Circle of Compassion

Our task must be to free ourselves... 

by widening our circle of compassion 

to embrace all living creatures

and the whole of nature and it's beauty.”  

Albert Einstein

Snail

Spring Messenger

Earth, Teach Me

Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.

Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory. 

Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning. 

Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young. 

Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone. 

Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground. 

Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky. 

Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall. 

Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.

 Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life. 

Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain. 

 - An Ute Prayer

The Natural World

“Our challenge isn’t so much to teach children about the natural world, 

 but to find ways to nurture and sustain the instinctive connections they already carry.” 

~Terry Krautwurst

“May our heart's garden...

“May our heart's garden of awakening

bloom with hundreds of flowers.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

2012 - Love will guide us wherever we go...

"There is only one important point you must keep in your mind and let it be your guide. 

No matter what people call you, you are just who you are. 

Keep to this truth. 

You must ask yourself how is it you want to live your life.

We live and we die, this is the truth that we can only face alone. 

No one can help us, not even the Buddha. 

So consider carefully, what prevents you from living the way you want to live your life?” 

~  Dalai Lama XIV

Thank you so much for your lovely, heartwarming comments this past year 

and for simply being here right now.

Let's take each others hand as we walk into this beautiful new year together.

Love will guide us wherever we go....

Peace with ourselves...

We can never obtain peace in the outer world

until we make peace with ourselves.

~ Dalai Lama XIV

To be beautiful means to be yourself...

“To be beautiful means to be yourself.

You don’t need to be accepted by others.

You need to accept yourself.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

For Anyes...

Love... it surrounds every being 

and extends slowly to embrace 

all that shall be.

~ Khalil Gibran

Love begins...

      "Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home."
 

~ Mother Teresa

p.s.

the beautiful drawing is made by Marjan van Zeyl

From time to time...

“From time to time, to remind ourselves to relax and be peaceful,

we may wish to set aside some time for a retreat, a day of mindfulness,

when we can walk slowly, smile, drink tea with a friend,

enjoy being together as if we are the happiest people on Earth.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

Thank you for being here and enjoy your weekend!

p.s.

The beautiful drawings are by Marie-Laure Viriot (photo 1) and Ruth Elsässer (photo 2)

Breathing....

Breathing in, there is only the present moment.

Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

If we are peaceful...

If we are peaceful,

if we are happy,

we can smile and blossom like a flower

and everyone in our family,

our entire society,

will benefit from our peace.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

What is essential...

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret;

it is only with the heart that one can see rightly,

what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

He turns our living room into a playground filled with colour and energy.
And he shows us this sacred world of pure and shameless play.
For us, his parents, it is a lost world. Vanished bit by bit as we grew older.

But he takes us by the hand and leads us back to purity and simplicity.
And while the three of us are sitting on the floor together I realize that all my life I have been searching desperately for the happiness that was already present....and always will be.

Let's choose today...

Let's choose today to quench our thirst

for the "good life" we thinks others lead

by acknowledging the good that already exists in our lives.

We can then offer the universe the gift of our grateful hearts.

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Today I noticed that I was buying all kinds of things for Christmas instead of letting Mats participate in creating something with our own hands to decorate our home with.

And therefore Mats and I have been making these 'snowy' pine cones today and we had so much fun together. All you need are pine cones, wool to wrap and Christmas songs on the background.

While I got all emotional about those good old Christmas songs, Mats was unwinding the finished pine cones again. So the result this afternoon is only three cones ....but the energy that filled our home while we were crafting together was so peaceful.

These simple pine cones brought the Christmas spirit to our home this year and reminded me that More is very often less than Enough.

Be Grateful...

Be grateful for the home you have,

knowing that at this moment,

all you have is all you need.

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

Peace is present right here and now...

“Peace is present right here and now, 

in ourselves and in everything we do and see.

Every breath we take, every step we take, 

can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity.

The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. 

We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

from Peace Is Every Step

p.s.
the beautiful drawing is made by Ruth Elsässer

Compassion

"Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. 

It’s a relationship between equals.

Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. 

Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”

~ Pema Chodron

"When you are content to be simply yourself..."

When you are content to be simply yourself

and don't compare or compete,

everybody will respect you.

~ Lao Tzu

Today I took Mats to an indoor playground in our neighborhood. He loves it there and he gets to meet lots of children and I lots of mothers.

Observing all those different mothers it is so tempting to start comparing or competing with each other and finally ending up feeling insecure.

So today I practiced to completely block such negative, distracting thoughts and tried to keep my mind clear.  I felt quiet inside and it even reflected on Mats. On top of that there were many unexpected conversations and friendly smiles. Such a positive experience!