We must recognise that the suffering of one person or one nation is the suffering of humanity. That the happiness of one person or nation is the happiness of humanity. ~Dalai Lama

Thought is cause: experience is effect. If you don't like the effects in your life, you have to change the nature of your thinking  ~ Marianne Williamson

Whether we are rich or poor, educated uneducated, whatever our nationality, color, social status, or ideology may be, the purpose of our lives is to be happy. ~ Dalai Lama

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." ~William Blake

“As long as there is a 'you' doing or not-doing, thinking or not-thinking, meditating or not-meditating you are no closer to home than the day you were born.”  ~ Wei Wu Wei

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.” ― Joan Didion, On Self-Respect

"If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." ~ Dalai Lama

"Many people believe that self-confidence means standing behind your beliefs 100% ... if you fail to listen to what else is going on in the world and only rely on what you think you know and believe, you've attached yourself to an idea that blinds.  This is not confidence; it is stubbornness.  We are conditioned to believe in such a way that whenever we encounter a truth that contradicts something we believe, we are quick to either reject it or create a story that protects our belief and further weaves a web of distortion.  In so doing, we keep distorting our faith further, forming new beliefs to keep our sense of self safe."

From The Five Levels of Attachment

When you are genuinely strong, you neither attack nor defend and so retain your energy. ~ Vernon Howard

“Everyone has a gift for something, even if it is the gift of being a good friend.”

~ Marian Anderson

"Just as the tumultuous chaos of a thunderstorm brings a nurturing rain that allows life to flourish, so too in human affairs times of advancement are preceded by times of disorder. Success comes to those who can weather the storm."  – I Ching No. 3

The Real World ...

~ by Harvey Taylor

"Hate hurts the hater more'n the hated.” ~ Madeleine L'Engle

"Our Life is a canvas, we are all Picassos" ...

"...view life through the eyes of an artist and accept that everything is a work in progress, a never-ending masterpiece.  Every brushstroke is perfect simply because it exists.  As the paint hits the canvas, it grows and develops into what it is -- even if we don't always have an outline to keep us in the lines.  Whether colorful scribbles or a detailed landscape, each element of the piece is fulfilling and complete, even as we continue to paint, changing and evolving with every stroke of life."

Excerpt from The Five Levels of Attachment, Toltec Wisdom for the Modern World

“Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.” ― Lao Tzu

How do you dance through life?

Pioneering the Body-Mind Interface

Dancing is a completely natural approach to stress management.  The relationship of how the body and mind interact in health and illness
is well-known.  Whether it be an illness of the mind which affects the body, or an illness of the body that impacts the mind and spirit, dance/movement therapy works!
~

"Perhaps you glide through your days like a ballerina,  taking life's dips and leaps with elegance; 

perhaps you are a square dancer,  standing tall and reaching out during life's unexpected turns;

perhaps you are a break dancer,  dizzily spinning and flailing but somehow able to maintain balance;  or,

perhaps you are a tap dancer,  taking small steps but always following one with another."

Your style doesn't really matter.  What matters is that you continue to dance!

Source: Optima Health

By far the greater part of violence that humans have inflicted on each other is not the work of criminals or the mentally deranged, but of normal, respectable citizens in the service of the collective ego. ~ Eckhart Tolle

There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One with Life. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Acts of Kindness

Our thinking and our behaviour are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear based. ~ Deepak Chopra, M.D.

It’s not a matter of letting go – you would if you could. Instead of “Let it go,” we should probably say “Let it be.” 
~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

"Someday, aftering mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." 
~Pierrre Teilhard de Chardin        

"The only way out is through" ....

...only to the extent that we expose ourselves to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us." ~ Pema Chodron

The Past

Forget the past
It's just a dream you keep alive
A bubble that wants to hit the ground and burst
But which you keep alive by thinking

~ Steve Taylor

SUPER BRAIN

I look upon every day as a new world.

I pay attention not to fall into bad habits, and if one sets in, I can break it fairly easily. 

I like to improvise.  

I abhor boredom, which to me means repetition.  

I gravitate to new things in many areas of my life.

I will keep evolving my whole lifetime.  

If I learn a new skill, I take it as far as I can.  

I adapt quickly to change.  

If I'm not good at something when I first try it, that's okay.  I like the challenge.  

I thrive on activity, with only a modicum of down time.

I like reinventing myself.  

I've recently changed a long-held belief or opinion.  

There's at least one thing I am an expert on.  

I gravitate toward educational outlets on television or in local colleges.  

I'm inspired by my life on a day-to-day basis.

Excerpts from Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind to Maximize Health, Happiness, and Spiritual Well-Being; by Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D. and Deepak Chopra, M.D. 

for beautiful eyes, look for the good in others;

for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and,

for poise walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

~ Audrey Hepburn

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck ~ Dalai Lama

"What the caterpillar calls disaster, the butterfly calls liberation" ...

... perhaps one of the purposes of the caterpillar/butterfly is to serve as a pointer for humans.

A great rock is not disturbed by the wind, the mind of a wise man is not disturbed by either honor or abuse. ~ Dalai Lama

A Feel Good Story ....

... this pooch's owner dyed his hair for Halloween, at the urging of his children.  When the owner was asked "Does he know how he looks?,"  he responded "We don't let him get near a mirror, but the quality of his life has vastly improved as he is very happy because of all the attention, love he receives; he gets petted a lot, whereas, previously when we took walks no one paid him much attention; now he's the center of attention wherever we go and it makes him happy."

He makes people happy and their happiness is reflected back to them with his smile -- evidence the happy face!

Photos taken in Carytown, Richmond, VA, as a crowd gathered, each waiting their turn to pet this lucky dog  : )

A man's worth is not measured by how much he acquires, but how much he gives.

It's Time To Wake Up - We Are All One

“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.”  ― Audrey Hepburn

“You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.” ― Audrey Hepburn

“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.”  ~ Danny Kaye  

NDE

"... What had happened to me was real, I mean really real, as if normal life is just an illusion in which we are immersed for our time here. Since the advent of virtual reality, I have found that is a good way to think of this existence.  This reality is a wondrous, awesome creation, and it has purpose, but an immensely greater reality exists....These days, I might say that I downloaded my whole hard drive. At the time, I think I tried to compare it to a replay of a cassette tape in fast forward. I came to understand that so much of what we think is important, is actually trivial, or of no consequence. We take ourselves much too seriously."

Description, subsequent understanding gleaned from a near-death-exerience 30 years ago.

"There's a great space in which this moment takes place. There's a great silence that is listening to the thoughts." ~ Adyashanti