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Ciao .. come sta? Hello!

Israel,Jerusalem, Olive tree

My day began at the foot of this ancient olive tree in Jerusalem.  I began my meditations there because I had been reading about symbols surrounding eating, and how they often reflect the sanctity associated with the basic human experience of eating.  One thing led to another and I found myself gazing on this amazing photograph of a tree so old it must have been around since the days when  early prophets walked the earth.  The mother trunk reminded me of my visit to Japan and the PL Peace Tower.

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Inside the Peace Tower there is an elevator that takes us up to one of the higher floors where we can look down and view the land around, PL headquarters, the town,valley, farm lands. and far beyond.  It is  a spectacular sight, one orchestrated by man.  There are no modern features to the Olive Tree it stands there in all its natural glory and is a living monument to time and Mother Nature’s constant presence. The Olive Tree carries the same symbolic significance in many oriental and European countries. It is the symbol of Peace.

The 1st day of each month, in Perfect Liberty we celebrate  – Day of Peace –  Through a ceremony, we pray for World Peace and dediiate ourselves to live as peaceful human beings in our own worlds which includes our home, school, work and community.  Join with us today in spreading love beyond  our borders and out into the entire world.  Pray for happiness and peace – everywhere, for everyone.

floral, Tibetan blue popppy

Tibetan Blue Poppy

The Answer > by Lowell Fillmore ..

When for a purpose I had prayed and prayed and prayed………Until my words seemed worn and bare with arduous use,

And I knocked and asked and knocked and asked again,   And all my fervor and persistence brought no hope,

I paused to give my weary brain a rest……….. And ceased my anxious human cry.

In that still moment,  After self had tried and failed ……. There came a glorious vision of God’s power.

And, lo, my prayer was answered in that hour.                                                                         Oyashikiri

photographs – 1,3 Pinterest      2 PL member from Spain



 

Last day of March!

mirror,quiet lake viewThis is where I want to be………………………..I want to hear the quiet…………………….not the garbage truck doing its pick up outside my office window …………………….ahhhhh………………..I slept in, just got out of bed! …………………….here let me readjust my  head !

frozen falls 3

I do see bright sunlight out there….won’t be long now, all the snow will melt……. the water will flow freely again…… the grass will turn green………….flowers will bloom ……………..yes, yes.. I’m hearing a happy tune ……………………YA Y the hesitant moment is gone………I’m happy again…………………  I  closed my eyes and sincerely prayed…. Shikiri……. Shikiri.Mioyaookami (God, the source, power,TAO)         Oyashikiri……………… Oyashikiri …………… (special prayer to receive Oshieoya-sama’s (senior reverend minister ) blessing),   remember it is not the length of the “hook up” ……. it is the quality of the connection.

lotus blossom, by samlim

morning lotus flower by samlin

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Pictures from Pinterest

Good Morning Everyone!

abandoned thatre in the desert of Sinai

An abandoned theatre in the Sinai desert.  I’ve been here, not physically, but I sure do know this feeling. Standing on stage, looking out at a sea of empty seats, or in some cases an auditorium full of faces looking back at me, with a feeling of ” OK, now what”  I remember once I was talking to a huge gathering about the subject on the importance of managing stress in the workplace.  Part of the “talk” was going to be a demonstration on proper ergonomics  in a work setting, this was in the early days of computers, when hospitals and government offices were changing over to the use of a computer. Today we of course take this technology in stride. Some of you will not remember when a cell phone was unheard of, and when the first ones did come along for more general use, they were the size of a man’s shoe.  LOL remember Get Smart… if you don’t, its OK, if you do, you’ll have a chuckle.  Anyway I digress, back to auditoriums, lecture halls and the like.

Addressing a large gathering and actually reaching all your audience is next to impossible, but if you can reach a good portion of them,  you’ve had a successful meeting.  When there is a crowd, it is not always easy to listen to what is being said, we are often distracted by our own busy minds or the chatter of others.  In a room full of other people, it is easy to be distracted, but on a one and one, are you a good listener?  Back in the day when this theatre pictured here was being used, what was it that drew such a large audience, was it a big screen that is out of sight, or is this where people gathered to hear or listen to special events.  Guess, for now we won’t know, BUT, when you are in a situation where you are the listener, in the now and today world, it is really important to clear your mind so you are hearing what is being said, so you can know a person’s true intentions

One of my realities,  that I learned early on in my career was, people came to my talks, often I faced a room full of people, not because I was such a hot speaker, or the topic I was talking about, was important to their work habits and helpful in managing stress in their lives, but because it offered them a break in their routine.  It gave them an opportunity to get away from the office, and be in a place that was full of people in a more laid back setting, and …… often there was free coffee/tea and sandwiches and treats. =^_^= The ones who came to listen, and did take in what was being presented to them, were the ones that walked away with new information and helpful guidelines to make their time at work or at home, a more productive and healthy place to be.  The others, well they came away happy too, they had just had a nice morning or afternoon break from their everyday, ho-hum workdays”jobs”.

Teachers, Librarians, Health Care Professionals, are all learning to adapt to a world that is full of technology. Technology has many benefits, but human interactions, can not be allowed to become a thing of the past. Communication, social and otherwise, needs to be maintained. Today – I hear about internet learning, schools and programs where students no longer need to go physically to the University or where the employee can work from home, nice, and certainly there are positives,  but care has to be taken that we don’t allow our world to become empty and void of “real contact” with others.

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Trem da Esperanca (Jorge da Paixao and Tereza Onaga) – Viajje comigo, No trem da esperanca, Sente-se ao meu lado Na Poitrona do amor.  Let’s travel together on the t rain of high hope.  Sit here beside me on the seat of love.  Deslize comigo nos trilhos da vida levando mesagens de paz e amor.  Please join with me on the journey of life, we’ll carry messages  of peace and of love.  Na paz mundial nos vamos chegar O seu maquinista.  We’ll finally arrive at the place of world peace.     (excerpts from PL song, Brazilian Portuguese  to English)

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Power lies in prayer –          may the happiness of life fill your world today!       Oyashikiri…

Good Morning Everyone!

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In my meditations this morning, I came across a Blessing Chant, I’d kike to share it with you. It is a chant adapted from the Pattanumodana  (Teachings of Buddha >edited by Jack Kornnfield)

Just as water flowing in the streams and rivers fills the ocean, thus may all your moments of goodness touch and benefit all beings, those here now and those gone before.

May all your wishes be soon fulfilled as completely  as the moon on a full moon night, as successfully as from the Wish-Fulfilling Gem.  May all dangers be averted; may all disease leave you.

May no obstacles come across your way and may you enjoy happiness and long life.

May those who are always respectful,honoring the way of the elders, prosper in the four blessings of old age, beauty, happiness, and strength.

nederlands,amsterdamPL’s lesson of the day is about being pro-active, in an ever changing society.  a reminder to keep  our minds and eyes in tune with the changes and to learn to deal with them in a proactive manner.  This busy picture taken in Amsterdam, Nederlands (found on Pinterest) while peaceful in it’s own way, is not the tranquility captured by the photographer of the top picture.

Where would you like to be today?  Which destination captures your imagination, if you could close your eyes and with a snap of the fingers be right there, in what direction would you go?  Choices, ahhhh isn’t life grand!  Have a blissful day everyone!

Live in Joy > Live in Peace             Oyashikiri

zondag, good morning everyone!

57ed2a5249d2b0588d80a07a9249228bFeelings,  emotions, they are so much a part of our every day lives.  Is there really a moment in the day when we are not experiencing a feeling of some kind.  Is there a moment in your day when you are void of a feeling? I first saw this quote weeks ago.  Aside from thinking …wow.. Johnny Depp said this, and thinking, “did he really?  Not that I know Johnny personally, but when my mind captured the picture and the thought, it also automatically ran through the files in my memory banks to see if what I remembered of Johnny fit with the wisdom of the words…Funny how the mind processes information coming in.  When I think of Mr. Depp. I think of a visit to California and some pirate themed ride at a park I was at with my sister.  I smile because it brings back happy memories of being with her and our sudden desire to collect Disney pins.

The image of us wandering the grounds looking for pins to buy, our delight at each new find to add to our now growing collection.  LOL this was not all that long ago, we were grown women delighting in the activity of “search and find”  it was fun to look through the multitude of colourful pins and decide which characters appealed to us.  What we wanted to collect, and share with friends and family.  We had fun.  We immersed ourselves in the activity and today, I’m not even sure I know where the pins our, but that memory brings back feelings that are happy and joyful.

“You can’t close your heart to things you don’t want to feel” is what the saying above says.  PL Precept #12  Everything has a way according to its name.  We have choices in life, we can try to live void of emotion, feelings & LOVE…. but that is near impossible.  We are blessed with the gift of  LIFE, life is living and living is about being alive,  When an opportunity cones along with the potential of bringing you happy moments and new and positive experiences that delight and thrill your senses. you have a choice, you can say, no, I want to stay the way I am. OR…. you can embrace the new adventure and be rewarded by new and wonderful experiences that bring a heightened sense of personal awareness to your life.  When you embrace your decisions and life with enthusiasm and makoto (sincerity) there is that word again……..  there should be no lasting let down when that moment passes.  there can be sadness … perhaps the moment was fleeting… but the reality is.. you lived an incredible “moment in time” and now have this extraordinary memory that has added new beauty to your life.

]flower,anemone by Keartona on FlickrWe accept the temporary beauty and wonder of a flower.  We don’t look at the flower and say you are going to die, I’ll mourn you forever.  NO, we don’t do that, we accept and appreciate the beauty offered, capture the moment if we can, like this artist did, and move on.  Nothing in life is forever, only change is constant. TAO. 

Have a good day everyone, be joyful, enjoy what the world has designed for you today.  May the love of God surround and keep you safe.       Oyashikiri

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Buddhist garden in Japan

middle picture, anemone by Keartona -flickr

Buddhist garden – Pinterest

Buenos dias, bonjour, c’est jeudi matin!

Thursday and the start of the spring season.  LOL Mother Nature is still not decided in our neck of the woods.  We are going to have a mixed bag of weather.  No matter, I’m sure there will be a lot for us to enjoy and friends to greet, new places to explore.  What is on  your agenda today?

Frozen falls 4

I just heard a car drive by, it sounds wet out there, the snow must have turned to rain, just like it was predicted.  The drive to work today could be very sloppy, not to mention slippery in places.  Today’s lesson in Pl is about how we do things, how we use materials and events to express ourselves.  What value to we put on things and money. Hmmm, I confess to being someone who is not necessarily money driven, my creative side leans more towards activity and productivity. On a day like today, I would get up earlier so that I could miss the other commuters and if I was walking enjoy the walk through whatever weather was being offered up on that day, of drive through the silent streets towards my destination.  I would enjoy the pelting rain, or freezing ice for what it was, an expression of Mother Natures many forms of artistic displays.

The other day, a friend told me he’d gone snowshoeing in the woodlands behind his home.  It had been a day of clear blue skies, and fresh fallen snow.  His little adventure had sounded so peaceful.  This morning when I heard that car drive by, I was  taken back to the days I would walk several miles from my home into the office through the downtown of one city, (Hull,Quebec) in one Province over a bridge  past E.B.Eddy ( an  operating paper mill, with frozen water along one wall, which  tempted me to  do some ice climbing.(which I never followed through on).  My feet would make crunching sounds in the snow, since I was early and most others who would walk this way, had yet to make their way across into  Ottawa. Other days it was like walking over shards of ice some parts of the journey required ice cleats,  or the really wet days when you walked through  big wet puddles) =^_^=.

In this same location there is  the sound of rushing water  where the rapids churn and gurgle over the rocks.  It is a beautiful spot at any time of year.  When you got over the bridge, you were in Ontario, and in Ottawa (Canada’s capital). The trek led me across open fields where buildings that had been, were now long gone, and the buildings that were to come, were still ideas on some drafting table.   On the left there was a hidden gorge, where below the rapids provided a training ground for kayak enthusiast. If time permitted, I would stop to watch the activities.

There was/is a definite difference in the two cities, yet in their differences they merged into one giving this area a diversity that is both charming and inviting. Sophisticated,yet in many ways, so “down home”.  Those walks were peaceful for me, they  allowed me time to commune with nature and my thoughts .. by the time I walked through the now busier downtown core of the waking city, and got to the office, I was ready for my day. How do you prepare for your day?  Whatever you do, remember to practice using full Makoto (sincere effort).

ecc9d7464cfa4399c63d593fc9341e58Hey, wow, I enjoyed my walk down memory lane with you this morning, but of course, I enjoy all my time with you.  smiles at you  and offers up these pretty flowers to brighten your day.  Blessings..  today, tomorrow and always…      Oyashikiri

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Top of the morning !

Ireland,druid trees,enchanted forestDruid Forest, Ireland..  What an enchanting photograph. Today being St. Patrick’s day, I’m sure there will be a lot of wearing of the green today.  I know that my experience has been, Irish or not, many people celebrate the day, and share in the ancient traditions.  Did you know that  the ascending  series of  green- white- red-  formed the favourite symbols of the Egyptians and the Celtic druids, Dante who knew his traditional symbology, had Beatrice appear dressed in green,white and red,  which expressed, hope, faith and charity.  Did you know that green is a colour of antithetical tendencies…. it is the colour of life, (growth) and the colour of death.. Similarly green takes the middle place in the every day scale of colours.  LOL  I’m sure that today you will soon loose count of all the different shades of green you see, not to mention the many creative ways green will be shown, or adorned.

Oshieoya-sama (head minister of the Church of PL, Perfect Liberty) wrote an article (May 12, 1984) which was  reproduced for us and distributed in the Perfect Liberty newsletter  volume 7, issue 1, March 2014, in which he talks about the similarity and the differences in PL and other religions.  He talks of how the objectives of religions are all similar , in that they all strive for World Peace, then goes on to talk about how each religion  has its own unique way of  sharing this with their members.  One of the most important things taught in PL is to put the teachings into practice, on a daily and regular basis. For a copy of this article (it is short one page),i n the States, contact Rev. Takashi  Goto     goto@perfectliberty.ca    In Canada   Rev.Eugene Hayashi       ethayashi@perfectliberty.ca  for other countries, either of these ministers will give you contact information.

 

Ireland's Cliffs of MoherThese cliffs in Ireland bring tourists from far and wide.  When I saw them I thought of how majestic and beautiful they were, how nature over time had carved out each and every crevice in her own way as only she can do.. each section is a story all of its own, yet together they present the viewer with a formidable challenge, could they be climbed?  I know myself, I would want to study all the nooks and crannies to discover the secrets that they would hold.  while I gazed at the shear beauty of the cliffs, I wondered if the photographer had taken close up shots of any of the different rock compositions, and plant varieties…….  Guess I’ll never know =^_^=  another puzzle, that brings a smile.. Mysteries are so much a part of life when one has a curious active mind…

Irish Erin go Bragh -Ireland Forever” May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow……………and any trouble avoid you, wherever you go “   

smilePencilphotographs – Pinterest – cliffs of Moher, Ireland

Buen dia, Happy Happy Wednesday!

tulips, parrot papintingA cheerful bouquet of  flowers for you dear readers.

Different flowers usually have separate meanings – flower symbolism is broadly characterized by two essentially different considerations – essence and shape..  By its nature it speaks of transition – the process or period of changing from one state or condition to another. We anticipate their beauty, we appreciate their fragrance, marvel at their delicate petals and intricate throats, veins and petals.  We even share the beauty and pleasure they give with those we love and use them to express our love and feelings.  when as Nature does, they fade and pass on, we treasure the time spent, the memory of the moment, and we move on, happy with the shared moment tucked away in our hearts.  Yellow in symbolism when it comes to flowers, usually represents the sun/sunshine – it is very yang. (I Ching)  Egyptians would put  flowers on a table as a reminder of the realities of death, and the joys and pleasures in life.  The painter of this picture, used a blue that speaks to me of the heavens.  Blue the colour of rarefied atmosphere, clear blue skies..   In symbolism, blue often represents “thinking’  (thoughts)………..

Today’s PL lesson is about becoming a better person.  If we are content with the status quo, our progress will stop, we are encouraged to always look for ways to improve and become more in tune with the Universe.  To continue our journey in life, moving forward.  Praying every day that our journey will bring us closer to a Divine State of Being.… one step at a time, mindful of the present….. let love in…. let love motivate your actions, and your thoughts.  Allow love to colour your world today.    May the blessings from above  rain down like a cleansing and refreshing spring shower to feed your soul….That the flower that is you, will be nourished and grow stronger this day……. so your beauty will shine for all the world to see.  Love is to be shared, not squandered ………S M I L E …… Oyashikiri

Big Sur,CA by Greg Clure photography

 

Photos – Pinterest, bottom photo was taken at Big Sur, CA. by photographer, Creg Clure.

 

 

Makoto on Ancestors’ day

timeGood Morning everyone, how are you today?  For those who are new to my blog, welcome.  Today is the 11th, of the month, in Perfect Liberty, the 11th is a day for remembering and expressing gratitude for the love and virtue of our ancestors.  In China and other countries, it was a natural and everyday part of life to honour our elders.  It is thanks to our ancestor’s virtue and Makoto (sincere effort) that we are here today.

The above picture, evoked a moment of tranquility from my memory banks.  A summer day, visiting in the country, playing in the tall grass, and escaping from the heat by playing by a creek that ran behind the old country store a relative had in the Algonquin Park area of Ontario.  For a city brat, this was so different and a totally new experience.  When you are young, you simply live the moments, you aren’t analyzing  or looking at your new friends with a ton of baggage in your head, you are taking life in, and responding to it with an innocence yet to be tested. You are living the moment, building your experiences in life, finding new emotions, discovering more of the world around you.

In my research this morning, I came across a picture of Betty White (actress) and a loaf of bread, interested in the connection I delved further into the post.  “Did you know that Betty White is older than sliced bread?” was the the sentence that went with the picture.  Of course, I know of Betty White, I’ve seen her in many sitcoms, but to be honest, I never really thought of her as a person of age, probably because in my journey through life, I have been entertained by her talents over the years, and have simply accepted her as “Betty”.  We all do it in some way form or other..  we take someone or some thing for granted….

Today, lets take a moment to give thanks with Makoto to our past, and our present!……. Let us ask for guidance and protection so we can continue to live the PL Way.. (a life of Perfect Liberty) (life with God/Tao)

Iireland x

 

photos – Pinterest, bottom photo id. Ireland,castle  

Transformation

NorwayToday’s PL thought for the day is about discovering the joy of transforming one’s Self.  It talks about how when we strive to improve ourselves,and the changes begin to take place…. we are filled with a happiness  that is more satisfying and rewarding.  Change is the only constant in life.  The sensual delivery/impressions of  this photqgraph is stunning. The slightly stronger presence of Yin,  merges with Yang in a true blending of light and shadows.  Nature is Art in its purest form.

imagesucrkovy5For readers and followers of the Tao, the hexagram #5 HSU, calculated waiting is the meditation of the day.  Creativity  and strength in the lower trigram, Ch’ien are held in check by the profound mystery of K’an, above.  ( Calculated waiting  hexagram #5 ).   In groups or relationships, all parties are involved in a situation that requires calculated and good natured waiting.  The situation is not in anyone one’s hands, it is about Destiny.  there are times when any action could or would be a foolish  one ..ie. over-reaction.  So nourish one another instead with a happy and loving heart that provides reassurance instead.

Good Saturday morning to you my friend, may the day develop into a perfect memory for you…. Smile, you are never alone.    Blessings…  Oyashikiri

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