FREE AND EASY – A SPONTANEOUS VAJRA SONG

Happiness cannot be found through great effort and willpower, but is already present, in open relaxation and letting go.

Don’t strain yourself,
there is nothing to do or undo.
Whatever momentarily arises
in the body-mind
Has no real importance at all,
has little reality whatsoever.
Why identify with,
And become attached to it,
Passing Judgement upon it and ourselves?

Far better to simply
let the entire game happen on its own,
springing up and falling back like waves
without changing or manipulating anything
and notice how everything
vanishes and reappears, magically,
Again and again, time without end.

Only our searching for happiness
prevents us from seeing it.
It’s like a vivid rainbow which you pursue
without ever catching,
or a dog chasing it’s own tail.

Although peace and happiness
do not exist as an actual thing or place,
it is always available
and accompanies you every instant.

Don’t believe in the reality
of good and bad experiences;
they are today’s ephemeral weather,
like rainbows in the sky.

Wanting to grasp the ungraspable,
you exhaust yourself in vain.
As soon as you open and relax
this tight fist of grasping,
infinite space is there –
open, inviting and comfortable.

Make use of this spaciousness, this
freedom and natural ease.
Don’t search any further
looking for the great awakened elephant,
who is already resting quietly at home
in front of your own hearth.

Nothing to do or undo,
nothing to force,
nothing to want,
And nothing missing.

Emaho! Marvelous!
Everything happens by itself.

~by Venerable Lama Gendun Rinpoche

“There is a tree”

“There is a tree.  At the downhill edge of a long, narrow field in the western foothills of the La Sal Mountains — southeastern Utah. 

A particular tree.  A juniper.  Large for its species — maybe twenty feet tall and two feet in diameter. 

For perhaps three hundred years this tree has stood its ground.  Flourishing in good seasons, and holding on in bad times. 

“Beautiful” is not a word that comes to mind when one first sees it.  No naturalist would photograph it as exemplary of its kind. 

Twisted by wind, split and charred by lightning, scarred by brushfires, chewed on by insects, and pecked by birds. 

Human beings have stripped long strings of bark from its trunk, stapled barbed wire to it in using it as a corner post for a fence line, and nailed signs on it on three sides:

NO HUNTING; NO TRESPASSING; PLEASE CLOSE THE GATE. 

In commandeering this tree as a corner stake for claims of rights and property, miners and ranchers have hacked signs and symbols in its bark, and left Day-Glo orange survey tape tied to its branches.  

Now it serves as one side of a gate between an alfalfa field and open range. 

No matter what, in drought, flood heat and cold, it has continued. 

There is rot and death in it near the ground. 

But at the greening tips of its upper branches and in its berrylike seed cones, there is yet the outreach of life.  

I respect this old juniper tree. 

For its age, yes. 

And for its steadfastness in taking whatever is thrown at it. 

That it has been useful in a practical way beyond itself counts for much, as well. 

Most of all, I admire its capacity for self-healing beyond all accidents and assaults. 

There is a will in it — toward continuing to be, come what may.” 

~Robert Fulghum

IF: A FATHER’S ADVICE TO HIS SON

~IF: A FATHER’S ADVICE TO HIS SON~

“IF you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, or being hated, don’t give way to hating, and yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;

If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, and stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, and

– which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!” 

~Rudyard Kipling

 

The Holstee Manifesto

“THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

Do what you love and do it often.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE SOMETHING, CHANGE IT.

If you don’t like your job, QUIT.

If you don’t have enough time, STOP WATCHING TV.

If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you START DOING THE THINGS YOU LOVE.

Stop over analyzing, ALL EMOTIONS ARE BEAUTIFUL.

When you eat, APPRECIATE EVERY LAST BITE.

Life is simple.

Open your mind, arms and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences.

Ask the next person you see what their passion is and SHARE YOUR INSPIRING DREAM WITH THEM.

TRAVEL OFTEN; Getting lost will help you find yourself.

Some opportunities only come once, SEIZE THEM.

Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating.

Life is Short.

LIVE YOUR DREAM AND WEAR YOUR PASSION.”

~The Holstee Manifesto                           

 

MESSAGES FROM THE UNIVERSE

A collection of my favourite quotes from daily inspirational emails I receive from: http://www.tut.com/Inspiration/nftu

“Do you know what happens, when a dream comes true and you feel your joy bubbling over into wide grins, happy dances, and shrieks of “Holy @#$%!!” and the like?
Your energy actually spills over into the oceans of time and reaches into the past where it laps upon the shores of a former here and now, infusing a former unsuspecting self (who is still merrily living their life due to time’s “simultaneousity”) with a flash of inspiration or a burst of intuition; a hope for what the future might hold. 
Whew… and that, my friend, is the truth about where dreams come from.”
   

~The Universe

A Life Coaching Tip from The Universe:
“The time will come, and it will be sooner rather than later, when your greatest admirers and protégés will look at your life – your achievements and passions – frown a little and sullenly say, “Yeah, but for you… it was easy.” At which point you should conceal any yearning you may possess to either object or laugh hysterically. Instead, lovingly look them square in the eye and say, “Yes, and it can be easy for you, too.”
Get used to it,”   

~The Universe

QUOTES

“We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.”

~C. JoyBell C.

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled.

For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”                 

  ~M. Scott Peck      

     

“Don’t go into the tangled jungle looking for the great awakened elephant,                                                                      who is already resting quietly at home in front of your own hearth.” 

~Quoted by William by memory but different from original.

(You can find the actual story behind this here: http://wp.me/s3YxRG-100 )

   

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” 

~Calvin Coolidge

 “Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.       It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it.  Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult.  Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”  

 ~M. Scott Peck

“Security is mostly superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole, experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

~Helen Keller

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body. But rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up,totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming …. WOW what a ride.”

~Mark Frost

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.”

~Joseph Campbell

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 “Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.”

              

~Thomas Carlyle

“The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.” 

~Albert Einstein

 “Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.”    

 ~Gillian Anderson        

“And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”  

~Anais Nin (via Renee Wilkinson)

“Often having what you want, is a function of letting go of what you have.”

~Mike Dooley

 “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”

~Albert Einstein

   “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

~Alexander Graham Bell

 “Trust your own instincts. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s.”

~Billy Wilder

“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.“

~Buddha

“You don’t get to choose how you are going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you are going to live. Now.”

 ~Joan Baez

 “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~Mark Twain

“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.”

~Theodore H. White

“Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” 

~Albert Einstein

 

“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” 

~ Dalai Lama

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck”

~Dalai Lama

”Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones makes you feel that you, too, can become great.”

~Mark Twain

 

“Measure yourself by your best moments, not by your worst. We are too prone to judge ourselves by our moments of despondency and depression.”

~Robert Johnson