Karmacology: Mindful Living, Sacred Practice

Renewing a Weary Spirit

2011-03-05T20:26:00.001-06:00

It is not much for its beauty that makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Photo by Derek King

A Cherokee Teaching

2011-01-30T07:43:00.001-06:00

An elderly Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

One wolf is evil -- he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego.

The other is good---he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied: "The one you feed".

Beautiful Adventures

2010-11-08T11:41:00.002-06:00

The most beautiful adventures are not those we go to seek.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Photo by Koveh Photography

Every Day Begin the Task Anew

2010-08-05T09:50:00.000-06:00

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.
-- Saint Francis de Sales

Quest after Truth

2010-07-28T21:46:00.003-06:00

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.
-- Mahatma Gandhi

Photo by Rindrr

I Like Living

2010-05-14T06:23:00.001-06:00

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.
-- Agatha Christie

Live a Perfect Day

2010-04-27T06:59:00.001-06:00

You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
-- John Wooden

Photo by compassionbloggers

The Secret of Joy

2010-04-25T07:52:00.001-06:00

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.
-- Pearl Buck

Photo by Batikart

We Are All Meant To Shine

2010-04-01T15:04:00.001-06:00

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.
--Marianne Williamson

Photo by holly.skye

I Dreamt That Life Was Joy

2010-03-02T10:05:00.002-06:00

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
-- Rabindranath Tagore

Photo by *emmy

Giving What Is Within You

2010-02-09T07:11:00.003-06:00

High in the Wudang mountains of China there lived a wise woman. One day she found a precious stone while sitting by the banks of a running stream, and she placed this highly valued item in her bag. The next day a hungry traveller approached the woman and asked for something to eat. As she reached into her bag for a crust of bread, the traveller saw the precious stone and imagined how it would provide him with financial security for the remainder of his life. He asked the woman to give the treasure to him, and she did, along with some food. He left ecstatic in his good fortune and the knowledge that he was now financially secure.

A few days later the traveller returned and handed back the stone to the wise woman. "I've been thinking," he told her. "Although I know how valuable this is, I'm returning it to you in the hopes that you can give me something even more precious." "What would that be?" the woman inquired. "Please give me what you have within yourself that enabled you to give me that stone," said the man.

Photo by jhandelman; narrative slightly modified from Excuses Begone by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

The Afternoon of Life

2010-01-30T13:59:00.001-06:00

Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life. Worse still, we take this step with the false presupposition that our truths and our ideals will serve us as hitherto. But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning, for what was great in the morning will be little at evening and what in the morning was true, at evening will have become a lie.
-- Carl Gustav Jung

Photo by AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora

The World Needs People Who Have Come Alive

2010-01-29T13:37:00.001-06:00

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
-- Howard Thurman

Photo by AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora

Live Each Season

2010-01-27T10:34:00.001-06:00

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Photo by Liz. :)

Strength and Confidence Comes From Within

2010-01-25T16:29:00.001-06:00

I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence, but it comes from within. It is there all the time.
-- Anna Freud

Photo by marceliacooper

Unaware That We Are Unique

2010-01-21T07:49:00.001-06:00

We are all born with wonderful gifts. We use these gifts to express ourselves, to amuse, to strengthen, and to communicate. We begin as children to explore and develop our talents, often unaware that we are unique, that not everyone can do what we're doing!
-- Lynn Johnston

Photo by Rona Keller

The Dawn Will Come

2010-01-17T12:12:00.001-06:00

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don't give up.
-- Anne Lamott

Photo by Solitaire Miles

The Ways of Truth and Love

2009-12-31T08:22:00.001-06:00

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it -- always.
-- Mahatma Gandhi

Photo by Bahman Farzad

Find Something Creative

2009-10-02T05:22:00.001-06:00

My future starts when I wake up every morning... Every day I find something creative to do with my life.
-- Miles Davis

Photo by daystar297

Every Child Comes With the Message

2009-09-24T09:05:00.001-06:00

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
-- Rabindranath Tagore

Photo by mitchellk81

Nothing is Left Undone

2009-09-20T12:34:00.001-06:00

Learning builds daily accumulation, but the practice of Tao builds daily simplification. Simplify and simplify, until all contamination from relative, contridictory thinking is eliminated. Then one does nothing, yet nothing is left undone. One who wins the world does so by not meddling with it. One who meddles with the world loses it.
-- Tao te Ching, 48. Lao-Tzu

Photo by ༺lifemage༻

Train of Thought

2009-08-18T12:52:00.001-06:00

Real, constructive mental power lies in the creative thought that shapes your destiny, and your hour-by-hour mental conduct produces power for change in your life. Develop a train of thought on which to ride. The nobility of your life as well as your happiness depends upon the direction in which that train of thought is going.
-- Laurence J. Peter

Photo by ShaunW (shandys_preston)

Your Presence is a Gift

2009-08-12T14:31:00.001-06:00

The most precious gift we can offer others is presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they bloom like flowers.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh

Photo by ka¡ja

Thinking About a Peaceful Planet

2009-08-02T08:31:00.001-06:00

“What we're thinking about is a peaceful planet.
We're not thinking about anything else.
We're not thinking about any kind of power.
We're not thinking about any kind of struggles.
We're not thinking about revolution or war or any of that.
That's not what we want.
Nobody wants to get hurt.
Nobody wants to hurt anybody.
We would all like to be able to live an uncluttered life.
A simple life, a good life.
And like think about moving the whole human race ahead a step, or a few steps.”
-- Jerry Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)

Photo by JasonNunezPhotography.com

Living in Agreement

2009-07-20T20:25:00.001-06:00

The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.
-- Zeno

Photo by konaboy