AOM Meditations: 051418

 by Jan De Vliegher

Thanks to our Friend for sending us this beautiful art

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 "And Joy is Everywhere;

 It is in the Earth's green covering of grass;

 In the blue serenity of the Sky;

 In the reckless exuberance of Spring;

 In the severe abstinence of gray Winter;

 In the Living flesh that animates our bodily frame;

 In the perfect poise of the Human figure, 

noble and upright;

 In Living;

 In the exercise of all our powers;

 In the acquisition of Knowledge;

 in fighting evils...

 Joy is there Everywhere."

~Rabindranath Tagore

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“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.” 

~Rabindranath Tagore

~*~

"When I look at the sky, the trees, the land or into the eyes of someone I love, I experience the wonder of life. Noticing the simple blessings that surround me here and now, I tap into my inner wellspring of joy.  One joyful thought starts a chain reaction, just as the song of a bird at dawn invites others to join in I choose to cultivate joy, to count my blessings and to share this feeling with others.  A joyous state of mind opens me to divine ideas and substance. I see new ways to express my potential and new opportunities to experience life as a joyful child of God."

~unattributed 

(Daily Word)

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"The real joy of life is in its play. 

Play is anything we do for the joy and love of doing it,

apart from any profit, compulsion, or sense of duty. 

It is the real living of life

with the feeling of freedom and self-expression. 

Play is the business of childhood,

and its continuation in later years

is the prolongation of youth."

~Walter Rauschenbusch

~*~

“Joy does not simply happen to us. 

We have to choose joy 

and keep choosing it every day.” 

~Henri J.M. Nouwen

AOM Meditations: 050918

by Jan De Vliegher

Thanks to our Friend for sending us this beautiful art

~*~

The River of Feelings

by Thich Nhat Hanh

from his book, Peace Is Every Step

"Our feelings play a very important part in directing all of our thoughts and actions.  In us, there is a river of feelings, in which every drop of water is a different feeling, and each feeling relies on all the others for its existence.  To observe it, we just sit on the bank of the river and identify each feeling as it surfaces, flows by, and disappears.

There are three sorts of feelings-- pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral.  When we have an unpleasant feeling, we may want to chase it away.  But it is more effective to return to our conscious breathing and just observe it, identifying it silently to ourselves:  "Breathing in, I know there is an unpleasant feeling in me.  Breathing out, I know there is an unpleasant feeling in me."  Calling a feeling by its name, such as "anger," "sorrow," "joy," or "happiness," helps us identify it clearly and recognize it more deeply.

We can use our breathing to be in contact with out feelings and accept them.  If our breathing is light and calm--a natural result of conscious breathing-- our mind and body will slowly become light, calm, and clear, and our feelings also.

Mindful observation is based on the principle of "non-duality":  our feeling is not separate from us or caused merely by something outside us; our feeling is us, and for the moment we are that feeling.

We are neither drowned in nor terrorized by the feeling, nor do we reject it. Our attitude of not clinging to or rejecting our feelings is the attitude of letting go, an important part of meditation practice. 

If we face our unpleasant feelings with care, affection, and nonviolence, we can transform them into the kind of energy that is healthy and has the capacity to nourish us.  By the work of mindful observation, our unpleasant feelings can illuminate so much for us, offering us insight and understanding into ourselves and society."