Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

Top Ten Reasons Trick or Treating is Better Than Sex:

10. You are guaranteed to get at least a little something in the sack.

9. If you get tired, you can wait 10 minutes and go at it again.

8. The uglier you look, the easier it is to get some.

7. You don't have to compliment the person who gives you some.

6. It's OK when the person you're with fantasizes you're someone else, because you are.

5. Forty years from now you'll still enjoy candy.

4. If you don't like what you get, you can always go next door.

3. It doesn't matter if the kids hear you moaning and groaning.

2. Less guilt the morning after.

1: YOU CAN DO THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD!!!

Have a great holiday, peace and Love, Jim

If You Love Someone

Good Morning,

I hope everyone had a joyous weekend, full of adventure and learning. I thought I would start the week off with a little humor based on different points of view. Everyone remembers the t-shirt of poster that says - If you love some one then set them free..... Well after pondering how that could be interpreted by different people in different times I offer the following: If You Love Someone

Shakespeare: if you love someone, Set them free .... If they ever comes back, their yours, If they don't, here's the poison, kill yourself for them.

Optimist: If you love someone, Set them free .... Don't worry, they will come back.

Suspicious: If you love someone, Set them free .... If they ever come back, ask them why.

Impatient: If you love someone, Set them free .... If they don't comes back within some time forget them.

Patient: If you love someone, Set them free .... If they don't come back, continue to wait until they come back.

Playful: If you love someone, Set them free ....*If they come back, and if you love them still, set them free again, repeat*

C++ Programmer: if(you-love(m_ they)) m_ they.free() if(m_ they == NULL) m_ they = new C they;

Lawyers: If you love someone, Set them free, Clause 1a of Paragraph 13a-1 in the second amendment of the Matrimonial Freedom Act clearly states that....

Bill Gates: If you love someone,Set them free, If they come back, I think we can charge them for re-installation fees but tell them that their also going to get an upgrade.

Biologist: If you love someone, Set them free, they will evolve.

Statisticians: If you love someone, Set them free, If they love you, the probability of them coming back is high If they don't, the distribution and your relation was improbable anyway.

Careless: If you love someone, Set them free .... If they ever come back, deal! If they don't, so what! "NEXT".

Salesman: If you love someone, Show them the plan .... If they ever come back, sign them up, If they don't, keep following up with them and never give up!

Positive: If you love someone, set them free .... if they come back great! If not then I can always get someone else.

Buddhist: If you love someone, show them the way. When they come back they will have no memory of you what-so-ever.

Realist: If you love someone WHY SET THEM FREE IN THE FIRST PLACE???????

Peace and Love, Jim

Growing Good

Good Morning,

Many times my wife and I are asked how we can give so much of our time and energy to helping others. How we can be there for people who may not even appreciate our efforts. We have been accused of being naive, foolishly generous or compared to door mats. This is never the case and both of us truly enjoy being there for others in whatever capacity is required. We do not do it for the recognition or to get on good terms with god, it is simply the quickest way to affect change for the better while we are here. My grandfather was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it often won a ribbon of some type.

I often spent my summers with him on the small farm and one year I learned something interesting about how he grew it. I discovered that my granddad shared his seed corn with his neighbors. Shocked at this I asked him how he could afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they were in competition with him each year?

With a gentle smile he looked at me and said don't you know you can't win alone? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If our neighbors grow inferior corn, cross- pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.

As I am older and look back I am always amazed at my elders connectedness to life. My grandfather knew his harvest could not improve unless his neighbor's also improved.

So it is in life. Those who choose to be at peace must help their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

Have a beautiful weekend and remember if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn!

Peace and Love, Jim

Destination

Good Morning,

There is a story told of a man who, being late for a trip, arrives at the railroad station and jumps onto the first available train. Tired and disoriented, he dozed off for a while and then upon waking up, saw the train rumbling along at full speed toward an unknown destination. He began to get restless and started asking everyone where the train was going. He began complaining aloud and finally crying and shouting. He demanded that the train stop to let him off.

The more excited he became, the more the other passengers seemed puzzled by his behavior. The man finally desperate to get off the train, clawed at the door and finally crumpled up into a sobbing ball. At the sight of this a kind old man rose from his seat and went over to the sobbing man and told him - don't you know, this train has only one destination, the great unknown from which no one ever returns?

Life is much like the train ride. Once we are born, our final destination is death -- the great unknown. This is not sad, sadistic, or depressing. It is the truth and who does not want the truth in their life? This simple fact is not one to freak out over or fret and fuss. It is not to be seen as an hour glass counting down our moments grain by grain. It is a wonderful opportunity to use our time here to develop ourselves and our understanding, to be able to calm the other passengers when they wake up from their nap on the train and to calm ourselves. How many times have you travelled on a plane, bus or train and met someone who made the long ride a pleasure? We all posses that ability, but the desire to bring it out depends on each of us a individuals.

We are all on a train ride with the same destination, embracing this does not limit our possibilities it simply reminds us of the ones we have and quite possibly the ones we have not even seen yet. We can look at it this way: Do not pursue what should be, but understand what is, for there you will find the greatest gift of them all - your life.

Have a beautiful day and make the ride a little smoother for the other passengers today!

Peace and Love, Jim

Alive

Good Morning,

Many times over in life we all struggle with wanting to know if we are doing the right thing, if we are pursuing the right goals, or making the right choices. It can our careers, a relationship or life change that gets us a little restless or causes us a bit of anxiety. Sometimes it can just be the desire to do something, but the inability to know what to do. When i was young and in high-school my father kept pressuring me to figure out what I wanted to do, but at 14 I simply had no clue. It was a difficult time and the pressure seemed tremendous. I woke up every morning waiting for the answer to hit me like a brick. It did not. After that I began the process of asking teachers, looking at college catalogs and going to job fairs. It was all educational but at my tender young age I just could not make a decision, this was the rest of my life after all!

By the end of my senior year I was fortunate enough to have met my art teacher, who immediately took an interest in my art projects. She entered my chalk drawings into school competitions, taught me how to sculpt after class and even got me onto the school art committee, which was quite a feat considering my extreme shyness. The greatest thing she did for me though was not in helping me discover my talents or even my career path (which she did) but in a saying she shared with me after class one day. I was visibly upset after a long fight with my father and she asked what was wrong, I told her my situation and how I felt horrible because I did not know what I wanted to do. She sat me down and in her kind voice she told me the following: Never ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

At that moment I knew I had been asking the wrong questions and looking in the wrong places. She was right and to this day she is still right. The world needs people in love, people willing to solve their problems and people passionate about the causes and effects we call life. The world DOES need people who have come alive and fortunately we have a world full of them.

So the next time you find yourself at the crossroads of life remember to follow what makes you come alive, not only will you be happier for it, but the world will as well.

Have a beautiful crisp day and remember Don't try to be different. Just be good. Because to be good is different enough.

Peace and Love, Jim

Song

Good Morning,

When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child. They recognize that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavor and purpose. When the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else.

When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child's song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child's song. When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song.

Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person's bed, just as they did at their birth, and they sing the person to the next life.

There is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.

The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of who you are. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.

A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn't. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well.

You may feel a little warbly at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you'll find your way home.

Peace and Love, Jim

Small Joys

Good Morning,

I thought I would start this week off a little differently. Often enough in life we as humans tend to get bogged down in life. We either focus on those things we do not have, the people that put us to the test, or forget all the small wonderful things that can make each moment special. Sometimes it helps to sit back and take stock of all the little pleasures we take for granted or do not consciously give attention to. In that spirit I would like to list some of my favorite things in life and encourage each of you reading this post to share yours as well. You can email your list to me personally at: jim@thedailybuddha.com or post to the blog at http://www.thedailybuddha.com or http://thedailybuddha.zaadz.com/blog.

The simplest things can be the most enjoyable, taking stock in our small joys is one way to remind ourselves of the moments we may may take for granted. Here are some of mine and I look forward to hearing about some of yours. have a beautiful day and remember a joy shared is a joy doubled!

My small joys:

Realizing the beauty and strength in others (even when they don't).

Hot cups of delicious Marsala Chai Tea with lots of cream and sugar (In my favorite double mug please).

The morning (wet ones, cold ones, quite ones, all mornings in general)

Getting mail (the possibilities excite me).

Other peoples accomplishments (there is nothing more thrilling than to see someone else succeed).

Solving problems and/or puzzles (I always enjoyed a good problem)

Meditation (In the mornings!)

Children ( as long as they are someone else's!)

Eating out (it does not matter where, as long as I am out)

Noodles (when i let myself have them)

Magic (as in magicians and not voodoo guru)

Building Fires on cold nights.

Good Conversations (I like deep, detailed discussions, but any will do!)

Cooking

My work (now if I can learn when to stop!)

Writing

Drawing

Creating (anything)

Quite moments with my wife

Quite moments with myself (and my chai tea)

You.

Learning more about the gift of my life.

Helping others.

Don't be afraid to share yours! You may make someone's day a little brighter and a little lighter, maybe even your own!

Peace and Love, Jim

Shine

Good Morning,

The weekend is here and I hope everyone finds purpose for the time available to us. I've shared some of my favorite quotes, verses of poetry and other musings this week and figured I would end the week with one more. In all it's simplicity this quote is probably one of the most difficult to master and yet it is one of my favorites:

Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery and like the moon, come out from behind the clouds and shine! - Buddha

Have a beautiful weekend and remember to do something wonderful, people may imitate it.

Peace and Love, Jim

Seven Wonders

Good Morning,

Back in elementary school we were studying the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of the lesson, we were asked to list what we considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following received the most votes:

1. Egypt's Great Pyramids 2. The Taj Mahal in India 3. The Grand Canyon in Arizona 4. The Panama Canal 5. The Empire State Building 6. St. Peter's Basilica 7. China's Great Wall

Always being a little different made me the shy one. The teacher being her usual diligent self noted that I had not participated in the discussions and I hadn't turned in my paper yet. So she asked if I was having trouble with the list. Quietly and almost in tears (I was painfully shy) I replied yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many and we did not talk about the really important ones. The teacher was a bit shocked because she felt we HAD covered them all, so she said; Jimi there aren't that many, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help.

Knowing I was past the point of no return I fumbled with my paper and nervously begin to read aloud; I think the Seven Wonders of the World are: 1. to touch... 2. to taste... 3. to see... 4. to hear... 5. to feel... 6. to laugh... 7. and to love.

I remember the room being so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop and the teacher just smiled at me through her own tears as she took my paper.

Many times in our lives we get caught up the webs live weaves and forget how beautifully simple life and it's wonders really are. I just wanted to share this story as a gentle reminder to all of us that the things we overlook as simple and ordinary are often the most wonderful - and we don't have to travel anywhere or do anything special to experience them.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your gifts!

Peace and Love, Jim

Direction

Good Morning,

Many times in life we can get sidetracked or frustrated. The things that cause us this can be anything from people, family and coworkers to jobs, chores and business in general. It is so easy to get caught up in the dramas of others or the momentum of the moment, to get lost along the way. Life moves very quickly for all of us these days and without time to step out of the picture and see it for what it is, we too often find ourselves swept away in the currents wondering which way is up.

It is in this moments that I remember a simple verse of poetry I picked up in college. It's words and meaning have often gotten me back on path and reminded me of why I am doing the things I have chosen. I know we all go through these times and in that spirit I share this verse with you and encourage sharing it with others, we all need a little direction sometimes: I will not die an unlived life.

I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.

Have a beautiful day and consider this: We seldom end up where we wanted to go, but almost always end up where we need to be.

Peace and Love, Jim

Poor

Good Morning,

Some friends loaned us the movie/documentary "The Tibetan Book of The Dead" to watch over the weekend. As we watched with great interest and awe at the tibetan peoples resilience and amazing dedication, the subject of poverty came up. Looking in on a culture such as this one could consider them a poor people. We started to consider what poor means. Was this just our view, from our seat? Is this like asking a fish what wet feels like? I am not denying that there is poverty in the world and that people go hungry and do without basic needs such as water, health and heat, but to consider some one as poor simply because they do not possess our lifestyle seemed small minded at best.

In my efforts to understand my own questioning I began looking at it differently - I saw that we have a yard, they have a mountain range. We have pools that reach to the middle of our gardens and they have creeks with no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches the middle of the yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them. So I ask myself, who is really poor?

Having come from low paying jobs and a difficult background most of my life taught me many things, but not once did I ever consider myself poor. Being homeless and living in my car for a period of time would have seemed like the bottom of the barrel for many, but it was one of my richest most memorable experiences. So what's my point? I guess I just want to say that we all learn from our moments and places in life even if we do not se them as favorable or desirable. The ability to step out of the "make me comfortable" syndrome allows us to see the moments and the world in a different light, to find something of joy even when circumstances appear bleak. The amazing ability of the human spirit to recognize what we do have when the rest of the world sees nothing is our greatest assets, one we should ensure to pass on.

No one can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to a bank account. It is the heart that makes us rich. You are rich or poor according to what you are, not according to what you have.

Enjoy your wealth!

Peace and Love, Jim

Eagles

Good Morning,

We had our godson this weekend and as always I seem to learn something with each visit. I often play make believe with him quite a bit since I feel that an active imagination is key to learning and developing in the early years (he is three). This weekend we played submarine commander, chase and several other favorites of ours. I always can tell when he has learned something new because it becomes his default favorite. So for this weekend no matter what our game, or where we imagined ourselves he would always say "I'm an eagle!" It did not matter if we were on our submarine or sitting in floor with action figures, he would always fly off the submarine (a play set in the park) as an eagle or turn his action figure into. . . you guessed it, an eagle. So being the curious adult I asked him why he always wanted to be an eagle? "so I can fly above everything" was his response.

Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm. When the storms of life come upon us - and all of us experience them - we can rise above them by setting our minds towards the winds that bring on the storm, we can benefit by what is to come. The storms do not have to overcome us. With the right skills and mindset we can allow ourselves to be lifted above the storms, to ride the winds of change and turbulence. Right attitude enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives. We CAN soar above the storm.

So as I pondered the weekend gone by and rejoice in the moments spent with the little guy I want to teach so much to, I began to realize just how much a three year old could teach me as we spread our wings one more time and prepared to take off like eagles.

Have a beautiful day and remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.

Peace and Love, Jim

Life Between Lives

Good Morning,

I came across a very interesting article in a psychology journal entitled "Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives." The article caught my attention and the reading proved to be very intriguing. Basically it talked about souls and whether there is any validity to such a thing. They recorded conversations with patients under hypnosis who seemed to be reporting their perspective between lives! The article failed to mention what type of "patients" these were, but went on to say these type of dialogue are far more common than one would imagine and they do appear to have commonalities. In the spirit of curiosity I offer some of the actual quotes below. Note this are actual quotes from patients.

"Some souls are driven more than others to expand and achieve their potential, but all of us will do so in the end."

"Being in many physical bodies and different settings expands the nature of our real self."

"Fulfillment is not cultivating self for selfish means, but allowing for integration with others in life."

"We all know earth is a difficult school"

"Earth is considered severe? Yes. On some worlds you must overcome physical discomforts--even suffering. Others lean towards mental contests. Earth has both."

"We get kudos for doing well on the hard worlds. We are called the adventurous ones by those who don't travel much."

"Less developed souls are inclined to surrender their will to the controlling aspects of human society with a socioeconomic structure which causes a large proportion of people to be subordinate to others."

"Souls are created in a positive matrix of such love and wisdom that when a soul starts to come to a planet like Earth and join the physical beings who have evolved from a primitive state, the violence is a shock. Humans have the raw, negative emotions of anger and hate as an outgrowth of their fear and pain connected with survival going back to the Stone Age. "

"The test of reincarnation for a soul coming to Earth is the conquering of fear in a human body. A soul grows by trying to overcome all negative emotions connected to fear through perseverance in many lifetimes, often returning to the spirit world bruised or hurt."

"There comes that time when the soul must once again leave the sanctuary of the spirit world for another trip to Earth. Souls must prepare to leave a world of total wisdom, where they exist in a blissful state of freedom, for the physical and mental demands of a human body. Souls have misgivings about even temporarily leaving a world of self-understanding, comradeship and compassion to go to a planetary environment of uncertainty and fear brought about by aggressive, competing humans."

"The real lessons of life are learned by recognizing and coming to terms with being human. It is how we stand up to failure and duress which really marks our progress in life. Sometimes one of the most important lessons is to learn to just let go of the past."

Having grown up with a mother who was always interested in psychology, I too have a passing curiosity. We tend to know less about ourselves than the world we inhabit. Have a wonderful weekend and keep this in mind: Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.

Peace and Love, Jim

15 minutes

Good Morning,

Like many I once had a desire for recognition or fame, my 15 minutes in the spotlight so speak. I was in several reasonably successful bands in my youth, always competed on some level in everything I took on, and just tried to prolong the spotlight for as long as I thought I could make it last. It was great fun with many experiences, but that was many years ago and like all things it grew old, the spotlight no longer had any appeal. So what happened? Did I lose my ambition? My Drive? Do I no longer thirst for the attention, the apparent fun?

Well thirst is a great metaphor, so to continue along those lines lets just say I got my fill. I began to recognize how empty the experiences had become, how temporary it all was and how the fame or recognition left much quicker than the effort it took to get there. After all there had to be more to life than just filling the spaces with things I enjoyed. What about the spaces? Could I enjoy or even see the spaces in my life where I did not fill them? Yes.

Do not get me wrong, it took many years and plenty of practice, but I did learn to see the "spaces" to see myself and my life for what they really were. It was here that many lessons were understood with more becoming apparent each breath I take. I learned what is left when I strip away all the objects, dramas and desires I filled my life with. I learned that life is simply a matter of choices and everything in our life we choose to put there.

So what happened to my desire for fame? Well what happened to Napoleon? What happened to the Queen of Sheba? And Confucius and Lao Tzu and Marie Antoinette, Beethoven and Bach? They're all just memories in our minds; they're just perceptions in people's minds now, but think about it - that's all any of us ever are even when we're alive. Like happiness, sadness, or pain fame is simply a matter of perception. Besides there is so much more to love when your not bust trying to be loved.

Enjoy the spaces in your day and reflect upon this: The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, and doing well whatever you do without thought of fame. If it comes at all it will come because it is deserved, not because it is sought after.

Peace and Love, Jim

Guidelines To Enlightenment

Good Morning,

We all need a little humor in our lives and some of the greatest laughter we can experience is when we can laugh at ourselves. With that said I wanted to share these guidelines to enlightenment.

1. Realize that life is a situation comedy that will never be canceled. A laugh track has been provided and the reason we are put in the material world is to get more material.

2. Remember that each of us were given a gift just for entering, so you are already a winner!

3. Life is like photography -- you use the negative to develop.

4. As we go through life thinking heavy thoughts, thought particles tend to get caught between the ears and cause a condition called "truth decay". Be sure to use mental floss twice a day.

5. If we want world peace, we must let go of our attachments and truly live like nomads. That's where I no mad at you and you no mad at me. That way there'll surely be nomadness on the planet. Peace begins with each of us. A little peace here, a little peace there. Pretty soon all the peaces will fit together to make one big peace everywhere.

6. I know great earth changes have been predicted for the future, so if you're looking to avoid shaky ground my advice is simple: When you find a fault don't dwell on it.

7. There's no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world and we'll never have to change it again.

8. If you're looking for the key to the Universe I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news: There is no key to the Universe. The good news: It was never locked.

9. Finally, everything I've told you is channeled. That way, if you don't like it it's not my fault. But remember: Enlightenment is not a bureaucracy, so you don't have to go through channels.

Have a great day and keep this in mind: Laughter is the closest distance between two people.

Peace and Love, Jim

Balance

Good Morning,

Today I wanted to share a story about a young man in who wanted to be the greatest graphic designer in the land. He thought that to reach this goal, he must study constantly and with the best instructors at the best schools.

One day he left home to go study with these teachers. Upon arrival at the school he was asked by the design department director What do you wish to learn here? I want you to teach me the skills, craft and thinking to help me become one of the best graphic designers in the country, the young man replied. How long will it take me? Ten years at least, the admissions steward replied.

The young student thought ten years was a lot of time. I want to get his done sooner than that. Certainly if I try harder I can complete this task quicker. So he asked the director, What if I studied twice as hard as everyone else? How long would it take then? Then it would take twenty years, replied the director. The student thought, That's even longer! I don't want to spend twenty years learning something. I've got other things to do with my life. Certainly if I tried really hard I could learn it much quicker.

So the student asked again, What if I practiced day and night with all my effort, then how long would it take?m Thirty years, was the directors response. The young student became confused and wondered why the department head kept telling him it would take longer, so asked the master How is it that each time I say I will work harder, you tell me that it will take longer? The answer is simple. With one eye focused on your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the way.

Another way of saying this is, With half your attention on your goal, you only have the other half to focus on the work. Any endeavor takes effort, but it also takes patience. If we have one without the other, we get off balance. with only effort, we try and try but get frustrated when we do not see results as fast as we would like. Or we get burned out and tired very quickly. With only patience and no effort, we never really put our full attention to a task. We never give it the commitment we need. This is as true with school work as it is with a meditation practice as it is with sports. The student had enough effort; what he needed was to balance that effort with patience.

Have a great day and remember balance is beautiful.

Peace and Love, Jim

Rain

Good Morning, In the course of our lives we receive many opportunities to see and recognize life for what it is, see our faith for what it could be, and recognize the pure beauty and simplicity of life. I wanted to share just such a moment today. One day while shopping It was pouring down rain outside. The type of sudden summer rain that comes so fast it pours over the tops of the gutters. As I exited the store a crowd stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Wal- Mart. I stood amongst the crowd and waited with everyone else to figure out my next step.

I noticed an adorable little girl and her mother standing a few feet from me. The little girl must have been 6 years old, this beautiful dark haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. She kept tugging at her moms shirt tails and repeatedly asking Mom, let's run through the rain. No, honey. let's wait until it slows down a bit., mom replied. The little girl waited about another minute and repeated: mom, let's run through the rain.

To which the mother responded; We'll get soaked if we do, No, we won't, mom. That's not what you said this morning. This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet? Don't you remember? When you were talking to daddy about his cancer, you said, If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!

We all stood there stopped in a dead silence. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

I could see the mom had been shaken as she thought for a moment about what she would say. Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing. Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked, but they were followed by the rest of us who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

Life has so much to offer when we are simply aware and available to the moments it is trying to hand us. I could have cursed and been disgruntled about the rain but then i would have missed tis moment, this memory, this simple little lesson, which brings me to the thought for today: For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin--real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.

Have a beautiful day.

Peace and Love, Jim

Trust

Good Morning,

Today I will keep it to a simple thought: To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.

Peace and Love, Jim

I Want. . .

Good Morning,

There seem to be a plethora of books and movies out on the subject of how to get what you want. All of these prevent several methods for getting us the things we desire. These methods include visualization, laws of attraction and even chanting out the objects we desire such as; I want peace, I want happiness, I want money or I want love. Now their is nothing wrong with these books, movies and their methods (to each his own), but from my perspective if we remove the "I" and the "want" what's left?

Have a beautiful day and look at it this way: We never desire strongly, what we desire rationally.

Peace and Love, Jim

Bad Day

Good Morning,

Everyone tends to think they have good days and bad days. We all seem to have our own definitions as to what makes them good or bad. As someone who compiles research and findings like a pack rat I came across a few articles that had well, a twist or turn in them. just goes to show how all things are relative to the situation.

1. The average cost of rehabilitating one seal after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was $80,000. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were released back into the wild, amid cheers and applause from onlookers. One minute later, in full view of everyone, a killer whale ate them both.

2. A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen, shaking frantically with what looked like a wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current she whacked him with a handy plank of wood by the back door, breaking his arm in two places. Until that moment he had been happily listening to his iPod.

3. Two animal right protesters were protesting at the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn, Germany. Suddenly the pigs - all 2,000 of them - escaped through a broken fence and stampeded, trampling the two hapless protesters to death.

And finally...

5. Iraqi terrorist, Khay Rahnajet, didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with "return to sender" stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.

Now, how bad does your day seem?

Peace and Love, Jim

The Path

Good Morning,

At work we have been working on our new marketing plan and message for the upcoming 2007 year. This has required us to really look long and hard at what we do to unearth the genuine qualities that make our particular type of work special. One of the things we have discovered is the incredible ability to transform the work into something that truly achieves it's goals. I know I draw a lot of parallels between my work and my life but they are inextricably tied together. I believe that transformation in our own lives unfolds before us as we let go on deeper and deeper levels. The process - both exquisitely joy-filled and challenging to the part of us that wants to be in control - requires that we surrender ourselves, our plans, and our schemes to trust in the experience - to trust in our natural intelligence. I know such a journey is an adventure and letting go of what we think we know to discover something new and unexpected can be challenging (I see it on our clients faces daily).

So today I offer encouragement to each and every person as they walk further down the path of their choosing. May we all find penetrating insights, intriguing ideas, and unique perspectives with each step we take. The path that we all walk is lit by one fire - the light of "daring" burning in the heart. The more one dares, the more he shall obtain.

Have a beautiful day and consider this thought: If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.

Peace and Love, Jim

Working with Hindrances

Good Morning,

Today I will wrap up my post concerning the hindrances. Remember the point is to not judge yourself but to recognize and investigate the moments and the hindrances as they arise. We all experience them in our own ways and having a natural open curiosity about what is playing itself out is the best way to work with the hindrances. Classically, each hindrance is said to be transformed by a particular factor of the concentrated mind. The following is a set of antidotes and tools I have found useful when working with my experiences.

Desire or grasping can be transformed by one-pointedness or steadiness of mind. Desire makes the mind jump to consider each new possibility for pleasure. The mind says; should I do this next? Do I need that? If you watch yourself and your desires with attention you can let them arise but not be swayed by them. This is important since desire is often the jumping point for the mind to move on to other hindrances.

Aversion, avoidance, or striking out at the truth of the moment, is transformed by interest. It's a simple fact that you can't push away what's happening and take an interest in it at the same time. Besides, whoever said we can make anything go away or change by shouting NO at it. It is a silly concept, but look at how many people revert to this when they encounter something they do not like. Instead of saying no to an experience, try welcoming it in so that you can look at and understand it more thoroughly.

Sleepiness is transformed by right aim - that is not letting attention become diffuse. Aim attention at the very moment, one breath, one step at a time. I always relate it to trying to get noodles out of my bowl. If I do not focus and aim correctly I can not get the noodles onto the fork or chopsticks, but with right aim I can finish my meal.

Restlessness is transformed by happiness, or comfort of mind. Notice that awareness can go anywhere. You can look at a painful experience with an awareness that is open and free, even though the object may be painful. Restlessness requires that we slow down and take in less and focus more. When we focus on just one moment we can slow down the mind. This insight can be useful in overcoming feelings of restlessness.

Doubt is transformed by sustained attention in the moment. The mind filled with doubt is a mind that hovers, uncertain of what to do or commit to. If you allow your attention to sink into the object of the present moment - to really connect with that object - that attention will energetically transform the quality of doubt.

I hope in someway this has helped provide a better understanding of what goes on in our minds from day to day. Many people call the results of the hindrances their emotions and yes they can run away like a wild horse in the pasture. But once we can begin to recognize these emotions as by products of the hindrances we can begin to tame the horse and ride with confidence and compassion in the seat of our lives.

Have a beautiful day and consider this: You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.

Peace and Love, Jim