Life 03 (Jun 09 - Jul 09)

[kennynah]

back to the same old saying :

人人为我，我为人人

[winston]

What you judge as joy or sorrow is only like a passing cloud, which cannot affect the splendor of the Sun or Moon.

Know that such emotions follow one another when the wheel of life turns round from moment to moment.

The sea has water that cannot quench thirst, but it has also pearl and coral.

You have to get toughened by the hammer strokes of joy and sorrow until you are unaffected by the vicissitudes of fortune. The Self alone is eternal and unchanging.

- Divine Discourse, Nov 23, 1975

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

The great dignity of death

Why do human beings die so miserably, so unhappily, with a disease, old age, senility, the body shrunk, ugly? Why can’t they die naturally and as beautifully as this leaf? What is wrong with us?

In spite of all the doctors, medicines and hospitals, operations and all the agony of life, and the pleasures too, we don’t seem able to die with dignity, simplicity, and with a smile…

As you teach children mathematics, writing, reading and all the business of acquiring knowledge, they should also be taught the great dignity of death, not as a morbid, unhappy thing that one has to face eventually, but as something of daily life —the daily life of looking at the blue sky and the grasshopper on a leaf.

Krishnamurti to Himself, pp 132-133

Source: jkrishmamurthi.com

[winston]

Because we know that life is eternal, and we know that there is no ending to that which you are about, if one of you is killed in an earthquake or crashes your plane, or any number of other very creative ways you have found to make your exit into the Non-Physical, because we know the whole picture, we grieve not a moment for any of you.

But from your more shortsighted point of view in physical, a lot of you grieve tremendously.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in El Paso, TX on Saturday, February 17th, 2001

Source: abraham-hicks.com

[winston]

Death exposes me to myself

After all, when my son dies, what is it that I feel? I am at a loss. He has gone away never to return, and I feel a sense of emptiness, loneliness.

He was my son, in whom I had invested all my hope of immortality, of perpetuating the “me” and the “mine”; now that this hope of my own continuity has been taken away, I feel utterly desolate.

So I really hate death; it is an abomination, a thing to be pushed aside, because it exposes me to myself. And I do push it aside, through belief, through various forms of escape.

The Collected Works vol XI, p 287

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com

[winston]

Tell everyone you know: "My happiness depends on me, so you're off the hook." And then demonstrate it.

Be happy, no matter what they're doing. Practice feeling good, no matter what. And before you know it, you will not give anyone else responsibility for the way you feel -- and then, you'll love them all.

Because the only reason you don't love them, is because you're using them as your excuse to not feel good.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Asheville, NC on Saturday, April 30th, 2005

Source: abraham-hicks.com

[winston]

Be Happy ‘Round the Clock by Debbie Mandel

How do you achieve happiness, the kind that lasts all day? Robert Frost wrote, “Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” While this is a beautiful aphorism depicting the spirit of the human condition, there are many concrete strategies to assist you in making happiness go the distance. Here is a sample weekday happiness schedule:

Morning

If you are jolted out of bed by your alarm clock, you are already starting your day stressed which means anything can set you off. Hit the snooze button. Just a few minutes more in bed and you wake up gently and in control while you prepare yourself emotionally. Savor these “stolen moments.”

Eat a balanced breakfast of complex carbs and lean protein – food and mood go together. Research shows that coffee boosts mood, improves focus and reduces exercise-induced pains.

Change your seat at the kitchen table to see things from a fresh perspective. Don’t eat on the run!

For the daily commute, car or public transportation, vary your route just a little. Nothing deadens the heart like routine; wake up your spirit. While you are at it, get off a stop earlier or park your car a few blocks away to reap the mood-elevating benefits of an outdoor walk.

Use your daily commute as an opportunity to meditate. You can meditate anywhere as long as you are aware of your surroundings

Try this:
Imagine your forehead, the center of your inspiration, as a deep blue; your pure heart is white and your belly is gold because you are a golden child. Now align the three colors vertically, blue, white and gold like a traffic light and you will feel emotionally centered and in focus especially during rush hour traffic. Note: if you are driving, do not close your eyes unless you are parked!

Greet people at the train station, school bus stop or in your office building. Happiness is propelled by numbers. When you are acknowledged, you feel validated and energized. Pay it forward.

Afternoon
Keep in mind the correlation between food and mood. Eat a balanced lunch. Exercise during half of your lunch break to move stress out of your body and increase focus to avoid that afternoon slump. You can walk, stretch or do exercises that use the body’s own resistance. Your ability to find solutions will improve.

De-clutter every afternoon. The day’s chaos accumulates to weigh you down. Clear out your desk, your fridge, a drawer, the mail or your pocket book to liberate your energy.

Have a late afternoon healthy snack to keep energy levels at peak performance. Drink a hot liquid like herbal tea to signal relaxation. You can’t gulp a hot liquid.

Evening
Unwind and enjoy your personal space with happiness rituals.
To help you unwind before sleep and release toxins: First put your feet in a pot of hot water (a temperature you can tolerate) for one minute and then immediately place them in a pot of cold water for thirty seconds. Repeat this cycle 3X. This hot/ cold treatment releases toxins from your feet – the body’s foundation. The heat circulates the blood; the cold water reduces the swelling. The cold pulls out toxins in the contractive phase and the heat brings blood and nutrients in the expansive phase.

Have a treat right before bed – you won’t overeat because you will be going to sleep and you will feel rewarded.
To unwind before sleep: instead of that endless to-do list playing in your head, how about a “Look what I did today list!” Sweet dreams…

http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Be_H ... Clock.html

[winston]

The task before each of one of us is to plant the seeds of Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Love in each heart.

Foster these saplings and watch over them with love and care until they grow into trees yielding a rich harvest of sweet fruits. Sages who had succeeded in this beneficial culture have laid down the means and methods, the steps and slips, the helps and hindrances, that one has to consider.

The swimmer has to push the water behind him so that he might proceed forward. So too, while attempting to march forward, one has to push back from him the evil thoughts, habits, deeds and impulses that crowd in. Believe in this conviction, instill faith in your heart and you will be assured of success.

-Divine Discourse, Vol 13 Ch 19, Nov 23, 1975.

Source: radiosai.org

[winston]

Why is there this sorrow of death?

Why is there this sorrow of death—in every house, rich and poor, from the most powerful in the land to the beggar? Why are you in sorrow? Is it for your husband—or is it for yourself?

If you are crying for him, can your tears help him? He has gone irrevocably. Do what you will, you will never have him back. No tears, no belief, no ceremonies or gods can ever bring him back. It is a fact which you have to accept; you can’t do anything about it.

But if you are crying for yourself, because of your loneliness, your empty life, because of the sensual pleasures you had and the companionship, then you are crying, aren’t you, out of your own emptiness and out of self-pity?

Perhaps for the first time you are aware of your own inward poverty. You have invested in your husband, haven’t you, if we may gently point it out, and it has given you comfort, satisfaction and pleasure. All you are feeling now—the sense of loss, the agony of loneliness and anxiety—is a form of self-pity, isn’t it?

Do look at it. Don’t harden your heart against it and say: “I love my husband, and I wasn’t thinking a bit about myself. I wanted to protect him, even though I often tried to dominate him; but it was all for his sake and there was never a thought for myself.”

Now that he has gone you are realizing, aren’t you, your own actual state? His death has shaken you and shown you the actual state of your mind and heart. You may not be willing to look at it; you may reject it out of fear, but if you observe a little more you will see that you are crying out of your own loneliness, out of your inward poverty—which is out of self-pity.

The Only Revolution, pp 28-29

Source: jkrishnamurthi.com

[winston]

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*** Article: Your Happiness: 5 Simple Ways It Makes Your Life Work Better - By Warren Wojnowski ***
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Do you move through your life feeling frustrated and stressed, finding too many things that just aren't working? Do you find yourself wishing you could find some way to begin to make your life work better? If that describes you and how you feel, then read on because you are about to learn a simple adjustment you can make in your life to help things immediately begin to work better and feel better.

Let's follow up with one more question. When was the last time you actually, deliberately stopped and decided it was time to make your happiness a priority for yourself?

If you're like most people, it has been a very long time because for the most part, you are placing all of your time, energy, and focus on all of the things you feel you have to do. Doing what makes you happy likely feels like some far-off dream because all you see in front of you are things that make you feel unhappy, tired, and stressed.

No doubt you have heard the phrase "change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change."

Well... here's a novel suggestion. If you'd like to make your life work better, start focusing on your happiness instead of the absence of it.

Now let me guess... this sounds too simplistic to you, doesn't it? You're probably wondering how focusing on your happiness is going to help fix things so they work better, right?

Yet the truth is, that's exactly the fix that can have the most immediate impact on your life. Consider the following five ways in which by you focusing your thought and attention on what makes you happy -- and making a point of looking for and acknowledging those things each day -- you will begin to notice things working better in your life.

1. You'll be more attractive to others. As you place your focus and attention on what's right and what's working in your life, you immediately start to feel a little bit better. Because you feel better, you begin to behave and carry yourself differently. And that shift in how you carry yourself makes you much more attractive to others, which means you're going to start receiving more invitations, more opportunities, and more things that are working well for you.

2. Your relationships will work better. Because you are carrying yourself differently, you begin to come across as friendlier, and you'll find that you're better able to listen because you're not so preoccupied with what isn't working. That's going to result in healthier, deeper, more successful relationships with your family, you co-workers, and your friends.

3. Your job or business performance will improve. Your shift in focus carries benefits over to your overall work performance. You will find yourself thinking more clearly, more alert, and making better decisions.

4. Your health will improve. Because you are feeling happier as you place your attention on what is working, a whole set of physiological changes start to occur. Your blood pressure lowers. Your blood flow improves. Your immune system starts working better. These all have a positive impact on the state of your health.

5. You will start to have more flow. By law of attraction, you attract more of what you focus upon. Since you have repositioned your focus and attention on your happiness rather than your unhappiness, guess what happens? You get more of the things that are working better. And now you've got a positive spiral that you've started that is going to deliver more flow and positive momentum into your life going forward. And so begins a positive cycle of being in flow where things start to come more easily and frequently.