Living A Good Life

I talk about what is really important in your life. The way you live your life is a key to being happy and being respected. Meditation can help you explore this and guide you to improve what is really valuable in life.

Transcript

A very big aloha.

I'm Reverend Cindy Palos and I wanted to talk today about the power of good intentions and just trying to be a very honest,

Good person on the principles that almost every religion have always practiced and any deep teachers have always given.

I'm speaking this right now after just a week after Pope Francis passed away and I think he exemplified something that was so powerful because there's so many doctrines in Catholicism.

We are aware of that,

Of course,

And at the same time I was pretty amazed watching the funeral services and the ceremonies and the people,

How many people did come out to honor his life with deep love and respect for him.

And I was also amazed as they talked to some of his closest associates who were working with the Pope that he was actually more involved and not really.

Surely this guy said there were anyone could have just preached what they have to say and do that process,

But he wanted to go deeper.

He wanted to talk and explore things such as life after death,

Things such as reaching the higher levels of consciousness,

And I was amazed.

It's like,

Wow,

I didn't know that about him and yet he couldn't really talk about that.

So what did he do?

Well,

He did what we find many great teachers do.

Now,

I've seen this in teacher after teacher after teacher.

You can go as deep and have as many levels of depth of teachings as you wish,

But it comes back down to understanding the basic principles of being a good person and of really practicing kindness and really practicing caring and really practicing some of the basics that all great religions were founded on originally.

And it is amazing how you can go full circle because knowing that there is,

Of course,

A deeper level in spirituality and in the teachings there,

And not just with the Pope.

We have seen this time after time with the great teachers that you come back to how you can try to put into effect,

Into your life,

The goodness,

The caring,

The ability to be loving.

And I was truly touched when I was watching a lot of the gatherings in honor of the Pope's passing,

How he reached such a level of people.

I don't want to say the word common people,

But the average person,

The people who sometimes get overlooked.

And that is an interesting thing of how it comes back down to how you care in your life,

What you do in your life that matters,

What is important in your life.

And I think that I've been in this field since I've been 13 years old,

And I've been seeing it grow and grow and grow and grow.

And a lot of people have gotten fascinated with the deeper levels,

Of course,

But it still happens that you have to take care of your quality,

Of the way you live,

And what you care for,

And what you do,

And how you act in your life.

That can make the huge difference.

Now,

I have known many gurus and teachers and people that have probably millions of followers.

And because I have a radio show,

And for years I'd interview them when they'd come into town or want some promotion on a new book or something.

But a lot of them really,

A lot of them could not,

In their personal life,

Live up to what they were talking about.

In fact,

Dare I say,

Almost most of them.

So I think that the Pope realized this,

And I think a lot of teachers realized this,

And in Buddhism as well,

That you have to really just be able to live with all the knowledge you get,

To live with all the different higher levels of everything that you get.

That can you really be a good and caring and kind person?

Now,

In a way,

It seems like,

Well,

Gosh,

I've put a whole lifetime into this.

I've gone to these other deeper levels,

And there's all that there.

Yes,

And there is,

You know,

There is.

But if you can't have the basic foundations,

The most important foundations of being a loving person,

Of being a kind person,

Of being a generous person,

Of living a good life,

That if you don't have that,

Then there's something really missing.

Because you can go as far as you wish to go,

And it gets fascinating,

Believe me.

I mean,

It's truly,

I think,

Addictive.

In fact,

In Buddhism,

There's some Zen Buddhism in particular,

There are some teachings that actually say that's one of the pitfalls,

Is to try to get fascinated with just how deeply involved in the higher levels of teachings are.

But meanwhile,

It comes back to,

Coming back to this kind of really truly living it,

Trying to do right,

To be right,

To care right,

To understand,

To be a good person.

And I do think this is why the Pope,

Pope Paul,

Became so very popular in just going back to those basics with people,

How important it was to live your life in that true essence of love,

The true essence of caring.

And yes,

You can have that greatest teachings in that light and know everything and achieve everything,

But I think all of the great teachers have found that it comes back to what you do and how you live your life.

So this is an interesting thing.

You can easily get carried away and,

Well,

I'm at this level of whatever,

I'm this or that,

I've got so many teachings,

I've got so much this,

This and that names.

And all of that doesn't mean anything unless you know how to put it to work in your life.

And I see the,

You know,

Gosh,

I see the amount of money and time people spend on trying to achieve some of these other levels in life,

But what's really important is,

Is are you a good person?

I've seen this in my own life.

My granddaughter wanting to,

You know,

Get to the deepest levels in her classes and achieving quite a bit,

You know,

Getting to the higher levels,

But her personal life,

Her individual life is not at that level at all.

And they don't teach you that in college.

They don't teach you that in these things.

The emphasis is put on the levels of what you can say you've done and achieved on a mental level and what you've acquired.

But just because you acquire all of that doesn't mean that you're a good person.

So I wish there was more emphasis that we could find out there.

I wish there was more that would bring you back to the basics to understand how important to go beyond the ego of the title,

To go beyond all of that,

And just to really see how well you live all those precepts and concepts in your life.

I know it sounds pretty basic,

And it sounds,

I mean,

To some people who've worked very hard on their titles,

Could be almost insulting,

But,

But truly you're going to find sooner or later,

You're going to be tested and brought back to that.

I mean,

Truly you can gain the world,

But if you don't gain the energy and the level and the love in your soul and the understanding of how to live with that,

It will every single time.

So many stories have been written about this.

What happens if you gain the world and lose your soul?

So your soul and what's really important inside and how and what you care most about is how you can share that goodness,

Those basics,

That love in your life to make you truly a good person while you're here.

Life goes by pretty quickly.

Doesn't seem like it when you're in the middle of it,

But trust me,

It goes by pretty quickly.

And you really have to come to that point of like,

What do you do if you look at your life afterwards and how you can come to terms with that.

I'm writing an autobiography right now and oh my gosh,

What a journey that is.

It's amazing.

I think almost everyone should go through that process of writing down what happened in various stages in their life.

It's so amazing how we will sometimes skip over or block out or close off the difficult parts that we've gone through,

The parts that really were deep and hurt,

You know.

It just can get shut down in things you've done.

But when you really look at that life of yours and that true reflection of what you've done and how you've lived,

I think everyone before they die goes through a life review and it's so valuable to be able to live your life and look at that life and have a life review and be content with how you've lived your life.

So it goes back to that amazingly important of how are you living your life and are you at peace with yourself and your life and the people you know and your family.

All of that's very important.

So I just wanted to take the time today to remind people that it comes really down to that.

So why not do a life review?

Why not take the time to look at your life and explore what's really important and what you could have done or what you have done that matters,

That people will might maybe remember you for,

That people will care about,

And what you did that you really care about,

That you really felt was worthwhile in your life.

It's a very valuable practice and a really great way to understand how you wish to live your life in the time that you have here.

So I just wanted to take the time today to reflect on that with you because it really truly can be life-changing and it can be extremely valuable.

It can be really important not how deep you've gone but how well you've used what you've gotten from that journey,

From that insight,

From that trip,

And how well you can put it to work in your life.

And I say this with my deepest awareness and kindness and understanding that you really are an amazing being that has unbelievable power to make changes in your life and you can go to like the highest levels you can but to bring that back to really incorporate that beautiful,

What you get,

That beautiful love and light that you get inside and put it to work for you in your life to make your life a life that matters.

And I bow in gratitude to you and I really thank you for taking the time to listen.

Sending you my deepest love and aloha.

Reviews

I work constantly on being kind & caring & living a good life. Thank you for this important reminder.