The Battle inside Us

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

photo by the author of the blog

Why not make wonders everyday reality?

Two weeks ago, I got two letters from different people with different content. But the topic of both of them was the same: faith can move mountains.

Faith into what? Christians, Muslims, Jews have faith but not all of them manage to do something that goes beyond the standard limits of existence (for example, recovery from cancer). However, there those among them who have cured themselves and others, who changed life circumstances when it seemed that it was impossible. So, what is the trick?

Freedom

…And an orator said, “Speak to us of Freedom.”

And he answered:

“At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,

Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.

Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.

And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when

Inborn Power – the way to understand the world around

 

Do you believe that some ancient native Americans could manage the weather? Do you believe that some ancient native Australians could feel and see the soul of nature? Do you believe that some ancient Hindus could find “common language” with wild animals? Do you believe that there are people who can do it in the modern world? Do you believe that you could be among them? 

It’s not magic. It is one of the qualities the man has not developed in full yet. Want to know how it works?

What did Buddha mean? To keep step with Creator

According to Buddha, all the sufferings come from desires. What did He mean? Should not we have any desires at all?

I felt very clearly what He meant during our trip to Saint-Petersburg and Moscow. When we left from our native city, I managed to leave all the problems and worries at home and completely surrender to Life. It was such a calming feeling when you don’t need to hurry anywhere, when everything brings joy to you, even waiting. Complete peace as you are absolutely sure that everything is taken care of. Even when I tried to hurry to the place which I really wanted to visit and we were obviously late, my husband mentioned that my hurrying would not change anything as we would come at the time we should come. We were late but we really had not missed anything. Yeh, I know, it is easy to think and do so when you do not need to look for work, when you do not need to hurry to work, when you do not have to make money and buy things for kids, etc. But if it worked out once, even though when on holiday, could not it work out constantly? I still need to check it and I will… 🙂

Anyway, being in this state of balance 24 hours a day I suddenly felt what it means to keep step with Life.

Everything done is for the best!

 

I remember that for many years the words “Everything done is for the best” were my motto in life (“were” because now I have a more progressive motto but this time it is not the topic of my post). These words are not only just words which help us to overcome some hard times but they are also absolutely true. All our life is a big experience given to us for our growth (and the person who has developed an ability to enjoy it is really lucky). Life constantly arranges such situations for us which are meant to help us get rid of some negative features or, better to say, substitute them with something positive. And if one does not understand what lessons he should extract from some events which seem to be “difficulties” and “obstacles” (very often only at first sight) the same situation will be repeated sometimes even in a doubled size. Isn’t it what is called the wheel of sansara? For us to pay attention to something, God slaps our shoulder at first very tenderly but if we do not hear Him He gives us a stronger slap. But! Each of us is given such trials which he/she can endure! Not more.

This time I will tell you a story about an acquaintance of our friend. It is a very nice middle-aged lady who lives in one of the cities of Russia. There could be a film based on her life experience. I will not go into details and draw the whole picture but already a sketch will give you an idea what I am talking about.

When she was a child, she lived in a Siberian village together with her parents. Everything was perfect: the nature around and the tender feelings between her parents and of the parents for her. It was a really happy childhood. Seeing such perfection around, she was sure (as she now says herself) that all her life would be like this. So, she was waiting for a prince to come and take her as his wife.

To Be Free – the way not to get tired

 

We were going from Saint Petersburg (Russia) to Moscow by train yesterday. It took us 7 hours and it was a surprise for me that I was absolutely fresh and full of energy when we finally arrived. The trick was that while in the train I was looking through the window and enjoying the fields with fresh green spring grass, fluffy clouds forming different figures, tall slender birches with small leaves and the sun shining so brightly into the window. I had a very strong feeling that my Spirit was absolutely free and at the same time it was a part of the loving and caring nature.

And I also remembered the words of my old uncle suddenly uttered by him one day before his death, “The Paradise is here, on the Earth!”

Why are we so joyful when someone else does a good thing?

Today my friend and I remembered about an event which happened to the father of one of our acquaintances in winter. Neither my friend nor I know that man personally but we have read in our acquaintance’s blog what a good deed he made.

Her father works as a road sweeper. And he is proud of his profession as he realizes that he helps people (especially in winter) – that is already one good thing about him. One day in winter while working he suddenly saw an owl in one of the snowdrifts of our big cosmopolitan city (the population of which is 2-million people).

What Restrains Us from Changing Life?

The inscription says: The Saloon of Haircuts. Photo by the author

Most people spend two thirds of their lives at work. Most of them treat their work only as their duty and not as some joyful time spending. The paradox is that on retiring, many people lose motivation to live.

But are many of us really satisfied with what they are doing? For most people to have work equals to have stability. Thus, fear appears – the fear of losing work or inability to find it. And when fear has come we are already ready to do what we do not like – just to have money.

The trick is that stability should be within the person as nothing in our life can be 100 per cent stable, the place of work as well. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any development. When we reach the state when we can not endure the conditions we are put in, we start seeking for better life, for more joy, for happiness. And it happens as each of us having reached something at some point wants to get more.

Therefore, not the work should be regarded as value number one but the spiritual growth as when we ourselves are balanced we can see the wider choice of “positions” lying in front of us, we can choose from various opportunities. If you do what you really like, you are never tired. The goal which is not so difficult to achieve.

Today my friend and I were discussing the work of her husband.

True Values. The Earth from the Space

When astronauts return from space, what they talk about isn’t the brute force of the rocket launch or the exhilaration of zero gravity. It’s the view. And it’s mankind’s rarest view of all, Earth from afar.

Only two dozen men – those who journeyed to the moon – have seen the full Earth view. Most space travellers, in low orbit, see only a piece of the planet – a lesser but still impressive glimpse. They have seen the curvature of Earth, its magnificent beauty, its fragility, and its lack of borders.

The first full view of Earth came from the moon-bound Apollo 8 during the waning days of a chaotic 1968. Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders put it in perspective in a documentary: “We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.”

For Earth Day this year – at a time when perhaps some perspective is needed – the Associated Press asked space travellers to recall what it’s like to see Earth from above: