Moments in Life

There are moments in life when you miss someone
so much that you just want to pick them from
your dreams and hug them for real.

When the door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often times we look so long at the
closed door that we don’t see the one,
which has been opened for us.

Don’t go for looks; they can deceive.
Don’t go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile,
because it takes only a smile to
make a dark day seem bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile.

Dream what you want to dream;
go where you want to go;
be what you want to be,
because you have only one life
and one chance to do all the things
you want to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,
enough trials to make you strong,
enough sorrow to keep you human and
enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily
have the best of everything;
they just make the most of
everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always
be based on a forgotten past;
you can’t go forward in life until
you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying
and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end,
you’re the one who is smiling and everyone
around you is crying.

Don’t count the years, count the memories …

(author unknown)

NORMAL DAY

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me not pass you by in quest of
some rare and perfect tomorrow…..
Let me hold you while I may,
for it will not always be so.
One day I shall dig my fingers into the earth,
or bury my face in the pillow,
or stretch myself taut,
or raise my hands to the sky,
and want more than all the world your return.

By Mary Jean Irion from
Yes, World: A Mosaic of Meditation

Now as if a dream

Long before time was time itself, your voice has called to me echoing from the four corners of the earth, haunting me, ever present.

How many times my head has turned, your words whispering upon my mind, beckoning, so close I could taste your sweet breath, feel your splendid warmth upon my neck, yet met with only that of gentle breeze.

Now as if a dream, you stand resolute before me, awaiting profession to that which we know as truth unto our souls, yet I have not the courage to speak what my heart aches to release.

I summon the gods in the heavens to save me from myself, that I might let this flower bloom. This love set out before me in grace and beauty, in truth and honor, filled with desire, my ages treasure, not to be denied, my adoration all consuming.

See this in my eyes, hear this in my song, feel this in my touch, understand that it is real, for when I say I love you, no fears, nor troubles, nor passage of time shall keep this love from flame.

Yours
LillyAnn

Eternal Echoes

May you awaken to the mystery of being here
and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

May you respond to the call of your gift
and find the courage to follow its path.

May the flame of anger free you from falsity.

May the warmth of your heart keep your presence aflame
and anxiety never linger about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.

May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that
seek no attention.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven
around the heart of wonder.

John O’Donohue, Eternal Echoes ~ ( Irish poet~philosopher~spiritual teacher)

A Dream: A Wish Your Heart Makes

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you’re fast asleep
In dreams you lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true

Disney Cinderella “once upon a dream”

Two Days We Should Not Worry

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and cares,
its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.

Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.
All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday.

We cannot undo a single act we performed;
we cannot erase a single word we said.
Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow
with all its possible adversities, its burdens,
its large promise and its poor performance;
Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

Tomorrow’s sun will rise,
either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise.
Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow,
for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today.
Any person can fight the battle of just one day.
It is when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities Yesterday and Tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad,
it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore,
Live but one day at a time.

~ an unknown angel ~

Contemporary Mandalas: Mirrors of Peace

The origins of the mandalas can be found in Jainism, Tantrism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Lamaism. The word “Mandala” comes from Sanskrit, the sacred language of the Indian Brahmans. “Mandala” means “Circle” or more precisely, “Sacred Circle” or “Magic”. In Tibetan it is Kyl-Khor – Kyl means “Center” and Khor means “Circle”.

The Mandalas represent the ideal world. It is a geometric form with a center -the concentration ; and a periphery -the organization. Each traditional Mandala, of oriental origin has a Mantra – sacred Hindu or Buddhist formula as its content. The Mantra is the soul of the Mandala. A Mandala is defined according to three principles of organization : the central point, a radiation from this point and the circular outer border.

The central point symbolizes the mysterious energy center, the birth place of all existence in space and time. It also symbolizes unity, totality and perfection. It is without dimension or place : the circle and the sphere are born of it. These are manifested forms from a central point. The central point appears as the beginning and end of all possible paths. The law of the center is one of silence and the law of the world, that of the periphery, is one of movement.

The radiation from the central point grows in a centrifugal fashion until it reaches the outer border where it is reflected back towards its center in a perpetual mixture of centrifugal and centripetal movements. The central point is the point of departure as well as the point of arrival for all movement signifying unity in diversity or diversity in unity.

The circle, the real border with the exterior, is the protector of the sacred contents, especially the center. It is also the symbol of infinity and the absolute. It is for this reason that the Mandala has been considered throughout time and various civilizations to be a divine symbol. The Mandalas present a model of the macro and microcosm : the center and the rotation, unity and diversity (clusters within the galaxies, solar system, body cells, molecules and atoms). It is a visualization of the universe.

The center of a Mandala represents the center of the universe. It is the heart of the universe made up of wisdom, of energy emerging from emptiness, of silence. In this silence, lives unity, the divine, the invisible, the metaphysical.

The periphery represents the creation of the world. It also represents the diversity of organization of the universe, born of its center.

If we think of the macrocosm, we discover solar systems. In the center we find the star, the sun and, orbiting around it, the planets, their satellites and their moons organized around them. If we take the galaxies : they have their centers there, where the stars are the most dense and where the light is brightest. Their peripheries are the immense arms of the galaxies or spirals which, in their turn, have their own rotation around their own centers. If we look even more deeply into the universe, we discover the clusters of the galaxies, which, in their turn, move around a center. The big bang itself reminds us of the schema of the Mandalas.

If we consider the microcosm, we discover the world of crystals, of cells and atoms which demonstrate the same schema as a Mandala. The nuclei are the centers and the structured peripheries are their circles. Each atom represents a mandala and even the nucleus of an atom is made up of quarks which have their own organization around a center, reminding one of a Mandala. “In the macrocosm as in the microcosm”, “above as below” says a very old spiritual law from the hermetic philosophy of the ancient Egyptians.

Thus the Mandala is a “Cosmogram” which represents the essential schema of the entire universe. The design of a Mandala acts on the psyche : its center unifies and its periphery stabilizes. For a human being it is a “Psychocosmogram”. It attracts the eye to this center -towards unity, towards the divine ; it pulls us towards our own center. The human brain is able to memorize symmetrical forms very rapidly and to transmit them equally rapidly to the psyche.

The psyche is made up of emotions and mental processes. The Mandala acts on the psyche in so far as it reunites and unifies through its principle of immobility, the center ; and it harmonizes through its symmetrical parts, in the periphery.

According to Dr Carl Gustav JUNG, the Mandala is an “archetype”. JUNG, psychiatrist and student of FREUD associated the Mandala with the mirror of the Self.

He used the Mandala as a tool to better understand the psyche of his patients by having them color and design Mandalas. The psyche is symbolized in the drawing.

There is obviously a connection between the symmetrical design of the Mandala and the human psyche. The symmetrical design is a reproduction of our psyche in miniature, on paper. This can vary according to the day and the mood of the person. The Mandala contains and structures the archetypal energies of the unconscious in a way that the conscious mind can assimilate.

In drawing a Mandala, we create our own sacred space, a safe place, a center where we can concentrate our energies. According to JUNG, when the Self manages to express itself through the drawing, the unconscious responds by imposing a reverential attitude towards life. When we look at a Mandala, it centers us, it harmonizes us and gives us an internal peace and silence. It stabilizes us and stimulates new ideas within us which are capable of leading us to constructive goals. For all these reasons the Mandala has been used since the beginning of time as a visual tool for Meditation.

When one meditates in front of a Mandala, one has in front of him the representation of the world and his own being ; the idea is to bring together one’s own center and that of the universe. Meditation on a Mandala gives silence, peace and harmony and brings inner stability. It allows us to look into our own world ; it guides us to the source of light within us. Meditation is the path to self knowledge – it guides us to our true identity – our divine self – that self which shines in the depths of our souls.

One meditates on a Mandala by visualizing its three dimensions – like a temple. This is why the sacred circle is often placed within a square. The square symbolizes the walls of a temple with four openings or doors which indicate, at the same time, the four cardinal points and the four heavenly directions. In India, in Tibet and throughout Asia, the major temples as well as the pagodas have been built according to the architectural principles of the Mandala.

Sacred texts lay down that each temple must be a representation of the universe. Even in the Occident, our architects have used the Mandala as a model of the creation of the world ; transcendence in the center and diverse creation in the circle. Among many possible examples, let us just consider the wonder of the rose windows and labyrinth gardens of the cathedrals.

Just as the Mandala is found in the architecture of India, Tibet and throughout Asia, so too its trace can be found in various art forms such as mosaics, engravings, sculptures, pottery, weaving, astrology, calendars, paintings on fabric, canvas, paper and also in sand paintings.

Mandalas are universal and omnipresent. Imagine just for a moment a Tibetan Mandala, think of the wealth of color and remarkable beauty, the complexity of symbolic forms.

According to the Tibetan monks, the art of the Mandala is a very powerful art, different from ordinary paintings. Making a Mandala requires many qualities : a memorization of the sacred texts, the ability to trace very precise measurements and finally the ability to draw and paint.

When a Mandala is being made it is accompanied by prayers for peace ; when it is dismantled, according to Tibetan monk tradition, it is also accompanied by prayers for peace during a special ceremony.

Buddhist Mandalas often depict numerous characters of divine nature, the main divinity being located at the center of the Mandala.

In the plant world, we often find links to the Mandala, whether it be in the form of the blossom or in the wonder of a flower, a section of a branch of a tree, of a root, of a trunk or even of a piece of fruit – all these demonstrate the structure of a Mandala.

In the animal world, these links also exist : in a bird’s nest or in a spider’s web. In fact, it is possible to link many forms of expression to the Mandala : the ripples on the surface of water, tornadoes, whirlpools, the iris of the eye, the chakras, crystals, horoscopes, kaleidoscopes, all sorts of wheels, discs, the preparation of food, in the sciences, associated diagrams … the list is endless!

Mandalas by our gifted friend and Parisian Artist Marlis Ladurée

Marlis Ladurée’s enchanting mandalas are works of great spiritual impact– living visions of thought and energy in motion. They are blissful, captivating, and soothing all at once.

Experience original mandalas reminiscent of ancient spiritual art, order a print or commission your own unique personal mandala for meditation, spiritual focus and inner peace.

Visit her gallery of entrancingly beautiful and hypnotically intricate mandalas in an amazing variety of color and form. The website in French or English,  but her exquisite mandalas require no translation!





“These Mandalas that I have painted for you are passed on from the cosmic dimension and wish to touch your heart. They will give your mind powerful energy, brilliant light and peaceful love.”

Overcoming Adversity

“Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.” ~ Napoleon Hill

The power of imagination

“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” ~ John Muir

The Light Of Love

Nothing glows brighter than the heart awakened to the unseen light of love that lives within it. ~ Guy Finley

« Previous Page — Next Page »