Tranquility

Tranquility must be found within me. It is pointless to seek peace and tranquility outside of my essence, outside of my spirit.

Yoga

I took my first yoga class yesterday and left inspired. It was beautiful. My boyfriend and I decided to take a beginner's class together. I am so happy we did. During the class I learned things about myself I never knew. I was able to identify areas of tension in my body and focus on how my breath can release these areas of tension and help me move in ways that allow me to stretch. I felt calm in the studio space and loved our instructor. She brought so much calm to the room and in our interactions with her before and after class. I felt like I was in my element in this class. I was surrounded with people who aspired to be one with their essence and find their calm just like myself. I must add that I did a head stand for the very first time in my life. It was a wonderful moment and I felt so alive. I am truly inspired to continue my yoga practice. I feel it is another step in my path to being one with my true essence and finding calm in every moment in life.

I want to be free in my heart so I can:

• find the rhythm in life that feels most authentic and meaningful to me
• express this authentic rhythm to the world---it's what nature intended

Harmony with Nature

I want to live in harmony with the rhythm of nature.

Just Be

So Precious

 

A Beautiful Photo: One With Nature

Ukulele Songs by Eddie Vedder

I just bought the new album by Eddie Vedder called Ukulele Songs. It is such a beautiful album. I have always been inspired by Eddie Vedder. He is a true artist who is very in tune with nature. 

 Such a beautiful video that captures the nature of the ocean.

Finding Calm in Every Moment

Aging Gracefully: I Hope to Embody the Spirit That Allows Me to Age Naturally and Gracefully

I Love This Serene and Colorful Outdoor Space

Truly, Truly Inspired: Thandie Newton Sums Up What I believe In

"We’d be right in assuming that the self is an actual living thing. But it’s not. It’s a projection which our clever brains create in order to cheat ourselves from the reality of death. But there is something that can give the self ultimate and intimate connection. And that thing is oneness; our essence." ~Thandie Newton

“For start we can think about all the times when we do lose ourselves. It happens when I dance, when I’m acting. I’m earthed in my essence and my self is suspended. In those moments I’m connected to everything; the ground, the air, the sounds, the energy from the audience. All of my senses are alert and alive.” ~ Thandie Newton

"So here’s a note to self. The cracks have started to show in our constructed world. And oceans will continue to surge through the cracks and oil and blood. Rivers of it. Crucially we haven’t been figuring out how to live in oneness with the Earth and every other living thing. We have just been insanely trying to figure out how to live with each other; billions of each other. Only we’re not living with each other. Only our crazy selves our living with each other and perpetuating an epidemic of disconnection.” ~ Thandie Newton

"If we can get under that heavy self, light a torch of awareness and find our essence, our connection to the infinite and every other living thing…Let’s not be freaked out by our bounty of nothingness." ~Thandie Newton

Nature's Beautiful Spirits

Inspirational Quotes: I Find So Much Truth in the Teachings of Gurdjieff

"In his talks, Gurdjieff gave a keen analysis of the modern dilema. There is a growth of personality', he said, 'at the cost of essence', that is, a growth of the artificial, the unreal and what is foreign, at the cost of the natural, the real and what is one's own.

'Man's possibilities are very great.  You cannot even conceive a shadow of what man is capable of attaining.  But nothing can be attained in sleep.  In the consciousness of a sleeping man his illusions, his dreams are mixed with reality.  He lives in a subjective world and he can never escape from it.  And this is the reason why he can never make use of all the powers he possesses and why he lives in only a small part of himself.'"

"Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave."

"When we begin to observe ourselves sincerely our whole fate begins to change. But this means noticing, over a long period, the way we talk, the way we think, the criticisms we make, the resentment of what is said to us, the way we react to others, the opinions from which we argue, the way we are flattered, how we judge others, our vanity, cruelty, moods, emotions. Unless we detach ourselves from these things, we remain mechanical. We have to have an observing part and an observed part. When the observing I is established in us, it is from this I that everything else follows. Small to begin with, it is like a window to let in the light."

"Within oneself one bears the seed of one's own divinity, and one must become a willing co-operator with the creative power behind the universe if one is to achieve one's real destiny.  We must exercise our will to become conscious."

"To live in a truly creative and dynamic way, that is, according to the basic laws of one's being, most of us would need to feel, and think in a completely new way." ~Harry Benjamin based on the teachings of Gurdjieff

"Only by knowing oneself can one come to understand the Universe.  Most people feel unfulfilled and don't understand why, many using mass excitements to solve their problems of inner boredom, frustration and futility.  As most psychology deals only with mental and emotional phenomena, and not with the whole human being, it too cannot solve these problems.  The solution is to engage in one's own conscious evolution by tapping into the vast store of inner peace, beauty and harmony."  ~Harry Benjamin based on the teachings of Gurdjieff

"Self-Remembering - Our older, fundamental, greater, nobler self has always been there; it has just been smothered by our newer, false personality.  We can become aware of it by self-remembering, by recalling the existence of our fundamental self as often as possible each day, particularly when we are stressed, as this breaks the hold of our false personality on us, and wakes us up.  In this way, we will find that our lives will be gradually transformed." ~Harry Benjamin based on the teachings of Gurdjieff

"Personality and Essence -Our personality is made up of a false personality, which is concerned with our ego (pride, vanity, self-conceit, imaginations and day-dreams about ourselves, etc.), and personality proper, which is developed through education, vocation, training and study of all kinds, and which enables us to earn our living.  The source of our fundamental self or Real I, is our essence.  In primitive peoples, and people who live close to nature or who do creative work, it is often less smothered by the false personality, but its development is still usually limited.

This "Work" (on oneself) seeks to weaken the false personality or make it passive, thereby enabling the essence to become active (feeding, as it were, on the weakened false personality).  As one needs a well developed personality proper to support the growth of the essence, it is important that one is able to earn one's livelihood (support oneself) before entering the Work.  In addition, this helps prevent the Work from becoming an escape from everyday life.  It is not a matter of working to make ourselves perfect; the Real I is already perfect, and its development is guided by its own laws.  All we can do is make our false personality increasingly passive.

The idea that we already have the key distinguishes this Work from Eastern religions, in which students must search for the key; and the idea that one is not engaging in a battle between "good" and "evil" distinguishes the Work from most orthodox religions in which one is visualized as engaging in a struggle for "salvation".  According to Gurdjieff, our mental "body" (Man No. 3: thought), emotional "body" (Man No. 2: feeling) and instinctive/moving or physical "body" (Man No. 1: body maintenance) each have external, middle and inner parts.  The first two are also divided into higher and lower spheres.  In the ordinary unevolved human the higher spheres are hardly ever contacted, as the false personality prevents our receiving information from them.

Most of us live chiefly in one body, or "centre", i.e. creating unbalance.  One of the aims of this Work is to make us "balanced man" (Man No. 4), i.e. to have all centres developed and working in harmony.  This is said to be "The Fourth Way" of development; the other three ways being The Way of the Fakir (1. Physical), The Way of the Monk (2. Emotional) and The Way of the Yogi (3. Mental).  People attracted to this Work are also said to have a "magnetic centre", i.e. an authentic inner desire or longing for self-discovery and the purpose of one's being." ~Harry Benjamin based on the teachings of Gurdjieff

"Man as a Self Developing Organism - The Gurdjieff system also includes a belief in the existence of purpose and meaning in the Universe.  Rather than being inert, matter is regarded as being a vehicle for a higher intelligence or "Greater Mind".  The seen is always regarded as a product of the unseen.

Although minerals, plants and animals work in harmony with the Universal or Cosmic Plan, only human beings are free to consciously co-operate or not with the Cosmic Plan.  "The Kingdom of Heaven" is regarded as being a present reality rather than a future reality.  Those who operate fully from their fundamental selves or Real I are considered to be part of "The Conscious Circle of Humanity" and are, as it were, "The Masters of Wisdom", capable of helping others to become their Real I.  Such learning can come through: "A influences", that is, from life (environment, education, society, etc.); "B influences", that is, from the communications of the prophets, sages, seers, esoteric schools, etc., including all great works of art, literature, and drama; and "C influences", that is, from direct communications from living teachers from "The Conscious Circle of Humanity", for example, the Christ or Buddah in their times." ~Harry Benjamin based on the teachings of Gurdjieff

"Negative Emotions - Our emotional life is directed largely by our lower emotional centre, which is dominated by such negative emotions as fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, impatience, worry and self-pity.  We are not born with these emotions, but pick them up from our early environment.  By becoming conscious of them and not identifying with them, and by recognizing them only as aspects of our false personality, we create a space for the Higher Emotional Centre, which is characterized by awe, wonder, appreciation of beauty and the mystery of creation, compassion and real love, to develop and operate.

As this happens, we develop a reverence for nature and feel more at home in the Universe.  Our feelings (Higher Emotional Center) begin to reach out in all directions and we feel that, rather than just existing, we are beginning to live at last.  Fear is the most established negative emotion, which is often recognizable as our false personality craving for security in a world that must be accepted as being insecure. Another is violence, which appears when the personality feels threatened.  Eliminating this violence within ourselves is the prerequisite for the achievement of world peace.  Ironically, we attract the problems that we worry about most. ~Harry Benjamin based on the teachings of Gurdjieff

"Man and the Cosmos - Most people have no real philosophy of life.  Political interests, for example, are merely expressions of external searching for something that can only be found within.  Once we realize that we are related to the Creative Power that brought the Universe into existence we find meaning and purpose everywhere; we become aware that we and the Universe are, in fact, one.  For example, Gurdjieff, in this state, perceived that life does not only exist on the Earth, but all over the Universe.  Also, that man is an essential factor in the development of the Universe, working on a reciprocal basis with the cosmos itself (but for this relationship to operate one must be aware).  Awareness of this brings a sense of attunement with the Cosmos.  Processes that bring one "up" towards this state may be regarded as good, and those that lead one "down" away from this as evil.

According to Esotericism, the Universe was created to give expression to the creative urge of The Absolute.  Thus, within oneself one bears the seed of one's own divinity, and one must become a willing co-operator with the Creative Power behind the Universe if one is to achieve one's real destiny.  We must exercise our will to become conscious.  This is different from a desire within the context of the personality, as one desire is readily replaced by another as circumstances change.  Rather, one is setting out on a path of inner unfoldment, knowing that the progress will not be even and that there may be much conflict and obstruction (which actually provide the opportunities for growth and for transcending our false personalities).  It is important to realize that every path is unique, indeed the Universe itself is a symbol of unity in diversity. ~Harry Benjamin based on the teachings of Gurdjieff

Serenity: I Could Just Float Out On The Water Like This

Photo courtesy of http://aubreyroad.blogspot.com/

I Love This Bright and Airy Kitchen: I Love the Yellow Paint with the White Cabinets

Photo courtesy of http://www.thesimplyluxuriouslife.com/