My past says you met me.
My future says you will
always remember me.
My dream says you care for me.
But my heart says this
friend is born for me.
~sms4smile
http://leelavadeeflower.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-dream-says.html
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Purple flowers
by Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda
Occasionally, there are complains from people who have never caused or given any trouble to other people and yet they become innocent victims of the wiles and intrigues of others. They feel frustrated despite the good lives they have lived. They feel they have been harmed through no fault of their own. Under such circumstances, the innocent victim must realise that the world is made up of all sorts of people – the good and the not so good, the bad and the not so bad, with all the unusual characters that go to make this world of ours. The innocent victim may console himself that he belongs to the good category whereas the disturber of the peace belongs to the bad, and that on certain occasions, he will still have to bear patiently the misdeeds of those belonging to the bad. We take for instance the case of a ‘good and careful driver’ and a ‘bad and reckless driver’. The good and careful driver took every precaution to drive carefully but nevertheless he met with an accident, through no fault of his own – the fault being that of a bad and reckless driver. Thus we can see the good may have to suffer, despite their goodness, because there are bad and reckless people around us. The world is neither good nor bad. It produces criminals as well as saints, fools and enlightened ones. Out of the same clay, beautiful and ugly, useful and even useless things can be made. The quality of good pottery depends on the potter and not on the clay. The potter is in fact yourself. The moulding of your happiness or unhappiness is in your hands.
Source: www.dhammatalks.net
Red Roses
by Venenable K. Sri Dhammananda
Fear and worry are born of the imaginings of a mind that is influenced by wordly conditions. They are rooted in craving and attachment. In fact, life is like a motion picture in which everything is constantly moving and changing. Nothing in this world is permanent or still. Those who are youthful and strong have fear of dying young. Those who are old and suffering worry about living too long. Locked in between are those who craze for merriment all the year round.
Joyful expectations of the pleasant seem to pass off too quickly. Fearful expectations of the unpleasant create anxieties that do not seem to go away. Such feelings are natural. Such up and downs of life play with an illusionary self or ego like puppets on a string. But the mind is supreme unto itself.
The training of the mind, otherwise known as mental culture, is the first step towards taming mental unrest. The Buddha has explained:
“From craving springs grief,
from craving springs fear
For him who is wholly free from craving,
there is no grief, much less fear”.
All attachments will end in sorrow. Neither tears nor long goodbyes can end the transitoriness of life. All compounded things are impermanent.
Old and young suffer in this existence. No one is exempted. Many teenagers have growing pains. Being neither frogs nor tadpoles, teenagers are understandably inexperienced at building stable relationships with members of the opposite sex. They try to show off their beauty in trying to impress their opposite sex who are flattered to see themselves as sex objects. Both try to behave not as they really are but as what they think is adult. They are afraid that if they behave naturally they will be laughed at. Beheviour like this has the potential for exploitation. There is fear of rejection as well as worry about deflated egos. Unrequited love will often “break” many teenagers hearts because they feel they have made “fools of themselves”. Some are driven to commit suicide. But such traumas could be avoided if life is seen as it really is. Young people must be taught the Buddhist approach to life, so that they can grow into maturity the correct way.
‘Wheresoever fear arises, it arises in the fool, not in the wise men’. says the Buddha. Fear is nothing more than a state of mind. One’s state of mind is subject to control and direction; the negative thought produces fear, the positive use realizes hopes and ideals. The choice rests entirely with ourselves. Every human being has the ability to control his own mind. Nature has endowed man with absolute control over one thing, and that is thought. Everything a man creates begins in the form of a thought. Here is the key to help one understand the principle by which fear may be mastered.
Source: www.dhammatalks.net
Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation.
~Roberto Assagioli
Take the first step in faith.
You don’t have to see the whole staircase,
just take the first step. ~sms4smile
Water is the softest thing,
yet it can penetrate
mountains and earth.
This shows clearly
the principle of softness
overcoming hardness.
~sms4smile Link to Google+
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie
In moments of discouragement, defeat, or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind—in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved. No man is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away—and a touch of wonder remains. ~Tombstone inscription in Britain
If you have made mistakes, even serious ones,
there is always another chance for you.
What we call failure is not the falling down
but the staying down. ~Mary Pickford
Take the first step
in FAITH.
You don’t have to
see the whole staircase,
just take the first step.
~sms4smile
Without forgiveness life is governed by an endless cycle of resentment and retaliation. ~Roberto Assagioli
