Being healthy in attitudes and behavior every day.

“The secret to inner peace and lasting happiness is kindness—not random acts of kindness or simply being nice, but rather, kindness as a way of life.” 

- Michael Chase

“Ample sleep needs to be a priority in your life, not just for a high beauty quotient but to ensure basic health, particularly as you get older.” 

- Robert Tornambe, M.D.

“Without the illness I would never have been forced to re-evaluate my life and my career. I know if I had not had cancer, I would not have won the Tour de France.”
--Lance Armstrong

‎"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins; not through strength, but through persistence."
Buddha

Thought for the day: You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over the future. ~ unknown

‎"Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination." 

- William Arthur Ward

‎"Be kind to each other. It is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness." 

— Mother Teresa

Mindfulness means keeping ourselves situated in the present.

The Construct of Mindfulness | Journal of Social Issues | Find Articles:
by Ellen J. Langer, Mihnea Moldoveanu

Mindfulness is not an easy concept to define but can be best understood as the process of drawing novel distinctions. It does not matter whether what is noticed is important or trivial, as long as it is new to the viewer. Actively drawing these distinctions keeps us situated in the present. 


It also makes us more aware of the context and perspective of our actions than if we rely upon distinctions and categories drawn in the past. Under this latter situation, rules and routines are more likely to govern our behavior, irrespective of the current circumstances, and this can be construed as mindless behavior. 


The process of drawing novel distinctions can lead to a number of diverse consequences, 
including: 


(1) a greater sensitivity to one's environment, 


(2) more openness to new information, 


(3) the creation of new categories for structuring perception, and 


(4) enhanced awareness of multiple perspectives in problem solving. 


The subjective "feel" of mindfulness is that of a heightened state of involvement and wakefulness or being in the present. This subjective state is the inherent common thread that ties together the extremely diverse observable consequences for the viewer. Mindfulness is not a cold cognitive process. When one is actively drawing novel distinctions, the whole individual is involved.


'via Blog this'

Be Present In Your Life.

SANSKRIT PROVERB Look at this day, for it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the realities and verities of existence, the bliss of growth, the splendor of action, the glory of power. For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today, well lived, makes every day a dream, a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day

The Scholar and His Cat

Cat chases mice while scholar chases meaning all night... 

Be The Change You Wish to See in The World.

Children drummed to school, Vietnam

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.

"Be The Change You Wish to See in The World."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Dalai Lama - Mission Statement

“He frequently states that his life is guided by three major commitments: the promotion of basic human values or secular ethics in the interest of human happiness, the fostering of inter-religious harmony and the welfare of the Tibetan people, focusing on the survival of their identity, culture and religion.”

Beginner's Mind

Sit down before facts like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion.  Follow humbly whatever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.
- T.H. Huxley

Shaker Song

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.

OM MANI PADME HUM

Om mani padme hum is the most important mantra in Buddhism. It is the six syllable mantra of the Bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteshvara.

Om Mani Padme Hum in Tibetan script.

Om Mani Padme Hum inscribed on a stone.

The Dalai Lama is said to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, so the mantra is especially revered by his devotees. Click here to hear the mantra chanted by a Tibetan refugee.

The basic English translation of Om mani padme hum is "Om Jewel in the Lotus Hum" or "Praise to the Jewel in the Lotus." However, the meaning and significance of the six Tibetan syllables have been interpreted in a variety of ways. One common interpretation is that each syllable corresponds to one of the six realms of existence and purifies the vice associated with that realm:

• Om purifies bliss and pride (realm of the gods)
• Ma purifies jealousy and need for entertainment (realm of the jealous gods)
• Ni purifies passion and desire (human realm)
• Pad purifies ignorance and prejudice (animal realm)
• Me purifies poverty and possessiveness (realm of the hungry ghosts)
• Hum purifies aggression and hatred (hell realm)

It has also been said that recitation of each of the syllables prevents rebirth in the corresponding realm.

The first known description of the mantra appears in the Karandavyuha Sutra, which is part of certain Mahayana canons such as the Tibetan canon. In this sutra, the Buddha says:

"This is the most beneficial mantra. Even I made this aspiration to all the million Buddhas and subsequently received this teaching from Buddha Amitabha."

In his book Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones, Gen Rinproche says of the mantra:

"The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.

So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?"

Sources

1. Meher McArthur, Reading Buddhist Art: An Illustrated Guide to Buddhist Signs and Symbols (Thames & Hudson, 2004), 156.
2. "Om Mani Padme Hum." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Mahatma Gandhi

“I know the path: it is straight and narrow
It is like the edge of a sword.
I rejoice to walk on it.
I weep when I slip.
God’s word is:
‘He who strives never perishes.’
I have implicit faith in that promise.
Though, therefore, from my weakness I fail a thousand times.
I shall not lose faith.”

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama: Peace Through Compassion

In the remotest parts of Tibet, the American Himalayan Foundation has been working quietly as a lifeline for people who have no one else.

Over a dozen years AHF has built 33 schools where Tibetans learn in their own language, 24 bridges over dangerous rivers, and eight clean water systems for villages. They shelter elders whose poverty is shocking, support orphans, and build and maintain hospitals and clinics that care for thousands each year.

This year, AHF will help build two more schools with dorms and kitchens because nomad children live so widely scattered, a bridge that will free 3,000 villagers, and a clean water system so that 2,000 Tibetans wont have to spend hours gathering contaminated water from a river far away. Helping Tibetans has never been more urgent.

For more information about AHF and how you can help, please visit:http://himalayan-foundation.org

© 2009, American Himalayan Foundation, All Rights Reserved