|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Archive for December 2011
Kindness Daily: An Unforgettable Morning at the Airport
December 31, 2011
Dalai Lama Quote from Snow Lion Publications
December 31, 2011
Dalai Lama Quote of the WeekIn this practice one recollects negativity, contemplates its nature, generates apprehension of its karmic implications, and resolves to purify one’s mind of the negative traces. On the basis of this resolve one takes refuge, develops the bodhimind and enters the Vajrasattva meditation or whatever method is being used. One can also do exercises such as prostrations and so forth. This concentration of purifying energies destroys the potency of negative karmic imprints like the germ of a barley seed roasted in a fire. Here it is important to begin the meditation session with a contemplative meditation and then to transform this into settled meditation for a prolonged period of time. One abides in the settled meditation until it begins to lose intensity, and then temporarily reverts to contemplative meditation in order to invigorate the mind, returning to fixed meditation once a contemplative atmosphere has been restored. Generally our mind is habituated to directing all of our energies into things that benefit this life alone, things of no spiritual consequence. By performing these types of meditations, our natural attachment to the meaningless activities of this life subsides and we begin to experience an inner appreciation for spiritual values. When spontaneously one’s mind appreciates spiritual rather than mundane goals one has become an active practitioner of initial perspective.(p.117) –from The Path to Enlightenment by H.H. the Dalai Lama, edited and translated by Glenn H. Mullin, published by Snow Lion Publications The Path to Enlightenment • Now at 5O% off! |
A New Kind of New Year’s Resolution
December 31, 2011Each resolve to live more kindly loosens restrictive knots of self-interest. Life then flows more freely on its true course. The way an unfettered river runs swift to the ocean. — Daily Good Editors
~~~~
Good News of the Day:
The upcoming new year serves as a reminder of hope, possibilities, and new beginnings. As we prepare to step into 2012, here’s a new tool to help turn our annual motivation outward, resolving to brighten the lives of others: Resolution12.org. Its organizer, a chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania named Rev. Chaz Howard, calls it “a public campaign to challenge people to make outwardly-focused resolutions to care for others, instead of inwardly-focused resolutions for self-improvement.” This simple initiative connects a community of people who want to volunteer, help a loved one, recycle, and do dozens of other things to be kind to others. The endless possibilities are recorded online in people’s own words, creating a shared space for declarations that translate into service and inspire others.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A1A70:C3009629A010612C0CF7AC0C9A4DC2BAB4B847859706E37D&
~~~~
Be The Change:
Rev. Howard’s advice: to reflect and then “make a resolution that is not too big — and doable. What is the little imprint you can make on the world?” For inspiration and to share, visit Resolution12 here.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A1A71:C3009629A010612C0CF7AC0C9A4DC2BAB4B847859706E37D&
**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A1A72:C3009629A010612C0CF7AC0C9A4DC2BAB4B847859706E37D&
Dharma Quote from Snow Lion Publications
December 30, 2011
Dharma Quote of the WeekThe famous nineteenth-century dzogchen master Paltrul Rinpoche explained self-liberation concretely and precisely: “The practitioner of self-liberation is like an ordinary person as far as the way in which the thoughts of pleasure and pain, hope and fear, manifest themselves as creative energy. However, the ordinary person, taking these really seriously and judging them as acceptable or rejecting them, continues to get caught up in situations and becomes conditioned by attachment and aversion. …Freeing or liberating thought does not mean ignoring, letting go of, being indifferent to, observing, or even not having thoughts. It means being present in hope and fear, pain and pleasure, not as objects before us, but as the radiant clarity of our natural state. Thus anger, for example, when experienced dualistically, is an irritation which we may indulge in or reject, depending on our conditioning. Either way we are caught up in it and act out of it. But when aware of anger as a manifestation of clarity, its energy is a very fresh awareness of the particulars of the situation. However, these particulars are no longer irritating.(p.77) –from You Are the Eyes of the World by Longchenpa, translated by Kennard Lipman and Merrill Peterson, introduction by Namkhai Norbu, published by Snow Lion Publications You Are the Eyes of the World • Now at 5O% off! |
Video of the Week: Aurora Borealis
December 30, 2011
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How Good Found Me In A Bad Neighborhood
December 30, 2011Make no judgements where you have no compassion. — Anne McCaffrey
~~~~
Good News of the Day:
“It occurred to me a little too late that I was in a sketchy part of town. In anticipation of making it to my massage appointment, I had actually gotten off my bus five blocks before my stop. I was young and clearly a college student…I stuck out like a sore thumb in the southern town. Yet, even with my fingers trembling I was convinced that I would be perfectly safe, that I didn’t have to rely on anyone for help. “It’ll be okay Priya,” I reassured myself, “You’ve dealt with 2,000 pound horses, so a dangerous person is nothing to you.” In this real-life story, a young woman describes stumbling into a rough neighborhood and encountering two strangers who opened her eyes to the beauty we miss when we make superficial judgements about the people who cross our paths.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A18FF:C3009629A010612C512E62EE6F470CAAB4B847859706E37D&
~~~~
Be The Change:
Observe your own judgments as they arise today, and experiment with consciously trying to step away from them.
**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A1900:C3009629A010612C512E62EE6F470CAAB4B847859706E37D&
Ways To Go Green In 2012
December 29, 2011If there is to be an ecologically sound society, it will have to come the grass roots up, not from the top down. — Paul Hawken
~~~~
Good News of the Day:
As we head into 2012, many of us will be resolving to lose those few extra pounds, save more money, or spend a few more hours with our families and friends. But there are also some resolutions we can make to make our lives a little greener. Each of us can make a commitment to reducing our environmental impacts. This article offers a set of simple starting points — ranging from recycling and planting a garden to composting and eliminating bottled water.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A17EC:C3009629A010612C4F3670EDF336BAECB4B847859706E37D&
~~~~
Be The Change:
Try implementing two or three of the article’s recommendations in this upcoming year.
**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A17ED:C3009629A010612C4F3670EDF336BAECB4B847859706E37D&
Illiterate Fisherman at 90, Literary Star at 98!
December 28, 2011The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live. — Mortimer Adler
~~~~
Inspiration of the Day:
He may not have learned to read and write until he was 91, but Jim Henry is becoming a literary star. The retired lobsterman now 98-years-old released his book, “In a Fisherman’s Language” last month. And ever since he and his family have found themselves immersed in a world of book printings, agents, publicity and film rights. People from not just around the country but the world are clamoring for copies. Henry, whose own life story tells like a movie, was inspired after learning about the story of George Dawson, the grandson of a slave who wanted to earn his high school diploma by learning how to read and write at 98.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A167F:C3009629A010612C15ACC13E23E804DFB4B847859706E37D&
~~~~
Be The Change:
Find more ways to incorporate active learning into your life, whether it’s through reading, travel, conversations or perhaps simply by honing awareness and observation.
**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A1680:C3009629A010612C15ACC13E23E804DFB4B847859706E37D&
5 Reasons Why We Serve
December 27, 2011You must be the change you wish to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi
~~~~
Inspiration of the Day:
In a world dominated by financial incentives that appeal to a mindset of consumption, it becomes all the more critical to turn the tide by engaging in small acts of generosity and continually shifting the mindset towards one of inspired contribution. It’s a beautiful fact that in practicing kindness in this way, we can’t help but deepen our understanding of how inner and outer change are fundamentally intertwined. Based on the experience of hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours, here are five reasons why we serve: to discover abundance, express gratitude, transform ourselves, honor our profound interconnection, and align with a natural unfolding. A beautiful exploration of service:
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A151D:C3009629A010612CCEACA518E3BC0FA9B4B847859706E37D&
~~~~
Be The Change:
Experiment with being the change, however you define it, and see if it changes your being.
**Share A Reflection**
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A151E:C3009629A010612CCEACA518E3BC0FA9B4B847859706E37D&
InnerNet Weekly: Make Your Life Into a Giving
December 27, 2011
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Make your life into a giving. When I say a giving, it is not to be understood as an act. Giving as an act is a deception because, after all, what can you give? Everything that we have, including this body, we have taken from this planet. What we can give is only a paltry part of what we have taken. Giving as an act could be very deceptive and could turn ugly, but if your way of being is giving and your actions are only a manifestation of that, when you open your heart to give, grace invariably seeps in. That is inevitable.
Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal 