Why Live If We Must Die?

Why live if we must eventually die? This question holds the most excruciating doubt that has bothered mankind since time began. Why endeavor so hard, worry and struggle to create a wealthy life if we are eventually bound to leave everything behind? Why make plans for an uncertain "future" that may never become "present"? And even if we succeed in carrying out our plans, in realizing our wishes, what for? We shall have to abandon it all, sooner or later. Our nature makes us wonder about these very difficult questions and the quality of our spiritual life depends on the kind of answers we give ourselves. You should not say: I am a pessimist, that is why I see all black, or: I am an optimist, that is why I see all white. Actually, it is exactly the contrary. Your positive or negative attitude directly derives from the nature of your thoughts, your wondering, the answers you give - or don't give - yourself.

Fame

The word fame is defined as the condition of being known and talked about by many people, especially on account of notable achievements. I often wonder about a possible difference between people who earned such fame in the past and the (rich and) famous of today. Some ancient "heroes"  are still kept alive in story-telling, traditional festivals, folk songs - after thousands of years. How many of the people we hear and read about on a daily basis, who are acclaimed and idolized, can boast about their notable achievements, worthy of eternal remembrance? Actually, will they be remembered, shall we say...a couple of decades from now? Some may end up in history books but do most of the so-called artists, politicians etc. who have acquired a "name" really deserve to be remembered? Have they given any positive contribution to the progress of our planet? 

The Decision Is Yours

Saying that it is necessary for you to become aware of the absurdity of your fears, implies that you are the creator of your own misfortune.Through your thoughts, beliefs, your negatively oriented programming, you attract the circumstances that will give life to what you expect. If your mind always pictures failure, if your attitude is the one of a victim or a loser, how can you expect to be the winner of a battle that you see as already lost before even facing it? On the contrary, the moment you decide to take the reins of your life in your hands, when you decide to open your eyes and see, all nature's powers, both spiritual and physical, start working in order to carry out the "instructions" given by your positive, optimistic re-programming.

Hopeless Illusion

In an episode of a 1985 science fiction TV series, a man becomes insane because he feels overwhelmed by technology: telephone, fax, VCR, walkman etc... He is longing for silence and for some kind of privacy. Therefore he invents a device able to short-circuit all these machines. His firm belief is that “the majority’s rule” compels people (in 1985) to become “dependent” on these machines, so something must be done about it. I mercifully avoid mentioning the tragic ending, sigh! Anyway, he goes on believing that he has sown a seed, and ends up living happily in his “nice little cell” (his own words) and in his “hopeless illusion”(my words)!! If he only knew....

You Know You Don't Know You Know...

Do you consider yourself a generous, caring person - not so much from a material, but rather from a psychological or spiritual point of view? Do you care enough about other people’s feelings? Do you endeavor to hurt neither through words nor deeds those you are dealing with? When you believe you are in love, are you sure you don’t consider “love” what is more a desire to control, a feeling of jealousy, a wish to possess?  Someone defined intuition as “the stuff you know you don’t know you know” (Wow!!) Are you brave and honest enough to examine yourself and discover what YOUR intuition may suggest?

Necklace For Sale

Mary gave a lovely ethnic necklace as a gift to her friend's mother who was visiting from out of town. After some time the friend had a garage sale. Mary saw the necklace among the objects in display. She felt sad seeing how her gift had not been appreciated and realizing that both mother and friend preferred to dispose of it. At this point Mary had these choices:

1. Tell the friend how she felt about seeing the necklace for sale (manifesting upset directly).

2. Buy the necklace and THEN remind the friend about the gift to her mother (moral "slap").

3. Not say anything (feeling "offended but heroic").

What would YOU have done? Is it better to always express one's feelings (in a way or another) or is it more "saintly" to refrain and... suffer in silence? 
P.S. Mary chose to remain silent because she is type of person who could not say or do anything that she believes might hurt another's feelings (too sensitive!). But the memory still bugs her and she has never considered the 'friend' as such any more.

The Puppeteer Or Us?

More often than not, when I get ready to put my earphones on, I find that the cord is all tangled up. Sometimes it’s really bad (a total mess it takes me several minutes to loosen up), other times it’s not as bad. This never fails to make me think. As I “know” for sure that I am always careful with the cord when I put the earphones away, where does this entanglement come from? A comparison with life is inevitable. We are “careful” to set our cards right, but we lose the game. We are sure we have behaved well, said the right things, done the right deeds, but the result is the opposite of what we expected. So, what’s going on here? Is there a puppeteer behind the scenes who has fun messing everything up? Or is it us who ONLY believe we are doing everything right, while WE are the ones who, unknowingly, do the “messing up”?