AN IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON
The following story offers an important life lesson.
Through a forest, two men, both equally late for dinner, separately set out for home. The first broods over how his friend kept him late and how angry his wife is going to be, and so he becomes completely engrossed in fashioning a 'good' excuse to bring home. The second man, in a similar situation, resists such thoughts. Instead, he focuses on the forest's sights and sounds -- the sunset peeking through trees ... the feel of soft earth beneath his feet ... the glowing eyes of a family of deer hidden in shadows. And as the dark comes and stars begin to appear through the surrounding trees, a sense of wonder overtakes him. The first man, completely absorbed in blaming, worrying and scheming, missteps and hurts himself. And now, to his great dismay, hobbles home ever more slowly and upset with each painful step. Meanwhile the other man strides home getting ever more invigorated, enchanted and eager to share his experiences with his wife. When each arrives home, one is aching, irritable and spoiling for a fight, and of course has an awful time with his wife. The other arrives uplifted, with a handful of wild flowers and fabulous experiences to share, and has a lovely evening with his wife.
These are two similar situations, each with a very different outcome -- and here lies an important life lesson -- we can either get lost in our imaginings and schemes (often to our own travail), or take advantage of life’s gifts.
THE PRESENT IS A DIVINE PRESENT, always presenting opportunities to seize and pitfalls to avoid. So we may do well to keep this in mind: The present is a great gift in which many opportunities lie. And what we get often depends upon how we use our mind.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO FRIENDS.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
SEEKING TO BE RICH?
If you’re seeking to be rich the first thing you should consider is that one can’t be rich without many others being much poorer. This is what makes someone rich, that he has much more money and a greater money flow than others. Now this may seem unfair or even evil to some. But it’s just a fact -- for a few people to be rich, many must be poor.
If you question this simple proposition consider this: If everyone had lots of money, then who would take all the low-paying jobs to serve them? For a few to have abundance, many others must be willing to work for a low wage.
Right now, if you own many things, the reason you can afford them is because many people in far off lands are working for pennies an hour to produce them. If everyone was paid the same amount of money per hour, no one would be much richer than another. (This is the case in early bartering societies. People exchanged what they produced and no one became wealthy.)
So, for one person to be rich, there must be many others who are poorer. And the wealthier some are, the poorer many others must be to support them.
This is economics 101 and works fine until a few want to get so wealthy that it necessitates that many others must work for so little and be so poor that life is a constant hardship. This is unhealthy for society, and at some point produces social unrest. And that’s what we’re beginning to see throughout our world.
So, for any society to be healthy there must be a reasonable balance between the rich and poor. So if you seek to be rich, seek along with it richness of spirit. For it’s through gaining richness of spirit that we’re most giving to others and help build a healthy and happy world.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO FRIENDS.
If you’re seeking to be rich the first thing you should consider is that one can’t be rich without many others being much poorer. This is what makes someone rich, that he has much more money and a greater money flow than others. Now this may seem unfair or even evil to some. But it’s just a fact -- for a few people to be rich, many must be poor.
If you question this simple proposition consider this: If everyone had lots of money, then who would take all the low-paying jobs to serve them? For a few to have abundance, many others must be willing to work for a low wage.
Right now, if you own many things, the reason you can afford them is because many people in far off lands are working for pennies an hour to produce them. If everyone was paid the same amount of money per hour, no one would be much richer than another. (This is the case in early bartering societies. People exchanged what they produced and no one became wealthy.)
So, for one person to be rich, there must be many others who are poorer. And the wealthier some are, the poorer many others must be to support them.
This is economics 101 and works fine until a few want to get so wealthy that it necessitates that many others must work for so little and be so poor that life is a constant hardship. This is unhealthy for society, and at some point produces social unrest. And that’s what we’re beginning to see throughout our world.
So, for any society to be healthy there must be a reasonable balance between the rich and poor. So if you seek to be rich, seek along with it richness of spirit. For it’s through gaining richness of spirit that we’re most giving to others and help build a healthy and happy world.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO FRIENDS.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
DIVINE ACTION
It’s said that a wise person does first what others do last ... always taking the best course of action. To act at this level we must consistently be in tune with our higher nature. Eastern spiritual philosophies call this ‘right action.’ I call it Divine Action. It’s the course we learn to choose that shapes our personal divine life path.
In the 60’s, this concept was used as an excuse to indulge oneself: many hippies and others conveniently translated doing what ‘feels right’ to doing what ‘feels good,’ which roughly came down to living hedonistically. While there’s great value in enjoying the pleasures of life, one does not live best hedonistically. For example, it may feel good to overindulge in rich food, alcohol or drugs. But we actually harm our bodies and pay a big price for it later. Right action would have us act more wisely than this.
Another confusion about right action often comes from thinking that it’s a question of following correct rules of behavior: moral, ethical and social norms. While such behavioral rules are generally helpful, they may not always provide the ‘right’ guidance for each unique situation. For example, although it’s considered wrong to lie, it may be right action to tell a bride her wedding dress looks beautiful on her (even if you don’t think so), as not to squelch her good feelings of the day.
True right action comes from drawing upon the wisdom of one’s divine nature. At this level we seek the greatest good that’s compatible with fulfilling our soul’s purpose. At this level of focus, our actions are sacred and blessed.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO FRIENDS.
It’s said that a wise person does first what others do last ... always taking the best course of action. To act at this level we must consistently be in tune with our higher nature. Eastern spiritual philosophies call this ‘right action.’ I call it Divine Action. It’s the course we learn to choose that shapes our personal divine life path.
In the 60’s, this concept was used as an excuse to indulge oneself: many hippies and others conveniently translated doing what ‘feels right’ to doing what ‘feels good,’ which roughly came down to living hedonistically. While there’s great value in enjoying the pleasures of life, one does not live best hedonistically. For example, it may feel good to overindulge in rich food, alcohol or drugs. But we actually harm our bodies and pay a big price for it later. Right action would have us act more wisely than this.
Another confusion about right action often comes from thinking that it’s a question of following correct rules of behavior: moral, ethical and social norms. While such behavioral rules are generally helpful, they may not always provide the ‘right’ guidance for each unique situation. For example, although it’s considered wrong to lie, it may be right action to tell a bride her wedding dress looks beautiful on her (even if you don’t think so), as not to squelch her good feelings of the day.
True right action comes from drawing upon the wisdom of one’s divine nature. At this level we seek the greatest good that’s compatible with fulfilling our soul’s purpose. At this level of focus, our actions are sacred and blessed.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO FRIENDS.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
CREATIVE PLAY
As children playing, most of us have had some great moments. However, somewhere in the process of growing up we seem to lose our capacity to encounter life in such a creative, wholehearted and spontaneous way as we once did.
A major reason for this is that as adults we tend to become 'success' bound; more and more we aim for success in terms of social approval and financial gain -- we become willing prisoners of the fame/wealth/success syndrome. We 'learn' to devalue and ignore our authentic spontaneous creative impulses and focus on producing only what we think others want to hear and see.
And, if we get it right, we do achieve some measure of worldly success, necessary for our well being and survival. But if we get too engrossed in striving for approval and financial reward, we can lose touch with our creative soul and our capacity to authentically feel and focus our creative power can be stifled. Without the ease of innocent playfulness and unselfconscious spontaneity, our vital creative capacities become blocked or falsified -- the creative self is undone.
To be more creatively alive, give yourself permission to be more playful and spontaneous -- give voice to your creative child.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO FRIENDS.
As children playing, most of us have had some great moments. However, somewhere in the process of growing up we seem to lose our capacity to encounter life in such a creative, wholehearted and spontaneous way as we once did.
A major reason for this is that as adults we tend to become 'success' bound; more and more we aim for success in terms of social approval and financial gain -- we become willing prisoners of the fame/wealth/success syndrome. We 'learn' to devalue and ignore our authentic spontaneous creative impulses and focus on producing only what we think others want to hear and see.
And, if we get it right, we do achieve some measure of worldly success, necessary for our well being and survival. But if we get too engrossed in striving for approval and financial reward, we can lose touch with our creative soul and our capacity to authentically feel and focus our creative power can be stifled. Without the ease of innocent playfulness and unselfconscious spontaneity, our vital creative capacities become blocked or falsified -- the creative self is undone.
To be more creatively alive, give yourself permission to be more playful and spontaneous -- give voice to your creative child.
Goodness and joy to all, Joseph.
SPREAD AWARENESS ... FORWARD THESE THOUGHTS TO FRIENDS.
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