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In her book, The Soul of Money, Lynne Twist wrote: “Mother Teresa once noted what she called ‘the deep poverty of the soul’ that afflicts the wealthy, and had said that the poverty of the soul in America was deeper than any poverty she had seen anywhere on earth.'”
www.soulofmoney.org

On her blog, 3 Keys to Living the Life You Want, Jean Houston wrote, “. . . But now there is an open moment in history where you have the chance to tap into the soul of your purpose. . . .” and she wrote, “Most people hold on to old, limiting beliefs of themselves and our human story. . . .” and, “The third key gives you the means to break free from unconscious, habitual ways of reacting to life that were born thousands of years ago, and embrace higher ways of being for a new era. You will discover ways to move through life with ebullience in your bones and an appetite for celebration –seeing everything as an expression of the creator. You will move through life, motivated not by guilt or obligation, but by gratitude and an abiding zest for doing the things that are called forth by living out of your higher purpose.”
www.DestinyandYou.com

In the book, The Healing Power of Mind, Tulku Thondup wrote, “If we habitually dwell on and struggle with the negative side of our situation, our whole mentality, perception, and experience will inexorably become negative and filled with suffering. Seeing a problem as negative, constantly thinking and talking about how awful or painful it is, makes even minor problems insurmountably big and solid like a mountain, sharp like a knife, and dark as night. . . .”
www.tulkuthondup.com

In the book, Your Life Is Your Message, Eknath Easwaran wrote, “. . ., in order to live in inner freedom, you have to learn how to slow down your mind, bring it to a restorative stillness, and park it anywhere you like – in patience, say, or compassion, or love.”
www.eknatheaswaran.org

In the movie, The Burmese Harp directed by Kon Ichikawa, are these words, “. . . Why must the world suffer such misery? Why must there be such inexplicable pain? As the days passed, I came to understand. I realized that, in the end, the answers were not for human beings to know, that our work is simply to ease the great suffering of the world, To have the courage to face suffering, senselessness and irrationality without fear, to find the strength to create peace by one’s own example. I will undergo whatever training is necessary for this to become my unshakable conviction. . . .”

In the CD, The Flowering of Human Consciousness, Eckhart Tolle said, “Humanity has come to the end of suffering. As a species we have suffered enough. To be free, no other suffering is necessary.”
www.eckharttolle.com

In the DVD, How to Know God, Deepak Chopra said, “When we are attuned to our soul, which is the same as deeply going inward, we are able to listen in the silence to the subtle messages of wisdom and guidance. When our minds merge with God’s mind, we become aware that God is in all things – that we are eternal.”
www.deepakchopra.com

In the book, Everyday Karma, Carmen Harra wrote, “Once you bring a problem to the surface, and face it, healing can begin. I also think that healing takes place when a person begins to put order in his life, when he restores balance. One of the most effective ways to restore balance and maintain a sense of wholeness is by resolving your karma in your daily life. You will find that restoring your karma will make you feel better and prevent many types of illnesses and physical complaints. Resolving your karma strengthens your immune system! When people get enmeshed in emotional drama, their energy field becomes vulnerable and that is when they can get sick.”
www.carmenharra.com

In the book, As a Man Thinketh, James Allen wrote, “Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot, it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstnace.”

In the book, The Advent of the Cosmic Viewpoint, Bryant Reeve wrote, “. . . But as we rise to higher levels of consciousness – as we attain higher viewpoints of life then the very laws of nature tend to change. Also, the electrical phenomena of life change, the energies of life are different, the norm of living changes. The actual realities of life are different. The limitations become fewer. The very “facts of life” change as we rise in consciousness! This is why miracles are possible. They are manifestations of higher laws which become available to higher levels of consciousness.”

In the book, Divine Transformation, part of the Soul Power Series, written by #1 New York Times Bestseller Author Dr. & Master Zhi Gang Sha – trained as a conventional medical doctor and a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, Grandmaster of many ancient disciplines, including tai chi, qi gong, kung fun, I Ching, and feng shui and an expert in the most advanced cellular healing science now occurring in China – wrote, “. . . In all seven books, the Divine has continued to offer divine treasures to every reader. Why is the Divine doing this? We are in Mother Earth’s transition period. Mother Earth’s transition is the purification process of Mother Earth. The root cause of Mother Earth’s transition is the bad karma of humanity and Mother Earth. . . . The one-sentence secret of karma is: Karma is the root cause of success and failure in every aspect of life.”
www.drsha.com

I hope your day is as wonderful as you want it to be.

uncomplicate it

I’ve been a seeker of Truth for a very long time. Actually that can mean different things to different people; there’s much to know is all I know. I can smile now at detours taken along that long fascinating road. Detours occurred because many accumulated beliefs always surfaced contradicting just about everything I read and heard, causing the studying to always end with a but. . . . It was an arduous task to get pass all the buts, and how to make sense of it all. When an answer for the “buts” wasn’t forthcoming, books, tapes, etc. were put away with a sigh, and I went back, more or less, to the old way of thinking. It was becoming a pattern, put them away, and when that nagging feeling presented itself, take them out. One day I sensed that the Power within was becoming impatient with frequent packaways; It wasn’t buying the I’m in; I’m out kind of game. It took a while for me to realize that certain things started happening when I decided to be “out” – that outside circumstances made my life quite miserable. Of course, it was really me who was making my life quite miserable and until I made a clear-cut decision I would be riding the steepest of roller coasters, and that wasn’t good. Then one day I knew without a doubt that the old way wasn’t an option anymore; being “in” finally felt wonderful.

We live in a rather complicated world, made so by man himself, and we think everything is this way. Those scientists who are looking at the universe through a new lens are marveling at the elegant simplicity and simple brilliance in which all things were created.

The old way of wallowing in stress, negativity, doubt, anger, envy, fear, feelings of inadequacy and helplessness, etc. has us believing we’re victims of circumstances and that life is indeed complicated. The remarkable truth is that at any time the choice is ours to uncomplicate the way we think and live by using that Power within our own selves.

I know a young person in his early 20s whose teen years were spent in distress and confusion. He left for college and in a relatively short time he’d turned his life completely around. He’s thriving with his music, retreats, meditation, travels abroad, school, friends, choice of foods, and I’m sure the list goes on. There’s serenity, peace, calmness, tranquility (good words, yes?) in his beautiful eyes. And I say, Wow! – it sure didn’t take long for him to get from here to there. Then again, we’re all unfolding, all evolving on our own schedule, and some people are able in “the twinkling of any eye” to reach new levels of development, thereby changing their vibrations.

In the East this change would be explained by pointing to reincarnation: the young man had worked on himself in previous lifetimes, and in this lifetime he had only a few short steps to climb in order to make that change. It makes perfect sense to me.

People often say, I’m too busy to think about those things. It’s true, they are really, really, really busy. Though nothing looks urgent in all that busyness. It’s often just busyness to be busy. And that’s okay; we all get to decide when. The when though sometimes comes with a swift kick in the pants in one form or another – accident, marital problems, addiction, a death – to give us a little help in deciding whether we’re ready to be in or out. I love Tom Shadyac’s movie I AM. It’s alive with the beauty and mystery of life. And his bicycle accident certainly put things into perspective for him, as he says in I AM the movie.
www.iamthedoc.com

Louise Hay tells a little about her childhood in the book YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE, and in so doing explains the power of the thoughts we think all day long. She has a delightfully straightforward manner, and the following story is so simple it’s impossible to miss its point. Her stepfather abused her; additionally the family was at the poverty level. One day at school a cake was brought in to celebrate a classmate’s birthday. Some children got one slice, some two, Louise got nothing. She explains that at that time in her life she felt almost invisible, that she didn’t matter; she had nothing and she got nothing. Don’t be sad for Louise though, she’s not that person anymore; she’s not in that place anymore.
www.louisehay.com

The beauty of the implementation of this subject is that we don’t have to go anywhere to figure out the power of our thoughts. All we have to do is observe them and in the observing we’ll develop a keen awareness.

Enjoy the day! 🙂

looking at the world through rose-colored glasses

20130415-165511.jpg

Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, what does this mean exactly? I’ve heard the expression a handful of times, and so, for once and for all, decided to find out where those words originated. It seems though that no one knows the origin, and explanations tend to vary. So perhaps the origin is not as important as looking through those rose-colored glasses.

Years ago I picked up a very simple and very small book written in 1940 by Frances Wilshire in which she gave a no-nonsense reason for looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. I liked what she wrote, and so I tried it out. Now some people think that when you see the world this way you’re creating a lovely little la la land for yourself, and that you’re somewhat of an idiot. No matter, I try to keep them on because what Frances Wilshire wrote rang true for me. Will they ring true for you? Well, you can only know by looking through them yourself.

When we were at the Jersey Shore Sumi gave her copy of O Magazine to me, and as I turned O’s pages, there, in wonderful big red letters, were the words, “In Praise of Rose-Colored Glasses” and under the caption was written: “The world we live in is a hard, scary place, and only getting worse. So do what Martha Beck does: Get out there and enjoy it.”

In the article Martha Beck writes of feeling guilty for looking at the world through rose-colored glasses when all systems on our planet appear to be going to pot. And so for years she couldn’t sustain a happy feeling when looking through those rose-colored glasses.

Then she wrote: “But over the years, as I’ve seen what leads to positive change and what doesn’t, I’ve become a sort of joy hound. I now agree with the poet Jack Gilbert: ‘We must have the stubborness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.’ and she wrote: “This isn’t narcissistic pleasure-seeking. It’s the way to make your own life work and give your best to the world.”

To the above, I say, Yes! Because when we’re steeped in fear, in negativity, our life becomes heavy, and a negative pattern promotes more negativity. On the other hand, focusing on the good that we see in the world tends to bring more of the same.

I’ll quote another passage because I can’t write it any better. Here it is: “. . . We must admit there will be music despite everything.” Or as Pablo Neruda wrote,

Take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
do not take from me your laughter.
…it opens for me all
the doors of life.

And this, “The more you defy your innate negativity bias, building from your strengths, finding relief, and embracing delight wherever you can, the more you become a walking cyclone of peace. The repercussions of one person living in stubborn acceptance of gladness are incalculably positive. Become that person, and you’ll find that in spite of everything, there is music. . . .”
www.marthabeck.com

Read the entire article (don’t skip, “the so-called 90-second rule”) in the September 2011 issue of O The Oprah Magazine, and then test out those rose-colored glasses
www.oprah.com

* * * * * * *

“To enter the Spiritual World, in imagination put on rose-colored glasses, and through them you will be able to expand your thought of beauty into fuller expression, by seeing everything in the color and hue of perfection. Then you are seeing in the light of beauty, with Spiritual vision.” – Frances Wilshire

kristin zambucka, the mana keepers

The world is a neutral place Kristin Zambucka wrote in her wonderful book The Mana Keepers. Neutral, I like that, I said to myself. Other writers have used different words to get the same message across to us, and since we mirror whatever’s going on within ourselves, a variety of writers are necessary for all the different ways we humans have of perceiving life.

The people who write in this fashion are trying to tell us that moment by moment, consciously or unconsciously, our thoughts are creating our life. And when we wrap our mind securely around this thought it’s an Aha! moment. And then what? -the mind asks, and it thinks of the responsibility associated with getting this thought into motion. Where to begin? -it wonders while all along wanting things to stay the same. Too late! There’s no pretending in this matter; it’s the right time and the seed is planted.

And so a new show is being created, and as it develops it gets more exciting. Although sometimes there’s a desire to close the show because it takes too much effort to keep it going. But the nagger within insists on continuing because it knows that eventually it’ll be a hit.

The time to be lazy and sloppy, well, alas, it’s over, because once this thought is deeply heard, the within becomes unrelenting in its desire to unfold, and the voice within haunts with the words: moment by moment, consciously or unconsciously, our thoughts are creating our life.

* * * * * * *

“Our remedies in ourselves do lie which we ascribe to heaven.” – Shakespeare

“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.” – Otto Rank

“Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot, it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.”
– As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

“We choose our joys and sorrows before we experience them.” – Kahlil Gibran

“. . . We have underestimated ourselves tragically. We are sadly mistaken when we see ourselves as merely temporary bodies instead of timeless spirit; as separate suffering selves instead of blissful Buddhas; as meaningless blobs of matter instead of blessed children of God.”
– Essential Spirituality by Roger Walsh

“All day long the thoughts that occupy your mind, your secret place as Jesus called it, are molding your destiny for good or evil, in fact, the truth is that the whole of our life’s experience is but the outer expression of inner thought.”
– From the Pen of Emmet Fox

“You may be surprised at what seclusion with God will do for your mind, body and soul. . . . Through the portals of silence the healing sun of wisdom and peace will shine upon you.”
– Paramahansa Yogananda

florence scovel shinn

Every so often I think about Florence Scovel Shinn (1871 – 1940). She was an artist living in New York, who became a metaphysical teacher, lecturer, and writer. Her book The Game of Life and How To Play It has sold millions of copies worldwide. If that subject is calling to you, her book could be a wonderful beginning for exploring and building a foundation. Many exciting and excellent books abound on this topic, and we have to start somewhere. However, it’s easy to be confused in a bookshop when facing many books and finding that nothing is calling to you. That’s when The Game of Life and How to Play It could jump start the process.

A long time ago I read something by Florense SS that has remained close to my heart. The following words are not verbatim, but the message is the same: We can’t change anyone; we actually have no right to change anyone. We can change ourselves though, and when we change, everything around us changes.

Over and over again I read the words: “We’re all connected,” therefore, by raising our consciousness, we help raise the mass consciousness. Imagine that!

* * * * * * *

“So many people are leading such complicated lives because they are trying to think things out instead of ‘intuiting’ the way out.” – Florence Scovel Shinn

“To live intuitively is to live fourth-dimensionally.” – Claude Bragdon

“I was full of a hot, powerful sadness and would have loved to burst into the comfort of tears, but tried hard not to, remembering something my guru once said – that you should never give yourself a chance to fall apart because, when you do, it becomes a tendency and it happens over and over again. You must practice staying strong, instead.” – Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love, page 137

“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves, otherwise we harden.” – Johann W. Goethe

“When you sell a man a book you don’t just sell him paper, ink and glue, you sell him a whole new life! There’s heaven and earth in a real book. The real purpose of books is to inspire the mind to do its own thinking!” -Christopher Morely

“Often fear stands between man and his perfect self-expression. Stage-fright has hampered many a genius. This may be overcome by the spoken word, or treatment. The individual then loses all self-consciousness, and feels simply that s/he is a channel for Infinite Intelligence to express Itself through.”
– Florence Scovel Shinn

A lovely site that promotes beauty inside, outside, and around you – Poreless.com

Poreless.com is an exciting site that guides people to innovative news and new products for revitalizing skin and body. This week they go behind the beauty scene with the director, and the writer, of the short film “The Retreat” www.theretreatfilm.com. This past weekend “The Retreat” received Boston International Film Festival’s award for “Indie Soul Special Recognition.” The film also had a screening at The Big Apple Film Festival 2010, and the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival 2011. Soon it will have another screening at the Staten Island Film Festival 2011.

I hope you enjoy the article. Those at Poreless.com are interested in knowing what you think about their article, along with the questions and answers, and the way they have of handling a busy lifestyle in the entertainment industry. They are open to your comments.
http://poreless.com/?p=711

camino de santiago

I’M OFF THEN by Hape Kerkeling
Have you ever thought about hiking the Camino de Santiago? – If you have or haven’t, I’M OFF THEN is a delightful travel book; it’s very funny and very honest. The writer freely shares what he’s feeling and learning, and the thoughts that arise on his spiritual journey. Questions come to him from out of the blue, and answers come when least expected. He meets people of all persuasions, a few become good friends, others he’d rather not have met. And the differences of one little village after another where pilgrims stay the night to seek food and refuge are noted, as are thoughts about the day’s hike.

Experiences differ greatly because everyone has their own reasons for hiking the camino. I’ve read that the experiences a hiker encounters on the pilgrimage are the ones needed, and that includes the people one meets along the way. To go alone seems quite brave. If the hiker is on a personal quest, then alone time tends to soothe the soul – after awhile. And there are always companions who come and go. At the end of the journey Santiago’s magnificent cathedral is there to greet the pilgrim.

The good and the not so good all sound wonderful to me because, when all is said and done, the experiences seem worth the tremendous effort it takes to hike the Camino de Santiago. Are you ready?

winter

Winter sometimes seems very long. That’s what people say. However, winter 2010-2011 is different. I don’t know why, but in this area of the world people are enjoying it, and it’s not because it’s warm, it’s not. Of course, I’m talking from a Philadelphia perspective, and not New England, or the midwest. Last year, in this part of the world, winter 2009-2010 had many grumblers not liking the snow or cold (especially the snow), at all, and they freely complained to anyone within earshot. This year the feeling is different; I even hear people calling from across the street to friends: Hey, ____ , are you loving the snow? Enjoying the cold? And they laugh. What happened between this winter and last? – I asked myself.

What makes me feel wonderfully toasty warm on a cold and windy day is when I’m out and about feeling rather chilly, and I see someone ambling towards me dressed in shorts and a cotton shirt. At that moment, I feel like a cold weather coward, and right away get the message to toughen up. And I do, and the day becomes warmer. And I smile at the impact we have on one another, often without realizing it; it’s immensely interesting and grand. Well, grand if it’s the right kind of impact.

A few weeks ago as I stood waiting for a green light, I saw someone across the street patiently waiting for the light to change. It was cold, and a persistent cold wind made it colder. He didn’t seem to notice the weather; he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and jeans, holding a jumbo drink filled with ice cubes, and sipping it as though palm trees surrounded him, and lazy warm waves on a calm beautiful sea called to him. I stared, and in staring I felt warmer by the second. Additionally, throughout the day if I wanted to stay warm while walking, all I had to do was picture him just the way he was. Ahh, thoughts are indeed powerful.

So, if one day you’re feeling cold, find the one oblivious to weather conditions, and keep that memory alive.

the extraordinary healing power of ordinary things, shantaram, salaam bombay!, (and germs)

Are we too concerned with germs? Is advertising on tv, and in magazines causing fear to creep into our minds? Are the products on the shelves that suck out every bit of moisture from our hands leaving them dried and cracked (so that we need more products to heal our hands) really necessary? If we’re not careful, we’ll begin to feel that germs are attacking us around every corner we turn. That feeling doesn’t feel good. Germs will always be with us. It’s the fear of them that holds the real power. If it’s fear that rules, there’s a book that flows beautifully in the direction of balance called THE EXTRAORDINARY HEALING POWER of ORDINARY THINGS by Larry Dossey, M.D. Can we use the word delicious here? Because it is. Go directly to the chapter on Dirt, and don’t stop there continue to the chapter on Bugs. Now that should help, if you let it. Then, of course, there’s the rest of the book.
www.dosseydossey.com

SHANTARAM by GREGORY DAVID ROBERTS – What a book! is all I have to say. If you have an unhealthy fear of germs, there’s no way you’ll NOT come away feeling very differently about them. Well, to be fair to the book, this is a small part of it, but it’s a thread throughout a lot of its story. You can only know what that means after you’ve read it. It’s wildly entertaining, inspiring, disturbing; it’s a big story about life. And know this, somewhere along the line we get quite comfortable with the way of germs.
www.shantaram.com

The movie, SALAAM BOMBAY! “Spectacular! Excellent!” is what’s been said of it, and it’s all true. The director had “street kids” acting, along with top-notch Indian actors. Watching the “special features” simply adds more to what is already an important, entertaining, inspiring, and, yes, delicious film.

The slums of Bombay are a part of SHANTARAM AND SALAAM BOMBAY. I can’t help wondering about our sterile, antiseptic, squeaky clean way of living compared to the slums of Bombay (and other parts of the world where people live in similar conditions). Questions arise after reading SHANTARAM and watching SALAAM BOMBAY One is: How is it that these people are still alive? The other is: How is it that the hospitals in our squeaky clean part of the world are packed with sick people? The answers are complex. Or maybe not.

happy new year to all of us

What a lovely day it is; the sun is shining brightly, the snow is melting, and 2011 is here. Are we ready for a new wonderful way to live so that we’ll find ourselves in a good place? It seems our intelligent universe is asking individuals to come forth and shine mentally, spiritually, and physically so that together we can all thrive in the world.

Happily there have always been people who have understood their connection with everything that exists, and their responsibility to look upon the universe with kind and generous eyes, and to hold compassion, love, harmony, joy, beauty in their hearts for all that exists. That’s impossible, you say. if you tell that to those who know life differently they’ll say that everyone can come from a place that’s nurturing and loving – that it’s a choice. They’ll also say it’s time in the evolution of humanity for every one of us to change the way we see the world. We need a new understanding of our fascinating world, our place in it, and the way in which our thoughts and actions affect it for better or worse. Before a new year arrives we begin thinking of things we can do to improve – once again the opportunity is ours to get away from worse forever. When that happens all that exists will benefit big time. That’s not too shabby a thought.

“. . .Every atom of your body is connected to every other atom in the universe. . .”
-taken from an essay by Nassim Haramein in the book: Transforming Through 2012
Leading Perspectives on the New Global Paradigm
Featuring 33 Authors – Scientists, Researchers, Futurists, Mystics, Astrologers, Indigenous Elders and Luminaries. . .

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF US.