Mystics describe the quest for spiritual truth as a journey we make within our own bodies,
within our consciousness. To understand this journey we need first to understand where we
start from, our present spiritual condition. The life of each of us, mystics teach, is projected
in its perfect whole from a single source beyond time. But on planes of mind and matter, we
live our lives under the illusion of time and the law of cause and effect or action and reaction.
Everything we do we have to pay for. The soul, coupled to mind and body, must reap the
harvests of these sowings, and moves from life to life, form to form, living and dying over
and over again. We are now caught in this cycle, called the wheel of life, the cycle of
reincarnation, or the law of karma, which many of the world’s peoples have long understood
as a basic fact of life.
Given this situation, how should we choose to act? Mystics urge us to wake up, ask ourselves
what it is that makes us suffer and where our real happiness lies, and then make the
appropriate choices. They advise us to turn our consciousness away from the pain-filled
material life of ceaseless change, the spinning rim of the wheel of life, and toward the
stability of life’s unmoving centre.
They explain that at the centre of life is spirit, one and indivisible. Spirit is perfection,
imperturbable, the origin of all. From the one emerges all diversity, all forms from the most
subtle to the most gross, all activity and complexity, the entire creation. Spirit is love. Spirit
is energy. Spirit is life. Mind, matter and senses have no life of their own—they are the
means by which spirit expresses and manages itself in material dimensions. Spirit comes
from a source beyond mind and matter, and beyond the law of cause and effect. Soul, a drop
of spirit that allows a being to be defined apart from the ocean of spirit, is the energy or
power that sustains individualized life. When soul, the life force, leaves a body or living
being, that body dies, disintegrates, and reverts to its original matter, dust to dust. If spirit
leaves the creation, the creation disintegrates and reverts to an earlier, less-formed reality.
The mystic journey of enlightenment, then, is the expansion and deepening of consciousness
from life's most transient material manifestations to the permanence of its spirit-filled heart.
Friday, December 19, 2008
The Spiritual Journey
Mystics describe the quest for spiritual truth as a journey we make within our own bodies,
within our consciousness. To understand this journey we need first to understand where we
start from, our present spiritual condition. The life of each of us, mystics teach, is projected
in its perfect whole from a single source beyond time. But on planes of mind and matter, we
live our lives under the illusion of time and the law of cause and effect or action and reaction.
Everything we do we have to pay for. The soul, coupled to mind and body, must reap the
harvests of these sowings, and moves from life to life, form to form, living and dying over
and over again. We are now caught in this cycle, called the wheel of life, the cycle of
reincarnation, or the law of karma, which many of the world’s peoples have long understood
as a basic fact of life.
Given this situation, how should we choose to act? Mystics urge us to wake up, ask ourselves
what it is that makes us suffer and where our real happiness lies, and then make the
appropriate choices. They advise us to turn our consciousness away from the pain-filled
material life of ceaseless change, the spinning rim of the wheel of life, and toward the
stability of life’s unmoving centre.
They explain that at the centre of life is spirit, one and indivisible. Spirit is perfection,
imperturbable, the origin of all. From the one emerges all diversity, all forms from the most
subtle to the most gross, all activity and complexity, the entire creation. Spirit is love. Spirit
is energy. Spirit is life. Mind, matter and senses have no life of their own—they are the
means by which spirit expresses and manages itself in material dimensions. Spirit comes
from a source beyond mind and matter, and beyond the law of cause and effect. Soul, a drop
of spirit that allows a being to be defined apart from the ocean of spirit, is the energy or
power that sustains individualized life. When soul, the life force, leaves a body or living
being, that body dies, disintegrates, and reverts to its original matter, dust to dust. If spirit
leaves the creation, the creation disintegrates and reverts to an earlier, less-formed reality.
The mystic journey of enlightenment, then, is the expansion and deepening of consciousness
from life's most transient material manifestations to the permanence of its spirit-filled heart.
within our consciousness. To understand this journey we need first to understand where we
start from, our present spiritual condition. The life of each of us, mystics teach, is projected
in its perfect whole from a single source beyond time. But on planes of mind and matter, we
live our lives under the illusion of time and the law of cause and effect or action and reaction.
Everything we do we have to pay for. The soul, coupled to mind and body, must reap the
harvests of these sowings, and moves from life to life, form to form, living and dying over
and over again. We are now caught in this cycle, called the wheel of life, the cycle of
reincarnation, or the law of karma, which many of the world’s peoples have long understood
as a basic fact of life.
Given this situation, how should we choose to act? Mystics urge us to wake up, ask ourselves
what it is that makes us suffer and where our real happiness lies, and then make the
appropriate choices. They advise us to turn our consciousness away from the pain-filled
material life of ceaseless change, the spinning rim of the wheel of life, and toward the
stability of life’s unmoving centre.
They explain that at the centre of life is spirit, one and indivisible. Spirit is perfection,
imperturbable, the origin of all. From the one emerges all diversity, all forms from the most
subtle to the most gross, all activity and complexity, the entire creation. Spirit is love. Spirit
is energy. Spirit is life. Mind, matter and senses have no life of their own—they are the
means by which spirit expresses and manages itself in material dimensions. Spirit comes
from a source beyond mind and matter, and beyond the law of cause and effect. Soul, a drop
of spirit that allows a being to be defined apart from the ocean of spirit, is the energy or
power that sustains individualized life. When soul, the life force, leaves a body or living
being, that body dies, disintegrates, and reverts to its original matter, dust to dust. If spirit
leaves the creation, the creation disintegrates and reverts to an earlier, less-formed reality.
The mystic journey of enlightenment, then, is the expansion and deepening of consciousness
from life's most transient material manifestations to the permanence of its spirit-filled heart.
Monday, April 21, 2008
8 lies of mother
EIGHT LIES OF A MOTHER
This story begins when I was a child: I was born poor. Often we hadn't enough to eat. Whenever we had some food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice. While she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would say 'Eat this rice, son! I'm not hungry.'
This was Mother's First Lie.
As I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a river near our house; she hoped that from the fish she caught, she could give me a little bit more nutritious food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fish, she would make fish soup. While I was eating the soup, mother would sit beside me and eat what was still left on the bone of the fish I had eaten; My heart was touched when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to her on my chopstick but she immediately refused it and said, 'Eat this fish, son! I don't really like fish.'
This was Mother's Second Lie.
Then, in order to fund my education, Mother went to a Match Factory to bring home some used matchboxes which she filled with fresh matchsticks. This helped her get some money to cover our needs. One wintry night I awoke to find Mother filling the matchboxes by candlelight. So I said, 'Mother, go to sleep; it's late: you can continue working tomorrow morning.' Mother smiled and said 'Go to sleep, son! I'm not tired.'
This was Mother's Third Lie
When I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother accompanied me. After dawn, Mother waited for me for hours in the heat of the sun. When the bell rang, I ran to meet her. Mother embraced me and poured me a glass of tea that she had prepared in a thermos. The tea was not as strong as my Mother's love, Seeing Mother covered with perspiration; I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink too. Mother said 'Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!
This was Mother's Fourth Lie.
After Father's death, Mother had to play the role of a single parent. She held on to her former job; she had to fund our needs alone. Our family's life was more complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our family's condition worsening, my kind Uncle who lived near my house came to help us solve our problems big and small. Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken so they often advised my mother to marry again. But Mother refused to remarry saying 'I don't need love.'
This was Mother's Fifth Lie.
After I had finished my studies and gotten a job, it was time for my old Mother to retire but she carried on going to the market every morning just to sell a few vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was steadfast and even sent the money back to me. She said, 'I have enough money.'
That was Mother's Sixth Lie.
I continued my part-time studies for my Master's Degree. Funded by the American Corporation for which I worked, I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump in my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life in America but Mother didn't want to bother her son; she said to me 'I'm not used to high living.'
That was Mother's Seventh Lie
In her dotage, Mother was attacked by cancer and had to be hospitalized. Now living far across the ocean, I went home to visit Mother who was bedridden after an operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heartbroken because she was so thin and feeble but Mother said, 'Don't cry, son! I'm not in pain.'
That was Mother's Eighth Lie.
Telling me this, her eighth lie, she died.
YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL!
M - O - T - H - E - R
'M' is for the Million things she gave me,
'O' means Only that she's growing old,
'T' is for the Tears she shed to save me,
'H' is for her Heart of gold,
'E' is for her Eyes with love-light shining in them,
'R' means Right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell 'MOTHER' a word that means the world to me.
For those of you who are lucky to be still blessed with your Mom's presence on Earth, this story is beautiful. For those who aren't so blessed, this is even more beautiful.
This story begins when I was a child: I was born poor. Often we hadn't enough to eat. Whenever we had some food, Mother often gave me her portion of rice. While she was transferring her rice into my bowl, she would say 'Eat this rice, son! I'm not hungry.'
This was Mother's First Lie.
As I grew, Mother gave up her spare time to fish in a river near our house; she hoped that from the fish she caught, she could give me a little bit more nutritious food for my growth. Once she had caught just two fish, she would make fish soup. While I was eating the soup, mother would sit beside me and eat what was still left on the bone of the fish I had eaten; My heart was touched when I saw it. Once I gave the other fish to her on my chopstick but she immediately refused it and said, 'Eat this fish, son! I don't really like fish.'
This was Mother's Second Lie.
Then, in order to fund my education, Mother went to a Match Factory to bring home some used matchboxes which she filled with fresh matchsticks. This helped her get some money to cover our needs. One wintry night I awoke to find Mother filling the matchboxes by candlelight. So I said, 'Mother, go to sleep; it's late: you can continue working tomorrow morning.' Mother smiled and said 'Go to sleep, son! I'm not tired.'
This was Mother's Third Lie
When I had to sit my Final Examination, Mother accompanied me. After dawn, Mother waited for me for hours in the heat of the sun. When the bell rang, I ran to meet her. Mother embraced me and poured me a glass of tea that she had prepared in a thermos. The tea was not as strong as my Mother's love, Seeing Mother covered with perspiration; I at once gave her my glass and asked her to drink too. Mother said 'Drink, son! I'm not thirsty!
This was Mother's Fourth Lie.
After Father's death, Mother had to play the role of a single parent. She held on to her former job; she had to fund our needs alone. Our family's life was more complicated. We suffered from starvation. Seeing our family's condition worsening, my kind Uncle who lived near my house came to help us solve our problems big and small. Our other neighbors saw that we were poverty stricken so they often advised my mother to marry again. But Mother refused to remarry saying 'I don't need love.'
This was Mother's Fifth Lie.
After I had finished my studies and gotten a job, it was time for my old Mother to retire but she carried on going to the market every morning just to sell a few vegetables. I kept sending her money but she was steadfast and even sent the money back to me. She said, 'I have enough money.'
That was Mother's Sixth Lie.
I continued my part-time studies for my Master's Degree. Funded by the American Corporation for which I worked, I succeeded in my studies. With a big jump in my salary, I decided to bring Mother to enjoy life in America but Mother didn't want to bother her son; she said to me 'I'm not used to high living.'
That was Mother's Seventh Lie
In her dotage, Mother was attacked by cancer and had to be hospitalized. Now living far across the ocean, I went home to visit Mother who was bedridden after an operation. Mother tried to smile but I was heartbroken because she was so thin and feeble but Mother said, 'Don't cry, son! I'm not in pain.'
That was Mother's Eighth Lie.
Telling me this, her eighth lie, she died.
YES, MOTHER WAS AN ANGEL!
M - O - T - H - E - R
'M' is for the Million things she gave me,
'O' means Only that she's growing old,
'T' is for the Tears she shed to save me,
'H' is for her Heart of gold,
'E' is for her Eyes with love-light shining in them,
'R' means Right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell 'MOTHER' a word that means the world to me.
For those of you who are lucky to be still blessed with your Mom's presence on Earth, this story is beautiful. For those who aren't so blessed, this is even more beautiful.
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