Well, I am human, at least my physical form says I am…But that’s a deeper story and one I won’t go into now 🙂
I am 1 person living on Planet Earth, I am one of 7.5 Billion souls on this planet today, I live in a city of 25 Million souls, each with their own thoughts, personality, set of behaviours, religious and political belief systems, cultural style & belief, race, gender, sexual preference, education level etc…So, what is it I have to offer Humanity?
Well, I can offer Humanity my love, my compassion, my voice and my light…All these things I can give…Freely!..I have no agenda, no reason other than to help spread the word of love through my own light and my own personal voice..
I want to share my love with all who are willing to listen and to receive, there is no agenda or recompense required, I just want to speak out and to give you my love 🙂
Our world is filled with beautiful souls, many of which stand on the rooftops and shout out for all to hear, there are also many who want to stand on the rooftops and shout out; but they are fearful of being shot down in flames, held back with a fear of retaliation against what they are saying or trying to share with our world, with humanity! Many of these gentle souls are hounded by trolls on the internet, receiving bad comments, taunted into cyber arguments; all because of their openness and passion fondness to share their love with humanity!…
My Dear Freinds, we are living in a world where nothing is perfect and there is no ‘cookie cutter’ template or fix for humanity, we are all one, we are all from the same one source, we are one in humanity we are ‘ IN THIS TOGETHER!’..Life, living life and loving life is subject to personal choice and how we choose to live our life is personal to each and every one of us…
I am only 1, but I promise you, I will ‘ALWAYS’ do my best for humanity, for our environment and for our planet, because I only have this life (well maybe not only this life, but again that’s a different story and subject to personal belief again 🙂 ).
So, here I am on Friday 20th November 2015 saying to you…
I give you my Love and My Light, Please share with others as I am sure there are many souls out there that would love to receive the love and light from you too 🙂
Well, the weekend is here again and I’m a little stuck for words, my mind is blank and I’m having difficulty thinking of ideas for inspirational posts! I guess it’s the old ‘writers block’, maybe my meditations are taking me to the point of total relaxation where absolutely nothing seems to pass through my mind…. or, maybe I just don’t have anything much to say!
This feeling of empty-ness worries me, I feel I owe you a post and when I cannot think of a subject to write about I do start to worry and I become a little anxious!…will I loose followers?, what will my friends think when I don’t post for a day?… and the anxiety becomes even worse if I don’t post for more than one day…
But then I relax and let my fingers do the walking, I introduced them to the keyboard and like magic they began to type, nothing in this post so far anyway has come from my mind, my fingers have just flowed around the keyboard doing a magical dance on the keys and this is what you’re reading right now…I have no idea of the theme, I have no idea what the title of this post will be and where the post will end up…I guess its just a few rambling words to you all, my blogging friends, friends from all around the world, friends of different races, religions, gender and age..but friends you are and I would miss not having you all in my life, you give me strength, you give me pleasure and sometimes I get to feel a sense of happiness when I hear that I have managed to help one of you get through a difficult time in your life.
For me blogging is not about finding followers, it’s not really about spirituality (although spirituality and my spiritual journey are very important to me), faith or religion…In my case its just the words and feelings from me, nothing special, just my thoughts on any given day, on any subject that I feel will bring you some joy, a post that may help you overcome a fear, guide you to a solution to a problem or maybe a video or music post that will bring a smile to your face.
Now, while I’m writing this post I too feel a sense of joy, because the words flowing from my finger tips are saying what is inside my heart, no thought has gone into these words and no pattern has been put together of the structure or the outcome, but the words are as I said from my heart, and to me that’s a great thing because I honestly believe that if we; as humans used our hearts to their full capacity of loving kindness each and every day, we would live in a world filled with love and peace…I know I cannot bring about world peace on my own through this humble blog but I do know that I can bring about change, I can make you smile, I can bring joy and a little happiness to your life even if only for the briefest moment in time, but time is the essence, time has no meaning so that smile that you have on your face right now is a blessing from God and hopefully brought to you from the words or pictures that I send you 🙂
So in essence I guess this post is about happiness, it is about loving kindness, it is about bringing about change in our lives, it is about helping others, it is about my own spiritual journey, it is about living life in the now, it is about caring, it is about humanity, it is about giving…….
Some days I sit and cry a little, I care passionately about our world, I care passionately about humanity, I care passionately about the environment and I wonder what more I can do to help those in need! Those tears then lead to meditation when I connect to my heart and I realise I can do more, do something simple, bring a smile to someones face, give thanks for what I have in my life and I feel good again, this feeling then brings about action…actions can be simple, they can be small and they can cost you nothing… but these actions will and do make a difference to someone or something in our world…so when ever you feel down…just stop…meditate, connect with your heart, give thanks for your life and give thanks for all you have in your life…this will lead you to open your eyes with a fresh view which will bring about change and you will do good, you will help someone, you will share a smile..and on and on the circle of loving kindness will go…
We come into this world, innocent, non defined, happy and open to all influences, good or bad…..Laughing generally gets knocked out of us during our childhood until we reach adulthood with a very serious demeanour and outlook on the rest of our life….But, if you are one of the lucky ones that continues to laugh, who carries a smile on your face then good luck to you and remember to share this happiness with others because smiling and laughter are infectious….
Spread the joy mu friends…Laugh out loud and SMILE 🙂
Go on, you know you want one…Reach out, close your eyes and feel the warmth of my hug, my arms around you, comforting you. It comes to you with my love and best wishes for a wonderful day filled with happiness, joy and peace wherever you are in this world 🙂
Touching base with your heart and your soul, easy?…… No!….Achievable?…Yes! 🙂
Our lives are so full of madness…time, the clock, rushing here, rushing there, eating while watching tv, reading the news, checking and responding to emails….working, parenting, relationships,’…their up’s and down’s…children and our fear for their future, challenges at work, career prospects, learning, financial difficulties….Is it all doom and gloom?….Only if you let it be!
I too have been a victim of all these things, my life has been filled with education, doing better, achieving more, working hard, working harder, working more hours, doing more of everything, wanting more of everything, buying for the sake of buying, mounting debt problems, children, the worries of being a parent, relationship challenges, divorce, grieving for the loss of loved ones, changing careers, re-educating myself, starting again, fighting to survive, living on the breadline, finding new love, emerging from the flames, being born again, awakening to the realities of life, becoming aware of what is important in life, caring from the heart, wanting to see change in our world, fighting for change, being frustrated that I cannot do enough, or make change happen overnight…an on; and on the cycle goes….So now what?…Where am I and what does the future hold?
Should I give up, should I buckle down and follow the pack, work every hour god sends, chase the dreams of others, or follow my heart, live in the ‘now’, do as ‘I’; my soul, my higher self wants?….
A dilemma felt by many….., choices…which way to go?…
The choice is yours, either be controlled or be in control….
I choose life, I choose to live in the now, to work in ‘Mindfulness’ of the other sometimes more important things in my life, for my family, for our future, for humanity, for our environment, for Mother Earth, for others less fortunate than I, I choose to serve for the betterment of my self, for my soul. My heart is now free, free to choose which way to go, I listen to my heart, I trust my intuition, I listen with Empathy to others with the intent to understand, and I place my feet firmly down on my own spiritual pathway, the journey which leads me through life with a smile; not a burden of weight placed upon my shoulders by others who want to control my destiny.
Be ‘Mindful’ my dear friends, live your life according to your own destiny, allow yourself the luxury right to enjoy your life to the full, take time out for yourself, connect with your heart and soul through meditation, free your mind from the distractions of modern life, see life as it really is and start enjoying each and every day to the full, see the blueness of the sky or if your sky is grey; see the blueness of the sky up above the clouds, watch the sun rise and set, see the smiles of the children around you , reconnect with your inner child, smile, always smile and breathe….just breathe 🙂
I have noticed my lack of enthusiasm and procrastination regarding writing posts of late, I guess it is down to the fact that my number of followers does not seem to grow so much when I see some blogs or twitter accounts gaining thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousand of followers. The numbers of likes and retweets are huge and they gain lots of opportunity to promote themselves, their thoughts and their businesses easily but when I look at these sites and accounts I am so surprised as to the content, many seem to have nothing at all to offer, they lack in content, don’t offer any help or support to their followers and they are often very rude and in some cases obscene in their content. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not in this for fame or glory and my blog is about giving back, trying to help people who are maybe in need for some words and pictures that will help them in their time of need, offer some inspiration and a helping hand when they feel down or anxious.
So, what is it we need to do to make our sites more ‘Sexy’, to help us get our messages of good across to a wider audience, to actually start to do more good around the world, to bring about more attention to the state of our environment, to help fight disease, help the poor, bring an end to victimisation, child abuse, honor killings, bullying at school, the horrors of GMO, the poisoning of our oceans, global warming and not to forget help bring more awareness towards the real need to have peace on earth?
Maybe I need to go on a serious diet, to get down at the gym 7 days a week and build up my abs, some plastic surgery here and there is, a hair weave perhaps or is it that I really need to think about and position my messages in a very different way?
When I look at our world I get a tear in my eye, when i see the news and hear of abuse of our children, watch wars raging for the sake of greed or religion, see families loosing their homes because of the lack of jobs I wonder where is our world heading, what more can I do to help!…Many would say I think too much, I cannot heal everyone and everything…but for me, it’s hard, it’s really hard to switch off my compassion radar, I’m too deep in to do that now, I watch tv with my wife and I tear up when I see pollution, my heart takes a stabbing when i see brothers and sisters of humanity fighting and when I see the continuance of corporate greed and the manipulation of humanity by the media….I must do something, I must act, I must do my bit to help save our world from imploding from our own greed and lust for more, more money, more land, more things, more, more, more.
So, I’m open to offers, open to suggestion, what do I/We need to do to help promote compassion, love, peace and happiness to humanity, how do we help make a difference?
BTW, If you answers are…Plastic Surgery, Extensive Diet, Gym 7 days a week, a New Fancy Set Of Teeth etc, please consider sending me a large value cheque or bank transfer because otherwise, it, ain’t gonna happen 🙂
Love to you all, may you be blessed with love, happiness and peace
Once again I am humbled by the kindness and nomination for the ‘one Lovely Blog Award’, this time I was nominated by Khalkinised from the Buddhasutra, please stop by and follow his blog over at http://buddhasutra.com . Thank you my friend for your kind nomination 🙂 As you know I happily accept your nominations in the spirit that they were sent, however I decline to go through with the process of acceptance due to the amount of time it takes to comply.
Re: Thay’s present health condition and how to support Thay’s recovery
Plum Village, November 12, 2014
To all Plum Village Practice Centers,
To all Practice Centers and Sanghas World Wide,
To our Dear Beloved Friends,
With a deep mindful breath we announce to the world the news that yesterday, the 11th of November 2014 Thay, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, experienced a severe brain hemorrhage. Thay is receiving 24 hour intensive care from specialist doctors, nurses and from his monastic disciples.
At present, Thay is still very responsive and shows every indication of being aware of the presence of those around him. He is able to move his feet, hands and eyes. There are signs that a full recovery may be possible.
For the last two months, Thay’s health had already been fragile due to his advanced age. He was hospitalized in Bordeaux on the 1st of November. He was gaining strength day by day until this sudden and unexpected change in his condition.
All the monasteries in the tradition of Plum Village are organizing practice sessions to generate the energy of mindfulness and to send Thay this healing and loving energy. We would like to ask the whole worldwide community of meditation practitioners to participate and support us in this critical moment. We know and trust that Thay will receive all your energy and that this will be a big support in his healing and recovery.
Our practice of stability and peace in this very moment is the best support we can offer to Thay. Let us all around the world take refuge in our practice, going together as a river to offer Thay our powerful collective energy. We are all cells of the great Sangha Body that Thay has manifested in his lifetime.
May the Love Compassion and Healing Energies of the whole of humanity be brought through the devine matrix to Thich Nhat Hanh ‘Thay’ at his moment of need and bring him the healing he needs to gain a full recovery.
We are all on our own special journey of life. For some of us its smooth sailing, our sails following the winds of time, floating comfortably on calm seas but for others its a more tempestuous journey, fraught with setbacks and traumas brought on by the every changing winds of change within our lives.
We start our journey as soon as we are born, some say at the time of conception, I guess I follow the latter because we started our learning process at conception, we could feel our mothers and sense their emotions, hear sounds and feel movement so our journeys of life, I believe began at the point of conception.
Our learning experiences differ; we encounter different ways of life, different cultural experiences, different languages, different religions and become accustomed to different foods, tastes and of course ways of dress.
We follow the guidance of our parents, siblings, family, friends, teachers and cultures and continue our early years of learning in awe of everything taught to us. We seldom challenge these ways, the content of the information presented to us in the belief that these teachings are the only way forward. Some of us start to question these teachings as we get older, some of us manage to break through the barriers confining us so we can see and experience different ways of life, teachings and beliefs but for others the barriers are too strong and the beliefs to proud to challenge or to change.
So for me, I like to keep an open mind, I believe there is not ‘Right Way’ to life, no ‘Right and only Religion’ and no set way of doing anything. I like to believe we are all from the one same source, we are ‘All’ part of ‘Life’s Rich Tapestry’, we are ‘One Humanity’ living on ‘One World’ and it is our collective responsibility to love all mankind and protect our world for our future generations in the hope that one day everyone will understand that we are……..
‘One Humanity’!
Yesterday I posted a Question, ‘Describe Your Life In One Word’,
Here are some of the replies I received so far.
Pain
Surf, as in the waves, ripples and Tsunamis of the Ocean
Happy
Blessed
Growth
Truth
Understanding
Joyous
Be
Love
Anticipation
Creative
Thankful
Wonderful
Sad
Complicated
And one friends saying ‘He’s looking for the word’ 🙂
Our lives are filled with daily encounters which provide us with different emotional and physological experiences and feelings they can include, trials, tribulation, times of great joy, sadness, pain. We experience happiness, times filled with great feelings of love, tearful times both happy and sad, times in which we experience great physical and mental pain, each experience is given to us for a reason so that we can learn from the good and the bad things that come into our lives, it is our challenge to take these experiences and feelings on board and learn from them becasue each day will bring us something new and hopefully rewarding.
Take time out this weekend to connect with nature, breathe in the fresh air and breath out love to our planet and if you have time meditate, connect with your inner soul, with your heart and give thanks for your life:)
Oneness, When you look into another’s eyes and all you see is yourself!
The realisation that we are all one in the same, we are all created from source, we are all part of the 5 master elements Pancha Mahabhuta (Sanskrit)meaning Pancha (5) Maha (Master) and Bhuta (Element) = Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth, these 5 principle elements of intelligence underlie all of creation, they make up everything within our bodies and everything outside our bodies.
Once we understand these 5 elements we can start to feel the presence of others and notice the connections between all beings, the feeling of ‘Oneness’ is a wonderful thing, it opens our eyes to the world and allows our hearts to connect with others.
When you love what you already have in your life, you realise you actually have all that you need!
Most of us go out and buy for the sake of buying, for that tiny rush of excitement and happiness when we see something nice and just have to have it whatever the cost! We often forge on with our lives looking for more, more clothes, more jewelry, a new hairdo or makeover, more success, more happiness, a bigger and better job, a bigger house, new car, another holiday, a slimmer self etc.
Sometimes when I just sit here and meditate I look at the all the things I have around me and realise that I do have enough, I don’t need anything else in my life, I’m happy, I have a loving wife, beautiful children, good health, a good job, a roof over my head, enough clothes to last me forever, food on my table, my spiritual awareness and happiness! So what more could I want?
I guess I could say world peace, the end of poverty and starvation, a clean environment, the end of disease, education for all, equal rights for all, happiness amongst all races and religions etc, but One day at a time, One day at a time 🙂
I went to my local Buddhist temple today and sat in quite contemplation and meditated for an hour on my own gratitude and I feel so happy now 🙂
May you all be blessed with a day like mine 🙂 Happiness, peace and love to you all.
Its time to spread some happiness
Its time to spread some joy
Its time to place a smile on your face
Its time to give hugs for free
Its time to help your neighbors
Its time to call your family
Its time to say I Love You
Its time to give a donation to charity
Its time to volunteer at your local homeless center
Its time to plant a tree
Its time to save the Whale
Its time to pick up litter
Its time to protest against war
Its time to stop honor killings
Its time to care for our planet
Its time to help the aged
Its time to pay a fair days pay
Its time to rescue an animal from a shelter
Its time to stand up for Women’s rights
Its time to stand up for Gay rights
Its time to stop wasting money
Its time to take control of our lives
Its time to stop listening to the media
Its time to stop wasting energy
Its time to stop global warming
Its time to listen to our ancestors
Its time to agree to disagree
Its time to stop religion-to-religion fighting
Its time to stop corporate greed
Its time to clean up our act
Its time to stop and think
Its time to meditate
Its time to care about humanity
Its time to stop deforestation
Its time to stop Monsanto
Its time to stop GMO
Its time to clean up our Oceans
Its time to end poverty and hunger
Its time to educate every child
Its time to love one another
Its time to sort out political greed and dishonesty
Its time to sort out pollution
Its time to choose renewable energy
Its time to recycle
Its time to change your light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs
Its time to turn off your electric gadgets at night
Its time to hang out your washing instead of using the dryer
Its time to go vegetarian for 1 day a week
Its time to rethink bottled water use glass not plastic
Its time to get out your bicycle
Its time to walk to work or share a ride
Its time to turn off lights
Its time to recycle old cell phones
Its time to sort out your unwanted goods and give them to charity
Its time to use reusable shopping bags
Its time to read
Its time to take your child to see nature
Its time to play real games with your child
Its time to live your life
I’m sure you can add more ‘Its time’ suggestions my friends. Namaste with Love Always Mark
Endless Light and Love 