"This Week"
by the
Bahrain Meditation Centre

6th August, 2005


Power to 'Pack Up'


Power to 'pack up' is essential if we are to enjoy the journey of life. On any journey it is best if we pack lightly so we may travel light. The same applies to the soul. When we worry too much about the future or can't let go of the past the soul is overloaded and unable to enjoy the present or, should we say, the journey. Overload leads to accidents or, at least, frequent stops for rest.



Packing up is truly an art. Some people are able to reduce their baggage to the minimum, whereas others feel the need to take everything, including the "kitchen sink". So what could be the quality that allows us to identify the essentials?



When we refer to the soul the important question is: What impressions I want to store away in the suitcase of I the soul? To be a light traveller would firstly mean I need to discard whatever made me lose my peace and took me away from self realisation.



Experiences of happiness and kindness are powerful and leave strong impressions on the soul; they take up very little room, as such. These are what we should be storing. When there is inner peace (lack of extra baggage) we are able to stay light - physically and, more importantly, mentally. This level of lightness allows us to be fully engaged in our present.



A necessary and very powerful tool for travelling light is discernment. It enables us to choose the right destination, chart the course accurately, stay on course and take the most benefit from the present. If peace and happiness is the destination we will not clutter our mind with wasteful and unnecessary thoughts. We will hold on to only the positive, within our self and in any situation.



Life is a wonderful journey, as we learn to discern, start out only with what we need and ensure that we accumulate only that which is valuable along the way. Then the journey will be unforgettable and avoid all the problems of being overweight!







Om Shanti
(I am a peaceful soul)



Bahrain Meditation Centre is administered by B.K.W.S.U. (visit: www.bkwsu.org.uk)

Tel: +973-17-712 545, meditate@batelco.com.bh, www.bahrainmeditationcentre.org

Hi,
A very informative method of getting on with life, only I tend to carry a lot around with me as "reference material" for when similar situations arise and how I resolved the previous situation enables me to resolve the current situation.
A burden I can assure you, but life's lessons need to be remembered so we don't go about always being adversely affected by the same situation repeatedly.
My most frequent problem is being too timid to ask the "other person" an accurate account of a situation which may affect me emotionally. It's too personal for them but if it affects me greatly, I need to understand their situation to enable me to determine whether their past experience has a detrimental affect of my continued close association with them.
That's not being judgemental of how they lived their life, it's a way of determining if that aspect of their life sits easily with me.... it's how we choose friends, partners and confidants.
This does not apply to casual acquaintences and infrequent associations, meeting new people from numerous backgrounds, only with close personal relationships.
I don't believe in unconditional love, there are numerous degrees of love and there will always be events in a person's life that affect another person's acceptance of them....subjectively and objectively....and mistakes can be made when all the facts are not to hand.

very nice read
now just wondering... how would you get rid of the 'extra baggage'?
it seems every one I know carries on with thier bad memories.....
and I do as well.... does it meen for us to not enphasize theese parts or to completely forget them?
I know holding on to some of the memories has troubled some of my relationships....
example: my ebf cheeted on me... so my next xbf i didnt trust...
I see now that that was the most foolish thing I have ever done becouse I didnt trust him I lost him... which is now a bigger burden on my half.... and more of an 'extra load'
so just curious on how to loose the load and move on with my journey?

Hi,
I think the biggest thing in anyone's love life is TRUST ....I could trust many people with my life but not too many would be trusted with my heart, it's too fragile a piece of my being.
We see those diet ads describe eating/weight problems as "you are what you eat", and I suppose with people who suffer emotional distraught over past loves/relationships can be described as "you are how you love".
How often do you see ads in personal columns specifying their intended personal partner to have"no baggage" or words to that effect....I percieve people without emotional baggage of some sort to be empty shallow beings whose hearts are stranded somewhere on the high tides of life experience.
I expect the term "move on" - the advice to get on with life from any sort of emotion upset, be it the death of someone very very close, a deep and meaningful relationship that went wrong, or even a just a bad school report - to mean that you must put it behind you and progress through another stage of life where that lesson must be remembered, but soon forgotten. If you forget that lesson, you'll repeat it!
Would it be a good idea for the various comparments of our hearts and minds to have computer-like functions where you can delete the offending event and put it into the recycle bin? But then even when you empty the recycle bin, it's shadow is still somewhere in the network.
Such is life - until we meet someone who can hold our heart while we clean out the bad memories, making sure that no more heartbreak happens.
I know many people who can really make that delete button of life work, and I would never trust them with my life or heart. Are they lucky or just too unfeeling and insensitive to know the stuff of life like I do.

Many more thoughts can be expressed along this avenue but they all come down to love and trust and the meaning of life which takes a whole lifetime to learn....I intend living to a ripe old life so I can experience as much of it as I can, baggage and all!

Gillian

gillian that was a nice post and I relate to what you are saying
but I would realy like to get rid of this baggage
it made me sick at school today im in tears now thinking about it!!!
I Loved him and I trusted him to keep his one promise to me which he didn't
(and I was litteraly sick in the nurses for half of home room ALL of 1 and half of second and I was in there at lunch...no more details but theres only one way to stay that long in the nurses office and no its not from crying)
I have a class with him and I would realy realy like to get rid of the baggage so I can move on.... but I can't he is right there reminding me of what I had loved and trusted and what as well broke my heart and destroyed my trust for guys....
I just want to move on...
I want to be happy agian...
I want my life back....