The man who removes a mountain
begins by carrying away small stones.
Chinese proverb

Meditation

Often, when we look at the entirety of any task that confronts us along our passage through life, our ego immediately fills our mind with overcomplicated messages and often defines the task as an impossibility. The ego’s goal is to overwhelm you with these interpretations and, ultimately, lead you to giving up on your true purpose. The ego desires endless struggle and suffering. As a spiritual being searching for truth and awareness, you must transcend the influence of the ego and simplify your world. Simplicity is where success, peace and enlightenment are discovered. This is the essence of your being.

Real Life Application

Choose a task in your life that you often dismiss from your consciousness because of its perceived complexity. Sit down with paper and a pen, and take notes as to how this task can be broken down into smaller, more manageable steps that you can take on without much difficulty. This process can be applied to any project that you wish to embark upon. It’s that simple. Stop intellectualizing and pushing yourself further away from completion, and begin taking the necessary action to progress. All great feats are done in this manner. I almost feel as if I should apologize that I don’t have any great philosophical or intellectual suggestions to share with you, but try it this way, you may be pleasantly surprised.

The above is an excerpt is from the Richard A. Singer’s award winning book, Eastern Wisdom for Your Soul.

What are the benefits, if any, of mindful eating? The idea of being aware of each bite seems to have its roots in Buddhism.  In fact some Buddhist teachers instruct their students to meditate during the course of their meal, as an exercise to help expand consciousness.  Writing for the New York Times, Jeff Gordinier examines how this topic seems to be gaining in popularity.

Academics, such as Dr. Lilian Cheung, a Harvard nutritionist, has been studying mindful-eating while at the same time encouraging businesses and health providers to try it.  Prof. Brian Wansink, of Cornell University, has conducted experiments on the psychological factors of our endless craving for food.  And today certain businesses, such as Google, are supporting the “mindful lunch hour.”

Perhaps to fully benefit from a meal is not just a matter of making healthy dietary choices.  The way we eat and the thoughts we have while eating, may to some scope influence the overall value of our meal.   For more information, read the full article on the NY Times website.

The following passage if from Meagan O’Nan‘s blog entry 10/12/2011:

“Imagine having a conversation with someone whom you don’t know or someone whom you think you know…what would you ask them? Perhaps, you would ask them what they do for a living, if they are married or have kids, where they are from, their favorite things, etc.

BUT, what IF all conversations started with questions like, what do you want to be remembered for? Or, at the end of your life what will you look back on and value the most? Yes, I know, these are the questions I have asked in my survey. I feel as though if we were to ask each other these questions then we have a wonderful opportunity to really get to know someone.

Why don’t we get to know someone with questions like these initially? My thoughts are that we don’t want to expose ourselves in fear that we might be rejected by the other person. Just a hunch, and perhaps a bit deep, but a good guess nonetheless. We don’t ask the questions because we don’t want someone to ask us the same questions…not because we don’t love to answer questions like those, but because we want to be heard and we are not sure if that person is really going to hear us AND accept us.

Maybe from now on, I will ask these questions to everyone who crosses my path. Afterall, I want to be remembered for loving others. I believe that loving others is truly taking the chance to hear them and love them for who they are. And if I want to be remembered for loving others then I must be willing to expose myself as well – to be ready to answer the same questions that I ask.”

The Women of Wisdom Foundation is a National Women’s Organization based in Seattle WA, providing diverse and innovative programs that offer women opportunities for personal growth and transformation. WOW promotes women’s spirituality, creativity and wholeness, and empowers women’s voices and their contributions to the world, honoring the Divine Feminine in all. Womens events include a range of mind body and spirit topics for a full healing experience.

Dreamriver Press author Teri Degler has been invited to conduct a workshop  in this year’s 19th Annual Woman of Wisdom Conference.  Her workshop, titled Unveiling Your Creative Fire, is taking place on Monday, February 21st at 9:00am.  See the following link for details:  http://www.womenofwisdom.org/2011conference/MondaySchedule.php

When: Thursday January 27th, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Where: Birch Coffee (in the loft Library)
@ The Gershwin Hotel
7 East 27th Street (between Fifth & Madison), New York, NY

Free and open to the Public
Coffee, tea, beer, wine, food are available to purchase from Birch Coffee.

About the author:

Richard Singer is a trained psychotherapist, college instructor, and a seeker of truth. He continuously searches for wisdom to use in his life, as well as helping other human beings in their precious journey. He has studied Eastern Psychology, Buddhist Healing, and Non-Violence at the Doctoral Level; in addition, he has spent years devoted to the study of wisdom recorded throughout history. He seeks to impart this knowledge to the world through his writing. Richard states that, “My books are not only for reading, they are meant to be lived.” Richard has written two meditation books and co-authored an inspirational children’s book.

He has been featured in many magazines, on various radio and television shows including BBC News in London.  His book, Eastern Wisdom for Your Soul, has received positive reviews from the Library Journal, Martha Stewart’s Body and Soul Magazine and many other review forums.

Richard will be leading a discussion on the topic of Mindfulness.  As Richard states in his book, Eastern Wisdom for Your Soul:

Mindfulness is the secret of life. A life lived mindfully is a life filled with peace, tranquility, joy, truth, bliss, ecstasy and compassion. Mindfulness is our direct link to the universe.

We look forward to seeing you on the 27^th.

The evening will be co-presented by Dreamriver Press and Strangers Gate Books

Cosponsored by:
Manhattan Valley Radio’s The Urumqi Hour with Iskandar Andrews
The Remembrance Project

Birch Coffee is dedicated to sustainable practices and good living. Coffee, tea, beer, wine and food are available to purchase before and during the event.

Theodore Poulis, Dreamriver Press publisher, was recently interviewed by the Green Bus Tour. The Green Bus Tour is a group of sustainability experts, musicians, artists, yogis & healers on a mission to inspire a culture of conscious living. Green Bus will reach millions of people through live events, online media and collaborative commerce. Visit the Green Bus Tour website to find out more: www.greenbustour.com

See the interview below.

Eric Herm, author of Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth will be a guest on Blue Planet Almanac radio on Monday, July 26th, at 11:00 am ET. Listen the show live on HealthyLive.net.

Eric will be interviewed by host, Mike Austin. The program will include two other guests. As stated on Blue Planet Almanac’s site:

“Sustainability is cross-disciplinary. From anywhere you stand you could pick up a figurative pebble or rock, toss it as lightly or hard and you like, and strike a subject which involves environmentalism, its law, policy, farming, food, water or a myriad other important things. Environmental lawyer Bruce Rich, American farmer Eric Herm, and personal development wizard Mick Quinn will explain the interactions of those things for us.”

For a more detailed description please visit the Blue Planet Almanac website. It should an interesting and very informative show.

Two weekends ago we drove up to Syracuse NY, where Dreamriver Press author Meagan O’Nan was doing a workshop along with best selling author don Miguel Ruiz and his son and co-author of the Fifth Agreement, don Jose Ruiz. Driving with us from NYC was another one of our authors, Olivier Clerc, who had just flown in from France. Olivier latest book, The Gift of Forgiveness (Findhorn Press), describes his amazing encounter with don Miguel some eleven years ago, and the impact this meeting had in his life.

Many people showed up at The Palace theater on the Friday night, where don Miguel and don Jose along with Meagan and Sheila Applegate shared their inspiring and powerful messages. However, for me, the highlight of the events took place on Sunday. That Sunday morning, some of us climbed one of the mountains that is sacred to the Onondaga tribe to take part in a ritual of forgiveness.

According to the Onondaga tradition and history, it was on this mountain that Hiawatha met for the second time with The Great Peacemaker. Hiawatha was in deep grieving because his chief, did not want to embrace the message of peace. In fact the chief felt threatened by it, and went on to kill Hiawatha daughters. Hiawatha left the tribe in great sorrow. On the top of this mountain, The Great Peacemaker, a great spiritual teacher, met with Hiawatha and performed a forgiveness ceremony. Then they climbed down the mountain together, and singing songs of peace and love, embraced the Onondaga chief who finally accepted their message. This was the beginning of the formation of the Five Nations (today they are Six Nations). A confederacy of tribes, that many believe influenced the formation of the US Constitution.

We too took part in a forgiveness ceremony. During our walk up the mountain, we crossed though a thick layer of fog. Along the way we found pockets of snow, and most of us were not dressed for the cold temperatures we encountered. But there was a sense of purpose and an underlying joy on our journey upwards. On the mountain top the fog had dissipated, but it was still not clear enough to see the surrounding landscape.

Two members of the Onondaga tribe, along with Sheila Applegate, shared with us their visions of how this ceremony came to be. Their stories were full of amazing ‘coincidences’. By the time the ceremony was over the fog had completely gone, and the atmosphere around us was clear. We could see the far off hill-sides and distant lakes that surrounded the mountain. We came down the mountain with sunlight pouring over us.

Later that afternoon we participated in traditional Native American dances. It was the first time I danced such dances, and I really enjoyed it. Between the dances we shared stories, feelings and jokes, that created sense of community between us.

This is a recent video interview Olivier Clerc, author of Invaluable Lessons from a Frog, gave to Lilou Mace.  Enjoy!