Forever Young

And that led to this:

Full lyrics HERE.

Enjoy!

(clicking imbiggens)

Yaplaws is on the web in several places, including HERE.
 

Dwell in their Energy

"When you start to know someone, all their physical characteristics start to disappear. You begin to dwell in their energy, recognize the scent of their skin. You see only the essence of the person, not the shell. That’s why you can’t fall in love with beauty. You can lust after it, be infatuated by it, want to own it. You can love it with your eyes and your body but not your heart. And that’s why, when you really connect with a person’s inner self, any physical imperfections disappear, become irrelevant."  ~Lisa Unger

Trickle

 

"The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes this it would trickle down to the needy.  Mr. Hoover didn't know that money trickled up.  Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow.  But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow's hands."  ~Will Rogers

Trauma and Addiction

 

I remember reading one time that the first question a therapist should ask is, "What happened to you?"

Fresh Air and Clean Water

"The tepee is much better to live in: always clean, warm in winter, cool in summer; easy to move… Indians and animals know better how to live than white man; nobody can be in good health if he does not have all the time: fresh air, sunshine, and good water."  ~Chief Flying Eagle of the Oglala Sioux

The Beginning of the Eclipse

"When attention is diverted from the self towards objects, that is called the beginning of the eclipse.  That is the illusion that is 'mind.'"  ~Sri Smarth Siddharameshwar Maharaj

Robots

Haiku by a Robot
by Nathan Beifuss, Age 9

Seven hundred ten
Seven hundred eleven
Seven hundred twelve.

 

And that reminded me of this:

 

Slow Vibration

“We are slowed down sound and light waves, a walking bundle of frequencies tuned into the cosmos. We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music."

The above quote is sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein, but of course he never said it.

Bill Hicks did say this, though:

“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the Weather.”

Shhh…

 

(clicking imbiggens)

We Carry It Within Us

"History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations."  ~James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket ©1985

Completely Denying

 

(Clicking Imbiggens)

Never knuckle under to petty authority.  It sets a bad precedent.

Daily Rituals

"Here’s the true secret of life: We mostly do everything over and over. In the morning, we let the dogs out, make coffee, read the paper, and help whoever is around get ready for the day. We do our work. In the afternoon, if we have any time left, we come home, put down our keys and satchels, let the dogs out, take off constrictive clothing, make a drink or put water on for tea, toast the leftover bit of scone. I love ritual and repetition. Without them, I would be a balloon with a slow leak.… Daily rituals, especially walks, even forced marches around the neighborhood, and schedules, whether work or meals with non-awful people, can be the knots you hold on to when you’ve run out of rope."  ~Anne Lamott, Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair ©2013

Sun Comes Up and We Start Again

 

(clicking imbiggens)

And that made me think of this:

Full lyrics HERE.

Active/Passive

 "Take for instance a man driven to incessant work by a sense of deep insecurity and loneliness; or another one driven by ambition, or greed for money. In all these cases the person is the slave of a passion, and his activity is in reality a “passivity” because he is driven; he is the sufferer, not the “actor.” On the other hand a man sitting quiet and contemplating, with no purpose or aim except that of experiencing himself and his oneness with the world, is considered to be “passive”, because he is not “doing” anything. In reality, this attitude of concentrated meditation is the highest activity there is, an activity of the soul, which is possible only under the condition of inner freedom and independence."  ~Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving ©1956

Leaves on the Seine

 

I first heard this on Accuradio's "Smooth Jazz" channel. You can find it HERE.

Satan, laughing, spreads his wings…

 

I love Puddles Pity Party.  His covers always show you a different facet of a song you thought you knew. 

Full lyrics HERE.

Walking in Circles

The name of the artist who made the animation has been lost in a series of reposts.  I wonder if he was inspired the Van Gogh below?

Self Care

"Take care of yourself, drink a lot of water, and focus on your work.  And don't be afraid to feel joy.  It's OK-- no, it's essential to be happy in this troubled world."  ~Patti Smith

So, "Yes."

Reposted from Dandavats.com:

HH Sacinandana Swami: Krishna is very eager for the company of each and every one of us.  As I sit here in Vrindavan, I sometimes ask myself, “Does Krishna see my efforts? Does He care for such an insignificant and useless person?” I’ve seen many sincere practitioners of bhakti ask this question.

The answer is: yes, Krishna is very eager for the company of each and every one of us. The Brihad- bhagavatamrita describes this in the instance when Lord Narayana welcomes Gopa Kumar after a long journey to the Lord’s divine abode. Narayana says, “I looked down the path, observing whether or not you were coming. A long-time passed and I saw you didn’t even show interest in chanting the Holy Names. There was not a single sign that you would ever look in My direction and want to come to Me. So finally I did something. I couldn’t break my timeless laws of not interfering with the spiritual progress and desires of anyone, but I sent a great soul. I actually became your spiritual master. And then you took the mantra and started your journey. Now I’m very happy. You have come! You have come! Please, stay here with Me.”

We know that Gopa Kupar stayed for some time, but the yearning of his heart was not fully satisfied in Vaikuntha, Lord Narayana’s abode. He wanted to go to Vraja, where playful Krishna engages in sublime relationships of love with His many devotees.

After visiting other places, at some point he reaches Vrindavan. The book describes his first meeting with Krishna. In the distance, he sees Krishna coming with the cows. He hears the happy laughter and flutes of Krishna’s many friends. Krishna is surrounded by a cloud of dust raised by the cow hooves and some powerful demigods dive down to catch the dust that has touched Krishna’s lotus feet. Suddenly, Krishna becomes aware of Gopa Kumara approaching from the distance. As soon as He sees him, Krishna breaks free from the cows and cowherd boys and runs towards Gopa Kumara! Finally, He can embrace Gopa Kumar and overcome with feelings of excitement and love, He falls to the ground and muddies it with His tears of ecstasy caused by the arrival of His dear friend.

This expression of overwhelmed joy is a sign of Krishna’s character. It shows that He cares very much for everyone and is most happy about the tiniest sign of spiritual life in someone. And when a soul becomes mature and ready for meeting, Krishna is full of joy. It is described that the first meetings with Krishna or experiences of Him are very brief, feeling like a dream. The devotee doesn’t know, “Was it a dream? This was better than anything I have ever seen or experienced so far.” Then, the meetings and experiences become longer and words and embraces are exchanged. And then, the soul finally enters into the eternal pastimes.

So yes, Krishna does care.

Just do stuff and be happy anyway

"Christ almighty, now what?"

 

And that made me think of this:

But every mornin'
I wake up and worry
What's gonna happen today…

Full lyrics HERE.

Krishna Consciousness

 

 

That's the basic philosophy of ISKCON condensed into one image.

And it reminded me of this:

Full lyrics HERE. 

Andy Singer is on the web at (of course!) AndySinger.com.

Let's Do This Again Real Soon!

 

(Clicking Imbiggens)

And that reminded me of this:

 

 Full lyrics HERE.

Busy Busy

 It seems you love this world very much.

“Yes, I said. “This beautiful world.”

And you don’t mind the mind, that keeps you

busy all the time with its dark and bright wonderings?

“No, I’m quite used to it. Busy, busy,

all the time.”

And you don’t mind living with those questions,

I mean the hard ones, that no one can answer?

“Actually, they’re the most interesting.”

And you have a person in your life whose hand

you like to hold?

“Yes, I do.”

It must surely, then, be very happy down there

in your heart.

“Yes,” I said. “It is.”

~Mary Oliver, A Voice from I know not where

Dust

Excerpted from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, ©1963:

“Do you know what a poem is, Esther?”

“No, what?”, I would say.

“A piece of dust.”

Then, just as he was smiling and starting to look proud, I would say, ‘So are the cadavers you cut up. So are the people you think you’re curing. They’re dust as dust as dust. I reckon a good poem lasts a whole lot longer than a hundred of those people put together.’

And of course Buddy wouldn’t have any answer to that, because what I said was true. People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn’t see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing poems people would remember and repeat to themselves when they were unhappy or sick or couldn’t sleep.

And that reminded me of this depressing little ditty:

Oh, well.  At least the 70s fashion is amusing.

Full lyrics HERE.

I'll be close

“Non posso darti soluzioni per tutti i problemi della vita. Non ho risposte per i tuoi dubbi o timori, però posso ascoltarli e dividerli con te. Non posso cambiare né il tuo passato né il tuo futuro, però quando serve starò vicino a te…”  ~Jorges Luis Borges

Translated:

“I can't give you solutions for all life's problems. I have no answers for your doubts or fears, but I can listen to them and share them with you. I can't change your past or your future, but when needed I'll be close to you… "  ~Jorges Luis Borges

The Wind Turns

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”  ~Vincent Van Gogh

There's no caclium, either.

My bottle of Vitamin Water lists magnesium on the nutrition label with a little cross (†) beside it.  When you look down to the cross symbol below, it tells you that there isn't any magnesium.

Which begs the question…

If you see…

Some quotes are instantly relatable.

Through That Lens

"It is easier to let go of someone’s opinion when you understand that people see you through a combination of their past conditioning plus their current emotion. Without realizing it, they see themselves first and through that lens they get an unclear picture of you."  ~Yung Pueblo

Happy?

Still Exists

“And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles. So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.”  ~Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country ©2005

Your purple prose just gives you away.

 

Full lyrics HERE. Oh!

Complicated

 

Clicking Imbiggens Complicated Lady by Margaret Keane, 1972

 And that reminded me of this, even though it's exactly the opposite:

 

Full lyrics HERE.

The World is One Big Tragedy, but:

 

Full lyrics HERE.

8

Excerpted from the article "The Eight Extraordinary Flowers" by Madhumati Pushkarini Devi dasi:

The ‘Sumadhva Vijaya’ is an exemplary biographical work by Sri Narayana Panditacharya belonging to the Madhva sampradaya. It presents the glorious life and teachings of Sripad Madhvacharya in the form of verses spread across 16 sargas or parts. In the 14th sarga, that describes the manner in which Sripad Madhvacharya would perform deity worship, verse 37 speaks about how he would adorn Lord Narayana with the eight kinds of ‘bhava pushpa’ or flowers of emotions. The verse is as follows:

ahiṁsā prathamaṁ puṣpaṁ puṣpam indriya-nigrahaḥ
sarvabhūta-dayā puṣpam kṣamā puṣpaṁ viśeṣataḥ
jñānaM puṣpaṁ tapaH puṣpaṁ śānthiḥ puṣpaṁ thathaiva ca
satyam aṣṭavidhaṁ puṣpaṁ viṣṇoḥ prītikaraṁ bhavet||

This verse very beautifully depicts eight extraordinary ‘flowers’ or qualities namely non-violence, sense-control, compassion towards all living beings, forgiveness, knowledge, austerity, equanimity and truthfulness that are very dear and pleasing to Lord Vishnu. 

You can read the full article at Dandavats.com.

Maggie

 

Well, I try my best
To be just like I am
But everybody wants you
To be just like them

They sing while you slave, and I just get bored…

Full lyrics available from BobDylan.com, HERE.

I only know one other song about Maggie, and poor Maggie doesn't come off any better in this one:

 

Oh Maggie, I wish I'd never seen your face… 

Full lyrics HERE.

Like fireworks we will ignite…

 

It's not hard to make people angry or sad, but if you can lift someone up when they're feeling down, that's something special.  That's a gift.

Full lyrics HERE.

To You

Full lyrics HERE.

I discovered this version on SomaFM.

More dearly than the spoken word can tell…

 Full lyrics HERE.

Oh My God do I pray

And I pray, oh my God do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution…

Full lyrics HERE.

I used to pray for a revolution, but not the one we're about to have.

I thought, since we have enough for everybody, there would be a revolution to make sure everybody has enough.  I thought it would be based on love and justice and freedom.

Instead, we're on the cusp of a fascist revolution that wants to violently deprive other human beings of what were once considered unalienable rights. 

I don't hold a lot of hope for tomorrow.

 

A Discernible Narrative Arc

The excerpt below is from a book review Anil Gomes wrote for The Guardian, available online HERE.  Although I have heard this same thought expressed many times by writers as diverse as Kurt Vonnegut and Thic Nhat Hahn, there's something about the way Gomes words it that hit me in a more direct way:

Consider the fear that your life is a failure: (Kieran) Setiya suggests that this only makes sense if you think of life as having a discernible narrative arc, one which culminates in the completion of some long-travelled quest. But you need not characterise it this way. Many of the things that make life worth living are processes not projects, activities not quests. If I set out to run a marathon, then I open myself up to failure. But if I concentrate on the experience of running, then I partake of something valuable no matter the distance I cover. The value of a project lies in its completion; the value of a process lies in the activity itself. Fear of failure involves emphasising one at the expense of the other.

Night Time

(clicking imbiggens)

You feel this painting as much as you see it, don't you?

Artist Pascal Campion has several spots on the web.  His Instagram is HERE.
 

Care

"“There are few things I care about less than coffee. I have two big cups every morning: light and sweet, preferably in cardboard cup. Any bodega will do. I don’t want to wait for my coffee. I don’t want some man-bun, Mumford and Son motherfucker to get it for me. I like good coffee but I don’t want to wait for it, and I don’t want it with the cast of Friends. It’s a beverage; it’s not a lifestyle.”  ~Anthony Bourdain

He was upset because people with a haircut he doesn't like wearing clothing he doesn't approve of have the audacity to care about something he doesn't.  What a jerk!

 

Jingle-Jangle Django

 

Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt had a hard life.  

When he was young the tent he was living in caught fire and he lost two fingers.  He had to re-learn how to play the guitar, then at the age of 43 had the misfortune to suffer a stroke on a Saturday.  By the time they found a doctor who hadn't taken the weekend off, it was too late.

You can read about him on Wikipedia, HERE.