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.

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

 click here for more art by etsyseller LilliqueUnique

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)

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

for more items by  etsyseller Exaltation click here:

paper is very patient...

Quote: "Paper is very patient. You can write anything on it." 

My paternal grandfather - Dawdy Nolt - used to say this, while stroking his chin.

(Babier is geduldich.)

The Truth is written on our heart of hearts - 

the Spiritual Heart that underlies and is behind the physical heart.

~)(~

Hearts and Nature by etsyseller DianeBronstein

for more art by DianeBronstein 

facebook drawing for a free zafu cover - ends midnight New Year's Eve 2016

Leave a comment (on the facebook event post) to enter into this drawing for a chance to win a free zafu (unfilled) cover with free shipping, like the photo. Drawing ends 12/31/16 at midnight PST. Open to residents of the U.S.A. and Canada only.

facebook event - drawing for a free zafu cover - US and Canada

 Description: UNFILLED COVER ONLY. Zafu Meditation Cushion in a Natural colored Linen/Rayon blend Robert Allen Slub Fabric. Measures approx. 15" W. by 5" D.; approx. 5" purse-weight YKK zipper in the sidewall overlap; has a handle. Handmade in the U.S.A. by a small home-based business. Requires 5 - 5.5 lbs of buckwheat hulls to fill.

https://www.facebook.com/events/207303456341385/

Non-facebook users please leave a blog comment if you wish to enter the drawing. 

Thank you!  

etsyseller ZafuChi

waking up from dreams...

"A lifetime 

may not be long enough 

to attune ourselves fully

to the harmony of the universe. 

But,

just to become aware 

that we can resonate with it -

that alone 

can be like waking up 

from a dream."
~ David Steindl-Rast 

~)(~

The American Dream is a dream within a dream.

Then we each have our own dream/s.

So many dreams. 

Dreams within dreams, 

interconnecting dreams, 

overlapping dreams, 

multi-dimensional dreams,

happy dreams - sad dreams, 

nightmare-ish dreams... 

the Light is real.

if you want...Christmas symbology

"If you want
the Virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the holy
and say,

“I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,
my time is so close.”

Then, under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime
intimacy, the divine, the Christ
taking birth
forever,

as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us
is the midwife of God, each of us.

Yes there, under the dome of your being does creation
come into existence externally, through your womb, dear pilgrim—
the sacred womb of your soul,

as God grasps our arms for help; for each of us is
His beloved servant
never
far.

If you want, the Virgin will come walking
down the street pregnant
with Light and
sing . . ."

~St. John of the Cross, translated by Daniel Ladinsky

 

 

spirituality based hope...

"I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.

We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good."
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes

~)(~

hope art print by etsyseller jenuineRuby

the shelter of our inner hearth...

"The heart is the inner face of your life. 

The human journey strives to make this inner face beautiful. 

It is here that love gathers within you. 

Love is absolutely vital for a human life. 

For love alone can awaken what is divine within you. 

In love, you grow and come home to your self. 

When you learn to love and let yourself be loved, 

you come home to the hearth of your own spirit. 

You are warm and sheltered."
~ John O'Donohue

Heart Zafu by etsyseller ZafuChi - temporarily sold out

words can be superfluous...

meditation companions - zafu by ZafuChi on etsy

when you are your Self first...

~)(~

 

"You cannot be denied anything that is perfect, whole, 

complete, and right for you when you are your Self first.

Being your Self first you automatically experience perfection 

in the way of Divine Thoughts, Words, Deeds, and Actions.

Allowing your toxic thoughts to be first, you automatically 

experience imperfection in the way of disease, confusion, 

resentment, depression, judgement, and poverty."

~Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len

~)(~

 

~)(~

resistance creates suffering...

SUFFERING AND RESISTANCE

We suffer in the present from past experiences
In direct proportion to how much identity
we derive from that suffering.

The easiest way to keep dreaming
is thinking your dreaming is true.
Don’t get mixed up with the ‘whys’,
they will not help you.

Whatever you resist you become.
If you resist anger, you are always angry.
If you resist sadness, you are always sad.
If you resist suffering, you are always suffering.
If you resist confusion, you are always confused.

We think that we resist certain states because
they are there, but actually
they are there because we resist them.
- Adyashanti
~~~~
Looking at this I wonder if this is also true
for resisting love and joy and happiness?
It's just a question that arose.
What can I say? It happens. S.
~~~~

 

we can train ourselves to live mindfully...

Jack Kornfield:

"Hatred and aversion almost always arise as a direct reaction to a threatening or painful situation. Fortunately, we can train ourselves to live with mindfulness, to meet fear and pain with wisdom instead of with the habits of aversion and anger.When a painful or threatening event arises, we can open our eyes to it.When we learn to bear our own pain and face our own fears,we will no longer blame and inflict it on others, neither family members nor other tribes.With mindfulness, instead of reacting, we can respond with spacious clarity, purpose, firmness, and compassion. A wise response includes whatever action, fierce at times, is the most caring toward life, our own and others’. "http://ow.ly/4Stn306rkRS

photo by Minty House Photos - click for IG link

one conscious breath in and out is a meditation...

~)(~

~)(~

 "Would relaxing help?" 

 for a humorous and helpful blog post by  

Martha Beck  

"Everything's uncertain, isn't it?"

Ajahn Chah quote:

 click here for the entire post by Jack Kornfield 

the one standing in Pure Conscious Awareness...

UNCONDITIONED LOVE
-by John McIntosh
"You cannot think yourself into Unconditional Love.
You can act lovingly, but it is always colored with hidden conditions.
The false self or mind-body-ego is defined by
conditioning made up of its expectations, attachments and many identity masks.
These act like filters to the Pure Conscious Awareness or God Self that you really Are.
Love is another name for God, and Pure means unconditioned – unfiltered.
The conditioned mind therefore always loves conditionally,
and to say: “I am sending you unconditional love” is not a possibility.
 One who lives in Truth – in the Real Self,  would never speak of such things.
They would never speak of distance; they simply KNOW that
 the one they wish to so-called help IS Love ... Here and Now.
As always, it is the one standing in Pure Conscious Awareness,
 that touches the rest of the collective consciousness -
 more than 7.4 billion well-meaning conditioned minds.
This is why "seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven" - meaning
 this Pure Conscious Self that you Are, is your ONLY Purpose
until you Live in that Knowing."
~)(~

luxuriate more in just the joy of being alive...

~)(~

"There's something in our makeup 

and in our bodies that really wants to luxuriate more

 in just the joy of being alive 

and not always consuming, creating, building. 

There's something inside of us 

that wants desperately to stop and experience

 and just be--not just always do."
~ Elizabeth Lesser

~)(~  

art card - "Yogini and Elephant Friend" by etsyseller beautyflows

"Greeting Card: Fine art images (4"x6") carefully placed on a white embossed 5x7 blank greeting card with matching envelope. Packaged in a clear archival sleeve. A special and unique gift for any occasion, or can be placed directly into a frame to enliven any environment."

all who have dared to dip their toes into ‘any’ pond...

"All of my, your, everyone’s experiences 

are constantly adding to group consciousness. 

The good, bad and the ugly are all equally valid contributions 

to our soup pot of perspectives and moments lived.

We need and appreciate ALL experiences each and every living cell

 is creating and living and interpreting and growing 

and even dying from their unique perspective for the collective benefit of us all! 

We ALL gain new expansion through the gift of those 

who have dared to dip their toes into ‘any’ pond.

We all receive awareness of something ‘new’ through infinite paths of experience 

that last on our eternal timelines that intertwine 

with an intelligence not meant to be understood. 

Do not judge or attempt to control others’ paths.

Allow them and your Self, to express freely and uniquely

 into new dreams and causeways that carry us all deeper 

and further into knowing who we ‘all’ really are."

~ Mel Morfitt ~

~)(~

"Circle Dance" by etsyseller TransformativeArt

"Circle Dance" giclee print original piece was inspired by the book "Cracking the Cosmic Egg" by Joseph Clinton Pierce.

inner peace...

~)(~

 "Inner peace is like 

an ocean without waves,
at Full Moon."
~Jyotisha Tat

~)(~

photography by etsyseller KathyFornal

Nature Photography, Surreal Blue Moon Landscape, Winter Fantasy Nature Photo, 

Blue Full Moon Sparkling Stars Tree, Dreamy Nature Photograph

 art photography available by etsyseller KathyFornal

when for and against are forgotten...

Words will not improve upon this photo and quote...

Inner Peace is always, always a choice.