s70baby If I get one more of these cut-and-paste bs notes I'm gonna hurt somebody... - Nov 07 add/view comments (0)

My Yankees winning their 27th World Series!!!!  Pinstripes until the day I die!!!!

Now we can add 2009!

While I do not believe that any one religion is absolute, I do believe that each has knowledge to contribute to the betterment of us all. This particular gem comes from Buddism and was given to me by a lovely Korean lady while I was out shopping this weekend.

"Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive, because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny.

(Living Buddism, October 2001)

The photographs that accompany the poetry on my page were not chosen because they were "pretty pictures", they were chosen for their symbolism. Please read on...

The Lotus Flower

The lotus flower has a unique characteristic in that it blooms and sheds its seeds at the same time. In the context of Buddhism, the theory of karma says that, just like the lotus flower, our life is made up of cause and effect. Every cause -- be it action, word or thought -- will imprint an effect that can be seen in this lifetime or in future lives.

In Buddhist paintings and sculpture, the Buddha is often seated on a lotus flower. The lotus produces a beautiful flower even with its roots in the dirtiest water. The symbolism is that a person can rise above being rooted in the ugliness and suffering of this world, and should try to be pure and help others with the beauty of the spirit.

The lotus also played a role in the religious symbolism of ancient Egypt, although the papyrus is more common in surviving works of art. A discussion of the Egyptian symbolism of both flowers appears at: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/flowers.htm

In addition to the above, the lotus signifies that even the dirtiest water will not cling to the lotus (pure in spirit). Try sprinkling water on a lotus leaf and it will just roll off.

The lotus flower is believed to be able to reproduce from its own matrix. In this regard, it is the symbol of "self-regeneration" -- svayambh in Sanskrit. Svayambh can also mean "self-existent" and "independent." One often sees the lotus as the throne upon which the Buddha sits. Here, the Buddha is the symbol of the awakened Mind, which is self-existent, independent, and self-regenerating.

The Diamond

The critical mass of enlightenment can be defined as the smallest number of awakened human beings whose collective influence can initiate a significant shift in global consciousness. The process of creating enough enlightened ones to achieve this critical mass can be likened to the transformation of coal into diamonds. The pressure of surrounding human unconsciousness creates an urgency in the potential enlightened one to awaken from illusion. The total weight of so much unconscious 'carbon' exerts a tremendous pressure, through which a few coal stones reach the appropriate mass to become 'diamonds.' These awakened beings embody the crystal clarity of enlightened consciousness which can transform the level of consciousness of the entire planet.

These writings are not my own, merely borrowed from those whose level of wisdom and intelligence I aspire to someday achieve.

I am an idea

Conceived in the mind of the universe

And interpreted in the minds

Of the individuals I meet

Within myself I am constant

Yet, I am as ever changing

As the people who interpret me

I can control my actions

But I cannot control their thoughts

Therefore, I must do what I think right

And let others~

Think what they will

~Javan~

I felt compelled to post this in my blog because the subject matter just irritated me to no end. The following suggestion and my response are both posted on the suggestion box page. As a child I was always taught to think before I spoke. Maybe if more people took this lesson to heart the world would be a better place.

Being Beautiful 

Beauty flows out of the abundance of what the mind dwells on
And not only the exaggerations of the lips
Beauty lies in the inception of what the soul feeds on
And not only in the eyes of a beholder
Beauty is spirit searching and soul demanding
And never is it the lustful desire of human nature

Being beautiful is the realization that beauty dwells in you
Not only the evaluation of what the brain assimilates via the ear and eyes
Only an individual can tell if beauty breaths within,
cause beauty is not only physical, but also of the spirit and soul
Thus to say "I am beautiful", entails more than a collection of alphabets
And to believe and proclaim that "I'm sweet beauty" endows your personality with exceptionality.

Stanley A.C. Austin