One Altar

"I go into the Muslim mosque and the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church and I see one altar."
~Rumi~

Rumi

"When you're walking through the graveyard at night 

and you see a boogeyman, run AT it,

and it will go away."

"Let the beauty we love be what we do."

"Be patient.

Respond to every call

that excites your spirit."

"Don't regret what's happened.  If it's in the past,

let it go."

"This world is a mountain.  What we do

is a shout.  The echo comes back to you."

"Some human beings are safe havens.

Be companions with them.

Others may seem to be friends,

but they're really consuming your essence"

Appreciating Ourselves

"We are the greatest thing that will ever happen to us. Believe it. It makes life much easier.

It is time to stop this nonsense of running around picking on ourselves.

We may have walked through much of our life apologizing for ourselves either directly or indirectly—feeling less valuable than others, believing that they know better than we do, and believing that somehow others are meant to be here and we are not.

We have a right to be here.

We have a right to be ourselves.

We are here. There is a purpose, a reason, and an intention for our life. We do not have to apologize for being here or being who we are.

We are good enough, and deserving.

Others do not have our magic. We have our magic. It is in us.

It doesn’t matter what we’ve done in our past. We all have a past, woven with mistakes, successes, and learning experiences. We have a right to our past. It is ours. It has worked to shape and form us. As we progress on this journey, we shall see how each of our experiences will be turned around and used for good.

We have already spent too much time being ashamed, being apologetic, and doubting the beauty of ourselves. Be done with it. Let it go. It is an unnecessary burden. Others have rights, but so do we. We are neither less than nor more than. We are equal. We are who we are. That is who we were created and intended to be.

That, my friend, is a wonderful gift.

God, help me own my power to love and appreciate myself. Help me give myself validity instead of looking to others to do that."

~Melody Beattie~

Anne Lamott

"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image if it turns out that your God hates the same people you do."

Cobain

"I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."

Timber Hawkeye

"No one can drive you crazy, unless you give them the keys."

Bob Dylan

"Just when you think you lost everything, you find out that you can always lose a little more."

Gesshin Greenwood

"From the ultimate perspective, True practice is all the same practice. There's zazen in the morning, work, zazen and then sleep. Throughout zazen and work and sleep there's always your mind, your thoughts and opinions and emotions drifting by like clouds. There's your attitude and attention, which is the only thing you can really control: how you relate to people, how you chop vegetables, the quality of your interaction with the world around you. There are doubts and fears and then letting go of those doubts, and continuing with practice. The water is clear right down to the bottom, and fish swim like fish."