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
My Dear Friends,
I came across this video from Chinese TV showing a young 3 year old boy dancing for the three judges in the Chinese talent competition, one of the judges you may recognize, it’s Jet Li from Kung Fu film fame.
I thought you may like to brighten up your day as he certainly brought smiles to my day.
The innocence and joy of a child can melt your heart. If you do go to Youtube to watch this video, please don’t read the racist and idiotic comments that some half brained people have written, these are the people who hold our world back from evolving into something better!
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
In action find stillness.
Seek the simple kernel
At the heart of every matter.
See the greatness in a small kindly gesture.
Make forgiveness your intention
And your enemies your allies.
Love is perceived in all you meet.
Civilized man, afraid of natures simplicity
Creates complex problems;
The healer creates wholeness
By loving whomever God has put in his way.
When there is trust, promises are not required
And the difficult challenge is met with joy.
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
“If it were not laughed at, it would not be sufficient to be Tao.” – Lao Tzu,Tao Te Ching
Did you ever have a bad day? Everything seems to go wrong and you are completely lost in anger, frustration and self-pity. It gets worse and worse, until the final moment when, say, you have just missed the last bus. There is some critical point where it gets so bad the absurdity of it all overwhelms you and you can do nothing but laugh. At that moment you uplevel your predicament, you see the cosmic joke in your own suffering.
Meditation, because of the space it allows around events, gives you the chance to see the humor of your predicament. Awareness of the passing show of one’s own life allows a lightness to enter it where only a moment before there was heaviness.
Humor puts things in perspective. There are many levels of humor – there is a humor of survival, a humor of sex and gratification, a humor connected with power. Beyond all these there is a humor that is filled with compassion. It is reflected in the tiny upturn in the mouth of the Buddha, for he sees the humor in the universal predicament: all beings are lost in illusion, yet he knows that they will awaken from that illusion for they are, at heart, already enlightened. He knows that what seems so hard to them is from another perspective their own path to liberation.
Often the perspectives about yourself and the universe that you arrive at through meditation make you want to giggle or laugh. This giggle is without malice. It’s a cosmic giggle, one that I identify with my guru, Maharaj-ji. For his giggle was not of this world. It was not a social or personality giggle, but rather a cosmic chuckle, the delight in the fun of it all. His giggle was from the plane that gives us the term “lila,” the divine dance of life.
– Ram Dass
A DAY WITHOUT LAUGHTER IS A WASTED DAY!
Namaste with Love My Friends
Always
Mark
Most people would look at this picture and disagree because they cannot see any value in what the picture contains, but I see unconditional love and respect. And I thoroughly agree with the statement ‘The less you have the more you value it’.
We live in a material world when goods/products out value lives, when the throw away left overs from your meal cost more than these people on the streets have to survive on all month; and even more depending in which country they are from!
Human kindness takes a different turn when you have little, you see the goodness in the small things, you notice the sun shining, the warmness or the rain, the flowers blooming, the scent of freshly mown grass, and the genuine kindness and smiles of hope given to you by a passer by, in this image the man treasures his dog, his companion on his life journey and he will protect it and care for it unconditionally.
I look around me and see so many things, things i take for granted, things that make my life easier, computers, cell phones, printers, pens, paper, books, clothes, food, drinks, everything I could possibly want….but…., do they bring me happiness? No!…Happiness comes from within, I don’t need these things to make me happy and more of these things will not raise my levels of happiness, only I can do that. I often look and watch children playing, children with nothing, some of the poorest children around me, these children play on the streets with the simplest of toys that they pull together from scraps, pieces of string, the wheel of a cart, a box for them to sit in, but their smiles say it all, they live in the now, the swiftly fashioned toy takes them to somewhere else, and they live the dream. They don’t need more expensive toys to bring them happiness, because happiness is within!
I wish we could all see these children play, to watch their joy, their simple lives not yet effected by the media, the sales promotions that create ‘Want and Desire’, If only we could learn that ‘Happiness comes from Within’
Namaste with Love My Friends
Always
Mark
It’s the 1st of May, the sun is shining here in Shanghai, its 10am and already 23c so a great day is ahead of us and to cap it all off it’s National Holiday here in China so we have two extra days off work …yeah 🙂
I’m so full of love, love is in my heart, it’s in my soul and I can see it everywhere, it’s in the eyes of my two little puppy’s when they greet me in the morning, it’s in my wife’s smile and her cheeky grin when she’s making a joke:)
I can see young couples on the street hand in hand, arm in arm, their eyes and body language is full of love, walking in the park, the sweet scent of spring fills the air and the birds and insects are full of love too, its time to get together with friends, with family and enjoy our love for one another. Smiles say it all 🙂
Look for goodness and beauty in your day and you will find them and all your negative feelings like anger and resentment will recede. When you are immersed in all that is good and beautiful around you, you cannot feel angry or resentful . There will be no room in your heart for such feelings, for it will be filled to the brim with joy and gratitude.
Try smiling from your heart. Let this happen naturally as you cultivate your own inner joy from the beauty you see all around you today. This inner smile is vibrant, sparkling and full of life and awareness. You will know that you have done it correctly when someone else smiles back at you 🙂
Go out today, take a deep breath and smile from your heart…Live the day 🙂
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Oh yes, it is important to make someone happy and it’s more important to start with YOU!
Come on, what are you waiting for?
Come on…you know it makes sense!
Come on….you are worth it!
Is that a start of a smile I see on your face?
Just a little one?
It is!
It’s a smile!
Its getting bigger
And bigger
Now your smiling!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Catching, isn’t it?
Now go give one to someone else
Namaste with Love
Always
Mark
Endless Light and Love 