THIS is the way the light should be – brilliant! The light shines from each of you. When others try to turn your light out, then shine even more brilliantly. -- The Angels…
The last few days, there have been flashes of light in boardrooms, in plants and warehouses, and in department stores. It is a sign that we are flashing brilliant! Look inside. See how you are changing. Let it happen.
Blessings,
Judy
Find one thing that makes you feel good and put it into practice. It is through this kind of action that we learn to live in harmony. We can also change others in this way. I know that some people question whether the actions of a single individual can really affect others. But do not waste time worrying about that; just do what feels right to you.
- Nikkyo Niwano, "A Cheerful 'Good Morning'"
Each morning, we go out to work, whether it is to a job or to keep our household going with running kids or with grocery shopping. Each morning, we need to learn to do things with grace and ease for this makes the whole “getting out of bed” thing much easier on us.
This was the lesson that I was getting the past several weeks. The weather was getting colder. The client projects were getting more demanding, and the day more tiring. By the time I got home, I was finding it hard to have resources to work with through the evening. I wondered if I was going to survive the challenge.
Then, in meditation each evening, I would hear “find the beauty in the drive to work”. I struggled with that thought! How much beauty is there in the movement of thousands of cars down the highway, especially when three lanes try to squeeze into one to merge on to the highway? I simply got frustrated with all the drivers that were scared to merge or stopped on the highway, waiting for others to let them in. This action breaks the flow of traffic.
And then one morning, I began to see some humour in how people were driving. A few days after that, I began to see the drive to work as a great operatic dance, conducted by several novice conductors. I realized that I could be a conductor and ask for the traffic to flow with grace and ease. I soon distracted myself with this new view of traffic and my morning drive is now making me feel good as I drive to the office.
I have found one thing that can change my day. If you decide to try this, let me know what changes your day.
Many blessings this day,
Judy
Many blessings on your house upon this Christmas Day!
This is a time of peace and of fellowship and cheer.
The best that we can do, or so the Angels say
Is to love one another more compassionately this year.
We look around at all the things we have and feel
That we’ve been wronged because it doesn’t measure up
To the things that we see and have great appeal
To the need to consume and “fill ‘er on up”,
That the media created to get us to buy.
We humans are more than a consumable good.
We are marvellous and beautiful and kind.
We are laughing and joking and makers of food
That we share with our friends or anyone we find
Has need of some time to refresh and to heal.
We are the ones that see others and care
Whether they are cold or need a good meal.
That kind of need isn’t so rare
Now that the world is turning upside down.
Merry Christmas to one and all!
Blessings,
Judy
I am always amazed at the Spirit Animals that find their way into my meditations. They bring such wisdom and stories. We are all connected. Here is today’s lesson from the Spirit Animals.
Ant marched into my space in meditation. He said that humans have no idea, really, of what work is. He says that if daily, we walked every where we went, and travelled the miles that Ant needs to travel to provide food and stuffs for the nest, then we would work. If humans carried everything they needed at home with them on their back, then we would work at the same rate that Ant does. And, if we could hear the one Ant in the hive that was needing help, and if we paid attention, then we would be truly honourable in our work.
Ant’s words were indeed humbling.
Blessings,
Judy
The shortest day and the longest night – the time that our Ancestors called “mid-winter” is that time that tells us that Nature is still working. If the day remained short, and the night was long, then the rotation of the planet changed.
Our Ancestors had elaborate rituals to ensure that the planet kept turning, or, as they thought, that the Sun kept revolving around the Earth.
The diagram below shows the angle of the Sun in the north. Now, with all of the availability of science, we no longer look to the sky to see what will happen. We have dropped doing the rituals and doing the work to keep the Sun going.
Enjoy the Solstice.
Blessings,
Judy
The Fox was looking around the area as I finished my meditation. He stood still, and then spoke. His comments are appropriate for all of us.
In the balance between all living things, Blue Jay has wisdom to share with mankind. Blue Jay will lie low to see where food is and then see what she might like. She then will go and pick up a pine cone, fly it to the stash of food, and leave it as she picks up the sunflower seeds that she is really after. In her mind, a seed for a seed. The quantity, size, or effort involved, do not weigh into the equation of “this for that”.
Blue Jay says that if humans were more thoughtful about ensuring that something was left for something that was taken, then the karma for humans would be quite reduced. Since man does not understand balance, and seems to find joy in taking something for nothing, the consequences come in a larger size and last longer. These might be forest fires where trees have been taken by a company where no exchange was made. Or, it might be flooding where fishing without replenishment takes place.
The idea that we need to balance with Nature, when we walk out in Nature, or take from Nature, was a common theme in the lives of our Ancestors. The last four centuries of people in the western world moved away from this. It is time to bring the balance back.
Blessings,
Judy
On the weekend… I was shopping - groceries and running errands, and the traffic was so incredibly slow. Folks were doing 30 and 40 on the freeway and it was plus 8. I was musing and pulled out my journal from several years ago. As you have seen from past posts that I do, I sometimes pull something out of an old journal to share with you. Here is a reflection on driving the long road.
Tonight, the traffic was very slow for my 25 kilometer drive home. It took me an hour! This kind of traffic makes my tired and frustrated.
I asked why I had to endure this – a total waste of time.
The answer was – you do not have to endure. Choose not to do the drive. Or choose not to work out there. Or choose a different way home.
All the answers were about choice – we can choose the long road, or not.
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Blessings,
Judy
Gorilla walked into my meditation space and sat down. She flashed me a picture of her two offspring, and said, “I want to talk.”
She continued on. “When raising children, one needs to remember that we parents are preparing them for life. We need to teach them kindness, independence, and how to think things through. We need to teach them how to feed themselves, fend for themselves, and how to fend for others if required. It is a sacred job that the One Spirit has given us. We must do it well.”
And then she got up and walked away.
You can see more wisdom from Gorilla here.
https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2023/05/gorilla-on-strength-spirit-animal.html
Blessings,
Judy
Mink, a spirit animal, says that water is very important to all of us. Creator has made us all – all animals – mostly water to remind us that we are all fluid – that is our spirit, our energy, is able to move with the flow. There is no reason not to move fluidly, whether we dance, sing, run or walk. We are meant to flow on the easiest path.
Mink observes that especially in winter, humans do not flow. Mink thinks this is because that humans do not move close enough to water. Instead, they sit in buildings and other dry places. Even drinking lots of water does not ease the burden of loss of fluidity.
Minks like to live near water and are seldom found far from riverbanks, lakes and marshes. Even when roaming, they tend to follow streams and ditches. Sometimes they leave the water altogether for a few hundred metres. This is the example that humans should follow.
Blessings,
Judy
If we go out into the natural world and just talk about the same things we talk about all the time, we may as well have stayed at home. When we visit nature we should put down everyday small talk, subjective mental activity, judging and discrimination, and just open up and observe nature.
Starting from the time of the Buddha, it was almost always the custom for those who had left home life to spend some time practicing in the mountains. Generally the hut they lived in was made so that it could be put up and dismantled very quickly, so that the person could move on to another place. The purpose was to live a life that would not foster a group mentality, but rather cultivate a holistic attitude where one would feel at one with all lives and the universe. — Master Sheng Yen, "As Spacious as Nature"
Blessings,
Judy
Sometimes, you just get surprised by what happens in a meditation. My surprise was this beautiful little hummingbird that buzzed into my sacred space inside my sacred space. Only those energies that are for the greatest and highest good are allowed to move through this space.
This little lady came in to share some thoughts with me. One of the guardians of my north direction is the hummingbird. She said that I was not invoking all of the sweetness that it could bring to my life.
Little Lady Hummingbird said that the hummingbird’s gift was that it can transform sweetness into courage, and courage to sweetness; that sometimes people need to understand that sweetness enhances courage and strength because with sweetness, one feels sorrow. And, she flew off.
I have been mulling over her words. I think that I understand that sweetness is like compassion. If you don’t have compassion, then your love is self serving. I think she might be saying that courage without sweetness can also be self serving.
What do you think?
Blessings,
Judy
Last night, in my dream, there were two mountain goats standing in the snow, watching me. I asked them what was going on, and they replied that they were waiting to see what will happen next. They indicated that there are many people who drift up to the mountains on their dream time, it seems, looking for answers. Most people are quite disappointed when they find only mountain goats.
Mountain Goat says that their wisdom is not appreciated by humans – humans look for the easy road and the fast fix. Being in the mountains is about being cautious and a risk taker at the same time. Travelling in the mountains is about finding the easiest and safest route, which means that sometimes you may have to jump from cliff to cliff or jump over a crevice. Easy is not without its challenges.
Blessings,
Judy
Picture from an email from a friend.
I had the strangest dream the other night. I guess the dream happened because it is getting close to Christmas which is my favorite part of the year. Here is the dream.
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Roger and I got home from my Christmas party about midnight. The moon was shining brightly. And there, sitting at the end of our driveway, just like one of our dogs, waiting for us, was a very large, white hare, or rabbit, as she is often called.
We drove up and stopped because she did not move. She looked at us, and seemed to thump her back foot. Suddenly, we were engulfed in this very warm feeling, a feeling of peace. I saw a picture of a Christmas from about five years ago when all of my family was together, sitting a a huge long table for twenty-two people, laughing and eating, and of course, telling stories. The picture faded. I saw a tall white lady, who waved her arm, and disappeared. I knew we were being taken care of.
Roger said, “Did you feel that? The warmth and the magic?”
I said yes… and our rabbit hopped away.
I woke up knowing that life is good.
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Blessings,
Judy
