Tuesday, January 31, 2017

real power and freedom...

"Never place the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket." ~quote

"When the heart is at peace, for and against are forgotten." ~Zhuang Zhou
 
"Real freedom is freedom in ones heart, 
irrespective of external conditions." 
~ N. Sri Ram 
 
"One of the most important things to learn in life is that no one took away our power, or gave us power. We are all powerful energetic beings, already. Personally, I now know that when I erroneously believed someone was taking or withholding energy from me - that thought in itself created a problem for me. Typically, especially when a child or younger person, I either shut down or acted out. Contracted in fear, or expanded with self-righteous indignation and/or even rage. Just knowing this really re-frames pretty much everything."
~Sarah 
~)(~
 
A new o.o.a.k. addition to my zafu store - 
Please share my etsy zafu store link with your friends and acquaintances! 
 
upcycled linen, light summer yellow floral, buckwheat hull zafu

handmade by etsyseller #zafuChi

Meditation Cushion. Floor Pillow. Zafu. 

Upcycled light yellow summer floral linen. 

Buckwheat Hull filled. 15"x5". 5"L. Velcro closure. 

Handmade, USA

 

Friday, January 27, 2017

the underlying ground of existence...

Contrast
"A few months ago, new people moved into the rental house that backs onto my lot. They brought with them two large dogs named Micah and Dexter. The dogs fought each other every time they were let into the back yard, and that was many times throughout the day and evening. Perhaps it was play to them, but from the other side of the fence it sounded just awful. People who came to the house commented about how fierce it sounded. Then there was the people noise. Almost every evening, anywhere from 10:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M., they would burst into the back yard, and erupt into loud conversation with other people in person or on the phone. Every word could be heard and understood by all the neighbors in the surrounding houses, and not by choice. Talk about involuntary eavesdropping! I’m assuming that the privacy fence around the entire property gave the illusion of privacy, or maybe they just didn’t give a damn. One of the girls couldn’t speak a sentence that didn’t include “Oh! My God!”. Last weekend a moving truck was on site. My neighbors were quietly giving each other the thumbs up! Whew! Yay!
 
The point being made here is about “contrast”. Contrast is something I’ve been hearing about lately. Now that everything has become quiet again in the neighborhood, it took a few days to register that the noise is actually gone. Somehow, peace doesn’t seem to register as much as noise does. In a world of duality, the senses were created to experience by contrast. Peace and quiet, or rather the absence of noise or sound, is more noticeable, by contrast.
 
Of course, underneath all the contrast is the real deal, Eternal or everlasting, without beginning or end, Peace that cannot be touched by any noise or sound. It’s the ground upon which contrast takes place. It remains unaffected by anything that takes place on the stage of life. That’s the real Whew!"
Blessings, Sarah Nolt
Flax colored European Linen Zafu Meditation Cushion/Pillow. PinTuck Design.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

reclaiming our spiritual nature - collectively...

"If women hadn't forsaken and forgotten their inner power (collectively speaking, this was a long time ago, but each one of us is doing it again by every choice we make and everything we believe) we wouldn't be trying to reclaim it now.

A journey into our own interior is really the one journey worth making. It means sitting down quietly, being willing to relinquish what is not true by allowing it to drop away like dead leaves, and then embracing without presumptuous expectation what arises...our true Spiritual nature."
~)(~
"Idol worship is anyone or anything we worship/love more
 than the Love that resides within our very own being."

~Sarah

Flower of Life Meditation Cushion Zafu by etsyseller ZafuChi

Monday, January 23, 2017

to dye for...

One thing I haven't done that much of throughout my life is fabric dyeing. One reason is that, it seems to me, working with any kind of dye is pretty messy. Tie dyeing is still on my to-do list, although pretty far down in order of importance or even interest. Maybe it's actually more of a wish (to-do) list. For some things I seem to need the motivation of a class, or devoted group of die-hards. (pun in 10 did). Over the weekend I took the plunge, and dyed a total of 6 zafu covers. I actually like the results so well, on these two in particular, that I may dye the fabric before hand. I threw in a few other things to dye, such as a pair of faded brown denim jeans, a dark green turtle neck top that had bleach spots on it, and a hand towel that got messy in the beginning so I was like "what the heck - toss that in too".

from blue and white, to brown and navy

from traditional pillow ticking fabric background



click here for more info and/or to purchase
click here for more info and/or to purchase
last but not least - so complimentary of each other now

Sunday, January 22, 2017

p.s. your life is calling...

Years ago, a psychologist friend told me I had what she considered an "insufficient ego". I can see now that she had a good point. At the time, I had moved from the semi-cult and closed community with a very sheltered way of life that I grew up in to a picture with a considerably larger frame, and vastly different world view. It took a number of years to bring aspects of myself up to speed - (whatever that is anyway!). I had had a spiritual awakening in my late 20's while still in the community, but was seriously lacking in knowledge of how some aspects of 3D life worked. Especially in different frames of reference than I was familiar with up to that point. One example is that when I first started watching TV around age 30 (give or take a few) I was unaware that TV shows had hired actors and actresses. I thought these things were actually happening to those men, women and children.  And that the events in the movies had actually happened.

Now I can see that being shaken to the core of one's being, accepting the upheaval, allowing the bits and pieces and various parts to settle into a new way of life, allowing some parts to disappear forever, and seeing things in a completely new way is not necessarily comfortable, but maybe it's not altogether a bad thing in the bigger picture of life. Collectively, Americans (2017) may be experiencing such a makeover.
  
"We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. 
We grow sometimes in one dimension, 
and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. 
We are mature in one realm, childish in another. 
The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, 
forward, or fix us in the present. 
We are made up of layers, cells, constellations."
~ Anaïs Nin

And, because a girl (and her furkids) needs to eat and be able to pay her bills...
OOAK - made by etsyeller zafuchi - click here for availability

Zafu Meditation Cushion. Dorm Pillow. Round Floor Pillow. Repurposed Cotton fabric. Hibiscus in Pink. Buckwheat Hulls. 6"Sidewall Zipper. 15x5. USA made


Saturday, January 21, 2017

the complimentary nature of human hate and human love...

Many, many years ago I was visiting the home of two teenage girl friends. 
On a south-facing kitchen window sill was a tiny merry go round windmill 
encased in clear plastic or glass - shaped like a snow globe. It was all of 2-3 inches high. 
The blades on the windmill were black on one side and white on the other side. 
When it was spinning it went round and round like a merry go round. 
When the sun came out and shone on it, the windmill began moving. 
The hotter the sun the faster the windmill spun. On that day I became aware that black and white are not only opposites, but they depend upon each other.
 
Human love and human hate are two sides of the same (human) coin. 
They attract, and in fact, create each other. Yin and yang, black and white -
 these are what create movement in this world, for the most part.
 
Then there is spiritual Love, which is more like the sun - just shining down on black and white
 and all the shades of gray and all the other myriad light reflections.
~)(~
Paramhansa Yogananda:
"Let us all remember that no matter how we are divided by race, creed, color, class, and political prejudices, still, being the children of one God, we should first establish brotherhood and world unity in our souls."
www.GoYogananda.com
zafu by etsyseller #zafuchi

Friday, January 20, 2017

Self conscious vs self-conscious...

~Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj~

"It has nothing to do with effort. Just turn away, 
look between the thoughts, rather than at the thoughts. 
When you happen to walk in a crowd, you do not fight 
every man you meet, you just find your way between. 
When you fight, you invite a fight. 
But when you do not resist, you meet no resistance. 
When you refuse to play the game, you are out of it."
~) (~

And, self-promotion because a girl and her furkids gotta eat and pay bills:
click here to see zafuchi's bolster selection: 
Smoky - my ninja/protector
Lucky - a dear sweet friend

Thursday, January 19, 2017

purple, and all that pizzazz....


Siesta Key beach sunrise 

Photoshopped, of course! Sometimes my life feels a little too bland and peaceful.
A bit more pizzazz-please. The good kind. Thank you! And, pizza too.
 
purple corduroy zafu by etsyseller zafuchi

My zafus make nice dorm pillows, too. And gifts.

Friday, January 13, 2017

earth’s crammed with heaven...

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh, Book 7, 1857
~)(~
Ice sculpture, sunset, sunlight, snow, ice

Thursday, January 12, 2017

if you want to love, do not hide from yourself...

"If you want the moon, Do not hide from the night,
 If you want a rose, Do not run away from the thorns,
If you want to love, Do not hide from yourself."
~ Rumi
Photo via: Laura in Stitches 
 (photo found on facebook)

Monday, January 9, 2017

waking to our truth...

"Close your eyes 
and follow your breath
 to the still place
 that leads to the invisible path 
that leads you home."
~ St. Teresa of Avila

"You are at home in God, 
dreaming of exile 
but perfectly capable 
of awakening to reality" 
(A Course in Miracles - Section I: T‑10.I.2:1).
Beautiful Morning Prayer Mug by etsyseller exaltation