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a millionaire

One evening in December while wrapping you know what, I watched a show about a millionaire. I don’t know the name of the show. He talked about his possessions – a beautiful big house, cars, planes, property in different parts of the world, parties, friends, etc. – very nice. Now he’s going to a run-down part of a designated city where for one week he’ll masquerade as a poor and needy man. In the process, he’ll work because he’ll have only minimum money for rent and food, and he’ll volunteer and connect with those people who spend their days helping others. By the end of the show, a few of the people he meets will have a check in hand.

The manager of the dirty and dingy motel where the millionaire is staying gives him a cleaning job and helps him locate places to do volunteer work. And so he introduces himself to a woman whose home is open 24-hours a day to anyone in need, and whose pantry is stocked with food for others. Her own life was difficult; she had a child at 13, spent time in and out of prison, and now devotes her life to service. Her eyes were radiant as she spoke about what she does. It’s obvious she has a lot of love and compassion.

And the millionaire introduces himself to a woman and her assistant who have opened their hearts to young people who would be on the streets otherwise. They provide food, donated clothes, skills, computers to help them find jobs, and they provide hope. They too come from love and compassion.

And the millionaire introduces himself to a young, very confident skateboarder, and talks extensively with him. And though he’s in a wheelchair, the skateboarder’s not going to let that stop him in life. His dream is to start a business.

As time goes by the millionaire appears to be in a state of shock. He cries, he meets things in his bed he’s never met before – cockroaches – and is appalled. Finally, he has to call his brother to come lend support.

Now it’s day six and the millionaire has to decide who will receive a check from him and how much it will be. After a sleepless night, a decision is made. He reintroduces himself to the three people mentioned above, and, as it turns out, he gives each of them a check. Are they happy? Oh, yes.

Everyone needs a helping hand every so often. It’s been said that the one who gives gets also. It does seem to be that way. Perhaps the millionaire will return to his life with a grateful heart, and the people he touched will continue to touch others.

* * * * * * *
Once a press reporter asked Amma how was it possible for her to embrace each and every one in the same loving way, even if they were diseased or unpleasant. Amma replied, “When a bee hovers over a garden of varied flowers, what it beholds is not the difference between the flowers, but the honey within them. Similarly Amma sees the same Supreme Self in each and every one.” – As Dr. Jane Goodall, while presenting Amma with the 2002 Gandhi-King Award for non-violence said, “She stands here in front of us, God’s love in a human body. www.amma.org

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the holidays, they are coming

The few weeks before Christmas is an interesting time of year – planning, shopping, buying, partying, praying, cooking, helping, wondering, hoping, singing, decorating, traveling, eating, drinking, – with urgings to celebrate Christmas and the New Year in a big way. Our cities, towns, villages are alive with brightly colored advertisements, merry music, santa, shoppers carrying bags of gifts. It’s a tricky time of year in that getting caught up in spending can happen in a flash. It’s hard to ignore the joy of it all.

However, not being over our heads in credit card bills from holiday spending is a beautiful way to live, and a great way to begin a new year. That means we have to be creative in how we celebrate the holidays. They’ll be a lot more joy in our hearts if bills are not weighing us down. We just need an open heart, a smile, a little imagination, and a readiness to do things differently.

Also, there’s this wonderful word called gratitude; it’s written about a lot lately. I’m sure there have always been people who daily express gratitude in the silence of their hearts. Though now it’s become a way of life for many. Maybe it’s because we see so many who lose so much so suddenly, or maybe it’s because we see so many who have so much wanting so much more. It can get complicated, if we let it. Gratitude, simplicity, balance, staying in tune with our hearts, can give us the true meaning of the holidays. Otherwise, you know, it can get crazy, if we let it.
So, can we say this about the holidays, if you’ve got it, this is a great time to flaunt it; if you don’t, why would you.

Riches are not from abundance of wordly goods, but from a contented mind. – Mohammed

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank You,” that would suffice.
– Meister Eckhart

The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden
because of their simplicity and familiarity. – Ludwig Wittgenstein

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shhhh. . .

Shhhh. . . is the title of Ode Magazine’s July/August 2008 issue – Everything you always wanted to know about peace and quiet The Silence Issue. www.odemagazine.com Books and magazine articles toot the many benefits of silence. They write that the world is getting noisier. mystics have said the silence is where answers to our deepest questions are often found. If this is so, silence seems a very good idea. Once upon a time people hungry for quiet time found it in monasteries. Now reserving space is not always possible. There are, however, silent retreats led by innovative leaders taking place not only indoors, but outside as well – no limit there. According to some people who have been on silent retreats, silence speaks volumes to them. Nice! Not everyone knows what to do with silence though – for some it causes anxiety even though they’re seeking it. And beginning on page 69 is a neat article called “Because God Whispers” written by Tijn Touber, Ode’s senior editor. Ah, – so many reasons to find your way to this magazine.

Last year I read a very good article in Yoga+Joyful Living November/December 2007 issue www.yogaplus.org on silence called My Accidental Silent Retreat by Alexandra Starr, and in the article five silent retreat places were listed. And they are:

Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA, 978-355-4378; www.dharma.org
Mount Madonna Center, Watsonville, CA, 408-846-4064; www.mountmadonna.org
Abbey of Gethsemani, Trappist, KY, 502-549-4133; www.monks.org
Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Woodacre, CA, 405-488-0164; www.spiritrock.org
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Stockbridge, MA, 866-200-5203; www.kripalu.org

Shhhh . . .

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a bag of letters

Last night I read a few of the letters I’d placed in a Tiffany’s bag long ago. They’d been in storage in another State and recently retrieved. The letters were separated according to writer, and put in chronological order and tied. They were special – these six different packets from six different people – and as I read, the words seemed to jump out at me. Five of the people have since died, to reread their letters is to be with them; it’s a priceless experience.

It’s easy to send an email in place of a letter. It’s not the same though. The simple process of choosing the stationery, selecting a favorite pen, setting apart the time and the place, and focusing thoughts leading up to writing a letter ties in with the end result, and allows the writer to be connected to the act of writing. Then off goes one’s energy to a friend (or in comes the energy needed), when a child is misbehaving, an unsolved problem needs a solid opinion, congratulations is in order – a wedding, a baby, a career move, a trip of a lifetime, or a letter needs to be written because someone’s getting a divorce, someone’s sick, someone’s dying, someone needs to feel loved. A huge life expereince is taking place, and a letter that will be read over and over again needs to be sent or received.

Having the letters before me is a reminder of how extraordinary life is. The letters from people now dead were of life, of whatever they were feeling and thinking at the time.

Many people must be writing letters, I have three beautiful pens given to me as gifts, so I know beautiful pens still exist. And in stores I see all kinds of stationery – beautiful, funny, original, stationery with photographs of nature in all its splendor, photographs of people in all situations and with all kinds of expressions. Yes, someone must be writing – still. And perhaps one day another someone will be holding, reading – maybe laughing; maybe crying – and most likely appreciating that letter. Wonderful!

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relationships

The word “gay” of my childhood meant cheerful and merry, and is now mainly used when referring to homosexual men. For curiosity’s sake, I clicked on www.dictionary.com. There are 1,414 results for the word gay, and the following one is simple and interesting: “Usage note in addition to its original and continuing senses of “merry, lively” and “bright or showy,” GAY has had various senses dealing with sexual conduct since the 17th century. A gay woman was a prostitute, a gay man a womanizer, a gay house a brothel. This sexual word included homosexuals too, and GAY as an adjective meaning “homosexual” goes back at least to the early 1900’s. After World War ll, as social attitudes toward sexuality began to change, GAY was applied openly by homosexuals to themselves, first as an adjective and later as a noun. Today, the noun often designates only a male homosexual: gays and lesbians. The word has ceased to be slang and is not used disparagingly. HOMOSEXUAL as a noun is sometimes used only in references to a male.” Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. So, it appears that this three-letter word gets around.

What brought this up? Well, a friend told me that a friend of hers discovered her husband is gay. It was an eye-opener for her. I don’t know why, but it reminded me of when I first moved to New York City straight from a typical New England upbringing of that time, and someone mentioned open marriages. “Open marriages! What is that?” said I. Now with so much water under the bridge – hmm, lots and lots of water – I say, a woman who finds herself married to a gay man is in that relationship for a reason, as is anyone connected to that relationship, as a matter of fact, as is anyone in any relationship. And what’s important is what’s gained, what’s learned. And, of course, that depends entirely on those involved. It’s all so personal and much deeper, and finer, and intricate than any label given to it.

How different life would be if many of the labels placed on people were removed. Just like the songs suggest in Marlo Thomas’s Free To Be You And Me. The things that are happening around the world should teach us to allow some things to be as they are. Defining and separating people if they don’t meet a society’s definition of normal seems archaic in today’s world. Normal, what is that anyway? Millions of different forms in the universe were created. Creativity is the normal, and as long as no one is hurt, creativity and normal should go hand in hand.

Children enjoy a feeling of unity with everything in their lives; they see themselves as not “separate from” but rather “part of.” – THE WORLD IS AS YOU DREAM IT by John Perkins, pg.8

We are raised on comparison;
our education is based on it;
so is our culture.
So we struggle to be someone
other than who we are.
-J. Krishnamurti

Relationship is surely the mirror
in which you discover yourself.
-J. Krishnamurti

You know, all mystics – Catholics,
Christian, non-Christian, no matter
what their theology, no matter what
their religion – are unanimous on one
thing: that all is well, all is well. Though
everything is a mess, all is well. . .
– Anthony de Mello

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randy pausch

A human being who knew how to live and die passed away on Friday, 25 July. What can one say about a man who was told he had a short time to live, and took whatever time he had, and, not only gave it to his wife and three children, but gave it to all of us. In the process, he taught us, and showed us, what it means to “let go”. Thank you Randy Pausch.

He and his family were recently interviewed at their home. The cameras followed them, and when questions were asked, he answered all of them with a serene look on his face – the one he always seemed to have.

What a gift he gave his children; what an example he was to the world.

On Monday, 28 July and Tuesday, 29 July “Good Morning America” will have a tribute to him. And on Tuesday, 29 July “Primetime” will have “The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life” at 10pm. www.first30days.com “Randy Pausch Passes Away”.

“Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more-than-ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.” – “The Wisdom of James Allen” 5 Classic Works Combined Into One

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gregg braden

I picked up the July 2008 FREE Wisdom Magazine www.wisdom-magazine.com at Whole Foods, and in it Publisher Mary Arsenault is interviewing NY Times Bestselling author Gregg Bragen who wrote: The Isaiah Effect, The God Code, The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles and Belief. His last book is “now a finalist for the best new science book of 2007.” His newest book is The Spontaneous Healing of Belief. I read the interview three times – once in my apartment, traveling to Brooklyn, and on the return trip to Phila – because powerful words were spoken and I wanted to deeply feel and understand everything that was said.

Gregg Braden and Dr. Darren Weissman will be at the Hilton Philadelphia Airport, 4509 Island Avenue on 1-3 August; the subject is: Recreate! Your Life, Your Health, Our World! www.sacredspaces.org

The August issue of Wisdom will be featuring SACRED JOURNEYS & RETREATS. It sounds good to me. Sounds good to you?

“Our left brain needs to understand why it’s possible for us to affect our world. We know that the world around us is energy and made of electrical and magnetic fields. What our own science has found within the last two or three years is that the human heart is the strongest generator of electrical fields within the human body, about a hundred times stronger than the brain, and it’s the strongest generator of magnetic fields in the body – about 5000 times stronger than the brain. So when we create a feeling in our hearts the way the ancients told us to – feelings of appreciation, gratitude, healing, love and compassion – what we are really doing is creating very powerful waves of electrical and magnetic energy inside our heart that floods our body with these fields and it extends beyond our bodies in the world around us. And that’s how we influence the physical world around us – we can literally rearrange the atoms of physical matter through these fields if we learn to focus and hone this language.” – Gregg Braden

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a witless one, a camera, sjp’s hands

As I was logging on to my laptop I saw a little photo zeroing in on someone’s hands with words like man hands, veins, etc. It turns out they are Sarah Jessica Parker’s hands. The photo is irksome for a few reasons. Many things are happening in the world at the moment. Thousands in China have lost their lives, others have lost families, and others have lost homes. There are fires blazing elsewhere in the world, in different ways and in different parts of the world people are experiencing tragedies.

Then we have a witless one with a camera in our midst who can see no further than a pair of hands. Too bad. I think that if a palm reader were to look at the palms of SJP’s hands the lines would surely have love, success, friendship, abundance all nicely etched there. Another thing about the witless one with a camera is that we’ll have girls and women now wondering and worrying about their hands, as if they need more to be concerned about in our society’s obsession with a body’s surface beauty. Sarah Jessica Parker happens to be thin, there’s no meat on her bones, so to speak, hence the showing of veins. So, all you females out there, don’t get any ideas, your hands are fine just the way they are. There’s no need to start hiding them. In fact, think about their strength. Sometimes when I’m traveling, and carrying heavy bags, I marvel at the way hands were created, and all they’re capable of doing. Their strength is awesome.

Now to get back to the subject, O’ witless one, what was the point of a close-up photo of SJP’s hands, and the disparaging comment?

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happy mother’s day

There are books written encouraging people to get in touch with the pain and suffering remembered from childhood now manifesting as anger in their adult lives. And there are books written encouraging people to take responsibility for where they are and, if they’re not satisfied, change.

Most women are doing the best they can in caring for children. No one has said that this is a perfect world. It seems easier to recount misery than happiness when remembering childhood experiences – it could be from habit. If we take time to review our childhoods, and attempt to remember the good, along with the not so good, we might realize there was somewhat of a balance. We were loved, and fun and happiness happened too. There’s no denying that some people had miserable childhoods, and because of it they’re now allowing anger to reign supreme in their adult lives. It’s important to know, however, that the option to put one’s big girl/boy pants on, and find a way to dissolve anger in order to create a wise and wonderful, (or wacky if you like) life, is there for the taking.

That said, I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to women the world over who are loving and caring for children. May you all find the experience exhilerating some of the time. May you be up to the challenge most of the time. May you all have fun. and have some ridiculously humorous moments. May love envelop your entire household whether there be two or ten living together. May you all grow together. May you ask for forgiveness, and teach forgiveness, when it’s needed. May you enjoy the wonderful experience of raising children. May you not be too hard on yourselves or “them.” May you control only the things that are in your power to control, Ha Ha May you keep it simple, and realize that in the blink of an eye, those little ones will be adults. And to women of adult children, smile – for there are many reasons to smile, and you know what they are.

To all women who love and care for children, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.

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rev. michael bernard beckwith and rickie byars beckwith

Spending a day in a workshop with Rev. Michael Beckwith and Ricky Beckwith on Friday was a day with lots of sunshine, even though it was cloudy and misty outside. Being Fearless was the name of the 11,12,13 April event sponsored by Omega at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. And on Friday, Sumi, Emi and I attended the Pre-Conference Intensive with Michael Beckwick who nourished our souls as we listened, meditated, prayed, sang, asked questions, heard the answers and left singing. And we listened to composer and singer Ricky Beckwith’s beautiful songs and voice, heard her utterly contagious laugh, enjoyed her ability to elicit more from the topic being discussed, and were tickled pink by her humor.

Spending a day with Michael Beckwith who lives from a spiritual center quickly opens one’s heart. The questions asked by participants and the answers that unfolded allowed for those aha moments which usually don’t come so easily when we’re on our own to ask and answer.

The Keynote speakers for the weekend were: Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Rickie Byars Beckwith, Mia Farrow, Zev Kedem, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Anne Lamott, Caroline Myss, Valerie Plame Wilson, Noah benShea, Tara Brach, PhD, Seane Corn, Debbie Ford, Erica Ariel Fox, Carla Goldstein, JD, Andrew Harvey, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Gurushabd Singh Khalsa, Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, Douglas Stone, Rev. Claude AnShin Thomas, James Van Praagh, Iyanla Vanzant.

If days were freer and unscheduled, and the above-mentioned people available for longer stretches of time, attending all the workshops would add greatly to the way one perceives life. Oh yes, methinks so.

Sumi, thank you!