randy pausch

A human being who knew how to live and die passed away on Friday, 25 July. What can one say about a man who was told he had a short time to live, and took whatever time he had, and, not only gave it to his wife and three children, but gave it to all of us. In the process, he taught us, and showed us, what it means to “let go”. Thank you Randy Pausch.

He and his family were recently interviewed at their home. The cameras followed them, and when questions were asked, he answered all of them with a serene look on his face – the one he always seemed to have.

What a gift he gave his children; what an example he was to the world.

On Monday, 28 July and Tuesday, 29 July “Good Morning America” will have a tribute to him. And on Tuesday, 29 July “Primetime” will have “The Last Lecture: A Celebration of Life” at 10pm. www.first30days.com “Randy Pausch Passes Away”.

“Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more-than-ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.” – “The Wisdom of James Allen” 5 Classic Works Combined Into One

rev. michael bernard beckwith and rickie byars beckwith

Spending a day in a workshop with Rev. Michael Beckwith and Ricky Beckwith on Friday was a day with lots of sunshine, even though it was cloudy and misty outside. Being Fearless was the name of the 11,12,13 April event sponsored by Omega at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. And on Friday, Sumi, Emi and I attended the Pre-Conference Intensive with Michael Beckwick who nourished our souls as we listened, meditated, prayed, sang, asked questions, heard the answers and left singing. And we listened to composer and singer Ricky Beckwith’s beautiful songs and voice, heard her utterly contagious laugh, enjoyed her ability to elicit more from the topic being discussed, and were tickled pink by her humor.

Spending a day with Michael Beckwith who lives from a spiritual center quickly opens one’s heart. The questions asked by participants and the answers that unfolded allowed for those aha moments which usually don’t come so easily when we’re on our own to ask and answer.

The Keynote speakers for the weekend were: Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, Rickie Byars Beckwith, Mia Farrow, Zev Kedem, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Anne Lamott, Caroline Myss, Valerie Plame Wilson, Noah benShea, Tara Brach, PhD, Seane Corn, Debbie Ford, Erica Ariel Fox, Carla Goldstein, JD, Andrew Harvey, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Gurushabd Singh Khalsa, Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD, Douglas Stone, Rev. Claude AnShin Thomas, James Van Praagh, Iyanla Vanzant.

If days were freer and unscheduled, and the above-mentioned people available for longer stretches of time, attending all the workshops would add greatly to the way one perceives life. Oh yes, methinks so.

Sumi, thank you!

pondering

At times being alone to ponder questions, and staying quiet long enough to hear some answers is a beautiful gift we give ourselves. Questions we have can range from personal to those about the world, or a thought that won’t go away. If we’re on a quest to see our life as a work of art, we can relax into silence, or ponder the following:

Do I listen to people, or do I cut them off in mid sentence?
Do I overreact when words from someone’s lips are biting? There’s a chance that good things can happen if I stay with the conversation, keep my wits, and don’t walk away.
Am I alert to the day? Do I notice when “random acts of kindness” are needed, or do I plod along distracted?
Do I appreciate what I have, or do I usually notice what I don’t have?
Do I let the greed of some people in the world put a damper on the day, or do I create the kind of day I want and allow them to do the same?
Do drivers who rant and rage upset me, or do I realize that nowadays driving often causes stress in people?
Do I do whatever it takes to raise my energy level so that I can contribute to life on this incredible planet earth, or do I live without caring?
Do I require a thank you when I give, or can I find joy in simply giving?
What am I doing to help the world be a better place for all of us? What can I do?

When all is quiet, and the mind is relaxed, all kinds of suggestions, answers, and learning come into focus.

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“Let love and wisdom be united in me.” -an ancient prayer

“There is nobody else like you. The more you can quiet your own thoughts, fears, doubts and suspicions, the more will be revealed to you from the highest realms of imagination, intuition, and inspiration.” -Kenneth Wydro, American lecturer

“Too often people set their lives by the calendar. It takes all the fun out of life.” -John Glenn, after his latest shuttle mission

“Yes, of course [this age] is materialistic, but the only way to counteract it is to create spiritual things. Don’t worry yourself about the materialism too much. Create and stir people to create! -Robert Frost

“A life making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing at all.” -George Bernard Shaw

john perkins, psychonavigation

Last November 2007 I bought a book at Robin’s Bookstore, the oldest independent bookstore in Philadelphia. Something coerced me into picking it up and perusing it. I had another book in hand, but found myself purchasing and walking out with THE WORLD IS AS YOU DREAM IT Teachings from the Amazon and Andes, by New York Times bestselling author of CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN, John Perkins. I cried as I read many of the passages, and cried even more when I read the Epilogue. If you were to read this book I think you would understand.

In an interview On Spiritual Travel, Shamanism, and Consciousness, with Dennis Hughes, Share Guide Publisher, is written: “John Perkins spent three years in the Peace Corps in Ecuador and then became a consultant to the United Nations and World Bank, then a businessman in my own right. . . .” The interviewer asked him to give a definition of shamanism, he said his favorite short definition is:

“A shaman is a man or woman who journeys to other worlds in order to obtain power, wisdom and energy from those worlds to affect change in this world. When we talk about other worlds, we can use terms like the unconscious or the subconscious – there are a lot of different terms that can be used.”

At the end of the interview he said:

“The shamans like to tell us that Mother Earth isn’t in danger, this idea of needing to save the planet is ridiculous. That human beings aren’t going to destroy the planet. But the planet may just shake us all off like a bunch of fleas. She’s giving us a lot of warnings right now. El Nino as a message is a great gift. Climate change, the fires that have swept through the Indonesian rainforest, the drought which for the first time ever has hit the Amazon, are all amazing warnings. Receding glaciers. . . and so she’s giving us a message and this is a very exciting time for human beings to live in and to react. Because we don’t want to be shaken off. Yet it really doesn’t matter a whole lot if we do get shaken off, for we know that everything shapeshifts. We never die, we never leave. Einsteinian science confirms that matter and enery never leave they just change – they shapeshift. But since we’re getting these messages from the earth, it’s an incredibly wonderful opportunity to be able to respond to the challenge.”
www.shareguide.com
www.shareguide.com/Perkins.html

John Perkins’s organization Dream Change Coalition leads trips to the Highlands of Ecuador to work with the Shuar and Quechua and he gives workshops in the USA and in Europe. On the back cover of the book is written:

…Now these shamans are turning their wisdom and power to the problem of curing a new kind of illness-that created by the industrial world’s dream of dominating and exploiting nature.
John Perkins tells the story of these remarkable shamans and of the U.S. medical doctors, psychologists, and scientists who have gone with him to learn the techniques of dream change. These shamanic teachings have sparked a revolution in modern concepts about healing, the subconscious, and the powers each of us has to alter individual and communal reality.

John has used the knowledge he gained from master shamans, around the world in his successful career as a management consultant, president of a US energy company, and as founder of the Dream Change Coalition, an organization that inspires executives to clean up pollution, reshape corporate goals, and form Earth-honoring partnerships with indigenous cultures. www.dreamchange.org
www.johnperkins.org

the essence of what is

Photochopped – tampering with a human being’s original features and form. To change a human being so that s/he is thinner – maybe the word is gaunt – and/or more attractive, takes away from the original. The photochopped look has no depth as the essence of a living human being is missing.

When the icon of perfection displayed on a daily basis is inauthentic, how can this be a good thing? And anyway, the original is far more interesting than the photochopped version. Our own features are a unique creation. There are a variety of things to do with the original while leaving one’s essence intact. The authentic way is beautiful; we just don’t know it because there’s so much coming at us saying otherwise.

And speaking of tampering with, all the information in those mainstream magazines geared at women and men are exhausting to read, many pages dedicated to opinions and then, in a month’s time, they change. They say: Wear this and . . . Go here and . . . Do it this way and . . . Say this and . . . Exercise like this and . . . Eat this and . . . Use this and . . . How are we going to take on other things when we get feelings from these mags that we need help for everything?

I have an idea . . . Let’s start trusting ourselves, observing, checking out what’s right for our own needs, and create according to what works for US. Because being a carbon copy is no fun. The things we could accomplished if we weren’t obsessed with nonsense, boggles the mind.

(This post written because a young woman died recently when she checked into a hospital for a tummy tuck and a few other things she thought she needed to look beautiful.)

“Joy and openness come from our own contented heart.” – the Buddha

seth, a book; gary renard, more books

After reading SETH SPEAKS and now up nights reading THE NATURE OF PERSONAL REALITY, two books channeled by Jane Roberts, I’ll say this, it’s all really, really intriguing. There was a time when I’d hesitate to talk about a book that was channeled. That’s changed. The information in these books can only enhance one’s life and death. The thing is that this kind of information contributes immensely to a life lived consciously and powerfully, and a death of peace and joy. And besides, if we really sat and pondered all those other things we were taught that tend to stretch the imagination, well, why not this also. www.sethcenter.com

As I walked along South Street recently trying to figure out the lay of the Philadelphia land, I came across the bookshop Garland of Letters at 527 South Street. In front to the side of the entrance were a stack of magazines. I took the one called EVOLVE, and glanced inside. I hadn’t heard of “international best selling author” Gary Renard before reading his article in the magazine. He wrote about A Course in Miracles, forgiveness, death, the Mayan calendar, changes in the world, and there’s more. www.garyrenard.com It would seem that checking out this author can only be a good thing. And he talks about his ‘ascended masters,’ Arten and Pursah. Oh, yes.

In the book SETH SPEAKS Seth also talks about 2012 not being the end of the world, and he elaborates beautifully on what’s to come. www.sethlearning center.org . Gary Renard has a somewhat similar view about this topic which many were concerned about as the 21 century approached.

It’s a sunny, fairly warm day here. Hope it’s that way for you. Enjoy!

highly entertaining

The world is indeed a stage. The presidential candidates in the US are presently preening themselves in full force – sprucing up their image, while attempting to determine what “the people” want to hear. How many coaches are involved in bringing them up to snuff with their rapport with the cameras, with the way they answer tv journalists, coaching them on displaying the right emotion at the right time, the proper stance, the right intonation, selecting topics they want to make their own, ignoring others as actors do with scripts sent their way, lots of money required, lots of spectators needed. Months and months and months of rehearsals on the campaign trail. With every candidate involved, it almost suggests the orchestrating of a Broadway extravaganza. Interesting, highly entertaining, very imaginative, but, a little strange, too, since it’s not at all about a Broadway show.

a baby’s way

For a lot of people being with a baby is sheer delight. When you see the anticipation in a baby’s eyes as someone comes and lifts them out of a crib, the trust a baby senses when s/he is handled with love, care and patience, the easy fun between baby and caretaker when baby makes eye contact and attempts with all its focus and energy to stand, watching a newborn’s speedy growth week after week, the happiness a baby expresses when it’s time for milk, it would seem that if everyone got the simple things needed during those completely helpless years the world would be in much better shape.

I was with Sophie in the Catskills this past weekend. What fun it is to be with a four month old; everything about her is pure, and just like her cousin Sebastian, she’s well-loved in all the ways she needs to be. When I look at Sophie I think she knows much more than she can let on at the moment. If a baby were able to talk, communication might go like this: I can’t do anything for myself, but it won’t be like this forever. So, if you promise to love me, keep me secure, take care of my basic needs, have patience with me, I’ll grow into a person who trusts life and will add to life in untold ways.

Awesome power is in the hands of an adult who’s responsible for a baby, and in the hands of a mature adult, imagine what can happen.

doormats

Ever notice how one thing after another happens to some people? They believe, “Life’s a bitch.” I don’t like that saying; it’s a puny description of life. If you say it often enough, life pays you back and it becomes that way because the Universe is listening. If you allow it, your heart can break for these people. But you can’t let it; it won’t serve you well or them. Eventually you might find yourself right there with them. And how will that help anyone?

The people who claim “Life’s a bitch” are often the people who can’t quite utter the word “no.” And because of this, they’re physically exhausted doing for others, and emotionally wrapped up in other people’s problems. And as awful as it sounds, in time, they’re taken advantage of – they’ve let themselves become doormats.

How can they be helped? Sometimes listening is all you can do, as long as it doesn’t impinge on your energy. There’s a difference between people who can genuinely help others, and people who make other people’s problems their problems. Trusting that people can solve their own problems without interference, and learn from their own experiences, sets up the right energy for possibilities.

“To know how to live is my trade and my art.” -Michel De Montaigne

“I’m not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” -Louisa May Alcott www.louisamayalcott.org

“Give yourself abundant pleasure, so that you may have abundant pleasure to give others.” -Neale Donald Walsch www.nealedonaldwalsch.com

“Always look for creative solutions to everyday challenges.” -Deepak Chopra
www.deepakchopra.com

death

I think death is a part of life. That’s obvious you want to say. But what I want to say is that it’s actually a good part of life. I want to slide into this conversation easily – without raising an eyebrow. Somewhere along the line our ability to sense what it is and what it means got mangled – badly. When we take the time to be alone and think clearly about this, we’re slowly able to put back that lost sense. We’re supposed to die; it’s natural just as eating is natural, Only death has a greater impact on us, or so it seems. To me something that’s natural is nothing to get anxious about. If you’ve had the opportunity to be at someone’s side when they died, perhaps you had a chance to notice how easy and peaceful death can be. Not always, of course, some people struggle with it to the end. But it seems useless to fight something that’s a natural part of us. It’s just like everything else in life, when we take the time to understand exactly what it means, the feelings we have are replaced with an understanding, and eventually a knowing. And when it’s our time for that experience, we accept it, and with acceptance, there’s something else that comes – a trust and a belief in Life. Every day people die with a smile on their lips. How neat is that.

Grieving is hard. It’s natural, too. We lose someone we love and will never see again in that same form. It’s painful. I’ve read often that when we refuse to accept the death of someone we love, it’s possible we’re keeping the one who died in a state of confusion, bound to the earth plane. There’s a need to go on, and we have to let it happen. It’s been said that time is a great healer. And probably we all know this to be true. When we look back at the things we thought we’d never get through and here we are, smiling again. Time is a great healer, and we have to let it work its magic on us so that we can once again see clearly.