Abundance In An Instant

OMG! The Winning Ticket!

Okay, I'll admit it ... my heart will start racing at the thought of winning the big prize whenever I occasionally buy a $2 lotto ticket. Just imagine what it feels like to answer that last million dollar question correctly and go from completely broke to staggeringly wealthy in an instant. Wouldn't that be something?

But we all know that there's a difference between wealth and abundance, and only one of them truly leads to happiness, right?

Sometimes, doing something that seems completely out of character (like quitting a lucrative job to follow the dream of living off grid), or having something rather unexpected happen (like losing your job and learning that it is possible live on less), can actually help to put things into perspective. 

Very few of us would ever dare to make the choice to live on less. The vast majority of us, however, have been forced to do so (given the economy and the rate of poverty around the world), but we're not very happy about it. This is because we primarily think in terms of wealth and not in terms of abundance.

The source of abundance is deep within all of us.  Some would say it's in our hearts, others would say it's a state of mind. Abundance can be understood as the opposite of what in Buddhism is referred to as "grasping," which is one of the "three poisons" of the mind, and is associated with "attachment."   

To "grasp" or to be "attached" is to relate to everyone and everything in the world in a way that uses them for our own purposes, in order to fulfill our own needs. It sounds harsh, but it can be witnessed in every moment of every day: we work to get ahead, to have a comfortable home and enjoy some leisure time; our friends and family make us happy and we like to have them around to keep us company and take care of us when we are sick. This doesn't sound so bad, but when we lose our jobs and possessions, or when our spouses leave us and our children don't turn out quite the way we raised them, it is possible to see the degree to which we have needed them to fulfill our own ends.

The shift from "grasping" to "abundance" begins with recognizing the abundance in the world around us. The warmth and light of the sun and the rejuvenating rainfall are examples of abundance; they are given to us freely and without expectation. This abundance can flow through us as acts of kindness, service to others and generosity--when they are offered freely and without expectation. Paradoxically, the more we give, the more we will receive.  

In his autobiography, By His Grace: A Devotee's Story, Dada Mukerjee offers numerous stories that explain the nature of abundance from the life of his guru, the Indian saint Neem Karoli Baba (Maharajji). Dada describes how the storeroom in Maharajji's ashram was always stocked with enough food and supplies to care for all the travellers who came to him for respite. This sometimes raised suspicions regarding how Maharajji made his money. He had so much to give that people expected to find corruption in his practices or hypocrisy in his teachings, but there was neither.

Neem Karoli Baba (Maharajji)

Maharajji explained that everything, including money, came from Ram (an aspect of Shiva worshipped in the Hindu tradition ... think God or the universe, according to your preferences). And he said that "if you use it properly and avoid all misuse and wastage, there will always be enough." 

In addition to avoiding misuse (which includes over-consumption), Maharajji taught another important lesson regarding the flow of abundance.  He accepted all offerings that were freely given and he did not accept any offerings from people who were attached to their money. If there was an ulterior motive for giving and the offering came with "strings attached," he would not accept it; nor did he accept offerings that were given begrudgingly in a show of generosity.

The offering itself was not important to Maharajji. It was the intention behind the offering that mattered.

Everything Maharajji accepted went toward the running of the ashram. He himself owned and required very little. He had no attachment to any of the things that surrounded him, but his ashram was well supplied.

By having no attachment (never using things, other people and the resources of the world to fulfill one's own ends), by consuming only what we need and avoiding waste, and by accepting only what is freely given and in return giving freely, we will always have enough and we will be content with what we have. 

And this can happen for each us in an instant.

For more stories and insights, please see my other blog postings on by scrolling above or below, and also on The Six Realms of Samsara. My books can be found here in my Author's Spotlight. THANK YOU!

Things Just Happen ... Sometimes

Rejection, Annoying Inconveniences, and Dog Bites

Have you ever wondered why it is that at certain times in life nothing seems to go right? Most everyone, I imagine, has felt the sting of rejections from prospective dates, employers, or apartment managers.

Even my 70-year-old mother, who in my eyes is completely delightful and remarkably intelligent, once told me that she had been refused acceptance into not one, not two, but three book clubs over the years! 

Not my real mom but someone's mom, I'm sure

The reasons that are given for such rejections may vary. In my mom's case, they told her, in the first instance, that she didn't know the other members; in the second, that she didn't have enough education; and finally, that she'd have to wait until one of the current members died before being accepted.

It is this final reason that shines light on the true explanation for why things sometimes happen. Some things are inevitable. Rejection is inevitable, now and again. It is one of those things that just happen.

And as the case of my mom's rejection, maybe it was a good thing in all three cases and not just in the last (people die to get out of that club!).

Many times I have had what seem like, at worst, unsettling, and at best, annoyingly inconvenient, things happen in my life that I later recognized as blessings in disguise.

not a real Bhutanese border guard

One time, for example, while travelling overseas with my young son, I had to deal with rule-driven, insistent airport personnel who made my trip ... stressful, to say the least. In New Delhi, we were separated into "ladies" and "gents" security stations and there were several harrowing moments when my nine-year-old was out of my sight. Then, as we entered Bhutan, we got separated by a border officer who insisted that I go to one wicket and my son go to another.

While comparatively less stressful, this second separation seemed nonsensical and incredibly inconvenient, especially given that our entry visa was a single document. I had to go back and forth from my wicket, answering questions and showing our documents, to his wicket to answer the same questions there.

As I ran here and there, my mind filled with frustrated and angry thoughts about how ridiculous and overly obsequious the border guard was being.

Then, something curious happened. All of the $20 US bills I was carrying happened to be of an old serial series. (I'd found them in an old money belt while packing.) That is, all but one, which my American Aunt had unexpectedly sent to me as "spending money."

The boarder guard questioning me refused to accept any of the old bills and so I paid him with the new bill.  And the boarder guard questioning my son didn't even look at the serial number and so I was able to pay her with one of the old bills.

What originally seemed like an incredible inconvenience turned out to be the removal of what would have been a much more inconvenient situation had things unfold in any other way than the way the had.

the dog that bit my son was bigger and meaner looking

Sometimes, even when things are more than inconvenient--more than distressing--there are unknown reasons for why they have to happen.

While in Bhutan, my young son got bitten by a dog. Both my son and I were quite distressed by this event; he was filled with fear and I was filled with guilt.

To help us heal from this event, my guru told us that "sometimes dogs bite good people because they sense the person is in imminent danger." She told us that by biting the person, the dog changes the course of events and prevents the person from experiencing something much more serious. At the time, my family had been planning a trek to a distant monastery and our plans had necessarily been delayed while my son healed from the dog bite. There is no way of knowing what might have happened had the dog not bitten my son, had we not been delayed and had instead proceeded to go on the trek we had planned. Perhaps something more serious had been prevented ... in which case the dog bite can be seen as a blessing!

Who's to know whether or not any event that occurs is "good" or "bad"? Maintaining a state of acceptance, with perhaps a pinch of wonder, helps to keep down the stress level when things happen that make us feel as if nothing is going "right". Everything is truly just as it should be!

For further stories and insights, 
see The Land of Happiness: Reflections on a Journey, which can be found on my Author's Spotlight  Thank you!