You are an island...

By Vichara


You are an island, a collective of senses, tasks, emotions and declaratives. A mass of energies that will astound you with their depth and resourcefulness if…you grant them space, serenity and compassionate support to develop and create your own personal language that could not only guide your heart but for those around you as well. Keep the waters of love, communication and openness free from hindrances and obstacles. Build a channel of shared knowledge that can support and elevate each other. Retain dams and obstacles and you perpetuate selfishness and isolationist attitudes. Yes celebrate the unique quality of being your own island but share in its strength, beauty, knowledge and open shores of communication.

The path you choose...

By Vichara


You will burn yourself with the fire you create. You will cut yourself with razor words you flail about and you diminish yourself with the limitations you place yourself. It is your choice what path you choose. In the creation of one’s actions also comes responsibility of accepting the consequences. We will all develop defense mechanisms that try to justify the results and proceeds of what we do but if our actions stand on their own, without excuses, the path will be clearer. Yes we all will falter from time to time but in the mere act of conducting your words and deeds with the foundation of compassion, love and patience your steps moving forward will be unencumbered and instilled a clearer confidence and vision.

The seeds...

By Vichara


”The seeds of the past are the fruits of the future”. We have all heard “you have good karma” or “oh, that’s just bad karma”. Buddhism teaches that wherever you are now that is created by our previous choices, creating a sort of cosmic justice. If you have done good things then good things happen and if you have done bad things, well…you know. Take a moment to reflect on the good and bad choices that you made. What can you learn from these previous situations? What seeds have you created and what fruit will they produce in the future? Nobody likes to see weeds growing in their garden so endeavor not to plant these seeds in your garden or anyone else’s garden. Karma is not just something that will take time to effect us it can also be immediate. So be careful of the seeds you produce and keep your “garden” free from weeds.

Clarity and Compassion...

By Vichara


We need so little, but want so much. We speak so much, but have so little to say. We can travel so far, but get much further just where we are. The pitfalls and pleasures of being able to live in a time and place where opportunities and “things” are in abundance for those that can find the means and ways to obtain and can acquire. We revel in these items with their cleverness and ingenuity and even believe that we could not live without them. So many things, so much noise designed for a vision of someone we believe we are but this vision of ourselves is so far in the distance, we can never catch up with it. For those who want to, stop, pull back the reins a bit of perceived need and instead of using 10 things to get through a day, use 1 and use it well. Instead of speaking volumes without great substance, speak less but with clarity and compassion.

Your commuter train ride...

By Vichara


There are times our minds feel like a commuter train. There are many stops along the way where we unload and pickup. Stops like Concern, Aversion, Regret, Frustration and Anger. However on this same track line there a few other stops that we sometimes forget to stop at along the way. There is Empathy, Respect, Encouragement, Forgiveness and Hope. The stops are determined by what train line you get on in the morning when you get up. Before you reach that ticket window in the morning decide what train you will ride, the Indifference Express or the Compassion Choo-Choo. It’s your ride and if you find yourself on a train where you do not like the view you can always transfer over. Ready? All aboard!!!

Get your ticket...

By Vichara


Reflect for just a moment on how you are feeling right now, this very minute…don’t drift over to something you need to do next or what happened yesterday, stay here, right now, without drifting. Happy? Sad? Anxious? Peaceful? It doesn’t matter as long as it is right now. Far too much time is spent in the abstracts of past and future. Yes we do learn from our past and we plan for the concept of the future but by not being here, cognizant of this moment is like waiting at the bus stop and missing the bus. It only stops “now” for you. Get your ticket and don’t miss the bus, there is always a seat waiting for you…now.

You are not alone...

By Vichara


With a new day can there be a new change? An obvious question that, considering the exposed fragilities and conflicts, seems to be on the minds of many. I don’t believe that this could be answered in one easy way. Instead of looking out there (T.V., newspapers, internet) for the answers I think that using a figurative mirror on our selves will begin to help. By only reflecting on how we incorporate the world in our lives will be able to help initiate change. Yes it is obvious that the world issues are very large and overwhelming. Do not be discouraged, change can and will come but only if we change ourselves, one small piece at a time. You are not alone, we are not alone, they are not alone, and everything is interconnected so if we change, the whole world changes.

It just might catch on...

By Vichara


Knock, knock? Who’s there? You…you who? The one reading this. No wait there is more of you. There is the laughing you, the thinking you, the sad you, the silly you, the troubled you, the smart you, the leader you, the follower you, the loving you, the angry you. Hey! There are a lot of you! Gather all that is you up because each part is as important as the other. You have been given a new day and a new set of puzzles to figure out. But hey don’t worry we are all in this together. If I get stuck you can help me and if you get stuck I will help you. Now there’s a novel approach to this existence…helping each other out? Psssst, pass it along…it may catch on.

Love, honor & respect...

By Vichara


We all just want to be love, honored and respected. Love, to feel an emotional connection and actually know that someone cares. Honored, to know that our presence here is not taken frivolously. And respected that our words and deeds have merit, not for self-glory but for the benefit of others. Of course these three cornerstones will not be present unless you are engaged outside yourself with the world and not hidden both emotionally and physically. While one of these is possible the other is difficult considering where the majority of us live. You must physically engage as the first step and with each interaction temper all that you do with a deep sense of compassion. The results will be what we all seek… love, honor and respect.

Grateful?...

By Vichara


There are those that even if you were to put everything they need right in their hands there would always be a desire for what “else” is out there. An obsessive desire to acquire and to have more than is necessary. Yes it is nice to be comfortable but in excess it is obscene, especially in our current world and it’s troubles. There are those even in this fast paced electronic world that are thankful for a single pencil and a piece of paper. A single vital meal and the ability to stand on two legs and walk. While yes the element of guilt lays in this message it is only set there to try to have us all be a little more grateful today.

Love, honor & respect...

By Vichara


We all just want to be love, honored and respected. Love, to feel an emotional connection and actually know that someone cares. Honored, to know that our presence here is not taken frivolously. And respected that our words and deeds have merit, not for self-glory but for the benefit of others. Of course these three cornerstones will not be present unless you are engaged outside yourself with the world and not hidden both emotionally and physically. While one of these is possible the other is difficult considering where the majority of us live. Take this fact that you must physically engage as the first step and with each interaction temper all that you do with a deep sense of compassion. The results will be what we all seek love, honor and respect.

No re-set button...

By Vichara


There is a slight departure from my own thoughts being posted here today and instead I would like to post a thought from the Dalai Lama. This thought was in response to being asked what surprised him about humanity.

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. The he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Listen folks, there is no “re-set” button for our lives. This is it; there is not another one that we know of so “live” before the inevitable.

The prism of deception...

By Vichara


We are tempted everyday through the prism of deception. Our view and desires are shaped by the sense of inadequacy every which way we turn during the course of the day. You are not cool enough unless you have this thing or you will never shine and be noticed unless you have that. The latest toys, gadgets and doohickeys all to support this supposed sense of inadequacy. If there is one thing our current financial crisis has been teaching us is there are many things we truly do not need when it really comes down to it. The phoenix that should rise from these ashes of gluttony and greed is the essentials and a clearer vision of how to sustain a life without the excess. It is a GPS with a moral and ethical guidance system that will unify and not divide.

The demarcation point...

By Vichara


From the biggest to the smallest, the weakest to the strong, we all share the same DNA that makes us these humanoid beings that are capable of so much pain and yet so much beauty. Where are that line that divides the choice to contribute, support and celebrate our fellow human achievements and the demarcation point that manipulates, destroys and abuses that which makes us unique. And once we identify the catalyst point how do we maintain the seesaw of events in a positive way to move us forward and not backward in a constant primordial state. Perhaps it is in those 3 Things I refer to all of the time; Love – to retain a sense of support. Patience – to be able to wait and help each other along the way and Compassion – to remember how we all feel in similar situations and circle back to the beginning – Love.

The new day...

By Vichara


Awakening to a new day is like walking into a construction site on the first day. All of the materials to build the foundation is there waiting in various locations in front of you. You need to walk forward and pick up each brick with confidence and determination and believe today’s edifice will be stronger than yesterday’s by using the tools of love, compassion. And when this day is built you get another chance tomorrow to build once again.

One small way...

By Vichara


There are many out there that feel the compulsion to be constantly informed with the latest news stories from around the globe. Most of them reported are negative. The need to know becomes an obsession to see the suffering of the world. Do we need to be informed of the suffering of the world? Do you not believe the world is suffering? Are you not clear with this concept? There is one thing to be informed but there is another thing to have this constant parade of suffering on your TV or radio all day long. Are you going to do anything to improve it? If not, stop watching it. You are not helping the situation for you or anyone else. Find one small way to change things around you for the better. Build on this foundation and the world will be transformed before your eyes.

The calming waters...

By Vichara


A boat without a rudder or proper steering mechanism will aimlessly and recklessly travel in all directions and create conflict and havoc with other boaters. There are some boats that even have a rudder but in their organic elements is self-centeredness, anger and an isolationist attitude whish creates a disruptive wake. But out on the horizon are those boats that have rudders created in compassion, courage and confidence. Instinctively you will know when you crossed into their calming wake. Decorate your boat with bright colors and unique personality, turn the rudder and join others in the calming waters of compassion.

The "key"...

By Vichara


We all have the answers…let that sink in for a moment. Say it to yourself again. We all have the answers. There is the factual and those answers are easily obtainable these days by many means, books, videos, teachers, Internet, etc. Then there is the esoteric and the answers to those humanistic emotional variances that to most seem remote and unattainable. All of the “keys” that will open the doors of understanding are in everyone’s pocket. Our reluctance to getting the “answers” is not based in ignorance but being patient enough to locate the “key” to each answer that resides in all of us. Sometimes it may take some time to get the answer but with patience you will get there.

You have the ability for "change"...

By Vichara


While there are many things that may seem out of our influence, there are still things that we can be thankful for on a daily basis. While there are those that choose to bicker and fight in a sophomoric childish way there is still an ability among us to work together with resolve. While there are some truths that many around us fail to see we must still treat each other with love, compassion and patience. Without these last bastions of hope, these abilities that may be inert in some the fabric of existence will be torn beyond repair. The truth is that we all have the ability but our focus is deflected daily by extraneous distractions from our ego and those (and they know who they are) that place the “smoke and mirrors” in our way to discovery. You in all of the countries reading this, Germany, Russia, Latvia, France, the UK, Israel, Canada, Spain, India, the Netherlands, Australia, here in the US and everywhere have these abilities. Don’t get overwhelmed; it is in the small acts of compassion that great things are born and every one of us has these abilities. One small wave, joins another small wave and another until these waves of compassion join together for change. It is up to you.

Being present, being now...

By Vichara


You can't be anywhere but here right now but many people refuse.  They turn and look backwards to a past already etched in the books and try to manipulate it into something that cant be changed.  Then there are others that lean forward to get a glimpse around the corner to a future that has not arrived and project what will happen.  Either one is a losing battle.  One that can't be changed no matter what form of incantations or hocus pocus you may try to use.  Being present, being here, being now will increase the levels of what you see.  It will infuse what you feel with a greater sense of vibrancy and connection to others.  It will amp up you reception of the world around and those you will encounter.  This is not a secret.  There are many that have talked about being present and others that have written eloquently about this as well.  One such author that I have discovered that truly has his signals tuned into being present is Sullins Stuart and his recent book entitled "Living In Conscious Harmony: A Spiritual Guide To Being In The Now".  This unified collection of Sullins thoughts provides guideposts to further recognize and develop ways to be here now.  I highly recommend those seeking some guidance of this nature to check out Sullin's book.  It is even available as an ebook for your tablets or PC.  Here is a link to find out more from Sullins site with a link for the book from Amazon.com.

http://livinginconsciousharmony.com/