Larry's Blog (53)

From Anita, a 12 year old yellow lab discussing when you feel scattered or unsettled with life ...

Don’t forget the simple things. Everything will happen in its own time and place. Don’t rush, stay simple. Don’t forget your routines. Do one thing the same everyday. The same time, the same thing. That will help you get centered and grounded and feel as though you have control over at least one thing in your life.





~ From Stafford, a horse that died ...



Please… Continue

SLOW DANCE



Have you ever watched kids

On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain

Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.

Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.

The music won't last.



Do you run through each day

On the fly?

When you ask How are you?

Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done

Do you lie in your… Continue

In yoga and meditation, the heart can be visualized as a lotus flower unfolding at the center of the chest. Like a lotus that contracts and opens according to the light, our spiritual heart can be awakened through various yoga practices from asana practice to pranayama, chanting, and meditation.

The following meditation focuses the awareness on the seat of one's lotus heart. For some, this will be a very natural sanctum to rest the awareness. Others may observe that the restless nature of… Continue

Prayer of the Heart

Let us keep our heart focussed

Let me find kindness to negate resentment

Let me show generosity to dissolve possessiveness

Let me stand steady in the face of pain rather than live in fear

Let me experience inquiry rather than reaction

Let me be free from clinging and a narrow mind

Let me express compassion rather than indifference

So that my heart connects with the realities of others

So that I stay true to an undying… Continue

Just My Dog

She's just my dog.

She is my other eyes that can see above the clouds;

My other ears that hear above the winds.

She is the part of me that can reach out into the seas.

She has told me a thousand times over that I am her reason for being.

By the way she rests against my leg.

By the way she thumps her tail at my smallest smile.

By the way she shows her hurt when I leave without taking her.

When I am wrong, she is delighted to… Continue

You give love

Without any prejudice

And you witness

Without judging my ways

Communicate

Despite any barriers

Make me laugh

Throughout all of my days...

You kindly

Increase self-esteem in me

Distracting

>From problems each day..

You make me feel

That I am needed

Giving love

In your silent way...

Mankind..

Take a lesson from loyalty

For loving

Unselfishly pure..

If we follow

God's… Continue

Meditation invokes a shift in consciousness, whether it be in stillness or action. Movement meditation can be a very accessible way to restore the equilibrium of the mind. When you are in the midst of your day and your mind is restless or disturbed, doing this simple movement meditation can create an immediate shift in conciousness, enabling you to bring greater awareness and peace into the world around you.



The following meditation is based upon the opening movements of Surya… Continue

Sit quietly as you take in a few deep inhalations and then let them out very slowly.



Allow the breath to return to normal; observe it as it slowly flows in and out.



Bring your awareness to the light in your heart, where the divine spirit resides.



With each inhalation, observe the light in the heart brighten.



On the exhalation, allow that light to flow out to the earth as love.



Allow the light to expand until it becomes the size of the… Continue

Great Spirit,

give us hearts to understand;

Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give;

Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;

Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty;

Never to take from her what we cannot use.



Give us hearts to understand

That to destroy earth's music is to create confusion;

That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;

That to callously pollute her fragrance is… Continue

You will find, as you look back upon your life, that
the moments when you really lived are the moments
when you have done things in the spirit of love.

The origin of fire

An Apache Legend

Long, long ago, animals and trees talked with each other, but there was no fire at that time. Fox was most clever and he tried to think of a way to create fire for the world.



One day, he decided to visit the Geese, te-tl, whose cry he wished to learn how to imitate. They promised to teach him if he would fly with them. So they contrived a way to attach wings to Fox, but cautioned him never to open his eyes while… Continue

It seems that there are many people these days who are trying to find a spirituality that they can believe in. For whatever reason, we are beginning to pay more attention to our spirit and to our direction in life. Many of us have found ourselves drawn to the First Nations beliefs, perhaps because they are seen as clean and pure, and based on the simpler times that we all seem to miss.



As we make our way along the Red Road, with luck we are led to a person who has been given the… Continue

The Buddha’s Words on Lovingkindness







This is what should be done

By those who are skilled in goodness,

And who know the path of peace:

Let them be able and upright,

Straightforward and gentle in speech,

Humble and not conceited,

Contented and easily satisfied,

Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways,

Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,

Not proud and demanding in nature.

Let them not do the slightest… Continue