Dealing with criticism

Never allow anyone to rain on your parade. Remember that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business. Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it. Your time is too precious to be sacrificed in combating the menial forces of hate, jealously, and envy. Only God can shape a flower, but any foolish child can pull it to pieces.

~ Og Mandino

Eradicating the delusion of 'I am'

A questioner asked the Buddha:

"I would like to know about the state of peace, the state of solitude and of quiet detachment. How does a person become calm, independent, and not wanting to grasp at anything?"

"A person does this," replied the Buddha, "by eradicating the delusion of 'I am'.

By being alert and attentive, he begins to let go of cravings as they arise.

But whatever he begins to accomplish, he should beware of inner pride.

He must avoid thinking of himself as better than another, or worse or equal, for that is all comparison and emphasizes the self.

The person should look for peace within and not depend on it in any other place.

For when a person is quiet within, the self cannot be found.

There are no waves in the depths of the ocean, it is still and unbroken.

It is the same with the peaceful person.

He is still, without any longing to grasp.

He has let go the foundations of self and no longer build up pride and desire."

-Sutta Nipata

We

You and I
Beloved Being
Fish of One Sea
Birds of One Sky
Souls of One Love
Leaves of One Tree
Drops of One Ocean
Pieces of One Puzzle
Grains of One Desert
Siblings of One Family
Cells of One Organism
Pearls of One Necklace
Beauty of One Divine God
Breathes of One Consciousness.


—Dr. Dheena Sadik 2011

When Death Comes

by Mary Oliver

When death comes

like the hungry bear in autumn;

when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;

when death comes

like the measle-pox

when death comes

like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:

what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything

as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,

and I look upon time as no more than an idea,

and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common

as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,

tending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something

precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say all my life

I was a bride married to amazement.

I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder

if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,

or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

~ Mary Oliver

Are you fleeing from Love ...

Are you fleeing from Love because of a single humiliation?
What do you know of Love except the name? 

~ Rumi

Gurudev says ...

The hand that’s all logic is like a knife that’s all blade. it makes the hand bleed that uses it.

~~~

All men and women have poetry in their hearts, and it is necessary for them, as much as possible, to express their feelings.

~~~

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is putting aside the lamp because the dawn has come.

~~~

Do not say “it is morning” and dismiss it with a name of yesterday. See it for the first time as a new-born child that has no name.

~~~

He who wants to do good knocks at the gate, he who loves finds the gate open.

~~~

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung.

~~~

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.

~ Rabindranath Tagore

Saturday stunners

The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks is a minor hero compared to the lion who overcomes himself.

~ Rumi

"God has denied you nothing. Only you can deny yourself."

~ Alan Cohen

In any situation, ask yourself, "What is the gift -- and have I given thanks for it?"
And, "What is the lesson -- and am I learning it?"

~ Marianne Williamson

Inner power

You are innately designed to use your personal power. When you don't, you experience a sense of helplessness, paralysis, and depression-which is your clue that something is not working as it could. As you begin to understand the immense power and love you hold inside, you will find an unending surge of joy, light and love that will nourish and support you all the days of your life.

~ Susan Jeffers

Unrecoverables!

There are 5 things in life you cannot recover: A stone... after it's thrown. A word... after it is said. An occasion... after it's missed. The time... after it's gone. A person... after they die.

Life is short. Break the rules. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that made you smile.

Enjoy Life!

Try this ...

A five-word sentence that could change the world..

"What would love do now...?"

~ Neale Donald Walsch

Hu

(by Sri Aurobindo)

In the blue of the sky, in the green of the forest,

Whose is the hand that has painted the glow?

When the winds were asleep in the womb of the ether,

Who was it roused them and bade them to blow?

He is lost in the heart, in the cavern of Nature,

He is found in the brain where He builds up the thought:

In the pattern and bloom of the flowers He is woven,

In the luminous net of the stars He is caught.

In the strength of a man, in the beauty of woman,

In the laugh of a boy, in the blush of a girl;

The hand that sent Jupiter spinning through heaven,

Spends all its cunning to fashion a curl.

These are His works and His veils and His shadows;

But where is He then? by what name is He known?

Is He Brahma or Vishnu? a man or a woman?

Bodied or bodiless? twin or alone?

We have love for a boy who is dark and resplendent,

A woman is lord of us, naked and fierce.

We have seen Him a-muse on the snow of the mountains,

We have watched Him at work in the heart of the spheres.

We will tell the whole world of His ways and His cunning:

He has rapture of torture and passion and pain;

He delights in our sorrow and drives us to weeping,

Then lures with His joy and His beauty again.

All music is only the sound of His laughter,

All beauty the smile of His passionate bliss;

Our lives are His heart-beats, our rapture the bridal

Of Radha and Krishna, our love is their kiss.

He is strength that is loud in the blare of the trumpets,

And He rides in the car and He strikes in the spears;

He slays without stint and is full of compassion;

He wars for the world and its ultimate years.

In the sweep of the worlds, in the surge of the ages,

Ineffable, mighty, majestic and pure,

Beyond the last pinnacle seized by the thinker

He is throned in His seats that for ever endure.

The Master of man and his infinite Lover,

He is close to our hearts, had we vision to see;

We are blind with our pride and the pomp of our passions,

We are bound in our thoughts where we hold ourselves free.

It is He in the sun who is ageless and deathless,

And into the midnight His shadow is thrown;

When darkness was blind and engulfed within darkness,

He was seated within it immense and alone.

('HU' is the name by which the Sufis call the Divine Presence!)