Mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water. ~Sigurd F. Olson
August 31, 2012
August 12, 2012
Love calls for creativity
Keeping open to love
by Paulo Coelho
There are moments when we would very much like to help someone we care about deeply, however we can't seem to do a thing. Either circumstance prevent us from drawing closer or else the person has shut off to any gesture of solidarity and support.
So, all we have left is love. In those moments when everything else is useless, we can still love--without expecting anything in return, any exchanges or thanks.
If we can manage to act this way, the energy of love begins to transform the universe around us. When this energy appears, you always perform your work successfully.
"Time does not change men. Will power does not change men. Love changes men, " says Henry Drummond.
I read in the newspaper about a child in Brasilia who was brutally beaten by her parents. As a result, she lost her body movement and her power of speech.
Admitted to the Base Hospital, she was taken care of by a nurse who said to her every day: "I love you." Although the doctors guaranteed that she could not hear and that the nurse's efforts were all to no avail, she kept repeating: "I love you, don't you forget that."
Three weeks later on, the child had recovered her movements. Four weeks later, she started to talk and smile again. The nurse never gave any interviews and the newspapers did not publish her name--but let it be registered here, so that we will never forget: love is a great healer.
Love transforms, love heals. But at times love builds mortal traps and ends up destroying the person who has decided to surrender completely. What strange sentiment is this that deep down is the only reason for us to go on living and struggling and trying to make things better?
It would be irresponsible of me to try and define it because, like any other human being, all I can do is feel it. Thousands of books have been written about it, plays put on at the theater, films produced, poems scribbled, sculptures carved in wood or marble--and even so, all that the artist can convey is the idea of a feeling, not the feeling itself.
But I have learned that this feeling is present in the small things and manifests itself in the most insignificat of attitudes we take, so we must always have love in mind when we act or fail to act.
Picking up the phone and uttering that affectionate word we have been putting off. Opening the door and showing in someone who needs our help. Accepting a job. Leaving a job. Making that decision that we were putting off for later. Apologzing for a mistake we made that will not leave us in peace. Claiming a right that we have. Opening an account at the flourist's--which is more important than the jeweler's. Playing music loud when your loved one is far away and lower the volume when he or she is nearby. Knowing how to say "yes" and "no"--because love involves all of man's energies. Discovering a sport that can be practiced by two. Not following any perscrpition, not even those listed in this paragraph--because love calls for creativity.
And when none of this is possible, when all that is left is loneliness, then remember a story that a reader once sent me:
A rose dreamed day and night about having the company of the bees, but none ever came to land on her petals.
The rose went on dreaming: during a long night she imagined a sky with lost of bees flying towards her and kissing her tenderly. In this way she managed to resist to the next day, when she opened again to the sunlight.
One night the moon, knowing how lonely the rose felt, asked her:
-Aren't you tired of waiting?
-Perhaps. But I have to struggle on.
-Why?
-Because if I don't open up, I will wither.
At moments when loneliness seems to crush all beauty, the only way to resist is to keep yourself open.
by Paulo Coelho
There are moments when we would very much like to help someone we care about deeply, however we can't seem to do a thing. Either circumstance prevent us from drawing closer or else the person has shut off to any gesture of solidarity and support.
So, all we have left is love. In those moments when everything else is useless, we can still love--without expecting anything in return, any exchanges or thanks.
If we can manage to act this way, the energy of love begins to transform the universe around us. When this energy appears, you always perform your work successfully.
"Time does not change men. Will power does not change men. Love changes men, " says Henry Drummond.
I read in the newspaper about a child in Brasilia who was brutally beaten by her parents. As a result, she lost her body movement and her power of speech.
Admitted to the Base Hospital, she was taken care of by a nurse who said to her every day: "I love you." Although the doctors guaranteed that she could not hear and that the nurse's efforts were all to no avail, she kept repeating: "I love you, don't you forget that."
Three weeks later on, the child had recovered her movements. Four weeks later, she started to talk and smile again. The nurse never gave any interviews and the newspapers did not publish her name--but let it be registered here, so that we will never forget: love is a great healer.
Love transforms, love heals. But at times love builds mortal traps and ends up destroying the person who has decided to surrender completely. What strange sentiment is this that deep down is the only reason for us to go on living and struggling and trying to make things better?
It would be irresponsible of me to try and define it because, like any other human being, all I can do is feel it. Thousands of books have been written about it, plays put on at the theater, films produced, poems scribbled, sculptures carved in wood or marble--and even so, all that the artist can convey is the idea of a feeling, not the feeling itself.
But I have learned that this feeling is present in the small things and manifests itself in the most insignificat of attitudes we take, so we must always have love in mind when we act or fail to act.
Picking up the phone and uttering that affectionate word we have been putting off. Opening the door and showing in someone who needs our help. Accepting a job. Leaving a job. Making that decision that we were putting off for later. Apologzing for a mistake we made that will not leave us in peace. Claiming a right that we have. Opening an account at the flourist's--which is more important than the jeweler's. Playing music loud when your loved one is far away and lower the volume when he or she is nearby. Knowing how to say "yes" and "no"--because love involves all of man's energies. Discovering a sport that can be practiced by two. Not following any perscrpition, not even those listed in this paragraph--because love calls for creativity.
And when none of this is possible, when all that is left is loneliness, then remember a story that a reader once sent me:
A rose dreamed day and night about having the company of the bees, but none ever came to land on her petals.
The rose went on dreaming: during a long night she imagined a sky with lost of bees flying towards her and kissing her tenderly. In this way she managed to resist to the next day, when she opened again to the sunlight.
One night the moon, knowing how lonely the rose felt, asked her:
-Aren't you tired of waiting?
-Perhaps. But I have to struggle on.
-Why?
-Because if I don't open up, I will wither.
At moments when loneliness seems to crush all beauty, the only way to resist is to keep yourself open.
July 13, 2012
The search for security is an illusion
by Deepak Chopra
The search for security and certainty is actually an attachment to the known. And what is the known? The known is our past. The known is nothing other than the prison of past conditioning. There's no evolution in that...
Uncertainty, on the other hand, is the fertile ground of pure and creativity and freedom. Uncertainty means stepping into the unknown in every moment of our existence. The unknown is the field of all possibilities, ever fresh, ever new, always open to the creation of new manifestations.
In your willingness to step into the unknown, you will have wisdom of uncertainty factored in. This means that in every moment of your life, you will have excitement, adventure, mystery...
When you experience uncertainty, you are on the right path--so don't give up. You don't need to have a complete and rigid idea of what you'll be doing next week or next year, because if you have a very clear idea of what's going to happen and you get rigidly attached to it, then you shut out the whole range of possibilities.
The search for security and certainty is actually an attachment to the known. And what is the known? The known is our past. The known is nothing other than the prison of past conditioning. There's no evolution in that...
Uncertainty, on the other hand, is the fertile ground of pure and creativity and freedom. Uncertainty means stepping into the unknown in every moment of our existence. The unknown is the field of all possibilities, ever fresh, ever new, always open to the creation of new manifestations.
In your willingness to step into the unknown, you will have wisdom of uncertainty factored in. This means that in every moment of your life, you will have excitement, adventure, mystery...
When you experience uncertainty, you are on the right path--so don't give up. You don't need to have a complete and rigid idea of what you'll be doing next week or next year, because if you have a very clear idea of what's going to happen and you get rigidly attached to it, then you shut out the whole range of possibilities.
June 24, 2012
Freedom awaits within the unknown
Walking along the shadows inhibited,
Egoic mind grasps and clings to past words that are written,
A step at a time, walking a fine line,
One comes to the edge of the limited,
Taking the step out of the known,
Freedom awaits within the unknown,
One’s true nature is revealed,
In all its glory and love so real,
Soul gently whispers, “It’s ok, keep going ahead.”
One is led towards embarking on a grand new adventure,
Rough, tumbles and jumbled experiences,
Produce enough friction,
From coal to diamond one transforms,
Into ones real Essence & true nature that is beyond physical form,
Emerges boldly with joyful storm.
Shattering the illusions of the known and limited,
One experiences the total bliss of freedom that is
-Dipali Desai
Egoic mind grasps and clings to past words that are written,
A step at a time, walking a fine line,
One comes to the edge of the limited,
Taking the step out of the known,
Freedom awaits within the unknown,
One’s true nature is revealed,
In all its glory and love so real,
Soul gently whispers, “It’s ok, keep going ahead.”
One is led towards embarking on a grand new adventure,
Rough, tumbles and jumbled experiences,
Produce enough friction,
From coal to diamond one transforms,
Into ones real Essence & true nature that is beyond physical form,
Emerges boldly with joyful storm.
Shattering the illusions of the known and limited,
One experiences the total bliss of freedom that is
-Dipali Desai
April 9, 2012
Drugs are a bet with your mind
My junior year of college I took an oral interpretation class....it was actually pretty awesome. Our teacher was a huge hippie and would begin each class with the Salute to the Sun yoga sequence. We had to recite a poem for the class and I chose this one by Jim Morrison from his "Wilderness" collection.
What are you doing here?
What do you want?
Is it music?
We can play music.
But you want more.
You want something & someone new.
Am I right?
Of course I am.
I know what you want.
You want ecstasy
Desire & dreams.
Things not exactly what they seem.
I lead you this way, he pulls that way.
I’m not singing to an imaginary girl.
I’m talking to you, my self.
Let’s recreate the world.
The palace of conception is burning.Look. See it burn.
Bask in the warm hot coals.You’re too young to be old.
You don’t need to be told
You want to see things as they are.
You know exactly what I do
Everything.
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