Rumi on Anxiety

In times of distress everyone calls for help; in times of toothache, and earache, in doubt, fear and insecurity. In secret everyone calls out hoping that One will hear and grant their requests. Privately, secretly, people perform good deeds to ward off weakness and restore their strength, trusting that Life will accept their gifts and efforts. When they are restored to health and peace of mind, then suddenly their faith leaves, and the phantom of anxiety soon returns.

“O God,” they cry again, “we were in such a terrible state when, with all sincerity, we called upon you from our prison corner. For a hundred prayers you granted our requests. Now, freed of the prison, we are still as much in need. Bring us out of this world of darkness into that world of the prophets, the world of light. Why can freedom not come without prisons and pain? A thousand desires fill us, both good and deceitful, and the conflict of these phantoms brings a thousand tortures that leave us weary. Where is that sure faith that burns up all phantoms?”

God answers, “The seeker of pleasure in you is your enemy and My enemy. When your pleasure-seeking self is imprisoned, filled with trouble and pain, then your freedom arrives and gathers strength. A thousand times you have proved that freedom comes to you out of toothache, headache and fear. Why then are you chained to bodily comfort? Why are you always occupied with tending the flesh? Do not forget the end of that thread: unravel those bodily passions till you have attained your eternal passion, and find freedom from the prison of darkness.”

― Rumi, It Is What It Is: The Personal Discourses of Rumi (source)

Shadow and Light

Shadow and Light Source Both

How does a part of the world leave the world?
How does wetness leave water?

Dont’ try to put out fire by throwing on
more fire! Don’t wash a wound with blood.

No matter how fast you run, your shadow
keeps up. Sometimes it’s in front!

Only full overhead sun diminishes your shadow.
But that shadow has been serving you.

What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is
your candle. Your boundaries are your quest.

I could explain this, but it will break the
glass cover on your heart, and there’s no
fixing that.

You must have shadow and light source both.
Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.

When from that tree feathers and wings sprout on you,
be quieter than a dove. Don’t even open your mouth for
even a coo.

Rumi

Spirituality vs Religion

One of the main reason, I fell in love with Unity was that their main focus is on ‘organised’ spirituality’ without boundaries. Before arriving to Unity I experimented with different types of religious and spiritual movements but I found them either rigid and restrictive or disorganized and confusing to my taste.

I grew up without proper religious education because of the socialistic regime in Hungary at the time. Religious education was discouraged. The elders in my family who belong do different religious groups – Roman Catholic Faith and Lutheran Faith – though both Cristian, had very different messages to convey. My great-aunt was a bigot Catholic who told me about a righteous and vengeful God who does not like badly behaving children; a God to fear. My dear grandma told me about a God who deserted her in her our of need but she never ceased to beg for His forgiveness. 

Everyone with strong religious beliefs told me about a God of Love and Compassion but both approaches to God seemed senseless to me. Why would an unconditionally loving God hate children who are naughty and why would a compassionate God punish someone in her our of need? 

In Unity Europe we celebrate any and all ‘religious’ and spiritually inclined holidays/celebrations because we believe that all path to God//the Divine Presence is valid. Spiritual teachers who offered various tools and practices enabling the seekers to gain a deeper experience of the Divine is worth celebrating.

Therefore, I do my best, to remember and celebrate in small ways, of the different traditions and tools to God. If you join our Facebook Group or Instagram Page you will see how we honour all paths to Oneness with the Divine. 

Unity offers practical, spiritual teachings that empower abundant and meaningful living.

Ali in Battle

Learn from Ali how to fight
without your ego participating.

God’s Lion did nothing
that didn’t originate
from his deep center.

Once in battle he got the best of a certain knight
and quickly drew his sword. The man,
helpless on the ground, spat
in Ali’s face. Ali dropped his sword,
relaxed, and helped the man to his feet.

“Why have you spared me?
How has lightning contracted back
into its cloud? Speak, my prince,
so that my soul can begin to stir
in me like an embryo.”

Ali was quiet and then finally answered,
“I am God’s Lion, not the lion of passion.
The sun is my lord. I have no longing
except for the One

When a wind of personal reaction comes,
I do not go along with it.

There are many winds full of anger,
and lust and greed. They move the rubbish
around, but the solid mountain of our true nature
stays where it’s always been.

There’s nothing now
except the divine qualities.
Come through the opening into me.

Your impudence was better than any reverence,
because in this moment I am you and you are me.

I give you this opened heart as God gives gifts:
the poison of your spit has become
the honey of friendship.”

Source: coleman-barks-the-essential-rumi

A Great Wagon

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
Rumi, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad. “A Great Wagon.” The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, Castle Books, 1997, p. 35-37.

Photo source

QUIETNESS

Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign
that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running
from silence.
The speechless full moon
comes out now

By Rumi

Source – coleman barks the essential rumi

Rumi’s poetry

The Essence of Rumi’s Teachings

At the heart of Rumi’s teachings is the concept of divine love and the unity of all existence. He speaks of a boundless, unconditional love that connects every soul to the divine source. Rumi’s poetry often emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, compassion, and the pursuit of inner harmony as essential steps on the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Self-Discovery Through Reflection

Rumi’s verses invite readers to embark on a journey within, urging them to reflect on their thoughts, emotions, and actions. He emphasizes the significance of self-awareness, encouraging individuals to question their beliefs and explore the depths of their souls. Through introspection, Rumi teaches that one can unravel the layers of ego and discover the true essence of their being.

What would it look like?

02.14.24  Your Ideal Life
 

What if you woke up tomorrow and had a whole new life? There was nothing you had to do, nothing you were expected to do, no deadlines of any kind, no certain place you had to be, no specific job you were tied to, no one to report to – you were free to choose how to use every hour of your day? What would you do?

If you were free to make a life, how would it look, and how would you feel about living it? Does your heart get excited considering such a possibility? What do you envision?

Chances are you are thinking about things – what kind of house, what kind of job, what kind of activities, what kind of family or friends….. 

And then it probably occurs to you: what about money? – many of the elements you may want in that ideal life could cost more money than you have, maybe more than you can even believe you might be able to have. 

Once actual physical realities come into play, our life options quickly become radically more limited, and before we know it, we are confined to a life much more restricted and difficult than our vision. Recognizing that, some part of us gives up hope.  

We either settle for less and learn to accept it, or we fight against it and become bitter and resentful that we cannot have what we would like to have and feel we deserve to have. 

Look again at your ideal vision, and forget for a moment about the specific physical components of your vision (where you live, your job, how old you are, all of that) and look at who you are in your vision, how you feel about yourself, what kind of person are you to be in a relationship with, what kind of friend you are, and how you feel about life.

Being who you want to be, feeling the resultant sense of peace and freedom within yourself, being the kind of person others want to be with, being a loyal and true friend, being grateful to be alive and happy to have a life at all – none of these depend upon the temporary physical conditions of your life.  You are free to be all of that now. Wherever you are.  Rich or poor, young or old, success or failure, whatever the limitations in which you find yourself.  You are free to be that “you” right now. 

What you value, what you stand for, who you stand with, what you love and treasure, what principles you build your life around – those are up to you.  You may or may not be able to change your physical life.  You may or may not ever have your ideal life.  But you can be the “you” that you envision. IF that is what you really want, IF that is who your heart is calling you to be.  And chances are, someone besides you is hoping you will do that, too.  I know I do.

Rev Steven McAfee, Fort Wyne, Indiana,
One by One Community
Contact Rev McAfee – onebyonecommunity@gmail.com

Basant Panchami

How fascinating that the Hindu tradition of Basant Pachami is aligned with Ash Wednesday and the preparation for Holi is for during the 40 days of Lent this year.

Similarly to Christian traditions of Shove Tuesday, Hindu’s have a feast on the day of Basant Pachami that is followed by a 40-day contemplation and preparation for Holi.

The second story of Lord Shiva is fascinating because it talks about a 40-day penance and resurrection wrapped in a Love story which is a very similar parable to Jesus’ resurrection story.

Finally, the festival of Holi that will be around the same time as Easter for Christians this year celebrates the Hindu God Krishna and is about spring, love and new life.

Good to know

Basant Panchami, celebrated on the first day of spring, which is the fifth day of the month of Magha. Basant Panchami also heralds the start of preparations for Holi, which begins forty days after Basant Panchami. Mustard flowers bloom in India during Basant Panchami, and the festival is associated with the colour yellow. The festival honours the goddess Saraswati, who is worshipped on this day as the representative of learning, creativity and music. It is also the day when we celebrate with our nearest and dearest by eating and sharing.

History of Basant Panchami
According to mythology, Kalidasa was about to commit suicide in a river after learning of his wife’s departure. Just as he was about to do so, the goddess Saraswati emerged from the river and asked Kalidasa to bathe in it. Afterwards, his life was transformed as he was endowed with insight and developed into a talented poet.

Another story concerns the Hindu god of love, Kama, who is said to have interrupted Lord Shiva in the middle of a deep meditation after the death of his wife Sati. Seers approached Kama to rouse him from his meditation, allowing Shiva to re-establish his connection with the outside world and acknowledge Maa Parvati’s efforts on his behalf. Kama nodded and shot flowers and beeswax arrows at Shiva from his sugarcane bow. Kama was reduced to ashes by an angry Lord Shiva, who opened his third eye. On the day of Basant Panchami, Shiva promised to resurrect Rati, his wife, after her 40 days of penance. Later he is said to have been born as Lord Krishna’s son, Pradumna.

Source

Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates spring, love, and new life.

Some families hold religious ceremonies, but for many Holi is more a time for fun. It’s a colourful festival, with dancing, singing and throwing of powder paint and coloured water.

Holi is also known as the “festival of colours”.Holi marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter. It is usually celebrated in March.

In 2024 Holi will begin on Monday 25 March.

Holi also celebrates the Hindu god Krishna and the legend of Holika and Prahlad.

source

Lessons for ENG8 in God-ing :)

I am an ENG8w7. There is a little bit too much sin, condemnation and judgement in the text for me but the description is spot on. I also like the Bible examples. Steve Job was an ENG1 not an Eng8. There is quite a bit of resemblance. Both ENG1 and ENG8 are in the instinct triad. Both of them tend to control and fix the world though differently. ENG1 perfects whereas ENG8 drops a bomb and rearranges the debris. Anyhow, I love the video.

Blessings at Hannukah

Blessing for lighting the candles
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’, אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּנוּ לְהַדְלִיק נֵר חֲנֻכָּה.‬

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Hanukkah.

Translation: “Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah light[s].”

Blessing for the miracles of Hanukkah
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁעָשָׂה נִסִּים לַאֲבוֹתֵֽינוּ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם בַּזְּמַן הַזֶּה.‬

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam, she’asa nisim la’avoteinu ba’yamim ha’heim ba’z’man ha’ze.

Translation: “Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time…”

Source Wiki

738a89cd1051e7facf4ef71f2fc4fd2ab7e8ac4a

 

Hanukkah – The Jewish Festival of Lights

In 2018, Hanukkah is from the evening of Sunday, 2nd December until the evening of Monday, 10th December. We are soon approaching the end of the Festival of Lights in the Jewish tradition and I thought it is time to remember this beautiful celebration.

Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights and it remembers the rededication of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, in Israel. This happened in the 160s BCE/BC (before Jesus was born). (Hanukkah is the Hebrew and Aramaic word for ‘dedication’.) Hanukkah lasts for eight days and starts on the 25th of Kislev, the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December. Because the Jewish calendar is lunar (it uses the moon for its dates), Kislev can happen from late November to late December.

Continue reading Hanukkah – The Jewish Festival of Lights

Coptic Christianity in a Nutshell

The Coptic Orthodox Church split away from the broader Christian community in 451 A.D. The Coptic Church diverged from other Christians during the 5th century in part due to differing beliefs about the nature of Christ. Coptic Christians believe that Christ had two natures ― one human and one divine ― united as one “without mingling, without confusion, and without alteration.” Catholics and other Christian denominations believe in the incarnation of Jesus, which similarly holds that Christ was both fully human and fully divine. But at the time of the split, Coptic Christians were accused of believing in monophysitism ― the belief that Christ had only one, divine nature.

Coptic Christians trace their founding to the apostle St. Mark. Tradition holds that Mark brought Christianity to Egypt and founded the Coptic church during the first century. It is one of the oldest Christian churches in the Middle East and was the first founded in Africa.

Continue reading Coptic Christianity in a Nutshell

The story of the Two Christmases

Coptic Christmas is observed on what the Julian Calendar labels 25 December, a date that currently corresponds with 7 January on the more widely used Gregorian Calendar (which is also when Christmas is observed in Eastern Orthodox countries such as Russia).

The 25 December Nativity of Christ was attested very early by Hippolytus of Rome (170–236) in his Commentary on Daniel 4:23: “The first coming of our Lord, that in the flesh, in which he was born at Bethlehem, took place eight days before the calends of January, a Wednesday, in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, 5500 years from Adam.”

There may have been more practical considerations for choosing 25 December. The choice would help substitute a major Christian holiday for the popular Pagan celebrations surrounding the Winter Solstice (Roman Sol Sticia, the three-day stasis when the sun would rise consecutively in its southernmost point before heading north, 21, 22 and 23 December.

Until the 16th century, 25 December coincided with 29 Koiak of the Coptic calendar. However, upon the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, 25 December shifted 10 days earlier in comparison with the Julian and Coptic calendars.

Continue reading The story of the Two Christmases

Baha’i Faith

“Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit…”— Bahá’u’lláh

Baha’u’llah’s Revelation affirms that the purpose of our lives is to know God and to attain His presence. Our true identity is our rational soul, whose free will and powers of understanding enable us to continually better ourselves and our society. Walking a path of service to God and to humanity gives life meaning and prepares us for the moment the soul separates from the body and continues on its eternal journey towards its Maker.

Source

“Every created thing in the whole universe is but a door leading into His knowledge…”— Bahá’u’lláh

The Bahá’í Writings explain that the reality of God is beyond the understanding of any mortal mind, though we may find expressions of His attributes in every created thing. Throughout the ages, He has sent a succession of Divine Messengers, known as Manifestations of God, to educate and guide humanity, …

God, the Creator of the universe, is all-knowing, all-loving and all-merciful. Just as the physical sun shines on the world, so the light of God is shed upon all Creation. Through the teachings of the Manifestations of God—among them Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and, in more recent times, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh …


Humanity, having passed through the ages of infancy and childhood, now stands at the threshold of its collective maturity, …

Acts 2

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,[b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Continue reading Acts 2

Pentecost & Passover

History + Traditions of Pentecost/Whit Sunday & Passover
The word Pentecost is Greek and it means “50th day.” Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of their Earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations.

At Pentecost, the Apostles and their followers were gathered in a room. Jews from all over the world were gathered with Peter, the leader of the Apostles and the Eleven. At this time, a great wind blew and a flame appeared as a tongue of fire, which split itself into many individual flames above the heads of all those present. The Holy Spirit came upon these people and each began to speak in tongues.

Peter then called all those present to be baptized and about three thousand people were baptized that day.

pentecost2

painting by Ed de Guzman (2014)

Continue reading Pentecost & Passover

Via Dolorosa

The Stations of the Cross, also known as the Way of the Cross, or Via Dolorosa (Sorrowful Way), is a popular Lenten devotion. This time we are asked to call to mind the Passion of Christ, that is, the journey Jesus took from his condemnation to his death.

THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
The Way of the Cross has its origins with the Blessed Mother. It is said that she, who pondered all the mysteries of Christ in her heart, retraced the steps of her Son’s Passion and the significant events that happened along the way, keeping in her memory, and for the memory of the Church, the sacred path on which the Son of God trod to accomplish our redemption.

Continue reading Via Dolorosa

St. Valentine, the true story


He was a Roman Priest at a time when there was an emperor called Claudias who persecuted the church at that particular time,” Father O’Gara explains. ” He also had an edict that prohibited the marriage of young people. This was based on the hypothesis that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers because married soldiers might be afraid of what might happen to them or their wives or families if they died.”

“I think we must bear in mind that it was a very permissive society in which Valentine lived,” says Father O’Gara. “Polygamy would have been much more popular than just one woman and one man living together. And yet some of them seemed to be attracted to Christian faith. But obviously the church thought that marriage was very sacred between one man and one woman for their life and that it was to be encouraged. And so it immediately presented the problem to the Christian church of what to do about this.”

“The idea of encouraging them to marry within the Christian church was what Valentine was about. And he secretly married them because of the edict.”

Valentine was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured for performing marriage ceremonies against command of Emperor Claudius the second. There are legends surrounding Valentine’s actions while in prison.

Full article

saint-st-valentine_SI

Blinded By Your Grace, Pt. 2

(Stormzy)
I’m blinded by your grace
I’m blinded by your grace, by your grace
I’m blinded by your grace
I’m blinded by your
Lord, I’ve been broken
Although I’m not worthy
You fixed me, I’m blinded
By your grace
You came and saved me
Lord, I’ve been broken
Although I’m not worthy
You fixed me, now I’m blinded
By your grace
You came and saved me
One time for the Lord

Continue reading Blinded By Your Grace, Pt. 2

Hafiz

“ Beloved,
I am waiting for you to free me
into your mind
And infinite being.
I am pleading in absolute helplessness
To her, finally, your word of Grace:
Fly! Fly into ME!
Hafiz,
Who can understand
Your sublime nearness and separation?”
(Hafiz, I heard God Laughing)

hafiz

Dia de los Muertos

A beautiful celebration of remembering. The Day of the Dead reminds us to embrace the wonderful memories of our loved ones who are not with us any more but whom we can connect with in spirit, particularly, during this fun-filled and light-hearted event.

The celebration of  Dia de los Muertos asks us to remember that in spirit we are all connected and that no soul is lost in God’s realm. The loss of a loved one pains us, nevertheless, we must remember that our journey does not stop at our departure from the physical world. Our spirit travels on and we can reconnect with and celebrate the freedom of the spirit who is not binded by the limitations of life in the physical any more.

The book of Life Trailer

Heartfelt Connection

The Heart’s Intuitive Intelligence: A path to personal, social and global coherence

The Spiritual Heart — is in a way a little like a smart phone, invisibly connecting us to a large network of information. It is through an unseen energy that the heart emits that humans are profoundly connected to all living things. The energy of the heart literally links us to each other. Every person’s heart contributes to a ‘collective field environment.’ This short video explains the importance of this connection and how we each add to this collective energy field. The energetic field of the heart even connects us with the earth itself.

The HeartMath Institute is helping provide a more comprehensive picture of this connection between all living things through a special science-based project called the Global Coherence Initiative. They hope to help explain the mysteries of this connection between people and the earth…and even the sun.

Scientists at the HeartMath Institute (HMI) have already conducted extensive research on the power of heart, the heart/brain connection, heart intelligence and practical intuition.

Whether personal relationships, social connections, or even the global community – we are all connected through a field of electromagnetic energy. Increasing individual awareness of what we bring to this field environment could be the key to creating a sustainable future, a future that we can be proud to have helped create.

Links to visit

FRANCIS DUNNERY – WOUNDING AND HEALING OF MAN

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlof5Vw7Mfg[/youtube]

I don’t know if I’m getting old
I don’t know if I’m getting tired
I don’t know if I want to go to work today
‘Cause I spent last night with my old friend
He said its make or break time
So I asked the burning question
Why when I want to make a forward move do you knock me to the ground?
And he said…

He said I’m gonna break you down
And then I’m gonna build you up again
Stronger then ever before

I don’t know if I’m getting wasted
I don’t know if I’m disillusioned
I don’t know if I want to make the effort today
I had another bad night with my old friend
He said there’s no separation, there’s only integration,
He really isn’t anything physical
Just a voice inside my head, that keeps saying, keep saying, keep saying. ..

He said I’m gonna break you down boy
And then I’m gonna build you up again
Stronger then ever before
(he says I’m gonna break you down boy)
He said I’m gonna break you down
Then I’m gonna build you up again

He said I’m gonna take your mother away
So I can watch your boyhood burn
E’en though your father failed to show you the way
And now there’s no where left to turn
He said I’m gonna break you down boy
I’m gonna turn your rock to sand
He said I’m gonna crush your spirit boy
Then you’ll have to take a stand
He said I’m gonna hurt you so bad
You’ll have no where left to turn
(He said I’m gonna break you down boy)
He said I’m gonna break you down boy
Then you can finally be a man

A child’s world …

Worried that their son was too optimistic, the parents of a little boy took him to a psychiatrist. In an attempt to dampen the boy’s spirits, the psychiatrist showed him into a room piled high with nothing but horse manure. Instead of displaying distaste, the little boy clambered to the top of the pile and began digging.

“What are you doing?” the psychiatrist asked.

“With all this manure,” the little boy replied, beaming, “there must be a pony in here somewhere.”

Ben Jonesx

 

Man in the mirror <3

I’m gonna make a change, for once in my life
It’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference
Gonna make it right…
As I turn up the collar on my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin’ my mind
I see the kids in the street, with not enough to eat
Who am I, to be blind? Pretending not to see their needs
A summer’s disregard, a broken bottle top
And a one man’s soul
They follow each other on the wind ya’ know
’Cause they got nowhere to go
That’s why I want you to know
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself, and then make a change)
(Na na na, na na na, na na, na nah)
I’ve been a victim of a selfish kind of love
It’s time that I realize
That there are some with no home, not a nickel
to loan
Could it be really me, pretending that they’re
not alone?
A willow deeply scarred, somebody’s broken heart
And a washed-out dream
(Washed-out dream)
They follow the pattern on the wind, ya’ see
’Cause they got no place to be
That’s why I’m starting with me
(Starting with me!)
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
(Ooh!)
I’m asking him to change his ways
(Ooh!)
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
(Take a look at yourself and then make a change)
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
(Ooh!)
I’m asking him to change his ways
(Change his ways – ooh!)
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself and then make that…
(Take a look at yourself and then make that…)
Change!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzCHhh3GkQk[/youtube]

 

Love

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
Corinthians 13: 1-2, 12
angel-mchxjpg

LAF workbook exercises

Through meditation, journaling and LAF, you will begin to open to the Loving that is inside of you; the fears and judgments will slip away and you will begin to live, more and more, the Loving that you truly are.

The following is a breakdown of applying LAF:
Diagnosis ~ Protection + Fear = Separation
Prescription ~ Loving + Acceptance + Forgiveness (LAF)
Applying LAF on a daily basis = Spiritual Healing and Freedom!

Journaling can be a great support to you and your focus on Spirit. By writing down your awarenesses and experiences that you receive in meditation, you will be creating an intention and focus for living the Loving in your daily life.

Applying LAF (Loving, Accepting, Forgiving) supports you in bringing your thoughts and feelings, your actions and reactions, into the Loving so that nothing separates you from God. There are many ways to approach LAF.

Source and more info: ILM.org

In ILM, we focus on one simple meditation, and that meditation has one single purpose: to awaken to the divine that we are by going within to have our own direct personal experience. Meditation is being in communion with God; it is simply loving God … and allowing God to love you.

ilm-logo

Mary did you know?

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsgIhlYQmM[/youtube]

“Mary Did You Know”
(originally by Mark Lowry (lyrics) and Buddy Greene (melody))

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

Mary did you know.. Ooo Ooo Ooo

The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The dead will live again.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb.

Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know
that your Baby Boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you’re holding is the great “I am”

Source

Experiencing God’s Loving

You’ve got to go in and find the Love of your own soul and merge into that Loving of your own soul. Then open and allow God’s Loving in so that you and God experience the union, the Loving once again, the continual movement of Loving, the giving and receiving all the time, as best you can.

Full Excerpt~

One of the major forms of abandonment that we have to deal with is at the spiritual level because a soul who has come into this creation and then begins to experience what this creation has to offer, begins to experience abandonment. This is because one of the major lessons that we come here to learn is about separation; and we are really separated from God down here. We feel separated. We do not feel One. We do not feel His Presence. We feel alone, and lost, and abandoned; and we have to go in and find a way to connect with God even while we’re in this place of separation. We have to go in and forgive God for abandoning us, forgive ourselves for thinking that God has abandoned us, and find a way to connect inside to the knowing that God is right here (at the seat of the soul) with us, even in this place of separation.

Continue reading Experiencing God’s Loving

One Path

In the light of recent events in the world, I was delighted to read this passage by Beas,
“It is simple logic that if the Lord is one and He is within every on of us and if we have to seek Him within our body, then the path leading to our destination, to our home, cannot be two. It must be one. So it is impossible even to think that there can be one path leading to the Lord’s house for Christians, another for Hindus, another for Sikhs, and still another for Muslims. There may be a difference in our interpretation or in our understanding, but there cannot be two paths leading to His house. If we seek Him within, we all will find the same path, and that is of Sound and Light. But if we search for Him outside, then everybody has his own path, then it is impossible to come together. It is a spiritual basis that we can dome together and be near to each other. … the nearer we are to the Lord, the nearer we are to one another. “
Light on Saint John by Radha Soami Satsang Beas

rumi7

Awakening Is a Destructive Process by Greg Calise

Make no bones about it, awakening is not a walk in the park. It is a ride through hell. It is the tearing down of all of your cherished beliefs and everything you thought about yourself. There is no way around this. In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, they had to enter into the Mirkwood Forest to get to their destination. There was no other way for them. It was not a walk in the park. Likewise, we must enter the shadowlands, and come face to face with our shadows. It is there that our false ideas of who we are are shattered. It is there that all of our false beliefs are destroyed. We must face these false notions and see them for what they are. This is the only way to heal, to become whole again, to live in integrity.

Full article by Greg Calise at Riverbank of Truth

Tolle

“As far as inner transformation is concerned, there is nothing you can do about it. You cannot transform yourself, and you certainly cannot transform your partner or anybody else. All you can do is create a space for transformation to happen, for grace and love to enter.”
– Eckhart Tolle

You must die to live – an article

extracts

Awakening is not a walk in the park. It is a ride through hell. It is the tearing down of all of your cherished beliefs and everything you thought about yourself. There is no way around this. We must come face to face with our shadows. It is there that our false ideas of who we are are shattered. It is there that all of our false beliefs are destroyed. We must face these false notions and see them for what they are. This is the only way to heal, to become whole again, to live in integrity.

It is a complete surrender, a process of brutal self honesty. It is a path of complete acceptance of the truth, no matter how difficult it is to bear. We go through life with so many false notions – of the world, of spirituality and of ourselves. We build up masks and we believe the facades. It’s all a charade. It is all based upon illusions and deceit. We deceive ourselves at every moment, and the world also deceives us at every moment.

To awaken to the truth that you seek, you must tear down the lies. But we are too attached to the lies. We want to hold on to the illusions and to become enlightened at the same time. That is not possible.

It takes a certain individual to break free of the herd. The Siddhartha road is not easy. It is a treacherous road that will shatter every part of your existence. No, it takes a certain type of person to walk that road; a person that is willing to give up everything to find his true Self.

As Eckhart Tolle has stated, you don’t have to wait for the dark night of the soul to dismantle your false notions, your false self, your life story. You can consciously take that road. But it demands courage, discernment, and a brutal honesty of yourself. The mind is a very tricky opponent, and will deceive you at every step, as your awakening is the end of its control over you. But it can be done. Nisargadatta Maharaj did it. You must simply allow Grace to act within you.

12730078_f520

It is a road of destruction and the question is, “How much are you willing to give up? How much can you endure?” Because on this road, you must give up everything. Every piece of you will shatter. Can you endure that? As the great Bhaktivinode Thakur has written, “You must die to live.” So how serious are you? How much do you want it? How much will you pay for it?

source + photo

Full article by Greg Calise here at Riverbank of Truth

Enlightenment

“Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.”
― Adyashanti

source

Common Sense

Joe Miller said that there are four qualities necessary for spiritual life. The first is common sense, the second is common sense, the third is sense of humor. When he was asked what is the fourth quality, he replied laughing, “Even more common sense!”

Love is a fire/Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (extract)

The shadow side

“…Working on the shadow side takes such commitment and time. Often there seems to be so little change, just the uncovering of even deeper problems, deeper pain, more intense feelings of isolation, rejection, abandonment – whatever are the feelings hidden behind the doors of our unconscious. A friend said that she had heard that their would be struggles on the path, but had never expected them to be so intense, cruelty, jealousy, resentment, bitterness and other shadow qualities that surface often without warning. Seeking greater wholeness we are confronted with the exact opposites of what we think we are. And what we then discover we are. Trying to reconcile these opposites within us we find ourselves caught in conflicts of pain and bitterness. These inner struggles that can be violent and tormenting need to be worked through, and the greater our aspirations and devotion, the quicker the darkness comes up to the surface…”

source – unknown – a friend sent it to me like this.

 

Fork | Tobias Müller:

Photo Tobias Müller – source

The meaning of Life

“The spiritual awakening is the most essential thing in man’s life, and it is the sole purpose of being.” Khalil Gibran

“We came not into this life by exile, but we came as innocent creatures of God, to learn how to worship the holy and eternal spirit and seek the hidden secrets within ourselves from the beauty of life.

The true light is that which emanates from within man, and reveals the secrets of the heart to the soul, making it happy and contented with life.

Love is my sole entertainer, singing songs of happiness for me at night and waking me at dawn to reveal the meaning of life and the secrets of nature.”

Source – Kahlil Gibran: LOVE and the Meaning of Life
BY NICOLAE TANASE

gibran-fanciullo-e-adulto

My wicked spirituality

Everything is perfect. When Louise said this, I realized that hearing that phrase is like hearing that everything happens for a reason. It’s a tough message to swallow when faced with tragedy or deep pain of any kind. But, by training ourselves to see the perfection in our most difficult moments—a perspective that, at first, can only be seen in hindsight—we learn to trust Life. We come to understand that, while we might not like a certain outcome, Life may be leading us in a new, more appropriate and beneficial direction. Everything happens for a reason or Everything is perfect are beliefs born from a decision to see life as a schoolroom. When we choose to become a student of life who learns and grows from his or her experience, everything does, in fact, happen for a reason. In this way, we make our most difficult moments mean something by using them to our spiritual advantage.

Full article here

Well, I am here, as ever, to argue my case!

I do not think that life is perfect, and I do not believe that we can learn from everything that happens to us. Like the previous article I shared, sometimes and experience is only there so we uncontrollably sad and to grieve some unrecoverable loss. That is all to it.

What to learn from loss? Maybe, acceptance. However, in my understanding, acceptance comes with age and time. Eventually, we all accept life for what it is and realize that there is no point in fighting because Life does not care about what you want, you’d better go with what life offers.

Successful people, from my perspective, are either big bullies who respect no one and nothing, and have their way nevertheless(these ones are rarely happy, contented or at peace); or they are all accepting and embracing whatever Life throws at them.

So, maybe, this learning business is all about learning to accept whatever it is that Life brings you to live. I am not sure how to use any of it for my spiritual advancement.

So, where I stand is this: Life does not give a them! You are either though and can bare what life throws at you or you break and fall. Either way, you are not happy. This is the majority of humanity.

Some of us, maybe, I’d say, 10% of us (top max) consider himself/herself being some spiritual journey of the Soul, that allows us some self-awareness and choice in the above matter.

Those whose basic disposition is of a calmer and more accepting nature, take life for what it is without much argument or fight. Those of, like myself, who are more of a challenger, carve our way into new heights, displaying individuality in the process and still being inspiring.

My idea of spirituality is not of following the crowd and checking if I am cooperating and flowing smoothly with whatever the mainstream is. I am in for a special journey. I am curious how to live an exceptional life with all the experiences that is uniquely belong to me.

This is MY wicked spirituality.

HEARTBREAK

is unpreventable; the natural outcome of caring for people and things over which we have no control, of holding in our affections those who inevitably move beyond our line of sight.
Heartbreak begins the moment we are asked to let go but cannot, in other words, it colors and inhabits and magnifies each and every day; heartbreak is not a visitation, but a path that human beings follow through even the most average life. Heartbreak is an indication of our sincerity: in a love relationship, in a life’s work, in trying to learn a musical instrument, in the attempt to shape a better more generous self. Heartbreak is the beautifully helpless side of love and affection and is just as much an essence and emblem of care as the spiritual athlete’s quick but abstract ability to let go. Heartbreak has its own way of inhabiting time and its own beautiful and trying patience in coming and going.
Heartbreak is how we mature; yet we use the word heartbreak as if it only occurs when things have gone wrong: an unrequited love, a shattered dream, a child lost before their time. Heartbreak, we hope, is something we hope we can avoid; something to guard against, a chasm to be carefully looked for and then walked around; the hope is to find a way to place our feet where the elemental forces of life will keep us in the manner to which we want to be accustomed and which will keep us from the losses that all other human beings have experienced without exception since the beginning of conscious time. But heartbreak may be the very essence of being human, of being on the journey from here to there, and of coming to care deeply for what we find along the way.
…If heartbreak is inevitable and inescapable, it might be asking us to look for it and make friends with it, to see it as our constant and instructive companion, and even perhaps, in the depth of its impact as well as in its hindsight, to see it as its own reward. Heartbreak asks us not to look for an alternative path, because there is no alternative path. It is a deeper introduction to what we love and have loved, an inescapable and often beautiful question, something or someone who has been with us all along, asking us to be ready for the last letting go.

‘HEARTBREAK’ Excerpted From CONSOLATIONS:
The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words.

© David Whyte and Many Rivers Press 2015
Now Available 
Morning Sky
Photo © David Whyte
Barga, Province of Lucca, Italy
Ocotober 2015

 

Khalil Gibran@Large

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”

‘Life is naked’

“Why do you draw bodies always naked?” Haskell is said to have asked him.

Gibran answered: “because life is naked. A nude body is the truest and the noblest symbol of life. If I draw a mountain as heap of human forms, or paint a waterfall in a shape of tumbling human bodies, it is because I see in the mountain heap if living things and in the water falls a participate current life.”

Article

Picture source

Psalm 139

Psalm 139 New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Footnotes:

Psalm 139:17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me

Source

rumi7

TRUST

“Those who trust in the Lord will be like a tree planted by the water.” (Jer 17:8-NIV)

7″Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. 8″For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.9″The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick;

Source

rumi13

M. Robinson: Deeper

“As a person goes deeper inside themself…, they will meet egoic mind in it’s totality. Then, just before the person drops the whole of their identity and beliefs of separateness, boredom will present itself. It is the last argument of the egoic mind… How can I live this life without striving, without reacting from the turbulence of my emotions, without desire and without any security? If I give any of these things up, then my life will be empty and boring. There will no longer be any dramas for me to act out and I will no longer be an individual with something impressive to say or worthwhile to do…
Just because you are just listening within for your inner voice, or just observing your mind with it’s fears and desires, does not mean human life ends. On the contrary, life becomes much more vivid and alive, as each experience now has an added dimension…”

Mike Robinson

rumi Lois munoz luque

Picture  source – web – Lois Munoz Luque

My Gratitude Protfolio

Gratitude

 

“She beautifies my disillusioned brain. She’s like my fairy godmother. … ‘This is the best day of my life. I’m a genius. I love people and people love me. I never criticize, condemn, or complain. Everyone I meet today is loving and respectful. I love God and God loves me.’” Source

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” Epictetus

“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” Albert Schweitzer

“The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.” William James

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy

il_570xN.351982517

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Charles Dickens

“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.” Gerald Good

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

“The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.” Charles Schwab

“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.” Henri Frederic Amiel

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” Willie Nelson

“It is impossible to feel grateful and depressed in the same moment.” Naomi Williams

“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” A.A. Milne

“In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Gratitude also opens your eyes to the limitless potential of the universe, while dissatisfaction closes your eyes to it.” Stephen Richards

“Gratitude and attitude are not challenges; they are choices.” Robert Braathe

“Gratitude is more of a compliment to yourself than someone else.” Raheel Farooq

“This a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” Maya Angelou

Source

ta-da-list
Pictures are from the big wide NET

The Lion and the Lamb

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

Isaiah 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

Birthday reminder from a dear friend

My dear!! Be happy as you are! Keep on searching, sharing, expanding, loving, inspiring…

Stay young, free and centered to yourself and balance it with some roots (anywhere I want) to have yourself even more earthy, joyful and wise!

I love you and thank you for staying close!

Have a day of celebration such as you need it!

Love and many hugs,
<3
***

THANK YOU MY FRIEND!
<3

Some thoughts on resisting Life

So, it is the rock bottom, I HOPE! It is all a hell of a confusion, I am completely out of control  and freaked out. Every moment when something crazy or rather unbearable happens, I scream inside; What’s more?? Please, I accept, I accept it all, but please stop bringing on more!

I something have the feeling that it is about making me laugh … and until I manage to laugh at the unbearable lightness of being, He won’t stop. He is already having a laugh! He twists and turn me and my life around me. I am dizzy and scared. I keep on wanting to hold onto something, make some sense of what is happening, but there is nothing left to grab into.

Like the dervishes, I am spinning and spinning into enlightenment … I only hope, or my only hope, rather.

I am willing to accept all the adversities, at the same time I am struggling with deep fear  combined with loss of control, the need to know what is happening and why and whether I am gonna get out of it all alive or not.

I am not sure if I am good at this, however, I do understand that if I ever want to live in peace, if I want to give myself a chance to become all that I can be, I must accept it all just as it is, myself included, just as I am.

Amen!

005 (2)

 

Interestingly, with all that confusion, upset, rejection and loss I have been experiencing lately, I feel more alive than ever before. I am very sad, very, very sad, sad to the stomach and still this sadness somehow makes me feel alive. I somehow am less numb, I suspect.

I don’t see the light, I don’t hear God, I don’t hear the sound current, my meditations are simply non-existent … and still, I feel more being than before…how is it possible?

 

And So Will I Wonder…?

 

I lived, but then in living I was feeble in life and
always knew that they would bury me here in the end,
that year piles upon year, clod on clod, stone on stone,
that the body swells and in the cool, maggot-
infested darkness, the naked bone will shiver.
That above, scuttling time is rummaging through my poems
and that I will sink deeper into the ground.
All this I knew. But tell me, the work–did that live on?

by Miklos Radnoti (Hungarian Poet)

source

 

 

Today is Epiphany

An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”) is an experience of sudden and striking realization. Generally the term is used to describe breakthrough scientific, religious or philosophical discoveries, but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective.

source

Symbolisms of the Dragonfly (extracts)

Maturity and a Depth of character
The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; and the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.

Defeat of Self Created Illusions
The dragonfly exhibits iridescence both on its wings as well as on its body. Iridescence is the property of an object to show itself in different colours depending on the angle and polarization of light falling on it.

This property is seen and believed as the end of one’s self created illusions and a clear vision into the realities of life. The magical property of iridescence is also associated with the discovery of one’s own abilities by unmasking the real self and removing the doubts one casts on his/her own sense of identity. This again indirectly means self discovery and removal of inhibitions.

Focus on living ‘IN’ the moment
The dragonfly normally lives most of its life as a nymph or an immature. It flies only for a fraction of its life and usually not more than a few months. This adult dragonfly does it all in these few months and leaves nothing to be desired. This style of life symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue of living IN the moment and living life to the fullest. By living in the moment you are aware of who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what you want, what you don’t and make informed choices on a moment-to-moment basis.

source

Reminder so to hang in there…

Epiphany (feeling), a sudden realization of great truth

The word epiphany originally referred to insight through the divine.

For the philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas, epiphany or a manifestation of the divine is seen in another’s face (see face-to-face)

Despite its popular image, epiphany is the result of significant labor on the part of the discoverer, and is only the satisfying result of a long process, usually involving significant periods of labor.The surprising and fulfilling feeling of epiphany is so surprising because one cannot predict when one’s labor will bear fruit, and our subconsciousness can play a significant part in delivering the solution; and is fulfilling because it is a reward for a long period of labor.

source

Reminder – Meditation

Though I don’t especially like Osho’s style, I like this bit:

“Slowly slowly, meditation becomes your very life, your very heartbeat.
That day is the most blessed day
when you don’t have to meditate – you are meditation.
Your very being, whatever you are doing or not doing,
is silent, peaceful, loving, alert and aware of its eternity.
This experience is the only sacred experience.
This experience brings back again your childhood,
a pure silent consciousness, rejoicing in everything that it does.
The whole universe becomes a celebration and life is no longer a misery.
Every moment existence is available for you to rejoice,
sing, dance, love, and expand your life energies.
Mind only thinks, meditation lives.
Mind is a very small thing.
Meditation is as vast as the whole universe.
I teach you this vastness, I teach you universality, I teach you eternity.
You are not what you appear in the mirror, you are much more.
You are vast, as vast as the whole universe.”
~ Osho

In the Arms of the angel

Spend all your time waiting for that second chance
For the break that will make it ok
There’s always some reason to feel not good enough
And it’s hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction oh beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
They may be empty and weightless and maybe
I’ll find some peace tonight

In the arms of an Angel fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
You’re in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

So tired of the straight line, and everywhere you turn
There’s vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting, you keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack
It don’t make no difference, escaping one last time
It’s easier to believe
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees

In the arms of an Angel far away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
In the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

You’re in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here

Yes or NO? That is the question

I am just soooooooooooo fed up. I can’t deal with it more. I don’t have more of what it takes to be disciplined. I had enough of it.

I can’t … I can’t …

I am angry and frustrated. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to do it. I don’t see the purpose of it. It feels unjust. It feels hard and I have had enough hard. I want ease. I want sleep. I want some peace!

Then I found this –

“Make a decision that you will just YES your way through it. Take “no” out of your vocabulary. Only say, YES! YES! YES! YES … You will eliminate resistance the minute you stop shouting NO at anything! Oh, what a fun game it will be for you. You will get better at it everyday.” (Abraham)

 

Providence

Providence

“The Providence of God is His care over his works.”

“His children are assured of His providential care in all their concerns. Its acts are threefold; preservation, co-operation, and government. He controls all things for the highest good of the whole; Providence displays God’s omnipresence, holiness, justice and benevolence.”

“Nothing is really small with God. He hangs the most momentous weights on little wires.”

“He that denies providence denies God’s attributes, His omniscience which is the eye of providence, His mercy and justice which are the arms of providence, His power which is its life and motion, His wisdom which is the rudder whereby providence is steered, and holiness the compass and rule of its motion.” (Bible)

*divine guidance or care

*God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny

*the quality or state of being provident (dictionary)

Well, I am into providence these days. So, what I did is what probably most would do, checked the Bible and the dictionary. Words, words, words. Words say providence is provision and care that is all compassing and constantly present. Why don’t I feel it then? Maybe it is my perception of providence that is distorted! I always thought care meant being actually cared for and in result I would feel safe. Very distorted in deed. I don’t think God understands the concept of safety, since I don’t think he has an idea of fear or insecurity either. Therefore when he provides he provides what He thinks is the best and most needed at a time. The only problem is that I find it challenging to feel provided when I don’t have what I think I need. He may provide me with His Love and Care, I just don’t get it because in my mind there is something completely different I need like money and food.

It is not about happiness, it is simply about needs. Need for security. I know and feel his Love for me unquestionably. I simply don’t feel safe in the world and it does not matter how much I am aware of the craziness of my wish to feel safe (since there is no such think down here), that part of me who is made of flash and matter wants to know that it is sustained well until its time. Understandable.

Well, providence does not care much about that, I guess.

Thus, Faith comes to my rescue!

Spirit is…

Spirit is energy, the force that activates the human consciousness and gives it life. Spirit individualizes itself as Soul and so resides closely within each consciousness. Many people have said that a human being has a Soul, but it is closer to reality to say that the Soul has a human being. (John-Roger)

Crying out in need …

Physically, we’re quite a well-fed nation. But we have hidden hungers that are not satisfied. You may figure the way to overcome the hidden hungers is to stuff yourself with food until you’re satiated and no longer cry out in need.

And then you think, “Now I feel better.” When you feel better, you think, “I really should do something about getting back to God.” You might not think about it in quite those terms; it might be more like, “Now that I feel better, I want to do something. I’m frustrated. I wish I could do something more.”

Being satisfied on one level, you want to do something now to satisfy another level. Maybe you decide to go wash and polish the car. This helps release the physical energy. While you’re doing that, your mind says, “I really would like to read that book I started last night.” So your mind goes ahead of you to the book, and you finish the car rather rapidly because you’ve lost interest in that. You go read the book, but while you’re reading, you think, “I’m not getting enough exercise lately. I sit around too much.” And by now, it’s time to eat again, and this hidden hunger cries out, “Feed me.” So you snack on cookies or potato chips or drink a soft drink — anything to satiate the body and eliminate the hidden hunger.

But what if this feeling you have isn’t hunger? What if you are feeling a lack of fulfillment on another level, a lack of oneness with yourself? When you are not one with yourself, you constantly look for something to make yourself one, to make yourself whole, complete. (John-Roger)

Control

This morning I realized that I am so not done with control. Though I am not in control but I pretend I am. So pathetic! I am so so scared to let go! It feels like jumping off a cliff with this fear of height inside of me tearing me apart. It feels like suicide. Allowing something, somebody outside (?) of me controlling what happens to me? Nonsense! As long as I am in control I am alive. I am also very aware that this is my greatest limitation as well.

I watched Terminal (Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg) last night and realized what a blessing it is when one can live without control, going with the flow. What an amazing life! What amazing experiences one can have when there is no expectations or control involved. It may look challenging at times from the outside, but simply the attitude of allowing and going with what there is without any resistance somehow makes lives full and sort of worth living.

I wish I can be like him, Viktor, the main character. He is honest, does not argue, and waits patiently for the moment to come when he can do what he is there to do. Until then, he focuses simply on what life brings into his life from moment to moment, no plans, he just says YES to each moment.

Well … something to strive for! 🙂

The Love we all search

This whole fuss with Love is so simple even though we build extreme amount of passion and drama about it. Many books, films and other pieces of art have been made over the centuries about either the longing for or the expression of desire and love.

Not realizing that actually the very longing we all share steams from our mutual experience of loss. Though we do not remember it, all the drama and the whole importance sacrificed on the subject of love comes down to only but one reason; that is wanting to regain our feeling of being loved and expressing love at the same instance.

At the end of the day what we all want when searching after Love in one way or another is to rejoin with our true source of  Love and experience this via being loved and to love the source back in return; an experience that fills the seeker up with Life and exuberance for eternity.

Unwanted

It seems what I can offer is less valuable than a pile of papers. In a world of fear and greed the one that offers the most gains the least. Upside down values that never alter.

After all, it is all about not feeling wanted. With a mother who struggled to decide between an abortion and keeping her child for months until choice found her, what self-assurance would you have?

Unworthiness and so feeling unvalued is the result of such hesitancy.

Offering the most and expecting none in return is the shield set up for sheltering a fragmented ego until it is broken into pieces.

It is only when I start feeling that the One actually wants me completely, is the moment when I am freed forever from my ‘unwanted’ glass shield.

Awaken

You don’t have to understand something that is already within you; you just have to awaken to your experience of it. Then understanding appears.

The sleeper goes for abundance by manifesting illusion out of greed and insecurity.

The one who is awakened only has to take in the next breath. (JR)