Weekly Inspirational Bulletin: August 16, 2004

I am the editor of a Weekly Bulletin which brings together inspirational words which "attract me to themselves", LOL, as I scan the WWW during the week. These Bulletins go out to 80 persons. I think that I will start posting these Bulletins here on my new Blog, each week. Here is the first, from August 16, 2004.


To Reawaken and Keep Ourselves Awake

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical
aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us
in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the
unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.
It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a
statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious
to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look,
which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the
highest of arts. * Henry David Thoreau, Author

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SELF-RELIANCE:

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. * Robert Louis Stevenson

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"When Jewels Sing" by John Fox
http://www.panhala.net/Archive/When_Jewels_Sing.html

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Every single day is a gift. String those gifts together and they
become what we call our lifetime. And when we look back over our life
thus far, notice that we don't remember the months. We don't remember
the years. Looking back, what we recall best are the moments. The
moments of loving, caring and creativity, the moments when our child's
hand touched ours are what give our life meaning, and therefore, remain
embedded in our memory. So as we make plans for a vacation, for the
weekend, for the next business appointment, perhaps we ought to include
the moment before us. Make it a moment to remember. * Mary Manin Morrissey

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SOLAR
 
On a gray day, when the sun
has been abducted, and it’s chill
end-of-the-world weather,
I must be the sun.
I must be the one
to encourage the young
sidetracked physicist
working his father’s cash register
to come up with a law of nature
that says brain waves can change
the dismal sky.  I must be the one
to remind the ginger plant
not to rest on the reputation
of its pungent roots, but to unveil
those buttery tendrils from the other world.
When the sky is an iron lid
I must be the one to simmer
in the piquant juices of possibility,
though the ingredients are unknown
and the day begins with a yawn.
I must issue forth a warmth
without discrimination, and any guarantee
it will come back to me.
On a dark day I must be willing
to keep my disposition light,
I have to be at the very least
on stray intact ray
of local energy, one small
but critical fraction
of illumination.  Even on a day
that doesn’t look gray
but still lacks comfort or sense,
I have to be the sun,
I have to shine as if
sorry life itself depended on it.
I have to make all the difference.
 
~ Thomas Centolella ~

http://www.panhala.net/Archive/Solar.html

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"For the last time let us turn to friendliness as a basis of life.
Friendliness is not the rouge and powder of malice. Friendliness is
not a veil. Friendliness is not a mask of treachery. Friendliness is
not an affable grimace. Friendliness must be understood as a feeling
coming from the heart, devoid of hypocrisy. There are many errors
concerning the concept of friendliness, for people have become
accustomed to deceive even themselves. But since the quality of
friendliness is indispensable for the Fiery World, it must possess
genuine honesty. First of all, Fire does not tolerate fluctuations.
Hence, one must understand the quality of friendliness in its
entirety. Friendliness should not be considered as some sort of
achievement. One should not give praise for the quality of
friendliness, for it is inseparable from an expanded consciousness.
How is it possible to imagine the transformation of the Fiery Mist
into a whole beautiful world, without having the strength to purify
one's own thoughts from small splinters? Let us realize how petty
these splinters are! And it is not difficult to rid oneself of them;
one has only to uncover them in the consciousness. Let us not be
afraid that people in general cannot return to friendliness, there is
enough of it in each of us, therefore, let us assume the same thing
about the others. But let us not make of this fiery quality, weak
will, subserviency, and pitiful hypocrisy."

- Agni Yoga, Fiery World I, 138.

http://beaskund.helloyou.ws/agniyoga/ge/aygenuine.html

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THE UPANISHADS
ISA UPANISHAD

1. Behold the universe in the glory of God: and all that lives and moves on earth. Leaving the transient, find joy in the Eternal: set not your heart on another's posession.
2. Working thus, a man may wish for a life of a hundred years. Only actions done in God bind not the soul of man.
3. There are demon-haunted worlds, regions of utter darkness. Whoever in life denies the Spirit falls into that darkness of death.
4. The Spirit, without moving, is swifter than the mind; the senses cannot reach him: He is even beyond them. Standing still, he overtakes those who run. To the ocean of his being, the Spirit of life leads the streams of action.
5. He moves, and he moves not. He is far, and he is near. He is within all, and he is outside all.
6. Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fears.
7. When a sage sees this great Unity and his Self has become all beings, what delusion and what sorrow can ever be near him?
8. The Spirit filled all with his radiance. He is incorporeal and invulnerable, pure and untouched by evil. He is the supreme seer and thinker, immanent and trascendent. He placed all things in the path of Eternity.
9. Into deep darkness fall those who follow action. Into deeper darkness fall those who follow knowledge.
10. One is the outcome of knowledge, and another is the outcome of action. Thus have we heard from the ancient sages who explained this truth to us.
11. He who knows both knowledge and action, with action overcomes death and with knowledge reaches immortality. 12. Into deep darkness fall those who follow the immanent. Into deeper darkness fall those who follow the trascendent. 13. One is the outcome of the trascendent, and another is the outcome of the immanent. Thus have we heard from the ancient sages who explained this truth to us.
14. He who knows both the trascendent and the immanent, with the immanent overcomes death and with the trascendent reaches inmortality.
15. The face of truth remains hidden behind a circle of gold. Unveil it, O God of Light, that I who love the true may see! 16. O life-giving Sun, off-spring of the Lord of Creation, solitary seer of heaven! Spread thy light and withdraw thy blinding splendour that I may behold thy radiant form: that Spirit far away within thee is my own inmost Spirit.
17. May life go to immortal life, and the body go to ashes. OM. O my soul, remember past strivings, remember! O my soul, remember past strivings, remember!
18. By the path of good lead us to final bliss, O Fire Divine thou God who knowest all ways. Deliver us from wandering evil. Prayers and adoration we offer unto thee.

Copyright © 2003, Eduardo Gomez, Innerlab Production

See his interesting site.
http://www.innerlab.com/atmanet/index.cfm?artID=677

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Your choice

Do you want to be miserable today? If so, you'll find plenty
of opportunities for making yourself so.

Or would you prefer to be joyful and effective throughout
the entire day? If so, then you'll find an opportunity for
such in each and every moment.

Being miserable is a choice. When you make that choice, all
sorts of things will come your way to reinforce what you
have chosen.

Being positive, joyful and effective is a better choice. And
when you make that choice, events and circumstances will
follow right along.

Your perspective and attitude are what give meaning to the
moments of life that come your way. Choose, then, to give
those moments a positive, purposeful meaning.

Choose joy, choose life, choose fulfillment, purpose and
effective effort. And see how great it can make your day.
* Ralph Marston

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SELF-OBSERVATION

MYTH: I will try to think positive and happy thoughts.

FACT: Instead of "trying" to be positive and happy,
I will let self-honesty and self-observation light up and
dissolve negativities that stand in the way of happiness.

The stretch of resistance following a realization is part of
the healing process itself; it is not backsliding or a
slipping away. Bright insights inevitably cause a temporary
stirring in the false self. This is a very powerful insight
because wisdom seekers tend to view this temporary upheaval as
undesirable-as something to resist or feel bad about-causing
fruitless and frustrating attempts to get back to what has
been labeled a "spiritual" state.

Seekers of wisdom often wonder why they can't "hold on" to
these bright new experiences. What a tremendous relief to
give up trying! When self-honesty and self-observation
introduce you to a previously unseen dark place, there you'll
find a ticket allowing passage to a correspondingly high
spiritual place. "To go higher you must first go lower." (SWN)

More and more you'll get acclimated to this natural
alternation. You'll no longer try to cling to a higher place
when it is time to go still higher. As you naturally follow
this cleansing alternation, your growing wisdom sparkles with
new intensity. * Tom Russell

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HIGHER GLIMPSE:

Everything you see has its roots in the unseen world. The
forms may change, yet the essence remains the same. Every
wonderful sight will vanish; every sweet word will fade, But
do not be disheartened, the source they come from is eternal,
growing, branching out, giving new life and new joy. Why do
you weep? The source is within you, and this whole world is
springing up from it. * Jelauddin Rumi

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Forgive

The more grudges you carry, the heavier your burden becomes.
Forgive, and let them go.

When someone has wronged you, it hurts. There is certainly
no sense in using your own time and energy to prolong that
hurt. Forgive, and you can begin to move away from the pain.
Forgive, and you can move forward with a much lighter load.

Forgiveness does not mean that you allow others to take
advantage of you. On the contrary, forgiveness gives you
positive power no matter what others may have done.

Anger and spite can eat away at life until there's almost
nothing of value left. Forgive, and free yourself from the
grips of that anger.

Forgive, and you'll be much better off. Forgive, and you'll
be free to truly live.
* Ralph Marston