Unpredictable Conditions

 

Spiritual practitioners thrive in unpredictable conditions, testing and refining the inner qualities of heart and mind. Every situation becomes an opportunity to abandon judgment and opinions and to simply give complete attention to what is. - Shaila Catherine, "Equanimity in Every Bite"

In case I am not “getting it”, Spirit sends me another message about getting some testing around how I react to things.  The testing is not truly to test me, but for me to see whether my judgements and opinions are filled with heat.  

I think that I am too tired to have any worries about having heat around anything.  What I have learned is that the Universe will use tiredness to help break down any barriers that we have to anything.  My learning through this period is that I should release attachment to all things.  While I knew this intellectually, I am now getting this teaching on an emotional and physical level. 

Learning is a wonderful way to stay young.

Blessings,

Judy

Muskrat’s Message

My dog and I came back from the river.  I was marvelling at seeing three muskrat in the channel, all of them up on a rock or on land, cheerfully chewing away on grass roots and watching the world go by on the walking path.

The message that came through from Muskrat was about change.  It was saying that we will have to find new ways to work together as things change.  Muskrat was at the river to forge a bond with Beaver.  They decided to work together for this year and the next to regain some habitable marsh land for both species.  They will work to help each other by watching out for predators, watching for the ranger man, and keeping alert for good trees to build with.  

Muskrat talked about how difficult it is to find a permanent place to live.  They plan that they will stay in one place no more than one full passage of the seasons (one year).  If they can stay longer, then they are happy.

They wish each of you a safe place to live.

Blessings,

Judy

Be Responsible For Your Own Beliefs

 

 The poster says:

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.  Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many.  Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.  Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.  Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

—Buddha

Lately, I have heard people say things about politics, religion, war, violence, and families that I think that they cannot possibly believe.  As you listen closer, you realize that they are parroting what they heard someone else say.  The person has not been investigating and thinking for themselves.  

As the poster says, do not believe in anything simply because….. 

Blessings,

Judy

Things Simply Happen

 

Things simply happen—we do our rituals, we travel about, we bear children, live among them, and die. We can’t change these facts, but if we cultivate awareness that everyone, everywhere has similar experiences of life and death, it can take the urgency out of our responses, opening a space for equanimity to arise.  - Manjusura, “The View From Above”

I read this passage and felt the “rightness” of it.  We all have our own belief systems, and our beliefs carry us through the dark times.  Everyone has dark times and it seems that we often forget that others have similar experiences.  It is the magic of life that allows us to have similar paths.  From this, we learn new ideas and beliefs.  We grow.  Our mind expands.  We live life more easily.

Blessings,

Judy

Fox In The Shadows

              

Fox sits quietly by the edge of the clearing, in the shadows, and waits for me to be aware of her.  She has been a regular visitor for some time.  Today, she comes to speak to me about working in the background – the shadow place as it is often called – because in the shadows, you can disguise who you are and why you need to do things a certain way.

Fox has had experience at misdirecting and at shape shifting.  When you have young, it is the one way that she can easily protect them.  She urges us to spend less time on the internet, and in sharing our private lives.  She asks us to be outside more.  

She sends us blessings.

See more of Fox’s thoughts at:

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2025/01/fox-in-forest.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2024/12/fox-haven.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2023/11/fox-play.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2024/04/foxy-times-spirit-animal.html

Blessings,

Judy

About Failure

                      

The writing on the picture says, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another, with no loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill

These days, we do not seem to be able to recognize the difference between success and failure.  What I mean is, some successes are actually failures because they harm people, the environment, animals, and damage or pollute water.  An example is building a state of the art wind turbine farm on the prairies that provides excess electricity (success) but causes hearing impairment to those that live beside the turbines and kills migrating birds because it is on a migration path (failure). The turbines are big and eyesores (failure).

France is creating modified trees with small fans as leaves that will turn in the slightest breeze and create electricity while being easy to look at and which do not harm birds.

May your day be full of new ideas and fun things!

 

Blessings,

Judy

Meditation and Meditation Practice is Fascinating!

I see the act of meditation and the practice of meditation as two distinct tasks.  I enjoy reading about meditation too, so maybe the study of meditation is also a task.  I find it all so warm, and funny, and educational, and inspiring.  

Although most of us see meditation as a practice connected to Yoga – at least that is my impression of the Western belief – meditation has been here for ages – with the earliest written record going back to Hindu scripts from 5000 years ago.  I feel that meditation is much older than that date.  When the first people gazed at the stars and wondered about life and the stars, they were meditating. 

Below is a paragraph from an article on Meditation, from soulcurrymagazine.com.  If you feel guided to read the whole article, it was originally located at http://soulcurrymagazine.com/sc/tips-inspire-creativity.html. Note that Soul Curry Magazine is no longer in business, which is a sad thing.

What tweaked my interest here is the whole idea of meditation inspiring creativity.  I find that when I meditate daily, at the same time, even for just 10 minutes, that I am more creative in my thinking than when I meditate daily at different times and for different lengths of time – or perhaps I simply don’t recognize my creative periods that are stimulated by those meditations.  Regardless, if meditation inspires creativity, then I believe that it is a worthy practice and one that should be pursued. 

MEDITATION INSPIRES CREATIVITY

Meditation Creativity
Every meditator is definitely a creator because he or she is creating the higher levels of consciousness within, and with this higher level of consciousness, all beautiful things will happen.

There is a profound relationship between meditation and creativity. A non-meditative person cannot be really a creative person. Now sometimes people are allergic to the word “Meditation”. What they don’t understand is that the real objective of meditation is to be in the right state of mind where concentration, contemplation and awareness manifest in the being.

Blessings

Judy

Snail’s Pace

 

Snail’s Pace

-Judy Hirst

On the edge of my awareness sits a Snail,

  Quiet, and peaceful and serene.

She says she can tell me quite a tale,

  About trees miles high, and rivers so clean

That the bottom is clear for all to see.

 

She said there are riches for all of the beasts.

  In the land where she long has dwelt.

She says wars and conflict have ceased.

  Indeed, all the beings act as one.

And everything one needs is free.

 

“It sounds like heaven”, I said with a smile.

   “It’s not heaven, but the pace suits me fine,” said she.

“Why don’t you visit and stop for awhile

     for its tranquility transforms like a key

Fitting into a padlock releasing tension…”

  And the Snail disappeared without finishing her sentence.

 

Blessings,

Judy

Karma Takes Too Long

The poster says: “Karma takes too long.  I’d rather just beat the crap out of you now.”

I saw this poster, and thought,

“That is the problem we have today, everyone would rather fight than try to work things out.  I think that it is a product of impatience, and ego, and training.  We have learned through history that the one with the bigger stick seems to win.  So, that is what we focus on – winning.  Winning is really a form of losing when the solution only solves the problem for one person or group.  If you win, you have failed, as a leader, because not everyone is happy.  While I agree that there are some folks that you will probably never satisfy, the majority are happy and look for solutions to what keeps them from doing their job, or from living their life in peace and with ease.”

Perhaps I am wrong in my thoughts. Perhaps this poster has it right.  Perhaps we should defend ourselves, and do what is in our power to prevail over others with our own thoughts and values.  

What are your thoughts?

Blessings,

Judy

Opossum Thoughts

Opossums are usually solitary and nomadic, staying in one area as long as food and water are easily available. Some families will group together in ready-made burrows or even under houses. Though they will temporarily occupy abandoned burrows, they do not dig or put much effort into building their own. As nocturnal animals, they favor dark, secure areas. These areas may be below ground or above. – from Wikipedia

An unusual visitor popped into see me in my meditation.  It was an Opossum.  Opossum is generally found in very warm areas like Florida, Virginia, Texas and Central and South America. 

My visitor introduced herself as Para, and said that she had some thoughts to share.  Here are the things that were on Para’s mind.

• Do no redo the work that others have done.  Instead of redoing it, simply improve upon it.
• Find the clear boundaries between those that are your friends and those that are your enemies.  Ask the friends to keep watch for you, and warn against the enemy.
• Find ways to keep yourself safe.  Invent your own form of “possum”.
• Do not be too fussy about food.  You will make your life easier.
• However, do eat food that is good for you.  If the food is good for another, and does not suit you, do not eat it.
• Food is a form of healthy life style.  Good food keeps your body strong.

Blessings,

Judy

Love and Let It Come Back

The poster says, “Whatever you give to life, it gives you back.  Do not hate anybody.  The hatred which comes out from you will someday come back to you.  Love others.  And Love will come back to you.

**********************************

So many times we hear the phrase “if a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil….”.  The saying is about the ripple effect of our actions.   

I am thinking about something lovely that my friend Brenda, did for another person.  She came out of Safeway and found a young woman standing, looking lost and sad and cold.  Brenda asked her if she could help the young woman.  The young woman was tired and hungry and had no success getting assistance from the person she had called on the telephone.  

Brenda took her in and bought her a sandwich and coffee, and gave the young woman the only money that she had in her wallet, a five dollar bill.  She said that she knew that this lady needed it more than she did.  

Whatever happens to the young lady, I believe the outcome will be good because someone gave her kindness and hope.  

May your day be wonderful in all ways.

Blessings,

Judy

Buddha And Being Kind

 

 The poster says, “Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”  - Buddha

There are times when I must bite my words back.  The words that I would use may seem appropriate to me, and, unkind to the person receiving them.  We all perceive life in different ways, based on our past experience.  I was having one of those days – you know the kind – where it seemed like people were going out of their way to be unhelpful, or even mean.  When I feel that way, I know I need to take a deep breath and find the peace in my heart, and then I can kindly and peacefully speak words that help the person get over what is troubling them.  

I have learned over the years that unkindness is often played forward by the person that has been hurt by another’s unkindness.  After all the leadership and team building that has been going on in business for the last fifteen years, it is troubling to see bully behaviour in businesses, often stemming from a manager.  

Perhaps try some words of peace today at work or at a gathering of friends.  Do it as an experiment to see how things play out.

Blessings

Judy

Eagle Circles The Area

 

The Eagle landed and pulled up a mouse, and then took off over the river.  It circled around my dog and me, twice, and flew away.  In the time that it circled, it cried out several times.  I felt like it was doing a shamanic circle around us and giving us a blessing.  

That night, I dreamt.  I dreamt of being in a circle of animals.  Some were eagles and some were deer and bear, and wolves, and rabbits, and owls and geese, and skunks and otters.  It felt like many of the forest and plains animals were there.  I remember seeing a buffalo and an elk as well.  

The purpose of the circle was to get some agreements on caring for the land.  The idea was that all of the animals were family, and that as a family, they needed to care for the earth that they lived on.  Basically each animal had a circle or patch of land to care for.  I can’t tell you what the rules were, if any, because it did not seem important to me.  I can tell you that while the circle was in session, several very large eagles flew over it and around it as though they were protecting the area.

It made me think of the Ancestors who came west in wagons.  At night, to protect their families and their livestock, the pioneers would circle their wagons to protect their little area.  I feel like Eagle was telling me that it is time to circle the wagons and to protect what is mine, and to keep my family safe.  I am working on that now.

May you work to keep your family safe.

Blessings,

Judy

Do Your Own Work

 

 

The Buddha is saying, 'You are this.' He doesn’t say, 'I have something extra that I am going to give you.' Trust in yourself, trust in who you are. Sit down, breathe, be listening right now, hearing right now. Be intimate. But you have to do it for yourself. - Elihu Genmyo Smith, "No Need to Do Zazen, Therefore Must Do Zazen"

The truth of this quote has been coming up for me as I work with people in my spiritual practice.  Everyone wants the results without doing the work.  It is very difficult to become great, or even good, at anything without doing the practice to get there.  

There is a lot written in books and magazines about how much time it takes to get good and even great at a task or action.  The basic amount of time to become proficient at something is about 20 hours or 1/2 a work week.  To become a world class expert at something takes about 10,000 hours.  You do not become good or good enough at a task unless you put in the time.

I am willing to do my own work; I am not willing to do yours.

Blessings,

Judy

September 1 2025

 

The poster says:  “How do we change the world? One random act of kindness.” - Morgan Freeman as God in “Evan Almighty”.

As we move into September 2025, our country, Canada, faces many challenges as prices continue to rise for groceries and clothing - things that we consider basic for survival.  What I have been noticing are the random acts of kindness that folks in our area seem to be doing that ease the sense of strain and pressure around them. 

Acts of kindness including things like:

-mowing the neighbour’s lawn

-handing someone a dollar for a shopping cart

-dropping off food for someone who is ill

-walking a neighbour’s dog when the person has sprained an ankle

….and the list goes on.

My goal as fall settles in is to be aware and do something positive for someone each day.  

What is your goal for September?

Blessings,

Judy