Update July 2013 -
Let us start with the ONLY link you need! A mind-blowing book that will surely change your life if you are ready for it -
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Thing-That-Matters-Conversations/dp/1401942369
Click here - already over 100 reviews
It makes the bold statement that 98% of people are spending 98% of their time on things that don't matter!
I have read it three times already & it is MOST enlightening!
To paraphrase some of its wisdom in my own words ...
"I am extremely grateful 4 this opportunity 2 experience unconditional compassion!"
If you want a little taste, try downloading The Holy Experience -
http://www.nealedonaldwalsch.com/index.php?p=Resources
Here, in 1,000 words, is all that the human race needs to know in order to live the life for which it has yearned and which, despite trying for thousands of years, it has yet to produce.
http://www.theglobalconversation.com/blog/?p=3174
Neale's dream is that everyone could read every word that's in this text. He is therefore posting the entire book, line-by-line, here on Facebook, in daily excerpts.
https://www.facebook.com/NealeDonaldWalsch
But I really recommend reading the book itself ... reading off a screen can't COMPARE with curling up in a nice comfy, chair with a book in your hot, little hands!
Now 2 my own writing -
What a way 2 live!
There are literally hundreds of self-help books out there! Why write another ...
Good question! This book represents my journey over more than 20 years!
How would I summarise what I have learned over that time? I suppose one sentence sums it up. Namely: "People would treat each other FAR better if they were genuinely happy within themselves."
Contemplate that statement for a while - it has VAST implications!
If you are interested in improving your level of happiness, try plugging the phrase habits of happy people into google - you may be surprised what turns up!
Alternatively, try the words meant to be happy!
I have arrived at the same conclusion the Dalai Lama put into these words:
If you wanna be happy, practice compassion. But what is compassion? You could write an entire book on this subject - in fact someone has - checkout "The Lost Art of Compassion" by Lorne Ladner
One of my favourite descriptions of compassion comes from a book few have heard of. It is called "Coffee with Buddha" by Joan Duncan Oliver:
Compassion is empathy, the "trembling" of the heart in response to suffering. We bear witness to others' pain & heartache, neither turning away out of fear or disgust nor wallowing in sentimentality or excessive grief.
I highly recommend meditating on compassion on a daily basis. It has worked wonders for me! More on meditation later in this book.
Here is a quote from another book I loved reading -
"Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this because almost everybody is suffering from it, so it is considered normal. This incessant mental noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from Being."
ECKHART TOLLE, The Power of Now
MUCH more at this site -
http://www.spiritual-experiences.com/spiritual-quotes/
In pursuit of happiness -
http://www.spiritual-experiences.com/articles-spirituality/pursuit-happiness.php
Here is a piece I wrote a while back ...
What I have learned - the hard way!
by Geoff Allen
grjallen@hotmail.com
This is a tale of metamorphosis. If it wasn't all true there is NO way I could invent it!
How to summarise over 20 years of being psychotic? Big task!
Let's start at the beginning. My current lifetime began in 1958. At the age of 25, I was diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia. This came as quite a shock. I didn't know my experiences had a name and I wasn't aware that this had ever happened to anyone else in human history!
It was a rude awakening to find the police in my bedroom early one morning and that they could just whisk me away to the loony bin. My parents had threatened to do so but I always thought they were bluffing. I had become very aloof and my behaviour was what most would call "weird". Looking back now, I see they only did what they thought was best. So absolutely no hard feelings.
The shocks kept coming as I discovered that along with the diagnosis came medication. Even today I cannot hear the word Haloperidol without it sending a shiver up my spine. The medication was supposed to help me. Instead, I experienced the WORST side-effects imaginable. I was restless but that word is so inadequate to describe the trauma! I was constantly pacing and could not settle down for more than a minute or two let alone read one single page of a book.
I honestly don't know how I survived it all. I must have had a guardian angel looking out for me!
That whole experience showed me that the cure was worse than the illness. So, for the next 19 or so years I had to rely on my instincts & my wits to survive.
To summarise what those years were like - I suppose the simple description is that I had good & bad days. It was like being Jeckyll & Hyde. On the bad days, I experienced volcanic anger or mind-numbing depression. I was very generous with my anger - I included nearly everybody. I was angry at most people for being spineless enough to settle for normality. I had many cynical thoughts. I'm not sure we need to go into too much gory detail but here are a couple:
"If human beings started being honest, the suicide rate would skyrocket!"
"Most of the human race are unfit to be parents but nobody is stopping them."
"This world will never change because the ONLY people who reproduce are VERY good at lying to themselves."
"If god really wants 2 punish me, he should send me 2 Heaven. The thought of spending eternity with god & all his fawning sycophants is much more than I can stomach!"
"The history of the human race is a history of perversion & the MOST perverse thing in the entire universe is your average, normal human being!"
"Human beings are unbelievably STUPID! They bring their children into a world where bad things happen & then they get ALL upset if the bad things happen to them - that's absolutely ridiculous!"
"Normal people are so FUCKING dull - I'd like 2 smash every SINGLE skull!"
It would be poetic justice!
"The biggest problem in the world is all the normal people because they would NEVER allow themselves 2 entertain the idea that normality is the problem!"
"Yes ... DEEP down everyone MUST have the feeling that there is something FUNDAMENTALLY better than normality but MOST people are so perverse that they ignore that feeling ..."
"Anyone who is STUPID enuf 2 try 2 pretend they are satisfied with normality doesn't deserve anythin better!"
"Normal people are the PERFECT guide 2 how 2 live - you just watch what they do & then do the opposite."
"Without such perversion, society wouldn't be possible."
"Maybe you are such sophisticated robots that you don't even realise you ARE robots ... I can hardly get angry at robots 4 doing what they are programmed 2 do ..."
See theage.htm for my letter 2 the editor :)
Then there is this lovely poem -
There is a place where condoms break
But that's a risk we all must take
Men & women will enjoy the thrust
When they find a condom they can trust
It really is such a wonderful sight
When a man sucks a huge condom at night
Get these amazing human condoms for free
While you are busy watching your own TV
You catch the drift - needles to say, I was very frustrated because there wasn't much I could do about such anger & cynicism except blow my brains out or go totally crazy. I came VERY close to doing both. Again, I think someone was watching out for me.
Here's a few more things that the voices revealed 2 me ...
"Stop the blood! Stop the money! Stop the family!"
"One day a man woke up & he said he thought he might like 2 walk backwards into his OWN life!"
"Show me the BEST rerality of life ... show me the secret of the blood ..."
"Coming up on tonight's news, we examine the fundamental nature of reality."
"Once upon a time, I was born into the psychological mysteries of life"
"People love 2 irritate me with their BIG, sharp, shiny knives."
"I believe that the secret of life is to BEHAVE randomly throughout the day."
"People would treat each other FAR better if they were genuinely happy within themselves."
"Sometimes I like 2 think there must be another amazing way 2 live."
"Stay tuned for a touching story about a man who wants 2 eat his entire family because they make a tasty treat."
""
Want more? ... click here (But be warned! You may start 2 lose your grip on what-we-call reality :)
I should have said that one of my symptoms was that I felt like I was in telepathic communication with someone or something. Possibly aliens. Tell THAT to a shrink and schizophrenia is an automatic diagnosis, just in case you was wondering - even if there really are aliens :)
Anyway, the good days were mind-blowing! The content of my thoughts would be very poetic - I wrote nearly 200 poems and they all felt as if they were being "dictated" to me by the aliens or whoever was putting thoughts into my skull.
You can see a selection of my writing later in this book ...
Let me see ... where were we ... I lived this roller-coaster for over a decade. Almost seems like someone else's life now that I look back on it!
There came a time when my dark side became the dominant experience and I was off to see the shrinks again. This time they put me on a treatment order which basically means I was compelled to take Olanzapine, which is a newer drug than I had experienced such traumatic side-effects on. I was very apprehensive about taking it but I have been pleasantly surprised as the side-effects are not at all distressing.
So, now to the metamorphosis part ...
Again, I take little or no credit for this change. It seemed to come from a higher power, some might call it God. Not quite what an cynical atheist would expect! The meds may have helped too to some extent.
The old anger has gone completely. It is really a miracle but I can't explain it to myself let alone anyone else! I suppose the only thing left 4 me 2 do is spell out what I have learned ...
For most of my adult life I was an angry, cynical atheist. If you had told me that I would get right into meditation and reading books like "Conversations with God" and treating everyone with compassion, I would have absolutely LAUGHED in your face! So, I have learned to expect the unexpected!
I have learned that suffering can do two things to you. It can make you bitter & twisted or it can make you more compassionate. I have experienced both extremes. I have FAR more peace of mind now that I practice unconditional compassion.
I have learned that meditation is NOT about making your mind go blank and I would urge everyone to try it. It can transform your life in ways you can't even imagine. In the words of David Michie:
If meditation was available in capsule form, it would be the biggest selling drug of all time. It has been scientifically proven to deliver highly effective stress relief, boost our immune systems and dramatically slow the ageing process. It has also been shown to make us much happier and more effective thinkers. Given all the physical and psychological benefits, why aren't more of us doing it?
From "Hurry Up & Meditate"
For more myths about meditation try this link -
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/the-top-ten-myths-about-meditation
For more myths - scroll down 2 "The myth of romantic love" on this page -
http://viewonbuddhism.org/attachment.html
That's one HUGE site - much wisdom! -
http://tinyurl.com/brcrkeh
I have learned that thoughts are VERY powerful. The best advice that sums this up is as follows:
A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: "Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time." When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most."
The following is probly just another way of stating the previous idea. To me, wisdom means that you recognise that your peace of mind depends on the kind of thoughts you entertain. Especially thoughts about other people. The thoughts that lead to a tranquil mind are forgiveness, compassion & gratitude
I have learned that unconditional love can transform your life. First you have to learn to love yourself before you can love others. Here are a couple of links on this important matter:
http://lawofattractionsecrets.com/blog/louise-hays-12-commandments-how-to-love-yourself/
http://wiki.foxmarks.com/topic/self_love
Update July 2013 - that may be a dud link - the impermanence of cyberspace ... so try these -
http://www.sapphyr.net/largegems/self-love.htm
http://www.healyourlife.com/author-louise-l-hay/2013/01/wisdom/personal-growth/do-you-love-yourself
May actually paste some of those in here ... great advice!
Be willing to laugh at yourself and at life.
Stop taking yourself so seriously.
Be gentle and kind and patient with yourself
Or scroll down to:
I have found that there is only one thing that heals every problem
http://www.abundancetapestry.com/how-to-love-yourself-in-17-ways/
The word “problem” is never part of a happy person's vocabulary -
http://www.lifed.com/22-things-happy-people-do-differently
http://www.gems4friends.com/affirmations/articles/attract-love.html
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/unconditional-love
I have learned that forgiveness is crucial to your happiness. It needs to be a permanent attitude.
"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness."
~ Robert Muller
I have learned to be grateful. Here's a list from my notebook - I read it often to remind myself NOT to take ANYTHING for granted:
- the gift of life itself
- the fact I can eat healthy food and the many beings responsible for growing & transporting it and the cashiers at the supermarket etc.
- the sun that helps all plants to grow and ultimately feeds us all
- knowledge of how to be healthy physically, emotionally & spiritually
- the skills of authors & poets & musicians & singers & sportsmen & I'm probably leaving a few out :)
- wisdom contained in so many books I have read over the past ten years. I will list several of them at the end of this piece
- the beauty of nature and the photographers & documentary makers that capture it
- my own imagination as well as that of many writers & composers throughout history
- laws of nature that make this universe exquisitely tuned to support intelligent life like some humans. See this page:
http://www.godsci.com/gs/new/finetuning.html
- I am grateful that Olanzapine has FAR less side-effects than Haloperidol
- How could I leave love out of my list of "things" to be grateful for ... in ALL its forms
I have learned that there are many CHEAP things can lift my mood such as going for a brisk walk; doing yoga; eating healthy food; chanting & meditation. Plus a good laugh on a regular basis. Reading a good book can also be uplifting. Watching a nature doco when I can't actually be out in nature. Surfing the web is also a mood enhancer - if you seek out the good stuff that is out there in cyberspace. Obviously a lot of overlap between the things I am grateful for and things that lift my mood!
I have learned to take wisdom from all the various religions I once dismissed as nonsense:
"Like the bee gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions."
~ Gandhi
I have learned to focus my mind on the present moment rather than worrying about the future or regretting the past. For MUCH more on this subject, try these books:
"The Power of Now" & "A New Earth" both by Eckhart Tolle
I have learned that it is possible to learn from everyone who crosses your path.
I have learned that the Dalai Lama is a wonderful teacher. Here's some of his advice:
Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected to one another.
Spend 5 minutes -- breathing in -- cherishing yourself; and, breathing out cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway.
During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet.
Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc) or people you dislike.
Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you.
These thoughts are very simple, inspiring and helpful.
The practice of cherishing can be taken very deeply if done wordlessly, allowing yourself to feel the love and appreciation that already exists in your heart.
I have learned that peace of mind is experienced when you don't feel inferior to anyone & you don't feel superior to anyone. You are unique & so is everyone else.
I have learned that every experience I have is an oportunity for greater growth
I have learned that we do tend 2 reserve our fondest thoughts for those who agree with us & who are most like us. I have found that spiritual practices can help us generate kind thoughts for all beings.
I have learned to not allow myself to become so hypnotised by the content of my mind that I lose the essential mystery of my own existence.
So, there you have it. I really do wish I had a better way of describing step-by-step how this metamorphosis happened to me. Then you'd have a do-it-yourself guide to transforming all your negative emotions. The metamorphosis still puzzles me greatly to this day. I am incredibly grateful naturally. I still have no IDEA why some people suffer and are NOT transformed by their experience. Just one of MANY questions I'd like to ask God. I guess there are unanswered questions no matter what you believe.
Here is one of my poems -
Nirvana
I've been to the place where it all makes sense
Where there is no past or future tense
To get there is easy - you may find
All you need is a quiet mind
I hope I've given you more than just a far-fetched story. Here are some books I highly recommend:
"Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsch & his other books which includes "Home with God"
"Awakening the Buddha Within" by Lama Surya Das
"When things fall apart" by Pema Chodron
"Emissary of Light" by James Twyman
"The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Wisdom"
"The Art of Happiness" by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler
"1001 Smartest Things Ever Said"
"The Lost Art of Compassion" by Lorne Ladner
"Mastery of Love" by Don Miguel Ruiz
"God, Actually" by Roy Williams
"The Meditation Bible" by Madonna Gauding
"The Everyday Meditator" by Osho
"Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse
"The Monk who sold his Ferrari" by Robin Sharma
"Soul Food" by Kate Kippenberger
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
"Thoughts without a Thinker" by Mark Epstein
"The Book of Love" by Kathleen McGowan
"The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho & other books by this author
"The Three Christs of Ypsilanti" by Milton Rokeach
"Native Wisdom for White Minds" by Anne Wilson Schaef
If that's not enough 4 you - drop me a line and I can give you more books & sites -
grjallen@hotmail.com
Could also include some of my old writings & poems -
The Robot who thought he was human
This story is based on a dream I had recently. One of those incredibly vivid dreams that seem much more real than the everyday world. It is also based on the experience of schizophrenia which itself can make the world seem a very unreal place.
Flashes of memories. In a laboratory. Wires attached to my head. They are testing me. Testing what? Next thing I know, I am in a car with Maree. For some reason I cannot explain, I felt around for a flap of skin near my left temple. I located this flap and lifted it up. To my horror, underneath the flap was an electrical socket. I turn to Maree and ask "Maree, am I a robot or a human being?" From my look and the tone of my voice she knew something was seriously wrong. A long and animated discussion followed . I wish I could recall all of the words which were exchanged. I remember saying "Now I know why my feelings have always seemed almost real but are in fact only a pale shadow of what a real human being's feeling would be. What right do they have to mess around inside my head like this?" Together, we agreed that it was a most contemptible thing to do. To play God by creating a machine so lifelike that it actually believes it is human when it is not. The question burned inside me - what am I going to do about this?
A million other questions raced through my mind (or rather my central processing unit, since only real people have actual minds). Do I have a soul? If I am just a sophisticated machine, then I probably have no soul. Was my schizophrenia a deliberate part of the programming or was it a flaw in the programming? Was anything I had ever experienced actually real or was it simply a memory stored in a bunch of receptors inside my head? Had any of it really happened at all? What made me think of lifting that flap of skin? Would I be better off not knowing? What possible reason could anyone have for doing this to me? How many others had they done it to? Was I the only one? Was the entire world around me just a computer simulation that has been programmed for me to interact with? Who or what was behind all of this? Was I supposed to be asking these questions? Was some giant laser in orbit around the planet waiting to strike me down if I got too close to the answers? Where did I leave that cup of coffee? Why do trees g row upside down in the plastic reality of bubble soup?
The questions continued to cascade through my circuitry ... If "they" were making robots who thought they were human, who were "they"? Who else was a robot? How would I ever know - apart from going around lifting people's flaps which is just not done in polite society. Was I being tracked and monitored? was my every thought being carefully screened? Were any of my thoughts actually my own or had some program designer decided in advance what they would be? If these were not my thoughts, why was I asking so m any questions?
Why should I do the bidding of those who programmed me? I felt a sense of indescribable bliss as I realised that the limitations I had always felt bound by were simply a program and could be rewritten. Was I deliberately made to think like all the rest so I would never discover that I had awesome abilities far beyond the range of ordinary mortals?
So I jump out of the four-wheel drive and walk right up to this general and address him as "Mate". I knew full well that nobody else would dare address a general in this way and I waited for his reaction. To my mild surprise he felt moved to smile and gaze up into the sky and asked me "What do you reckon about all this? Seven days to create all this." I replied as if I had been programmed to respond to just such a question. "Yes, and like spoilt children, we have messed up our room and forgotten to put away our toys. We must be punished." "Yes, we must", he said with an enigmatic grin on his face.
As he walked away, I too was moved to gaze up into a sky which was almost equally blue and white at that moment. I felt a cosmic shift in my perception of reality. I suddenly had a "god's eye" view of the world. A tiny blue globe delicately positioned just the right distance from the warming rays of a golden sun. Everything seemed perfect and majestic in its simplicity. Maybe I had a soul after all.
After such a dream, I couldn't help but wonder about the symbolism of it all. Did the General represent Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and the concepts of space and time? I did not dwell on that question for very long as a poem started to brew in my head. It was 2 AM and I had had about 45 minutes sleep but I felt more alert and switched on than I had felt for months. The words fell onto the page as if they were being dictated to me:
If you like this poem there are loads more - used 2 be online but I haven't got around 2 uploading them again ...
grjallen@hotmail.com
Poem written while mowing the lawn
The universe is a fathomless mystery
Or at least
that is the way it appears to me
Galaxies, black holes, space, time and
stars
Kittens and babies and fruit stored in jars
Some see the universe as a single thought
A moment of inspiration from
some divine source
Those cosmologists tell us it continues to grow
Some
of its secrets we just may never know
I often look up into the sky late at night
Watching each star as it sends
down its light
This light may have traveled for billions of years
To
reach my eyes which rest between my ears
I can get lost in wonder at this infinite view
There must be some nights
you feel this way too
I picture a distant figure doing the same
Maybe
one day he will call out my name
The universe within is at least as fantastic
Brain, heart and lungs and
skin that's elastic
This skin is stretched tight over our muscles and bones
Allowing us to walk, talk and use mobile phones
Skin is also waterproof which is really quite neat
Otherwise we'd have
trouble swimming or washing our feet
The great thing about skin is we each
have just enough
To cover and protect all of that soft, tender inner stuff
Millions of chemicals sustain each of our lives
Just treat it right and
your body thrives
Give it some water, food and the sun's rays
It should
last you till the end of your earthly days
Miles upon miles of arteries and veins
Delivering oxygen right into our
brains
This gas is part of the air that we breathe
Giving us one more
reason to admire trees
Other plants grow in the ground beneath our feet
Which is just as well or
we'd have nothing to eat
They grow by mixing sunlight, water and earth
Fuelling our bodies and adding to our mirth
Our biggest mysteries are things we can't measure
Human gifts and
abilities which we rightly treasure
Ideas, genius, creativity and
imagination
Art, music, and literature all spark fascination
The thoughts in this poem are a mystery too
Are they all mine or do some
belong to you
I'd hate to take all the credit for myself
To do so may
not be good for my health
Countless miracles around and inside us each day
Rarely do we choose that
we'll see them this way
There is a place for logical, rational, linear
thought
If we focus solely on it we just might get caught
Consumed by battles which need not be fought
Seeking satisfaction in
things sold and bought
Defending these items like soldiers in a fort
We
may find our endeavours have come to naught
This little poem really could go on for many days
There are so many
things I could mention with praise
But in this crazy world where we push and
we shove
The deepest mystery of them all is this thing we call love
Then there is My Ideal Day Program - once I upload it -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/ideal.htm
I was particularly euphoric while writing that piece!
Here's a few quotes I have found online ...
Wisdom from the world wide web
"Love means to love that which is unlovable, or it is no virtue at all; forgiving means to pardon the unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all; faith means believing the unbelievable, or it is no virtue at all; And to hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all." ~ G.K. Chesterton.
love is patient kind - click
"It is true that overcoming obstacles and difficulties accelerates spiritual progress. The most serious lifetime difficulties, like severe psychiatric illness or physical disability, may be signs of life progress, not regress. In my opinion, it is often the very strongest souls who have chosen to shoulder these burdens because they provide great opportunities for growth." ~ http://www.well.com/user/bobby/SC/cr_quote.html
"Things are not as they seem, nor are they otherwise." ~ Zen proverb
"What is the sound of one hand clapping?" ~ Zen koan
"If I am OK with me, I have no need to make you wrong." ~ source unknown
"You Can Rise No Higher Than Your Lowest Opinion of Another." ~ Chuck Gallozzi
A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: "Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time." When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most."
"When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people." ~ Abraham Joshua Heschel
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." ~ Dalai Lama
"Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom." ~ Theodore Rubin
"They called me crazy, I called them crazy, and damn them! They outvoted me!" ~ Nathaniel Lee
Lord help me to be the person my dog thinks I am.
"This inner peace stuff is tough on the ol' coconut." ~ Homer Simpson
"Relate yourself to every man as if you were in his place." ~ The Urantia book
"The older I grow, the more I listen to people who don't say much." ~ Germain G. Glidden
"I was taught that when I am racked with a resentment, anger, hate towards another, that is driving me nuts. All I need to do, is pray for that person for two weeks, wishing that they would have the joy, happiness, gifts/wealth that I would want to have given to me. It was hard to try the first few times, but it always works." ~ Richard Nordeen
"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." ~ Saint Augustine
"The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts" ~ Aurelius
"That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time." ~ John Stuart Mill
"A real friend is one who takes the hand of his friend in time of distress and helplessness." ~ Afghan proverb
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." ~ Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
"Stubborness does have its helpful features. You always know what you are going to be thinking tomorrow." ~ Anonymous
"Society honors its living conformists and its dead troublemakers." ~ Mignon McLaughlin
"Not all those who wander are lost." ~ J.R.R. Tolkien
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." ~ Mark Twain
"If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." ~ Anatole France
"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well." ~ Foe Ancis
"Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else."
"Do unto others ... then run."
"A friend is someone who knows all about you and and still likes you." ~ Elbert Hubbard
"You can observe a lot by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
"The simplest questions are the hardest to answer." ~ Northrop Frye
"Remember that happiness is a way of travel - not a destination." ~ Roy M. Goodman
"Love is your window to the Infinite. Enjoy the view." ~ author unknown
"Words were invented to describe inner and outer pictures and feelings which go ahead with them. In using words we all become magicians, movie directors or sound artists, creating a powerful kaleidoscope of picturesque landscapes and imaginations. Some find this natural. I find it highly magical and mystical." ~ Hans Taeger
"Do not cling to anything, to any idea; because clinging is the bondage, even to the idea of enlightenment." ~ Osho
Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I need it most. ~ Swedish proverb
"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." ~ Anonymous
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened." ~ Douglas Adams
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." ~ Thoreau
"The second commandment that Jesus referred to was not to love others instead of ourselves, but to love them as ourselves. Before we can love and serve others, we must love ourselves, even in our imperfection. If we don't embrace our own defects, we can't love others with their shortcomings." ~ Jim Warner
"You have forgotten what it was like to be loved without condition. You do not remember the experience of the love of God. And so you try to imagine what God's love must be like, based on what you see of love in the world." ~ Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God
"That which you judge, you will one day become." ~ Neale again
"The love you withhold is the pain that you carry." ~ Anon
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." ~ Albert Einstein
"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"Work as if you have no money. Love as if you have never been hurt. Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. And live everyday as if it were your last." ~ Anonymous
"May all beings learn how to nourish themselves with joy each day." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
"The world is extremely interesting to a joyful soul." ~ Alexandra Stoddard
Let the wind
From the good old sea blow in
To bathe the wound with salt
And let it sting.
Let a stray dog lick it
Let a bird lean in the hole and sing
A simple song like a tiny bell
And let it ring.
Michael Leunig
"If you can't answer a man's arguments, all is not lost; you can still call him vile names." ~ Elbert Green Hubbard
"Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof." ~ Galbraith's Law
"There are two rules for success: 1) Never tell everything you know." ~Roger H. Lincoln
"It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite." ~ Sam Levenson
"Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you." ~ C. G. Jung
"Like the bee gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions." ~ Gandhi
"Life may have no meaning. Or even worse, it may have a meaning of which I disapprove. " ~ Ashleigh Brilliant
"Most of my problems have no answer or else the answer is worse than the problem." ~ Ashleigh Brilliant
"My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right." ~ Ashleigh Brilliant
"My sources are unreliable, but their information is fascinating." ~ Ashleigh Brilliant
For more brilliant quotes try -
http://tinyurl.com/b8kfs
"When you forgive somebody else you accept the responsibility for your own future." ~ Zig Ziglar
"Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean." ~ Goethe
"If you view all the things that happen to you, both good and bad, as opportunities, then you operate out of a higher level of consciousness." ~ Les Brown
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." ~Thomas Edison
"Money can't buy friends, but you can get a better class of enemy." ~ Spike Milligan
"Having more money does not insure happiness. People with ten million dollars are no happier than people with nine million dollars." ~ Hobart Brown
"In a few minutes a computer can make a mistake so great that it would take many men many months to equal it." ~ Merle Meacham
"Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life." ~ Andrew Brown
"We have all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." ~ R. Wilensky
"The best computer is a man, and it's the only one that can be mass-produced by unskilled labor." ~ Wernher von Braun
"Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law." ~ Buddha (563-483 B.C.)
"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness." ~ Robert Muller
"A person's ability to forgive is in proportion to the greatness of his soul." ~ Author Unknown
"Welcome anything that comes to you, but do not long for anything else." ~ Andre Gide
"When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
"Give, and give without any condition - and you will know what love is. I cannot define it. I can show you the path to grow it. I can show you how to put in a rose bush, how to water it, how to give fertilizers to it, how to protect it. Then one day, out of the blue, comes the rose flower, and your home is full of the fragrance. That's how love happens." ~ Osho
Click here for the full article
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in 7 years!" ~ Mark Twain
"Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps." ~ Emo Phillips
“Character is defined by what we are willing to do when the spotlight has been turned off, when the applause has died down, and no one is around to give us credit”
"So many gods, so many creeds, so many paths that wind and wind while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs." ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
"Teachers, religious leaders - even friends, or so-called friends -- take over where the parents leave off. They demand that we feel the only feelings they want and expect from us. They demand all the time that we preform feelings for them. We're like actors-turned loose in this world to wander in search of a phantom ... endlessly searching for a half-forgotten shadow of our lost reality. When others demand that we become the people they want us to be, they force us to destroy the person we really are. It's a subtle kind of murder ... the most loving parents and relatives commit this murder with smiles on their faces." ~ Jim Morrison
"It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start." ~ Mother Teresa
"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." ~ C.S. Lewis
A failure will not appear until a unit has passed final inspection.
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you." ~ Mortimer J. Adler
"Love your enemies just in case your friends turn out to be a bunch of bastards." ~ R. A. Dickson
"There is a Law that man should love his neighbor as himself. In a few years it should be as natural to mankind as breathing or the upright gait; but if he does not learn it he must perish." ~ Alfred Adler
If that is not enuf 4 you ... try this collection -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/1001.htm
One could EASILY fill several books with a selection of those quotes!
The Optimist Creed
Promise yourself . . .
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Symptoms of inner peace -
Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been expose to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.
Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in judging self.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
WARNING:
If you have some or all of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition of inner peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.
For more on this general theme -
http://www.expressionsofspirit.com/symptoms.htm
Quote garden has this 2 say about friendship -
Most of us don't need a psychiatric therapist as much as a friend to be silly with.
In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
The friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you.
A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.
True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable.
You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.
The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had.
If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.
Our most difficult task as a friend is to offer understanding when we don't understand.
When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.
But oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one's deepest as well as one's most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely. Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.
A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.
But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.
I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing.
If you're alone, I'll be your shadow. If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder. If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow. If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile. But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me.
A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should.
The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away.
For MUCH more from this site -
http://www.quotegarden.com/
http://www.consciouslivingfoundation.org/quotationsOnCompassion.htm
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/9074.Thich_Nhat_Hanh
Pema Chodron is another author I would HIGHLY recommend -
“If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”
“Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”
"Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better, it’s about befriending who we are."
“The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes. ”
“People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further.”
“The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.”
“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.”
You can read even more of her stuff at this page -
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/8052.Pema_Ch_dr_n
Another fabulous book I really enjoyed reading was "Emissary of Light".
It is the first book that really described what unconditional love is like.
I highly recommend it - I had goose-bumps reading some sections!
"The final lesson is about the true meaning of love. I have said before that fear is the self-imposed block to the awareness of love's presence. When fear is released, love is revealed. And yet the true experience of love is beyond anything you can now imagine. It lies past all the images and symbols you have made to obscure love's call. And yet it is closer than you know, closer than your breath or even the silent whisper of love's longing for itself. And what is the secret that love has whispered into your half-closed ear, the distant echo that has haunted you so? You are the very essence of Love. This very moment, just as you are, in spite of all the preconceived ideas you have of yourself, love claims you and accepts you."
"You have forgotten who you are because in your fear of losing love you have witheld that which is your foundation. Love by its very nature is a gift that is freely given. And yet this gift is know only as it is given again. Only when love is breathed from one heart to another is it fully experienced. When love is witheld it is forgotten, and because you and love were born together, you are forgotten with her. She lies hidden within you beside the still forgotten memory of your truest Self. Though asleep and dreaming, she awaits the dawn when her name is called and she is again brought back to life. And the awakening of love is your awakening as well, so intimately linked, all from giving freely that which you are: the full awareness of love's presence. But this awakening process requires that you give up all the ways you have tried to limit and contain her."
"True, or unconditional, love is unaware of the strange demands you impose on your relationships. Love is the same for all. Your attempts to reserve love for specific relationships and then withold it from others is the very thing that has blocked your vision of love's presence. Give as love gives - just as the sun that gives its light to all who ask, or the sparrow that sings not for the one who listens, but for the song itself. When you give love, love is your reward. When you judge some people as worthy of your giving and other people as undeserving, then it is you who is undeserving; not because you have been judged by love but because you have forgotten love's law."
"You, in your essence are the foundation of unconditional love. The water you give refreshes the whole universe, for you are not separate from one part of the universe but are intimately linked to all. Let your gift be free, then. Let it flow from you and wash over all those you see, all those who cross your path. Do not think that you cannot still have relationships that are more involved than others. Involvement has nothing to do with love. There will always be those in your life with whom you share the deeper pulse of your thoughts and those whom you do not. But the love you give is the same for each of them. It is but the recognition of the very same life of which you are continually reborn."
"Love is a knowing, a pure understanding. It knows that all things are whole, regardless of their appearance or delusion, and it gives itself wholly, without judgement, without recognizing the difference between this relationship or that. It understands that there is only one real relationship and it is the one we all share, the Self that is beyond the thought or the idea of Love, the holy encounter of life with life. The secret of unconditional love is that we are all the same, holy beyond imagination. This is what the release of fear reveals. This is what you are all looking for. And this is what you will find when you open your heart to every element of creation."
We sat there for a very long time without saying a word. The silence was overwhelming. I looked up at Teacher and thought I noticed a change. His face began to glow, I was sure of it. The Light radiated from him and all around him. Then it extended to include all of us. We were engulfed in the Light. I cannot describe what this is like because it is beyond anything the world can understand. Several of the women and attendants stood up from their chairs. One of them started jumping up in the air and another began laughing out loud. Soon we were all laughing and dancing, moving with the energy and sharing the Light. I could no longer tell the difference between myself and the others. In that instant I understood everything. I was teacher. I was the Light. I swam in the ocean of sameness and knew I would never leave again.
http://www.jamestwyman.com/
http://insearchofsimplicity.com/tag/you-are-love/
http://www.friendsofsilence.net/quote/author/james-twyman
More if you search 4 twyman unconditional love - why not try it!
Namaste
How 2 meditate
As you may have guessed by now, I HIGHLY recommend meditation for peace-of-mind & happiness!
Here are a few of the countless sites out there that guide you 2 make the most of your meditation ...
http://www.lorinroche.com/meditation-faq/meditationfaq.html
http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/tonglen1.php
Search for: Beginning or Deepening a Personal Meditation Practice gentle love affair with the present moment
Gibberish meditation - I HIGHLY recoomend it! -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/mantra66.htm
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gibberish+therapy
http://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enAU453AU453&q=osho+dynamic+meditation
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/100-seconds-of-meditation
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/ten-tips-for-setting-up-a-meditation-practice
http://www.meditationoasis.com/how-to-meditate/difficulty-meditating/
http://www.thedailymind.com/meditation/13-meditation-articles-that-could-change-your-life/
http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com.au/2008/10/meditating-effortlessly.html
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2125
Can meditation bring happiness -
http://tinyurl.com/bf9cba7
http://goodlifezen.com/2011/09/26/how-meditation-can-make-you-feel-happie/
Meditation cartoons -
http://www.sunship.com/image_how-not-to-meditate
http://tinyurl.com/a24vp2y
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/the-top-ten-myths-about-meditation
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/15860/meditation-bible
If that aint enuf 4 you ... try this page -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/hurry.htm
From a great little book caled "The Troubled Mind":
Since the beginnings of recorded history, man has been fascinated with the insane, with their deranged feeling, thinking, and behaviour. Insane people with fanciful delusions have at times attracted large numbers of adherents, who looked upon their psychotic leaders as prophets or as saviours of some sort. The alluring properties of the "prophet's" message may be more than just a beckoning of a way to escape from the boredom of everyday life. I suspect that many followers are riveted by a peculiarly intoxicating quality of psychotic ecstasy conveyed by the "mad" leader. ........
The psychiatric disease that converts man into an other-worldly creature - at once wiser than the wisest of the sane and yet so deeply troubled that he suffers more than a terminal cancer patient - is surely schizophrenia. Because of his bizarre loss of contact with everyday reality, the schizophrenic can appeal to us as a messiah bearing the message of the infinite. For our conception of the universe is bounded by the straitjacket of conventional thinking processes. A schizophrenic's self-perception is so fragmented that he seems to function at a different plane of consciousness from the rest of humanity. Some psychiatrists who have dealt extensively with schizophrenics even wonder whether the schizophrenic's "psychotic" perception of the world might not conform more to ultimate reality than does our sane vision.
Because of such doubts, Ronald Laing, a Scottish psychiatrist, questions whether schizophrenia should be viewed as a disease at all in the ordinary sense. He feels that the schizophrenic experience may be quite a natural one. In schizophrenia, individuals, for unclear reasons, have entered into an "inner world" that part of their psyche which is unconscious most of the time and which contains many of the primitive instinctual elements "discovered" by Freud. …… He views the schizophrenic episode as a potentially enriching experience, perhaps reminiscent of a psychedelic trip on LSD. "This journey is experienced as going further in, as going back through one's personal life and back and through and beyond into the experience of all mankind, of the primal man, of Adam and pehaps even further into the beings of animals, vegetables and minerals" If society would only allow them to embark on this journey unimpeded by social pressures, psychiatrists or tranquilizing drugs, they would emerge from it as better people.
' ... which we clasp rather tenuously. To learn how delicate are your claims on reality, all you need do is ingest a moderate dose of LSD. The most frightening and yet most uplifting experience that psychedelic drugs elicit is the merging of the self with the universe. After first being fascinated with the perceptual changes produced by the drug, you may begin to wonder about the boundaries of your own body and soul. You feel yourself shrink to a pinpoint or expand to fill the room. Soon you begin to wonder where you leave off and the rest of the world begins. The ultimate consequence of this sensation - which is almost impossible to describe in words - is a fusion of the self with the infinite, man with God, your body with the rest of the universe. This is the ultimate beatific experience of Eastern and Christian mystics, something they strive for during years of meditation, but ...'
'Only when Laing's utopian age of nonpsychiatry comes to pass will everyone presumably realise that schizophrenia need not be a disease but instead a uniquely enriching life experience, like sexual intercourse. He argues, "The laugh's on us. They [the ex-schizophrenics] will see that what we call 'schizophrenia' was one of the forms in which, often through quite ordinary people, the light began to break through the cracks in our all-too-closed minds ... perhaps we will learn to accord to the so-called schizophrenics who have come back to us, perhaps after years, no less respect than the often no less lost explorers of the renaissance.'
Unfortunately (or maybe not), our library seems to have misplaced this book. Either that or somebody has eaten it or just didn't feel like returning it to the library. Have'nt found all that much about it on the world-wide-web so you'll just have to be satisfied with those glimpses ...
I believe the author's name was Solomon Snyder.
Another fabulous book about schizophrenia that few people have heard of is "The Three Christs of Ypsilanti" - I highly recommend it 2 anyone with an open mind ... " - I highly recommend it 2 anyone with an open mind ...
Could search for amazon Three Christs of Ypsilanti - or leave out amazon :)
"Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them."
~ George Orwell
"All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand."
~ Orwell again
"If you talk to God, you are praying; if God talks to you, you have schizophrenia."
~ Thomas Szasz
"There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him."
~ Antonin Artaud
"And what is an authentic madman? It is a man who preferred to become mad, in the socially accepted sense of the word, rather than forfeit a certain superior idea of human honor. So society has strangled in its asylums all those it wanted to get rid of or protect itself from, because they refused to become its accomplices in certain great nastinesses. For a madman is also a man whom society did not want to hear and whom it wanted to prevent from uttering certain intolerable truths."
~ Antonin Artaud
From Politics of Experience by R.D.Laing -
Is there anywhere such a thing as a normal man?
Modern society clamps a straitjacket of conformity on every child that's born. In the process, man's potentialities are devastated and the terms 'sanity' and 'madness' become ambiguous. The schizophrenic may simply be someone who has been unable to suppress his normal instincts and conform to an abnormal society
Now 4 a few links -
http://www.breggin.com/
http://www.metzelf.info/information/myths.html
http://www.madinamerica.com/2012/07/nurses-confront-the-myths-of-psychiatric-drugs/
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/psychiatric-drugs/whitaker-epidemic
http://lunatickfringe.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/top-ten-myths-of-psychiatric-treatment/
www.stopshrinks.org
A few more sites that I have found inspiring -
Update July 2013 -
Let us start with the ONLY link you need! A mind-blowing book that will surely change your life if you are ready for it -
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Thing-That-Matters-Conversations/dp/1401942369
Try this thread 4 a taste of the book BUT I highly recommend buying it - Because reading off a screen can't COMPARE with curling up in a nice comfy chair with a book in your hot, little hands :)
http://crownpublishing.yuku.com/topic/883/Conversations-with-God
It makes the bold statement that 98% of people are spending 98% of their time on things that don't matter!
From that thread -
http://humanitysteam.org/CwGExcerpts/CreatingYourReality
http://meanttobehappy.com/10-essential-character-traits-of-happiness/
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/features.php?id=20695
http://daringtolivefully.com/gratitude-quotes
http://zenhabits.net/all-the-advice-on-happiness-youll-ever-need-in-one-post/
Are you a starseed? -
http://www.fromthestars.com/page142.html
http://heavenletters.org/you-are-the-truth.html
http://www.yourlifeyourway.net/2011/09/19/300-reasons-to-be-happy-things-to-love-about-your-life-now/
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/awakening-our-true-nature
For more of July sites -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/july2013.htm
Get happy!
Why Can’t "I" Be Happy?
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2938&Itemid=244
Here's a great video about being happpy -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLEf4HR74E
http://tinyurl.com/arxvfox
You were meant 2 be happy
http://tinyurl.com/acrzb6n
List of humorous sites -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/snoopy.htm
The artof happiness -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/dalai4.htm
Ultimate happiness -
http://tinyurl.com/azd7bxg
Have a good one!
Here's a few more - mainly Buddhist sites -
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/you-have-to-know-what-kind-of-love-you-deserve-to-attract-it/
http://www.noble-buddhism-beliefs.com/buddhist-meditation.html
http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/love-without-agenda.html
http://www.sakya.com.au/howtomeditate/
http://upgradereality.com/11-brilliant-life-lessons-from-buddha/
http://www.truehappiness.ws/Meitri_Sutra.html
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/one-should-not-hurt-others-if-one-loves-oneself
http://www.ted.com/talks/matthieu_ricard_on_the_habits_of_happiness.html
http://www.zengardner.com/conscious-quotes-from-eckhart-tolle/
http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2007/10483.html
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Zen
http://archive.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2003/winter/thrangu_rinpoche.html
http://www.surya.org/5215904293/
http://ombuddha.tumblr.com/
http://preciousmetal.wordpress.com/2008/09/21/one-hand-clapping/
http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Zen_Humor.html
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95747.The_Miracle_of_Mindfulness
http://iamthou.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/notes-from-thich-nhat-hanhs-the-miracle-of-mindfulness/
http://buddhababble.tumblr.com/post/17838569808/the-buddhas-cheat-sheet
http://lostinthebambooforest.blogspot.com/2012/07/why-am-i-here.html
http://zenhabits.net/how-to-let-go-and-forgive/
http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/training-the-mind/verse-4
http://www.buddhanet.net/medlove.htm
http://www.tricycle.com/blog/buddha-buzz-buddhism-and-internet-friends-or-foes
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/learn-to-forgive-yourself-even-when-youve-hurt-someone-else/
http://serenityonlinetherapy.com/mindfulness.htm
http://www.buddhist-quotes.com/buddhist-quotes/grasping.html
http://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-practice/compassion-and-loving-kindness
http://www.thewayofmeditation.com.au/teachings.html
http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2011/02/bg-208-secrets-of-meditation/
http://susanpiver.com/2010/06/10/loving-kindness-an-unexpected-way-to-pacify-heartbreak/
http://www.untethered.us/meditations-on-the-path?currentPage=56
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3457&Itemid=0
http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/teachings-chogyam-trungpa.html
http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/jesus-was-a-buddhist-monk-bbc-documentary.html
http://mindbodylove.tumblr.com/post/11481513879
http://thebuddhistblog.com/dont-give-any-compassion-to-the-egoic-mind/
http://thecompassionnetwork.blogspot.com.au/
http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/topics/meditation?page=2
http://wisdomthroughmindfulness.blogspot.com.au/2007/10/stop-bugging-me-buddhist-wisdom-on-how.html
http://buddhaandlove.com/
http://www.theagelesswisdom.com/WisdomNuggets/WisdomNuggets.html
http://www.imsb.org/teachings/equanimity.php
http://www.existentialbuddhist.com/tag/gratitude/
http://www.practicalbuddhism.net/2012/03/best-buddhist-cartoons.html
http://www.urbandharma.org/udnl2/nl030904.html
http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/the-buddhas-teachings-on-love/
http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3510&Itemid=0
http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/articles/mindfulness-meditation-as-a-buddhist-practice/
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/four-life-lessons-that-bring-happiness
http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/buddhism/bliss.htm
http://www.interluderetreat.com/meditate/smile.htm
http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries.com/showthread.php?1732-What-did-the-Buddha-teach-about-anger-and-how-to-not-let-it-control-you
http://www.expressionsofspirit.com/prayers/peaceprayers.htm
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.02/dalai.html
http://iamthou.wordpress.com/
http://www.homeoint.org/morrell/buddhism/suffering.htm
http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/meditation/
http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/world-religions/buddhism/happiness.asp
http://www.positivelypresent.com/2013/01/be-here-now.html
http://www.dreammanifesto.com/category/meditation
http://www.lorinroche.com/meditation-faq/meditationfaq.html
http://www.unfetteredmind.org/freedom-and-choice
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/11-more-life-lessons-for-peace-love-and-happiness/
http://www.spiritualnow.com/blogs/31/The-compassion-and-power-of-the-buddhas.html
www.satyamag.com
http://www.livelifehappy.com/life-quotes-live-life-quotes/
http://www.trans4mind.com/quotes/quotes-spiritual.html
http://www.soulempowermentcenter.com/Default.aspx
http://www.esotericscience.org/article16a.htm
http://www.contemplativemind.org/practices/tree/loving-kindness
http://www.interluderetreat.com/meditate/awareness.html
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-love-without-losing-yourself/
http://www.sakya.com.au/howtomeditate/
http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Cause-of-the-Month/index.aspx
http://www.bodhicitta.net/Loving%20Kindness%20Meditation.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw3a4MCZk0U
http://www.imsb.org/buddhalists/index.php
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/behind-great-anger-is-great-pain-dont-take-it-personally/
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/help-i-cant-stop-thinking
http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/sep2/rinpoche.htm
http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/buddhism-is-not-what-you-think.html
http://www.tricycle.com/blog/gratitude-kenneth-kraft
http://digitaldoorway.blogspot.com.au/2007/01/evoking-compassion.html
http://mro.org/zmm/teachings/meditation.php
http://sojonky.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/how-we-think-of-others.html
http://www.jackkornfield.com/2011/03/the-wise-heart-2/
www.inquiringmind.com
www.sharonsalzberg.com
http://www.rigpabayarea.org/essential_advice.html
http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/the-top-ten-myths-about-meditation
http://zenhabits.net/peaceful-simplicity-how-to-live-a-life-of-contentment/
http://www.sylviaboorstein.com/articles.html
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=3413
http://www.allconsidering.com/2012/meditation-works-happiness/
http://ironwolf.dangerousgames.com/writings/new_age_blues.html
http://www.afterlife-knowledge.com/
Humour at youtube -
http://tinyurl.com/aayznmn
http://www.godsci.com/gs/new/finetuning.html
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/mindfulness/2010/02/10-quotes-for-a-mindful-day-part-iii/
I love you as you are, as you seek to find your own special way to relate to the world
http://www.lightascension.com/arts/unconditional.htm
http://shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3270&Itemid=244
http://theinvisiblezenlibrary.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/the-buddhadharma-magazine-fall-2011.html
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/self-love
http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/eightfoldpath.html
http://www.wellbeingalignment.com/self-compassion.html
http://inpursuitofhappiness.net/blog/tag/comfort-zone/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075995/quotes
http://www.heavenletters.org/what-is-happiness-anyway.html
http://buddhism.about.com/od/basicbuddhistteachings/a/faithdoubt.htm
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_tips.htm
http://www.livinglifefully.com/thinkersdalailama.htm
http://www.buddhanet.net/mind.htm
http://www.ahastories.com/morezenjokes.html
http://funny2.com/dog.htm
http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/pets/5-things-you-can-learn-from-your-pet-00000000050030/index.html
http://cosmicharmony.com/Ul/ULmain.htm
http://www.planetlightworker.com/articles/
www.kryon.com
http://www.oshoworld.com/osho_talk/talks/talks.asp
http://www.fromthestars.com/page127.html
http://www.plotinus.com/weavers_of_destiny_copy.htm
http://www.trufax.org/matrix5/welcome.html
http://coachingtohappiness.com/happiness-through-meditation.html
Free e-book -
http://iamuniversity.org/
http://tinyurl.com/a5vp6ka
http://www.purifymind.com/HealingHate.htm
www.soulsoothersonline.com
http://home.iae.nl/users/lightnet/creator/areyouready.htm
http://www.souledout.org/newworldreligion/basictruthsofdeity.html
http://www.joydancer.com/notebook/transformation.html
More from randoms.htm - if I upload it ...
http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com/?kbid=7846&m=1&i=21
http://tinyurl.com/bjkqewh
http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/meditation1.php
http://www.kindovermatter.com/2012/04/10-ways-to-view-your-fears-with.html
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2856822.Osho
www.zoofence.com
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/8-ways-to-make-meditation-easy-and-fun/
http://www.beliefnet.com/Love-Family/Relationships/10-Ways-to-Create-Lasting-Love-By-Leil-Lowndes.aspx
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/mental_emotional_health.htm
http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/letting_go.html
http://www.actmindfully.com.au/mindfulness
http://www.lovely-life-plan.com/having-an-attitude-of-gratitude.html
http://globalpeacemovementnow.com/blog/unconditional-love/
Being Sane in a Mad Mad World -
http://www.talkingbuddhism.org/info.php?title=67
Then we have audio talks about compassion -
http://dharmaseed.org/talks/?search=compassion&sort=-rec_date
http://www.spiritsearch.com/articles_letter_from_god.shtml
http://www.earthportals.com/goodheart.html
http://www.worldblessings.com/spiritual-guidance.html
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/06/09/7-easy-ways-to-be-mindful-every-day/
http://www.wildmind.org/applied/daily-life/daily-activities
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/mindfulness-for-dummies-cheat-sheet-uk-edition.html
http://www.helpguide.org/harvard/mindfulness.htm
Kind thoughts are rarer than either kind words or deeds
http://twominutesofgrace.com/2012/08/14/be-kind-please-rewind/
http://www.tut.com/
www.lamayeshe.com
www.tenzinpalmo.com
www.surya.org
www.chopra.com
www.zukav.com
www.nealedonaldwalsch.com
Note! You could try searching 4 those authors at YouTube - loads of enlightening videos!
Our first nature is to be unconditionally loving -
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/5-ways-to-feel-more-love-compassion-for-yourself-and-others/
Much more in cwg-1.htm ...
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/sharing-some-spiritual-thoughts-and-principles-on-jesus-from-neale-donald-walshs-book-tom-0
http://www.poeticmind.co.uk/creative-thoughts/lessons-from-conversations-with-god-book-1-neale-donald-walsch-part-1/
http://quanta-gaia.org/reviews/books/sevenSpiritual.html
http://www.soulselfhelp.on.ca/1chopra.html
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/is-attachment-really-love.html
More book excerpts? - eg mastery.htm ...
http://www.inspiration-daily.com/on/overcoming_obstacles/
Stupid pet tricks -
http://tinyurl.com/ak3wwyp
Cwg forum -
http://tinyurl.com/ao2a3es
Make your mind an ocean -
http://www.holybooks.com/make-your-mind-an-ocean-aspects-of-buddhist-psychology-by-lama-thubten-yeshe/
Happy for no reason -
http://tinyurl.com/azal49j
http://buddhadoodles.tumblr.com/
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/lessons-from-overcoming-depression-we-are-not-powerless/
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/features.php?id=23617
http://spiritlibrary.com/neale-donald-walsch/the-way-to-the-soul
http://www.universe-people.com/english/svetelna_knihovna/htm/en/en_kniha_meditations_from_conversations_with_god_1.htm
Here's a depression forum -
http://www.mentalhealthforum.net/forum/thread55285.html
Could send mindfulness depression ...
http://www.healyourlife.com/author-louise-l-hay/2013/02/wisdom/inspiration/love-your-inner-child
http://www.guy-sports.com/humor/saints/pope_jokes.htm
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/michael%20leunig?before=18
The Adventure of Being Human -
http://www.mayanmajix.com/art4936.html
Seinfeld quotes
http://www.2spare.com/item_61549.aspx
100 holy places - Google images
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/
http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/09/26/11-promises-you-must-make-to-yourself/
http://www.tricycle.com/wisdom-collection?keys=happiness&tid=1683
http://www.wisdom-books.com/ProductExtract.asp?PID=17004
http://smellsgoodfeelsgood.com/2012/12/02/how-to-get-happy-right-now/
That came from Leuing God bless the perplexed :)
Lovely photos & quotes -
http://tinyurl.com/banmv5l
From shinn.htm ...
Scientific prayer will enable you to get yourself or anyone else, out of any difficulty
http://www.bethcoleman.net/key.html
http://www.soulwise.net/beginner.htm
http://www.celestinevision.com/insights.html
http://wingingwithwhitehawk.wordpress.com/advice-for-newbies/
http://www.poeticmind.co.uk/creative-thoughts/lessons-from-conversations-with-god-book-1-neale-donald-walsch-part-2/
"Spiritual success comes by understanding the mystery of life; and by looking on all things cheerfully & courageously, realising that events proceed according to a beautiful divine plan."
"The greatest tranquility is when we desire nothing."
http://www.greatspiritualbooks.com/2012/guided-meditations-buddhism/
http://www.wisdomcommons.org/virtue/114-skepticism/meditations
What true love is -
http://tinyurl.com/a7qr9az
http://mayakas.com/2011/03/easy-answers-to-difficult-questions/
Take full responsibility 4 your own happiness -
http://www.yogananda-srf.org/HowtoLive/Secrets_of_Lasting_Happiness.aspx
http://www.pathtohappiness.com/basics.htm
http://www.thechangeblog.com/hanging-your-happiness-on-others/
If you STILL hunger 4 more ... try my online journal -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/feb2013a.htm
That SHOULD be MORE than enuf 4 anyone 2 absorb!
:)
Beginning or Deepening a Personal Meditation Practice
by Jon Kabat-Zinn
1. The real meditation is how you live your life.
2. In order to live life fully, you have to be present for it.
3. To be present, it helps to purposefully bring awareness to your moments – otherwise you may miss many of them.
4. You do that by paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to whatever is arising inwardly and outwardly.
5. This requires a great deal of kindness toward yourself, which you deserve.
6. It helps to keep in mind that good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, the present moment is the only time any of us are alive. Therefore, it's the only time to learn, grow, see what is really going on, find some degree of balance, feel and express emotions such as love and appreciation, and do what we need to do to take care of ourselves – in other words, embody our intrinsic strength and beauty and wisdom – even in the face of pain and suffering.
7. So a gentle love affair with the present moment is important.
8. We do that through learning to rest in awareness of what is happening inwardly and outwardly moment by moment by moment – it is more a “being” than a “doing.”
9. Formal and informal meditation practices are specific ways in which you can ground, deepen, and accelerate this process, so it is useful to carve out some time for formal practice on a regular daily basis – maybe waking up fifteen or twenty minutes earlier than you ordinarily would to catch some time for ourselves.
10. We bring awareness to our moments only as best we can.
11. We are not trying to create a special feeling or experience – simply to realize that this moment is already very special – because you are alive and awake in it.
12. This is hard, but well worth it.
13. It takes a lot of practice.
14. Lots of practice.
15. But you have a lot of moments – and we can treat each one as a new beginning.
16. So there are always new moments to open up to if we miss some.
17. We do all this with a huge amount of self-compassion.
18. And remember, you are not your thoughts or opinions, your likes or dislikes. They are more like weather patterns in your mind that you can be aware of – like clouds moving across the sky, – and so don’t have to be imprisoned by.
19. Befriending yourself in this way is the adventure of a lifetime, and hugely empowering.
20. Try it for a few weeks – it grows on you.
Have a good one!
I have found that there is only one thing that heals every problem, and that is: to love yourself. When people start to love themselves more each day, it’s amazing how their lives get better. They feel better. They get the jobs they want. They have the money they need. Their relationships either improve, or the negative ones dissolve and new ones begin.
Loving yourself is a wonderful adventure; it’s like learning to fly. Imagine if we all had the power to fly at will? How exciting it would be! Let’s begin to love ourselves now.
Here are 12 Commandments to help you learn how to love yourself:
Stop All Criticism.
Criticism never changes a thing. Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive.
Forgive Yourself.
Let the past go. You did the best you could at the time with the understanding, awareness, and knowledge that you had. Now you are growing and changing, and you will live life differently.
Don’t Scare Yourself.
Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. It's a dreadful way to live. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure, and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.
Be Gentle and Kind and Patient.
Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.
Be Kind to Your Mind.
Self-hatred is only hating your own thoughts. Don't hate yourself for having the thoughts. Gently change your thoughts.
Praise Yourself.
Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.
Support Yourself.
Find ways to support yourself. Reach out to friends and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it.
Be Loving to Your Negatives.
Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So lovingly release the old negative patterns.
Take Care of Your Body.
Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need in order to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise do you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in.
Do Mirror Work.
Look into your eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself. Forgive yourself while looking into the mirror. Talk to your parents while looking into the mirror. Forgive them, too. At least once a day, say, "I love you, I really love you!"
Love Yourself . . . Do It Now.
Don't wait until you get well, or lose the weight, or get the new job, or find the new relationship. Begin now—and do the best you can.
Have Fun.
Remember the things that gave you joy as a child. Incorporate them into your life now. Find a way to have fun with everything you do. Let yourself express the joy of living. Smile. Laugh. Rejoice, and the Universe rejoices with you!
Louise L. Hay, the author of the international bestseller You Can Heal Your Life, is a metaphysical lecturer and teacher with more than 50 million books sold worldwide. For more than 30 years, she has helped people throughout the world discover and implement the full potential of their own creative powers for personal growth and self-healing. She has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and many other TV and radio programs both in the U.S. and abroad.
Another of my all-time favourite books is "Awakening the Buddha Within" -
http://tinyurl.com/7g8joaa
Intro -
Those of us who embark on spiritual paths are motivated in different ways. Some of us want to know the unknowable; others want to know themselves; still others want to know everything. Some people want transformation; others want miracles. Many want to alleviate suffering, help others and leave the world a better place. Most of us are seeking love or fulfilment in one way or another. Everyone wants inner peace, acceptance, satisfaction and happiness. We all want genuine remedies to feelings of despair, alienation and hopelessness. Don't we all want to find spiritual nourishment and healing, renewal and a greater sense of meaning?
Perhaps you sometimes feel a homesickness, a sadness and a sense that something is terribly wrong. You might experience this as a yearning for something that is lost, something that seems so familiar and yet so distant. You might feel hungry and needy and aware that nothing has been able to fully satisfy you - at least not for very long. It's like drinking salt water while floating adrift on the great ocean; it's a drink that can't possibly alleviate your thirst.
Rejoice! You are living the core issues grappled with by every consciously alive human being. This is no small thing - this is 'The Big Time', the Great Way walked by all those who have awakened to freedom, peace and enlightenment. You're in the heavyweight division, wrestling with the multi-dimensional angels of life. You want to see them, you want to understand them, and - like Jacob - you want to be blessed by them.
Page 63 -
Each of us is fully endowed with luminous Buddha-nature, the potential for awakened enlightenment. Tibetans firmly believe that there have been and still are many enlightened beings who walk among us. In fact, there are yogis living anonymously everywhere without calling attention to themselves. Spiritual giants are universally accepted as heroes in Tibet where the names that are remebered aren't those of sports figures, politicians or movie-stars. Ask any Tibetan about Milarepa, the eleventh century, cave-dwelling yogi-sage. As Tibet's most beloved poet, Milarepa gained enlightenement in a single lifetime. Every child has heard his spontaneous songs of joyous wisdom.
Page 184 -
We give thanks to the many beings who helped bring us this food Zen Mealtime Prayer
Those of you who went to summer camp may remember the lyrics of a camp song 'Be kind to your web-footed friends, for a duck may be somebody's mother'. Tibetans say that not only is that duck somebody's mother, it may have been your mother. It might have been your father, brother, cousin, or best friend, or anyone with whom you have unfinished karma to work out. According to traditional belief, we have all been cycled and recycled through innumerable forms in an inconceivable number of lifetimes - not unlike old wine in new, recyclable containers. Everyone has been kind and helpful to you in some past life, because everyone you meet has a loving relative; they should be treated accordingly.
If you are uncomfortable with this traditional rebirth teaching, think of it this way: Everyon you meet, both the wise and the foolish, has something to teach you. Everyone and everything can be celebrated and appreciated, each in its own way. Everyone can learn from your kindness. This is a very important teaching in Tibetan Buddhism. It is also a commonsense approach to life: Learn from all, judge no-one, be kind to all, and say thank-you.
Page 209 -
The next time you feel so angry you could scream, ask yourself: Who is making me angry? Perhaps the anger is subtly directed at yourself. When our expectations are not met, we tend to blame others and get angry. But is our discontent really their fault? Shantideva said that anger is the greatest evil because it is so destructive and can cause so much harm. The trained mind of the Bohdisattva, like a peaceful lake, is able to transcend anger. Even if people throw sparks into it, it doesn't explode because it's like water and not volatile. The untrained mind, on the other hand, can be likened to a big pool of gasoline. Every spark makes it explode. In life, there will always be sparks. But does there have to be an explosion? That's your responsibility. Nobody can make us angry if we have no seeds of anger left inside.
Enjoy!
Even more quotes - see page12.htm - upload it!
More thoughts on love - is that love44 ??
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/love44.htm
Neat page that takes you 2 a 'random' location in cyberspace -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/randoms.htm
For hundreds of links -
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/goodstuff.htm
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/best4.htm
Just cruisin around ...
Should add this 2 our book - I was under the impression that fortune city was gone!
http://community.fortunecity.ws/roswell/callanish/39/losemind.htm
It DOES have things that aint in here yet!
:)
And just on a hunch ... found my books page - some may be invalid links but worth a potter around -
http://community.fortunecity.ws/roswell/callanish/39/books4.htm
"How 2 lose your mind" also has a few gems & useful tips ...
Fortune city losemind
http://www.sitepalace.com/grjallen/losemind.htm
Here's one example -
"It's pretty simple really - if you want peace of mind, pay NO attention 2 the faults of others!"
"You don't need 2 FIX anything about yourself in order 2 deserve love!"
"Stay tuned & we will show you what 2 do with your life"
"Sometimes I think I might like 2 undersatand the realities of the blood."
"LUGGER-LUGGER-LUG. LUGGER-LUGGER-LUG. LUGGER-LUGGER-LUGGER-LUGGER-LUGGER-LUGGER-LUG."
"Can we REALLY shrink our lives by bouncing on the kitchen knives?"
"Sometimes I think I might like 2 believe in ALL the realities of life!"
"GLANG-GLANG-GLANG. GLANG-GLANG-GLANG. GLANG-GLANG-GLANG-GLANG-GLANG-GLANG-GLANG."
"Will we EVER know about our lives and the money?"