Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River runnin’ free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
It’s a new dawn
It’s a new day
It’s a new life for me
And I’m feelin’ good

Dragonfly out in the sun, you know what I mean, don’t you know
Butterflies all havin’ fun, you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when the day is done, that’s what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world for me
For me

Stars when you shine, you know how I feel
Scent of the pine, you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine and I know how I feel
Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life for me
(Free styling)
OH I’M FEELING GOOD
Nina Simone

is a Journey.

i think you should investigate the role of darkness and destruction. it’ll complete your spiritual path.

paulocoelhoblog.com, which i’ve been following, recently re-writes alot about eleven minutes, sex and the like. i think, without sex there is no intimacy. which is what made me write the earlier paragraph. i don’t know if this makes sense to you.

Can I let it here again? I wrote this in portuguese but I would like to let it closer to me, may I?

Essa é a terceira vez que volto à esse texto e, sem poder me conter, lágrimas vem aos meus olhos. Um texto aparentemente simples, mas com uma profundidade e.s.p.a.n.t.o.s.a.
Estamos sempre precisando renascer de alguma maneira, pra fazer diferente, ou pelo menos tentar. Então acredito que esse choro venha lá do fundo da alma, aquele mesmo choro que abre o peito e prepara o recém-nascido para o velho mundo novo que o cerca. No meu caso, “começar de novo..e contar comigo..vai valer a pena..ter amanhecido…”
Que a sorte e a força de principiante estejam conosco de novo, no novo dia, novo de novo, e que nos acontecimentos dos dias que se repetem de maneira extraordinária e incansável, nós possamos ver tudo com outros olhos, ver a beleza que estava ali escondida no espelho, o amor expresso num simples bilhete, o carinho todo especial no abraço de um amigo, todo o divino escondido numa pequena flor.

Pode parecer redundância e o é, mas que nossos olhos continuem abertos e que nossos corações continuem sensíveis à força da vida que jorra incessante, dia após dia!

Que a curiosidade, a vivacidade e o frescor dos olhos do menino Paulo, estejam sempre presentes no homem de hoje, nosso tão amado e respeitado escritor favorito!

Benditos sejam todos os seus dias, Paulo!

Com amor e luz,

Marta :)

I know you don’t want to irritate people, and you don’t…I’m just picking on you, of course.

I truly love you and all of your questions and comments. You add spice to our lives and this blog would be a drab, dreary place without you. ;)

Love,

Deb ;)

love u ( the attached kind of ;-) )

It’s not that i want to irritate people, but the questions that arise in me i share ( fearlessly, one can be as brave as one wants on this annomymous medium called internet ), with some possible answers too ( I never go to my boss with only a problem, i always carry at least four alternates and my recommendation too ). i have stopped trying to be popular, there is no point.

To a lovely butterfly Deb from

Aditya, the pesky gnat ha ha ha !!!!

Actually, I really don’t know all the answers and am flying by the seat of my pants, as we all are. ;) I’m just going according to the belief that I was taught and that feels right to me. But, I’m also aware that this may not be the Truth, either, since it’s a belief I sort of adopted. Maybe we should be attached to everything?? Even in loving, a person is attached to the Love…so, that’s attachment. (?)

That’s what I love about you…you always pick away at everyone’s comments like a little gnat that flies around your head, trying to bite you and you just want to swat it…but, it’s there to make you realize that life isn’t so easily laid out. Sometimes you have to use your energy to swat at the flying insects. Our beliefs need to be shaken up, not to just lie in the sun with us on the hammock, with an insect-free existence.

Thanks for shaking up my world, Aditya, you pesky gnat, you! ;)

Love, (of the unattached variety)

Deb :)

I saw ! one question though – hy should unattachement be the ultimate goal, because whatevr we p[erceive is our own truth, whatever we perceive is transient ??

love

aditya

Thank you for your clarification. I do understand what you are saying…yes, that whatever we do will have consequences. I just got hung up on when you said that we ‘must’ take sides, and I think Aditya expressed it very well, even though he thinks it’s clumsy! ;) That you can act, but that you don’t really have to consciously choose sides. That’s how I’ve been feeling about things, especially in regards to the situation I relayed about the murder. Although, initially, I DID choose sides, I think we have it in us (and probably SHOULD) to shift the energy and to go beyond the duality and to find the balancing point where we can remain unattached to the play that goes on here. I think unattachment to all things is the ultimate goal, anyhow. Oh, pardon me, I think my Buddhism/Hinduism is showing. ;) Well, don’t LOOK!! :)

Love,

Deb :)

Deb :)

There is something called choiceless awareness ( Krishnamoorthy ). In this universe of dualities, we must act ( even inaction is an act, as AVC has said ), but we need not take sides, whatever must be done, must be done, but there is no need to take sides. e.g. suppose on the street i see someone harassing someone, i act to prevent it, the oppressor is strong and i too have to use force to restrain him, but in the process he gets hurt, badly, now if i have taken sides, I will not feel for that chap, but if I have not, i will take him to some medical help. something like that ( i know its clumsy, but then so i am ;-) )

love

aditya

I am sorry if you feel that I drag you back to grounds you think that you have already covered. But since you asked, here goes.

The only manifested universe that I know of is the one that we live in, the one constituted by opposites, the one of duality.

All I was trying to say is that we are not God, but we exist in this manifestation and are constantly subjected to the course of events.

We can sometimes catch a glimpse of how everything has its place. But in the face of every single event, however important or insignificant it may appear to us, we must act or refrain from acting.

Either way, our choice will have consequences.

In this life, there is no escape to any other level of existence.

Beyond the abyss, everything might be different.

Generally any sentient being seems prone to endless opposites…We divide our time between:

day and night
sleeping and waking
dreams and waking
youth and age
fear and forthrightness
confusion and clarity
happiness and sorrow
despair and joy
and on and on….

Although science has perfected the construction of jet planes and computers and marvels of all sorts… we still remain in the stone age when it comes to the science of religion and philosophy. Our tools in this more mysterious realm remain unchanged since biblical times, more or less.

Science can astonish us with photos from the Hubbell telescope of distant galaxies spinning through light years of space. Billions of unnamed suns with billions of possible planets spinning around them.

Yet society still demands that we drag off to work at some tedious task to pay the rent.
At some point the marvelous mystical part of life’s mystery seems to have been codified into timetables and mortgage tables and light bills and gas bills.

Can wonders return?
Why shouldn’t they be as easily summoned as flicking on the TV with the remote control?
Like Picasso said… “I’d like to live as a poor man with lots of money”.

jn

Yeah, I’m with you regarding…I don’t know about AVC’s statement that we MUST take sides. I think as humans we generally DO take sides, but, I don’t know if it’s true that we must??

I think, as we’ve all talked about before here, that because we’re on this plane of existence in which duality is the norm, that we tend to think in dualistic terms – of black and white, good and bad, etc. But, I thought we all agreed that going beyond that and finding the unifying principle was the best possible course of action?

Or, AVC, is that what you were saying? I thought that you were saying this in your posting, at one point, but, then saying that we MUST take sides…isn’t that contradictory? I’m confused! :)

WHY must we take sides?

Hi Ione ! Imagine how god must be feeling after being blamed for all our ‘misfortunes’.

AVC
I am still trying to get the full import of what all u have written so beautifully. Must we take sides always ? We may take sides when taking sides is essential, otherwise, like in case of birds & fish, we may just be an impartial observer.

I once saw an interesting program on National geographic. During floods piranhas feast on the birds who fall down from their nests ( the young ones and even old ones which get caught ). later once the waters recede and the small pools also start drying up, the remaining birds feast on the piranhas who can hardly move in the muddy water. in nature there is no cruelty.
love

aditya

Let us not forget what we just saw: that there is a specific and necessary purpose to everything.

Consequently: we can, we must and we will take sides. Even though we understand that our adversary must take his and even though we shall thus forgive him.

We will speak and we will act. Though we know that truth is not in our words or in our deeds alone.

We will act, because it is the will of God that we should do so.

Only in the equilibrium between severity and mercy will we find the beauty of existence.[/quote]

Dear AVC,

you couldn’t say it better!
In order to understand our joy, we must respect our pain.
We need to understand that both energies are necessary and both contain beauty.
have a wonderful day!
Paulinha

There we may see how every single unit of manifestation has its own specific and necessary purpose; a crucial role to play in the development of the whole.

We may see how all the forces are flowing from the zones of high pressure to those of low. And we may come to realize that there is no good or evil.

By the vision of sorrow, facing this understanding of all, we will perhaps be pacified for a moment. But the path will suddenly open, to a Love grater than anything we have ever experienced before; the divine light will come flowing through every part of our being.

Let us never forget that none of us is God, and yet that every one of us is always in God.

Let us not forget what we just saw: that there is a specific and necessary purpose to everything.

Consequently: we can, we must and we will take sides. Even though we understand that our adversary must take his and even though we shall thus forgive him.

We will speak and we will act. Though we know that truth is not in our words or in our deeds alone.

We will act, because it is the will of God that we should do so.

Only in the equilibrium between severity and mercy will we find the beauty of existence.

With Love to All,
Ione

I miss talking to everyone here, but I have been attempting to starve my computer addiction for a while. And, it’s been great! Did you know that there’s a whole WORLD outside my window…and that people are actually doing lots of things like living out there?! Ha! :) Who knew?

I have limited time here and haven’t had a chance to read everyone’s responses, yet, so, my comment may reiterate one already posted.

My first thought after reading Paulo’s posting here is that I also just read an article about a book to improve memory (I can’t remember the name! Hee hee!) and it suggests doing things different each day…like using your left hand instead of your right. So, I thought I’d just mention that doing things with awareness, as well as changing the way you do things, is even good for your brain, as well as your emotional state. :)

OK, you know me, I can’t leave it at that. I have to share the latest news with ya all. It’s along the same vein, however.

I just had a really sad and strange experience this week. Last Thursday there was a hit and run accident that killed a man in my town. I was shocked to hear that it was the brother of my first love (whom I spoke about on the miracle blog before) who was also killed in a car accident ten years ago.

I love this family and was heart broken to see that this man was actually ran over while he was walking in a parking lot and the people in the vehicle sped off and left the man to die. :(

A witness said it appeared that they did it purposely because after they hit him once, they did it again. :(

I felt so sad for the family and so angry at the perpetrators and kept checking the news and paper to see if they found out who did it. The names have still not been released, but, local gossip finally made its way to my ear. The names of these horrible people were told to me yesterday. Imagine my surprise when I found out that two of the young men involved are my cousin’s children! :(

I have not been close with my cousins for many years and so don’t even recall even meeting these boys…maybe once or twice at social functions.

My first response was hatred and anger. I felt torn and said, ‘One of my own blood has killed one of my friend’s blood.’ It was very traumatic for me.

I began to blame the parents of the children for this, but, as I was doing so, my two boys had just gone out for a ride for the time alone – my older boy just got his driver’s license.

Then, I realized that ‘There but for the grace of God go I’ and that my own boys could have an accident which kills someone, too. Then, would it be MY fault? But, accidents are one thing. It appears that this may have been no accident, which is what bothers me the most.

Regardless, I had to rethink the situation and find forgiveness in my heart for these boys because forgiveness is the only appropriate response.

I then began to think about how my cousin and their family must be feeling right now and could find some sympathy for the situation on this side, as well as for feeling sympathetic for the victim’s family.

It reminds me of when I first moved to the country. We have a pond in our front yard and I may have told this story before, but, anyhow, there was a Kingfisher bird that kept coming around and eating goldfish in the pond. We had hundreds of them in there because 40 years ago, my husband and his mom put 5 fish into the pond and they multiplied. I felt like these fish were our fish and was annoyed that the Kingfisher was eating up all OUR fish!! :) So I used to have the kids scare the bird away, at first, whenever we’d see it…fearing a lack of fish, eventually.

And then one day, I looked at the beautifully majestic bird and realized that I loved it, too. And I became confused about which side to take…the one of the fish who are being eaten, or the one of the bird who is doing the eating – who needs the fish to survive.

I ended up feeling that maybe this is how God feels. You can’t take sides and there is no conflict when there is only love for all.

So, now I’m praying for everyone involved. I’m grateful I was able to shift from anger and hatred to love, and I pray that when faced with similar situations, that everyone, by the grace of God and Goddess, will be able to do so, as well.

Take care everyone! I will try to find more time to visit in the future!

God Bless!

Love,

Deb :)

for your journey…

the soles of his shoes
shine
like the morning sunrise
reflected in the light
of his passing.
his dream-song sung
with a voice so powerful
it shatters
the mere fabric of his being.
the melody -
a composition of his life
fleeting
like the beauty
of the morning sunrise.
the golden rays
of his fleeting footsteps
guiding him
as he is absorbed
into the melody -
in its crescendo ascending.

Love Light Life
John[/quote]

John leaves me speechless with wonder. At least this wonder makes one smile inside. The other wonders of those who have put me here – I do wonder at the shuddering ugliness… But perhaps that might be the Christian/Islamist/Hindu fanatic manner of trying to prove that despite reason and the age of the enlightenment of europe, they still have dark corners of third world banana republics to sway, and turn struggling scholars into message generators that terrorists do – no matter how much it takes them to try and vindicate their patent lies and their religious agendas hidden behind the twisted political environment that thrid world republic offer the opportunities of… But back to John’s poetry and gladness for such wonders…

Regardless of my efforts, I will never change this fundamental fact of the manifested universe.

Perhaps I am still afraid of investigating the role of darkness and destruction?

Is my spiritual path truly a quest for a deeper understanding of manifested universe, or is it an attempt to escape from it?

Thank you for your guidance through life

Ana