Be mindful . . .

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Be Mindful

Be mindful of what you think;
     your thoughts will be spoken.

Be mindful of what you speak;
     your words become action.

Be mindful of what you do;
     your deeds reveal your character.

Be mindful of who you are
     and discover the fate you have created.

~ paraphrased from a lesson learned.


Had I kept some notes on this poem’s origin, I might be able to recall the lesson it was paraphrased from. As it is, it will just have to stand on its own.

You might enjoy the comment stream on the post, Sarah McLachlan reminds us ~ you’re so much more than good enough in which Staci asked me to post this poem.

Sarah McLachlan reminds us ~ you’re so much more than good enough

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What Sarah McLachlan sings about in Good Enough, with such an achingly sorrowful voice, is an all-too common story. We often learn as children to understand that we’re not good enough, that we should be happy with whatever expressions we can find that seem to express love. Perhaps we learn it through the emotional or physical abuses we suffer from adults, people we are taught to respect, obey and trust, people we are told we should love, that we believe we should love, that we so desperately want to love, and love us back.
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Ancients and Contemporaries ~ timeless wisdom about violence

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With so much talk of the Dao, Buddha and darkness… Here are a couple quotes about the darkest thing: violence.

But first, since we’re talking about violence … how about a song, in a different context. Bif Naked‘s Violence



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Bitter-sweet

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teardrop flows from a watery eye

their character is utterly changed

The transformative moment for any loss comes when we realise we’ve moved from grieving for what we no longer have to reliving the joy we experienced when we had it.

This is the bitter-sweet moment in the transformation from bitter to sweet.

And while tears will flow either side of this moment, their character is utterly changed by it.

Inner voices ~ finding the harmony in cacophony

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Guan Yin

Guan Yin

Voices

Intuition is not critical.
Critical is the mind’s voice.

The master understands
The origin of every voice;
Its intentions,
Desires;
Its weakness
And strength.

In most of us there is a conflict of voices.
In many a cacophony.
In some a war.

Between the master’s voices
There is peace,
Understanding,
Loving kindness,
Cooperation and collaboration.
There is balance and harmony.

Thus the master is always at peace,
In balance and harmony with herself
And with all the world around her.

While some of us
Lead the rest of us
To war.



The words, from some inner voice, that became Voices began flowing after reading this status message posted by a new Facebook friend:

Intuition is not critical. That is another inner voice that you might want to send packing. 🙂

The first sentence struck me immediately as true. The second, well, intuition regularly proves its value in my day-to-day life. It’s just important to keep a critical eye on that inner voice’s often subtle and potentially misleading insights.  My reply began,
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Tumare Darshan ~ The essence of Noosa

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OK… something to end this very loooong, but very productive day. A song that I will always associate with a beautiful beach in a faraway land and a short strip of magical bistros and restaurants barely more than a stone’s throw from the beach. There were sacred sunrises, and uncanny encounters, bliss and sorrow, beauty and heat, surf, sand and sun. Some very special people entered my life there, sharing food, fun and laughter, and profound spiritual experiences.

For a week, this song and the pertinently titled album on which it appears were, in fact, “The Essence” of the moment, as I walked with a dancer’s sway and swagger through the world, through the preternaturally divine realm of Noosa, Australia, beginning each day perched atop a hill, waking in time to cycle to the beach and its splendid sunrise, serenading it into the sky with a didjeridu. Sacred moments spent in a sacred place.
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You might die trying ~ Dave Matthews was waiting for me

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Time and again, music comes to me at just the right moment. It comes with inspiration, with insight, with meaning. This morning, feeling confident that I am back to writing…back to the promise to myself to put this story down…a song arrives, just to remind me what it is that that urges me forward.

Dave Matthews is a troubadour, a minstrel of the first order. For me there’s a whole separate category for these folks. People filled with life, brimming over with it, and a loud, crazy magic about them. Underlying it all is a spiritual connectedness and awareness that is expressed, it seems, with an easy inward look and a gracefully insightful acknowledgement of human grace amidst the suffering.
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Fear & Fate ~ Answering the call

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Transformation: the caterpillar's fate

Transformation
The caterpillar's fate.

I’m not sure when the call first whispered to my heart. The voice, that unwelcome voice, the siren of burden. “You know what you need to do,” she said.

Why me? Why couldn’t I just go through life with normal goals and aspirations? A good job. A loving relationship. A family. Weekend barbecues among loved ones sharing words of politics and sports and relationships and kids. I’ve had all that within my grasp, more than once seen such a future more clearly than any I can see now. And each time, I let it all go, gave it up or fucked it up, it doesn’t matter which. No, I’m supposed to do something particular with this life. Put myself out there. Describe experiences beyond my ken, act as the conduit for insights from I know not where.

Receiving the call is one thing. Answering it, quite another. Often a mixture of exhileration and fear arises from hearing those whispers. Until those who are called fully engage their purpose, the whispering continues, relentless. Some days, it’s a shout, a cry, an admonition. “Answer me!” Read more »