Please click the photo for an excellent presentation of Deep Zen Meditation…

Deep Zen Meditation

Deep Zen Meditation and Holo Think - CLICK PHOTO

Andy Bolton

Wisdom

“Actually, all paths lead away from the truth..how’s that? All paths. There’s no such thing as a path to the truth. The truth’s already here”

Adyashanti - The Enlightened Shoe
Technorati Tags: the truth, enlightenment

Alain de Botton

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
Technorati Tags: Alain de Botton, A kinder, gentler philosophy, success

Timeless Quotes from The Buddha

Timeless Quotes from The Buddha
Technorati Tags: buddha wisdom, buddha quotes

If you have a problem, what do you do and where do you go?

photo courtesy: cosmosmagazine .com

Firstly we must be aware that being choked by a problem will only make you want to kick and scream. The resultant decision would be a forced one under duress.

Ideally you would want to take time, care and attention over every decision. To do this with a good degree of success we must be within a calm state of mind. If we are confronted with a problem and a state of anguish and frustration arose we must first spot the condition and then resist it from affecting any decision we make.

More often than not we forget to be grateful for the other things in life that we have.

Today’s story illustrates how an illness can suddenly make you see life clearly; and sadly for the lady who wrote this, too clear too late.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER
(written after discovery of terminal cancer)

I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the “GOOD” living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment realizing that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, would never have said, “Later, now go get washed up for dinner.” There would have been more “I love you’s” … more “I’m sorry’s” … but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute … look at it and really see it … live it .. and never give it back.

(Erma Bombeck)

QUOTE: “You have to make a conscious choice every day to shed the old – whatever ‘the old’ means for you.

(Sarah Ban Breathnach)

Do we ever do enough to maintain our capacity to be happy?

Once we’ve ascertained some understanding on what feeds the roots of happiness, we actively need to replenish the fodder.

I was once reading an article from a well known musician and singer from the 1960’s. He maintained that one of the biggest attributes he possessed was his ability to talk and be polite. He said that there was one particular sentence that open more doors than you could imagine.

Now before I tell you the sentence, a wise person would have used this on numerous occasions during every day. But what made this sentence particular impressive was this musician used it to advance his career, from a mere jobbing musician and singer to international artiste.

helpful - courtesy: blog.mindjet .com

The sentence was, “Can you help me please.”

The musician claimed that people have an incredible desire to help. So upon hearing this question people just naturally want to be HELPFUL.

As with a ripple in a lake, if we ask for help ‘more often’ then that would start the ripple; however before that ripple reaches the edge of the lake we need to start another. This is how often we need to feed and maintain our level of happiness.

One way is to encourage people, including you, is to never be too proud to ask for help. Today’s story is a slight twist to this scenario, but nonetheless the main theme is being HELPFUL.

AN AUSSIE STORY

Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man’s family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or an actor. This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town.

Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted. However they bested him easily and proceeded to beat him to a pulp. They mashed his face with their boots, and kicked and beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead. When the police happened to find him lying in the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon.

On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital. When he was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all is teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull.

Although his life was spared, he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at. He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.

When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as The Man Who Had No Face. And he did this for a while. He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide.

This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who saw him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in God’s mercy to free him from his torturous life. The young man went to Mass and communion every day, and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes.

The priest, through his personal contacts was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would be no cost to the young man, as the doctor was the priest’s best friend. The doctor too was so impressed by the young man. Whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humor and love. The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was also done for him.

The young man became everything he promised God he would be. He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him.

This he acknowledges publicly.

The young man’s name is… Mel Gibson.

(Attributed to Paul Harvey)

QUOTE: “Go often to the house of thy friend; for weeds soon choke up an unused path.”

(Scandinavian Proverb)

TOM EDWARDS’ POEM

“WHY I DON’T DRINK ANYMORE”

I changed because I have the sickness of alcoholism, alcoholism doesn’t come in bottles it comes in people.

You should have seen me.

I drank for happiness and became unhappy.
I drank for joy and became miserable.
I drank to become outgoing and became self-centred.
I drank for sociability and became argumentative and lonely.
I drank for sophistication and became crude and obnoxious.
I drank for friendship and made enemies.
I drank to soften sorrow and wallowed in self-pity.
I drank for strength and felt weak.
I drank for masculinity and it sapped my potency.
I drank medicinally and became sick.
I drank because I thought my job called for it and lost my job.
I drank to stimulate and blacked out.
I drank to make conversation and got to where I couldn’t talk at all.
I drank to forget and became haunted.
I drank for freedom and became a slave.
I drank for power and became powerless.
I drank to erase problems and saw them multiply.
I drank to cope with life, and invited death.

© Tom Edwards

The long awaited Digital version of the King James Bible

Technorati Tags: king james bible, bible books, the bible

The story below is excellent, but I have found that the ending varies around the world.

QUOTE: “Many a true word spoken in jest…” (Unknown Author).

Using this quote does actually prompt me to accept that humour does help in explaining wisdom. As spoken before, whenever you are happy, you are more attentive. Thus, when you’ve just heard some humour that contains wisdom, that very wisdom will always be remembered as you recall the joke.

Have you ever experienced the ‘lost your car keys’ syndrome? You begin the rush around trying to see where the keys are, but realise as ever they are nowhere to be found. What is the best advice at this point? You will have heard this advice before, because it is sound, methodical and philosophically good. “Calm down and think where you had them last?” Generally speaking, when you have done this, you experience a short flash of knowledge and suddenly the place where the keys were left manifests itself as a picture within your mind.

So if that method of ‘calming down’ is so successful, why don’t we adopt it more often to resolve other problems? Because of course we are too fixed in our ways.

Let this grip of ‘holding on’ to our past attitudes diminish, and you’ll start to see the benefits.

When our day turns out to be about – ‘rushing around and getting nothing done’ we are not allowing any focus. We are not being attentive on one item, when we don’t we are sharing our full attention with six or seven different possibles. When we do this we forget the main task in hand.

This story today shows us how we get our priorities mixed up. We pay too much attention on the smaller things and neglect the bigger and more important ones.

photo courtesy: sxc.hu

THE STORY OF THE STONES

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him, albeit discretely hidden from view. He picked up an empty jam jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks; rocks that were about six centimeters in size. He then asked the students, “Is the jar full?”

They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a jar of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jam jar lightly. The pebbles of course rolled into the open areas within the rocks. He then asked the students once more, “Was the jar full?” They agreed once more that it was.

The students then laughed as the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course the sand filled everywhere else!

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this is YOUR life! The rocks are symbolic of important things, such as your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.”

The professor continued, “The philosophical point here is that if you put the sand in the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will have no room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical check-ups. Take your partner out more often. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, have a barbeque and fix the waste disposal. Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter, Set your priorities. The rest is just sand…”

Just then this philosophical study took a humorous turn… A student then took the jar, which by now everyone had agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a glass of beer! Of course the beer filled in the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full.

The moral of this tale (for those willing to accept humour in their philosophical studies) is: - no matter how full your life is, there is always some room for beer!

QUOTE: “A good laugh is sunshine in the house.”  (William Makepeace Thackery)

“One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine with only interests” (John Stuart Mill)

Andy Bolton

Common Sense

A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY

I am a great lover of the statement to ‘Lead By Example’, today I have a beautiful story that has me in tears every time I read it.

Whilst the story is about a man who is both confused and depressed the principle philosophy connection is based upon your skill to lead by example.

QUOTE: “If you motivate an idiot, you get a motivated idiot. You need to educate before you motivate.” (Jim Rohn).

Practical Philosophy is a difficult subject to teach as most of the quality insights are from your own experience. You know the fundamental principle, which once used in your own life, will provide the necessary truth in the principle.

When you think your life is at its lowest point, depression and sadness may set in. But if you compared it with a different individuals troubled life, you may realise yours isn’t so bad after all.

If you are an idiot, you may find that you attract idiots. If you are sensible, you’ll attract sensible people.

If you have a fear, which maybe for the point of today’s story, a fear of depression, you’ll attract other people with the same problem. If you could control your fear, all the other people you know who suffer the same fear will benefit.

Before you read the next story – go fetch a tissue…

photo courtesy: birdfinders.co.uk

Entitled: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY (Adapted)

“I’m a musician, songwriter and vocalist. I’ve spent two years in and out of the charts in the early 1990’s. I’m disillusioned with the record business and their interest has waned as I have reached into my early thirties. I find little to interest me and easily get depressed with how this entertainment business works.

I needed to chill-out, get some space and re-charge my batteries. I thought the world was beginning to close in. For the last decade my life was my music. I’d started to write songs for a few potential newcomers, but none of these bands had been signed up.

I needed to get a new perspective on life so I rented an apartment by the sea for the winter of 2001. I couldn’t put my finger on what was troubling me, but I knew I needed some time out.

I was sure that just one incident was going to trigger me out of the doldrums. Then I was shocked into defeat, when I went through a few months I describe below.

Today, I’m back writing songs in my studio, I have a smile and a new zest for life…

It all started when…

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I’d moved to. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four hundred yards, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sandcastle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea. “Hello,” she said. I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child.
“I’m building,” she said.

“I see that. What is it?” I asked, not caring.

“Oh, I don’t know, I just like the feel of sand.”

That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided by.

“That’s a joy,” the child said.

“It’s a what?” “It’s a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy.”

The bird went gliding down the beach. “Good-bye, joy,” I muttered to myself; “hello, pain,” and turned to walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance. “What’s your name?” She wouldn’t give up.

“Robert,” I answered. “I’m Robert Peterson.”

“Mine’s Wendy, I’m six.”

“Hi, Wendy.” She giggled.

“You’re funny,” she said.

In spite of my gloom I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle followed me.

“Come again, Mr. P,” she called. “We’ll have another happy day.”

The days and weeks that followed belong to others: a group of unruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, an ailing mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater.

“I need a sandpiper,” I said to myself gathering up my coat. The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly, but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity I needed. I had forgotten the child and was startled when she appeared.

Hello, Mr. P,” she said. “Do you want to play?”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, with a twinge of annoyance.

“I don’t know, you say.” “How about charades?” I asked sarcastically. The tinkling laughter burst forth again. “I don’t know what that is.” “Then let’s just walk.” Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face. “Where do you live?” I asked.

“Over there.” She pointed toward a row of summer cottages.

Strange, I thought, in winter. “Where do you go to school?” “I don’t go to school. Mommy says we’re on holiday.”

She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day. Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.

Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home. “Look, if you don’t mind,” I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, “I’d rather be alone today.”

She seemed unusually pale and out of breath. “Why?” she asked. I turned toward her and shouted, “Because my mother died!”

I thought, my God, why was I saying this to a little child? “Oh,” she said quietly, “then this is a bad day.”

“Yes,” I said, “and yesterday and the day before and ~ oh, go away!” “Did it hurt?” she inquired.

“Did what hurt?” I was exasperated with her, and with myself.

“When she died?”

“Of course it hurt!” I snapped, misunderstanding, and wrapped up in myself I strode off.

A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn’t there. Feeling guilty, ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn looking young woman with honey-coloured hair opened the door.

“Hello,” I said. “I’m Robert Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was.”

“Oh yes, Mr. Peterson, please come in. Wendy spoke of you so much. I’m afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please accept my apologies.” “Not at all ~ she’s a delightful child,” I said, suddenly realizing that I meant it. “Where is she?”

“Wendy died last week, Mr. Peterson. She had leukaemia. Maybe she didn’t tell you.”

Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. My breath caught. “She loved this beach; so when she asked to come, we couldn’t say no.

“She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly…” her voice faltered. “She left something for you … if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?”

I nodded stupidly, my mind racing for something, anything, to say to this lovely young woman. She handed me a smeared envelope, with MR. P printed in bold, childish letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues, a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath was carefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide. I took Wendy’s mother in my arms. “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I muttered over and over, and we wept together.

The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my studio.

Six words - one for each year of her life - that speak to me of harmony, courage, and an undemanding love.

A gift from a child with sea-blue eyes and hair the colour of sand - who taught me the gift of love.”

(Adapted by Andy Bolton from an excerpt by Robert Peterson, especially to have a musical slant).

QUOTE: “As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates other.” (Marianne Williamson).