Tag Archives: Opray Winfrey

Living A Principled Life

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His Holiness of course was generous in his teaching making the Heart Sutra accessible to all those who attended the teachings this May in Indiana. His introduction included emphasis on applying ourselves and studying the Dharma. And he concluded with a reminder to study, to access Wisdom through reading and studying. He reminded us how the Buddha discouraged people to simply follow him and instead emphasized the importance of everyone generating a mind and heart of compassion and enlightenment. “The Buddha can only show you the path but cannot do it for you. Liberation lies in your own hands,” the Dalai … Continue reading →

The Meaning Maker

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“Ultimately, no human being can find genuine meaning in her life merely by accepting the meaning handed down from those who have gone before. Personal meaning must be created, not accepted, and the process of creating it requires testing and experimentation. A false self will neither test nor experiment; it is a defense against experimenting.”  James F. Masterson, M.D. The Search for the Real Self When life offers us meaningful or even mystical experiences we often tend to seek other’s help to interpret and understand it. However, since the experience is in the context of your life it is important … Continue reading →

Julie’s 2009 Fall Schedule

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  Sunrise Walks in the labyrinth-Spiral August 10th through the 15th. (5:30am to 7:30 am). The spiral is in full bloom. I take my walk around 5:30 but will keep an eye out for you. Just drive on up and park on the drive way. Sun rises over the hill around 5:45. The address is E3298 County Rd B. 6 miles west of Plain on County Rd B. Of course this is free and open. On SATURDAY the 15th, the labyrinth will be open to the public until NOON.  (Please bring appropriate walking shoes). There is still room in the Spiritual Journaling Class … Continue reading →

Tonglen: Transforming Pain into Love

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  “Tonglen is the quickest way to enlightenment.”  His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Madison Wisconsin, June 2008   This is the seventh week of this series of meditation classes. Next week will be the final of this series. Much of my material, okay, all of my material is in reality borrowed wisdom. This week’s wisdom is borrowed from Lama Surya Das and his book: “Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment.” I highly recommend this and any of his books to further your practice of mind training and meditation. I imagine that what the Dalai Lama says is true, that the quick … Continue reading →

Basic Mindfulness Sitting Practice

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 This evening we began with twenty minutes of mindfulness meditation practice. To help clear the mind and prepare the body for meditation this simple yogic breath is helpful:  Using your thumb and pointer finger hold your right nostril with your right thumb and breath in through the left nostril. Then on the exhale release the thumb and press the finger against the left nostril and exhale through the right nostril. Do this three times. Nice deep breaths. Then do the same with three breaths breathing in from the right nostril and you hold the left closed, and breath out your … Continue reading →

Our Search for Happiness

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I call upon the natural world and sciences to demonstrate skillful means when helping others decrease suffering and strengthen their well-being. Nature and science often point to the problem and to its neighboring solution. My husband is a wildlife biologist so the natural world and related sciences have become more available to me. I consider myself a true novice in these areas but a willing student. The other day I talked to him about how much energy, time and money people put into searching for happiness. I knew he would respond with some link between this phenomenon and the natural … Continue reading →

The Spiritual Pilgrimage and our Psychic Gifts

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  Entering the world from a different gate,   A late arrival no one waits before or behind, though the labyrinth has been traversed before,   Where did I put my traveling boots? It’s time to go.   Today something will be offered up to you and to me, – – a challenge to our view of the world and of ourselves. What will that be? Will we let the roots of our way of seeing the world and others be shook loose, letting go of some familiar and favored way, opening up to something yet unnamable?  Are you willing … Continue reading →

Dreaming Awake by Laurel Reinhardt, Ph.D.

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“Dreaming Awake,” is written by my friend, and dream partner Laurel Reinhardt.  First a few words from me. I have been behind on my weekly Blog busy finishing up my manuscript on spiritual initiation. Mostly, it has been bliss. I so love the writer’s life. As I write this book I notice that throughout one’s personal initiation process dreams play a prominent part.  Dreams also show us ways to tap into our intuitive nature and live a more symbolically enriched life. Laurel visited us a few weeks back and invited us to interact more consciously and purposefully with our dreams … Continue reading →

Poetic Impulses and Finding Your Intuitive Muse

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“Finding what we already possess may seem like a strange goal for a spiritual path. Yet the process of finding may provide us more joy than if the universe delivered all its secrets to us without any effort on our part.”   — Neil Douglas Klotz, the Sufi Book of Life, p. 265  What impulses lie beneath the routines of the day? Hidden from view but there?  A desire to write a poem, make a quilt, contact a friend, start that story, or visit that sacred place arises as a poetic impulse and along with her is your intuitive muse.  Follow … Continue reading →