Gratitude and Appreciation

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday. There is nothing mysterious about it. It is simply a day to eat a large quantity of good, homemade food.

There are so many things to be grateful for. Today I am grateful for my family, my friends and my job. I make it a point every morning to say a prayer to express thanks for another wonderful day, working with wonderful people and earning a wonderful income.

Thank you for reading! You have my Gratitude and Appreciation.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A New Review

"On this planet, normal equals insane."

Just a quizzical quote from the pundit, Eckhart Tolle, from his book, A New Earth.

I would like to write a proper review for this book now that I have actually completed it. I was awe-inspired after only the first 2 CDs, but now that I completed all 8 (and I did have to listen at least twice to each one), I feel so excited to share ET's wisdom with all of you. I will actually be looking for his previous book at the library when I return this audiobook to the library.

This is an awesome book. It is difficult to find the appropriate adjcectives to describe it. It is filled with so many profound insights that it is very difficult to absorb in one reading. I have started to go through it again this week.

I would have to say that this book is about psychology. But not about psychology as we now know it. The word Psychology, means the study of the psyche, which means soul, but because it is so difficult to study the soul, it has become the study of human behavior. Human behavior can be observed and measured.

Eckhart Tolle has actually managed to combine the wisdom of many philosophers, including Jesus and Siddartha Gautama, and explained the true dysfunction of the human race in such a new and startling way that I now understand Life, the Universe and Everything. I just wish I could convey the meaning to you, dear reader. But all I have are words which are only symbols and cannot transmit the truth without creating thoughts which are the root of all dysfunction. Although I love words and I previously embraced thought as the answer to all dilemmas, it seems that thoughts, which are comprised of words, are really the culprits. They are responsible for all violence on the planet. The quote above refers to the current acceptance of wars and violence, as well as things like genocide and the practice of burning those with opposing viewpoints at certain periods of history, like the inquisition and the Salem witch trials.

Enlightened Poetry

IF….

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,‘
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And - which is more - you’ll be a Man, my son!

By Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936).

What can we do about that last line? It seems a bit sexist to me. But considering all the meditation I've been doing lately, I have a suggestion:
You'll be ENLIGHTENED, my CHILD.

I make this suggestion, because while I was reading the poem, I was reminded of a Zen parable, which says that If you can meet a king or a beggar with the same equanimity, you have become enlightened!