An instrument of peace

peaceful

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. 
   – SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI Continue reading

Change the way you look at things, and things you look at change….

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“If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it,  then what you are undergoes a transformation.”

12 Things My Grandmother Told Me Before She Died

12 Things My Grandmother Told Me Before She Died

When my grandmother, Zelda, passed away a few years ago at the age of 90, she left me with a box of miscellaneous items from her house that she knew I had grown to appreciate over the years.  Among these items is an old leather-bound journal that she aptly named her ‘Inspiration Journal.’ Continue reading

Just drop the whole load!

A man had gathered ten thousand golden rupees. And at that time, the rupee was really gold; the word ‘rupee’ simply means gold. And this was his desire – that one day when they were ten thousand, he would offer them to Ramakrishna, of course, to gain virtue in the other life. When small donations are given and people are getting great virtues… for ten thousand gold pieces you can purchase even God’s own house!

 

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bringing your mind back to the present moment

Whether standing, walking, or sitting in meditation, you can use your in-breath and out-breath to help yourself to stop. You stop totally in the present moment. And when you stop, you are master of your body and your mind. Continue reading

Truth is not a concept to me, but a life

Name: Πυθαγορας ο Σαμιος (Pythagoras of Samos)
Born: ~ 570 BCE
Died: ~ 495 BCE

“When one of the great Greek philosophers, Pythagoras, reached Egypt to enter a school – a secret esoteric school of mysticism – he was refused. And Pythagoras was one of the best minds ever produced. He could not understand it. He applied again and again, but he was told that unless he goes through a particular training of fasting and breathing he cannot be allowed to enter the school. Continue reading

Book Recommendation: The Choice by Og Mandino

Never Underestimate the Power of Choice
Do you remember what you said you wanted to be “when you grow up?” Are you living that reality now? Unfortunately, most folks “settle” into a life that looks nothing like the dreams of their youth. We tend to do the things that are most comfortable and predictable, which often leads to working in an unfulfilling, dead-end job. Before you know it, one day bleeds into another, week after week and month after month. The years seem to fly by and you can’t figure out where the time went. Such is the case with Mark Christopher in The Choice. At age 42, Mark was the youngest vice president at his firm and an adjunct professor at the local university. He thought he had it all until he realizes that his life was literally passing him by.The Choice speaks to our innermost desire to have the best of both worlds–freedom and financial stability. Mark Christopher challenges conventional wisdom and abandons his life as a top executive to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. His journey of self-discovery inspires you to examine your life and the choices that shape who you are. You may be surprised to find out that the “rat race” is not your only option… Never underestimate the power of choice; there is a better way to live and you have the power to create the life of your dreams.

I’ve read several of Og Mandino’s books and this one like the others, is a fantastic read. It is encouraging, inspirational and uplifting. If your a fan of Og Mandio books, The Choice is definitely one to add to your collection.

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Dance so fast that the dancer disappears and only the dance remains….

Death may not come. Death cannot come to people who live very intensely and very totally. … Continue reading

There is a quietness

I hope that you will listen, but not with the memory of what you already know; and this is very difficult to do. You listen to something, and your mind immediately reacts with its knowledge, its conclusions, its opinions, its past memories. It listens, inquiring for a future understanding.Just observe yourself, how you are listening, and you will see that this is what is taking place. Either you are listening with a conclusion, with knowledge, with certain memories, experiences, or you want an answer, and you are impatient. You want to know what it is all about, what life is all about, the extraordinary complexity of life. You are not actually listening at all.You can only listen when the mind is quiet, when the mind doesn’t react immediately, when there is an interval between your reaction and what is being said. Then, in that interval there is a quietness, there is a silence in which alone there is a comprehension which is not intellectual understanding.

If there is a gap between what is said and your own reaction to what is said, in that interval, whether you prolong it indefinitely, for a long period or for a few seconds – in that interval, if you observe, there comes clarity. It is the interval that is the new brain. The immediate reaction is the old brain, and the old brain functions in its own traditional, accepted, reactionary, animalistic sense.

When there is an abeyance of that, when the reaction is suspended, when there is an interval, then you will find that the new brain acts, and it is only the new brain that can understand, not the old brain.

– Jiddu Krishnamurthi