Random Stuff From My Old Work Desk I

I'm in the process of clearing my old work desk. Over the past 7 years I really nested in that tight little corner.

I'm taking pictures of the desk as I'm clearing it bit by bit. If anyone is interested in following the visual archive of my packing process, here's my Flickr photostream.

Among the items on my desk is a simple little note that I've kept in plain view for the past few years. It is an extract from the Dhammapada. I kept it there to remind myself of one of the most important lessons I have learned. Everyday remains relevant to this day, because it is a lesson I need to relearn every single day.

As it goes in the Dhammapada, "All that we are arises with our thoughts./With our thoughts we make the world."

We are owners of our karma. For me, this revelation was liberating - as we maketh the world with our thoughts, so can we mend it. Suddenly, change is possible. It all begins with awareness. Love is a choice. Hate is a choice. Forgiveness is a choice.

"I can't stand them!" is a delusion. So is: "I can't forgive her."

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We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind

And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakeable.

…

In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.

You too shall pass away.
Knowing this, how can you quarrel?

Sometimes, when I talk to my friends about this idea of the karma of change, I get the looks of skepticism. I get similar reactions when I talk about what yoga means to me.

"You sound like a self-help book," someone once said to me.

"I know," I would reply. "Who would have thought?"