Take a few moments out of your day and sit and breath and allow Rumi’s words to heal and comfort you.
In harmony and love, Namaste, Barbara
Tag Archives: love
Love Has No Labels – An Easy Translation
I hope all my friends and readers had an enjoyable holiday. Mine was less so. My low blood pressure condition kept us at home but I am 90% better today. I spent time reading and thinking about the founding fathers. I have read much about what was documented but what did they dream for this new country, what did they whisper to their wives at night snuggled up before sleep overtook them? Did the wives agree or disagree? We know Abigail Adams at least once did disagree.
I wonder what they saw in the future for their children’s children’s children. Or were they able to see that far ahead in time? There are many things they planned for and made provisions for and we are slowly letting them slide into the rubbish heap. When I saw this I knew they would agree with much of this as do I. Your comments are welcome and we can discuss the points you wish to.
Namaste,
Barbara
We are indeed all Americans. We are not all the same, we are not all perfect but we can and must love each others as Americans. If we can’t love each other as Americans then how will we ever love each other as human beings? How will we hurtle ourselves over the barriers that divide us all now? Those ever growing walls of differences and prejudice?
The statue of liberty was a gift from France
Four of our Presidents carved into the mountainside.
Poems to God
This poem is written in the old Eastern form to God
You found your pearl in the wine
But you became the vessel to carry by lilac
When in the ocean of purple wisdom
I look for my myself being lost and drifted
The vessel that contains the True-Love finds within distilled wine
O Beloved
Hold my wine as an ’embryo’beholds all that Truth’
As for the pearl, I am the womb…
And you are born each night being the pearl within me…, that ‘the night vigil’
As I evaporate in you
and you contain me-for the room is for one only,
Oh my beloved, my Murshid, my son
I am the oyster, you are the pearl
Born each night, within the wine the ‘very you’ hold for me
Being the vessel, containing the ocean within…
I was meant to find you,
Beyond the horizon of right and wrong, truth or lie
Beyond all that is ‘limitless’
I will meet you there floating on the notes of pure music
Will hold you hands, whether it is paradise of not
The womb will meet the drop of wine which creates the ‘Best of the Pearls’.
—Naajnin Soofian
Oysters and Pearls
Love is the way messengers
from the mystery tell us things,
Love is the mother.
We are her sons and daughters.
She shines inside us,
visible-invisible, as we trust
or lost trust, or feel it start to grow again.
— Rumi
End of the World
I love this video and this young man is going straight to the feet of God for well earned blessings. Love, peace, compassion are what we need. Kindness, gentleness and thoughtfulness round it out. I bet you can think of more. Whether or not you grew up with this qualities in your lives or not, there is still time for you to learn them. You can learn them and pass them on to others. They will learn and pass them on to others.
I don’t want to give you just words, which are easy to spout so let me give you an example. Please forgive me for using an example from my own life. I found my late husband dead in our home one evening. All of the usual things happened. After a couple of days, I asked my stepson to take me to the bookstore. I looked and looked and found, The Courage to Grieve. The associate wrapped it up and said she was sorry for my loss. It was a piece of kindness for me. With everything going on, I didn’t open the book for several more days. The associate had tucked a bookmark inside of the book, on friends. There was a piece of compassion and so it goes.
Every one of us has an opportunity to give little pieces away of these life’s building blocks away to family, friends or strangers. Without a lot of work or effort we can make the world easier, happier and more forgiving for many people.
Nameste
Barbara
I agree with this thought
May you be earning good karma
Our actions matter
Remembering the Names
I wasn’t going to publish the names…there were so many. Then I decide that they deserved to be remembered, indeed honored. Each of then was young, at the beginning of this sojourn. Careers and school waiting for each of them. The name I won’t say is the perpetrators because I don’t want to encourage those unstable minds who commit crimes so history will remember them. I am sorry that their families and friends are experiencing this overwhelming grief and sorrow. Though a widow, I can only express a tiny bit of the hell you must be suffering. I am sorry.
For those on the fence about LGBT members of society, each of these people were in school or working. Let us remember the injured also. There is a large list of people who need your healing prayers. Their doctors need prayers for steady hands, wise decisions, and an angel on their shoulder. It will take the loving hearts of many people to get the injured up and about. They may face some discrimination. Pray that people will look at them and just see an injured human being. For their families and friends, I pray for you that you will have the strength to give them all the care they will need. May people remember that you will need care also. May you be able, in time, to forgive the shooter and the NRA.
May God bless and heal you.
May your lives be surrounded
with love, harmony and peace,
May your hearts
strengthened and goodness come
to you for the remainder of you lives.
—The Rebel
Let Me Walk in Beauty
From Self Reliance Book
“What you believe you become.
Believe in beauty, for the Earth Mother is covered
with beauty.
Believe in love, for your Earth Mother and Sky Father love you.
Believe in magic and you release your soul from the prison
your mind tries to build around it.
Above all, don’t be afraid.
The Great Spirit provides all that is needed.”
—Sun Bear
Sun Bear, Chippewa Tribe
Thy Sacred Dwelling
“Why have I two eyes if not to behold Thy glorious vision?
Why have I two ears if not to hear Thy gentle whisper?
Why have I the sense of smell if not to breathe the essence of Thy spirit?
Why have I two lips, Beloved, if not to kiss Thy beautiful countenance?
Why have I two hands if not to work in Thy divine cause?
Why have I two legs if not to walk in Thy spiritual path?
Why have I a voice if not to sing Thy celestial song?
Why have I a heart, Beloved< if not to make it Thy sacred dwelling?”
—Hazrat Inayat Khan
Weeping Cherry Tree Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2006
Global Peace
“Man Must first create peace within himself if he desires to see peace in the world;
for lacking peace within, no effort of his can bring any result.”
— Hazrat Inayat Khan
The Healing Heart
Sympathy—a china doll sheds a tear
and a piece of the Great Wall comes down.
Synchronicity—at the same time, in New Your City a lover’s heart mends a tear
and a flower breaks through the concrete.”
—Hadj Pearlman
Painted Sky Orchid. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio, 2013
Let Me Walk in Beauty
“O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives light to all the world,
Hear me—I come before you, one of your children,
I am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty,
and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things that you have made,
my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise, so that I may know the things
you have taught my people,
and the lesson you have hidden in every rock and leaf.
I seek strength, not to be superior to my brothers and sisters,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy, myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you,
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades as a fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.”
—Yellow Hawk Sioux Chief
Yellow Hawk, Sioux Chief
Teaching Peace
Le Petit Journal posted this video in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, and I wanted to share it with you. It is important that we teach Peace to our children, and that we make sure they do not grow up afraid of others, because fear breeds hatred and violence. There will always be bad men, but good men can overcome them with Peace, Love, Compassion, Kindness and Gentleness; and, yes, Flowers and Candles.
Namaste,
Barbara The Idealistic Rebel
True Nature
Our minds have a true nature and it is enlightenment and peacefulness. So what happens to us as life continues in its flow? The oceans are calm and clear until they are stirred up by a storm or several storms. So what stirs us up?
When we mentally grasp onto things, problems or trials and cling to our wants, desires and worries, we lose our enlightened freedom and healing power. When we do this, we gain stress and exhaustion, suffering and overexcitement. It is as if a storm were sweeping the surface of the ocean.
Buddhists call this grasping at self. And we do and the harder we grasp, the more stressed and traumatized we become. Our minds do have the power to be joyful and to blossom into peace and contentment. We, our minds, are what makes the difference. Our minds can heal us or can make us very ill emotionally and physically.
Rich and poor alike can suffer from stress caused by external worries. Even millionaires suffer from anger, despair, and depression. They really do not get to enjoy true rest and peace, but they worry about how to keep what they have. They can’t enjoy who and what they are but are living for what they desire. Making money does not enslave us, but giving our lives over to what we are attracted to does.
Poor people become trapped by the struggle of life. They struggle to pay bills, keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. These are all important things. Often they can’t even enjoy the little they have for fear of incurring more pain.
Mother Teresa told a story about a small boy who was brought to the missionary sisters in Calcutta. They gave him a piece of bread and he hungrily ate half. He refused to eat any more. The sisters asked him why he wouldn’t eat more and he said because he might not get any more. The sisters assured him he could have more and he quickly ate the other half. This orphan was clinging to that half piece of bread because he understood what starvation felt like and that half slice was all he thought he had between him and starving.
We accumulate items for our homes but take little care of our minds and bodies. A Tibetan monk told a story of a friend of his who was chopping wood and he lost control of one chop and it cut through his new leather shoe. His foot was uninjured and that was good. The monk looked at his friend and expressed his gratitude about his foot and then said that if his friend hadn’t had the shoes on, he would have cut his foot. The monk’s friend looked at the monk and declared that if he hadn’t had on his new shoes, he would have injured his foot but it would have healed. The shoe would not heal. In a poor country like Tibet, shoe leather is valued. It is a funny way of looking at things, but we often put material objects before our minds and bodies.
Relaxing our hold on self brings us peace of mind, and with peace of mind nothing can harm us. Even if we suffer, the right attitude will help us carry our emotions more lightly. Simply by opening our minds, we can be surprised by our own inner strength.
Neurologists are working hard to understand how the mind works and they are making real progress. Letting go of things and the people who are toxic in our lives does make a difference. The difference is being free to discover and enjoy the wonders in the world and in our lives.
Meditation does help us with the letting go and it helps us to hold on to love, peace, enlightenment and compassion. There is no one right way of meditation, but it is the act of opening oneself up to experience Divinity that enables us to let go of what is causing us suffering.
Along our journey in this life, we can serve others, create organizations which will help others, provide protection, give gifts, say prayers, and pay respect to others and to Mother Earth.
“When you speak, speak with ease, relevance, clarity, and pleasantness,
Without desire and hatred,
In gentle tones and at moderate length.
When you look, look with honest and loving eyes, thinking:
‘By depending on this kind person
I will become fully enlightened.’ ”
—Shantideva
“God said to Moses, ‘You saw the moon rise from your chest.
I filled you with Divine light. I am God, Yet, when I got sick,
you never visited me!’
Moses said, ‘Transcendent one, I don’t know what you’re
talking about. Please set me straight.’
God repeated, ‘When I was sick, you never came.’
Moses said, ‘Perfect One, You have no imperfections! I don’t
understand. What are you talking about?’
God said, ‘One of my lovers was ill, and you ignored it.
I am him. His sickness is my sickness. Think it over.’ ”
—Rumi, from Rumi Wisdom
The suffering of humankind. The storm sweeping the ocean. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio 2015
The peacefulness and beauty of the beach. Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio 2015
Working Together for Peace
Israelis and Palestinians Join Forces to March for Peace Together
by John Vibes, October 20,2015 on thefreethoughtproject.com.
In recent months, news of violence between Israelis and Palestinians has become more frequent than ever. However, last week hundreds of Israelis, Palestinians, and other nationalities joined together to march for peace in Jerusalem and Washington.
The protests were associated with a three-day BDS solidarity wave with other demonstrations that were held at Israeli embassies in cities across Europe and South America.
The protests in Washington were primarily directed at the massive military aid packages that Israel receives from the US.
Nejwa Ali, a Palestinian-American from Buffalo, New York told reporters, “I’ve been to Palestine before and witnessed occupation, intentional discrimination and murder of Palestinians by the Israeli military, the U.S. Government supports Israel with $3 billion a year and the Americans need to know.”
Although there is still an unfortunate amount of racism in the Middle East, most of the hate is generally fueled and stirred up by the politicians who benefit from and thrive on it, and this hateful sentiment is not shared by the vast majority of the general population.
While the politicians and military leaders continue to promote hate and violence, there are more and more situations popping up that are showing the path towards a more peaceful future. Many groups and individuals are stepping up, risking their public reputations and their lives to speak out for what they believe is right. What is even better is that average people are working to apply their own skills and talents towards bringing the Palestinians and Israelis together.
For years, peace activists in Palestine have been teaming up with other peace activists in Israel as well as the United States and Iran to spread a message of love and unity among people of all geographical locations…..regardless of what all the crazy politicians say.
Some of the most popular of these efforts is the Palestine loves Israel and Israel loves Palestine campaigns, which started out as a viral Facebook phenomena where Palestinians and Israelis would send messages of love to one another and reassure each other that the hateful rhetoric put forward by governments and media outlets are totally out of line with the true feelings of the average person.
Also, just last year an Israeli metal band called Orphaned Land joined forces with the Palestinian band Khalas for an 18 gig tour that visited 6 different countries. The purpose of the tour was to promote peace and unity between the Palestinian and Israeli people. The bands even lived together and shared a tour bus throughout the duration of their travels.
As most of you know I am 100% for peace. WWII was the only righteous war. I am always advocating for peace and my heart is full tonight with thoughts for peace.We need peace in our own hearts and peace in our families. We need to stop all abuse in our families. We need peace in America and Congress needs to actually do what they were elected for. We need peace in the world.
Peace in palestine and Israel would be a defining moment in the history of our world. I encourage you to follow what is happening in the Middle East. We must all put a halt on revenge, hatred, and judgment.
I can no more understand the suspicion of those who are different now than when I was a child. One of the great strengths of humankind is that we are different. People of different nationalities make a beautiful picture. We don’t need to all worship alike, or look alike. We don’t need to speak alike.We are all children of the Universe and as such we do have a responsibility to make peace as often as we can. We need to get out of our own heads and find the similarities between us and use them to understand one another better, to love one another better. We need to know that we may be writers, photographers, musicians, painters and mimes but we can speak through our work. We need to show how much that love, gentleness, compassion, kindness and concern can change our lives and the lives of those around.
Whether, you have a spiritual path or are an atheist, we take care of each other, we must care about the lives and trials of the other people in the world. When the hatred of some humans, explodes one day, we will lose many material things and people that we love and care about. It will be too late then. I do not have the personality to run a country, and yet I know that our Congress is not performing their job descriptions and are therefore, letting American citizens down.
Many good men and women laid down their lives during the Revolutionary War to give us freedom. The Constitution needs to be respected and honored as well as the memories of those who fought and designed our Bill of Rights and our Constitution.
Some times, while watching the news, and they are interviewing Congress, I wonder what George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams among others would think about what is happening and often not happening in Congress. The Founding Fathers had their own differences but they worked through them and designed a country that is the greatest democracy ever. So work for peace, work for good communications, accept what is different and cherish this planet that we were given. As I have said before, there is no Planet B.
Namaste
Barbara
Mountain stream
Photograph and copyright by Barbara Mattio 2015
Why Hate Cannot Win
Found this on Facebook recently, a lovely reminder that Hate Cannot Win Against Love.
The WestBoro Baptist Church is an organization which regularly protests against homosexuals and other “sinners”, including our military veterans, often at funerals and at the homes of the loved ones of the beloved departed.
Their message is that “God Hates You” because you are different, in any way the WestBoro Baptist Church finds “sinful” — so, basically, all LGBT people and anyone else who doesn’t agree with them.
But this gentleman, in his video below, has found something marvelous that someone has done to combat the WestBoro Baptist Church, to remind the members of that Church every time they go to worship that their Hate is not the only force, and that Hate will never Win so long as there is Love.
Namaste,
Barbara
