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Zen Story – Sounds of Silence

Four monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks. By nightfall on the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out. The first monk said, "Oh, no! The candle is out." The second monk said, "Aren’t we not suppose to talk?" The third monk said, "Why must you two break the silence?" The fourth monk laughed and said, "Ha! I’m the only one who didn’t speak."

It reminds me of another Zen story where a monk is only allowed to speak once every 10 years.

After first 10 years novice monk says "food cold"

After second 10 years novice monk says "bed hard"

After thirty years monk says "Food still cold bed still hard I’m leaving"

The Master of the Monastery says

"Thats OK all he ever did was complain.."

I Like these Zen stories because they make us think and smile at the same time

Video of Aurora (Northern Lights)

 

 

The Northern Lights The Northern Lights, or ‘Aurora Borealis’, are a natural light show that can be seen at the North Pole. They also occurs at the South Pole, where they are called the ‘Southern Lights’ or ‘Aurora Australis’. They are a spectacular display of different shades and colours of light rapidly moving in the night sky.

Northern Lights

 

The lights occur when particles from the sun interact with the Earth’s atmosphere. These particles are what’s know as ‘solar wind’, and are quickly moving charged particles that are emitted from the Sun. The solar wind is very closely linked to the 11 year solar sunspot cycle and to solar flares. Most of the world is protected from these particles by the magnetic field of the earth, except the Poles. Here the solar wind can interact with the Earth’s atmosphere.

 

BBC – Northern Lights

India Dream

 

India Dream

India Dream
Brindavan,
I’m in Brindavan.
India again.

my feet upon the
dark earth of India,
I breathe her.

a master in bright orange
walks toward me;
we sit on the earth of India.

he tells me,
"I am with you,"
his smile as big as

Brindavan skies,
centuries, and
ten thousand hearts.

the earth,
the shining earth of India.
my hands touch down.

 

 

 

© 1998 Leslye Layne Russell from White Owl Web

reproduced with permission

Photo by Unmesh Swanson

Muhammad Yunus Nobel Peace Prize 2006

Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank today emerged as the winners of the prestigious Nobel peace prize for their pioneering work in lending to the poor.

Mr Yunus, 66, from Bangladesh, started the Grameen Bank over 30 years ago, to provide small loans – micro-credit – for the poor. In announcing the award, the Norwegian Nobel committee said the prize – worth 10m Swedish kronor (

Meditation Music

 

"Meditation and music cannot be separated. When we cry from the inmost recesses of our heart for peace, light and bliss, that is the best type of meditation. Next to meditation is music, soulful music, the music that stirs and elevates our aspiring consciousness. "

 

Sri Chinmoy

 

Poem – Water is Silent

 

The fish in the water is silent,
the animals on the earth is noisy,
the bird in the air is singing.
But man has in him the silence of the sea,
the noise of the earth
and the music of the air.

 

 

By: Rabindranath Tagore

From Stray Birds by Rabindranath Tagore
[translated from Bengali to English by the author]
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916

 

Photo by Abedan Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries 

Currently at British Museum there is an exhibition of Tagore’s entitled "The Art of Peace: Paintings by the poet Tagore"

 

I COBBLED THEIR BOOTS

I COBBLED THEIR BOOTS

How could I love my fellow men who tortured me?

One night I was dragged into a room
And beaten near death with
their shoes

striking me hundreds of times
in the face, scarring me
forever.

I cried out for God to help, until I fainted.

That night in a dream, in a dream more real than this world,
a strap from the Christ’s sandal
fell from my bleeding
mouth,

and I looked at Him and He
was weeping, and
spoke,

“I cobbled their boots;
how sorry
I am.

What moves all things
is God.”

 

 

 

Translation by: Daniel Ladinsky

From Poetry of St John of the Cross

 

The poem is from “Love Poems From God” and are translated by Daniel Ladinsky, well known for his poetic versions of Hafiz.

St John of the Cross is widely regarded as one of the great mystical poets who lived in Spain during the 16th Century. As a young Carmelite friar John met St Teresa of Avila and became profoundly moved by her radiant spirituality. In 1577 St John was kidnapped and  imprisoned for his support of the reforms to the Carmelite movement. For several months he suffered appalling conditions and regular beatings, amounting to torture. However throughout this experience he came even closer to the divine and amidst the beatings and squalor experienced visions and ecstasy’s. This poem is based on one such vision during his imprisonment.

This poem is from “Love Poems From God” and are translated by Daniel Ladinsky, well known for his poetic versions of Hafiz.

Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln

On this day October 6th 1862 Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the defining speeches in American’s history.

It was a speech announcing the unconditional end of slavery

"And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all
persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward
shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and
naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby
enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary
self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for
reasonable wages."