Archive for the ‘Spirituality’ Category

Happy Birthday Mahatma Ghandi

Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948) … politician, philosopher, spiritual leader…. a man renowned throughout history for his doctrine of nonviolent protest .. was born this day 140 years ago.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

Even now, as our own world is in the throes of massive change, as we continue to need to reevaluate our approches to conflict, his words carry truth for me.

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

Mahatma means ‘Great Soul’,  a title not lightly given, that must be earned…. the impacts of this one man’s life still fundamentally shape the world today….

Be the change that you want to see in the world

So much truth in that simple statement…. all change starts with us. Do we have the strength of our own convictions?

The real meaning of Peace

Friday, June 12th, 2009

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

- Author Unknown

Bodhisattva in Metro … a laughing heart sharing Love

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Sometimes a laugh is just what we all need to help us let go!

Bodhisattva in Metro (YouTube clip)

After we have laughed hard we can usually notice a distinct lightness in our chest as well as our mood…. we often feel very light-hearted afterward, don’t we? Well, laughing is simply another form of letting go, that helps us to cleanse the negative emotions that are stuck in our heart. It is the same principle as smiling to your heart, but a little bit more intense!

I love the clip above, not only because it got me laughing…. and reminded me how theraputic that can be… but also the sweetness in the story of the Bodhisattva…. or as I prefer to see him, divine instrument. I hope you enjoy it too :-)

We are meant to be happy

Friday, May 1st, 2009

That has always been something we strive for in this life. In fact, if we look at the motivations behind our thoughts and actions—conscious and unconscious—they are all to get us closer to the feeling, or at least the idea, of happiness.

Some of us have long asked why we cannot hold on to happiness. For all of the scholarship and human insights across the centuries, nobody has found a complete and enduring answer. Perhaps because it has been too close to see…

The answer, the key, is our heart.

We have been told throughout our lives to “follow your heart.” This has been written in countless holy texts as well, across virtually all religions, since the very beginning. This is because our heart - even without us realizing it - feels the Love that comes from True Source, who loves us completely, and always wants the very best for us.

In opening and using our heart, we are blessed with lasting peace and happiness that we can feel—actually and really feel—in our daily lives. Our daily life is actually a manifestation of how strongly we are connected to our Creator, the True Source. Thus, an open heart is also the real key to our spiritual advancement in getting closer to True Source, the Source of Eternal Peace and True Joy.

Why is our heart the main connection to True Source? Why is our heart the center of beautiful feelings? Why is our heart, not our brain or other parts of us, the key?

Our heart is the key because our true self is within our heart. Our true self that is within our heart will continue to live on even after this lifetime has been completed. While our physical body is only a temporary “shell”—flesh and blood that will one day turn into dust—our relationship with True Source is eternal. We need True Source and True Source’s Love not only when we are alive on this earth, but forever and always.

As we are still in our physical body, our heart (not the physical heart but the spiritual heart – the center of our feeling) is where and how we remain connected to True Source.

With this connection, our heart communicates with True Source and receives True Source’s Blessings. In receiving True Source’s Blessings, we can feel so many beautiful things within our heart, including the feeling of lightness, calmness, peace, happiness, and joy beyond all things we have ever felt from our worldly experiences.

Being calm and joyful at every moment of our life may sound fantastic, even impossible. Now recognize that it is your brain making this judgment, imposing this false limitation. In this regard, you may have quite a bit of work to do in getting out of your own way. Our brain is so strong—we have spent so much of our life within our head—that it can overtake our heart at the beginning. However, our heart knows that peace, calmness, and happiness await us once we begin opening and using our heart. It is only a matter of opening it up to let True Source’s Blessing do the best for us.

How beautiful and exciting it is to consider that all these wonderful feelings are within us at all times. All we need to do is to open and use our heart to be able to feel and enjoy these wonderful Blessings.

May you open your heart to the Creator and use your heart to experience the peace, calmness, and happiness within.

- Irmansyah Effendi

You Heart Is Beautiful

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

From Heavenletters is a sweetly poetic post about our amazing Hearts, that rings very true to me. Even though all of us are affected by the very emotional lives we lead here on Earth, it does not deny the fact that at the core of us…. the core of our hearts is a pure spark of Divine Love… forever perfect, and unblemishable. It may take a little time to let the Love clean the outer layers of our hearts of the emotional debris from our experiences…. but if we tune in, we can always feel the pure longing within us…. that pure Love.

HeavenLetters - Your Heart Is Beautiful