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 Vibrating With the Right Frequency
A man is known by the company he keeps. We have heard that phrase so many times. Our folks have cautioned us often with that in our childhood.
Do we need to heed that advice in our business?
Where do you hang out?
Who do you hang out with?
What is your business surrounded by?
Christiaan Huygens was a scientific genius of the early 17th century. He discovered a law of resonance, which was well accepted in physics later and is now being applied to brain science. The story goes that Huygens kept a few pendulum clocks on the wall of his room. Each clock swung independently. He discovered that after a few cycles of independent swinging, all the clocks started swinging precisely in a synchronized rhythm. He deduced that waves from clocks produced vibrations in the wall which in response produced waves that synchronized the rhythm of all the clocks.
Scientists are now studying if this same phenomenon occurs in human brain waves. Have you ever noticed that successful people are surrounded by similarly successful ones?
Is it mere coincidence that when like- minded people are at work, success is more likely? In applying this theory to your life, you can attract success by surrounding yourself with people who are successful or have faith that great things are possible.
Similarly, avoid the naysayers and complainers. They give out negative vibrations that could impact your own thoughts and behaviour. Your mind reacts to them like walls did to the clock and produces similar waves. Before you realize it, you would already have lost faith in your dream.
Your mind is the powerhouse of ideas which will make your business a success. Your mind is the source of your strength that enables you to carry the burden in difficult times. Feed your mind the good food. Avoid stuffing it with junk food. So reset your clocks. It's time to vibrate with the right frequency.
 When I was facing my darkest hour, a friend wrote to me that
"IT WILL PASS" And I share the same important message too..... all things are impermanent, both GOOD AND BAD, and because the 'bad' is also impermanent, we have hope... and it will pass. All things are impermanent, whatever happiness we have is transient, let us appreciate it while it is with us, let us not moan when it passes as it surely will,
similarly, WHATEVER PAIN AND UNHAPPINESS WILL ALSO PASS! It is precisely because all things are impermanent that we have hope, that we can become better, that we can purify ourselves. Let us Learn the Dhamma lessons from the experience of everyday life, the Dhamma is life and everyday life is the Dhamma... we only need to see it.
 For many of us hanging around meditation centres, Buddhist societies, "eminent" Monks, Teachers, or holding Bachelor's or Master's degrees in Buddhism or Philosophy, this sutta is a sobering lesson.......
This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "Even if a monk, taking hold of my outer cloak, were to follow right behind me, placing his feet in my footsteps,
yet if he were to be greedy for sensual pleasures,
strong in his passions,
malevolent in mind,
corrupt in his resolves,
his mindfulness muddled, unalert, uncentered, his mind scattered,
& his faculties uncontrolled,
then he would be far from me, and I from him. Why is that? Because he does not see the Dhamma. Not seeing the Dhamma, he does not see me. "But even if a monk were to live one hundred leagues away, yet if he were to have no greed for sensual objects, were not strong in his passions, not malevolent in mind, uncorrupt in his resolves, his mindfulness established, alert, centered, his mind at singleness, & his faculties well-restrained, then he would be near to me, and I to him.
Why is that? Because he sees the Dhamma. Seeing the Dhamma, he sees me." Though following right behind,
full of desire, vexation:
see how far he is! —
the perturbed
from the unperturbed,
the bound
from the Unbound,
the greedy one
from the one with no greed.
But the wise person who, through
direct knowledge of Dhamma,
gnosis of Dhamma,
grows still & unperturbed
like a lake unruffled by wind:
see how close he is! —
the unperturbed to the unperturbed,
the Unbound to the Unbound,
the greedless one
to the one with no greed.
 On life's journey Faith is nourishment,
Virtuous deeds are a shelter,
Wisdom is the light by day
and Right mindfulness is the protection by night.
If a man lives a pure life nothing can destroy him;
If he has conquered greed nothing can limit his freedom.
 Santisukharama Meditation Ctr at Kota Tinggi, Johor - a little green heaven on earth. Important gems taught by Ajahn Chakat:
1. Do not be attached to the external 'form' of meditation. Whether one is sitting full lotus or not or sitting on a chair or walking is Immaterial. The important point is LOOKING at the Mind. ALL else is secondary
2. The time spent in formal practise is of the least importance. What is IMPORTANT is whether we are LOOKING at our Minds in the times when we are NOT in formal practise. At all times whenever possible, LOOK at the Mind when we are working. walking, cooking, in bus, etc That is the important practise
3. Do NOT worry about Jhanas, just be constantly Mindful, that is IMPORTANT. The concentration will arise by itself.
4. Looking at the Breath is important but looking at the Mind is even more so.
5. Meditation can be done with or withOUT the eyes being closed. This is because we are not concerned with what is seen, but what is arising in the Mind as a result of what is seen!
6. From Sense contact will arise FEELINGs (Vedana), Perception (Sanna), Thought Formations (Sankhara) and the Knowing of the Object ie Consciousness (Vinana). When an object is in contact with the sense Base, the result is the Feeling which is NOTED, and the Perception associated with that object. Just KNOW / be Conscious of the Object without THINKING about it. Keep the Thought Formations MINIMAL, just have SATI- the knowing of the Feeling.. thats all. With Training the Perception of it Lessens, and the Thought Formations which results from it lessens. It becomes Just KNOWing of the arising of a Feeling, Just NOTE it .. without responding/prejudice/interpretation. Looking at the Mind enables us to see all of this and to train appropriately.
7. When fear arise, just NOTE the arising of the emotion and stop. When thoughts arise, just see the arising of the Thought and stop. Note and Know this arising and ceasing within the Mind.
8. It is Much more important to train the Mind than the Body; even at near death, we need to be Mindful, to see the Mind process.
9. Looking at the Mind is akin to looking straight into the Mind, the arising Thoughts are like shadows arising at the sides, we do not turn to look at these shadows but merely know that it had arisen, we know it and it fades away . The Knowing Mind is just Looking straight into the Mind unwaveringly, unaffected by the changing emotions and thoughts.
10. It is NOT so easy to see Ghosts and Devas, most times what we think we see is just the result of our Imagination. If the Mindfulness is strong, only Hearing is Noted or Seeing is Noted without interpreting whether it is a "Ghost" or a "Deva"!
11. Do not be attached to external forms; looking at the Vens, what do we see? Monks? It is so perceived because of the Robe that is worn. But it is NOT necessary that all are behaving like Monks just because of the Robes, it is just an image that we perceive. Similarly in meditation, it is NOT necessary that the one sitting unmovingly is in meditation..... it is INDEED the one who is constantly NOTING and KNOWING his Mind who is in Meditation, and this person need not be in full lotus position. This person is just intensely aware, and Mindful. So do not compare oneself with others, instead just train oneself.
12. The main purpose of the teacher is to help the yogi proceed when the yogi is stuck in all his concepts.
13. Whether a Yogi is experiencing Bliss or Depression in meditation, JUST note the emotion and let it go, proceeding from there. Do not be stuck in the emotion, just note it without being INVOLVED in it.
14. Bad kamma is like salt, we can dilute it in lots of water- Good Kamma. Do not live in the past, or keep hoping for the future BUT just Be in the Present moment Mindfully KNOWING the Mind.
15. Do not expect instant results, training oneself to constantly look at the Mind takes time, but we can do it everyday and everytime we have an opportunity. At work we should look at the Mind whenever there is the opportunity. This training in Mindfulness will in fact make one a better worker! The IMPORTANT point is to be ardent and train oneself to be ceaselessly Mindful.
16. Meditation is very simple, it is our wrong concepts which makes it very difficult. -- A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.
 "Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening within oneself or to oneself at any given moment of experience. One's mind is usually focussed outwards in the various projects and undertakings with which one is engaged. From time to time such awareness may arise momentarily, but it quickly gets lost because we don't see any special value or purpose in developing that quality of awareness. But according to the Buddha, that quality of awareness is the essential foundation or quality of mind that is needed for both concentration and wisdom. To develop that one-pointedness of mind, one must go on attending to a single object with mindfulness again and again. And to see them as they really are, one must examine them with mindfulness. Mindfulness is that essential mental quality by which we use the beam of awareness to illuminate and to understand our own experience; the bodily and mental experience. This mindfulness must build up momentum through continuous practice. When appropriate strength of mindfulness is developed, it is capable of uncovering the deepest secrets of existence." Mindfulness is what we need in everyday life, with this quality we will reflect for a moment before we act, and save ourselves from much unwise actions that we will regret later. It also gives us the "circuit-breaker" that stops us from conditioned or reflex responses, much of our responses are based on greed and "self", and hence needs to be reviewed as to its appropriateness. Formal meditation is of course the training ground for the development of high states of mindfulness, BUT it is the everyday - every moment mindfulness that makes a huge difference to our lives and the lives of those that we touch. "In reference to the seen,.. only the seen,.. to the heard, only the heard,.. to the sensed, only the sensed,.. to the cognized, only the cognized. Then there is no "you" in terms of that... This is the end of stress."
 "Whatever Dhamma-Vinaya I have pointed out and formulated for you, that will be your Teacher when I am gone." In the Maha Parinibbána Sutta (DN16); Then the Blessed One said to Ven. Ananda, "Now, if it occurs to any of you -- 'The teaching has lost its authority; we are without a Teacher' -- do not view it in that way. Whatever Dhamma-Vinaya I have pointed out and formulated for you, that will be your Teacher when I am gone." This is a very important statement the significance of which has been overlooked by many Buddhists. Because many have not heard this advice or grasped its significance, they search far and wide for a teacher; a teacher they can be proud of and brag about his attainments, etc.. Some even travel halfway round the world or more in such a search. These people create personality cults based on the perceived or real goodness of the teacher rather than on the Dhamma-Vinaya itself.
A later teacher, no matter how wise, brilliant, charismatic or "attained"... is NOT the Buddha. In the 3 Refuges, we take the Buddha our Teacher as the First Refuge, His Teachings as in the Dhamma - Vinaya is the Second Refuge and the Third Refuge is in the Ariya or Noble Sangha who lives and preserves these Teachings. Our teachers, however much we respect them, are our good spiritual friends who introduce us to the Dhamma, they are the link which helps us to understand the Dhamma BUT our real Teacher is still the Dhamma-Vinaya. In there, there is NO confusion or controversy. In there, there is NO tradition or school. In there is just the TRUTHS.
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