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Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast.

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Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.

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Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

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The ancient teachings continue to positively impact my life, not because they are

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otherworldly or lost in mystery, but because they are just as applicable today as

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they were thousands of years ago.

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Mental challenges and insecurities, voices in our heads, and internal conflict are

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nothing new. That's why I'm as passionate now about sharing the messages as I was 

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when I started more than a decade ago.

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The problem is, I've noticed a recurring theme in our one-on-one sessions, as well as

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monthly group discussions, which is that people are tempted to give up their

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spiritual practice altogether because they claim it doesn't work. 

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Well, I'm here to remind you that rituals and practice are not the same thing.

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Meaning if you think spiritual practice is going to church every Sunday or meditating each

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morning, you are mistaking ritual for practice.

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I grew up surrounded by people who often participated in religious ceremonies.

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Many of them, including my own parents, told me they only follow the rituals for the sake of

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keeping old traditions alive, even though they don't believe in them.

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"It's our heritage," they said. Literally meaning they inherited certain customs from

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previous generations, and that's why they keep them going.

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If you think it's annoying to have a kid who always asks, "Why?" 

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imagine raising one who asked, "Aren't you being hypocritical?"

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Yup, that was me.

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Who am I kidding? That is still me!

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Three books encouraging people to be honest and authentic, to focus less on keeping

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up appearances, saving face, or identifying as a Christian or a Buddhist, and focus more on

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being Christ-like or Buddha-like.

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Heck just be you-like; anything but pretending to be one thing while doing another.

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Why? Because, as Gandhi said:

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Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are all in harmony.

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The alternative is dis-harmony.

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Spiritual practice is not what happens at church or on the meditation cushion,

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it's how you behave throughout the day.

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Even while living in monasteries, I've seen people going through the motions of chanting

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and bowing in the meditation hall. But, as soon as they stepped outside, 

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all that peacefulness stayed behind.

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I've spoken at churches and synagogues, spiritual retreats and seminars, 

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where people all over the world behave differently in attendance than they do in

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the parking lot or on their way home.

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I think it's because we are transactional in every other aspect of life,

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but spirituality doesn't work that way. What I mean is: meditating for 20 minutes

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in the morning doesn't "buy" you a peaceful afternoon, and three Hail Marys

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don't give you a free pass to be a jerk for the rest of the day.

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We don't meditate so we can pat ourselves on the back at the end of 20 minutes and say,

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"Good job, you sat still for 20 minutes!"

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We meditate so later in the day, when we feel an impulse to react 

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the way we felt an impulse to get up during meditation, we hold back The Hand of Doing,

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and we practice just... being.

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Once we are back at a peaceful state, we can respond peacefully, but not before.

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That's the practice.

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All the challenges in our lives are opportunities for spiritual practice, so don't

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dismiss your troubles or gloss over them as misfortunes, embrace each challenge as an

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opportunity to practice responding the way a calm and collected person would.

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When people tell me meditation isn't working, what I hear is: I paid for a gym membership

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and I bought the workout clothes, so why am I not losing weight?

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Are you upset about results you aren't getting from work you refuse to do?

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As my old teacher used to say, if you plan to meditate for 30 minutes on

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relieving suffering in the world, only meditate for 15 minutes instead, and then roll up

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your sleeves and spend the next 15 minutes actually relieving suffering in the world.

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That's a better use of your time.

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Is that harsh? Perhaps.

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Is it necessary? Absolutely.

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When people say they aren't happy, it's often because they haven't reached their goals in

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life, but they fail to see that having a goal in the first place is the reason for their anguish.

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Meaning they place their happiness at some distant point in the future rather than

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right where they are.

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We must let go of our attachment to winning and just be happy we get to play.

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Because, let's face it, if you can't be grateful and happy with what you have,

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you won't be grateful or happy for more.

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Don't get me wrong, 

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meditation CAN help us let go, but it is not a substitution for actually letting go.

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What I hear from people over and over again is: I know what I need to do,

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I'm just not doing it.

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So, here Is a trick I use to create the balance I want in my life:

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For every episode of a show I watch on Netflix, I read a chapter in a book.

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Go to my website and click on "Recommended Books," where you will find

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a long and diverse list of novels, memoirs, encouragement, and motivation.

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You will find the books are often more interesting than anything on TV.

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Just go to BuddhistBootCamp.com and click on "Recommended Books" to get started.

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But the important thing is to take the concepts beyond the books and actually

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implement them into your daily life.

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You can do this! 

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Infuse passion into every decision you make 

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so that whatever you do is for the Greater Good; your own and the world at large.

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The chanting and the prayers are fine, but don't confuse rituals for practice.

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What does spiritual practice look like?

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As the Dalai Lama said, "Be kind whenever possible; it's always possible."

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Namaste.

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Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Buddhist Boot Camp, Faithfully Religionless,

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and The Opposite of Namaste.

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For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com,

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where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project,

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watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.

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We hope you have enjoyed this episode 

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and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.

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Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏