A concise, definite, resultful plan with rules, explanations and suggestions for bettering your condition in life.
What is the Real Secret of Obtaining Desirable Possessions?
ARE some people born under a lucky star or other charm which enables them to have all that which seems so desirable, and if not, what is the cause of the difference in conditions under which men live?
Many years ago, feeling that there must be a logical answer to this question, I decided to find out, if possible, what it was. I found the answer to my own satisfaction, and for years, have given the information to others who have used it successfully. [click to continue…]
Carol and I scooted out for a little day trip to Banyen Books and Carol discovered a copy of David Lynch’s book Catching the Big Fish for me to read.
Kind of perfect. A book about filmmaking and meditation from someone who’s art and vision I respect very much. I couldn’t put it down last night. Each little blurb on everything from notes on specific films of Lynch’s to consciousness itself are presented in neat little easy to digest chapters of no more than two pages.
Below is David Lynch talking about his very first experience with meditation:
I’m so grateful that someone of his stature is willing to share these experiences with people like me who are trying to grow in the right direction. Thank you David.
More about David Lynch:
davidlynch.com – official website for artist David Lynch with daily weather report
dlf.tv – more fascinating video from the David Lynch Foundation
This is one of the most moving pieces of video I’ve seen in a long time:
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another. [source TED and The Positivity Blog]
Dr. Bolte Taylor’s ability to find spiritual significance during a near fatal cerebral hemorrhage is astonishing, terrifying and uplifting all at once. Probably the most important twenty minutes I’ve spent in a while. I must attend TED one of these years.
The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip. You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just read the post straight through, and you’ll get the point.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners .
Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
Easier?
The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care .
Pass this on to those people who have made a difference in your life.
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.” (Charles Schultz)
Thanks to birthmom Dianne for this. See you on Saturday!
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” A Return to Love – Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles by Marianne Williamson
What a beautiful passage. I’ve heard and read it many times before, but it rang more truly than ever especially considering what I’ve been through of late. It comes, as things usually do, at exactly the time I needed to be reminded of it. Once again it affirms the spiritual truth that who we truly are is exactly who we are supposed to be and that we all have much to offer this world regardless of opinions (our own and other’s) to the contrary. I feel comfort in the knowledge that I truly aspire to this. As long as my behaviour matches my beliefs I’m on the right path. Spiritual integrity: What a concept.
Just a side note: This quote has been attributed Nelson Mandela as a part of his inaugural speech of 1994. Apparently, and surprising to me as I had believed it as well, incorrectly so. He did not, according to a little research, use the above in his speeches that year. Mandela’s actual inaugural speeches are at these links: speech 1 and speech 2
Confucious kept it a little shorter (and a little sharper): To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice.
Here’s some more quotations on integrity that I’m finding comfort in. Especially:
Having integrity means… being completely true to what is inside you– to what you know is right… what you feel you must do, regardless of the immediate cost of sacrifice… to be honorable and to behave decently. – Samuel Goldwyn, 1960
What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they always keep. – Dennis Waitley
It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe. – Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
and finally:
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Shakespeare, Hamlet
UPDATE: After reading Moselle’s remark below I thought I had better clear something up prior to more comments. Religiosity is not my intent, but spirituality. There’s a huge difference. The word ‘God’ tends to freak a lot of people out. When I speak of or relate to God I in no way mean anything near a ‘Christian’, ‘Islamic’, ‘Jewish’, ‘Hindu’ or any other religious God (which I can’t accept). The guiding tenets of all the religions I’ve studied are basically the same, but there are portions of each one that just drive me up a wall. The ‘God’ I speak of is my own personal conception of God. My God is more like ‘the Force’ in Star Wars. That’s the best way I can describe it. Today I choose the path of Obi-wan Kenobi rather than that of Darth Vader. If when reading spiritual literature you are stumped by a word like God just substitute it with what you’re comfortable with like spirit, good orderly direction, love, the light, the force, goodness, goddess or anything else.
