۩۞۩ ॐ♥ YOU Are The One

YOU are the reason the sun came up today.
YOU are wondrously BEAUtiful energy, your own soulful way.
The Light that shines from your Heart is lovely indeed.
Your Love bridges the gaps felt by all that feel need.
YOU are a tree, endless branches of Love.
YOU give life to our bodies, minds and Souls.
The Light shines... upon You with infinite Love.
Your Heart is surrounded, inspired from above.
YOU are the river that flows without end.
YOU are the waterfall, You flow from within.
Your Light sparkles Love, your endless flowing.
YOU are the JOY, the winds that keep blowing.
YOU are the birds singing so sweetly.
YOU are the wings, You flutter completely.
Your songs of love uplift our Hearts.
YOU are the dragonfly, Light from the Start.
YOU are the dancer, in skies so blue.
You are the artist by just being YOU.

YOU are your spirit, your body and soul.
You are the LOVE You went looking for.

YOU are the Sun and YOU are the moon.
YOU are the ANGEL that's living in YOU



YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL ! ! ! !

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Clean Your mind of all Impurities

A milkman, deeply influenced by Gautama Buddha, requested Buddha to visit him and share with him nuggets of wisdom. In lieu of this, the milkman offered to present the seer with milk. Buddha agreed.

In the evening, when Buddha set out to visit the milkman, he took with him a container in which he intentionally put some mud. The milkman took the container but just as he was about to pour milk into it, realised that the container had some impurities in it.

The milkman washed the container clean. He then poured milk into it and gave it to Buddha. Picking up the container, Buddha got up to leave. Surprised, the milkman asked Buddha why he was leaving before imparting any wisdom. Buddha replied that he just had. Confused, the milkman urged Buddha to explain what he meant. Buddha told the milkman: "The mind is like the container. Thoughts that preoccupy us are like the impurities in the container. In order to gain wisdom, you must purify your mind by making it free of impure thoughts. Only when your mind is uncluttered, it will be able to receive wisdom."

In a nutshell, what Gautama Buddha was trying to teach the milkman was that the mind needs to be prepared first – by cleansing it of impurities – so that it is fully prepared to receive wisdom, enabling it to realise its full potential. Living a self-absorbed and self-centred life is harmful to one's development. Such a way of life leaves no room for receptivity; when you think of nothing but your own self, there is no room for learning or progress.

A sceptic was being critical of the work of scientists. He said to a scientist: "All discoveries are nothing but chance occurrences." Calmly, the scientist replied: "You are right. But curiously, such chances took place only with scientists!" It is apparent that only a prepared mind is receptive and only a receptive mind is open to new ideas. There is nothing mysterious about it. It is quite understandable that only a mind that has engrossed itself in trying to unravel a phenomenon, would eventually be able to decipher it. However, a price must be paid to attain such a state; it takes effort and time to reach a state where the mind is fully prepared to receive. For this, you need to be sincere in your efforts, objective and unbiased in your approach and be ready to accept your mistakes and reassess your approach towards the target.

I recall here an anecdote about the Sufi saint Bahaullah. He once visited another saint, Fariduddin, for receiving guidance. Bahaullah gained the wisdom imparted to him in a very short span of time. Seeing this, some other of Fariduddin's disciples accused him of favouritism. As Fariduddin heard of these charges, he told his disciple that Bahaullah was like dry wood - ready for ignition - while all the rest of them were like wet wood, slow to catch fire as wet wood is not receptive to getting ignited. Dry wood is highly combustible and catches fire easily. High levels of receptivity enable us to imbibe spiritual guidance.

In order to be receptive to truth, one must make the effort to wait with a prepared mind. As human beings and by virtue of our societal existence, we tend to become conditioned entities. It is this conditioning that is a major obstacle in the way to wisdom. To be able to overcome this hurdle, we must be prepared to revisit existing ideas. We need to be willing to rise above bias and prejudice and become receptive to truths that may come to us from anywhere.



Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Stop Gossiping for a Better life

The Buddha specifically instructed his followers to avoid bearing tales and indulging in idle gossip. As an awareness exercise, the pioneering insight meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein sometimes asks his students to refrain from saying anything about anyone who isn't present. No talking about people who annoy you as well as not talking about people who annoy you as well as not talking about people who enthrall you.

That means no conversations devoted to analyzing or dissecting anyone else's problems or behavior - good or bad - unless the person you are talking about is there to hear what you say. This is not an endlessly ongoing behavioral restriction, but a temporary practice, an experiential experiment.

Try it, and watch your reactions. When we stop talking about others, we discover how much time and energy we waste daily with conversations that not only serve no constructive purpose but also seduce and carry us away from the present moment.

Gossiping about others is another obvious way of feeding junk food to the ego. When we gossip, it's easy to feel part of the "in crowd"; for a moment we might feel superior. But telling takes or making unkind jokes only serves to objectify and distance others. The people or group about whom we are talking lose their humanity - just as we lose ours.

Impeccable speech asks us to utilize awareness to start unraveling the cocoon of ego. Resist the urge to talk about others and begin to live in the present moment, with whoever is with you and no one else.

This very moment is sufficient, perfect, and complete. Enjoy and appreciate what is before your very eyes, and all will be revealed - fresh and radiant as any dawn, as at the very dawn of creation.
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

The Way Of The Budha

God laws are eternal and unalterable and not separable from God Himself.

It is an indispensable condition of His very perfection -- hence, the great confusion that the Buddha disbelieved in God and simply believed in the moral law.

Because of this confusion about God Himself arose the confusion about the proper understanding of the great word nirvana. Nirvana is undoubtedly not utter extinction. So far as I understand the central fact of the Buddha's life, nirvana is utter extinction of all that is base in us, all that is vicious in us, and all that is corrupt and corruptible in us.

Nirvana s not like the black dead peace of the grave, but the living peace, the living happiness of a soul which is conscious of itself and conscious of having found its own abode in the heart of the Eternal...

Gautama taught the world to treat even the `lowest' creatures as equal to himself. He held the life of even the crawling things of the earth to be as precious as his own. It is arrogant assumption to say that human beings are lords and masters of the lower creation. On the contrary, being endowed with greater things of life, they are trustees of the `lower' animal kingdom. And the great sage lived that truth in his own life.

I read as a mere youngster the passage in the Light of Asia describing how the Master took the lamb on his shoulders in face of the arrogant and ignorant Brahmins who thought that by offering the blood of these innocent lambs they were pleasing God, and he dared them to sacrifice a single one of them. His very presence softened the stony hearts of the Brahmins. They looked up to the Master, they threw away their deadly knives and every one of those animals was saved.

The Buddha said, if you want to do any sacrifice, sacrifice yourself, your lust, all your material ambitions, all worldly ambition. That will be an ennobling sacrifice. His was the right path, right speech, right thought and right conduct. He gave us the unadulterated law of mercy. And the extent of the law as he defined it went beyond the human family. His love, his boundless love went out as much to the lower animals, to the lowest life as to the human beings. And he insisted upon purity of life...

Life is not a bundle of enjoyments, but a bundle of duties. That which separated man from beast is essentially man's recognition of the necessity of putting a series of restraints to worldly enjoyment...

Explore the limitless possibilities of non-violence or ahimsa. It is definitely greater than the gems and the diamonds people prize so much. It can become, if you make wise use of it, you own saving and saving of mankind.

Non-violence is an intensely active force when properly understood and used. A violent man's activity is most visible, while it lasts. But it is always transitory... as transitory as that of Jhenghis' slaughter. But the effects of the Buddha's non-violent action persist and are likely to grow with age. And the more it is practiced, the more effective and inexhaustible it becomes, and ultimately the whole world stands agape and exclaims: 'a miracle has happened.'

Excerpt from The Way Of The Buddha


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The Thief and the Master....

One evening, Zen master Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras when a thief entered his house with a sharp sword, demanding “money or life”. Without any fear, Shichiri said, “Don’t disturb me! Help yourself with the money, it’s in that drawer”. And he resumed his recitation.

The thief was startled by this unexpected reaction, but he proceeded with his business anyway. While he was helping himself with the money, the master stopped and called, “Don’t take all of it. Leave some for me to pay my taxes tomorrow”. The thief left some money behind and prepared to leave. Just before he left, the master suddenly shouted at him, “You took my money and you didn’t even thank me?! That’s not polite!”. This time, the thief was really shocked at such fearlessness. He thanked the master and ran away. The thief later told his friends that he had never been so frightened in his life.

A few days later, the thief was caught and confessed, among many others, his thieft at Shichiri’s house. When the master was called as a witness, he said, “No, this man did not steal anything from me. I gave him the money. He even thanked me for it.”

The thief was so touched that he decided to repent. Upon his release from prison, he became a disciple of the master and many years later, he attained Enlightenment.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

The Monkey King

There was once a kingdom of monkeys in the forest. The King of the Monkeys was very very large, and was very kind and wise. One day, the King was strolling & he noticed mango trees along the side of a river. He also noticed a human castle downstream. He then ordered the monkeys to remove all the mangos from these trees, "or there would be disaster". The monkeys did not understand the King's intention, but they did as told anyway. All the mangos were taken off these trees except one. This one was hidden behind a nest.

One day, this mango was ripe and fell into the river. It flowed downstream where the human King was having a bath. He noticed the mango & asked the Prime Minister what it was. The PM told him it was a "mango", a fruit of wonderful taste. The King then ordered that the mango be cut into small pieces & he gave a small piece to each of his ministers. When satisfied that the mango was not poisonous, he ate the rest of it & realized how tasty it was. He craved for more.

The next day, the human king, with his troops, went upstream to search for more of these fruits. There were lots of mango trees, but also lots of monkeys. The human king doesn't want to share the mangos with the monkeys, so he ordered all of them to be killed. A massacre started.

When the news reached the wise Monkey King, he commented, "The day has finally arrived". The thousands of monkeys were chased all the way to the edge of the forest. There was a deep cliff at the edge of the forest, and a bamboo forest at the other side of the cliff. The Monkey King saw that if his subjects could cross over to the bamboo forest, they will be saved.

With his huge body, he formed a bridge over the cliff and thousands of monkeys trampled over him to reach the safety of the bamboo forest. He endured all the pain. One monkey did not like the King & he saw this as an opportunity to get even. As he was crossing over the King's body, he pierced a spear through the King's heart. The King screamed in pain but endured the pain until all his subjects were safely across. Then he collapsed.

The human king witnessed the whole thing. He was so touched that he ordered the Monkey King be saved. When the Monkey King recovered his consciousness, the human king asked him, "You are their King, why did you bother to die for them?". The Monkey King replied, "Because I am their King". With that, he died.

The human king was so touched that he decided to be a good king from that day and he ordered that the monkeys in the bamboo forest be protected from harm forever.
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

The 10 Very Best Zen Stories

Many teachings from Zen-Buddhism are told in short and delightful stories. They are usually designed to develop the mind and to free it from distortions and so to connect with our spirit.

Some of them are really inspiring and enlightening. It is helpful to the mind to think about them and feel the deeper meaning. Even if it is not possible to grasp them fully, the beauty and simplicity of the message usually gets through to us one way or the other.

The following 10 Zen stories are a selection of the ones which are very popular and people find them most inspiring and really worth to read and shared about. Some may be instantly understood, some others need to be thought through and recognized in oneself.

They are about the following topics: life in the present moment, different perspectives, attachment, resistance, judgment, delusion, beliefs and thought as mental concepts but not truth and unconditional love. Please feel free to post your interpretation or other stories into the comments.

1. A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

2. The Burden
Two monks were returning to the monastery in the evening. It had rained and there were puddles of water on the road sides. At one place a beautiful young woman was standing unable to walk accross because of a puddle of water. The elder of the two monks went up to a her lifted her and left her on the other side of the road, and continued his way to the monastery.

In the evening the younger monk came to the elder monk and said, "Sir, as monks, we cannot touch a woman ?"

The elder monk answered "yes, brother".

Then the younger monk asks again, "but then Sir, how is that you lifted that woman on the roadside ?"

The elder monk smiled at him and told him " I left her on the other side of the road, but you are still carrying her."

3. Finding a Piece of the Truth
One day Mara, the Evil One, was travelling through the villages of India with his attendants. he saw a man doing walking meditation whose face was lit up on wonder. The man had just discovered something on the ground in front of him. Mara’s attendant asked what that was and Mara replied, "A piece of truth."

"Doesn’t this bother you when someone finds a piece of truth, O Evil One?" his attendant asked. "No," Mara replied. "Right after this, they usually make a belief out of it."

4. The Other Side
One day a young Buddhist on his journey home came to the banks of a wide river. Staring hopelessly at the great obstacle in front of him, he pondered for hours on just how to cross such a wide barrier. Just as he was about to give up his pursuit to continue his journey he saw a great teacher on the other side of the river. The young Buddhist yells over to the teacher, "Oh wise one, can you tell me how to get to the other side of this river"?

The teacher ponders for a moment looks up and down the river and yells back, "My son, you are on the other side".

5. Is That So?
The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.

A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.

This made her parents very angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.

In great anger the parents went to the master. "Is that so?" was all he would say.

When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. “Is that so?” Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.

A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth – that the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.

The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask his forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back again.

Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: "Is that so?"

6. Maybe
Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“Maybe,” answered the farmer.

The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Maybe,” said the farmer.

7. Cliffhanger
One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a vicious tiger. He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice.

As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine.

Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry. He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious!

8. The Blind Men and the Elephant
Several citizens ran into a hot argument about God and different religions, and each one could not agree to a common answer. So they came to the Lord Buddha to find out what exactly God looks like.

The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind to the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would "look" like.

The first blind men touched the elephant leg and reported that it "looked" like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man hold on to the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran into a hot argument about the "appearance" of an elephant.

The Buddha asked the citizens: "Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?"

9. Right and Wrong
When Bankei held his seclusion-weeks of meditation, pupils from many parts of Japan came to attend. During one of these gatherings a pupil was caught stealing. The matter was reported to Bankei with the request that the culprit be expelled. Bankei ignored the case.

Later the pupil was caught in a similar act, and again Bankei disregarded the matter. This angered the other pupils, who drew up a petition asking for the dismissal of the thief, stating that otherwise they would leave in a body.

When Bankei had read the petition he called everyone before him. "You are wise brothers," he told them. "You know what is right and what is not right. You may go somewhere else to study if you wish, but this poor brother does not even know right from wrong. Who will teach him if I do not? I am going to keep him here even if all the rest of you leave."

A torrent of tears cleansed the face of the brother who had stolen. All desire to steal had vanished.

10. Nothing Exists
Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.

Desiring to show his attainment, he said: "The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received."

Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.

"If nothing exists," inquired Dokuon, "where did this anger come from?"

Bonus 11. Teaching the Ultimate
In early times in Japan, bamboo-and-paper lanterns were used with candles inside. A blind man, visiting a friend one night, was offered a lantern to carry home with him.

"I do not need a lantern," he said. "Darkness or light is all the same to me."

"I know you do not need a lantern to find your way," his friend replied, "but if you don’t have one, someone else may run into you. So you must take it."

The blind man started off with the lantern and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him. "Look out where you are going!" he exclaimed to the stranger. "Can’t you see this lantern?"

"Your candle has burned out, brother," replied the stranger.


Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You