{"id":14558,"date":"2021-12-03T12:58:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T01:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oldsite.buddhistcouncil.org\/?p=14558"},"modified":"2021-12-03T13:22:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T02:22:57","slug":"inside-at-christmas-a-buddhist-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oldsite.buddhistcouncil.org\/old\/inside-at-christmas-a-buddhist-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Inside&#8217; at Christmas: a Buddhist perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"14558\" class=\"elementor elementor-14558\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ccb4b51 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ccb4b51\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0818492\" data-id=\"0818492\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b1ea35d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b1ea35d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.14.0 - 26-06-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><em>Buddhist prison chaplain Anna Carmody shares thoughts for inmates how to handle Christmas. This is wisdom for us all!<br \/><\/em><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>That\u2019s hard. Very hard. I guess it doesn\u2019t help to point out that many people dread and hate Christmas. It\u2019s also dangerous with unmanageable debt, drugs and alchohol, domestic violence, suicide \u2013 where does it end? In tears, rows and broken hearts.<\/p><p>If you can, don\u2019t think too much about what you are missing. It\u2019s useful to remember that whatever we do, say and think creates a cause that sits on our mental continuum waiting for the conditions to arise that will allow it to become a result. When we are thinking: Poor me. Everyone else is enjoying themselves. Look where I am. Who do I have to share Christmas with? This isn\u2019t Christmas! Where are my presents? My special treats?<\/p><p>We are like children. We hate not getting what we want. We want to be happy. Everyone wants to be happy.Everyone wants to be happy. And if we can remember this \u2013 if I can shift my focus from me and mine \u2013 my family, my friends, my Christmas cake \u2013 and think, how can I help? What can I do? Certainly reach out to your family if you can. If you cannot, if there is too much going on, at least wish them well. <em>May they be happy.<\/em><\/p><p>Be happy they are happy.<\/p><p>And the people you are sharing this Christmas with? If you can, remember that everyone is precious and worthy of our love.<\/p><p>And guess what? Looking out for others helps us. We are happier. The Buddhs taught that being satisfied, knowing that when we have what we need, enough is enough, is true wealth.<\/p><p><strong>Seasons greetings! May the many blessings of Christmas rain upon your good self.<\/strong><\/p><p>From <em>Mind Brakes: The seasonal newsletter for Buddhists on the Inside, December 2021, issue 2<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buddhist prison chaplain Anna Carmody shares thoughts for inmates how to handle Christmas. This is wisdom for us all! That\u2019s hard. Very hard. I guess it doesn\u2019t help to point out that many people dread and hate Christmas. It\u2019s also dangerous with unmanageable debt, drugs and alchohol, domestic violence, suicide \u2013 where does it end?&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.oldsite.buddhistcouncil.org\/old\/inside-at-christmas-a-buddhist-perspective\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#8216;Inside&#8217; at Christmas: a Buddhist perspective<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[824],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Inside&#039; at Christmas: a Buddhist perspective | Buddhist Council of NSW<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A chaplain&#039;s hints on how to handle our thoughts at Christmas especially for those in prison.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;Inside at Christmas&#039;: A Buddhist perspective\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A chaplain&#039;s hints on how to handle our thoughts at Christmas especially for those in prison.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.buddhistcouncil.org\/old\/inside-at-christmas-a-buddhist-perspective\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Buddhist Council of NSW\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BuddhistConnection\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-03T01:58:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-03T02:22:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.buddhistcouncil.org\/old\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/blurry-christmas-bulbs-1024x772.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"772\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Buddhist Council\u00d9\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Buddhist Council\u00d9\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buddhistcouncil.org\/old\/inside-at-christmas-a-buddhist-perspective\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buddhistcouncil.org\/old\/inside-at-christmas-a-buddhist-perspective\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Buddhist Council\u00d9\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buddhistcouncil.org\/old\/#\/schema\/person\/d4585f8f6b5dd87d6d00e00647341013\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;Inside&#8217; 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