Bill Evans - Days of Wine and Roses

White Myna Bird

Crocodile

Knowledge without action pays few dividends.

"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves,
or we know where we can find information upon it." 
- Samuel Johnson

Compassion for all living things needs to be practiced to save our Planet...

Jane Goodall


‎"AND IF WE DARE TO LOOK INTO THOSE EYES, THEN WE SHALL FEEL THEIR SUFFERING IN OUR HEARTS.

MORE AND MORE PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THAT APPEAL AND FELT IT IN THEIR HEARTS.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD THERE IS AN AWAKENING OF UNDERSTANDING AND COMPASSION, AND UNDERSTANDING THAT REACHES OUT TO HELP THE SUFFERING ANIMALS IN THEIR VANISHING HOMELANDS.

THAT EMBRACES HUNGRY, SICK, AND DESPERATE HUMAN BEINGS, PEOPLE WHO ARE STARVING WHILE THE FORTUNATE AMONG US HAVE SO MUCH MORE THAN WE NEED.

AND IF, ONE BY ONE, WE HELP THEM, THE HURTING ANIMALS, THE DESPERATE HUMANS, THEN TOGETHER WE SHALL ALLEVIATE SO MUCH OF THE HUNGER, FEAR, AND PAIN IN THE WORLD.

TOGETHER WE CAN BRING CHANGE TO THE WORLD, GRADUALLY REPLACING FEAR AND HATRED WITH COMPASSION AND LOVE. LOVE FOR ALL LIVING BEINGS."

                     

If you don't see our "shared something" in his eyes, look again.

Paul Hawken

Shaker Song

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Om mani padme hum is the most important mantra in Buddhism. It is the six syllable mantra of the Bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara.

Om Mani Padme Hum in Tibetan script.

Om Mani Padme Hum inscribed on a stone.

The Dalai Lama is said to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, so the mantra is especially revered by his devotees. Click here to hear the mantra chanted by a Tibetan refugee.

The basic English translation of Om mani padme hum is "Om Jewel in the Lotus Hum" or "Praise to the Jewel in the Lotus." However, the meaning and significance of the six Tibetan syllables have been interpreted in a variety of ways. One common interpretation is that each syllable corresponds to one of the six realms of existence and purifies the vice associated with that realm:

• Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods)
• Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods)
• Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm)
• Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm)
• Me purifies poverty and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts)
• Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm)

It has also been said that recitation of each of the syllables prevents rebirth in the corresponding realm.

The first known description of the mantra appears in the Karandavyuha Sutra, which is part of certain Mahayana canons such as the Tibetan canon. In this sutra, the Buddha says:

"This is the most beneficial mantra. Even I made this aspiration to all the million Buddhas and subsequently received this teaching from Buddha Amitabha."

In his book Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones, Gen Rinproche says of the mantra:

"The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.

So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?"

Sources

1. Meher McArthur, Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols (Thames & Hudson, 2004), 156.
2. "Om Mani Padme Hum." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Keep the Faith

“I know the path: it is straight and narrow
It is like the edge of a sword.
I rejoice to walk on it.
I weep when I slip.
God’s word is:
‘He who strives never perishes.’
I have implicit faith in that promise.
Though, therefore, from my weakness I fail athousand times.
I shall not lose faith.”

Picasso

"Painting is freedom. If you jump, you might fall on the wrong side of the rope. But if you're not willing to take the risk of breaking your neck, what good is it? You don't jump at all. You have to wake people up. To revolutionize their way of identifying things. You've got to create images they won't accept. Force them to understand that they're living in a pretty queer world. A world that's not reassuring. A world that's not what they think it is."

~ Picasso as quoted by Kahnweiler in "The Rise of Cubism".

ENLIVEN YOURSELF

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who are alive.

Success is living in such a way that you are using what God

has given you - -your intellect, abilities, and energy

--to reach the purpose He intends for your life.