The Daily Lama

The Ocean of Life…

by Albe Posted on August 23, 2013

The Law of Cycles underlies all the processes of nature and its study leads man out of the world of objective effects into that of subjective causes.
A Bailey

In the 1940´s a team of oceanographers led by Walter Munk successfully tracked the seven thousand mile journey of an ocean wave, from its stormy birth off the coast of Antarctica, to its eventual demise of the shores of Alaska two weeks later. While the remarkable feat demonstrates the power of the human mind to observe and analyse nature’s behaviour, it also raises the philosophical question of what, exactly, is an ocean wave? Rather than an object it is more a process, for the water the wave is composed of is changing all the time – water itself doesn’t move from one end of the world to the other – it simply rises and falls as an intangible force uses it as a medium to travel through. When its journey is complete and the ocean wave breaks down on a distant shore, this mysterious power moves on into other forms of expression, for as we know, energy only changes form, it cannot be destroyed.

As an ocean waves is more a process than a “thing” – its birth, life and death forming an energy cycle – no less so is a human being; in this case the intangible force being the soul, which lives and moves through the medium of flesh and bone, holding it in shape until its journey’s end, when the form likewise breaks down and the soul moves on to pastures new.

All the processes of nature, including these two diverse examples, are governed by the Law of Cycles. Humanity itself is influenced by myriad unseen cycles working through it and evolving it in accordance with the Divine Plan. At present we are witnessing a dramatic culmination of several cycles at the same time and the birth of new ones, chief amongst them is the ending of the Piscean age and the birth of the Aquarian. Like the ocean wave that finally breaks down on the shore, chaos and confusion reign as the form of our current civilisation breaks down, and a new one emerges that is more capable of expressing the energies of the Aquarian cycle.

We ARE a wave and we BECOME the wave

When you, as a surfer, ride a wave you are transformed in the process of riding that wave. So as you were before riding the wave and how you are after the wave is completely different. What, in fact, happens is the energy of the ocean wave is absorbed into the human being in the process of riding that wave. We are constantly being transformed through the energy of waves. All energy moves through this universe as a wave and in various ways affects our life. Waves from the heart of the ocean of life. When riding a wave you are directly connected to nature in a very subtle way that is the magnetic beauty of riding an ocean wave – the transformation is so subtle you hardly notice the difference but the result over a period of time enhances your life and all those you come into contact with. That is the beauty of riding the ocean waves – that is why we surf.

You are the wave by becoming the wave – we merge back into the ocean of life.

Posted in Waves | 2 Comments

We Are the Future

by Albe Posted on July 22, 2013

In the turmoil of change new currents bring glimpses of a different vision and new experiments in social order and exchange are being trialled at “grass roots” level. One example is the Occupy Wall Street movement’s proposal to buy debts in order to abolish them. Organiser David Rees explains: “OWS is going to start buying distressed debt (medical bills, student loans etc) in order to forgive it. As a test run, we spent $500, which bought $14,000 of distressed debt. We then Erased That Debt. If you’re a debt broker, once you own someone’s debt you can do whatever you want with it – traditionally, you hound debtors to their grave trying to collect. We’re playing a different game… This is a simple, powerful way to help folks in need – to free them from heavy debt loads so they can focus on being productive, happy and healthy.”

Along with the explosion of humanitarian care for human needs there has arisen a multitude of projects to find a way for sustainable living in harmony with the planet as a whole. We are finding our way to cooperate with, contribute to, have our being in and celebrate the One in Whom we live. Humanity is developing an understanding and wise conduct of its service within the whole. Across the globe we are finding common cause and our lives are becoming purposeful in a new expanded sense – building on the newly recognised and understood fundamentals of living in harmony with our world: basic, universal human rights and peaceful, mutually enhancing exchange; care, protecting of and a loving relationship with animals; environmentally sustaining and nurturing practises that celebrate the uplifting power of our planet’s beauty.

If we expand our vision beyond what is breaking down in the world we might see a burgeoning new civilisation rising, phoenix-like, out of the disintegrating fabric of the old. Only in that broader view can be seen the interdependence of every living part within the whole of the Life we share. And much that we may have held dear and essential from the old way of living may be let go within the power of a new vision if these attachments no longer serve. At a recent Thrive event in Sydney, Foster Gamble said, “Nothing exists but by purpose” and it is our sense of an all-embracing purpose that provides the framework within which we might meaningfully live, contribute, be sustained and enabled to grow in our sense of being.

There is no action that does not affect our planet, no reactive feeling that does not disturb the global field of motivation, no thought that does not move the mind of the world and bring reciprocal movement, disturbance, and action echoing back. We live as sensitive elements in a great field of sensitivity. The Tibetan reminds us that:

“…we live in a veritable sea of moving forces, qualified in countless ways, conditioned by countless minds, misdirected oft, directed wisely sometimes, yet all of them perforce finding place in the mind content of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being, and outside Whose range of influence naught can be…”

When the foreground of daily living fades to the background for this all-embracing mind-filed of sensitivity we will begin to live more truly the shared causality in which we participate. And we may better understand the laws that sustain all the dimensions of our being, understanding that:

“Laws are only the unalterable conditions brought about by the activity, the orientation and the emanated decisive thoughts of the One in Whom we live and move and have our being, just as the activities, the orientating and the thinking of a human being carry the cells and the atoms of his body along the line of his wishes. Energies are but the rhythm of His breathing and the results of the systolic and the diastolic action of His heart”

The implication of the Angel’s exhortation to us to “Fear not” leads us consciously into that all embracing Life. Seeing through the surface of our living to the essence which inspires it all, we find that which is exquisite beyond understanding and yet still reflects out through everything if we have the eyes to see. All is in balance within the whole. From there we may serve, in harmonious concert, to manifest the reality of the fiery life we share.

…

Zeitgeist: Moving Forward

Zeitgeist Moving forward by director Peter Joseph, is a feature length documentary work which presents a case for a needed transition out of the current socio-economic monetary paradigm. Running time 2 hours 41 minutes.

This film runs in three parts… suggest you watch each part then go for a walk or have a cup of tea and think about it. Certainly worth watching.

http://www.zeitgeistmovingforward.com

Posted in Movies | Leave a comment

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

by Albe Posted on July 21, 2013

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
By Sogyal Rinpoche

This acclaimed spiritual masterpiece is widely regarded as one of the most complete and authoritative presentations of the Tibetan Buddhist teachings ever written. A manual for life and death and a magnificent source of sacred inspiration from the heart of the Tibetan Tradition, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying provides a lucid and inspiring introduction to the practice of meditation, to the nature of mind, to karma and rebirth, to compassionate love and care for the dying, and to the trials and rewards of the spiritual path.

Buddhist meditation master and international teacher Sogyal Rinpoche brings together the ancient wisdom of Tibet with modern research on death and dying and the nature of the universe. With unprecendented scope, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying clarifies the majestic vision of life and death that underlies the classic sacred text The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Sogyal Rinpoche presents simple yet powerful practices from the heart of the Tibetan tradition that anyone, whatever their religion or background, can do to transform their lives, prepare for death, and help the dying.

The great Tibetan saint Milarepa said: “Seeing emptiness, have compassion.” When through contemplation we really have seen the emptiness and interdependence of all things and ourselves, the world is revealed in a brighter, fresher, more sparkling light as the infinitely reflecting net of jewels that Buddha spoke of. We no longer have to protect ourselves or pretend, and it becomes increasingly easy to do what one Tibetan master has advised:

Always recognise the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachments and aversion. Practise good-heartedness towards all beings. Be loving and compassionate no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality.

True spirituality is also to be aware that if we are interdependent with everything and everyone else, even our smallest, least significant thought, word, and action have real consequences throughout the universe. Throw a pebble into a pond. It sends shiver across the surface of the water. Ripples merge into one another and create new ones. Everything is inextricably interrelated: We come to realise we are responsible for everything we do, say, or think, responsible in fact for ourselves, everyone and everything else, and the entire universe. The Dalai Lama has said:

In today’s highly interdependent world individuals and nations can no longer resolve many of their problems by themselves. We need one another. We must therefore develop a sense of universal responsibility … It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.

…

Think of a wave in the sea. Seen it one way, it seems to have a distinct identity, an end and a beginning, a birth and a death. Seen in another way, the wave itself doesn’t really exist but is just the behaviour of water, “empty” of any separate identity but “full” of water. So when you really think about the wave, you come to realize that is something made temporarily possible by wind and water, and that it is dependent of a set of constantly changing circumstances. You also realize that every wave is related to every other wave.
Sogyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

“What is it I hope from this book?
To inspire a quiet revolution in the whole way we look at health and care for the dying, and the whole way we look at life and care for the living”
Sogyal Rinpoche

Excerpt:

The Sky and the Clouds

So whatever our lives are like, our Buddha nature is always there. And it is always perfect. We say that not even the Buddha’s can improve it in their infinite wisdom, nor can sentient beings spoil it in their seemingly infinite confusion. Our true nature could be compared to the sky, and the confusion of the ordinary mind to the clouds. Some days the sky is completely obscured by clouds. When we are down on the ground, looking up, it is very difficult to believe that there is anything else there but clouds. Yet we only have to fly in a plane to discover up above a limitless expanse of clear blue sky. From up there the clouds we assumed were everything seem so small and so far away down below.

We should always try and remember the clouds are not the sky, and do not “belong” to it. They only hang there and pass by in their slightly ridiculous and non-dependent fashion. And they can never stain or mark the sky in any way.

So where exactly is the buddha nature? It is in the sky-like of our mind. Utterly open, free, and limitless, it is fundamentally so simple and so natural that it can never be complicated, corrupted, or stained, so pure that it is beyond even the concept of purity and impurity. To talk of this nature of mind as sky-like, of course, is only a metaphor that helps us to begin to imagine its all embracing boundlessness for the buddha nature has a quality the sky cannot have, that of the radiant clarity of awareness, As it is said:

It is simply your flawless, present awareness, cognizant and empty, naked and awake.

Dudjom Rinpoche wrote:

No words can describe it
No example can point to it
Samsara does not make it worse
Nirvana does not make it better
It has never been born
It has never ceased
It has never been liberated
It has never been deluded
It has never existed
It has never been nonexistent
It has no limits at all
It does not fall into any kind of category.

Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche said:

Profound and tranquil, free from complexity,
Uncompounded luminous clarity,
Beyond the mind of conceptual ideas;
This is the depth of the mind of the Victorious Ones,
In this there is not a thing to be removed,
Nor anything that need to be added.
It is merely the immaculate
Looking naturally at itself.

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
By Sogyal Rinpoche
Available at www.amazon.com

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

The Surfer – by Mark Sutherland

by Albe Posted on October 16, 2012

The Surfer

A funny thing happens when you’re paddling about on the ocean,
the spray on your face and the sun in your eye.
Reading the current,
you scan the immediate horizon and feel the ceaseless pulse and surge of tidal energy
beneath and all around you.
You are already dancing with it,
locking into its rhythm.

You follow the drift to the point in the cycle
where the energy transforms,
spending itself.
Drawing you in.
Fingertips alert to every subtle tug and pull of the current,
you map the submarine geometry
of each shifting shadow with your mind’s eye
till,
out beyond the foam,
the surface tension begins to yield
to the depths from whence it rises.

You sit up,
senses tuned,
legs dangling like baited hooks as,
away on the horizon,
peaks merge and solidify,
vanish,
then reappear.

Then,
gently, at first,
the sea around you begins to stir,
electrified.
Out in the middle distance,
long valleys appear,
and ridges,
mustering now into uniform battalions
of steadily advancing lines.

All before the front rank,
the surface ripples stretch taut,
then are consumed by the oncoming surge.
Head down, you trace their arc,
striking hard for the highest point,
looming now like long-sunken battlements from some ancient civilisation,
crumbling and precarious above you.

Time slips a gear as you begin the final ascent and the land,
and the life you lead there,
with all its doubts and misgivings,
disappears.

Everything is at once obvious:
the motion of the clouds,
the phases of the moon,
the very fragility of human existence…
And yet:
what giants men can be!
You are a king,
as you turn and launch yourself,
over the edge of reason,
into free-fall…

Into the void.

What happens after that,
in those eternal short split seconds,
is an attempt to realise an idea –
THE idea –
that surfing represents to you.
That’s the art.

Devoid of meaning or wider social purpose,
surfing is a fleeting dance with life –
the whole idea of life.
In that void,
for those few brief,
intoxicating moments,
reality is suspended and faith is restored.

You are taking the universe’s pulse,
and it is taking yours,
and all possibilities exist at once.

You are alive.

– Mark Sutherland

Mark Sutherland’s website www.marksutherlandart.com
Photos by Albert Falzon

Posted in Friends | 1 Comment

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success – Deepak Chopra

by Albe Posted on October 11, 2012

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
By Deepak Chopra

For those treading the path of spiritual development, this book is essential reading. Through a simple narrative, it conveys certain truths that all of us already, deep down understand – the “Spiritual Laws” are the fundamental building blocks of life, encoded in our DNA.

In our modern world, we are led to believe that “success and competition” is the way to “happiness and material enlightenment,” and most strive through life believing this to be so. Understanding the psyche of man better than most, Deepak Chopra included “success” in the title to lure the unsuspected reader into the reality of the spiritual life that awaits everyone. If the truth be known, we are already “successful” by being present here on Earth.

The Spiritual Laws encased in Deepak Chopra’s little book of life awaken us to that realisation. According to the cover notes on the jacket, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” is based on natural laws that govern all of creation. This book shatters the myth that success is the result of “hard work, exacting plans or driving ambition.”

“The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” could aptly be titled, as the author himself suggests in the introduction, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Life,” because these are the same principles that nature uses to create everything in material existence – all that we see, hear, smell, taste or touch.

According to Chopra, all of creation, everything that exists in the physical world is the result of the unmanifest transferring itself into the manifest. Everything that we behold – our physical body, the physical universe – comes from the unknown. Anything and everything that we perceive through our senses is the transformation of the unmanifest, unknown and invisible into the manifest, known and visible.

Deepak Chopra says that the source of all creation is divinity (or the spirit); the process of creation is divinity in motion (or the mind), and the object of creation is the physical universe (which includes the physical body). These three components of reality: spirit, mind and body – as observer, the process of observing, and the observed – are essentially the same thing. They all come from the same place: the field of pure potentiality, which is purely unmanifest.

The physical laws of the universe are actually the whole process of divinity in motion, or consciousness in motion. When we understand these laws and apply them in our lives, anything we want can be created, because the same laws that nature uses to create a forest, or a galaxy, or a human body can also bring about the fulfilment of our deepest desires.

“The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” is essential reading for those on the path, who recognise that life is defined by more than just success. These laws permeate all that is and bring the spirit of our lives to the surface of existence, so that we may become who we are. Deepak Chopra’s “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” will help many to realise their potential in a meaningful and beautiful way.

In the beginning
There was neither existence or non-existence
All this world was unmanifest energy,
The One breathed, without breath, by its power
Nothing else was there.

Hymn of Creation
The Rig Veda

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
By Deepak Chopra
Published by Amber-Allen Publishing
Available www.amazon.com

Posted in Books | 1 Comment

The Sacred Word

by Albe Posted on September 30, 2012

A fellow meditator once asked me, out of the blue, what was my understanding of the AUM. I had this immediate expansive reaction as if my entire being had become unlimited space. Being so absorbed into that all encompassing space and in the mental silence I was unable to respond to him. In reflection, intuitively, the question was answered.

Now when I think of the power of words and what they convey from an inner meaning, I realise that it is not so much the intellectual, or mental aspect that needs knowing, but the act of practising regularly the sounding of the sacred word.

Intuitively there is a recognition and through the practise of regular use that recognition becomes clearer and eventually we realise that we are the word. That we are the sacredness within the word. A fragment of a stupendous field of life that is all encompassing.

In our minute selves we express that divine life through all that we are. The sounding of the AUM allows pure spirit to transform and manifest the divine in our lives and align us with the sacred in all life.

AUM

This is the word of glory – the AUM. This is the sound of conscious life itself as it is breathed forth in all forms. It is the word of the second aspect and just as the word of Nature when rightly emanated provides the forms which are intended to reveal the soul or second aspect, so the AUM, when rightly expressed, demonstrates the Father or spirit through the medium of the soul. It is the word of the incarnated Sons of God.

When all the sons of men have demonstrated that they are also Sons of God, the Cosmic Son of God will likewise shine forth with increased intensity and glory. The great initiate Paul, had a vision of this when he said that “the whole creation, groaneth and travaileth in pain waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God.”

The AUM is the word of glory, and is the Christ in us, the hope of glory.

The word when rightly apprehended causes the second, or Christ aspect of divinity to shine forth resplendently.

It is the sound, which brings into manifestation the incarnated soul (macrocosmic and microcosmic), the ego, the Christ and causes the “radical Augoeides” (luminous body) to be seen on Earth.

It is the word, which is the release of consciousness and when correctly understood and used, releases the soul from the limitation of form in the three worlds.

The significance of the word only becomes apparent after the “light within” is released. By its use the “spark” becomes a radiant light, the light becomes a flame, and the flame eventually becomes a sun. By its use the “sun of righteousness arises” in the life of every man.

The Master, the God within, is indeed the word, the AUM, and of this master (found at the heart of all beings) it is true that, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God”

Through its use, man arrives at a realisation of:

His own essential divinity

The purpose of the form – taking process.

The constitution of nature and of those forms.

The reality of consciousness, or the relation of the divine self or spirit to the form, its polar opposite.

Through the sounding of the Word and through reflection upon its meaning, the Way is found.

Meditation

In the early stages of meditation work, the word is sounded audibly, while later it is sounded inaudibly. In the sounding of the AUM is the unconsciousness training for the dual work of spiritual creation. Hear with the brain the soundless sound of AUM.

The soul is to be known as light, as the revealer, whilst the spirit aspect will later be recognised as sound.

“If we look and see, listen and hear we will come to recognise and know the sacred word is everywhere, in everything and everyone”.

The Sacred OM film by Robyn Wren

The Light of The Soul

The Sound (or word), that which it denotes (the object) and the embodied spiritual essence (or idea) are usually confused in the mind of the perceiver. By concentrated meditation on these three aspects comes an (intuitive) comprehension of the sound uttered by all forms of life.

This is one of the most important sutras in the book, and holds the key to the object of the entire meditation process. This is to reveal or unveil to the perceiver or spiritual man, the true nature of the self, the second aspect, and the correspondence to the second aspect in all forms of sub-human life, as well as to put him on rapport with the second aspect in all superhuman forms. Thus it concerns the subjective side of all manifestation and deals with those forces, which in every form constitute the consciousness aspect, which concerns the Christ or buddhic principle and which are the direct cause of objective manifestation and the revelation of spirit through the medium of form.

This is the AUM. First the breath, then the word and all that is appeared.

Just as long as the great Existence who is the sum total of all forms and all states of consciousness continues to sound the cosmic AUM, just as long will the objective tangible solar system persist.

Posted in Meditation | 2 Comments

The abundant gifts of flowers

by Albe Posted on September 27, 2012

Russell Pell Flower Photography — Photographs © Russell Pell

Blossoms and flowers are resilient. They stand out in the wind, in the rain, in the snow, in sunshine – day and night – unperturbed, undiminished. They are resilient because they are flexible and fragrant, pliable and pleasant, supple and soft, tender and tolerant, gentle, adaptable and light.

Flowers take their nutrients from the soil, moisture from the rain and energy from the sun. They need no fossil fuels to flourish; that is why they help to regulate the climate rather than destabilise it.

Flowers are very useful members of the earth family. They provide nectar for the bees to make healing honey, beautiful blossoms that develop into nourishment, and an uplifting aroma to please human hearts.

They show that we are all related, we are all connected, we are all an integral part of the web of life, and we all exist within the context of mutuality and reciprocity. This is why flowers benefit everyone without discrimination. They give their fragrance and fruits with unconditional generosity; saints or sinners, poor or rich, humans or animals, bees or wasps – all are invited to enjoy the abundant gifts of flowers.

Flowers inspired poets like Wordsworth, who delighted in daffodils, and painters like Van Gogh, who celebrated sunflowers. The Buddha holds a lotus flower in his hand to teach wisdom and enlightenment while Lakshmi, the Indian goddess of prosperity, stands on the lotus to show that true wealth is neither money nor gold nor diamonds, but pure water, clean air, healthy soil and Nature in good heart, of which the lotus is a potent symbol. Lakshmi asks us all to include flowers in our families as they are the real fortune. The Bible teaches us to live like the lilies that are graceful and fulfilled and totally at ease within themselves, without any need for toil or struggle.

If we were to derive our energy from the sun, wind and water as flowers do, our energy supply would be assured and sustainable. If our economy could be as elegant as flowers, if our businesses could be as beautiful, if trade could be as tender and tolerant, if politics could be as pleasant, if our society could be as supple and soft as flowers, then we would have a resilient economy, resilient trade, resilient politics and a resilient society. So why not be like flowers and act like flowers?

Resilient flowers need resilient fields and forests to flourish. Wild flowers need wild fields and forests. Forests are the lungs of the Earth and a guarantee of a stable climate as they host the harmonious dance of carbon and oxygen that is the lifeline of all living beings.

Carbon trading, carbon sequestration and umpteen other commercial or technological solutions are secondary; the first and foremost step to ensure climate stability is the protect, honour and celebrate our flowers and forests. When I look at our urban conglomerates, our housing estates, our industrial landscapes and our ever-enlarging business parks, I wonder: where have all the flowers gone? Where have all the forests gone? Let us bring them back. Let there be a meeting of Nature and culture in our world.

Let us plant flowers, trees and forests all around us; let us see and acknowledge “heaven in a wild flower” as William Blake exhorted, and let us stop those who are cutting down our rainforests for short-term commercial gain.

Trees and flowers are the answer. Now what is the question?

Satish Kumar
RESURGENCE Magazine

If you are interested in the well-being of our planet, the beauty of our environment, the myriad of life forms that exist on this earth, the inspiration of art, the spirit of all life, the rich tapestry of our rivers, forests, and oceans, the diversity of cultures, the beauty of life – then subscribe to RESURGENCE Magazine. It will inform and inspire you to greater heights – there is no other magazine like it.

At the heart of earth, art and spirit.
Resurgence
www.resurgence.org

These exquisite photographs by Russell Pell could be paintings from the masters. There have been millions of photographic images taken of flowers around the world but none quite as original as these by Russell Pell. The abstract nature of them appears as if they were painted in oils, however Russell froze the flowers in water and for a brief period of time they were suspended in a block of ice. Frozen in time, he captured the divine in nature for all to see. The ice melts, the flowers fade but through Russell’s unique imagery these incredible moments remain. How briefly beauty reveals itself through the imagination and wonder of life.

www.russellpell.com

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Heart

by Albe Posted on September 13, 2012

Heaven on Earth

Living in the country I have witnessed many animals come and go. All were my friends. What you realise in their living and passing is that they are more than just animals. They are pure entities that breathe the same air, live on the same planet and share the same love.

Generally they ask very little of you – and give unconditional love. They carry no baggage, have no opinions and are happy just to be with you. I have learnt from sharing and being with these beautiful entities that they come into your life for a reason. If only we could embody the unconditional love that they offer then that would be enough.

I consider them all to be my little brothers and sisters and my teachers. I have nursed so many through the transition of passing and each time my heart expands with love and compassion for all living beings.

There is a saying that nothing is taken from you without being replaced with something else. With each passing the sorrow is replaced with compassion and an expanding awareness of how precious life is. Who would realise that some of the greatest lessons we learn are from these harmless friends.

It is not a responsibility but a privilege to care for the animal kingdom just as there are those who look out and care for us. The sooner we begin to realise that we all share the One Life, the sooner we will all live together in peace and harmony in this world and consciously create heaven on earth.

One from the heart… I will never forget

As I drove up the pathway to Robyn’s house Rusty rose out of his listless state to limp over to greet me. Tail wagging he bowed his head and stood gently in front of me. I crouched down and massaged his head and cheeks with love, he put his forehead against my heart as I told him that he was a good dog, a very good dog and I loved him.

He sensed that I had some pastries and he followed me to the steps of the house. I sat in the sun; his eyes were alert as he waited patiently for me to feed him small pieces, as I usually did. Ever so gently he took each piece from my fingers ensuring not to touch my hand with his mouth, I was always amazed at the grace and gentleness he showed when I fed him like this.

Soon after he wandered a few feet away and propped himself in a comfortable position on the grass beneath a tree. As I watched him my mind drifted back over the countless beautiful times shared with him, the fun we had, the absolute unconditional love he gave to everyone, particularly Robyn and myself.

There were times when I was surfing he’d run around the rocks as if he wanted to come out and ride waves with me. He would anxiously wait on the beach when a surfer came in thinking it was I. And, when I finally did go in he would welcome me with such joy and excitement, and run up and down the beach and around me at full pace – he was just so happy that we were together again.

Often when I would be doing yoga on the veranda in the morning sun, lying on my back stretching, Rusty would come over to me, prop himself on the side of the mat with our bodies touching, he would then roll over on his back with feet in the air and stretch with me. He would stay like that until I moved. The stillness was so perfect we would just drift off to the sound of the finches feeding nearby, sun on our bodies – to a beautiful place – together. It was priceless.

Very rarely over the years that we became friends would I go to the Bellingen Growers Markets to buy a supply of organic produce or to Crescent Head surfing without him in the car. He just wanted to be with us – no matter where we were going or what we were doing. He became the third link in the triangle, and I believe, the pinnacle. Teachers come in various disguises and I recognised early in our friendship that he was another teacher sent to assist and guide us on the spiritual journey that we all share.

I walked over to where he sat and gave him a final head massage and looking deep into his eyes – and his in mine – thanked him for all our times shared, for being such a great friend, for all the beautiful times we had together, for the fun and his gentleness, for his unquestionable and unconditional love. As we looked into each others eyes, I could see pure life, nothing else existed, he gave to me something that is difficult to put into words, it went beyond Rusty the dog, and me the human, the connection was greater that either of us – there was no separation, just the purity of life and love for each other.

I rolled over onto my back and looked into the blue of space, the wind was fanning the leaves of the tree, a delicate wisp of a white cloud dissolved in passing. I thought to myself, it’s a beautiful day to die.

He followed us up onto the veranda and found a place half in the sun to rest. The previous night he hadn’t slept all night. Within a few minutes he was asleep. Soon afterwards Robyn sat beside him and for the next hour massaged his head and patted his beautiful soft furry body. In a half asleep – half awake state he felt her love as she gently caressed him and spoke to him of her love for him and times shared together.

Kim arrived, I spoke to him briefly about the procedure as Robyn, away from our conversation, continued to give him love, as she had done since he was a pup. He was in a peaceful and calm state with the sun on his face and a light breeze fanning his coat.

Kim administered the injection – within twenty seconds he would be gone. For a moment he looked up at Kim, but the overpowering love from Robyn took away any possibility of fear. As the liquid passed through his body Robyn cried to him with her love and thanked him for his beauty and devoted sharing for the loving time together. It was a moving moment and one I will never forget. The love and compassion and the unconditional giving from an entity called Rusty had passed.

He is gone but not forgotten.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy…
The Dalai Lama

And that’s what you gave to me…
Rusty

Dearest Albe,

I am so glad we met you and joined in a loving triangle. You have helped enrich our lives so much and given abundant love, patience,caring, generosity and fun. Thank you for teaching Robyn to spoil me with good food and croissants and encouraging her to take me everywhere cos I wasn’t any trouble. Thankx for ice cream at Hope’s, a seat besides you on your couch, always room in the car for me, letting me come upstairs.

I would wait for you every evening on the verandah and hearing the blue surf wagon drive up gave me such a tail wag. You were the kindest soul and would do anything for me. Your medicine, love, smile and time made me comfortable and content even when I hurted.

I loved being included. Thanks for always taking me to the river. I loved it when you dove in and swam to the other side – I hate water but I swam over to be with you. You would get on the floor and bond with me. I never got so bouncy and happy than you meeting me on my level. Thank you endlessly for being there on my last day. I knew. I looked at you, as I did Robyn. Soul to soul. My love for you both is limitless as I am. To be loved, played with and patted off home by you two was perfect. I was so ready in the sun. With absolute gratitude. Thank you.

“Where’s Albe” was a phrase that always made me happy and excited. I loved bounding up to greet you when you walked up the beach,surfboard under your arm. Always such a joy to be surprised to see your car. You gave my life such joy. Now I am a star dog but will always be with you dear Albe. So much love, as you know and saw in my eyes.

Love forever.
Rusty.
rusty-buddha-envelope

One life – one love – one heart

Someone once said that we should think with our heart and love with our mind. As you read the following quotes from “Heart” and “The Flame of the Heart” you should attempt to absorb the essence of what is said in the heart. The radiation and magnetism will reach the mind with heartfelt love and from there, radiate out in your day-to-day contacts and activities, and in doing so expand your own present state of consciousness.

Heart

The heart that knows the subtle world knows flowers and mountains, and snows and the seas. Flowers thrive in a richness of forms and their colours are indescribably more complex that the colours of earth; the snows are more whiter and crystalline and richer than those of earth. Only the light bearing consciousness of the heart will carry the subtle body into the higher realms.First the Yogi hears the music of the spheres, but later, by way of the heart, he himself begins to reverberate with the harmony of the highest worlds.All ancient sages have spoken about the heart, they have said that the heart must control our thoughts, our words, and our actions. The heart is our conscience, our innermost consciousness.

He who does not think of the heart will also fail to improve his consciousness.

Only through the heart will you conquer.

When human thought shall recognise the heart as an impeller, not as an egoistic personal instrument, but as a collaborator with the subtlest energies, the predestined transformation of life will at once begin.

The great purpose of our actions is to aid humanity in the shifting of consciousness – the shifting of thought is the paramount healer of mankind.

Before you think, or before you put your thoughts into action, it is better to check with your heart. Before you take action, it is best first to ask your heart. You will see that your heart always leads you into directions that will bring you health, happiness, prosperity, enlightenment and beauty.

Nothing will erase the memory of the far off worlds in those who have approached them in the fiery body. As countless as the stars, as inexpressible in words, is the memory of the far off worlds. So, too, the heart will not forget about the silver thread, which is like a ladder to infinity. The earthly body cannot withstand many fiery revelations. But the same thread of the heart retains the consciousness of the far-off worlds.

We must bring the entire world into the sphere of the heart, because the heart is the microcosm of existence.

A feeling – from the heart – that is shared multiplies the energy tenfold.

How important it is to let our heart tell us what it is we want or need instead of letting our brain dictate to us.

A farewell is only a new welcomed reunion. We are not temporary, but infinite beings.

The observations of the flowers of the subtle world are very indicative, they point out how creativeness in the Subtle World is accessible to the flaming heart.

Peace can be reached through concentration upon that which is dearest to the heart

The quality of the heart centre is radiant or magnetic light.

Great one’s suggest that the highest guide within comes through the heart. It is in the temple of the heart that the highest and the lowest meet.

Whoever shall aid his near ones to find the path of the heart shall also find his own perfection.

You must be silent and ask your heart if what you are thinking, speaking and doing is really in harmony with the cosmic heart.

In every heart there is the presence of the cosmic heart.

The bond with the higher spheres is formed through the heart.

It is precisely the quality of the magnet that is inherent in the heart. The highest creativeness is imbued with this great law. Hence, each consummation, each union, each great cosmic unification is achieved through the flow of the heart.

It is only through the heart that the ocean of life is crossed and the other shore is discovered.

The health of the body depends on the purity of the heart.

Unfold your heart through prayer, meditation, patience, solemnity, courage, and fearlessness, benevolence, purity, love, creativity, beauty, striving, silence, caution and through the vision of the future. These are the wings of your heart. The whole of space, with its billions of stars, is waiting for your flight.

The love that inspires is heavenly.

The love that inspires kindles hearts for the highest joy and is thus indestructible.

Thus let us expand the heart – not for Earth but for Infinity.

Heart is available from www.sydneygoodwill.org.au

“Whoever loves flowers is on the heart’s path.
Whoever knows the striving to the summits is on the heart’s path.
Whoever thinks purely is on the heart’s path.
Whoever knows of the highest world is on the heart’s path.
Whoever is ready for Infinity is on the heart’s path.
Thus shall we summon all hearts to the realisation of the source”.

Heart

The rose is the symbol of perfection, equated with the heart and unconditional love.

My life is my own
And yet my life is that of all souls
A parable of what is, what was and what must be.
My life is my work, and my love
I cannot name myself,
As the intention of my work is that you should seek,
And by seeking discover me
And by discovering me, know me.
My essence is silence
Like the voiceless fragrance of a rose.
Who can name silence.

Heart

O Lord of Beauty,
let me stand in your temple
of color supernal
and within the symphonies divine.
May I achieve harmony
with the heart of the cosmic rhythm
and radiate the uplifting,
expanding beauty of that Heart
in all my actions, aspirations, and visions.

Master Morya

The Flame of the Heart

By Torkom Saraydarian

This book is about the heart, about the Core of our being in which there is the Life, there is our Essence, there is the Self.

Most of the political conditions and economic problems of the world, as well as the problems in our families and societies, are based on the fact that our heart has been left behind; its whispers are not considered as safe advice, and they are easily neglected.

In the coming ages, the importance of the heart will be discovered all over the world. As we build universities to develop the mind, we will also build universities where the heart will be developed to balance the mind.

Only the heart has the keynote of your life. If you lose this keynote, all of your life will be built on the wrong foundations.

The Flame of the Heart

Serenity creates the conditions in which the flower of your heart blooms.The heart is a sensitive electrical web. Every act, word or expression that is not in harmony with the symphony of life creates disturbances in the electrical field of the web

When your actions are motivated by love there is no wasted energy.

As one exercises compassion, the cure slowly penetrates the heart. When the heart is active with this energy, it rejuvenates the organism and radiates healing energies around the man.

Patience is a state of consciousness in which you are aware that you are an endless, infinite and immortal being.

The language of the heart is silence.

When the heart and the mind are developed harmoniously, the person develops fearlessness, courage and patience, and in the meantime a sense of timing and preciousness.

For the ancients the heart was the holiest temple in which the most high dwells.

The heart not only communicates with human hearts but if trained and advanced in its unfoldment, it also communicates with the heart of every living form, the heart of the planet, and the heart of the sun.

If you want to have greater guidance in your heart, in your mind, and in your feelings, slowly try to enter into the sphere of the electromagnetic field of the hierarchy. You can enter there only through your heart.

The heart is intuitive and sees the causes long before the results appear on the surface.

Heart communication is related to motives, all-inclusiveness, unity, synthesis, understanding, consciousness, compassion and right human relations. Such a communication is immediate, direct and intuitive. It sees the causes before the results manifest.

Positive motives such as love, enthusiasm, goodwill, peacefulness, fearlessness and compassion create conditions in which your intuition, mind, reason, logic, and heart work to their maximum capacity.

The heart work in deep peace, and if fused with the solar plexus and mind, it uses them as carriers of its messages of love and clear thinking without illusion, ego, glamour and separateness.

Flame of the Heart is available from www.amazon.com

The Divining Heart

By Patricia C. and Richard D. Wright

The further we travel, the more lightly we step upon the earth. We begin to recognise our relationship to the landscape and understand that we move to the same rhythms that give it form. As we climb upward, our view becomes wider and we see with increasing clarity that we are intended to move through awakening toward illumination. With a growing sense of joy, we realise that what we thought at first was a new destination is the Source from which we first began our journey; the Light that has always been symbol of the wisdom we seek is the beacon for our return. That “subtle centre of light,” the heart, resonates with that beacon, and the intelligence of the heart is the silent language of that Light.

Published by Destiny Books

Available at www.innertraditions.com

Posted in Friends, Spirit | Leave a comment

Devas

by Albe Posted on September 13, 2012

[portfolio_slideshow exclude=”1044,866″]

Deva (or Angel) A God. In Sanskrit a resplendent deity. A Deva is a celestial being, whether good, bad or indifferent. Devas are divided into many groups and are called not only angels and archangels but lesser and greater builders. They are responsible for building all forms (from the microcosm to the solar system) which consciousness uses as a vehicle – from a flower, to a human being, to a planet. They are the great “impulsive factor” in manifestation, organising substance, directing the multiplicity of lives and beings who constitute the forms through which God expresses divinity.

Working with the Spiritual Hierarchy of our planet are a great number of beings called angels by the Christian and devas by the oriental. Many of them have passed through the human stage long ages ago, and work now in the ranks of the great evolution parallel to the human, and which is called the deva evolution. This evolution comprises among other factors, which produce, through those builders, every form familiar an unfamiliar. The devas who co-operate with the spiritual hierarchical effort, concern themselves therefore, with the form aspect while the others members of the hierarchy are occupied with the development of consciousness within the form.

Man should communicate to the devas the objective point of view, while they in turn will pour in on him their healing magnetism. They are the custodians of prana, magnetism and vitality just as man is the custodian of manas – mind. Devas are the directing agents of the divine energy which implements the purpose of deity upon the physical plane. They are the expression of “the all seeing eye” – through their agency God sees and through them and the energy directed through them, he directs the creative process. God is mind, God is intelligent functioning, God is creative activity. These are the qualities of the deva evolution.

Behaving as if the God in all life Mattered
Machaelle Small Wright

Machaelle Small Wright is a spiritual pioneer with the profound ability to “see” and “hear” the invisible forces of nature. Her personal story is one of triumph, from a childhood of torment and isolation to discovery of her ability to communicate with the world of nature spirits and devas.

At “Perelandra”, her 45 acre private nature reserve center in Virginia, Machaelle devotes her life to understanding and demonstrating a new approach to ecological balance.

The foundation and development of co-creative gardening
The ecological effects of thoughts
The roles of the animal, mineral and plant kingdoms
Humankind’s unrealised custodianship of Planet Earth

A book beyond theory, ‘Behaving as if the God in all life Mattered’ will excite the minds and capture the hearts of all who dare to dream of a dynamic world of harmony and compassionate living.

“Each day I would become quietly focussed and connect with the devic level. A deva would come into my awareness and identify itself. I was then given instructions. I was told what seeds to buy, what fertiliser to use, how far apart to plant the seeds, and to thin the plants and how much space to leave between the rows, desired amount of sunshine and so on.

As each deva came into my awareness, I noticed that there was a slight shift in vibration, that each had its own vibration. After awhile, I could recognise which deva was entering my awareness. This led me to develop the ability to call upon specific devas by “aiming” my awareness for the deva’s own vibratory pattern. It was as if I was faced with a gigantic telephone system and I had to learn how to make all the different connections. Then I was able to make calls in as well as receive calls.

(Later in the summer, I discovered that all I had to do to connect with a specific deva was to simply request the connection. For example, to connect with the Deva of the Carrot, I only needed to say, “I’d like to be connected with the Deva of the Carrot.” Immediately I’d feel the familiar vibration of the Carrot Deva in my awareness. I knew the connection had been made and we were ready to work together. This connection business couldn’t have been more simple.)

One day, I felt a very different, more expansive vibration and found myself connected to the Overlighting Deva of the Garden. This deva talked about such things as the overall layout of the garden, its timing, its progression and its shape. From it, I was also told to change my gardening methods to the mulch method – a method whereby six inches of hay, grass clippings and leaves are kept on the garden at all times. Two years later, I was told to switch from the traditional straight rows to a garden on concentric circles.

After a somewhat lengthy session with the Overlighting Deva of the Garden, I was contacted by the Soil Deva and given information about soil that dovetailed with what I had received from the Overlighting Deva.

The rhythm of one deva after another contacting me continued throughout that spring and early summer. I wasn’t given the “full scoop” on any one subject. Rather, I received just what I was to act on at that moment. Then, at a later time, I got more information. After each session, I jotted down in a notebook what information had been given to me, either practically or as an insight about what I was doing and why. Then, as soon as I could, I acted on anything that needed doing.
To give you an idea of the kind of insight that comes from the devic level, I share with you some examples of the messages. I received this first one on March 22 1977.

Overlighting Deva of the Garden

We urge you to join our creative process. When you plant a seed, invoke the deva and nature spirits connected with that seed. The seed is the door between you and the various energies that are drawn together on the devic level and cared for by the nature spirits. Once you have planted the seed put out the call for the devas to draw together all the individual energy components of that variety. Ask that the nature spirits receive the energies and, in essence, fuse them to the seed. The seed contains the potential of the plant’s perfection. The grounding of the plant’s energy into the seed activates that potential and transforms it into five-senses reality. As you call the energy into five-senses form, see its energy channel touch the seed as it is grounded by the nature spirits.

By joining in our creative process in this manner, you will begin to see the importance of working with the nature energies with clarity. We urge you to plant the garden in this new way and see the difference your clear participation as a co-creative partner with us makes in the germination of the seeds and the quality of plant growth.

Each of us can receive the same devic message, but because we are all individuals, we will translate the message differently. The essence and core of the devic message will remain intact. Only the precise translation will differ.

Angel of Sound

Each plant sounds a note, which attracts its builder to it and calls substance to itself through the nature spirits. We devas know the individual notes for all in our charge, and we sound them, like tuning forks, to be picked up by each plant. When a seed is ready to germinate, moisture and warmth do not of themselves set its note vibrating – we do that. We set the seed on its way and hold out its note before it to follow. That note changes with growth and stages, as does man whose voice changes as he advances into maturity.

Lilium Auratum Deva

We feel it is high time for man to branch out and include in his horizon the different forms of life, which are part of his world. He has been forcing his own creations and vibrations on the world without taking into consideration that all living things are part of the whole, just as he is, placed there by divine plan and purpose. Each plant, each mineral has its own contribution to make to the whole, just as each soul has. Man should no longer consider us as lower forms of life with no intelligence and therefore not to be communicated with.

The theory of evolution that puts man at the apex of life on Earth is only correct when viewed from certain angles. It leaves out the fact that God, universal consciousness, is working out the forms of life. For example, according to generally accepted regulations, I am a lowly lily unable to be aware of most things and certainly not able to talk with you. But somehow, somewhere is the intelligence that made us fair and continues to do so, just as somehow, somewhere is the intelligence that produced your intricate physical body.

You are not aware of much of inner intelligence and much of your own body is beyond your control. You are conscious of only a certain part of yourself, and likewise you are conscious of only a certain part of the life around you. There are vast ranges of consciousness all stemming from the One, the One who is this consciousness in all of us and whose plan it is that all parts of life become more aware of each other and more united in the great forward movement which is life, all life, becoming greater consciousness.

Consider the lily, consider all that it involves, and let us grow in consciousness, unity and love under the One.

From “Behaving as if the God in all life Mattered”
Machaelle Small Wright
Published by Perelandra
Available at www.perelandra-ltd.com

Posted in Spirit | 1 Comment

There’s more to life than meets the eye

by Albe Posted on August 31, 2012

It’s misty – early morning light and soft rain leave droplets of jewels on my arms each one holds a myriad of colours. A blanket of softness covers everything. There is no wind – all is still.

In Pokhara in Nepal the high Himalayan ranges welcomes the golden morning sun. The snow peaked mountains first to greet the light shine in majestic formation. The day is like crystal, the air sharp and alive with the freshness of high altitudes.

Walking over mountain trails through rocky paths clouds rise from the depths of the valley – ascending into the deep blue sky forming shapes of white beauty – changing from moment to moment – blending into each other until eventually they overshadow the entire region in a dark threatening way.

By mid afternoon they explode – flashes of piercing white lightening blast the local village – all seems ominous. The day cools. A shaft of sun lights up a portion of the fertile valley. A rainbow of blazing colour in a perfect arc stretches over the hills. Clouds soon break up and dissipate. The deep blue appears once again, it is a magnificent sunset – all is clear.

The evening is ablaze with a full moon and the outline of the mountains against a deep dark sky completes another day. Life reveals its magic once again.

The sound of rain strengthens against the iron roof.

The weather clears. Silver waves peel around a grassy headland – a carpet of miniature yellow and indigo flowers cover the ground. A fresh autumn breeze blows from the land fanning the small cylinders forming perfect shaped waves over a shallow sand bank.

The air is fresh, the day warm, the smiles friendly.

Think I’ll paddle out and ride a few.

There’s more to life than meets the eye.

Posted in Gratitude | 3 Comments

Rarely do we realise that we are standing in the centre of the miraculous

The Daily Lama

The Ocean of Life…

We Are the Future

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

The Surfer – by Mark Sutherland

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success – Deepak Chopra

The Sacred Word

The abundant gifts of flowers

Heart

Devas

There’s more to life than meets the eye

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