Look at yourself and others while staying in the Now

　Ryokan, an authentic Japanese Buddhist monk lived in a village. He didn’t want to get involved with any Buddhist organizations, so he had to make a living on his own. He had to work just like the other ordinary people. He worked as an amanuensis. He also did calligraphy and paintings and sold it in exchange for food and clothes. The other monks wore clean and beautiful robes and lived by donations from the common people. They pretended not to notice Ryokan. 
    The way Ryokan lived did not create any spiritual debt. But the other monks who have used the donations for their personal living expenses would have to pay back in the afterlife.  This is one law in the Spirit World that is still active today. Ryokan was loved by all the people in the village. That was because he voiced only good words. If one would meet Ryokan, he would only praise him or be in gratitude. Those words were very healing for the village people. Ryokan was a man who was determined only to use good words. It was actually not something he consciously chose but it was his nature (innate god/goodness).  There are always some bad guys who don’t find a good man like Ryokan favorable. Ryokan was very popular amongst the people and they were not happy about it. They even thought to try and reveal is bad side.  There is a story about this ferryboat paddler. One day Ryokan got on a ferryboat by himself. When the boat came to the middle of the river, the paddler shook the boat so Ryokan would fall off, knowing that he couldn’t swim. Ryokan fell into the river and tried to swim as hard as he could to reach the boat. The paddler waited for a while and when he thought it was enough bullying he helped him up to get back on the boat. The paddler was curious to what Ryokan would say. Then Ryokan said, “thank you so much for saving me. You are my life savor.” And bowed deeply. The paddler was thinking to push him back into the river if he complained. But Ryokan, on the other hand, had thanked  him instead even though he knew he shook the boat on purpose. The paddler got ashamed of himself how stupid he had behaved.

   Ryokan was always in the Now moment. The fact that the paddler shook him off the boat was already in the past. He focused on the now, the fact that he saved him. And he thanked him for that. He did it from honesty, from the bottom of his heart. Ryokan was a genius in seeing what is going on in the now moment. He simply looked at the fact that he saved him and sent his gratitude. We should really learn from him. Rather than paying attention to the past, we need to train our mind to focus on the now and see the opponent in the “right” way. We often have an assumption, a preconceived idea about the person. We respond from the data from the past and not looking at the now. We are not trying to see the attitude, what is going on in the now moment.

  Where are you looking at?  Are you often looking at the past? Are you often worried about the future? Either way, you are missing the present moment. You are not living the NOW. The future is built up by what you do now. If your energy is not focused in the now, then your future will be weak. That is why it’s important to focus on the every now moments and be in gratitude. This is the one and only way to have a good future.


 
    We often like to judge people. How do we do that? We do it by the data from the past and give a preconceived idea. We often tend to look at what bad he did in the past and judge him. We are not trying to look at the present behavior. People change everyday. As long as we live, we will come across many situations and we change. Some people change for the better, some people turn dissolute. 
When we look at people, we tend to judge them from the past experiences. And there are so many people still suffering today from what other people did in the past. He bullied me, he cheated on me, he deceived me…etc.  We tend to see the person through a filter from the past. It often happens between a parent and a child as well. Yet, as long as you see things from the filter of the past, you are not able to see the person in the right way. It’s a good idea to learn from the past experiences, but don’t judge the person from it. It’s important to try and see what is going on in the now. This is not only about other people but also to do the same for yourself.  There are people who suffer from what they did in the past. They don’t see the present in a calm and peaceful manner and always judge oneself from the past. In fact, most people who are suffering today are suffering from the past. Spiritually observing that situation, there is a spirit /magnetic energy possessing/sticking on to you. It’s all you. When you think about the past so often, the residue from the past remains in the present moment. It’s like the plural-you are there in parallel. When these magnetic energy (spirit) from the past becomes independent, it creates an illness called multiple personality or bi-polar disorder. The phenomenon of the poltergeist is also mostly coming from yourself. The emotions left in the past still remaining in the present becomes independent and creates some strange phenomenon.

In order to calm this condition:

1. Send gratitude to your past-self. No matter how bad the past was you have to say thank you. You are alive today because you had the past. You should not allow your past-being(s) live in the present. 

By sending gratitude, you are bundling up all parts of self and bringing it back together in the present. Come back to the present moment and observe yourself in a calm and peaceful manner.

2. Send gratitude daily to your ancestors and to your innate god/goodness. This is very important. When you can care for others and be grateful, the energy will come back to you. The same thing can be said when you judge others the energy will come back to you too.

   These are key points to change your life for the better. Today, I talked about the importance to look at yourself and others always in the present moment. 
And adding to it, be grateful. This is the secret to bring good luck into your life.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank your for letting us live