Me

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more .

Messages from The Masters

Live in the present, not the past or the future. The past is over; learn from it and let go. The future is not yet here. Plan for it, but do not worry. Worry only wastes your time and energy.

The Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh describes enjoying a good cup of tea. You must be in the present moment, mindful and aware, to enjoy the tea, to savor the sweet aroma, to taste the flavor, to feel the warmth of the cup. If you are ruminating about past events or worrying about the future ones, you will look down at your cup and the tea will be gone. You drank it, but you do not remember, because you were not aware.

Life is like that cup of tea.

A Passage from Messages from the Masters

What is the difference in this life if you are wealthy and I am not?
Only the treasures of spirit can be retained.
What is the difference if you are powerful or famous and I am not?
Happiness has no roots in power or fame, only in love.
What is the difference if you are more liked and respected by others than I am?
Perhaps I am daring to tell and live the truth, and the truth is rarely popular.
Happiness comes from within, not from without, not from the reflection of what others think of you. Jealousy is poison to the soul.

--- Dr. Brian Weiss, MD, an eminent psychiatrist.

Love Poems between Teishin and Ryokan

Have you forgotten me
Or lost the path here?
I wait for you
All day, every day
But you do not appear.

--Ryokan

Here with you
I could remain
For countless days and years
Silent as the bright moon
We watched together.

--Teishin

Where is Heaven?

"Then where is Heaven?", asked the puzzled child

The Wise One took her tiny hand and smiled

Then swept an arm across the earth and sky,
"It is right here, never far and not too high

Look with your Heart, my little one, and See

For all who find their peace within are free;

So search for beauty always in all things

For ever from the Soul true Heaven springs"

Echoes

Two Stars

Across a sky of indigo blue

On a cold and lonely night

Two twinkling stars hung silently

Just out of each other's sight

Each star looking wistfully

At a moon that turned to blue

Wishing on another star

To find a love so true

Then came a comet across the sky

A sparkling flashing light

Causing the stars to spin about

On that cold and lonely night

The twinkling stars looked across the sky

They stared in star struck wonder

As if drawn by some greater force

They moved toward one another

Suspended in the heavens

The stars began to dance

Spinning ever gracefully

In a heavenly romance

Two twinkling stars in the heavens

Now shine as one sparkling light

Across a sky of indigo blue

Suspended in the night

-- Allison Chambers Coxsey