I hear the bird sings
It is so beautiful
I will sing along.

~Zach Aurel Henderson

Miracle of love
shines its radiant ray
giving hard or hopeless hearts
a chance to see the Way.
Miracle of love
brings you consolation,
calls you from your apathy
to a place of expectation.
Love highlights your soul,
transforming all you are
and others in dark places
see your light as Hope’s bright star!

~Written by Roslyn (Ros) Mansell

Looking, listening and loving…
are skills we all need to learn;
if we wish to live to the fullest,
and help others by showing concern.

Looking for ways to encourage:
listening, for ‘unspoken’ needs.
Loving all people, through critical times,
strengthening them with prayer and kind deeds.

Opening our eyes to the promise…
of what’s possible when we believe.
Eager to serve with a purpose,
we are blessed as we trust and achieve.

Our looking, listening and loving…
calm the fears of a most troubled mind.
Christ loves us, as sister and brother:
be like Him, strive to heal humankind!

Poem title: Looking, Listening and Loving
by Roslyn (Ros) Mansell

The path begins with strong reliance
On my kind Teacher, source of all good;
O Bless me with this understanding
To follow him with great devotion.

This human life with all its freedoms,
Extremely rare, with so much meaning;
O Bless me with this understanding
All day and night to seize its essence.

My body, like a water bubble,
Decays and dies so very quickly;
After death come results of karma,
Just like the shadow of a body.

With this firm knowledge and remembrance
Bless me to be extremely cautious,
Always avoiding harmful actions
And gathering abundant virtue.

Samsara’s pleasures are deceptive,
Give no contentment, only torment;
So please bless me to strive sincerely
To gain the bliss of perfect freedom.

O Bless me so that from this pure thought
Come mindfulness and greatest caution,
To keep as my essential practice
The doctrine’s root, the Pratimoksha. Continue reading →

Sowing seeds of kindness always reaps a crop of heavenly blessings. ~Rebecca Barlow Jordan

The training in concentration is practice to make the mind firm and steady. This brings about peacefulness of mind. Usually our untrained minds are moving and restless, hard to control and manage. Mind follows sense distractions wildly just like water flowing this way and that, seeking the lowest level. Agriculturists and engineers, though, know how to control water so that it is of greater use to mankind. Men are clever, they know how to dam water, make large reservoirs and canals — all of this merely to channel water and make it more useable. In addition the water stored becomes a source of electrical power and light, further benefits from controlling its flow so that it doesn’t run wild and eventually settle into a few low spots, its usefulness wasted.

So too, the mind which is dammed and controlled, trained constantly, will be of immeasurable benefit. The Buddha Himself taught, “The mind that has been controlled brings true happiness, so train you minds well for the highest of benefits.” Similarly, the animals we see around us — elephants, horses, cattle, buffalo, etc., must be trained before they can be useful for work. Only after they have been trained is their strength of benefit to us. ~Ajahn Chah

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

What is Dhamma? Dhamma is that which can cut through the problems and difficulties of mankind, gradually reducing them to nothing. That’s what is called Dhamma and that’s what should be studied throughout our daily lives so that when some mental impression arises in us, we’ll be able to deal with it and go beyond it.

Problems are common to us all whether living here in Thailand or in other countries. If we don’t know how to solve them, we’ll always be subject to suffering and distress. That which solves problems is wisdom and to have wisdom we must develop and train the mind.

The subject of practice isn’t far away at all, it’s right here in our body and mind. Westerners and Thais are the same, they both have a body and mind. A confused body and mind means a confused person and a peaceful body and mind, a peaceful person.

Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

Actually, the mind, like rain water, is pure in its natural state. If we were to drop green coloring into clear rain water, however, it would turn green. If yellow coloring it would turn yellow.

The mind reacts similarly. When a comfortable mental impression “drops” into the mind, the mind is comfortable. When the mental impression is uncomfortable, the mind is uncomfortable. The mind becomes “cloudy” just like the colored water.

When clear water contacts yellow, it turns yellow. When it contacts green, it turns green. It will change color every time. Actually, that water which is green or yellow is naturally clean and clear. This is also the natural state of the mind, clean and pure and unconfused. It becomes confused only because it pursues mental impressions; it gets lost in its moods! ~Ajahn Chah