Thrive is a two hour movie that has been reviewed on Best Meditation Videos. The movie demonstrates that we all have what it takes to thrive rather than merely survive.
We All Have What It Takes To Thrive
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OibqdwHyZxk
This article presents an expansion of three of the themes presented in the movie:
- interbeing or interconnectedness
- non-violation or reverence for all life
- inner guidance or mindfulness practices
Interbeing or Interconnectedness
Interbeing is a word coined by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh to describe the interconnectedness of all things.
Interbeing is the insight that nothing can exist by itself alone.
Life on earth is not possible without the sun, the moon, liquid water, and so many countless other components.
We usually take things for granted and fail to see our interconnectedness with all things.
Government leaders and controlling bankers do not recognize this fact and proceed to act as if they were separate from all existence. Nothing they do affects their lifestyle, and they don’t acknowledge how they affect the lives of people, plants, and animals when they dictate their policies.
Here is how Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh put it in a talk given on July 20, 1998:
Emptiness means the absence of a separate existence, such as when you look at this flower, you can touch first of all the nature of impermanence–you don’t just talk about impermanence–you actually experience the nature of impermanence at first hand. And then you can go deeper, because the insight of impermanence helps you to see the nature of interbeing. It’s always changing, and what is in front of you is made of several elements. The flower has the sunshine in it. Sunshine is a component of flower. You do not call sunshine “flower,” but you discover that without sunshine a flower cannot be. So you discover that a flower cannot be by itself alone, it has to inter-be with non-flower elements, like sunshine, like clouds, like rain, like minerals, like earth, like the gardener.
Non-Violation or Reverence For All Life
The concept on non-violation, as described in the movie, is the idea that all life forms are to be free from having their rights to live violated.
This corresponds to the ideas of the First Mindfulness Training, which is respect and reverence for all life forms.
The first Mindfulness Training, respect for life, states:
Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to condone any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.
The protection of the rights and lives of people is the same thing as non-violation of their rights and lives.
Inner Guidance or Mindfulness Practices
Inner guidance is manifested by looking deeply into your patterns of behavior and recognizing when you are not being true to yourself.
One of the best ways of achieving this is to engage in meditation practices every day.
Mindfulness meditation is a great place to start.
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. There is no need to sit cross legged!
Take several deep breaths to begin.
Then, simply follow your breathing.
Do this for a minimum of 9 minutes every day.
You Have What It Takes To Thrive!
Now that you know the insights of interbeing and non-harming, and you have an idea about how to tap into your inner guidance, please take a few minutes to think about how you can thrive in this world, just as it is.
You might say to your self, “I experience love, joy, wonder, and wisdom in this life just as it is.”
Please share what else you could do for yourself to get out of survival mode and really thrive.
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