Certainty

The words of this poem really resonated with me this morning. For the past six weeks I have been living in uncertainty regrading an issue that still has not been resolved. It has not been easy for me to live with the not knowing and endless questions of " what if ....?"

I have come to the point where i have realised the insanity of worrying about something that may or may not happen; the insanity of fearful thoughts that prevent me from enjoying this holy instant to the full.

No, it is time to stop waiting for the storm to pass and time to learn to dance in the rain !

It is true that since everything is always changing can we ever be certain of anything ?

I shall meditate on " Certainty confines " .

There is freedom in chaos.

We often think of change as change for the worse, but is it so ?
Things can change in an instant.
Things can change for the better, and better that we ever dared imagine.


Finally, I remind myself " THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH "

CERTAINTY

Certainty undermines one's power, and turns happiness
into a long shot. Certainty confines.

Dears, there is nothing in your life that will
not change - especially your ideas of God.

Look what the insanity of righteous knowledge can do:
crusade and maim thousands
in wanting to convert that which
is already gold
into gold.

Certainty can become an illness
that creates hate and
greed.

God once said to Tuka,

"Even I am ever changing -
I am ever beyond
Myself,

what I may have once put my seal upon,
may no longer be
the greatest
Truth."

~ Tukaram ~

(Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, versions by Daniel Ladinsky)

Web version: www.panhala. net/Archive/ Certainty. html

Meditation , the monkey mind and Buddha's dogs

This wonderful poem is a Panhala posting ( see details below) and reflects my own experiences of retreats and meditation. Beautifully honest too.

Buddha's Dogs

I'm at a day-long meditation retreat, eight hours of watching
my mind with my mind,
and I already fell asleep twice and nearly fell out of my chair,
and it's not even noon yet.

In the morning session, I learned to count my thoughts, ten in
on minute, and the longest
was to leave and go to San Anselmo and shop, then find an outdoor cafe and order a glass

of Sancerre, smoked trout with roasted potatoes and baby
carrots and a bowl of gazpacho.
But I stayed and learned to name my thoughts, so far they are:
wanting, wanting, wanting,

wanting, wanting, wanting, wanting, wanting, judgment,
sadness. Don't identify with your
thoughts, the teacher says, you are not your personality, not your
ego-identification,

then he bangs the gong for lunch. Whoever, whatever I am is
given instruction
in the walking meditation and the eating meditation and walks
outside with the other

meditators, and we wobble across the lake like The Night of the

Living Dead.
I meditate slowly, falling over a few times because I kept my
foot in the air too long,

towards a bench, sit slowly down, and slowly eat my sandwich,
noticing the bread,
(sourdough), noticing the taste, (tuna, sourdough), noticing
the smell, (sourdough, tuna),

thanking the sourdough, the tuna, the ocean, the boat, the
fisherman, the field, the grain,
the farmer, the Saran Wrap that kept this food fresh for this
body made of food and desire

and the hope of getting through the rest of this day without
dying of boredom.
Sun then cloud then sun. I notice a maple leaf on my sandwich.
It seems awfully large.

Slowly brushing it away, I feel so sad I can hardly stand it, so I
name my thoughts; they are:
sadness about my mother, judgment about my father, wanting
the child I never had.

I notice I've been chasing the same thoughts like dogs around
the same park most of my life,
notice the leaf tumbling gold to the grass. The gong sounds,
and back in the hall.

I decide to try lying down meditation, and let myself sleep. The
Buddha in my dream is me,
surrounded by dogs wagging their tails, licking my hands.
I wake up

for the forgiveness meditation, the teacher saying,never put
anyone out of your heart,
and the heart opens and knows it won't last and will have to
open again and again,

chasing those dogs around and around in the sun then cloud
then sun.

~ Susan Browne ~

(Buddha's Dogs)

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Tap into a great day

EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique is a great way of re-programming yourself to create well-being . Tapping can clear unwanted stress, anxiety, worries and negative thinking that prevent you from feeling good.

I heard about EFT a long time ago and have practiced it on and off , but now with the help of this video clip I intend to make it a part of my daily routine.

I really intend to have a good day !

Stephen Covey

"If you start to think the problem is ‘out there,’ stop yourself.
That thought is the problem."

-- Stephen Covey

About Stephen R. Covey

Personal Bio

Recognized as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans, Stephen R. Covey has dedicated his life to demonstrating how every person can truly control their destiny with profound, yet straightforward guidance. As an an internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and author, his advice has given insight to millions.

About the Stephen Covey Community

The Mandala of Being ( Richard Moss )

I have been listening to wonderful sessions of Healing with the Masters and I can thoroughly recommend them.

Today , I'm listening to Richard Moss's talk , "The Mandala of Being" which includes a lot of Psychosynthesis and echoes the teachings of Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie.

Check out www.richardmoss.com where you can also subscribe to his free e-course

http://www.healingw iththemasters. com/audio. htm

Eat a meal mindfully

From : http://www.care2.com/greenliving/a-mindfulness-meal-meditation.html

To eat mindfully is to live in the present. It calls for paying attention to every act, every sensation and perception, for its own sake, in the moment. From the start to the finish of your meal, your intention is to link the moments together into a continuous stream of sensory awareness. Some suggestions:

Be mindful. To become focused, become silent and breathe in a relaxed manner. Choose a time when you’re not hurried or distracted by other things.

Visualize the meal. Become focused in your mind’s eye on what you’re going to prepare, its appearance, aroma, ingredients, etc.

Plan the meal. Mentally focus on all the steps involved in preparing the meal. Will you prepare it? For whom will you prepare it? What will you make?

Prepare the meal. Be mindful of the action of washing the food, such as vegetables you may be preparing for a fresh salad. Notice yourself reaching for the refrigerator door, and other preparation activities.

Set the table. The table on which you eat can be as sacred as the rest of the meal. Create a table that is inviting, for both you and the food.

Serve the meal. Be mindful of each action associated with serving the meal: selecting dishes and utensils, setting the table, bringing food to the table, etc.

Eat the meal. As with the Zen monastic meal, be mindful of each aspect of the food you’re eating. To begin consider saying words of thanks or appreciation for the food. Savor the aroma of the food by inhaling deeply.

Clean up. Regard this as a sacred process, too. It is just as important a part of the meal as the other phases.

Digest the food. After you’ve eaten, be aware of how the food feels in your stomach, how you’re feeling. Are you aware that you overate? Under-ate? Are you still hungry, or ate just the right amount?

From start to finish and throughout the dining process, continue to witness the effects of having prepared, eaten, and digested the meal. For in the witnessing lies the essence of life itself.

Adapted from Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul by Deborah Kesten.

Deborah Kesten, MPH, an international lifestyle and health researcher and Certified Health and Wellness Coach, was the nutritionist on Dean Ornish, MD’s first clinical trial for reversing heart disease through lifestyle changes without drugs or surgery, and Director of Nutrition on similar research in Europe. She also is the award-winning author of The Enlightened Diet, Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul, and The Healing Secrets of Food. Visit her at www.Enlightened-Diet.com.

Intent.com provides content and community for who you aspire to be–personally, socially and globally.

Journeying god

Journeying god,
pitch your tent with mine
so that I may not become deterred
by hardship, strangeness, doubt.
Show me the movement I must make
toward a wealth not dependent on possessions,
toward a wisdom not based on books,
toward a strength not bolstered by might,
toward a god not confined to heaven.
Help me to find myself as I walk in other's shoes.

( Prayer song from Ghana. traditional . translator unknown)

source: http://www.panhala.net/Archive/Journeying_god.html

For the Unknown Self

For the Unknown Self

So much of what delights and troubles you
Happens on a surface
You take for ground.
Your mind thinks your life alone,
Your eyes consider air your nearest neighbour,
Yet it seems that a little below your heart
There houses in you an unknown self
Who prefers the patterns of the dark
And is not persuaded by the eye's affection
Or caught by the flash of thought.

It is a self that enjoys contemplative patience
With all your unfolding expression,
Is never drawn to break into light
Though you entangle yourself in unworthiness
And misjudge what you do and who you are.

It presides within like an evening freedom
That will often see you enchanted by twilight
Without ever recognizing the falling night,
It resembles the under-earth of your visible life:
All you do and say and think is fostered
Deep in its opaque and prevenient clay.

It dwells in a strange, yet rhythmic ease
That is not ruffled by disappointment;
It presides in a deeper current of time
Free from the force of cause and sequence
That otherwise shapes your life.

Were it to break forth into day,
Its dark light might quench your mind,
For it knows how your primeval heart
Sisters every cell of your life
To all your known mind would avoid,

Thus it knows to dwell in you gently,
Offering you only discrete glimpses
Of how you construct your life.

At times, it will lead you strangely,
Magnetized by some resonance
That ambushes your vigilance.

It works most resolutely at night
As the poet who draws your dreams,
Creating for you many secret doors,
Decorated with pictures of your hunger;

It has the dignity of the angelic
That knows you to your roots,
Always awaiting your deeper befriending
To take you beyond the threshold of want,
Where all your diverse strainings
Can come to wholesome ease.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

SQ

Zohar and Marshall introduced 12 qualities of SQ. They derive these principles from the qualities that define complex adaptive systems. In biology, complex adaptive systems are living systems that create order out of chaos, they create order and information and defy the law of entropy. ^{[Zohar 4]}

Those principles are:

• Self-Awareness: Knowing what I believe in and value, and what deeply motivates me
• Spontaneity: Living in and being responsive to the moment
• Being Vision- and Value-Led: Acting from principles and deep beliefs, and living accordingly
• Holism: Seeing larger patterns, relationships, and connections; having a sense of belonging
• Compassion: Having the quality of "feeling-with" and deep empathy
• Celebration of Diversity: Valuing other people for their differences, not despite them
• Field Independence: Standing against the crowd and having one's own convictions
• Humility: Having the sense of being a player in a larger drama, of one's true place in the world
• Tendency to Ask Fundamental "Why?" Questions: Needing to understand things and get to the bottom of them
• Ability to Reframe: Standing back from a situation or problem and seeing the bigger picture; seeing problems in a wider context
• Positive Use of Adversity: Learning and growing from mistakes, setbacks, and suffering
• Sense of Vocation: Feeling called upon to serve, to give something back

We reap what we sow

The universe is like a dome; it vibrates to that which you say in it, and answers the same back to you; so also is the law of action we reap what we sow.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Awakening

Watch , listen and spread the good vibes

Bless xxx

Human Angels

Give up your limited self willingly to the Unlimited

Once you have given up your limited self willingly to the Unlimited, you will rejoice so much in that consciousness that you will not care to be small again.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

If you ask someone to say where he is, he will point at his arm, his hand, his body. He knows little beyond that. There are many who if asked, 'But where do you think you are in your body?' will say, 'In my brain.' They limit themselves to that small physical region which is called body, thus making themselves much smaller than they really are. The truth is that man is one individual with two aspects, just like one line with two ends. If you look at the ends, it is two. If you look at the line, it is one. One end of the line is limited, the other end of the line is unlimited. One end is man, the other end is God. Man forgets that end, and knows only the end of which he is conscious. And it is the consciousness of limitation which makes him more limited. Otherwise he would have far greater means of approaching the Unlimited which is within himself, which is only the other end of the same line, the line which he calls, or which he considers to be, himself. And when a mystic speaks of self-knowledge this does not mean knowing how old one is or how good one is or how bad, or how right or how wrong. It means knowing the other part of one's being, that deeper, subtler aspect. It is upon the knowledge of that being that the fulfillment of life depends.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/II/II_19.htm


When a man has a ragged coat he says, 'I am poor'. In reality his coat is poor, not he. What this capacity or accommodation contains is that which becomes his knowledge, his realization, and it is that which limits him. It forms that limitation which is the tragedy of every soul. Now, this capacity may be filled with self, or it may be filled with God. There is only room for one. Either we live with our limitation, or we let God reign there in His unlimited Being.

from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_3_4.htm

Prayer of the children

John O'Donohue

Healing moments

This 1st video in "The Healing Project" is intended to offer a free, immediate Reiki healing session to an on-line viewer anywhere in the world. In order to get maximum benefit from the session, simply sit comfortably and relaxed, and play the video. That's it! This 6 minute session is offered by Paula Renshaw, utilising Reiki Tummo.
"The Healing Project" was started by artist Kit Glaisyer on Jan 1st 2008, as an experiment to combine new media technology with spiritual healing practices. Visit www.thehealingproject.net

The Circle of Eternity Meditation

THE CIRCLE OF ETERNITY

Close your eyes and let the mind expand.
Let no fear of death or darkness arrest its course.
Allow the mind to merge with Mind.
Let it flow out upon the great curve of consciousness.
Let it soar on the wings of the great bird of duration,
Up to the very Circle of Eternity

Hermes

From : http://www.satyacenter.com

The Electric Gypsy

The Electric Gypsy , Terry Mace, and I have just crossed paths.

I get a " Content Warning " when I visit Terry's blog, don't let that put you off. It is a beautiful and inspiring blog . In Terry's own words, from his blog :

" Inner-dimensional, Outer-dimensional, United Kingdom

The ideas behind this blog are several fold. In one sense it’s a way for, friends, family and colleagues to follow my adventures off-grid which are essentially experiments in ‘sustainable’ living. On another level it’s a way for me to publish and write about ideas and concepts that are important to me now in my life. It’s also a way for me to offer, web- links, social-networks and useful resources to those interested in ‘off-grid’ living or alternative life-style choices. Finally, I think that this is also about wanting my individual friends, family and colleagues to see the diversity of both my established friendships and those new friendships which seem to grow daily. I suppose in more ways than one it’s also my way of using technology positively to widen the community circle for myself and others in my life. Thus, ‘the-circle-is-open-but-un-broken’. Please enjoy this blog. Check out the various web-links on the site by hovering over bold or high-lighted texts. Please report any broken links or unavailable resources so that I can mend or re-link them. Here’s my email address: electric-gypsy@fsmail.net "

Do check it out and be inspired. The Electric Gypsy

What do you know for sure ?

HereSince the day the late Gene Siskel asked me, "What do you know for sure?" and I got all flustered and started stuttering and couldn't come up with an answer, I've never stopped asking myself that question. And every month I must find yet another answer. Some months I feel I hardly know a thing, and I'm always pressed to make the deadline for this column. This time around, in honor of our tribute to the subject, I looked back and came up with my all-time top 20:

1. What you put out comes back all the time, no matter what. (This is my creed.)

2. You define your own life. Don't let other people write your script.

3. Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.

4. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time. (A lesson from Maya Angelou.)

5. Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.

6. What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.

7. If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough. (From the German theologian and humanist Meister Eckhart.)

8. The happiness you feel is in direct proportion to the love you give.

9. Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.

10. If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.

11. Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn't lie.

12. Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.

13. Let passion drive your profession.

14. Find a way to get paid for doing what you love. Then every paycheck will be a bonus.

15. Love doesn't hurt. It feels really good.

16. Every day brings a chance to start over.

17. Being a mother is the hardest job on earth. Women everywhere must declare it so.

18. Doubt means don't. Don't move. Don't answer. Don't rush forward.

19. When you don't know what to do, get still. The answer will come.

20. "Trouble don't last always." (A line from a Negro spiritual, which calls to mind another favorite: This, too, shall pass.)

So thanks, Gene, for asking me the question. The answer continues… are 20 things Oprah Winfrey knows for sure .