GRATITUDE

"Gratitude turns anything into enough, puts past to rest, brings tranquility to our hopes of tomorrow, and blesses today with harmony and bliss.” ― Joseph Rain

 

Happy Autumn Equinox - You have Enough - You are Enough

As the midday sun begins to sink lower and nights get longer, the reign of summer is coming to an end for the northern half of the world. The autumn equinox arrives at 10:21 a.m. ET (2:20 p.m. UTC) on September 22, officially marking the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

The word “equinox” comes from Latin and means “equal night,” referring to the roughly 12-hour day and night that occurs only on the two equinox days of the year.

Mabon is the mid-harvest festival, time to honor the changing seasons, and celebrate the second harvest. On or around September 21, for many Pagan and Wiccan traditions it is a time of giving thanks for the things we have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings. It's a time of plenty, of gratitude, and of sharing our abundance with those less fortunate.

Whatever moment we can take to honor the cycles of the earth and the many blessings we receive from her great abundance is the right moment. So let's dance joyfully in this present moment together, at least as we share these words. Let's thank all the nature spirits, who are part of the realm of angels, for loving and protecting earth, her waters, mountains and valleys,  and all growing things.

Let's celebrate having ENOUGH today. For surely, wherever you are, right now you have enough. Right now you are loved and cared for. You have enough food. Enough shelter. Enough water to drink and bathe in. Enough friends. Enough spiritual energy. You have enough. You are enough. At least for this moment dance joyously, truthfully, and honestly in this knowledge -- this enoughness.

Today

Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.
~ Paramhansa Yogananda
~ Image by Paolo De Faveri

Relationship Seminar

Sun Valley, California, Mayra, Ruth, Diane, Katie, Olga, Me

 

 

Fear

We must become aware of the many ways the false self tries to keep us in fear.

‘You believe that if are afraid, then you exist. Your fear proves you are here. And there are so many things to fear! The list is endless. Every time you are afraid that you do not exist, you can reach into your basket of fears, pull out one, and say, ‘Yes! I fear: Therefore I am!’ And you feel saved. Your fear makes you feel alive.’
You fear; therefore you are not.
When you fear, you are not whole. You are not happy. You are not real. You are not true. You are not living in your highest vision. You are not living God’s highest vision for you.

Magic my Calico Cat

Meditation

To gain energy, practice this exercise of sitting still and making your muscles dead. Only when everything in you is quiet for an hour, then make your decision about your aim. Don't let associations absorb you. --G.I. Gurdjieff

Divine Love

Happiness

 “If you have given up hope of ever being happy, cheer up. Never lose hope. Your soul, being a reflection of the ever joyous Spirit, is, in essence, happiness itself.” -Paramhansa Yogananda

A Staggering Comment

Today

Karma

Every bad thought and feeling reacts on us again, or on one another, and on me. If you help others, you will be helped, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in a hundred years, but you will be helped. --Gurdjieff

 

This also means that when you hurt others, you will be hurt. The problem with hurting others is that we are so unconscious that we don't even know we are hurting someone else. Think about this. Let the meaning of this permeate your consciousness.  

Ask yourself, how do I unconsciously hurt other people? How do I unconsciously hurt myself? Ask the angels to show you. Ask God to help you see more. 

We justify our wrongness in so many ways. We tell ourselves "good" reasons we have to be 'bad." We tell ourselves that our bad is good -- and we don't even know we do this!

 

Ask the angels to give you more humility. Ask the angels to show you how to be of true service in the world, to your friends, your family, your husband, your wife, your lover, your parents, your children, your colleagues. You can only serve where you are. You can only serve what you are.

Ask for more awareness. Every bad thought and feeling reacts on us again, or on one another, and on me. If you help others, you will be helped, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps in a hundred years, but you will be helped.

Princess Snow (my Siamese Cat)

The Angels Say . . .

You try to save yourself. "You" try to save "yourself." Here we refer to the false you -- the thought you. How can a false you save itself? All it can do is save its false image of itself. This is important for you to understand. Try to understand it.

The false you is afraid of not existing. It doesn't exist to begin with. It never existed. Deep down, where your fear lives, you know this. This is what you most fear -- your lack of existence. Your nonexistence. You fear nonexistence. You fear not existing.

How do you try to save yourself from nonexistence? Stop now and think about this for a moment .... how does the false you try to save itself from nonexistence?

The answer is, the answer the false self gives is, "I fear, therefore I am!" You believe that if are afraid, then you exist. Your fear proves you are here. And there are so many things to fear! The list is endless. Every time you are afraid that you do not exist, you can reach into your basket of fears, pull out one, and say, "Yes! I fear: Therefore I am!" And you feel saved. Your fear makes you feel alive.

So many fears! The fear of dying, of the future, of the past, of that person, of not having enough money, of not knowing what to do with your money, of not being kind, of sickness, of losing your ability to walk, of dying, of losing that man or that woman, of the sun being too hot, of floods, of fires, not knowing your destiny, getting 'old'...the list never ends.

Since the list of fears never ends, what can end? YOU! You can end. The false you that believes in fear can end. Only when the false self ends can fear end.

You must understand. Understand that your fear of not existing controls your whole life. Isn't this true? Look deep. Look deep and keep on looking. Dare to look deep. Deeper than you ever have.

Vernon Howard Quote

Do not be impatient with your seemingly slow progress. Do not try to run faster than you presently can. If you are studying, reflecting and trying, you are making progress whether you are aware of it or not. A traveler walking the road in the darkness of night is still going forward. Someday, some way, everything will break open, like the natural unfolding of a rosebud. 

Picture hanging on my wall

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I AM THAT

Q: However deeply I look, I find only the mind. Your words 'beyond the mind' give me no clue.
M: While looking with the mind, you cannot go beyond it. To go beyond, you must look away from the mind and its contents.
Q: In what direction am I to look?
M: All directions are within the mind! I am not asking you to look in any particular direction. Just look away from all that happens in your mind and bring it to the feeling 'I am'. The 'I am' is not a direction. It is the negation of all direction. Ultimately even the 'I am' will have to go, for you need not keep on asserting what is obvious. Bringing the mind to the feeling 'I am' merely helps in turning the mind away from everything else.

"Turn, Turn, Turn" - The Seekers

The words to this song are from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, adapted by Pete Seeger. Beautiful and uplifting words of wisdom.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRg9NkIdjVs

A thought...

I tend to want to do things I can't do rather than do things I can do. I think that once you can do something why bother anymore?

Krishnamurti Words of Wisdom

There's more to read, if you are interested...

Only the body dies...

August 21 was Hirth's birthday. I went to sleep after midnight, so it was already the date of his birth. We were born at the same time, in different years. All that night, Hirth was with me. As real and solid as this moment. We embraced and I could feel his body, strong and healthy and full of light. We looked into each other's eyes. I asked him if he was hurt or in pain. He told me there is no hurt or pain where he is. 
I never thought I'd 'see' him again, but there are many worlds and we can meet in other worlds, besides this one. We think this world is so real, so solid, and yet it isn't. We think we are so real, and yet our bodies change every minute. 
We are in love with what is unreal. People talk a great deal about loving yourself, especially 'spiritual' folks. And yet people seldom think about what this means. For most people, it means loving the you that you are think you. Since that 'you' that 'me' that 'I' exists only in your thoughts -- only in your thoughts -- than what can you be loving?

Willow in the rain (my friend's dog)

Understand...