Category Archives: General

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa

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“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa

A number of people recently have approached me about feeling “hopeless” when it comes to change happening on the planet. This is something I have experienced myself and wanted to share some insight with you all. The thought can leave us with a feeling of being discouraged, doubtful and even powerless at times and in order to move through this, we have to let go of how the thought of hopelessness makes us feel and how it limits us. When we’re discouraged and doubtful, where does it lead? It can trigger frustration, anger, resentment, separation, judgement, etc. All stories that take us away from being ourselves and experiencing each moment peacefully, with clarity and without limitation.

We all chose to be here at this time and we all have our gifts that we bring to the collective. Whenever someone comes to me about this, I always ask them how it makes them feel to do work that is assisting in bringing about change. Everyone always responds with the same answer of it being what resonates most, but when our minds take over and start to rationalize why it’s not fulfilling, we begin to fall into a trap of discomfort and resistance towards what we’re experiencing. I completely understand the feeling of putting your heart into something and not accomplishing the results that you had hoped for, but all we can do is set our intentions and allow it to present as it needs to. We have to let go of needing to control our external world. We are going through a shift in consciousness that is happening worldwide and there is a lot of different perspectives on the human experience, but at the end of the day, learning to be in tune with what resonates with each of us individually is where strength lies. The more of us who come to strengthen our own inner knowing and apply it to our everyday lives, sharing it with the world, the more powerful we can be together and work together.

One of the most important things that is holding back humanity from shifting more rapidly is a lack of unification in efforts and vision. Change isn’t something that is hopeless, change is ever constant. It’s what we decide to do with our power to create that will determine the outcome of our future. All in all, if things seem slow or doubtful, ask yourself what else you would like to do. What makes you feel whole and the most like yourself? We can joke about stuff like giving up and going to chase riches to live the “ideal life” within this system or something like leaving this experience (checking out), but the opportunity for growth and the potential on this planet right now has never before been as open as it is now. We’ve got our foot in the door, it’s now time to walk through it. When change seems hopeless, be yourself and live from your heart. Be that light to shine wherever you are, with whatever you’re doing. You never know how powerful it may be or where it could lead to!

Much love and light,

Mathew Christodoulou (of Collective Evolution)

Street Art by Banksy
SOURCE: Collective Evolution

One summer, many years ago, a banker was vacationing in a small village on the coast. He saw a fisherman in a small boat by the pier with a handful of fish that he just caught. The businessman asked him how long it took him to catch the fish, and the man said he was fishing for only a couple of hours. “So why didn’t you stay out there longer to catch more fish?” T he fisherman said he catches just enough to feed his family every day, and then comes back. “But it’s only 2pm!” said the banker, “What do you do with the rest of your time?” The fisherman smiled and said, “Well, I sleep late everyday, then fish a little, go home, play with my children, take a nap in the afternoon, then stroll into the village each evening with my wife, relax, play the guitar with our friends, laugh and sing late into the night. I have a full and wonderful life.” The banker scoffed at the young man, “Well, I’m a businessman from New York! Let me tell you what you should do instead of wasting your life like this! You should catch more fish to sell to others, and then buy a bigger boat with the money you make so you can catch even more fish!” “And then what?” asked the fisherman. The banker’s eyes got all big as he enthusiastically explained, “You can then buy a whole fleet of fishing boats, run a business, and make a ton of money!” “And then what?” asked the fisherman again, and the banker threw his hands in the air and said, “You’d be worth a million! You can then leave this small town, move to the city, and manage your enterprise from there!” “How long would all this take?” asked the fisherman. “15 to 20 years!” replied the banker. “And then what?” The banker laughed and said, “That’s the best part. You can then sell your business, move to a small village, sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take afternoon naps, go for an evening stroll with your wife after dinner, relax, sing, and play the guitar with your friends. You would have a full and wonderful life!” The fisherman smiled at the banker, quietly gathered his catch, and walked away.

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Artist ~ Leonid Afremov

(story via Buddhist Boot Camp)

Quiet your mind.

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Quiet your mind.

Each week, spiritual teacher Deepak Chopra responds to Oprah.com users’ questions with enlightening advice to help them live their best lives.

Q: I need help. How do I quiet my mind when meditating? I have been trying for a long time without any success. Thank you for all the wonderful contributions you make and share with us.

— Virginia S., Cape Town, South Africa

Dear Virginia,
Thank you for the kind words. In meditation, any attempt to quiet the mind using force won’t work. The everyday mind is full of thoughts, feelings, sensations, worries, daydreams and fantasies. But at a deeper level, the mind begins in silence. Finding that level deeper than thought is the essence of meditation.

Here are some clues about how to make your meditation work:

Have no expectations. Sometimes the mind is too active to settle down. Sometimes it settles down immediately. Sometimes it goes quiet, but the person doesn’t notice. Anything can happen.
Be easy with yourself. Meditation isn’t about getting it right or wrong. It’s about letting your mind find its true nature.
Don’t stick with meditation techniques that aren’t leading to inner silence. Unless you transcend the everyday mind, you aren’t truly meditating. Find a technique that works more or less automatically. In India, there are many kinds of mantra meditation, for example. Or simply follow the in and out of your breathing, not paying attention to your thoughts at all. The mind wants to find its source in silence. Give it a chance by letting go.
Make sure you are alone in a quiet place to meditate. Unplug the phone. Make sure no one is going to disturb you.
Really be there. If your attention is somewhere else, thinking about your next appointment, errand or meal, of course you won’t find silence. To meditate, your intention must be clear and free of other obligations.

Love,
Deepak

Follow your heart!!

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Follow your heart!!

“Only the most bitter and cynical among us still cling to the dreams of a soulless world, but their influence is waning, their power now almost ghostly. We must not let their screams, however agonized, sarcastic and loud they might be, deter us from our revolutionary goal. We must respect ourselves enough, at last, to absolutely know what we know. Something is wrong. We feel it. We must hold to the conviction that the heart, not the brain, is the light of the world. The mind goes insane without the guidance of the heart. The intellect must bow to the spiritual impulse. We have been impregnated by a divine idea, and out of the womb of our mature consideration will come, when the time is ripe, the birthing of a better world. We are preparing to give birth to the people we are meant to be.”
~Marianne Williamson from her book Illuminata

Artist ~ Banksy