17/365 - On Meditation, Wandering Thoughts

"When you follow wandering thoughts,

you are restricting your awareness;

your mind is restricted to that particular thought train.

When you don't follow your wandering thoughts, your mind is free and open.  Tell your mind it can go anywhere it pleases, but you will not follow it.  At this time your body will be relaxed and your mind will be free because you are not restricting it in any way.  This is the most enjoyable time.  You have nothing to do.  Both mind and body are at ease. 

[...] With meditation you can reach a point where there is no fluctuation, no scatteredness, no confusion.  You reach a state of equanimity.  Your mind is peaceful.  There are no waves.  That is being clear.  In that situation, however, there are still thoughts.  But if you maintain that clarity, you won't think about them."  - Ch'An Master Sheng-Yen (Zen Wisdom)

16/365 - Inner Voice

"Inner Voice

The Inner Voice speaks not in words but in the wordless language of the heart.  It is like an oracle who only speaks the truth.  If it had a face it would be [...] alert, watchful, and able to accept both the dark and the light.

[...] There are times in our lives when too many voices seem to be pulling us this way and that.  Our very confusion in such situation is a reminder to seek silence and centering within.  Only then are we able to hear our truth.

If you have found your truth within yourself there is nothing more in this whole existence to find.  Truth is functioning through you. [...] Your whole life becomes a prayer without any words, or better to say a prayerfulness, a grace, a beauty which does not belong to our mundane world, a ray of light coming from beyond into the darkness of our world." - Osho (Zen Tarot)

15/365 - Activities infused with reverence

"We see that when the activities of life are infused with reverence,

they come alive with meaning and purpose.

We see that when reverence is lacking from life's activities, the result is cruelty, violence and loneliness.  The physical arena is a magnificent learning environment.  It is a school within which, through experimentation, we come to understand what causes us to expand and what causes us to contract, what causes us to grow and what causes us to shrivel, what nourishes our souls and what depletes them, what works and what does not.

[...] Our deeper understanding leads us to another kind of power, a power that loves life in every form that it appears, a power that does not judge what it encounters, a power that perceives meaningfulness and purpose in the smallest details upon the Earth.

This is Authentic Power.

When we align our thoughts, emotions, and actions with the highest part of ourselves, we are filled with enthusiasm, purpose, and meaning.  Life is rich and full.  We have no thoughts of bitterness.  We have no memory of fear.  We are joyously and intimately engaged with our world.  This is the experience of authentic power."  -  Gary Zukav (The Seat of the Soul)

14/365 - I become

"I become what I see in Myself.

All thought suggests to me, I can do;

all that thought reveals in me, 

I can become." 

- Sri Aurobindo

13/365 - Evolution: Survival of the Fittest?

"The evolution that we learned about in school 

is the evolution of physical form.

[...] We learned, for example, that the single-celled creatures of the oceans are the predecessors of all more complex forms of life. [...] We were taught, in other words, that evolution means the progressive development of organizational complexity.

This definition is an expression of the idea that the organism that is best able to control both its environment and all of the other organisms in its environment is the most evolved.  Survival of the fittest means that the most evolved organism in a given environment is the organism that is at the top of the food chain in that environment.  According to this definition, therefore, the organism that is most able to serve its self-preservation, is the most evolved.

We have long known that this definition of evolution is inadequate, but we have not known why.  

When two humans engage one another, they are, in terms of organizational complexity, equally evolved.  If both have the same intelligence, yet one is small-minded, mean and selfish while the other is magnanimous and altruistic, we say that the one who is magnanimous and altruistic is the more evolved.  If one human intentionally sacrifices his or her life to save another, by, for example, using his or her own body to shield another from an unseen bullet or a speeding car, we say that the human who sacrificed his or her life, indeed, was one of the most evolved among us.  We know these things to be true, but they are at variance with our understanding of evolution.

[...] Our deeper understanding tells us that a truly evolved being is one that values others more than it values itself, and that values love more than it values the physical world and what is in it."  - Gary Zukav (The Seat of the Soul)

12/365 - Seeking Happiness

"[...] Isn't a life based on seeking personal happiness by nature

self-centered, even self-indulgent?

Not necessarily.

In fact, survey after survey has shown that it is unhappy people who tend to be most self-focused and are often socially withdrawn, brooding, and even antagonistic.

Happy people, in contrast, are generally found to be more sociable, flexible, and creative and are able to tolerate life's daily frustrations more easily than unhappy people.  And, most important, they are found to be more loving and forgiving than unhappy people.

[...]  We begin, then, with the basic premise that the purpose of life is to seek happiness.  It is a vision of happiness as a real objective, one that we can take positive steps toward achieving.  And as we begin to identify the factors that lead to a happier life, we will learn how the search for happiness offers benefits not only for the individual but for the individual's family and for society at large as well."  -  Howard C. Cutler, M.D. (The Art of Happiness)

11/365 - Discovering the pathway to the source of self-esteem

"Self-esteem is feeling worthy and able to meet life's challenges.

It is as essential as the air we breathe, and just as intangible.

It comes from the depths of our core, yet it is reflected in every single outward action we take, grand or small.  It is the essence from which we measure our worth and the most important building block in the foundation or our psyches.

If self-esteem is a lesson that you need to learn, you will be tested over and over until you feel confident about who you are and understand and believe in your intrinsic value.

[...] The process of building self-esteem is threefold:

1. The first step is to identify what stands in your way.  By acknowledging the limiting belief that you have about yourself, you can then move to the
2. second step: to search your soul for a deeper core connection with who you really are.
3. The third step is to take action, whether that means valuing yourself just as you are or making positive change.

[...]  Remind yourself that self-esteem is ephemeral.  You will have it, lose it, cultivate it, nurture it, and be forced to rebuild it over and over again.  It is not something to be achieved and preserved, but rather a lifelong process to be explored and cultivated.

Where do your feelings of worthiness stem from?

Search to discover the pathway to that source, for you will need to revisit that source again and again through out your lifetime.  When you can easily find your way to the core of your essential value, then you know you have learned this lesson."  - Cherie Carter-Scott Ph.D. (If Life is a Game, These are the Rules)

10/365 - Karma; Healing of the Soul

"Every action, thought, and feeling is motivated by an intention, 

and that intention is a cause that exists as one with an effect.

If we participate in the cause, it is not possible for us not to participate in the effect.  

In this most profound way, we are held responsible for our every action, thought and feeling, which is to say, for our every intention.  We, ourselves, shall partake of the fruit of our every intention.  It is, therefore, wise for us to become aware of the many intentions that inform our experience, to sort out which intentions produce which effects, and to choose our intentions according to the effects that we desire to produce.

[...]  Since we cannot know what is being healed through each interaction - what karmic debts are coming to conclusion - we cannot judge what we see.

[...]  Of one thing we can be certain: a person that is engaging in violence is hurting deeply, because a healthy and balanced Soul is incapable of harming another."  - Gary Zukav (The Seat of the Soul)

9/365 - We never know

"Our days are numbered.

At this very moment, many thousands are born into the world, some destined to live only a few days or weeks, and then tragically succumb to illness or other misfortune.

Others are destined to push through to the century mark, perhaps even a bit beyond, and savor every taste life has to offer: triumph, despair, joy, hatred, and love.

We never know.

But whether we live a day or a century, a central question always remains: What is the pupose of our life?  What makes our life meaningful?"  - Howard C. Cutler, M.D.  (The Art of Happiness)

8/365 - Acceptance: unlocking the prison of self-judgment

"How can you begin to learn the lesson of acceptance?

By recognizing that what is, just is, and that the key to unlocking the prison of self-judgment lies in your own mind.  You can either continue to fight against your body's reality by complaining bitterly and immersing yourself in self-deprecation, or you can make the very subtle but powerful mental shift into acceptance.

Either way, the reality remains the same.

Acceptance or rejection of your body only carries weight in your mind; your perception has no bearing on how your body actually looks, so why not choose the ease of acceptance rather than the pain of rejection?  

The Choice is yours."  - Cherie Carter- Scott PH.D.  (If Life is a Game, These are the Rules)

7/365 - The Right to Happiness

"I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness.

That is clear.

Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life.  So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness...

[...] I believe that happiness can be achieved through training the mind.

[...] When we speak of this inner discipline, it can of course involve many things, many methods.  But generally speaking, one begins by identifying those factors which lead to happiness and those factors which lead to suffering.  Having done this, one then sets about gradually eliminating those factors which lead to suffering and cultivating those which lead to happiness.  That is the way."  - The Dalai Lama (The Art of Happiness)

6/365 - Experiences of the Soul

"The lifetime of your personality is one of a myriad of experiences of your soul.  

The soul exists outside of time.  

The perspective of the soul is immense, and the perception of the soul is without the limitations of the personality. Souls that have chosen the physical experience of life as we know it as a path of evolution, have, in general, incarnated their energies many times into many psychological and physical forms.  For each incarnation the soul creates a different personality and body.  The personality and the body that, for the five-sensory human, are the experiential entirety of its existence, are, for its soul, the unique and perfectly suited instruments of a particular incarnation.

Each personality contributes, in its own special way, with its own special aptitudes and lessons to learn, consciously or unconsciously, to the evolution of its soul.  The life of a mother, a warrior, a daughter, a priest; the experiences of love, vulnerability, fear, loss, and tenderness; the struggles with anger, defiance, emptiness, and jealousy- all serve the evolution of the soul.

Each physical, emotional and psychological characteristic that comprises a personality and its body- strong or weak arms, dense or penetrating intellect, happy or despairing disposition, yellow or black skin, even hair and eye color - is perfectly suited for its soul's purpose."  - Gary Zukav (The Seat of the Soul)

5/365 - You will receive a body

"You may love it

or hate it,

but it will be yours for the duration of your life on Earth.

Since there is a no-refund, no-exchange policy on this body of yours, it is essential that you learn to transform your body from a mere vessel into a beloved partner and lifelong ally, as the relationship between you and your body is the most fundamental and important relationship of your lifetime.  It is the blueprint from which all your other relationships will be built.

[...] make peace with your body, so that it can effectively serve its purpose and share its valuable lessons of acceptance, self-esteem, respect, and pleasure.  Everyone must learn these basic principles before he is able to journey successfully through life."  - Cherie Carter-Scott, Ph.D. (If Life is a Game, These are the Rules)

4/365 - Believing in Fate

"Whether or not you believe in Fate

comes down to one thing:

Who you blame when something goes wrong.

Do you think it's your fault - that if you'd tried better, or worked harder, it wouldn't have happened?  

Or do you just chalk it up to circumstance?"

- Nineteen Minutes, Jodi Picoult

3/365 - Let there be no hurry

"Let there be no hurry in your plans.

You live not in Time but in Eternity.

It is in the Unseen 

that your Life - Future - is being planned."

- God Calling

2/365 - Purpose of Time

"The purpose of Time is to enable you to learn how to use time constructively.

It is thus a teaching device and a means to an end.  Time will cease when it is no longer useful in facilitating learning." - A Course in Miracles

1/365 - What is Awareness?

"Awareness is the state or ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious of events, objects or sensory patterns [...] without necessarily implying understanding. "

                                                                            - Wikipedia