Calm Your Thoughts

There are many, many web sites you can Google on to find info and help on meditation. Here's a link to view some simple videos on the matter: http://www.how-to-meditate.org/videos/ It's nothing more than noticing your breath, being aware of your breath as you breathe in and then out, and being aware of thoughts that arise in your mind during the process. When thoughts come floating in, just calmly notice them, then let them go like a soft cloud floating by.

Why meditate? Because we all absorb wordly noise, thoughts, and emotions daily. Most of it is clutter in the mind that can create negative energy in the body. So, relax..........let's meditate. It's soooooooooo EASY!

A LESSON IN MEDITATION

Concentration on the Breath
A very simple way of meditating is concentrating on your breath. The breath is like a bridge between your body and mind. When you concentrate on your breath for a while, your body becomes relaxed and your mind becomes peaceful.
Sit in a comfortable position with your back straight.
Place your hands in your lap with the left hand on the bottom.
Keep your eyes half-closed or closed.
Concentrate on the tip of your nose. Notice your breath going in and out.

Lotus posture
Full lotus is the best sitting posture. Begin by sitting in half-lotus, then work your way up to full lotus.
Full-lotus- Sit on the edge of a cushion. Place your left ankle on your right thigh. Then lift your right ankle onto your left thigh.
Half-lotus- Lift your left ankle onto your right thigh.

------diane

Wisdom

Wisdom. We all want more of it. We are all in awe of someone who possesses it. But, wisdom is not about reading and studying more subjects and gaining more knowledge. What good is knowing about everything on earth and in the cosmos if wisdom is not applied with it?

So, how do we become wise? The Buddha said that insightful wisdom is understood when one recognizes three characteristics of existence:

All things are (1) impermanent, (2)ownerless, and (3) dissatisfying in the long run. Any other way of thinking is delusional.

The wisdom of understanding reality, as Lama Surya Das explains in his book, "Buddha Is As Buddha Does", is like an experienced sighted guide capable of leading the otherwise blind practices of generosity, ethics, effort, patience, and meditation. Helen Keller reflected a similar attitude toward wisdom: "To be blind is bad, but worse it is to have eyes and not to see."

An awareness of life, of Oneness, is seeing things just as they are, as well as how they fit into and effect the entirety. The Dalai Lama calls this the Third Eye, or the Wisdom Eye. This mystic eye, or the eye of wisdom, perceives unity, while the other two "normal" eyes see dualistically. A person with wisdom sees a clear, holistic, third-eye vision of the cosmos.

Every person has this "wisdom" within himself. It's there for all to discover. There is a dimension within you that transcends all wordliness and concepts. It is your best friend, your teacher, your guide, ally, and protector. Innate wisdom is like your higher power, God, or Oneness. When we go into stillness or meditation, there is a dimension within that taps into this wisdom, this God. It's in the Now dimension where all that is real exists.

Impermanence

Birds, stones, flowers, and crystals have all held special significance for the human spirit, as Eckhart Tolle explains in his book, "A New Earth". He says, when a human gives his still and alert attention to these beautiful but temporary manifestations of the underlying one Life, or one Consciousness, he can sense the divine life essence, the one indwelling consciousness or spirit in every creature, every life-form, and recognize it as one with their own essence and so love it as themselves.

The Wasp and the Baby Bird, a true Sufi story

Many times in my life I have found sad little birds and have stopped to leave little bread crumbs or seed for them, in hopes their lives will be made a little easier by my gesture. However, sometimes, I've found the condition of the poor bird is such that I haven't known how to help the creature. Here is a story, a true one, of an incredible little insect that did all he possibly could to help a baby bird:

This is from an amazing blog you'll want to check out that I found at: http://mysticsaint.blogspot.com/

Sidi was about thirteen years old and it was harvest time in the village where he went to visit his relatives. everywhere people were harvesting the grains, chafing the wheat etc.at one point a wasp came to his attention. it was picking up a single wheat grain each time in its mouth and flew back. after a while it came back again to pick another grain and flew.

When Sidi saw it happening for the third time, it came to him, "there's a story behind what this wasp was doing". so he decided to catch this wasp without doing it any harm.with all the enthusiasms of a teenage boy, thanks to a little box and very thin thread he caught the wasp. then tied the thin thread to one of its leg and let it go.interestingly, without delay it came back and picked up another grain in its mouth and flew away. now following the thread curious Sidi tracked the wasp as it started its return journey. after it flew about two hundred yards, it hovered close to ground and made a sound. from distance there Sidi saw a little nest on the ground, then heard the voice of a bird and it was opening its beak.
going down, the wasp dropped the grain into the opened beak of the bird. Sidi went close to the nest and took this bird in his hand only to find that this bird had no legs and it was blind.Sidi told afterwards that the whole chain of events was a great surprise to him and left a significant impact in his heart.

Sidi mentions that this story gives us a way and gives to all people a certain understanding how Love and Mercy should be expressed. this story is a teaching from Allah about deep love and true mercy that each human being aspires to. This story also tells the depth of love go beyond the human being and are also experienced amongst other creatures of Allah, like birds and insects.Behold! Allah is not ashamed to propound the parable of a gnat or even of something more simpler. (Qur’an 2:26)

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Everything's Sacred

"God forbid you should say of the rock

that it is only rock, when we know that there is nothing that is not God"

- a quote from a Kabbalist

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