Source: Terra Galleria
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
Monday Thought: Think in Circles
"You have noticed that everything that an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round....The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours....Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves."
--"Black Elk" Oglala
"You have noticed that everything that an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round....The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours....Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves."
--"Black Elk" Oglala
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Sunday Thought: It's All Sacred
"From Wakan-Tanka, the Great Mystery, comes all power. It is from Wakan-Tanka that the holy man has wisdom and the power to heal and make holy charms. Man knows that all healing plants are given by Wakan-Tanka; therefore they are holy. So too is the buffalo holy, because it is the gift of Wakan-Tanka."
- Flat-Iron (Maza Blaska) Oglala Sioux Chief
"From Wakan-Tanka, the Great Mystery, comes all power. It is from Wakan-Tanka that the holy man has wisdom and the power to heal and make holy charms. Man knows that all healing plants are given by Wakan-Tanka; therefore they are holy. So too is the buffalo holy, because it is the gift of Wakan-Tanka."
- Flat-Iron (Maza Blaska) Oglala Sioux Chief
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Saturday Thought: How Should We "Be"?
"Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, and beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a strange ... Show respect to all people and bow to no one ... "
~Tecumseh, Shawnee~
"Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, and beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a strange ... Show respect to all people and bow to no one ... "
~Tecumseh, Shawnee~
Friday, August 26, 2005
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Monday, August 22, 2005
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Lightning Bugs
By Don Iannone
Hot summer night.
Boys playing outside well past their bedtime.
Waiting and watching;
and suddenly
one appears
and then another, and ANOTHER!
Soon the yard is filled with those amazing blinking yellow bugs.
Lightning bugs.
Fireflies.
Magical flying illuminations.
Twinkle, twinkle little star
but how about those lightning bugs?
At first
we are content to just chase them
then the temptation grows beyond control.
Then there is the matter of the empty jelly jar
that beckons to be filled with the glorious flying Edisons.
Grass!
The bugs must have a few blades.
And they need air
so the jar's lid receives a few well-placed stabs
from our new Boy Scout pen knives.
"I'm coming," we shout in unison
as our Moms bellow from the back porch for us to get in the house.
One final decision must be made:
keep the bugs, or let them go?
It's a split vote
meaning we do the opposite of what we did last time.
So, the mysterious winged
twinkle-bugs are freed
at least until tomorrow's night falls:
and then, who knows?
By Don Iannone
Hot summer night.
Boys playing outside well past their bedtime.
Waiting and watching;
and suddenly
one appears
and then another, and ANOTHER!
Soon the yard is filled with those amazing blinking yellow bugs.
Lightning bugs.
Fireflies.
Magical flying illuminations.
Twinkle, twinkle little star
but how about those lightning bugs?
At first
we are content to just chase them
then the temptation grows beyond control.
Then there is the matter of the empty jelly jar
that beckons to be filled with the glorious flying Edisons.
Grass!
The bugs must have a few blades.
And they need air
so the jar's lid receives a few well-placed stabs
from our new Boy Scout pen knives.
"I'm coming," we shout in unison
as our Moms bellow from the back porch for us to get in the house.
One final decision must be made:
keep the bugs, or let them go?
It's a split vote
meaning we do the opposite of what we did last time.
So, the mysterious winged
twinkle-bugs are freed
at least until tomorrow's night falls:
and then, who knows?
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Friday, August 19, 2005
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Monday, August 15, 2005
Clover Field
Growing up in Martins Ferry, we loved to play in a magical clover field near Old County Road. It was a favorite summertime place we visited often. Some times to playfully taunt the old bull who stalked the field. Other times we enjoyed lying on our backs in the cool sweet clover and watch wispy clouds pass across the sky. For some reason, we always learned something about ourselves while visiting the clover field.
How can you reach your soul?
One way is to meditate on a regular basis and allow the silence within you to grow. Your soul will speak to you amidst this silence; once the inner clamouring and noise settles down some.
Don't know how to meditate. That's ok. Meditation isn’t some sort of magical panacea. It is a direct and powerful way to engage in your own growth and evolution. Learn more here.
Don't know what to say to your soul. Try saying nothing. Your soul knows what you want, need, and intend. Trust your soul to tell you what you need to know.
If I want to ask for guidance from your soul, what and how do I ask? Simply ask your soul to show you, or help you see, who you really are today. Then, watch carefully. I guarantee you will gain some new insight into who you are spiritually.
--Don
One way is to meditate on a regular basis and allow the silence within you to grow. Your soul will speak to you amidst this silence; once the inner clamouring and noise settles down some.
Don't know how to meditate. That's ok. Meditation isn’t some sort of magical panacea. It is a direct and powerful way to engage in your own growth and evolution. Learn more here.
Don't know what to say to your soul. Try saying nothing. Your soul knows what you want, need, and intend. Trust your soul to tell you what you need to know.
If I want to ask for guidance from your soul, what and how do I ask? Simply ask your soul to show you, or help you see, who you really are today. Then, watch carefully. I guarantee you will gain some new insight into who you are spiritually.
--Don
Monday Thought: See Others Fully
"When we perceive human values in our colleagues, even if they seem to be covered up at times, it helps us to see them in a new light, and gives us a way to connect even when there are differences."
Read more here.
"When we perceive human values in our colleagues, even if they seem to be covered up at times, it helps us to see them in a new light, and gives us a way to connect even when there are differences."
Read more here.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Sunday Thought: Memories
As much as we try to live in the present, we still need our memories to round out our lives. Often our memories are about events, both happy and sad. As I inventory my memories, which come and go into my consciousness, I keep reminding myself to remember who I am. Let a favorite memory light on your shoulder like a beautiful butterfly and remind you who you really are.
--Don
As much as we try to live in the present, we still need our memories to round out our lives. Often our memories are about events, both happy and sad. As I inventory my memories, which come and go into my consciousness, I keep reminding myself to remember who I am. Let a favorite memory light on your shoulder like a beautiful butterfly and remind you who you really are.
--Don
You're My Butterfly
Lyrics/Song By Lenny Kravitz
Your are the most beautiful thing
I've ever seen
You shine just like sunlight rays
On a winter snow
I just had to tell you so
Your eyes sparkle as the stars
Like the moon they glow
Your smile could light the world on fire
Or did you know?
Your minds full of everything
That I want to know
I just had to let you know
I just had to tell you so
Your're my butterfly
Fly high
Fly fly fly
Lyrics/Song By Lenny Kravitz
Your are the most beautiful thing
I've ever seen
You shine just like sunlight rays
On a winter snow
I just had to tell you so
Your eyes sparkle as the stars
Like the moon they glow
Your smile could light the world on fire
Or did you know?
Your minds full of everything
That I want to know
I just had to let you know
I just had to tell you so
Your're my butterfly
Fly high
Fly fly fly
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
America
By Robert Creeley
America, you ode for reality!
Give back the people you took.
Let the sun shine again
on the four corners of the world
you thought of first but do not
own, or keep like a convenience.
People are your own word, you
invented that locus and term.
Here, you said and say, is
where we are. Give back
what we are, these people you made,
us, and nowhere but you to be.
By Robert Creeley
America, you ode for reality!
Give back the people you took.
Let the sun shine again
on the four corners of the world
you thought of first but do not
own, or keep like a convenience.
People are your own word, you
invented that locus and term.
Here, you said and say, is
where we are. Give back
what we are, these people you made,
us, and nowhere but you to be.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
One to ponder...
"Jesus similarly spoke of the "narrow way," esoterically referring to the ascent in meditation of the life force and consciousness through the gateway at the base of the spine (muladhara chakra) and the narrow passageway of the sushumna: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14)."
--Paramahansa Yogananda, in The Bhagavad Gita: God Talks With Arjuna
"Jesus similarly spoke of the "narrow way," esoterically referring to the ascent in meditation of the life force and consciousness through the gateway at the base of the spine (muladhara chakra) and the narrow passageway of the sushumna: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14)."
--Paramahansa Yogananda, in The Bhagavad Gita: God Talks With Arjuna
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Message From The Past
By Lance D. Smith
You've kept me close
While trying to escape from me
I am the past that you run from
But today I come in peace
I influence your decisions
Created your personality
I am the same old script
That hides the truth you seek
I've caused you anger
I’ve created pain
I told you “What’s the use”
Life was just the same old thing
There’s no need to resolve or change me
To hold on or forgive
You have the key to your freedom
And how you truly want to live
I offer you this secret
Because you gave me life
I no longer want to hurt you
It's time to set things right
We hold each other prisoners
Locked together in a vault
Simply release me from your memory
My only power is in your thoughts
You can let me go
I’ll be on my way
Unless you want to live in me
I no longer have a say
There’s no need to justify me
There’s no case to defend
Send home all the witnesses
And begin your life again
Life is Love
Expressed new in you each day
It flows through you
Like a river on its way
You can create
More than I can contain
I’ll only hinder you
By holding onto the same
So the secret I offer
My only power is in your thoughts
You have to think hard to create me
I’m not real at all
You’ll find new life
Turning your thoughts away from me
And I’ll die from this secret
Now that I’ve set you free
By Lance D. Smith
You've kept me close
While trying to escape from me
I am the past that you run from
But today I come in peace
I influence your decisions
Created your personality
I am the same old script
That hides the truth you seek
I've caused you anger
I’ve created pain
I told you “What’s the use”
Life was just the same old thing
There’s no need to resolve or change me
To hold on or forgive
You have the key to your freedom
And how you truly want to live
I offer you this secret
Because you gave me life
I no longer want to hurt you
It's time to set things right
We hold each other prisoners
Locked together in a vault
Simply release me from your memory
My only power is in your thoughts
You can let me go
I’ll be on my way
Unless you want to live in me
I no longer have a say
There’s no need to justify me
There’s no case to defend
Send home all the witnesses
And begin your life again
Life is Love
Expressed new in you each day
It flows through you
Like a river on its way
You can create
More than I can contain
I’ll only hinder you
By holding onto the same
So the secret I offer
My only power is in your thoughts
You have to think hard to create me
I’m not real at all
You’ll find new life
Turning your thoughts away from me
And I’ll die from this secret
Now that I’ve set you free
Hands
By Siv Cedering
I
When I fall asleep
my hands leave me.
They pick up pens
and draw creatures
with five feathers
on each wing.
The creatures multiply.
They say: "We are large
like your father's
hands."
They say: "We have
your mother's
knuckles."
I speak to them:
"If you are hands,
why don't you
touch?"
And the wings beat
the air, clapping.
They fly
high above elbows
and wrists.
They open windows
and leave
rooms.
They perch in treetops
and hide under bushes
biting
their nails. "Hands,"
I call them.
But it is fall
and all creatures
with wings
prepare to fly
South.
II
When I sleep
the shadows of my hands
come to me.
They are softer than feathers
and warm as creatures
who have been close
to the sun.
They say: "We are the giver,"
and tell of oranges
growing on trees.
They say: "We are the vessel,"
and tell of journeys
through water.
They say: "We are the cup."
And I stir in my sleep.
Hands pull triggers
and cut
trees. But
the shadows of my hands
tuck their heads
under wings
waiting
for morning,
when I will wake
braiding
three strands of hair
into one.
By Siv Cedering
I
When I fall asleep
my hands leave me.
They pick up pens
and draw creatures
with five feathers
on each wing.
The creatures multiply.
They say: "We are large
like your father's
hands."
They say: "We have
your mother's
knuckles."
I speak to them:
"If you are hands,
why don't you
touch?"
And the wings beat
the air, clapping.
They fly
high above elbows
and wrists.
They open windows
and leave
rooms.
They perch in treetops
and hide under bushes
biting
their nails. "Hands,"
I call them.
But it is fall
and all creatures
with wings
prepare to fly
South.
II
When I sleep
the shadows of my hands
come to me.
They are softer than feathers
and warm as creatures
who have been close
to the sun.
They say: "We are the giver,"
and tell of oranges
growing on trees.
They say: "We are the vessel,"
and tell of journeys
through water.
They say: "We are the cup."
And I stir in my sleep.
Hands pull triggers
and cut
trees. But
the shadows of my hands
tuck their heads
under wings
waiting
for morning,
when I will wake
braiding
three strands of hair
into one.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Soul Consciousness
"As in the region of knowledge so in that of consciousness, man must clearly realise some central truth which will give him an outlook over the widest possible field. And that is the object which the Upanishad has in view when it says, Know thine own Soul. Or, in other words, realise the one great principal of unity that there is in every man."
From Soul Consciousness by Tagore
"As in the region of knowledge so in that of consciousness, man must clearly realise some central truth which will give him an outlook over the widest possible field. And that is the object which the Upanishad has in view when it says, Know thine own Soul. Or, in other words, realise the one great principal of unity that there is in every man."
From Soul Consciousness by Tagore
One to ponder...
"Since you've looked at this review, 10 persons have died worldwide, on the average of 1.76 persons per second, to be precise. For every 1000 persons alive today, 8 will die within the next year. If you live in a midsize American town, that means an average of 3.5 deaths per day. In metropolitan areas the size of Boston, Denver, and Seattle, the daily mortality rate rises to almost 40 persons. In North America, accidental or sudden catastrophic illness accounts for only about 20 percent of all fatalities — 80 percent of Americans die in bed. The majority of us will die a natural death due to long-term disease or the aging process." More here.
"Since you've looked at this review, 10 persons have died worldwide, on the average of 1.76 persons per second, to be precise. For every 1000 persons alive today, 8 will die within the next year. If you live in a midsize American town, that means an average of 3.5 deaths per day. In metropolitan areas the size of Boston, Denver, and Seattle, the daily mortality rate rises to almost 40 persons. In North America, accidental or sudden catastrophic illness accounts for only about 20 percent of all fatalities — 80 percent of Americans die in bed. The majority of us will die a natural death due to long-term disease or the aging process." More here.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Friday, August 05, 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Dream Song 1
By John Berryman
Huffy Henry hid the day,
unappeasable Henry sulked.
I see his point,--a trying to put things over.
It was the thought that they thought
they could do it made Henry wicked & away.
But he should have come out and talked.
All the world like a woolen lover
once did seem on Henry's side.
Then came a departure.
Thereafter nothing fell out as it might or ought.
I don't see how Henry, pried
open for all the world to see, survived.
What he has now to say is a long
wonder the world can bear & be.
Once in a sycamore I was glad
all at the top, and I sang.
Hard on the land wears the strong sea
and empty grows every bed.
By John Berryman
Huffy Henry hid the day,
unappeasable Henry sulked.
I see his point,--a trying to put things over.
It was the thought that they thought
they could do it made Henry wicked & away.
But he should have come out and talked.
All the world like a woolen lover
once did seem on Henry's side.
Then came a departure.
Thereafter nothing fell out as it might or ought.
I don't see how Henry, pried
open for all the world to see, survived.
What he has now to say is a long
wonder the world can bear & be.
Once in a sycamore I was glad
all at the top, and I sang.
Hard on the land wears the strong sea
and empty grows every bed.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Wise words...
"World peace today, is at the nadir. There are wars and violence on every continent. Most of them are inspired by fanatic religious ends or greed for power and wealth. Suffering in the form of hunger, poverty, disease, exploitation, drug abuse, environmental pollution, natural disasters and mental stress is rampant all over the world. Life of the common man is filled with stress, suffering and danger. The spiritual effort of the sincere devotee is filled with obstacles. The world, which is the stage for the Cosmic Drama, is damaged. The individuals, who are the actors in this Cosmic Drama, are unable to perform their roles properly. The time has come when each person has to ask himself as to why world peace has been disturbed to such an extent. A detailed and systematic analysis of the situation will reveal that the answer to this question is not in science, economics or politics but in spirituality. Let us analyze the causes and solutions of some of the problems facing the world today."
Source: Shri Datta Swami
"World peace today, is at the nadir. There are wars and violence on every continent. Most of them are inspired by fanatic religious ends or greed for power and wealth. Suffering in the form of hunger, poverty, disease, exploitation, drug abuse, environmental pollution, natural disasters and mental stress is rampant all over the world. Life of the common man is filled with stress, suffering and danger. The spiritual effort of the sincere devotee is filled with obstacles. The world, which is the stage for the Cosmic Drama, is damaged. The individuals, who are the actors in this Cosmic Drama, are unable to perform their roles properly. The time has come when each person has to ask himself as to why world peace has been disturbed to such an extent. A detailed and systematic analysis of the situation will reveal that the answer to this question is not in science, economics or politics but in spirituality. Let us analyze the causes and solutions of some of the problems facing the world today."
Source: Shri Datta Swami
On further thought...
"There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
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