Might This Be The Way to Enlightenment?

Today's Quote: "In his book 'Going on Being', the Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein writes about the tremendous importance of recognizing this inner well-being, and he illustrates it by telling the story of the Buddha. Following the teachings that were available to him at the time, the Buddha-to-be had been doing such intense practices that he was basically starving himself to death. His austerity was so severe that when he went to scratch himself, his skin would come off, and when he went to the bathroom, he would fall over and not be able to get up for long periods of time. Feeling that he was close to death, he thought, I can’t do any harder practice, and yet I haven’t found what I’m looking for. "Could there be another way to enlightenment?" Just at that moment he remembered a time when he was a boy, sitting in the cool shade of a tree as his father worked nearby. At that time, quite spontaneously, with no effort, he’d entered into a meditative state of deep happiness. As the memory of this warm, pleasant state flooded him, he wondered, "Might this be the way to enlightenment?" He investigated the nature of the happy feeling and saw that it didn’t come from outside of himself, nor did it come from the cessation of some painful experience. He recognized that this kind of pleasure was a quality of things as they are, that this feeling of well-being was natural, and innate to our true nature." - Krishna Das, " Chants of a Lifetime" Today's Bonus Quote: "The game isn’t to end up a good meditator; but to end up free. The game isn’t to end up a good Buddhist; it’s to end up Buddha. The game isn’t to end up a good Christian; but to end up Christ. The game isn’t to end up loving; it’s to end up being love." -Ram Dass Today's Practice: Make this innate well-being your weekend plans. Make It your entertainment. Make It your "to-do ". Make feeling It your everything, and you'll remember that since It IS everything, you need nothing. ACIM said, 'There is no will but God's', and God's will for you is this well-being. I Love you, and I'm with you in well-being, Nik nikki@curlynikki.com Support the show Beginning Aug 7, 2023 - 'GoOD Mornings with CurlyNikki' will host pre and post roll ads within the back catalogue.