we slowly come to hear the still, small voice and to feel the delicate breeze, and so to come to know the presence

 

When we persevere with the help of a gentle discipline, we slowly come to hear the still, small voice and to feel the delicate breeze, and so to come to know the presence of Love.

HENRI NOUWEN

There are years that ask questions and...

 

There are years that ask questions and years that answer.

ZORA NEALE HURSTON ?

Movement importance...

 

The least movement is of importance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by a pebble.

BLAISE PASCAL I have always associated the "Slight movement" to butterfly wings:

We never know which lives we influence

 

We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.

STEPHEN KING

Husky dog shakes his head no and refuses to come inside from the snow | ...

LOVE NEVER DIES,

Bodies grow old and die, love transcends bodies and lives on. Yes, Buddhist call it Continuance...LOVE NEVER DIES, however grief has to be dealt with, and most importantly be very gentle with yourselves, both in thought and health:

hola relatives -

many thanks for your kind thoughts and prayers for my sister, her daughters and for pat traveling the spirit road home and for our family.  We appreciate and give thanks for your caring support.  Sane communities celebrate the good times together and support each other through the hard times honoring the wisdom of the great cosmic cycles in which we live and which live in us. 

 

Bottom line - so long as we breathe and are consciousness we can Live Love Now remembering that we are love and that love is for giving.

 

All Blessings.  love, tomás

 

We’re all part of it!

Whatever is within the flowers is within us. We are a part of this universe! Whether I’m looking at a human hand or looking at the galaxies of shooting stars or the flight of a bird…something marvelous is going on and I’m part of it. We’re all part of it!

HAROLD FEINSTEIN

 

The challenge today is to be animated by both:

 

The challenge today is to be animated by both gratitude and unrest, by humility and audacity.

SHARON BROUS

Perhaps the most radical act of resistance:

 

:

Perhaps the most radical act of resistance in the face of adversity is to live joyfully.

ARI HONARVAR

This was love:

 

This was love: a string of coincidences that gathered significance and became miracles.

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

Love Song - Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection 7 of 10) My fav. Love Song for Valentine's Day, profound, I say.

The words I have to say
May well be simple but they' re true
Until you give your love
Theres nothing more that we can do

Love is the opening door
Love is what we came here for
No one could offer you more
Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?

You say it? s very hard
To leave behind the life we knew
But there's no other way
And now it's really up to you

Love is the key we must turn
Truth is the flame we must burn
Freedom the lesson we must learn
Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?

Love is the opening door
Love is what we came here for
No one could offer you more
Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?

Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?
Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?
Do you know what I mean?
Have your eyes really seen?

Happy Belated Valentine's Day, "Extend the boundaries of the glowing kingdom of your love,.."

 

Extend the boundaries of the glowing kingdom of your love, gradually including your family, your neighbors, your community, your country, all countries — all living sentient creatures.

PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA

How Did Ordinary Citizens Become Murderers? "Don't join mobs intent on evil."

Exodus 23:2-4 TLB - “Don't join mobs intent on evil." (Congressman Raskin

mentioned this in his comments at the Impeachment Trial).

Herd mentality, mob mentality and pack mentality, also lesser known

 as gang mentality, describes how people can be influenced by their peers

 to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. Wikipedia

Herd or Mob Mentality

 

Exodus 23:2-4 TLB - “Don't join mobs intent on evil.

 (Congressman Raskin mentioned this in his comments at the Impeachment Trial).

Herd mentality, mob mentality and pack mentality, also lesser known as gang mentality, describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. Wikipedia

Heartbreak and hope are not mutually exclusive.

 

Heartbreak and hope are not mutually exclusive. We can be angry and sad and filled with longing for something we cannot have, and simultaneously we can be grateful for what we’ve got — aware, for reasons we’d never choose, of what really matters and what doesn’t.

LENNON FLOWERS

Are you kind, compassionate, empathic, a good listener?

 

How we treat one another is the only thing that matters.

SAMITE MULONDO

It is not our differences that divide us.

 

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

AUDRE LORDE

HOW TO LIVE AND ACT WITH AUTHENTIC EFFECTIVENESS

 

When we are connected — to our own purpose, to the community around us, and to our spiritual wisdom — we are able to live and act with authentic effectiveness​.

MALIDOMA PATRICE SOMÉ

Love, oneness, is no separation between you and life.

 

Love, oneness, is no separation between you and life. It is a progressive letting go, a progressive not fault finding… It’s very beautiful and very deep.

AJAHN BRAHM "pROGRESSIVE LETTING GO"  - PROCESS "a progressive not fault finding…" - BEING NON-JUDGEMENTAL " It’s very beautiful and very deep."  i had an epiphany, when my mindfulness teacher was teaching about letting go of attachments to beliefs. experiencing letting go, i felt my mind and heart open. when i asked the teacher if that was "emptiness", she said no, emptiness is when you are our to your self-identity, when you are at one with life. Rev. Ed confirmed this idea that emptiness means oneness. in my mind, i was almost there with the more open mind and open heart. so to me, i keep progressive letting go, and being non-judgemental, i can be aware of the awareness of the feeling of being not separated with life.  " IT’S VERY BEAUTIFUL AND VERY DEEP."

More on letting go of attachments to concepts, beliefs...

 "Whenever there is an idea of self, there is also an idea of what belongs to the self. When there is no idea of self, there is no idea of anything that belongs to the self. Self and what belongs to the self are two views that are based on trying to grasp things that cannot be grasped and to establish things that cannot be established."

Non-self - full of everything else

Everything is impermanent. even our planet.

Middle Way is between existence and non-existence which opens way to continuation.

Now to integrate above with this:

Love, oneness, is no separation between you and life.

Love, oneness, is no separation between you and life. It is a progressive letting go, a progressive not fault finding… It’s very beautiful and very deep.

AJAHN BRAHM "PROGRESSIVE LETTING GO"  - PROCESS "A PROGRESSIVE NOT FAULT FINDING…" - BEING NON-JUDGEMENTAL " IT’S VERY BEAUTIFUL AND VERY DEEP."  I HAD AN EPIPHANY, WHEN MY MINDFULNESS TEACHER WAS TEACHING ABOUT LETTING GO OF ATTACHMENTS TO BELIEFS. EXPERIENCING LETTING GO, I FELT MY MIND AND HEART OPEN. WHEN I ASKED THE TEACHER IF THAT WAS "EMPTINESS", SHE SAID NO, EMPTINESS IS WHEN YOU LET GO OF YOUR SELF-IDENTITY, WHEN YOU ARE AT ONE WITH LIFE. REV. ED CONFIRMED THIS IDEA THAT EMPTINESS MEANS ONENESS. IN MY MIND, I WAS ALMOST THERE WITH THE MORE OPEN MIND AND OPEN HEART. SO TO ME, I KEEP PROGRESSIVE LETTING GO, AND BEING NON-JUDGEMENTAL, I CAN BE AWARE OF THE AWARENESS OF THE FEELING OF BEING NOT SEPARATED WITH LIFE.

Know History or be a victim of ignorance and denial

 

A disdain for history sets us adrift, and makes us victims of ignorance and denial. History lives in and through our bodies right now, and in every moment.

RESMAA MENAKEM

Find Your Seasonal Rhythm Thankfully

 

Finding our seasonal rhythms fosters a space for gratefulness to be an integral part of our life.

MIKE MARTIN

STOP THE HATE RALLY - LOVE AND PEACE WINS

 

screen shots from "video"

Every being exists in intimate relation with other beings and in constant exchange of gifts with each other.

 

Every being exists in intimate relation with other beings and in constant exchange of gifts with each other. But this relationship is beyond pragmatic use. It is rather a mutual sharing of existence in the grand venture of the universe itself.

THOMAS BERRY

Since death is certain, and the hour is uncertain, what matters right now?

 “Live while you are alive,” wrote the poet and novelist Ben Okri.

 “How is the world better because I have lived in it?” and “How am I better because I have lived in the world?” What’s the legacy you hope to leave, and what experiences do you want to have before you die? 

Many Birthdays, may many be happy...

 

Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but . . . life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves.

GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ

"...the biggest thing you do in any day is most often going to be a small act..."

 

We can never underestimate this truth: No matter who you are, the biggest thing you do in any day is most often going to be a small act of kindness, decency, or love.

CORY BOOKER