“Practicing remaining calm and alert through the whole range of body and mind states that present themselves- all the while not doing anything to change experience but rather discovering that experience is BEARABLE.”

The above piece of Buddhist wisdom from Sylvia Boorstein is applicable to me whenever I itch due to new food in my diet. It helps me not to scratch to prevent scars on my skin. I have stopped buying expensive ointments that don’t work anyway. What have helped are vitamins A and C.

For me HEALTH is an inside job: what I take in orally and what I take n through my mind. My thoughts play a large role in maintaining the chemical balance in my body. “Emotional Agility” and posts by Dr Lipton have been helpful.

Because of my skin eruptions (Different from those I had last April) I was frightened. Sylvia Boorstein wrote: “Because we become frightened as soon as a difficult mind state blows into the mind, we start to fight it. We try to change it, or we try to get rid of it. The frenzy of the struggle makes the mind state even more unpleasant.”

“In traditional Buddhist texts, the five energies of LUST, AVERSION,TORPOR, RESTLESSNESS and DOUBT are called mind hindrances.”

“They are called hindrances of the mind because they obscure clear seeing…”
“They hinder the possibility of us reconnecting with the peaceful self that is our essential nature. They confuse us.”

Dr Lipton posted the Following: “Your body hears everything your mind says. Stay POSITIVE.”

Boorstein wrote: “The best solution would be the the unalarmed recognition of the condition/situation.

“Terrible as sometimes may be, I believe we can stand them.” (Sylvia Boorstein)
After going through weeks of skin irritations I was down with an awful sore throat. Home remedies took too long to take effect. Then after a morning in the mall where I had fun with young friends, I found I had lost my voice. My husband jokingly told me i talk too much!

“My mind has the capacity and the tendency to take essentially neutral data and spin it into worry.” (Sylvia Boorstein)

And what if I had Strep Throat? i would need to see a doctor and I simply don’t like going to doctors.

One more day of home remedies. No antibiotics. i kept quiet most of the time. But I had to make voiced calls on the landline. Funny. But the phone of my laundry service was not working.

My food delivery does not have a landline. so no problem. Eventually I texted my laundry service. i was able to connect and had my laundry.

“Our difficult mind state becomes a problem only if we believe they are going to go forever. then because they are uncomfortable energies they start to frighten us.”

“How the mind takes pain and then blows it up bigger than it really is.” (Boorstein)
I agree with Sylvia Boorstein: “I was so relieved to meet people who were willing to say life is difficult, often painful and who still looked fine about admitting it.” (Boorstein)

In my case, I find consolation and inspiration from my former students in Iloilo who are now caregivers of their husbands.

“Because we become frightened as soon as a difficult mind state blows into the mind, we start to fight it.” (Sylvia Boorstein)

“We try to change it, or we try to get rid of it. The frenzy of the struggl makes the mind state even more unpleasant.” (Boorstein)

Aversion is the mind state that has been troubling me lately. Every morning when I wake up I check the status of my elbows, my left elbow especially.

Once I see that I still have skin irritations I feel both anger and fear. Of course I fight against my anger and fear.

When i realize what has been happening I struggle to get rid of my aversion: me anger and fear. The struggle creates more negative responses and of course affects the chemical balance in my body.

It takes so much effort to remind myself of the NATURAL MIND as taught by Sylvia Boorstein.

“Here I am.”

“It is the response to the challenge to acknowledge the truth of the present moment, to recognize what needs to be done, and to be prepared to do it.” (Boorstein)

After many challenges this 2018, I now am convinced that Sylvia Boorstein’s interpretation of Buddhist teachings is the best guide for me.

“Regardless of our planning,it (life) is essentially unpredictable.”

“I was so relieved to meet people who were willing to say life is difficult often painful, and who still looked fine about admitting it.”

“Most important, they looked HAPPY.” (Boorstein)

Sylvia Boorstein: “No matter hos lofty our insight, we are fundamentally animals, conditioned by our experiences.”

I have resolved to build a new chemical structure for my body in the face of skin eruptions. But my body apparently still is conditioned by my long yeras of experiences with antibiotics.

Inspired by Dr Lipton on Facebook, i am following a vitamin and herbal protocol avoiding antibiotics not only because I can’t buy them without doctor’s prescription but because I feel I have had enough antibiotics since my childhood.

It has been more than a week of vitamins and herbs but my skin eruptions still appear. Pain and itchiness have both disappeared but one or two eruptions on my left elbow still emerge. Elbow? what a quaint site.

I just need to do more work on my mind with the help of Sylvia Boorstein.