Inner Freedom

From a human ego perspective, success is a transient goal based on changing priorities.  Once you feel successful, why doesn't that good feeling last? The view of good fortune may differ greatly because of the temporary nature of human satisfaction.  If you think health, friends and money contribute to your sense of personal success, this is a limited view of success.

In the same moment, the peaceful heart is only ever happy.  It knows aspiring to be perceived as a success by others is a state of mind while fully accepting yourself as you are without doing anything is a state of being.  Contentedness is feeling whatever you eat or do or do not do where you are is fine.

As you create a hierarchy of steps to success, you forget inner freedom, or peace of mind exists now.  Having a positive outlook shapes how you view your life conditions.  Tapping into peace of mind is knowing abundance and prosperity are already here.  When you seek, you forget what you are.

As you feel peace of mind, notice the ripple effect in other areas of your life. Notice what matters and what loses your attention.  Inner peace is a door to enduring happiness. Consider the implications of reducing attachment in your life.  Detach from what you cling to. Notice how judgement falls away.

If you accept whatever you get in life and make the most of it, this appears key to developing a sense of contentment and more consideration toward others.  At the same time, its vital to recognize the negative consequences of modern Western ways of lifestyle and economy. Development cannot continue forever.  Development without a conscience to protect the environment is like a disregard for long-term survival. 

The results of global development prove that money produced by richer countries isn't enough to solve the world's problems.  Money can't resolve problems that begin as a mindset without a conscience. This reinforces the importance of creating a sense of inner peace as a guide for wider success.  Where we behave in ways that threaten our survival in order to pursue success, then our view of success requires a drastic change from inside ourselves.  Our basic understanding of education needs a complete overhaul.  Priorities and goals grow from our wider awareness.

Self-fulfillment

Success is often linked to money and power. I don't think money is endowed with its own power capable of solving our problems.  I think true success is actually grounded in the strength of human relationships and the support at your disposal to enable you to realize dreams.  Consider whether your relationships could survive despite hardship or setbacks in other areas of your life.  The resilience of your close relationships are what build your inner strength.  When you recognize that success is defined by the power you exert to make others happy, to create value in their lives, then faith will sustain you and hope will also encourage you.  This is success.

The biggest risks

The biggest risks you'd be willing to take would likely depend on what you have at the start, what you already have that you would be willing to lose.  Your sense of responsibility where you are, as well as your priorities would influence whether you'd move, who you'd take with you and what your expectations would be.  Your motivations to take risks can grow from deep inside.

Consider a family from one country who decides to pull up stakes and immigrate to another one.  This family may do so with the hope of creating a better life for themselves.  If they leave behind what they know in order to embrace a new language, climate, cultural traditions, job, new people and government systems, then this would appear to be a huge risk.  At the same time, the potential benefits of preferred school, work, security and could incentives could be worth it.  Note how boats of refugees make the trips to Western countries to take their chances.

On Australia day (January 26, 2007), 96 individuals from 30 countries became Australian citizens in Melbourne.  Their symbolic participation in a national ceremony demonstrated they had adopted the burnt country as their new home.  Indiviuals feel it is a safe place to raise children.

New immigrants promise to work within and respect Australian laws.  They bring their own customs and belief systems that can enrich local culture.  They choose either to integrate or to create cultural communities within Australia.  When immigrants wish to live in a new country according to laws and customs of their former country, this can lead to internal conflicts. 

Self-growth

Why is it that you decide life appeals to you? Your attitude influences how you feel. Do you wish to do something different than you do now? Making different life choices may prompt new self- growth.  People who work in business sometimes say they would prefer to do work where they didn't deal with customers.  What new choices would you like to make to transform your life for the better? Remind yourself that positive change begins with you.

Extend consciousness

"The idea that there is a connection between this life and the events of both our previous existence and our future existence, follows from the Buddhist understanding of the natural law of cause and effect." -The Tibetan Book of the Dead (xv)

If we were to believe in some level of continuity of consciousness, this would extend our ability to understand our existence in relation to the universe.  We would also grasp a sense of real and prolonged consequences from our own actions, in terms of our own lives, the lives of people around us and the environment.  What we did yesterday would then be understood to impact today as well as tomorrow.  What we experienced in previous lives would then help to explain where we are now and how we think.  Although certain levels of sensory perception depend on the functioning physical body, the question that remains is what kind of underlying essence could affect awareness after death and how we could retain knowledge of past experiences?