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Ven. Saccamuni Luon Sovath with beautiful Indigenous people in my country, Cambodia.
Our country is very fortunate to have such a great defender who hardly loses his smile, regardless the situation. Photo credit: Ven. Saccamuni Luon Sovath

Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings. Move within,
but don’t move the way fear makes you move.

~Rumi

Universal Love Prayer
From the Metta Sutta

May all beings be filled with joy and peace. 
May all beings everywhere, 
The strong and the weak, 
The great and the small, 
The mean and the powerful, 
The short and the long, 
the subtle and the gross: 

May all beings everywhere, 
Seen and unseen, 
Dwelling far off or nearby, 
Being or waiting to become: 
May all be filled with lasting joy. 

Let no one deceive another, 
Let no one anywhere despise another, 
Let no one out of anger or resentment 
Wish suffering on anyone at all. 

Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm, 
So within yourself let grow 
A boundless love for all creatures. 

Let your love flow outward through the universe, 
To its height, its depth, its broad extent, 
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. 

Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake, 
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; 
Your life will bring heaven to earth.
Namu Amida Buddha.

An elephant in Thailand Paint a self portrait of himself, pretty amazing and unique. The portraits were later sold for $60. Someone purchased the painting before the elephant was even done painting it.

May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the small,
The mean and the powerful,
The short and the long,
the subtle and the gross:

May all beings everywhere,
Seen and unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become:
May all be filled with lasting joy.

Let no one deceive another,
Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment
Wish suffering on anyone at all.

Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.

Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.

Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.
Namu Amida Buddha.

In our deepest moments of struggle, frustration, fear, and confusion, we are being called upon to reach in and touch our hearts. Then, we will know what to do, what to say, how to be. What is right is always in our deepest heart of hearts. It is from the deepest part of our hearts that we are capable of reaching out and touching another human being. It is, after all, one heart touching another heart.

~Roberta Sage Hamilton

Smiling adds values to the face, making people look sweeter, more handsome
or beautiful, younger, friendlier and approachable. Smile has the magic of touching,
softening and stealing the heart. ―Dr T.P.Chia

Second photo taken by my mother. She’s getting better and better now, but takes her
forever to find the ‘click’ button!

When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
Raise your words, not voice.
It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
~Rumi

Cooks in Asia and India have use banana leaves in many of the same ways Western chefs use aluminum foil or parchment paper. According to an article on the Sampradaya Sun news site, banana leaves do not grow on trees but are actually the leaves of a large herbal shrub.

Significance
In India, banana leaves are so large they are used as umbrellas during monsoon season. They are used as natural food wrappers when steaming, grilling and baking different types of food. The leaf also make an attractive serving platter because of its size and sturdiness. The shrub produces only one leaf per month in winter and three to four per month in summer.

Nutrients
In addition to their value as food wrappers for cooking, banana leaves contain large amounts of polyphenols such as epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, also found in green tea. Polyphenols are natural antioxidants found in many plant based foods. According to an article by Augustin Scalbert and colleagues published in the January 2005 issue of the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,” extensive research is ongoing to help determine the extent of how polyphenols affect human cells, the oxidative process and its impact on disease prevention.

By BarbaraA
Source: Live Strong