Changing the world you see...

 

The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see.

DR. ROBERT HOLDEN

We can easily lose sight of the riches that lay right in front of us and within us.

 

Grateful living is important in the world because in our constant pursuit of more and better we can easily lose sight of the riches that lay right in front of us and within us.

GURI MEHTA

“War doesn’t prove who’s right just who’s left!”

 One Facebook member is messaging me for "all out war led by U.S." I answered: "NO ALL OUT WAR! I think Biden is doing a fine job, and if there was an intervention, it should be NATO and United Nations, not US! (United Nations should kick out any aggressors like Russia, and help out countries being invaded).

Go back and look at the survivors in Japan...IF you survive, you would have big blisters all over your body and no shelter."

"If there is a WW3, then WW4 would be fought with sticks and stones." Albert Einstein

The Fifth Agreement

 The Fifth Agreement

I am excited to offer the Four Agreements Book Study again this year. My hope for this gathering is to share our experiences, ideas, questions, and “aha” moments around this powerful book, which has helped so many master their personal freedom on their journey through life.

The Four Agreements is a book written by Don Miguel Ruiz based on ancient Toltec wisdom that advocates freedom from self-limiting beliefs that cause suffering and limitation in our lives. I honestly believe that if every single person could read and embody the agreements laid out on the pages, we would see a radical shift in behavior and compassion on this planet.

PEACE WITHIN, PEACE OUTSIDE

 

A new Ukranian Icon

 

Do not doubt your own basic goodness.

 

Do not doubt your own basic goodness. In spite of all confusion and fear, you are born with a heart that knows what is just, loving, and beautiful.

JACK KORNFIELD

The Four Noble Truths,,,do you suffer if expected to eat something you do not like?

 

Hello Sangha Sisters and Brothers

I hope this finds you and yours well and relaxed.

This Monday please join Ron and I as we explore the Four Noble Truths (attachment) and touch upon the Eightfold Path.

In particular Ron and I will share some our experiences and what we have done to reduce suffering in our own lives.

For homework (say...What?) In advance of the talk, perhaps you can think of a life experience where you;

1. Recognized you were suffering-the First Noble Truth - maybe you finally recognized that you often become angry in a particular situation, say being served Brussel sprouts (work with me people) at dinner parties.
2. Once you calmed down, you started to think about the roots of your anger -the Second Noble Truth. What about that situation made you angry? What causes and conditions give rise to your suffering. I was served a lot of Brussel sprouts as a child and we had to eat everything on our plate to get desert (oh, the inhumanity).
3. With that insight, I realized I could do something to stop my suffering - the Third Noble Truth - 
4. Realizing that there is a way to refrain from doing things that cause me to suffer-the Fourth Noble Truth and the Eightfold Path as the means to end my suffering. At the risk of over extending my metaphor, using Right Speech to inform my host or hostess that I am "allergic" to Brussell sprouts (anger as an "allergic" response?).
   
   
   

With mediation and mindfulness (this is not an intellectual exercise), please look deeply into a suffering.

Maybe you suffer from something and you have just identified "it". Maybe, you have a suffering that rarely causes you distress as you have already worked thru the Noble Truths and have been on the Eightfold path for sometime. No doubt you may have done this before you knew of the 4NT and 8FP. Perhaps you have just the thing but you are not yet open to sharing. It's all good. 

and, by the way, if we ever sit together at a dinner party-you can have all my Brussel sprouts.

One of the most extraordinary aspects of our humanity is

 

One of the most extraordinary aspects of our humanity is our capacity to learn, grow, and change.

SHERYL CHARD

BREATHE LIFE IN....

 

Every time you express gratitude or compassion for any aspect of yourself or someone else, you breathe life in.

MARIAH FENTON GLADIS

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet Book Study Registration

 Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet Book Study Registration

When? 7-8:30 pm every other Wednesday: March 23, April 6, April 20, and May 4
Where? Zoom--you will get the link upon completing registration
Questions? Contact Heather: MannKind.Inc@gmail.com

Hiking amongst the oldest living Beings on this Planet:

 I have done this amazing hike. I felt blessed to be among these oldest living Beings on the Planet. They are a testament of how one can survive and thrive in the toughest of environments. They grow on the North side of a mountain in acidic soil, where nothing else can grow. They remind me of elderly WW2 veterans, I interviewed, who survived and thrived after horrible battles. Also, clients who survived terrible child abuse. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." or something like that... Tell me a quote that fits this better?

Breathing in gratitude, exhaling blessings, Ron

<Bristle cone Forest Hike.jpg>

Ron Alexander  I shared a place with you  Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest Visitor Center White Mountain Rd, Bishop, CA 93514 (760) 873-2400 View on Google Maps

Do the best you can do, which is DOING nothing at times.

 

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.

JOHN WESLEY

A New World if born with each new friend.

 

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but

 

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.

IKKYU - ZEN-MONK POET, 1394-1481

We cannot do the work of transforming the world unless we are in interdependent relationships...

 

We cannot do the work of transforming the world unless we are in interdependent relationships—the work is too vast and complex for any one of us. …Let’s reach toward each other.

AKAYA WINWOOD

A quiet joy:

 

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.

RALPH H. BLUM

The Art of Self-love - Raising your vibrations by Matt Kahn

What gives me hope:

 

What gives me hope is that life unfailingly responds to the advances of love.

NIPUN MEHTA

VISIT OUR HOMEPAGE LOVE IS THE KEY WE MUST TURN.... see post below, song by Elton John

Love Song - Elton John (Tumbleweed Connection 7 of 10)

Create in times of destruction

 

In a time of destruction, create something: a poem, a parade, a community, a school, a vow, a moral principle; one peaceful moment.

MAXINE HONG KINGSTON

Ukraine cannot, we can...

 

First Folly Sunset watercolor

                                               Watercolor #1 Folly River Inlet, Folly Beach, S. C. 

                                                                        

                                                                                   photo Same area

SAVE UKRAINE - STOP PUTIN WITH NON-VIOLENT MEANS

As a retired Therapist, we were legally bound to turn in anybody who threatens someone else or danger to themselves, to undergo 72 hour locked hold to be analyzed to see if they need to be locked up longer? I felt for the parents of the teenagers I had to have locked up, however most parents were relieved and even increased their love prayers for them. Putin deserves to be locked up for a looong time. Which Buddhist Teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh or The Dalai Lama said if one is threatening themselves or others, they must be stopped, because first of all, they are hurting themselves either way.

-Subject: Re: Yes send love and light to Putin, "however stop him for hurting others, as he is hurting himself." Thich Nhat Hanh or The Dalai Lama?

Yes, stopping is very important. Buddhism is not passive. This is part of Thay's teaching. 

Heather Lyn Mann

 

Gratitude brings us home...

 

Gratitude brings us home to ourselves.

GURI MEHTA

Intimate Tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh, with Music, Poetry + Readings, High...

Beautiful sweet serene service!

Heart - Stairway to Heaven (Live at Kennedy Center Honors) [FULL VERSION]

Take a HEARTfelt break from politics

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN will help you start up

the STAIRS.

IMAGES AS PART OF FUTURE ONLINE GALLERY

 

CLOUDS AND TREES AT THE FOOTHILLS OF THE MOUNTAINS

                                                 Van Gogh Classic

IS IT ENOUGH?

 

It is enough to be grateful for the next breath.

BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST

It will take many, many stories to....

 

No story can contain you.

IVAN M. GRANGER 4