Tuesday 31 July 2012

New richness

It’s important to have constants in life. It’s also good and useful to have novelty. Today is not here just so it can be an exact repeat of yesterday. Honor each new day by filling it with new experience and substance. Don’t hold yourself back by keeping yourself imprisoned in the same old routine. Outside that routine are great and wonderful possibilities waiting to be explored. Be satisfied with how far you’ve come, and eager to keep on going in new and exciting ways. Life’s beauty knows no limit, so don’t limit yourself to what you’re already familiar with. Seek out new things to do and new ways to do them. Enjoy discovering new challenges, new opportunities and new ways to create new forms of value.Life begins again in every moment. Use the opportunity to add new and fulfilling richness to your world.
 
 

Sunday 29 July 2012

“And death is possibly the most important thing. We are all walking towards death, but we never know when death will touch us and it is our duty, therefore, to look around us, to be grateful for each minute. But we should also be grateful to death, because it makes us think about the importance of each decision we take, or fail to take; it makes us stop doing anything that keeps us stuck in the category of the “living dead” and, instead, urges us to risk everything, to bet everything on those things we always dreamed of doing, because, whether we like it or not, the angel of death is waiting for us.”

Paulo Coelho



Nirvana

Nirvana shares one quality with the lotus, two with water, three with medicine, ten with space, and five with a mountain peak. As the lotus is unstained by water, so is Nirvana unstained by all the defilements. As cool water allays feverish heat, so also Nirvana is cool and allays the fever of all passions. Moreover, as water removes the thirst of humans and animals who are exhausted, parched, thirsty, and overpowered by heat, so also Nirvana removes craving for sensuous enjoyments, the craving for further becoming, the craving for cessation of becoming.

As medicine protects from the torments of poison, so Nirvana eases the torments of poisonous passions. Moreover, as medicine puts an end to sickness, so Nirvana puts an end to all sufferings. Finally Nirvana and medicine both give security.

These are the ten qualities which Nirvana shares with space. Neither is born, grows old, dies, passes away, or is reborn; both are unconquerable, cannot be stolen, are unsupported, are roads respectively for birds and Awakened Ones to journey on, are unobstructed and infinite. Like the wishing jewel, Nirvana grants all one can desire, brings joy, and sheds light.

As a mountain peak is lofty and exalted, so is Nirvana. As a mountain peak is unshakable, so is Nirvana. As a mountain peak is inaccessible, so is Nirvana is inaccessible to all the passions. As no seeds can grow on a mountain peak, so the seeds of all the passions cannot grow in Nirvana. And finally, as a mountain peak is free from all desire to please or displease, so is Nirvana.


Friday 27 July 2012

life is a journey enjoy the ride


Your image

The best way to look good is to be good. The best way to look like a professional is to authentically and consistently act in a professional manner. Your real image is not based on what you seek to tell people or show people it is. Your image in the minds of others is based on how you truly are. If you’re mainly focused on projecting an image, you’re guaranteeing that your image will be shallow and insincere. Instead, put your energy into living and working with honesty, integrity and creativity. Let yourself genuinely be yourself, without being obsessed about how others see you. What they will see, and respect, is your authenticity. Truly be the way you wish to be seen. Instead of cultivating a mere image, build a life filled with rich and compelling substance. If you want to appear impressive, then be impressive. Truly embrace and fully live your best possibilities, and your image will easily take care of itself.
 
 
Be yourself. Don't try to figure out what behavior or opinion will make you popular with others. It is disrespectful to the grandeur of who you really are. It is selling your soul for the low outcome of manipulating the superficial affections of others — as if you needed their approval. Be what you are. Be indifferent to the judgments of others, not with a thoughtless or angry defiance, but with the firm knowledge that you are a vital expression of something unspeakably intelligent and good.

Forget about what you have been before. Forget what you've said before. Be what you are now, even if it "isn't you" — that is, even if it seems to contradict what you or others have pigeonholed you to be. Be free. Be the creative force on the crest of the mighty wave of this very instant.

Be exactly what you are right now and what will happen? Your truth, your honesty, your authenticity, will scare some people, and they will actively try to make you stop being true to yourself.

The world is in a conspiracy to make you conform. Others will think they know what you should be and how you should act and what you should think. And they will apply pressure to you to make you conform to it. But if you conform, you lose your soul. You lose your originality. You lose your connection to the Mystery. You lose your creativity and your aliveness.

The people who know you will sometimes resist your creativity. They feel more comfortable with what is familiar.

If you want to be the full greatness you can be, you must give up the game and be your honest self.
 
 
 
 

Speak what is true for you, and it will almost always resonate in others.

THE OTHER DAY, I read some original statements written by a famous painter. Whenever I read something truly original, I get a feeling. That feeling is far more valuable than the statements themselves. The feeling fills me with a recognition of a profound truth: That genius is simply to "believe your own thought." "To believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all [people]."
Speak what is true for you, and it will almost always resonate in others.
The voice in your own mind is so familiar to you that you give it no respect. Instead, you give too much weight to the thought of others — your neighbors, your teachers, or some great thinker from the past. But what makes great thinkers great is that they didn't disregard their own thought. They expressed what they truly thought; they listened to their own voice.
You must learn to detect the light that shines from within and pay it more respect than the blinding illumination of the great minds of all history. When you look at wonderful works of art, let it teach you this.
Let the flashes of genius that hit your mind urge you to stick with your own "spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility" — especially when everyone seems to think otherwise. Speak out what your own perception, your own impression tells you is true and speak with boldness and trust.

Saturday 21 July 2012

Choose to actively live

Don’t find an excuse. Find a way. Don’t figure out how to put it off until later. Use your energy and intelligence and time to get it done now. Let go of the urge to complain about how things are. Remind yourself that you can make things better, and challenge yourself in each moment to do just that. There’s no need to be dismayed at how hard it will be. Choose instead to be enthusiastic about how much of a real difference you can make. What really matters is not what’s pushing against you. What matters is how authentically committed you are to moving forward. Connect with that commitment, connect with your positive passion, and choose to actively live life for all it’s worth. You absolutely can if you will, so do.

Friday 20 July 2012

Grow stronger

Whatever happens, you can use it as a way to grow stronger. Every day can end up making you stronger. You can complain about it, or you can grow stronger through it. You can worry about it, or you can grow stronger instead. Don’t let it make you frustrated, or resentful or dismayed. Let it motivate you to become stronger. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, feel what it feels like to respond with strength and clarity of positive purpose. Call upon the strength you have, and you will have more. You are stronger than any circumstance, stronger than any thoughtless comment made by another, and stronger than any disappointment. You can adjust, adapt, and re-commit yourself again and again to moving forward. You are already strong and capable and experienced. Use that strength to advance life’s goodness, and grow stronger and stronger with each passing day.


Thursday 19 July 2012


~Premlatha Rajkumar~
 
 
Grand adventure

Life can be astoundingly beautiful and rich. There are possibilities that go far beyond anything you could imagine.Today is your opportunity to live the adventure. Right now is when you can find immense fulfillment in bringing life’s best possibilities into being. An entire universe, overflowing with abundance, stretches out in all directions from where you are. You can feel and see and know, you can learn, adapt and act, and you can fulfill your deep longing to make a real difference. If you choose to fill your days with doubt, hesitation, self-pity and resentment, you miss out on the greatest opportunity ever. Choose instead to push enthusiastically forward every chance you get, and to fully live the adventure. If you expect someone else to do it all for you, you’ll end up with a whole lot of terribly painful regret. Make the commitment to take full, hearty, ambitious responsibility for making your life the grand adventure you know it can be. You’re never too old or too young or too poor or too rich. Each and every moment brings fresh, new opportunities for you to add to life’s magnificent substance, including the one right now.





Wednesday 18 July 2012

Put it all to use

Nothing is too difficult and nothing is too complicated. Nothing is out of reach, and nothing is too outrageous. Life is what it is, and you have the immense good fortune of being here, right now, to live it. So instead of working to place judgments on it, go ahead and live it. Sure, some tasks are highly complex, and others demand large amounts of effort and commitment. The good news is that those are precisely the kinds of things you’re so very good at. It is indeed a blessing that life can be so demanding. After all, that’s what gives life so many great and fulfilling possibilities. Step up and claim the most valuable of your own amazing possibilities. Feel those good things that resonate most with you, and joyfully bring them to life. You have great power, purpose, and ability. Choose in this moment, and again and again, to put it all to meaningful and effective use.




photo credit: Heather King

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.


Sunday 15 July 2012

As far as I am concerned, I simply think of myself only an ordinary human being who was stubborn enough to remain independent, resisted all conditioning, never belonged to any religion, never belonged to any political party, never belonged to any organization, never belonged to any nation, any race I have tried in every possible way just to be myself, without any adjective; and that has given me so much integrity, individuality, authenticity, and the tremendous blissfulness of being fulfilled But it was the need of the time. After me, anybody trying to be a master will have to remember that he has to pass through all the things I have passed through; otherwise, he cannot be called a master. He will remain just localized--a Hindu teacher, a Christian missionary, a Mohammedan priest--but not a master of human beings as such After me it is going to be really difficult to be a master.


Whatever you can imagine

You are not your problems. You are not the world’s problems. You are not your possessions. You are not your job title, your social standing, your credit score or your bank balance. You are a unique and beautiful spirit, immersed in a universe that’s overflowing with abundance. You are a bundle of magnificent possibilities, with the desire and the skills to fulfill those possibilities. You are able to enjoy beauty and to give love. You can create joy where it has not existed before and spread that joy far and wide. You can brilliantly and successfully adapt and thrive in an endless variety of situations. You can focus your awareness and your efforts to bring into reality whatever you envision.
You are the wonderful and amazing person who can rise above all the pettiness and succeed no matter what. You are whatever you can imagine, so always, always, imagine the very best.


— Ralph Marston

Every moment is impermanent and the passing of the months and years is not unlike the flowing of a mountain stream. And are not bodies as bubbles on that water? Though there are rosy cheeks in the morning, by nightfall there may be whitened bones.

 - Shosan

Friday 13 July 2012

When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace.


 

Thursday 12 July 2012

The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.
 
 
In motion

When you’re on a roll, keep going. When you’re in a slump, get going. Get in motion and stay in motion. The possibilities are far more powerful and more numerous when you’re taking action. If you’re just sitting around doing nothing, you won’t be too thrilled with whatever happens to come your way, if anything. When you get up and get moving, you can go any place and experience anything you choose. Being patient is admirable but being lazy is not. Be eager and persistent about taking action, while being patient about letting the results come. The way to have it done is to get up and get it done. The way to live the life of your dreams is to bring it about with focused action. Get the power of momentum on your side and keep it there. Get in motion, stay in motion, and live life on your own very best terms.

http://www.innerhimalayas.com/

Monday 9 July 2012

Some people

When you express your ideas, some people will criticize and reject those ideas and your expression of them. Go ahead and express them anyway, learn what you can from the feedback, and watch your confidence soar. When you live your life with absolute fidelity to the authentic person you are, some people will laugh and make fun of you. Let them laugh, and let that laughter make your enjoyment of your own true fulfillment all the more sweet.
If you admit you don’t know something, some people might think you’re stupid or ignorant. Take comfort and satisfaction in reminding yourself that effective learning begins when you admit you do not know. Create value with honesty and integrity, and some people will look for ways to take unfair advantage of you. Be smart, be aware, be diligent and you can always stay several steps ahead of their dishonesty. Some people will complain and whine and berate you and spread vicious rumors about you behind your back. Yet you can always choose to let their negativity be their problem, and not yours. Don’t let the pettiness of some people slow you down for even a moment. Step forward with purpose, passion, positivity and confidence, and make your world the best it can be.



 
Don’t let the worst of life get to you. Instead, let the best of life shine through you. Let your attitude be based on your most positive vision rather than on what may or may not happen. When the world threatens to bring you down, choose to lift the world up. Set a positive, purposeful agenda for the day and then follow through with action. Show all of life how beautiful and meaningful it can be by the way you live it. There is enough dismay in the world without you adding to it. Do what is necessary to add to the joy, love, achievement and fulfillment. Choose to be aggressively, respectfully and authentically positive. Point the way forward with your attitude and your actions. Change life for the better by the way you look at it and by the way you live it. See the best, be your best, and make your world the best it can be.


Friday 6 July 2012

Most people don't understand themselves or others. we need to make time for this. We get too impatient. Very often, because we are not willing to take this time, misunderstandings continue. We don't take time to listen to someone quietly and try to understand them. Then we start inventing things about them, because we simply haven't taken the time to understand.

Look for what has not been seen before. Say what has not been said before. Seek to experience life in new and original ways. Today is a new day, so fill it with new substance. If you’re thinking the same thought over and over again, do something useful with that thought and then let it go. Make space for some real, original thoughts and experiences that are more than mere repeats. Time always moves forward, so move forward with it. Use time to learn, to grow, to enjoy and achieve in ways you’ve never done before. Pleasantly surprise yourself with how flexible and adaptable you can be. Delight yourself with new discoveries as the days and years unfold. This day is a one-of-a-kind original, so live it in an original way. Life is renewed in every moment, and you can choose to be constantly fresh and renewed as well.



Many people think that they need to do something special, be in a special place, say the right words, look the right way, with the proper clothes and the right accessories, to fully experience spirituality.

They don't. We don't. You don't.
You have all you need.
You are perfect.

You don't need a guru, crystals, angel cards, or incense, or anything else (although these things can be nice, and they can be helpful).
You simply need to clear your conscience, accept yourself as you are, love yourself as you are, and be present. Then you see love and beauty all around, and each moment becomes a lifetime.

Thursday 5 July 2012

Changes for the better

If you want the world to be a better place, then work to make it a better place. If you see something as a problem, then take responsibility for implementing a workable solution. It’s a waste of time to prove how bad things are. Instead, put your thoughts, your passion, your energy and efforts into making things better. When you find some aspect of life to be frustrating, or unjust, or abusive, don’t complain or assign blame. Come up with a positive alternative. Life changes in every moment. So use this moment to make some changes for the better. The future does not have to equal the past. You can choose your future by what you do with what you have right now. Just because you’re in a difficult situation, doesn’t mean you’re stuck there. Make some changes for the better, and move your life in the direction you choose.



Wednesday 4 July 2012

An angel is a guest for he cleans up behind him. Where there has been misunderstanding he returns to clarify; where there has been hatred he offers love. He is never without gifts and always without burden.



Leave the stress behind

Much of what is stressful to you is what you’ve decided is stressful. What if you decided differently? Feeling stressed in certain situations, or with certain tasks, or with certain people, is not a foregone conclusion. Rather, it’s a way you choose to respond. Sure, many things in life will challenge you greatly. Yet instead of letting those challenges get to you and make you stressful, you can choose a more powerful, effective response. Instead of seeing yourself as fighting against the challenges, you can see yourself as thriving on them, and even enjoying them. Even when people and situations are extremely difficult, you can find great fulfillment in calmly working through them. You can let others be stressed and angry and frustrated. All the while, you can choose to be peaceful and productive. Life’s difficulties don’t have to bring you down, because you have what it takes to lovingly and purposefully deal with them. Choose to respond with a positive perspective, and leave the stress behind.



Tuesday 3 July 2012

As you do, so you become. Every action that you perform is recorded in you, the soul. These imprints ultimately mould your character and destiny. When you understand this principle, you will pay more attention to bringing your best to everything you do.

If you want to go to the pure land,
Then purify your mind.
When your mind is pure,
Then whatever you see will be pure
And wherever you go
You will find the Buddha realm.

 - Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra


 

Monday 2 July 2012

Worth all the trouble

Life is a lot of trouble. And life is worth all the trouble. The best things can often be the most difficult things. So instead of running or hiding from the difficulties, courageously work through them. Life is filled with great and valuable opportunities. The most valuable of those opportunities are the ones that ask the most of you. When the frustrations come, be thankful for the chance to learn from them. When the disappointments come, be grateful for the opportunity to reaffirm and recommit to what’s most important. Life’s many troubles will come and go. As they do, the positive possibilities grow more numerous and magnificent. Embrace each day along with whatever it brings. And use it to add more joy to life no matter what.