On this day of your life

 

I believe God wants you to know ...   ... that all that Life asks is that you move through Life with a reverence for Life.   Yet this reverence for Life must be displayed in all things. Even in the littlest things. Perhaps especially so. For instance, if you choose to consume animals, do you limit your purchases of flesh to cook to only those suppliers who treat animals humanely?   Do you even know who those suppliers are? Does this matter to you? How you treat other Life Forms does matter. It says something about how you want Life to be.  You see, we are creating all of this. All of this.

Seven Quick Fixes to Feel Better (OM)

 

 

 

If we listen to our bodies, we can use simple and natural remedies to prevent poor health from starting. The signals our bodies use to tell us we need to cleanse ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally are multifaceted and often mirror symptoms we associate with illness. If we heed these signs, we not only feel better quickly but also stave off poor health before it can start. These quick fixes for common ailments can get you started. 1. Applying pressure to the acupressure point between the thumb and forefinger can release blockages that cause pain, tension, and fatigue. You can relieve a headache naturally by squeezing for 20 seconds and releasing for 10 seconds, without letting go, four times. 2. To breathe freely, irrigate your nasal passages with a neti pot and warm distilled or sterile salt water. As you clear and soothe the sinuses, congestion associated with allergies or infection will gradually disappear. 3. Apple cider vinegar is a powerful purifying and detoxifying agent. Soaking for 20 minutes in a warm bath infused with two cups of apple cider vinegar pulls toxins from the body and can clear blocked energy. 4. The foods you eat can have a profound impact on your outlook and mood. Eating a small yet satisfying meal rich in complex carbohydrates can lift your spirit and help you let go of feelings of anger, irritability, and depression. 5. Anxiety and fear dissipate quickly when countered with conscious breathing because concentrating on the breath enables you to refocus your attention inward. You can ground yourself and regain your usual calm by taking a series of deep belly breaths as you visualize your feet growing roots that stretch miles down into the Earth. 6. Though tuning out can seem counterproductive, a few minutes spent lost in daydreams or listening to soothing music can help you see your circumstances from a new angle when you feel frustrated. 7. If you feel ill health coming on, brew a wellness elixir. Simmer three sliced lemons, one teaspoon freshly grated ginger, one clove of freshly minced garlic, and one quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper in five cups of water until the lemons are soft and pale. Strain a portion into a mug and add honey by tablespoons until you can tolerate the taste. Drinking this potent mixture of antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal ingredients three times each day can slow your symptoms down and even prevent you from developing a full-blown illness.

Gemini: A Spiritual Thrill Ride (MonB)

 The beginning of the month of Gemini should come with the same disclaimer you hear at the beginning of a rollercoaster: “Fasten your seatbelt and keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times!” The energy of Gemini is fast, intentional, and forward-moving, and we’re all getting a dose of warp speed this month. Continuing with the thrill ride analogy, Gemini also brings with it a lesson:

Once you’re on the ride, you’ve got to ride it until the end.

A little about those born under this sign—I consider myself somewhat of an expert with two Gemini daughters and a part-Gemini husband—they are quick-thinking, alert, bright, fast-talking, and charmingly persuasive. They have a penchant for language, information, humor, efficiency, and novelty. A Gemini will grasp, with astounding agility, all sides of a question, integrate a stance, and make a decision simultaneously! It is both inspiring and dizzying.

But, like any other sign, it’s an energy that isn’t without its challenges. Because of the speed of their intellects, Geminis tend to be reactive, to act or speak without thoroughly thinking it through. Their quick wit is an effective tool in most cases but a sharp weapon in others. Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the fastest planet in our solar system, traveling at 140,000 miles per hour and completing a full trip around the sun in just 88 Earth days. Both Gemini and Mercury represent communication in all of its forms, and this pairing has the power to move mountains—or level them.

Not coincidentally, one of the gifts of the month is movement, the ability to move forward and to make changes more quickly than at other times of the year. While this can mean making professional, personal, or creative progress, it all ultimately comes down to making spiritual moves.

Let’s say you’ve set a goal of going back to school and getting your graduate degree. You’re filled with inspiration and motivation, everything is lining up just right, and you’re already planning your graduation party and maybe even the work you’ll do post-graduation. Perhaps you’ve bought yourself a new computer, you’ve created an office for your work and study, and are energized with the vigor of a new beginning.

Now fast-forward six months. You’re knee-deep in finals, the kids have soccer, you haven’t slept, and thinking about carving out time to study is suddenly impossible. All of the excitement is gone, and in its place is stress, exhaustion, and maybe even dread. You can still see the end in sight yet find yourself wondering, is this really worth it?

This zone is what makes a Gemini run just as fast… in the other direction. The shadow side of Gemini’s electricity is their distaste for feeling trapped thus, making commitments is less than desirable. The swiftness with which they begin a new project, idea, or relationship is the same swiftness with which they abandon it. But, as with every challenge, the gold is mined in the dirt.

Where do you feel you’ve lost your enthusiasm? Is it a goal? A relationship? An idea? What has caused your lack of progress? I usually hear things like:

“I just don’t have the time anymore.”

“It probably wasn’t going to go anywhere anyway.”

“It’s too much right now.”

Whatever the excuse, the lesson of this month is contained right there. Why don’t you have the time anymore? Taking this question to heart could mean realizing that it isn’t a lack of time; It’s about needing to prioritize your needs. It isn’t about whether something is going to “go somewhere”; it’s about addressing your false belief that it won’t. It isn’t “too much right now” it’s just asking you to grow a little (or a lot) beyond your comfort zone.

This all brings me back to my statement above. Whatever kind of movement or growth we’re looking to make will only ever truly be about our spiritual movement and growth.

This month, explore all the things that cause you to abandon your stick-to-itiveness. When the going gets tough, use it as the opportunity to get curious—another Gemini superpower—and ask what is happening beneath the surface, become a sleuth for clues about why you lost your spark, and seek to connect even deeper to your trust in the process. And stay the course. To do this, we need strength, wisdom, and clarity, and luckily for us, we can have it because we have the opportunity to connect with Gemini energy all month long.

Because of this gift of movement, we can make significant spiritual progress during the month of Gemini. So… Commit to something this month! Not simply to the finished product or destination—commit first to staying the course, even when things lose their luster or get tough. Remember that the process is the purpose, and as you make your strides, know that it’s about how you’re growing, not where you’re going.

15 “Buddhist” & “Taoist” Quotes from Ancient Greek Philosophers.

 

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{*Did you know you can write on Elephant? Here’s how—big changes: How to Write & Make Money or at least Be of Benefit on Elephant. ~ Waylon}

~

Christianity, no doubt, brought about many good things to the world, especially Jesus’ teaching of love and nonviolence.

But its becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire led to the marginalization and the demise of the deep philosophy that had been developed by the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers who preceded Christianity.

Unfortunately, a lot of what these thinkers wrote disappeared, because of the passing of time and because of the deliberate attempt to erase all pre-Christian thought—and sometimes even early Christian thought—that contradicted the official doctrine or was seen as dangerous by the religious authorities of the time.

In spite of this, what reached us shows amazing depth and wisdom, with ideas and concepts that are in some cases close to Buddhist, Hindu, and even Taoist ideas. Whether this is a coincidence or the Greeks were indeed influenced by Asian thought is not clear, but it is known that exchanges of various types did occur between Asia and Mediterranean Europe. For example, we know that the Greek philosopher Democritus travelled as far as India.

To start with, many Greek philosophers believed in reincarnation (which they called metempsychosis), such as Pythagoras, Empedocles, and even Plato. On the other hand, the goal of Neoplatonism was reaching ecstasy (samadhi/jhana) in order to merge with the One (Brahman/Nirvana). There were also philosophers, notably the Cynics, who by choice lived in utter poverty, like Buddhist Theravada monks or Hindu sadhus, believing that was the best way to avoid attachments and desires and be really free.

But let me list just a few quotes written by some of the ancient Greek philosophers that seem to me to be close to Buddhist (often overlapping with Hinduist) and Taoist ideas:

1. “The One is everything.” (Xenophanes)

Also Melissus believed that this Being identifies itself with the whole universe. This idea is similar to that of Brahman, the Universal Soul, or the Tao.

2. “Long ago nature condemned both my judges and myself to death.” (Anaxagoras)

We all have to die one day, so why fret about it?

3. “Hot and cold were separated off from the Eternal.” (Anaximander)

Hot and cold are like ying and yang.

4. “The opposites own their existence to their enemies.” (Anaxagoras)

The “enemies” here are to be understood as yang versus yin, and yin versus yang. There cannot be one without the other; there cannot be joy without sadness, or health without illness.

5. “The best among plots is formed by the opposites, and all things arise out of contention.” (Heraclitus)

Sometimes yang takes over, sometimes yin, in succession. After war, there is peace, after peace war; after the dark there is light, and after the light, it gets dark again.

6. “Love and strife alternately dominate the world.” (Empedocles)

The succession of yin and yang again.

7. “Everything flows.” (Heraclitus)

This quote highlights impermanence; everything changes continuously. Impermanence is one of the Buddhist three marks of existence.

8. “We have to tend towards being, not appearing.” (Euclid from Megara)

The opposite of what many people do to this day. We should not worry about what people think of us.

9. “If you wish to make Pythocles wealthy, don’t give him more money; rather, reduce his desires.” (Epicurus)

The doctrine of desire/attachment as the cause of our unhappiness is central to Buddhism, but present in Hinduism and Taoism as well.

10. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” (Epicurus)

Again attachment to our desires as the main cause of suffering.

11. “Those who are serene with themselves are serene with the others.” (Epicurus)

Before trying to change other people or the world, we have to start changing ourselves.

12. “Those who think less about tomorrow, set out for tomorrow with more pleasure.” (Epicurus)

Focusing on the now is also an important aspect of Buddhism. The past is no more and the future we just don’t know.

13. “If you grow fond of a pot, even knowing it is made of earth, complain not if it then breaks. In the same way, if you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be disturbed if either of them dies.” (Epictetus)

A bit pessimistic, but pointing again to impermanence in this world, and the importance of enjoying the moment we are in.

14. “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are external not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable external, but within myself to the choices that are my own.” (Epictetus)

Basically, we have to let go of the things we cannot control. Being control-freaks is one of the causes of our suffering. If we cannot change things, we have to change our attitude toward them.

15. “Keep in mind that it isn’t the one who has it in for you and takes a swipe that harms you, but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger, know that it is really your own opinion fueling it.” (Epictetus)

Similarly to the previous quote, this is another Buddhist idea—the problem is always us, not the others; we are the ones who have to change. This is also related to the idea of the “second arrow” as explained in the Sallatha Sutta: the first arrow may cause physical pain and we cannot do anything about it, but the second arrow is just mental, the avoidable extra pain that we create out of fear inside our mind.

And these are but a few examples.

Unfortunately, the deep wisdom of these early philosophers is hardly known by most people today. The so-called West was in fact much more “Eastern” in those times, before monotheistic religions took over. A big pity, in my view.

~

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Paolo Coluzzi  |  Contribution: 3,855

Paolo Coluzzi was born in Milan, Italy, in 1960. When he was 27, he left his job in Italy and moved to London, then to Spain, the Netherland, UK again (where he completed his … Read full bio

AUTHOR: PAOLO COLUZZI

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EDITOR: LISA ERICKSON

13 Rumi Poems to Awaken the Love Within Us.

 

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“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” ~ Jalaluddin Rumi

~

When anxiety fills me, and I feel disconnected from my essence—or when I’m simply out of love—I turn to Rumi.

Rumi didn’t start out as the 13th century Persian poet we all cherish today. He was a wealthy nobleman, theologian, and sober Islamic scholar—until he met the wandering dervish monk known as Shams Tabrizi.

As soon as Shams spoke, Rumi knew that he had met his soulmate. And Shams knew he had found the star pupil he’d been seeking for 17 years. They retreated to Rumi’s house for almost three months. There, they both touched a source of light that was godly and inexplicable. Each man, with the help of the other, discovered the grace and truth he sought.

After his introduction to the world of mysticism, Rumi learned everything he could about love—unbounded and compassionate and universal. He would go on to become the most famous son of Sufism and the most-read poet of all time.

Rumi’s words speak not to our minds, but to our hearts. We learn more about love from his poems and stories than from any other book.

We don’t just read his words. We experience them. We enter and inhabit his verses, and they take us to another realm that nourishes our longing for spiritual connection and universal belonging.

With Rumi’s poems, we transcend our material existence and move toward joy, inner peace, and our core desire—love.

As humans, we often tap into a certain feeling that makes us come alive. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “We feel a buoyancy, an alchemical quintessence, a shimmering aliveness that is both still and in motion.”

It’s not the same as just having fun or feeling fleetingly happy; it’s something bigger. For those few minutes, time and space collapse into one, and we feel ecstatic. This particular joy can last for minutes, hours, or a lifetime.

Poets describe this as the time when we are in touch with our souls—when we build a bridge between the human self and the higher self, passable in both directions.

Every time I read Rumi, I know that I’m talking not only with my consciousness, but with the collective one as well. I especially enjoy Coleman Barks’ translations, “The Essential Rumi,” “The Book of Love,” and “The Big Red Book.”

I find these 13 poems to be some of his most soul-gushing. I hope they may open your heart as they have opened mine.

 

1. “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

 

2.“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing

and rightdoing there is a field.

I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass

the world is too full to talk about.”

3. “The minute I heard my first love story,

I started looking for you, not knowing

how blind that was.

Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.

They’re in each other all along.”

 

4. “I want to see you.

Know your voice.

Recognize you when you

first come ’round the corner.

Sense your scent when I come

into a room you’ve just left.

Know the lift of your heel,

the glide of your foot.

Become familiar with the way

you purse your lips

then let them part,

just the slightest bit,

when I lean in to your space

and kiss you.

I want to know the joy

of how you whisper

‘more.’”

 

5. “I said to the night,

‘If you are in love with the moon,

it is because you never stay for long.’

The night turned to me and said,

‘It is not my fault. I never see the Sun,

how can I know that love is endless?'”

 

6. “You are the Essence of the Essence,

The intoxication of Love.

I long to sing Your Praises

but stand mute

with the agony of wishing in my heart!”

 

7. “If I love myself

I love you.

If I love you

I love myself.”

 

8. “Lovers find secret places

inside this violent world

where they make transactions

with beauty.”

 

9. “If you are seeking, seek us with joy

For we live in the kingdom of joy.

Do not give your heart to anything else

But to the love of those who are clear joy,

Do not stray into the neighborhood of despair.

For there are hopes: they are real, they exist—

Do not go in the direction of darkness—

I tell you: suns exist.”

 

10. “Love isn’t the work of the tender and the gentle;

Love is the work of wrestlers.

The one who becomes a servant of lovers

is really a fortunate sovereign.

Don’t ask anyone about Love; ask Love about Love.

Love is a cloud that scatters pearls.”

 

11.“This is how I would die

into the love I have for you:

As pieces of cloud

dissolve in sunlight.”

 

12.“Love so needs to love

that it will endure almost anything, even abuse,

just to flicker for a moment. But the sky’s mouth is kind,

its song will never hurt you, for I

sing those words.”

 

13. “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”

~

X

Mohammed Issa  |  Contribution: 13,305

Mo Issa is an entrepreneur, born again writer. He finally gets that he’s a spiritual being having an earthly human experience. Mo loves Hemingway, Hesse and Buddha, he’s … Read full bio

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