What Thing you Paid for Made You the Happiest?
My stepfather and mother built us a treehouse when we were kids!
It was the best place to go to dream and share and to listen to the wind.
Being in that treehouse made me feel alive ! It was great!
Please write the thing that you or your folks bought that made or makes you happy!
If it will be in your blog please leave me a link.
"Sticks and Stones Will Break my Bones
But Words will Never Hurt Me" ...an old nursery rhyme
"Live in a Better Way"
by Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama says that every "sentient" being contributes something to us and Buddhists strive to help people around them in the best way.He reminds us that we are all dependent upon one another on this planet.
He says that whenever we meet very difficult or very negative people, we should hold them in high esteem because they can help us develop patience and altruism, two qualities that we need to take us down the path to bodhisattva, or the accomplishment of being Buddha who helps others.
A Buddhist,after having met with a difficult person, will try to meditate; asking that the person's suffering be lessened. He will not allow himself to become angry because anger cause grief and misery to oneself and to the other people. In fact, having to deal with a difficult person helps us to learn to deal with our own anger and sadness.These ideas take awhile to get used to.
What do you think about them?
The Dalai Lama and Your Life
The Dalai Lama is a great teacher. He is there for you even if you are not Buddhist or Hindu. He gives lessons about love, life and happiness that can be helpful in difficult circumstances.
He has an interesting perspective on life that includes trying to help other people , not harming them, and making a lifestyle out of helping people and growing as much as you can as a person.
What do you think of the Dalai Lama?
Send warm thoughts and prayers to Jill Carroll
Jill Carroll, an idealistic warm hearted woman working for the Christian Science Monitor in Iraq has been kidnapped awhile ago. Now her ransomers say that they will kill her tomorrow unless all of the women detaintees from Alkeide are released today or tomorrow.
Her mother talked about what a wonderful young woman she is. Her boss said that she loved the Iraqi people so much that she learned Arabic just to be able to report about their lives better.
Please send her your warm thoughts and love.
Thich Nhat Hanh and Mindfulness
"The Miracle of Mindfulness"
Thich Nhat Hanh
In the 1960s Thich Nhat Hanh had founded the School of Youth for Social Service in Vietnam; calling it "engaged Buddhism." Young students were trained by the monks to help peasants rebuild their villages, teach their children, set up medical facilities and set up farming cooperatives.
The school refuses to take aside in the war and the students were kidnapped and murdered by the Viet Kong, the army of the Communist North Vietnam. Thich Nhat Hanh was not allowed to move back home , so he wrote letters to encourage the students who he had left behind to be brave; this book is the compilation of those letters.
Thich Nhat Hanh says that when breathing our deep breath in we should be aware or mindful of it; the same mindfulness should be present when we are breathing out. He said that monks use their breath to build up their powers of concentration. He said that feelings and thoughts will arise when we are meditating and we are to acknowledge them. He used this as an example:"Let's say a feeling of sadness arises. say to yourself: "A feeling of sadness has come up in me." Likewise he said when there are no thoughts present, say to yourself:"There are no thoughts present right now.' In mindfulness , he said, we are both the observer of the mind and the mind.
there is a beautiful saying or Koan of this by the Zen masters:"what is the sound of one hand clapping?"It seems to Hanh that the mind experiences itself from within.
Buddha wrote once a "Sutra" of mindfulness. This Sutra describes the mind as being "like a monkey, swinging from the trees of the forest."The monkey mind exists because the mind is not aware of itself. The mind is like a man trying to gain control of the monkey as it travels from tree to tree.
"If the Buddha got Stuck"
by Charlotte Kasl, Ph.D.
In her book Dr. Kasl tells an old Buddhist tale.
A university professor goes to see an old Zen master for advice. The profesor sits down to have tea with the master. The Zen master pours the tea into his cup until it overflows into his lap. Dismayed, the professor looks over at him. He say"A mind that is already full cannot take in anything new."
The Monkey Mind and Meditation
The monkey mind is a common term people who meditate use to describe that wild part of their mind which wants to play, distract them, and constantly interrupt their thinking with unrelated thoughts. I have told Shermeen , Nicole and Marti that I would write something about the monkey mind and I will introduce him soon!
Has anyone experienced the monkey mind when trying to meditate or to pray?I would say yes I have experienced it!
American Idol to Break Records in the Number of
tv Viewers
Did you know that 26% of known tv viewers watched Amercina Idol last night? By any standards, that is the lion's share of a free market for oen show!Were you one of the people watching? And if so, did you like what you saw?
Our kids put it on...I would say it was hard to watch. Some of the talent was not yet ripe and the kids were not really encouraged to get voice and stage lessons and come back... A few lucky kids will be back!
What did you think?
