Kahlil Gibran

In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; and like seeds dreaming beneath the snow, your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

The Nature of Forgiveness

Everything that I could ever say about you,

Or understand about you, is true of me –

Of some previous, or present, or potential part of me.

I must forgive you, or I have not forgiven myself

For being who I am,

In every previous, or present, or potential aspect.

If I judge you, I judge the corresponding part of my own self.

If I condemn you, I am myself condemned.

If I lash out at you, I will, myself, experience pain.

If I turn away from you, I become blind to myself,

And I am in danger of being hypocritical.

So I must turn toward you; this aspect of myself.

If I am in pain, I must ask myself

"What have I not forgiven?"

If I am feeling self-righteous, I must ask myself

"What am I being blind to? What am I not seeing in myself?"

I need YOU, in order to learn about myself;

To discover all the potential aspects of my being,

And through forgiveness,

I practise the love of Being.

I need you in order to learn new ways

To respond to every aspect of Being;

Ways which are in harmony with the Great Principle of Life.

I cannot define this Principle,

But I can intuitively experience it as a state of bliss;

As the Peace that passes Understanding;

As being "at-one-with" the world;

As a state of joy, of love:

The inner core reality which transcends physical matter

And makes material concerns seem trivial and "unreal".

This does not mean I will always agree with you,

Or allow you to do whatever you want with respect to me,

Or even approve of everything you do.

It simply means I will respond at any time

Not to "what is good for you,"

Not to "what is best for me,"

But to what is going to bring us both

Into harmony with the Great Principle, the "One",

And so, ultimately, with each other.

I am prepared to do

Whatever it is that I ask of you,

With full knowledge

That whatever it is I have recognized in you

Is also a part of myself.

Through coming to know this part of myself,

And knowing what I can do

To bring about a more harmonious perspective,

I can offer myself as a guide to you;

But just as I was blind

And in my own time, by my own effort learned to see,

I respect that it will be

In your own time, by your own effort, that you

In your turn, will also learn.

This is the nature of forgiveness.

 

 

Pentimento

Antiquarian mandala

Mandala Album

Check out my new artwork - a Mandala album on http://wulio.spaces.live.com/. More wow!!

New Year Resolve

While exploring my 1999 imac, I found a folder of things I had written at that time. The following resolve (admittedly edited to reflect the evolution of my beliefs) felt like it could still be shared:

Each and every day
I consciously, actively, and purposefully
participate in the creation of my own reality.
My intentions and desires smoothly lead to action and creation.
I mobilize my energy, and it is a source of joy for me.
I take all the time I need to look after myself, each and every day.
I forego other activities in order to make time available
so that I may better understand and express myself
and explore my relationships.
I focus my consciousness daily on myself
and on my relationships with others.
I am committed to my life, and to the evolution of Spirit.
I am freely and competently doing what it takes to live the life I want.
I am having the experience that I want.
I move quickly through any pain that may accompany growth and change.
I keep reaching for better - feeling thoughts.
I learn from the disappointments that mayoccur,
as I continue to move comfortably toward my goal.
I release wishing and hoping
in order to replace them with believing and receiving.
I am at peace with my self, and I acknowledge my own insecurities.
I freely set aside the conventional thinking
that has brought me discomfort in past,
and I find new thoughts which help create more joyful results.
I give and receive the best of myself.
I am graced with wisdom, love, joy and honour in my life.
I am worthy of everything that I want.
The experience of peace, joy and abundance in my relationships delights me.

I believe that my spirit easily connects with others,
And that I will always be able to find a friend whom I can trust
with my most intimate and vulnerable secrets and needs.
I am prepared to create change within myself
to be able to accept all that Spirit offers me.
I am prepared to throw out old beliefs,
to recognize things which may be painful,
and to release myself from destructive myths about how life works.
I am prepared to always be connected with the truth about myself,
to see how I have contributed to so many happy outcomes,
and to understand the unhappy outcomes when they arise
so that I can create the possibilities for happier ones.
This is my life.
I live in mindfulness wherever I am, in each moment,
and I am joyfully walking my path.

Fire in the Ethereal World

I woke up from a strange dream - the museum of my past was on fire in the backyard, and I could not find a phone to call 911! Everyone I turned to inside the house of my dream was only interested to be an onlooker, as if the window to the past was a television channel.