Just found it & copied it.

DESIDERATA II

IN WHATEVER RELIGION YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT, HOWEVER YOU HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UP, AND HOWEVER YOU HAVE UNDERSTOOD YOUR TEACHERS … On these levels you will understand and grasp this message. It is not enough that this message is believed. It is a message to be lived. The essence of Universal Religion is Peace and Truth, with Love for and Kindness to all the creatures of the earth. Now is the time to explore this essence in your own life. A beginning must be made, and the place to begin is with and in you. You would reform the world? Begin with yourself, brother! The message of the unreformed reformer seldom inspires reformation. The heart of all Religion is love. And righteousness, which is love in action, is the fulfillment of Religion. Love not only family and friends - for love limited is love denied. Seek peace within yourself and seek too, within yourself the Divine Breath of Life. Persist in these things! Do not let up for a single moment! Through your faith and your deeds you shape your life and help shape the lives of others, as well. What a responsibility! The Spirit finds in you its agent and also its partner, and is, to the degree that you are aware of this and act on it, higher than your most exalted dreams. The New Age is coming, and in it the various Religions will disappear. The good, which is in each of them, will have fused and will become the common goal of all mankind. Know that you have the power to choose! Choose love, not hate; choose gentleness, not violence; choose holiness, not evil! Dare to believe that the Reign of Love and Peace is coming soon! Ready yourself for it! Ready yourself for it with deeds of righteousness! Righteousness is the door opener, and beyond the door is love. May power divine enter every aspect of your life endowing it with the rewards of material accomplishment, the treasures of purposeful existence, and the eternal light of spiritual achievement!

I saw this in my Minister's house and googled it. I thought I would share it with all of you.
Namaste',
Seraph

Fall for it!

Where have all the troubadours gone? Why did we so brashly push them way? Were their giddy assertions so insulting? It is funny that we try so hard to stay away from the "L word". It is as if we have forgotten why Love is the stuff of poetry and legends and fairy tales. We poke fun at new lovers. We coo at old married couples still deep in their romances. We downplay our own Love so as not to look foolish.
It seems this disregard is the root of our stagnation in relationships. It is why we discontinue to feel the passion of new love. Our walls keep our pride safe but in doing so, sacrifice our very hearts. We, ourselves, give up our Happily Ever After.
What, I ask, is the shame in being in Love? What is the harm in that particular foolishness? I say look foolish. I have fallen back into love and I revel in it! I twirl around singing about stars and hearts and summer blooms. Not that I ever stopped loving my wife, but there was a time not too long ago when it would have been hard to say if we were in Love or not. So here we are now, back to being "In Love"...back to newlyweds. I don't think either of us can say why. I don't think either one of us cares. We float around each other again, held aloft by clouds of desire. We pine for the other's embrace. A minute is too long to be apart. When she is away from me, I feel her kisses as ghosts on my lips. I smell her body and my skin dances in memory of her touch. I ache for her. And she for me. Call me a fool. Warn me of the treachery of walking along the cliff's edge with eyes aloft to Heaven. I will write my poetry and I will be laughed at.

Will you fall again and over again still? Will you brave ridicule to feel such depth in your own soul? Will you step into the night and gaze dreamily at the moon?
Look at the one you are with now. You loved them once, even if only for a moment, with that deepest love. Find that moment. Go, no, run back to that place. Don't worry about your tiny ego. Be not concerned with possible heartache. Bathe in it. Lose youself in that Love. Don't worry about who's laughing.
All the while, you see, we troubadours have been laughing, at you. We know Our Love is that Love of the deepest Soul. Our Love lives in that moment, in that perfect place.
Our love IS the stuff of legends.

because we can...

Why is it that we look for reasons to be angry?
I sit all day observing people doing their best to find the things in others that upset them. Or they are dwelling on circumstances or situations that aggravate them and are beyond their control.
I have some big anger issues myself. It is a seething type of anger that sits deep inside of me. I do not stomp around being pissed off all of the time, although I do occasionally, but every so often I do become overwhelmed with rage. A powerful violent hatred that consumes my thoughts.
But this is not what I am talking about.
I am talking about the desire to find something to be pissed off about at any given time. We, as a society, will turn on the television and watch the news, not because we seek unbiased information, but rather so we can adopt the opinions of others which we can then cling to in order to allow ourselves to be angered by the opposing opinion when it is presented to us. We establish what we decide are correct values not to live by them but to argue for them. Our common language is riddled with references to war and violence. Phone calls consist of one person complaining for a few moments and the other responding with aggravated agreement or additional gripes to fuel the fire.
We are obsessed with finding the things in life that cause us disharmony. We stomp through flower beds to complain about the weeds.
We anticipate the thoughts of others, always to the negative, and create these false realities to live by. I have actually watch distraught people have arguments with themselves because they are predicting what their partners are thinking and not listening to what they are saying. We get angry at people. We say it is for the sake of other people, but really we need to feel like we matter and anger makes us feel important. We call it defending the innocent, but rarely ask if the defense is desired. We argue with those we claim to be defending in order to convince them that they need our defense, that they should be angry as well.
We search for things, situations, people to pass judgement on but how often do we look for things to praise?
How often do we pursue joy? When do we take the time to feel the good things in our lives? How often do we look for Love?

For...give.

"I feel so desperately sad."
My wife said that to me this morning. She was reflecting on her inability to prove to someone in our lives that she truly cares about them.

It is a matter of ego that prevents us from accepting love from others. It is fear of hurt that separates us from each other.

We all play each role in the dichotomy. We are the ones who turn from the compassion of another out of fear and we are the ones who are turned from. It is hard to say which role is the more painful. It is a strong person who can admit the need for love, who can accept compassion from another when they are at their most vulnerable. But often our weakness is greater than our strength. It is a simple act to show love, but a trial to accept it. This is hard to understand unless you have felt it. Maybe it's hard because in the end it is the acceptance of love that is truly the greatest gift one can give.

On the other side, it is painful to give love freely when the possibility of rejection looms so heavily. It is even more difficult after we have been rejected by the other. This often closes off the interaction and ends the relationship. This is the point when true strength is required. It is a rare person who can proceed from here in a positive and constructive way. It is much easier to quit and never attain the true prize of acceptance.

I, myself, am on both sides currently.

So which side is the more difficult? Which side is the more rewarding? Which side is the more painful?

Which side are you on?

Back and to the Left Behind

Well, I have returned from my European hiatus. Though I will miss Paris, it is good to be home again...

O.K., I 'm full of sh*t. In reality I just paid off my wireless provider.
Besides who could miss Paris in this country. The dumb bi*ch is everywhere!

It has been a few months and I have maintained my meditation schedule though I have changed up the mantra. So I am doing what I had been doing prior to starting this blog. I am posting again because I feel that the issue of nonviolence is a recurring presence in my life.
For example, I have a new presence in my life in the form of a child. A 14 yr old child that I had forsaken (youthful misguidance and folly) that I have recently taken steps toward making contact with. Here's how the violence plays out...

Upon contacting her mother, I was concerned that there would be apprehension at best and flat out anger at worst. As it turns out the mother has been holding a torch for 15yrs. which in reality is the worst as this causes "old wounds" in her and guilt and regret in myself. It has also opened a rift in her marriage that had existed but was not aggravated at the time. This all leads to a potentially devastating scenario for a little girl whose life was just fine before I decided I had a right to involve myself in it. My attempt at self reconciliation may, in fact, be the worst thing I could ever have done for this child.

So even in our most innocent moments and with righteous motives we can unintentionally cause emotional violence to those who we wish to show only Love.
I will now focus this blog on those moments in our lives that we take for granted but in fact do deep harm to those in our lives that we care most about.
I will begin with a re-post from another blog;

WOULD YOU DIE FOR THEM?

I often hear people say that they would die for their significant other. What I find interesting is that they say they are willing to lay down their lives but then demonstrate that they aren't even willing to lay down their own preferences. Sure you would die for them, but can you kill your own ego for them. Can you die to yourself? Even though you may not want to, will you go shopping with her? Will you watch the game with him? Will you change your lifestyle because they want to move to Calcutta and become a swami? I see so many relationships teetering because you won't truly sacrifice anything. " I would die for you", is easy because what are the chances of it actually happening? But, guys, how about "I will give up one hour of my life to do the dishes for you", or "vacuum for you", or "go see the chick flick"? How about, "I will sacrifice my ego and try that vegetarian diet you want to try" or "I'll skip camping or the game so you can go to the spa or ballet, and sure if you want I will go with you"?

Ladies, how about, "I will let go of my control issues for one night and trust you to go out with the boys", or "I will give my body freely to you even though I'm not in the mood"? How about, "I will get off your back about (insert random chore) and let you actually take a day off"? Now think about it deeply, if you are unwilling to do these things for the person you love do you really think you would dive in front of a bullet in the moment of truth? Would you really give them the last bit of food or drink of water? Look into yourself and decide if you are willing to Love (verb) the person you say you love or if it is just a pleasant feeling you get from saying the words.

What will you truly sacrifice?