"When external factors fail to influence your sense of self, you become immune to criticism or to praise. You also understand that we are all equal, because we are all connected to the same conscious intelligence flow. That means that you understand that as you move through your life, you are beneath no one and superior to no one. You don't have to beg or plead or convince anyone of anything because you don't have to convince yourself.

As wonderful as this sounds, very few of us actually achieve a state of internal reference. All too often, we muddy the message by allowing our ego to intervene. Our thoughts, influenced by external factors - money worries, job stress, relationship tensions - end up hindering our spiritual development, and we find ourselves moving in a direction opposite from where we want to go.

The two best ways to overcome that tendency are to meditate and to consciously practice positive inner dialogue. Positive inner dialogue helps move us in the right direction, fosters synchronicity, and promotes spiritual development. With positive inner dialogue, we can create self-power."

 

"When you realise that the intentions and desires that arise in you are the very intentions of the universe, you can relinquish your desire for control and let the miraculous life you were born to lead unfold in all its unimaginable magnificence."

 

A man entered a village and went to see the Sufi Master. The visitor said "I'm deciding whether I should move here or not -  and I'm wondering what the people here are like?" The Sufi Master said "Tell me, what kind of people live where you come from" The visitor said "They were robbers, cheats and liars" The Sufi Master said "You know, those are exactly the same kind of people who live here" The visitor left and never came back. Another visitor entered the village and asked the same question of the Sufi Master "I am thinking of moving here - can you tell me what the people are like?" Again the Sufi Master asked "Tell me, what kind of people live where you come from?" The visitor said "Oh, they are the kindest, gentlest, most compassionate, loving people. I shall miss them terribly" The Sufi Master said "Those are exactly the kinds of people who live here too"

The slightest use of these strategies is better than none. The slightest attempt to trigger endorphins, to remember your location in a universe beyond Blobsville, to smile internally, can create the minuscule leverage that ultimately sets change rolling.

Even in your worst mood, on a day when you are cursing all creation, you need to remember the power of a small gesture in the right direction. Remember the power in the tiniest act of connection. The slightest glimmer of a good vibration may unfold to redeem the whole situation. What a terrible mood needs is a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel

People want to know why I, who come from India, am so interested in wizards. My answer is this: in India we still believe that wizards exist. What is a wizard? Not someone who can simply perform magic but someone who can cause transformation.

 

A wizard can turn fear to joy, frustration to fulfillment.

A wizard can turn the time-bound into the timeless.

A wizard can carry you beyond limitations into the boundless.

 

When I was growing up in India, I knew that all this was true. Sometimes old men in white robes and sandals came to our house, and even to a wide-eyed boy, they appeared to be very special creatures. They were completely at peace; they emanated joy and love; the wild ups and downs of everyday life seemed not to touch them at all.

 

Beginning Silence

 

Within each of us there is a silence -

A silence as vast as the universe.

We are afraid of it...and we long for it.

 

When we experience that silence, we remember

who we are: creatures of the stars, created

from the birth of galaxies, created

from the cooling of this planet, created

from the dust and gas, created

from the elements, created

from time and space...created

from silence.

Silence is the source of all that exists,

the unfathomable stillness where vibration began -

the first oscillation, the first word,

from which life emerged.

Silence is our deepest nature,

our home, our common ground, our peace.

 

Silence reveals. Silence heals.

Silence is where God dwells.

We yearn to be there.

Don't give yourself away in the vain hope of appeasing others - Be Your Own Person

 

There can be endless reasons why folks may not like us, no matter what we do. In the end, we must have the will to simply be ourselves.

 

When you please others in the hope of being accepted, you lose your self-worth in the process.

 

As elementary as this sounds: to help yourself, you have to be yourself. Be the best person you can possibly be. Stand up for yourself. Without being rude and arrogant, speak your piece.

 

Every day do your best and if there are those who disagree with you, it's not the end of the world.

 

By being more self-assured, you're not only taking a stand but you will actually learn more quickly to adapt to a negative environment

"When you argue with reality, you lose - but only 100% of the time."

Byron Katie

1. Is it true?

2. Can you absolutely know that it's true?

3. How do you react when you believe that thought?

4. Who would you be without the thought?

www.thework.com

"What does 'engaging in spiritual practice' mean? Essentially it means transforming the mind - overcoming delusions and negative actions and cultivating constructive thoughts and actions"

 

"Someone controlled by their anger lives within a paranoid view of the world, surrounded by enemies of his or her own creation. The false belief that everyone hates him can become so overwhelming that he might even go insane, the victim of his own delusion"

A man spent hours watching a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. It managed to make a small hole, but its body was too large to get through it. After a long struggle, it appeared to be exhausted and remained absolutely still.

The man decided to help the butterfly and, with a pair of scissors, he cut open the cocoon, thus releasing the butterfly. However, the butterfly's body was very small and wrinkled and its wings were all crumpled.

The man continued to watch, hoping that, at any moment, the butterfly would open its wings and fly away. Nothing happened; in fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its brief life dragging around its shrunken body and shrivelled wings, incapable of flight.

What the man - out of kindness and his eagerness to help - had failed to understand was that the tight cocoon and the efforts that the butterfly had to make in order to squeeze out of that tiny hole were Nature's way of training the butterfly and of strengthening its wings.

"Boredom means that you

contribute nothing to the

world, but demand that the

world amuse you."

 

"We may be hostage to our own personal self-images. We act out the role which we have designed for ourselves. We cannot think of stepping outside that role"

Are you troubled by impermanence? Everything that has ever come into your life has either already passed away, or will inevitably pass away. Trace the suffering you have experienced back to its root in some form of attachment to a necessarily impermanent person, thing, or state of affairs. It can seem inhuman not to form such attachments, but being unattached is not the same as being coldly indifferent or unloving. In fact, attachments limit and confine love, because they trap us in our separate ego-self. When we are free of attachments, we are liberated from our personal self-interest to more fully express our naturally loving Buddha-Natures.

See also:

 

Books section

 

Six Book Plan

 

Reading List

From "Loving What is" by Byron Katie

An old Sufi story

From "The Endorphin Effect"

by William Bloom ISBN 0749921587

From "SynchroDestiny"

by Deepak Chopra ISBN 1844132196

From "Inviting Silence"

by Gunilla Norris ISBN 1844135756

From "Life Lessons"

by Dave Pelzer ISBN 0007146914

From "The Zen Card Pack" by Timothy Freke

From "The Way of the Wizard"

by Deepak Chopra ISBN 0712672079

From "Edward de Bono's Textbook of Wisdom"

ISBN 0670870110

From Paulo Coelho "The Lesson of the Butterfly"

From "Transform your life - A Blissful Journey" by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Inspirational  Book Excerpts 2