Why Not a Pro-Peace Vow?

I attended your talk tonight at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. You may or may not remember, but as you were signing copies of Jesus I was the one who asked you why you don’t make it a “pro-peace” vow instead of a “non-violence” vow. Wouldn’t a “doing” action be better than a “not-doing” action? Additionally, wouldn’t such a vow potentially lead to an attachment? I very much enjoyed your talk tonight and look forward to learning more.

Breaking the Cycle of Hardship

Question:
I have been self-studying meditation and alternative healing for over 17 years; I will be 37 years old this December. I am not financially stable at the moment. I am in the process of having to move out of my apartment. I have found myself living this cycle of loss every year around the same time for the last 4 years. I have had many breakthroughs spiritually and have helped many do the same. As a healer, I have help people have better lives. My question is, even though my intention in life is to bring love and joy into others lives, why must I go through so many hardships; and how can I bring an end to this cycle?
Answer:
An essential aspect of getting out of this cycle is to shift your perception of this situation so that you don’t frame it as a cycle of loss. That conceptual package in itself sets the image that you are doomed to come back and repeat this current set of circumstances. Focus on what is new and different in your life right now, because there are undeniable differences between the present and your past. Magnify and empower those forces of transformation with gratitude and positive acknowledgement. Gratitude is an immensely powerful force of change that is always available to us if we only stop and take notice. This will help pull you into the present where you are more unencumbered by your past and able to create something useful for yourself.
Love,
Deepak

Biblical Non-Violence

Many years ago someone taught me that if you are having a serious problem with another person you can use a verse from the Bible: Psalm 2.9 (Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel) and it will help the situation.
I was thinking about the vow of non-violence that you spoke about on your web site, and I was wondering if applying these verses to a situation would be considered violent?

Too Exhausted to Meditate

How do I meditate when I’m exhausted 5 days a week?
I have started a new job in a role I wanted, at a company I wanted to work for.  Thing is, besides for a half hour lunch break where one just has time to eat, I work non-stop until clock-out at 5pm.  Its not feasible to relax and find a state of Zen at work because there are always 100 things to do within a tight deadline.  When I reach home, I pretty much eat then sleep, resting for the next day to come.  BTW I exercise regularly and my vital signs are excellent.
I end up waking up as late as possible because my body is still tired from the previous day’s work.  Prior to starting this job, I was temporarily unemployed.  During that time however, it was much easier to meditate.  I enjoy being in a state of stillness, and I used to do it every day, but now for 5 days in the working week I just want to sleep.  If I try to meditate, my body falls asleep because both my brain and body want to switch off from fatigue.  Deepak, how can I meditate when I’m exhausted 5 days a week?  I’m young and just started my career, so leaving immediately and doing something less taxing is not the short term solution I’m looking for.  In my career (finance) high workloads & tight deadlines are the norm.  I don’t plan on doing it forever, but for now I just want to know: How can one maintain stillness from meditation in the face of fatigue and modern day stress?

My Teenage Daughter Left Home

I am a 36 year old mother of three children.
From the age of eighteen years old, I have been on a quest for spiritual enlightenment and higher understanding of the nature of ‘the soul’. I quote ‘the soul’ because I refer not to “my” soul or “your” soul or any one else’s or even God, I refer to the collective consciousness of ‘the one’, which I and you know we are a part of.

I have found many answers during my quest, which I have gathered from spiritual leaders such as yourself, and I practice these laws with rigourous determination. I do not belong to any religious organization, but I believe in God.

To name a few of my learnt, practiced and ‘now automated’ responses, (in my attempt to allow you to know me better);
I believe in my higher consciousness and  am always awed by it’s existence.
I believe that life is unfolding as it should.
I respect all living things, (I find it difficult to kill even a fly, because I have made it my business to understand the fly’s purpose).
I awake every morning with awe and wonder at the chance for a new day.
I give when I can, unconditionally.
I have tried my best to not be judgemental towards any one.
In the instances where I have been judgemental, I have tried to apply logic, reasoning, compassion and understanding to the situation.
I speak positively.
I embrace my right to be successful.

Apart from these qualities, I consider myself to me a very talented person, I have been an accountant, I have sold houses, I can sing, I can draw, I can paint, I can write stories, I can cook and many other things.

For the past five years I am undergoing a series of problems which are recurring and not being resolved, despite my best attempts to apply the spiritual laws that I mentioned earlier.

The first one is a lack of a job. The thing is I am not sure if I want one. I want to be financially free while having the ability to look after my kids in the manner that I am doing right now. I am a stay at home mom right now, I drop my kids to and from school, I prepare breakfast lunch and dinner, I do homework with them, and I spend quality time with my husband. While I understand the importance of what I am doing, I know that I can be doing more with my time, but the thing is I don’t know what it is. I have meditated on it, and I can not seem to find an answer. This leaves me very confused and frustrated at times.

The second problem is that I am slowly losing relationships with friends and family. The pattern at which it happens seems to be common. As I mentioned before, I have always tried to apply logic, reasoning and compassion in the face of any adversity, however, I am not getting results with this, I am only losing relationships. One example is when my best friend and I broke up because of our teenage daughters’ disputes at school. When my friend called me to complain about my daughters behavior towards her daughter at school, in fairness to both girls (and without ever being defensive towards my daughter), I went into the school to request monitoring and investigation into the problems, my friend stopped our lifelong relationship because of this.

The third problem is that I now lost my relationship with my teenage daughter. She is the daughter of a previous marriage, however she was never treated that way by my current husband and myself. My two younger children know her as their sister. Never once have they known her as a ‘half’ sister. She has all the privileges as they do. The only major difference is that she is 17 and they are 7 and 6. She just left my house to live with her biological father after a dispute we had over a break in to my home last weekend.

I have allowed her to have a casual relationship with a young man who lives in our neighbourhood.  I have been very strict with the extent at which the relationship was allowed to go and have been monitoring her behaviour in every possible way.

After my house was broken into, the young man became a suspect and my daughter chose to display loyalty to the young man (whom she has known for less than 8 months) over her family.

My decision then was to stop the relationship after careful consideration of all the factors and in protection of my daughter which I firmly believe is the result of motherly instinct, however this has resulted in her leaving my home, the last thing she said to me was that she hated me.

I understand that the three issues I mentioned does not seem to be related in anyway, but in my heart I believe that they are. Can you please give me your consideration?