Buddhism and Spiritual Principles

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted the book Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh at the library and grabbed it, plus about 6 more by the same author. It is such a beautiful, peaceful, encouraging, soothing, inspirational book. It is the kind of book that makes me want to pause every few paragraphs to savour the words, and re-read the pages over and over again until the wisdom of his words sinks right into my soul. It's like absorbing Truth with every turn of the page. The book is like a gift to the world, and I am so grateful that it leaped off the shelf and into my hands. I need to order it from Chapters so that I will have my own copy.

It reminds me a lot of the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I read that last year and had the same experience of wanting to pause after every paragraph to savour the ideas. In fact, both books are about exactly the same idea: Nhat Hanh calls it "mindfulness" and Tolle calls it being in the present moment. It's an idea that I have been working with for quite a while, and I had no idea that it had anything to do with Buddhism. It happens to be a great way to alleviate stress, to calm a baby, to teach children, to talk to your husband, to go for a walk, or even to wash the dishes. Most of us are terrible at it. At least I'm aware that I'm terrible at it, and I am "practicing" in order to improve.

I have skimmed through a few of Nhat Hanh's other books, and they are all so practical, yet gentle and forgiving. Even though he is a Buddhist monk, he is very familiar with how challenging it is to find time to meditate, how easy it is to be distracted by TV, books, magazines, computers, games, and other amusements, and how important it is to continue "practicing" mindfulness. I love the word "practicing." It makes it sounds like we are all just learning, and we all still need more practice in order to improve. It's not like you're either succeeding or failing, you're just practicing all the time.

I am trying to figure out where some of the spiritual principles I am learning come from, and how they all fit together. Some of them sound very familiar, and other ideas sound like they are diametrically opposed. For example, one of the ideas I'm working with right now is the concept of "non-attachment." The idea is that you do not become attached to any particular outcome. Whatever happens is perfectly okay, going exactly according to God's plan, the universe is unfolding exactly as it should, etc. I think this is a somewhat Buddhist idea, but don't quote me on that. Maybe it's also a Christian idea - don't they talk about the concept of "submitting" to God's will? Anyway, it's a fairly low-stress approach to living, because you don't need to tie yourself into knots trying to make your life perfect or trying to fix everything. Everything is already just right. All you need to do is practice mindfulness, experiencing the world one moment at a time, one miracle at a time.

On the other hand, I am familiar with the concept of "Law of Attraction," manifesting what you desire, creating your own reality, and so on. In self-help type of books, it involves a lot of visualizations, affirmations, positive thinking, goal setting, and praying. My own interpretation of the idea is that every single thought you have is a prayer, and the universe is constantly adjusting to make all of your prayers come true. So, if you are constantly thinking about how broke and stressed and tired and sick you are, guess what??? You will create more broke, stressed, tired, and sick. If, despite your miserable conditions, you are able to put your thoughts on what you're grateful for (loving husband, cute kids, a decent meal, clothes on your back, a good friend), then not only will you feel better, but positive things will flow into your life. I earnestly believe that this is exactly how the world works, mainly because I have experienced it myself over and over and over again.

I just can't quite figure out how "non-attachment" and "law of attraction" fit together. They seem like polar opposites. I believe the real trick is that you're supposed to do them both simultaneously. I'll let you know when I figure that out.