Om Mani Padme Hum

Meditation Tone Number One:

Om Mani Padme Hum

An ancient Sanskrit mantra that translates as "The Jewel is in the Lotus."

Meditation Tone Number Two:

Om Shanti Ananda

Another ancient Sanskrit mantra "Om, Peace, Bliss."

Sanskrit is an Indo language that is four thousand years old and serves as the primary sacred language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

Om is a sound described in Hindu scriptures as being the primordial sound of creation.

I like Tone Number 2 better.  I'm not sure how the realization that the jewel is in the lotus makes me calmer and more present.  It is a little longer and more pleasant to the ear.  Too many clanging, hard "n" sounds in Number 2 which harshes my buzz somewhat.

There's a bit in a Simpson's episode where the hypocritical minister Lovejoy is glossing over the details of Apu's Hindu faith.  Apu says: "I'm Hindu!  There are a billion of us!"  The Reverand says: "That's super."

"I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do."

Willa Cather

I can learn to be more accepting of my surroundings, the circumstances of my life.  I can learn to grow no matter how difficult it may seem.  Such growth can enrich my life and make me stronger so I don't break with the weight of problems or difficulties.  The trees are fixed in place so if the soil is crappy and rocky or there's a lack of moisture they have to deal with it.  They can't go someplace else where things are better.  I continue to marvel at the fact that in a healthy forest all the different species strive to thrive and prosper but they're also helping and being helped by the other beings around them.  They talk to each other if there's an insect infestation.  They dump their nutrients into the soil when they sense there time is up.  Oak trees aren't considered ancient until they reach four hundred years.  And they're not the oldest tree species by a long shot.  Maybe we should pay more attention to the trees?

"Intead of simply experiencing love, being love, our narrators explain how love should feel: what makes us worthy of love; who should love us and how they should express it; what we need to do or achieve to love ourselves, and what others need to do to receive our love in return."

Seek to love rather than be loved.     

"When we begin to believe society's analysis of what love should be and we become attached to that belief, we begin to impose it on ourselves and others, thus creating a distorted reflection of love.  What has really happened is that we have just made love conditional."

Love people for who they are and not who you want them to be.