A heartbreaking image taken in a orphanage in Iraq.
I came across this on one of my friends sites http://childreninshadow.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/362/ and I just felt compelled to share it with you.
May last three posts have been about peace and gratitude so this image seemed fitting to bring our minds back to the realities of this world and to allow us time to think about others less fortunate than ourselves.
Namaste
Mark
Gratitude.
Did you know?
Actually, when I take a look at my life I have everything, in fact far too much of everything. I have food in my fridge, clothes on my back, a roof over my head and a place to sleep. I too have money in the bank, money in my wallet and change in my pocket. I certainly woke up this morning with more health than illness. I have never experienced the dangers of battle, the agony of imprisonment or the horrible pangs of starvation, and I was certainly blessed with a great education and opportunities all throughout my life to learn and grow through the loving care of my parents, the love of my family around me and through my life’s (wonderful) experiences.
But what about the rest of humanity, our brothers and sisters around the world who are far less fortunate than ourselves? Will they have any food and water today? Will they find shelter, put a roof over their head and any form of bed to sleep in tonight? What will they have to endure today to get some coins for some scraps of food? Or will they have to forage in our waste to gain a mouthful of anything to keep then going through the day and the long night ahead of them? Will they be safe tonight and if they survive will they be safe tomorrow? Will they be moved on, thrown out into the cold, will they dodge more bullets again today, shelter in blown up buildings and maybe watch friends, family and loved ones loose their limbs and or they lives?
When we look at what we have around us each and every day, when we really look at our lives, take a moment to observe our day, what we do, what we eat, what we throw away, what we dismiss, who we curse, what we complain about and then look at our beautiful children, see them smile, see them play, see them read, watch them eat and fall asleep in our arms with not a element of fear in their eyes as we leave them tucked up in their beds at night…When we really take a minute to observe what we have in our lives, then and only then can we be Thankful and Grateful for our lives…and maybe then and only then will we try to make a difference in this world, hold out our hands to someone in need, where ever they are and in any way we can!
Make today a special day, make it a day of Gratitude, give thanks for all the great things and people we have in our lives and do something good for someone less fortunate.
Namaste
Mark
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/06/14/daily-prompt-faith/
Peace: It’s in everyone’s heart!
Or is it?
When we are born, we are innocent, we are at peace, we are love, we are compassion, and there is no hate, no greed, no envy, and no spite, just PEACE.
So what goes wrong?
From day one we watch and learn.
The love and the peace slowly get’s knocked out of us by our parents, our siblings, our families, our friends, our teachers, our neighbors, our supervisors, our leaders, our peers, by our governments and society.
Deep down, Love and Peace is there; it is STILL in our hearts, we just need to go deep inside and find it and it can be done! We can be at peace with ourselves, with others and with the world.
So who am I to say anything about Peace and Love…Well I’m nobody, I’m just a man, a husband, a father, a friend, a business leader, a peer…someone who cares! Someone with passion, someone who wants to make a difference to this world, someone who wants to see this world change for the better, someone who wants to see peace in his lifetime, someone who wants to see smiles on peoples faces, someone who wants to see the end of famine, someone who wants to see the environment heal, someone who wants to swim in the ocean with out the fear of pollution, someone who wants to see the end to endless greed by the few at the expense of the many, someone who wants to see justice done to the so called leaders of this world who continue to take and give nothing in return……Where will it all end, and can I make a difference?
Lao Tzu shared these quotes with us and I think he any many other sage’s, God’s and Masters left us with words that we have forgotten, like we have forgotten that WE STILL HAVE PEACE AND LOVE in our HEARTS:-
I just want to finish this short post with these words OF WISDOM…
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
Gautama Buddha
NAMASTE
MARK
My dear friends,
I received another award today and if you take a look at the tab at the top of my home page marked Awards, you will see that I normally do not accept awards due to the amount of time it takes to complete and comply with the award acceptance process …However….today I received an award from a dear blogging friend Summer at http://summer4soul.wordpress.com this award came straight from her heart and had the following message:-
Thank you, for being the person who you are.. Be Inner Peace and share it on your own special way..
I give you this Inner Peace Award.. It’s my way to thank you for your friendly comments, the follow, your kind words and the beautiful things you are share with the world..
Feel free to accept this Award and add it on your blog. There is just one rule, when you past the award on, please share some kind words with that person.
Namasté, Summer
I was touched by Summer’s act of kindness and I happily accept this award with an open heart filled with peace.
Namaste
Mark
A wonderful concert held here in Shanghai, the beautifully calming voice of Choying Dolma, stunning Mantra’s giving you protection and the lovely music of the Guqin.
Enjoy my friends
Namaste
Mark
Here we are, at last you say!
We have arrived…Here is ‘Dafo’ Big Buddha. As you can see he is huge and commanda a special place overlooking the river.
I do hope you enjoyed your walk with me around the gardens of Leshan and you gained some peace, solitude and compassion from the journey.
Namaste
Mark
TCM. Traditional Chinese Medicine in China.
Traditional Chinese medical education has a history going back thousands of years, and it has kept abreast of the development of TCM culture and Chinese civilization, which is rarely seen in the world medical history. Numerous practitioners have been trained and they have offered much in medical and health care for the Chinese people, and promoted development of traditional Chinese medicine. So far, it occupies an important place in national medical education.
A Brief History of the TCM Education System in China.
The ancient medical examination system took shape during the Zhou Dynasty fro 1100-256 B.C. Laid down In the Zhou Li Yi Shi (The Chief Practitioners Book of Rites) the requirements for TCM chief practitioners were recorded. Their compensation depended upon the response to their treatment, e.g. those whose patients responded well to their treatment without any failiure received the highest level of compensation, whilst those whose treatments were not effective received lower levels of compensation.
From the Qin to Han Dynasties 221 B.C – A.D 24 the teacher apprentice system prevailed, but by the Southern and Northern Dynasties 386 A.D – 589A.D, there was a systematic government run education. In the Sui Dynasty 581A.D – 618 A.D, the Imperial Administration of Health was set-up, and in the Tang Dynasty 618A.D – 907 A.D, the Imperial Administration of Health expanded and medical schools appreared throughout China. Through the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties 960 A.d – 1911 A.D, the medical education system was gradually perfected.
The Basic Principles of TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine all illness symptoms are based on the theory of eight principals. They are grouped in the four pairs of opposites.
They are:-
Cold and Heat
Exterior and Interior
Deficiency and Excess
Yin and Yang
These four pairs represent eight elements and explain the nature of diseases and the location of pathological changes. These principals lay in the basics of differentiating the symptoms and giving the analysis.
Cold and Heat
These two principles indicate the nature of disease.
Manifestations of cold syndromes include absence of thirst, slow pulse, tastelessness in the mouth and many others. These are the signs of having an excessive Yin and may be caused by Yang deficiency. Cold syndromes may also be caused by pathological changes.
Fever, thirst, red eyes, rapid pulse, red tongue, constipation, yellow urine are some of the symptoms of heat syndromes. They all all caused by a yin deficiency
Exterior and Interior
Exterior conditions can affect muscles, skin and channels. This refers to flu, viruses and cold. These conditions are caused by the invasion of the body by pathogens while Interior result from pathogens entering the interior of the body. These symptoms affect brain, bones, nerves and other inner organs.
Deficiency and Excess
These principles are used to analyze the bodies resistance to pathogenic factors. Deficiency is explained by the lack of something in the body. It may be caused by a weak constitution, low immune system, deficiency in Qi flow or loss of weight. Among the symptoms are weakness, tiredness, dull pain and many others.
Irritability, rapid breathing, constipation, pain in the chest and abdomen are the main symptoms of Excess. To give you a clear idea here is an example: a common; fast developing cold with high temperature, sore throat and sweating.
Yin and Yang
Exterior, Heat and Excess belong under Yang; Interior, Cold and Deficiency belong to Yin.
People who belong to the yang category are usually dynamic and outgoing. They are extremely energetic and choose careers to display their abilities. It is often very hard for them to sit back and relax. That’s why the symptoms of diseases are usually sudden and among them are:- fever, thirst, swellings and other Yang symptoms. Yang people need to take frequent breaks and learn to calm down, meditate from time to time. Chinese herbs will help them achieve this change to their hectic lifestyle.
Yin people on the contrary are pretty quiet. They choose careers where they can be supportive and more reserved in their outlook on life. They are happy with their quiet lives and go with the flow. The problem may be in their Qi flow. In order to strengthen their Qi flow and yang they also should take special herbs.
It doesn’t mean that being reserved or active is either bad or good , all our emotions and states are natural and given to us by God. Sometimes we can become tired and quiet and sometimes we feel, joyful, happy and are dynamic.
The only thing that is very important is balance.
Namaste
Mark
No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, compassion, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable so that we can continue to do good for others.
Yesterday I fumbled, I got myself lost on my spiritual journey, I faltered and questioned ‘Why Now, Why Me’! I took the time to ‘Think Too Much’ and allow my ego to have a place in my mind, to question me as to why i was on this pathway!…It took me sometime to bring my mind back into the ‘Now’ to push these thoughts away and to clear my mind, it also helped to receive some encouraging replies to my post from some dear blogging friends (Heidi, Frank and Rising Hawk) their comments can be seen following the blog post as can their contact links if you would like to check their blogs out too 🙂
Today is a different day, the sun is shining, I awoke with a clear mind after a refreshingly good nights sleep, I’m looking forward to my day with a smile on my face and I’m carrying on my spiritual journey with gusto 🙂
Namaste
Mark
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/06/14/daily-prompt-faith/
Many of you may have already seen this wonderful short video, if you have then please watch it again and enjoy, if this is your first time then watch it, live it and gain all you can from it as it is sent to you all with all my heart.
Namaste my friends
Mark
Wow, this is so amazing, Miyoko Shida Rigolo performing a beautiful act of mindfulness, concentration, balance, poise and beauty…Please watch to the end, its amazing and brought a tear to my eye 🙂
Namaste
Mark
Hi Everyone,
Well, it’s day nine of our walk around the beautiful gardens that surround Leshan Temple in Sichuan Province China. We are now coming to the temple itself, as you will see from the images below, it is protected by some fearsome carvings which stand guard outside the temple entrance. The temple is high up the side of the hill and it is a very tiresome climb up all those steps.
At the bottom of the steps is a large Lotus Leaf Statue which is used for burning candles as a offering to The Buddha and to Passed family members and friends.
Another enormous carved Buddha sits inside the temple at the top of the hill.
Deepak Chopra explains the seven stages of consciousness and how they lead to enlightenment.* Which stage of consciousness have you reached?
Native American Code of Ethics.
Words of wisdom that we should all take note of and learn from 🙂
Namaste
Mark
The Wesak Festival
The Spiritual Festival of the Buddha
For 2013, the Full Moon of Wesak occurs at:
Los Angeles: 12:58pm
New York: 3:58pm
London: 8:58pm
During the Wesek Festival Full Moon and for two days prior and two days after, we should speak out loud ‘The Great Invocation’ as contained in the Video above.
Let’s come together as one during this important festival and bring some Light and Love to our Planet and to the people of this earth.
Namaste
Mark
For further information on Wesek and Everything else spiritual go to humanityhealing.net
Hi everyone,
Happy Vesak Day to you all, may your lives be filled with Love, Happiness, Compassion and excellent health 🙂
Sorry, I have been a little tardy and busy with mundane things like work 🙂 So I have not had so much time to update my post on my walk around the Leshan Temple in Sichuan China. So here we are continuing our walk around this stunningly beautiful place of worship which eventually leads us to the largest Buddha carving in the world ‘Dafo’, I do hope you are all enjoying this walk with me and my beautiful wife May (she is in one of these pictures)?
Namaste
Mark
My Higher Self: It is in the Giving That You Start the Receiving
When you give more of yourself, you will receive more. Giving of yourself does not have to be giving money to charities. Giving of yourself can be shown though your gratitude and appreciation for everything in your life. Your attitude does create your reality.
So many people at these times are tired. They feel that everything is crashing in on them. They have relationship problems. They have financial problems.
They do not understand why they are here and what they are to do in this lifetime. In addition, time seems to be flying by adding additional stress and pressures and anxieties to their lives. You do not need all of this.
Worrying will not solve your perceived problems. Take a deep breath and let the worry and anxiety go. Release it. But how, you ask? You do this by showing gratitude for all the good things that are in your life. Focus on all of the wonderful things that are in your life. Take out a piece of paper and write down all of the things that you are grateful for.
Add to it every day and read it daily. Why are you happy? What is good in your life? Do not focus on all the perceived bad things in your life. The perceived bad things in your life are choices you are making to experience which causes your soul to grow and develop. There are so many things in your life to be thankful for. Start with being thankful for being alive.
You are so blessed to be here at these glorious shifting times. Be thankful for the air that you can breathe. Be thankful for all the people and animals and nature all around you. Be thankful for every single experience that you have in your life. Once you turn your perception to a positive perception, things will change for you as your reality is based on your thoughts and feelings.
Do something every day that will put a smile on someone else’s face. What can you do today that will make someone smile? Volunteer a small amount of your time at your local school, hospital or senior center. Seeing children in a hospital or older people in a senior center will have such a healing effect on you. You will realize how wonderful it is to be alive.
You will look at your life and see how wonderful life is and how truly blessed you are. It will change your perception on seeing things. You will see things in a different light, in a different manner. When you give of yourself through your time, you will receive more. You may see your relationships become better.
You may see your financial situations get better. Nobody can change anything for you, except yourself. You are in charge of your life and the choices that you make. Make good positive choices. Go to a local mall for twenty minutes and walk around. Try to make eye contact and just smile at people. Watch them smile back. Watch the warmth and happiness that they feel from your smile and see how much better you will feel.
You worries will go away, your anxiety and stresses will also go away. You will have clarity to deal with the issues that you may have had problems with as emotions are removed from your situation. The more you give of yourself, the more you affect others. The more you affect others, the more your light shines. And the more your light shines, the more your energy vibration will increase. When this happens, you will be happy and you will be smiling.
And smiling is infectious. People will see you smile and now they will smile. Others will see them smile and they will smile. This is how you help spread love and peace in the world. It has to start with you. The angelic beings and guides can only guide and provide encouragement and support, but you must do the work. You need to release and go within to change your reality, if it is your reality that you want changed.
You are the one that decides what you do in your life and you make choices that determine your experiences in your life. What do you want to experience? Remember that what you think will determine how you feel and how you feel is what will be manifested in your life. If you want happiness in your life, think of happy thoughts and you will feel happy and you will manifest things in your life that will bring you happiness.
It is about changing your perception. You can do this. You are no longer controlled by anyone else. You decide what to feel. Giving your time to help others will help you in so many ways. Helping others has such a profound healing effect on you, even if you do not realize it. Being in service to others is one of the highest and most rewarding thing that you can do.
Your life will change as the Universe will align itself to your thoughts and you will begin to manifest things that will bring you happiness in your life. So when you give your time, when you give yourself to others, you will receive. Look for it. It may surprise you. And it just may change your life completely, for the better.
Andrew
http://healingandlove.com/2013/05/23/my-higher-self-it-is-in-the-giving-that-you-start-the-receiving/
A fantastic video
“Somebody Needs To Know . . . “. Please click this link to view the wonderful article by Risinghawk 🙂
This post is from one of my dear blogging friends Risinghawk and The Hawk’s Tail http://risinghawkspeaks.wordpress.com
It’s a wake up call to us all, especially me, one who has so many words inside his head and his heart but is too nervous to put them into words…I’m not a writer, I’m a visual person, I see in images and I feel things through my gut, my intuition…I cannot write,…or can I?
Should I pick up my pen, or put fingers to keyboard and tell you more about my feelings, my thoughts, my frustrations regarding this world we live in and my dreams of how we can work together to make our world a better place for us all to live in?
I would appreciate your thoughts on this question so I’m attaching a poll to this post , please reply with your thoughts and let me know if you would like me to write more?
Namaste
Mark
Endless Light and Love 