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Major Differences Between BUDDHISM and Other Religions

Prabhu TL August 12, 2016

01: There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments on a supposedly Judgement Day.

02: Buddhism is strictly not a religion in the context of being a faith and worship owing allegiance to a supernatural being.

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03: No saviour concept in Buddhism. A Buddha is not a saviour who saves others by his personal salvation. Although a Buddhist seeks refuge in the Buddha as his incomparable guide who indicates the path of purity, he makes no servile surrender. A Buddhist does not think that he can gain purity merely by seeking refuge in the Buddha or by mere faith in Him. It is not within the power of a Buddha to wash away the impurities of others

04: A Buddha is not an incarnation of a god/God (as claimed by some Hindu followers). The relationship between a Buddha and his disciples and followers is that of a teacher and student.

05: The liberation of self is the responsibility of one's own self. Buddhism does not call for an unquestionable blind faith by all Buddhist followers. It places heavy emphasis on self-reliance, self discipline and individual striving.

06: Taking refuge in The Triple Gems i.e. the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha; does not mean self-surrender or total reliance on an external force or third party for help or salvation.

07: Dharma (the teachings in Buddhism) exists regardless whether there is a Buddha. Sakyamuni Buddha (as the historical Buddha) discovered and shared the teachings/ universal truths with all sentient beings. He is neither the creator of such teachings nor the prophet of an almighty God to transmit such teachings to others.

08: Especially emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, all sentient beings have Buddha Nature/ Essence. One can become a Buddha (a supreme enlightened being) in due course if one practices diligently and attains purity of mind (ie absolutely no delusions or afflictions).

09: In Buddhism, the ultimate objective of followers/practitioners is enlightenment and/or liberation from Samsara; rather than to go to a Heaven (or a deva realm in the context of Buddhist cosmology).

10: Karma and Karma Force are cornerstones in Buddhist doctrines. They are expounded very thoroughly in Buddhism. Karma refers to an important metaphysical concept concerned with action and its consequences. This law of karma explains the problem of sufferings, the mystery of the so-called fate and predestination of some religions, and above all the apparent inequality of mankind.

11: Rebirth is another key doctrine in Buddhism and it goes hand in hand with karma. There is a subtle difference between rebirth and reincarnation as expounded in Hinduism. Buddhism rejects the theory of a transmigrating permanent soul, whether created by a god or emanating from a divine essence.

12: Maitri or Metta in Pali (Loving Kindness) and Karuna (Compassion) to all living beings including animals. Buddhism strictly forbids animal sacrifice for whatever reason. Vegetarianism is recommended but not compulsory.

13: The importance of Non-attachment. Buddhism goes beyond doing good and being good. One must not be attached to good deeds or the idea of doing good; otherwise it is just another form of craving.

14: In Buddhism, there is consideration for all sentient beings (versus human beings, as in other religions). Buddhists acknowledge/accept the existence of animals and beings in other realms in Samsara.

15: No holy war concept in Buddhism. Killing is breaking a key moral precept in Buddhism. One is strictly forbidden to kill another person in the name of religion, a religious leader or whatsoever religious pretext or worldly excuse.

16: Suffering is another cornerstone in Buddhism. It is the first of the Four Noble Truths. Sufferings are very well analysed and explained in Buddhism.

17: The idea of sin or original sin has no place in Buddhism. Also, sin should not be equated to suffering.

18: Buddhist teachings expound no beginning and no end to one's existence or life. There is virtually no recognition of a first cause — e.g. how does human existence first come about?

19: The Dharma provides a very detailed explanation of the doctrine of anatman {anatta in Pali} or soullessness , i.e. there is no soul entity (whether in one life of many lives).

20: The Buddha is omniscient but he is not omnipotent. He is capable of innumerable feats but there are three things he cannot do. Also, a Buddha does not claim to be a creator of lives or the Universe.

21: Prajna [Panna in Pali] or Transcendent Wisdom occupies a paramount position in Buddhist teachings. Sakyamuni Buddha expounded Prajna concepts for some 20 years of his ministry. One is taught to balance compassion with prajna i.e.emotion (faith) with rationale (right understanding / truth / logic).

22: The tradition and practice of meditation in Buddhism are relatively important and strong. While all religions teach some forms or variations of stabilizing/single-pointedness meditation, only Buddhism emphasizes Vipassana (Insight) meditation as a powerful tool to assist one in seeking liberation/enlightenment.

23: The doctrine of Sunyata or Emptiness is unique to Buddhism and its many aspects are well expounded in advanced Buddhist teachings. Briefly, this doctrine asserts the transcendental nature of Ultimate Reality. It declares the phenomenal world to be void of all limitations of particularization and that all concepts of dualism are abolished.

24: Conditioned Arising [Paticcasamuppada in Pali] or Dependent Origination is another key doctrine in Buddhism. This doctrine explains that all psychological and physical phenomena constituting individual existence are interdependent and mutually condition each other; this at the same time describes what entangles sentient beings in samsara.

25: The concept of Hell(s) in Buddhism is very different from that of other religions. It is not a place for eternal damnation as viewed by 'almighty creator' religions. In Buddhism, it is just one of the six realms in Samsara [i.e. the worst of three undesirable realms]. Also, there are virtually unlimited number of hells in the Buddhist cosmology as there are infinite number of Buddha worlds.

26: The Buddhist cosmology (or universe) is distinctly different from that of other religions which usually recognise only this solar system (Earth) as the center of the Universe and the only planet with living beings. The Buddhist viewpoint of a Buddha world (also known as Three Thousand-Fold World System) is that of one billion solar systems. Besides, the Mahayana Buddhist doctrines expound that there are other contemporary Buddha worlds like Amitabha's Pure Land and Bhaisajyaguru's world system.

27: Samsara is a fundamental concept in Buddhism and it is simply the 'perpetual cycles of existence' or endless rounds of rebirth among the six realms of existence. This cyclical rebirth pattern will only end when a sentient being attains Nirvana, i.e. virtual exhaustion of karma, habitual traces, defilements and delusions. All other religions preach one heaven, one earth and one hell, but this perspective is very limited compared with Buddhist samsara where heaven is just one of the six realms of existence and it has 28 levels/planes.

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A 69-year-old monk who scientists call the 'world's happiest man' says the secret to being happy takes just 15 minutes per day

Prabhu TL June 28, 2016

Matthieu Ricard, the world's happiest man

Who is the happiest man in the world?

If you Google it, the name "Matthieu Ricard" pops up.

Matthieu Ricard, 69, is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who has been called "the world's happiest man."

That's because he participated in a 12-year brain study on meditation and compassion led by a neuroscientist from the University of Wisconsin, Richard Davidson. Davidson hooked up Ricard's head to 256 sensors and found that when Ricard was meditating on compassion, his mind was unusually light.

Simple Capacity details the findings:

"The scans showed that when meditating on compassion, Ricard's brain produces a level of gamma waves - those linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory - 'never reported before in the neuroscience literature', Davidson said.The scans also showed excessive activity in his brain's left prefrontal cortex compared to its right counterpart, allowing him an abnormally large capacity for happiness and a reduced propensity towards negativity."

Ricard - who says he sometimes meditates for entire days without getting bored - admits he's a generally happy person (although he feels his "happiest man" title is a media-driven overstatement). He spoke with Business Insider at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Here's his advice for how to be happy.

Stop thinking "me, me, me"

To Ricard, the answer comes down to altruism. The reason is because thinking about yourself, and how to make things better for yourself all the time, is exhausting, stressful, and ultimately leads to unhappiness.

"It's not the moral ground," Ricard explained. "It's simply that me, me, me all day long is very stuffy. And it's quite miserable, because you instrumentalize the whole world as a threat, or as a potential sort of interest [to yourself]."

If you want to be happy, Ricard says you should strive to be "benevolent" which will not only make you feel better, but it will also make others like you better.

(That's not to say you should let other people take advantage of you, Ricard warns, but you should generally strive to be kind within reason.)

"If your mind is filled with benevolence, you know -the passion and solidarity ... this is a very healthy state of mind that is conducive to flourishing," Ricard says. "So you, yourself, are in a much better mental state. Your body will be healthier, so [it] has been shown. And also, people will perceive it as something nice."

That all sounds great in theory, but how does a person actually become altruistic and benevolent and not let selfish thoughts creep in?

Start training your mind like you'd train to run a marathon

Ricard believes everyone has the ability to have a lighter mind because there's a potential for goodness in every human being (unless you're, say, a serial killer, and there's something actually chemically abnormal going on with your brain).

But like a marathon runner who needs to train before he or she can run 26 miles, people who want to be happier need to train their minds. Ricard's preferred way of training his is meditation.

"With mental training, we can always bring [our level of happiness] to a different level," Ricard explains. "It's like running. If I train, I might run a marathon. I might not become an Olympic champion, but there is a huge difference between training and not training. So why should that not apply to the mind?... There is [a] view that benevolence, attention, emotional balance and resilience are skills that can be trained. So if you put them all together, you could say that happiness is a skill that can be trained."

Ok, so how does one train their mind to be happier?

Just spend 15 continuous minutes per day thinking happy thoughts

Start by thinking happy thoughts for 10 to 15 minutes per day, Ricard says. Typically when we experience feelings of happiness and love, it's fleeting and then something else happens, and we move on to the next thought. But Ricard says instead, concentrate on not letting your mind get distracted and keep focused on the positive emotions for the next stretch of time. And if you do that training every day, even just 2 weeks later you can feel positive mental results. And if you practice that for fifty years like Ricard has, you can become a happiness pro too.

That's backed up by neuroscientists by the way. Davidson found from his study that even 20 minutes of daily meditation can make people much happier overall.

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This post was republished from thebuddhistinformation.com. You can find the original post here.

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Heart Based Consciousness- Using The Heart As An Organ Of Perception

Prabhu TL April 10, 2015

In modern day society, especially in the Western world, if you were to ask someone to point to the place in their body where their consciousness is located and their decisions are made, they would most likely point to their head.

Our indigenous ancestors, however, would respond to the same question by pointing to their hearts. They understood the heart’s ability to intelligently perceive and decipher the world around them, and acknowledged the limitations and reductionist nature of living in a manner in which one relies primarily on the mind.

They went beyond the thoughts in their heads, using the heart as an organ of perception to connect with the energy fields of other organisms – not just other humans, but the earth as well – in order to fully immerse themselves in the deeper meanings embodying their thoughts.

Engaging in this kind of heart-based perception and communication with the world tends to render what once seemed important as relatively meaningless, and what once seemed meaningless as meaningful. When a person breathes in the meaning of another organism using their heart field, a subtle shift occurs within, whether subtle or major, that forever changes them. The ancient Greeks referred to this kind of silent, invisible heart-based communication as aesthesis, which means “to breathe in.”

The Heart-Brain Connection

Although many of us have been taught that the heart responds to orders from the brain, sent in the form of neuralnetworks, the truth is that the heart actually sends moreorders to the brain via neural signals than the brain does to the heart. Due to this, the heart is sometimes referred to as the “heart brain” and our minds are referred to as the “cranial brain.” Neural signals sent to the cranial brain from the heart significantly impact brain function and affect emotional and cognitive processes such as attention, perception, memory, and problem solving.

Different patterns of heart activity have different effects on the brain. For example. the erratic, unstable patterns of heart activity experienced when stress and/or negative feelings are present send corresponding neural signals from the heart to the cranial brain that inhibit cognitive faculties. As a result, the ability to reason and think clearly is impaired, which may be the reason why many act impulsively and make poor decisions in stressful situations. On the other hand, the stable, orderly patterns of heart activity during pleasant situations and in the presence of positive feelings result in corresponding neural signals sent from the heart to the brain which improve cognitive functions and encourage mental stability. So, making an effort to manifest a life that evokes positive feelings can greatly increase cognitive abilities and emotional stability.

The Heart Brain Connection In Response To Stimuli

One study found that the heart receives and reacts to stimuli before it even occurs, formulating a response to the incoming input before the brain even has a chance to process it. Researchers refer to this phenomenon as a “body premonition.” This further encourages the notion that implementing the heart as an organ of perception may be far wiser than isolating the brain as the primary center of perception and consciousness.

The Heart And Energy Fields

The heart, which holds the title as the organ with the most powerful electromagnetic field in the body, can sense the heart of another individual up to ten feet away. Since the brain is highly sensitive to the reactions of the heart, it is able to pick up this kind of electromagnetic “heart sensing” and essentially alter the brain waves of another individual, as well as themselves, and/or actually synchronize their brainwaves with the other person’s.

Most of us have met a personwhose presence, for no apparent reason, caused a sense of discomfort – whether it was sadness, anger, anxiety, or any other uneasy feeling – that warranted the decision to not forge a deeper connection with them. Just as we may not know why we felt this way around them, as they said all the right words and presented themselves in a “socially acceptable” way, we often may not pick up on the fact that this is occurring because of the other person’s energy and it is, in reality, not personal at all. In this way, the electromagnetism of the heart greatly shapes our relationships, guiding us by what seems to be an almost effortless gravitation to connect with the heart fields of some people who then become friends and/or romantic partners, and steering us away from people whose heart energies clash with our own.

This type of energy sensing also occurs with places, objects, and so on. For example, when you go to a restaurant and the hostess tells you that you can sit wherever you would like, you most likely do not choose just any given table. You are far more likely to observe the room, checking out various seating options, even if your consideration of each is fleeting. Then you choose one table, oftentimes out of numerous other identical ones, but why? Sure, there are factors like noise and wanting to sit by a window – but not always. I think each of us can admit to at least once in life choosing to sit somewhere because we were drawn to it, or to not sit somewhere because for whatever reason it doesn’t “feel” as good as somewhere else in the room. Rarely do we stop to wonder why we intuitively make decisions like this.

Considering the heart’s ability to pick up the energies of people, places, and things, and intuitively decipher what feels “right” and what for some reason doesn’t “feel right,” along with the brain’s sensitivity in detecting even the subtlest changes in the heart’s energy field and its ability to then alter its own mechanisms in response and change our brain waves, thought patterns, etc., it seems quite inappropriate to heed the advice of eternal pessimists who advise against following the heart. They tell you it will lead you into trouble, but that very way of living, of placing consciousness solely in the mind and designating it as the only intelligent organ of perception in our bodies, is perhaps why such people are so pessimistic in the first place. To place thoughts over feelings when making big decisions in life, especially big decisions, can be dangerous – not in the way society defines danger, but by the way the spirit defines danger, as confining any part of your true essence within, which is in many ways a waking death. Debatably equally dangerous though, and certainly equally important, is to not place feelings over thoughts entirely when making decisions either. Yes, especially big decisions. The trick to solving this problem truly isn’t much of a trick, rather it’s more of an ancient, long forgotten way of living in which you maintain somewhat of an energetic equilibrium between the heart and the brain – and all parts of oneself for that matter.

Learning to tune into the subtle shifts in energy and distinguish their origins, and learn the difference between “me” and “not me” in order to be able to tell if the negativity you are feeling is your own or someone else’s, helps prevent the inevitable overwhelming negative energies that often occur when you are susceptible to picking up another’s energy and taking it on as your own. Making a mental effort to silence thoughts and listen to your feelings, and to notice how feelings alter when the people or things surrounding you are altered, allows cranial consciousness and heart consciousness to work productively together without one dominating the other.

Using the heart, the brain can distinguish what it really wants from what it was conditioned to want, but has no deep rooted passion for. Just the same, the heart may tune into the brain and feel its thoughts, thus combining both organs of perception. Playing with how different thoughts make you feel, without then attaching more thoughts to those feelings or stories to them, and instead just letting them sit there while you consciously acknowledge they are there, is also crucial for finding a balance in working with both organs of perception. By listening to how the heart feels without adding mental thoughts and stories to those feelings, you can then choose to place your thoughts towards what feels more right to you when making decisions.

“Ongoing stress creates an energetic environment, affecting town and country, spreading from nation to nation, causing disharmony, disease, storms and wars. The heart’s intelligence can help to dissipate these negative energies, giving people a fresh start in learning how to get along. As enough people learn about emotional fitness, it will cause a global shift into new consciousness that many are talking about, and then quality of life has a chance of becoming better for the whole.” – Doc Childre

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5 Techniques to Quiet Your Mind

Prabhu TL April 09, 2015

overthinking -kills -you -brucelee-quote

“Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart.”

dont miss - 3 AMAZING MIND TRICKS THAT WILL HELP YOU REMEMBER SMALL DETAILS

In many ways, the uncontrolled mind resembles a five year old child wanting to run amok through the city streets, only able to sit still for a few seconds before getting the urge to jump up again. If you allow your brain to continuously run a mile a minute without ever interjecting, it will only press on with the madness until you discover that your mind has slowly become a prison.

However, you can actually free your mind, even if it seems impossible in the beginning. Humans are very adaptable creatures, and pick up on new habits throughout their lives. So, in this way, our brains become rewired because we have installed a new operating system in our minds: chaos. To create a peaceful mind, you just need to revert back to your original nature of harmony and balance. Sound difficult? Well, here are some effective techniques to help you regain control of your mind again.

5 techniques to quiet the mind:

1. Focus on the positive aspects of yourself and your surroundings.

In short, we have collectively created the mass disorder and confusion we observe around us on a daily basis with our thoughts. We have all allowed negative thinking to prevail for many millennia, so the physical world is merely a product of our thoughts. By simply shifting your focus to what makes you happy, or what you’re thankful for, you can start to retrain your mind to think more positively. Consequently, you will start to feel more peaceful since you no longer put so much emphasis on the negativity you perceive within yourself and elsewhere.

Remember, energy flows where attention goes – you can achieve peace by creating awareness behind your thoughts.

Do These 5 Things Before Bed And Wake Up Happier

Prabhu TL April 07, 2015

Pretty much everyone wants that feeling of sustained contentment that comes with happiness, and the effort to do so starts first thing in the morning. What we do before we go to bed determines how we feel in the morning, as anyone who’s had 12 beers before bed can tell you. So what can we do to wake happier?

1. Review your day and express gratitude for what you have.

Spend a few minutes before bed considering your day, the things that went well, and the amazing people and things you have in your life. Even if there’s no one to really thank for it, express some gratitude for what you have.

2. Make a resolution for yourself and say it out loud.

What do you want to improve upon tomorrow? Even if not improvement, what do you want to do? Identify one resolution for the following day, say it out loud a few times, maybe write it down, and start on it tomorrow.

3. Intend to remember your dreams and keep them in a journal.

Tell yourself before bed that you want to remember your dreams and then write them down in the morning. Our dreams have a way of signifying things to us that we may understand but not really be thinking.

4. Breathe deeply and meditate upon your body.

What I mean by meditate upon your body is to focus on all the different parts of your body. Your forehead, your elbows, your feet, your fingernails. Really feel your soul inside of your body. Feel how your body occupies itself. Feel your aches and pains. Take not of muscles you need to stretch in the morning.

5. Give a little bit of love.

Take a minute before bed to spread a little love. Kiss your partner. Give your kids a hug. Even expressing a little self love, like massaging sore muscles, will do the trick.

With any luck, you’ll wake up happier tomorrow!

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The Wisdom of a Silent Mind

Prabhu TL March 31, 2015

When your sense perception contacts sense objects and you experience physical pleasure, enjoy that feeling as much as you can. But if the experience of your sense perception’s contact with the sense world ties you, if the more you look at the sense world the more difficult it becomes, instead of getting anxious—“I can’t control this”—it’s better

to close your senses off and silently observe the sense perception itself.

Similarly, if you’re bound by the problems that ideas create, instead of trying to stop those problems by grasping at some other idea, which is impossible, diligently investigate how ideas cause you trouble. At certain times, a silent mind is very important, but “silent” does not mean closed. The silent mind is an alert, awakened mind; a mind seeking the nature of reality.

When problems in the sense world bother you, the difficulty comes from your sense perception, not from the external objects you perceive. And when concepts bother you, that also does not come from outside but from your mind’s grasping at concepts. Therefore, instead of trying to stop problems emotionally by grasping at new material objects or ideas, check up silently to see what’s happening in your mind.

No matter what sort of mental problem you experience, instead of getting nervous and fearful, sit back, relax, and be as silent as possible. In this way you will automatically be able to see reality and understand the root of the problem. When we experience problems, either internal or external, our narrow, unskillful mind only makes them worse. When someone with an itchy skin condition scratches it, he feels some temporary relief and thinks his scratching has made it better. In fact, his scratching has made it worse. We’re like that; we do the same thing, every day of our lives. Instead of trying to stop problems like this, we should relax and rely on our skilful, silent mind. But silent does not mean dark, non-functioning, sluggish or sleepy.

So now, just close your eyes for ﬁve or ten minutes and take a close look at whatever you consider your biggest problem to be. Shut down your sense perception as much as you possible can, remain completely silent and with introspective knowledge-wisdom, thoroughly investigate your mind. Where do you hold the idea of “my problem”? Is it in your brain? In your mouth? Your heart? Your stomach? Where is that idea? If you can’t find the thought of “problem,” don’t intellectualize; simply relax. If miserable thoughts or bad ideas arise in your mind, just watch how they come, how they go. Don’t react emotionally. Practising in this way, you can see how the weak, unskilful mind cannot face problems. But your silent mind of skilful wisdom can face any problem bravely, conquer it and control all your emotional and agitated states of mind.

Don’t think that what I’m saying is a Buddhist idea, some Tibetan lama’s idea. It can become the actual experience of all living beings throughout the universe. I could give you many words, many ideas in my lecture tonight, but I think it’s more important to share with you the silent experience. That’s more realistic than any number of words. When you investigate your mind thoroughly, you can see clearly that both miserable and ecstatic thoughts come and go. Moreover, when you investigate penetratingly, they disappear altogether. When you are preoccupied with an experience, you think, “I’ll never forget this experience,” but when you check up skilfully, it automatically disappears. That is the silent wisdom experience. It’s very simple, but don’t just believe me—experience it for yourself. In my experience, a silent lecture is worth more than one with many words and no experience. In the silent mind, you find peace, joy and satisfaction.

Silent inner joy is much more lasting than the enjoyment of eating chocolate and cake. That enjoyment is also just a conception. When you close off your superficial sense perception and investigate your inner nature, you begin to awaken. Why? Because superficial sense perception prevents you from seeing the reality of how discursive thought comes and goes. When you shut down your senses, your mind becomes more conscious and functions better. When your superficial senses are busy, your mind is kind of dark; it’s totally preoccupied by the way your senses are interpreting things. Thus, you can’t see reality. Therefore, when you are tied by ideas and the sense world, instead of stressing out, stop your sense perception and silently watch your mind. Try to be totally awake instead of obsessed with just one atom. Feel totality instead of particulars. You can’t determine for yourself the way things should be. Things change by their very nature. How can you tie down any idea? You can see that you can’t. When you investigate the way you think—“Why do I say this is good? Why do I say this is bad?”—you start to get real answers as to how your mind really works.

You can see how most of your ideas are silly but how your mind makes them important. If you check up properly you can see that these ideas are really nothing. By checking like this, you end up with nothingness in your mind. Let your mind dwell in that state of nothingness. It is so peaceful; so joyful. If you can sit every morning with a silent mind for just ten or twenty minutes, you will enjoy it very much. You’ll be able to observe the moment-to-moment movement of your emotions without getting sad. You will also see the outside world and other people differently; you will never see them as hindrances to your life and they will never make you feel insecure. Therefore, beauty comes from the mind.

So, that was the experience of silence. You can discuss what I’ve been saying through your own experience. Observing and investigating your mind is so simple; very simple. Constantly, wherever you go, at any time, you can experience this energy. It’s always with you. But chocolate isn’t the peaceful stillness of the silent mind . . .always with you—when you want it, it’s not there and when you don’t feel like it, there it is in front of you. The joy of the silent experience comes from your own mind. Therefore, joy is always with you. Whenever you need it, it’s always there.

Written by Lama Thubten Yeshe

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How to develop positive thinking

Prabhu TL August 27, 2014

Well, anything that sparks feelings of joy, contentment and love will do the trick. You probably know what things work well for you. Maybe it’s playing the guitar. Maybe it’s spending time with a certain person. Maybe it’s carving tiny wooden lawn gnomes.

That said, here are three ideas for you to consider…

1. Meditation

people who meditate daily display more positive emotions that those who do not. As expected, people who meditated also built valuable long–term skills. For example, three months after the experiment was over, the people who meditated daily continued to display increased mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, and decreased illness symptoms.

Note: If you’re looking for an easy way to start meditation, here is a 10–minute guided meditation . Just close your eyes, breathe, and follow along.

2. Writing

This study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, examined a group of 90 undergraduate students who were split into two groups. The first group wrote about an intensely positive experience each day for three consecutive days. The second group wrote about a control topic.

Three months later, the students who wrote about positive experiences had better mood levels, fewer visits to the health center, and experienced fewer illnesses. (This blew me away. Better health after just three days of writing about positive things!)

3. Playing

Schedule time to play into your life. We schedule meetings, conference calls, weekly events, and other responsibilities into our daily calendars … why not schedule time to play?

When was the last time you blocked out an hour on your calendar just to explore and experiment? When was the last time you intentionally carved out time to have fun? You can’t tell me that being happy is less important than your Wednesday meeting, and yet, we act like it is because we never give it a time and space to live on our calendars.

Give yourself permission to smile and enjoy the benefits of positive emotion. Schedule time for play and adventure so that you can experience contentment and joy, and explore and build new skills.

source - charliehoehn

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