Observing the Thoughts That Cross Your Mind: An Invitation to Reflect and Face Your Own Life

You know those thoughts that are always crossing your mind, don’t you?
From the moment people wake up in the morning until they fall asleep at night, countless thoughts rise and fade, rise and fade in their minds.
A word someone around you said keeps bothering you, you feel anxious about tomorrow, or you remember a past mistake and your heart stirs.

You see, unless human beings learn to observe such thoughts with a bird’s-eye view, they will never get out of the whirlpool of emotions, no matter how much time passes.
As long as you are swallowed up by the whirlpool of thoughts, you cannot calmly look at the fact that you are angry, or that you are sad.
That is simply a state of living while being carried along by the waves of thought.

Instead, you evolve your consciousness into a state where you can calmly observe what you are thinking from moment to moment, the thoughts that cross your mind.
You look at a thought that has welled up from a little distance and say, “Ah, so that is what I just thought.”
That alone makes your heart a great deal quieter.

For that, as I always say, you need to know clearly what life truly is.
Who am I?
What on earth is life?
Where does life come from, and where does it go?
What do people live for?

The answers may not come right away.
But there is meaning in continuing to ask the questions.

It is truly a waste to grow old without ever taking time to contemplate the essence of life.
Being driven by daily busyness and ending your whole life dealing only with what is in front of you is like walking right past a mountain of treasure.

Which would you rather be: a person whose depths are easily seen, or a person with a fathomless charm?
A person who speaks words rich in meaning.
A person from whom you receive something precious every time you meet.
A person others want to know more about.
People like that have all been people who have taken time to face their own life.
Their words are not surface words but words that well up from deep within, and that is why they touch people’s hearts.

To become such a person, and this brings us back to where we started, you need to have time for reflection, time to look at yourself.
Yet some people say that this is difficult.
Even when they sit still and try to look into their own heart, only stray thoughts come up, and it becomes all the more painful.
For such people, the time when the flower of their life blooms is still a little way off.
But there is no need to hurry.
Just as plants have a season when their flowers bloom in full glory, each person has their own time.

So until that time comes, cultivate a consciousness that can be grateful for anything.
And at the same time, practice making your breathing slow and unhurried all the while you are awake.
A grateful heart clears your consciousness, and deep breathing calms your heart.
These two will eventually become the foundation for deeper reflection.

If you just keep living each day like that, with your feet on the ground, steadily, then when the time comes, a moment will surely arrive when you long to connect with your true self so much that you cannot help it.
That is the moment.
That is when the flower of your life opens.

Look forward to that day, and give your all to what you can do in this very moment.
Then the time will surely come when you connect directly with the very core of life and understand the essence of everything in this world.