Saturday, November 13, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Single Footstep
As a single footstep
will not make a path on the earth,
so a single thought will not
make a pathway in the mind.
To make a deep physical path,
we walk ceaselessly again and again.
To make a deep mental path,
we must think over and over the kind of thoughts
we wish to dominate our lives.
Henry David Thoreau
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Noble Eight-Fold Path
The Noble Eight-Fold Path is the path of living in awareness. Mindfulness is the foundation. By practicing mindfulness, you can develop concentration, which enables you to attain understanding. Thanks to right concentration, you realize right awareness, thoughts, speech, action, livelihood, and effort. The understanding which develops can liberate you from every shackle of suffering and give birth to true peace and joy.
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Old Path White Clouds
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Old Path White Clouds
Saturday, July 3, 2010
" The capasity to remain completely unruffled in situations of great provocation, and to feel genuine compassion for those who are deliberately trying to harm us, is a sign of high spiritual realizations and the result of a great deal of mental preparation."
From the book "How to Solve our human Problems"
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
From the book "How to Solve our human Problems"
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Monday, June 14, 2010
Namaste
Namaste is an ancient Sanskrit word that means...
I honor the place in you where the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you which is of truth, of light, of peace, and love.
And when we communicate with that level of awareness,
WE ARE ONE!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
'Harry,' said Basil Hallward, looking him straight in the face,'every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself. The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul.'
OSCAR WILDE
OSCAR WILDE
Saturday, June 12, 2010
WALDEN
The Harivansa says, "An abode without birds is like a meat without seasoning." Such was not my abode, for I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds; not by having imprisoned one, but having caged myself near them.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Friday, June 4, 2010
People are Not Loving and Loyal All the Time
Some people act dishonestly; some lie; some are hypocritical. Part of the process of maturing into a Self-mastered adult is to notice all this without censure or retaliation. It is why we need to master how to maturely protect our boundaries we teach them how to treat us, and if that does not work we must "vote with our feet" by letting go and detaching from their toxic influence in our lives. Do you know what St Peter did the night Jesus was taken to be crucified? He denied he even knew who Jesus was, which exemplifies that people, even saints, are not loyal and loving. Our work as Self-mastered adults is to feel and release the hurt feelings created when people who we love are not loyal or loving, rather than running from it, or retaliating. In this way we can Self-actualize our divine potential for unconditional love and compassion, by turning the other cheek, knowing that what goes around comes around via the Sowing and Reaping.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Pain Is A Part of Life
If you are human you have suffered physical, psychological and emotional pain, but what some people miss is that element of "what does not kill you, makes you stronger." No pain no gain is the chant of the fitness guru. When a woman co-creates the miracle of life, we call her process "labor pains." There is a cost we all must pay on the earth plane and pain is the price we pay for mastery of any kind.
Buddha defined it in his first noble truth that "Life is suffering." In Christianity it is referred to as the crucifixion/resurrection cycle of life. It is what wise people preach, when they say that pain is not punishment, and pleasure is not reward.
Buddha defined it in his first noble truth that "Life is suffering." In Christianity it is referred to as the crucifixion/resurrection cycle of life. It is what wise people preach, when they say that pain is not punishment, and pleasure is not reward.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Life Is Not Always Fair
Life is not always fair and neither are people, which includes you and me. Sometimes we are taken advantage of. Sometimes we do all the right things and we still end up losing. Sometimes people, who we love and trust, hurt us with their words or deeds, even after we have unconditionally loved and supported them for years. Sometimes our good intentions are unappreciated and or misinterpreted. Our challenge is to grieve this unfairness, which requires us to do deep psycho-spiritual work. It is very challenging to not retaliate against those who have hurt or cheated us. Only a Self-mastered adult can own the unalterable Law that Life is not always fair. You win some and you lose some this is just the way it is on the earth plane. You can accept that or you can spend your life fighting your way up stream against the flow of life. The choice is yours.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Things Do Not Always Go According to Plan
We make plans in an attempt to control what will happen. We are challenged with the fact that "life" has a mind of its own because man plans and God laughs. The paradox that we live in God's river, with our boat named free will, where we are free to struggle up stream against the flow or we can serenely float down stream with the flow of life....is always a choice. As Self-mastered adults we need to accept the things about life that we cannot change, the "what is" "as is" elements of life. This helps us accept ourselves, people, and life's experiences "as is." Being an emotionally mature adult means that you accept the fact that some of your plans will not work out the way your ego says it should.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Five Things I Cannot Change
1. Everything Changes and Ends
2. Things Do Not Always Go According to Plan
3. Life Is Not Always Fair
4. Pain Is A Part of Life
5. People are Not Loving and Loyal "All" the Time
Everything Changes and Ends
The first thing I need to accept about what I cannot change is defined in the Law of Impermanence, which states that everything, even the Sun and mountains change, end and die. Every beginning leads to an ending. All relationships end with death or seperation. No one gets out of the physical life alive. All our possessions will deteriorate. The fact that reality is impermanent does not mean that it is trivial, useless, or superficial. Life's temporary nature helps us to value it as a short-term blessing. It can give you a sense of life's holiness, which is actually wholeness. Holiness is the whole condition of things and human relationships, which includes beginnings and endings. The path into the mystery of change and endings may be the most difficult paradox we will ever transcend. It asks us to say yes with gusto to "what is" and yes to endings, which do not feel good.
2. Things Do Not Always Go According to Plan
3. Life Is Not Always Fair
4. Pain Is A Part of Life
5. People are Not Loving and Loyal "All" the Time
Everything Changes and Ends
The first thing I need to accept about what I cannot change is defined in the Law of Impermanence, which states that everything, even the Sun and mountains change, end and die. Every beginning leads to an ending. All relationships end with death or seperation. No one gets out of the physical life alive. All our possessions will deteriorate. The fact that reality is impermanent does not mean that it is trivial, useless, or superficial. Life's temporary nature helps us to value it as a short-term blessing. It can give you a sense of life's holiness, which is actually wholeness. Holiness is the whole condition of things and human relationships, which includes beginnings and endings. The path into the mystery of change and endings may be the most difficult paradox we will ever transcend. It asks us to say yes with gusto to "what is" and yes to endings, which do not feel good.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Wise Words
To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
-RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Freedom
The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not "the thinker." The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter- beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace- arise from beyond the mind.
You begin to awaken.
(Eckhart Tolle)
Monday, April 26, 2010
SELF-PARENTING POEM
As a Self-mastered adult....
If I dont learn how to fulfill my emotional dependency needs, then I'll never feel safe, sane, and secure in the world; for I'll always have to look to others to tell me who I am.
If I don't expect emotional intimacy, I am saying that..."I'm Ok with your being emotionally distant from me," and I'll distance myself for fear of rejection.
If I don't demonstrate unconditional love for my Self, I am showing people that "I'm not worthy of recieving love, nor your benefit of the doubt."
If I don't demand respect, I'll give people permission to treat me disrespectfully; for I teach people how to treat me by the way I treat myself.
If I don't use my adult powers, I'll fall prey to my own "child-like" ego defenses; and the walls I build will keep out the love I seek.
If I don't maturely defend my boundaries with my adult powers, then people will "trespass" me just as they did when I was a powerless child!
If I don't give my Self permission to be myself, then people will "mold me" into who they want me to be, taking me further away from the light of my real Self and closer to the darkness of my "persona" (mask).
If I don't learn to validate and release my feelings, then my feelings will create dis-ease within me; for dis-sease is a perfect creation: a negative feeling made manifest.
If I beat my Self up when I "act" with "less-than-perfect" behavior, then I am affirming that, "I AM my behavior" and not a child of God.
If I'm not willing to practice my Self-parenting skills until they become a part of my consciousness, then when life "tests" me I'll attempt to protect my Self using immature, childlike, ego-based methods.
If I don't "respond with ability" to make my life emotionally, sexually, and physically Safe, Sane, and Secure, then I'll live a life of "quiet desperation," comfortable in my "uncomfortable-ness" and fearful of life's opportunities, unable to fulfill my divine birthright, a life worthy of a child of God.
HU-JI
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
"What is Real?"
My father copied and framed this quote from The Velveteen Rabbit and gave it to my daughter for Christmas back in 2004. On the back of the frame he wrote:
Riley-
Have your mom and dad read this to you everyday until you can read it yourself and always
remember what it means to be "real".
Grandpa Woody
I love you very much
"What is Real?" asked the Rabbit one day when they were lying side by side....."Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out-handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once, "said the Shin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.
Margery Williams
Riley-
Have your mom and dad read this to you everyday until you can read it yourself and always
remember what it means to be "real".
Grandpa Woody
I love you very much
"What is Real?" asked the Rabbit one day when they were lying side by side....."Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out-handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once, "said the Shin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.
Margery Williams
Monday, March 8, 2010
Spring Break
I'm so excited for my daughters spring break. My husband and I and our daughter and our niece are going to our condo in Florida. We will be leaving this Friday and returning the following Saturday. It will be a much needed vacation from the cold weather of Kansas. My body and mind need the sunlight more than you can imagine. I can't wait to sit on the balcony and look at the ocean and hear the waves crashing against the shore. The smell of the ocean is so invigorating and delightful. We plan on taking the girls to Disney world and making sure they have the best spring break possible. They are both nine years old and so adorable and I can't wait to see them playing on the beach and having the time of there life.
I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day and I look forward to sharing photos of our trip when we return. Take care everyone and remember to be peaceful on your journey.
Namaste
I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day and I look forward to sharing photos of our trip when we return. Take care everyone and remember to be peaceful on your journey.
Namaste
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Daily Thoughts
The one who has conquered himself is a far greater hero than he who has defeated a thousand times a thousand men.
-From The Dhammapada
(Sayings Of The Buddha)
-From The Dhammapada
(Sayings Of The Buddha)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Then Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, master?
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love;
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each others cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each others keeping.
For only the hands of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love;
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each others cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each others keeping.
For only the hands of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Four common mistakes that can ruin a relationship
Relationship mistakes can ruin even the best of relationships. Here are a list of four common mistakes, and what to do instead:
1. Partner Bashing
Bashing the one you love in public seems to have become a national pastime. The reality of this is that it reflects poorly on you, because after all, you chose this person.
2. Holding your partner back from their greatest gifts
Its hard to believe, I know, but many people fall into the trap of holding there partner back from using their greatest gifts.
Relationship Tip:
Celebrate and encourage the strengths of your partner. If you take the time to notice, the strengths of your partner usually you have two very strong advantages: They complete your strengths, and they compensate for some of your weaknesses.
3. Arguing to win
Arguing to win means you see the other person as an opponent. And once you begin to see your partner as an opponent or an enemy, lots of bad things begin to happen.
Relationship Tip:
When you argue to win, you may get to win, but you win at the expense of the relationship. Instead of arguing against each other, team up to solve the problems that come your way.
4. Getting Complacent
Taking the relationship and the other person for granted is so easy to do. Sometimes we treat our most important relationship like an item on a to do list.
Relationship Tip:
Always keep the passion alive. Put some extra care and time for your loved one. Little things add up to mean so much. Making the other feel special and a priority. Be creative with your time. Just taking the time to really listen to your spouse about there day can mean so much.
(Article by Jeff Herring)
Knight Ridder Newspapers
1. Partner Bashing
Bashing the one you love in public seems to have become a national pastime. The reality of this is that it reflects poorly on you, because after all, you chose this person.
Relationship Tip:
Rebel against the culture and instead praise your spouse in public. Always go the opposite direction if someone tries to pull you in.
2. Holding your partner back from their greatest gifts
Its hard to believe, I know, but many people fall into the trap of holding there partner back from using their greatest gifts.
Relationship Tip:
Celebrate and encourage the strengths of your partner. If you take the time to notice, the strengths of your partner usually you have two very strong advantages: They complete your strengths, and they compensate for some of your weaknesses.
3. Arguing to win
Arguing to win means you see the other person as an opponent. And once you begin to see your partner as an opponent or an enemy, lots of bad things begin to happen.
Relationship Tip:
When you argue to win, you may get to win, but you win at the expense of the relationship. Instead of arguing against each other, team up to solve the problems that come your way.
4. Getting Complacent
Taking the relationship and the other person for granted is so easy to do. Sometimes we treat our most important relationship like an item on a to do list.
Relationship Tip:
Always keep the passion alive. Put some extra care and time for your loved one. Little things add up to mean so much. Making the other feel special and a priority. Be creative with your time. Just taking the time to really listen to your spouse about there day can mean so much.
(Article by Jeff Herring)
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Thursday, January 14, 2010
What makes for a lasting and fullfilling marriage
Hello readers, I hope everyone is well today. The weather here in wichita this morning is cool and foggy. Its a day of reflection.
Today I want to discuss marriage. Years ago I wanted to put a book together called "A housewife's recipes for a healthy marriage." I did a lot of research and spoke with alot of people on the subject, and then life's responsibilities got in the way and I had to put the book on the back burner. My life has calmed back down and I have the time to devote to the book again. I'm thirty-three years old and I know of someone every year that is getting a divorce. I'm just astounded at the amount of couples that are calling it quits. What is happening to our culture that this has become the norm? Does anybody take the sanctity of marriage and family seriously anymore? Or have the rules changed? What are peoples roles? What do we expect out of our partners? What do woman want and what do men want? So many questions go through my mind when I try to figure all of this out. What are the answers to theses questions and can we find a solution?
I would love to hear some feed back on this subject. Maybe you have some advice to pass down or maybe you have some opinions on why relationships are falling apart. I'm going to start my blogs with either some advice I've learned along the way or things that I have found that work for my relationship. I'm also going to posting certain questions or scenarios and would love to hear your opinions. I realize that so many books have been written on this subject, but I still find it very intriguing and feel that people are still searching for some answers. I feel that if we work together, maybe the answers will reveal themselves more clearly.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I look forward to your comments. Peace be with all of you.
Namaste
Today I want to discuss marriage. Years ago I wanted to put a book together called "A housewife's recipes for a healthy marriage." I did a lot of research and spoke with alot of people on the subject, and then life's responsibilities got in the way and I had to put the book on the back burner. My life has calmed back down and I have the time to devote to the book again. I'm thirty-three years old and I know of someone every year that is getting a divorce. I'm just astounded at the amount of couples that are calling it quits. What is happening to our culture that this has become the norm? Does anybody take the sanctity of marriage and family seriously anymore? Or have the rules changed? What are peoples roles? What do we expect out of our partners? What do woman want and what do men want? So many questions go through my mind when I try to figure all of this out. What are the answers to theses questions and can we find a solution?
I would love to hear some feed back on this subject. Maybe you have some advice to pass down or maybe you have some opinions on why relationships are falling apart. I'm going to start my blogs with either some advice I've learned along the way or things that I have found that work for my relationship. I'm also going to posting certain questions or scenarios and would love to hear your opinions. I realize that so many books have been written on this subject, but I still find it very intriguing and feel that people are still searching for some answers. I feel that if we work together, maybe the answers will reveal themselves more clearly.
I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I look forward to your comments. Peace be with all of you.
Namaste
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