compassion

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."
- Carl Jung (1875-1961)

Years ago, when I first read this, it changed my life. I became more compassionate, not only with others, but also with myself.

wisdom

"Love everybody.  Don't hate.  Don't gossip.  Take care of your own business.  And take care of your body. " - Eddye Williams

entre recuerdos y sueños

me visto de mares y cielos profundos,

nado entre recuerdos y sueños,

me pierdo y me encuentro en tu mirada


from my journals

joy

detail from mixed media, circa 2004

"JOY is the HOLY FIRE
that keeps our purpose warm
and our intelligence aglow."

- Helen Keller (1880-1968)

...and where do we find our joy?
It is everywhere - we only need to be awake to sense it...

from deepest conviction

"A 'NO' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble." - GANDHI



laugh at the sky

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.” - Buddha

laugh

"What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul."
- Yiddish Proverb


so laugh
make someone laugh
it feels so very good...

peace

"Any time anyone complains of worry, anxiety, depression, fear, hatred, jealousy - whatever it is - let him sit back and analyze the cause. If he is really sincere, he will find out that what he wanted something for himself. Selfish desire causes all the problems. Do things for the sake of others, not for yourself. That is the simple and practical way to find peace."

excerpt from "The Golden Present"

Daily Inspirational Readings by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Beloved Gurudev's wise words...Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi...

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda

Sri Gurudev playing with me, circa 1973
The circle calls to me.

The sun has not risen, but I have.

I celebrate beloved Gurudev, today and always...

soul work

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
- Picasso


art is my soul's work...

more

"Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible." – Cadet Maxim

liberated

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

- Marianne Williamson (b. 1952)

This quote sits on my altar and is tucked in the pages of my journals..

trust the perfection of the universe

I meditate upon this song,
and I move and dance to change, to life itself...
as I realize and trust the perfection of the universe...

Cambia lo superficial
Cambia también lo profundo
Cambia el modo de pensar
Cambia todo en este mundo

Cambia el clima con los años
Cambia el pastor su rebaño
Y así como todo cambia
Que yo cambie no es extraño

Cambia el más fino brillante
De mano en mano su brillo
Cambia el nido el pajarillo
Cambia el sentir un amante

Cambia el rumbo el caminante
Aunque esto le cause daño
Y así como todo cambia
Que yo cambie no es extraño

Cambia, todo cambia
Cambia, todo cambia

Cambia el sol en su carrera
Cuando la noche subsiste
Cambia la planta y se viste
De verde en la primavera

Cambia el pelaje la fiera
Cambia el cabello el anciano
Y así como todo cambia
Que yo cambie no es extraño

Pero no cambia mi amor
Por mas lejos que me encuentre
Ni el recuerdo ni el dolor
De mi pueblo y de mi gente

Y lo que cambió ayer
Tendrá que cambiar mañana
Así como cambio yo
En esta tierra lejana.

- Julio Numhauser

sacred circle dream

She dreamt with art.

She dreamt with him.

In sacred circle she sat and provided the fire.

The light came through her flame.

She dreamt with silk and pearls.

She dreamt with him.

Where was he? What had he become?

excerpt from journals

altar

a stone buddha head found in a new york flea market,

a river rock that spoke to me,

a strand of seeds from the sacred valley of the incas,

an ancient necklace my brother gave me,

what is on your altar?

mother's prayers

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. 

They have clung to me all my life."

- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

children loving our children

"Our babies cried when we left them and we cry when they leave us. Echoes. Proud almost to arrogance then, we pushed them about in their carriages. Dutifully, wearily now, they push us about in our chairs.

Our children don't know us as we are now. Less do they know us as we were. Oh, how I wish they could have known us as we were. Do you think they would recognize their young selves in our young selves? I wish they could have seen us in all our clumsiness and selfishness, which is so like their own clumsiness and selfishness right now. There's another echo for you.

We believed the fairy tales we told our children and we loved them beyond reason even when we were green and bungling about it. We were children loving our children. And that's who we are still."

-Marlena De Blasi

I am holding my child as I type...I kiss his delicious cheeks and am just overwhelmed with gratitude and a sense of both humility and honor...I am his mother, his mother...

a new world is born

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." -- Anaïs Nin

unraveling mystery

goddess of silk from the east,

plummeting cocoon in tea...

unraveling mystery...

from my journals

zen motherhood

sit quietly doing nothing,

spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

- ZEN proverb

Maternal instinct is that protective wild lioness, unafraid to use claws and jaws...unafraid to risk life and strength for her child.

However, sometimes the best protection is allowing our children to learn on their own. Empower them to distinguish danger and yet be unafraid. Show them by example how to get up and stand after a fall.

from my journals