Reflectinon on Planet Earth: In this age of information-overload, we are so bombarded from all avenues or else we fill our moments and ourselves up with so many distractions, because we don’t yet have the courage and the capacity to genuinely grieve and transmute all the pain, so we tend to massively numb ourselves out. Un-met grief is very stagnant, and potentially very destructive, whereas grief in process is active, clearing the old, pouring light into the wounds, sacred tears opening hearts. Grief is natural; it comes to cleanse us, tear us apart and carve out a greater space in our heart to feel, to appreciate, to love and to live. Grief is a sacred ally and it is hand in hand with surrender, acceptance, resilience, letting go, faith, and spiritual expansion. Therefore, the more courageous we can become in letting ourselves meet this collective wounded moment on Planet Earth that we are sharing in, we can find more and more capacity to integrate the greater depths and pieces of our true wholeness. For unlocking our natural grief also unlocks our natural gratitude and Joy for the mysterious journey. In this universe we are all together, let us all explore how we might be able to do our personal part within our own minds, hearts and cultural human expression. With the resources of our spiritual guidance, and ever dawning creativity, it is in our hands to navigate these challenges. Let us bring our most willing, courageous heart to this task of finding a sacred way for humanity to live on Planet Earth. Aryz Eden Sky
Real faith means holding ourselves open to the unconditional mystery which we encounter in every sphere of life which cannot be compressed in any formula. Real faith means the ability to endure life in the face of this mystery. - Martin Buber
The person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which. They simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace in whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them, they are always doing both. Zen Buddhist
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep.
Khadja Nin - Sina Mali, Sina Deni - Ahiya, Ahiya: I'm free kama maji, Ana tempaka mpaka kati ya pori. The beauty of music is that you do not have to understand a single word for you to enjoy it. You listen to the song and you connect.
Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God. I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. Thomas Jefferson
Being able to say something, when the majority of people do not have the option of expressing themselves, obliges this voice to be in some way prophetic... When an artist speaks in an environment in which freedom is difficult, he must turn each of his works into a negation of the negations, in an untying of all oppressions, all prejudices, and all the false established values Joan Miro : A fine line
The Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes, likens Goytisolo to the Irishmen Swift and Joyce: "exiles condemned to live with the language of their oppressions, digest it, expel it, trample on it, and then resign themselves ...
Tyrants and pop stars (the guest list for Royal wedding): In a display of regal indifference to current events and human rights, the Queen and her offspring announced a list that was heavy with autocrats who have recently been implicated in acts of repressive violence while crushing the democratic uprisings that have swept across Africa. Senior figures from the governments of Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have been invited, despite having been in the headlines for acts of brutality in recent weeks. The guest list displays a shocking insensitivity to the suffering of people who have been persecuted. The Globe and Mail.
Lines in the Sand - David Gordon - Musical Healing: Using the beach as his canvas, the artist paints with the elements ---- sand, surf and light creating a labyrinth, a sacred space. His body dances through time, leaving patterns of beauty in the sand. The tide doesn't wait; its return offers a fresh canvas for the morrow. The movements are precise, done with economy of energy and motion. They are mindful acts - meditation in action
Ashes and Snow exhibition by Gregory Colbert
Mul Mantra (Root Mantra) by Snatam Kaur : Intention Meditations for World Peace and Oneness. Mul Mantra contains the core, essential truth of creation, and its vibration is so powerful that it can change our fate and help us re-write our destiny by reminding our soul of its fundamental self...purity, prosperity and grace.
Ek Ongkar. Sat Nam. Karta Purakh. Nirbhau. Nirvair. Akal Moorath. Ajooni Saibhang. Gurparsad, Jap! - Guru Nanak Devji
One Eternal Light. Word is Truth. Creator Of All. Without Fear. Non-Vindictive. Timeless Image. Without Beginning and Breaks. Guru’s Grace.
One Universal Creator: we are all part and creation of the same primal being, we are all created equal and the differences are just products of our own minds. The Name is Truth: Nam refers to the primordial sound, the unstruck melody, the first truth (In the beginning was the Word). Creative Being, Without fear, Without hatred, timeless Image, beyond birth and Self-existent by the Guru's Grace (The Guru may or may not be a person, book, thought or philosophy. It is just something that moves one from ignorance to understanding.)
Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
Purity of mind requires the destroying of all bad impressions which are already collected there. Now the question is what to destroy and what to keep in mind? Collect and keep all that is beautiful and harmonious, and destroy all that is void of beauty and creates inharmony and disturbs the peace of your life. As some dust gets into the mechanism of a clock and stops it from going, so the effects produced by all impressions which are void of beauty and harmony and which disturb your peace keep you from progress. The mind cannot act properly when it is hindered by impressions which have a paralyzing effect upon it. Once a person is able to clear from his mind, by whatever process, the undesirable impressions, a new power begins to spring from his heart. Whatever is reflected in the heart does not only remain a reflection but becomes a creative power, productive of a phenomenon of a similar nature. For instance a heart which is holding in itself and reflecting the rose, will find roses everywhere. Roses will be attracted to that heart; roses will be produced from it and for it. As this reflection becomes stronger, so it becomes creative of the phenomenon of roses.
karunesh - green world - zen breakfast : I want to go beyond the limits and barriers separating different cultures, mixing different music styles and let them flow and dance together. Music is the one language in the world that everybody understands, across all cultures, religions and beliefs - music for body, heart and soul. Rhythym is food for the body, melody nourishes the heart and atmospheres fill the soul - and my music touches the listener on all these three levels.
The Tibetan practice of Shamatha meditation develops the ability to focus the mind in single-pointed perfect concentration for the development of vipashyana or analytical insight meditation. The development of mental tranquility is obtained in progressive stages of mental development through study, contemplation, memory, comprehension, diligence and perfection.
Shamatha meditation progressive stages: The first stage is attained through the power of study and or hearing. The monk fixes his mind on the object of concentration. Here a monk chasing, binding, leading and subduing elephant whose colour progresses from black to white. The elephant represents the mind and its black colour the gross aspects of mental dullness. The monkey represents distraction or mental agitations, and its black colour, scattering distraction. The monkey at the first runs a wildly, leading the elephant. The second stage is attained through the power of concentration. This is achieved by lengthening the periods of concentration on the objects. The third and fourth stages are attained through the power of memory or recollection. The monk lassoes the elephant fixing the wandering mind on detailed conception of the object. Attainment of the fifth and sixth stages of meditative absorption is achieved through the power of clear comprehension. The monkey now follows the elephant; the arising of distraction diminishes. Even the arising of virtuous thoughts must be perceived as a distraction from the object of concentration.
The seventh and eighth stages are attained through the power of energetic perseverance. The mind can now remain continually in absorption on the object of concentration, Single-pointedness of mind. Mindfulness and understanding represents the ability to examine the sublime meaning of shunyata.
Abraham watches as his wife prepares fish balls to sell. Liberia. Diary - Tim Hetherington
Emily Carr by Lewis DeSoto
Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone, 'Neath the halo of a street lamp. I turned my collar to the cold and damp. When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light that split the night and touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more, People talking without speaking, People hearing without listening, People writing songs that voices never share, And no one dared disturb the sound of silence
"Fools", said I, "You do not know silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you. Take my arms that I might reach you" But my words, like silent raindrops fell and echoed in the wells of silence. Simon & Garfunkel
When there is enjoyment,nothing is a chore.When there's no enjoyment,everything becomes a chore. It really is all about you,and the enjoyment of the greatest play on earth. A Greater Gift - Prem Rawat
Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all...Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:11-21
The Archbishop of Canterbury on the mystery and delight found in life-time commitment.
