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Two Dogs “A Native American Elder once
described his own inner struggles in this manner: 'Inside of me there are
two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The
mean dog fights the good dog all the time.' When asked which dog wins,
he reflected for a moment and replied, 'The one I feed the most.' " ◊
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Author
Unknown
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“The first rule is to keep an untroubled
spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they
are.”
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Marcus Aurelius
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“There are three material things .
. . essential to life – These are pure air, water and earth. There are three
immaterial things . . . essential to life – These are admiration, hope and
love. Admiration – the power of discerning and taking delight in what is
beautiful in visible form and lovely in human character; and, necessarily,
striving to produce what is beautiful in form and to become what is lovely
in character. Hope – the recognition, by true foresight, of better things
to be reached hereafter, whether by ourselves or others, necessarily issuing
in the straightforward and undisappointable effort to advance, according to
our proper power, the gaining of them. Love – both of family and neighbor,
faithful and satisfied.” ◊
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John
Ruskin
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“If I were to wish for anything, I should not
wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential, for
the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible.”
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Soren
Kierkegaard
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Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do
to deserve this", or "Why did God have to do this to me". Here is a
wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is
going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her
best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and
asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says,
"Absolutely Mom, I love your cake." "Here, have some cooking oil," her
Mother offers. "Yuck" says her daughter. "How about a couple raw eggs?"
"Gross, Mom!" "Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom,
those are all yucky!" To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things
seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way,
they make a wonderfully delicious cake!"
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through
such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things
all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and,
eventually, they will all make something wonderful! God is crazy about you.
He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you
want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He
chose your heart.
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Author
Unknown
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"Who of you by worrying can add a single
hour to your life?"
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Matthew 6:27
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"I am surrounded by people who love
me and support me just the way I am. I know that my world is absolutely
safe, and that I am always taken care of and guided by my own Spirit. I
cannot make a mistake, so I can stop trying to get it right, out of fear
that I might have it wrong. I am always doing the next thing, not the right
thing or the wrong thing, but the next thing, and it is perfect just the way
it is. I experience joy, abundance and fulfillment because I know that’s
where I came from.” ◊
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Juelle Wilkins,
from “The Walk-In”
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Parable of the Rose A
certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully. Before it blossomed,
he examined it. He saw a bud that would soon blossom. He also saw the
thorns, and he thought, “How can any beautiful flower come from a plant
burdened with so many sharp thorns?” Saddened by this thought, he neglected
to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died. So it is with
many people. Within every soul, there is a rose. The “God-like” qualities
planted in us at birth, growing amidst the thorns of our faults. Many of us
look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking
nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within
us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential. Some don’t see
the rose within themselves. It takes someone else to show it to them. One
of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the
thorns and find the rose within others. This is the truest, most innocent,
and gracious characteristic of love . . . to know another person, including
their faults, and recognize the nobility in their soul, and yet still help
another to realize they can overcome their faults. If we show them the
rose, they will conquer the thorns. Only then, will they blossom. Our duty
in this world is to help others, by showing them their roses and not their
thorns. It is then that we achieve the love we should feel for each other.
Only then, can we bloom in our own garden. ◊
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Author
Unknown
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“Genuine compassion is based on a
clear acceptance or recognition that others, like oneself, want happiness
and have the right to overcome suffering. On that basis one develops . . .
concern about the welfare of others, irrespective of one’s attitude to
oneself. That is compassion.” ◊
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from The Power
of Compassion by the Dalai Lama, translation by Geshe Thupten Jinpa,
Thorsons Publ., 1995
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The Symptoms of Inner Peace
"A tendency to think and act spontaneously, rather than from fears
based on past experiences; an unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment; a
loss of interest in judging others; a loss of interest in judging self; a
loss of interest in conflict; a loss of interest in interpreting the actions
of others; a loss of ability to worry; frequent overwhelming episodes of
appreciation; contented feelings of connectedness with others and with
nature; frequent attacks of smiling through the heart; increasing
susceptibility to love extended by others, as well as the uncontrollable
urge to extend it; an increasing tendency to let things happen, rather than
to manipulate them and make them happen."
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Author Unknown
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Oriahe Mountain Dreamer
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It doesn’t interest me what you do for a
living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of
meeting your heart’s longing?
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It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I
want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your
dream, for the adventure of being alive?
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It doesn’t interest me what planets are
squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your
own sorrow, have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled
and closed from fear of further pain?
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I want to know if you can be with joy, mine
or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful,
to be realistic or to remember the limitations of being human?
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It doesn’t interest me if the story you are
telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be
true to yourself, if you can bear accusation of betrayal and not betray
your own soul?
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I want to know if you can be faithful and
therefore be trustworthy?
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I want to know if you can see beauty even
when it is not pretty everyday, and if you can source your own life from
its presence?
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I want to know if you can live with failure,
yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the
silver of the full moon . . . YES!
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It doesn’t interest me to know where you
live or how much money you have, I want to know if you can get up after a
night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what
needs to be done for the children?
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It doesn’t interest me who you are or how
you came to be here. I want to know if you can stand in the center of the
fire with me and not shrink back?
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It doesn’t interest me what or where or with
whom you have studied, I want to know what sustains you from the inside
when all else falls away?
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I want to know if you can be alone with
yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in empty moments?
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An Indian
Elder
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How Do You Handle Adversity?
A young woman went to her
mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.
She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.
She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was
solved a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She
filled three pots with water. In the first she placed carrots, in the
second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.
She let them sit and bowl without saying a word. After about twenty minutes
she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them
in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her
daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs and
coffee," she replied. The mother brought her daughter closer and asked
her to feel the carrots. She did and noticed they were soft. She then
asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she
observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the
coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The
daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?" Her mother explained
that each of these objects had faced the same adversity -- boiling water --
but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and
unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it
softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin
outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through
the boiling water, its insides became hardened. The ground coffee beans were
unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had
changed the water. "Which are you?," she asked her daughter. "When
adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg
or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I
the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and
become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a
malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but
after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I
become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the
inside I am bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am
I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very
circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it
releases the fragrance and flavor of the beans. If you are like the
bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the
situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are
their greatest, do you elevate to another level? . . . How do you handle
Adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
Articles
The following articles
can be found at the website of Infinity Institute International, Inc.,
http://www.infinityinst.com/index.html
http://www.semg.org/education/articles/article4.htm The
Psychophysiological Aspects of Prayer
http://www.infinityinst.com/articles/autowriting.html Automatic
Writing
http://www.infinityinst.com/articles/pastlife.html and
http://www.infinityinst.com/articles/reincarnation.html Past
Lives/Reincarnation
http://www.infinityinst.com/articles/fear_into_power.html Turning
Fear Into Power
http://www.earthalchemy.com/12steps.html Twelve Steps to Finding
Your Bliss |
