meditation for peace

Just a cup of tea.

Just another opportunity for healing.

Just the hand reaching out to receive the handle of the cup.

Just noticing hot.

Noticing texture and fragrance.

Just a cup of tea.

Just this moment in newness.

Just the hand touching the cup.

Just the arm retracting.

The fragrance increasing as the cup nears the lips.

So present.

Noticing the bottom lip receiving heat from the cup, the top lip arched to receive the fluid within.

Noticing the first taste of tea before the teaeven touches the lips.

The fragrance and the heat rising into the mouth.

The first noticing of flavor.

The touch of warm tea on willing tongue.

The tongue moving the tea about the mouth.

The intention to swallow.

The warmth that extends down into the stomach.

What a wonderful cup of tea.

The tea of peace, of satisfaction.

Drinking a cup of tea, I stop the war.

~ Stephen Levine

Counting Blessings

Why do we attempt to make ourselves feel better by looking at lives around us and think that life is 'less than’ and point out people who we think are ‘worse off’? Why do we say things like "I am grateful that I am not as bad off as those people are” or "I may have it bad, but at least I am not as bad off as some people I know."?

We assume others, who we deem are ‘worse off’, are some how less-than we are; we assume we are ‘better off’ because they are ‘worse off’; they are suffering and we are celebrating.

If I am picking out others whom I deem to be ‘worse off’ in order to feel better about myself, I am not doing myself any favors. Then again, in the moment, there is tiny satisfaction in noticing experiences I would rather not have and appreciate all that I have.

The flip side of this is that we can get our noses in the air and flounce our blessings in the faces of those ‘worse off’ and proclaim,”at least I am not as bad off as those poor people.”

It’s an assumption they are having a bad time of life and really, we don’t know if their life is a blessing or if their life is a curse.

I guess I would rather count my blessings on my fingers and toes than on other people!

Phenomenal cosmic power

”Phenomenal cosmic power…itty bitty living space.” Genie, Disney’s Aladdin

Think about it, if the creative mind that created this universe is the same mind that we think with, imagine the immense power we have between our ears!

Imagine…we can be in control of each and every thought we think and every feeling we feel.
Imagine…using the same mind that created a beautiful flower to design a birthday party.

We are never without ideas, they flow to us endlessly from the One Mind into our thoughts and dreams and feelings, and we perceive the world around us by using the physical senses. What we call our conscious mind is really our equal use of the Divine Mind that surrounds us. We think through our brains and our perception comes from experiencing the contents of our own mind.

Sometimes we ponder the Power for Good and recognize that since it is everywhere, it must be the same power we use! When we unify with this Power we are able to reason if Love is Power, we have an unlimited amount of personal power to work with!

We are created from this Universal Mind. We are blessed and imparted with our share of this phenomenal cosmic power! ! Our body is just It’s itty bitty living space!

Questioning God

Someone asked, “Who am I to question God?” Then I realized I have always questioned God.
It all started with seeing the bumper sticker philosophy, “Question Authority” I suppose!

I don’t have the traditional ‘Big 3” (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) views of God. I even prefer to not use the word God when referring to this Energy, the Creative Force, Spirit, Divine Mind, the Universe, Love…etc.. This is because most of the time the beliefs, ideas and things that we think come from God Almighty are really just your ego projections or other people’s ego projections.

How do we know when it is “God” or Inspiration speaking to us verses some individual or collective beliefs and hinders us from our Good? It’s about learning that when Spirit or God speaks to us, when we are inspirited and know how that feels, what it looks like and what thoughts we are bringing to our awareness.

Yet still, how do we know for sure? Here’s my thoughts on it; God is Love, the Universe is Unlimited, Spirit is every where, all the time, Divine Mind is all knowing and the Creative Force is always creating. Therefore, if what you think comes from God is unloving, limited, limited to ‘here’ ignorant and deadening, and then it’s probably just your ego.

Life whispers unless you have been practicing hearing... then it screams!

new thought about harmony

Which is greater; the parts of thing or the sum, the whole? Is the toe complete in itself or does it depend on the foot and the rest of the body for its substance?

The toe succeeds in its life by the harmonious action between the foot and the rest of the body.

Our lives are a success when we experience a harmonious action between ourselves and everything else. As our personal vibration reaches for harmony, it attracts to our physical senses energy…ideas, thoughts, people, places, and things that are in harmony with our vibration; thoughts and feelings we embody.

If you have to choose harmony, it is because you are still holding onto a belief that there can be anything other than harmony. The world seems, to our senses, to be chaotic yet it does not mean that it is out of balance. It is perception that is skewed.

If you still need to choose, choose harmony. Experiences of a discordant world will be normal until balance is found once again. Practice harmony by looking for things that feel harmonious.

Harmony just is; everywhere all the time. The balance between chaos and harmony is measured by functionality and enjoyment of things perceived and acknowledged understood by how we are think about what we are gets upset in our minds only.

Some times it is fun to be in the chaos!

Remembering this can change your life.
Think about that while you enjoy your morning dump!

Introducing Sophieology

The etymology of the world wisdom is the greek, 'sophia' (femine form). The suffix 'ology, means the study of something. Sophieology, then is the study of wisdom; Sophieology is a philosophy and one who philosophizes is a lover of the study of wisdom. Wisdom is the collection and execution of ideas, thoughts, actions...a practice of Life and Love. Life is the mechanics and love is the enrgy. I desire to share with you, beloved reader, the reason these writings on Wisdom exist and why I feel it's so important for me to offer my strange thoughts with anyone who will listen.

So this answers the question of “What is Sophieology”; I am free to move on to other things such as how am I using the word ‘wisdom’. Here is a great definition of wisdom, probably the best explanation from the dictionary.

I also understand wisdom to the practice of the knowledge we understand. When we understand what we know, we have the opportunity to practice such knowing. Practicing embodies our knowing, creating more understanding and as we practice our understanding of this thing called life, we study wisdom; we become Sophie.

So, tally ho; ho ho ho…