by atmara | Dec 26, 2016 | Art, Love, Mandalas, Video
A Blessing of Angels by John O’Donohue
May the Angels in their beauty bless you.
May they turn toward you streams of blessing.
May the Angel of Awakening stir your heart
To come alive to the eternal within you,
To all the invitations that quietly surround you.
May the Angel of Healing turn your wounds
Into sources of refreshment.
May the Angel of the Imagination enable you
To stand on the true thresholds,
At ease with your ambivalence
And drawn in new direction
Through the glow of your contradictions.
May the Angel of Compassion open your eyes
To the unseen suffering around you.
May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places
Where your life is domesticated and safe,
Take you to the territories of true otherness
Where all that is awkward in you
Can fall into its own rhythm.
May the Angel of Eros introduce you
To the beauty of your senses
To celebrate your inheritance
As a temple of the holy spirit.
May the Angel of Justice disturb you
To take the side of the poor and the wronged.
May the Angel of Encouragement confirm you
In worth and self-respect,
That you may live with the dignity
That presides in your soul.
May the Angel of Death arrive only
When your life is complete
And you have brought every given gift
To the threshold where its infinity can shine.
May all the Angels be your sheltering
And joyful guardians.
Peace to you all.
In Love Always,
Atmara
by atmara | Dec 22, 2016 | Forgiveness, Healing, Inspiration, Peace, TED, TED Talks, Video
According to TED.com: “If you’re raised on dogma and hate, can you choose a different path? Zak Ebrahim was just seven years old when his father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His story is shocking, powerful and, ultimately, inspiring.”
“When Zak Ebrahim was seven, his family went on the run. His father, El Sayyid Nosair, had hoped Zak would follow in his footsteps — and become a jihadist. Instead, Zak was at the beginning of a long journey to comprehend his past.”
“Zak Ebrahim kept his family history a secret as they moved through a long succession of towns. In 2010, he realized his experience as a terrorist’s son not only gave him a unique perspective, but also a unique chance to show that if he could escape a violent heritage, anyone could. As he told Truthdig.com, “We must embrace tolerance and nonviolence. Who knows this better than the son of a terrorist?””
“In 2014 Ebrahim published the TED Book The Terrorist’s Son, a memoir written with Jeff Giles about the path he took to turn away from hate. In early 2015 the book won an American Library Association Alex award.”
Please enjoy this inspiring talk.
Zak Ebrahim: I am the son of a terrorist. Here’s how I chose peace.
For those of you not familiar with TED Talks here is a brief summery from www.ted.com: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize”
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I look forward to your thoughts and comments!
by atmara | Dec 19, 2016 | Art, Inspiration, Mandala Monday, Mandalas
A Blessed Holiday and Peace to you all.
And for your inspiration this poem by Jeff Foster:
THE COURAGE TO BE FREE (IN A WORLD GONE MAD)
The world has gone insane with work.
You alone have the courage to rest.
The world has lost its playfulness, its joy of being.
You alone have the courage to live like a free child.
To touch life at the point of creation.
To laugh at cats and snow.
People seem busy, but they are running.
Running from their feelings.
Running from shame and guilt.
Running so they don’t have to stop.
And meet themselves.
And wonder who they really are.
You alone have the courage to stop.
To feel your feet in contact with the sacred ground.
To notice your breath rising and falling.
To feel yourself caressed by the morning sunshine,
filled by the afternoon, and entered by the evening.
The world needs you, because you are not fully in this world.
You bring a presence that warms this world.
Your innocence is a balm for this world’s certainties.
The world has become jaded, but you are new.
– Jeff Foster
In Love Always,
Atmara
