My Dear Friends,
Please watch this short video and please, please share it with your friends, your social networks….The message is so important and so true, we need to make a change…NOW!
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
My Dear Friends,
Please watch this short video and please, please share it with your friends, your social networks….The message is so important and so true, we need to make a change…NOW!
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
The Gayatri Mantra.
Its Meaning: ” We meditate on the glory of the creator, who has created the Universe, who is worthy of worship, who is the embodiment of knowledge and light, who is the remover of all sin and ignorance, may he enlighten our intellect.”
Listening to this Mantra especially under meditation gives you Peace.
This is what Swami Sivananda had to say about this supreme Mantra. ” Gayatri is the mother of the Vedas and the destroyer of sins. There is nothing more purifying on the Earth, as well as in the Heavens than the Gayatri. The Japa (chanting) of Gayatri brings the same as the recitation of all the four Vedas together.”
I hope this Mantra brings you Peace my friends.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
My Dear Friends,
For the past three days we have been at the top of Moganshan Mountain in Zhejiang Province China, meditating and enjoying the fresh mountain air in the snow and bamboo forests. Its been a joyous weekend up high in the mountains, connected with mother nature and at peace with the world, filled with happiness, smiles and laughter one in which I will remember for a lifetime:) I have attached a few photos from the weekend, hope you enjoy them.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Friendship.
What does it mean to you?
Can you be friends with your family?
Can you be friends with your spouse?
Can you really be friends with your colleagues?
How about friendships with your animals?
To me, they are all friends, my heart is open to all and I will take on many new friends as they come into my life. Some come into my life and stay, and some go, they move on with their life’s journey when it takes them on to new pastures. I too move on, some friends have been with me forever, some i have not seen for years but they are still true friends and they would be here for me in a moments need, I too would be there for them whatever the time of day, the time to get there and cost is irrelevant because I would get there as soon as i can. Friendships with family, often challenging but the love is there no matter the challenge.
Friendship is to be worked on with many or as simple as simple can be, with few words exchanged, you both go on with life knowing the other completely and loving each other unconditionally, without the need for words. Being there for your friend and listening without judgement is so special and appreciated by the other, which in turn will repay itself at a later date..no time limit needed π
How often do we recognise our friends, how often do we tell them how much they are loved and appreciated? Often not enough as we take the relationship/s for granted, they are always there, we are always there but sometimes a hug, a quick call, a note of appreciation is all it takes to say…
“I love you my friend, you are so much appreciated in my life, thanks for being there for me” π
So, my dear friends, thank you for being a part of my life, we may never meet face to face, but you are all true friends, your support of my blog is so appreciated and your kind words, comments and faves give me the spirit to do more, to help more people, to continue on with my spiritual journey and make my life and yours a better life, each and every day.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Those who know Love
Know its facility in all matters,
Others find it useful occasionally
While the broken-hearted bitterly laugh
And deny Love altogether.
Can you hear in their laughter
The sound of Heaven?
God is not to blame for the separation.
He has never turned his back on you.
Blame is the disease
Which blinds you of unity’s truth.
Wake up; the nightmare is over.
The light is in them
As well as in you.
The thinest of veils
Divides the two.
You are one Self.
You are not weak, but strong.
You are not limited, but unlimited.
You are not unloved, but much beloved.
You have suffered only for this,
That you may bless those who suffer still.
Take your time to contemplate the words above my dear friends and think of ways in which you can help others to see that they too are loved, share your love with them and make their day π
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
There is a story about an old Zen monk who was dying, who had finished everything and was about to get off the wheel. He was just floating away, free and in his pure Buddha-mind, when a thought passed by of a beautiful deer he had once seen in a field. And he held on to that thought for just a second because of its beauty, and immediately he took birth again as a deer. Itβs as subtle as that.
Itβs like when we begin to see the work that is to be done, and we go to an ashram or a monastery, or we hang out with Satsang. We surround ourselves with a community of beings who think the way we think. And then none of the stuff, the really hairy stuff inside ourselves, comes up. It all gets pushed underground. We can sit in a temple or a cave in India and get so holy, so clear and radiant, the light is pouring out of us. But when we come out of that cave, when we leave that supportive structure that worked with our strengths but seldom confronted us with our weaknesses, our old habit patterns tend to reappear, and we come back into the same old games, the games we were sure we had finished with. Because there were uncooked seeds, seeds of desires that sprout again the minute they are stimulated. We can stay in very holy places, and the seeds sit there dormant and uncooked. But there is fear in such individuals, because they know theyβre still vulnerable.
Nothing goes under the rug. We canβt hide in our highness any more than weβve hidden in our unworthiness. If we have finally decided we want God, weβve got to give it all up. The process is one of keeping the ground as we go up, so we always have ground, so that weβre high and low at the same moment β thatβs a tough game to learn, but itβs a very important one. So at the same moment that if I could, I would like to take us all up higher and higher, we see that the game isnβt to get high β the game is to get balanced and liberated.
Have a balanced weekend my friends, love life, be in peace and be thankful for who you are π
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
It’s actually so much easier
and much more fun
Being compassionate, kind
Generous and forgiving.
But people tend to forget this
And wonder why they find themselves
Living in a world which is
Out of balance.
When we forget ourselves
We loose touch with the Earth,
Believe in powerlessness,
Invent a wrathful God
Cruel leaders
Uncaring parents
Rebellious children
A desolate world.
Your relationship with the Universe
Reflects what you remember.
There is no advantage to living in fear.
Wake up my friends
And pay attention.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Life is eternal and everywhere
Yet remains a quality precious,
Treasured and rare.
Receive the quality of openness and
Know clarity,
Centeredness, and know focus,
Playfulness, and know joy;
Receive the quality of humility
And know the greatness of life.
Without openness there is separation
Without centeredness, interference
Without playfulness, decay
Without humility, the endless repetition
of pain.
Humility is the highest blessing of
Life;
Through it the great serve the lowly
And the lowly serve the great.
In this way the Universe ever uplifts
Itself:
The endless nativity of light.
Namaste with love
Always
Mark
Trust
Trust, where do I begin,
Trust, it’s hard to gain
Trust, Its hard to give
Trust, wanted in love
Trust, needed for life
Trust, built to last, or not
Trust, hurts like hell when lost
Trust, must be there in business and in life
Trust, loosing it starts wars
Trust, friendships won or lost
Trust, leads to the heart
Trust, ends in happiness or in tears
Trust, is a must.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
My Dear Friends,
One man kills for peace
Another man lives for it;
Yet the first man loves his dog
And beats his children,
And the other loves his children
And beats his dog.
Would you be so bold as to declare
Which man heaven loves most?
Love’s flame glows
In both victor and vanquished.
Who has won?
Who has lost?
God lives in both master and slave.
Who is beating whom?
It’s been written, “All that has happened,
Has had to happen.
All that must happen
Must happen.”
So who can stand outside the circle of
Heaven
To Direct it’s grasp?
I do hope you all have a great weekend
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
My dear friends,
There are I believe many true words written in the image above. Words that reflect some of the problems we have in this world, where one country believes it is greater than another, one religion believes it is the only religion, one corporate which believes it is the only business on earth or one person who believes they are better than you or I, or one media outlet which believes it is the only voice or opinion to what is going on in our world!
When I sit down and talk to anyone, I use empathy, I listen with the intent to understand, I may not fully agree with everything that person says but I will observe their thoughts and treat them with respect in the understanding that they will offer me the same levels of support and courtesy. This is how I was brought up. I remember my grandfather talking to us children and saying that everyone we come to meet in our lives irrespective of their name, their title, the colour of their skin, their job etc was to be treated with the same levels of courtesy and respect and I have thankfully remembered those words all my life, I still get sad when I see people being treated badly, often on the street, in restaurants, service counters and of course the media, where people think ‘They’ are better and look down upon the people they are talking to (or often shouting at)!
Wouldn’t it be nice for once to have a world full of respect, where ‘We’ as human beings started to actually respect each other, to look at each other eye to eye, to look inside the eyes of the person we are talking to and to see their soul, to connect with empathy and to listen with actual intent to understand what they are saying or trying to say, to reflect on their thoughts and digest the emotions that are shown to us before we respond with our reply.
I believe that respect is a genuine staring place towards world peace, once respect is established, we can foster love, build relationships and live happier lives.
Just a thought…..
Namaste with love
Always
Mark
βIf we cannot be happy in spite of our difficulties, what good is our spiritual practice?β
~Maha Ghosananda
Buddhist monks begin each day with a chant of gratitude for the blessings of their life. Native American elders begin each ceremony with grateful prayers to mother earth and father sky, to the four directions, to the animal, plant, and mineral brothers and sisters who share our earth and support our life. In Tibet, the monks and nuns even offer prayers of gratitude for the suffering they have been given: βGrant that I might have enough suffering to awaken in the deepest possible compassion and wisdom.β
The aim of spiritual life is to awaken a joyful freedom, a benevolent and compassionate heart in spite of everything.
Gratitude is a gracious acknowledgment of all that sustains us, a bow to our blessings, great and small, an appreciation of the moments of good fortune that sustain our life every day. We have so much to be grateful for.
Gratitude is confidence in life itself. It is not sentimental, not jealous, nor judgmental. Gratitude does not envy or compare. Gratitude receives in wonder the myriad offerings of the rain and the earth, the care that supports every single life.
As gratitude grows it gives rise to joy. We experience the courage to rejoice in our own good fortune and in the good fortune of others.
Joy is natural to an open heart. In it, we are not afraid of pleasure. We do not mistakenly believe it is disloyal to the suffering of the world to honor the happiness we have been given.
Like gratitude, joy gladdens the heart. We can be joyful for people we love, for moments of goodness, for sunlight and trees, and for the breath within our breast. And as our joy grows we finally discover a happiness without cause. Like an innocent child who does not have to do anything to be happy, we can rejoice in life itself, in being alive.
Let yourself sit quietly and at ease. Allow your body to be relaxed and open, your breath natural, your heart easy. Begin the practice of gratitude by feeling how year after year you have cared for your own life. Now let yourself begin to acknowledge all that has supported you in this care:
With gratitude I remember the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day.
With gratitude I remember the care and labor of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.
I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this earth I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.
I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.
Just as we are grateful for our blessings, so we can be grateful for the blessings of others.
Continue to breathe gently. Bring to mind someone you care about, someone it is easy to rejoice for. Picture them and feel the natural joy you have for their well-being, for their happiness and success. With each breath, offer them your grateful, heartfelt wishes:
May you be joyful.
May your happiness increase.
May you not be separated from great happiness.
May your good fortune and the causes for your joy and happiness increase.
Sense the sympathetic joy and caring in each phrase. When you feel some degree of natural gratitude for the happiness of this loved one, extend this practice to another person you care about. Recite the same simple phrases that express your heartβs intention.
Then gradually open the meditation to include neutral people, difficult people, and even enemies- until you extend sympathetic joy to all beings everywhere, young and old, near and far.
This excerpt is taken from the book, βThe Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peaceβ by Jack Kornfield
My Dear friends, we certainly have so much to be thankful for, need I mention even a few? However, we do forget to give thanks and speak out our gratitude on a daily basis. It has been shown that being grateful raises our levels of happiness and joy and these raised levels of happiness attract others that are also happy; thus enabling our lives to be filled with more joy each and every day. So today, ‘Go on, give it a go’, meditate, bring people and things into your minds eye and into your heart, give thanks for everything in your life, good and bad and feel the peace and the love that this meditation brings to your heart and soul.
I did this; this morning….’A big smile on my face right now’ when I think of this process of gratitude π A simple meditation and mindful eating of my toast and honey. I gave thanks for the honey, the sweetness on my tongue, gave thanks to the Bee for collecting the honey, to the flower that attracted the bee, for the sun the rain and the soil that raised the flower in order to attract the bee, for the seedling that brought life to the flower, for the person or animal that brought that seed to that piece of soil, for the soil that gave its nutrients to the seed, for the sun that shone its warmth and helped the seeding grow, for the rain that gave the flower life, for the cloud that made the rain, for the rivers and oceans that brought about the cloud, for God for his creation of the earth and then I came on to the toast and the butter on my toast, and my mouth, my tongue for experiencing the sweet sensation of the honey, for the goodness and nutrition the honey, the toast and the butter were giving to my body, and this process of thankfulness went on, and on…Interestingly, this process of giving thanks brought about a real enlightenment to me, honestly I have never experienced mindful eating so much as I did this morning, I have experienced it many, many times before but this morning it was different, set at a really different level, I awakened to something very new, something great, something that brought peace to my heart and my soul, a total experience of joy…
Toast and Honey will never be the same again π
Namaste with Love my dear friends
Always
Mark
My wife and I meditating at the top of the Grampian mountains on New Years Day 2015.
I would like to take a moment to thank you all for all your follows, your comments and your support during 2014 and for the friendship and love you have sent me from all around the world.
Love, compassion and awareness of life and the world we live in is what I stand for, I try my best to promote these things through my blog and my daily activities, it is not always easy, there are often set-backs, challenges and sometimes even extremely negative and abusive responses and comments to my posts, I do however take these negative comments in my stride and think of all Β for the love and support that you guys give me which in turn provides me with the strength to continue on in the hope that we can together help make change.
May and I had the opportunity to spend Christmas and New Year in Australia this year, we spent most of our time in nature, meditating and connecting with the beauty and spirit of Australia’s outback, the positive energy, the weather, the trees and the mountains gave us strength and we are both re-energized to do even more this year π
The dawn of 2015 brought about the sad deaths of 36 people in Shanghai, the city where we live, those souls were lost to our world after a deadly stampede on New Yearβs Eve killed 36 and caused the cancellation of celebrations across the city. At least 47 people were injured, including 40 still serious enough to required hospitalization, the Shanghai government said on its website. “The stampede — the cityβs deadliest disaster since 2010 — started about 11:35 p.m. on New Yearβs Eve as tens of thousands of people crowded into the historic Bund riverside district for a light show”.
My prayers go out to those who are no longer with us and to their families and friends during this time of sorrow, may their souls rest in peace.
2015, what will it bring us?
I do hope that 2015 will bring about greater self realization, more compassion and a greater understanding of our world to us all. For us to work together in the name of peace and move forward towards a happier world where we can all live without the need for war, where we actively work together as one to find ways in which we can bring about the end of poverty, feed the hungry and save our environment from the ravages and destruction of our insatiable greed for more!…We can, I believe; achieve great things in 2015, we are on our way, our voices are now at last being heard, the powers that be are now starting to take notice, we can make a difference, we can bring about change.
I know you are there and I am very happy!
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Love’s rule is one,
Man’s rules are many.
Delusion and pain are a tangle of rules
While peace has no limitation.
When fear speaks
Happiness becomes pain
And desperately people cling
To straws of sorrow.
Their left hands use magic
To repel dark spirits,
And with their fright
They invite them in again.
What is pain
But Love unexpressed?
Be unshakable
But not obstinate;
Embrace fear
But do not affirm it;
Feel pain
But do not believe it.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
A Meeting of the Minds and Heart
In the West itβs hard to even conceive of enlightened beings. We have much to learn about how to approach them, how to be with them, how to use them on our own journey into our heart. Cultures like that of India have customs and forms that, although perhaps not directly transferable, can show us how to be in the presence of a holy person.
As a teenager getting ready for a date, I would go to great lengths dressing, combing my hair, buying flowers, acquiring the money, planning the evening β there seemed to be no end to my preoccupation with the momentous trivia of going on a date. Only when everything was in order could I begin to open to the relationship. If my shoes were scuffed, I would spend a good part of the evening hiding them under an available chair or couch or being embarrassed or self-conscious about them. In its own way opening to the presence of a holy being, a lover for your soul, demands that same kind of psychological preparation.
When I first traveled around India and saw holy beings, I treated these meetings rather casually and just enjoyed being with whomever I happened to be with at whatever level we happened to meet. But as time went on, I began to appreciate receiving the presence of spiritual beings more deeply and having the opportunity to drink from the well of their experience. I came to understand that this transmission of living spirit involves preparation in order to be open to receive it. Slowing my mind down enough to be in the moment in βIndian timeβ was one part of that. Opening my heart to feel their love was another.
Imagine living in India twenty-five hundred years ago. You hear about an enlightened being walking the earth called Gautama Buddha. You set out to find him to receive his teachings.
Perhaps you go to Sarnath, where he delivered his first sermon in the Deer Park. You talk to the newly ordained bikkhus, or monks, gathered there and ask his whereabouts. They direct you to a town to the north. You travel on foot, in a horse-drawn wagon, or by oxcart. In each village you receive another report, making you feel you are getting closer. Your anticipation mounts day by day as you move from village to village, your mind fixed on the moment when you will meet this being, sit before him, and receive his teaching.
Weeks go by, and you begin to meet people who have just been with the Buddha. Their eyes are alight, their hearts open. They emanate a peace that speaks of the experience theyβve had. Finally you are within a dayβs travel of the Buddha. Your mind turns to how you will prepare yourself for this meeting. As you near your destination, you stop and bathe and wash your clothes, perhaps pick some flowers or fruit in one of the villages. As you get very close, you are so excited you are afraid that you will not be quiet enough to receive him. So you sit on a rock by a stream, collecting yourself.
Finally you approach the cave where the Buddha sits. You climb the hill to the door of the cave. It is dark inside. A small fire flickers, and in the firelight you see someone sitting in meditation. After some time, he becomes aware of your presence and motions you to enter. You enter, bow before him, and offer your fruit and flowers. You sit before him and finally raise your eyes to look into his. Time stops. Everything you have been anticipating is coming to fruition in this moment.
The universe disappears. Only his eyes exist. A flow of love, wisdom, consciousness passes between you. Perhaps a few words are said β words you take away and think upon again and again in the years to follow. Or perhaps he says nothing, and it is just his stillness, his presence, the incredible love that flows from him, the deep compassion you feel. You feel as if you were naked before his glance. He sees through you, he knows all β past, present, and future. He does not judge, but simply acknowledges how it all is. Even a moment of such compassion can be liberating.
β Ram Dass, excerpt from Be Love Now co-authored by Rameshwar Das
Before the birth of the physical
There was the birth of potential.
Before potential, something primal.
A Beingness. One Life, silent,
unmoving, unchanging,
The unspoken beauty of Truth,
Mother only to itself.
It has been called God, Tao,
Divine Mother,
Universal Mind.
Today it feels good to call it Love.
Or perhaps Spirit of Love,
Since Spirit implies an all-pervading
greatness
As common as one’s breath.
Love is not an emotion, or a feeling.
It is the formless and substance
permeating
The seen and the unseen;
It is the seed and womb of the
universe.
Call it what you will, it resides
Just beyond the limits of our
abilities to describe.
It has been said “God is Love.”
Thus, the heavens seek Love
Earth seeks Love
People seek Love.
This is what makes us great.
People abide on the Earth
Earth abides in the Heavens
The Heavens abide in Love.
Love abides in all.
This is what makes us One.
Make Love a part of your life, Love IS all around, Love is in every person and in everything.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Hi Everyone,
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, donβt offer any help or support to their followers and they are often very rude and in some cases obscene in their content. Now donβt get me wrong, Iβm 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 βSexyβ, 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!β¦Many would say I think too much, I cannot heal everyone and everythingβ¦but for me, itβs hard, itβs really hard to switch off my compassion radar, Iβm 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 mediaβ¦.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, Iβm 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 areβ¦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, ainβt gonna happen π
Love to you all, may you be blessed with love, happiness and peace
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
It is so easy for us to talk about Inner Peace and what living in the ‘Now’ does for your life, how it brings an end to our suffering and allows us to live in contentment and look at our lives and the world around us with a different set of eyes!
But how easy is it for us to reach this state of ‘Inner Peace’? Well I guess there is no short answer to that question because some of us find ‘Inner Peace’ very quickly whilst others look for it throughout their lives and never actually find it. And for some they gain ‘Inner Peace’ then slip right back into their old ways of living like they are on that never ending diet, loosing weight, gaining fitness only to return to old habits, gain weight and on goes that perpetual circle of life!
I know I have struggled throughout my life, battling with Ego, past life issues, memories of terrible relationships, pain and bad experiences in life but when i actually ‘walk the talk’ and live in the now, when I stop focussing on ‘how stressed I am’ and remember ‘how blessed I am’, my life changes immediately for the better, my health improves rapidly, my smiles bring about other smiles, my laughter heals my pain and I see the world how it should and could be and I gain strength each day to get out there and do some good for mankind and mother earth.
Inner Peace is controlled by you and you alone, once you realize this and start to manage your mind, your life can, and will change for the better…
Go on, give it a try, for once the old saying is true…’The Grass Is Greener On The Other Side’
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark