Thursday, April 28, 2016

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia / Flor del dia / Flower of the Day – 28/04/2016

“Para um explorador da consciência realmente disposto a se conhecer, o medo é uma ferramenta de autoconhecimento. O medo tem sempre algo a ensinar. Por isso, quando ele bater na sua porta, procure colocar-se presente, mesmo se estiver tremendo da cabeça aos pés. A partir daí, observe: Quem em você está se sentindo ameaçado? Quem em você vê a vida como um perigo? Você verá que existe um eu encantado com uma história de terror que você acredita ser a sua vida. Você acredita ser esse eu amedrontado, mas ele é apenas um personagem que você criou para se defender; ele é um produto das crenças instaladas no seu sistema a partir de eventos traumáticos do passado. E devido à identificação com o passado você fantasia o futuro – um futuro que não existe.”

“Para un explorador de la consciencia realmente dispuesto a conocerse, el miedo es una herramienta de autoconocimiento. El miedo tiene siempre algo que enseñarte. Por eso, cuando golpee tu puerta, busca colocarte presente, incluso si estuvieras temblando de la cabeza a los pies. A partir de ahí, observa: ¿Quién en ti está sintiéndose amenazado? ¿Quién en ti ve la vida como un peligro? Verás que existe un yo encantado con una historia de terror que crees que es tu vida. Crees ser ese yo amedrentado, pero es apenas un personaje que creaste para defenderte, es un producto de las creencias instaladas en tu sistema a partir de eventos traumáticos del pasado. Y debido a la identificación con el pasado, fantasías con el futuro, un futuro que no existe.”

“For an explorer of consciousness who istrulycommitted to knowing oneself, fear is just a tool forself-awareness. Fear always has something to teach us. For this reason, when fear knocks on our door, we should aim to return to the present moment, even if we have been completely shaken from head to toe. From this place of presence, we can observe and ask ourselves, ‘Who in me feels threatened? Who in me views life as dangerous?’Then, we can begin to see that there is a particular psychological self that is mesmerized by this horror story that we believe our lives to be. We believe that we are this terrified self, but it is merely a character we have created as a self-defense. It is a product of the beliefs that were programmed into our systems due to traumatic events from thepast. This identification with the past is what causes us to fantasize about the future; a future that doesn’t even exist.”

Via FB:


A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble... At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up. 'The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree..

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.

Via Daily Dharma / April 28, 2016: Learn Your Thought Patterns

As we become more familiar with our thoughts in meditation, we will see how repetitive our thoughts are. We often think very similar things over and over again and it is actually rare to have what I would call a creative, original thought.

—Martine Batchelor, "Meditation, Mental Habits, and Creative Imagination"