Friday, September 30, 2011

4 SIMPLE WAYS TO EXPERIENCE GREAT HAPPINESS AND TRUE FREEDOM

4 SIMPLE WAYS TO EXPERIENCE GREAT HAPPINESS AND TRUE FREEDOM


Author: Lynn Zavaro
“It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are.” ~E.E. Cummings
I love to write. For years I wrote in journals and kept them stacked in piles on my shelves.
One rainy winter evening when I was 25, I walked into the Bourgeois Pig bookshop on Franklin Boulevard in Los Angeles and saw a book next to the cash register written by Natalie Goldberg called Wild Mind. I bought it and my life change forever.
Natalie’s book was about writing practice. A Zen monk practitioner, she brings the fundamentals of Zen to the creative writing process. There were some simple rules she suggested. Some of them are:
• Set a timer and write without stopping your pen—without crossing out or editing. Follow your mind without interruption and see where it leads you.
• Be specific. Not tree, but cypress. Not a street, but Utica Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Not a fruit, but a ripe slice of juicy pineapple.
• Go for the jugular—toward what might scare you. Meet your insides. Dive all the way in.
Writing in personal journals was my sacred time just for myself, to have permission to go wild, reach my depths, and be truly free.
As fate would have it, I ended up taking a workshop with Natalie in Taos, New Mexico and we become friends. At a time of major transition in my life she invited to move to New Mexico and immerse myself in a writing life with her.
Looking back at the many journals I collected, I see the writing met me for that moment in time, but that once it came out of me onto the paper, it was no longer a part of “me.”
It came through me but was not of me. It was an expression that had passed no longer fitting the current moment.
Although the writings still hold energy, the person who wrote them seems unfamiliar. That Lynn is gone, in the past, over.
If you write in journals and go back to re-read them are you surprised, perhaps interested, sometimes astonished by the person who wrote them?
Discovering who we are is an ever-evolving process, always changing, expanding, and growing.
We may think we have arrived, we think we can say that we know who we are now, and then in a snap of the fingers that moment is gone and something new arises—a new insight, a new awareness, a new interest or endeavor.
This is why we humans are a creative process. And why perceiving ourselves as a process can bring great happiness and true freedom.
Giving myself permission to just write without trying to be something, become something, make something out of it that defines me gives me incredible freedom.
Letting go of the need to be labeled by a “noun,” I become more interested in the “verb.” For example, I am not a writer. I write. Now, I am free.
Then, I have permission to revel in every moment my words move across the page for absolutely no reason except for the great happiness I receive from it.
Here are 4 simple rules to experience great happiness and true freedom:


1.BE INTERESTED IN WHO YOU ARE NOT
Part of being truly happy and free is being interested in the mystery of all that we are not.
Becoming clearer about who we are not allows us to de-layer, empty, and let go of the conditioning that doesn’t serve us. We come closer to touching our true essence, our absolute nature.
I’ve discovered pieces of who I am not at various stages of my life.
Like when I had spiritual experiences and labeled myself a “spiritual person,” only to discover I cared a great deal more about what it means to be my best as a human.
Or when I wanted to be a teacher because I wanted to feel like I had “arrived,” yet overlooked the benefits of lifelong learning.
Or when I published my first book, sent it out into the world, and realized the many years I committed to it were over. Almost the next day after my book release, I felt the call to explore something new and write my next book on an almost entirely different subject.
It’s about having a shift in perception and letting go of what we thought we were but no longer are.
Even though you may not have a direct answer when you contemplate who you are not, it’s still worthy. It may encourage you to keep being interested in the exploration of you, to investigate the mystery of yourself, to hear your greater call and listen.


2.DON'T TAKE THINGS TOO SERIOUSLY
Real happiness and freedom come when we remind ourselves to lighten up, to not take our reactions, feelings, desires, or thoughts that feel important so seriously.
Try this: Don’t believe me. Don’t believe anyone else. Don’t believe yourself.
Try not to hold onto your present experience for dear life, because it will change. I try to observe when I use my present experience to build myself up, or manipulate it to show me in a certain light, or try to make something more out of it than it is.
Every once in a while, laugh a little at yourself, at the funny workings of your mind, how silly they can become when you take things oh-too-seriously, and keep a sense of humor.


3.BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
On average, Americans have approximately 3–5 careers a lifetime. Why is this so?
Because we are constantly evolving, constantly changing, constantly learning more about ourselves. We wear a hat, try it on, get a degree, a promotion, commit years, weeks and hours and then realize there is something else we want that feels more in alignment with who we really are.
Somewhere, somehow we were taught that life shouldn’t change, that no one really changes, that we are the same person now that we were as an infant. And in some sense this is true.
We came into this world without any of the conditioning we developed in the years to follow. We were pure—brought into this world with a certain DNA that had a purpose and the trick is to discover it.
The more we are true to ourselves, the closer we are to happiness and freedom.


4.HAVE THE COURAGE TO LIVE FULLY
What if you lived life fully? Engaged your dreams fully? Didn’t cheat it and just went for it?
What if you kept finding your edge? Stopped playing it safe and stretched a step beyond your comfort zone?
What if it didn’t matter what will happen later because you know that it will change?
And this is where I get a little heavy, but only for a moment for this too will change. As humans we know our lives will eventually end. Whatever comes into being will go out of being. Nothing in life is permanent. What we think we have will go away.
So, with this in mind, dive in to this thing called life. Live freely and creatively. Reach for the stars and meet your dreams. Since everything is changing anyway, we truly have nothing to lose.


Source: http://tinybuddha.com/blog/4-simple-ways-to-experience-great-happiness-and-true-freedom/

Master of Self - Lao-Tzu

Master of Self


(Know)
Those who know others are intelligent;
those who know themselves are truly wise.


(Master)
Those who master others are strong;
those who master themselves have true power.
 -Lao-Tzu

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Banker - Craig-James Moncur (video)

The Banker - Craig-James Moncur
The Banker Aires His Views On The Right Of The Elite
 To Control Everyones Lives. A Must Watch For Anyone Who Is Angry About The Current Finanacial Situation! This Is Whats Really Going On!
Performed By Mike Daviot Written,Directed and Produced By: Craig-James Moncur http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peX4dBEF0Vg

The Banker
Hello, my name is Montague William 3rd
And what I will tell you may well sound absurd
But the less who believe it the better for me
For you see I'm in Banking and big industry
For many a year we have controlled your lives
While you all just struggle and suffer in strife
We created the things that you don't really need
Your sports cars and Fashions and Plasma TV's
I remember it clearly how all this begun
Family secrets from Father to Son
Inherited knowledge that gives me the edge
While you peasants, people lie sleeping at night in your beds
We control the money that controls your lives
Whilst you worship false idols and wouldn't think twice
Of selling your souls for a place in the sun
These things that won't matter when your time is done
But as long as they're there to control the masses
I just sit back and consider my assets
Safe in the knowledge that I have it all
While you common people are losing your jobs
You see I just hold you in utter contempt
But the smile on my face well it makes me exempt
For I have the weapon of global TV
Which gives us connection and invites empathy
You would really believe that we look out for you
While we Bankers and Brokers are only a few
But if you saw that then you'd take back the power
Hence daily terrors to make you all cower
The Panics the crashes the wars and the illness
That keep you from finding your Spiritual Wholeness
We rig the game and we buy out both sides
To keep you enslaved in your pitiful lives
So go out and work as your body clock fades
And when it's all over a few years from the grave
You'll look back on all this and just then you'll see
That your life was nothing, a mere fantasy
There are very few things that we don't now control
To have Lawyers and Police Force was always a goal
Doing our bidding as you march on the street
But they never realise they're only just sheep
For real power resides in the hands of a few
You voted for parties what more could you do
But what you don't know is they're one and the same
Old Gordon has passed good old David the reigns
And you'll follow the leader who was put there by you
But your blood it runs red while our blood runs blue
But you simply don't see its all part of the game
Another distraction like money and fame
Get ready for wars in the name of the free
Vaccinations for illness that will never be
The assault on your children's impressionable minds
And a micro chipped world, you'll put up no fight
Information suppression will keep you in toe
Depopulation of peasants was always our goal
But eugenics was not what we hoped it would be
Oh yes it was us that funded Nazis!
But as long as we own all the media too
What's really happening does not concern you
So just go on watching your plasma TV
And the world will be run by the ones you can't see.

Written By Craig-James Moncur
16/10/2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peX4dBEF0Vg

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Change or change your attitude

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." Maya Angelou

Serenity Prayer - Reinhold Niebuhr

The Serenity Prayer - Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

"I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.'' ~ William Ernest Henley

"I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.'' ~ William Ernest Henley

Captain of my soul :)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others. - Kung-fu-tse (Confucius)

What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others. - Kung-fu-tse (Confucius)

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Consciousness

Consciousness illumines the world. Light without consciousness is invisible electromagnetic radiation

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Moments of Significance

The more significance you give the moment, the more the moment has the opportunity to be significant.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Meditation - Sivananda

Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity - Sivananda

Sri Chinmoy

There comes a time in the seeker's life when he discovers that he is at once the lover and the beloved. The aspiring soul which he embodies is the lover in him. And the transcendental Self which he reveals from within is his Beloved. - Sri Chinmoy

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Possibilities

In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts there are few.
 - Shunryu Suzuki

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Be grateful. Express it.

Be grateful. Express it.
We don’t do this often enough, not for the joys and not for the sorrows that allow us to appreciate them. Be grateful that you are you. No matter how good nor how bad you feel – or ever have, or ever will – you are completely and utterly and uniquely you out of all the infinite possibilities in the universe. Some would have you believe that there is no inherent meaning to life, or they would have you believe that theirs is the only one worth adhering to, but you are a conscious, self-aware entity and no matter how hard they might be– the choices are all yours. Forget the ideals they put on pedestals, just out of reach, so they can watch you vainly try and scale them. Forget sidestepping your life; it can’t be done no matter how much they’d have you believe it. Every day you start at zero and you go up or down from there based on the choices you make. Own your damage. Your scars are yours and no one else’s, but they’re your reminders, not badges of honor to be put on parade. The fire in your eyes is yours. Don’t let it go out. Be grateful. Express it.
Lilly Calandrello - 20110913

Monday, September 12, 2011

WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE

WANTED
DEAD OR ALIVE


MISS UNDERSTANDING


CRIMES: WAR, MURDER, DIVORCE AND MUCH MORE
REWARD: LIFE, HAPPINESS

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

How-To: Roast Coffee with a Popcorn Popper

How-To: Roast Coffee with a Popcorn Popper
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2011/09/how-to_roast_coffee_with_a_pop.html

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Feelings

Feelings
Ever wonder why feelings don't die so fast?
Feelings don't die easily because we keep feeding them with memories. 
+Ruhani Rabin

Remember: In life - sometimes people are nothing..

Remember: In life - sometimes people are nothing ..you make them something.. and when they become something...they make you feel that you are nothing. +Ruhani Rabin

Darkness prepare for light

Have you realised that beautiful pictures are developed from negatives in a dark room...?
So if you see darkness in your life be re-assured that a beautiful picture is being prepared

Friday, September 02, 2011

Code

99669999996669999996699666699666999966699666699
99699999999699999999699666699669966996699666699
99669999999999999996699666699699666699699666699
99666699999999999966666999966699666699699666699
99666666999999996666666699666699666699699666699
99666666669999666666666699666669966996699666699
99666666666996666666666699666666999966669999996
1.) press ctrl+f
2.) then type 9
3.) click Highlight all.... :)

Thursday, September 01, 2011

Expressing what we are


"We find greatest joy, not in getting, but in expressing what we are. People do not really live for honors or for pay; their gladness is not the taking and holding, but in doing, the striving, the building, the living. It is a higher joy to teach than to be taught. It is good to get justice, but better to do it; fun to have things but more to make them. The happy person is the one who lives the life of love, not for the honors it may bring, but for the life itself." R. J. Baughan

Surfing Life's Waves : - ( - :


"No one's life is full of lows. You would not be able to identify "low" unless you had first experienced high. Therefore a life of perpetual lows is a choice. You're choosing to not experience the highs. Be grateful and understanding of the ebbs and flows of life while also holding oneself accountable for how you respond to it. Live your life!" - Safi A. Thomas

What a marvelous cooperative arrangement


Human beings grew up in forests; we have a natural affinity for them. How lovely a tree is, straining toward the sky. Its leaves harvest sunlight to photosynthesize, so trees compete by shadowing their neighbors. If you look closely you can often see two trees pushing and shoving with languid grace. Trees are great and beautiful machines, powered by sunlight, taking in water from the ground and carbon dioxide from the air, converting these materials into food for their use and ours. The plant uses the carbohydrates it makes as an energy source to go about its planty business. And we animals, who are ultimately parasites on the plants, steal the carbohydrates so we can go about our business. In eating the plants we combine the carbohydrates with oxygen dissolved in our blood because of our penchant for breathing air, and so extract the energy that makes us go. In the process ew exhale carbon dioxide, which the plants then recycle to make more carbohydrates. What a marvelous cooperative arrangement—plants and animals each inhaling the other’s exhalations, a kind of planet-wide mutual mouth-to-stoma resuscitation, the entire elegant cycle powered by a star 150 million kilometers away. - Carl Sagan - Cosmos