Secret of creating riches

Never forget: the secret of creating riches for oneself is to create them for others.

— Sir John Templeton

Power of thoughts

If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.

— Peace Pilgrim

The time is now

There was chaos at No Wind Monastery. The monks were running scared and the cause of their fear was none other than the head abbot, Zen Master Blumise. They all knew that the only monk who could help them in such desperate times was senior monk Tara, and the monks were running around frantically trying to find her.

Finally, a group located her sitting by the river enjoying the late afternoon sun.

“What’s all this ruckus about?” she asked, rather alarmed at seeing a gang of anxious monks approaching her. “And why is one side of each of your faces red?” she continued, noticing the glowing redness on the left cheek of every monk.

“Master Blumise has lost his marbles,” replied Chin. “He is running around the monastery asking everyone what time is it? And as soon as you tell him the time, he gives you one tight slap and moves on to the next victim. In fact, he has slapped monk Gzan twice today already, see both his cheeks are red!” Chin exclaimed, while pointing out Gzan’s very red face.

“The old bugger is still pretty strong,” muttered Gzan.

Just then a very irritated Master Blumise burst onto the scene.

“Tara!” he yelled, “What time is it?”

Tara looked up calmly, smiled and said, “The time is now, Master,” and that was the end of that. Master Blumise bowed deeply to his beloved student and left the now awakened congregation of monks to reflect on this right answer.

— Anmol Mehta

Great attitude

A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change.

— Earl Nightingale

Where do you draw a line between ‘rescue’ and the practice of ‘compassion’?

When Jesse was a little girl of six she kept silkworms. Once she noticed one struggling hard to get through a smallhole in the cocoon. Jesse became very worried about the small creature’s capacity to emerge, so she took a pair of scissors and cut open the cocoon. Then to her horror, she noticed that the moth was deformed when it emerged. It had a swollen stomach and twisted wings – very different to the other moths, and unable to fly.

She carried this picture of the moth’s struggle into her adult life until one day when she watched a program on moths and butterflies on television. Jesse, now in her 60s, discovered that all moths need to push hard and struggle when emerging from their cocoons to enable the blood from their bellies to pump into their wings and give them the strength to fly.

Jesse finally had the insights that nature had given her :

“Our struggles and efforts ‘when things get tough’ strengthen us and support our growth and development into beautiful perfection” and

“If we ‘rescue’ others when they are facing tough situations we intercept their development and growth”

— Z-Meditation

Soul agreements

In our lifetime we meet many persons from different walks of life. Some we like, some we become fond of, with some we feel comfortable, with some we feel affectionate, some we want them to stay around with us, with some we strike meaningful conversation, with some we feel the warmth & sincerity, some become life long friends after having met the first time, some become loyal and trust worthy BUT there are some we don’t seem to like even during our first meeting. There are some without assigning any genuine reason we would like to keep away from. Some we meet quite frankly at the first meeting we seem to develop a dislike, and there are some we don’t want to know them.

The Question is: Why does this happen? This is due to interaction between different souls. I came across this in a newsgroup and found it be profound, it sheds some light on why we react to some people and why we sometimes feel that we have known that person even though we have never met them.

With each person who passes through your life, you have a soul agreement. What this means is that, long ago in the realm of the soul, you promised to have some special encounter, share some life-shaping experience, complete some soul-honing work with that particular soul in this life. Soul agreements are commitments to the evolution of our individual souls in conjunction with one another, as one by one we make the journey to that state of seamless awareness that the mystics call Enlightenment.

It is because of these agreements on a soul level that at times you may feel a mysterious strange connection with some other person, why difficult people may at times inexplicably inhabit your life, why you may find yourself on a journey with a particular person – as if you had an unwritten contract to fulfill – and then discover that, as if by amputation, your association is suddenly over.

As the community of souls who have gathered together in life on Earth, we have agreed not only to remember for each other the pure state that was our origin, but also to act out whatever portion of the needlessly changing tableau of human experience.

We have been called upon to play to ensure our own soul’s growth, and that of the souls to whom we have made these deep promises. Some of us are here to be beautiful and strong, others to be cranky and difficult, some teach us through the searing heartbreak, others to instruct us through wisdom, but no matter what role we are playing, we are all enacting a part in that
one great spiritual destiny, which is to remember our eternal essence and move toward ultimate union.

So it is that every person you meet, each soul who crosses your path and affects you – wonderfully and terribly, briefly, or for a lifetime – is here for that reason, and every relationship you engage in, is but a small scene in the vast, ever-unfolding human panoply that is being endlessly enacted for the purpose of your soul’s development.

When you recognize this, you will suddenly, breathtakingly see that each person has been brought to you with a high and elegant purpose, that each soul has come to touch your soul and teach it, and that each relationship exists to hasten your own soul’s beautiful awakening.

No longer is anyone a stranger, no longer can any of your relationships be seen as failures or mistakes. In the light of the Spirit, we see that we are all playing out roles that are the fulfillment of an exquisite and all-encompassing plan.

To recognize this is to step out of conflict, and into Grace. For when we realize that life has been so beautifully designed, we will bask in the light of the Spirit and we will live in absolute Peace.

— Unknown

Heart of a Mouse

A mouse was in constant distress because of its fear of the cat. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat. But then it became afraid of the dog.

So the magician turned it into a dog. Then it began to fear the panther, so the magician turned it into a panther. Whereupon it was full of fear for the hunter.

At this point, the magician gave up. He turned it into a mouse again saying, “Nothing I do for you is going to be of any help because you have the heart of a mouse.”

— From ‘Heart of the Enlightened’ by Anthony De Mello

Be aware

A master used to repeatedly emphasize on right thinking as a means to changing one’s destiny. One student could not see the point and asked him to elucidate.

The master said:

Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

— Z-Meditation

Wealth

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.

— Henry David Thoreau

Vehicle for transformation

Everything in your life is there as a vehicle for your transformation. Use it!

— Ram Dass