Inspirational – Thoughts, Poems, etc.

 

Meditations for a New Earth by Kim Eng, from “Light of Consciousness”

For those who feel they want to practice meditation, it can become an important part of their transformation of consciousness.  This is the transformation of consciousness that is happening all over the planet, which is the reason why so many people are now open to meditation, open to living more consciously.  It seems a little strange at first that a person sitting quietly somewhere with their eyes closed is contributing to creating a new earth.  The most important contribution that you can make to create a new earth is to allow a new state of consciousness to arise within you.  That is why we are here.

 

Simple apologies have great power
 
Saying “I’m sorry” can have great power.
In a study published in the Journal of Management,
researchers at Ohio State University’s Fisher
College of Researchers found that people are much more likely
to be willing to restore a work relationship that had been
damaged by a violation of trust if the violator was to offer a
sincere apology.
 
This study did not investigate whether or not apologies
necessarily result in forgiveness. However, Ira Byock, MD,.
a physician who has studied the role of relationships in
disease and healing, in his book, The Four Things That Mater Most:
A Book About Living, presents evidence that “thank you” and
“you” are perhaps the most powerful words we can exchange with
one another.

STRIKE AT THE ROOT

This is my prayer to you. O God—- strike,

strike at the root of poverty in my heart.

Give me the strength to bear lightly my joys

and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love

fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor

or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high

above daily trifles.

Give me the strength to surrender my strength

to Your will with love.

         — Rabindranath Tagore

 

     The division of life into past, present, and future is mind-made and ultimately illusory.
     Past and future are thought forms, mental abstractions.  The past can only be remembered Now.
     What you remember is an event that took place in the Now, and you remember it now.
     The future, when it comes, is the Now.
     So the only thing that is real, the only thing there ever is the Now.

                                          Eckhart Tolle
______

SILENCE is golden, or so the adage tells us, and in the cacophonous, helter-skelter bombardment of modern life, it is indeed one of our most precious assets. 

Like all that we value, silence provides something essential for our well being. It is the backdrop against which we define ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, and it provides us with clarity and wisdom. Against its bas-relief, we also experience heightened awareness, which enables us to better appreciate the wonders of this world. 

In our frenetic, everyday reality, we hear so much, but rarely do we listen.  We see so much, but seldom do we experience.  In our sensory overwhelm, we are blind, deaf, and numb.

Could it be that it was not the metaphorical “Garden of Eden”  that was taken away from us, but our ability to perceive it?

From an article by Caroline Reynold in the Spring issue of PURE INSPIRATION

Anchor Your Bliss*

Next time you feel afraid, merge with the energy of who you really are.  Stand with your feet planted firmly on the ground and feel the support you’re receiving from the earth. Imagine this nurturing traveling from the bottom of your toes to the top of your head.

Then close your eyes and feel the connection with your Divine Self.  Imagine receiving a beautiful stream of supportive energy that travels from far above you through the crown of your head and into the entire core of your body until it reaches your toes.  Feel these two components of who you are, Heaven and Earth merge in the center of your body.  Feel your energy expand about two feet from your physical body   Then imagine pulling it into the core of your being.

Enjoy your bliss while holding your hands on your belly.  You have just anchored a new level of awareness of your Divine Self.

Practice this exercise often so you can recreate a grounded, ecstatic feeling at will, just by placing your hands on your belly.

Rather than feeling unsafe when anxiety arises, you’ll be able to quickly connect with your Higher Self and your intuition.  Answers regarding your challenges will emerge more quickly.

 *From ”Pure Inspiration” Magazine article by  Doris Helge Ph.D.  Page 77

Know the Self as Lord of the chariot, the body as the chariot itself, the discriminating intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins.   The senses, say the wise are the horses. Selfish desires are the roads they travel.   Katha Upanishad

The Upanishads say that your body is like a chariot drawn by five powerful horses, the five senses.  These horses travel not so much through space as through time.  They gallop from birth towards death, pursuing the objects of their desire.  The discriminating intellect as the charioteer, whose job it is to not to drive you over a cliff.  The reins he holds are the mind–your thoughts, emotions and desires.

The image is packed with implications. For one, the job of the intellect is to see clearly.  The job of the mind is to act as the reins. When everything is working in harmony, our highest Self makes all the decisions. The intellect conveys these decisions to the mind, and the senses obey the mind.

But when the senses are uncontrolled, they immediately take the road they like best: personal satisfactions, mostly pleasure.  Then we are not making the decisions: the horses are.   

Know the Self as Lord of the chariot, the body as the chariot itself, the discriminating intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins.   The senses, say the wise are the horses. Selfish desires are the roads they travel.   Katha Upanishad

The Upanishads say that your body is like a chariot drawn by five powerful horses, the five senses.  These horses travel not so much through space as through time.  They gallop from birth towards death, pursuing the objects of their desire.  The discriminating intellect as the charioteer, whose job it is to not to drive you over a cliff.  The reins he holds are the mind–your thoughts, emotions and desires.

The image is packed with implications. For one, the job of the intellect is to see clearly.  The job of the mind is to act as the reins. When everything is working in harmony, our highest Self makes all the decisions. The intellect conveys these decisions to the mind, and the senses obey the mind.

But when the senses are uncontrolled, they immediately take the road they like best: personal satisfactions, mostly pleasure.  Then we are not making the decisions: the horses are.  

  

Surrender — what does it mean?

We talk about it a lot.
“Let go, let God”  “Let go of your attachments.”
But what does it really mean to “let go”?  What are we letting go of, and why must we?  More importantly how do we do so?

The greatest gift you can give yourself is to recognize that you know nothing,as  if you are a child learning a new game and must open yourself to a different way of being.  This is the beginning of what it means to surrender: to have no expectations for what the learning process will look like. We humans can be stubborn, so a true act of surrender is often a life-changing experience. Sometimes we just need to be hit over the head.  In this context, surrender becomes the divine spark that finds you on your knees, or with your face buried in the mud, begging for help.

By Marilyn Markham — “The Game of Surrender”

You should begin to build up confidence and joy in your own richness.
That richness is the essence of generosity.
It is the sense of resourcefulness; that you can deal with whatever is
available around you and not feel poverty-stricken.
 
- Chogyam Trungpa
  

 

     Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.
 
      Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but
for the heart to conquer it.
 
      Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved,
but hope for the patience to win my freedom.
 
       Grant me that I may not be a coward, feeling
Your mercy in my success alone; but let me find
the grasp of Your hand in my failure.
 
                                                      From
                                                          Rabindranath Tagore
                                                           “The Heart of God”

 

I died to mineral and became a plant

I died to plant and became animal

I died to animal and became human

So why fear? When have I diminished by dying?

Likewise, I will die to human form

And will fly high with the angel’s wings and head

But even then,

I should cross this angelic river

For “All things perish except the Divine face.”

Once my angel form is sacrificed

I will be that that cannot be contained in imagination

Thus I will be nothing   Nothingness

Or as the organ sings in my ears:

“We only return to God.”

Know that death–as all the enlightened ones agree–

“Is like the fountain of life hidden in the darkness of night.”              – Rumi