“When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
😀
xoxo Kim ❤
Tag Archive | wisdom
Yin-yang
In a previous post,Embracing the Light,I mentioned I’m reading a novel called, “The Last of Her Kind” about two girls who were best friends in college for a couple years then had a bad argument and ended their friendship but the woman telling the story, many years later, still thinks of her former friend very frequently and is still impacted by her friend even though she has not seen her in years. She seems to no longer have any hostility for the girl who was once her best friend.
This isn’t a book review. I’m still reading the book, I haven’t reached the end yet. It’s a very great book, incredibly realistic and deep. There are beautiful scenes in this book. I will share one here.
But first I will again mention like I did in my other post, that there is a brief rape scene in the book. Whenever I write/talk about books that I know there is sexual violence in, I caution people in case anyone wants to avoid that part. I know it can be extremely traumatic for some people to read if they have experienced some kind of trauma. So on pages 79-81, the narrator talks about when she was raped by a stranger in a park, as a college girl. The worst of it is on page 80 in the book I’m reading. I think it’s a good idea if we all caution anyone we tell about a movie or book that has a scene like that. Even if people stop reading/watching after they begin,it can be too late and post traumatic stress or flash backs or any distress can already be triggered. Or some people feel that once they begin something, they have to complete it or may not realize after they begin reading/watching, how bad it will be. It’s always good to try to help in any way we can and a simple caution can help prevent a serious trigger for someone. They may still read/watch anyway and that’s up to them but it’s good just to let them know.
(there won’t be any really big spoilers here but if you prefer not to know anything more about the book you may not want to continue reading if you plan to read the book)
Anyway, here is one of the beautiful scenes I will share out of this book:
“She lit a few candles around the room and she lit some joss sticks and she got out her guitar. I listened to her sing and wondered when she had become so good. Her voice was assured and pure and vibrant with feeling. The songs she sang were mostly songs she had written herself, and they were about love and pain and what was right with the world and what was wrong with it, and for all she had suffered she praised the wounded world and sang of her tender feelings for man, she sang angelically of hope and forgiveness, and I was blown away by this kid’s wisdom and goodness, and I was proud. Maybe my little sister didn’t have to go back to school. Maybe she knew everything already.” (pp.181)
How beautiful! The narrator, Georgette, has this to say about her little sister.
Her sister is severely mentally ill and struggles with substance addiction and some physical illnesses,she cannot have children, she was also abused as a child and had, and still in some ways has a very difficult life. She has recurrent psychiatric hospitalizations. She doesn’t have a complete high school education. But she is full of deep wisdom, and often is able to keep hope and wonder alive and not only praise the good in the world but celebrate the bad with the good through her music, writing, and just in her being. She has a kind and gentle heart.
This is only a fiction book but there are real people like this too. Those who choose to cherish the good and use the negative aspects of life to their advantage by creating whatever it is they feel a calling to create…music, artistic material, singing, dancing, writing….or anything. We can take our pain and struggles and allow them to deepen our empathy and compassion for others. And we can take all our pain and joy and beauty and create something. Even something as simple as a blog post or message to help inspire or uplift others.
Life doesn’t have to be perfect or without pain to be good. Life is beautiful even with the pain. Sometimes we may forget to celebrate the good when we’re too consumed in the pain, negativity, or distress and it’s great to have reminders.
(the sky wasn’t really this bright & pink, I put an effect on it but it’s pretty isn’t it?!) 😀
The world is full of bad but it’s also full of good. When we see on the news or are involved in tragedies like massacres or hurricanes and tornadoes, floods, fires, accidents, sickness….we see/feel/know the devastation. But we also see/feel/know the love and compassion of others, even strangers, that comes pouring in to those in need. We see people volunteering time, donating money and other material objects, offering to help, and just sending positive comments and well wishes. For every rude comment we receive on social media, we receive many more loving ones.
❤
There is more love, more light, more good than pain. And it's all what we focus on that will stand out. We don't have to deny the negativity, we can help it when we can and accept it and use it for good when we cannot help or prevent it.
This beautiful scene is a great reminder to bring more hope and forgiveness to the world, more love and light and acceptance. We can't all sing and play instruments and write songs like this girl but we all have some way to bring beauty to the world even if it's just a warm smile or positive attitude or just sharing an uplifting quote.
We all have the ability to put more light out into the world. ❤
Much love to you! 😀
Xoxo Kim
Look to each other for love <3
Here is a song sung by Bill Withers I love! It’s about loving each other and looking on the bright side of life! Money and other material things, competitions, success with jobs and things can bring us a certain kind of happiness but true boundless happiness is discovered through love, not just romantic love, but love as a state of being, love for others, love for life itself. All those other things can complement our happiness and joy and add to it but without love, it’s likely we would still feel empty and not very happy, no matter what else we have. Love doesn’t just have to be for a specific person or thing but also just a way of life.
“Let’s look to each other for love
Look on the brighter side of life
And the world that we share
Can make us happy
Look to one another for love
Look on the lighter side of life
And the way that we are
Can make us happy”
Check out the song!
Look to Each Other for Love – desktop
Look to Each Other for Love – mobile
Lots n Lots of love to you!
😀
❤
xoxo Kim ❤
Protector Day – Avalokiteshvara
Look who arrived in the mail today! And today also happens to be Protector Day!! ❤
This is Avalokiteshvara. He is the embodiment of love & compassion for all living sentient beings. He is one of the most celebrated of the bodhisattvas. According to the story, he chooses not to enter the blissful state of Nirvana, so he can remain here with us on Earth and save everyone in need. He is devoted to the salvation of others and this displays his fierce compassion and the depth of his love.
His mantra is Om mani padme hum, which is said to contain all the teachings of the Buddha.
Saying this out loud or silently is supposed to invoke the powerful, benevolent attention of Avalokiteshvara.
I love this man who is symbolic of love & compassion for all. His compassion is so complete that nothing can break him and he can handle anything. He is a great reminder to all of us, Buddhist or not, to strengthen our compassion for others. Not just humans but anything that can feel and has interests.
Imagine having compassion so complete, so deep, so full that nothing can seriously disturb us.
Here is to Avalokiteshvara out of the booklet.
Praise to Avalokiteshvara:
“You whose white coloured body
Is unstained by faults,
Whose crown is adorned with
A fully enlightened Buddha,
Who gaze upon migrators
With eyes of compassion,
To you Arya Avalokiteshvara
I prostrate.” (out of the prayer booklet)
We can offer him beautiful things such as flowers, candles, sweet fragrant things, tea, the sun & the moon….not that he needs these but it shows our devotion to universal compassion and gets our own minds in the habit of love.
Here is the prayer booklet info.:
You don’t have to believe in someone who actually hears prayers for this to be helpful. As I said, it gets our minds in the habit of acting and thinking purely and lovingly.
These two are photos out of the booklet.
Here is the visualization:
And here is a beautiful song with the mantra said throughout:
It’s a great song to meditate to! And play in the background of whatever we’re doing. It’s over 23 minutes long and I listen to it very frequently. It’s soothing and inspiring. I’m listening to it right now!
Here is my necklace with him on it.
His four arms! It’s just adorable!
I love when they have multiple arms!
And here is my Mala, for the mantra om mani padme hum.
Isn’t it beautiful?!
It’s believed by Buddhists that just seeing this mantra or hearing it has very powerful effects and just seeing a Buddha statue or picture is as good as seeing the real thing!
I just love how he came to me today on Protector Day!! How sweet!!! I ordered him a few days ago!
Happy Protector Day!! I think this day is a fantastic reminder to use our power to help others. Most of us have power over someone and are in a “lower” position than someone else. Let’s use our power and advantages for good. To help, uplift, inspire, heal, hug, and love. Let’s lift people up, not drag them down. Lift each other in love. ❤ ❤
😀
Lots of love to you!
xoxo Kim
If love was the center of our being <3
“What if our religion was each other,
If our practice was our life,
If prayer, our words?
What if the temple was the Earth,
If forests were our church,
If holy waters___the rivers, lakes, and oceans.
What if meditation was our relationships, if the teacher was life,
If wisdom was self-knowledge,
If love was the center of our being.” ~ Ganga White
Sweet little message about how incredible it is to let our life be our message, live our truth, practice what we believe is right, lavish love onto others and the world, be mindful of the beauty of nature. We don’t have to go to churchs, temples, or practice any certain religion to practice love, to BE love. Treat the rivers, lakes, and oceans how people think of holy water, as something sacred, something to be cherished. Practice kindness, always. Allow life to teach us all it can.
❤ ❤ 😀
Xoxo Kim
Embracing the Light
“‘What does light talk about?’ I asked a plant that once, it said ‘I am not sure but it makes me grow.'”
(I saw this quote attributed to st. Thomas Aquinas but I’m not sure if that is accurate.)
What a beautiful quote! I don’t know in which context it is truly meant to be or what the nature is but this is my interpretation. It reminds me that we don’t always have to know the answers to everything, we don’t have to know why or what or every detail about how something works, we can just take it for what it is, accept the beauty and blessings it bestows upon us. Accept what is. Avoid over analyzing.
It’s ok to wonder, research, ask questions…but it’s also ok to just accept and go with the flow, letting go of negative stress and without being hung up on little details.
We don’t have to analyze everything and draw implications.
I’m currently reading a novel which I already read more than half of, called “The Last of Her Kind” by Sigrid Nunez. It’s a masterpiece. So incredibly realistic, written kind of like a memoir. I cannot believe the narrator is fake. Lol I have to keep checking the book cover again to make sure it really does say “novel.”
This just goes to show what a brilliant writer this author is! She can make up an entire person and become her.
It’s about this lady’s life and how her best friend in college, who she had a falling out with, still has an incredible impact on her, years after their friendship ended. It takes place in the 60’s-80’s. The two girls were roommates and became best friends then a few years later they had a big argument and never talked to each other again. Then years after that the friend of the narrator was convicted of a violent criminal act. This comes as a shock to the woman telling the story and even though they had a serious falling out and haven’t spoken to one another in years, the woman still feels a sense of loyalty to and caring for her former best girl. This girl was and in some way, still is, a significant part of her.
Anyway, a line in the book is relevant to my post here so I will share. Coincidentally, I had this post planned to write then the same night, last night, I read this line:
“Back in my chair, following an urge I felt no need to examine, I began to write what seemed to be a letter but was addressed to no one in particular.” (pp.254)
(caution & mini spoiler here: This book has a rape scene beginning on page 79, spanning two pages, ending on page 81, I don’t want someone who has experienced any kind of trauma or with any sort of post traumatic stress to read this without warning, it can be a serious trigger for some, in case you want to skip those pages if you’re planning on reading the book – spoiler…the narrator is raped while she’s alone in a park, by a stranger, when she’s about 18 years old, so you can skip the details but still know that part of her story. She’s an adult now, telling us of her days in college and leading up to now)
So, I love the message this quote and the line in the novel seem to convey. If you have an urge to do something (not dangerous), it’s ok if you don’t know why, just go for it! Pick up your pen and write, go for a run, pick up the book you feel drawn to, go to school or takes classes, try something new, resume an old hobby, whatever you feel called to do.
If someone goes above and beyond for us, we don’t have to understand why, we can just accept and be thankful for the kindness.
This plant doesn’t know much about light but s/he knows it gives her the gift of life.
And Light doesn’t care about being understood or getting anything in return. It just wants to nourish someone.
How sweet!
❤
I just love these abstract Zen-like quotes! They aren't even meant to be analyzed or understood intellectually, yet I sit here and analyze and write about my interpretations and often have so much to say. Isn't it ironic?
Lol Well, it's ok to try to understand them intellectually and also just feel them and let them be.
If you have any abstract, weird, Taoist, Zen, mysterious… quotes, you can let me know! Thank You! 😀
Much love to you!
❤
Xoxo Kim 😀
Some Zen wisdom for today {and everyday} <3
“Now that my house has burned down I have a better view of the sky.” ~ Zen saying
Isn’t this beautiful? I can interpret this as a message of positive thinking. No matter what happens to us, there’s a brighter side even if we have to look really hard and get creative.
Also, another interpretation, clarity. When all our emotional clutter is cleared and our walls are stripped, we can see more clearly.
Let’s put away our phones and other technology for a few moments, let go of everything and feel the space around us.
There is beauty & bliss all around, within. ❤
All we have to do is open up and receive.
❤ Good day to you! 😀
Xoxo Kim
p.s. I would never say this to someone whose house just burned down! It’s a good quote to share in general like this but I’m almost certain if your house burned down two seconds ago, you don’t want to hear/read this being directly said to you! :-O ❤
The Most important relationship is…<3
~Be someone who makes everyone feel like someone.~ ❤
Recently, I was at the synagogue with my good friend, Mike, for the Jewish new year. I met him in college years ago and we are still good friends. His family warmly & lovingly invites me to their houses often for their holidays.
(my friends, Jim, Charlie, Mike, and me in New York City, a few years ago one sweet Spring day <3) 😀
We attended a beautiful event at the synagogue a few weeks ago where we sat under the stars at night drinking tea and singing and connecting, and the rabbi asked us which relationships in life are most important and there were various answers. The obvious ones were of course, our relationships with friends & family. Other answers were coworkers, God, our own self, the synagogue family. I was thinking that our relationship with everyone is important. Not just our longterm relationships but even just brief encounters with others each day. I did not say this out loud but one man volunteered his answer which was extremely similar to my own. He said our most important relationship is the one we have with everyone, just in general.
I couldn't agree more. My most important relationship is the one with whoever it is I'm currently engaging with whether that someone is a friend, a family member, someone I am close with, someone I hardly know, a customer at work, a coworker, a sales person, a bus driver, an animal/pet, an insect, a person I would rather not be around, a doctor, a boss, a person I meet walking up a street or in a park or in traffic….whoever I am right here with, right now. It's important to give that person my full, undivided attention. It's important to be mindful of what is right before me in this moment.
It's all that matters. Let's listen, truly listen when someone is talking. Let's not zone out and think about future plans or food or our phone or whatever we may want when someone is in our presence and attempting to communicate with us. Even if what the person is saying doesn't interest us, it's important to that person so we can make it important to us. This won't always be easy, mindfulness takes practice and our minds tend to stray now and then.
Right now is our most important moments. And whoever is with us is our most important relationship at that moment. (in my opinion. I understand someone else may have a different view.)
This takes me back to 11th grade when our English teacher told us that every encounter we have with someone, no matter how brief, even someone we may never see again, is a relationship worth nurturing the best we can. He gave an example of a seemingly trivial encounter, with a bus driver.
But he explained the importance of even an encounter like that. Getting on a bus, putting money in, is part of our life and it’s good to make it a positive part. Be friendly to the bus driver.
I did not completely realize the wisdom of what he told us back then but I felt that it is somehow important. Now I know.
One little encounter can have a profound effect on someone. For better or worse. We have the ability to choose words, gestures, actions…that can lift someone or potentially drag someone down. Let’s choose to lift others up.
Let’s make everyone feel like someone.
❤ 😀
Also, this is one of the songs we sang at the synagogue. “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the Byrds. It was beautiful to hear all the people singing together.
Lotsa, Lotsa love to you! 😀
Xoxo Kim ❤
Universal Love & World Peace <3
Only Love Can Bring World Peace – mobile
Only Love Can Bring World Peace – desktop
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, a Buddhist monk and meditation master, in this video above, speaks of Universal Love and the nonsense of war and nuclear weapons.
He explains how the only way to put an end to war & violence around the world is the practice
of Dharma, which is Buddha’s teachings, but he also explains that by Dharma, he just means love, patience, and respect of others. Buddha’s teachings are grounded in love. He mentions that he doesn’t preach this because he’s a Buddhist, although that he is. This message is not exclusive to Buddhism and not something to only be carried out by Buddhists.
Anyone irrespective of religious views can share and live this message.
Here, Geshe-la explains that LOVE is the most powerful nuclear explosive. It can destroy enemies. Now, at first this may seem horrific as if we want to blow up our enemies! But when he says destroy “enemies,” he is not referring to persons or any living sentient being, he is referring to the concept of enemy. Let’s destroy the concept of someone being our enemy. This doesn’t mean destroying someone who is flesh & blood.
Even if other people consider us their enemy, we do not have to return those thoughts and feelings against them.
I can be someone’s enemy without that person being mine.
If we all think this way, there will be no more enemies in the world. Even if just some of us think this way, there will be more love in the world and less violence and hostility. Even if it’s just one small part of the world, that is incredible! We are made of energy and our energy goes out into the world around us, let’s make it loving energy. Let’s summon all the love we can and destroy the whole notion of enemy.
Oh, my! My heart just wells up with love and gratitude for this adorable little man & his beautiful message. ❤
It's ok to love our country and our culture but we are not better than anyone else, we are all equal, all one. Some countries have more advanced governments and more human rights applied and cleaner water and more food available but their citizens are no more deserving than the citizens of any other country.
Borders and boundaries and governments and organization are all “man-made,” even though in some cases they may be necessary. We don't have to use them or the concept of them as a weapon against each other. Even if we don’t do anything practical to help people in other parts of the world, like travel or donate money, just deepening our compassion and empathy is good. It emits positive energy into our world and inspires us to act more lovingly in general.
(this isn’t my picture, I don’t know the source)
Let's not just think of our own community members as our brothers and sisters and not just think of our selves as citizens of our own country but citizens of the whole world. That's what each of us are.
Let's forget the enemy. Not forget our enemies as the people they are but forget their role as enemy to us.
❤ ❤
All of these pictures of Venerable Kelsang are screen captures I took of parts of the video above.
And here is a lovely song about universal love:
What the World Needs Now – Dionne Warwick – mobile
What the World Needs Now – desktop
Love sweet love. ❤
“No not just for some but for everyone.” ❤
An Oldie and goodie! ❤
😀
We may not always live up to this even if we think it's a sweet message. Sometimes we may act selfishly, argue negatively, act in an unkind manner. But we can acknowledge this and try to be better and better. It's ok to fall as long as we keep getting back up. ❤
😀
Much love to you,
xoxo Kim ❤
I Am your Mirror
“We are pain and what cures pain, both. We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours. I want to hold you close like a lute, so that we can cry out with loving. Would you rather throw stones at a mirror? I am your mirror and here are the stones.” ~ Attributed to Mevlana Rumi
What a beautiful quote! I think it conveys a message that we have the potential to do, be various things, even opposites. We can be positive or negative, loving or selfish, warm and caring or cold and distant. We are the source of our own problems but we are also the source of the solution to those problems. We have gifts and the ability to share those gifts.
I feel that it’s a quote about interconnectedness and Oneness. Underneath, we all share a basic sentience or experience. We all have very similar qualities and not just humans but animals and insects as well. All sentient beings have needs and desires, interests, are capable of pleasure and pain, joy, and suffering. What we see in our own self, if we look closely, we can see it in others. And what we see in others, we can find in our own self when we look deep within.
The end of the quote about the mirror seems to indicate that we are very similar and maybe how our actions even against our self can affect others or our actions against others can affect our own self. It also seems like someone offering to take on someone else’s pain. That is beautiful selflessness! Don’t hurt yourself, hurt me if you must hurt someone!
I love the quote and what it seems to mean and there are probably so many, many interpretations we can come up with. I think it just flows beautifully even without thinking about the meaning.
It also reminds me of this:
“Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something.”
Again, a message that conveys that underneath, deep within, we are very similar, we are one. Never feel alone, whatever you feel, pleasant or unpleasant, joyous or painful, someone somewhere is experiencing something or has experienced something quite like it. This can deepen our empathy & compassion. Let’s remember how it feels to be happy, accomplish something, have something pleasant happen to us and be happy for others just as we would for our own self. And let’s recall how it feels to be in pain, scared, anxious, to be filled with sorrow and want to help heal & uplift others as much or even more than we want our own pain soothed. Let’s remember how it feels and refuse to inflict that upon someone else. But let’s show compassion & deep understanding to those who attempt to inflict pain upon us.
“…Would you rather throw stones at a mirror? I am your mirror and here are the stones.”
xoxo Kim ❤
