AOM Meditations: 012221

by Tom Jones

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“Pit race against race, 

religion against religion, 

prejudice against prejudice. 

Divide and conquer! 

We must not let that happen here.”

~Eleanor Roosevelt

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“Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one”

~John Lennon, Imagine

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“Love does not cost anything. Kind words and deeds do not cost anything. The real beauty of the world is equal for everyone to see. It was given by God equally to all, without restrictions.

Everyone, was given a beautiful vehicle in which to express love to others. Feelings are free to express and give to ourselves and each other through our willingness to give and care.

What is complicated about this... Why have we made others feel they have to climb mountains and swim oceans in order to make a difference.

All we need to understand my friends, is that human life was given equally to us all, not partially but in totality.

The sun was given to all. It does not shine on the few. So, just has nature is indifferent to our station or situation, we need to know that we are all equal. We need to focus on the things that are constant and not place our values on things that can be blown away with the next, great, wind.

Value life in what ever house it dwells. For when it comes time that we are all stripped to bare bones before the divine and facing eternity, we will understand that the only law we were meant to follow, was to love ourselves and each other. Nothing more...nothing less.”

~Carla Jo Masterson

AOM Meditations: 011921

A Cree Artist Redraws History by Kent Monkman

Thanks for our Friend, Tushie, for sending us this artwork

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Jack Harrer from Bel Ami - A Work of Art

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Path in the Woods, 1887, by Vincent van Gogh

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"Trust your intuition, trust your inner knowing. Take what resonates, leave the rest behind. I am part of a very intuitive group of lovely people. You guys know what is your truth, you guys can smell when something’s off. Trust yourself because more often than not, the lies are revealed and those trying to spread falsities and hate will get a taste of their own poison. Spread enough hate, you become the hate. Spread enough poison, you become poisoned yourself. Soon enough what is left of the hateful and the poisoned? Nothing at all."

~Unknown

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AOM Meditations: 011321

by Mikhail Konstantinovich Klodt

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“Tea is an act complete in its simplicity.

When I drink tea, there is only me and the tea.

The rest of the world dissolves.

There are no worries about the future.

No dwelling on past mistakes.

Tea is simple: loose-leaf tea, hot pure water, a cup.

I inhale the scent, 

tiny delicate pieces of the tea floating above the cup.

I drink the tea, 

the essence of the leaves becoming a part of me.

I am informed by the tea, changed.

This is the act of life, in one pure moment, 

and in this act 

the truth of the world suddenly becomes revealed: 

all the complexity, pain, drama of life is a pretense, 

invented in our minds for no good purpose.

There is only the tea, and me, converging.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

AOM Meditations: 011121

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

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As our attention is being drawn

To all the awful shit in our world

Remember 

The sun is shining

Van Gogh's paintings are hanging

The eyes of loved ones are sparkling

Be grateful

For our ears that hear music

For our eyes that see beauty

For our hearts that feel love

Do not allow the shit

To take hours away from your life 

Enjoying what is good and pleasant

Life is limited

Let us spend our time savoring

What is good, what is beautiful, what is loving

And doing good, showing compassion 

and nurturing love

~AOM

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by Kou Shou

Thanks to our Friend, David, for sending us this beautiful art

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Forest, 1895, Henri Martin

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AOM Meditations: 010521

by Richard Laeton

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One of the stupidest statements of GREED I've ever heard is that 'we can't help others because someone might take advantage of our help'. So millions must starve because one jerk might steal some of the food we are giving. This is the idiotic insanity of GREED and only spoken by greedy selfish people who do not want to help others. (I heard Repugnican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin say  this on the Senate floor.)

~AOM

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"Want to change the system - 

be revolutionary - 

be kind and give to others- 

help others. 

The system will fall 

if more of us live compassion, empathy and love."

~Unknown

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"If you lead with light and love

Only good will come from it."

~Unknown

by Richard Laeton

AOM Meditations: 010421

by Giulio Durini

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"We are not Nouns

We are Verbs"

"Oscar Wilde said that if you know what you want to be, then you inevitably become it – that is your punishment, but if you never know, then you can be anything. There is a truth to that. We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing – an actor, a writer – I am a person who does things – I write, I act – and I never know what I am going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun."

~Stephen Fry

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“I'm no more modern than ancient, no more French than Chinese, and the idea of a native country, that is to say, the imperative to live on one bit of ground marked red or blue on the map and to hate the other bits in green or black, has always seemed to me narrow-minded, blinkered and profoundly stupid. I am a soul brother to everything that lives, to the giraffe and to the crocodile as much as to man.”

~Gustave Flaubert

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Go Forth Without Fear - 

Go Forth in Faith - 

Let go all 

that would pull you down and hold you back - 

free yourself to live in courage and Love - 

for the opposite of Love is not Hate - 

the opposite of Love is Fear -

Fear Not!

~AOM

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"Happy New Year...

Dream Big, 

Live With a Purpose, 

Be Grateful and Thankful! 

Write your own story!"

~Barry Odom

(Razorback Defensive Coordinator)

 

AOM Meditations: 122320

Santa Claus By William Holbrook Beard

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“Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer.... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously? ”

~Bill Watterson

(The Essential Calvin and Hobbes)

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“Want to keep Christ in Christmas? 

Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, 

forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, 

care for the ill, love your enemies, 

and do unto others 

as you would have done unto you.”

~Steve Maraboli, 

(Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience)

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“My idea of Christmas, 

whether old-fashioned or modern, 

is very simple: 

Loving Others. 

Come to think of it, 

why do we have to wait 

for Christmas to do that?”

~Bob Hope

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“Peace on earth will come to stay, 

When we live Christmas every day.”

~Helen Steiner Rice

AOM Meditations: 122120

by Eyvind Earle

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“Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, 

and tends to produce ferocity toward those 

who are not regarded as members of the herd.”

~Bertrand Russell

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“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. ”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

(Living Buddha, Living Christ)

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“All violence is the result of people tricking themselves 

into believing that their pain derives from other people 

and that consequently those people deserve to be punished.”

~Marshall B. Rosenberg

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“Violence is the method of ignorance, 

the weapon of the weak. 

The strong of heart and brain need no violence, 

for they are irresistible 

in their consciousness of being right.”

~Alexander Berkman

AOM Meditations: 121820

photo by Duane Michals Photography

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Thanks to our Friend, David, for sending us this beautiful poem

"Love After Love"

by Derek Walcott

“The time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored

for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,

peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.”

AOM Meditations: 121720

by Eyvind Earle

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“People are like stained-glass windows. 

They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, 

but when the darkness sets in, 

their true beauty is revealed 

only if there is a light from within.”

~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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“You are one thing only. 

You are a Divine Being. An all-powerful Creator. 

You are a Deity in jeans and a t-shirt, 

and within you dwells 

the infinite wisdom of the ages 

and the sacred creative force of All that is, 

will be and ever was.”

~Anthon St. Maarten

(Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny)

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“They will hate you if you are beautiful. They will hate you if you are successful. They will hate you if you are right. They will hate you if you are popular. They will hate you when you get attention. They will hate you when people in their life like you. They will hate you if you worship a different version of their God. They will hate you if you are spiritual. They will hate you if you have courage. They will hate you if you have an opinion. They will hate you when people support you. They will hate you when they see you happy. Heck, they will hate you while they post prayers and religious quotes on Pinterest and Facebook. They just hate. However, remember this: They hate you because you represent something they feel they don’t have. It really isn’t about you. It is about the hatred they have for themselves. So smile today because there is something you are doing right that has a lot of people thinking about you.”

~Shannon L. Alder

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“No one woke up one morning out of the blue and just outright, fully loved themselves. It takes active effort. It takes active presence. You must learn to be more self-aware. You need to find things to be grateful for about yourself. You need to practice that love. Start small, but do it every day. Write it down if it helps. Keep growing the list of self-appreciation and love. Learn to look into the mirror and love the person looking back at you. Find that self-acceptance. Accept yourself not in perfection, but in love. Love the fallible and frail human you are. Develop self-love. If you want to have a successful and happy life you need to learn to become your own friend. You must foster and nurture the relationship you have with yourself. Out of all the people in your life, the one you will be with the longest is yourself. I can't stress enough how important it is to learn to love yourself. Practice it every day.”

~Akiroq Brost

AOM Meditations: 121620

Autumn Morning  by Tiger Seo

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"Whatever your difficulties—a devastated heart, financial loss, feeling assaulted by the conflicts around you, or a seemingly hopeless illness—you can always remember that you are free in every moment to set the compass of your heart to your highest intentions. In fact, the two things that you are always free to do—despite your circumstances—are to be present and to be willing to love."

~Jack Kornfield

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"Don’t look for peace. Don’t look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance. Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender."

~Eckhart Tolle

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"Bring your attention to your breathing and realize that you are not doing it. It is the breath of nature. You reconnect with nature in the most intimate and powerful way by becoming aware of your breathing and learning to hold your attention there. This is a healing and deeply empowering thing to do. It brings about a shift in consciousness from the conceptual world of thought to the inner realm of unconditioned consciousness."

~Eckhart Tolle

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"It’s all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self love deficit."

~Eartha Kitt

 

AOM Meditations: 121520

by Bruno Vallino

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Doradus Fighter desktop wallpaper by Ray's Gay Wallpapers

Link to Ray's Gay Wallpappers

I recommend visiting Ray's blog and leave him a comment

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AOM Meditations: 121120

by Ed Mell

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“Who am I? 

"I am not nothing but this moment in the flow of life. 

This flow of life is not in my control; 

it is the life of the universe itself. 

The life of the universe flows in me 

and I just flow with this life 

and that is myself.” 

~Kiyozawa Manshi

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“Peace is life. Love is life. No river holds a grudge against a rock in its path. No leaf refuses to blow in the breeze. No plant denies water or sunshine. We, as human beings, have the gift of self-awareness, but this gift quickly turns to self-destruction if we do not learn to use it. We must learn to turn our minds towards the peace and love that we are flowing within at any given moment. This is the key to serenity. This is The Love Mindset.” 

~Vironika Tugaleva

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“Chaos brings movement to whatever is stagnant in your life. Stagnation leads to apathy, numbness, illness, suffering, etc. Be grateful for the situations in your life that may seem chaotic in the present moment, and realize that, in the greater scheme of things, chaos is Spirit giving you an opportunity… or possibly pushing you to move, grow, and be in the flow.” 

~Alaric Hutchinson

AOM Meditations: 121020

A Bathing Group (1914) by Henry Scott Tuke

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“I object to violence 

because when it appears to do good, 

the good is only temporary; 

the evil it does is permanent.”

~Mahatma Gandhi

“You can't talk about fucking in America, 

people say you're dirty. 

But if you talk about killing somebody, 

that's cool.”

~Richard Pryor

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“It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, "Wait on time.”

~Martin Luther King Jr.

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Kindness begets more Kindness. 

Love begets more Love

Violence begets more Violence. 

For our survival as a human race

We must find a way 

to rid ourselves, as a species, of violence.

Rid our violence against Nature

Rid our violence against each other.

We must EVOLve or perish.

~AOM

AOM Meditations: 120920

Tomb of Cesare Mancini by Fabi Altini

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