Coach Elliott

The state of Bodhisattva is when we achieve the Buddha state in our life.  Many of us achieve this state when we become parents and care more about our child than ourselves.  Others experience this state of life when we dedicate our career to helping others and feel an empathy that is pure towards others who might be ill.  Nurses or teachers are sometimes professions that attract people who are selfless.  They enjoy helping others and they put others needs first.  This type of thing is in their DNA.  It is natural for some to be in that state of Bodhisattva.  Mothers are often times like the Buddha when they breast feed their child and their baby become more important than anything or anyone else, including themselves. In Buddhism helping others is the best path to becoming like the Buddha.  They believe that helping others is a big part of becoming your highest self and that it is the only path to assuring that you too will be lifted.  The...

The next state of life is called Absorption: Realisation.  This state is accented by Absorption is a lot like the state of learning but absorption is when we go within to get insight rather than to look outside like I have when I got involved with things like meditation.  There is of course nothing wrong with doing this and in some form it is also absorption.  Meditation and chanting is about looking inside and self-work. My learning has required me to reflect but my absorption has made it my responsibility to become the Buddhist that I am made to be, step by step and by being honest with myself.  As I have been reminded repeatedly I go back to hell and anger.  I just don't stay there anymore.  In essence what is the point of my staying in hell?  Why do I need to be angry and what in Goddess' name will it solve: Nothing!  That's why I have decided to place my energy into absorbing what is good for me like love, joy and laughter. We go beyond l...

As I continue my theme of the ten states of life I go inside and understand that this is something more profound and deep than I would have thought.  I realize that these states of life are very real for me and that they make complete sense.  Being aware of the 10 states of life: Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Tranquility and Rapture. Now I have come to what Buddhism refers to as the noble paths.  I guess one could look at the states of life as paths as well and this is the first one. Learning and self reflection: This state is defined by the fact that we have to make an effort.  When one thinks of it learning does take effort vs hell where we often times fall into.  This state asks us to do some reflecting and what I get from this state is that self-reflection will result in some self-work.  If we don't reflect on our lives then we simply roam about in life in a somewhat aimless way which in my own life has not worked.  It is very different to l...

As I continue to dig deeper into Buddhism and the ten stages of life I uncover some logical life lessons, like the ten states of life.  The sixth state of life is called "Rapture".  Rapture is defined by overwhelming joy.  It is a state of euphoria that is likened to heaven or a heaven like state.  It is connected the pleasure center of our life and can be the kind of joy one experiences from sex or from getting something we want like a material possession.  The thing about rapture is that it is short lived and in the Buddhist belief once we get what we want we revert back to hell which is the first stage of life.  We apparently tend to go back to hell, animality or anger for some inexplicable reason.  I believe it is because we are more accustomed to being in hell and in anger so when we experience overwhelming joy we don't know how to keep it or maintain it so to speak.  We live in a society where we get satisfaction and once we get it we don't ...

The fifth state of life according to Buddhism is "Tranquility".  In this state of life we are obviously at peace and we feel whole and calm.  We are in a state of being that is joyful and that has a beautiful feeling.  It is hard to stay tranquil when all around us we are experiencing some form of havoc and sometimes even worse.  My contention is that we can create tranquility by surrounding ourselves with good and kind people.  I also believe we can be tranquil by asking for it, meditating about it and understanding that our life does not have to be filled with havoc just because others are in a state of confusion or as I often put it, in a state of darkness.  This state of tranquility is what I strive for daily and what I struggle with often.  I am not fooled by people who are smiling because I feel a contrary energy. I see it because I see it in myself. Recently I visited friends who were staying in a beautiful home in the Hampton's NY.  The ...

All this time I have been referring to the 10 stages of life when in fact it is the ten states of life like the ten states of being.  As Gilda Radner would say " never mind".  A state of being is a bit different from stages in your life although rather similar.  So I stand corrected and wanted to make that distinction. The fourth state explains that the first three states as well as the fourth (anger) are states of evil or paths of evil more specifically.  In Buddhism hell, hunger, animality and anger are all what they refer to as "paths to evil" which makes perfect sense to me.  Each of these states lived out can cause a lot of anguish, anxiety and fear when one thinks about it.  It is these four states of evil that often times get us into a hell of a mess.  No pun intended. Hell is where we are when we are in our darkest place and when we are negative and lack the courage and faith to walk forward and look up.  Hell is when we see the glass ...

The third stage of life in accordance to Buddhism is Animality or "a life of instinct".  This stage of life is accentuated by a desire to survive  much like animals do in a jungle.  The weaker animals are often times conquered or killed by the stronger species of animals.  In the jungle that is natural but in the real world it does not have quite the same meaning nor is it always necessary.  It may be true that there are people with more money who are full of their power and importance but literally killing someone else just because you can is not acceptable.  In Buddhist beliefs we are here to help one another and lift each other up not conquer and beat each other at all things and to be so competitive. I am almost at the end of over 11 years of a relationship that I am yearning to end legally.  It is the part that is left in theory because in reality I have been divorced to this person for many years.  In fact every year was a challenge for m...