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Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast.  Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, 

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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 way we do one thing is the way we do all things.

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So if we go through life habitually hoarding old birthday cards and souvenirs,

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trinkets, bank statements and receipts, clothes, broken appliances, 

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and old magazines, then we also go through life hanging onto pride, anger, 

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outdated opinions, and fears.

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And I'm not necessarily suggesting that there is a problem 

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with having those old yearbooks in the attic or extra cups in your cupboard,

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and bottles of shampoo around the shower or towels in  the linen closet,

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it's that there is an incredible benefit of letting that stuff go, 

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because then you're exercising the muscle of letting go,

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instead of the clenching and the clinging. I saw a quote online the other day

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that said, "Everything I've ever let go of had claw marks in it."

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And that's because we tend to dig in so deep, you know, to just cling to it,

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and there's such an incredible freedom from loosening our grip on it and moving on.

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It helps us move on from resentments and anger, and jealousy, and everything else,

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because it's that same muscle. And if we exercise it with the little things,

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then it becomes much easier later on. 

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If we're  so attached to tangible things, imagine how difficult 

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letting go of opinions must be,  let alone opening our minds to new ideas, perspectives,

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possibilities, and futures. Our beliefs inevitably solidify to be the only truth

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 and reality that we know. And the problem with that is that it puts a greater distance

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 between us and anyone whose beliefs are different from our own, 

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And this distance not only segregates us, but it feeds our pride. 

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All of this grasping, by the way, it stems from fear. Why are we so terrified of change,

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strangers, the new, or the unknown? Has the world not continually shown us beauty,

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sincerity, and love, through every generation?

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Are we so focused on the darkness that we no longer see or even remember the light?

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This is like The NeverEnding Story, if you remember it, 

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wherein the minute people stop believing in a reality, it ceases to exist. 

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Love is real, people! And it's all around us. 

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It vibrates beneath every act of kindness, service, art, and family.

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And yes, fear is also very real. It permeates every doubt, despair, hesitation, 

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hatred, jealousy, anger, pride, and deceit.

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So habitually contemplate whether your thoughts stem from love or from fear.

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If your thoughts originate in love, then follow them. But if they originate from 

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a place of fear, then dig deep to find the root of your fear.

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Only then will you be able to finally let go of it  so that fear no longer limits your possibilities.

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There is nothing to complain about, there is no reason to be afraid, and everything

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is possible if we live FOR one another.

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As far as I'm concerned,  anything not meant to benefit others

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 is simply not worth undertaking. As Shantideva put it,

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"All the happiness in the world stems from wanting others to be happy,

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"and all the suffering in the world stems from wanting the self to be happy."

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And that's because if we are ego-driven, then we are overlooking so many opportunities

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to be of-service, which is where true joy lies.

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And if we are ego-driven, then our point of view, our perspective,  is so narrow,

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 that we're eliminating opportunities to learn something new.

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And I, of course, take it to the extreme: if somebody tells me that the sky is green,

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and I believe it to be blue, I don't need to argue with them,

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I don't need to prove them wrong in order to feel right, or make myself somehow superior

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by making them inferior. I just walk away from that experience

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 knowing that to some people, the sky looks green. What's the harm in that?

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In fact, the blueness of my sky is not at all threatened or jeopardized 

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by how green someone else perceives it to be.

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 I actually walk away more open-minded, but with a better understanding of the world

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that my truth isn't the Ultimate Truth, it's just my truth. 

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And somebody else, somewhere else, because of their time, place, 

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and circumstance, has a different truth. And the moment that I can be okay with that,

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is the moment I free myself. And again, that's the same muscle of letting go.

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And that's the benefit of letting go of the tangible stuff, 

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because then, we are more ready to let go of this big stuff that really gets in the way.

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So take inventory of your life, not just your cupboards and closets,

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but in your heart and in your mind. Is there someone you can forgive? 

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Is there an old opinion or a  belief or a judgment that is too heavy on your heart

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and you would benefit from letting it go? 

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Start with the small stuff,  it'll be easier to let go of the big stuff.

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Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless

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and Buddhist Boot Camp. 

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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. 🙏