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| NONSENSE | |
| "I like nonsense - it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope that enables you to laugh at all of life's realities." Dr. Seuss. (PS. Go See Horton Hears a Who. It was great!) | |
| NO MATTER WHAT | |
| “Do you know what today means, in spiritual, numerical terms? … Me neither. But I know this, your thoughts become things every single day, no matter what the occasion, no matter where the energy vortices lie, no matter when the equinox starts, no matter what the economy is doing, no matter who is in office, no matter what you want, no matter when you want it, no matter what, no matter what, no matter what. Any other thinking just gives your power away.” www.tut.com | |
| LISTEN TO THE OTHER WORLD… | |
| We spend most of our time and energy in a kind of horizontal thinking. We move along the surface of things but there are times when we stop. We sit still. We lose ourselves in a pile of leaves or its memory. We listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper. - James Carroll | |
| A KIND WORD | |
| One kind word can warm three winter months. - Japanese proverb | |
| LIGHT YOUR SOUL, LIGHT THE WORLD | |
| If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world. Chinese Proverb | |
| CHANGE | |
| “The great thing about change, Jillian, is that it absolutely, positively, always means things are going to get even better. Even when you don’t know how.” | |
| FIREFLIES by Evaleen Stein | |
| Look! Look down in the garden how The firefly lights are flitting now! A million tiny sparks I know Flash through the pinks and golden-glow, And I am very sure that all Have come to light a fairy ball, And if I could stay up I'd see How gay the fairy folks can be! |
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| HAPPINES … The Universe. Tut.com | |
| What if happiness didn't have anything to do with what you had, where you've been, or who you were, and arose entirely from what you chose to think about, yet nobody knew this? And that changing your thoughts, so that you could feel happier more often, would entirely change what you had, who you were, and where you're headed, yet nobody knew this either? Do you think if we told them they'd choose to think differently? |
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| Thich Nhat Hang |
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| “Tenty-Four, Brand-New Hours… Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy and happiness to ourselves and others. Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don’t have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don’t have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.” | |
| INSIDE THE BREATH – the Kabir Book translated by Robert Bly |
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| “Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat. My shoulder is against yours. You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms nor synagogues, nor in cathedrals: Not in masses, nor kirtan, not in legs winding around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables. When you really look for me, you will see me instantly... You will find me in the tiniest house of time. Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God? He is the breath inside of breath.” |
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| THANKSGIVING IROQUIS PRAYER |
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| “We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us. We return thanks to the rivers and streams, We return thanks to all the herbs, We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters, We return thanks to the bushes and the trees, We return thanks to the wind, We return thanks to the moon and the stars, We return thanks to our grandfather Hé-No, We return thanks to the sun, Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, |
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| THE CORE OF A PEACEFUL MIND -St. Francis de Sales | |
| “Have patience with all things but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You're a perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist.And no amount of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that. Unconditional self acceptance is the core of a peaceful mind.” | |
| IT’S YOUR LIFETIME” - Dr. Wayne Dyer | |
| “You become what you think about all day and those days become your lifetime ” | |
| THINK IT IS SO P Cota-Robles | |
| “What we think about, what we hold in our minds and put our attention and energy into, we actually draw into our lives.” | |
| Robert Fulghum | |
| “Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.” | |
| Spanish Proverb | |
| “How lovely it is to rest and then do nothing afterwards” | |
| Worth Doing | |
| “If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing slowly or not at all.” | |
| DON”T WORRY — John A. Simone, Sr. | |
"If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change." |
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| EXPERIENCE — Erich Schiffmann | |
“Go in there, be clear about what you don’t know, and let yourself be taught in the doing of it.” |
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| FAITH — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | |
| “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” | |
| MINI RETREAT | |
“We all need sometime to ourselves. Just a few minutes a day to get reacquainted with the one who’s been there since the beginning.” |
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| GET RUBBED — Rumi | |
| “If you are irritated by every rub, how can you be polished?” | |
| Sharon Salzberg | |
| “It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck in a sense of our limitations. If we go into a darkened room and turn on the light, it doesn't matter if the room has been dark for a day, a week, or ten thousand years - we turn on the light and it is illuminated. Once we control our capacity for love and happiness, the light has been turned on.” | |
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| Lao-Tzu (600 B.C.) | |
| “Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong” | |
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| Thich Nhat Hanh | |
| “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” | |
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| LOVING IT - Mother Teresa | |
| “It is not how much you do, but how much Love you put into the doing that matters.” | |
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| SHIFT - Anne Cushman | |
| “Metta practice…. helps us Shift our focus from getting love to creating it, from improving our bodies to cherishing them, and from fixing life to embracing it.” | |
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| MOST OF ALL, YOU - Buddha | |
| “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” | |
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| ALIVE - Chris Elms | |
| “You are alive. I am alive. This IS the miracle. Quality of life is not some vague phrase; it is the actual everyday happiness we get from slowing down, coming into the present, and enjoying a child, a friend, a dog, a walk, a tree. Enjoying Life! Yes!! Happiness is now, and only now. This is a sacred choice we all have. Come home to the present of the present.” | |
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| TRANSFORMATION | |
| “Just when the caterpillar thought it was the end of the world, it became a butterfly.” | |
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| A CLEAN FINISH - Emerson | |
| "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense." | |
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| GRATITIUDE -Thich Nhat Hanh | |
| "Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything." | |
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| MILLIONS OF CHANCES - Dali Lama | |
| "If I am only happy for myself, many fewer chances for happiness. If I am happy when good things happen to other people, billions more chances to be happy!" | |
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| LIBERATION FROM ENVEY | |
| Edward Hays in The Great Escape Manual writes “It is important not only to be grateful to others but also to be grateful for others. We need to cultivate a gratitude for others' giftedness in the same way that we appreciate a beautiful sunset or a smile from a loved one. Others always seem to have been given gifts in life that we desire, and so it's easy to be envious. Riding sidesaddle with envy is a dangerous practice: I would be happy if I had what he or she possesses. By contrast, giving thanks constantly and in all circumstances liberates us from envy.” | |
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| BE KIND TO YOU - Pema Chodron | |
| "What you do for yourself any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you're doing for others, and what you do for others you're doing for yourself." | |
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| BLESSINGS | |
| "Hold constantly as a deep, hallowed, intoned thought that desire to bless, for truly then shall you become a peacemaker." | |
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| Swami Sivananda | |
| “Put your heart, mind, spirit and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.” | |
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| Captain Jean-Luc Picard | |
| “Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important.” | |
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| Annie Dillard | |
| “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” | |
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| DON’T BE SO RATIONAL… - Albert Einstein | |
| "I never came upon any of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking." - | |
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| POSSESSED - Robert Bolton | |
| "A belief is not merely an idea that the mind possesses; it is an idea that possesses the mind." | |
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| BEYOND LIMITS - Seth | |
| "There are no limitations to the self except those you believe in." | |
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| REJOICE - Ziggy | |
| "You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses." | |
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| THANKFUL - Buddha | |
| "Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." | |
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| OUR LIGHT - Marianne Williamson | |
| Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. | |
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| QUALITY - Chris Elms | |
| "You are alive. I am alive. This IS the miracle. Quality of life is not some vague phrase; it is the actual everyday happiness we get from slowing down, coming into the present, and enjoying a child, a friend, a rose, a dog, a walk, a tree. ENJOYING LIFE. YES!! Happiness is now, and only now. This is a sacred choice we all have. Come home to the present of the present." | |
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| IMAGINATION - Mark Twain | |
| "I have been through a lot of terrible things in my life. Some of which have actually happened." | |
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| QUIET - Hans Margolius | |
| "Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." | |
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| CHOICES - Annie Dillard | |
| "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." | |
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| FLOWER ALWAYS OPEN - Zen Proverb | |
| "Everything changes in this world. But flowers will open each spring, just as usual" | |
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| BALANCED ACTION | |
| "Each choice we make causes a ripple effect in our lives. When things happen to us, it is the reaction we choose that can create the difference between the sorrows of our past and the joy in our future." | |
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| SEQUENCING - Oprah Winfrey | |
| "I've learned that you can't have everything and do everything at the same time." | |
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| INSIDE OUT - Jose Ortega Gasset | |
| "Order is not pressure which is imposed on society from without, but an equilibrium which is set up from within." | |
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| WHAT DO YOU WANT - Kathleen Winsor | |
| "Most people are so busy knocking themselves out trying to do everything they think they should do, they never get around to do what they want to do." | |
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| BREATH - George Carlin | |
| "Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." | |
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| RENEWAL - From The Great Law of the Iriqouis Confederacy | |
| "In our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." | |
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| FORGIVENESS - Mark Twain | |
| "Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it." | |
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| KEEP YOUR FAITH - Roy R. Gilson | |
| Keep your faith
in all beautiful things; in the sun when it is hidden, in the Spring when it is gone. |
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| REBIRTH - Unknown | |
| "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." | |
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| HARMONY - Mahatma Gandhi | |
| "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony" | |
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| WHAT IS HAPPINESS? - Georg Feuerstein | |
| "Everyone is seeking to maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness. Therefore, the pursuit of happiness was written into the American constitution as a basic human right. However, the constitution does not offer a clear explanation of what happiness is. Nor does it tell us how to realize happiness… What, then, is happiness? First of all, we must note that happiness is often confused with pleasure…The particular sting of pleasure is that it is short-lived. Hence we often hunt after a pleasurable repetition and in the process run the rise of becoming ‘addicted’… However much the pleasure, we always hunger for more. Happiness, on the other hand, is deep, full and enduring. It is satisfying in itself. Therefore it gives us peace and tranquility… The person who is happy does not look for greater happiness. But pleasure always spurs us on the experience greater pleasure. Happiness, however, sets us free." | |
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| PORTABLE PARADISE— Paramahansa Yoganada | |
| “By practice of mediation, “The Master said, “you will find that you are carrying with in your heart a portable paradise.” | |
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| HOW RICH ARE YOU? — Nonpareil | |
| "If someone were to pay you ten cents for every kind word you ever spoke and collect five cents for every unkind word, would you be rich or poor?" | |
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| ASHTANGA YOGA CLOSING CHANT | |
| "May all be well with mankind. May the leaders of the earth protect in every way by keeping to the right path. May there be goodness for those who know the earth to be sacred. May all the worlds be happy. May the rains fall on time and may the earth yield its produce in abundance. May this country be free from disturbances and may we be free from fear." | |
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| COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS — Timothy Miller | |
| "Gratitude is the intention to count-your-blessings every day, every minute, while avoiding, whenever possible, the belief that you need or deserve different circumstances." | |
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| TRANSFOMATIVE GRACE | |
| Roshi John Daido Loori has said that expressing gratitude is transformative, just as transformative as expressing complaint. Imagine an experiment involving two people. One spends ten minutes each morning and evening expressing gratitude, while the other spends the same amount of time practicing complaining. One subject is saying things like, "I hate my job. I can't stand this apartment. Why can't I make enough money? My spouse doesn't get along with me. That dog next door never stops barking and I just can't stand this neighborhood." The other is saying things like, "I'm grateful for the opportunity to work; there are so many people these days who can't even find a job. I'm grateful for my health. What a gorgeous day; I really like this fall breeze." They do this experiment for a year. Guaranteed, at the end of that year the person practicing complaining will have deeply reaffirmed all his negative "stuff" rather than having let it go, while the one practicing gratitude will be a very grateful person. | |
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| THANK YOU— Meister Eckhart | |
| "If the only prayer you say in your entire life is "Thank You," that will suffice." | |
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| STATE OF MIND—Stephen Levine | |
| "Gratitude is the state of mind of thankfulness. As it is cultivated, we experience an increase in our "sympathetic joy," our happiness at another's happiness. Just as in the cultivation of compassion, we may feel the pain of others, so we may begin to feel their joy as well." | |
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| A PRAYER OF THANKS AND PRAISE — unknown songwriter | |
| Blessed are
they who give without expecting even thanks in return, for they shall be abundantly rewarded. Blessed are they who translate every good thing they know into action, for ever higher truths shall be revealed unto them. Blessed are they who do God's will without asking to see results, for great shall be their recompense. Blessed are they who love and trust their fellow beings, for they shall reach the good in people and receive a loving response. Blessed are they who have seen reality, for they know that not the garment of clay but that which activates the garment of clay is real and indestructible. Blessed are they who see the change we call death as liberation from the limitation of this earth-life, for they shall rejoice with their loved ones who make the glorious transition. Blessed are they who after dedicating their lives and thereby receiving a blessing, have the courage and faith to surmount the difficulties of the path ahead, for they shall receive a second blessing. Blessed are they who advance toward the spiritual path without the selfish motive of seeking inner peace, for they shall find it. Blessed are they who instead of trying to batter down the gates of the kingdom of heaven approach them humbly and lovingly and purified, for they shall pass right through. |
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| KNOWING— unknown songwriter | |
| "I used to know everything, I know nothing now" | |
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| LET IT GO— Dana Fould | |
| Let go of the
ways you thought life would unfold; the holding of plans or dreams
or expectations – Let it all go. Save your strength to swim with
the tide. The choice to fight what is here before you now will only result in a struggle, fear, and desperate attempts to flee from the very energy you long for. Let go. Let it all go and flow with the grace that washes through your days whether you receive it gently or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders. Take on faith: the mind may never find the explanations that it seeks, but you will move forward nonetheless. Let go and the wave’s crests will carry you to unknown shores, beyond your wildest dreams or destinations. Let it all go and find the place of rest and peace, and certain transformation. |
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| COURAGE—Anais Nin | |
| "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage" | |
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| EYES OF THE FUTURE— from the book RED | |
| "The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time. They are kneeling with hands clasped that we might act with restraint, that we might leave room for the life that is destined to come. To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle. Perhaps the wilderness we fear is the pause between our own heartbeats. The silent space that says we only live by grace. Wilderness lives by the same grace. Wild mercy is in our hands." | |
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| OPINIONS— unknown | |
| "Those who are full of their own opinions will be deaf to words of wisdom from others. In a discussion between two persons, what often happens is that each is intent on asserting his own views. As a result, apart from hearing his own voice or views, he does not learn anything else." | |
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| KNOW YOU DON'T KNOW—Eric Hoffer | |
| "In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." | |
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| INTUITIVE MIND AS TEACHER | |
| Albert Einstein says "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift" | |
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| NOTHING TO HOLD ON TO — Marilyn Ferguson | |
| "It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's the place in between that we fear…It's like being between trapezes. Its' Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to." | |
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| GO IN AND IN - by Donna Fauds | |
| Go in and in.
Be the space between two cells, the vast, resounding silence in which spirit dwells. Be sugar dissolving on the tongue of life. Dive in and in, as deep as you can dive. Be infinite, ecstatic truth. Be love conceived and born in union. Be exactly what you seek, the Beloved, singing Yes, tasting Yes, embracing Yes, until there is only essence; the All of Everything expressing through you as you. Go in and in. and turn away from nothing that you find. |
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| KNOWING — Epictetus | |
| It's impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows. | |
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| OPEN TO THE UNEXPECTED — Lizelle Reymond | |
| "You must learn to welcome consciously the most unexpected events of life, to be entirely transparent in front of them, without any motive, either right or wrong. At that moment avoid all judgment, for you do not know what law is in operation" | |
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| THE SKY | |
| "The sky will bow to your beauty if you do." (Don't know who said it. A student passed it on in class.) | |
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| VALUE OF EVERY MOMENT | |
| To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train. To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident. To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics. | |
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| ATTITUDE — by Charles Swindoll | |
| "Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, then education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say, or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company.. A church.. A home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes". | |
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| BEAUTY — Ghalib | |
| The world is
nothing more than Beauty's chance to show herself. And what are we? Nothing more than Beauty's chance to see herself For if beauty were not seeking herself, We would not exist. |
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| PEACE — Mahatma Gandhi | |
| "Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals." | |
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| YOUR PRACTICE, YOUR TEMPLE – Amrit Desai" | |
| "You must approach your yoga practice with reverence and gratitude and love. It’s very much like entering a temple. | |
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| HOW DO THEY FEEL? — Author unknown | |
| "People will forget what you said, will forget what you did, but will never forget how you made them feel." | |
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| CULTIVATE LOVE EVERY DAY | |
| At the End of
the Day, Ask Yourself: "Did my thoughts, actions and deeds contribute to the well being of others? Did I ask more from others than I needed? Did resistance to change cause harm to others or myself? Did my words express the truth from my heart? Did the choices I made nourish myself? Did I pause to give thanks for at least one gift in my life? Did I take time to notice the omnipresence of a power beyond myself? At the end of the day, am I at peace with myself? " |
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| LETTING GO OF THE THORN BUSH | |
| Long ago, a
wise yogi was walking down a road. From off in the distance, he heard
a terrible moaning and groaning. As he hurried to give aid, the cries
of pain grew stronger. He came upon a man hugging a huge thorn bush,
his face and arms scratched and bleeding. "Help me, help me,"
cried the man. "My son," said the yogi, "I have a solution for you ... Let go of the thorn bush." Slowly the man removed first one arm. Then the other. Finally, with the wise man's suggestion, he was able to step back from the thorn bush. The man smiled. "I feel great!" he told the yogi. &quo |