WISDOM: various authors

C. JoyBell C. - life black and white

“When I was a little girl, everything in the world fell into either of these two categories: wrong or right. Black or white. Now that I am an adult, I have put childish things aside and now I know that some things fall into wrong and some things fall into right. Some things are categorized as black and some things are categorized as white. But most things in the world aren't either! Most things in the world aren't black, aren't white, aren't wrong, aren't right, but most of everything is just different. And now I know that there's nothing wrong with different, and that we can let things be different, we don't have to try and make them black or white, we can just let them be grey. And when I was a child, I thought that God was the God who only saw black and white. Now that I am no longer a child, I can see, that God is the God who can see the black and the white and the grey, too, and He dances on the grey! Grey is okay.” 

   

 Helen Rice - unselfishly give 

Time is not measured by the years that you live

But by the deeds you do and the joy that you give--

And each day as it comes brings a chance to each one

To love to the fullest, leaving nothing undone

That would brighten the life or lighten the load

Of some weary traveler lost on Life's Road--

So what does it matter how long we may live

If as long as we live we unselfishly give.

~Helen Steiner Rice

                                                   Learn to play more...

Why is play so elusive for some grown-ups? Because we are so strongly attracted and attached to a profoundly goal-oriented, work-ethic-driven society.  Like other forms of non-work, play connotes wastefulness, a stoppage in the way of what needs to get done.  Yet often what really needs to get done has more to do with our hearts and spirits and less to do with a deadline or longstanding project. Play beckons to us, urging us to live in the present moment, a moment that becomes more luminous when we disallow interruptions like work and worry.

~Leslie Levine

Charlotte Davis Kasl - always express gratitude

Expressing gratitude ignites the light within us and is a sure path to joy.  Gratitude is one of the highest vibrations of energy we can create, it's free, and anyone can give it.  It can be as simple as being thankful for soup, being thankful one can see, walk, wiggle a finger, or tap to a beat.  One can be grateful for happy children, good neighbors, good luck, and simply being alive. . . . Part of the journey toward joy involves not waiting around for trouble, but being continuously aware of our blessings.  

Being happy means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.

Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.

Unfortunately we live in a world we are constantly reminded of how we are not good enough, teeth not white enough, thin enough or big enough and despite our best efforts, over time it eventually can affect us in subtle ways.

In my line of work I constantly see people who want to make a change and that in itself is healthy and quite human - unfortunately their reasons are not.

We often don’t stop and take count of where we are and who we are right now. More often that not we do not accept ourself for the beautiful strong person we are right now. The amazing things we have already accomplished and the resiliency that has brought us this far in life.

So how do we break the cycle and feel good about who and where we are right now?

The process for changing is NOT to go around saying I feel good about myself fifty times. Positive affirmations more often than not do not work. They just overlay on top of what our sub-conscious thinks it KNOWS. The way to clear a belief is simply to pull out the belief. Bring it into awareness, and say, yes! This has been true for me. I acknowledge it and surrender to it. In this instant, as we embrace it, the belief’s power magically goes ‘ping!’ and it is no longer true for us. Embracing a negative belief is not condoning it. We are merely bringing it into the light and acknowledging it. Once this happens you will be amazed how much easier it is to let it go, change it, or simply live with it!

Acceptance is never easy, but we must understand that we cannot change everything and a life spent trying to do so is a hard existence. We are all good enough and we can all live a full and wonderful life - we only need to get over our self! Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.

Peace and Love

~The Daily Buddha

James Allen - Dreams

The greatest achievement was at first, 

and for a time a dream. 

The oak sleeps in the acorn, 

the bird waits in the egg, 

and in the highest vision of the soul 

a walking angel stirs. 

Dreams are seedlings of reality. 

Osho - everything is happy

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful.  Everything is simply happy.  Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance.  Look at the flowers - for no reason.  It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.  

~Osho

Leo Buscaglia - Coming into contact with yourself

How then, do we come in contact with ourselves?  Number one, by becoming aware.  Isn't that a nice word--aware?  It kind of hits you right where it matters, doesn't it?  To be aware.  To be aware of everything.  To be aware of life.  To be aware of growth, to be aware of death, to be aware of beauty, to be aware of people, flowers, trees.  Open your mind and begin to see and feel!  Begin to experience, and don't be ashamed of it!  Touch, feel, chew, as you never have before.  Keep growing!  Keep consistently growing. Every moment that you do, you change.  Open your mind, open your heart, open your arms, take it all in.  You can keep taking and taking and taking, and what is, never runs out.  There's always more.  The more that you see in a tree, the more that there is to see.  You hear a Beethoven sonata, and it leads you to infinity.  Pick up a book of poetry, and it leads you to beauty.  You love one person, and that love leads you to hundreds.  Keep growing. 

Does the rose have to do something? No, the purpose of a rose is to be a rose. Your purpose is to be yourself. You don't have to run anywhere to become someone else. You are wonderful just the way you are. This teaching of the Buddha allows us to enjoy ourselves, the blue sky, and everything that is refreshing and healing in the present moment. We already have everything we are looking for, everything we want to become. We are already a Buddha so why not just take the hand of another Buddha and practice walking meditation? Just be. Just being in the moment in this place is the deepest practice of meditation. 

The Heart Sutra says that there is "nothing to attain." We meditate not to attain enlightenment, because enlightenment is already in us. We don't need to search anywhere. We don't need to practice to obtain some high position. We can enjoy every moment. People talk about entering nirvana, but we are already there. Aimlessness and nirvana are one. We have everything we need to make the present moment the happiest in our life, even if we have a cold or a headache. We don't have to wait until we get over our cold to be happy. Having a cold is part of life. 

I am happy in the present moment. I do not ask for anything else. I do not expect any additional happiness. Aimlessness is stopping and realizing the happiness that is already available.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Care for the soul and body - various authors

The body is the soul's house.  

Shouldn't we therefore 

take care of our house 

so that it doesn't fall into ruin?

~Philo Judaeus

~*~

People make the mistake of identifying themselves with their body, then if something happens to a person's body, they think something has happened to the person.  When you think about it, that's as ridiculous as saying that if something happens to the clothing I'm wearing, something has happened to me.  Our body is just what we wear. . . We need to take care of it, but it's not who we are.

~H. Frederick Vogt

~*~

The body has to be looked after:  

one has to be very caring about the body 

and very loving to the body.  

And then, its very spontaneity 

purifies it, makes it holy.

 ~Osho

R.J. Baughan - we find the greatest joy

We find greatest joy, not in getting, but in expressing what we are... Men do not really live for honors or for pay; their gladness is not the taking and holding, but in doing, the striving, the building, the living. It is a higher joy to teach than to be taught. It is good to get justice, but better to do it; fun to have things but more to make them. The happy man is he who lives the life of love, not for the honors it may bring, but for the life itself. 

May you always feel loved

"May you find serenity and tranquility 

in a world you may not always understand. 

May the pain you have known 

and the conflict you have experienced 

give you the strength to walk through life 

facing each new situation with courage and optimism. 

Always know that there are those 

whose love and understanding will always be there, 

even when you feel most alone. 

May a kind word, 

a reassuring touch, 

and a warm smile 

be yours every day of your life, 

and may you give these gifts 

as well as receive them. 

May the teachings of those you admire 

become part of you, 

so that you may call upon them. 

Remember, those whose lives you have touched 

and who have touched yours 

are always a part of you, 

even if the encounters were less than you would have wished. 

It is the content of the encounter 

that is more important than its form. 

May you not become too concerned with material matters, 

but instead place immeasurable value 

on the goodness in your heart. 

Find time in each day to see beauty and love 

in the world around you. 

Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard 

you may be more than compensated for in another. 

What you feel you lack in the present 

may become one of your strengths in the future. 

May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility. 

Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience. 

May you find enough inner strength 

to determine your own worth by yourself, 

and not be dependent 

on another's judgment of your accomplishments. 

May you always feel loved.”

~Sandra Sturtz Hauss 

Khalil Gibran - the soul unfolds itself

Say not, 

"I have found the truth," 

but rather, 

"I have found a truth."

Say not, 

"I have found the path of the soul."  

Say rather, 

"I have met the soul walking upon my path."  

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, 

neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, 

like a lotus of countless petals. 

~Khalil Gibran 

Stillness of MInd - Issa Das

The sea reflects the sun perfectly if the water is still.  But if it is agitated by the wind the light fragments into a million mirrored suns.  It is like this with the mind.  If the mind is disturbed by thoughts, the Light of Oneness is fragmented and we perceive only the manyness of things.  When thoughts are still, however, the One Light is perfectly reflected in the mind.

                                                        Native wisdom

Treat the earth well: 

it was not given to you by your parents, 

it was loaned to you by your children. 

We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, 

we borrow it from our Children.

 

 “Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” 

Cherish the Earth - Theodore Roosevelt 

 

Compassion - Michael Goddart

When someone accepts your help, that person is giving you a wonderful opportunity.  You're not only helping that person but you also have the opportunity to grow in compassion.  On seeing the suffering of another, you have the opportunity to feel in your heart the suffering of that person.  When your heart softens and you feel compassion for that person, you become more selfless and rise closer to God, your Higher Power, which is complete compassion.

                                 Be gentle with yourself, accept who you are

“Be gentle with yourself. 

Be kind to yourself. 

You may not be perfect, 

but you are all you’ve got to work with. 

The process of becoming who you will be 

begins first with the total acceptance 

of who you are.”

~Bhante Henepola Gunaratan 

Frugality is one of the most joyful words

Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet it is one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.

~Elise Boulding 

Reflection is in many ways a lost art

Reflection is in many ways a lost art. It is an eyepiece to a world hidden away, the world within ourselves which is alive with truths and beauties and darkness we have never glimpsed. It seems sad that we slice our time too thin for dreaming long dreams and thinking long thoughts. We've grown uncomfortable with that sort of thing. For a long time I had been uneasy left alone. I would snap on the television or grab a book or make brownies. Anything. I suppose we are restless all alone with ourselves, all alone in a room with a stranger. What if we face ourselves and find we don't like the person we meet? I didn't even want to spend much time in prayer because God might confront me and I'd have to look at myself.

~Sue Monk Kidd 

Only when the clamour of the outside world is silenced

Only when the clamor of the outside world is silenced will you be able to hear the deeper vibration. Listen carefully.

~Sarah Ban Breathnach

The I-Ching - before brilliance

" Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish in the crowd."

~ I Ching 

The Kybalion - The ALL is law itself

" Nothing but THE ALL can escape Law–and that because THE ALL is LAW itself, from which all Laws emerge. The most advanced Masters may acquire the powers usually attributed to the gods of men; and there are countless ranks of being, in the great hierarchy of life, whose being and power transcends even that of the highest Masters among men to a degree unthinkable by mortals, but even the highest Master, and the highest Being, must bow to the Law, and be as Nothing in the eye of THE ALL. 

So that if even these highest Beings, whose powers exceed even those attributed by men to their gods–if even these are bound by and are subservient to Law, then imagine the presumption of mortal man, of our race and grade, when he dares to consider the Laws of Nature as “unreal,” visionary and illusory, because he happens to be able to grasp the truth that the Laws are Mental in nature, and simply Mental Creations of THE ALL. Those Laws which THE ALL intends to be governing Laws are not to be defied or argued away. So long as the Universe endures, will they endure–for the Universe exists by virtue of these Laws which form its framework and which hold it together. " 

The Kybalion - Transmutation, weapon of the master

The half-wise, recognizing the comparative unreality of the Universe, imagine that they may defy its Laws– such are vain and presumptuous fools, and they are broken against the rocks and torn asunder by the elements by reason of their folly. The truly wise, knowing the nature of the Universe, use Law against laws; the higher against the lower; and by the Art of Alchemy transmute that which is undesirable into that which is worthy, and thus triumph.
Mastery consists not in abnormal dreams, visions and fantastic imaginings or living, but in using the higher forces against the lower–escaping the pains of the lower planes by vibrating on the higher. Transmutation, not presumptuous denial, is the weapon of the Master. "

~ The Kybalion.