A video from my primary Buddhist teacher beginning in April 1997 when I took refuge and received his blessing. To view his teaching and travel schedule click here
Lama Ole's Certification
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Lama Ole Nydahl
A video from my primary Buddhist teacher beginning in April 1997 when I took refuge and received his blessing. To view his teaching and travel schedule click here
Lama Ole's Certification
Friday, January 30, 2009
From "The Daily OM"
Expanding Their Vision - Nine Ways To Help Others Awaken to Consciousness
1. Living by your values allows you to become a positive source of inspiration for others. Don’t hide – express yourself and embrace life without reservation. By simply being yourself, you can help the people in your life see how one person can make a difference by being a living example of consciousness.
2. When you communicate your views, do so casually and in a nondogmatic manner. Allow the people you speak with to ask questions. Offer only as much information as they are ready to hear.
3. Igniting the spark of consciousness can be as easy as giving someone a gift. A favorite book, a medicine bag, or a beautiful gemstone can pique your loved ones’ curiosity and prompt them to begin an exploration of the soul.
4. Teaching a friend, relative, or colleague to meditate or chant can put them on the path to consciousness while simultaneously reducing their stress levels.
5. Others may want to know more about living consciously but are unsure of how to begin. Starting a discussion group – even a virtual one – can help you reach out to individuals that are eager to learn.
6. By recognizing and acknowledging the inherent value in everyone you encounter, you can teach them how to value others. Sometimes, the easiest way to encourage people – even challenging ones - to respect others is to respect them first.
7. Invite people from your personal and professional lives to join you in attending a ceremony or ritual. The experience may touch them in a profound way or introduce them to a new spiritual path.
8. Casually point out the interconnectedness of all living beings using concrete, everyday examples. Many people are unaware of how their actions affect the world and are intrigued when they learn of the power they hold.
9. Introduce your loved ones to conscious living in a lighthearted and enjoyable way. Serve delicious organic recipes at gatherings, volunteer as a group, and show them how wonderful it can feel to be truly aware and connected to the universe.
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Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monitor Size Issue
If you are viewing this blog on a monitor that is less than 21" then you may not be seeing all edges of the background.
Ipromised when I had time, I would answer this question that comes up more and more frequently these days. Ten years ago, I was sitting in a favorite restaurant (Jack's Grill) in Edmonton, Alberta sharing a bottle of vintage Châteauneuf du Pape (a rare occasion) with a person who I was to learn encapsulated a soul as deep as the night is dark. We had recently met and were sharing our 'stories' when The Question arose. "What would be your Perfect Life?" What? No one had ever asked this question and so even if I had had an answer, I'd certainly never verbalized it. What followed next was as though someone else was answering for me. "I want Two Dresses. One to wear while I launder the other. I will be living in a warmer climate, next to a body of water. I will be able to see the water from my studio where I will be working as an artist full time. I will make enough money from my artwork combined with the fish I catch each day to support my simple life in a tiny cabin.
So - I have the Two Dresses, the Time to Create and the Dream. I eat fish. I'd say I am half way there!
Toward the First Revolution in Mind Sciences - Alan Wallace
My partner and I spent a week in California (2007) guided in meditations by Alan.
Lesson One: Bury Your Inner Critic(s) or March Them Off The Edge of a Key Limestone Karst
Have you ever asked yourself where those voices come from? You know.... the one's in your mind when you're critiquing your own art work? Those inner critics? Not the ones, that pat you on the back, or give you big 'soul hugs'.... I mean the nasty ones, full of self-doubt and ill-intended confidence crushers.
Releasing your inner critics was to be one of the most critical lessons I learned while at Nick Bantock's summer workshops in The Forgetting Room near Ganges Harbor on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.
The following bit of fledgling fiction is a follow up to one of Nick Bantock's exercises on how to rid yourself of those artistic self doubts and it goes like this:
Desperately Seeking Peace of Mind
You see, through his telling, he encouraged me to hang my inner art critics by the neck and embrace my creativity. To live a life uncensored by those nasty, persistent and rabies-infested venomous villains who had embedded their hoofs in my left frontal lobe, directly blocking the top half of my third eye. Since September 1967, they had regularly wreaked havoc, viciously shouting atrocities with the clear intention to amputate my Artistic Soul and permanently extinguish my Heart's Desire. They roared in sound bites trumpeting profanities infested with ineffable judgements. Why, even if I was to glance at a blank canvas in my mind's eye, the decibels of their howlings would immediately quadruple.As reason and queasiness would have it, the thought of the nooses and lynching gave cause for my skin to crawl, moving me to invent an alternative fate. Soon after, my Summer Solstice Plan gave birth, commencing on the eve of June 23 (standard earthly time)and precisely 3 seconds before the stroke of midnight. Heh, why not, it's my story. With delight and the promise of joy a trembling finger tip away, I lined those demons up, one by one, like putrid muddy green army men on a 70's harvest gold shag carpet. And off they marched, left-right-left-right, woefully whistling the tune of Yet to Be Decided by "The Who." Single file they trudged across the moonlit path through the thick haunting woods of the Savannah Corridor Forest Parkway onward to the Sea of Nevermore. Hup 2, 3, and at 4 they fell, through the legendary Sacramental Crow and off the edge of a key lime stone karst. Slimy bellies over diminutive left brains until their hairy toshes landed, with the eye of a needle precision, into the eager jaws of the famed Killer Gop Shrakmites. Karmic justice to their wasted existence. Peace be to the Gods and Goddesses of Morpharchengigel I cried, for as the last IC rat tail disappeared, my battered and neglected self-esteem morphed into dust and in that nanosecond I became an artist.Several nights ago, I heard whisperings through the space bubble cracks in the universe, that 3 of the D-IC's (dead inner critics) through no fault of the Shrakmites, willfully escaped and have now taken up residence on a tacky houseboat somewhere in the Bowels of the Lower Sewerland of Purgatory, (BLsP) . Further speculation suggests they are neighbours or living in close proximity to the Joking Goat's Society Hall across the Rat Tail Suspension Bridge from the Saan Store. Clearly, they are down under. Tsk, tsk. But more on that, later, ...maybe. For now, I'll live under the perception of peace and clarity of mind. I wish we all knew that happiness is always only a thought away....
Releasing your inner critics was to be one of the most critical lessons I learned while at Nick Bantock's summer workshops in The Forgetting Room near Ganges Harbor on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.
The following bit of fledgling fiction is a follow up to one of Nick Bantock's exercises on how to rid yourself of those artistic self doubts and it goes like this:
Desperately Seeking Peace of Mind
You see, through his telling, he encouraged me to hang my inner art critics by the neck and embrace my creativity. To live a life uncensored by those nasty, persistent and rabies-infested venomous villains who had embedded their hoofs in my left frontal lobe, directly blocking the top half of my third eye. Since September 1967, they had regularly wreaked havoc, viciously shouting atrocities with the clear intention to amputate my Artistic Soul and permanently extinguish my Heart's Desire. They roared in sound bites trumpeting profanities infested with ineffable judgements. Why, even if I was to glance at a blank canvas in my mind's eye, the decibels of their howlings would immediately quadruple.As reason and queasiness would have it, the thought of the nooses and lynching gave cause for my skin to crawl, moving me to invent an alternative fate. Soon after, my Summer Solstice Plan gave birth, commencing on the eve of June 23 (standard earthly time)and precisely 3 seconds before the stroke of midnight. Heh, why not, it's my story. With delight and the promise of joy a trembling finger tip away, I lined those demons up, one by one, like putrid muddy green army men on a 70's harvest gold shag carpet. And off they marched, left-right-left-right, woefully whistling the tune of Yet to Be Decided by "The Who." Single file they trudged across the moonlit path through the thick haunting woods of the Savannah Corridor Forest Parkway onward to the Sea of Nevermore. Hup 2, 3, and at 4 they fell, through the legendary Sacramental Crow and off the edge of a key lime stone karst. Slimy bellies over diminutive left brains until their hairy toshes landed, with the eye of a needle precision, into the eager jaws of the famed Killer Gop Shrakmites. Karmic justice to their wasted existence. Peace be to the Gods and Goddesses of Morpharchengigel I cried, for as the last IC rat tail disappeared, my battered and neglected self-esteem morphed into dust and in that nanosecond I became an artist.Several nights ago, I heard whisperings through the space bubble cracks in the universe, that 3 of the D-IC's (dead inner critics) through no fault of the Shrakmites, willfully escaped and have now taken up residence on a tacky houseboat somewhere in the Bowels of the Lower Sewerland of Purgatory, (BLsP) . Further speculation suggests they are neighbours or living in close proximity to the Joking Goat's Society Hall across the Rat Tail Suspension Bridge from the Saan Store. Clearly, they are down under. Tsk, tsk. But more on that, later, ...maybe. For now, I'll live under the perception of peace and clarity of mind. I wish we all knew that happiness is always only a thought away....
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
From Our Cellars - Silver Lining Vineyard
Halo - 2008 Reserve Tipheret Blanc -Silver Lining Vineyards - Product of Morphination
Harmonious and perfectly balanced, Halo reflects the light synonymous with The Isles of Morpharchengigel. Tipheret's golden aura captures ones' senses and brings flight to even the most grounded.
Ingredients:
Masculine and Feminine Energies, Spiritus Moon, East Souls in Six Directions, Matter, Beauty and Spiritual Mastery. No Additives but many Addicts.
"Chop" Our National Currency
2 Chops - our smallest bank note
Back View of 10 Chop - Bank of Morpharchengigel Isles
Front and Back Views of a 1000 CHOP bill
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Chapter III - Customs and Tales From The Isles of Morph
Sacred Love
The customs leading to and surrounding Sacred Love on our islands are physiological in nature and thus more a defining characteristic of our particular species.
Female Morpharchians are responsible for manifesting the Sacred Love Transformation. Born with a uniquely female chromosome, it is their ‘kiss’ that eventually potentiates the unmistakable Magic in their eyes and the eyes of their male Morpharchian soul mate. In fact, “Love Struck” is a termed originally coined in Morpharchengigel.
Once Sacred Love has been discovered, and the initiation complete, the eyes of the United Couple are simultaneously illuminated. (see Figure #1) This illumination cannot be mistaken for anything but True Sacred Love. Each of the four irises bear an identical ‘thumb print’ or genetic code. This physiological transformation confirms not only the Perfect Union, but also serves to identify Two Souls discovered and One Love created. The female dominant gene (always manifested in the left iris) is then past on to their children. It is thus very simple to identify family members on the islands for the parents and children all bear identical left irises. This phenomenon is unique to Morpharchians and as such the country has long been consider the international and leading scientific authority on the subject of Iridology.
Figure #1
This is not to say it is only the female Morpharchians who determine Sacred Love. Male Morpharchians are also born with a physiological gift, unique to their gender. It is commonly known as the Wandering Eye and it too ensures the survival of our species. (see Figures #2 and #3 below)
Figure #2
Figure #3The male Wandering Eye can take many aerial shapes but each have the ability to fly. On each Full Moon the skies are alive with the eyes (similar to ‘stars’) thus the saying “He has stars in his eyes” This event corresponds with the luneal reproductive phase of a female Morpharchian. It is a spectacular sight to watch in the skies over the islands each month.
Head Dress Morphology – Mind Reading
Central to the Sacred Love phenomenon described above is the Female Head Dress. It is infinitely more difficult to illustrate and seldom captured on film. You see, the Female Morpharchengigel Head Dress is essentially ethereal. It reflects the female internal state of mind and as such, is a dependent variable linked to individual thought, mood and environmental influences. In order to ‘see’ a Head Dress, a Morpharchian must have first acquired The Four Rings of Awareness (described in Chapter 4) Because of this Rite of Passage prerequisite the Head Dresses captured by normal photographic technology are rare. The two examples illustrated here reflect the current “State of Mind Head Dress” as well as provide perfect examples of the “Sacred Love Phenomenon” In Figure #1, notice the characters contained within the Head Dress. From this one can draw a fairly accurate conclusion the woman is either currently an audience participant at a theatrical event or is performing herself. Of particular note, we can ascertain she has located her Soul Mate because her eyes are illuminated and within her left eye we see her Soul Mate, commonly reflected as a Clown Figure. (For a comprehensive overview of common Male subtypes, please refer to Chapter 9)
In contrast, Figure #4 (see below) illustrates a Morpharcian woman without iris illumination and therefore still “single.” Her Head Dress is more ephemeral but indicates she is “In Spirit with Nature.” If you examine the image closer, you will see the evidence of a “Wandering Eye” encased in a hot air balloon. Unfortunately, this encounter did not lead to a Sacred Love Union. The presence of the Red Frog’s Shadow is the telltale sign that the attempted union failed. Perhaps, had she not been so anxious to find love, she would have seen the Red Frog’s shadow prior to wasting her kiss. Chapter 11 dives into this subject of “Frog Kissing” in greater detail.
In contrast, Figure #4 (see below) illustrates a Morpharcian woman without iris illumination and therefore still “single.” Her Head Dress is more ephemeral but indicates she is “In Spirit with Nature.” If you examine the image closer, you will see the evidence of a “Wandering Eye” encased in a hot air balloon. Unfortunately, this encounter did not lead to a Sacred Love Union. The presence of the Red Frog’s Shadow is the telltale sign that the attempted union failed. Perhaps, had she not been so anxious to find love, she would have seen the Red Frog’s shadow prior to wasting her kiss. Chapter 11 dives into this subject of “Frog Kissing” in greater detail.
Figure #4
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