Love
Love is not a thing to feel.
Love is not a thing to give and receive.
Love is a thing only to become
And eternally be. "
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5 years ago
Love is not a thing to feel.
Love is not a thing to give and receive.
Love is a thing only to become
And eternally be. "
Who we are
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience”
– Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
– Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
God is the friend of Silence
"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." - Mother Tesera
Speak the truth
Speak the truth
Speak kindly
Speak what is pleasant
Speak what is needed
Speak with intention
Speak without criticism
Speak independently
Speak well.
Nagajurna
Real Peace
Real peace will arise spontaneously
When your mind becomes free
Of attachments,
When you know that the objects of the world
Can never give you what you really want.
- Theragatha
If you think
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost certain you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost.
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will --
It's all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can win the prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he CAN.
Life is a series of tests
And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom.........
And God gave me Problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity.........
And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage.........
And God gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love.........
And God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors.........
And God gave me Opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted ........
I received everything I needed!
Maybe
One day, the farmer's horse ran away, and all the neighbors gathered in the evening and said ‘that’s too bad.’
He said ‘maybe.’
Next day, the horse came back and brought with it seven wild horses. ‘Wow!’ they said, ‘Aren’t you lucky!’
He said ‘maybe.’
The next day, his son grappled with one of these wild horses and tried to break it in, and he got thrown and broke his leg. And all the neighbors said ‘oh, that’s too bad that your son broke his leg.’
He said, ‘maybe.’ The next day, the conscription officers came around, gathering young men for the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. And the visitors all came around and said ‘Isn’t that great! Your son got out.’
He said, ‘maybe.’
Lesson: you never really know in which direction progress lies. Life unfolds not always as we expect it to.
The Lazy Little Bird
There was once a little bird who was very nice, but very, very lazy. Every day, when it was time to get up, they had to shout at him again and again before he would finally struggle out of bed. And when there was some job he had to do, he would keep putting it off until there was hardly enough time left to do it. People kept telling him "What a lazy bird you are! You can't just keep leaving everything to the last minute”.
"Bah! There's really no problem", answered the little bird, "I just take a bit longer to get around to doing things, that's all".
The birds spent all summer flying and playing, and when autumn came and you could start feeling the cold, they began to prepare for the long journey to a warmer land. But our little bird, lazy as ever, kept putting it off, feeling quite sure that there would be plenty of time to prepare for the journey. That was, until one day when he woke up and all the other birds were gone.
Just like every other day, several of his friends had tried to wake him, but - half asleep - he told them he would get up later. He had gone back to sleep and only woke up again much later. That day was the day of the great journey. Everyone knew the rules: you had to be ready to leave; there were thousands of birds, and they weren't going to wait around for anyone. So the little bird, who didn't know how to make the journey alone, realised that because of his laziness, he would have to spend the long cold winter all on his own.
At the beginning, he spent a lot of time crying, but he had to admit that it was his own fault. He knew he could do things well when he put his mind to it so, putting his laziness aside, he began to prepare for the winter. First, he spent days looking for the place that was best protected from the cold. He found a place between some rocks, and there he made a new nest, well built with branches, stones and leaves. Then, he worked tirelessly to fill the nest with fruits and berries, enough to last the whole winter. Finally, he dug a little pool in the cave, so he would have enough water. When he saw that his new home was perfectly prepared, he began to train himself on how to get by on very little food and water, so that he would be able to endure the worst snowstorms.
And, although many would not have believed it, all these preparations meant that the little bird did survive through the winter. Of course, he suffered greatly, and not a day of that winter went by without him regretting having been such a lazy little bird. When the spring finally arrived, and his old friends returned from their voyage, they were all filled with joy and surprise at seeing that the little bird was still alive. They could hardly believe that such a lazy bird had managed to build such a wonderful nest. And when they realised that not even a bit of laziness remained in his little body, and that he had turned into the most hard-working bird of the flock, everyone agreed that he should be put in charge of organising the great journey next year.
When that time came, everything was so well done and so well prepared that they even had time left to invent an early morning wake-up song, so that from that day on no little bird, however lazy, would have to spend the winter alone again.
Just One
One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream,
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring,
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul,
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal,
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room,
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom,
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer,
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care,
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true,
One life can make a difference,
You see, it's up to you!
(Unknown)
The travelling monks at the river
Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.
As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"
"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."
Lesson: The practice of one's belief is more important than rigid adherence to a belief in one's practice.
Umbrellas and Noodles
There was once an old lady who cried all the time. Her elder daughter was married to an umbrella merchant while the younger daughter was the wife of a noodle vendor. On sunny days, she worried, "Oh no! The weather is so nice and sunny. No one is going to buy any umbrellas. What will happen if the shop has to be closed?" These worries made her sad. She just could not help but cry. When it rained, she would cry for the younger daughter. She thought, "Oh no! My younger daughter is married to a noodle vendor. You cannot dry noodles without the sun. Now there will be no noodles to sell. What should we do?" As a result, the old lady lived in sorrow everyday. Whether sunny or rainy, she grieved for one of her daughters. Her neighbors could not console her and jokingly called her "the crying lady."
One day, she met a monk. He was very curious as to why she was always crying. She explained the problem to him. The monk smiled kindly and said, "Madam! You need not worry. I will show you a way to happiness, and you will need to grieve no more."
The crying lady was very excited. She immediately asked the monk to show her what to do. The master replied, "It is very simple. You just need to change your perspective. On sunny days, do not think of your elder daughter not being able to sell umbrellas but the younger daughter being able to dry her noodles. With such good strong sunlight, she must be able to make plenty of noodles and her business must be very good. When it rains, think about the umbrella store of the elder daughter. With the rain, everyone must be buying umbrellas. She will sell a lot of umbrellas and her store will prosper."
The old lady saw the light. She followed the monk’s instruction. After a while, she did not cry anymore; instead, she was smiling everyday. From that day on she was known as "the smiling lady."
Desire
A dog held a juicy bone in his jaws as he crossed a bridge over a brook. When he looked down into the water he saw a another dog below with what appeared to be a bigger juicier bone. He jumped into the brook to snatch the bigger bone, letting go his own bone, He quickly learned of course that the bigger bone was just a reflection, and so he ended up with nothing.
~Aesop's Fable
