Readings by the River

03/29/2026

Some days we just need to hear this!

03/22/2026

This is a lovely approach, too.

03/22/2026

In our polarized world, this might be the solution.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1E6bVTWmVq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

For the soul completely drained by trying to fix toxic drama, see how Buddha’s wisdom helps 🐘

You absolutely hate conflict. So when heavy drama erupts in your family, your friend group, or your workplace, your first instinct is to rush into the middle and fix it.

You try to mediate. You try to make everyone understand each other. You absorb the complaining, the passive-aggressive texts, and the endless venting. You think it is your moral duty to be the "peacemaker" and hold the group together.

But months go by, and absolutely nothing changes. The exact same people keep fighting over the exact same things. Now, your own chest feels tight. You are losing sleep over a war you didn't even start. You feel incredibly guilty at the thought of just walking away and letting them fight.

🛑 The Teaching: The Kosambi Monks and the Elephant

The Buddha witnessed how toxic group dynamics can destroy a person's peace. He lived through this exact scenario in the city of Kosambi.

A massive, bitter argument broke out between two groups of his own monks over a trivial, petty rule. The argument spiraled out of control. It became toxic, loud, and deeply divided. The monks completely lost their minds, choosing anger over peace.

The Buddha stepped into the middle and calmly asked them to stop fighting.
Do you know what they told him? They essentially said: "Lord, step back. Do not interfere. We want to fight."

Most of us in that situation would stay. We would yell louder, demand respect, and force them to make peace.
But what did the Buddha do? He did not argue. He did not defend his ego. He quietly packed his bowl, turned his back on the toxic monastery, and walked completely alone deep into the Parileyyaka forest.

There, he found a lone, majestic elephant who had also left its chaotic, noisy herd. The Buddha and the elephant lived together in the forest in absolute, beautiful, undisturbed silence. He let the monks sit in the mess they created.

⚖️ The Shift: Stop Being the Referee in a War Zone

Here is the fierce truth.
You cannot bring peace to people who are addicted to chaos.

When people are deeply committed to misunderstanding each other, your intervention does not fix them. It just drags you into the crossfire. You think that walking away means you are "giving up" on them or failing as a peacemaker.

But the Buddha knew a profound secret: Sometimes, removing your presence is the most powerful boundary you can set. You do not have to set yourself on fire just to act as a barrier between two people who want to throw matches at each other.

🔥 The Instruction: How to Walk into the Forest

So, how do you step out of the toxic drama without feeling immense guilt?

1. Drop the Referee Whistle: You are not the designated manager of other adults' emotions. If two people in your family or friend group want to engage in toxic behavior, let them. Refuse to be the middleman. When they try to vent to you about the other person, politely but firmly say, "I love you both, but I am no longer getting involved in this."

2. The Power of the Quiet Exit: You do not need to announce your departure. You do not need to deliver a dramatic, angry speech about how toxic they are. Just quietly stop responding to the chaotic group chats. Stop picking up the phone when you know it's just going to be an hour of complaining.

3. Seek the Elephant's Peace: The human ego fears being alone, which is why we stay in bad environments. But the Buddha proved that a quiet, lonely peace in the forest is infinitely better than staying in a crowded room full of poison. Protect your energy fiercely.

The Lesson: Peace is not the magical ability to stop other people from fighting. True peace is the absolute refusal to participate in their chaos.

Words by: ✍🏻 Sahan Vishvajith
Image Courtesy: 📸 Walk for Peace

03/16/2026

This is a beautiful explanation of ego and how it evolves in ascension.

͐͐͐͐►Questioner: "How do we transcend the ego?" ►Channeler: Kerry Edwards ►Received Date: March 12th 2026 ►Transcript: https://gflstation.com/transitioning-o...

03/07/2026

Wisdom does not always come from books.
Sometimes it comes from years of quietly observing life.

An old monk once shared these simple truths:

1️⃣ You don’t lose people when they walk away.
You lose them when you keep pretending
They are still worth holding onto.

Sometimes the hardest part is not losing someone —
It is accepting that they were never meant
To stay in your life forever.

2️⃣ Most people are not truly busy.
They simply don’t care enough to make time.

People make time for what matters to them.
Attention reveals priority.

3️⃣ The older you get, the more you understand
That silence protects you better than anger.

Anger burns energy.
Silence protects peace.

Not every opinion needs a response.
Not every misunderstanding needs correction.

4️⃣ Trust is like glass.
Once broken, it can sometimes be repaired —
But it will never return to its original form.

Respect for trust is the foundation of every meaningful relationship.

5️⃣ If someone wants to leave, let them.
Staying where you are not respected
Is the slowest way to die inside.

In Buddhist wisdom, attachment to what does not honor us
Creates unnecessary suffering.

Sometimes letting go
Is the beginning of freedom.

🌿 Accept what leaves.
🌿 Value what stays.
🌿 Protect your peace.

Because life becomes lighter
When you stop holding onto
What no longer belongs in your path.

🪷 Some lessons hurt.
🪷 But they also make us wiser.

03/04/2026

This is just wonderful! Women, in particular, are taught to “take care” of everyone. But what we all need to do is help others learn to take care of themselves - sometimes by letting them stumble

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GCkKb9Rrm/?mibextid=wwXIfr

For the soul completely exhausted from trying to fix everyone else, see Buddha’s fierce wisdom 🎋

You are the "fixer."
When your friends have drama, you step in to solve it. When your family is struggling, you carry their emotional weight. You run yourself ragged trying to keep everyone around you happy, comfortable, and at peace.

Society calls you "selfless." Modern culture praises you for being such a giving person.
But behind closed doors, you are totally drained. You feel empty. You are starting to realize that while you are busy managing everyone else's life, your own foundation is crumbling. You want to step back, but that soft, guilty voice whispers: “If I don't help them, who will? Setting a boundary means I am selfish.”

🛑 The Teaching: The Bamboo Pole

The Buddha recognized this exact trap. He knew that well-meaning people often destroy their own peace by over-extending themselves. He addressed it in the Sedaka Sutta using a brilliant, simple story.

There was a master acrobat and his young assistant who performed a delicate, difficult balancing act on top of a tall bamboo pole.
Before the performance, the master told the young girl: "You look out for my balance, and I will look out for your balance. That way, we will protect each other and come down safely."

But the wise young assistant shook her head and replied:
"No, master. That will not work. You must look after your own balance, and I must look after my own balance. By protecting ourselves and staying centered, we protect each other."

The Buddha praised the young girl. He declared that she was absolutely right.

⚖️ The Shift: The Illusion of "Fixing"

Here is the fierce truth.
You cannot keep someone else steady if you are constantly falling over.

We confuse "enabling" with "helping." When you constantly step in to fix other people's mistakes, manage their emotions, or absorb their stress, you are not actually saving them. You are just robbing them of the chance to learn how to balance their own lives.

"Toxic selflessness" is when you drain your own cup completely dry to water someone else's garden, and then wonder why you are withering away. The Buddha taught that protecting your own mental and spiritual foundation is not selfish—it is the fundamental requirement for being truly useful to the world.

🔥 The Instruction: How to Step Back

So, how do you stop carrying the weight of the world without feeling guilty?

1. Watch Your Own Balance: Stop staring at everyone else's feet. Bring your focus back to your own life. Are you sleeping? Are you at peace? If your own foundation is shaky, you have no business trying to direct someone else's path. Focus on your own center first.

2. Let People Carry Their Own Weight: It is deeply uncomfortable to watch someone you care about struggle. But struggle is how we grow. Offer them advice if they ask, offer them love, but absolutely refuse to carry their backpack for them.

3. Boundaries are an Act of Love: Saying "No" does not mean you lack compassion. It means you have the wisdom to know your limits. A sturdy fence makes a good neighbor.

The Lesson: You cannot pour from an empty cup. Guard your own energy. By maintaining your own balance, you give others the quiet permission to finally find theirs.

You never know which friend is scrolling right now, secretly exhausted and burning out because they are carrying everyone else's problems. Don't let them collapse under the weight. Click Share. Be their permission to rest today. 🎋

Words by: ✍🏻 Sahan Vishvajith

Did you need to hear this today? Follow The Mindful Walk for more daily wisdom. 🙏

03/01/2026

This is not just about religion, although some use that as an excuse. It’s about how you treat others, including animals and all of nature.

A Hard Spiritual Truth...

If your spirituality teaches you to hate,
it is not awakening you —
it is hardening you.

The Buddha never taught superiority.
He taught liberation.

And liberation begins the moment
you stop dividing the world
into “worthy” and “unworthy,”
“us” and “them,”
“pure” and “impure.”

Hatred has never been holy.
Cruelty has never been sacred.
And dehumanizing another being
has never been an act of truth.

Because in Buddhist understanding,
every being you meet
is another mind seeking happiness
and trying to escape suffering —
just like you.

🌿 When a belief makes you feel above others,
it is feeding ego, not wisdom.

🌿 When a doctrine asks you to exclude,
it is strengthening fear, not compassion.

🌿 When faith is used to justify harm,
it has already drifted from awakening
into identity.

True Dharma humbles you.
It softens you.
It widens your circle of care
until no being stands outside it.

You know your path is wholesome
not by how fiercely you defend it,
but by how gently you walk within it.

So pause and ask honestly:

Does my belief make me more kind?
More patient?
More compassionate?

Or merely more certain
that I am right?

Because any path that leads away from compassion
is not leading toward freedom —
no matter what name it carries.

And in the end,
awakening is not proven
by what you believe.

It is revealed
by how you treat others.

If this speaks to you, reflect quietly today:
Does my spirituality expand my heart — or my ego? 🪷

12/06/2025

I find this scale very interesting, and I can see deficits and excesses in myself. What do you think? Is it a good tool for reflection?

👀COMMENTARY: In times when virtue is obscure, here is a 2007 illustration by graphic designer Jim Lancet depicting Aristotle’s ethical framework from the Nicomachean Ethics called the "Golden Mean." The infographic below depicts the “golden mean” principle, where virtue is the balanced midpoint between two extremes of vice—one of deficiency and one of excess.

The virtuous action or character trait, relative to the individual and the circumstance, is the appropriate "balanced midpoint" that fits a specific situation, determined by practical reason and applies primarily to emotions and actions.

📜Mario Lotmore, Lynnwood Times

09/10/2025

I will be reading tarot at Cork Wine Bar with some other readers. Please mark your calendars for Friday, Sept. 19th. From 6-9 p.m.

09/05/2025

THIS! It is life in a nutshell!

🍀🙌🪐 11 Unavoidable Rules of Life:
Joy comes from being present.
Guidance comes from intuition.
Peace comes from wanting less.
Fulfillment comes from service.
Abundance comes from giving.
Growth comes from good habits.
Happiness comes from letting go.
Connection comes from mutual care.
Alignment comes from slowing down.
Healing comes from feeling your truth.
Wisdom comes from embracing change.

09/05/2025

I’ve not heard this before, but I just love it!

07/27/2025

I love this message! Stop caring about other people’s judgments. Do what makes you happy. Be who you truly are. Forget the critics. Their unhappiness is their problem to resolve.