What good is longevity if it is not enjoyable...

"Follow your bliss."

~ Joseph Campbell

Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles detail the ten rules to help find personal ikigai.

 Ikigai The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

1. Stay active and don’t retire

2. Leave urgency behind and 

adopt a slower pace of life

3. Only eat until you are 80 per cent full

4. Surround yourself with good friends

5. Get in shape through daily, gentle exercise

6. Smile and acknowledge people around you

7. Reconnect with nature

8. Give thanks to anything that brightens our day 

and makes us feel alive.

9. Live in the moment

10. Follow your ikigai 

What keeps us from feeling joy at being in this life experience? Without understanding that longevity may not be as fulfilling as it could, or can, be.

JOY

STEADY CALM

ZafuChi - online purveyor of zafu meditation cushions

from deep within us comes Joy...

"Joy

does not come 

from what you do,

 it flows into what you do 

and thus into this world 

from deep within you."
~ Eckhart Tolle

~)0(~ 

  "Magic Quilt"

(handmade by me with a riot of colors)

How can I keep from singing?

"My life goes on in endless song
Above earth's lamentations...
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it's music ringing...
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?"
~~Author Unknown~~

posted by ZafuChi - a source for U.S.A. handmade zafu meditation cushions

Happiness Unhappiness v.s. Joy

Yesterday's insight:  *Happiness is a chemical in the brain which I experience by "doing" for others. After awhile the brain auto-corrects & balances out, which explains the cycles of happiness/unhappiness and the need to do something again to feel happy. *Joy comes by opening the heart & releasing one's Essence. The supply is endless & does not require "doing" for others. *I got the visual of a window in the heart area. Upon opening it rainbow colored butterflies (representing Joy) flew out & went everywhere. ~Sarah July 18, 2011

Two Wolves

TWO WOLVES One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. "One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. "The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."