God

Triangulation of Self by Knowledge

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Triangulation

A method of determining the relative positions of points in space by measuring the distances, and sometimes angles, between those points and other reference points whose positions are known. Triangulation often involves the use of trigonometry. It is commonly used in the navigation of aircraft and boats, and is the method used in the Global Positioning System , in which the reference points are satellites.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Mind, Body and Spirit form the human triangle, and when in balance, we feel whole.  Caring for the mind, body, and spirit is what makes us live balanced lives, and when one of these areas is not in harmony, we start feeling the effects, emotionally, psychologically, and physically.  However, to care for our triangle, to balance ourselves, we must welcome knowledge and use it.  Information opens the mind, helps in caring for our physical body, and let our spirit soar, develop, grow.  We need information, imput, to process with our senses, the world in which we live; after all, we live in a physical body, in a physical world.  If we believe in a spiritual connection or world, a spiritual sense, then it is only because we are able to obtain imput through our senses, and internalize that information, while processing it.  When we are inspired, are having an epiphany, or when we feel a sense of spirituality and well-being, some kind of information processing is always present.  Whether it is an act of faith, or reasoning, feeling or believing, information has been processed.  The more you know, the more you open your senses – faith and knowledge go hand in hand; whether your faith rests in a Divinity, the Universe, or Science, information (imput) is present.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  (NIV)  – John 1:1

Dear Child

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Photo by M. Diaz

 

 

Dear Child,

Find me in the stillness of your soul, in the nature of things, their purity, their essence.  Find me in the song of the day, the sounds of a new beginning, the voice of a start as pure as the essence of your soul.  Dear child, find me in the time, the seconds, the hours… find me in the voice of the unknown yet to be revealed.  Find me, but most of all, find yourself, for there I reside.

Where to Go from Now

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Where to go from now?  This is a question that many of us ask, as we tend to worry sick about the future – career, finances, relationships …  We make plans, lists, life maps … you name it, in the hopes of being too careful about how we live our lives and plan our future.  We dream of better days, success, and happy lives … and that is good – planning for the future is good; however, we forget about the Now.

It doesn’t matter if you consider yourself a worry wart or  not, we all do it – we lose sleep about the promotion, the query, the bills … however, we forget to live the life that we have been gifted on this day.  Sometimes, it takes an unfortunate event, or a series (in stubborn cases) to make us realize that the important moment is the one that we have been given by our next breath, and the gift of a brand new day.  NOW is what truly matters.  I was having this conversation with one of my sisters and we agreed on how futile it is to sweat the big and small stuff when it hasn’t even showed up.

One of my favorite quotes from the bible Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reads,

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to
embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

I like it because it reminds me of the Now and of the human condition and nature.  In my opinion, this verse “gets us.”  Sometimes, we don’t even understand our purpose under the sun; however, the Now is always there, and all we have to do is live it.

Next time the question “Where to go from now?” pops in your mind (or heart) answer it with a simple NOW.

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger – Does It?

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South Padre Island: A person takes advantage o...

South Padre Island: A person takes advantage of the early morning for peace and quiet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How many times have you heard the phrase “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger?”  Probably countless of times, and usually from someone who is going through rough times.  I always agreed with it, that is, until I had to say it.  The issue with it is that it doesn’t tell the story.  It assumes that the person will have a quick recovery from what almost “killed” him or her.  The truth is that unless that person struggles and fights to stay afloat and takes action to become stronger, that person can become paralyzed, stuck, traumatized, and remain a “living dead,” broken and far away from being “strong.”

What if you went through a significant circumstance in your life which marked you in a way that although you know you have to keep going, it has become very hard to do so?  You may stay alive but with little to no strength to fight.  This may apply to different situations.  One thing that I have learned is that what doesn’t affect someone may paralyze another – we respond and deal with situations in our own way.  The struggle can be brief, or long, and the longer it takes, the outcome becomes either,

  • you become paralyzed in your own situation and fear – and stay iddling,
  • or you come out a bit wrinkled, tossed, teared, just as a thin piece of paper, but those creases are what made you hold on and keep it together.

In either case, you must take a step to come out.

Pondering about this, and notebook in hand, this is what I was inspired to write.

One way in which you can become stronger is by,

  • Asking for help – the kind that you might need, whether professional, financial, spiritual, from a friend …  However, there is so much that outside support can help, and you must help yourself.
  • Pick yourself up.  Get dressed everyday, take care of your physical appearance, force yourself to look your best even if you don’t feel like doing so.  It is easier to wear your pajamas all day than taking the time and effort to look yourself in the mirror and work on your image.  This is only one of the pieces in the mirror that you might have to pick up.
  • Talk to your spiritual source – the fountain of your inspiration and divinity, whatever you may call it.
  • When you wake up in the morning, just say Hello.  It means that you are still here and ready to try once more.  If you happen to believe in a Divinity, then you are also greeting the divine source, and if you don’t, you are greeting the world in which you are waking up.  One more day, one more opportunity or thousands of them.
  • Love the people and pets that you hold dear to you.  Appreciate them and watch them be, and be grateful that they are in your life.
  • Pick up your environment, your home, and make it pretty again.  Right now, where you are is your home.  Clean, yes clean, as you clean on the outside, you are cleaning in the inside.
  • Talk to people and share, whether in person, phone, or online.  A bit of isolation helps you find yourself, but eventually you must emerge.
  • Do things one at a time.  Do things with loving care, taking time and minding them.  Don’t try to multitask.
  • Every night when the lights are out, in silence, give thanks for whatever you are thankful that day.  This is not so much to thank the divine or the universe but to acknowledge the good in your life, and make room for more blessings in your heart.  You will have more blessings, but for that, you have to make room in your heart.
  • As for your purpose, to each its own, and all it is, is a plan to make you happy – the ultimate goal.  Now go on, blessed be your life and the ones under your wings.

 

Of Faith and Seamonkeys

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Have you ever doubt your existence?  I have to admit that since I noticed the change in lunar and solar activity (see previous post with pictures), I visited YouTube looking for videos of people who have experienced the same.  A few of them were jokes and alien propaganda … but others seemed legitimate, and were only of people filming what they thought was wrong with the moon or sun from their perspective or points of reference (a building, a window …)  This made me think a bit about my existence and what I think of it.

Here is how I see it.  I need a purpose to exist, the mere organic existence just doesn’t do it for me; I mean, I do believe in a Creator of all (although not in the traditional religious sense) and I have searched for my purpose for the longest.  It keeps me going through thick and thin.  In addition, I like the concept of faith – whether it is faith in a God or Creator, Spirit, Soul, Science, Beauty, the Human Spirit, or the Universe or universal and natural order of things.  The point is that I see purpose and faith in one of those above mentioned things closely related to our existence on the planet and the universe, whether you are an Atheist, Agnostic, a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist … you put your faith and purpose in something, even if you worship the Devil, you put your belief in something, and it gives you purpose to keep going in one direction.

Many of these videos talked about observations, theories, government conspiracy, a holographic moon, a fake moon, FEMA renting acres of land to store tons of coffins and aerial/terrestrial pictures and video of those … and other interesting stuff (as long as it was presented organized and in a serious way).  The topic of seamonkeys popped in my mind.  What if we were somebody’s seamonkeys?  What if we were an experiment, an organic test …?  What if our existence was a mere organic existence or one compared to a Truman Show existence?  What if there was no real purpose?

I did not like were my brain was headed – no purpose?  Then I asked myself how would I feel about this, if one day, I was told that there is nothing more than a tiny test terrarium called Earth and that it was all an interesting experiment, that evolution was just started to see how far it  would all go, and that we created everything else, given a few cues here and there.   I pondered this and I got my answer.  Here is my answer to that possibility.

First, realizing that the concepts of faith, purpose, science or creator, spirituality, or universal order  had been eliminated, I would be a very Pissed Human.  I would be mad at everything around me, then would have considered most of my existence futile and useless.  I would have no goals left, and I would crash for a while – my world, just as Truman’s world, would crash.  After that, one amazing thing started to happen once the fireworks and anger subsided – I looked around me and saw all the beauty inside the terrarium/tank, all the friends and loved ones, and all the other seamonkeys around it.  I saw the beauty that these creatures created out of nothing, out of a lie, and realized that all along, the faith and purpose, the creator, the science and the universe, was not outside the terrarium, but on the inside of every seamonkey on that terrarium called Earth.  After that, the rest didn’t matter at all, there was no anger, and there were only possibilities, tons of possibilities, many of them outside the terrarium, others on the inside, and many others, tons of them, in a world with no limits, no constraints, and no boundaries.

And that is, my friends,  the answer to my question.

The Inevitability of Change – Accepting Change

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Some people don’t like change, others associate change with negative things, mostly because they are very comfortable with the current situation or stage in life, and they view change as a disruption.  “If it is not broken, don’t fix it” they may say.  When change is abrupt,and fast it leaves little or no time for this.  Change may be good or bad, however, it is always change.  The only thing that you can control about it is your reaction – accepting change.

Change is inevitable, and it offers an opportunity for movement and growth – whether it is disrupting or good change, either way you must claim your place in life – either embrace it and grow or fight it until you have no more strength – change is inevitable; it is part of our nature.  We go through change since our conception in the womb and it continues until we die – and God knows what else is beyond that, more change?

Change can be sudden, or it can be gradual, the later easier to swallow and embrace, the first, full of punch and invigorating, both regenerative, leaving a sense of renewal in the end.  The greatest thing about change is that no matter how it comes and how it may feel at the moment, it is evolving, and never stalls – that in itself is good.  If change for you represents your darkest hour, find comfort in that – everything shall pass, and it leaves experience, and growth if you choose to accept/embrace it.

Change is inevitable; it is our nature.

The Theory of Possibility

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Deutsch: Ein Glas Milch English: A glass of mi...

Image via Wikipedia

Revisited

The Theory of Possibility

 

I have adopted the philosophy that no one is 100% right – there are many possibilities and sides to a story or to a belief.  This has made me a better person.  I don’t have to judge and I don’t have to shove my beliefs up the throats of others; instead I agree to disagree and to value other points of view.  I am happier now.  I don’t have to turn blue to prove a point; instead, I just express it and let it go to do what it needs to do.

One day, I went to reach for a glass of milk but decided to drink peach juice instead.  It was a change that took a split of a second but got me thinking.  I was sure I wanted milk but instead ended up grabbing the peach juice.  What followed was enlightening, at least to me.  I understood that this world is made entirely of possibilities.  I understood that everything, absolutely everything is possible.  It takes a matter of less than a second for a possibility to become reality.  This changed my view of things.

I will go back to the milk and juice to illustrate the point.  In my mind, I wanted milk and went straight ahead to the refrigerator to get it.  From my point of view it was already something I would do, saw myself doing, but never materialized – it was a possibility.  Instead, another possibility presented itself – the peach juice – a possibility that was not in my mind a few seconds ago, when heading towards the refrigerator to get some milk.  This sudden change puzzled me to the point that I am writing this article.

Going back to the example, the second possibility became my reality, not the first and intended one.  I changed my mind in the split of a second, whether conscious of it or not, but it ended up shaping my reality.  This in my opinion was a powerful message.

Possibilities abound, they are just multidimensional, and so are we when we think of it in that sense.  Multiple realities – can that be possible?  You be the judge – I don’t judge anymore.

Is Free Will Influenced by Our Beliefs?

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Revisited

The topic of free will has been debated for centuries.  Each doctrine, religion, philosophy, or application has its own particular view of what constitutes free will and the ramifications for the human race, and more singular, for the individual.  For argument’s sake, let us define free will as the capacity given to a human being to choose, by using the process of rational thinking.  Assuming this definition to be generally correct, we enter into an already vague understanding of the concept.  For example, what happens when the thinking is not rational, as in the case of a mentally ill individual, psychopath or brain washed individual?  In this circumstance, does free will exists for that person?  Alternatively, let us think about the religious beliefs of someone.  Most likely, that person makes decisions according to what those beliefs determine as right or wrong.  In this case, is free will dominated by religion?  Let us take the case of the atheist who is not influenced by religion but has a defined set of morals, a sense of right and wrong, good and bad.  Most likely, the atheist will act and choose according to those values.  Does it mean that his/her free will is influenced by morals and not by God or religion?

What happens in the case of a child?  Is that child capable of making sound decisions?  Is free will capped by age?  Is free will something that we develop with age?  The same could be said by cultural limitations, socio-economic conditions, and philosophical and existential beliefs.  For example, let us look at destiny.  Are events in our lives already pre-destined to happen?  If they are, what happens with the capacity to direct your own life by exercising free will?  If the concept of destiny assures the confluence of events, places, and people at one particular moment in your life, how does that affect the free will to choose the events, places, and people in your life?  Astrology is another subject in question.  If you are supposed to be born under certain conditions, according to constellations and planet configuration, and according to your birth sign, there are certain characteristics that you share with others of the same sign – where is free will in that?  And if you belief in reincarnation, that presents a different set of challenges as how many lives you had and how does free will fits in each one of them.  A second chance to choose?

Moreover, how about your own personal family beliefs and teachings?  I bet you that if you were raised thinking that going to a ballroom and dancing was a capital sin – and you were religious about it – you would think twice before stepping foot into one.  And maybe this is all free will is, after all.  The ability to steer our lives, the best we can, according to where we are at a particular time of our lives, with the set of beliefs and morals that we have at that particular moment, and choosing the best we can.  Every decision has a set of consequences, and for every consequence, there is a set of events that will be generated and put into motion.  So maybe, free will has been given to us to keep the ball rolling, to keep this planet going – this human existence – until it is time to go where essence goes (or spirit, or energy, or whatever it is you call it).   Assuming that energy is eternal and that it cannot be destroyed (a scientific fact) but transforms, then in that case, is there a need for free will?

WWJD? The Humanity of Evil

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Jesus Cleansing Temple Mormon

Image by More Good Foundation via Flickr

This morning I visited my FB page and found a very sad and horrible picture being passed around – it was of two kids hanging a puppy and enjoying the act (for what their faces could tell).  The person(s) who shared the link was asked to keep posting it to see if these people are caught and punished.  I love animals and all living things, and in a moment of rage, I shared the picture with the plea, and used some profanity directed at the abusers.  This prompted this post.

I am not one to like that kind of language but the rage that boiled inside me when I saw the picture gave way to those words.  Then, feeling a bit sorry about my poor choice of words, I thought – In that case, WWJD?  Immediately the scene of a Jesus irate at the merchants in the temple came to mind.  Apart from his divinity, at that moment of anger, Jesus was being human – his humanity was leading his actions.  I thought, “Ok, I can’t compare myself to Jesus, but I understand why I reacted in such way – my humanity.

Then, I thought, “Wait a minute!  Why were these kids committing this crime?  Because of their human condition?  Because of the evil that we humans are capable of and let out many times?  I pondered the issue and realized that we all are capable of committing evil, whether in the name of God or the Devil (if you believe in such) or just by the fact that we are human.  My reply to the picture was “I wish they die the same way … (and other words that I not dare repeat here).  The point is that in a millisecond, out of fury, I saw myself hanging those kids and enjoying their death as punishment for killing that puppy.  At that moment, was I worst than them or equal?  I don’t know, other than I was angry at their evil act, and they were enjoying their evil act.  That is the only difference I can find.

So WWJD?  I don’t know other than I am sure that he would not just stand there watching these kids kill a puppy and I doubt that he would open his arms and say “Come here my children for you have sin.”  No, he would probably be as pissed off as he was with the merchants in the temple; however, there is nothing written as if he hit one of them or not.  Maybe that is the answer – it is fine to let your emotions out and your true feelings; however not always ok to act on them.  As humans, we are capable of acts of Love and Evil; as spiritual beings our nature is one of Love.

Daily Inspiration

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(Computer generated) Dawn at the North Pole

Image by pakitt via Flickr

Today’s post is dedicated to the Desiderata.  This is one of my favorite pieces to read over and over.  The Desiderata was written around the 1920’s by Max Ehrman, a lawyer and poet from Indiana.  Here is a link to the entire poem – http://www.sfheart.com/desiderata.html

The history of this piece is quite interesting, so I will share this link if you want to know more about it – http://www.fleurdelis.com/desidera.htm

This is certainly one my favorite pieces for inspiration and one that I turn to when I need a bit of solitude and peace – it grounds me.  I urge you to read it, you will see why.  To me, it is very important to find daily inspiration and whether it is from poetry, a picture, a painting, a song, my pets, or a beautiful scenery, it is one thing that keeps me going and puts a smile on my face.

We live in a material world, and sometimes, besides spirituality, we also need something tangible to give our senses – the scent of a flower or perfume, of a favorite food, the sound of nature or a favorite melody, the colors and shapes in a painting or the ones found at a particular spot that brings you peace and delight … All those things help ground yourself and they can become a source for tuning your soul and finding a spiritual connection in a material driven world.

The point to all this is that you don’t have to sit for hours in a yoga position (unless you enjoy this) to find a bit of grounding on your daily living, and a bit of inspiration to fuel your day.  When you pay attention to these things – you are present in the moment, and that is all .  The millisecond that went by is gone, and the future has not arrive yet.