Morning Poem by Mary Oliver

Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again
and fasten themselves to the high branches ---

and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands
of summer lilies.

If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails
for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.

And if your spirit
carries within it
the thorn
that is heavier than lead ---
if it's all you can do
to keep on trudging ---

there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted ---

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.

from Dream Work (1986) by Mary Oliver

© Mary Oliver

Gayatri mantra

http://www.jivanjili.org/gayatri_mantra.html (English)
http://www.jivanjili.org/gayatri_mantra1.html (Dutch)

Poeh Song

(turn your sound up)

Spirit - Van Morrison

Spirit

When you’ve given up hope & you’re down in despair
When you’ve given up hope & you’re down in despair
When you’ve given up hope & you’re down in despair
When you’ve given up-
And you sit in your room and you’re all alone
And you turn to the one and you turn inside
For a while
Say, help me, angel.
Oh, no, never let spirit die.
Oh, no, spirit don’t ever die.
Oh, no, never let spirit die
Oh, no, spirit don’t ever die.
Spirit don’t ever die.
And you go inside for a while
And you turn to the one
And you turn inside for a while.
You turn it around
And you follow the road
And you get you back out
And you follow the road
Then you get you back home
And you follow the road
And you get you back out
And you follow the road
And you get you back home.
Oh, no, never let spirit die
Oh, no, spirit don’t ever die.
Oh. no, never let spirit die
Oh, no, spirit don’t ever die . . .
Spirit, don’t ever die
And you keep walkin’ on
And you keep walkin’ on
Spirit in your soul
You keep walkin’ on
And you keep walkin’ on
And you turn it around
And you turn it around . . .
Oh, no, spirit don’t ever die.

Astro Quiz

Q: How many Aries does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but it takes a hell of a lot of light bulbs.

Q: How many Taurus does it take to change a light bulb?
A: What, me move?

Q: How many Gemini does it take to change a light bulb?
A: 2

Q: How many Cancers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, but he has to bring his mother.

Q: How many Leos does it take to change a light bulb?
A: A dozen. One to change the bulb, and eleven to applaud.

Q: How many Virgos does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One to clean out the socket, one to dust the bulb, one to install, and two engineers to check the work.

Q: How many Libras does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Libras can't decide if the bulb needs to be changed.

Q: How many Scorpios does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They LIKE the dark.

Q: How many Sagittarians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One to install the bulb, and a Virgo to pick up the pieces.

Q: How many Capricorns does it take to change a light bulb?
A: The light's fine as it is.

Q: How many Aquarians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Have you asked the bulb if it WANTS to be changed?

Q: How many Pisceans does it take to change a light bulb?
A: What light bulb?

Q: How many astrologers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: "Don't ask me now, Mercury's retrograde!"

V: Hoeveel Rammen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Eéntje maar, plus een hele stapel lampen.

V: Hoeveel Stieren zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Wat, moet ik opstaan?

V: Hoeveel Tweelingen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: 2

V: Hoeveel Kreeften zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Eén, maar hij moet z'n moeder meebrengen.

V: Hoeveel Leeuwen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Een dozijn. Eén om de lamp te verwisselen, en elf om te applaudisseren.

V: Hoeveel Maagden zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Eén om de fitting schoon te maken, één om de lamp af te stoffen, één om de lamp te
installeren, en twee ingenieurs om het werk te controleren.

V: Hoeveel Weegschalen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Weegschalen kunnen niet beslissen of de lamp echt wel verwisseld moet worden.

V: Hoeveel Schorpioenen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Nul. Ze HOUDEN van donker.

V: Hoeveel Boogschutters zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Eén om de lamp te verwisselen, en een Maagd om de scherven op te vegen.

V: Hoeveel Steenbokken zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Het licht is prima zoals het is.

V: Hoeveel Watermannen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: Heb je de lamp gevraagd of het verwisseld WIL worden?

V: Hoeveel Vissen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen??
A: Welke lamp?

V: Hoeveel astrologen zijn er nodig om een lamp te verwisselen?
A: "Vraag me dat niet nu, Mercurius is retrograde!"

Strangers by Osho

You have to accept the fact that you are living alone -- maybe in a crowd, but you are living alone; maybe with your wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, but they are alone in their aloneness, you are alone in your aloneness, and those alonenesses don´t touch each other, never touch each other.

That you may live with someone for twenty years, thirty years, fifty years -- it makes no difference, you will remain strangers. Always and always you will be strangers. Accept the fact that we are strangers; that we don´t know who you are, that you don´t know who I am. I myself don´t know who I am, so how can you know? But people are presuming that the wife should know the husband, the husband is assuming the wife should know the husband. Everybody is functioning as if everybody is a mind reader, and he should know, before you say it, your needs, your problems. He should know, she should know-- and they should do something. Now this is all nonsense.

Nobody knows you, not even you, so don´t expect that anybody else should know you; it is not possible in the very nature of things. We are strangers. Perhaps by chance we have met and we are together, but our aloneness is there. Don´t forget it, because you have to work upon it. Only from there is your redemption, your salvation. But you are doing just the opposite: how to forget your aloneness? The boyfriend, the girlfriend; go to the movie, the football match; get lost in the crowd, dance in the disco, forget yourself, drink alcohol, take drugs, but somehow don´t let this aloneness come to your conscious mind -- and there lies the whole secret.

You have to accept your aloneness, which in no way you can avoid. And there is no way to change its nature. It is your authentic reality. It is you.

From Osho International Foundation

Violet Flame Meditation

I AM the violet transmuting flame,
the cosmic law of forgiveness
Blaze through me now, transmuting
all my miscreation, all my mistakes
and all the mistakes of mankind,
transmuting all cause, effect, record
and memory forever, I AM

Song for Krishna by Jai Uttal

Max Ehrmann - Desiderata

Wees kalm temidden van het lawaai en de haast en bedenk welk een vrede er in stilte kan heersen. Sta op goede voet met alle mensen, zonder jezelf geweld aan te doen. Zeg de waarheid rustig en duidelijk en luister naar anderen; ook zij vertellen hun verhaal. Mijd luidruchtige en agressieve mensen; zij belasten de geest. Wanneer je je met anderen vergelijkt, zou je ijdel en verbitterd kunnen worden, want er zullen altijd kleinere en grotere mensen zijn dan je zelf bent. Geniet zowel van wat je hebt bereikt als van je plannen. Blijf belangstelling hebben voor je eigen werk, hoe nederig dat ook moge zijn; het is een werkelijk bezit in het veranderlijke fortuin van de tijd. Betracht voorzichtigheid bij het zaken doen, want de wereld is vol bedrog. Maar laat dit je niet verblinden door de bestaande deugd; veel mensen streven hoge idealen na en overal is het leven vol heldendom. Wees jezelf. Veins vooral geen genegenheid. Maar wees evenmin cynisch over de liefde, want bij alle dorheid en ontevredenheid is zij eeuwig als het gras. Volg de loop der jaren met gratie, verlang niet naar een tijd die achter je ligt. Kweek geestkracht aan om bij onverwachte tegenslag beschermd te zijn. Maar verdriet jezelf niet met spookbeelden. Vele angsten worden uit vermoeidheid en eenzaamheid geboren. Leg jezelf een gezonde discipline op, maar wees daarbij lief voor jezelf. Je bent een kind van het heelal, niet minder dan de bomen en de sterren. Je hebt het recht hier te zijn en ook al is het je al of niet duidelijk, toch ontvouwt het heelal zich zoals het zich ontvouwd en zo is het goed. Heb daarom vrede met God, hoe je ook denkt dat Hij moge zijn en wat je werk en aspiraties ook mogen zijn; houd vrede met je ziel in de lawaaierige verwarring van het leven. Met al zijn klatergoud, somberheid en vervlogen dromen is dit toch nog steeds een prachtige wereld. Wees waarachtig. Streef naar geluk.

Max Ehrmann copyright 1927.
In sommige boeken wordt over Desiderata gezegd dat het in de Oude St. Paul’s Kerk in Baltimore gevonden in 1692.
In werkelijkheid is het geschreven door Max Ehrmann, die in 1927 de auteursrechten verwierf. De auteursrechten zijn later in 1954 door Bertha K. Ehrmann vernieuwd.

gevonden op de website http://www.afpunt.nl/

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

The Miracle Times

St Francis Prayer

(image made by unknown artist)

Michael Andrews - Mad World

A moving song and video, received in my mail today.

Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison

I never knew that my favorite Beatle was so involved in the Hare Krishna movement as he was. This is a book I would love to read.

A Guided Visual Meditation with Music

The light of God surrounds us
The love of God enfolds us
The power of God protects us
The presence of God watches over us
Wherever we are, God is!

(Prayer for Protection from Unity)

Freedom

Jai Uttal, dancing and Ganesha

Staying at the house of my sister in Amsterdam I emerge myself in her spiritual Indian music collection, especially the kirtans, the chanting of the names of several Hindu deities, such as Ganesha, Krishna and Hanuman. I love the rhythm of the tabla, the Sanskrit chanting which goes on and on. Jai Uttal's album Kirtan! is my favorite one at the moment. When you click on the title of this piece of text, you will land on his website, the section about his albums. There you will see how you can listen to a few of his songs. The first song 'Ganesha Sharanam' made me dance barefoot in the middle of the room, something which I haven't done in a long time.
My beloved Ganesha, the Hindu God of new beginnings and patron for writers.

Being Here

"Remember, to be in direct, immediate relationship with existence is spirituality. To be in tune with the whole, to feel the harmony and the joy and the sheer celebration of being here -- that is spirituality. It has nothing to do with going to the church or the temple, it has nothing to do with reciting the Koran or The Bible or the Gita. It has nothing to do with any kind of ritual, it has something to do with communion -- communion with the trees, communion with the stars, communion with the rivers, communion with all that is."

Osho, excerpted from The Book of Wisdom, Chapter 10

found at http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/card.html

I.M. Marilyn Monroe 1926 - 1962

Found this beautiful black and white picture of Marilyn on www.lucidcafe.com without any mentioning of the photographer's name.

Hollywood is a place where they'll
pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss
and fifty cents for your soul.
—Marilyn Monroe

Today, the first of june, was Marilyn Monroe's birthday and she would have turned 80 if she had been alive.

Vandaag, de eerste juni, was de geboortedag van Marilyn Monroe en ze zou 80 zijn geworden als ze nog had geleefd.

Listen to Marilyn singing:

Luister naar Marilyn die zingt:

I Wanna be Loved by You

More on Leonardo da Vinci & Mona Lisa

The da Vinci Mode

Received this letter in my mail today, from Robert Genn, who started the excellent art website painterskeys.com :

The da Vinci Mode

May 23, 2006

Leonardo da Vinci's life was a living demo of his "seven
virtues." For those artists of life and of art who might plot
to develop higher levels of accomplishment and greater
self-realization, here are his seven virtues, as I understand
them:

"Curiosita"--an attitude of curiosity and continuous learning.
What, when, where, why, and how?
"Dimostrazione"--an ability to learn and to test knowledge by
experience. Experimental nature.
"Sensazione"--a development of awareness and refinement of
sight and other senses. High sensitivity.
"Sfumato"--a tendency to embrace and accept uncertainty,
ambiguity and paradox. Free thinking.
"Arte/Scienza"--a development of balance between science and
art, logic and imagination. Whole-brain thinking.
"Corporalita"--a calculated desire to achieve poise, fitness
and ambidexterity. Physical action.
"Connessione"--a recognition that all things are connected.
Systems thinking.

"How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius
Every Day," by Michael J. Gelb, and, "The Notebooks of Leonardo
da Vinci," edited by Pamela Taylor, are two of the noteworthy
sources of Leonardo insights. In the latter, the first chapter,
"The Painter," is particularly valuable. For example, Leonardo
neatly divides perspective into three types: "Linear
perspective"--scientific diminution of objects as they recede
from the eye; "The perspective of colour"--variations in
colours as they recede from the eye; and "The perspective of
disappearance"--the increasingly unfinished rendering of
objects as they become more remote. Could anything be clearer?

In my daily evangelizing, I'm constantly devising ways to press
creative people into thinking about things in a Leonardo mode.
Whether we're talking about flying machines, military engines
or easel paintings, we are led to a greater realization of our
potential through personal, self-generated knowledge of the
what, when, where, why and how. Perhaps because of Leonardo's
charming admissions of personal weaknesses (procrastination,
for one), we feel the uncanny presence of a contemporary who's
just dropped in from the local Brotherhood and Sisterhood. For
many of us, an evening curled up with The da Vinci Mode would
not be a waste of time.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "Nothing is more apt to deceive us than our own judgment of
our work. We derive more benefit from having our faults pointed
out by our enemies than from hearing the opinions of friends."
(Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519)

Esoterica: The last time I looked, our own Resource of Art
Quotations had 69 quotes from Leonardo. Now it seems that
contemporary psychological research has revealed Leonardo-like
info about the extent of our potential. Our brains are much
better than we think. They are more flexible and
multi-dimensional than any computer. They can learn seven facts
per second, every second, for the rest of our lives--and
there's still plenty of RAM to go. If used properly, our brains
improve with age. And this is not just in our heads--it's in
every cell of our bodies. Mona Lisa is winking at us. How
totally Renaissance!

(c) Copyright 2006 Robert Genn.

I.M. Wim van Stek, may 1925 - august 2001

Today my father would have turned 81, and I miss him.
Today was also the last day of my exhibition in the Sigarenfabriek in Delft http://www.sigarenfabriek.nl and I sold my work.
I would like to think that my father had something to do with this.

Vandaag zou mijn vader 81 zijn geworden, en ik mis hem.
Vandaag was ook de laatste dag van mijn tentoonstelling in de Sigarenfabriek te Delft http://www.sigarenfabriek.nl en ik heb mijn werk verkocht.
Ik zou graag willen dat mijn vader daar iets mee te maken had.

Pink Flower Leaf / Roze bloemblaadje

This lovely pink flower leaf
Fell in my hand today
As I was enjoying the sun
on my face in my back garden

A small treasure from the sky


Dit mooie roze bloemblaadje
Viel in mijn hand vandaag
Toen ik genoot van de zon
op mijn gezicht in mijn achtertuin

Een kleine schat uit de lucht


Copyright by Flora van Stek, 2006

The Prosperity Game

2 Weblogs Are Neighbors Today / 2 weblogs zijn vandaag buren

Webstats4u:


151 Flora van Stek

152 Night Drawings

Free Horoscope and Mini Interpretation

At the site of astrologer Jan Spiller http://www.janspiller.com you can get an excellent free mini interpretation of your horoscope.
Here is mine:

Sun in Taurus The Sun represents your will and purpose, your sense of vitality and your evolving higher Self. In the sign Taurus it is Fixed-Earth, and rules the throat. Your ruling planet is Venus. Taureans revel in the pleasures of life. You crave the security and comfort of relaxing in the warmth of your home environment. You value the senses and the enjoyment of material things. You are likely to work hard to make your home an attractive one. You also have the makings of a healer and you have a large capacity for kindness. Although you are quiet on the surface, almost passive, you possess a powerful will and can be quite stubborn at times, and perhaps somewhat rigid in your thinking. You also tend to be loving, obedient and loyal. Material rewards seem to come easily to you, and you are able to lead the good life without being excessively concerned about it. You are practical, and provide a purposeful, productive and stabilizing influence for yourself and those around you.
Sun in the Eight House The Sun in the Eighth House represents a concentration of the vital force to transform and regenerate, and to relate with others intimately. You enjoy the intensity of the human animal. It is your nature to marry sensitive perception with experience. Through your understanding of your inner self, you easily perceive the motives of those around you. You penetrate every variation of deep emotion in order to confront your own nature. You act from a primal urge to merge with others, and to partake in the sacred and secret relationships between yourself and the world. Through merging with others at the depths of human experience, you investigate your own emotional desires. You are very aware of fathomless human needs through your deep knowledge of the instinctual level of interrelation, and the fear of loss, or death. Your aim is to metamorphose yourself in order to experientially manifest the cycles of death and rebirth from within your own inner world. You benefit when you experiment with and confront your fears and insecurities in healthy ways, around people who support your need to grow intensely, in order for you to maintain an ever-expanding boundary of security.
Moon in Libra The Moon in Libra gives a gentle and refined personality. You constantly strive for balance between opposing points of view. You like to please everybody, and should beware of a tendency to be all things to all people. You are the soul of courtesy, and are gracefully elegant in manner, which may also prevent your genuine emotional reaction from getting across. You truly enjoy the company of other people, and may be uncomfortable with too much solitude. You possess an elusive sweetness of nature you should strive to be true to.

Moon in the Second House The Moon in the Second House represents being emotionally connected with one's values, with one's possessions, or the material things in this world. You may feel that your self-worth is connected with the physical manifestation of material wealth or material comfort. Your values are very important to you. You may feel compelled toward gaining material wealth or possessions when your emotional life is unfulfilling. You can also be quite generous. Your finances may fluctuate throughout your lifetime as you move through various emotional growth phases. When you follow your gut feelings you are likely to be successful financially. You excel in occupations which deal with meeting the wants and needs of other people. You feel most comfortable and secure when your values and emotions are clearly defined and you can act upon them.

I.M. Karel Appel 25 april 1921 - 3 mei 2006

The Donkey, 1971. Litho Karel Appel.

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Appel

Denise Levertov - The Metier of Blossoming

The Métier of Blossoming

Fully occupied with growing--that's
the amaryllis. Growing especially
at night: it would take
only a bit more patience than I've got
to sit keeping watch with it till daylight;
the naked eye could register every hour's
increase in height. Like a child against a barn door,
proudly topping each year's achievement,
steadily up
goes each green stem, smooth, matte,
traces of reddish purple at the base, and almost
imperceptible vertical ridges
running the length of them:
Two robust stems from each bulb,
sometimes with sturdy leaves for company,
elegant sweeps of blade with rounded points.
Aloft, the gravid buds, shiny with fullness.
One morning--and so soon!--the first flower
has opened when you wake. Or you catch it poised
in a single, brief
moment of hesitation.
Next day, another,
shy at first like a foal,
even a third, a fourth,
carried triumphantly at the summit
of those strong columns, and each
a Juno, calm in brilliance,
a maiden giantess in modest splendor.
If humans could be
that intensely whole, undistracted, unhurried,
swift from sheer
unswerving impetus! If we could blossom
out of ourselves, giving
nothing imperfect, withholding nothing!

Denise Levertov

found at http://www.poemhunter.com/denise-levertov/poet-6681/

Marc Chagall - Joy

Quan Yin

The Absurd Art of Charlotte Mutsaers /De absurde kunst van Charlotte Mutsaers

My favorite artist in the Netherlands is Charlotte Mutsaers, with her absurd stories and images. She is the only artist who can make me laugh out loud. Or do you know of anyone else?

Mijn favoriete kunstenaar in Nederland is Charlotte Mutsaers, met haar absurde verhalen en beelden. Zij is de enige kunstenaar die me hard aan het lachen kan maken. Of weet jij er nog een?

I.M. Hilde Krikke 17 april 1950 - 26 august 1992

Today was the birthday of visual artist Hilde Krikke, who unexpectedly died one night in the arms of her lover Pino. She was the first person in my life who died so suddenly, which had a great impact on me. It turned my whole perspective upside down. Now I find myself searching for her on the internet, only to find her name on the list of a few dance productions by Wies Bloemen http://www.aya.nl/ for which she made the decors. A link brought me to a mysterious photo site full of portraits, and suddenly there she was, brought back to life again.It's not clear to me who has the credits for this compilation, but I want to thank Wies Bloemen for the link http://www.portraits-of.nl/ on her site that brought Hilde back to life again, if only in memory.

Tuesday 18 april 2006
I received an email from Wies Bloemen telling me that Peter Janssen created the Portraits and that he is thinking about organising an In Memoriam to honor Hilde's art work.

Egg In A Basket - V for Vendetta

V showing his Egg In A Basket dish

Yesterday I saw the movie V for Vendetta which I enjoyed very much. I have learned that I am not the only one, many people have seen the film many times, because there is so much to see and to understand, many stories within the big story. The Internet Movie Database site http://us.imdb.com/ gives a lot information about V and there is even a complete website dedicated to the movie which you can find at http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/
Funny, but the thing that intrigued me, was a small breakfast dish that was made twice during the movie. It is called Egg In A Basket and it looks like a beautiful abstract painting, with a brown square, a white square and a yellow circle. Here is the recipe so you can make it yourself and see what it looks like. I am certainly going to make it too, and will photograph it in such a way that you will wonder what kind of painting it is. http://www.netcooks.com/recipes/Breakfast/Egg.In.A.Basket.html

Wikipedia writes the following about it:

An egg in the basket, or egg in a basket, is a fried egg cooked within the confines of a piece of toast whose center has been removed.

Preparation typically begins by cutting a circular hole in the center of a piece of toast. The toast is then fried in a pan with butter. When browned satisfactorily, the egg is cracked into the "basket" cut into the toast. The egg is then fried to the desired consistency. When eaten, the bread and egg yolk mix readily, giving this egg dish its special quality.

Alternate recipes, for those preparing this simple dish and do not have access to a stove, call for the bread and egg to be microwaved. Some people will say that cooking this egg recipe is easier than cooking eggs alone, because the bread adds stability if the cook wishes to flip the egg. Some people put the cut-out circle of bread back on the finished toast and egg, adding a type of "lid" to the "basket".

This dish is also known as a "spit in the eye," an "egg in a hole," a "popeye," a "bunkhouse egg," and, inaccurately enough, an "egg with a hole in the middle". They are also known as "bullseye eggs" because they appear to have three rings; one ring made by the bread, one by the egg white, and one by the yolk.

The meal appeared in the recent Warner Brothers movie "V for Vendetta".

Astrology & Music by Zahi (Frans Nouws)

Music composed by Zahi (Frans Nouws) for all the planets.
I especially like the Sun: http://www.zahi.nl/xSUN.html

and Mercury: http://www.zahi.nl/xMERCURY.html

A magic dwells in each beginning - Hermann Hesse

Found this e-card on the site http://www.gratefulness.org/ which is always a delight to visit.

Dedication for a Meaningful Life

Inspired by a reading I attended this week about 'Having Faith and Being Without Fear' by Kaye Miner of Maitreya Institute, I came upon this beautiful dedication, written by the spiritual director of Maitreya Institute http://www.maitreya.nl/

Whatever actions I do -- eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, working, and so forth -- and whatever I experience in life -- up or down, happy or unhappy, healthy or sick, whether I have a terminal disease or don't, whether my life is peaceful and harmonious or with discord and difficulties, whether I am successful or fail, rich or poor, praised or criticized; whether I am living or dying, or even born in a horrible rebirth; whether I live long or not -- may my life be beneficial for all beings. The main purpose of my life is not simply to be rich, respected, famous, healthy, and peaceful. The meaning of my life is to benefit all sentient* beings. Therefore, from now on, may whatever actions I do be beneficial for all sentient beings. May whatever I experience in life -- happiness or suffering -- be dedicated to actualizing the path to enlightenment in my mind. May my actions and experiences cause all sentient beings to attain full enlightenment quickly.
by Lama Zopa











found on the website http://www.thubtenchodron.org/

*sentient: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentient

Who was Phaedrus?

The other day I awoke from a dream with the words 'Phaedrus and history' in my mind. I vaguely remember that Phaedrus is the name of the philosopher in the Book 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'. And I learn from internet sources that:

Phaedrus lived in ancient Rome and was the first person to translate into Latin and put into verse whole books of the Greek prose fables then circulating and attributed to Aesop.

Phaedrus was a slave by birth. He went to Rome early in life and became a freedman in the household of the Emperor Augustus. Phaedrus was familiar with the works of Greek and Roman writers. Though others before him had rendered fables into verse and used them in their work, Phaedrus considered himself a pioneering artist, and believed his poems would give him immortal fame. His fables include favourites such as 'The Fox and the Grapes' and 'The Wolf and the Lamb.'



Phaedrus became extremely popular in Europe during the Middle Ages.

In the 18th century, a manuscript was discovered in Parma that contained 64 fables of Phaedrus. 30 of these were new. Another manuscript was found in the Vatican and published in 1831. Later research identified 30 more fables as written by Phaedrus.

http://www.longlongtimeago.com/llta_fables_phaedrus.html

I found the following quotes by Phaedrus, more than 2000 years old! Some of them are very well known in our everyday language.

You will soon break the bow if you keep it always stretched.

An alliance with a powerful person is never safe.

The mind ought sometimes to be diverted, that it may return the better to thinking.

First appearance deceives many.

Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.

Submit to the present evil, lest a greater one befall you.

The humble are in danger when those in power disagree.

http://www.quotationsbook.com/authors/5678/Phaedrus

Dayna Kurtz, Isabella Rosselini and Charlotte Rampling

What have these three women in common? They were on Dutch tv today and are all three women who interest me. Dayna Kurtz has a voice that catches you immediately. The following link takes you to an interview with her and 5 live songs from her and her guitar: http://www.vpro.nl/programma/ochtenden/artikelen/17705788/ Dayna Kurtz

Isabella Rosselini has a fascinating face and she made a movie about her father Roberto Rosselini who would have been 100 this year, called My dad is 100 years old. Isabella Rosselini

and Charlotte Rampling used to be one of my favorite actresses, especially in The Nightporter, with Dirk Bogarde. Charlotte Rampling, The Night Porter

A Visual Meditation Through the Seven Chakra's

http://www.myss.com/vismed.asp

A Labyrinth to Experience

http://www.mymaze.de/schwan_english.htm

When I have Fears that I May Cease to Be

Another beautiful poem by one of the Romantic poets, John Keats:

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charact'ry,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And feel that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think,
Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

John Keats

Excerpt from Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth

Though absent long,
These forms of beauty have not been to me,
As is a landscape to a blind man's eye:
But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart,
And passing even into my purer mind
With tranquil restoration: -- feelings too
Of unremembered pleasure; such, perhaps,
As may have had no trivial influence
On that best portion of a good man's life;
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,
To them I may have owed another gift,
Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,
In which the burthen of the mystery,
In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world
Is lighten'd -- that serene and blessed mood,
In which the affections gently lead us on,
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame,
And even the motion of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body, and become a living soul:
While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.

Inspiring docudrama about The Romantics on BBC2

Saw the first part of a brilliantly acted and narrated documentary about a few of my favorite philosophers and poets, such as Rousseau, William Wordsworth and Coleridge.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/romantics/

With these people I share my birthday 27th April / Met deze mensen deel ik mijn geboortedag 27 april

1737 Edward Gibbon, Engels historicus Schreef 'De Opkomst en de Ondergang van het Romeinse Keizerrijk' (269)
1759 Mary Godwin/Shelly, Schrijfster van de roman 'Frankenstein' (247)
1791 Samuel Morse, Uitvinder van de Morse code (215)
1822 Ulysses S Grant , Voormalig (18de) President van Amerika (184)
1896 Wallace Hume Carothers, uitvinder van nylon (110)
1904 Cecil Day Lewis, Engelse dichteres (102)
1922 Jack Klugman, Amerikaanse acteur (84)
1928 Alan Pakula, Amerikaans filmregisseur producent en scenarioschrijver (78)
1932 Anouk Aimeé, actrice (74)
1940 Pina Bausch, Duits choreografe (66)
1941 Tineke de Nooij, presentatrice. Begon ooit bij het illigale Veronica. Heeft jarenlang haar eigen talkshow gepresenteerd "Tineke" (65)
1959 Sheena Easton, Zangeres (47)
1963 Shae Harrison, Actrice (Bold and the Beautifull) (43)
1965 Vincent Bijlo, Nederlands cabaretier (41)
1967 Willem Alexander, prins van Oranje Nassau jonkheer van Amsberg (39)
1970 Kylie Travis, actrice (36)
1975 Marsha van de Berg, Zangeres (Close 2 You) (31)

(bron / source: http://www.radioshow.nl/birthdays/search_birthday.asp)

Tiffany works

I also enjoyed a wonderful exhibition of Tiffany works while I was at the Met. This museum has a great website with loads of information about art and art history: http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/Tiffany/menu.html

Mark Rothko Painting nr. 13

Saw this painting of Mark Rothko in the Metropolitan Museum (http://www.metmuseum.org/) in New York City and it brought tears to my eyes. Don't know why, it was the first time that I saw work of Rothko in real, after having admired his paintings only in books and on the internet.

When Perception is Stronger Than Mindfulness

When perception is stronger than mindfulness, we recognize various appearances and create concepts such as "body," "cat", "house," or "person". . .
On some clear night, go outside, look up at the sky, and see if you can find the Big Dipper. For most people that is a familiar constellation, easy to pick out from all the other stars. But is there really a Big Dipper up there in the sky? There is no Big Dipper up there. "Big Dipper" is a concept. Humans looked, saw a certain pattern, and then created a concept in our collective mind to describe it. That concept is useful because it helps us recognize the constellation. But it also has another, less useful effect. By creating the concept "Big Dipper" we separate out those stars from all the rest, and then, if we become attached to the idea of that separation, we lose the sense of the night sky's wholeness, its oneness. Does the separation actually exist in the sky? No. We created it through the use of a concept. Does anything change in the sky when we understand that there is no Big Dipper? No.

--Joseph Goldstein, Insight Meditation

Marc Mulders' Coping with the 'hip, empty world' / Marc Mulders' verweer tegen de 'hippe, lege wereld'

Today while browsing through a lot of Dutch art sites I found the site of Dutch artist Marc Mulders which philosophy of life inspires me. Here is a fragment from an article by Wilma Suto about his work and vision. Click for further reading on the title of this posting to go to Marc Mulders' website. There you will find the whole article under the section Articles. It's the first one on top.

The painterly tradition is an important source of inspiration to an artist who wants to cope with the ‘hip, empty world’ around him. Mulders has often reacted sharply in interviews, particularly when he noticed that his religion-buttressed morality was regarded as regressive. His strong aversion to social ‘banalization’, including an art which subsidies rendered ‘unmercifully artificial’, has earned him the reputation of a crusader blinded by dogmas. That hurts. ‘Because I do believe in the freedom of art’, he says, ‘for formulating a counterbalance.’ Because: ‘Religion and art both have a Weltanschauung. For example, a detached reflection on innovation for its own sake which, while we are on the subject of dogmas, characterizes postmodernism. I compare that sparseness with the wealth of religion, tradition and trade, to which I relate as heir and apprentice. This necessitates a training in humility on my part. Not a popular concept, I know, but nonetheless one of my magic words. It’s how I exorcise disorder: in a disciplined fashion, with the aid of a hierarchy’.

Vandaag trof ik tijdens het surfen over een groot aantal Nederlandse kunst websites de website van Marc Mulders aan, wiens kijk op het leven ik inspirerend vind. Hier volgt een fragment uit een artikel van Wilma Suto over zijn werk en visie. Om het hele artikel te lezen, klik je op de titel van dit stukje, om naar Marc Mulders' website te gaan. Onder het kopje Artikelen staat dit artikel helemaal bovenaan.

De schilderkunstige traditie is een belangrijke inspiratiebron voor de kunstenaar, die zich teweerstelt tegen de ‘hippe, lege wereld’ rondom. Mulders heeft zich daar in interviews vaak scherp over uitgelaten, temeer wanneer hij merkte dat zijn door de religie geschraagde moraliteit als regressief werd opgevat. Zijn uitgesproken weerzin tegen de maatschappelijke banalisering, inclusief de door subsidies ‘ongenadig artificieel’ geworden kunst, kwam hem te staan op de kritiek dat hij een kruistocht voerde, verblind door dogma’s. Dat steekt. ‘Omdat ik de vrije ruimte van de kunst juist huldig’, zegt hij, ‘voor het formuleren van een tegenwicht.’ Want: ‘Religiositeit en artisticiteit houden beide een kritische wereldbeschouwelijkheid in. Een afstandelijke reflectie op de vernieuwing om de vernieuwing bijvoorbeeld, die, over dogma’s gesproken, het postmodernisme tekent. Tegenover die schraalheid stel ik de rijkdom van religie, traditie en ambacht, waar ik me toe verhoud als erfgenaam en leerling. Dat vraagt van mij een training in nederigheid. Geen populair begrip, ik weet het, maar het is wel een van mijn toverwoorden. Zo bezweer ik de wanorde: gedisciplineerd, met behulp van een hiërarchie.’

The History about His Master's Voice