Quotes with thought-provoking comments, contemplating the spiritual. Inspiration for lovers of words and deep thoughts. Thank you for your visit! - Denny Lyon
Develop the coping skills for walking through adversity.
From Denny: Tough economic times have hit hard all around the world the past few years. People are discovering for how long hard times can continue and certainly wonder why it's happening to them.
Sustained adversity is never easy to wrap your head around the first few times it pays a visit to your doorstep. Well, there is no time like the present to engage with spiritual development because you are now thrown into the process whether you agreed to it or not.
Spiritual development involves many levels, mostly to meet the criteria of creating a tough mental mindset based on Faith Life does work out well in the end. The key to developing that mental toughness is where you park your attitude. Do you park it in a dark place, all locked up, so protected that it can't see the light of day? Do you park your attitude out in the open where anyone can steal it? Or you you drive your attitude to smart places, always learning more?
These three quotes are keen insight, helpful at any time in any situation.
Quotes
* Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. - M. Kathleen Casey
* If you're going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill
* The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief. - William Shakespeare, Othello
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From Denny: Am I'm busy playing "catch up" with all these posts in draft form - after 10 days off line, changing internet providers. :) Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Roundup of Late Night Funnies - 14 Sept 2010 - Catch up on the latest comedic musings and amusements from Colbert, Stewart and late night show jokes, funny video clips and newest cartoons before they post for the week at other sites.
Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 12 Sept 2010 - Check out news, political opinion, political humor and funny cartoons, recipes, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.
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Spiritual symbolism is all around us in our daily life, ready to help heal and balance.
From Denny: Writing on several levels simultaneously is always a joy, especially in the form of poetry. People find it more enjoyable to interpret the poems on their own. But since this is my spiritual blog I thought I'd mention some of the most obvious spiritual symbols present in this poem.
water = spirituality mist and fog = Spirit herons and egrets = change coming the moon = represents change and feminine spiritual energy the sun = life giving and masculine spiritual energy cats = healing golden color = ancient healing light and knowledge planet Venus = Love night and day = balance and transition stumbling in the dark = how we often find our way in life coffee drink = comfort and celebration of the new humor = brings joy into our hearts
The reason this is a healing poem is because it speaks to connecting with all around us and viewing all in our life as a spiritual experience, therefore drawing strength and balance.
When the day - and I - awaken, present in the moment.
Waking The Day
When I suddenly awakened from the long night’s hot summer sleep The energizing scent of coffee brewing wafted around the corner. I stumbled in the dark, bouncing off the doorway, fumbling for the kitchen lights. I saw cats waiting eagerly at the back door, wide-eyed nocturnal keepers of the yard.
Measuring out fresh food into their three bowls, then wisely throwing open the door. They looked up at me, measuring me more than their food, wondering how awake, Hugging the doorway, quietly gliding through the opening instead of their usual burst. The golden tiger cat squeaked his morning gossip of the neighborhood nightly report.
Steaming dark brown coffee breathed foggy swirls, spilling into the pristine mug. The hot libation slid down my throat as it gave off its sweet Ethiopian perfume. Drinking coffee before speaking plays first in the slumbering beginnings at my house. Glancing at the cats, all lined in a row, they ate heartily as if miners just off a long shift.
I stepped out into the night to view the sparkling stars before they faded to the day. The sky was astounding in its simple beauty; the love planet Venus the brightest smile. How could anyone not smile in return when the planets seem to speak lovingly to us? So many stars, so many messages written in the sky, our Universe speaks unceasingly.
Pouring another offering of coffee, I pulled up a chair on the porch to view the lake. I could witness early morning on the water a thousand times, never to be disappointed. Smoke rose on the water, little ghostly fingers walking forward on the mirrored surface. Three mallard ducks emerged from the mist, swimming my way, dancing long strides.
Huge prehistoric wings filled the air with a swooping sound and blanketed darkness. A blue heron landed to fish his breakfast, blending into the smoky gray surrounding mist. Soon a white egret flew in from the east, careful to move down to another fishing hole. In the dim light a neighbor fished, sitting, pole in hand as his coffee scent filled the air.
Faint pink embers, the growing light, were filling the sky just above the rooftop horizon. The blue heron stalked the shallows on his long legs, searching the moving warm waters. A sudden splash, beak dove down, retrieving a huge fish he flung high on to the bank. The egret caught small fishes, silver glints in the sunlight, tossed into the air, swallowed.
Two cups of coffee later it was time to check back in the house to rouse my husband. Entering the room, he slumbered peacefully, his breath shallow; I knew he was awake. The golden tiger cat pounced onto the bed and onto his chest, demanding attention. His eyes closed, my husband smiled and knew he had not fooled either one of us.
Denny Lyon Copyright 17 Sept 2010 All Rights Reserved
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*** Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science news, health news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.
*** Views today: 33,925 and Thank You!
From Denny: These are all the posts I managed to get out this week while suffering through all this crazy summer heat and humidity. This summer Louisiana didn't have the usual whiners' bragging rights about the summer heat. The rest of America got to "share" - and a lot of the world too! :)
One bit of good news: Prez Obama is thinking of lifting the oil moratorium here on the Gulf coast. Uh, yeah, put 300,000 people back to work would be helpful for this economy - not to mention the rest of America would appreciate not having their fuel prices skyrocket this winter from a low supply.
Earth to White House: It sure would be great if you would lift this moratorium immediately - and gift it to Congressman Charlie Melancon to announce it. Lifting the moratorium would help Melancon win in November against Whore House Vitter, a complete embarrassment as a senator from Louisiana. Louisiana is all a twitter and excited about getting back to work - so make it happen, Mr. Prez, and it would be much appreciated.
And to my StumbleUpon friends: Now isn't one silly email a whole lot less annoying than a bunch of "shares"? :)
America and World Politics Cartoons - 14 Aug 2010 - Check out the latest opinions on the economy, the November elections, the building of a mosque on Ground Zero in New York City and education in America now that budget cuts have arrived.
Posts Roundup at Dennys Blogs - 8 Aug 2010 - Check out news, political opinion - serious and funny cartoons, recipes, science news, poetry, funny posts, photography, spiritual thoughts and great quotes.
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*** How high - or how limited - are your goals in Life?
*** Views today: 17,510 and Thank You!
From Denny: C. S. Lewis is another one of those spiritual writers - in yet another generation - whose wisdom still rings true today. So often people just don't place their vision high enough in Life and then wonder why they are so disappointed when good things don't happen for them.
When we give ourselves purposeful higher visions of the soul as our aspirations then we are never disappointed as Life unfolds. When we limit ourselves to a small vision that can be the realm of the self-absorbed or self-centered then we are sure to be disappointed. To feel fulfilled we must reach out to others outside of ourselves and beyond our immediate family and friends.
If you don't have the money or time for specialized charity work, don't worry. Your prayers of goodwill for strangers you may never meet all over the world is the most powerful charity you can do. Trust it that there are strangers on the other side of the world who are also praying good things for you! It's that Law of Reciprocity in action as a universal spiritual principle.
Quote
* Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. - C. S. Lewis
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*** How friendships begin and can last a life time.
From Denny: This quote from C. S. Lewis is so very true about when we first meet someone and discover a connection through shared experience. How many times have people thought themselves to be the only ones going through a situation? How many times have people thought they were the only ones wondering about something only to discover there were others with the same thoughts and experiences?
Too often we tend to isolate ourselves from socializing, fearing rejection, when we would benefit from getting out more into the world to discover and develop new friendships. Like we always say at our house, "We always have room for one more friend for you can never have too many!"
Quote
* Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one. - C. S. Lewis
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*** What you can do to ensure your safety and survival as geologic time rapidly changes - and the resulting paradigm shift of humanity - is in the process of occurring.
What is already happening to fulfill the 2012 predictions
From Denny: A lot is predicted to happen to our planet Earth in the year of 2012. What people are not paying close enough attention to is that the geologic changes are already happening.
There have been high level earthquakes around the globe. When large magnitude earth quakes above magnitude 7.0 happen, they affect the Earth's magnetic poles. Earth's magnetic poles have already shifted slightly and now our orbit has changed as well. Whole continents have moved because of these earthquakes, causing a chain reaction of earthquakes.
Geologic time moving faster than normal, glacial melting, resulting flooding
While geologic time moves slowly, we happen to be living in an era of constant change. The north and south poles are giving up their ice sheets. It's those ice sheets which have acted as the Earth's cooling mechanism for 10,000 years. Now that the glaciers are melting - whether through humanity's excessive use of fossil fuels and air pollution or through a natural cycle of the planet freezing and cooling - the fact remains there is now more water in the oceans and in the air which brings massive flooding. Pakistan is currently experiencing terrible flooding that has killed thousands. The worst flooding also happens to be in the area of the Taliban supporters and strongholds. Coincidence? The Taliban terrorize their own Islamic neighbors, all in the name of religion as they see it: a brutal, vicious take on normally peaceful Islam.
"So goes Russia, so goes the rest of the world" - Christian prophecy
Because there are no longer the glaciers to retard summer heat there are now massive waves of high heat across the globe and the resulting raging fires that go along with very dry land and forests. Russia is currently experiencing terrible forest fires outside their capital city of Moscow and the resulting air pollution is devastating to the health of the residents. These are the first fires and high summer heat that Russia has ever experienced. Coincidence? The Russian crime syndicates have wreaked such havoc on the country, driving greedy consumerism and violent drug crime that the country is out of control like the raging fire. For good or for ill, Russia has a great spiritual influence upon the world - as much as America.
2012 End Times Prophecy
The year of 2012 is heralded as The End of Time yet the prophecies also continue counting Time after the Winter Solstice of 2012. What does that mean? Ancient cultures often wove together their science as well as their spiritual understanding.
What the time marker of 2012 is really all about is that culture on this Earth and the Earth as we know it will end - and begin a new cycle. Whenever humanity is no longer advancing spiritually, instead caught up too much in materiality, there is always a cleansing. Sometimes, it is just a cleansing of the planet in a geologic fashion through flooding, earthquakes, famine or fire.
Cleansing the weakest human DNA
In more dire situations, like in the 2012 prophecy, it will be a literal cleansing of the human DNA, the weaker will be dying off in large numbers. Who are the weaker people on this planet? They are the greedy, the contentious, the destructive, those who throw up obstacles in the way of others who are trying to develop. There will be a lot of loss of life starting now in 2010 and it will go on past 2012: earthquakes, flooding, fires, famine and plagues of disease.
How can you survive what is already here and more to come?
How can you be one of the strong who survive? Build up your immune system with literally a good and positive attitude. Quit resenting or being jealous of others or hating because someone is not your same race, religion or culture. Quit being selfish, self-centered, self-absorbed or greedy. Stop grieving and resume your life again. Think of how you can serve others as it will help dissolve the grief.
Holding on to negative emotions bring destruction to ourselves and the planet
All of this holding on to such strong negative emotions brings about great imbalance. This imbalance plays out as serious illness in your life if held too tightly for too long a time. In these strong spiritual times coming, that negative energy also plays out as damaging the planet, bringing about the severe weather we now see. We are literally affecting our own lives, the lives of others and this planet by how we feel. And, if we feel negative, it brings destruction.
Prayer, meditation and positive attitude bring healing and therefore balance to the world
It's been proven time and again by science that prayer, meditation and a positive attitude have healing qualities and build up our immune systems against disease. It's simple. Set aside the negatives of your family culture and your national and religious cultures. How to avoid destruction? Cultivate the Divine Presence inside you and focus upon building good character. It's that spiritual cultivation of goodness that brings balance back into the world, stabilizing it. Balance.
The practice of balance
Balance can only be achieved through spiritual practices. Balance brings us health, Life and Peace. Balance in all areas of our lives: mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually brings balance to our outward world as well. When we are not balanced in our inner worlds then the Earth reflects it negatively. When we are balanced then the Earth reflects it positively. Consider focusing upon, and maintaining, balance in your life so you can make a good and positive difference for the rest of the world too. Then everyone wins.
Vision of The Gardener Prophet
The gardener stood at the window in the heat of summer
Gazing at the huge weeds growing stronger and larger,
Sprouting up proudly as tall and wide as the shrubs,
Crowding the beauty, smug, knowing they didn’t belong.
What was not theirs they chose to steal and own out of spite.
The gardener felt helpless, unable to tend the garden,
For the summer heat was too strong to work outside.
Day after day the gardener watched the weeds take over,
Praying for the beauty to survive the onslaught and
Then a break, a pouring rain came to drench the garden.
The gardener hurriedly went out into the cooling wet air
And began pulling the shallow roots, those showy weeds.
The gardener prayed as she pulled and threw them away.
The gardener prophet knew these weeds sprung up to stop her work
As she prayed for all the people of the world to do better.
The gardener prophet prayed as she worked, knowing that
“As below on Earth, so above in Heaven,” hoping this garden
Would influence and clean humanity of the great suffering.
She toiled with the stubborn and contentious weeds for hours,
Refusing to give in and allow beauty to wither and die.
Deep in thought, hunting down the very smallest new weeds,
Suddenly she looked up and there was an Angel appearing.
The Angel looked at her work in the garden and said,
“Tell the people their suffering has been heard in Heaven.
The culling of humanity begins not in 2012 but now in 2010.”
The gardener prophet wiped her eyes of the spattered mud.
Patiently, the strong Angel waited for acknowledgement.
“The Universe is speeding up the time table,” the Angel announced.
“Humanity is past due to reach the next level of development.
“Knowledge and wise teaching have spread the world to generations.
“Contentiousness, lack of compassion, greed and stubbornness
“Grow as weeds all over the world in every society and religion.
“Beauty struggles to survive, grow and thrive, yet can wither and die.
“The world is now again too full of those who choose to destroy, not build.
“And now Death comes stalking them two years early to clean the garden.
“Only Beauty is meant to walk the earth and thrive in the garden of Life,”
Spoke the Angel softly, and then the vision slowly faded from the gardener prophet.
Denny Lyon
Copyright 6 Aug 2010
All Rights Reserved
Photo Credits - All photos are from my garden and are by Denny Lyon, available under Creative Commons copyright with Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives license.
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*** Learn some universal spiritual knowledge from an ancient Jewish mysticism.
From Denny: Studying Kabbalah has gained in popularity since Hollywood actors, and musicians like Madonna, promoted it. Like anything that becomes popular there are also the opportunists who try to make money off said popularity. Ignore the fools and focus upon the core teachings to look at universal truth is what I always do. It's keeps us free of the emotional hype that pull you off balance spiritually if you allow it into your inner space.
Speaking of inner space, it seems today's religious thought does not contemplate about how the ego and the spirit share that same space. Sometimes, the ego can be like an unruly two-year-old on the loose, trashing the house and crowding the spirit into a too small dark corner. Today's religions either teach excessive harshness about the human ego and demand strict adherence to mind-numbing rules or turn loose the ego without learning any real personal discipline. Somewhere in the middle of moderation is the truth and a healthy spiritual practice.
Take a look at what ancient Jewish mystics have to say about the spiritual journey:
Quotes
* The most important aspect of the process of self-improvement is the cultivation of one’s sense of humility before the Creator. This, however, should not be an artificial undertaking, but a goal of one’s efforts. If, as a result of working on the self, an individual gradually starts to develop this quality, then it means that he is proceeding in the right direction. - (Talmud, Avodah Zarah)
* A person’s highest spiritual potential is to reach the level of maaseh merkavah ("the act of rule"). He is able to correct himself to such an extent that Divine Providence over the world can be executed through that person. - (Talmud, Suka)
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*** Thoughts on how to get started on the road to embracing Change fearlessly.
From Denny: The subject of change has both intrigued and frightened humanity from the very beginning of Time. We create order in our societies by setting up boundaries, laws and rules of behavior. Eventually, those laws - and societal expectations - become rigid, pushing back against necessary healthy change.
Change is the vehicle to take us to our path of growth, personally and societally. When change is denied too long the transformation process can be violent. We experienced that as a country here in America when we finally decided to grow past the societal ill of slavery and it created a Civil War of many long years.
The same is true of personal growth in the area of change. If we deny small changes over a long period of time, then we are overdue, and it can be traumatic when change flips us over and spanks us for being so late to the party.
Every day for the next week, take about 10 minutes to consider current change in your life. Perhaps consider changes you would like to make. Start small with something as benign as cleaning out a cluttered kitchen or bathroom drawer.
What you will find with a small project like this is how it will trigger memories and previous thoughts you did not have the time previously to spend contemplating. It's like you pull up this short internal "To Do" List. It gives your mind time free to roam, think deeply and ultimately rest.
If you spend a few minutes like this contemplation every day - or a few times a week - you will benefit. How will you benefit? You will become more emotionally and mentally flexible. It's that flexibility that helps us adapt quickly when change comes our way.
This deep thinking helps build you a strong spiritual foundation as you are profoundly connected with your spiritual self at this time. It's your special place of acceptance and warm hospitality any time of the day or night upon which you can draw when needed as if it were a deep well: your spirit.
Quote
* It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not. - Heraclitus (540 BC - 480 BC), from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers
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*** Why do the confident among us find it easy to embrace change?
From Denny: Have you ever thought about the concept of change as just a neutral subject? Hard to do for us human types, isn't it? :)
The spiritual energy of change is much like a car. It is neither good nor bad but rather it is who is at the driving wheel that determines our destination. How we drive our "vehicle of change" is determined solely by our attitude and world outlook.
That's why it's important to purposefully focus upon positive events and remembrances in our personal experiences. The negative will easily be remembered. The problem of those negative experiences is that it speaks to holding onto and recycling negative dark energy for too long. That practice causes terrible imbalance in us.
Holding and caressing positive beautiful energy only seeks to energize us with more Life and Hope. So, when change comes into our lives - and it surely will - it is easier to be flexible and adapt purposefully in a fulfilling way that brings us happiness.
Quote
* Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better. - James Gordon, M.D.
*** Photo by rore @ flickr
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*** Consider tenacity to help propel you through tough times.
From Denny: It can be easy to get discouraged in the face of severe adversity. Right now on the Gulf Coast we are facing what may turn out to be generations of adversity. The people here are a hardy bunch and will persevere. The one thing they share is a strong work ethic and a spiritual tenacity to push through difficult times.
This photo of the small child trying to climb that fence at the ocean reminds us of when we were small children. The memories of being so small in an adult world and the obstacles we had to overcome like climbing, sliding, crawling, bumping down stairs too high to conquer any other way. Now that was tenacity in motion every day until we grew stronger and larger, moving on to tougher life obstacles.
Tenacity is often overlooked by philosophers while they are constructing an eloquent argument or elegant vision. Tenacity is that strong drive that often can take our dreams and hopes and propel them into the future vision we have for our lives.
The following quote is from a former president certainly not well liked by history. It was this Republican former governor of Massachusetts who promoted the idea of small government after the scandals of his predecessor President Harding. Harding died suddenly and propelled VP Coolidge into the presidency in 1923. He won the presidency on his own in 1924.
He didn't believe government should invest in large government programs or regulate and have a hand in controlling the economy. Read that as an unrestrained and unregulated free market of greed and corruption. This attitude may have contributed to the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. The man was a lawyer, not an economist.
He was known as "Silent Cal" since he was a man of few words and uncomfortable in Washington society. It was Alice Roosevelt Longworth who was quoted as saying, "He looks as if he'd been weaned on a pickle."
Coolridge was a quiet guy playing opposite his vivacious wife Grace. He always considered that being president was important and his words brought great weight. "The words of a President have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately."
People wrote him off as one stiff guy so he decided to cultivate it. Hey, when you know you can't be a superstar then work with what you think you have. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." In spite of his quiet status, as president he held a stunning record number of press conferences: 520.
One funny story about Coolidge in one of his uncomfortable social situations where he was often the butt of jokes: He was seated next to Dorothy Parker who leaned over to him and said, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply? "You lose."
It seems that those who gravitate to the Republican agenda often do not possess the best people skills - and weak social skills as they are usually uncompromising. Many do not subscribe to education to improve their attitude toward others. Many are very rigid emotionally and mentally, even fearful of change and lacking a good sense of humor.
The one thing these people rely upon, often too much and out of balance, is tenacity. Tenacity is great when tempered with sensitivity, education and a willingness to be open to others. Tenacity is a great team mate, and, if used well in combination with other attributes can help propel us through difficult situations. Coolidge used his tenacity to survive uncomfortable social situations as he was an introvert by nature.
One good thing about his presidency is that in the 1920's he actually promoted civil rights for African-Americans and Catholics. This was especially important as the Ku Klux Klan had a large following nationally at this time with over four million members. Under his administration, he did not appoint any known KKK members and the Klan lost influence rapidly. It was amazing the man was not assassinated by the millions of racists in the country at the time who howled at his promotion of non-Protestants and other races. Even today, America is over 50 percent Protestant to 25 percent Catholic.
Coolidge was controversial when he granted full American citizenship to Native Americans in 1924. He allowed them to retain tribal lands and full cultural rights. Not exactly the Republican Party of today that is homophobic and excessively racist and gender biased about equal work should get equal pay.
You can analyze presidents and presidencies for years, finding the good, the bad and the ugly. This man had his good moments and his bad just like everyone else. Perhaps he did not fully realize the impact decades later his economic policies would have on generations of Americans.
What we can learn from him is his focus upon tenacity to help win the day, acting as a mighty force to solve problems. The spirit of tenacity has a way about it that gives us courage to move through difficult situations to achieve our goals.
Quote
* Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. - President Calvin Coolidge
*** Photo by Victor Bezrukov @ flickr
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*** The pressure of Life tests can act like an alarm clock awakening us to act.
From Denny: Sometimes, we can feel like Life is raining on our parade. The goal is to keep looking ahead for the light to guide us - or in funnier terms, "Look for the exit sign!" - especially when you are in a tough life test that feels like you are trapped in a maze. Life puts pressures on us all. It's that uncomfortable pressure that gives voice to the fact we need to move on from where we are because we are not growing. Those pressures act like a loud alarm clock to startle us fully awake to act.
The beauty of this quote is that it addresses being fully conscious, fully present, fully awake. These are the hallmarks of having achieved a deeper level of spiritual development: when you are aware every moment. The entire process of true spiritual development is our everyday conscious mind merging gracefully with our eternal spiritual mind, working in harmony each day.
Hope is a friend. Hope is a vehicle to take us to that greater state of development. Hope delivers us from only a dream into a beautiful reality worth staying awake to enjoy.
Quote
* For Hope is but the dream of those that wake. - Matthew Prior
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*** Spiritual quote of the day, helping us on our spiritual path to greater enlightenment, happiness and acting on our true purpose in life.
Photo by muha... @ flickr
From Denny: What ever spiritual path you choose it is always a good idea to read "what the other guys have to say about a subject." Other religions, ancient philosophers, the guy at the grocery store all may have something enlightening to say to you today.
When you keep your heart open to beautiful spiritual thoughts to contemplate you will find your spiritual development keeps moving along at a respectable pace. Shutting down the emotional heart keeps us from developing. And when we are not moving spiritual energy we are dying bit by bit. That is a spiritual principle of the Universe.
In this particular quote from a Chinese philosopher he talks about the concept of listening with empathy. Too often we half listen and so only half absorb. Western culture in particular is still caught up believing the intellect to be the deepest level of humanity. The intellect is great and enjoyable. It's a superb idea to cultivate it.
However, the intellect is shallow and weak compared to the depths of the human spirit where the power source for the will and spiritual intelligence is located. The shallow intellect just cannot compare nor can it steer the spirit. The spirit can steer the intellect and then the two can work together in wonderful harmony to achieve the best in life for a person.
This philosopher alludes to that relationship. The only way for the intellect to work in harmony with the spirit and achieve great things is for the intellect to set aside arrogance, selfishness, pride, contentiousness, over identification with self, self-absorption and self-centeredness. These areas all involve dark emotions and dark thoughts that stop and hold prisoner spiritual energy. Only when spiritual energy is allowed to move freely can it do its job and help us fulfill our important purpose in life.
Quote
* True empathy requires listening with the whole being. It demands the emptiness of all the faculties. And when the faculties are empty, then the whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right there before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind. - Chuang Tzŭ, Chinese philosopher
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From Denny: Lately, the way the economy has been shifting continually under our feet, never knowing what to expect from month to month, it's a good idea to cultivate a positive attitude. After all, what does a negative attitude get us beyond a moment of acting like a safety valve to blow off frustration and anger?
The problem comes when we stay stuck in anger and frustration. When Life seems to be constantly coming at you - and you know darned well it isn't Lady Karma paying a visit but you have to deal with it anyway - catch your balance by giving yourself and your loved ones around you a refocus.
It's important for us not to react to situations but rather step back, slow down, think and then, after pondering for a while, even a few days, to then act. And when you do act, act in progressive stages, a slow step at a time and observe how the situation presents itself.
As you slow down the resolution of the issue you will be able to clearly see which step is the best to take and which step to succeed that one. Eventually, you work your way through the problem or situation. It seems to be in our American DNA that we want instant gratification and instant one step solutions to complex problems. Well, Life just doesn't work that way or they wouldn't call it "spiritual testing." :)
What's also important for our refocus is to remember we didn't come into this world just to pay bills but rather to impact our world in a positive light. In order to successfully fulfill ourselves we need to quit allowing others to keep our emotions in a tail spin like the tail wagging the dog.
We are spiritual people living in a physical world not the other way around. We have more power to address our circumstances if we only take the time to listen inwardly to our spiritual heart that contains all the wisdom of the ages and the universe.
To finish our refocus when Life presses in make sure to add Hope to the list. Hope keeps our attitude from falling off a cliff into despair. It's also a reminder that just as our situation changed for the negative or chaotic it will change again into the positive and the peaceful - if only we will focus upon that good thought. In no time Life will greet us with our positive focus as if to say, "I don't know what you were stressing about. See? You knew what to do all along and everything worked out right."
Quotes
* We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world. - Woodrow Wilson
* We are not creatures of circumstance; we are creators of circumstance. - Benjamin Disraeli
* Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit. - Norman Vincent Peale
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From Denny: When you were growing up how many times did adults speak to you about developing good character? And if you became a parent or a teacher, did you also teach the same? But did you ever consider just how to go about developing and honing good character - or did you just follow the rules of life hoping that was enough to accomplish the goal?
The Way to Developing Good Character
Many times people confuse knowing about what defines good character versus actually developing it. It does seem to be a bother that the intellectual mind thinks it "knows it all" once it has familiarized itself with a subject.
But the problem lies in the areas of the emotional and spiritual minds, getting them disciplined so they can act in harmony to our benefit. It's one thing to memorize the facts yet quite another to apply them.
So, how do we apply what we think we know? Just sit still long enough and a life test will come your way in short order - just keep it in the back of your mind to be ready whenever it shows up on your doorstep. It's like the Universe is listening and says, "Looks like they are ready for the test. Let's see if they pass or fail." Invariably, life tests do not appear in a neat little package labeled "Life Test, Do Not Open Until Ready."
Those tests always catch us off guard until we are engaged into the drama and we suddenly realize what vortex we just got sucked into for a twilight zone experience. The key to doing well is to keep your emotions grounded, your rational mind ready to help you reason and your spiritual mind constantly praying to pave the way as you journey through the test. Many tests last for weeks and months, some years. Those that last a long time are comprised of stages of one large test. The harsher you are tested the more responsibility will be required of you.
You can have been trying to be a good person all your life and then suddenly you get hit with some harsh experience or a series of them. Getting tested isn't about being disciplined in the way of punishment. Think of it as a final exam on what you think you already know. By the time the test is finished - and you feel like one whipped puppy ready for a long nap - you will have truly learned that information from so many angles that there is no way you will ever need notes to teach on the subject. That information will have become as familiar and easy to access as the nose on your face by the time the spiritual Universe is done with you.
Oh, and don't worry, points are not deducted for griping, fussing and cussing from time to time when you are frustrated and don't fully understand what is expected of you. You will figure it out as you go and the frustration will ease up.
In the end, the only way to truly develop good character is to engage in life in the most unexpected and unplanned situations that come your way. Don't run from the responsibility because it will just chase you down later and be a much tougher test. In fact, each test you reject gets backlogged and heaped upon you with other tests all at once for what can feel like a crushing weight.
Do your best to keep a good humor and accept each test that comes your way. What you will find is that each test builds upon the previous one to help you build your character foundation. Each test is tailored to your personality and where you are in life that very moment.
The Way to Developing Our Talents
Have you ever noticed that you may be geared to action or passivity? You might be a person who finds it easy to make decisions. Your life tests will most likely be to wait and make no big decisions for months or years at a time. That can be quite maddening to an action oriented person used to being in charge of their life - and probably the lives of others around them. It will be a testing with immense frustration and impatience until you learn to conquer your will and learn patience and trust.
If you are a person who hates to make decisions and would prefer others to make them for you - you guessed it - your life tests will be to make decisions every time you turn around, often in a rapid fire sequence that will take your breath away. You will learn how to prioritize, organize and delegate or accept as your responsibility to carry out. It will be a testing fraught with intense fear until you conquer that fear.
So, what does all this testing have to do with developing your talents? Developing your talents requires a lot of solitude. During those down times while you are resting from the flurry of life tests you will seek out time alone to refresh and regroup. As you cultivate time to think deeply you will also cultivate your innate talents naturally.
Whatever you are drawn to do during these introspective sessions will mature over time. For instance, a coping skill for the stress you are experiencing during a life test could be working on some art project. It will soothe your rattled emotions, engage your curious intellect and give some time to your spiritual mind to do some more work without interference and interruption.
I always figured as I was going through my life tests that I wanted to have something to show for all that introspective time. :) So, I have plenty of interesting art that engaged my spiritual creativity, soothing tactile needlework when my emotions were turbulent, photography to record my natural world with my current perception and recording my thoughts, often as poems, as proof I lived those moments. Along the way, my skills improved and grew richer. A win-win in my book.
The thing about spiritual life is learning balance and timing. Life tests and deep thinking time, working as a team, help us achieve a richer balanced life.
Quote
* Talent is formed in solitude, character in the bustle of the world. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!
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