“Wah! Wah! Wah! You should have stayed home and baked some cookies, some chocolate cookies, with your mommy. Wah! Wah! Wah!” Baking cookies with your mommy and this wah, wah, wah, thing is what my drill sergeant used to sing to us when anyone of us new recruits was whining about something. This jingle may sound funny to you, and it does to me too now after all these years. But, as an eighteen-year-old new army recruit, I hated it!
Now that I’m older, and wiser, this little annoying chant from my former army drill sergeant has had more positive power and influence over my life than I would have liked to admit back when I was still a teen. My former Fort Benning drill sergeant really understood that the root of all unhappiness comes from wanting more and not being happy with what you have.
Buddha eventually understood this too. He walked away from all of his wealth, and one day while sitting under a tree wondering what to do, it hit him like Newton's apple! What if he could be happy with what he has, and not worry about what he doesn't have? Buddha had just been enlightened! He called this moment of bliss nirvana.
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In essence, nirvana is wanting what you have and not wanting what you don’t have. It's a state of total contentment and happiness. In this state of mind you are now enlightened!
So teens, go learn, lead, and lay the way to a better world for all of us. Don't be fooled by the images of Hollywood. Enlighten yourselves, not with material possessions, but by finding your state of nirvana like the great Buddha. In this state of mind, you’ll eliminate the root for all the unhappiness in your life. And once you're happy with yourself, you'll then be able to make other people happy too. What a great world this would be if more people chose the enlightened path... Now that you’re so happy and content... Thanks again in advance for all that you do, and all that you will do...
