Book of the Month – The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu

The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Two great spiritual masters share their own hard-won wisdom about living with joy even in the face of adversity. 

The occasion was a big birthday. And it inspired two close friends to get together in Dharamsala for a talk about something very important to them. The friends were His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The subject was joy. Both winners of the Nobel Prize, both great spiritual masters and moral leaders of our time, they are also known for being among the most infectiously happy people on the planet.

From the beginning the book was envisioned as a three-layer birthday cake: their own stories and teachings about joy, the most recent findings in the science of deep happiness, and the daily practices that anchor their own emotional and spiritual lives. Both the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have been tested by great personal and national adversity, and here they share their personal stories of struggle and renewal. Now that they are both in their eighties, they especially want to spread the core message that to have joy yourself, you must bring joy to others.

Most of all, during that landmark week in Dharamsala, they demonstrated by their own exuberance, compassion, and humor how joy can be transformed from a fleeting emotion into an enduring way of life.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CZCW34Q/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

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The Blind Horse

 At the watering hole by John F Herring

Near my home is a field, with two horses in it.

From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing….

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him.

This alone is unusual, but that’s not the thing that makes this story amazing.

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Thanksgiving

Image result for thanksgivingGratitude is the recognition of all that holds us in the web of life and all that has made it possible to have the life that we have and the moment that we are experiencing. Continue reading

Book Recommendation; Thrive by Arianna Huffington

Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by [Huffington, Arianna]
Thrive is a captivating look at what it takes to live a more meaningful, satisfying life.  Brimming with passion, supported by science, and crowned with practical insights, Arianna’s exceptional book will transform our workplaces, schools, and families.” -Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take

“Arianna Huffington has written a passionate and much needed prescription for reshaping life from the inside out. Turn off your cell phone, your email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other tool of the stressed-out, distracted world to spend some time thinking about grace, joy and wonder. You’ll be glad you did.” –Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer prize winning columnist and bestselling author of I Know Just What You Mean

Thrive is a book that makes me smile just thinking about it. It is a book
of wit, wisdom, and practical advice for changing our lives by changing
our values. After all, why should we be content just to live when we can
thrive?” -Anne-Marie Slaughter, professor, Princeton University, author of What Works for Women at Work

“This is a generous, urgent, vital book, a chance to redefine how we keep score before it’s too late. Arianna has given us a gift, and delivered it with style. Read it!” -Seth Godin, bestselling author of The Icarus Deception
 
“You can feel Arianna’s passion for her subject on every page of this book.   Arianna has reflected on and struggled with  how best to define success ever since I met her more than 30 years ago.  In Thrive she’s created a new paradigm for redefining how to systematically build a life of  purpose and balance and accomplishment— the whole life we’re all ultimately after.” -Tony Schwartz, CEO, The Energy Project, author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working

“Beautiful, bold and brilliant…. I must confess I did not just read this book, I entered into long conversations with it. Rarely comes a title that makes you stop whatever you are doing and look at yourself in a new light, look within. Arianna Huffington is a compassionate rebel; she not only changes the world but also understands it. Her latest book Thrive profoundly transforms our understanding of success and wakes us up from the broken dreams we chase.” -Elif Shafak, bestselling author of Honor and The Forty Rules of Love

“Warning:  The content of this book is highly contagious. Even slight exposure may set you on a path to far clearer seeing, a radical resetting of your priorities, deep contentment, and, of course, thriving. Chances are, it will also melt your heart.”  -Jon Kabat-Zinn, professor, UMass Medical School, author of Full Catastrophe Living

“One of the most important books of this century.  Weaving a tapestry of home-spun wisdom, science and compelling life stories, this is a profoundly uplifting and practical book that has something for everyone.  A must read for anyone wishing to live life more fully.” -Richard J. Davidson, founder and chair, Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“Not only is Thrive rich in worldly  wisdom and brimming with motivation, it gives us the practical tools to help us reconnect to what is deepest and best inside of us.  With evidence and inspiration, Arianna gently shows us how to face the craziness of life today with awareness, grace and a sense of humor. I have a feeling I’ll be referencing this book for a long time.” -Congressman Tim Ryan, Ohio, author of A Mindful Nation

 

Is self-realisation so important?

Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897 – 1981)

Q:   Is self-realisation so important?

M:  Without it you will be consumed by desires and fears, repeating themselves meaninglessly in endless suffering. Most of the people do not know that there can be an end to pain. But once they have heard the good news, obviously going beyond all strife and struggle is the most urgent task that can be. You know that you can be free and now it is up to you. Either you remain forever hungry and thirsty, longing, searching, grabbing, holding, ever losing and sorrowing, or go out whole-heartedly in search of the state of timeless perfection to which nothing can be added, from which nothing — taken away. In it all desires and fears are absent, not because they were given up, but because they have lost their meaning. Continue reading

Book Recommendation – Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender by Dr. David R Hawkins

Letting Go: The Pathway To Surrender Letting Go describes a simple and effective means by which to let go of the obstacles to Enlightenment and become free of negativity. During the many decades of the author’s clinical psychiatric practice, the primary aim was to seek the most effective ways to relieve human suffering in all of its many forms. The inner mechanism of surrender was found to be of great practical benefit and is described in this book.
Dr. Hawkins’s previous books focused on advanced states of awareness and Enlightenment. Over the years, thousands of students had asked for a practical technique by which to remove the inner blocks to happiness, love, joy, success, health, and, ultimately, Enlightenment. This book provides a mechanism for letting go of those blocks. Continue reading