Finding Paradise

Hi, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to talk about paradise and what that could actually look like. So I'd like to share a quote by the teacher, Sri Chinmoy, who says, "Paradise is not a place. It's a state of consciousness." "Paradise is not a place. It's a state of consciousness." So I, I really like this one.

It's a poignant reminder that while the external world is important, it can't always create a sense of freedom within us. In fact, it has massive limitations in what it can do for us internally. There are endless examples of people who have it all, who have money, have even good connections, social relationships. They live in a great place. And yet they're tormented internally.

And endless examples of people who have very little, nothing and yet they live with a certain kind of serenity and fulfillment. I really got exposed to this, uh, during my time in Burma where there was just a, another level of, of poverty, um, and yet so much deep contentment and fulfillment for the locals I had met who engaged in these practices and really trained their minds to be a place that they enjoyed being. They enjoyed dwelling in their own company and their own consciousness. And so I wanted to make this Daily Mindfulness as further inspiration for the work you're already doing. You know, we have this video and then we have our daily meditation, but these meditations are our training.

Um, uh, their training a particular mind, a particular place that you can dwell, that you can live and one that can be peaceful, fulfilling, and tranquil. I think that's one of the inspiring things that first brings us to a practice, the potential promise that we won't live in torment or agitation, or just this low grade stress that many of us have grown accustomed to or just perceive as, Oh, this is how it should be. But the more we go into these practices, the more we dwell in presence, the more we see ourselves getting pulled in all these different directions and feel a sense of ease within all of that, eventually we start to connect to different states of consciousness that are much more peaceful and much more sustainably peaceful. So more than anything, I hope you can trust the process, keep showing up, do the practice. Things are changing, whether you perceive it or not.

And it is moving you closer to an internal paradise. Thanks so much for your practice. Let's settle in for today's meditation.