A Thanksgiving Blessing

Looking at Your Empty Plate
My plate, empty now
will soon be filled
with precious food.

Looking at Your Full Plate
in this food
I see clearly the presence
of the entire universe
supporting my existence.

Contemplating Your Food
This plate of food,
so fragrant and appetizing,
also contains much suffering.

Beginning to Eat
With the first taste, I promise to offer joy.
With the second, I promise to help relieve the suffering of others.
With the third, I promise to see others' joy as my own.
With the fourth, I promise to learn the way of non-attachment and equanimity.

Finishing your Meal
The plate is empty
My hunger is satisfied
I vow to live
for the benefit of all beings.

Washing the Dishes
Washing the dishes is
like bathing a baby Buddha
The profane is the sacred.
Everyday mind is Buddha's mind.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Love

Today, (Wednesday) we are working with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for mastering our inner dialogue.

You will not exhaust the love in the universe
if you were to absorb it from now until the end of time.

Love is all that exists.

Love is the universal communication.
It is the energy that has created the universe and is keeping it going.
God is love.
All matter is formed by love.
There is an organic love that speaks to everyone if they could but hear.
A leaf holds together for love.

Love can turn the world around and it does.
What did you think was spinning your planet if it wasn't love
and what do you think the fires of your sun consist of
and the cells of your body
and the stars in your sky
and the consciousness in your heart?
It is all love.

There is nothing but love.
Don't let the masks and postures fool you.
Love is the glue that holds the Universe together.

The greatest need in a soul is to achieve that loving of self which will bring about the unity wherein the judgements that have caused such pain are eliminated.

True self-love is not ego.
True love is great humility.
Love and compassion for others cannot exist until there is a goodly supply for self.
How can you feel the love of God if you do not love yourself?
Are they not one and the same thing?

Until you can accept yourself, you lock the doorway to the expansion of all that you yearn for.
This expansion comes through your heart.
Be kind to yourselves.

~Emmanuel's Book

Your Standards of Integrity

Today's post expands our understanding of and experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Tuesday).

Your heart recognizes and is drawn to people who possess qualities you admire. You cherish or delight in these attributes because you know what they are. They reflect your own potential. When you see these qualities in others, you experience joy, inspiration, and gratitude. That's the signal that your heart is responding to them.

Take a moment and think about someone whom you admire. What qualities do you prize in them? Below the surface of physical attributes or possessions, which traits reflect their basic goodness? Do you admire their courage, loyalty, or creativity? Do you honor their love, compassion, or truthfulness? Even as you are thinking about the person, do you notice a certain warmth in your heart?

Your heart warms in response to these qualities because they are inside you. You can't appreciate a trait unless you've experienced it - whether or not you are currently experiencing it. In order to value loyalty, for example, you must know what loyalty is. You must sense what it means to be dependable, steady, faithful, and dedicated - and you must also know the pain of disloyalty. This is true for any other attribute to which your heart responds.

To use a physiological metaphor, if you respond to the trait you must have a receptor site for it, a location in your heart that recognizes and reacts to the quality when you see it in others. To be moved by a trait in another person, you must have that quality inside yourself as a possibility.

Remember the old saying that you don't like certain people because they have some traits that you dislike in yourself? What if the opposite were true as well?

Why are you here?

This is an exercise specially formulated to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Monday).

For this exercise you will need paper and pen, and ten minutes of uninterrupted time. Ask yourself, Why am I here? Write down the first thing that comes to mind. This question is open to many interpretations, so jot down whatever thoughts it triggers. Don't worry about the writing itself. You don't even have to use complete sentences.


Then pose the question again: Why am I here? Write down a new response. Do this twenty times. Keep looking for different ways to interpret the question so that each answer is unique and speaks to a different facet of the question.

Now look over your responses. What do they tell you? Do you see any pattern or progression in the answers? What does this tell you about how you see your life?

You can see your life as a series of external and internal events, but you can also learn to see those events as connected with each other and with something more spiritual. When you do that, you will begin to see your life as an opportunity to share the special gift you alone can bestow upon the world. That's one answer to the question of why you are here. Having this kind of clarity of purpose will help you focus your intentions.