Saturday, April 10, 2010

The virtue of the month...

The virtue chosen this month is perseverance and persistence. This personal platform for goal-setting and thinking deeply has run dry in the last several months. And so, today I resolve that one of the many tasks for me to persevere on will be to continue with the spirit of inquiry and internalization of the virtue chosen each month and to share any thoughts that arise from the process. In the meantime, I leave you with a few lines from Khayyam's Rubaiyat, which I discovered in my current read: 'Three Cups of Tea'

Why ponder thus the future to foresee,
and jade thy brain to vain perplexity?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah's plans to him-
He formed them all without consulting thee.

A very playful and yet humbling way to ask one to be present in the moment and to accept every moment as it turns over to the future.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

The virtue of this month...

This is the month of punctuality, or of being on time. I would like to think of it, also, as the month of doing things in their appointed time. And by that I mean that while this season is, of all seasons, the season to give, there are others times that aren't overtly celebrated as such. But an hour of need for one person, must be the season of giving for another, no? Perhaps, these quotes then will express both succinctly and beautifully what I wish to convey, and so I share...


--


From the Thirukkural, verse 102:


காலத்தி நாற்செய்த நன்றி சிறிதெனினும்,


ஞாலத்தின் மாணப்பெரிது.


(Help rendered in an hour of need, be it however small, is greater than all the earth in its value.- Thiruvalluvar)


--


Liberality consists rather in giving seasonably than much.


- Jean de La Bruyère


--


A Time for Everything



To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace...

--

And finally 'tis the season to be jolly, my dears! Fa la la la la...la la la la! :)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

For December...

I am determined to speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence, joy and hope.
--
A very apt note to self I think for the end of the year; to introspect truthfully and to guide all goals and actions to flow from that truth.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Thursday, October 1, 2009

For October

'Cherish this very moment. Let go of the stream of distress and embrace life fully in your arms.'
I love this message for living in the present moment and living it to the fullest :) Happy October my dears!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

The National Parks-PBS Video
I urge you to watch it. It is a very nicely made video on the breathtakingly beautiful natural wonders in America. Personally, I found the words of John Muir's in finding his spiritual conviction from nature moving and articulated in a way that I might never be able to. Truly, God expresses himself through the mysteries and beauties of nature. To be blessed to see even a bit of it, is to be humbled by the vastness and bounty of it in comparison to our very, very smallness...
I urge you also to spend time deeply communing with nature. :) The experience is unparalleled in bliss and is true communion with God.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

For September

Vow to offer joy to one person in the morning, and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon.