Day 3 - Tauranga to Wellington

After a good night's sleep (thanks to the soak in the pool) I wake up and after a cup of tea, go for another soak in the pool. A short one this time :))) Breakfast and packing over, we check out and decide to explore the water-front. The bayside is beautiful, the tide is out it looks like, and so the birds are busy on the mudflats looking for food. The breeze is strong and tosses the trees making the most beautiful music. I walk under some ancient pohutukawas (a native NZ flowering tree) which are not in flower yet but have these great masses of ariel roots growing downwards, some enveloping the trunk in some kind of rooty embrace :) While the young roots look red and tender against the dried up, brown ones. The houses lining the bayside look lovely and they somehow remind me of Kerala houses, basking in the warm sunshine, while people sit outside in summer clothes and sip tea or beer. There is a languid grace to Tauranga that is captivating and relaxing. And I somehow want to linger and lurk and stay on.

Alas! can't do that, so we pile into the car and head homewards. On the way we stop at a kiwifruit tourist attraction. There are acres and acres of kiwifruit plantation all looking happy and gleaming in the sun. We go into the tourist centre and I buy a kiwifruit soap, preserves and jam. And then it's driving again southwards.

The day is beautiful, and the countryside sparkles like a green jewel set off by the sunbeams. Lakes and streams flash by bluely and pastures and hills roll along placidly. Pine forests rise on both sides sometimes and the sunlight streams into the forest floor in long yellow fingers lighting up the grass and bushes on the ground. If a wind is blowing, the branches wave their arms at me as we pass :)

We drive through Rotorua and stop at Taupo for lunch. It's good to see Lake Taupo again, gleaming blue under the blue sky. I always find the lake amazing, I mean it's the crater of a volcano and it's so big on misty days one can hardly see the other side. And this great opening filled up with fresh water fed by the surrounding rivers and streams. The water is calm today and there is such a feeling of sublime peace when I gaze at it. Sigh. I feel like lingering and gazing at the lake for a long time, but the tyrant with its ever-moving hands reminds me that we need to get to Wellington soon.

So we're off again. We stop again at Rations Cafe in Waioru for a cup of tea and then I take to the wheel. In spite of my best intentions, I make of couple of reckless mistakes one of which I'm sure must have given the driver of a massive truck a massive heart attack :((( I feel sorry for a long time afterwards. By the grace of God we reach Wellington by 7.40, in one piece, relaxed but tired, having had a wonderful time up north.

Day 2 - Whakatane to Tauranga

I got up at eight, or was it 8.30. Who cares? After all I'm on holiday. My body said that it could sleep for another 12 hours. But I didn't have another 12 hours, coz we had to check out at 10. So I drag myself out of bed and have tea and the fried eggs and toast which M has so kindly made for me. Anyway, my protesting body is moving in slow-motion but by 9.50 we're all packed and checked out. I had signed up to go to the While Island, an active volcano, a long distance into the sea. It would have involved a 2-hour boat ride, then 2 hours on the island and 2 hours for the return trio, but weather conditions do not permit the trip :((( We decide to take a walk along the Whakatane River which runs alongside the motel and spend the good part of the next 45 mins sauntering along the placidly flowing river. We see a Boat Club and stand and watch youngsters being coached in rowing. Then we go to the Town Hall coz M is keen to see some Craft Fair that's going on there. End up spending heaps of money quite unnecessarily. :((( Then, we head off for the mouth of the river where it meets the sea. Great views. There is a statue of a woman built atop a little hilltop in the waters. The Woman of the Sea I think she is called and there is some local legend about her bringing the first weka (boat) that the Maori came in safely ashore. Then we head out of Whakatane.

The drive to Tauranga is very picturesque, For a long stretch, the road runs along the sea and as always the surrounding countryside is green, clean and fresh. Cattle, sheep and horses graze in the fields and houses rise occasionally among them. We pass little towns with sweet names like Pengakawa, Maniatutu and Te Puke. About an hour later we reach Tauranga. Which is a seaside city too but has an estuarine look, therefore to get the city we have to drive over bridges that span over the bays. Very beautiful.

We are checked into the motel by Marilyn. Marilyn is a curious contrast to Magdalene of yesterday. While Magdalene was very friendly and a bit short of information, Marilyn is very matter-of-fact and businesslike and has lots of information to offer. Not that I'm complaining :))) The room is cosy and comfortable and has a little mineral-water pool outside in an enclosed area. We have lunch and then I decide to take a little nap. Must say, it proves a little difficult at first since I'm not used to sleeping in the afternoon, but soon my body winds down and I nap for a while and then wake up and lie in the soft bed just letting my mind float. That is one of the joys of being on holiday, I can give that tyrant, the clock, a massive ignore. The person who divided the day into hours, minutes and seconds must have been an unhappy person indeed. Why would one want to measure one's life in little time chunks? And now the malaise is so deep-rooted that we let our lives be dictated by a mechanical device with hands that move unceasingly. Sigh !!! Even by four my body and mind are reluctant to get vertical so I remain prone in bed, just being lazy :))).

After a while I get up, have a cup of tea and we head out for sightseeing. First stop is the beach. This one is a surfers' beach coz the waves come in in long big curls and sure enough there are a lot of surfers in the water riding the waves. I walk along leisurely taking loads of pictures. The beach, the sea, the sky and the skyline are so beautiful, I feel the photos will not do justice to the breathtaking beauty. The sound of the crashing waves is music to my jaded ears. there is such an air of timelessness about the ocean. Heaving and crashing on the fine sand, pulled by the moon, the interconnectedness of all things becomes evident. After the sun's gone down over the hills, it turns a bit chilly and head back to the car and drive to Mt.Manganui. It looks more like a hillock to me after coming from mountainous Wellington :)) We find an Indian restaurant and order some takeaway including some fih and chicken. I don't know why but I have this sudden desire to eat some meat :( While we're waiting for the food to be ready we drive out to the harbour area, where the ships are docked and where little sailboats dot the calm waters of the bay, looking very pretty and very Meditteranean.

We reach the motel and I start eating only to feel disappointed and crappy. The meat does not taste as good as I had imagined it to be and I am feeling crappy that I broke my long held resolve. Anyway, to make myself feel better, I climb into the hot-water pool.

Aaaaaahhhh!!! My body and mind immediately relax and let out a long exhalation. The water is bore-welled straight from under the earth :))) and has a sulphuric smell to it. It feels hot and urgent against my skin and the aches and pains in my body begin to throb. I hope that by the time I get out, they'll be all gone :) The inlet that lets the water in is directly behind my back and it gives a pleasant vibration on my back as the mild current hits my body. I just lie there eyes closed and soak it all in. Little by little my body releases its tensions and little by little the sky above darkens. The rain that had started earlier has now stopped and through the gaps in the clouds I see the stars come out. My body just floats in the water disregarding gravity, it's amazing. After a long time, I climb out of the pool and take a shower. When I finish, I am so relaxed that I feel like I'm drunk. I climb into bed and try to sleep, but sleep comes slowly, and when it finally comes it enfolds me in its warm embrace.

Day 1 - Wellington to Whakatane

We left at 6.40 in the morning even though I had planned to leave at 6. Stopped for breakfast at around 8 at Paraparamau, then drove right up to Waioru which has got an army outpost, so the cafe over there is called Rations :))) It's actually owned by a second-generation Malaysian Indian whose parents were from Kerala. We had chatted him up the last time we were there and he had told us that he had done his colleging in some Kerala university. We met him today again and to my great surprise he said, 'It's good to see you folks again'. How sweet of him, or maybe it's a business tactic.

Thereafter I took to the wheel and as usual turned into a daredevil :))) overtaking dangerously and all that, but these days I'm a bit more cautious, I must be getting old :((( We crossed the Desert Road, with Mount Raupahu rising majestically on our left. The spring weather seems to have depleted its snow cover somewhat but it still looked stunning and glorious, white-streaked on the sides.

We reached Taupo soon after and the lake was calm this time, glittering blue, with its waters gently lapping the sides. It was hard for me to take my eyes off the lake but the roads were winding and steep, so I missed seeing most of the lake this time.

We crossed Taupo without stopping and just on the way out saw a girl on the side of the road hitch-hiking. So I stopped and we gave her a lift. She wanted to go to Tauranga but we were going to Whakatane so we told her we could drop her off at Rotorua. She seemed to have been partying all night coz she still smelt of alcohol. But she told us that she was going to Tauranga for a family get-together and that her car had broken down. Fair enough. After we dropped her off at Rotorua, M remarked as to how she could be traveling without any belongings, for indeed she had nothing with her, except a coat. So, tongue-in-cheek I told him, that's the best way to travel through life, without any possessions. He didn't look too impressed.

We parked in a petrol station and had our lunch (curd-rice, aachar, and potato sabzi) out of the back of the car. M said we could have found a park to sit and eat but somehow I wanted to get to Whakatane soon. Hmmmm..... Strange behaviour from me, coz I always like to take the journey slow and easy and enjoy it.

M drove through the last leg of the journey from Rotorua to Whakatane. On the way we passed the Rotorua lakes. Beautiful blue jewels, calm and serene, the road hugging the sides. The scenery throughout was breathtakingly beautiful. The rains had made everything green and verdant, the valleys gurgles with little streams and the hills rose green and pockmarked with sheep. Mist hung to the hillsides occasionally and light rain fell here and there. Wildflowers nodded their dainty little colourful heads from the sides of the roads and hills and from crevices in rocks. And the clouds lumped white in the blue sky, fat and voluminous.

We reached Whakatane at around 2.30 and checked into our motel. Our hostess Magdelena is an interesting woman. South African of origin, she came to NZ 10 years ago and started running this motel 2 years ago. We settled in and I was quite tired from the lack of sleep and the drive so I took a little nap. M went for a walk meanwhile. At around 5, we decided to check out the beach at Ohune.

After a 20 minute drive, we reached Ohune, parked the car and went for a stroll along the beach. I had a gala time taking pictures, while the surf roared in the background and then spent itself out, flattening itself on the beach sands. The waves had made interesting patterns on the sand and the foam left behind looked like modern art. After the sun dipped in the horizon and it got a bit chilly, we got back into the car and decided to explore the little harbour, but after a lot of driving didn't find it. So we headed back to the motel.

Oh! to flow like a stream ...

I had a beautiful experience on my walk yesterday. I decided to go and sit in the park, but on the way to the park-bench, I found a lil road that I decided to follow (always the curious Arian :))) This road led to a bridge over a stream so I just stood there for a while and listened to the sound of the water flowing. It was flowing fairly fast, the rains must have swelled the headwaters up in the hills. It gleamed and sang and threw up little bubbles as it raced merrily along. The rest of the scenery was green - with grass, and little, bell-shaped wildflowers among them, nodding gaily in the breeze and trees with young leaves and birds looking for food among them. I looked up skywards, and saw the blue through the silhouettes of branches and buds and leaves.

How can I not feel the presence of the divine? sigh... My mind became still and peace settled into my heart. I felt like melting and merging with that stream and flowing on to the sea, singing happily along the way. Yes, that's the way to live, fluid-like, flowing always, in tune with the spirit. The physical is so confining and our mind even though so vast we limit it and bind it with rules and limitations, sigh. Let's flow like a river always, rushing towards the sea of divinity, where all boundaries dissolve and where there is only boundlessness ...

And so I drop the search ....

Today I realised that there is no need to seek the divine in me, I already am. All I need to do is drop the seeking and just be.... in that being is divinity. Seeking implies a journey, sometimes called a journey into oneself, but where will I go and search when divinity is already here in the now. When I drop all these mind-games, the labels, the goals, even drop all effort, there is a stillness and a deep silence. It is deeply peaceful and alive at the same time. Then it matters not if I'm labelled animal or human or divine. All I then know is boundlessness, and bliss.

Kempis

"He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen. He whose disposition is well ordered cares nothing about the strange, perverse behavior of others, for a man is upset and distracted only in proportion as he engrosses himself in externals."

---- Kempis

Notes from the Universe

Courageous is the soul who ventures into time and space to learn of their divinity. For while they cannot lose, they can think they have, and the loss will seem intolerable. And while they cannot fail, they can think they have, and the pain will seem unbearable. And while they cannot ever be less than they truly are – powerful, eternal, and loved – they can think they are, and all hope will seem lost.

And therein lies their test. A test of perceptions: of what to focus on, of what to believe in, in spite of appearances.

Courageous indeed … the pride of the Universe, and I should know.

The only difference between a friend and a foe is that you’ve decided where love will grow.

There isn’t a soul on this planet who doesn’t crave your approval.

Whoever may torment you, harass you, confound you, or upset you is a teacher.

Not because they’re wise, but because you seek to become so.

--- Notes from the Universe (New perspectives from an old friend) by Mike Dooley

Mahavakyas

Every upanishad has at least one mahavakya. A mahavakya literally means great statement. These statements are great because of their ability to directly indicate the identity of the jeevatma and the paramatma and destroy avidya.

Some of the more famous mahavakyas are -

1. prajnanam bramhan - aitreya upanishad

This means that consciousness is brahman. The word brahman comes form the sanskrit root brh which means expansion or vastness. Brahman is used to indicate the infinite, all pervading, non dual reality. Nothing can exist without consciousness. In absence of consciousness there is no observer. In absence of the observer there can be no observed, since it would not be observed even if it existed. Therefore without consciousness nothing exists, which leads to the conclusion that everything exists in consciousness. Therefore consciousness is all pervading and infinite, that which is infinite is non-dual. Since there cannot be two non dual entities, we conclude that consciousness is brahman.

2. aham brahmasmi - brhadaranyaka upanishad

This means I am brahman. Earlier we have deduced that brahman is consciousness. Here it is clearly stated that I am brahman. Thus I am consciousness. This utterly shatters all false identifications in the form of I am the body, I am the mind, I am the intellect etc. It establishes that I am the consciousness behind all the experiences of the body mind and intellect, I am observer, the body, mind, intellect, senses etc are only my instruments. I am infinite, I am all pervading. If carefully examined this statement destroys all sorrow. Sorrow stems form wanting something, from not having something, a desire frustrated, an expectation let down. Now if I am the infinite non-dual brahman, then nothing exists other than me. Therefore where is the question of desire. I can only desire something other than me, I can only have expectations when there is something other than me to expect something from. Thus this statement removes all sorrows at the root, restablishing the identity of myself as brahman alone.

3. Sarvam Khalvidam brahma - chandogya upanishad

This is translated as everything is truly brahman. Previously we said I am brahman. Of course only one logical step away is the conclusion that everything else is also brahman. Thus all likes and dislikes, all prejudices, all pairs of opposites like pain and pleasure, love and hate, etc resolve themselves, as mere illusions caused by our own false identifications.

There are many other great mahavakyas, deep reflection on these leads to great insights and revelations into truth.

tat twam asi - that thou art
ishavasyam idam sarvam - the lord is in all this
ayamatma brahma - this spirit is brahman
soham - I am Him.

a beautiful verse of Sri Adishankaracharya comes to mind...

asamgoham asamgoham asamgoham punah punaha
satchidananda roopoham aham eva aham avyayaha

I am unattached, I am unattached, I am unattached for ever.
I am the form of existence, consciousness and bliss, I alone am, I am eternal.

(I found this at http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=16759 )

The call

The spirits call, the angels call
the ether calls the most,
through eons rolls this clarion call
my soul, respond it must.
This body, thick and dense, it sheds
the traps of mind discards,
and then in leaping flight ascends
into nothingness dissolves.

How?

How can I be alone when I have the Universe for company?

How can I be empty when I am filled up with Its spaces?

How can I be limited when in surrender I lose by boundaries?

How can I be in need when I dwell in Abundance?

How can I be imperfect when I am fashioned by Perfection?

Follow your destiny

...... wherever it leads you

There comes a time in your life when you realise that if you stand still, you will remain at this point forever. You realize that if you fall and stay down, life will pass you by.

Life's circumstances are not always what you might wish them to be. The pattern of life does not necessarily go as you plan. Beyond any understanding, you may at times be led in different directions that you never imagined, dreamed or designed. Yet if you had never put any effort into choosing a path, or tried to carry out your dream, then perhaps you would have no direction at all.

Rather than wondering about or questioning the direction your life has taken, accept the fact that there is a path before you now. Shake off the 'whys' and 'what ifs', and rid yourself of confusion. Whatever was - is in the past. Whatever is - is what's important. The past is a brief reflection. The future is yet to be realized. Today is here.

Walk your path one step at a time - with courage, faith, and determination. Keep your head up and cast your dreams to the stars. Soon your steps will become firm, and your footing will be solid again. A path that you never imagined will become the most comfortable direction you could have ever hoped to follow.

Keep your belief in yourself and walk into your new journey. You will find it magnificent, spectacular, and beyond your wildest imaginings.

- Vicki Silvers




These are the words on a card that Nicky, a dear, dear friend gave me :)))

The Beauty of Disillusionment

The Beauty of Disillusionment
Vernon Howard

From "The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power":

To be disillusioned is a wonderful state to achieve, a marvelous breakthrough into sunlight. Do not think of disillusion as a sad thing. We think this state is terrible. We are mistaken, It is there that we find peace, liberty (Francois Fenelon)

Disillusionment with yourself must precede enlightenment. If you are disillusioned, I am very glad for you, for now there are great possibilities. Do you feel that nothing you know can fulfill you? Great. You are preparing a psychic emptiness, which can be filled with something making sense at last. You are ready to leap from the frustrating known to the emancipating unknown, magnificently beyond your present self.

Tired of trying to believe in something? Good for you. You can now let something believe in you. It is especially splendid to get disillusioned with people, most of all, your best friends. No, not in cynicism and bitterness, for these are still prison cells consisting of your own defensive attitudes. You don't want emotion-charged attitudes toward lost people; you want clear discernment of their lost state. In such clarity there is total calmness and command.

There is something quite fascinating, I assure you, in being so disillusioned toward others that you are left without a single friend, or counselor, or authority to lean upon. Your very awareness of the inability of others to help you forces you to look, at last, toward your only genuine source of strength, the kingdom within. It is as if a weary wanderer, refused lodging, turns to leave, and in so doing, sights his inherited castle.

The whole idea is to see ourselves and others as we presently are, for upon the ruins of our disillusionment we build a castle we can actually occupy. You build swiftly when you make these insights of French philosopher La Rochefoucauld your own:

* We assume the look and appearance we want to be known for, so that the entire world is a mass of masks. * We offer praise only that we may benefit from it. * Only strong natures can be sweet ones. Those that appear sweet are usually only weak, and may easily turn sour.

It is severely damaging for anyone to pretend possession of a virtue which, in fact, he possesses only in imagination. If a person thinks he is already loving, he cannot go on to find the genuine article. Not only that, but if we think we have bread in the cupboard, when in fact we don't, we will be hungry when we need bread. Such imagination is a dangerous foe of freedom, and far more difficult to detect than one might suppose. Negative imagination is a major cause of human hypnosis. It must be detected, and abandoned. Start with honest Self-Observation. Review the technique for this from Chapter 2.

La Rochefoucauld s insight represents a certain state toward cosmic consciousness. It is one in which you no longer idolize people by attributing qualities and virtues to them which they don't really possess. A person at this stage realizes that his admiration of others is merely a subtle projection of self-admiration. Seeing through himself, he sees through others. This brings great relief, for you are never nervous toward anyone you really understand.

Disillusionment is nothing else but seeing the false as false, and is therefore an advanced mental condition.

---------- Article that appeared on www.superwisdom.com ------------

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus the Son of Man

His words and His deeds as told and recorded by those who knew Him

by Khalil Gibran

(1928)

Chapter : Matthew - The Sermon on the Mount

ONE HARVEST DAY Jesus called us and His other friends to the hills. The earth was fragrant, and like the daughter of a king at her wedding-feast, she wore all her jewels. And the sky was her bridegroom.

When we reached the heights Jesus stood still in the grove of the laurels, and He said, "Rest here, quiet your mind and tune your heart, for I have much to tell you."

Then we reclined on the grass, and the summer flowers were all about us, and Jesus sat in our midst.

And Jesus said:

"Blessed are the serene in spirit.

"Blessed are they who are not held by possessions, for they shall be free.

"Blessed are they who remember their pain, and in their pain await their joy.

"Blessed are they who hunger after truth and beauty, for their hunger shall bring bread, and their thirst cool water.

"Blessed are the kindly, for they shall be consoled by their own kindliness.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall be one with God.

"Blessed are the merciful, for mercy shall be in their portion.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for their spirit shall dwell above the battle, and they shall turn the potter's field into a garden.

"Blessed are they who are hunted, for they shall be swift of foot and they shall be winged.

"Rejoice and be joyful, for you have found the kingdom of heaven within you. The singers of old were persecuted when they sang of that kingdom. You too shall be persecuted, and therein lies your honor, therein your reward.

"You are the salt of the earth; should the salt lose its savor wherewith shall the food of man's heart be salted?

"You are the light of the world. Put not that light under a bushel. Let it shine rather from the summit, to those who seek the City of God.

"Think not I came to destroy the laws of the scribes and the Pharisees; for my days among you are numbered and my words are counted, and I have but hours in which to fulfil another law and reveal a new covenant.

"You have been told that you shall not kill, but I say unto you, you shall not be angry without a cause.

"You have been charged by the ancients to bring your calf and your lamb and your dove to the temple, and to slay them upon the altar, that the nostrils of God may feed upon the odor of their fat, and that you may be forgiven your failings.

"But I say unto you, would you give God that which was His own from the beginning; and would you appease Him whose throne is above the silent deep and whose arms encircle space?

"Rather, seek out your brother and be reconciled unto him ere you seek the temple; and be a loving giver unto your neighbor. For in the soul of these God has builded a temple that shall not be destroyed, and in their heart He has raised an altar that shall never perish.

"You have been told, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you: Resist not evil, for resistance is food unto evil and makes it strong. And only the weak would revenge themselves. The strong of soul forgive, and it is honor in the injured to forgive.

"Only the fruitful tree is shaken or stoned for food.

"Be not heedful of the morrow, but rather gaze upon today, for sufficient for today is the miracle thereof.

"Be not over-mindful of yourself when you give but be mindful of the necessity. For every giver himself receives from the Father, and that much more abundantly.

"And give to each according to his need; for the Father gives not salt to the thirsty, nor a stone to the hungry, nor milk to the weaned.

"And give not that which is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine. For with such gifts you mock them; and they also shall mock your gift, and in their hate would fain destroy you.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures that corrupt or that thieves may steal away. Lay up rather treasure which shall not corrupt or be stolen, and whose loveliness increases when many eyes behold it. For where your treasure is, your heart is also.

"You have been told that the murderer shall be put to the sword, that the thief shall be crucified, and the harlot stoned. But I say unto you that you are not free from wrongdoing of the murderer and the thief and the harlot, and when they are punished in the body your own spirit is darkened.

"Verily no crime is committed by one man or one woman. All crimes are committed by all. And he who pays the penalty may be breaking a link in the chain that hangs upon your own ankles. Perhaps he is paying with his sorrow the price for your passing joy."

Thus spake Jesus, and it was in my desire to kneel down and worship Him, yet in my shyness I could not move nor speak a word.

But at last I spoke; and I said, "I would pray this moment, yet my tongue is heavy. Teach me to pray."

And Jesus said, "When you would pray, let your longing pronounce the words. It is in my longing now to pray thus:

"Our Father in earth and heaven, sacred is Thy name.
Thy will be done with us, even as in space.
Give us of Thy bread sufficient for the day.
In Thy compassion forgive us and enlarge us to forgive one another.
Guide us towards Thee and stretch down Thy hand to us in darkness.
For Thine is the kingdom, and in Thee is our power and our fulfillment."

And it was now evening, and Jesus walked down from the hills, and all of us followed Him. And as I followed I was repeating His prayer, and remembering all that He had said; for I knew that the words that had fallen like flakes that day must set and grow firm like crystals, and that wings that had fluttered above our heads were to beat the earth like iron hoofs.

The Secret

----- excerpted from 'The Secret' the best-selling book by Rhonda Byrne --------

The Secret Revealed

• The Great Secret of life is the law of attraction.
  
  
• The law of attraction says like attracts like, so when you think a thought, you are also attracting like thoughts to you.
  
  
• Thoughts are magnetic, and thoughts have a frequency. As you think thoughts, they are sent out into the Universe, and they magnetically attract all like things that are on the same frequency. Everything sent out returns to the source - you.
  
  
• You are like a human transmission tower, transmitting a frequency with your thoughts. If you want to change anything in your life, change the frequency by changing your thoughts.
  
  
• Your current thoughts are creating your future life. What you think about most or focus on the most will appear as your life.
  
  
• Your Thoughts become things.
  
  

The Secret made Simple

• The law of attraction is the law of nature. It is as impartial as the law of gravity.
  
  
Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it through persistent thoughts.


To know what you're thinking, ask yourself how you are feeling. Emotions are valuable tools that instantly tell us what we are thinking.


• It is impossible to feel bad and at the same time have good thoughts.
  
  
• Your thoughts determine your frequency, and your feelings tell you immediately what frequency you are on. When you feel bad, you are on the frequency of drawing more bad things. When you feel good, you are powerfully attracting more good things to you.
  
  
• Secret Shifters, such as pleasant memories, nature, or your favourite music, can change your feelings and shift your frequency in an instant.
  
  
• The feeling of love is the highest frequency you can emit. The greater the love you feel and emit, the greater the power you are harnessing.
  
  

How to use the Secret

• Like Aladdin's Genie, the law of attraction grants our every command.


• The Creative Process helps you create what you want in three simple steps: ask, believe and receive.


• Asking the Universe for what you want is your opportunity to get clear about what you want. As you get clear in your mind, you have asked.


• Believing involves acting, speaking and thinking as though you have already received what you've asked for. When you emit the frequency of having received it, the law of attraction moves people, events and circumstances for you to receive.


• Receiving involves feeling the way you will feel once your desire has manifested. Feeling good now puts you on the frequency of what you want.


• To lose weight, don't focus on "losing weight". Instead, focus on your perfect weight. Feel the feelings of your perfect weight, and you will summon it to you.


• It takes no time for the Universe to manifest what you want. It is as easy to manifest one dollar as it is to manifest one million dollars.


• Starting with something small, like a cup of coffee or parking spaces, is an easy way to experience the law of attraction in action. Powerfully intend to attract something small. As you experience the power you have to attract, you will move on to creating much bigger things.


• Create your day in advance by thinking the way you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally.
  
  

Powerful Processes Summaries

Expectation is a powerful attractive force. Expect the things you want, and don’t expect the things you don't want.


Gratitude is a powerful process for shifting your energy and bringing more of what you want into your life. Be grateful for what you already have, and you will attract more good things.


Giving thanks for what you want in advance turbo-charges your desires and sends a more powerful signal out into the Universe.


• Visualisation is the process of creating pictures in your mind of yourself enjoying what you want. When you visualise, you generate powerful thoughts and feelings of having it now. The law of attraction then returns that reality to you, just as you saw it in your mind.
  
  
• To use the law of attraction to your advantage, make it a habitual way of being, not just a one-time event.
  
  
At the end of every day, before you go to sleep, go back through the events of the day. Any events of moments that were not what you wanted, replay them in your mind the way you wanted them to go.

The Secret to Relationships

• When you want to attract a relationship, make sure your thoughts, words, actions, and surroundings do not contradict your desires.
  
  
• Your job is you. Unless you fill yourself up first, you have nothing to give anybody.
  
  
• Treat yourself with love and respect, and you will attract people who show love and respect.
  
  
• When you feel bad about yourself, you block the love and instead you attract more people and situations that will continue to make you feel bad about you.
  
  
• Focus on the qualities you love about yourself and the law of attraction will show you more great things about you.
  
  
• To make a relationship work, focus on what you appreciate about the other person, and not your complaints. When you focus on the strengths, you get more of them.

The Secret to Health

• The placebo effect is an example of the law of attraction in action. When a patient truly believes the tablet is a cure, he receives what the believes and is cured.
  
  
• "Focusing on perfect health" is something we can all do within ourselves, despite what may be happening on the outside.
  
  
• Laughter attracts joy, releases negativity, and leads to miraculous cures.
  
  
• Disease is held in the body by thought, by observation of the illness, and by the attention given to the illness. If you are feeling a little unwell, don't talk about it - unless you want more of it. If you listen to people talk about their illness, you add more energy to their illness. Instead, change the conversation to good things, and give powerful thoughts to seeing those people in health.
  
  
• Beliefs about aging are all in our minds, so release those thoughts from your consciousness. Focus on health and eternal youth.
  
  
• Do not listen to society's messages about diseases and aging. Negative messages do not serve you.

The Secret to Money

• To attract money, focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you focus on the lack of it.
  
  
• It is helpful to use your imagination and make-believe you already have the money you want. Play games of having wealth and you will feel better about money; as you feel better about it, more will flow into your life.
  
  
• Feeling happy now is the fastest way to bring money into your life.
  
  
• Give money in order to bring more of it into your life. When you are generous with money and feel good about sharing it; you are saying, "I have plenty."
  
  
• Visualise checks in the mail.
  
  
• Tip the balance of your thoughts to wealth. Think wealth.

The Secret to the World

• What you resist, you attract, because you are powerfully focused on it with emotion. To change anything, go within and emit a new signal with your thoughts and feelings.
  
  
• You cannot help the world by focussing on the negative things. As you focus on the world's negative events, you not only add to them, but you also bring more negative things into your own life.
  
  
• Instead of focusing on the world's problems, give your attention and energy to trust, love, abundance, education and peace.
  
  
• We will never run out of good things because there's more than enough to go around for everyone. Life is meant to be abundant.
  
  
• You have the ability to tap into the unlimited supply through your thoughts and feelings and bring it into your experience.
  
  
• Praise and bless everything in the world, and you will dissolve negativity and discord and align yourself with the highest frequency - love.

The Secret to You

• Everything in energy. You are an energy magnet, so you electrically energise everything to you and electrically energise yourself to everything you want.
  
  
• You are a spiritual being. You are energy, and energy cannot be created or destroyed - if just changes form. Therefore, the pure essence of you has always been and always will be.
  
  
• The Universe emerges from thought. We are the creators not only of our own destiny but also of the Universe.
  
  
• An unlimited supply of ideas is available to you. All knowledge, discoveries, and inventions are in the Universal Mind as possibilities, waiting for the human mind to draw forth. You hold everything in your consciousness.
  
  
• We are all connected, and we are all One.
  
  
• Let go of difficulties from your past, cultural codes, and social beliefs. You are the only one who can create the life you deserve.
  
  
• A shortcut to manifesting your desires is to see what you want as absolute fact.
  
  
• Your power is in your thoughts, so stay aware. In other words, "Remember to remember".

The Secret to Life

• You get to fill the blackboard of your life with whatever you want.
  
  
• The only thing you need to do is feel good now.
  
  
• The more you use the power within you, the more power you will draw through you.
  
  
• We are in the midst of a glorious era. As we let go of limiting thoughts, we will experience humanity's true magnificence, in every area of creation.
  
  
• Do what you love. If you don't know what brings you joy, ask, "What is my joy?" As you commit to your joy, you will attract an avalanche of joyful things because you are radiating joy.
  
  
• Now that you have learned the knowledge of The Secret, what you do with it is up to you. Whatever you choose is right. The power is all yours.

-------------------------- end of excerpt ---------------------------

Lee and Ti

Six Moon Dance

From Six Moon Dance by Sheri Tepper

A certain mindfulness reminded: Do not say don't be silly. Say, instead, of course, I know, I understand. Do not go too softly. Go strongly, as one who is perilous and brave.
A certain mindfulness said: Do not smell of this world, but of the vast sea, the spaces between the stars.
A certain mindfulness said: do not dance as a woman would dance, as a man would dance, as legs would dance, but as wings would dance, as these two would dance if they were lovers making a promise that would echo among the galaxies.
Do not be bound by gravity, for we will swim weightless within this liquid world. Do not be bound by breath, for we need not breathe, or by thought, for we need not think. Here is only sensation and the need for joy.
We are such glorious stuff we need not carry pain around like a label. Our duty, as living things, is to be sure that pain is not our whole story, for we can choose to be otherwise....we can choose to dance.

Dont' you quit

------------ author unknown -------------

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
Whe he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Don't Say You're Not Important

--------- author unknown ----------

It simply isn't true,
The fact that you were born,
Is proof, God has a plan for you.

The path may seem unclear right now,
But one day you will see,
That all that came before,
Was truly meant to be.

God wrote the book that is your life,
That's all you need to know.
Each day that you are living,
Was written long ago.

God only writes best sellers,
So be proud of who you are,
Your character is important,
In this book you are the Star.

Enjoy the novel as it reads,
It will stand throughout the ages,
Savor each chapter as you go,
Taking time to turn the pages.

My second skin

My house bathed in moonlight, rests,
silent and welcoming,
and I breathe love into its spaces.

It seems a reflection of me,
the way the furniture is arranged,
the chairs facing each other.

Do they talk among themselves, I wonder,
in the stillness of the night,
picking up bits of broken-off conversation?

Does the warm air twirling up the stairs,
or the slippers, discarded, under the bed,
remind it of us, when we are away.

Do the walls rejoice with the tinkle of laughter,
does the carpet hoard shards
of my shattered dreams.

Does it feel protective, caring,
shielding us from wind and rain,
silent witness to silent pain.

Content, replete, joyous,
I settle into its calm stillness,
and it wraps itself around me.

Let life in

On your way to work this morning, did you notice
the beggar child, eyes filled with tears,
face pinched by hardship?
Or your own beggar-heart
starved for love, for light.

In the din of traffic, did you hear
the lonely call of a solitary bird
perched high on a light-pole?
Or your soul's desperate plea
To sing its own song?

Juggling deadlines,
did you pause to consider,
that you too have an expiry date?
That, your life is waiting to be taken as a gift
and lived.

Does your smile reach your eyes,
does it reach the other's heart?
Are the windows of your eyes shut tight
with worry and distraction?
Does suspicion clog your heart-valves?

Is coffee the only thing that lifts you up,
or alcohol?
What about laughing child-eyes
or the lift and sweep of a soaring seagull?
or the joy that comes from within.

Is life passing you by,
while you
play out the various roles in a life not quite yours?
If life comes knocking,
are you busy in another existence?

It's time to let life in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bliss

In the still, sacred space,

I feel the tread of angels,

the whisper of their wings,

their love, all-embracing.

My senses dim and fade,

my heart blooms in joy.

I lose myself in silence,

And wrap myself in bliss.

The light is all-dissolving,

love holds me in its thrall,

my soul lost in ecstasy,

Only bliss remains.

Wheel-watch

I am on a flight from Keri Keri to Auckland in a smallish aircraft and for the first time on any flight I'm sitting next to the wheel. It is one of those aircrafts where the wings run across the body on the top and so the body sits rather low and close to the wheels. As the plane taxies, I watch fascinated as the wheel rotates balanced on what seems to be a flimsy leg, and I feel like I'm in a giant mosquito, big body and paltry legs. The wheel however, does not think like this and therefore takes us up the runway, ever accelerating, and very soon it gets lifted off the ground and almost immediately a hatch opens up underneath the wing and the wheel still spinning gets folded up and neatly slips into it. Wow! The plane is now wheelless and airborne.

The scenery that unfolds under me is stunning. A veritable feast of green - fields pockmarked with sheep and cattle, neatly hedged, undulating hills shaded with hues only nature can paint. Dark splotches where the clouds cast shadows below. Rooftops among the fields, in red, brown or grey slate. Forests of dark pine which look so mysterious on the ground, look surprising demystified from the air. All this punctuated with blue, gleaming strips of tiny lakes, streams, rivers. After a while I can see the sea glimmering in the distance, the deep aquamarine shrouded in mist like a blue, shy secret. We then climb over the clouds and we are flying over these cushiony billowing masses of confectionary perfection.

As we near Auckland, we descend below the clouds again and the sea is directly below us now, or at least the bay is, gleaming blue-green and sparkling naughtily, almost beckoning me to join in and sink into the waters. In the distance a small strip of land shimmers hazily and all of a sudden the wheel hatch opens and the wheel descends. I look ahead into the distance and see no land. I wonder if the pilot is planning a sea-landing. But we don't need wheels for that, do we? I then can't help thinking how our lives are like that too. We fly over nothingness sometimes lost at sea and we look into the distance to get a grip of our bearings, to see if there is any land where we can park for a while, and panic sets in when we see none, entirely forgetting that our Pilot can see ahead and is steering our lovingly into dry and safe land. And then of course, the landing strip appears below us right out of the sea and the wheel fulfils its raison d'etre and makes contact with the hard land and wheels us safely to the airport.

A solitary, winter walk

It's interesting how walks pan out on cold, winter evenings. The temperature is 10C and a cold wind is blowing and within minutes of walking my body is as cold and stiff as a piece of frozen chicken. The wind wraps itself around my body and the cold seeps in through the four layers of clothing that I have on. But as I walk briskly, my circulation gets going and warms up my body and gently thaws me out. I then reach a stage when the warmth from within reaches the cold from without and pretty soon the cold is banished as my body surrounds itself with the warmth it has itself produced.

It always amazes me how quickly night falls in winter. When I start my walk the sky is a light blue and the moon has just risen and the white clouds are still streaked with pink, but within moments the light fades and the sky settles into an inky blueness in which the moon gleams like a round, beaming pearl. The only indication of the day departed is the halo of light which still shines in the west, a gentle, lingering farewell from the sun.

My nose catches whiffs of wood smoke that waft out from the chimneys. Bouquets of fragrances that indicate which wood is being burnt. Some sharply aromatic, some pungent and smoky but all delicious. I picture flames leaping up through the wood as it slowly crumbles into ash. And I cannot help wondering how even during the last leg of its journey from soil to ash the tree still gives us warmth and light. Can I be as selfless, I wonder, can I be as giving?

These are a few of my favourite songs ...

1. Mozart's Concerto No.21 - Andante, also known as the Elvira Madigan theme.




2. The Theme song from the movie 'Summer of 42'




3. Theme from 'Godfather' (Speak softly love)




4. How great thou art - Elvis Presley



5. Amazing Grace - Hayley Westentra

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.




6. Love me tender - Elvis Presley

Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so.

Love me tender,
Love me true,
All my dreams fulfill.
For my darlin I love you,
And I always will.

Love me tender,
Love me long,
Take me to your heart.
For its there that I belong,
And well never part.

Love me tender,
Love me dear,
Tell me you are mine.
Ill be yours through all the years,
Till the end of time.

Just a thought ...

Do not give all of yourself to any one person or thing or activity or idea, you are too huge and immense to be held in another person's hands. Only life can hold you, only the universe can…...

Stillness .....

"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders."

- Lao Tsu

Renunciation

It is hard to live the life of renunciation;
its challenges are difficult to find pleasant.
Yet it is also hard to live the householder's life;
there is pain when associating with those
among whom one feels no companionship.
To wander uncommitted is always going to be difficult;
why not renounce the deluded pursuit of pain?

Dhammapada verse 302

Longing

There's an odd sort of feeling
that rises in my heart,
unformed, unnamed, niggling,
that refuses to part.

I still my mind in silence
and stare at it for long.
Unmoving, it intesifies,
curious, I flow along.

Beneath, I find it lurks
my moments dark and fair.
And every step it dogs
their emptiness laying bare.

Joy, excitement, happiness,
I look at each in turn.
Fear, envy, hopelessness,
these I quickly spurn.

I see it then emerge,
a longing deep it is,
with my Creator to merge
and lose myself in Bliss.

Lesson time again

It's lesson time for me again, and the important ones I've learnt (or trying hard to learn) over the past few days are -

1. Your self-worth is never to depend on what someone else says/does, or does not say/do. If it does then you are simply giving away your power to someone else, it's like, it is your life but you are letting someone else pilot it. Take back the controls, look inside and find your worth on your own.

2. Let go of the past. Always. It is dead. If ghosts of it still keep appearing, then you've probably not achieved closure. Bring out the issues into the open, deal with them, resolve them and bury them. Period.

3. One close, deep relationship is more precious than a hundred shallow ones. Throw out the shallow ones, they take away too much of your time and energy and will probably not be around when times are bad. Nurture your close relationships. Lavish your love on the really meaningful ones. Let them bloom and grow.

4. Nurture yourself. If there is anyone in the universe most deserving of your love, it is you. So said Buddha. You cannot love others if you are feeling unloved or unlovable yourself. You cannot make the world a happy place if your inner life is in shambles. Nurture your inner self with kindness, compassion, love.

5. Your happiness or sorrow is entirely based upon the thoughts you have. You can change your attitude and be forever happy, but that happiness is still of the mind and belongs to the world. Bliss, on the other hand, comes from rising above the mind, it is neither happy nor sad, it is just a state of being in oneness.

6. Remember you are divine. Never lose an opportunity in all your quiet moments to remind yourself that. Slowly but surely the knowledge will seep in and wisdom will dawn. This will take you out of the drama of the world and put you in touch with joy and bliss. Then you can splash around in the world and still not get wet.

God Bless!

An autumnal song

On a watery, wintry sort of sky,
blue, benign, with blossoming clouds,
the sun hides, hesitates, appears,
and pale sunbeams on the grass lie.

Autumn's brush has splashed the trees
with the colours of a fire ablaze,
orange, yellow, red and gold, leaves
crisp, crinkly, on the grass, aflame.

A loving presence, a stillness deep,
joins me, lets me company keep.
I drop my burdens at His feet,
my fears on His bosom sleep.

And Nature in joyousness sings
the birds, the trees, the crooning wind,
and hill to hill with hymning fills,
my soul, the rhapsody joins in.

Crisis

I search for clues among the debris
of the scattered remnants of a crisis.
A stitch with which this heart to mend,
a light into raptures my soul to send.

Along the shores of a scattered mind,
and a heart now a desert wasteland,
a shining pearl I shall surely find,
among the forlorn driftwood on the sand.

The pain I hope has broken the shell
of ignorance, and will bring a swell,
a tide of wisdom so painfully won,
a desire to carefully darkness shun.

Will the light lift the veil and reveal
my soul, will it darkness' layers peel?
A dream, a passing dream it is,
this and every other crisis.

Why have you forsaken me, oh Lord?

Why in confusion does my mind part?
Why does fear vandalise my heart?
Will you not hear my plea, oh Lord?

I stand before your door, bereft,
My heart this pain has rent, cleft,
Will you not open unto me, oh Lord?

The solace of your arms I seek,
Lowly I stand before you, meek,
Will you not embrace me, oh Lord?

As hope slowly dims and fades,
And darkness in my soul pervades,
Have you forsaken me, oh Lord?

Love

Have you noticed that love takes you over all obstacles, makes light your burdens, strengthens your heart, lightens your step, brings out the joy in your soul, makes you realise you are Divine? Why then do we cling to your fears, most of them unfounded? Why do we abdicate a kingdom of love, a paradise of bliss for a poor substitute, a gloomy thorny desert of fear? How can we be the most evolved creation when we do not realise this? Is our Creator disappointed? Does he ardently desire that we return to His kingdom? Is he patiently waiting? Why don't we heed His call? Whose is the greater loss? His or ours? Now I know what my soul years for ......

Love...

Do everything with so much love in your heart
that you would never want to do it any other way.

- Yogi Desai

Little by little your heart grows up

'Lil Tia's latest poem -

Little by little your heart's power grows up
Like water in a golden clear cup
When you overcome fears you will
Make cheers and cheers but
The worst thing can happen sometimes
You might become a bad person who makes
Tricks and pranks and crimes
So don’t run off when you’re six or seven
you will understand your parents when you’re twelve and eleven.

Wellsprings of love

I have found that people usually say to me that I do well at everything I undertake. I did some thinking on that and realised that the reason behind it is that I do everything with a lot of love. The moment I do something less than whole-heartedly, the result is also less than satisfactory. It is said that our natural state is the state of love. When we strip away the thoughts, feelings and concepts that habitually occupy our mind space, all that is left is Love. But sometimes I lose that connection with my Inner Source, I lose connection with the wellspring of my being. And then from that state of darkness to come back into light is a struggle. So I decided to investigate what it is that nourishes that wellspring of Love within me that keeps me connected.

I find that meditation or being in the meditative state helps. As also spending time by myself in solitude. All of us are bundles of energy and we are constantly transmitting and receiving energy from others. Sometimes this energy can cause an overload on our system causing it to distort our own energy frequencies or maybe we could pick up negative impulses unknowingly or unwittingly. The time spent in solitude enables us to clear this energy overlap from others and recharge our batteries.

Have you noticed how Nature is always connected to the source? There is no falsehood, no ego, no malice or anger, Nature is constantly being itself, in all its pristine simplicity. Being in Nature somehow connects me to that simplicity of the universe, its orderliness and its love. All my masks, my pretensions, my barriers fall away and I am able to get in touch with the deep peace within me, to the simplicity and innocence.

There are moments in life when we experience something that takes us out of ourselves. Like listening to beautiful music, or being engaged in an activity that makes time stop, we lose our awareness of the past and the future and only the present remains, During those times we experience eternity, for being in the present is being in the eternal Now. We drop the concept of a limited time frame and experience the limitlessness of our being.

If you have spent time with babies (not as caretakers feeding, changing, bathing them :) but just being with them, you'll realise that babies are in a state of bliss. They look at the world with no preconceived notions, no learned responses, no fear or anger or unwarranted desire. Soon you begin to drop your fears, your agitation (which is always under the surface, no matter how calm a person you are :) your street-smartness, your constant alertness to danger and begin to reclaim that state of innocence that dwells within you always. When you are with a baby you cannot feel anything but love and joy, her innocence is so heart-breaking.

So it seems to me that to keep that well-spring of love within me brimming and overflowing, I need to seek those experiences that keep me connected with the Source.

Do you have your own list?

:)

The Matrix

------------------- excerpt from a Dreams Alive newsletter ---------------------

"Unplugging from the Matrix"

If you saw the move, "The Matrix", you understand how we can be unconsciously programmed without even knowing it. The central character named Neo at first isn't even aware of the illusion that he's been living. But when Morpheus shows him how he's been "going through the motions" - almost like a robot, itawakens Neo. At first Neo thinks he's powerful (the ego tries to take charge again) and he becomes disappointed in his newly discovered abilities.

But as Morpheus reminds him, it's all an illusion...
Neo is still in disbelief...

How could I have been fooled for so long? Why? How is it possible?

As Neo begins to awaken, he wonders, Is he the One?

The real question is, can he step back from the Matrix long enough to sense the illusion - and detach from it...

Once he detaches, he begins to re-discover his real power...His Essence.

So the question we can ask ourselves is:

Are we aware of the illusions we've allowed ourselves to believe?

Do they make us fall back again into the "psychic sleep" or do they help awaken us?

The Matrix is the false premise of "Something else controls me. I'm asleep. They're at the helm. I'm a victim. They take control. There's not enough..."

But at Source level - nothing can ever control you. There's more than enough for everyone.

As you begin to remember why you came here to this planet, and the lessons you've come to re-learn, what used to cause you stress and overwhelm will begin to energize and inspire you.

So smile, take a deep breath and realize… I Am Source...

And from that level - you are free…

In that moment, you've reconnected to the "I Am" Presence. You feel the One-ness and how everything in life is connected.

Life feels new again...

If money is a concern for you - the "Matrix" has a hold of you. Remember scarcity is an illusion - it's not real. Right now you have access to the same supply that each of us has - and that supply is Infinite. It's only the mind that's been conditioned to believe otherwise.

And you know you're not your mind - right?

To Your Dreams And To Your Abundance,

Paul Bauer http://www.dreamsalive.com/

--------------------------- end of excerpt -----------------------------

Sunlight sonata

The day dawns beautiful, the sun rises over the hills and pours its liquid light into the nooks and crannies and floods the valley. It's a blessed sight and a blessing to watch, sunlight crowning the tops of trees and falling quivering on the grass. Leaping and gleaming on the satin waves rippling down the river. Spotlighting the houses nestling on the sides of the hills in an orange glow, naughty rays glinting off windows caught off-guard. Falling warm on my face, my hands and through the windows of my eyes reaching my heart where it glows like a fiery diamond. What do you call it when the light without meets the light within?

And all through the day the liquid light flowing through my mind……

Surely we must be beings of light, else why would we respond so joyously to the sunlight, why would the moon rising on a dark sky send us into such raptures? Why would we love light so much that we flood our nighttimes with so much artificial light. Surely man among all his waking moments must at least in some luminous moment remember that he is a being of light. Else how futile would our life be, if we were to surround ourselves with light without and yet live in darkness within. Look at babies, look at their eyes, how full of light they are. There is no fear there, no darkness. And yet we say we are grown-up and all we have done is to lose sight of our own light. Why do we go seeking to solve the mysteries of the universe, to shed light on all the unsolved mysteries of the world when what we need to do is to delve within ourselves and reacquaint ourselves with our true selves. And find our light ……

Afternoon song

It is a great blessing that today is a holiday and the weather is perfect. The sun rises over the hills and floods the valley with a pale autumn sunlight. Towards afternoon after a late breakfast, I decide to spend some time in our garden. The sun is soft and warm on my face or back and it is cool in the shade. I clear the garden of weeds, dead leaves and twigs to the accompanying music of birdsong. The tui calls in its distinct double-noted song. And the wind gently serenades the tree-tops like a sweet violin accompaniment. The grass, the leaves, the soil is soft in my hands and the atmosphere is calm. But thoughts roil and rumble in my mind as I grapple with emotions. But after a while I have a moment of clarity.

I realize that my greatest weakness has been that I have never been aware of my own strength. It is true that in the past that I’ve had glimpses of it and it has come to my aid in times of difficulty. But as a constant everyday conviction, I do not think of myself as strong. I tend to look outside for external validation. But in that moment of clarity I realize that I am stronger than all my troubles, difficulties and obstacles. I am powerful beyond measure. This somehow seems to settle my thoughts and calm my emotions. Yes, I have great strength which is not of the ego, but is inherent in me as a quality of my inner self, and I possess great courage too. And yes, I must not allow myself to forget this :)

Amazing Grace

A song that never fails to move me to tears and uplift my spirits.
In Hayley Westentra's sweet voice .......



click here to listen

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home.

When we've been here ten thousand years...
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise...
then when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

Tia'a Poem

Among all the people who called / wrote and wished me on my birthday, I also got a call from my brother who told me that his 8 year-old daughter has started writing poetry and that she had wriiten one that blew his mind. He sent it to me and, well, it blew me away too :)))

So, without much further ado, here's the 'lil button's poem -

Sometimes I think of things that don't have a chime
things that aren't real or dont have a rhyme.
Thoughts of things that are all imagination
things that are full of me and my full creation.
From time to time I make it rhyme
Whenever I hear a chime, I burst into tears
cause all the pasts I've been through will give me all those fears.
Now I am older, I understand I need to overcome those fears
and stop my big bursting tears,
My poem to follow for all my years.

Maps and other travel thoughts

Have you ever been in a situation where you are travelling somewhere and you realise you are lost? You go around and around going past the same streets again and again trying desperately to get your bearings, lost and confused, until you remember the map that you forgot to consult. Then you look at it, find your location, the areas around and everything falls into place. You can see your destination, all available routes and the best route to take to get there. An aerial view when you are down there on the ground lost, almost always brings clarity.

For the past few weeks, I have been scampering around like a rat lost in a maze desperately seeking routes to go forward. Signposts to tell me what to do, where to go. After I was well and truly lost among the maze of emotions, experiences and choices, down on the ground, the only way to go was up and so I decided to get an aerial view. In my case it is the soul's point of view, why I am here, what I am doing towards achieving that purpose. When I detach myself from the drama, intensity and immediacy of life, I am able to see my purpose, my way forward, the reasons for the experiences of my life more clearly. Looking at the larger picture clarifies my life and I am better able to choose the best possible route to get to my destination.

I have also realised that when you are a traveller you enjoy the ride, you don't get attached to the scenery. So too with life, why get attached to people, places, pleasant experiences?

And, in spite of our travelling companions, we always travel alone, my experiences and the lessons I have to learn are my own, my path can only be walked upon by me.

~~~