Happiness Is Spiritual

 

The poster says:  Happiness cannot e travelled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.  Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.  -  Denis Waitley

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This quote from Denis Waitley will resonate for some of us but not for all of us.  Where we are on the happiness scale is so individual that I do not believe it can be quantified precisely.  

Over the past years on this blog, I have written posts about happiness or how others view and describe happiness.  You can see from the postings below that it is a topic with various interpretations.  Yet, they are all valid because we are all different.

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2024/11/be-happiness-engineer.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2025/08/finding-happiness.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2023/07/on-being-happy.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2023/02/on-being-happy-buddhist-story.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2025/11/you-want-directions.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2022/12/christmas-thoughts-happiness.html

https://www.lightstationwisdom.com/2024/10/from-buddha-may-all-beings-be-filled.html

Many blessings,

Judy

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

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

The Golden Light That You Sometimes See

The conversation below comes from my journal.  I was teaching a class on being aware of spiritual beings or spiritual presence.  One of the students asked me about seeing a golden light or very shiny light around some people or animals or objects, and wondering what that meant. When I was in meditation, I asked the question, and the answer below is what I received from the Angels.

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Dearest Ones!  We come to answer the question, “What is that golden light that seems to shine from time to time on people, or animals, or simply in the corner of the room?  What does it mean?”

This golden light is the Christ Consciousness light.  It tells you that whatever is going  on is happening with intent for the highest good.  

The term today is “Christ Consciousness”, however, in other belief systems, the light may be called something else.  

If you see the light, you are blessed!

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Blessings,

Judy

Self-Awareness And Self-Centeredness

 

The poster says:   

Self-awareness is not self-centeredness, and spirituality is not narcissism. 'Know thyself' is not a narcissistic pursuit.   Marianne Williamson. 

There is a lot going on in the world about spirituality versus religion, and individualism that has become narcissism.  The world has become confused about the difference between independence and individualism.

Remember that narcissism has been around since before the birth of Christ… it comes from the Greek God Narcissus who rejected love from others.  Instead, he gazed at his own reflection, admiring the perfection of his looks.  

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

nar·cis·sist

/ˈnärsəsəst/

noun

1. a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves.

   "narcissists who think the world revolves around them"

1. Remember that those that are selfcentered will never put your needs before their needs.  They have no emotional intelligence; they have no compassion.  These personalities are destructive, and they will not change.  These folks are to be avoided.

   
   

   Blessings,

   Judy

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

A Message From White Tiger

 

White Tiger entered my space and announced that it was here to walk with me for a while.  I was startled.  A white animal usually means that something big, in a spiritual sort of way, is going to happen to you, and generally, it involves a confrontation of some kind.  This was not good news!

White Tiger said slowly and quietly, “There is nothing to fear.  Now, you need a teacher to walk with you.  I have asked to come to do this thing.  You and other humans are interesting to me.”

With that comment, White Tiger sent me some thoughts to share with others.

• Learn to really “see”.  So much of what you see is not true.  Learn to expand your mind and to try to see the things behind the picture.  Learn to see in the darkness.  You can you know – you have just been told that you cannot.
• Mark your territory.  This is about learning to create boundaries.  You need to set boundaries at home, at work, at play, with your family and with your friends.  Too many have forgotten that boundaries are about asking permission.  Many assume they have the right to do any number of things.
• Adapt your covering (clothes) to the places that you will travel.  There is a caution about drawing too much attention to yourself.

Many 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

My Connection to Polar Bear

                         Picture is from Wikipedia - Polar Bear in the Arctic

While writing this, I was listening to "Unto The Burning Circle" by Andreas Vollenweider

Polar Bear north of Churchill from https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/polar-bear

  In my blogs, I talk about about many topics connected to spirituality. Each topic reflects something that is going on in my life.  Therefore, I truly enjoy writing about animals since the ANIMALS are such a large part of my life. 

The Polar Bear has been receiving a lot of attention recently.  Polar Bear, however, has been a part of my life since 1972.  That is the year that I went to work with Hudson Bay Northern Stores.  The clerical work that I did was for the Northern Stores in Churchill, Lynn Lake and north in Manitoba, Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario. 

In the winter, the Store Managers, Trainees, and sometimes District Managers from our office in Winnipeg travelled back and forth.  Many of the residents from the north would come and visit at my desk.  They always had great stories of encounters with polar bears, arctic wolves, arctic foxes, and whales and seals and walruses.  As they realized that I really loved to hear stories of polar bears, they began to snap pictures of the animals and send them off to me in the next batch of books to be analysed.  I began to get several pictures a month during the winter. I kept some of the pictures, however, the earlier photographic paper does yellow over time, and does not stand up to much handling.  

Pictures like this one, of a mother and cubs were common.  This picture comes from www.nwf.org.  

The point of the story is that when an animal shows up over and over in your life, especially from an early age, a Shaman says that this is one of Power Animals.  A Power Animal both shows an aspect of your self as well as showing an external source of power that is always available to you.

At the time that I was meeting Polar Bear for the first time, I did not realize the implications of the true power of this Bear.  Polar Bear is truly a specialist in the North - the colour, the ability to hunt all prey in such a camouflaged way as to be invisible, and the great speed - send a message that I did not "get" until a couple of years ago. I think that I am still learning some of it.

What Polar Bear did for me during the time that I worked at Northern Stores was create a love for all things Northern, and a great sadness that the company that I worked for was sponsoring hunters to kill the animals of the North for their fur.  I realized that I did not want to be part of that culture and within the year of starting my job, I began taking night classes at University to become something else.  

One of the messages that I received from Polar Bear, in a retrospective look at my life, was to move away from being somebody without a goal or a specific purpose.  Polar Bear was a BIG motivating factor in moving into Education and then into Accounting, and finally specializing in Accounting Software.  

The other thing that Polar Bear did was make sure that I was with the perfect mate.  When I met the guy that is now my husband, one of the things that impressed me was that he had a picture of two Polar Bears playing.  That picture hung in our bedroom for many years.  It is now in our guest room.

I wish you happiness and days of playing!

Blessings,

Judy

“I Am A Rock “ Says Spirit

I had an epiphany the other day when I was thinking about Great Spirit, God, Source, The ONE, whatever name you wish to put on Spirit.  

I was day dreaming.  In my day dream, I saw pictures of Sedona and the great rocks there.   The one to the left is called ‘Spirit Rock’.  I have seen it.  I felt pleasure and comfort when I saw it.  

For years, I have had dreams about Uluru Ayers Rock.  I dreamt of it before I actually knew what it was. That is the second picture in this group.  It is in Australia, and, it is old.  This rock has been the destination of many a pilgrimage.

And, the last picture in the group is of Stone Mountain, outside of Atlanta, Georgia.  I was there in 2001, and my husband and I climbed the long way up, and down, and it truly was the experience of a lifetime!  

My epiphany was that many of us associate “God” with a rock.  Or, perhaps I should say that we associate spiritual places with rocks.  And, when I had this thought, I heard, “I am a rock”.  

I then heard, “And, I am everything else as well!”

What is interesting to me is that all of us resonate with the idea of God being a Rock.  In fact, if you Google Spirit Rock, you will see that it comes up millions of times, all over the world.

The comforting thing for me when I saw this was “I guess Great Spirit  really is omnipotent.  She/he can be in many places at once.  And, it has been in many places for a long time.

  The idea of the “rock” is quite spectacular in its own way because the rock is so big, majestic, and so everlasting.  If I was a being that was trying to establish communication with a species that seemed to have difficulty communicating, I too would try to communicate through symbolic, living things like a rock.  

It now makes more sense to me as to why monks established monasteries on big mountains (rocks) to be closer to Source.  It also gave those people below them something to look up to and to communicate with, and to view as an intermediary to Creator.

 

We all got into trouble by using intermediaries because most intermediaries had their own agenda which seems to include power, riches, etc.   Being able to do one’s own communicating with the One Source has a big advantage in avoiding the politics and expense of using someone else.   

I wonder if all rocks carry great power, or if there are new rocks appearing.  

I look at the world wide fascination with crystals, or as some people call them, “rocks”, and I have to believe that Spirit is moving through “I am a rock” through crystals, as well.

I like that idea. 

Blessings,

Judy

Conquering Fear - A Message From The Angels

This is a channel that I received quite a while ago.  My guidance is to share it with all of you today.  I hope that it reaches all that need to be aware of it.

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The Angels have been gathering to send different messages to Earth.  

“Beloved Ones!  We call you this for each of you is part of The One.  Each of you has the gift of creation inside you.

This is a time to observe yourself and others.  What we see is much fear.  Even those that are connected to all things are showing fear over the changes that are happening to the physical earth, to the emotional stability of many people, and to the movement away from science.  We say to you that these changes are all part of the process of movement from what you were to who you will be.

All activity happens on four levels – the spiritual, the mental, the emotional, and the physical – and you are concentrating on the physical and emotional.  To conquer fear, one must move to the spiritual.  Open up to love.  Allow love in.  Look at each event with love, and without the judgement that you all so readily use.   All that happens is for the greatest good.  Those that die have agreed to do so under their plan when they came to Earth.  Transitioning from the physical body to the spiritual body is simply one breath.  In that breath, all that you will be is shown and you feel the light of The One.  

When you move past the physical and emotional, the mental makes a brief adjustment, and then there is nothing but everything!  This is why you can be without fear.  There is so much more that what you experience now.

And, if your path is to stay in the physical, know that fear is not required because there is so much light that is being extended to each of you right now.  Abundance is the word of the day.  Lose the fear of scarcity, poverty, and powerlessness.  You are all powerful!  Ask us to come in to remind you of all that you are.  

We are your Angels

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Many blessings,

Judy

Wisdom Accumulates - Message From Spirit

   

Wisdom accumulates—not in a linear arithmetic progression but in a complex, dynamic system. Each understanding sheds light upon the others in an interactive living process. Insights that seem unassailable may suddenly meet passionate doubt, all clarity shattered at the very moment it is most needed. Then, just as suddenly, wisdom will resurface, stronger for having vanished, wisdom that now knows of its own disintegration. 

Nina Wise, "Sudden Awakening"

I read this quote, and I had this click in my brain that said I have seen or heard this before, but not in this lifetime!  It seems that one of the life lessons that I have chosen is to find out how wisdom works.  What I mean is, what is the shifting point where we move from having random knowledge to the point of having great wisdom?

The Mayan believed that the shift to wisdom happens between fifty and fifty-four years old – if the person lived that long.  Most indigenous peoples do move their adults to an honoured position of “elder” at about the same time.  Very rarely does one become an elder at a younger age.  So, the question for me is – does the time frame that you are alive automatically qualify you to be wise; or, is it that something chemically happens in your brain to make you wise?

In the reading that I have been doing, it seems that there is an actual, physical, chemical change in the brain around this age of life.  This change also seems to be reflected in the emotional, mental, and spiritual make up of the person.  Perhaps that saying is true.  “As we get older, we get smarter!”

What are your thoughts about this?

Many blessings,

Judy

A Dream About Aquarium Fish

This post is from a dream that I wrote up in my journal back many years ago.  I find the old dreams interesting and I look for repeating archetypes and themes in my dreams.  

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This picture comes from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Home_aquarium.jpg  (My aquarium does not look nearly this good, nor is it this big!)

The other night, in my dreams, a big aquarium popped up, out of no where, and both my fish swam to the side of the tank and looked at me.  They then made everything go dark, and little by little, cleared the blackness so that the tank, and the water, and the scene were filled with clear light.

When I woke up, I knew that the fish wanted me to clean the tank. As I carried out the task, I thought how interesting it was that I was spending an hour cleaning out the tank, and the castle and rocks and filter.  It was very much like sifting through my emotional body, and pulling out the gunk that was sitting in there. 

Fish have been a symbol of spirituality and abundance going back to the time of cave drawings.  Fish, like us, come in a variety of colours with a huge range of dispositions.  The most beautiful are sometimes the most deadly.  Scientists agree that all life originated in the oceans/seas/rivers.  Therefore, water on our planet is like a big womb.  And, yes, we all require it to live.  We need to breath air, and assimilate the oxygen in the water.  Fish, then, are symbolic of the fruits of the womb, of motherhood.  They inspire creativity and bring good luck, as the Chinese believe.  

Water is always transforming – it evaporates, becomes mist, may fall as rain, and then returns to the Earth to rise up again as water.  Fish, then, represent change.  If they are coming into your life, perhaps they are saying, like they did to me, “It is time to clean up your act and get your house in order for the new things that are coming.”

Blessings,

Judy

Happy Easter Sunday- March 31 2024 - And Rabbit

Easter always makes me think of bunnies.. and spring…and it makes me happy.  In our area in Calgary, we only see Rabbit from time to time because we also have Bobcat.

Thinking about bunnies and rabbits makes me think about the “magic” of Rabbit.  No, I don’t think of Easter eggs.  I do think of how powerful Rabbit is in the spiritual world.

When Rabbit hops in and out of your daily life, and leaps about in your dreams, then you know that something “big” is happening!

Rabbit has often been a symbol of fertility, abundance, and beginnings.  Now, Rabbit is showing up all over the place in urban areas, and being seen by people that would not normally notice her.  They talk about Rabbit nibbling on their grass in the back alleys, about Rabbit and her friends jumping around and not seemingly that afraid of cats and dogs.  Mostly, they talk about how excited they feel to see Rabbit.  

Rabbit, like her mythological counterpart, The Easter Bunny, is bringing that sense of joy and wonderment.  She makes people feel excited and helps them back off the “fear” factor that many feel right now.  She is helping us grow at a soul level by “leaps and bounds”.

Happy Easter!

Judy

Camel is a Spirit Animal

 

                                                 Picture of Camel from Snap-shot.com 

 

When we talk about going into the desert, the first animal that springs to mind is the Camel. The desert means that the climate is hot and dry, and perhaps with out food or water for several days. How is it that Camel survived her fifty million years without going the way of extinction? Why do the Bedouins call her “Allah’s Gift”?

Camel has some physical properties that human kind would love to have. She is able to eat anything – even thorns. Excess food is stored in the humps as fat, and, as she requires water, she metabolizes the fat into water. The longest Camel has been known to go without water is two months. Her dry dung gives the Bedouins their fuel for fires. Her milk and meat and hair provide food and clothing. She carries great burdens for the nomadic tribes, and even provides entertainment in the form of camel racing. She is truly a gift!

Many spiritual leaders – prophets and shaman – pilgrimage in the desert because it is believed to be a magical place that can shift out of time to different worlds and dimensions. Camel then, is one who can walk between worlds, or walk out of time. Some believe that she can go so long without water because she slips between dimensions and never changes.

Camel’s great, large, two toed feet keep her firmly grounded on the top of the sand and in contact with Mother Earth. She “hears” from the Earth where water is available. Her colour is great camouflage for blending into the shifting dunes, or even into the dry mountain tops where she may make her home. The white shading, sometimes on the muzzle and above the feet indicate that Camel is enlightened.

When Camel looks at you directly in dream time or in the physical, know that she is telling you that a journey is in store. The journey may be physical travel as well as a quest or pilgrimage of the spiritual kind. Know too that Camel, who travels out of the ordinary, is preparing you for a time where you leave behind all that you know. The constant is the great Unknown. Camel says – do not fear. Great Spirit always provides, and if called upon, Camel will show you how bountiful Great Spirit is in the unknown times.

May you carry all that you need with you, and may you travel lightly!

Blessings,

Judy

A New Time For Being Human

 

It is not enough to be able to drop your body
as easily as a bathrobe, take flight like the eagle,
enter the hollow hills, talk with angels, and
dance among the stars.

We must make the return.

We must live in this world and be gardens
for the dreams that want to take root in it.
~ Robert Moss, Dreaming True ~

The winter has dragged on, and on.  And, it feels like it is birthing something new for us.  It feels like we are moving from a time of density to a time of lightness, on all levels – the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

I know that I am changing.  I can feel it in my body and my head.  I feel the expansion in my heart.  An expansion that tells me to look at the other parts of the story when I am upset at something that I judge to be an injustice or a hurt or a problem.  And, my body relaxes.  

I love this quote from Robert Moss’s work.  He says that as much as we’d like to be elsewhere, we must be here – present and contributing – to this life.  It is what we make it.

Many blessings,

Judy

The Spiritual Bully

When someone constantly badgers us with their ideas about what they are hearing and need to  tell us, whether they have our permission or not, I call the person a “spiritual bully”.  This means that they believe they have some divine right to tell you what ever they think about you and what you are doing, even if it is only their opinion, and typically, they get angry at you if you don’t take their advice.

One of the first laws of the universe is “harm no one (none)”.  This means that you do not violate a person’s physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual space, without permission.  To do so is to set out to intentionally harm them.  This happens so often with teachers and mentors with their students or followers.  It happens when someone feels that they are more powerful than someone else, and that power is used to force the “someone else” to take on tasks that they might not otherwise do.

Some ideas for coping with spiritual bullies are:

• Set boundaries to take back your power.   “Boundaries are not walls, they are safety markers to keep you safe.  You have a right to protect yourself when someone comes into your space uninvited.”
• Stand in your power and show your confidence by saying “no, I can’t do that right now.”  This means that you need to feel good about yourself and your abilities.  
• Make plans to avoid the bullying relationship.  You cannot change other people; however, you can change the environment.  You can choose to be in a healthy, safe environment.

Blessings,

Judy

A Ritual For New Year’s Eve 2023

For those of you that have asked questions about how to set your intentions for the new year, I would like to share a beautiful ritual that one of my friends sent to me several years ago. 

I do not use this at New Years, however, this ritual is certainly right for that purpose.   I do use it to set intentions for any time.  It is powerful to use this ritual with the New Moon.

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This is the initial technique - Setting Your Intentions for 2023 or any other time:

You start by asking yourself 4 questions...

1. What do I want this year in my personal life
2. What do I want this year for my financial life
3. What do I want this year for my business life
4. What do I want this year for my spiritual life

Then you write your answers. I feel into my body to identify in my heart what I am being drawn to create from the year. The MOST IMPORTANT part is to write it as if it has already happened.

As an example / template, here is an excerpt in part of what Maureen Collins (an artist) wrote for the category of business:

I am so grateful that this year became such an amazing journey of openness and discovery in my business, as it moved into the corporate world and lecture stage larger than ever before. I was able to deliver my shared vision via “What If? The Movie” through divine energy to hundreds of thousands of souls that were not only open to the information but contributed to the content collectively... AND they further delivered it to many more through word of mouth. This wisdom known to us all was a huge success with so many experiencing heart felt shifts and changes through the material offered by many like-minded souls. It became a place of safety and conversation for all who viewed it, and grew to include new audiences of those opening to the materials being offered by me and other contributors. The opportunity for the community to converse with one another about their own positive belief and pattern changes was a blessing and a joy to my heart, showing me the possibilities for all communities of the world. I loved watching and hearing the shifts and changes clients and friends and family were experiencing as they also awakened to how amazing and powerful they truly are, and reveled in the moments they shared with others in the community ...which triggered more openings and shifts and more sharing and so on. What fun... and so effortless and flowing... I felt like a kid again with all the discoveries...

You get the idea... write it as if it has already happened AND makes sure you include how you "felt" when it happened. Do this for each of the categories (there may be some overlap but the categories are designed to allow for specifics in those four areas of your life). This is a POWERFUL exercise that almost acts as plan for the year but flows through and creates a vibrational resonance with what you are desiring. You can do this over the next couple of days... I promise you it will really make a lovely impact. Then print it out post a couple of copies in places you will regularly see them to remind you what you are creating.

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Ritual:  Burn and Release from Maureen Collins…

On a sheet of paper, I write out all of the things from the current year that I've outgrown, no longer want in my life,  no longer work for me, and anything else I feel I want to shed and leave behind.  On a separate piece of paper, I write all of the things I can think of and feel that I want to grow and expand in the new year.  I then burn each paper in separate dishes or shells, making sure all pieces are turned to ashes.  Then, when cooled, I put them into separate envelopes or containers (film canister, Ziploc baggie, etc.) and mark "to shed" and "to grow" on the container.   Around 5 minutes before midnight, I start visualizing all the things on the "to shed" list, and see them slip away, see them blown away and washed away, out of my energy field, out of my life and  out of my reality.  I go out side and pour the "to shed" ashes into my hand and let the wind scatter the ashes away and release them and all they re present, as the old year fades away.

After midnight, after blessing the new year, with the second container  "to grow",  I visualize all of these goals, desires, etc. coming to fruition, to this level of reality.  I bring that envelope down to the garden, and with a stick dig a small hole, then plant these ashes in the earth, near a tree or in a special place, (for those in apartments, I encourage them to use their favorite houseplant).  The ashes are a reminder of the life cycle, the power of nature and the honoring of Mother Earth, that these seeds of hopes and dreams are nurtured into reality, in the coming year.   This is a ritual that I've shared with many people, and even had a group in Ireland do it one New Years!  You may want to try this and tweak it and do it a way that suits you.

Happy New Year and many blessings! 

Judy

Truth From A Buddhist View

                                               Picture of wild lily by J Hirst in July 2023

When we had our Winter Solstice gathering, one of the things that we did was pull a card with one word on it.  That word is the thing that we will work on over 2024.  The card that I pulled was “Truth”.  Interesting to me is that stuff that I do every day is supporting that.  

In my study of all things Buddhism, I came across a little book called “The Little Book of Zen Haiku, Koans, Sayings” from Barnes and Noble, and edited by Manuela Dunn Mascetti.  Now, Koans are stories that are meant to be puzzling to help the student gain enlightenment after meditating on the story – sometimes for great lengths of time. 

The Koan that I am sitting with is called “Tipping Over A Vase”.  

Hyakujo wished to send a monk to open a new monastery.  He told hi disciples that whoever answered a question most ably would be appointed.  Placing a water vase on the ground, he asked, “Who can say what this is without calling its name?”

The Chief monk said, “No one can call it a wooden shoe.”

Isan, the cooking monk, tipped over the vase with his foot and went out.  

Hyakujo smiled and said, “The chief monk loses.” And, Isan became the master of the new monastery.

The point of the Koan is to show that truth, as symbolized by the water vase, can only be shown. The cooking monk makes this demonstration very effectively.  

One of the leadership tools that I used to teach in my Organizational Behaviour Class was “How to Refute Rumour”.  The only way was to ignore it, not comment on it, and show the employees what the truth was.  

Truth is healing! It gives us a spiritual peace.  We feel balanced and at one with all things… Nature is our friend.  Sadly, we as a civilization seem to have moved far from Truth.  Perhaps we have reached the furthest swing of the pendulum and we are now ready to start kicking over vases, politicians, corrupt CEO’s and Boards, to get at the Truth.

May you find Truth in all you do!

Many Blessings,

Judy

Themes of Humanity

A while ago, I was reading the fascinating book "MYSTICAL TRAVELER: How to Advance to a Higher Level of Spirituality" by Sylvia Browne.  In it she discusses that there are forty-seven themes that classify the human  experience experience.  Themes, remember from high school English, are the major topics or qualities or characteristics of a story.  With that in mind, think of each human then, as a "story", and you will see why this intrigues me.

Shaman are teachers and we teach our protégées that when a person comes to us with a story, and wanting our sympathy and support, that we, the Shaman, should ask the question, "What is really going on here, and what is the story behind the story?"  It seems that the story behind the story is actually another story that that human came to Earth to experience.  We need to look at the “theme” of the individual and reason for coming to Earth.

Ms. Browne has presented the themes in alphabetical order. I am presenting a broad over view of the information. Her first several themes include:

1.  Activator - focuses on achieving a goal that others ahead of her have not completed...

2.  Aesthetic Pursuits - driven by an innate talent, the individual is a slave to the passion that drives them.  An example of an individual that seemed to exemplify this theme would be Beethoven. 

3.  Analyzers - those that pay very close attention to all detail, and need to know why something works the way it does.  Scientists fall under this category.

I could go on about each theme...however, that would spoil the read for you.  

Just to satisfy your curiosity, give the book a read!

Blessings,

Judy

Ostrich - A Spirit Animal

This wonderful picture of a giraffe and an ostrich having a chat, came in a slide show in an email. I don't know who to give photo credit to, however, Bravo! for a great picture.

Ostrich walks the Mother Earth because it cannot fly. It therefore, must gather all of its wisdom from the Earth. By walking all the time, Ostrich is totally grounded even though its neck, which is about truth and spiritual truth, is very long and reaches to the Heavens to bring down Divine information, just as Giraffe does. Ostrich has very large eyes and tends to appear dreamy and unfocused, often fooling those who would steal up on it kill it for its skin and feathers. Ostrich will either flee on its incredibly long, speedy legs, or will turn and fight with death dealing kicks. The very young birds or injured birds camouflage by lying flat on the ground and burying their heads in the sand.

If Ostrich appears to you, it brings messages such as: 

-check to see if you are grounded, and if not, walk the Earth with bare feet, if possible.

-are you too dreamy with your thoughts and eyes sky ward instead of paying attention to what is around you on the Earth?

-is it time to be a little less visible? Have you been attracting those energies that do not agree with you?

-do you need to take a look at those around you to determine if they are true friends? Perhaps it is time to “kick” some of them out of your space.

-is it time to work on your clairvoyance so that you truly “see” what is really going on around you?

Ostrich feathers have long been considered a valuable possession. The feathers are used by the Egyptian Goddesses, especially the Goddess Maat, to symbolize truth and justice. If Ostrich is appearing to you now, perhaps it is time to take a look at any injustices you are feeling around you. Are you the cause or the recipient of injustice? Perhaps it is time to let truth prevail.

May you see each moment clearly!

Blessings,

Judy