Hauʻōli aloha Pō’alīma

Hauʻōli aloha Pō’alīma ʻi na mea a pau ʻo ʻōukōu. Makōu ʻūa’ōlelo hānā pela ke hoīke nei ʻi kekāhi lēʻalēʻa. Nanea kō ʻōukōu. ʻI manā’olana ʻia ʻōukōu a pau ʻi kā mea hopenapule. ‘O kā maluhīa nō me ‘oe.
 
Happy aloha Friday to all of you! We are done working so lets have some fun. I wish everyone a wonderful weekend. Peace be with you.

Daily Words of the Buddha for July 30, 2020

Pāli Word a Day for July 30, 2020
jita — conquered, subdued, mastered

Tato adinnaṃ parivajjayeyya
kiñci kvaci sāvako bujjhamāno.
Na hāraye harataṃ nānujaññā.
Sabbaṃ adinnaṃ parivajjayeyya.

A disciple should avoid taking
anything from anywhere knowing it (to belong to another).
One should not steal nor incite another to steal.
One should completely avoid theft.

Sutta Nipāta 2.397
The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipāta, translated by John D. Ireland

Hau’ōli aloha Pō’ahā

Maikā’i kākahiāka ʻi nā mea a pau ʻia ʻōukōu maikāʻi pōe kānāka. Kona kupanaha Pō’ahā. E aloha ʻōukōu makemake e ʻike ʻi loko ʻo ke ʻāʻo nei. ʻI kā pōmaikā’i ʻo kā lā. ‘Ō kā maluhīa nō me ‘oe.

Good morning to all you beautiful people. It’s wonderful Wednesday. Be the aloha you wish to see in the world. Have a blessed day. Peace be with you.

Daily Words of the Buddha for July 29, 2020

Pāli Word a Day for July 29, 2020
nirodha — the cessation

Pāṇaṃ na hane na ca ghātayeyya,
na cānujaññā hanataṃ paresaṃ,
sabbesu bhūtesu nidhāya daṇḍaṃ.
Ye thāvarā ye ca tasā santi loke.

One should not kill a living being,
nor cause it to be killed,
nor should one incite another to kill.
Do not injure any being, either strong or weak, in the world.

Sutta Nipāta 2.396
The Discourse Collection: Selected Texts from the Sutta Nipāta, translated by John D. Ireland

Daily Words of the Buddha for July 28, 2020

Pāli Word a Day for July 28, 2020
sacca — the truth

Idha socati pecca socati;
pāpakārī ubhayattha socati.
So socati so vihaññati,
disvā kammakiliṭṭhamattano.

The evil-doer grieves here and hereafter;
one grieves in both the worlds.
One laments and is afflicted,
recollecting one’s own impure deeds.

Dhammapada 1.15
The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, translated from Pāli by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Hau’ōli aloha Pōʻalūa

Aloha Pōʻalūa kākōu a me aloha kākahiāka. Mohala i kā wai kā maka ʻo kā pūa.  Hoihoi keīa nani lā nā hōaloha.  ʻŌ kā maluhīa nō me ‘oe.

Hello Tuesday, everyone, and a good morning. Unfolded by the water are the faces of the flower … As water gives life to the pua (flower), water gives life to us.  Enjoy this beautiful day, friends.  Peace be with you.

Daily Words of the Buddha for July 27, 2020

Pāli Word a Day for July 27, 2020
taraṇa — going across, passing over, traversing

Yadā have pātubhavanti dhammā
Ātāpino jhāyato brāhmaṇassa,
Athassa kaṅkhā vapayanti sabbā
Yato pajānāti sahetudhammaṃ.

When things become manifest
To the ardent meditating brahmin,
All one’s doubts then vanish since one understands
Each thing along with its cause.

Udāna 1.1
The Udāna and the Itivuttaka, trans. John D. Ireland

Martial Arts | the Kung Fu Shaolin Way

For 1,500 years, Shaolin Kung Fu has been the most famous of the Chinese martial arts. Learn all about it in our documentary series, The Kung Fu Shaolin.

To master the secret of martial arts has been the lifelong pursuit of kung fu masters. Check out this episode of the documentary series, The Kung Fu Shaolin, to find out more.

For 1,500 years, Shaolin Kung Fu has been one of the most famous Chinese martial arts. To learn more about it, check out the third episode of our special documentary series, The Kung Fu Shaolin.#kungfu #shaolin

From boxing to acting, the kung fu masters have been striving and shining in different careers in real life. Check out the fourth episode of the documentary series, The Kung Fu Shaolin, to find out more.

As the Shaolin Kung Fu spreads out around the world, it has found its own way of telling itself, not only the techniques but also the spirit. Check out this episode of the documentary series, The Kung Fu Shaolin, to find out more.

A Pedagogy of Gaia: “How Lammas Changed My Life” by Bart Everson

Naturalistic Paganism

What can we learn, and how can we teach, from the cycles of the Earth — both the cycles within us, and the cycles in which we find ourselves?

A Subtropical “Fern Dolly”

The Dog Days of Summer

Do you know that time in late summer, when the air seems heavy and full, and the heat gets hotter, and everything seems to slide from ripe to overripe? It’s that sultry, sticky time sometimes called the Dog Days, after Sirius the Dog Star.

It’s my favorite time of year. Most of the people here in New Orleans think I’m crazy. Maybe I am. Then again, I work in an office which is maintained at such a bone-chilling temperature that some of my co-workers resort to using space heaters in August.

After the summer solstice, our hemisphere’s axial tilt to the sun diminishes each day. Slowly the days are growing shorter, the…

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Energy Update | Matt Kahn, for Week of July 26-August 2, 2020

Although many can view the current state of the planet as apocalyptic signs, it’s important to know that an apocalypse is actually the process of ascension merely viewed through the lens of an unraveling ego structure. To help you through this process, let’s explore the gifts and opportunities the Universe is ushering in, on all of our behalf, to move awareness beyond the surreal intensity of a rapidly-changing world. At this time, the Universe is expanding the collective consciousness by helping evolving beings such as yourself to become aware of and to continue the process of unraveling core limiting beliefs out of your cellular memory.

This means, in spite of the things you intend to manifest, the Universe is helping you acknowledge your most core limiting beliefs by putting you in circumstances and guiding you through a series of outcomes to help you notice the most limiting ideas you conclude about yourself, life, or your place in the cosmos. To help you move through this process with utmost grace, you can ask yourself the following questions:

  • When something uncomfortable, inconvenient, or unexpected happens, what reason do you give for why it occurs?
  • Is your knee-jerk reaction wondering what you did wrong to bring this about?
  • Do you hope to find the lesson as quickly as possible, so to move beyond the perception of punishment?
  • Do you do inner work so intensely, as a way of trying to get into a better standing with a Source that only loves and adores you exactly as you are?
  • Do you overly-spiritualize the perfection of divine timing by assigning blame to your ego’s behavior, a belief that your vibration must be low as a result of such outcomes, or merely holding the notion that you must not be worthy of all you wish to have?

These can be some rather bold questions, but it remains imperative to ask them in order to help you see through the veil of concepts you may be unknowingly and so innocently using to stay asleep in a dream of reward and punishment. As you continue to wake up, you begin to explore a Universe that is all reward with no punishments outside of the limiting and often heart-breaking conclusions we tend to draw in response to the unfolding journey of time. As part of the human condition, human beings often draw conclusions in response to outcomes as a way of maintaining some semblance of control. The belief tends to be: if I can understand why something is happening, I will be able to know what I can do to move through it or even transform it into greater circumstances for myself and others. As always, there is always a kernel of truth hidden within the beliefs of our deepest distortions of reality. It is true, if you could understand why something is happening, you will be able to know what you can do to move through it or even transform it into greater circumstances for yourself and others. And yet, you don’t have to be blamed as the negative cause of any particular outcome, as if you must be guilty of some form of wrong-doing just because things aren’t going the way you had hoped or envisioned.

As the Universe helps you address your most limiting beliefs you have about yourself, others, the world, and reality as a whole– mainly focusing on the limiting beliefs you have about you– it assists in the further expansion of your awakening consciousness by being able to honor the often illusive and mysterious process of transmutation.

Transmutation acts as a sacred fire burning up all that no longer serves you each and every time you are emotionally triggered or turned against yourself in response to an outcome or anyone else’s behavior.

The more you know that life will become whatever series of circumstances is needed to help you examine the limiting beliefs you hold to be true about yourself, the easier it is to let go of needing things to be any particular way in order to discover the happiness, wholeness, inspiration, and joy that you seek. It also helps you uplevel your understanding of co-creation beyond the limits of the ego’s understanding. Co-creation is real, but you are not solely in charge of what comes or goes. Since co-creation references a collaboration, it helps you understand that your partnership with the Universe allows any degree of circumstance to manifest, not because of the insistence of personal will, but through the grace of divine timing that is doing everything in its infinite power to help you become the heart-centered, embodied, and fully integrated consciously divine human you were born to be. As more space is cleared to allow such an embodied and integrated presence of your soul to move deeper into your physical body, you come to realize the true fulfillment you have been searching for comes from being aligned with spirit more often than not, and not necessarily dependent upon what you have, don’t have, want, or resent others for having.

This is why the Universe creates personal and collective head-scratching scenarios, where specific versions of you, along with other characters, show up to behave in ways that allow you to watch the limiting beliefs that may arise in response. Because the addressing of core limiting beliefs is so front and center for so many right now, the key at this time is being more compassionate with yourself than ever before. Let yourself off the hook by allowing yourself to enter a reality where things don’t happen because of anything you do or don’t do.

Because the unraveling of limiting core beliefs is escorting you beyond the confines of psychological imprisonment, it is very common right now to have a rebellious nature when it comes to self-imposed rules and rigidity. For example, if you are on a cleanse, don’t be surprised by the desire or likelihood of cheating, just to know you have the right to do as you wish and be as you may. The unraveling of limiting core beliefs also amplifies the tendency of emotional eating, in attempt to seek surrogate forms of comfort, as the beliefs that once offered comfort are seen to have overstayed their welcome. There is no doubt that as all the pieces of self are put back together throughout your journey of awakening, there will be a remarkable difference in your alignment of choices, but this process is not something your ego can micro-manage or control.

At this critical time of inner alchemical transmutation, the essential spiritual practices are those rooted in self-love and self-discovery.

It is a time where you are truly needed as the one who can deliver the light of Source energy into your being by how authentically and more often you dare to love yourself, while accepting that everything happens to usher in a new version of you and a newly-transformed reality and not because of anything you did ‘wrong’ in any way.

During this phase of transmutation, it is natural to have rampant cravings, feel stir-crazy, confused, mesmerized, or dismayed by life’s growing list of uncertainties, an increase in physical or emotional pain– including pain in your head, as well as electrical surges and shocks along major meridian points. Such symptoms, while representing evidence of transmutation in progress, also act as reminders to be gentle with yourself as you move beyond the threshold of this evolutionary process.

As the pace of life slows to give you a more direct view into the inner-workings of a conditioned past, you are able to cut the cords to each and every anchor and set sail along our most miraculous voyage into new seas of discovery.

With less pressure and rigidity overwhelming an already overwhelming time in Earth’s history, the signs of a newly-awakening world begin to surface in the beauty of your everyday life.

From my heart to yours, thank you for being here, staying the course, and being such an instrumental catalyst in ensuring that the vibration of love is channeled into your heart and reality, no matter how shameful, unworthy, or disconnected any belief suggests you to be. On behalf of the Universe, thank you for being you exactly as you are.

May the Universe show you exactly how, no matter the circumstances in view, love always has the final word. Love always wins.

 

Meditation & Reiki Healing | Relaxing Frequencies To End The Work Week On A Peaceful Note

Dear friends, Enjoy our Live Weekend stream. Listening to meditation/relaxing music has no side effects. There have been numerous studies that prove to be helpful to enhance health, focus and concentration, and many more. But none have ever reported any adverse side effects on you. Moreover it doesn’t even cost you much. It can be purchased inexpensively from music stores, or simply downloaded from the internet, which is often free. Choosing the right music can be tricky task though. While choosing your music, it is better to pick something at least an hour long. Rain sounds, wind sounds, chiming of bells, or music with flutes or simply a chant of “Om” can help you relax. Listening to something that is too loud may spur your mind and body rather than helping you relax.

La’au Lapa’au | Edible Flowers from Culinary Herbs

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Peggy Riccio

Edible flowers with deviled eggs
Deviled eggs with edible herbal flowers(Photo courtesy of Susan Belsinger)

During this time of “unintentional pausing” I have been diving even deeper into the world of herbs. I am growing a wider variety of herbs, watching herbal webinars and cooking demonstrations, and experimenting in the kitchen. Recently, I learned that flowers from culinary herbs are edible. “Edible” in this case simply means one can eat them — not that they are necessarily “tasty.” However, because the flowers are edible, regardless of their taste, they can be used for botanical color and decoration. Think of a painter’s palette with each paint symbolizing a culinary herb in your garden. Think of how that flower can add color and interest to your meals and beverages. Imagine how the flower would look whole, separated, or even minced. The following are great for adding botanical color.

Calendula with egg salad
Pot marigold flowers with egg…

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La’au Lapa’au | Spicebush to the Rescue

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Kaila Blevins

Author Volunteer TripWhile on a volunteer trip in Orlando, Florida, I was desperate for bug spray. In the middle of December, the mosquitoes nibbled on any exposed skin they could find, leaving me and the rest of the unprepared Maryland native participants with patches of red swollen bumps on our ankles and arms. Our guides, a retired couple who volunteers with the state parks, became our heroes on the second day of the trip. During our lunch break, the husband saunters over to us, carrying a branch from a nearby shrub and states, “This is spicebush. Crush its leaves and rub it onto your arms. Keeps the bugs away and helps the itch.” Immediately, we passed the branch around, ripped the leaves off the branch, crumpled them, and rubbed the lemon-peppery scented oil onto our skin.

A couple years later, I would learn that spicebush (Lindera benzoin)…

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Energy Update | July 24, 2020

Be consistent right now. Keep the visualizations going. Keep the affirmations going. Keep being positive about everything. Every moment counts. Don’t judge yourself or even judge the timing of everything. Enter a state of gratitude, celebration, and completion of your manifestations. Everything is already yours. What you think about belongs to you. What you feel is making its way towards you. What you want wants you. What you give your energy to grows and amplifies in your awareness. Stay focused on purpose. Let what goes, go. Let what comes, enter. Just keep speaking, thinking, and feeling power over your life. Nothing is complicated when you learn to just breathe, believe, and trust that everything is already happening for you. You just need to keep shinning from within and being patient with yourself. Be loving to yourself. You are very special and you being here right now shows that your life means so much more than what you can understand sometimes. Start noticing the beauty about existence. The small things like your aliveness and your energy. Your mind. Your abilities. The billion things happening every second for you that doesn’t require your conscious attention. You are being supported so feel light today. Feel warmth and love. Feel energized to be your greatest through recognizing it and allowing it now. Keep going.

Daily Words of the Buddha for July 24, 2020

Pāli Word a Day for July 24, 2020
anāghāta — freedom from anger or ill-will

Atītaṃ nānusocanti,
nappajappanti nāgataṃ,
paccuppannena yāpenti,
tena vaṇṇo pasīdati.

They do not lament over the past,
they yearn not for what is to come,
they maintain themselves in the present,
thus their complexion is serene.

Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.10
Gemstones of the Good Dhamma, compiled and translated by Ven. S. Dhammika

Hauʻōli aloha Pō’alīma

Hauʻōli aloha Pō’alīma ī nā mea ā pau ʻo ʻōukōu. Makōu ʻūa ‘ōlelo hana pela ke hoike nei ī kekāhi lēʻalēʻa. Nanea kō ʻōukōu. Hauʻōli me kā ‘ōhana a me nā hōa aloha. Hā’awi ʻĀkūa māhālo kō ʻōukōu ʻūʻūku kine hōʻopōmaikā’i ā pau nō. ʻŌ kā maluhīa nō me ʻoe.

Happy aloha Friday to all of you! We are done working so let’s have some fun. Enjoy your weekend with family and friends. Give God thanks for all your small kine blessings. Peace be with you.

La’au Lapa’au | Safe Passage for Plants & Pollinators: Building GreenBridges™

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Debbie Boutelier, HSA Past President & GreenBridgesTM Chair

It’s summer and the living is easy for our pollinators. There is an abundance of blooming plants from which to choose. A little here, a little there, moving pollen around from plant to plant and increasing the abundance. It’s glorious now, but come later in the year, it will not be as easy. Our little miracle workers will be struggling to get enough to eat. I’m also reminded as I watch these miracle workers in action that all of this is threatened, and without our help a lot of the abundance may disappear forever.

What can we do to ensure that these summer miracles continue? We can construct GreenBridgesTM that will provide places of respite and offer safe passage for our native plants and our pollinators. The Herb Society of America offers a program to do just that. Get…

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