It is the self who decides where to settle down into a place to call it home. However, dependending on the challenges we are facing in the surroundings, it could make sense to keep moving until such a settlement could be established. The same has happened in ancient civilisations, which have established self-defence strategies to avoid being totally dependent on diplomatic agreements to make progress, or even keep alive. Human evolution depends on our capability of self-defence, and consciousness combined with mind training are the tools we have at hand to defend the self against suffering. The moment we realise our nature is imprinted deep inside, it is the moment we understand human evolution could not be totally dependent on the physical location we choose to be settled down.


While walking through the path of a meaningful life, Buddha, the enlightened one, has moved from village to village while seeking different techniques utilised in the understanding of suffering, until he has chosen to settle down to finish understanding suffering on his own. After enlightenment, Buddha has established the four noble truths, which are supported by the needs of putting the self on the foundation of the three jewels of refuge: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. While walking the path of a meaningful life, the self uses one of these three jewels to support practising kind and compassionate attitudes, together with the enhancement and progress of personal, and unique, mind training activities. The more we practise, the more we get closer to the peace of mind we are seeking.


While performing our mind training, and facing challenges in the present moment, we have to remember Buddha is not a synonym of perfection but a state that represents a higher peace of mind. The person we call Buddha has already reached such a wonderful, and miraculous peaceful state.


I like to think about enhancement of the self as a practise of putting consciousness in the right place, performing unbiased understanding about what has been experienced in the present moment. Thus, we can divide the three jewels present in Buddhism as a threefold branch we use to walk our own path towards a meaningful life:


By remaining in the loneliness of our own perspective and relativity, we could rely only on the Buddha, keeping in mind the achievement of a peaceful state, no matter the circumstances;


While practising our mind training we are supported by the Dharma, and the wonderful laws of the universe defining our own love nature, which makes us remember who we are, and what our love nature is;


By walking our own path in the company of another, we are in control to decide who we can seek for refuge (the Sangha we are associated with), which remembers the self we are not perfect, and such imperfections are what we seek to diminish through the course of our own life.


The moment we realise there is no place safer than our own mind, it is the moment we understand we are defined from the inside out, and not the other way around.


Namaste 💓💓💓💓💓💓💓



Written by Jeferson Souza (thejefecomp).


Available also in a signed pdf version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NvLOZhvulO94L_d4gU04ELOE9qYyO9dM/view?usp=sharing

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