• Home
  • About the Author
  • Reading List
  • Photos
  • Guestbook
The Alternative Alchemist

Roll Your Own

1/11/2010

2 Comments

 

Picture
There is a passage in the Buddhism section of “The Worlds Religions” that attributes the following to the Buddha.
  • “Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”
And I was on the path to doing just that, by writing the Book of Aedan, when I read that passage. It made me feel good that I was doing something that Buddha himself espoused. It made me look at my endeavor from a different perspective, a bigger perspective. 

The Buddha is also to have said:  
  • “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
This I had read before, and I wholeheartedly agree with it, and have for a long time. It was, in part, what prompted me to write down my own code in the Book of Aedan.   If you are anything like me, and have spent years wondering any of the following: What does it all mean? Where are we going? Why are we here? What if this is all there is? How can I live the best life possible? How can I be a better person? Then this might resonate with you too. 

Rolling Your Own – Step 1.

My first step was to realize that I believed a little bit from multiple disciplines, and a little bit I had come up with on my own. Then, I just wrote them down as I thought of them. This was actually quite easy. I wrote down whatever came to mind no matter where I was. 

I used my emotions as a guide. For example, if I witnessed or heard or did something that bothered me, I wrote it down. Then I would ask myself questions about it. Why did it bother me? Did it violate my values or principles? How strongly did I feel about it? I did the same for situations that made me smile, laugh, cry, or feel happy or sad etc. Again I asked myself questions. Why does that make you feel that way?  If it was something I said or did I would ask about my motivation. The more questions I asked the clearer I became as to why something was important to me. Also, for me, it was crucial that I be painfully honest with myself regardless of whether the answers ran contrary to cultural conditioning or familial beliefs. This part was NOT so easy.    

To be continued…………

2 Comments
Lansing Search Engine Optimization link
10/4/2012 02:58:51 pm

I love this blog layout, which template is it?

Reply
Webdesigncheshireuk link
10/15/2013 11:44:40 pm

hey! feeling good after reading this bog. Great thought and initiative I must say. Best of luck to you and the whole world.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    I have had a lifelong interest in philosophy and spirituality. Finding only bits and pieces of in various texts that resonated with me, I decided to create my own code. I called it the Book of Aedan, and it was the genesis of this blog.

    "Caminante, no hay camino, Se hace camino al andar.

    Traveler, there is no path, Paths are made by walking."

    Antonio Machado (as quoted by Annie Proulx.)

     Subscribe to The Alternative Alchemist





    View Aedan James's profile on LinkedIn Follow aedanj on Twitter

    Categories

    All
    How To
    Humor
    Introduction
    Philosophy
    Sci-Fi
    Spirituality

    Archives

    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009


    Reading List

    Spiritual Blogs

    Warrior of the Light

    Buddhism Now

    The Dalai Grandma

    After the Laundry

    Cultural Blogs

    A Hammer in the Skull of Hypocrisy

    Wine Blogs

    Vinoculture - Blogging from the Winosphere

    Oe-no-phile



Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.