Hello my friend,
This is Kambiz Nafisi,
Meditation master and spiritual guide.
Today I want to speak to you about simplicity,
Because in my 28 years of working with more than 10,
000 people in 12 countries,
I've found that the most stable,
The happiest,
The most alive people that I've known have a simplicity about them.
I'm talking about simplicity of the mind so that they have peace of mind,
Simplicity in wealth and possessions so that their lives are not too cluttered,
Simplicity of the heart so that they don't cling on to spite,
Jealousy,
Hatred,
They just let it go,
Simplicity of love,
Meaning loving someone's soul,
And a simple job where work equals play.
Now let's talk about each one of these.
Let's first of all talk about the simple mind.
There are two people living in your mind.
One is a liar living in your mind,
That is the chattering mind.
Your chattering mind can have as many as 60,
000 thoughts per day.
These are random thoughts,
They have nothing to do with the present moment.
Most of your worries since kindergarten have not come out to be true,
So worry and anxiety are like termites that eat into the joy of the present moment.
The chattering mind is also a conditioned mind,
Meaning a lot of challenging,
Painful events that happened in the past may have left lasting impressions on you,
Something like a high school heartbreak or failing in academics or not being selected for the first string of the basketball team or going through dad's bankruptcy,
On and on and on.
I find that people become hyper-focused on certain past painful events and they don't let it pass,
So these painful events of the past,
They leave lasting impressions on the chattering mind,
And then memories of those events keep coming up and bothering you.
Now here's the key to having peace of mind.
Your chattering mind,
With all of those past impressions and memories,
That is not you.
You have a side that can observe the mind chatter,
You can observe worry and anxiety as you follow the breath,
And you realize that the one observing is a very calm,
Noble,
Peaceful character.
So if you want real peace of mind,
Make up your mind today and become mindful.
Mind your mind.
Follow your breath for as long as you're following the breath movement,
You will be able to watch what the chattering mind is saying.
You will be able to witness moods,
Anxiety,
Fear,
Loneliness,
For as long as you're following the breath movement,
You have become a peaceful,
Noble,
Wise observer who does not drown in passing thoughts and emotions.
That is the root of achieving peace of mind.
Here are a few techniques for achieving that witnessing state so that you'll never drown in negative passing thoughts and emotions.
The first one is meditation.
You'll be able to find my Kriya Yoga breathing meditation on the site.
Other than meditation,
You just follow at the bridge between your two nostrils,
You follow the motion of the breath,
Even for a few seconds.
For as long as you merge with the movement of the breath between your two nostrils,
You will bypass all of those negative,
Self-limiting beliefs,
Habits,
Emotions that were stored way back when into your subconscious mind.
The ones that keep arising and giving you worry,
Fear,
Anxiety,
Feelings of loneliness,
And so forth.
The third technique for achieving peace of mind is to mind the mind.
In other words,
If you make a vow to yourself that your real identity is going to be the peaceful observer of the mind,
So you place your attention on observation of the mind.
If you mind the mind,
The mind becomes very,
Very quiet and much more satisfied and serene.
You can also decide to live in the present moment.
If you go out to nature,
Hiking along the ocean,
Biking,
If you follow the breath and become very,
Very present,
In the present moment,
Your mind will become very peaceful.
Final thing about peace of mind,
The happier you are,
The quieter and happier the mind becomes.
In other words,
As your life becomes happy,
Your mind falls in love.
Go back to college,
High school years,
There was somebody with whom you fell in love.
Remember,
When you were really,
Really in love,
Your mind just became really receptive,
Very happy,
Very quiet,
And you were just into that other person.
Well,
Here's what happens in daily life.
Once we fix the other platforms,
The other dimensions of your life,
Once you become happier,
Then a happier life automatically quiets the mind.
Now,
Let's talk about the simple heart.
The simple heart is a heart that allows things to occur and then pass.
Everything comes into being and then it passes.
In other words,
You don't hold on to spite,
Revenge,
Heartbreak,
Anger,
And so forth.
I'm going to teach you three steps to allow everything to arise and then for you to let them go and release them from your heart.
Step one,
When you see a challenging situation coming up that is going to bother you,
In step one,
You just become mindful that something negative or challenging or scary is about to come up.
So,
Step one is mindfulness that this challenge is about to come up.
In step two,
You purposely relax every single muscle in your body as that challenge,
As that state of negativity has come up.
In stage three,
As you exhale,
Just whisper in your mind,
Let go,
Let it flow,
Let go,
Let it flow,
And you breathe out along with the exhalation,
Whatever negativity,
Fear,
Anxiety is collecting in your heart.
If you go through these three processes,
Every time you're facing something challenging,
Your heart will remain simple.
Now,
What is simple possession?
What is simple wealth?
Get rid of clutter in your life.
So,
I'm not a communist.
I really,
Really hope that you have the best of possessions that life has to offer.
But some people have 55 pairs of shoes.
There might be a mouse living in one of them and you haven't even seen that pair of shoes for three years.
You see,
That's too much.
It's clutter.
And clutter in your home,
Clutter on your work desk,
Clutter all over your life just wears out the nervous system.
So,
Think about some of these ideas when it comes to your possession.
Number one,
If you have good financial strength,
Why don't you rent instead of buying?
You want to go to vacation,
Rent the vacation home.
If you feel like hopping on a motorboat and cruising the ocean,
Why don't you rent the boat instead of becoming responsible for the maintenance,
For the fuel,
For the parking spot at the pier?
Nowadays,
We're living in a world where we have to rent the boat.
We're living in a world where all high-quality stuff can be rented.
Consider one other thing.
Consider the joy to dollar ratio just when you're about to buy something.
If you pay $25 for a very comfortable pair of slippers,
You might get six years of joy in terms of your spending.
Another example I can come up with,
Imagine spending $1,
500 on a puppy dog and for the next 15 years,
You get humongous joy from this dog.
That's a very high joy to dollar ratio.
So,
Every time you want to go out there and buy one other thing to clutter up your life,
Ask yourself two questions.
Number one,
Ask yourself,
Why do I want to buy this?
Is it to keep up with the Joneses?
Is it to cover up my insecurities?
Am I sitting there bored,
Feeling lonely,
So I go on some website and start shopping to relieve my boredom?
These are not good reasons to add more things to your life.
So,
Here's some approaches to decluttering your life and simplifying life at the dimension of your wealth and possessions.
Number one,
Consider renting really,
Really good things.
Number two,
Buy the highest,
Highest quality when you do buy.
That way you buy something really good that lasts for a long time.
Number three,
Examine the joy to dollar ratio.
If you spend relatively smaller number of dollars,
But you get a lot of joy from what you're buying,
Then you're a real winner.
Once every six months,
Once a year,
Go through your stuff and declutter.
Chances are you're not using some of this stuff.
The next part of our talk is about having a simple profession,
Simple job that suits you.
This is called Dharma in the Indian Sanskrit language.
Your Dharma,
The ideal optimal job,
Should be one that has the following qualities.
Number one,
When you're in that activity,
The passage of time disappears.
Number two,
That job or that activity brings out the best character in you.
You become kinder,
You deliver very good quality,
You are patient with customers,
You are focused.
Next,
Your optimal life direction,
Life direction,
The profession that suits you best,
Should be in line with your God-given inborn talents.
So,
If you are always talented as a teacher,
Then you should be teaching.
If you have great understanding of animals,
If you can almost talk to animals,
Then you should be dealing with a profession that involves animals.
If you absolutely adore and are enchanted by children,
You just understand kids,
Then you should be working with kids.
Your Dharma,
That passionate line of work,
Should invoke so much passion in you that you might even work for free in that profession for three months.
That passionate line of work bedazzles you.
You're constantly researching it.
Even if you find 15 minutes of free time,
You get on the internet and you research,
You uncover more facts,
You're constantly perfecting that craft.
You might ask yourself,
How can I possibly make a living?
How can I make money if making bread is my passion?
The answer is,
Everything in life depends on energy.
When you love something to that extent,
When a line of work is aligned with your God-given talents,
You're going to have unbounded energy.
When you have that kind of passion,
When you have endless energy,
There is no way that you are not going to become number one.
So the money just comes because you have unbounded energy,
Your work is your play.
Once you find that life direction,
Just keep showing up every day.
No matter what happens,
Because your work is your play,
You just keep showing up.
That is simplicity at your job.
What about simple love?
Find somebody whose soul you love.
If you fall in love with somebody's figure,
If you fall in love with somebody's fame and power and the amount of money they have in their pocketbook,
None of that is going to last.
It's great to have a very beautiful lover,
But we all know that with the passage of time,
The only thing that remains is the essence and the soul of that person.
Be patient.
Find somebody whose soul you love.
This is somebody that you just like being with.
This is somebody that nourishes you.
This is somebody that you care about so much that you want to put time aside for.
Who do you set time aside for?
Besides your lover,
Make a decision to invest in love.
Invest in solid family.
Invest in love.
Invest in a community.
The fact is,
Us humans need love in order to live.
Love is like drinking water for us.
So,
When you make a decision today to just invest in love,
Sooner or later,
You're going to be surrounded by love because you're investing in it.
That is my concept of simple love.
Once you find your community,
Your family,
The lover whose soul you adore,
Then just stay with it.
Go through life.
Go through life's ups and downs because you enjoy being with these people,
Because they are supporting you,
Because you're nourishing each other.
You just go through all of life's ups and downs together.
It's as simple as that.
That is simple love.
As complicated as life may seem today with all of its fears,
Struggles,
Wars,
Unstable economies,
Stick to the basics.
Simplicity and a simple life will make you happier and healthier.
God bless and Godspeed.
