Watering and Weeding the Mental Garden

All the things of the world change; they are born, they blossom, they bear fruit, and they die. Only the great unity - your own association with the infinite, your own individual manifestation of the Universal Mind of God - only that is changeless.
Uell S. Andersen, location 360

I know I often write about not being dependent on to-do lists but sometimes I think I could use a bit of the focused planning they offer lol.  Like when it comes to my days here. My writing, like I mentioned, is kind of all over the place.  Now, I am just working on getting some stuff out there...a couple of chap books , a few short stories while I finish my novels.

I do  have this feeling that I need to get my writing organized and out there because I don't know how much time I have left, and if this is what I am supposed to do while here I better get it done, you know? How much time do any of us have left?  We don't know, do we?  The more one looks into this idea of impermanence, the more one realizes how unpredictable our life spans in these forms are.

Habit Energy: Carrying Us Away From Source

Anyway...I guess I am getting off topic.  What I really want to talk about is our habit energy.  What do we tend to do out of automatic and mindless habit and what we tend to do out of mindfulness and awareness, knowing that it will bring us closer to what we really, really want.

First thing I want to do is dispel this idea that that there is a right way of thinking and being and a wrong way.  That there is good  and there is bad, right and wrong when it comes to our thoughts, feeling and actions. When we place those indicators and judgments on such a thing we tend to cling to what we judge as good or right  and we tend to fight, struggle, push away, run from, numb from, push down or stuff what we judge as bad, or wrong.  Man...that just causes a whole host of problems to add to our idea of "problems".

Let's instead look at it this way.  What thoughts, feelings, actions will bring you closer to what you really want and which ones will be hindrances to that experience? Well if we ask that...we need to know what we really want, don't we?

So What Do You Really Want?

What is it that you really want? There is so much about "The Law of Attraction" discussed in The Secret and Anderson's Three Magic Words that I like and can resonate with.  I do believe that "core belief" planted in our subconscious mind determines so much of what we experience in the physical world.  I have wrote about the placebo and nocebo effect, for example, and how a powerful belief in a propensity toward illness can create illness and a powerful belief in a remedy can relieve it.  Right? That has been scientifically proven.  So yes, if we can plant "seeds" in our store consciousness we can create a certain life experience.

So the question is...what do you plant?  You plant what you really want to see in your life experience.  And what is that?  Is it the things the Secret speaks to?  Like a new car, big house, the dream job, the soul mate, a million dollars, success or recognition? Think about that...is that what you really, really  want and if so...why do you want such things?  You want those things because you feel getting them will fill some hole in you, will ease your sense of "lack", unworthiness or suffering, right?  You believe getting these things will make you happy, peaceful, worthy, whole etc etc.  Right?

Think about that.  Is that true?  These are just things and grasping for them, striving for them...can actually cause more unhappiness and unease in the long run.  Let's face it, what we really want from these things is what we "assume" they will bring us.  We want the happiness, the peace of mind, the sense of being worthy, whole, complete...right?

Most spiritual teachings tell us we are already whole, already complete, already have everything around us we need to be happy inside us.  God has equipped us with a natural state of peace and happiness and all we have to do is connect with that Source energy, open up to it, remember it is there and voila we have what we really, really want. 

So what we want to plant, and water so it grows up into our conscious mind and experience are the things that will reconnect us, bring us closer to God, this Universal intelligence, "enlightenment".  The seeds you want to plant are seeds like love, compassion, joy, peacefulness, calm, gentleness and awareness.  These things are already in us...we really do not even have to plant them...we just need to water and nurture them so they can grow.

Weeds in the Garden: What You Really Don't Want

Nurturing also means taking care to prevent  the weeds  from growing in that mental garden.  Weeds will sprout up into our lives and they can grow abundantly, stopping us from seeing the peace and joy within.  They can seem to choke  out the so called "positive" making what we create seem "ugly" and "painful". If we are not mindful to water selectively the things that will take us closer to what  we want, the things that take us to the  unwanted can take over. 

If our attention is placed on these negative things: lack, loneliness, anger, violence, despair, danger, fear etc.  ...we are watering these weeds, we are encouraging them to grow.  They will grow...the law is real.  We will be mentally and emotionally consumed by the so called "negative" and our life experience will follow suit. 

This is not what we want, is it?  It takes us farther and farther away from the God given seeds of peace, joy, happiness, compassion and love that we really, really want to nourish and see grow.

Habit Energy: Watering the Negative

I have a habitual tendency, if I am not mindful, to get lost in negative thought streams.  I may wake up with a thought in my mind and my story telling nature  likes to quickly build narrative around it until I am lost in some epic tale that is often negative and not self or other serving. I may end up feeling like crap and not even know why. I may wake up thinking about a writing project I haven't finished and within minutes I am beating myself up for not completing or "doing" anything of value.

Watering the weed seeds can be a habit energy that we automatically fall into. We might not even realize we are doing it.  It is so much easier to stuff the weed seeds under layers of soil and pretend they don't exist than it is to acknowledge their reality.  It is so much easier to supress, repress, deny, avoid or numb from negative emotion and experience than it is to take care of it.  We can be consumed by the momentum of being carried away by the things that lead us farther away from God and our resistance to it.

We have a Choice

We always have a choice as to what seeds to water. To ensure we water the ones that bring us to our true nature we must be mindful and aware of where our attention is focused.  Simply focus on the joy and the peace and the God Source within you.  Allow that type of focus into  your daily experience.  When you wake up...instead of jumping on the habitual thought train that will take you speeding into a negative focus...breathe, focus on breath, focus on where your body is and time and space.  Be in the now...and watch your mind from a distance. Then be mindful how you make your tea, how you brush your teeth or care for your pets.  Fill those early hours with positive, inspirational literature or a  spiritual practice.  Maybe you want to meditate, pray or listen to a dharma talk  Start your day like that. And throughout the rest of the day, stop and notice where you are, what you are thinking, what you are doing and how you are doing it.  What seeds are you watering?  Bring self back to stillness many times a day, contemplating what you really want to see grow in your mental garden and in your life. Are you watering those seeds? Be aware!

What to Do With the Seeds When They Grow

Sometimes those seeds we wish wouldn't grow, will pop up into our conscious experience.  We are going to have to treat these weeds a lot differently than you would treat the weeds in your flower garden.  You are not going to pour noxious chemicals over them that kill so many things besides the weeds, you are not going to attack them by reaching in and pulling them painfully out of the earth, You are not going to snip them off at the stalk leaving the roots intact( that would be futile).  You are not going to pretend they aren't there either. 

What you need to do with these weeds is treat them the same way you would treat the rose that has bloomed beside them....with loving kindness. 

Huh?

 Do not judge one plant, one thought in that  mind of yours as beautiful, the other as ugly.  One as right and one as wrong. One that should be and one that shouldn't  Both should be because both are.  Neither good or bad...just are.  Recognize the weed...see it, touch it...know it is there.  And instead of struggling against its presence in your mind, your life, allow it to be. 

Then with loving kindness, embrace it.  Stop...take a deep breath and hold the negative thinking  in your mind. Look deeply at it and ask, "How , my little friend, did you come to be in my garden?"  Recognize how your mind once again has gotten lost in the habitual negativity and focused on that which does not serve you or the world.

Then wait for the insight to come to you which may involve an inspiration to do nothing more than gently letting go of the weed to focus on the rose, watering the rose, giving fertilizer to the rose as you commit to watering more selectively in the future.  As the roses around you bloom in the rich environment you provide, weeds will simply disappear. As we focus on the positive that is also in our lives, the negative will disappear.

If you want a rose garden...focus on roses not weeds. 

And also  know that Porsches, and Million Dollar Homes, trophy spouses or all the accolades in the world from others, will not make those roses bloom.  Water compassion, peace, mindfulness, concentration, love and joy instead.

Now what the he%& does that have to do with my writing disorganization?

I question what I want and what I am watering

I do want to get my writing out there and finish my novels but I ask why?  To embrace the writing process because it brings me joy or to get published so I can feel somewhat redeemed for spending all this time as a "non-productive" member of society?  I figure if someone validates my writing, I can say, "See, I didn't waste my time.  I was doing /being what I was suppose to do/be."

Is validation, redemption from others, a certain success as a writer what I really, really want?  No...I want connection with my Source.  When I write, I get that connection, that joy, that peace.  I feel like I am giving something.  That is why I write.

Watering the seeds of worldly desires like  publication and recognition  is not as important as watering the seeds of creativity, inspiration, joy and doing what I know I am here to do. I keep saying I am going to spend more time on the submission process rather than here but I keep coming back here to my fifty some readers a day. Go figure. I want to water this.

Hmmm!

What else can I say?

All is well in my world.

Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Plum Village (October, 2018) Practicing in a stressful environment/ Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6KTb0QMyJ8

Plum Village ( May 2020)  Taming the Tiger Within/dharma talk by Br. Ngo Khong/Deer Park Monastery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfLZn15jdxo

Contemplating the Reality of Suffering

Conceptual habits of the Conscious Mind are the greatest bar to man's discovery of himself.
Uell S. Andersen

I just finished a wonderful book(fiction) about the life of my man, Aristotle: The Golden Mean by Canadian author, Annabel Lyon. Of course I have no where near the mind he had but I do like to do what he is known for doing, contemplating the nature of reality.  That is what leads to my studying all these philosophers, poets, writers, scientists and spiritual teachings. What I really like to do is find the connecting dots, the similarities, the One truth that they all point to when it comes to dealing with suffering.  You know?

Well , as you may have gathered by now,  I love the Buddhist dharma and I love the idea of discovering the True Self as taught in many other scriptures including Hinduism/Yoga and...yes...the "new age" stuff. (Though I do have a problem with that term ).  I am finding some important connecting dots that help with my understanding. 

I would like to compare the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh with other non-Buddhist teachings including ACIM, the Maharishi inspired works of Robert Spira and the writings of Uell S. Anderson to exemplify the idea that there is only One Truth. (Bear with me, I have a bit of vertigo and the letters on the keys sometimes jump all over the place lol...if there are a lot of typos, we will blame it on that)

Differences Between Buddhism and the Other Teachings

Before I begin talking about the similarities , it is important to speak to the difference in the philosophies of Buddhism with the others that keep slapping me in the face as I read, listen or study. There are, I believe, three distinct differences.

My way of understanding the first difference is that the Buddhist Path to liberation, freedom from the modifications of the mind and a return to the natural state of peace, is an "indirect path" taking many steps ( Well Eight to be exact) . The others above speak to a "direct path", one that requires nothing more than a "holy instant" or a moment of realization.During this directionless journey, the mind sinks or relaxes backwards, inwards or ‘selfwards’. (Spira,page 55)

Another difference is in the teaching of the non-Buddhists that most of the stuff we are experiencing is just an illusion that should be ignored or pushed away.  No matter what obstacle or undesirable circumstance crosses my path, I refuse to accept it, for it is nothing but illusion.
(Andersen, Uell S., page 429) All aspects of fear are untrue because they do not exist at the creative level, and therefore do not exists at all...Believe this and you will be free. (ACIM-T-VI:1:5)
The Buddhist, on the other hand,  do not believe in ignoring, resisting, struggling against anything, nor do they believe in supressing and repressing emotion as they feel we will be doing when we "ignore" certain things.  They see all that occurs, all experiences, thoughts and feelings as part of our  reality in the moment and must be recognized, accepted and embraced.

The third difference is that Buddhism speaks to the idea of "transformation"  more than the idea of "transcendence" used in the other teachings.  It is taught that we can transform our suffering , with the help of mindfulness energy, into a tool that guides us toward awakening. The others speak to the fact that we actually transcend this "idea" of suffering when we realize the illusionary nature of it.

Similarities

As I listened to a dharma talk today where Thich Nhat Hanh  was speaking of the five powers (well he added a sixth).  I immediately saw many similarities between this philosophy  and the others I have been presently reading.

The First Power is Faith

All these teachings speak to the idea of Faith as a power that can help us get beyond our suffering. .  Thich Nhat Hanh speaks to the importance of having confidence  and trust in ourselves  to awaken. The others use the term "belief"  and faith interchangeably. This faith Hanh and others speak or write about is not a reliance on something outside ourselves but on a something within. We need to "believe" we can get beyond  our pain by knowing Who or What is inside us. All teachings refer to a higher consciousness, a higher Self, a higher level of Being that rests in these temporary forms we wear like a gown.

The Second Power is Diligence

Diligence is all about applying "appropriate attention " to the things we want in our life.  Hanh calls it "watering selectively". We water those feelings and experiences we want to be paramount in our loves like joy, happiness, love, compassion, peace and  and awakening and we do our best not to water those things we do not want paramount in our life : pain, grief, anger, resentment, violence, greed etc.

Many of the teachings refer to the mind in a similar way though different terminology may be used.  Hanh says the  mind is divided into the "store consciousness" and the "mind consciousness". Uell and others refer to it as "subconscious" and "conscious" mind.  The "conscious" mind according to Uell and others is the boss of the subconscious mind but the subconscious mind determines more or less how we live because  it is there where the "Prompters" from the conscious mind are placed.  Hanh refers to these as "seeds".  These seeds or prompters include what the dualistic mind would refer to as both negative and positive aspects.  We want to water the positive and leave teh negative where they are.  These seeds are like "core beliefs" we hold onto yet may not be even mindful that they are there.  Sometimes they get watered on purpose by our appropriate attention and sometimes unfortunately by our "unskillful attention".  If we are thinking about the negative, focusing on it... that is like watering.  The negative pops up into our conscious mind and we may experience, according to many, more negative in our external worlds.  What we want to do is avoid watering the negative.

If, of course, they do get watered and sprout out into our conscious experience, we need to help them to go home.  Hanh and Spira say we do this by focusing on and watering the seeds of mindfulness/awareness so that energy comes to the surface to embrace the  energy of suffering we had allowed to sprout.  

Positive seeds or prompters are also  much more powerful than the negative.  We replace the negative with the positive.  Psychologists may refer to that as  cognitive restructuring.  If we focus on positive, all teachings say, we out do the negative.  It is not about struggling or fighting or resisting that which we do not want.

The Sixth Power is Letting Go

All teachings speak to the power of Letting Go but none more so than in Buddhism.  The basis of true happiness is a recognition, allowing, embracing, looking deeply into what is to gain insight.


Hmmm!  That is all I can seem to regurgitate right now.  I will be back.

All is well.

References:

ACIM

Andersen, Uell S.. Three Magic Words . BN Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Lyon, A.(2009) The Golden Mean. Random House Canada

Plum Village (October, 2018) Practicing in a stressful environment/ dharma talk with Thich Hhat Hanh/ 2004  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6KTb0QMyJ8

Spira, Rupert. Being Aware of Being Aware (The Essence of Meditation Series) (p. 55). New Harbinger Publications. Kindle Edition.

Rest ot Restless?

Rest is not a four letter word.
Br. Phap Hai

I have been feeling a number of things lately and labelling what I have been experiencing , as the mind likes to do. I have been feeling lazy as I walk over things that need to be picked up or tidied, as I close my eyes to the heavy house cleaning that needs to be done and my avoiding  the yard work. 

I have also been feeling restless and worried, especially when I look at my writing ventures.  I seem to be all over the place and I worry if anything were to happen to me in the little bit...would what  I was supposed to get out there be out there?

I know I am just focusing my attention unwisely and once again fault finding with the way things are right now and right here.

My body is tired.  My mind is tired.  I am directed towards rest.  This does not mean I am hindering my process(well at least not according to the Buddhists lol).  I am simply finding rest where I need it, putting aside the doing tendency for the being one. Hmmm!

As far as the writing restlessness. I just need to stop, recognize that I am feeling restless, allow it, embrace it and then I can look deeply into as to why I feel the way I do.  Finally,  I can find the insight inside me as to what to do about it. I have so many things written, so many things partially written and so many things that are crying to be written.  I don't know where to go with it all. 

Deep breath!  I will figure out what needs to be figured out only after I allow and embrace it for being exactly as it is now.

All good!

Plum Village ( May, 2020) Finding True Rest for Body and Mind/ dharma talk with Br. Phap Hai.
Can't find the link for some reason...will get back to you with that.

No Complaints What So Ever

Saying Nothing, The Observer Watches from the space that is forever quiet and still;
as the noisy, busy world bumps us around and knock us down, just as nature wills.
Me...woke up with this in my head, :)


Eckhart Tolle, in his video, Awakening from Self Talk, relays the story about a Zen monk who is about to part on a five year  journey.  The advice his master gives him before he leaves is to repeat to himself, no matter what he comes across, Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

I have heard versions of this story before, possibly in other Eckhart Tolle videos, and I cannot find the original version when I search...but...this pretty well says it all anyway, doesn't it? This statement is a practice in itself

Imagine

Imagine if we could...no matter what happens to us, no matter who or what we encounter on this journey through life... say ( and mean!!) Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

The sun is shining on the day of the family reunion Barb-B-Q: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.
It pours on the day of the family reunion Barb-B-Q: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

You land your dream job: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.
You get fired from your dream job: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

You meet your soul mate: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.
Your soul mate runs off with the babysitter: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

You make a hundred thousand  dollars in the stock market: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.
You lose a hundred thousand  dollars in the stock market: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

You are finally able to buy the house you always wanted after years of saving: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.
You lose the house you always wanted in a fire: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

Saying "Thanks" even when it hurts!

You get the point, right? It may be easy to say "Thanks" in the first scenarios but how easy is going to be, not to complain, and be instead "grateful" in the second scenarios. That is where the real practice comes in.

In order to appreciate, we must first accept and allow a circumstance to be what it is.  A complaint, on the other hand, is usually a strong resistance to what is.  It is a saying, "No!  This should not be!"  It is an argument with another or with life that things are not meeting our expectations of how we judge and perceive they should be. Complaints take us out of the present moment because in order to be there we need to accept the moment for what it is...anything it is. If we resist the event we encounter, we resist the moment, and if we resist the moment we resist life.

By saying , Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever, we put aside our resistance and allow the moment to be what it is .  Then we take a step farther by appreciating it...knowing that there is great opportunity in adversity to advance us further in our spiritual practice.  

It is also a beautiful practice in non-duality...putting aside our need to name and label and judge things as being either good or bad, worthy of thanks or worthy  grievance.  Remember  Hamlet's words. : Nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so. (Act 2: Scene 2).  No matter what we encounter, we need to remember it is just life doing life.  We can learn to trust and  appreciate the majesty in that!

My Own Practice

I have been thinking, over the last few days, about where I am at on my journey along this "horizontal plane" .  I don't "react" the way I used to... to anything.  I seem to be even keel, not doing much. People say to me, "You must be bored!" I just seem to be so "blah!" to others.

My daughter actually called me a "robot" the other day because her pain body needed me to jump into a dramatic expression of her misery with her.  I make it a point now not to go there.  I stand outside it, observing, offering my deeper presence.  I am not angry or hurt by what her pain body does or says, nor am I deeply concerned about it.  I feel great compassion for her in her suffering but I don't jump in the hole with her. I just watch, wait and offer my presence from a very calm space.  It drives her crazy.

It struck me, that this is how I am lately.  I no longer am lost in ups and downs.  I no longer get excited by things that used to excite me.  My "ambitions" have been greatly reduced.  My "doing" is way below "normal". Nor do I expect Life to be a certain way, so I am seldom disappointed. I don't seem to look towards the future anymore, nor am I lost in the past. 

And as I write this the term "flat" comes to mind.  "Flat" is a term used in psychiatry to describe a person's affect when they are depressed. Hmmm! Without dependency on these ups and downs, am I flat?

I don't feel depressed, I don't feel bored and I don't feel like a robot.  I don't feel overly excited either. I just feel even...like I found the strongest mood stabilizer? I mean, I  still get irritable at times...menopause lol. I say it like it is. I probably am more outspoken than I was about some things...but not because I need to be right but because I feel I need to be honest, to see and express things as they are.

I find myself smiling a lot too...when I see a hummingbird fluttering by, or notice the blossoms on a tree or feel the sun and wind on my face.  That seems to be enough for me. You know, I am peaceful!!! I am just peaceful.  I don't look to the ups and downs of some crazy roller coaster to make me feel alive anymore...I am balancing here.  How?

Well I am finding the vertical plane, I wrote about yesterday.  And when we find that, this truly  does become our mantra: Thanks for everything.  I have no complaints what so ever.

Pretty crazy, huh?

All is well!

Eckhart Tolle ( May, 2020) Opinions Are Distractions in our Mind/ Awakening from Self Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzA2YyRs8XA

Balancing

Balancing On the Horizontal Plane

Brace yourself
as you wobble uneasily
on this ever-shifting  
horizontal plane.
Duck
when  your own busy
and chaotic  mental noise 
boom-a rangs  back to you,
vibrating with your joy,
your laughter
your sorrow
and your pain
on fear-made shields
and weapons
 thrown out by
your  own hands.
 
Then  push and swat away
the unpleasant reality
of existence here
on this
ever-changing line,
you attempt
so awkwardly
to balance on.

Hold tightly
to  that which can
keep you stable,
 to that which
perches precariously
and so very briefly,
on each end of the long pole
you cling so desperately to.
Hold your breath
as these  pleasantries,
successes
and accolades
land so sweetly,
stabilizing,
making you sigh in relief
before disappearing
to leave  you tottering again
above all their upturned eyes.
 
 
Watch as the ghostly lessons
and voices of your past
bounce off this wire
of circumstance,
feel that energy
moving through you
making you tremble
with tension
until it reaches its  source
 which hums so busily
between the eyes you insist
see all there is to see.
 
 
Close those eyes
to  this world
of comings and goings
that threaten to make you slip
into the endless depth below.
Focus on precious
grounding breath
to keep you balanced.
Then look again
with the internal vision
you have been given.
 
 
See the vertical line
that has always
been before you,
the plane that intersects
 this wobbly one
you are attempting,
oh so desperately,
to balance on.
Look up to see that
its end cannot be seen
and look down
to see the peace that
awaits you there.
 
Let go of the pole
you cling to.
Reach out to grab
this line instead.
Feel the perch
beneath your feet
becoming  stable
and unmoving
as you allow
yourself to slide down
into all there is.
Rest your weight
on this vertical line
so few tight rope walkers
remember or seek to know.
Remember.
Find stillness and peace
in this intersecting plane
and  this horizontal one
on which you stand
will be so much easier
to balance on.

© Dale-Lyn 2020

 

Oh wow!  Not good, lol.  This one was insisting on coming out.  Started it yesterday after I listened to the below  videos from Eckhart Tolle...but I spat and sputtered with a rhyme scheme the poem seemed to be insisting on.  And after a few hours, I said, "This is crazy!" and I walked away.  I came back to it today and this came out instead.  I think the message is good???!! Lol if nothing else.  ( I need to remind myself of Hamlet's words: Nothing is either bad or good but thinking makes it so. :))

All is well!

Eckhart Tolle (May, 2020) The Futility of Egoic Reaction and Navigating Our Awakening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9DCVEwd6Lw

 

Eckhart Tolle ( April, 2020) Transcending Fear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L0aFk7j4d4

Tiny Jewel

Value each drop of water you use to wash your face with as a jewel...[and know]...Every feeling is a drop of water, take care of it.
Thich Nhat Hanh ( somewhat paraphrased from dharma talk below)

I am having another one of those retroactive serendipitous experiences.  :) I was listening to Thich Nhat Hanh, in  the dharma talk listed below, speak of a Kung Fu checklist he offers retreat participants to observe their level of "beingness" at the end of each day.   And I instantly recalled the two articles I have written and published in 2017: Measuring the Quality of Your Day with a To Be List and How to Make the Most of your 24 Hour Life.  I did not know of the Kung Fu sheet then because this is the first time I tapped into this talk, but it is pretty well speaks to the same thing I wrote about in my articles.  Go figure.

(I also discovered recently that there is another writer with my real name...we are not one and the same....lol.  she has many more publications under her belt but it will get confusing.  I am going to have to put the -Lynn into my name from now.)

Anyway I digress...there is a little something wanting to come out of me since listening to the talk. Here it comes...

Tiny Jewel

So easily unseen
by the unmindful eye,
one shiny glistening jewel,
captured in a tiny drop,
suspends so delicately
from the faucet's mouth.

Catching the busy fluorescent lighting
in a flickering of remembering
an ancient history
a perfectly clear lake,
glacial and cold,
 once reflecting  sunlight, moonlight
and mountain peak
in  still and spacious waters.

One tiny expression of
This mighty  Source
now  seemingly so fragile,
at the mercy of gravitational fingers
that threaten to pull it into
the forgotten depths
at the bottom of the sink
you so take for granted.

Yet, it clings  tenaciously to
the last stage of this long
and arduous journey
that has taken it,
in many changing forms,
down snow capped trails,
and hidden streams,
through roaring rivers
and awaiting oceans
to this,
to you,
in hope you will see
the  mountain lake within it.

See the ruby, the diamond
and the sparkling sapphire
in its tiny little presence
 before it loses its desperate hold
on the metal lip of your appliance.

Reach up to capture it
in your cold and open  hand.
Notice it, thank it, embrace it,
and use it wisely.
Recognize The Source
of all things in it.
Allow  its final destination
to be one of restful peace
by showing it that the sacrifice it
has made for you
will not go unnoticed.

 

© Dale-Lynn 2020

If I copy right in my pen name, can I switch to my real name at any time?  Rhetorical question I ask because I have submitted some of these blog poems for publication purposes using my real name.  Must check into that.

All good!


Plum Village (Sept, 2018) Happiness is Made By These Moments/Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh 2004https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlOEfUdgIEI

http://www.globalharmonycrew.com/how-to-make-the-most-of-your-life-the-24-hour-life/

https://tinybuddha.com/blog/measuring-the-quality-of-your-day-with-a-to-be-list-not-just-a-to-do-list/

Re-establishing Balance in Body and Mind

Sadness is my sickness; sickness is my sadness.
Sr. Dang Nghiem

The Poetry Mission

 I have  a few new mini- missions. My first is to do something with all these words that keep coming out of me. On top of the novel I painfully went back to, and the new one I am writing...get this...in poetic verse ( who the he## does that?)...  I am getting my poetry into some kind of organized collections.  Whether it gets published or not I have to do something with all these poems...hundreds of them.  They are like my photos, just collecting in disorganized chaos on this computer.  I just don't know what to do with these things.  I really don't.

Submitting Poetry.  Yuck!

Sometimes, I think an ego that wants to be recognized would benefit me some...it would help me to get these things out of the computer closet and into the world because Self tells me that is where they belong, in all their imperfection. But the submission process makes me want to vomit! I am so adverse to it...and not because I fear rejection.  I am well used to that. It is just so time consuming. The process is something I would judge ( I know I am succumbing to duality) as completely sucky....so I tend to avoid it.  :)

The poetry is also different than the other stuff I write.  At least with the others, I have received some semi-validation that I can write in those  genres...but with the poetry...the most exposing of all mediums...I haven't got a clue what other people think.  And I really don't care.

When we submit...we have to care.  It is like I have to plea with a potential publisher, "Oh please like me," because my poems are me. I am completely exposed in them.  When I submit poetry ,   I feel like I  am standing naked in front of all the Simon Cowels of the  world   after I just poured my soul out. (If you heard me sing...you would know why I feel so much at risk of never getting a Golden ticket).  It is not that I care anymore about what they think of me or my poems.  It is just that , if  Self tells me they gotta be out there, I know they have to get past them first.

So it is like I am standing there with my arms up asking, "Well? Do you like me or not?  I'm 56, I don't have a lot of time to waste here.  Don't waste my time telling me I need lessons or a few reconstructive surgeries before I come back next season. Not going to happen! I got to get these out to the world for some bloody reason I will never completely understand...Just judge me quickly so I can move  on to the Voice or America's Got Talent or something before it is too late, k? Hurry, hurry!"

Hurry!Hurry! equates to months of waiting.

Anyway, I did submit to a contest.  Created two chap books with a small portion of my poetry and I sent them out.  I will not hear back until August. I am quite sure there will not be a Golden ticket attached to the message I get back...and that is okay.  I broke through that mental barrier I have towards submitting and they are out there.  I will keep organizing and compiling chap books and hopefully I will keep up with the momentum of sending them out. Self...just asks that we try right? The rest is up to the universe.

Anyway...Mission Two: Trauma Release and Body Awareness

I am trying to reconnect with body and help others reconnect with their bodies which is teh basis of yoga I suppose.  I know I have trauma trapped in my body and I want to use mindful yoga to release those knots. I then want to help others release their knots.   I cannot do that, however, until I assume the correct posture.

It all begins with posture

I have been noticing surprisingly , as I  look at some of the yoga videos I put on my page, that I have fallen out of the correct postural alignment.  I was so embarrassed when I realized this because I felt like a hypocrite as a yoga teacher.

I slipped right into old postural habits I developed years ago when I had to give up my active life style for a more sedentary one.  This period of isolation has led me once again to spend hours in front of the computer and on the couch and much less time in the studio.  The body compensated in its attempt to accommodate and preserve.

It does not take long for the body to accommodate the mind, and for a new wiring and "normal" to take over.  Some muscles will shorten and tighten because of the new posture, other antagonistic muscles will over stretch and weaken.  Then the body, in its wisdom and desire to keep us balanced and stable on our mission through life...will accommodate for the weakening by shortening and tightening muscles elsewhere...which will lead to a weakening and overstretching of that muscle group's antagonistic muscles...and so on and so on and so on.

If we are not mindful of our body...we won't even notice what is going on until we start to notice a decreased range of motion, chronic pain, or injury.  Now the body works as a unit, right?  All muscles are interdependent.  So a chronic pain in the bottom of the foot can actually be due to improper posturing of the cervical spine. A knee injury can be a result of rounded shoulders.  Get that? 

Posture is important! Good posture, like all healing,  starts with mindfulness.

Three Common and Unhealthy Postural Changes

There are three obvious postural changes that can occur when we spend excessive amounts of time sitting in front of a computer or TV. They are : Tech neck, a forward roll of the shoulders and a pelvic tilt which can be anterior or posterior. 

When I seen myself in one video, I was shocked to see all so clearly.  I noticed during an upward sweep I could not bring my upper arms back to my ears.  I noticed my chin jutting out explaining why I was having some discomfort in the back of my head and this constant clenching of the jaw.  I noticed an overextension of the thoracic spine and a rolling of my shoulders thus explaining why I was getting shoulder and neck pain again...for the first time in years.  And I noticed the pelvis in an anterior tilt sometimes and a posterior tilt other times.  I was going back and forth between the both because I have a hypermobile lower spine.  This was playing havoc on my knees when I stood and on my balance as a whole.

It is like wow!  That happened fast. So here I am wanting to release the body of its trauma and I am creating more tension instead.  Before I can do the body work and teach the body work for healing trauma to others, I will need to re-establish balance and stability in my posture.

So that is what I will be doing on my yoga page: helping myself and others correct these postural habits.  And...the good news is... it is very correctable!

Four Ways to Re-establish Balance in the Mind

And to heal from trauma we also have to re-establish balance in our minds.  We can develop very unhealthy habits that leave the mind straining and paining.  Just like the body, the mind really does have our best interest at heart and when we are facing trauma...it does what it can to protect us.  We tend to have many defense mechanisms that at the  time are very helpful and necessary.  Unfortunately, like improper body posture, they can become habits that no longer serve us and lead to more injury.

In a lovely dharma talk Beginning Anew, Sr. Dang Nghiem speaks to these four ways of realigning ourselves.

In Step One we begin by making it a daily practice to say thank you...to self.  Recognize what the body and mind are doing to help us.  See the  Fight and Flight response that we may or may not be trapped in, as beneficial and necessary thing for our survival.  It is there for a reason and it has helped us in teh past. Sure, we may develop an addiction to it...but that is okay too.  Just recognize it as we move into different mental postures. 

Sure you may have rolling shoulders like I do, leaving your knuckles dragging on the floor ( ;) ) but know that was the body's attempt to accommodate your needs.  It can be corrected.  So say thank you to body, mind and Self.

Step Two involves expressing regrets. Say sorry to yourself at least as often as you say it to others.  We are much more cruel to our bodies and mind than we are to others. Say sorry to your body when you realize that something you did caused it to experience pain.  Don't beat yourself up...apologize.  Notice how often you criticise yourself and apologize to you for doing that.  You as a body , mind and Self deserve your apologies more than anyone else does!

Step Three asks that we express the hurt.  We so often supress and repress our strong feelings because we do not ant to deal with them.  That is how trauma gets trapped in the body in the first place.  We need to learn to express our pain.  Best done if we can confront the individuals or circumstances we feel have "hurt" us in a kind and compassionate way.  But if we cannot do that express those feelings to yourself.  Sit with them, recognize them, allow them, embrace them and look deeply into them. I use the wonderful expression of written word to help me deal with painful emotions.  I rather them on the page than in my muscles and cells.

Finally, Step Four is about making resolutions.  determine what you can do to correct these habits you have had that no longer serve you.  Just like we correct our unhealthy postural habits we correct our unhealthy mental habits.

So I have some missions that involve correcting habits of body and mind.  Bear with me.

It is all good.

Plum Village (Jan 2020) Beginning Anew/ Holiday Retreat Dharma Talk/ Sr Dang Nghiem 2019 12 30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b6I5aAU3as

Time: A Lethal Virus

I do not fear death. I have been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.
Mark Twain ( https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/25647-i-do-not-fear-death-i-had-been-dead-for)


Lethal Infection


We are all infected with a lethal virus
that will lead to our demise
and not one of us is immune to this
despite how ego tries
to convince us if we work hard
and if  we really  try
we can put aside the truth
that everything will die.
We take our antivirals and drink up
all the elixirs the world supplies
and   we swallow so hopefully,
believing ego's lies.


We tuck away our ceremonial skulls
in the drawers of our mind
and as  processions pass outside our windows
we quickly draw  the blinds.
We drop  our eyes  and walk away from forms
burning on the  funeral pyres
and  we allow our denial and pretending
to extinguish all the fires.


 We cringe as  the mirror ungraciously reflects
 every desperate crease and line,
that the years have placed upon our skin
as just another sign
that like the aged and  the feeble
our own bodies will decay.
So we cover  up each wrinkle and
 hide all beings who reflect the truth away.

We can't ignore the clocks upon the wall
that sing out with their ticking hands
that our moments are diminishing,
that there's no escaping time's demands.
Like all of nature's produce
our bodies  will wither, brown and die
making room for new life beneath us
to emerge from the plot in which we lie.

Death is a natural sign of impermanence
that all nature must  endure
so don't listen to the ego when it professes,
through denial, we can cure.
Just accept that this heavy form we inhabit
like an outfit made of time
must be removed when the span  is over,
when Life has reached her prime.

Take a breath and breathe it in,
the reality of  what you are:
you are human; you are earth;
you are comet; you are star
and beneath the form that exhales
the last precious dying breath
is a something or a no-thing
that will outlive this thought of death.

Dale-Lyn (May 2020)

This is getting a bit ridiculous lol. ...especially with the rhyming! Anyway...was listening to Eckhart Tolle talk about time as a lethal virus (see link below) and this is what popped out.  Go figure.

I know that "poets" and those who critique poetry will probably look at this as anything but poetry.  I myself do not know what to call it...it just comes out!

All is well

Eckhart Tolle (May 2, 2020) Finding Death Before Death Finds You. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfGjm2lHqpQ

The Wings of Samatha and Vipasyana

Wings

Oh beautiful bird with expanded wing,
carry me away,
to the kingdom my Self longs for,
a place where I can stay.
I put away my running shoes,
my need to hide, to  grasp, to seek  
and close my eyes and wait for you
 to clasp me in your  beak.
Lift me up with gentle ease,
 and save me from my fear.
Take me to that special place
 that exists nowhere but here.

 Place me on  the graceful wing
where time is hushed and stilled
 and where mind and body stop to breathe
as nature surely wills.
Upon your feathery pinion,
I will stretch out in passive form
giving up my struggles and my fight
to resist each passing storm.
I will surrender graciously,
as we glide through spacious sky,
and I will notice how blue it is
while the grey clouds pass us by.

I will have faith in you my friend
to shelter and protect,
as I let go  into the sureness of your strength,
my view you will correct.
As you hold me on your wing,
and we skillfully swoop and glide,
I will know that where you're taking me
is nowhere but inside.
And as I breathe in each precious breath,
I will observe  each internal knot release
from    the twisted  pain of wounded cells
to settle into peace.

Then when there is no longer in me
a place for fear and grief to hide,
I will crawl so gratefully over you
to the wing on the other side.
There, I will lie and look about;
the wonders of the world, I will see
and understand so perfectly
the way it was and the way it's meant to be.
And without a noise of flapping wing,
you will gently set me down
in the home of Self where I never left
and where I always can be found.

Dale-Lyn  May 2020

Okay...this came out of me...somewhat painfully because it came out rhyming. ( A bit like a cat coughing up a fur ball...I suppose...has to come out but it isn't always pleasant to watch lol)  It ...whatever it is...good or bad, right or wrong...nice or crappy...it  is out.  My work here is done.

Where did t come from?  I listened to a dharma talk from Nhat Thich Hanh today on the "wings" of samatha (stopping)  and vipassana (looking deeply).  This is a result of that.

It is what it is.

All good

Plum Village (August 2018) Surrender Yourself to the Present Moment/Dharma Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh 2004-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N93IvR45D80

Motivated by Self or Ego?

There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.
From Dharma Talk linked below

Who is Riding the Horse?

Hmmm!  I have been watching what I assume is ego emerge, subside, and emerge again throughout all the learning I have been doing.  Yet, I am still not sure if what I am witnessing in me is all ego or sometimes Self?

This confusion  affects my motivation to do certain things.  If I think ego is involved, I tend to pull back and step away from my endeavor  because I truly do not want this "made-up" part of who I am to run the show.  When ego has the reins everything can get more than a little chaotic and I just end up going around in circles until I am dizzy.  When Self has the reins everything is smooth and peaceful no matter what is going on around me.  (The horse, of course, is the mind and body, right?)

The thing is,  I often don't know which part of me is getting in the saddle until we have gone a few laps around the fence. When I find myself dizzy from not getting anywhere or worse bucked off the horse I was not skilled enough to handle. ...I can say, "Oh that was ego."  And when I find myself  getting somewhere (that somewhere is usually not an external distance)  peacefully, moving along smoothly and calmly ...I can say ..."Ohhh...this must be Self holding the reins."

 I would like to know before I put my foot up on the stirrup, you know? But ...sigh...for now, I have to keep learning the challenging way to determine when  I am acting from an ego and when I am not...before I learn to become the rider I want to be.  Just by realizing, "Oh...this is ego"...even if that realization only comes when I am face down in the manure...is the learning...is the coming back to Self.

Poetry: Ego or Self

I think of poetry and why I write it or put it out there for people to see.  Is it Self or ego riding this mental endeavor when the poetry comes out on the page?   And I know in my heart that it is Self because  ...it more or less...just happens and because ego hates when I do it. 

It just comes out ...lately after I learn something new or hear something that resonates in my core as truth.  I know as I am hearing, reading  certain words...that "this" whatever it is...is going to be expressed in a poem. I mean sometimes I think about it...I push and pull the words around a bit until they calm ego down some, I manipulate here, revise there...There is still some mind in there...but for the most part , it is like it just comes out and I find myself saying,  "WTF(front door)?  Why did I write that? And why am I allowing other people to see it???"

Ego  Doesn't Like Poetry

Shamer Ego is in the background screaming, "No!!!!!! Don't do it!" lol

Remember ego has two sides, right?  One side shames and keeps us down creating an image of us as "less than, deficient, broken, defective etc".  And another side  seeks to redeem by creating an illusion of us being more with the gaining and grasping for things that we erroneously believe will create a redeemed persona to hide the other. (Well that is how I see it anyway.)  

As there might be in some of my other writing...there is no redemption motivation in my poetry...just pure and open vulnerability. I feel more naked and exposed with a poem than any of the other stuff I write.  This vulnerability activates Shamer and this part of my ego will insist I don't publish it or show it and it will chastise me like crazy when I do.  So if I publish a post with a poem, it has to be Self that is motivating me to do so. That  is why I say this writing of poetry and this sharing of poetry is not ego for me. 

It also comes out smoothly ( albeit it may sound like crap lol but it comes out so easily).  It is a calm experience that is taking me, if no one else, somewhere...to a greater understanding that I never had before I read the poem that came out of me.  And it all has so little to do with "me".  I can say I wrote the books I wrote.  I write this blog.  I write my articles.  I wrote my short fiction.  I can say I wrote what was published.  But when it comes to poetry...I honestly cannot say I write poems.  It is really ( other than the bit of tweaking I may do) nothing I have done. It just comes through me.

Serendipity

And it is so freaky deeky, at times to see how it coincides so beautifully with things I learn, read, hear...after...certain poems came through me.  At the time I first read certain poems...it is like "Huh???" And then the learning begins or is cemented so clearly with serendipity.

I am going to get you to go back to two poems I "supposedly"  wrote: Windows to the Soul...or Windows...under the post from 2017 entitled "Eye Contact" https://dale-lynwritin.blogspot.com/2017/01/eye-contact.html
 and the poem I wrote called "Ego Reflections" that I wrote months ago https://dale-lynwritin.blogspot.com/2020/02/poem-in-progress.html



I mean there was some inspiration for each of these poems at the time I was writing them  but I still didn't quite understand them.

Today I was listening to a lovely dharma talk, like I do everyday ( see link below) and in this talk Br Phap Cau spoke about Narcissus and another interpretation of that fable...and he talked about shadow projections...how we see ourselves in other people. It was like "AHA!!!"

Just like that.... w those two poems I "supposedly" wrote without fully understanding why I wrote them.... made perfect sense to me.  This dharma talk and " my" poems go together in some crazy nonlinear way. It just blew me away and cemented this idea that poetry is nothing I have done or do...it is just done through this body and mind.  For that reason...I have to say it is Self that is riding the Poetry horse...and no matter how much ego screams in the back ground, "Don't do it!!!!"  I have to share them.  That is Self.

Other Endeavors

I question which of the following (ego or Self)  motivated me in another endeavour and which of the two holds me back from sharing it. I mentioned here that I wanted to offer some service or give something helpful to the world during this pandemic, especially since I could no longer nurse and have so little money.  As a Yoga teacher, I created a yoga page.  I think this is a great time for yoga...to help settle and calm body and mind. So I have a page with several instructional videos on asanas and pranayama, as well as on  body and breath awareness I created over the last couple of months. I have offered it to some but not all of my students. Why?

 I question:  Was it ego that led me to produce this...a need to be recognized and seen, a way to practice and strengthen  this"  idea"  I have of me as a yoga teacher? Or was it Self...a genuine desire to serve in some way.  It was actually both of these, I suppose.

What is holding me back from making it public like I said I would?  First of all, I fear Redeemer ego's role in this will taint my giving desire. I want to give for the sake of giving, not to strengthen any crazy idea I have of little me.  And it is embarrassing lol. Shamer is screaming in the background...as it does with my poetry..."Don't Do it!!!! Don't expose yourself!! Your gift isn't good enough!" 

You see...my videos are far from perfect, as am I, in them...As a body, as an instructor, as a speaker, as a yogi, and as a "person", I am far from perfect. This leads me to feel vulnerable and at risk for criticism and ridicule.  Shamer says..."Until you are perfect...don't show yourself.  You haven't got anything of value to offer."

What do you think Self has to say to that?

Something to the effect,  "Just give what you have to give with kindness and compassion. Don't be concerned with outcome.  It may be received well and it may not be.  That has nothing to do with "you".  Giving, compassion, love, joy, kindness has little to do with you. Like the poetry...it just comes through you.  The real shame here...will not be in how this idea of "you" appears to others but to block the natural flow of  giving with your fear."

Wow!

Yoga anyone?

https://spark.adobe.com/page/tWkqUA9YwK13m/

All is well!

Plum Village (April 2020) The Philosophy of the Philosopher's Stone/ Dharma Talk with Br. Phap Cau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI8yIMYR2Mc

Emotion

emotion

emotion is
created by notions
of what is pleasant
what is not
in the factories of our
human form

we stand like
stoic guards
in front of each of the
body's gates
selectively determining
what should enter
and what should
be denied admission
into the emotion
 making factory
of our existence

those selected and
varied ingredients
that enter 
will be poured
into the ever changing
spinning
whirling
noisy
machinery
of our  minds
stirred
and seasoned
by the instruments of form,
thought
and
circumstance....
until the products
are ready for export
 
like water
pouring through
a porous vessel
these neatly packaged
emotions 
are meant
to pour through us
fluidly
smoothly
cleansing,
quenching and
enhancing this
human experience
and adding
eventually
to the world beyond

yet too many
hindrances to
this fluid movement
arise
in this imperfect
production line
beginning with
the gatekeeper
who allows
too much of
the noisy
and contaminated
ingredients in
and not enough
of the pure
and natural
creating emotions
that are volatile
and toxic
to
 the machinery itself
which will sometimes
choke
and sputter
in the poorly
ventilated spaces
of our minds

sometimes
impatient machines
will  release
the semi-finished
products down
the assembly line
prematurely
or they will not
release them at all
clinging to them
or storing them
away from sight
in dark closets.

or the emotions
 may be packaged
incorrectly
in a way they can not be
identified
 and released to
waiting vendors
on the outside


inspect your factory
interview and question
those who stand
at the five gates
take the machinery apart
and examine each
broken
and rusted piece
while windows
are opened to allow for more
light and fresh air
to fill this space


repairs can then be made
to allow for
the free movement
outward
of these precious products
so the factory
can remain uncongested
and the world will
be beautified by
emotional expression

Dale-Lyn May 2020

Okay...okay...this came out after listening to the video below.  I am really not sure why it came out this way lol.  It just did

Plum Village ( November, 2019) The Physiology of Love/Sr. Thaun Nghiem,New Hamlet  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSpUIQ9yUEo

Lessons 186-190

Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all. Light is not of the world, yet you who  bear the light in you are alien here as well...It is the only thing you bring with you from Him Who is your Source. ACIM-W-188: 1:4-7

Lesson 186

We may think it arrogant to say, Salvation of the world depends on me, but we are taught in this lesson that it is true humility to utter those words and mean them.  It is arrogant to think that we can have a Will other than God's.  God entrusts us the ability to help  save the world through our forgiveness.  Arrogance is when we listen to the image of us that we created that is not real, an image that shifts in emotion constantly, that is fearful and helpless.  This is not what God created us to be.  We are assigned a very important role in His service to set the world free with Love and forgiveness.

Lesson 187

Here we are reminded that if we are to save the world, we must first accept salvation for ourselves. We do not lose when we give, we gain. Giving is proof of having. 187:1:2 Giving will increase what we possess. We must learn to decide what is illusion and what is real and protect that which is real.  If we accept suffering for ourselves, others will suffer.  If we seek freedom from suffering for ourselves , others will be free. when we offer forgiveness to another, we give it to ourselves,

Lesson 188

There is light in us that comes from our Source and it can not be lost...even though we do not believe it is there or that we lost or we seek it in the future when it is in us already.  The peace of God is shining in you now, and from the heart extends around the world...what it gives must be eternal. 188:3:1,3 Once we recognize this peace within ourselves...and it is a recognizing and remembering...not a change. ...we cannot help but give it.  Enlightenment is simply bringing our wandering thoughts that convince us we are something we are not back to this light within us, that is us.

Lesson 189

Once we feel the Love of God in us, we see the world differently: shining in innocence, alive in hope, and blessed with perfect charity and love. 189:1:6.  It becomes a peace filled world in which forgiveness shines on everything. We have a choice to continue seeing teh world ego creates full of illusion, defense, attack and fear or the world the Love of God allows us to see. To see the world of Love we need to be still, empty our minds of preconceived ideas, notions, concepts...hold onto nothing...just fall back into that emptiness and spaciousness.  The way to reach God is to simply let him be.  We do not choose the way we go to Him but we chose the way we let Him come.  We ask for God's Will.  We ask and we receive.

Lesson 190

Pain is the wrong perspective. We are asked in a sense in this lesson to take on "right view" and to understand God is love not pain. Pain is a sign illusions reign in place of truth....If God is real, there is no pain.  If pain is real, there is no God. 190:3:1-4 It is not the world or God that causes us pain...it is simply our thoughts.

Thoughts to close with:

It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing external to your mind can hurt or injure you in any way.190:5:1-2

Pain is illusion; joy, reality.  Pain is but sleep; joy is awakening.  Pain is deception; joy alone is truth. 190:10:4-6

All is well!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day...

.....to all women(all those who identify as female) who have the instinct to care and nurture another being, be it two legged,  four legged or no legged.

Have a wonderful day!