.

It is easy to say, but much harder to do. Great strength and courage must be summoned to walk through the eye of the storm. The people that end up walking through it often come out the other side, stronger, prouder, more determined.

Sadly,  not everyone is able to make it through, and for those that don't we live in hope that the net of community and friendship can catch them.

nam myoho renge kyo

Robbie

Letters to a Nichiren Buddhist.

"Great spirit crushing obstacles, they are inevitable. How we choose to move through or around them, that is our challenge, that is what defines us. "

THINK YOUR SELF SUCESSFUL -> FAITH + PASSION + DESIRE + FOCUS + DREAMS = RESULT

Life is a race to win. :) Lets win together! 

“If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world we find
Success being with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are:
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.”

― Walter D. Wintle

Live in Joy.

We all know what it’s like to get trapped in dark, constricting states of mind—and how useless it is, in terms of awakening, to dwell there. That is exactly what the Buddha taught: we don’t need to stay stuck in greed, hatred, and delusion. Life can be lighter, more workable, even when it’s challenging. This lightening up, which I see as an aspect of joy, is the fruit of insight into anatta, the selfless nature of reality, and anicca, the truth of impermanence. When we are not attached to who we think we are, life can move through us, playing us like an instrument. Understanding how everything is in continual transformation, we release our futile attempts to control circumstances. When we live in this easy connection with life, we live in joy.

Uproot the Core Problems

In the Buddhist path we are bringing together our actions, our view, and our practice. It is a balance of awareness, insight, and action, working harmoniously together. In that way our energy is no longer divided or scattered, but we are fully present in whatever we do. That is what it means to be a genuine human being.

In Buddhism, the point is not simply to be accomplished meditators but to change our whole approach to life. Meditation is not merely a useful technique or mental gymnastic, but part of a balanced system designed to change they way we go about things at the most fundamental level. In this context, it is a way of exposing and uprooting the core problems of grasping and ego-clinging that separate us from one another and cause endless pain.

-Judy Lief, "Is Meditation Enough?" (Spring 1997)