The Cause of Stress
Hello, I’m your host Kristine and welcome to Woo Myung Cast, where you can listen to Great Teacher Woo Myung’s words of wisdom.
Today’s story is called The Cause of Stress.
The cause of stress is that you have strong pride. In one word, yourself, i.e. your ego, is strong. Yourself is strong, yourself must stand out the most, and every matter should work out as you wish; but it doesn’t work out like that. That’s why you get stress. Let’s compare ourselves with nature. Nature makes people comfortable. Nature does not hold onto its self or ego. Because nature does not want to stand out from others or wish things could work out as it wishes, it does not have stress. The stronger the pride, the stronger the ego, the more stress you get. Even with small matters, this type of person takes it negatively and gets stressful and annoyed. We usually search for the causes of stress from the surrounding environments. If people are asked the cause of stress, most of the time, they say it is from their work, from their spouse, from the bad economy… i.e., from their environment.
However, we should find the cause within our own mind. The cause of stress is actually because of oneself. It is because of one’s mind, because the self is strong and selfish. People are selfish and love only himself. We assume that it is our instinct but that’s wrong. Look at nature. Nature takes care of everything. Although humans do no good for nature, the nature does not blame anyone and continues to provide great benefits for humans and the world; it is because the nature does not have the self or ego. Trees convert carbon to oxygen and provide the fresh air. The sun burns itself to illuminate the world. They do not have the existence of the self and just play their role even without the thought that they do it for the world.
Humans have to see nature as their role model and eliminate their mind. They should deny themselves, that is false, and completely eliminate their ego and selfish mind. In turn, they have to return to the original mind of nature. We get stress because we are selfish. We shouldn’t blame other people or the conditions or circumstances we live for our stress. What we call the self is false and so it disappears if it is eliminated. Stress may lead to all kinds of illnesses; it can give you cancer and shorten your life. From now, we should find the cause from within ourselves.
Anyone can become the original mind of the Universe if they eliminate the self that is false. The Universe mind existed even before we were born and even after we die; this Universe mind always exists just as it is. If you completely eliminate yourself and your mind, that are false, and become one with the Universe mind, or the mind of nature, you can live peacefully all the time, just like nature, without getting stress,because you do not hold on to yourself at all. The human mind is like an aggressive tiger so it only cares for oneself, gets annoyed when things do not work out as he wishes, and blames others. Let’s let go of such habits and meet the right method of throwing away the mind. We should throw away the false mind of the self. Let’s keep in our mind that stress is your fault; it is never ever other’s fault. The right method of throwing away the mind of stress and the self has come out to the world. Through that method, let us all throw away the self that is selfish and greedy and live forever happily with the mind of Truth.
To conclude, let me introduce a writing of teacher Woo Myung, whom I sincerely admire and follow, the true teacher of this generation and a number one Amazon bestselling author.
From a no.1 Amazon Bestselling book, Stop Living in This Land, Go to the Everlasting World of Happiness, Live There Forever.
This is an excerpt called The Mind of Nature.
The Mind of Nature
The sky is so clear that it is a shade of blue
That appears almost black.
Flowing in the valley between the mountains,
The water in that stone-bedded stream is inexpressibly clear,
And in it, nameless fish dart here and there, playing.
The mountains are high,
And here and there unknown flowers are in bloom.
New leaves are budding on treetops,
And in the mountains, wild herbs are sprouting,
And many fresh shoots can be seen on the hardy kiwi trees.
Following the mountain valley,
I stumble on a patch of wild mountain vegetables.
As I forage for mountain herbs
Seeking out spots yet untouched by people,
The warm sun, the clear air and water
Refreshes my body, worn and stained by the city.
My body feels as light as a feather.
Taking after the surroundings, my whole body is so clean,
And thanks to all the hiking I did in my youth,
I do not tire despite walking up many hills.
I sit on a large rock near the water to eat my packed lunch.
There is a small waterfall close by
And on a slope near the cascade, a bird I cannot identify
Quietly chatters as it flits back and forth.
In spring, there are so many things in the mountain-side
And they are too beautiful to enjoy alone;
The day is warm,
And I begin to wonder how long it has been
Since someone last came by the places I have been.
As these high mountains and secluded valleys are hard to get to,
It made me curious as to whether anyone had ever come.
Climbing higher up the mountain,
I can see there are less leaves growing on the trees,
And a startled mountain deer runs away,
Casting back sidelong looks as it runs.
The animals and vegetation here, in the mountains,
Live generation after generation, just like people.
Without homes, with only their naked selves,
Facing the winds if the winds are blowing,
The rain if the rain is falling,
And the snow if it is snowing.
In the cold if it is cold,
And in the heat if it is hot,
They live without words.
Everything that exists disappears,
Comes again then again, disappears.
But only I know the principle
That the place that they have returned to is the origin,
And it is the origin from whence they came.
Trying to seek and attain something from this transient world,
So many people fight, kill and thieve;
In my eyes, they are truly foolish.
When one has become the mind of nature
And is without blame,
Without envy, jealousy or conceit,
Without judgment of right and wrong,
Discernment of this and that;
When all human minds have disappeared,
It is the mind of nature.
We hope you enjoyed today’s insightful poem by Great Teacher Woo Myung.
Thank you for listening and please join us next time on Woo Myung Cast where the more you listen to Great Teacher Woo Myung’s writings, the more you gain wisdom. This Woo Myung Cast is sponsored by Maum USA. If you would like to learn more about Teacher Woo Myung, please visit Woomyung.org.
