The Eight Winds - Using Resistance to Navigate Through Adversity

Whether you’re a Buddhist, a Christian, Jewish, or Jedi, or even if you don’t identify with any preconceived ideology, if you’re human, there’s one thing we all have in common, without exception. That is, none of us are able to go through life without eventually encountering obstacles and adversity. No matter how rich or poor, or how well-educated you may be, there’s no such thing as a perfect life, devoid of mishaps. Even Luke Skywalker had issues…

Regardless of how much we plan, or how hard we work on achieving something, at some point, without fail we’ll inevitably hit a roadblock that forces us to rethink our strategy. Just when we think we’ve got everything under control, we’re blindsided by a tornado of unforeseen dilemma. Sometimes a setback can throw us completely off course and discourage us from continuing on our journey, creating stress and frustration and subsequently, weakening our self confidence.

The strategy for dealing with adversity and remaining on the path is to first identify the root of the problem and then determine whether we’re allowing our ego to get in the way to distract us and sabotage our progress.

When we’re inadvertently tossed into the eye of a storm, most of us react impulsively, based on our deluded, egoic self. Unfortunately, the ego has a way of stirring up the waves and throwing us overboard, making things even more difficult. If we instead become more mindful and allow our enlightened consciousness to make decisions, we’ll eventually realize the issue isn’t really the problem itself, but rather, our reaction to it.

In this episode, I discuss the buddhist concept of the Eight Winds and how becoming aware of what they are and identifying how they affect your decisions can help you turn your sails more effectively and use resistance to navigate through the storms. After all, you were born to resist, not to be abused…

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