Stumbling Toward Enlightenment

Ambapali, also known as “Ambapalika” or “Amrapali”, was a nagarvadhu (royal courtesan) of the republic of Vaishali in ancient India around 500 BC. Following the Buddha’s teachings she became an Arahant. She is mentioned in the old Pali texts and Buddhist traditions, which most notably mention Buddha staying at her Mango grove, Ambapali vana which she later donated to his Order, and wherein he preached the famous Ambapalika Sutta. ~ Wikipedia

…by charging outlandish prices for her services, she amassed a huge personal fortune with which she bought a lavish home and some mango groves. When the Buddha passed through Vaisali, he visited Ambapali, and he apparently made quite an impression on her.…she became an arhat, or holy one—quite a feat since few men ever achieved this state—which is as far as a human could go without actually being the Buddha or achieving nirvana.…It was believed at the time that only men could attain nirvana. ~Remember the Ladies, Kirstin Olsen. The Main Street Press, 1988

a Care2 favorite by Robyn Hessinger

An evening – or even just an hour – without the lights…whatever is one to do?

Millions of people in more than 80 countries will be turning off their lights for an hour at on Saturday, March 27 at 8:30pm (local time), as the world joins Earth Hour’s global call for action on climate change. Even the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, the Great Pyramids of Giza and Chicago’s iconic skyline are planning to go dark.

This is your opportunity to get creative, conserve electricity, stem global warming and make a statement of your own. Here are seven great ways to spend an hour—or more—in the dark.

For starters, grab a few candles (preferably soy) and:

An hour with the lights out also means that it’s a great time to get outside and:

Prefer a group activity? Gather some friends together and have an Earth Hour party—inside or outside. Create your own Earth Hour cocktails, have some fun with cheese or chocolate fondue (only tea light candles required), break out the board games or musical instruments, or even attempt charades by candlelight. The more creative you get, the better the party! And, you might even want to try it again next Saturday night—any excuse for a party, right?

Too many options for one hour? Consider extending it to two or three! Now that we’ve shared our ideas, we’d love to know, how did you spend Earth Hour? And will you’ll be making this a regular habit – perhaps even an hour a week?

Deepak Chopra

The reason that people cannot forgive is that their anger has worn a deep groove in the mind, and like water seeking a downward slope, their minds find this groove so easily that new channels of feeling cannot be formed.

Learning to make a new groove for your feelings is the key. Once again, the steps aren’t mystical. You can forgive anyone who has hurt you by taking the following actions:

Choose the intent to forgive, even though your feelings are still hurt. Have the intention to let new feelings come in. Encourage even the slightest hints of a new feeling. Experience the old hurt and anger, but always say, This isn’t me, This is not what I want anymore. Keep challenging the old hurt with reasons why it should be replaced. Be patients and let yourself experience both the old and the new feelings until the old one begins to fade.

You will be working with yourself, privately but not alone. Unhappiness is solitary; healing is not. Healing is bigger than personality. When someone gets a cut, we don’t say, “Maybe his skin will heal, who knows?” It all depends on the kind of person he is. Your skin heals independently of who you are.

Psychologically healing works exactly the same way. You don’t have to be nice, good, smart, or deserving. Yet how many of us secretly believe that we should continue to suffer because we deserve to, or because we aren’t nice enough, good enough, or smart enough to change?

The big difference between healing the skin and healing the mind is that you have to participate in the latter. But this difference is not a stumbling block once the healing gets under way. At the level of the soul there lies an entire healing mechanism every bit as effective as the body’s immune system. If you have the intention to heal, you give new energy permission to come into you and clear away obstacles.

Adapted from: Peace Is the Way, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2005).

from Care2

Each solstice falls upon the ecliptic midway between the equinoxes, when the sun reaches that midway point, generally about June 21 and December 21. Winter Solstice on December 21 is the shortest day of the year. After Winter Solstice each day becomes longer until the longest day of the year arrives around June 21st. The solstices have been observed and celebrated by cultures throughout the world.

A central aspect of the winter solstice rites observed by many Native American tribes includes the making and planting of prayer sticks. Prayer sticks are made by everyone in a family for four days before the solstice. On the day named as the solstice, the prayer sticks are planted – at least one by each person – in small holes dug by the head of the household. Each prayer stick is named for an ancestor or deity. Here’s how to make a prayer stick; they are usually:

Made out of cedar and are forked;
Are equivalent to the measurement from the maker’s elbow to the tips of their fingers; and
Are taken from a tree that the maker feels connected to.
Tobacco is offered to the largest tree of the same species in the area and permission is asked to take a part of its relative.
The bark can be stripped.
The bark can be carved on the stick.
One feather should be added to the prayer stick; traditionally this is a wild turkey feather.
A bit of tobacco is placed in a red cloth and tied onto one of the forks.
Fur or bone from an animal that the maker wishes to honor is tied onto the stick.
Metal or stones should not be tied to the stick.
It is also customary to say prayers silently as one makes the prayer stick.

Winter Solstice Project II: Discover Stones

All matter whirls at incredible speed, atoms in constant, breathtaking motion. But the rock people are seemingly still. We are all of us surrounded by the stillness of stone; if you dig in any patch of earth, you are likely to find bits and pieces that are unimaginably old and likely to outlast us by countless lifetimes.

Just as trees may be intuited to have individual spirits and personalities, so the humble rocks beneath our feet may be known and their energies felt in ways that have much to teach us.

Children are inveterate rock collectors, often seeing unique power and beauty in a rock that looks plain and nondescript to us. By seeing with the open inner eyes of our children, we can share their fascination for the magic of stone. And when we surround ourselves with rocks that are special to us, when we take time to hold one in our hands or stroke its weighty smoothness or striation, we make a bodily connection with the oldest matter on this planet and with the element of winter.

Particularly at this often harried time, building a relationship with rocks–allowing them to permeate our consciousness in quiet and stillness–is a great gift of peace for the entire family.

First, find some. This shouldn’t be hard to do, but you may be surprised at the variety of rocks you and your children can come up with, and you may notice that particularly varieties attract some children more than others. Take small trowels or large spoons outdoors with you to help pry things loose. After al of you have brought your finds inside and thawed your numbed fingers, you may want to wash the rocks in warm water to remove loose dirt and bring hem to room temperature.

Now spread them out so everyone can look at them. Pick them up one at a time and really examine them, turning them slowly to savor the complexity or simplicity of their shape and color. Do any rocks remind you of something else? Are there shapes hidden in the stone?

Try this simple exercise: Ask your children to close their eyes and choose a rock at random, and then hold it in their hands without looking. Allow them to sense the rock–does it feel light? dark? heavy? Does it make you feel anything in your body? tingly or slow? energetic or relaxed? Then put the rock aside; choose another and repeat the process, making sure to notice any similarities or differences. Then ask the children to open their eyes. Look at the two rocks and compare them.

Rocks that make your children feel a particular way may be utilized to help relax and ground them, or to energize them when needed. A rock that your child experiences as slow and soothing may be placed near her or his bed to be held before sleep. A small bright-energy stone may be worn in a pouch or carried in a pocket to school.

We have found that keeping special rocks all around the home is a wonderful way to stay balanced and grounded: simply seeing the stones becomes an inner reminder of stillness and serenity.

The stone project is an excerpt from Celebrating the Great Mother, by Cait Johnson and Maura D. Shaw.