A few questions for you my Dear Friends!
Do you need any help answering any of these questions?
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
God
All posts tagged God
Touching base with your Heart & Trusting your Intuition
Published 06/03/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
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 🙂
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Love, She Keeps Me Warm
Published 05/03/2015 by inspiringyourspiritMy Dear Friends,
Love….It is in everyone, sometimes we just need to find it….Love, has no limits and it does not discriminate….’Love Is’
I Can’t change even if I tried, even if I wanted to…Love, She keeps me warm 🙂
My Heart does not see race
Love has no age limit
Love has no gender
Love has no disability
Love is Love
Love has no race
Our family is no less than any other family
Love has no religion
We have universal love
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Spiritual or Religious, Which are you?
Published 04/03/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
Dormant Seeds Ready to Sprout
Published 10/02/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
Excerpt from Grist of the Mill Ram Dass
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.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Do you Know Love
Published 26/01/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
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 🙂
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
It’s More Fun Being Compassionate and Kind.
Published 22/01/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
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
The Endless Nativity of Light
Published 21/01/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
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
Who Does Heaven Love Most?
Published 17/01/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
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
Meditation, Gratitude, Giving Thanks and Joy
Published 12/01/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
“If we cannot be happy in spite of our difficulties, what good is our spiritual practice?”
~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: “Grant that I might have enough suffering to awaken in the deepest possible compassion and wisdom.”
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 heart’s 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, “The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace“ 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 🙂 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 🙂
Namaste with Love my dear friends
Always
Mark
The Essence of Life
Published 09/01/2015 by inspiringyourspirit
The Essence of Life
There is an essence that embodies the universe and yet it exists beyond all space and time. It is infinitely ancient because it is eternal. In comparison to this, the universe’s age of fourteen billion years is nothing.
Human beings have made many inadequate attempts to describe it. Some may call it God, others may prefer a term like Tao, which means ‘The Way’ for the simple reason that this essence is the way of existence, the way or reality.
We do not know much about it, but we do know that the essence is within us. Our highest hopes and dreams, ideals and aspirations all come from its power to express itself. We manage to catch a glimpse of it when we exchange smiles with one another, we can feel it when one hand reaches out to touch another. It is what we are at the most essential level.
Try to meditate upon the essence of your truest nature, and call it by its original name: Love. The essence is no more or less than the energy of love in its purest form. Human beings are simply the solidified manifestation of this energy. That is why it is so important to us, and why we can never be without it. Embrace the essence, for it is the reason for existence itself, and the reason why we exist at all.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands
Published 19/12/2014 by inspiringyourspiritNaomi Feil, founder of Validation Therapy, shares a breakthrough moment of communication with Gladys Wilson, a woman who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2000 and is virtually non-verbal. Learn more at http://www.memorybridge.org.
The wonders of faith, kindness, compassion and the healing powers of music and touch that Naomi uses connect with these Alzheimers patients right to their very soul, a wonderful and lovely thing to see.
My dear friends, this short video will bring tears to your eyes and hopefully open your mind to the thought that we ARE all connected through love.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Stop Relying On The Power Of Others
Published 12/12/2014 by inspiringyourspirit
If you rely on the power of others
You weaken your own.
If you seek to own the world
You limit your abundance.
The expert guide helps to lead people forward
By sitting them down
Helping them to drop the contents of their mind
Down to their bellies.
Removing their goals
Strengthens their intentions.
With a clear mind
The see and then understand the confusion that desire creates.
Be still my friends and let it happen.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Love Is
Published 05/12/2014 by inspiringyourspirit
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
How Is Your Time?
Published 17/11/2014 by inspiringyourspirit
A Prayer for Thich Nhat Hanh
Published 14/11/2014 by inspiringyourspirit
Ancient healers were one with infinite love.
But they ignored social convention
So people thought they were crazy.
They would pay attention to what others overlooked;
While others debated, they would
be silent
While others would worry, they’d
be unconcerned.
Alert, they discover the world anew
with each footfall
Humble, they greet you with
the innocence of a child
Patient, they wait for nothing,
knowing everything is here
Present, they respond to change
like an eagle in flight
Open, they listen without judgement
Gentle, they cradle your soul in the
memory of light.
Intent on deepest healing
Some carry the deepest wounds.
Placid, they are the still, clear pool
Reflecting mountain and sky.
My meditations and prayers are with you
My sage, my inspiration, my friend.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Please Pray and Send Your Loving Healing Through Meditation to Thich Nhat Hanh
Published 13/11/2014 by inspiringyourspirit
Official Announcement
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.
Future reports on Thay health and recovery will be posted officially at http://www.plumvillage.org, langmai.org, villagedespruniers.org, and http://www.facebook.com/thichnhathanh.
On behalf of the Monastic Dharma Teacher Council of Plum Village,
Bhikkhu Thich Chan Phap Dang
Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Chan Khong Nghiem
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.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
There Is No Right Way To Grow and Live Your Life
Published 13/11/2014 by inspiringyourspirit
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’!
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Life, A Journey Through Time.
Published 12/11/2014 by inspiringyourspiritMy dear friends,
Please take time out to watch this wonderful Ted Talk by Frans Lanting, his wonderful pictures and story will take you through the creation of earth and the importance of us all coming together as one for its protection and future life for our families.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this wonderful video.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Life, Filled with Experiences, Emotions, Words of Happiness & Sadness
Published 11/11/2014 by inspiringyourspirit
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.
Remember the following:-
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Endless Light and Love 