Is the picture on the right too far fetched and impossible for us to achieve?…No! I firmly believe that it is possible for us to achieve, and for some of our readers, I am sure they actually live a life that is somewhat similar to that picture!…..But, unfortunately, this is not the case for the majority living in our world today!
Is the picture on the left a joke?…Or, is it a reality of many places in our world today?……Can we make the change from living on the left side of this picture; to actually living on the right side of this picture?….Yes!…Hell Yes!
As you know, I am a peace loving kind guy, I do my best each day to share positivity, love, peace and respect to all people of our world, I hold out my hands in support of just cause, I share my love in the hope that one day I can really help make a difference to one person’s life, and they in turn help someone else…And on and on it goes…
This is my dream, a dream in which we can wake up and realise the realities of life, the realities of what is really going on in our world, not just what we see with our own eyes, what is going on in front of our faces, in our own neighbourhood.. but what is going on all around the world…Because, my dear friends, life is not so wonderful and so rosy for many millions of our fellow humans all around the world!
War, Rape, Persecution, Famine, Displacement, Genocide, Greed, Slavery, Human Trafficking, Racism, Hate, Religious Bigotry, Terrorism etc continues to go on right in front of our very nose each and every day…!
I want to end this short post on a positive note….Do I see changes happening?
YES, I DO 🙂
My Dear Friends, WE…CAN..MAKE A DIFFERENCE, ONE PERSON AT A TIME 🙂 FOR EACH PERSON WE HELP AWAKEN, THAT PERSON WILL THEN HELP ANOTHER PERSON WAKE UP, AND SLOWLY, SLOWLY, WE WILL CHANGE OUR WORLD 🙂
I’m a great follower of Alan Watts the British born Philosopher and love listening to his explanations on life, this one re acceptance of death really helped me through a few challenges in my life after the passing of loved ones.
Getting rid of your baggage and moving on with your life, a new life without regrets, limiting beliefs, shaking off any resentment, jealousy and hatred you may be holding on to from previous life experiences. Forgetting and letting go of your worries, anxieties and concerns and certainly dropping any doubts you may be holding on to regarding your abilities and your future.
Remember my friends ‘A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With The First Step’, so now is the time for you to start again, place a stake in the ground with an arrow facing forward, don’t look back and stop re-living past experiences because the past is the past and you cannot change it no matter how hard you try, how many tears you shed, the past still remains in the past, so move on, and whilst you are here standing right next to this fresh stake you just placed in the ground, don’t worry about tomorrow either because you cannot influence tomorrow, it will come, and whatever will be; will be!…
So, today is the day, today is for living, ‘Now’ is your time, so enjoy, open your eyes, open your heart and see the wonderful world around you, be grateful for what you have in your life right now, give thanks for who you are, give thanks for the love you have in your life, give thanks for the people supporting you in your life, give thanks for the abundance you have in your life and give thanks for you, honour you, for you are a child of God/goddess/source whatever you choose to believe in, but you are you and your life is what you make of it….so……………….
Live, Love, be happy, be compassionate and wear a smile on your face ‘Now’
Achieving ‘Inner Peace’…What!, with all I have going on in my life, what with work, the kids, extra hours trying to learn new things, taking the kids to gym, dance, swimming lessons, looking after the dog, cat and goldfish, ego talking constantly to me to do better, work faster, loose weight etc…Chance would be a fine thing!……Does this or some of it resonate with you?
Well, if it does; then you can achieve ‘Inner Peace’ but you have to make the effort to achieve it, it wont just happen overnight. You need to set yourself up to learn, you need to dedicate time each and every day to meditate, if only for a few minutes…’No excuses, don’t put it off until tomorrow, because as you well know, ‘Tomorrow, never comes‘!
When I first started meditation, i found it hard, i always felt as though I was doing something wrong, everyone i knew or met that meditated looked so calm, they all said how they could go into a deep, calm and reflective space where they connected with themselves, this may be in a garden, or by the ocean, on a mountain top, in a fantasy playground, floating on a cloud etc but for me all I could get was thoughts springing into my mind, thoughts about work, my vacation, children, what i needed to do later that day, i could hear the children, the phone, car horns blaring… but no inner peace. I could not feel the calmness that all my friends were experiencing…So I thought, ‘maybe there is something wrong with me’, or do they really experience that or are they just saying that to make me feel inadequate, perhaps they are also experiencing what I am but don’t really want to tell me! 🙂 Well, I stuck at it, at first for 5 minutes a day, then i tried 5 minutes twice per day, then after a few days i realised i was becoming more calm so i extended to 10 minutes, then twice per day and on and on it went, now I can easily achieve 1 or more hours and these sessions flash by like they were only minutes, i go into a deep quiet place but I am always aware, i can hear all that is going on around me, i feel the touch of the dogs wagging tail, the sounds are still there but now i can control them, i label my thoughts as ‘Thoughts’ and sounds as ‘sounds’ and i welcome connections from my heart, my soul and anyone else that wants to connect with me….I have over time started to achieve inner peace, it is a place of joy, of smiles, of reflection, a place where i can connect to my self, where i can spend quality time with myself, where i can feel my body, be aware of my health and all that ails me and concentrate for once on ‘Me’
Meditation is available to everyone, young or old, rich or poor and it costs you nothing, only time….and in my humble opinion…’Time well spent’ 🙂
Following on from yesterday’s post on anger, hatred and loving compassion, I thought I would share with you another video by Mingyur Rinpoche. His smile and his softly spoken voice always calm me down and help me with my meditations, I hope he will have that effect on you too?
Do you have trouble with anger, or does your mind raise levels of hatred towards others? If so, then this short video from Mingyur Rinpoche may be useful for you and help you become aware of your anger, hatred and turn them into feelings of compassion and loving kindness.
A dear Chinese friend of mine asked me to explain ‘Energy’ to another Chinese friend last night…..’Wow’ ! I thought, how do I explain that one’ in one easy sentence 😦
I was slightly lucky because just at that moment these two lovely Chinese ladies were being harassed a little by a foreigner who was a little drunk, very loud, argumentative, highly non-empathetic and downright arrogant…I therefore had the perfect way to explain ‘Energy’ to this young lady who is going through some severe relationship problems at the moment. She had come out for the evening to meet with her friend in order to gain some help and hopefully some advice regarding her problems. I was just a bystander being asked to help, so here is what I said to this young lady…
‘Energy’, is something that some of us can feel but others cannot! You called your friend and asked her to meet you this evening in order for her to listen to your relationship troubles and hopefully help you with her advice, you called her because you trust her, she is quietly spoken, friendly and she listens to you, she will not judge you and she will hold your hand and be there for you, her ‘Energy’ is calm and you feel comfortable sharing these intimate problems with her, right? She nodded and said yes, I feel she can really help me :)…
I then turned to this foreigner and said to her, he is the opposite of your friend, you turn your back to him, your shoulders are rounded away from him, your head is down and you try to be as far away from him as possible, he is loud, he is aggressive, he is pushy towards you, he invades your personal space and only thinks of himself, you feel insecure and threatened by him, right? She nodded and said yes!…
His energy is bad, it is dark, it is forceful and he wants to control you, can you see the difference?…She immediately nodded her head and said yes with a smile, I said this is ‘Energy’… 🙂 and the difference between positive (happy) and negative (dark, threatening)
From that moment on, she opened up to her friend and to me and we were able to connect to her problems, the arrogant guy got the message and left us alone and at the end of the evening she went home feeling happier and carried with her a little love and positive energy from us both 🙂
Remember my friends, ‘the darkness cannot prevail if you turn on the light’ 🙂
I have read and also written many posts regarding ‘Letting Go’, letting go of the past, breaking free from the chains that bind you down and hold you back from enjoying your life and reaching your full potential. These chains, shackles from the past can be of different sorts, they can be relationships, family, work based, life experiences, traumatic events, abuse etc but in the end they are all the same in their effect on your life. Never a day goes by without your mind relating to these past events or experiences, or thinking about ways in which you can change the past, re-connect with the person who grieves you, wishing they would be loving towards you, these experiences conjure up many awful thoughts and bad memories in your mind, they take over your life and effect everything you try to do. For the majority of us we push on with our lives and hope we will feel better, we try to mend the past through the things we try to do in the ‘now’ and also plan things for the future that we hope will take away the pain and make amends for these past experiences which have had so much of a negative effect on our life.
I too have had my own fair share of burdens in this life time, and I’m sure many others in previous lives too, I try to think positively most of the time (highlight on ‘most’ 🙂 ) but those nagging memories just come back time and time again, they continue to bring our morale down and control our lives in the ‘Now’….
So,…’Now’ is the time to take a real stance, it’s time to let go once and for all, to break the chains that shackle us down, that tie our wings to our bodies and restrict our flight.
We need to smile at the experience, the memory, at a picture of the person or re-connect to the past event and say goodbye, to wish them well and give thanks for the good things we now have in our lives, for all the love we have ‘right now’ and for all the love that is waiting for us on the other side of this experience, we need to break free from these chains, spread our wings and ‘FLY’ move on to pastures green, to a new life of positive possibilities, to live our lives as they should be lived without the burden and weight of these past events…’Now’ is where we should and need to be, always ‘Now’
If you are struggling with the past and need any help breaking free of these chains that hold you back, please reach out and I will be there for you, my sword at the ready breaking those chains that tie your wings my friends…
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 🙂
Living in China and having a long personal history of martial arts, Chinese history, culture and my own spiritual practice embedded in China for the past fifty years, has; over the years made me very interested in Daoism/Taoism, Lao Tzu/ Lao Zi, the Dao De Jing/Tao Te Ching, I Ching..there are so many ways they are represented globally 🙂 The difference between Daojia 道家 , Taoist Philosophy and Daojiao 道教, Daoist Religion brings even more confusion to the western world let alone understanding the I Ching (The Book of Change), the oracle of fortune, a guide to success and a dispensary of wisdom. The ancestor of all Chinese philosophy, it is the primary source for the pragmatic mysticism of the Tao Te Ching, the rational humanism of Confucius, and the analytic strategy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War and of course the wonderful Yin 酓 Yang 昜 in traditional Chinese and Yin阴Yang 阳 in modern simplified Chinese.
Yin is the black side with the white dot in it, and yang is the white side with the black dot in it. The relationship between yin and yang is often described in terms of sunlight playing over a mountain and a valley. Yin (literally the ‘shady place’ or ‘north slope’) is the dark area occluded by the mountain’s bulk, while yang (literally the ‘sunny place’ or ‘south slope’) is the brightly lit portion. As the sun moves across the sky, yin and yang gradually trade places with each other, revealing what was obscured and obscuring what was revealed.
Yin is characterised as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity , and nighttime.
Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime.
Yin and yang applies to the human body. In traditional Chinese medicine good health is directly related to the balance between yin and yang qualities within oneself.If yin and yang become unbalanced, one of the qualities is considered deficient or has vacuity.
Anyways, I could go on forever trying to explain Yin Yang, The Dao/Tao so I thought I would share with you this very short cartoon animated Ted Talk video explaining Yin Yang, I hope you enjoy it and that it will inspire you to learn more about Daoism 🙂
Once there was a man walking along a empty road. Suddenly he heard a feeble cry. He looked around but saw nothing. Thinking he heard nothing, he continued to walk along. Once more he heard the faint cry. This time the call was nearby. He searched high and low, and found the sound was coming out of a little fish lying in a drying pond, his mouth was bubbling.
That fellow looked at the fish strangely and asked: “Was that you who were just calling me? Did you need my help? “
The small fish looking suppliant at the man gasping and breathless said, “Please save me quickly, I am dying, I need water. I am not a normal fish, rather I am the eastern sea dragon’s official. Please give me a little water.”
That person hearing this quickly nodded his head and said: “I understand, I will immediately go to the south and let the southern king direct a river to here so that you can swim and return to the eastern sea.”
The fish angrily cried out, “Can a fish live out of water? I am only in need of a little water. Your idea is pointless. I think that the next time you see me will be in a shop that sells dried fish. “
Moral : Sometimes an “ideal” solution isn’t practical because it requires too much time in a time-critical situation.
Enjoy your weekend and don’t overthink too much, sometimes the solution to your life’s problems is easier than your mind will allow you to believe.
Getting to understand yourself, is an art form that many never achieve in their lifetime, many people believe they know who they are but actually they don’t have the slightest clue!
How often do you shut your self away from the world, and by shutting away I don’t mean going to the top of the Himalaya’s and sitting in a cave by yourself for ten years 🙂 What i mean is; do you switch off from the world each day, do you set yourself time each day to have no interruptions, in a room with just you, no tv, no radio, no newspapers, books, magazines, no phone, no computer,no electronics, no people, no children, nothing to disturb your time with yourself?
It’s not easy at first, setting aside time in what you probably believe is already a fully scheduled day, getting up, shower, breakfast, dressing for school, work or getting yourself and or your children ready for your day, attending back to back meetings, dropping the kids to school, picking them up, taking them to after school activities, checking homework, making dinner, eating dinner, bathing and dressing the children, putting them to bed, watching tv, reading a book, getting yourself ready for bed…etc, etc, the list is endless, or so we all believe!
We just don’t have any time in our lives for ourself!
Wrong!
It’s your life, you can make choices re your life, you are the master of your schedule and you, only you can make the time! After all, it’s certainly in your own best interest to make time for yourself, your body needs this time, your mind needs this time and your heart certainly needs this time! So why is it we are so bad at setting time for ourselves?….Well, we feel guilty, that’s why! We feel that we are being self indulgent by setting ‘valuable’ time aside just for ourselves,…..Bullsh*t (sorry for the bad language my dear friends)……., take it from me…STOP IT, NOW!, Set up time each and every day to give yourself quality time on your own, start small, it can be 10 minutes per day at first, try this for a few days then increase your time slowly to 15, 20,30 minutes, or even better 45 minutes or an hour, but make sure you set your schedule, set your time, your phone whatever to remind you to go and enjoy time with yourself, don’t give up on yourself, keep the commitment to this time each and every day and I guarantee you will start to know yourself so much better than you do right now, you will have no external influences, just you, your time is your own for you, only you and your meditation, reflections on who you are, where your life is right now and where you want to be, this quality time will enhance your levels of understanding for others, you will be more empathetic towards yourself and to others, your life will benefit from the quality time you give yourself…TRUST ME… give it a try, if you need help, I’m here to help you, if you need help with meditations, just let me know and i will send you some to help you along the way, but please, please my friends…get in touch with yourself and start to enjoy the rest of this life 🙂
Do not struggle with life.
Go with the flow of things,
and you will find yourself
at one with the
mysterious unity of the universe.
Self observation brings man to the
realisation of the necessity of self change.
And in observing himself
a man notices that self observation itself
brings about certain changes in his
inner processes.
He begins to understand that
self observation
is an instrument of self change,
a means of
awakening.
and remember..
You are never alone or hopeless
during your life’s journey.
The force that guides the stars
guides you too.
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. It’s as subtle as that.
It’s 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 they’re still vulnerable.
Nothing goes under the rug. We can’t hide in our highness any more than we’ve hidden in our unworthiness. If we have finally decided we want God, we’ve 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 we’re high and low at the same moment – that’s a tough game to learn, but it’s 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 isn’t to get high – the game is to get balanced and liberated.
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. It’s as subtle as that.
It’s 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 they’re still vulnerable.
Nothing goes under the rug. We can’t hide in our highness any more than we’ve hidden in our unworthiness. If we have finally decided we want God, we’ve 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 we’re high and low at the same moment – that’s a tough game to learn, but it’s 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 isn’t to get high – 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 🙂
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.
Endless Light and Love 