'Post-it' of the day.

What? But How? And why?

Now, 

shut up and go live.  

Seriously.  

BuddhaOfelia hard at work

Attaining Enlightment never looked so stylish...

...and yummy. 

Buddhahood...  right at our fingertips :)

We are...

Happiness

Understand this.

And isn't a wonderful thing?! 

I think so :)

 So, What do you see?  What do you seek?  

Funny how only one letter separates those two words.   

Perspective truly is everything.

You have, at this exact moment exactly what your heart sought.  

So, what will you see tomorrow?

xo

Enlightenment... Buddhahood... Wisdom... Heaven... Happiness is...

Any questions? 

;D

  

The day Buddha met Carlin

So the other day I was driving myself a tad bit crazy... yes, I have those days, you are not the only one :)  I couldn't quite grab hold of... whatever it was that was leaving me with this great feeling of chaos... it was as if I was inside a jar and someone took hold of it with me inside and shook it and shook and shook it, and kept shaking it some more until I had completely forgotten what it was like to not shake.  I used these exact words as I was describing my feelings to my husband, "I am looking around at my life and I am seriously asking myself, 'you did this yesterday? how? how did you do this yesterday and the day before that and the day before that?'" and I don't mean I was asking myself those questions as in some sort of judgement.  I meant I was asking those questions as if I had really forgotten how to do the most basic things.  Laughing at me yet? ;)

Anyway, that's how it felt.  It was not a good feeling.  I walked from room to room, either walking towards a child who needed me or some activity that needed my attention, while another child followed me or asked me something... and the day continued.  I would sit, and not know if I wanted sunshine on my face or a good night sleep.  I found myself also saying this over and over again to my best friend, "I don't know.. I don't know anything.  I can't think.  I can't focus. I don't know anything."  and I also said this, "parenting wise, I am failing miserably."  That was the worst part.  It is one thing to feel completely detached from yourself, it is another thing to feel like a parenting failure because of it.

The self flagellation continued as mountains and mountains of things that "needed" to get done kept following me around the house like some zombie in a horror movie.  I began to stop "seeing" the world around me and instead I became just another thing in my world.  I didn't really like the feeling.  In the process, the clock ticked louder and louder, little hands needed my arms more and more and toys seemed to be laughing at me because as soon as I put them away, they would resurfaced yet again.

I had had ENOUGH.   I knew that I knew better than this.  I knew it! why then was I not able to stop this absurd cycle of insanity.   Then suddenly, I heard a voice in my head.  Don't worry, it wasn't one of those voices.  It was a voice that I didn't quite expect.   Even now, as I replay it in my head I can't help but laugh and laugh all over again.  As I continued to walk from one room to another forgetting why I was standing in the room to begin with, I met Buddha... in the most amusing of voices.

...and there, I found my Zen.

"and what about these people who tell you, 'My needs aren't been met.' You know what I tell these people? DROP SOME OF YOUR NEEDS!! "  George Carlin

and in the midst of laughter and a deep exhale :)  I did! :)

I haven't stopped laughing since.

How? how do I "find" joy?

Wise up!

Like sand. The lesson is simple.

It is all like sand. Everything. Our relationships, our jobs, careers, successes, money, experiences, it is all... like sand running through our fingers. And we try so hard... to manage it, to control it, to guide it, to prevent it from doing what it is in it's nature to do... we wanna keep it, we wanna claim it, and we suffer, until we realize our efforts are futile. No matter how tight our grasp... we just can't control it. The joy comes when we realize, we don't have to.

The lesson is simple.

I see the sand

I touch the sand

I love the sand

It is beautiful

It feels good

It is poetry

I love it's warmth as it reflects the sun

I admire it

it runs through my fingers...

I love the sand.

That is life. That is bliss. That is Freedom from pain, from "suffering", from hurt, from perceived anguish. Love life. Touch life. Experience life. Life is beautiful. Life feels good. Life is poetry. Appreciate life. Life runs through your fingers. Love life.

Let go of all misconceptions of control and futile earthly effort. Know that YOU are life. We are life. We hold the sand, we are connected to the sand. We are one. We have nothing to fear. We do not have to grasp to misconceived ideas of existence. Let go... love, love freely... don't waste energy trying to hold on. Be the experience you seek to feel and enjoy.

The lesson is simple.

See it, love it, live it, and keep loving it some more. That is ALL we are here to do.

Post it

" If I had my child to raise over again "

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger-paint more, and point the finger less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.
I'd do more hugging and less tugging.

~Diane Loomans, from "If I Had My Child To Raise Over Again"

Children need...

for us to follow their lead.

Do our children really need our spiritual guidance? or are WE the ones in need?

Let's listen more. Learn more. Observe and be quiet.

The proper question

Who are you? How are you? Better yet... how is your mind? How is your spirit? How is the silence between this thought and that thought?

Do we really know how we function... and subsequently how we don't? We wake up, we "work", we clean, we talk, we walk from one room to the other, we drive here and we drive there... we get lost in the business of life, keeping up with the mundane through our limited perceptions, identifying our existence with short term goals and long term plans, "What are we doing this weekend? " "did you pay that bill?" " When will I have some down time?" we stroke our egos with our judgements of others, criticisms which say more about ourselves than they do about our object of scrutiny. " Ugh, people..." " oh my god, they are such a mess." "I like him, I don't mind her" perpetually clogged by all the noise, "when will that light turn green?" "how much more until we get out of here?" " Let me just get to the end of the week." How can we possibly know who we are, how we are and where we are, when we are constantly existing in a state of illusion and if we are not careful, delusion.

Again I ask, and this time correctly, How is your mind? how are your thoughts? Do you understand the power of your thoughts? how much you control? and if you don't... how much control you relinquish? how are your words? What do your words say about YOU? what do your thoughts say about YOU? what do the silence and the noise in your mind say? What do all these things that you think are seemingly unimportant sow and consequently reap?

The human condition while tragic, it is also very interesting. We make life, we take life, we build airplanes and can fit a computer in a cell phone... but we act as though we have no control of life. Our problems are someone else's lack there of. Our pain is someone else's cruelty. Our mental and emotional chaos is the result of someone else inflicting abuse. Our inability to find, to receive... is someone else's inability to give.

Let's face it, Human beings, as an organism are sick and we are only getting sicker. When it comes to building, to nourishment, to cleansing, detoxifying our bodies, it is ( for the most part ) universally understood that we need to break it and then rebuild. We need to detox our bodies. And if we really pursue health we need to not only detox our bodies we need to rewire our entire chemistry. If you want to build muscle, you need to actually destroy the muscle and then rebuild. Same goes for our mind, our way of thinking, our understanding of how to live, how to be happy, how to *be*.


" We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. "

What does that mean? Very simply this, we need to be aware and MASTER our understanding of our thinking, our minds, for it is our minds' working which dictates our lives, our identities, our sufferings and our joys. This is more than just thinking positive thoughts. No, like I said, we are talking about rewiring our mental and emotional processes. And there is something that we need to understand above all else, something I did not understand until very recently, whether you know it or not... that which you do not control, controls you. Regardless of any superficial grasp of personal control, our checkbooks, our homes, our relationships, it is our thoughts, our uncensored, unabashed, unfiltered thoughts and emotions which define us.

No more of the same... that's a good start. Wipe the slate clean. Remember the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior over and over again and expecting a different result. We are our thoughts. We are the thoughts behind our actions, our concept of the world, our perceptions, our ideas. When we define ourselves as, "I am a woman" " I am a parent" " I am a Teacher" We are simply listing titles of roles we play or responsibilities we fulfill. Who we are is much deeper and interesting than that :) Pay attention to it. Guard it. Free it. Nourish it. Master it.

It is not the economy's fault for our lack of wealth. It is not our abuser's responsibility to rid us of our pain. It is not our mothers' short comings that dictate our insecurities. It is not someone else's ignorance which defines how we choose to see and paint the world. It is not someone else's cruelty that determines whether or not I trust and love.

Who I AM is defined by my thoughts. By my will and by my discipline of both.

I am.

I am my thoughts
I am my opinions
I am my ideas
I am my judgements
I am my anger
I am my love
I am my doubts
I am my choices
I am my smile
I am my breath
I am my memories of you
I am the brush...
I am the canvas...
I am.