Cracked Pot
August 4, 2008
A woman went twice a day to get water. She carried her water in two clay pots attached to a sturdy pole.
One pot was perfect, the other was cracked and leaked. Each trip to the stream only yielded one and a half pots of water because of the cracked pot.
The cracked pot was ashamed that it could not carry a full pot of water.
One day cracked pot apologized to the old woman saying
“I feel badly that you must go to the stream often because of me, leaking water all the way back and ending only half full”.
The woman looked at the cracked pot with a loving smile, “Have you never noticed that flowers grow on the side of the path that I carry you?
I planted seeds on that side knowing that you would water them and now your side of the path is a riot of colour and beauty. ”
Thank you Gail for this beautiful story.
This story is namaste.
We are in this together
June 3, 2008
In the age of digital business it is easy to forget that we are in this together.
It is easy to imagine that the guy in the corner office is different, special compared to the guy downstairs organizing the cleaning supplies.
It is easy to imagine that the beautiful model on the front cover of Vogue dribbling with LeBron is a better person than that lumpy looking woman you sat next to on the train today.
It seems bizarre that we can imagine separation more easily than we can believe in wholeness. You and I are part of an organism we call the world.
Ronald Regan believed in trickle down economics, I believe in flow through spirit. If you kick some one in the shin it is felt around the world……..we may be so desensitised that we do not notice do not feel the kick. The law of physics prove it.
Each of us puts energy into the world, participates in the universe by simply being alive. In modern times we seem to feel if we get enough stuff we can separate ourselves for reality on the streets. Ah the streets, no one wants to walk the streets anymore, downtown they are littered with garbage and discarded people and drug addicts. In the suburbs they are clean and empty, there is something eerily intimidating about their emptiness.
Just for today remember we are all in this together.
Start Again
May 8, 2008
Start Again!
It is simple!
Easy? No, simple.
Simply sit and concentrate on your bare breath,
say your wasifa 1001 times,
count your beads,
every morning clear your mind,
pray that you will be filled with light,
that you will not be consumed with
hurrying to met deadlines,
bills that cannot be paid,
children who cannot be helped,
the hardness that comes of pity,
of feeling less than,
the worry of a wasted life, the frustration,
the search for the big fix.
The anger, the memories of doing and not doing.
We have done those things which we ought not to have done,
and left undone those things which we ought to have done,
Is there any health in us?
start again
the fear the lurks just below the surface…….where did I put those keys…..
start again.
how can I be a good person if I cannot help the aged, the young, even myself?
start again
Get up every morning and
start again
chose your discipline and do it.
Just do it!
If you miss doing it for a week, a year, a decade, a day
start again.
“Come, come, whoever you are,
no matter how many times you’ve broken your vows,
come,
come again”
start again
“it doesn’t matter how many times you fall down, it’s how many times you get up”
start again
if the Hindus are right I’ll have to do this again,
if the Christians are right I’m on my way to hell,
if the Buddist’s are right it’s all an illusion,
if the Sufis are right there is only heaven,
open your heart and close your mouth,
close your heart and open your mouth,
close your heart close your mouth,
open your heart and open your mouth……
start again.
Today is a new day. Too big? how about, this is a new minute?
Can I negotiate with God, spirit, the light, the prophet, self pity?
Just as you are,
no matter how many times you have broken your vows,…..
start, start again.
Two Ducks
April 21, 2008
Like many of you I have been paying attention to the writings of Eckhart Tolle.
My particular focus has been on the stories we tell ourselves.
My favorite story of Tolle’s so far is the two ducks.
You many recall the two ducks attack each other pecking and shrieking ( a duck dustup) and then turn their backs on each other, flap their wings furiously and when they next meet respond as if they had never argued. They let go.
The Buddhist story of the two monks is also sighted. Two monks are walking down the road and they come to a stream, standing at the stream is a beatiful woman in an exquisite dress, she is unable to cross the stream without damaging her dress. One monk picks her up and carries her across the stream, sets her down and the 2 monks continue on their way.
Later that day the one monk rebukes the other for having contact with a woman which is forbidden. The other monk replies, I let go of her, I see you are still carrying her.
My question is who would I be if I let go of the stories I tell myself?
In either case by flapping our wings vigorously or letting go of the stories we tell ourselves we can change our energy and change our world.
Namaste.
Fear and Loathing
January 20, 2008
Come, come whoever you are, no matter how many times you have broken your vows, come, come again………this paraphrase of a Sufi song, reminds me to be kind to myself when I don’t do the things I said I would do.
I think often of another gem from Chinese culture, “it doesn’t matter how many times we fall down, it’s how many times we stand up”. Sometimes the bumps and bruises of life cause us to become cynical about the goodness of the world.
Trying is a much maligned process in popular self-help culture, as is hope. Some pseudo gurus say that “trying” and “hope” predispose the action to failure. I do not think so.
Hope and trying are two behaviors that lead to self love; and self love is a path to happiness and success. Happiness is not possible without loving yourself.
Some would argue that success is possible without forgiveness. There are many famous people who have built there image and empire on revenge and destructive competition. I suggest if you loath other people it is a reflection of your one self-loathing.
Outrageous Energy Living is a way of the warrior. I am not talking about blood and gore and heads chopped off here.
I use warrior to mean “one who is brave”.
The first step in warrior-ship is not being afraid of yourself. When we are afraid of ourselves. We imagine the world as a dangerous and fearful place and we become selfish believing our selfishness will protect us from the world.
We want to amass great wealth, live in a gated community. This accumulation of material possessions including money are often used as a way to absent ourselves from the world. We are here to love in the world and be happy, rejoice in our lives and in the lives of others. When we truly love ourselves we begin to see and love the world and the people in it; we become warrior, unafraid to venture into reality.
“If we are willing to take an unbiased look, we will find in spite of all our emotional and psychological ups and downs, there is something basically good about our existence as human beings. Unless we can discover the ground of goodness in our live, we cannot hope to improve the lives of others. If we are simply miserable and wretched, how can we possibly imagine, let alone realize, an enlightened society?” These are the words of Chogyam Trungpa.
So forgiveness starts with self.
Recognize your own divinity and your flaws.
Trungpa speaks of the tender heart, the heart that goes out into the world and stays loving and kind no matter what happens or how other people treat you. This is bravery, this warrior-ship. This is grace and elegance in the art and practice of life, this is warrior-ship.
So how do we begin to love ourselves, to treat ourselves well. Some would say take a bath, buy yourself a present. The is OK as far as it goes.
I suggest that the first step to self love is silence. Simply let yourself have some quiet time each day. Many people would say oh, you want us to meditate. Meditation is a good thing and I practice personally.
I was overwhelmed by the chaos in my mind and meditation was a chore and another reason to beat myself up “a should”, until a friend gave me Jon Kabat-Zinns book “Wherever You Go There You Are”.
This book liberated my mediation practice. This wonderful man simply said if you can be still for five minutes that is wonderful, if you can sit for 20 minutes that is wonderful. Until I read Zinn I had decided that since I did not mediate at dawn that it didn’t count. Zinn says anytime is a good time. So any time is a good time for mediation, any place is a good place and every second of silence counts toward peace of mind. Liberation! Yahoo!
I am after some 20 years of stop and start sitting, I am a restless meditate. I have learned to use meditations that use movement such as Tibetan hand mediation and walking mediation and “standing outside quietly and appreciating nature”, on the days when I find it impossible to sit still. The later is my own invention. The desire to move and meditate drew me to the Sufis, who dance to pray. What a outrageously delightful idea.
So step one for warrior-ship is cherish yourself through stillness.
I leave you with this wonderful poem today.
Last night, as I was sleeping
I dreamt –marvelous error!–
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
and the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.
This poem comes from the Spanish poet Antonio Machado, translated exquisitely by the master Robert Bly.
Come, come whoever you are, not matter how many times you have broken your vows, come, come again.
Namaste.
We’re OFF
January 15, 2008
The Outrageous Energy Living way is on the road for the next 6 Mondays and one Saturday. 
The awesome group who committed to the program will chart the oceans of energy and find out how outrageous energetic and productive they can be.
We had a fabulous time and your hostess Mina treated us like royalty.
Thanks Mina!
I was talking to my old friend John who signed up sight unseen for Outrageous Energy Living, he told me how much he is looking forward to having an outrageous amount of energy.
As we talked he told me that when he goes out into the world and hears other’s tell their stories he realizes who lucky he is, that other people have had more challenges.
Well … the Good News is that John and everyone else in the workshop is about to find out how unique and energetic they are. As Nelson Mandala said “our greatest fear is not that we are too small but too large”.
We are going large, awesome and outrageous!
The Next Outrageous Energy Living
December 21, 2007
On January 12, 2008 for the first time ever I will be offering HelenMarie’s Outrageous Energy Living to the public in Calgary, Alberta.
This is a free presentation, offered to you with no obligation.
Call me before January 9, 2008, at (403-)671-3939 and you will receive a free gift.
This gorgeous gift is yours to keep regardless ofwhether you join us for the 6-week Outrageous Energy Living Process or not.
But I have to warn you, having an outrageous amount of healthy energy will change your life!
