Sunday, May 17, 2009

Two Wolves


A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation was talking with his grandson.

"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."

"One wolf is evil and ugly: He is anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance."

"The other wolf is beautiful and good: He is friendly, joyful, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness, empathy, generosity, true, compassion, gratitude, and deep VISION."

"This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other human as well."

The grandson paused in deep reflection because of what his grandfather had just said. Then he finally cried out; "Oyee! Grandfather, which wolf will win?"

The elder Cherokee replied, "The wolf that you feed."

Speech by Chief Seattle of the Dwamish Tribe in 1854



A Speech by Chief Seattle of the Dwamish Tribe in 1854

The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not so the white man may come with guns and take our land. What Chief Seattle says you can count on as truly as our white brothers can count on the return of the seasons. My words are like the stars - they do not set.

How can you buy or sell the sky - the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, and every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father's graves and his children's birthright is forgotten. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the redman. But perhaps it is because the redman is a savage and does not understand.

There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to listen to the leaves of spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand - the clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind itself cleansed by a mid-day rain, or scented by a pinõn pine: The air is precious to the redman. For all things share the same breath - the beasts, the trees, and the man. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.

If I decide to accept, I will make one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen thousands of rotting buffaloes on the prairie left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to the man.

All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.

Our children have seen their fathers humbled in defeat. Our warriors have felt shame. And after defeat they turn their days in idleness and contaminate their bodies with sweet food and strong drink. It matters little where we pass the rest of our days - they are not many. A few more hours, a few more winters, and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on this earth, or that roamed in small bands in the woods will remain to mourn the graves of the people once as powerful and hopeful as yours.

One thing we know that the white man may one day discover. Our God is the same God. You may think that you own him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the Body of man, and his compassion is equal for the redman and the white. This earth is precious to him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by the talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.

We might understand if we knew what it was the white man dreams, what hopes he describes to his children on long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds, so they will wish for tomorrow. But we are savages. The white man's dreams are hidden from us. And because they are hidden, we will go our own way. If we agree, it will be to secure your reservation you have promised.

There perhaps we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last redman has vanished from the earth, and the memory is only the shadow of a cloud passing over the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people, for they love this earth as the newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. If we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Hold in your memory the way the land is as you take it. And with all your strength, with all your might, and with all your heart - preserve it for your children, and love it as God loves us all. One thing we know - our God is the same. This earth is precious to him. Even the white man cannot escape the common destiny.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Thank You!


Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers of my life, on earth and beyond.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Permaculture Principles at Work




Permaculture is about reducing waste: energy and materials, human and environmental. It is about thinking and observation. It aims to design and create systems that imitate nature, contain and digest any by products and turn the problems into solutions. No two systems will look the same as each is harmony with its natural surrounds, different climates and aspects and people needs.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Create Your Own Universe


‘You create your own universe as you go along. The stronger your imagination, the more variegated your universe. When you leave off dreaming, the universe ceases to exist.’
— Winston Churchill

Crystal Skull World Peace Meditation - MAY 13th



The Year of '2009'
is the beginning
of a new time when the caretakers of the crystal skulls will begin to reconnect to share in our world the most loving & peaceful energies imaginable.


here

Steps To Freedom - Change What Isn’t Working


We have all had the experience of realizing that something in our lives is not working. This knowledge can come as a sudden realization or a nagging feeling of doubt that grows stronger, waking us up to the fact that something needs to change. Some people have a tendency to act rashly and make sweeping changes before even understanding what the problem is. Other people fear change, so they live with the uncomfortable awareness that something needs to shift but won’t do anything about it. Between these two extreme responses lies a middle way that can help us powerfully and gracefully change what isn’t working in our lives.

The first step is remembering that your life is made up of parts that belong to an interconnected whole. Changing one thing can change everything. Because of this, small changes often have a big effect. Sometimes much bigger changes are necessary, but the only way to know for sure is to take the time to really understand the problem. Examine your life as an entirety—your work, your relationships, where you live—and determine what specifically is not functioning the way you would like. Once you have figured out the problem, write it down on a piece of paper. For example, "I am not happy with my relationship" or "I don’t like my apartment." The next step is to figure out the adjustment you would like to make and how you can go about making this change. If you are unhappy with your relationship because you spend too much or not enough time with your partner, you may want to discuss this problem with them and come up with a compromise. On the other hand, if you realize your relationship is not working to such a degree that it needs to end, begin working through that process. Writing down the truth can be a powerful catalyst for change.

The key to making changes that work is to accept the necessity of change as part of life. As we change, we may find it necessary to fine-tune our relationships, work, and living situations. Our lives are living, breathing entities that reflect our dynamic selves.

http://dailyom.com/

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

OSHO - Meditation


Meditation in the East is not what is understood by it in the West. In the West, meditation means contemplation: meditating in God, meditating on truth, meditating on love. But if you meditate on something, you are not meditating at all, because you are focusing on something outside yourself. It may be love, it may be truth, it may be God, it makes no difference.

Meditation in the East has a totally different meaning, just the opposite of the Western meaning. Meditation in the East means having no object in the mind, no content in the mind, no meditating upon something but dropping everything - neti, neti. neither this or that. Meditation is emptying yourself of all content. When there is no thought moving inside you there is stillness, and that stillness is meditation. Not even a ripple arises in the lake of your consciousness, and that silent lake, absolutely still, is meditation.

And in that meditation you will know what truth is, you will know what love is, you will know what godliness is. Not by meditating on God ... See the point: how can you mediate on God? You don't know anything about God. All your meditation is going to be just imagination, an exercise of imagination. You don't know truth - what are you going to meditate upon? Some idea given by others, some belief, some concept? That is not going to help.

First become meditation, and then in meditation, truth, godliness, love and all that is transcendental will be revealed to you.

Mediation is just being, not doing anything - no action, no thought, no emotion. It is very simple - a totally relaxed state of consciousness where you are not doing anything. The moment doing enters, you become tense, anxious. What to do? How to do it? How to succeed? How not to fail? You have already moved into the future.

In meditation you just are. And it is a sheer delight. Meditation is just being delighted in your own presence; meditation is a delight in your own being.

Where does this delight come from, when you are not doing anything? It comes from nowhere or it come from everywhere. It is not caused by anything, because existence itself is made of the stuff called joy. It needs no cause, no reason. If you are unhappy you have a reason to be unhappy; if you are happy, you are simply happy - there is no reason for it. Your mind tries to find a reason because it cannot believe in 'the uncaused' because it cannot control the uncaused - with the uncaused the mind simply becomes impotent. So the mind goes on finding some reason or other. But I would like to tell you that whenever you are unhappy, you have a reason to be unhappy, because happiness is just the stuff you are made of. It is your very being, it is your innermost core. Joy is you inner most core.

-Osho

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Meaning of Life according to Anthony marr