Tag Archives: happiness

Quotes - 2010

The Best Prayer

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I never ask God to give me anything; I only ask him to put me where things are.  – Mexican Proverb

the best prayer?

Just today I was chatting with a friend about what a prayer ought to contain. We both agreed that we should be asking for wisdom and understanding. We also agreed that we shouldn’t be asking for help getting out of problematic situations. Who knows for what purpose we live through life’s experiences? Unless of course the situation is very tough, in which case we thought that God would know our plight even before we asked… and then we might ask for greater strength in the present moment.

the best prayer…

Love today’s quote. God already knows us and our circumstances intimately, better than we do actually Smile! So what should we ask for? Nothing more or less than for:

  • Greater wisdom
  • A long term view
  • The ability to recognize growth opportunities
  • Understanding our place and purpose in the Universe
  • Courage and strength to face life and to be selfless

Daily Affirmation: Today I pray for wisdom and understanding, so help me God!

Recommendation: Meditations from Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch

Meditations from Conversations With GodGod Is Closer Than You Think: This Can Be the Greatest Moment of Your Life Because This Moment Is the Place Where You Can Meet GodKindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6

Quotes - 2010

The Ego

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We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away. – Chuang Tzu

we love ourselves

We love ourselves so much that we find it hard to not cling to our opinions and points-of-view! When anyone challenges such opinions, ‘we’, are challenged. ‘How dare they’ we say, ‘let me’ provide the ‘right’ answer here. We seldom truly listen, we mainly want to tell and inform.

no permanence

Like everything around us, our own opinions change, often. Isn’t that true? So why do we feel the need to correct others and why do we feel offended when challenged? It’s because we identify so closely with our thoughts, we become our thoughts, we are our thoughts, and therein lies the problem. We think up our thoughts, we design them or accept them from others, we are not the content of our thoughts. How can we step back and recognize this truth? How can we identify with the pure awareness that’s our core?

Daily Affirmation: Today I notice my ego and its ways.

Recommendation: Zen And the Art of Happiness by Chris Prentiss

Zen And the Art of HappinessKindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6

Quotes - 2010, Stillness

Need To Understand

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You don’t need strength to let go of something. What you really need is understanding. – Guy Finley

using sheer will

How many times have we tried, through the force of will power, to change a habit or to effect change? How many times have such attempts worked? I will wager that the success rate is not high, witness many of our failed New Year resolutions!

understanding comes first

Understanding why we act the way we do is key. Force often doesn’t work and even when it does there’s an equal and opposite reaction that might not be palatable. We must understand why we react negatively when someone says something that’s not agreeable. What exactly is it that ticks us off? Do we fear rejection? What is it that wants us to be right, every time? Examining that, understanding it, is key. The doorway to that understanding is being present to what is.

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM present to what is.

Recommendation: Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-zinn

Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in MindfulnessAn Introduction to Zen BuddhismKindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6

Quotes - 2010

Expecting Abundance

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Once, when we were discussing a world peace project with my teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, somebody asked him, ‘Where is all the money going to come from?’ And he replied without hesitation, ‘From wherever it is at the moment.’ – Deepak Chopra

expectations

We get what we expect. We get according to our faith. And we get what we ask for. We all live with a set of core beliefs. These beliefs are more powerful when they’re so deeply ingrained as to be second nature and sub-conscious. If life isn’t what we want it to be, then we must examine our deepest beliefs about it.

expectation = reality

When we can consciously choose our thoughts and design our beliefs & assumptions then we can, within certain limitations, sculpt our life experiences. What do you hold deeply?

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM conscious of manufacturing my thoughts.

Recommendation: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

The SecretKindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6

Quotes - 2010

Our Precious Life

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This lifetime will never come again; it is precious and irreplaceable.  – Daisaku Ikeda

one life

This lifetime is all we have. All we have is now. How can we best live, today?

precious you

We make our life precious. It’s what we think, what we assume, what we intend, what we envision and what we do that matters. What we keep thinking and doing determines our life’s outcome. We choose our thoughts, we choose the life we live. What will we choose today?

Daily Affirmation: Today I AM responsible for my own life.

Recommendation: True Purpose by Tim Kelley

True Purpose: 12 Strategies for Discovering the Difference You Are Meant to MakeKindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6

Quotes - 2010

What is Success?

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Mercy is denied to the successful, for they are incapable of knowing the very beauty of life which is love. – J Krishnamurti

what does this mean!?

At first this quote is perplexing, it was to me, then as I reread the paragraph from Krishnamurti’s writings, reproduced further below, here’s my take…

Krishnamurti talks about the encumbrances that come from ‘success’ and its trappings. We want to be successful and that according to him ‘prevents humility’. Unless we can be free of such artificial constructs that weigh us down, our mind cannot experience life as it is. When free of such thought patterns we can experience life as it is, in the current moment. We can then also experience true love (and beauty) which is only present in the here and now. This is the essential Krishnamurti teaching as I understand it…

rest of the quote

Any achievement, whether of the individual or of the collective, becomes a means to power. Success in this world, and the power that self-control and self-denial bring, are to be avoided; for both distort understanding. It is the desire for success that prevents humility; and without humility how can there be understanding? The man of success is hardened, self-enclosed; he is burdened with his own importance, with his responsibilities, achievements and memories. There must be freedom from self-assumed responsibilities and from the burden of achievement; for that which is weighed down cannot be swift, and to understand requires a swift and pliable mind…Mercy is denied to the successful, for they are incapable of knowing the very beauty of life which is love.- Commentaries on Living Series I Chapter 33, Power

Daily Affirmation: Today I just AM and therefore successful.

Recommendation: The awakening of Intelligence by Jiddu Krishnamurti

Awakening of Intelligence, TheKindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6