turns of phrase
Here are a few phrases & concepts collected from my wise friends Gabriel & Sapphire...
heart to heart and hand to hand
making the choice to follow a thought
behave as a foreign diplomat
the only choice as a human is to love
a frame by frame movement of absolute stillness
every sparrow is seen
peaceful exuberance
taking care is strength
you are responsible for any unrest
embrace the day
today anything could happen
this is happening
nothing is happening
shared velocity
as immortal, how would it speak?
the beginning and the end of nothing
whatever it is, it’s inevitable
the impersonal view regarding passing events
articles of interest
My Vipasanna article appears in the new issue of the Urban Hippie, a Vancouver based magazine that reflects some of the forward thinking culture that is happening in this part of the world. If you like the things I write about here, you will enjoy this site!
The Urban Hippie
http://www.urbanhippie.ca
The Urban Hippie is a seasonal earth based publication linking local grassroots communities from across British Columbia. The Urban Hippie endeavors to facilitate the growth and prosperity of our collective visions and local economies.
the healing power of useful ideas
So, the whole "I am in perfect health" affirmation really wasn't working. I do understand the importance of focusing on the positive in these things but the pain & mental chaos was just too distracting.
However, the new one is very promising.
"The mind-body unit is going through a transformational process that is progressing perfectly."
Somehow, this feels right.
conscious use of words
Thanks to George R. Walther, who sent me a copy of his book What You Say is What You Get after I posted something here expressing an interest in learning more about how what we say and how we say it affects our reality.
The book has a strong focus on business negotations, but is full of valuable information for anyone who talks!
Here's a selection:
Whenever you seek others' input and sugggestions, stimulate a free flow of ideas, no matter how crazy some might seem.
Instead of saying,
"I want to give everyone a chance to suggest on or two approaches on this project. Please keep our limited budget in mind."
Say,
"Let's get lots of ideas going. Don't worry about how much they may cost. We'll consider practicality later. For now, anything goes."
Instead of saying,
"Your suggestion just won't work. Believe me, I've personally seen it fail at two other companies."
Say,
"Good suggestion. Let's keep going and come up with some more."
Instead of saying,
"That's not practical, it'll never work."
Say,
"That's an unusual approach, let's go with it and see where we end up."
when you love life, life loves you
I had a great time at Fairies and Fools last weekend.
Here's a photo of me with an old friend I hadn't seen in awhile who is a true character & genuine Jedi.
I love this part of the world.
the power of feelings
A friend recently suggested I read the book Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting. I found it difficult to get into at first but am glad I gave it a 2nd chance because there are some real gems of insight within!
The main concept is that our feelings around what we focus on create energetic vibrations that affect what kind of reality we experience on a moment to moment basis. For example, constantly focusing on how we "don't have enough money" makes that situation persist, while feeling gratitude for what we *do* have is more willing to result in a change in fortune.
"Focus on the positive" may be a bit of a cliche, but it works. This book explains why and gives some tips about how to get our moods back to centre.
Here's a quote I like:
But the greatest obstacle to living our potential comes from toddler days when we were trained to look for what's wrong -- with everything! With our jobs, our cars, our relationships, our clothes, our shapes, our health, our freeways, our planet, our faith, our entertainment, our children, our government , even our friends. Yet most of the world can't even agree about what right or wrong is, so we war, and strike, and make laws, and go to psychiatrists.
"That's life," you say. "We have to take the good with the bad, the ups with the downs. We have to be on guard, work hard, do things right, be watchful and hope for a break. Yes, that's the way life is."
No, no, and NO! That is simply not the way real Life is, and it's time we faced up to how we actually do create what we have in our world, our empty or full bank accounts, our grand or boring jobs, our good fortune or bad, and everything else in this arena we so nonchalantly call reality.
How do we do it? Don't laugh; it all comes from... how we're vibrating!
ancient wisdom in modern language
The Tao Oracle is a beautifully written interpretation of the I-Ching (which I am only starting to explore) that comes with a set of artfully illustrated cards.
Here's a passage:
from Hexagram 11 (Peace)
We tend to fall asleep or lose awareness when peace descends, because the child in us wants to believe that everything is finally as it's supposed to be and should stay that way forever, as in a fairy tale. But nothing stays the same forever; life is an ongoing journey, a dance of light and shadow, and our lives are a fleeting reflection of that vast movement, not the source of it. You must remember that you are part of a flow and learn to move in sync with it, rather than against it. In the natural cycle of things, there is a time for fruition and a time for dissolution. These aspects are not in opposition to each other; one is not good and the other bad; rather, they flow into one another and are interdependent. Stop worrying about things you can't control and getting lost in details, and expand your inner vision to encompass this understanding. Embrace the holistic view of things.
why nerds are unpopular
Here's one that resonates for me.
Being smart is useful.
Why Nerds are Unpopular
http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html
So if intelligence in itself is not a factor in popularity, why are smart kids so consistently unpopular? The answer, I think, is that they don't really want to be popular.
If someone had told me that at the time, I would have laughed at him. Being unpopular in school makes kids miserable, some of them so miserable that they commit suicide. Telling me that I didn't want to be popular would have seemed like telling someone dying of thirst in a desert that he didn't want a glass of water. Of course I wanted to be popular.
But in fact I didn't, not enough. There was something else I wanted more: to be smart. Not simply to do well in school, though that counted for something, but to design beautiful rockets, or to write well, or to understand how to program computers. In general, to make great things.
discovered @ nonduality.com
Here's a poem I loved so much I printed it out and put in on my bedside table.
Free and Easy
A Vajra Song
by Ven. Lama Gendun Rinpoche
Happiness cannot be found
through great effort and willpower,
but is already present, in relaxation
and letting go.
Don't strain yourself;
there is nothing to do.
Whatever arises in the mind
has no importance at all,
because it has no reality whatsoever.
Don't become attached to it;
don't identify with it
and pass judgement upon it.
Let the entire game happen on its own,
springing up and falling back like waves -
without changing or manipulating anything -
and everything vanishes and reappears, magically,
without end.
Only our searching for happiness
prevents us from seeing it.
It's like a rainbow which you pursue
without ever catching.
Although it does not exist,
it has always been there
and accompanies you every instant.
Don't believe in the reality
of good and bad experiences;
they are like rainbows in the sky.
Wanting to grasp the ungraspable,
you exhaust yourself in vain.
As soon as you open and relax this grasping,
space is there - open, inviting and comfortable.
So make use of this spaciousness, this freedom
and natural ease.
Don't search any further.
Don't go into the tangled jungle
looking for the great elephant
who is already quietly at home.
Nothing to do,
Nothing to force,
nothing to want -
and everything happens by itself.
that which you resist persists
The concepts in this article are not new or "original" on the part of this author, but the simple way in which they are expressed here makes this a powerful piece.
The One and Only Cause of Failure in Any Area of Your Life... and the One and Only Solution
http://www.mindpowernews.com/OneAndOnly.htm
Every day, and for no reason at all, unconsciously, we destroy our own efforts and then fail or suffer unnecessarily. When it comes to success, we are our own worst enemy and we don't even know it. We take one step forward and two steps back, or more. Today we can all stop this unnecessary step backwards.
Do you know how much more your life, business, relationships and health would improve if you changed one little thing? Let us see how.
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