be silent - find your ground again...

Olivier Du Tre - photography

"Bustling about may seem helpful,

But stillness is the way of the Tao.

Filling the air with words may seem effective,

But silence is the way of the Tao.

We are taught to be busy,
And it is difficult to be still.
Most people choose a way of effort
And keep themselves unconscious
Of the true nature of things.

Mindful actions

And a few words, gently spoken:

This is the movement of the Tao."

~William and Nancy Martin, 

The Caregiver's Tao Te Ching

become a rose again...

~O~

"If you have become ash,
Then wait till you become a rose again.
And do not remember how often you have become ash
But how often you were reborn in ashes to a new rose."
~ Rumi

~O~

(photo:Louis Philippe Rose from my garden)

letting go, and becoming real

"When I let go of what I am, 

I become what I might be"

 ~Lao Tzu

true resting...

by poet David Whyte:

Smoky

REST is the conversation between what we love to do and how we love to be. Rest is the essence of giving and receiving; an act of remembering, imaginatively and intellectually but also physiologically and physically. To rest is to give up on the already exhausted will as the prime motivator of endeavor, with its endless outward need to reward itself through established goals. To rest is to give up on worrying and fretting and the sense that there is something wrong with the world unless we are there to put it right; to rest is to fall back literally or figuratively from outer targets and shift the goal not to an inner static bull’s eye, an imagined state of perfect stillness, but to an inner state of natural exchange.

death is but to cease to be the same...

Winter Scene by Birgit Presser

"Nothing retains its form; new shapes from old.
Nature, the great inventor, ceaselessly contrives. 
In all creation, be assured, there is no death -
no death, but only change and innovation; 
what we people call birth is but a different 
new beginning; death is but to cease to be the same. 
Perhaps this may have moved to that and that to this, 
yet still the sum of things remains the same."

~ Pythagoras

live quietly in the moment...

TITLE: Hydrangea, Blushing

 "Live quietly
in the moment
and see
the beauty of all
before you.
The future
will take care
of itself."

Paramahansa
Yogananda

contribute to the world some beauty, joy, happiness, celebration...

ArtworkByErinn

~osho

 "According to me a religious person is one

who contributes to the world some beauty, 

some joy, some happiness, some celebration 

which was not there - something new, 

something fresh, some more flowers. 

But religion has never been defined 

the way I am defining it. 

All the ways religion has been defined 

have been proved absolutely ugly and wrong. 

But they have not helped humanity to rise

 to the heights of joy and beauty and love. 

They have drowned the whole humanity 

in misery and suffering,

 they have not taught you freedom. On the contrary, they have enforced on you all kinds of slavery in the name of obedience. Obedience to whom? Obedience to the priests, obedience to those who have money, obedience to those who have power - in short, obedience to all the vested interests." 

be a lighthouse...

Morning at Heceta Head Light- 

Oregon Coast Watercolor Painting Print 

by Michael David Sorensen. 

Lighthouse Watercolor. Pacific Northwest

~ Mooji

"I am not a library, 

I am a lighthouse.
You have to attune yourself 

to my vibration.
Don't bother studying me.
Just tune in and soon 

you will discover 

the vibration of the Self.
To try and study takes a long time.
If you tune in, you actually expand 

a hundred times faster than studying, 

but it requires a trusting 

and a letting go -

the thing your mind is most afraid of."

 from the book "White Fire"

art, heart and soul

Nautilus Shell Art

~O~

HEART AND SOUL

"At the center of a thriving art business that has nudged me into wearing many hats, my SOUL continues to expand. My HEART goes into every piece I create and it is not until I sign it that I think of the person who will make a home for my work. And then my hope is that my art brings joy and happiness to whoever makes a home for it. When I am reserved, my work brings me out. When I am broken, it fixes me. When I am lonely, the creative force is my best friend. When I am overwhelmed, it balances me. When I cannot speak, the paint tells my story."

Sharon Cummings 

feel more...

heart mouse pendant

~O~

 

"Get out of your head 

and get into your heart.
Think less. 

Feel more."

~ Osho

~O~

cat stevens quote...

Moon Gazing Hare

~O~

"You've got to live for today 

- then let it go."

~Cat Stevens 

~O~

hu-man wasn't born to cry...

 J. S. Goldsmith: 

Man Was Not Born to Cry; 

Hand Painted Peace on Earth Stone

Releasing the “Imprisoned Splendour”; 

Kindle location 3232-3260

"Peace is locked up in you and in me, and we must release the Prince of Peace from within us, and then let it do its work in the consciousness of all those who at this moment may be ready and receptive for the experience. This is not done by moralizing to the world or by asking the world to be better than it is, or is capable of being. It is done individually by releasing that Prince of Peace within ourselves, by communing with the spirit within, and then, as it escapes, letting it go before us to do its work. We are not called upon to go out into the world-only to release the spirit of Christ into the world."

holographically duplicating loaves and fishes...

“Because of the (holographic) nature of the universe, when we give something away 

it actually creates more of it...like duplicates, or more holographic copies of it. 

When we have lack mentality we don't see how this works. It's lost on us. 

 We can see this when it's a thought, because we keep the thought 

and the other person/s get the thought too and shares it, maybe. 

But it's actually also true of physical things - like loaves and fishes.”

 

"Mother of Thousands" plant

 Photo: “Mother of Thousands” plant - 

all the growth thingies on each leaf 

become another plant with more little thingies.

 People consider this plant a nuisance plant.

lucky...

my "Lucky"...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

the capacity to be alone is the capacity to love...

~O~

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~O~

eternal echoes...

~Recover Your Deeper Rhythm~

Nature has not pushed itself out into exile. She remains there, always home in the same place. Nature stays in the womb of the Divine, of one pulse-beat with the Divine Heart. This is why there is a great healing in the wild. When you go out into Nature, you bring your clay body back to its native realm. A day in the mountains or by the ocean helps your body unclench. You recover your deeper rhythm. The tight agendas, tasks, and worries fall away and you begin to realize the magnitude and magic of being here. In a wild place you are actually in the middle of the great prayer. In our distracted longing, we hunger to partake in the sublime Eucharist of Nature.

 

 "Eternal Echoes"

~ John O'Donohue

~O~

 

Donia Lilly Fine Art

For more indigo art see etsy treasury:

 "indigo moon gift ideas"

(curated by ZafuChi on etsy) 

self awareness and a quiet mind...

"A quiet mind is all you need. 

All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet. 

As the sun on rising makes the world active, 

so does self-awareness affect changes in the mind. 

In the light of calm and steady self-awareness,

 inner energies wake up and work miracles 

without any effort on your part."
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

~O~

~ Image "Morning" by Franci Van der vyver (Carmen Tulum)

~O~

every day simplicity...

~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~

~Thomas Moore

Cinnamon and Plaid (unfilled) Zafu

 

 

~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~11~

this world of light...

"This world of light, this circle of brightness is the real world, 

where guilt meets with forgiveness." (T-18.IX.9:1)

~A Course in Miracles

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You ARE the pristine unencumbered aware borderless space...

~O~ 

"Nothing ever happens to you, nothing ever happens to consciousness. 

Nothing ever happens to what you truly are.

Happenings are dream impressions that are meant 

to amuse you and not to scare the living wits out of you. 

As soon as you believe that you are a happening event, 

a mortal body mind, the negative emotions get triggered 

and you dream unhappy dreams.

You are the pristine unencumbered aware borderless space

 that is untouched and unmoved by any dream.
There is no need to buy into the belief 

in the mortality of consciousness.
How could the unborn ever die?

Ponder what you truly are!
The reality and borderless universality of consciousness is your reality
and the reality of all dream impressions."

~O~

Magdi Badawy

 Starfish Zafu

Starfish Zafu

 Starfish Zafu available at ZafuChi on etsy

Driftwood Coral Zafu

These, and many other buckwheat hull filled, 

as well as unfilled zafu covers are available at Zafuchi on etsy. 

Zen Graffiti Zafu - on purpose...

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Zen Graffiti Zafu Meditation Cushion

Zen Graffiti Zafu Meditation Cushion

Life goes on even after people do bad, or horrible things. 

This zafu is a remake, after one very unhappy buyer scribbled on it 

with black magic marker, cut the cover in half, and returned it to me.

I fix, remake or repurpose things I find on the curb. This was no different. 

Now, the zafu has another life - and a purpose to serve.

flowers in my back yard...

Yellow Cassia and Red/Fuchsia Bleeding Heart Vine

Yellow Cassia and Red/Fuchsia Bleeding Heart Vine

Yellow Cassia close-up

Heliconias

spiritual attainment is greed or a form of ego desire

"The first thing to be understood is that the very word "attainment" 

 is nonspiritual. It is part of your greed. The idea to attain is very worldly. 

Whether you want to attain prestige, power, wealth, or God or nirvana 

does not make any difference. The desire to attain is worldly; it is materialistic.

The spiritual revolution happens only when you drop this greed,
when you drop the very idea of becoming. You are that. You are already that,
 so then don't hanker for attainment. You have never been anything else
 other than that which you are trying to attain.
God is within you this very moment - healthy and kicking.
Because God is not something separate from you or from life.
But your greed has been a problem; and because of your greed,
exploiters have existed who go on showing you ways how to attain."
~osho

Sunrise  9-15

pleasure vs delight

"Deva means divine, nirvesham means delight.... And all delight is divine. 

Pleasure is not divine - delight is always divine. 

And the distinction between pleasure and delight has to be under-stood.

Delight is always of the immediate. You see a bird on the wing - and suddenly
there is delight. You see a sunset and the clouds are luminous with the light -
and there is delight. You don't even become so conscious that you were filled with delight;
only later on when it has gone - when the sun has set, when the dark night has descended,
and the clouds are no more luminous - then retrospectively you will become aware
that there was a great moment, there was joy, and it is no more now.

Now you think about it... now you start bringing the mind into it.
Now it starts turning into pleasure. When the mind takes possession of a delight,
it turns into pleasure. So pleasure is of the past and of the future,
and delight is only of the present. In fact when it is there, you are not -
hence it is divine. It brings a moment of egolessness."
~osho

Hibiscus Blossom 

(from my back yard)

prayers that are made out of grass...

"Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight,

 that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. 

It was what I was born for - to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world - 

to instruct myself over and over in joy, and acclamation. 

Nor am I talking about the exceptional, the fearful, the dreadful, the very extravagant - 

but of the ordinary, the common, the very drab, the daily presentations. 

Oh, good scholar, I say to myself, 

how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these -

 the un-trimmable light of the world, 

the ocean’s shine, 

the prayers that are made out of grass?"

~ Mary Oliver,"Mindful"
~)(~

Pink Muhly (Ornamental) Grass

 seeds available at CaribbeanGarden on etsy

up or down - all same, at the end...

“You have been to hell, Ketut?"
He smiled. Of course he's been there.
“What's it like in hell?"
“Same like in heaven," he said.
He saw my confusion and tried to explain.
"Universe is a circle Liss."
He said. "To up, to down ~~ all same, at the end."
I remembered an old Christian mystic notion: As above, so below.
I asked. "Then how can you tell the difference between heaven and hell?"
“Because of how you go. 

Heaven, you go up, through seven happy places. 

 Hell, you go down, through seven sad places. 

This is why it better for you to go up, Liss." He laughed.
“Same-same," he said. "Same in end, so better to be happy in journey."
I said, "So, if heaven is love, then hell is… "
“Love, too," he said.
Ketut laughed again, 

"Always so difficult for young people to understand this!”
Elizabeth Gilbert {Eat, Pray, Love}

Don't save anything, including you.

"Don't save anything, including you.
This is the purpose of these conversations:
to flick out, to flush out, to scrape out
the last little bits of nonsense from inside.
Sometimes you think there is only a little thing to remove,
but it's all of you that needs to be scraped out!
This is the kind of emptiness I am talking about.
Here, you have already touched base;
you have no opinion,
no need for privacy or specialness.
The beautiful thing is that
the more you remove, the more you are.
This is the major scam you have to get out of.
The more you think you are losing,
the more in fact you are discovering
of your real Self, which is limitless.
You are exchanging this small ego-identity
for the immeasurable.
Otherwise, it's like you are hiding God...
but from whom?
God cannot be hidden.
All this is God's dream."
~ Mooji ॐBeloved Master

a new way of seeing...

"My destination is no longer a place,

 rather a new way of seeing."
~Marcel Proust

~)(~

~) photo source unknown (~

~)(~

 

drink your tea slowly...

"Drink your tea slowly
and reverently,
as if it is the axis
on which
the earth revolves -
slowly, evenly,
without rushing
toward the future.
Live the actual moment.
Only this moment is life."

~Thich Nhat Hanh 
~)(~

Tea Time Train

art print available by TinyRed on etsy 

 

All the elements for your happiness are already here...

"Be yourself. Life is precious as it is.
All the elements for your happiness
are already here.There is no need
to run, strive, search or struggle.
Just Be."
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

~)(~

"Just Be" Poster

available for instant download by Aquartis on etsy 

let go...

~Tilopa

"Don’t recall.
Don’t imagine.
Don’t think.
Don’t examine.
Don’t control.
Rest."

This advice consists of only six words in Tibetan. 

The above translation was developed 

to capture its brevity and directness. 

Some years ago, Michael K. Nisch 

developed the translation shown below, 

which some people prefer:

 

"Let go of what has passed.
Let go of what may come.
Let go of what is happening now.
Don’t try to figure anything out.
Don’t try to make anything happen.
Relax, right now, and rest."

Michael K. Nisch

~)(~

Fine Art Print with Hermann Hesse Quote

 available on etsy by ChezLorraines

In nature every moment is new

"In nature every moment is new;
the past is always swallowed and forgotten;
the coming only is sacred.
Nothing is secure but life, transition and the energizing spirit."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

~)(~

"Winter Landscape" painting

available on etsy at 1000PaintedTrees 

~)(~

"Winter Snow Geisha" print zafu

 

 available at ZafuChi on etsy

a secret path is there for you that no one knows...

"Whatever happens to you, don’t fall in despair. 

Even if all the doors are closed, a secret path 

will be there for you that no one knows. 

You can’t see it yet but so many paradises 

are at the end of this path. Be grateful! 

It is easy to thank after obtaining what you want, 

thank before having what you want."

~ Shams Tabrizi

~)(~

"Secret Garden"

available on etsy by PattiPettysCards 

 

Let go of how you thought your life should be.

"Just let go. Let go of how you thought your life should be, 

and embrace the life that is trying 

to work its way into your consciousness."
~ Caroline Myss

~)(~

Watercolor Print Dandelion

 

Life is a Balance Between Holding on and Letting go

watercolor artwork available on etsy by KateBoyingtonArt 

balance the polarities...

"All truth is in tai chi:

 to cultivate the mind, body, or spirit, 

simply balance the polarities. 

But forget about understanding and harmonizing 

and making all things one. 

The universe is already a harmonious oneness; 

 just realize it. 

If you scramble about in search of inner peace, 

you will lose your inner peace."

Hua Hu Ching 

(quote and photo posted on facebook) 

 

nirvana is available in the here and now...

"Nirvana is available in the here and now. 

It is not a place to go to when we pass away. 

It is available to all of us when we are alive. 

The word “nirvana" was used by peasant farmers

 in India to describe the cooling down of the ashes 

after the fire is out. The Buddha used “nirvana” 

to describe the cooling of the fire of afflictions - 

namely the cooling of anger, fear, anxiety, 

and so on. With mindfulness, concentration 

and insight, each one of us can refresh our spirit, 

cool our afflictions and touch nirvana 

in the very here and now."

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

~)(~

NIRVANA Necklace

Japanese calligraphy, Hills with forest trees in tan peach cream, 

Heaven, Spiritual art, Gift for him or her

available by HighwayGlass on etsy 

ten thousand things rise and fall...

~)(~

"Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall
while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish
and then Return to the Source.
Returning to the Source is stillness,
which is the Way of Nature."
~ Lao Tsu

~)(~

Be still, and know... 

meditation cushion available at ZafuChi on etsy

each little gift you offer...

"Life is a journey from hypocrisy to sincerity,
from self-centeredness to other-centeredness and love,
from self-deception, ignorance and illusion to self-honesty clarity and truth.
As long as people are content not to look,
not to embrace their ultimate vocation to become deified beings,
they will chase after every distraction
that comes along as a substitute for a life of depth."
~Wayne Teasdale, The Mystic Heart
~)(~

 

breathing with awareness is needful...

~)(~

"Sometimes, we just need
to hear ourselves breathe."
~ Jeff Foster

 ~)(~

 

Meditation Cushion. 

 Machine stitched reeds

~)(~

 "People think happiness is a faraway thing," thought Francie, 

"something complicated and hard to get. 

Yet, what little things can make it up; 

a place of shelter when it rains - 

a cup of strong hot coffee when you’re blue; 

for a man, a cigarette for contentment; 

a book to read when you’re alone -

 just to be with someone you love. 

Those things make happiness."
~ Betty Smith
 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

~)(~

music is love in search of a word...

~)(~

At the core of the world

 and at the core of the soul 

is silence that ripples 

with the music of beauty 

 and the whisperings 

of the eternal.

~ John O'Donohue

~)(~

Music is Love...

Original Watercolor Painting

artwork available by worDSMITHstudios on etsy 

what makes our souls soar...

~)(~

"In the midst of our lives..
we must find the magic that makes our souls soar."

~ Anonymous

 ~)(~

 Magic Lamp

Aladdin Illustrated Watercolor Quote

artwork available by MaggieBodle on etsy