What are you looking for?

Some say that what we are ultimately looking for is happiness and I’m sure this is true for them. But my observation has been that what we are constantly looking for is growth. We are constantly looking to grow and expand into the next version of ourselves and this happens every time we receive a validation for one of the aspects of who we are, the artist, the speaker, the explorer, the lover, the healer and all the other aspects of us that once honored and validated will make the whole of us, or in other words will make us whole.

Now, what is validation but a simple hello? Every time we say hello to something we validate it’s existence, we acknowledge that it is there and this hello or acknowledgment will bring validation to that aspect of life and allows it to grow and expand into a more complete and whole version of itself.

Everyone deserves to be admired, are you ready to be the one who admires you?
Everyday take the time to say hello to your Self.

Amen

A cup of tea and Forough

To turn the dark and dry black tea leaves into an aromatic, vibrant and delightful cup of tea, one must boil the water and pour the boiling water over the tea leaves and then let it sit and steep for a while before the aroma, the color and the flavor is perfectly ready to bring transformation to whomever drinks it.

I think this is also true for us, and our creative process. We must learn to respect and value our creative brewing periods. I personally have been using poems that inspire me to create a painting using calligraphy. But for the past few months I could not find one that would inspire me to do a new one. Then a few days ago I went to L.A. to visit some friends and ended up going shopping for Persian books and CDs. One of the CDs is of Forough Farrokhzad reading her own poems in a radio program recorded over 40 years ago. Forough passed away in a tragic accident when I was just a teenager but two verses in one of her poems in this CD ended my many months of brewing time and inspired me to start creating these Calligraphy/Paintings again. What a delightful feeling.

Forough said;
“ We found the truth in the garden
In the shameful look of an unknown flower”

The Power And I

Just finished “ The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle published by New World Library in Novato California. A few years ago I read a couple of other books published by the same publishing house by the author, Shakti Gawain .

These books all talk about this very important and delicate distinction between our power to change things out side of us, or otherwise our third Chakra energy, and our vulnerability which is our ability to allow our experiences of things outside of us to change us from inside.

If we take a deep and honest look at ourselves we will see that what we have done with our so called power to change things out side of us might define who we are for others, but for ourselves what really define us is our growth as a result of how we have allowed our experiences of the events our lives to change us and shape us to the new versions of ourselves.

So what makes us who we really are is not how we push against life trying to change it to what we think it should be, but rather our willingness to trust life and accept it’s flow to bring us the experiences that will shape us in the direction of our true Selves.

Maybe this line from A Course In Miracles will help us do this;
“What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good? “

So be it, Amen.

From Napoleon to You

Napoleon Hill the author of “ Think & Grow Rich” talked about a 6 step tool to create wealth for yourself decades ago and this tool is still as useful today as it has ever been.

Here it is, use it and grow rich;

- Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire to create.
- Determine exactly what you are going to give in return.
- Establish a time line during which you desire to create this.
- Create a plan to carry this out and start immediately even if you think you are not ready.
- Write down very clearly this plan that you have created.
- Read this statement twice a day, once before going to sleep at night and once upon waking up in the morning.

Now let me suggest something also. Do not create what you cannot yet handle.

Happy creation.
So be it, Amen

A Day of Silence

There are days when we want to let the silence fill the air.

It seems like there is nothing to say but lots to listen to and the only way we can hear what there is to hear is in silence.

So today instead of saying I opened A Course In Miracles to see what it had to say to me, here is what it said:

“ If nothing but the truth exists, right-minded seeing cannot see anything but perfection”

So be it, Amen

The Two of Us

I recently read a wonderful book by Gangaji called " The Diamond in Your Pocket" . In this book she talks about how we all have a story that we keep repeating and indentify ourselves, with and through that story. She says it is not that our stories are good or bad, it is just that they are not real.

And that is what I mean by the two of us, the two parts, the story and the real, the human and the being, the me and the I.

There is a part of us that our mind creates in order to give us a social indentety, our name our fame, our social position, in other words, the me.

And then there is the part that is one with every thing and every one. The part that could not exist if it were not one with all there is because it is a part of all there is just like a drop of water in the ocean is one with the ocean, it cannot help but being the ocean. That is how as "I" we are one with all there is and all there is, is one with "I".

Now our challenge in life is not to ignore the I or reject the me. Our challenge in life is to expand our awareness to include both. Our challenge in life is to say hello to all we are; A Human/Being.

So be it, Amen.

The Biggest Lie

They were talking on NPR about a research done on how often people lie.
The result was that the average woman lies an average of 3 times a day and an average man 5 times a day.
But the most interesting part was about the most told lie ever; " I'm Fine".

To me a lie is not harmful as long as we know it's a lie but it becomes a problem when we believe it as truth, and " I'm Fine" is more often than not one of those lies that we convince ourselves is the truth. We use it to pretend something did not happen or even to deny a part of ourselves, but how can we change it if we start by renouncing it? how can we heal it if we tell ourselves that the lie is the truth?

Let's start by giving ourselves the permission to see the lies in our lives as lies, so we can start recognizing our truths.
So be it, Amen.

Starting Today

From the pile of unread books, few days ago

I picked " The Healing Power of Kindness" by Kenneth Wapnick.

And suddenly it all makes so much sense to BE KIND.

It is really a life changing realization that makes it so easy to get away from

the addiction to being right and always looking to judge the moment someone else walks in our view.

So starting today when I first open my eyes in the morning and step back into the physical realm of experience, the first thing I ask the Supreme Being is to help me be kinder than I was yesterday.

So be it, Amen.