Just think of the trees...

Just think of the trees: they let the birds perch and fly, with no intention to call them when they come and no longing for their return when they fly away. If people's hearts can be like the trees, they will not be off the Way. 

 
         ~Langya

Do not be dismayed or afraid

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." 

Joshua 1:9 

Love turning adversity into opportunity

I am not smarter; I just stay with problems longer.   Albert Einstein.

The hallmark of an entrepreneur is the ability-love really-to turn adversity into opportunity.

Make others happy and they will make you rich.    J. C. Penney.

Attain deliverance in disturbances

1. Don't wish for perfect health. In perfect health, there is greed and wanting. So an ancient said, " Make good medicine from the suffering of sickness." 2. Don't hope for life without problems. An easy life results in a judgmental and lazy ind. So an ancient once said, "Accept the anxieties and difficulties of this life". 3. Don't expect your practice to be clear of obstacles. Without hindrances the mind that seeks enlightenment may be burnt out. So an ancient once said, "Attain deliverance in disturbances". 

 
         ~Zen Master Kyong Ho

Be Faithful, even to point of death

Revelation 2:10 

 ...Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 
 

Be diligent

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.
 
         ~B

Life HANDBOOK 101

HANDBOOK 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E ' s -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28.. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change...
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake, live in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

 

Be ye lamps unto yourselves.

Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height. - B

God takes care of us

If you do nothing, your job is at least half done.

Dennis Mizack. Cave Spring Baptist

There are more organisms in a gram of soil than there are human beings on this Earth!

Soil Biota

---

Soils are populated by a multitude of microbial and invertebrate organisms, in addition to more complex animal biota. Plant roots, seeds, and fungi, are a large part of this microhabitat.

Soil microorganisms play an extensive role in the decomposition of organic matter and production of humus, cycling of nutrients and energy and elemental fixation, soil metabolism, and the production of compounds that cause soil aggregates to form. Many are in symbiotic relationships with plants and animals serving as nitrogen fixers and gut microbes. They function as a substantial part of the food web.

Among the microorganisms found in the soil are bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, micro-algae, protozoa, nematodes, and other invertebrates (mostly arthropods).

It has been estimated that if you look at one "gram" of soil you will see the following numbers of organisms--bacteria 10 8-9 , actinomycetes 105-8 , fungi 105-6 , micro-algae 103-6 , protozoa 103-5 , nematodes 101-2 , other invertebrates 103-5 . A square meter of soil may contain 30-300 earthworms. There are more organisms in a gram of soil than there are human beings on this Earth!

References: Soil Biology Guide. Dindal (ed.) 1990 John Wiley & Sons and Soil Microbial Ecology, F. Blaine Metting Jr. (ed.) 1993

 

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Some Snippets of Krishnamurti on Meditation

Some Snippets of Krishnamurti on Meditation

October 18, 2009

"Have done a great deal of meditation and has been good. I hope you are doing it too – begin by being aware of every thought- feeling – all day, the nerves and the brain – then become quiet, still – this is what cannot be done through control – then really begins meditation. Do it with thoroughness."

– Jiddu Krishnamurti in a letter to Nandini Mehta

…

"Meditation is not something different from daily life; do not go off into the corner of a room and meditate for ten minutes, then come out of it and be a butcher-both metaphorically and actually. Meditation is part of life, not something different from life."

– Jiddu Krishnamurti, Meditations, page 10.

…

"Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life-perhaps the greatest, and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody. That is the beauty of it. It has no technique and therefore no authority. When you learn about yourself, watch yourself, watch the way you walk, how you eat, what you say, the gossip, the hate, the jealousy-if you are aware of all that in yourself, without any choice, that is part of meditation."

"So meditation can take place when you are sitting in a bus or walking in the woods full of light and shadows, or listening to the singing of birds or looking at the face of your wife or child."

– Jiddu Krishnamurti, Meditations, page 2.

…

Q. You seem to object even to our sitting quietly everyday to observe the movement of thought. Is this, by your definition, a practice, a method and therefore without value?

K: Now the questioner asks. What is wrong with sitting quietly every morning for twenty minutes, in the afternoon another twenty minutes and perhaps another twenty minutes in the evening or longer – what is wrong with it? By sitting quietly you can relax, you can observe your thinking, your reactions, your responses and your reflexes. What is the motive of those who sit quietly by themselves, or together in a group? What is the motive behind the desire to sit quietly for half an hour every day? Is it not important to find out why you want to do this? Is it because somebody has told you that if you sit quietly you will have para-psychological experiences, that you will attain some kind of peace, some kind of understanding, some kind of enlightenment, or some kind of power?…

So it is important – before we plunge into all this- to find out what is your motive, what it is that you want. But you do not do that. You are so eager and gullible; somebody promises something and you want it. If you examine the motive, you see that it is a desire to achieve something – like a businessman's desire to earn a lot of money. That is his urge. Here the psychological urge is to have something that a guru, or an instructor, promises.You do not question what he promises, you do not doubt what he promises…

Is it true? Who are you to tell me what to do? then you will find that sitting quietly, without understanding your motive, leads to all kinds of illusory psychological trouble. If that is the intention of sitting quietly, then it is not worth it. But if while sitting quietly without any motive, or walking quietly by yourself or with somebody, you watch the trees, the birds, the rivers and the sunshine on the leaves, in that very watching you are also watching yourself. You are not striving, not making tremendous efforts to achieve something …

Is it not possible to be quiet, naturally – to look at a person, or to listen to a song, or to listen to what somebody is saying quietly, without resistance, without saying, "I must change, I must do this, I must do that". Just to be quiet? Is it possible to sit, or stand, or walk quietly, without any promptings from another, without any reward or desire for extraordinary super-physical sensory experiences? Begin at the most rational level; then one can go very far.

– Jiddu Krishnamurti, Saanen, July 1980.

 

Meditation is No Thought

Meditation is a movement in and of the unknown ... it is that energy that though-matter cannot touch. Thought is perversion for it is the product of yesterday ... Everything put together by thought is within the area of noise, and thought can in no way make itself still ... thought itself must be still for silence to be. Silence is always now as thought is not. Thought, always being old, cannot possibly enter into that silence which is always new. The new becomes the old when thought touches it ... Love can only be when thought is still. This stillness can in no way be manufactured by thought ... this stillness can never be touched by thought. Thought is always old, but love is not ... the flowering of goodness is not in the soil of thought' 
Tyler Moore

Telephone: 540 777 1010 direct

CONFIDENTIAL PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION

Trust but verify

Trust, but verify.

Ronald Reagan

A little portion well digested is greater than a lengthy portion scanned hurriedly.

1 Peter 2:2
 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
 
We should not be content to skim through a chapter merely to satisfy our conscience.  A little portion well digested is of greater spiritual value than a lengthy portion scanned hurriedly.      
                                                  Billy Graham

As in Science, so in religion

My confidence in venturing into science lies in my basic belief that as in science so in Buddhism, understanding the nature of reality is pursued by means of critical investigation: if scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims. 

         ~The Dalai Lama

Far more numerous than insects are nematodes...A handful of soil will contain thousands of microscopic worms...ranging in size up to 8 meters...

Nematodes are the most numerous multicellular animals on earth. A handful of soil will contain thousands of the microscopic worms, many of them parasites of insects, plants or animals. Free-living species are abundant, including nematodes that feed on bacteria, fungi, and other nematodes, yet the vast majority of species encountered are poorly understood biologically. There are nearly 20,000 described species classified in the phylum Nemata .  
  
  
 

Nematodes are structurally simple organisms. Adult nematodes are comprised of approximately 1,000 somatic cells, and potentially hundreds of cells associated with the reproductive system . Nematodes have been characterized as atube within a tube ; referring to the alimentary canal which extends from the mouth on the anterior end, to the anus located near the tail. Nematodes possess digestive, nervous, excretory, and reproductive systems, but lack a discrete circulatory or respiratory system. In size they range from 0.3 mm to over 8 meters. 

There are 1.6 billion insects for every human on the planet...Do they worry? So why do you...?

This is not just a Disney tale:

The Entomological Society of America claims insects are "1.6 billion" times as numerous as humans. With just over 6 billion humans, that works out to about 10^19 insects. 

That may sound like a lot, but there are many small life-forms that could be more numerous. For example, in soil the insects and mites (a type of arachnid, not an insect) all feed either directly or indirectly off various types of nematodes (a tiny worm, which also is not an insect). Nematodes are animals, and "often outnumber other animals" in many environments so they may be the most numerous animal. 

For nothing is impossible with God

For nothing is impossible with God.   Luke 1:37 

All great religions and science confirm the fundamental unity of all things.

  With the ever-growing impact of science on our lives, religion and spirituality have a greater role to play by reminding us of our humanity. There is no contradiction between the two. Each gives us valuable insights into the other. Both science and the teachings of the Buddha tell us of the fundamental unity of all things. This understanding is crucial if we are to take positive and decisive action on the pressing global concern with the environment. I believe all religions pursue the same goals, that of cultivating human goodness and bringing happiness to all human beings. Though the means might appear different the ends are the same.
     

  ~The Dalai Lama

"By far the best drug for calming me down is to run for 45 minutes...

"And we've all got ADD now, short attention span and all that, I found by far the best drug for calming me down is to go out at 5 in the morning and run for 45 minutes."

Hugh Grant, interview with Parade magazine cover story this date

Trillion Dollars is equivalent to ten billion hundred dollar bills stacked 678 miles tall...

Our nation's deficit of billion of trillions must be put in perspective:

One trillion dollars is represented as $1,000,000,000,000.

Divide that by the hundred dollar bill ($100). For those quick minded math people, you drop 2 zeros.

1,000,000,000,000 / 100 = 10,000,000,000

This means there are TEN BILLION hundred dollar bills in a trillion dollars.

To put that in perspective, the US bill note is about .0043 inches thick. This stack of ten billion hundred dollar bills would be 43,000,000 inches tall. That's three million five hundred eighty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three feet tall. Hard to grasp...scale it up to miles and you get a stack more than 678 miles tall. On it's side, that would be a continuous line of bills stretching from Los Angeles, Ca nearly to Salt Lake City, UT! 

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Inner peace is the key.

Inner peace is the key: if you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect your deep sense of peace and tranquility. In that state of mind you can deal with situations with calmness and reason, while keeping your inner happiness. That is very important. Without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially, you may still be worried, disturbed or unhappy because of circumstances.
     

  ~The Dalai Lama

one hundred billion trillion Earth-like planets...

There could be one hundred billion trillion Earth-like planets in space, making it "inevitable" that extraterrestrial life exists, according to a leading astronomer.

As long as space endures, may I abide to dispel the misery of the world.

For as long as space endures, And for as long as living beings remain, Until then may I, too, abide To dispel the misery of the world.
     

  ~The Dalai Lama

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. - 

B

Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.

 All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. 

B

Disney World BUG says bugs are far more important than humans as there are 200 million bugs for every 1 human

Believe the Disney bug is right: Scientists estimated there are around 873,347,175,675 insects on Earth

WikiAnswers http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_insects_are_on_earth

Not everything can be counted.

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

Albert Einstein

One must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.

To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.    

  ~The B

For bodily exercise profits a little...but godliness is profitable for all things...

 1 Timothy 4:8 

⁸ For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.

Matthew 5:16 
¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven 

Psalm 46:1 
¹ God is our refuge and strength, 
      an ever-present help in trouble 

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To bring happiness...One must first discipline and control one's own mind

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.    

  ~The B

If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him

On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.    

  ~The B

Better to travel well than to arrive

 It is better to travel well than to arrive.    

  ~The B

A prayer

I Asked GOD

I asked GOD to take away my pain.
GOD said, "No.  It is not for me to take away,
but for you to give it up."

I asked GOD to make my handicapped child whole.
GOD said, "No.  Her spirit was whole,
her body was only temporary."

I asked GOD to grant me patience.
GOD said, "No.  Patience is a by-product of tribulations;
it isn't granted, it is earned."

I asked GOD to give me happiness.
GOD said, "No.  I give you blessings,
Happiness is up to you."

I asked GOD to spare me pain.
GOD said, "No.  Suffering draws you apart from worldly
cares and brings you closer to me."

I asked GOD to make my spirit grow.
GOD said, "No.  You must grow on your own,
but I will prune you to make you fruitful."

I asked GOD for all things that I might enjoy life.
GOD said, "No.  I will give you life so that you
may enjoy all things."

I asked GOD to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me.
GOD said, "Ahhh, finally you have the idea."

Unity of life

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.    

  ~The B

Eternal identity with pure being

There seem to two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their ego something other than it is, i.e. holy, happy, unselfish (as though you could make a fish unfish), and those who understand that all such attempts are just gesticulation and play-acting, that there is only one thing that can be done, which is to disidentify themselves with the ego, by realizing its unreality, and by becoming aware of their eternal identity with pure being. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei...

 

Secret of health

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. - B
 

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.  

  ~The B

Everything is in relation to everything else.

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. 

  ~The B

Beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable...Einstein

There are moments when one feels free from one's own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only Being. - Albert Einstein ...

All we are is a result of what we have thought.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. 

  ~The B

The wise shape their minds.

As irrigators lead water where they want, as archers make their arrows straight, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their minds. 

  ~The Dhammapada

Nothing is one's own

To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.

- B
 

The whole universe surrender to a mind that is still

To a mind that is still, 

The whole universe surrenders.

-Chuang Tzu

Secret of Health for mind and body

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. - B

Let your love flow outward

Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth. - Sutta Nipata ...

--
Posted By tm to Smile at 9/04/2009 12:26:00 PM

Trying to fix things

Trying to fix things really doesn't fix things.

Mother in Hannah's group.

100 years 100 Billion

In just the last 100 years, we have learned the number of galaxies is not 1 but 100 Billion, the number of stars in each of the 100 Billion galaxies is 100 Billion and the number of planets in each of the 100 Billion galaxies is at least 100 Billion!

Each second, 100 Billion nuetrinos pass through each square inch of our body from one sun for sure.

In the last 100 years, we have gone from horse transportation to jets and cars, from handwritten letters to 100 Billion electronic messages, from morse code to cellular telephones, from maps to Gps...And a 100 Billion other changes...

Transcend false self

 It is only the artificial ego that suffers. The man who has transcended his false 'me' no longer identifies with his suffering. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei...

Undisciplined mind

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm. 

  ~The Dhammapada

Total humility

It is only with total humility, and in absolute stillness of mind that we can know what indeed we are. "The Tenth Man"

Mind controlled by spirit

The mind controlled by the spirit is peace and joy.

Romans 8 6

Runners over 50

Are you ever too old to be a runner?

In the latest segment of Running Voices, created by producer Karen Barrow, four athletes over 50 tell amazing stories of life on the run.

Jacque Carter, 53, from Washington, D.C., is a former runner turned race walker. Even though she is technically walking, she still moves at a 12-minute mile pace. During a recent team meeting, Ms. Carter raised $4,100 by shaving her head as a tribute to cancer patients who had lost their hair during chemotherapy. "We are not mall walkers," she says. "We are endurance walkers. We are out on a race course for six or seven or eight hours at a time and that does take a lot of endurance."

Marshall Ulrich, 57, from Idaho Springs, Colo., began running about 30 years ago after his doctor suggested he exercise to control his high blood pressure. He has since completed 121 ultramarathons of more than 100 miles each, and he is a four-time winner of the grueling Badwater Ultramarathon from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, Calif. More recently he decided to run 3,063 miles from San Francisco to New York City — the equivalent of running a combination of two marathons and a 10K each day. "I just wanted to cross the country…and go through some of the extraordinary places that exist in the United States," he says.

Alan Schappe, 52, of Madison, Wis., began running seven years ago to get in shape. "I was about to be 45, and I realized I really let myself get out of shape and thought, 'My life is probably half over,' " he says. "It woke me up to the fact that I want to get in shape, and if I don't do it now when would I ever start?" His effort paid off. Now Mr. Schappe competes in Ironman triathlons. "I was never a fit person," he says. "If someone told me 20 years ago that I would be doing a race that was 140.6 miles long consisting of swimming, biking and running — it would have just been a laugh."

Sab Koide, 85, of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., began running at the age of 56. Since then he's completed 60 marathons, 28 of them in New York City. His goal this year is to run the New York City marathon in seven-and-a-half hours. "The most uplifting part is to get to the 26 miles," he says. "I try to race the last two-tenths of a mile to show I'm still in good shape."

To see photos and to listen to these and other runners tell their stories, go to theRunning Voices audio slideshow.

I thank You for life.

"Heavenly Father, today I choose to bless Your name. I thank You for life. I thank You for breath. I thank You for provision, healing, strength, and joy. I praise You for abundantly supplying all my needs so that I can be a blessing to others. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

 

"You only lose what you cling to."

"You only lose what you cling to." 

 
 ~B

Achieve immobility

It is not for us to search but to remain still, to achieve Immobility not Action. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei...

Leave yourself behind

What do you have to do? Pack your bags, Go to the station without them, Catch the train, And leave your self behind. - Open Secret by Wei Wu Wei...

Whole cosmos

Looking deeply at any one thing we see the whole cosmos.

TNH

Five minutes daily to read news. MAX

Myself, I want to be informed about what is going on in the world. I want to be informed, but that does not mean that I have to listen to the news three times a day. I think there is some kind of vacuum in us we want to fill up; that is why we buy so many newspapers and magazines and why we view so much television. We do not need that much information. I think maybe five minutes daily is enough. Sometime we can survive several months without any news bulletins. And you have friends who can tell you what is important that has happened. 
        
 ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Fix our eyes on what is unseen

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 
2 Corinthians 4:18 

If you look you will Find

I believe in the higher power. If you look for something it will be provided. ZZ
Tyler Moore

Take heart: I have overcome the world.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world"

(John 16:33, NIV)

Please don't be imprisoned by your suffering.

The ocean of suffering is immense, but if you turn around, you can see the land. The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.
When one tree in the garden is sick, you have to care for it. But don't overlook all the healthy trees. Even while you have pain in your heart, you can enjoy the many wonders of life - the beautiful sunset, the smile of a child, the many flowers and trees. To suffer is not enough. Please don't be imprisoned by your suffering. If you have experienced hunger, you know that having food is a miracle. If you have suffered from the cold, you know the preciousness of warmth. When you have suffered, you know how to appreciate the elements of paradise that are present. 
        
 ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - b

Never save something for a special occasion. Every day is a special occasion.

A friend of mine opened his wife's
underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

'This, - he said - isn't any ordinary package.'

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

'She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on , was saving it for a special occasion.

Well, I guess this is it.

He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house, his wife had just died.

He turned to me and said:

'Never save something for a special occasion.

Every day in your life is a special occasion'.

I still think those words changed my life.

Now I read more and clean less.  

I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.  

I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything.

I use crystal glasses every day...

I'll wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.  

I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words 'Someday.. .' and ' One Day...' are fading away from my dictionary....

If it's worth seeing, listening or doing, I want to see,

listen or do it now...

I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.

I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.
She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels.

I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favourite food.

It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.  

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

Live for today, for tomorrow is promised to no-one.

If you got this, it's because someone cares for you and because, probably, there's someone you care about.  

If you're too

busy to send this out to other people and you say to yourself that you will send it  'One of these days' , remember that 'One day' is far away... or might never come..  

No matter if you're superstitious or not, spend some time reading it.
It holds useful messages for the soul.  
 

Fix your eyes on the eternal

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

2 Corinthians 4:18

Listen with Calm and Understanding

So if we love someone, we should train in being able to listen. By listening with calm and understanding, we can ease the suffering of another person.        
 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

ALL is a miracle

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air,but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.        
 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

People fear letting go of suffering...

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.       
 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

--

Calm...Practice Mindfulness

Relief, Peace, well-being, joy and better relations with others will be possible if we practice mindfulness in our everyday life. I am convinced that everybody can practice mindfulness, even politicians, political parties, even the Congress. This is a body that holds the responsibility for knowing the nation's situation well, and knowledge of this kind requires the practice of looking deeply. If our elected officials are not calm enough, do not have enough concentration, how can they see things deeply?      
 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Drink your tea slowly and reverently

Drink your tea slowly and reverently,
as if it is the axis
on which the world earth revolves
- slowly, evenly, without
rushing toward the future;
Live the actual moment.
Only this moment is life.      
 

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

--

True Love

To experience love, we must go inside. When you experience real love you get into a state which is beyond words. You are filled with a joy that goes beyond all emotions. True love is the love of the inner Self. - Muktananda...

Chose words with care

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. - B

We Are The Stream

A myriad bubbles were floating on the surface of a stream. 'What are you?' I cried to them as they drifted by. 'I am a bubble, of course' nearly a myriad bubbles answered, and there was surprise and indignation in their voices as they passed. But, here and there, a lonely bubble answered, 'We are this stream', and there was neither surprise nor indignation in their voices, but just a quiet certitude. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei...

No 'you"

As long as there is a 'you' doing or not-doing, thinking or not-thinking, 'meditating' or 'not-meditating' you are no closer to home than the day you were born. 

"The Tenth Man" by Wei Wu Wei...

Through meditation, we can use the mind to free us.

By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind. - Tarthang Tulku...

Be a lamp unto yourself; look not to anyone beside yourselves...

Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.

Power Point: Keep it simple

"His ability to boil things down, to just work on the things that really count, to think through the basics… It's a special form of genius."

– Bill Gates on what he's learned from mentor Warren Buffett, as told to Fortune in this week's Best Advice issue. Of all the great advice the Microsoft (MSFT) founder has gotten from Buffett — his greatest mentor besides his dad — "one of the most interesting is how he keeps things simple," he says. "You look at his calendar, it's pretty simple."

The same philosophy guides the Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) chief's business moves. Gates explains, " You talk to him about a case where he thinks a business is attractive, and he knows a few basic numbers and facts about it. He picks the things that he's got a model of, a model that really is predictive and that's going to continue to work over a long-term period."

Simplicity never goes out of style — but we do need to be reminded to get back to basics. Time Inc. built a successful magazine on this theme: Real Simple. The concept of "keeping it simple" is also universal. It's the message Pattie often turns to when advising me on my writing for Postcards. And as you'll read in the issue, this is also the best advice that the world's No. 1 golfer got from his dad. –Jessica Shambora

 

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Renunciation

 

 

Sent to you by Tyler via Google Reader:

 

 

Thought for Thu, 18 Jun 2009

via Buddhist Thought of the Day on 6/18/09

Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away. Aitken Roshi ...

 

 

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Selfless Thoughts

We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them. - B

Teaching children about money

The easiest way for your children to learn about money is for you not to have any.

  - NY TIMES Katharine Whitehorn Quote of the Day

--
Posted By tm to Smile at 5/18/2009 12:28:00 PM

Deeper glimpse into eternal secrets

He who finds a thought that enables him to obtain a slightly deeper glimpse into the eternal secrets of nature has been given great grace. - Albert Einstein...

Non attachment

The process of practice is to see through, not to eliminate, anything to which we are attached. We could have great financial wealth and be unattached to it, or we light have nothing and be very attached to having nothing. Usually, if we have seen through the nature of attachment, we will have a tendency to have few possessions, but not necessarily. Most practice gets caught in this area of fiddling with our environments or our minds. " My mind should be quiet". Our mind doesn't matter; what matters is non attachment to the activities of the mind. And our emotions are harmless unless they dominate us 9 that is, if we are attached to them)---then they create dis-harmony for everyone. The first problem in practice is to see that we are attached. As we do consistent, patient zazen we begin to know that we are nothing but attachments; they rule our lives. But we never lose an attachment by saying it has to go. Only as we gain true awareness of its true nature does it quietly and imperceptibly wither away; like a sand castle with waves rolling over, it just smoothes out and finally Where is it? What was it?  

~ Charlotte Joko Beck

Tyler Moore

and I will give you rest....

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

Matthew 11:28-30 

On Interval Training

You can do anything for 30 seconds.

Ken Prickitt, age 70, avid road bicyclist, climbing mountains full speed

Surrender

Victory lies in the admission of defeat. Moses

Prudence

It is better to have a hen tomorrow than an egg today.

All is a miracle

"People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

If there is no teacher...

But if you do not find an intelligent companion, a wise and well-behaved person going the same way as yourself, then go on your way alone, like a king abandoning a conquered kingdom, or like a great elephant in the deep forest. - B

The wise ones, ever meditative and steadfastly persevering, alone experience Nirvana, the incomparable freedom from bondage.

B

 

Do your best you can with what you have

Do the best you can- with what you have - where you are.

-Obama First Congressional Address

Make the best with the cards you are dealt.

-Tommy Wimmer

Success...Frank Lloyd Wright

" I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and a devotion to the things you want to see happen. "

--Frank Lloyd Wright

Opportunity hides behind work

" Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls, and looks like work. "

--Thomas Edison

 

Be wary of multitasking—learn to focus.

Be wary of multitasking—learn to focus. E-mail will interrupt your work if you let it. A 2005 survey in England found that constantly interrupting your work to check new e-mail messages damages productivity and results in a greater loss of IQ than smoking marijuana or losing an entire night of sleep. Allowing yourself to constantly be distracted by e-mails causes your focus to suffer and your work to take longer.

Light another's latern, brightens your own way

Nichiren writes, "If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way." Please be confident that the higher your flame of altruistic action burns, the more its light will suffuse your life with happiness. Those who possess an altruistic spirit are the happiest people of all.

Life is so short...

"Life is too short to wake up with regrets.  So love the people who treat you right.  Forget about those who don't.  Believe everything happens for a reason.  If you get a chance, take it.  If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it."

 

 

 

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle"

 

“To the world, you might be one person, but, to one person, you might be the world!”

 

“Live well, Love Much, Laugh OFTEN”…

 

Cultivate Happiness

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, 
and the life of the candle will not be shortened. 
Happiness never decreases by being shared.

 

~B

Live in Joy

Live in Joy, In love, 
Even among those who hate. 

Live in joy, In health, 
Even among the afflicted. 

Live in joy, In peace, 
Even among the troubled. 

Look within. Be still. 
Free from fear and attachment, 
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.        

b

Sift speech through a sieve

"The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve. - B"