Buddha Speaks On Generosity

The practice of generosity is the practice of freedom, and it carries with it all the joy and pleasure that are associated with liberation. Indeed, there may be no greater sense of fulfillment in life than the simultaneous feelings of human interconnection and pure freedom that arise from an authentic act of selfless generosity.

- Dale S. Wright, “The Bodhisattva’s Gift” 

 

It is hard to imagine in our world filled with so much abundance, that we collectively seem to have trouble with generosity.  The other part of generosity that puzzles me is that so many people want to tell you a) that you should be generous, and b) how much you need to give in order to be generous.

The conflict for me is the judgement and control that seems to be in our society around generosity.  If generosity must come from the heart, how can someone set standards of giving, or pass judgement on those that they perceive do not give?  

The passage above caught my attention because it says “generosity is the practice of freedom”.  The words resonated deep within me.

Generosity is taking time to do something kind for someone else, without acknowledgement from anyone other than the receiver, and if it is anonymous, then without acknowledgement at all.  How wonderful is this gift to self!

Blessings,

Judy

Mother Ocean Talks About Flowing

This is a time of changes and of remaking one’s self.  Mother Ocean reminds us all that this is a time of being like her.  One must flow with the waves.   The rhythm of the waves is nine ripples from Source at point zero out to nine waves and then collapsing to return to Source.  We are reminded that nothing is real.  All collapses with time.  It is the collapse that releases the tension and lets rebuilding begin.  

Use this time to find a way to ride with all the changes.  Be of a peaceful mind.  Use the phrase from Buddhism, “May I be filled with loving kindness, May I be well.  May I be peaceful and at ease, May I be happy.”

Blessings,

Judy

Valentine’s Day 2025

Check out the amazing ways to celebrate Valentine's Day, even if you are single, or, by yourself for Valentine's Day.  This wondeful posting was on www.Gogratitude.org. 

#1: Hug a Tree
Appreciate Nature. Go hiking. Surround yourself in
the great outdoors. Soak up the beautiful energies
of Mother Earth. She has a heartbeat. Tune into it.
Express your Love and Gratitude for all the blessings
the Earth bestows you.
Then listen. Who knows? She may have a message for you.

#2: Sit Under the Stars and Appreciate the Cosmos
We live in a vast Universe. Contemplating the Infinite
need not make us feel small.
With love in our hearts, we remember our Connection
to All-That-Is. And recognize we are THAT too, the
realization of which fills our soul with the WONDER of
the Mystery.

#3: Express Appreciation to Your Beloveds
Expand the traditional sense of Valentine's Day Love
to include all your Beloveds. Your kindred. Your soul-
mates. Your friends. Your family. Your children. Your
parents. Your animal companions.
Make it a point to consider what you most appreciate
from those closest to you. Then make sure to express it.
Face to face. Or call them up. Or email them. Or text them.
Or write them a note.

#4: Hug Your Self
Love your Self. Appreciate your Self. Feel deep compassion
for your Self. This is probably the most important thing any
of us could do on Valentine's day and every other day.
For it is only as we Love, accept and honor ourselves -
ego shadows and all - that we can truly love and uplift others. 

I love this.  I love that we need to do self care, and that we can show our appreciation to ourselves.  It is time!

Blessings,

Judy

Generosity

Poster reads - We make a living by what we get, but we make  a life by what we give.

The practice of generosity is the practice of freedom, and it carries with it all the joy and pleasure that are associated with liberation. Indeed, there may be no greater sense of fulfillment in life than the simultaneous feelings of human interconnection and pure freedom that arise from an authentic act of selfless generosity.

- Dale S. Wright, “The Bodhisattva’s Gift” 

 

It is hard to imagine in our world filled with so much abundance, that we collectively seem to have trouble with generosity.  The other part of generosity that puzzles me is that so many people want to tell you a) that you should be generous, and b) how much you need to give in order to be generous.

The conflict for me is the judgement and control that seems to be in our society around generosity.  If generosity must come from the heart, how can someone set standards of giving, or pass judgement on those that they perceive do not give?  

The passage above caught my attention because it says “generosity is the practice of freedom”.  The words resonated deep within me.

Generosity is taking time to do something kind for someone else, without acknowledgement from anyone other than the receiver, and if it is anonymous, then without acknowledgement at all.  How wonderful is this gift to self!

Blessings,

Judy

Turtle Power

For many years, Turtle, a spirit animal, was a mentor to me.  Then, when it seemed I did not need her, she quietly slipped away.

Now, Turtle has again entered my life.  She has brought a fluorite turtle back into my life.  My Purple Green Turtle is now sitting on my dresser.  She reminds me that I am all that I need.  I have connection to all things in me.  I simply need to remember that connection’s address or vibration, or in the world of IT, the Ping address.  

Turtle reminds me that I need to slow down.  Hurrying will not change the destination or time.  Time is not real – it is abstract.   Turtle also says that we live longer if we go slower.  I guess I will find out the truth of this, if I slow down.

Turtle teaches that sometimes you need to have a hard shell around you so that you can go your own way.  Others like to influence you, but you can keep out of harm’s way by withdrawing into the protectiveness of self.

These are good lessons for all of us.

Blessings,

Judy

Buddha Talks - Recognize the Ego Mind

I was looking at some of the speeches from different politicians in different parts of the world.  It made me think of this lesson from Buddha.

When we look for the mind, we can't find any shape, or color, or form. This mind that we identify as the self, which we could call ego-mind, controls everything we do. Yet it can't actually be found—which is somewhat spooky, as if a ghost were managing our home. The house seems to be empty, but all the housework has been done. The bed has been made, our shoes have been polished, the tea has been poured, and the breakfast has been cooked. The funny thing is that we never question this. We just assume that someone or something is there. But all this time, our life has been managed by a ghost, and it's time to put a stop to it. On one hand, ego-mind has served us—but it hasn't served us well.  – Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, "Searching for Self"

Blessings,

Judy 

Spirit Talks About Rhythm

 

Now is the time to celebrate.  Feel your heartbeat and the rhythm of life.  In movement and flow, everything has cycles and rhythms.  Feel and know your part of this rhythm through to the core of your being.  Get in touch with your inner self.

Do no let disharmony interrupt your rhythm and flow, bud dance your dance and sing your song with joy, and others will be infected with the delight of it.

– Treasures from Tikashi

As we move through the changes of time and space, find a place in your heart that is filled with joy.  Let this be one of your sanctuaries.  When you feel down or out, go to this place, to your reserve of joy, and let all things flow.

Blessings,

Judy

Buddha and What Are We Training For

From 2007 until 2013, I taught classes on spirituality called “StarTalker Classes”.  The classes were popular and each class usually was a chapter in the class book that I put together.  In my classes, I sometimes had guest speakers that were specialists in certain parts of spirituality.  This blog comes from my notes on one of the classes.

Our entire life has been training. The question is: training in what? This question means: training in which direction?... Are we training in numbing ourselves in the face of fear, or training in waking up? Training in opening the heart, or training in shutting down? - from "Fruitless Labor," by Gaylon Ferguson

Last night, in my StarTalker class (I teach several ladies a program called StarTalker), our guest speaker talked about all the things that we do in our life, and how they all prepare us for working towards understanding ourselves.  It was interesting to me that it is not about understanding others which is what we learn in school, in psychology or sociology, it is about understanding ourselves.

We are on a journey of self discovery.  We are learning how unique and how exciting our journey is – even if sometimes it feels quite painful.  I am still working through all the ideas that were presented last night.  However, I am once again amazed that the Universe sent the above quote which ties in 6 the session from last night.  

We/I have lots to think about.

Blessings,

Judy

Okapi Is A Spirit Animal

 

This blog comes from my journal from years ago.  

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“These are the last surviving relatives of giraffe. These elusive animals look more like a zebra than a giraffe. They are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These herbivores have red-brown coat of fur. They have white stripes on their legs. These animals are diurnal and forage through the forest searching for food. These animals are highly alert and will run away when they hear a human approaching. They are so secretive that they were not not known to the world till the 1900s. ~ Wikipedia

I was wondering what I would be writing about when the funniest thought popped into my head.

“Come and join me in the garden.”

I closed my eyes, and moved into the greenery and trees.

Okapi continued to graze, and occasionally, she would look at me.  She told me that life will catch you if you let it.  

“The trick is to move away from those who wish to contain or to confine you.  Life is much better when you are free.  Freedom means different things to different beings.  Freedom is living how you wish to be and harming none.  We Okapi harm none but the grass and trees. In return, we fertilize them so they may grow strong.  

What is it that you nourish and protect?  What is it that restricts you?  Is it self imposed?  Can you be free?”

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Blessings,

Judy

I Can Not Meditate - A Buddhist Teaching

This is a story that we had to read about the common problems that come up for people new to meditation, and sometimes for those who have had to break their meditation practice for some reason.  

Perhaps you will find some wisdom that you, too, will be able to use.

  Picture of Elbow Falls in the Elbow Recreation Area - by J Hirst June 2024

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Beginners with meditation often get the feeling that they can't meditate; "I meditate for a week now, and still see no change", "I can't control my mind", "My mind is only getting crazier, I cannot get rid of my problems and thoughts". 
To briefly comment on these in order: 

Meditation requires patience - a few sessions will not undo a lifetime of opposite habits of excitement and confusion. 

None of us can control our mind unless we train ourselves to do it - have you ever seen anyone playing the violin nicely without practice? 

If it seems that our mind is getting worse, it usually means we just see our 'madness' better than before - the first step towards success! 

 

A story by Master Shen-Yen (from Ch'an Newsletter July 1982):

"The purpose of cultivation is not to seek anything, but to discover the faults in our character and behavior. By opening ourselves to self-investigation, we hope to find out where our problems lie, and if, after searching within ourselves, we can see these faults and problems, this in itself is the fruit of the practice. 

A woman on the last retreat said that the more she tries to get away from her faults, the stronger they seem to become. And the more she thinks about it, and wonders why she can't get rid of them, the more she gets disgusted with herself. She said, "Probably I just don't have the ability to practice meditation. A good practitioner is able to throw out their problems while practicing, and I'm not." At that time, I was standing up, and the light above cast a shadow of my body on the wall. I asked: "When I am standing still, is the shadow moving?" She said, "No." Then I walked slowly away, and the shadow followed me along. I walked quickly and the shadow kept pace with me. No matter how I tried, I could not get rid of it. Only if you turn the light out, or make your body disappear, will your shadow go away. 

Just like the shadow, our problems stick to our "self." Wherever there is a self, there must also be problems. But if you were to say, then, "I want to throw away my 'self'," that "I" who wants to get rid of the self indicates that the self is still there. This would amount to the self trying to throw away the self, which is impossible to accomplish. It would be just like trying to get rid of the shadow if your body is still there. If there is a subject, there is definitely an object. This being the case, is cultivation of any use? Of course it is, since we cultivate to discover our problems. Recognizing your problems shows you have made progress. Desiring to rid yourself of these problems may he a good sign, but actually that is not how we should approach it. The method of practice does not consist in throwing them out, but rather in decreasing the sense of self until it becomes so light that the problems will naturally disappear."

Many blessings,

Judy 

Be Happy In Your Space.

The message that keeps coming to me, over and over, is that this is a time of “getting it together”.  This is a time to orient one’s self to what is coming, and to be at peace with all changes.  This is a time to be happy in one’s space, and to be able to retreat and to care of self.  

I hear chanting at night – coming from a far away place.  It sounds like monks chanting very old sounds.  I find the rhythm of the sounds very comforting, and, they usually lull me to sleep.  

The space that I am in tells me to slow down and not to be too demanding of myself.  It seems that message is true for others, too.  When I analyze this with the sound of the chanting, it seems that what I hear is a chant for peace.  The underlying intent is for peace for each individual, peace for humanity, and peace for the planet.  

May each of you have a peaceful time!

Many blessings,

Judy

Brotherhood and Healing

My two words for the day are “brotherhood” and “healing”.  My first thought was, “Wow, that is a far-out combination!”  Then I realized that the only way to heal is to incorporate the concept of “brotherhood” into our lives.   Brotherhood means “the belief that all people should act with warmth and equality toward one another, regardless of differences in race, creed, nationality, etc.”.  This definition comes from dictionary.reference.com.

Brotherhood is hard for most of us to incorporate into our lives because we believe that most people have one of these attributes: they should listen to us, but don’t; they aren’t as smart as us; they are worthless; they are lazy; they are losers; they are control freaks; and, they are too much trouble.  That is quite a list of judgements that we have about people. 

I realize that my big task is to look at my life and who I work with, and accept them as is, in brotherhood, so that I can speed up any self healing that I have left to do.  As well, I need to work with the people that Creator puts in my path so that I can see what lessons I need to learn.  Learning brings a great peace to our lives.  This makes me think about a slide that a friend sent me.  Here it is.  I wonder if it is also saying that we have a chance to clear Karma with that person.

I will continue to mull over this idea of Brotherhood and healing, and work to walk this talk.

Many Blessings,

Judy

Releasing Expectations

 

Somewhere along the evolution of humans, we changed from “allowing ourselves to be in the flow of life” to “trying to control our life and the lives of those around us”.  Wow!  

We are so busy trying to be what we think everyone is telling us that we shall be that we lose sight of the wonderful process of self discovery and the joy of finding little miracles and synchronicities each day.

Yes, we need to do some planning.  We need to have shelter and food and some kind of routine.  It seems, however, that we get so caught up in goal setting, achieving success, and being at the top, that we become egocentric or self-absorbed and sometimes ruthless.  

The proof of this is that many people that appear to have achieved the greatest successes in their field often just drop out of the profession or career, and go and do something that makes them happy.  They drop out to move more simply in life, to enjoy balance, nature, joy, and self actualization.  These folks create a new life that is very different than their old life and more like our ancestors who moved in the flow.  

Yes, we can have expectations.  The thing is that we need to have realistic expectations and not get caught up in the drama of achievement and the struggles that we create by not looking at different ways to get to the place that we want to go.  

Strokes, ulcers, heart attacks, and debilitating illnesses seem to be the road blocks that pop up to show folks that the person is on the wrong track of life.  

What do you think?

Blessings,

Judy 

Thunder and Rain

We are the Angels that look after the rain.  We like to announce the rain with the sound of thunder because it so much like the sound of big drums!  Rain is for washing and cleaning the air and the earth.  Animals that do not like to swim love their showers from the rain.

Rain is a way to bring oxygen and light to Earth.  The more rain, the more light, as contradictory as that sounds.  Bringing light to Earth is a matter of physics – H2O – two hydrogen and one oxygen bring down a little light.  

Rain causes people to be alone with their thoughts; to be self assessing.  This is perhaps why so many people feel that rain causes depression.  It is not the rain; it is one’s thoughts!  If your thoughts, your life, and your world are clean, then you will enjoy the rain because it brings in new life.

Rain is for crops and gardens, for flowers and trees, for meadows and for creeks, for sleeping and for meditation.  It is the moisture that keeps the sparkle in all of life. 

Enjoy the rain!

Many blessings,

Judy

Do You Work “Hard”?

All our lives, we have been taught that we need to work hard.  Hard means…not soft; solid and firm to the touch; unyielding to pressure and impenetrable or almost impenetrable… from Dictionary.com.  

We can still have focus and work steadily. We can work from home or from a cafe or even from a library unless your job or career calls for you to be hands on such as a welder or an electrician.  Even then as a welder, you want to work steadily and with focus, and with flexibility.  If you do everything hard and one way, your welds may break.

We have been taught that unless we work hard, we will not be happy.  The hard work keeps us from our families and redefines us so that we identify with our work and not with the family we were born into or the family that we raise.  We become out of balance!  We lose who we are and sacrifice self care to hard work.

We are at a time in society when the concept of work is changing.  What is your new definition of work?

Many blessings,

Judy

Invest in Yourself

There are lots of healing modalities available for anyone to try.  Some modalities offer classes so that you can learn to do deeper self healing.  Some modalities require practitioners to work their expertise on your body/mind. 

Regardless of the modality that you choose, spend some time exploring it.

Some of my favorite methods of healing are:

• Massage
• Meditation
• Reiki
• Reflexology
• Chanting - repeating chants

Try to find the things that make your heart sing, and follow them.

Many Blessings,

Judy

Be Your Original Self

              

Nature creates species of things and then lets them develop the way that they need to.  Very few things in Nature are identical.  The amount of freedom and creativity within Nature is awe inspiring.

Humans however, seem to think that they need to "copy" someone else.  They believe that to mimic is to show praise.  Instead, it shows absence of originality and creativity.  To copy is to minimalize the beauty of the self.

Today, be your original self!

Many blessings,

Judy