Tag Archives: spirituality

The 12/03/13 Joy Jar

2 Dec

The Buddha is not of moi’s faith tradition, but she recognizes him as a great and very wise man.

Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.
Chanakya

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is a continuing education which comes from observing the world around one.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
Buddha

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.
Buddha

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Buddha

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha

The tongue like a sharp knife… Kills without drawing blood.
Buddha

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
Buddha

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Buddha

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Buddha

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
Buddha

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
Buddha

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Buddha

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
Buddha

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
Buddha

The mind is everything. What you think you become.
Buddha

To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.
Buddha

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
Buddha

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
Buddha

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
Buddha

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
Buddha

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
Buddha

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.
Buddha

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
Buddha

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
Buddha

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The 09/06/13 Joy Jar

7 Sep

Moi was riding the bus when an imposing elder American Native got on, of what tribe, moi could not tell. Then another elder got on, from the other side of the world – possibility from Samoa, but definitely from Polynesia. There was something deeply spiritual about these two gentlemen from different parts of the world. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the wisdom of our native peoples.

“A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, The one I feed the most.”
George Bernard Shaw

“Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government
take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian.”
Henry Ford

“Our job is to be an awake people…utterly conscious, to attend to our world.”
Louis Owens

The Great Spirit is in all things: he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the earth is our mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us
Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki Algonquin

And so do not forget.Every Dawn as it comes is a holy event and everyday is holy, for the light comes from “WAKAN-TANKA” And Also you Must remeber that the Two-leggeds and All other peoples who Stand upon this Earth are Sacred and Should be Treated as Such
“White Buffalo Woman” Sioux Sacred Woman, quoted by Black Elk , (Oglala Sioux)1947.

The life of an Indian is like the wings of the air. That is why you notice the hawk knows how to get his prey. The Indian is like that. The hawk swoops down on its prey; so does the Indian. In his lament he is like an animal. For instance, the coyote is sly; so is the Indian. The eagle is the same. That is why the Indian is always feathered up: he is a relative to the wings of the air.
Black Elk, Oglala

You have noticed that everything as Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round….. The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours… Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.
Black Elk, Oglala

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The 08/28/13 Joy Jar

29 Aug

One of the most recited prayers is the very perfect Lord’s Prayer. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the Lord’s Prayer.
Dennis Fuqua posts these thoughts at his site:

About the Lord’s Prayer
Here are some quotes from others who have found the power of the Lord’s Prayer in their lives.According to Augustine, “whatever else we say when we pray, if we pray as we should, we are only saying what is already contained in the Lord’s Prayer” (Letter 121, 12).

Thomas Aquinas explains why the Lord’s Prayer must be “…the most perfect prayer that we can say…” “Now in the Lord’s Prayer what we are asking for from God is everything that we may lawfully ambition. It is, therefore, not only a cataloger of petitions but also, and especially, a corrective for our affections….”

Martin Luther said “A Christian has prayed abundantly who has rightly prayed the Lord’s Prayer.” He called it the “…model prayer of Christianity.” Other prayer should be suspected which do not have or comprise the content and meaning of this prayer.

To this day I suckle at the Lord’s Prayer like a child, and as an old man eat and drink from it and never get my fill. It is the very best prayer… It is surely evident that a master composed it and taught it. Everybody tortures and abuses it; few people take comfort and joy in its proper use.

Elmer Towns – The Lord’s Prayer includes everything you need to ask when you talk to God. It is a model prayer that teaches us how to pray.

David Yongi Cho – Like within fruit, the Lord’s Prayer contains every requirement for which a Christian may pray each day.

J. I. Packer – This prayer is a pattern for all Christian praying. Jesus is teaching that prayer will be acceptable when, and only when, the attitudes, thoughts, and desires expressed fir the pattern, That is to say: every prayer of ours should be a praying of the Lord’s Prayer in some shape or form. We never get beyond this prayer; not only is it the Lord’s first lesson in praying, it is all the other lessons too.
http://www.livingprayer.net/?page_id=89

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The 08/09/13 Joy Jar

9 Aug

One of the great things about summer is the variety of fruits and vegetables which are in season. Just as there are seasons of one’s life, there are fruits of one’s life. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ are the fruits of one’s existence.

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?
Albert Einstein

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
Aristotle

The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.
Moliere

The smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness.
Henry David Thoreau

You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes because that’s where the fruit is.
Will Rogers

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.
Epictetus

Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.
Anton Chekhov

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
Saint Basil

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The 08/06/13 Joy Jar

6 Aug

Moi takes public transportation all over Seattle. She thinks, watches people and sometimes writes. Public transportation is really an exercise in being ‘present in the moment’ no matter what is going on around one. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is being ‘present in the moment.’

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha

Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.
Tennessee Williams

The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God Himself.
Emmet Fox

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
Thich Nhat Hanh

God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament.
Evelyn Underhill

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.
Abraham Maslow

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The 08/01/13 Joy Jar

1 Aug

Moi is totally reorganizing her writing space so that she can be more productive. Moi loves to read, write, and think. There is a peace in being able to think on one’s own schedule. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar is a comfortable writing space.

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think
Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

Only in quiet waters do thing mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.
Hans Margolius

The great omission in American life is solitude; not loneliness, for this is an alienation that thrives most in the midst of crowds, but that zone of time and space, free from the outside pressures, which is the incubator of the spirit.
Marya Mannes

Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that’s where I renew my springs that never dry up.
Pearl Buck

What a commentary on civilization, when being alone is being suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices it – like a secret vice.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude.
Voltaire

True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.  William Penn

Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.
Harold Bloom

No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.
Jack Kerouac

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
Marcus Aurelius

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
Henry David Thoreau

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The 07/15/13 Joy Jar

15 Jul

No one is ever promised a rose garden, what you get is a chance to live as long as one is still breathing. Each day, moi gives thanks to God that she has another day to try and get it right and to try and be better. Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is positive thinking.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Abraham Lincoln

In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.
Dalai Lama

Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.
Michael Jordan

Like success, failure is many things to many people. With Positive Mental Attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again.
W. Clement Stone

It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.
Robert H. Schuller

People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?
Nhat Hanh

A lot of times people look at the negative side of what they feel they can’t do. I always look on the positive side of what I can do.
Chuck Norris

Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.
Brian Tracy

Positive anything is better than negative nothing.
Elbert Hubbard

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The 06/23/13 Joy Jar

23 Jun

Moi began the ‘Joy Jar’ project right after the Mayan end of the world thing went belly-up. This was a year-long experiment to find something to be grateful for every day. The ‘Joy Jar’ is half way through and moi is learning to ‘cultivate an attitude of gratitude.’ Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is an attitude of gratitude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

 

 

“In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.”

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”

Maya Angelou, Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”

Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”

Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Sometimes life knocks you on your ass… get up, get up, get up!!! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.”

― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.

Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”

― Thomas Merton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

Meister Eckhart

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The 06/02/13 Joy Jar

1 Jun

The only way that some can express their insecurity, fear, and inability to really relate to others is through demeaning them, insulting them or trying to embarrass them. Moi got the moniker, OLD FART from a slur meant to drag moi down. Really. When slurred or slighted just remember God always sees the best in us and we are very precious in His sight.

You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result. Genesis 50:20 (NASB)

It is by and through the Grace of God that moi’s future is so bright, she’s gotta wear shades.

Today’s deposit into the ‘Joy Jar’ is the incredible healing power of forgiveness.

“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”

Oscar Wilde

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

Mother Teresa

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

Mahatma Gandhi, All Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections

“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.”

Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

“True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.”

Oprah Winfrey

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

Mark Twain

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

C.S. Lewis

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The 01/07/13 Joy Jar

6 Jan

Most people want to be on the receiving end of acts of generosity, although a tiny minority may curse the giver. Dictionary.com defines generosity:

gen·er·os·i·ty

noun, plural gen·er·os·i·ties.

1. readiness or liberality in giving.

2. freedom from meanness or smallness of mind or character.

3. a generous act: We thankedhim for his many generosities.

4. largeness or fullness; amplitude.

Today’s deposit in the ‘Joy Jar’ is generosity.

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need. ”
Khalil Gibran

“Give a bowl of rice to a man and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow his own rice and you will save his life.”
Confucius

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
John Bunyan

“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing.”
Simone de Beauvoir

“Among the rich you will never find a really generous man even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egotistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it.”
G.K. Chesterton

“The wise man does not lay up his own treasures.
The more he gives to others,
the more he has for his own.”
Lao Tzu

New Living Translation (©2007)
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
Hebrews 13:2

“True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity. False charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the “rejects of life,” to extend their trembling hands. True generosity lies in striving so that these hands–whether of individuals or entire peoples–need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work and, working, transform the world.”
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

“It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.”
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

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