Welcome
John William Tuohy lives in Washington DC
Compassion
The
word compassion comes to us from the Late Latin word compati, to bear suffering, to sympathize. To have compassion, that is, to have sympathetic
consciousness of others' distress and a desire to alleviate that stress, is to
practice one of the finest and noblest of emotions that we have.
What
we seem to be losing these days, is the understanding that the practice and acceptance
of compassion is a relationship between two equals. It is not a relationship
between the healer and the wounded or the have and the have not’s’.
Self-perfection and success
Having a national orientation
on self-perfection and success is fine, it is, in part, what makes America
great and what makes Americans exceptional. But within that, we should remember
that we are not now, nor will we ever be, perfect and that our measurement of
success should include unconditional acceptance of our imperfect selves. If we can accomplish that unconditional
acceptance of our imperfect selves and if we could instill that unconditional
acceptance of our imperfect selves in our children, we would transform and
elevate our nation and our world to magnificent heights beyond what any
generation before had ever dreamed possible.
Smile.................
I don’t know
I don’t
know…..we
seldom have room in our selves, in our minds, for “I don’t know” but we should
have room for it because the unknown factor, the “I don’t know” is a big, big
part of everyday life.
We don’t know what the rest of this
hour or day will bring. In fact, in the course of daily events, we don’t know
much at all, how someone will react, what will happen in the world etc. But we
do know that the “I don’t know” the unknown factor, is what makes life an
adventure, a challenge. Here’s the bottom line; not knowing is okay, not
preparing for it and avoiding it isn’t okay.
Protect with caution
It’s all right to protect
yourself from pain and heart break and stress. In fact it’s a normal healthy
thing to do, so do that when you must. Self-protection only becomes a bad thing…..and
this is very common in the human condition…..when we over protect ourselves and
our loved ones, even when it’s done with the highest and noblest of intentions.
(Which it almost always is)
You see, the problem is that our
self-protection can insulate us for the real world, which is full of as much
pain and hurt as it is with joy and goodness. And when we insulate ourselves, we insulate
our heart and compassion and we stand in danger of becoming hard and uncaring.
Protect
with caution and common sense and remember people will disappoint you and injure
you but they will also lift you up and compete you. Take the good with the bad.
...and remember to smile, here, watch this puppy-baby wrestling match
Plan for it
Divorce, bankruptcy, poverty,
loss of a loved one….whatever the thing is, it isn’t causing us to suffer. We cause ourselves to suffer by how we
react to what the tragedy is and by how we relate to it.
Having everything fall down
around you while you watch helplessly will
happen. That sort of happening will come and go in your life like the seasons,
so prepare for the bad thing, make room for it in your life, expect it and in
the midst of it, whatever it is, remember these things;
You are not alone. There is a
God and he’s with you and he will not desert you even though sometimes it will
feel like he left high and dry, he’s
there.
No matter how much it hurts or
humiliates you, this too shall pass.
You’re going to be okay or as
okay as you can be in this life. It won’t hurt forever even though it seems
like at the moment of impact. Time will
heal this wound too.
There is something to learn and
gain in all of this and eventually, when you least expect it, you’ll learn what
that lesson is.
Rethink success
Rethink the success of your day
by remembering that a successful day isn’t dependent on how much you got out of
it…..those things come and go….. but rather by the number of seeds you were
able to plant for a better tomorrow.
and remember to smile, its good for you, here, watch this guy dance
To be fully alive
“To be fully alive, fully human, and
completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is
to be always in no-man’s-land, to experience each moment as completely new and
fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again.” Pema Chödrön
FYI:
Pema
Chödrön (born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown on July 14, 1936) is a notable American figure
in Tibetan Buddhism. A disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she is an ordained
nun, author, and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage Trungpa founded.
A prolific author, she has conducted
workshops, seminars, and meditation retreats in Europe, Australia, and
throughout North America. She is resident and teacher of Gampo Abbey, a
monastery on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Pema
Chödrön was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936 in New York City. She attended
Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, and grew up on a farm in the
countryside with an older brother and sister. She graduated from the University
of California, Berkeley, and worked as an elementary school teacher in
California and New Mexico before her conversion to Buddhism.
I dream too much
“I dream too much, and I don’t write enough, and I’m trying to
find God everywhere.”
Anis Mojgani
The possible and the impossible.
There is a significant difference between the possible and the
impossible.
You are the significant difference because you decide how much
determination it will take to overcome the impossible.
It’s up to you. It is not in the stars. It’s not in the
silliness of destiny, it’s within you.
Here...enjoy this picture for awhile, I put it here for you.
Winning
When the other guy wins and you lose, all it means is that it was
the other guys turn to win. That’s all it mean . Next time it will be your turn
to win.
Winning doesn’t mean a person is strong or smart or clever.
But not giving up when you lose, no matter how many times you
lose, that DOES mean you are strong, smart and clever.
Time you give to your self
Time you give to your self doing whatever it is that makes you
happy, no matter how inane it may seem to others, is a fantastic gift you give
to yourself. Or, put in simpler words, time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted
at all.
Inane, by the way means empty, insubstantial lacking significance,
meaning, or point. It comes from the Latin inānis, empty.
Light tomorrow with today
“Light
tomorrow with today” Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Do you know the works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning? They very good, very spirtual. You’ve probably heard the open ning line “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”, she wrote that, it a great poem. Here it is. Enjoy!
Do you know the works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning? They very good, very spirtual. You’ve probably heard the open ning line “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”, she wrote that, it a great poem. Here it is. Enjoy!
How do I love thee? Let me
count the ways.
I love thee to the
depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach,
when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being
and ideal grace.
I love thee to the
level of every day's
Most quiet need, by
sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely,
as men strive for right.
I love thee purely,
as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the
passion put to use
In my old griefs, and
with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a
love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints.
I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my
life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee
better after death.
Sonnet XLIII
and remember to smile
People see what they want to see
“The higher we soar” Nietzsche said “the smaller we appear
to those who cannot fly.”
I say that people see what they want to see and it’s always from
their perspective.
and remember to smile because life is short....we should enjoy what we have of it............
Fissiparous:
Fissiparous: Tending to break into parts. From Latin
fissi- (cleft) + -parous (bearing, producing).
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