How Asking "WHY" Gave Me Inspiration

"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection." ~ Buddha

Some of my most favorite quotes have come from Buddha. And while I personally do not know much about him or the study of Buddhism, at the Ballard household we have many statues of this roly-poly guy throughout our home and gardens. A matter of fact, one of my most favorites (a Christmas gift from my brother & sister in-law) sits right above my laptop.

For a number of years now, my husband (the engineer) has been on a quest to study and live toward the lifestyle of a Buddhist. And while this was a venture he started entirely on his own, his studies have very gently crossed over into my beliefs. To be honest, I feel that this has strengthened our spiritual understandings and relationship to boot.

Up until the conversation that I am about to share with you shortly – the closest I have ever come to having any sort of an “experience” or “relationship” with Buddha, was a brief vision I had of him coming to me during a deep meditation about 3 years ago. I remember the experience vividly and it was that specific vision that brought me to purchase our very first Buddha.

WHY?

Well, I suppose I thought that that particular Buddha would remind me of the insight, peace, and clarity that I felt during my meditation.

WHY?

I guess I needed that reminder of looking at him to realize that I already had all of those aspects in my life…I just needed the confidence to trust they were there.

WHY?

Well…just because…that’s WHY!

And so that wonderful, yet frustrating word “WHY,” began the beginning of a very lengthy conversation my husband and I shared a few weeks ago that has given me such inspiration in my life.

The entire conversation started after a nightly meditation the two of us have been doing before settling into bed for the night. The concept was suggested by a dear friend who is a Shaman, and our meditation consists of us sitting quietly, holding hands, and trying to focus our energy and intentions on a common theme for 5 minutes.

Now I know what some of you might be thinking…5 minutes…that’s it? Well seeing as my husband hadn’t “formally” meditated up to this point, 5 minutes has been the perfect amount for us to both focus energy toward something great.

After we finished our mediation, I remember letting out this breath of strong energy, and he asked me what I was thinking about. I began to tell him that even though I felt uplifted from our meditation, I have been feeling flustered for a bit of time and couldn’t exactly put my finger on its source.

He then started to explain this process of how many Buddhist’s will deal with the nature of an issue by meditation and going through a series of “WHY’s” until one can reach the initial point of what caused the issue.

Well, needless to say after going through WHY, after WHY, after WHY – I discovered the root of that feeling and could not get over the sense of peace my heart and spirit felt from getting to that point. What I realized is that by asking myself WHY, I was finally able to digest and release the little issues, and eventually move toward getting to the root issue of the situation and acknowledging and/or healing it once and for all.

Who would have thought that one little word could create such amazing inspiration and peace inside one’s soul?

Since that conversation, I would say that almost daily I find myself going through a series of “WHY’s” during my meditations to get to the route of issues, to gain clarity or insight, or to even reassess my own direction and life purpose. That inspiration has helped me to not only find a renewed sense of affection and love for every part my being, but has reinforced my drive to live a peaceful and happy life.

We all have times when we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders, or even just times of having a moment of frustration. I encourage you to try taking 5 minutes to quiet yourself and ask WHY? Keep letting yourself answer truthfully (and without judgment) until you feel a shift within your own energy. Without a doubt in my mind I know that you will find more peace and inspiration throughout your entire being, than you ever could have imagined!

“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” ~ Buddha