MO MATT

From: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080722.html

What are these humans doing? Dancing. Many humans on Earth exhibit periods of happiness, and one method of displaying happiness is dancing. Happiness and dancing transcend political boundaries and occur in practically every human society. Matt Harding traveled through many nations on Earth, started dancing, and filmed the result. The video is perhaps a dramatic example that humans from all over planet Earth feel a common bond as part of a single species. Happiness is frequently contagious -- few people are able to watch the above video without smiling.

Here you can find Matt: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/videos.shtml

We want MO Matt!

Oh...I just found this on Matt's website in his FAQ section:

Question:
Why is the world so screwed up?
Matt's answer:
Men.
Question:
How do we fix it?
Matt's answer:
Women.

JULY?!

I can't believe we are near the end of July and that I didn't post here for over a month! My apologies! As a blogger I feel committed to write at least once a week, so I guess I'll have to work double shifts for the coming weeks! LOL

We had an unexpected move at the beginning of June, luckily we moved within our neighborhood, but unpacking and getting settled took some time.
Summer is also a time we spend mostly outside in the water, as we have the privilege of a community pool behind our townhouse. I take our daughter for a swim 7 days a week, so there's not much time left for "internal" explorations...

When I thought of this blog lately it appeared to me that it actually is a diary of my spiritual journey, so let me update you with the latest places I've been.

I must admit that the traject from The Secret to Eckhart Tolle was a very refreshing one. Honestly I got tired with the chase of being successful, the best you can be etc.etc. and was longing for something that could actually bring me closer to ME.

From Eckhart I learned a lot, about ego and its short fused character. The being PRESENT is a wonderful feeling and something I still exercise every day. It brought me to Thich Nhat Hahn and his teachings are very profound and stripped from any commercial goals, listening to him is like being in an actual monastery.

The past 2 weeks I've immersed myself in the Integral theory and the world of Ken Wilber. From wikipedia: The integral movement (also called the integral paradigm, integral philosophy, the integral worldview, or the integral approach) is a movement that seeks a comprehensive understanding of humans and the universe by combining, among other things, scientific and spiritual insights.

Integral might be said to have both a broad and a narrow meaning. In the larger, generic sense, Integral means whole, complete and holistic, such as body-mind-spirit and East-West. In the narrow or more specific sense it refers to the Integral Yoga and Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo, as well as the Integral Psychology (the term coined by Indra Sen) and Psychotherapy that emerges from it.[1]. Although the basic ideas were first articulated in the early twentieth century, the movement originates with the California Institute of Integral Studies founded in 1968 by Haridas Chaudhuri, a disciple of Sri Aurobindo, who was the first to fully define the idea.

This will take while to study and I enjoy it! When I was watching a Ken Wilber video on youtube I found Adyashanti http://www.adyashanti.org/ and I loved his work! He studied Zen for several decades and his "teachings" are so deep and profound and yet so clear and humble. He is also funny! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYr7KYWVzoE&feature=related

Being accepting (of my complete self in the first place) will make it easier to be accepting of others...I really like to leave that place of judging behind me...

More MO, soon...

YOXOMO

THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK

The Law of the Garbage Truck (Not sure what the source is, but like the idea!)

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.
So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost caused an accident and sent us to the hospital!" This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."
He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, full of disappointment and rage. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't pick up their garbage and spread it to other people in your life, whether at work, at home, or to people that you don't even know on the streets.
Always remember that good people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.....
"Love the people who treat you right and forgive and pray for the ones who don't."

Things always appear when it is "time", I needed this one, to help me with becoming more understanding, compassionate, accepting and therefore much more relaxed!

My apologies for the fact I've not posted in a while, I went through a move and I am still unpacking and such...

XOMO

ONE MO

Spending time abroad always refreshes my views on things. I just got back from a trip to my home country the Netherlands (Holland). I was incredible happy to see that two of my dear friends were totally traveling on the same spiritual path, yet we were also able to exhange new findings and personal views during a nice long conversion fuelled by mouthwatering food!

Currently I am reading several writings by Thich nhat hahn and his work really contributed to a deeper understanding of being aware/conscious/in the 'now'/one.
I experienced being much more at peace with what is, and the deminishing of stress caused by what is not yet...

MOre later, love, Mo

WOW: NOW

One of the reasons I have not posted lately is because I've been on a trip through the present. I know it sounds silly, but when you read "a new earth, awakening to your life's purpose" by Eckhart Tolle, this is exactly what could happen to you.

To be honest it's hard to talk about his book, you have to read it and feel it within you. This is not material "to understand", you don't need to be of certain age, or have a certain education, you are ready for it or not yet. Eckhart even recommends to put the book away for a while if it does not make any sense to you.

It is about becoming conscious, transcending your ego and discovering your true, 'bare' Self. You are not your thoughts, you are not your history, and you are not your body, and the moment you think: "I don't know who I am anymore" you're getting close to meet your true Self ;-)

WOW, is the word that comes out of my mouth during reading almost every page. It's a beautiful, peaceful, serene, and sacred, feeling. Again, it's an experience that goes beyond words.

I feel like I've been invited to become a student of the Universe, a privileged feeling, and very exiting indeed. I am getting better at observing myself and being more in the present moment. I enjoy things much intenser, and I am less affected by external things.

I feel that I am disconnecting from identifying myself with my past, and I am less concerned about the future. I realize that there really is only NOW, yet I can enjoy taking inspired action (while being present) for something I'd like to accomplish.

Geez, forgive me if this all sounds like lala land bla bla to you...JUST READ THIS BOOK!

Love to you, YOXOMO

http://eckharttolle.com

GOT HO'OPONOPONO?

"Change the world and start with yourself" makes sense and that is what HO'OPONOPONO entails if you wish to describe it in simple terms. For me it means I take 100% responsibility for anything that happens in my daily life, and this is not an easy exercise! We are such a blaming society, yet this blaming game does not provide us with any relief or solutions. When you take response-ability you empower yourself and you are inspired to create solutions instead of more barriers.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ho'oponopono is a Hawaiian word for a form of family or personal therapy.

Practitioners believe it is an ancient Hawaiian practice. To date, the earliest documentation of a practice called ho'oponopono is from the Hawaiian language newspaper, Kuokoa in 1863. Mary Kawena Pukui recorded her experiences and observations from her childhood (born 1895) in her 1958 book. (Handy & Pukui; Chai, 2007)

Pukui described it as a practice of extended family members meeting to try to "make right" broken family relations ("making right" is the literal translation of the Hawaiian term). Traditional ho’oponopono sessions include "prayer, discussion, confession, repentance, mutual restitution, and forgiveness." (Cody)

In the 1980s, Morrnah Simeona developed what she called an updated and streamlined version of ho'oponopono that is practiced by the individual alone. Her practice continues to be taught by her students in Hawai'i, including Ramsay Taum, and Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D[1]. According to Hew Len, ho'oponopono is a Hawaiian healing process based on the principles of total responsibility, taking responsibility for every one's actions. He says if one would take complete responsibility for one's life, then everything one would see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is one's responsibility because it is in one's life. Total Responsibility advocates that everything exists as a projection from inside the human being. The problem isn't with our external reality, it is with ourselves and to change our reality, we would have to change ourselves.

HO'OPONOPONO
By Joe Vitale (excerpt)

"Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

"When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane? It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.

"However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho 'oponopono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more. I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else does--but that's wrong.

"The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility. His name is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking on our first phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story of his work as a therapist. He explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years. That ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous.

Psychologists quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply quit. People would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall, afraid of being attacked by patients. It was not a pleasant place to live, work, or visit.

"Dr. Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and to review their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.

"'After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely,' he told me. 'Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed.' I was in awe.'Not only that,' he went on, 'but the staff began to enjoy coming to work. Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed.'

"This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: 'What were you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?'

"'I was simply healing the part of me that created them,' he said. I didn't understand. Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life- simply because it is in your life--is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

"Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life. This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy or anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

"I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with Dr. Len, I began to realize that healing for him and in ho 'oponopono means loving yourself.

"If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal you do it by healing you.

"I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing, exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?

"'I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again,' he explained.

"That's it?

"That's it.

"Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, you improve your world.

"Let me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone sent me an email that upset me. In the past I would have handled it by working on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to reason with the person who sent the nasty message.

"This time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you,' I didn't say it to anyone in particular. I was simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was creating the outer circumstance.

"Within an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized for his previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward action to get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by saying 'I love you,' I somehow healed within me what was creating him.
---------------------

My apologies, my love and my appreciation,

HO'OPONOPONO MO

GROWING UP OR OLD

I can't vouch for the validity, but the story is good nonetheless.

Growing Up or Growing Old
By: Author Unknown

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and
challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know.
I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my
shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old
lady beaming up at me with a Smile that lit up her entire
being.

She said, "Hi, handsome! My name is Rose. I'm 87 years old.
Can I give you a hug?"

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you
may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze.

"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I
asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich
husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then
retire and travel."

"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have
motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm
getting one!" she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and
shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends.
Every day for the next three months we would leave class
together and talk nonstop.

I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as
she shared her wisdom and experience with me. Over the
course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily
made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and
she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the
other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our
football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She
was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to
deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her 3x5 cards on
the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the
microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I
gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll
never get my speech back in order, so let me just tell you
what I know." As we laughed, she cleared her throat and
began:

"We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old
because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to
staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have
to laugh and find humor everyday. You've got to have a
dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many
people walking around who are dead, and they don't even know
it!" she said.

"There is a huge difference between growing older and
growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for
one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will
turn 20 years old. If I am 87 years old, and stay in bed for
a year, and never do anything, I will turn 88. Anybody can
grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability," she
added.

"The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in
change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have
regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not
do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose."
She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them
out in our daily lives.

At the years end, Rose finished the college degree she had
begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose
died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college
students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful
woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be
all you can possibly be.

Thanks to Jim for sharing this story.