Being What We Are

"It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is."
                                                                    Desiderius Erasmus

To me this quote shares a truth for me: That if we live for our dreams and purposes, guided by God and our intuition, and if those dreams and purposes help a little in sharing a more loving and peaceful world, then we'll have happy lives, no matter how long we live. It's not how many years we live that should matter. What should matter is to have a beautiful life making a little contribution in our little corner of this world.

A Creative Person, from Osho

A creative person is one who has insight, who can see things nobody else has ever seen before, who hears things that nobody has heard before...The soul happens only when the artist disappears into his art -he is no longer separate. When the painter paints with such abandon that he is not there, so that he even feels guilty to sign his painting because he knows he has not done it...Some unknown force has done it through him, he knows that he has been possessed. That has been the experience of all the really great artists down the ages: the feeling of being possessed. The greater the artist, the more clear the feeling is. And those who are the greatest - a Mozart, a Beethoven... those who are the greatest are absolutely certain that they have been nothing but hollow bamboos and existence has been singing through them. They have been flutes but the song is not theirs. It has flowed through them, but it comes from some unknown source. They have not hindered - but they have not created it. By Osho

Happines & Unhappiness

The old saying, "there's a time for everything under the sun", can be applied to our lives. To me it means that it's wise to be open and accept what happens, even if we don't like it. We've learned to be happy if something happens as we wished and unhappy if the result is against our wish. Happiness is sought and unhappiness avoided. Life, in that way, can be compared to a race where only those who become happy can win. The key to living a peaceful life is to accept good and bad moments as they come without harboring negative feelings. The time we spend enjoying life is great, but we should also learn that suffering, unhappiness and death are also part of life and we should accept them without complaining. In this world happiness is not permanent. We can only enjoy moments of it. We can't trap it and put it in a bottle for us. What we can do instead is to be fully engaged in the moment. We know that time is an illusion and only the moment exists, nothing more. We experience peace in our souls only when we accept each moment and live it fully.

The Beauty of Creating

It's a joy to be able to compose a short guitar piece every day. The music is simple, but I intend to be the best I can so that I have only quality music always. I began doing this on September 1, 2012, and I committed to doing this for a full year. I hope I can fulfill this. Composing the music is fine, but I just have to plan my days so that I have a computer ready to video record and upload the music every day into Youtube.

Music for Healing

Traduzca al Español: http://translate.google.com

We've heard and read that music heals. For instance, David played the harp to calm Saul when he was depressed and/or enraged. For years I've been fascinated by this story and the power of music to bring healing. Of course, just like the spoken 'word', we can use music for any purpose: war, love, peace, healing, solidarity, goodness, hatred, etc. I hope that we always choose it for good purposes.

By the way, I found a program for training musicians who want to minister to people who are sick or dying: MHTP.

http://www.mhtp.org/FAQ.aspx. I also found out that there are many musicians who are hired by hospitals in the USA to play for people who are sick or dying. It's been found that music does indeed help. Read this:

• At the California State University in Fresno, studies by psychologist Janet Lapp have shown that migraine patients who have started and continue to listen regularly to their favorite music have one-sixth as many headaches as before.
• Premature babies at UCLA in Los Angeles and at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta gained weight faster and used oxygen more efficiently; and babies at Tallahassee Memorial Regional Medical Center had shorter stays in the Intensive Care Unit when music was played for them daily, compared with babies in control groups without music.
• For adult patients, "half of an hour of music produces the same effect as ten milligrams of Valium", says Dr. Raymond Bahr, head of the Coronary Care Unit at Baltimore's St. Agnes Hospital
• When used by surgical patients, music has been shown to help reduce the amount of anesthesia needed during surgery and as well as post-operative pain medication, according to Fred Schwartz, MD, anesthesiologist at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Dr. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist who has done studies on Parkinson's Disease, Tourette's Syndrome, and Alzheimer's says, "Whenever I get a book on neurology or psychology, the first thing I look up in the index is music, and if it's not there, I close the book."

Such is the power of music!

Forgiveness

Traduzca al español aqui: http://translate.google.com

Forgiveness. The best way to end a quarrel is by forgiving. The best way to help transform a person is by forgiving. The best way to transform ourselves is by forgiving. The best way to show love is by forgiving. Forgiveness is the best antidote to wars and conflicts. Forgiveness, along with laughter, is the best medicine for our body and mind. Do you want to make lasting friends? Often forgive them. Below is a beautiful tradition of forgiveness:

In The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace, Jack Kornfield describes an African forgiveness ritual: "In the Babemba tribe of South Africa, when a person acts irresponsibly or unjustly, he is placed in the center of the village, alone and unfettered. All work ceases, and every man, woman, and child in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused individual. Then each person in the tribe speaks to the accused, one at a time, each recalling the good things the person in the center of the circle has done in his lifetime. Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy, is recounted. All his positive attributes, good deeds, strengths, and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length. This tribal ceremony often lasts for several days. At the end, the tribal circle is broken, a joyous celebration takes place, and the person is symbolically and literally welcomed back into the tribe."

Jesus asks us to forgive always. Infinite times. Let’s forgive and we’ll see how our little world can change one person at a time. We can indeed bring a piece of heaven to earth when we do so.

Happines & Unhappiness

The old saying, "there's a time for everything under the sun", can be applied to our lives. To me it means that it's wise to be open and accept what happens, even if we don't like it. We've learned to be happy if something happens as we wished and unhappy if the result is against our wish. Happiness is sought and unhappiness avoided. Life, in that way, can be compared to a race where only those who become happy can win.

The key to living a peaceful life is to accept good and bad moments as they come without harboring negative feelings. The time we spend enjoying life is great, but we should also learn that suffering, unhappiness and death are also part of life and we should accept them without complaining.

In this world happiness is not permanent. We can only enjoy moments of it. We can't trap it and put it in a bottle for us. What we can do instead is to be fully engaged in the moment. We know that time is an illusion and only the moment exists, nothing more. We experience peace in our souls only when we accept each moment and live it fully.