Gift…

 

One of the more difficult paradoxes to accept

 
is that this abundance of gifts is always quietly 

 
present and it is we who drift in 

 
and out of seeing it…

 
 ~ ` ~ Mark Nepo

 

 

 

 

( Niagara Falls…) 

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Fishing…

Every day is a new day.

It is better to be lucky…

 

 

 

 

 

but I would rather be exact.

Then when luck comes

you are ready…

 

 

 

 

 

To hell with 

luck…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ‘ll bring the luck 

with me…

 

 

 

 

My big fish must be

somewhere…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As wave is driven by 

each wave…

 

 

 

 

The world breaks everyone..

and afterward…

 

 

 

 

 

some are strong at

the broken place…

 

 

 

 

 

 

But man is not made

of defeat …

 

 

 

 

 

a man can be destroyed..

but not

defeated…

 

 

 

 

 

Men go fishing all their 

lives..

without realizing,

 

 

 

 

its not the fish 

they are after 

(~ ` ~ Henry David )

 

 

 

 

Fishing is much more than 

fish…

 

 

 

 

 

It is the great occasion when we may

return to the fine simplicity 

of our forefathers…

( ~ ` ~ Herbert Hoover )

 

 

 

( Words: Ernest Hemingway )

Older wisdom…

 

Since we are the youngest children of creation,
our accumulated wisdom is young, too, and so I 
search outside of the tiny and fragile box of 
humankind’s insight and understanding for the
older wisdom, the more ancient and enduring
healing.

               …I have documented the rich insights and mercies
brought to my life by my animal kin…I write about

the empowerment of meaningful and healing
relationships.
Many of mine are with animals and nature.

                                        ~ ` ~ Susan Chernak Mcelroy

 

 

 

 

Enduring & Real…

To look for a form or search 

for a 

sound

is to stumble down the

wrong path .

The wisdom that cannot be thought,

alone reveals that which

is enduring and

real…

 

   ~ ` ~   Zen

 

 

 

Breathe in…

 

 

Breathe in with the deep awareness that you are a 

human being.

Then breathe out and touch the earth,

a non-man element, as your mother.

Visualize the streams of water beneath the Earth’s

surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the minerals .See our Mother Earth, the Mother of

us all.

Then bring your arms up and breathe in again, touching the

trees, flowers, fruits, birds, squirrels, air and sky– the

non-elements.

 

 

 

 

When your head is touching the air, the sun, the moon,

the galaxies, the cosmos–non-man elements that have

come together in order to make man possible–you see

that all of the elements are coming into you to make your

being possible.

 

 

 

 

 

Breathing in again, stretch your arms and be aware that you also penetrate other 

elements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man helps make the other elements possible.

 

( Words : Thich Nhat Hanh  )

 

Wildness…

 

 

The journey is into the wildness of your greater life.
The wilderness is your soul.
To merge with your destiny, you must locate,
liberate and live what is truly wild.
The soul is here to live its joy.

The uninitiated ego is here to keep things familiar,
safe and predictable.

Which path will you choose?

 

                                  ~ ` ~ Bill Plotkin

 

 

Things we love…

” We lose ourselves in the 

things we love…

 

We find ourselves there

Too…”

 

 

Alert…

Zen is an effort

to become
alert &

aware.
                              ~ ` ~ Osho

 

Sparkle…

I am pretty sure that

when we sparkle

individually, we

Heal + shine

collectively.

~ ` ~  Tanya Markul

 

Wishing you all a happy &peaceful

new year ❤ ❤

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Am I …?

I am That  I am..

I am that which I have created myself to be.

                             ~ ` ~ The Gita

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am the answer you were not

expecting…

 

 

 

 

 

I exist 

As I am.

That is enough.

             ~ ` ~ Walt Whitman

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knowing yourself is the beginning of

all

wisdom.

       ~ ` ~ Aristotle

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many have an Image of me.

Few get the

picture…

 

 

 

 

 

I regret opening up to 

some people.

They didn’t deserve to 

know me like that.

    ~ ` ~ Gold-Kushkloudz

 

 

 

 

Wondering on 

myself,

by myself,

for myself…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a thinker

Not a talker…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have travelled 

through madness

to 

find me…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t ask 

anyone 

but me,

about me…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am shy at first but…

I do the stupidest random

things when I 

get comfortable

with someone…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I 

hate being

Shy…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never have I dealt with 

anything more

difficult than my

own soul…

 

 

 

 

 

 

You don’t know me…

I put back my pieces,

differently.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

( words: Internet )

They Heal…

 

 

The ways of these

gentle giants &

 

how they
heal us are
mysterious…

 

 

 

Heart seeks…

 

 

From the clamor of crowds I flee,
my heart seeks

 
The kind of silence that would

 
mesmerize speech itself.

 

 

                              ~ ` ~ An Urdu poem 

 

 

 

To heal…

 

Connect with nature..”silence the mind”

&the soul will know what to do 

to heal itself…

 

The soul always knows what to do 

to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.

                       ~ ` ~ Caroline myss

 

 

Healing doesn’t mean the damage never

existed.

It means the damage no longer controls

our lives.

                   ~ ` ~ Akshay Dubey

 

 

Healing yourself is connected

with healing

others.

                 ~ ` ~ Yoko Ono

 

 

Anything covered up

won’t get

healed…

 

 

It has been said “time heals “all wounds.

I do not agree.The wounds remain.

In time , the mind , protecting the sanity , covers

them with scar tissue &  the pain lessens.

but it is never gone.

           ~ ` ~ Rose Kennedy

 

 

As soon as healing takes place. 

go out & heal somebody else.

                     ~ ` ~ Maya Angelou

 

 

 

Mourning is love with

no place to go…

 

 

We do not heal the past by dwelling

there; we heal the past by living fully

in the present.

                                  ~ ` ~ Marianne Williamson

 

 

 

some days the memories still

knock the wind out of 

me…

 

 

Not all scars show

not all wounds heal

sometimes you can’t

always see the pain’

someone else feels…

 

 

Your own healing is a powerful

contribution to the healing of

everyone…

 

 

When you can tell your story &

it doesn’t make you cry, you

know you have healed…

 

 

They say time heals all wounds , but 

that presumes the source of the 

grief is finite.

                             ~ ` ~ Cassandra Clare

 

 

Sometimes your heart needs

more time to accept what

your mind already knows…

 

Soul tinged…

 

 

Music is a journey.

   Jazz is getting lost.

     

                     ~ ` ~ john O’ Farrell

 

 

 

Jazz is 

  Freedom…

                    ~ ` ~ Thelonious Mark

 

 

 

Don’t play the saxophone..

  Let it play you..

                ~ ` ~   Charlie Parker

 

 

 

 

If you ain’t got it

in you

you can’t blow

it out.

           ~ ` ~ Louis Armstrong

 

 

 

To jazz ,

or

not to jazz,

there is no

question.

              ~ ` ~ Louis Armstrong

 

 

 

 

Seemed to me drumming was

the best way to get

close to 

god.

                       ~ ` ~ Lionel Hampton

 

 

 

keep calm…

Jazz dance on…

 

 

jazz is something that you

have to feel

It’s something that you have

to live.

     ~ ` ~ Ray Brown

 

 

 

Life is about

rhythm.

We vibrate, 

our hearts are pumping

blood,

we are a rhythm machine.

That’s what 

we are.

                       ~ ` ~ Mikey Hart

 

 

 

The memory of things gone 

is important 

to a jazz

musician.

        ~ ` ~ Louis Armstrong

 

 

 

If you ask

what jazz is 

you’ll

never know.

              ~ ` ~ Louis Armstrong

 

 

 

My whole life, my whole soul,

my whole spirit

is to blow

that horn…

              ~ ` ~ Louis Armstrong

 

 

What we play

is 

life.

              ~ ` ~ Louis Armstrong

( Location d.b.a Bar, Frenchmen street,New Orleans )

Soul menders…

 

The way of these gentle giants..

&

how they heal us are

mysterious…

 

 

 

 

 

They are some of the most 

accomplished

&

accessible

 

 

 

 

 

healers we may

ever

meet…

 

 

 

 

 

there is power that resides

in the heart of

a 

species…

 

 

 

 

 

 

that..is 

exponentially

higher than ..the power of any 

individual…

 

 

 

 

 

 

The desire to know your

soul

will end all 

other desires.

                   ~ ` ~ Rumi

 

 

 

 

 

 

My soul is my

guide.

                     ~ ` ~ Rumi

 

 

 

 

( words adapted from; “Animals as healers “.. pictures taken at Kaziranga national park,India )

A Soul’s journey…

 

Art is the journey of

a

free soul.

                   ~ ` ~ Alev Oguz

 

 

take your journey

change your body

find your

soul

 

 

 

U don’t have a soul

you are a soul

You have a body

          ~ ` ~  C.S Lewis

 

 

 

Quiet the mind

&

the soul will 

speak

       ~ ` ~ Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

 

 

 

 

In a world where

everyone wears a 

mask,

It’s a privilege to see

a soul.

                       ~ ` ~ Anon 

 

 

 

 

You have a 

 

soul…

Born Fisherman…

 

 

You were born to be a fisherman as the 

fish was born to be a 

fish…

 

 

 

 

 

 

You loved him when 

he was

alive…

 

 

 

 

 

 

and you loved him

after…

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing kills me exactly 

as it keeps me

alive…

 

 

( words: Ernest Hemingway ~ ` ~ The old man & the sea )

Seeking you…

 

What you 

 

see

 

is seeking

 

YOU.

~ ` ~   Rumi

 

Artist…

 

The deep layers

 
of art contains

 
the soul of the

 
artist
                             ~ ` ~ Vladimir Kandelaki

 

 

 

Pieces of me…

 

 

I like the way

that feels…

 

 

 

 

It’s as if you know

me better…

 

 

 

 

Than I ever know 

myself…

 

 

 

 

I love how you can 

tell…

 

 

 

 

All the pieces, pieces, pieces

of me…

 

 

 

 

( words; Ashlee Simpson )

True path…

 

 

Truth is one

&

the true path is one.

 

 

 

 

It does not belong to

anybody.

Its nobody’s

property.

 

 

 

 

 

it is only one!

there are not many paths really.

Many people walk on the 

path,

but the path is one.

 

 

 

 

And it is so vast

they may not meet

each

other

 

 

 

( words: Osho’s teachings )

Ecstasy…

 

There is no greater 

Ecstasy

than to know who you

are

~ ` ~ osho

 

 

 

Art…

 

Art is both love and friendship and

 understanding:

the desire to give.

 

 

 

It is not charity, which is the giving

of things.

 

 

It is more than kindness, which is

the giving of self.

 

 

 

 

It is both taking and giving of beauty, the turning

out to the light of the inner folds of the awareness

of the spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is the recreation on another plane of

 the realities of the world;

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tragic and wonderful realities of earth

and men…

 

 

 

 

 

 

and all the interrelations

of these.

 

 

(words: Ansel Adams)

Wise man…

 

 A wise man

 

                         Once said 

 

                                                      Nothing…

 

Heart Wanders…

 

 

 Clouds heap upon clouds & it
         darkens…
        I keep gazing on the far away gloom
                                of the sky, & my

heart wanders wailing with the
restless mind.

                              ~ ` ~ Rabindranath Tagore (Gitanjali)

 

 

 

Silence within…

 

 

Lead the mind…

 

 

 

By the mind…

 

 

 

bring it to silence…

 

 

 

In the quiet…

 

 

 

 

state of mind…

 

 

 

when all the sound..

 

 

 

ripples cease…

 

 

 

 

 

The job is done…

 

 

 

( location: Eravikulam National Park , Kerala, South India )

(Words : Adapted from an article by  Bramachari Chaitanya )

Care about…

On GLOBAL TIGER DAY…

 
No one will protect what they don’t

 
care about ; & no one will care about

 
what they have never experienced.

 
                             ~ ` ~  David Attenborough

 

 

 

( At Kanha National park, central India )

He & I

When words run dry,

     he does not try,

   nor do I.

 

 We are on par .

He just is.

   I just am

   & we just are.

                          ~ ` ~  Lang Leav

 

Senses…

I smell with my ears

 

 

 

I taste with my eyes

 

 

 

I see with my hands

 

 

 

 

I touch with my tongue

 

 

 

I hear with my nose

 

 

 

I know 

I am in my senses now.

 

 

 

( Poem : Kabir das < location : Kodaikanal, a small hill town near Madurai, Tamil nadu, South India )

 

 

Dive…

If you are 

falling

dive…

 

   ~ ` ~  Joseph Campbell 

 

Burst forth…

 

There is something fierce &

terrible in me,

eligible to burst forth.

I dare not tell it in

words.

                         ~ ` ~ Walt Whitman

 

Time…

 

Being with you & not
being with you
is the only way I
have to measure
time.

~ ` ~ Jorge Luis Borges

 

 

Happiness…

 

On a cloudy day, the clouds hide the sun,

but the sun is always there in

the sky…

Like the sun, happiness is often hidden by

the clouds of thoughts & worries…

 

 

 

You have to scatter &dissolve the clouds to

experience it…

 

 

 

 

All you have to do is calm down your mind &

feelings, because when there is a quiet mind

& inner peace, happiness emerges 

from within you…

 

 

 

 

You don’t have to create happiness, because though

you may not believe it, it is a part of your

essence , but is just hidden…

 

 

 

 

…happiness is there within you.

just calm your mind & stay relaxed...

 

 

 

 

 

…what you need to do is strive not to allow

your feelings get upset by

your memories...

 

 

 

 

Inner peace & happiness are inter connected.

you want more happiness ?

Learn to calm your mind make 

it less restless…

 

 

 

 

It is an inseparable part of your consciousness,

of your essence, & comes out

where your mind

  is free from disturbing &

constant thinking…

 

 

 

 

 

...when the mind gets quiet you experience the

happiness in you…

 

 

 

 

 

...the treasure is there , whether you see it

or not. so is happiness.

 

 

 

 

 

…it is always here , only hidden by

constant thinking

& worries…

 

 

 

 

Do not let worries 

hide

your 

Happiness…

 

 

 

 

 

Location : Samanar Hills ( Jain hills) keelakuilkudi, Near Madurai, Tamil Nadu. India (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samanar_Hills)

Words: adapted from an article by  Remez Sasson

 

Soul’s Freedom…

 

          Witness & stand back 
         from nature,
                 that is the first step to 

                                the soul’s 
                          freedom.

~ ` ~ Sri Aurobindo

 

Yoga…

What does it take to actually be a

yogi, really?

Not spiritual attainment or Asana performance,

but the beautiful embrace of your

own reality.

                ~ ` ~  Mark Whit well

 

Freedom…

Life in itself is an empty canvas, it

becomes whatsoever you paint on it.

You can paint misery,

you can paint bliss.

This freedom is your

glory.

               ~ ` ~  Osho

 

 

 

 

You are born with wings

why prefer to crawl through life?

                            ~ ` ~  Rumi

 

 

You  must love in a way that

the person you love feels

free.

                ~ ` ~  Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

Freedom is the oxygen

of the soul.

        ~ ` ~  Moshe Dayan

 

And then something happened.

I let go. Lost in oblivion.

Dark & silent and complete.

I found freedom.

losing all hope was freedom.

             ~ ` ~  Fight club

 

 

I can feel the gentle breeze beneath my

wings.

I can feel the warmth of the sunrise in

my face.

It’s great to be free exploring

the world.

I can be myself, contended & at peace.

                        ~ ` ~  Unknown

 

Strenght & Dignity

I was surrounded by extraordinary women

in my life who taught me

about quiet strength & dignity.

                                             ~ ` ~ Michelle Obama

 

 

I heard…

 

One day I stopped, I listened and

              I heard the most beautiful sound

                    …My soul.

                                               ~ ` ~ Zen

 

 

Soul…

 

 

     Souls recognize each 

other

by vibes…

not by 

appearances…

 

 

 

 

Where ever you

stand

be the soul

of the place.

           ~ ` ~  Rumi

 

 

Friendship is composed 

of a single soul.

Inhabiting 

two bodies.

        ~ ` ~  Plautus

The soul

cannot 

live without love.

 

You are a spirit , you 

have a soul and you

live in a body.

              ~ ` ~ Pedro Okoro

 

( Picture : Indian Gaur )

I Exist…

 

  I exist as I am, that is enough,

if no other in the world be aware,
I sit content,

and if each and all be aware,

I sit content.

~ ` ~   Walt Whitman

 

 

 

 

 

Roots…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     May be you are searching

                 among the branches

                for what only appears

                in the roots.

 

                                      ~ ` ~ Rumi

 

 

 

  If art is to nourish the roots of our

                        culture, society must set the artist free to

                                            follow his vision wherever it takes him.

                                                                       ~ ` ~  john. F. Kennedy

 

 

              Everything you see has its

      roots in the unseen

                 world.

                  The forms may change, yet the essence

                                           remains the same.

                                                                  ~ ` ~ Rumi

 

 

 

                You can have more than

                              one home.

               You can carry your roots with you & decide

                              where they grow.

                       ~ ` ~  Henning Mankell

 

 

 

            Each person leaves a legacy — a single,

                    small piece of herself, which makes richer

                          each individual life & the collective life of

                                                     humanity as a whole.

                                   ~ ` ~ Unknown

 

 

 

 

     To be rooted is perhaps

               the most important

                  and least recognised need

                  of a human soul.

                                                    ~ ` ~ Simone Weil

 

 

 

Fade away…?

 

Life, it seems, will fade away

Drifting further every day

Getting lost within myself

Nothing matters, no one else…

 

No one but me can save myself, but it’s too late

Now I can’t think, think why I should even try…

 

    (~ ` ~ Metallica—fade to black)

 

 

 

 

Unbecoming everything…

 May be

The journey isn’t so much about becoming anything.

Maybe it’s unbecoming everything

that isn’t you

….so that you can

be who you were meant 

to be

in the first place…

                     

                                     ~ ` ~ Unknown

 

 

A song…

…I heard a song, a morning as I walked…
It came on as I passed…a song from far away, about a lost love. At least so I imagined,
I didn’t understand the words,
only the melody.
But in the low notes I could hear the loss one had suffered.. And in the
high notes understood too that it was a song about
something that could never be.
I had not wept in years.
But I did, there and then, on the side of a dusty street,
surrounded by strangers.
The melody stayed with me for years….

   ~ ` ~ (adapted from The memory of love, by Aminatta Forna)

To Love…

  To love is to suffer.
         to avoid suffering one must not love.
                 But then one suffers from not loving.
               Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer;
                                                                     to suffer is to suffer…
                                              ~ ` ~ Woody Allen

 

 

 

 

Courage…

  It’s a love 

              affair 

                        with 

                the unknown

                                                       ~ ` ~ Osho

 

 

Too Busy…

 

                              You should sit in meditation for
                         twenty minutes every
                 day – unless you’re too busy;
                          then you should sit for an hour.
                                                          ~ ` ~  Zen

 

 

Chief…

 

The torn boughs trailing

O’er the tusks…aslant

The saplings reeling in the path

He trod,

Declares his might- our lord

The Elephant

Chief of the ways of

God…

~ ` ~ Tom Alter

 

 

 

Faithful…

 

 

I meant what I said,
and I said what I meant.
An elephant is faithful,
one hundred percent.

                                                       ~ ` ~ Dr Seuss

 

New course…

   

 

We lead our lives like water flowing

              down the hill,
    going more or less in one direction
        until we splash into something
           that forces us to find a
new course

                          ~ ` ~    Arthur Golden

                                                     

 

( At corbett National park, India )