Guiding Thought

The Peace of God is stronger than my self-constructed obstacles to it. I open my mind to Holy Communion with the Divine. Brought to union with God, obstacles crumble. Peace stands victorious. I am that Peace.

Reflection
Steve

Polish the mirror The only thing between me and the glorious light of God is the dust on my mirror. Ram Dass says we do spiritual practices not to get to other states, but to get in touch with who we already are, to clear the dust from the mirror, to come more fully into the present moment.

The sun is always shining on all of us, but I cannot see it through the clouds. That glory is always there. When faced to this light of peace, my obstacles blow away like dust in the wind.

A song by Guru Ganesha  says it well:

“May the light of a thousand suns shine upon you

 Live the Life from grace that you were meant to

 Carry the light of God’s Love into this world

 Be the open heart the earth longs for”

Guiding Thought

I prepare my mind for Peace. I prepare my mind to recognize that above all else, I want the Peace that passeth understanding. Today, I offer only this, in humility, and gratitude to my Divine Self: I am willing to let the Peace of God be what it is and I accept myself as I am meant to be.

Reflection
Steve

To accept myself as I am, as I am meant to be is a big step. For myself, my inner critic is still sometimes a strong voice. It is sometimes hidden, but still there. Recognizing that voice, and letting it go has been very helpful to my peace and wellbeing. More and more, I am okay with myself, as I am. I don’t need to be “fixed”.  I only need to get out of my own way. My desire for internal peace drives me on this journey.

I welcome peace, I deserve peace, I am peace.

I am grateful for this wondrous human life that God has given me. I am humbled by the beauty of our world. I accept the Peace of God as it is.

I am meant to be.

Guiding Thought

I am now aware of my complete harmony with All of Life. I choose to carry the harmony of Oneness with me in all areas of my life. Awareness of Oneness brings immediate peace to all my relationships and interactions. I choose Peace. I choose recognizing Unity with All.  I choose Oneness with All.

Reflection
Steve

This is what we strive for, the “peace that passeth understanding”. It is a state of being, an awareness within us that All is one.  Knowing that I am included in the All.

I find myself struggling to be present for this reflection. I have started and paused many times attempting to focus on this guiding thought. I am hungry, I need to run upstairs, I want some music, my keyboard is dusty. Anything but recognizing that perhaps I don’t know what to say. Apparently, I am not choosing Peace at this moment.

I think what scares me is the concept that I Can choose Peace. I Can choose harmony, I Can choose Oneness with All. I have come from a place of I want this, but I don’t have it. I don’t deserve it. I don’t know how to control it. I did not know that I can CHOOSE it.

The declaration that I can choose Peace is powerful. It comes from my heart space. It is scary when I think about it (head space), the implications that I have choices, that it is up to me to make these choices.  For me, this is where grace comes into play. I did not create peace or harmony, these are from the All, God, the Creator, our supreme magician. All I need to do is to let go, and find that Peace and harmony that is already within. I am Oneness.

One of my favorite chant songs from Deva Premal and Miten is “Om Namo Bhagavate/Oneness”.

Women sing “Om Namo Bhagavate, Vasu De Vaya”. Men sing “Everywhere I go, I feel the Oneness Inside of me”.  I remember when I first heard it in concert, and when I sang with them, my heart opened so wide, I could feel it expand in my body, and tears fell from my eyes.

“Everywhere I go, I feel the Oneness inside of me”. I choose that. I choose Oneness.

Guiding Thought

I am fulfilled! I am filled to the utmost capacity! I embody All that is. I am beyond complete! I accept and receive the beautiful gift of Life and Know the perfection of the Love I Am. In gratitude I share this Love with All that is.

Reflection
Steve

Wow. These are heady words. Beyond complete! Filled to bursting with Love and gratitude. I love it. It brings to mind two of my favorite people on the planet; my wife Mary, and a dear friend in Hawaii. They are some of the happiest people I know. They laugh a lot, and find so much in their lives to be grateful for. And they share that gratitude generously with all. They have just as many challenges in their lives as the rest of us, it’s not that Life goes easy on them.  But they smile, and laugh, and find Joy all about them, even in trying circumstances. They are inspirations to me.

In the Buddhist tradition, Bodhisattva vows make some amazing statements, such as:  Sentient beings are numberless. I vow to save them. Desires are inexhaustible. I vow to put an end to them. At first these vows seemed absurd to me, they are impossible to achieve. And yet, these vows are inspirations that point us in the direction of what we can aspire to in our lives. They are “exaggerations” that inspire me.  And that makes me laugh. I am a Virgo by nature, and “Virgos never exaggerate”. (Not!) So now I chuckle and laugh and appreciate these “exaggerations”.

So it is with much gratitude and loving laughter that I embrace the possibilities that I am beyond complete and fulfilled to the utmost capacity. I am filled to bursting with gratitude!

Simple. To experience wholeness, to simply be. So often my journey is an intellectual search. If I can just read the right book, crack the one koan, meditate deeply enough. If only.

Simple to just be, to pause at the water’s edge, and experience the sights, sounds and smells. No analysis needed. That is Freedom.

Guiding Thought

In my natural state of Freedom, my mind knows only serene tranquility and Oneness with All. Nothing need be done, for there is no more to do. I am perfect, whole, and complete. Satisfied and filled full, my energy overflows to manifest only the Good, the Holy, and the Beautiful.

Reflection
Steve

I went for a walk this morning, down at the beach with a friend. We walked, we talked we stopped often just to gaze at the water, lapping on the sand and rocks. At those moments, it was enough to just be, and experience the peace of the water, the waves, the mountains, the ferry boats. Nothing need to be said, nothing more to do or say.  And there is something special about sharing these moments with a friend, knowing that they are pausing too, and taking it all in. It all seems complete at this time.

I thought about Freedom, and how lucky we are to be able to come to this environment only a few minutes from home. Having the Freedom to walk and talk as we will. Free to experience this oneness with all. The water calls, it beckons me. I cannot imagine walking along the shore without these pauses, without taking the opportunity to stand still, and just take it all in. There truly is nothing more to do.

Simple. To experience wholeness, to simply be. So often my journey is an intellectual search. If I can just read the right book, crack the one koan, meditate deeply enough. If only.

Simple to just be, to pause at the water’s edge, and experience the sights, sounds and smells. No analysis needed. That is Freedom.

Guiding Thought

Knowing myself as Peace fortifies my inner awareness of the unity within. Through gratitude for the Life I Am, I connect with harmony. Through harmony, I am restored and strengthened, and am thus able to carry my Inner Peace to all of life’s activity surrounding me.

Reflection
Steve

Harmony – a blending of sounds together that are pleasing to hear. An orderly or pleasing combination of elements in a whole. Relationship characterized by a lack of conflict.  In agreement.

Being in harmony with myself, my inner self, is what allows me to be in harmony with others. It is through our unity that we make our connections with each other, and with all life. If I am not in harmony internally, that is when my interactions with others seem to go crosswise. Then conflicts arise, misunderstandings occur, patience goes out the door.

To get back to harmony, If I can remember, I will take a deep breath, and repeat my mantram. This often helps to let the upset go, to not get “hooked” by an interaction that pushes my buttons in some fashion. Take a deep breath, look within. Let it go. I do this as best I can. Just remembering the mantram can in a split second allow me to not respond in a knee jerk way.

These little interactions may not seem like much, but what we practice at home, can be brought out into the world. And our world, our planet, our very lives are at risk from disharmonious actions throughout our cultures. Finding peace within, finding harmony within, with unity, finding a way to Be Peace is some of the most important and valuable work that we can do.

Guiding Thought

I am Love. I have infinite Love to give; therefore, I am able to give Love infinitely. Filled with Love, my energy is vibrant. All of Life responds to my inner State of Being with mutual harmony.

Reflection
Steve

Infinite love is like a bottomless well, an unending source that cannot be drained. It is always available, if I can but tap it, be aware of it. This is the source of true peace, this quiet, fulfilling source of All. When I am quiet, in spirit, I am most able to feel a part of this Love. Taking time to see the autumn colors, reds, and orange, yellows and green, when I look with love upon my Loved ones.  Then I can feel it in my heart, and know there is peace.  To take time to note the sunset, the twilight tapestries that God provides, to be quiet, brings to me a feeling of peace and harmony.

The Quiet

Of a Morning

To Listen

No barking, no airplanes

No cars, no kids, no phones

Listen loudly, Still quiet

No sound, no wind, no chimes

So full, soulfull

Green Bamboo on Blue Sky

A Lover’s smile, touching Peace

I hear it all.

Wind arises, Bamboo sways

Another Smile, still quiet

Gently stand, softly move

In Rhythm to the quiet

A flicker sounds, still quiet

Breath Gently, hear greatly

The Silence of the moment.

Something moves our Spirit

To Peace –

Still Quiet

~sgw-081615~

A quiet morning outside with Mary, enjoying together the peace and quiet of home.

Steve

Commitment is about Integrity, doing what we say we are going to do.  I have committed to embark on this journey of Peace, and I will always do my best to keep that commitment.  For the next 40 days, I will review the Guiding Thought for the day, reflect on it for at least 5 minutes, and then write for at least 5 minutes regarding my thoughts and experiences that come up.

This is a commitment to myself, to all those also on this journey, and to all the guiding spirits who help me on the way.

I dedicate this Journey of Peace, all my actions, thoughts, and words to the oneness of All, that I am a part of, for the benefit of all sentient and non-sentient beings. I will do my best to remember Peace when I see a flower in bloom, to honor its right to be. I will remember peace when I give food to the homeless.  I will remember peace when I get angry.  I dedicate all merits from my words, thoughts, and actions on this journey to the betterment of all in our world.

Mary

I declare now that I KNOW PEACE, although I’m often forgetful of that knowing. I can increase my conscious awareness of the Peace in which I am perpetually enveloped. By so doing, I am able to emanate that Peace to all those around me. They can, similarly, emanate that Peace consciously or not. In fact, to the best of their ability, each one does. I strive for the ability to walk in Peace with all, at all times. I strive to better recognize the Peace embodied by all those I encounter. I am committed to nurturing this ability in every aspect of my life. To this end, I am committed to reading the Guiding Thought each day, for the next 40 days, reflecting on that thought and then writing my thoughts and reflections. I also commit to reading the responses of others to the guiding thoughts, and to providing  the reflections engendered by this reading.

I dedicate this Journey to the benefit of ALL sentient beings. And so it is.

Lita

Commitment

I hereby commit to the daily reflection and writing on this 40 day Journey of Peace. I commit to showing up as wholly possible with my body, heart, mind, and spirit to do the work this journey invites.  I commit to being open to the challenges which will arise and to face them directly, honestly, and with compassion to my being. I also commit to interacting with my co-writers with the same integrity of standards which I hold for myself.

Dedication

I dedicate this Journey of Peace to our world which is in such desperate need of peace and compassion; this includes our very planet and all of the life on it and its myriad of expression.

Susan

Today, I commit to eradicating, releasing, and removing all obstacles, hindrances, blocks, or areas of ignorance associated with Peace in my mental-emotional-physical-spiritual bodies, in all time frames and dimensions, at all levels of consciousness.

I commit to replace what I release with the Divine Light of Truth, with Love, with Peace, and with Harmony.

I commit to embody my new level of consciousness–of Divine Light, Love, Peace, and Harmony–by taking actions which demonstrate Peace, Compassion, Love, Caring-For all life, Acceptance, and Understanding.

In order to maintain and expand my consciousness in a vibration of Peace, I commit to forty consecutive days of this Journey. I commit to contemplating the Guiding Thought for a minimum of 5 minutes each day, and to write and share any thoughts that come up about or around it.

May this Journey serve all beings. May this Journey be a vehicle through which the Divine enters and uplifts the world and all who reside here.

This Journey is dedicated to All Beings: May All attain enlightened actions in the world through Knowing Peace. May we Know compassion for each other, may we demonstrate our kindness, may we see others as ourselves, and know our Oneness with All.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om