Living in forests far away from other people is not
true seclusion. True seclusion is to be free from the power of likes
and dislikes. It is also to be free from the mental attitude that one
must be special because one is treading the path.
Those who remove themselves to far forests often feel superior to
others. They think that because they are solitary they are being guided
in a special way and that those who live an ordinary life can never
have that experience. But that is conceit and is not help to others.
The true recluse is one who is available to others, helping them with
affectionate speech and personal example.
-Prajnaparamita
From
"Buddha Speaks," edited by Anne Bancroft, 2000.
Inner refuge is refuge in ourselves, in our ultimate
potential. When we recognize and nourish this potential, we have found
the real meaning of refuge.
-Kathleen McDonald, "How
to Meditate"
Copyright
Wisdom Publications 2001. Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist
Inspirations,"
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"Pray for
Enlightenment, Wisdom, Self Realization
and Peace for each of our 'World Leaders',
Pray for
Enlightenment, Wisdom, Self Realization
and Peace for all living things, so that we may lead the
'Leaders' in finding their Enlightenment,
so that the 'Leaders' may lead in an Enlightened
Manner ."
Rev. Sherry
Sherry
When we demand the
rights and freedoms we so cherish, we should also be aware of our
responsibilities. If we accept that the others have an equal right
to peace and happiness as ourselves, do we not have a responsibility
to help those in need?
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
From "The
Pocket Dalai Lama,"
"It is upon each of us to
pray for our enemies as we pray for our most beloved ones,
for then, and only then, can we achieve true Harmony and
Peace in our world."
Rev. Sherry
Sherry
,"
"
We own nothing but our souls and our truth, everything
else is on loan to us for our care taking ."
Rev. Sherry
Sherry
"
May you find a smile when you least expect it, and
a hug when you need it most
."
Rev. Sherry
Sherry
I am ever
present to those who have realized me in every creature. Seeing all
life as my manifestation, they are never separated from me. They
worship me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from me.
Wherever they may live, they abide in me.
-Bhagavad Gita 6:30-31
It is good to see ourselves
as others see us. Try as we may, we are never able to know ourselves
fully as we are, especially the evil side of us. This we can do only if
we are not angry with our critics but will take in good heart whatever
they might have to say.
-Mahatma Ghandi
Putting down all barriers,
let your mind be full of love. Let it pervade all the quarters of the
world so that the whole wide world, above, below, and around, is
pervaded with love. Let it be sublime and beyond measure so that it
abounds everywhere.
-Digha Nikaya
From "Buddha Speaks,"
No one can die. None can be
degraded forever. Life is but a playground, however gross the play may
be. However we may receive blows and however knocked about we may be,
the Soul is there and is never injured. We are that Infinite.
-Vivekananda
From "Teachings of the
Hindu Mystics," © 2001 by Andrew Harvey.
The ultimate source of
peace in the family, the country, and the world is altruism.
-His Holiness the Dalai
Lama, The Meaning of Life
Copyright Wisdom
Publications 2001. Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist
Inspirations,"
The Buddha was asked: "To
what extent can a person be a speaker of the way?"
He answered: "If a person teaches the way in order to transcend the
tyranny of material things and to teach how to transcend feelings,
perceptions, impulses, and consciousness--teaching nonattachment with
regard to these--then that person can be called a speaker of the way.
If he is himself trying to transcend the pull of the material world and
to feel nonattachment toward it, then it is fitting to say he is living
in accordance with the way. If he is liberated by this transcendence
and nonattachment, then you can say he has found nirvana here and now.
-Samyutta Nikaya
From "Buddha Speaks,"
edited by Anne Bancroft, 2000.
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Compassion is Better Than Anger
Compassion is better than being angry with someone or witha
situation. Remember, compassion does not mean condoning someone's
actions or approving of a situation, it means having compassion for the
person that is being a human being in a human experience, or removing
your emotional response to a situation that is distressing to you.
Changing anger to compassion restores peace and harmony within you and
around you in your energy.
Rev. Sherry Sherry Copyright © 2003
IS YOUR LIFE GOING THRU A TRANSFORMATION OR CHANGE THIS YEAR?
Blessings to each of you on your continuing journey. I think with the
passing of the imminent world crisis, many light workers are now being
called to the next step in their paths. Lightworkers did their work
which was to prevent a complete world war. Now, while not
losing the focus of Peace and Harmony, we are being called on to
also focus on other tasks and aspects of our soul's purpose(s).
Rev. Sherry Sherry May 2003
How to Ask for and Recieve God's Help and Blessings
into your Life
.
Keep up your faith, and your prayers, continue to ask your guides and
your angels to nurture and support you and to bring what you need to
you. Ask that all of your needs, wants, and desires be fulfilled by
God's divine Grace and and divine Will, in ways that bring you joy, in
ways that are for your highest good,
then ask to be able to recognize and go with God's flow. (sometimes God
sends what we need in ways that we don't expect, and we pass it by). Do
not limit God's ability by deciding HOW you should recieve what you
need, be open to all of God's Divine ways.
Rev. Sherry Sherry Copyright © 2004
>
The angels teach us to find beauty and worth in all our
earthly activities.
- Terry Lynn Taylor,
“Angel Days”
From "Angels All Around Us."
Buddhist Wisdom:
Happiness cannot come from hatred or anger. Nobody can
say, "Today I am happy because this morning I was very angry." On the
contrary, people feel uneasy and sad and say, "Today I am not happy
because I lost my
temper this morning." Through kindness, whether at our own level or at
the
national and international level, through mutual understanding and
through mutual respect, we will get peace, we will get happiness, and
we will get genuine satisfaction.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
From "The Pocket Dalai Lama," edited by Mary Craig
When we demand the rights and freedoms we so cherish, we should also be
aware of our responsibilities. If we accept that the others have an
equal right to peace and happiness as ourselves, do we not have a
responsibility to help those in need?
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
From "The Pocket Dalai Lama,"
Dangerous consequences will follow when politicians and rulers forget
moral principles. Whether we believe in God or karma, ethics is the
foundation of every religion.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
From "The Pocket Dalai Lama,"
Patience is the sprouting of religion, firmness its root, good conduct
is the flower, the enlightened heart the boughs and branches, wisdom
supreme the entire tree, the "transcendent law" the fruit, its shade
protects all living things. Say then! Why would you cut it down?
-Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king
From "365 Buddha: Daily Meditations,"
Don't cling to anything and don't reject anything. Let come what comes,
and accommodate yourself to that, whatever it is. If good mental images
arise, that is fine. If bad mental images arise, that is fine, too.
Look
on all of it as equal, and make yourself comfortable with whatever
happens.
Don't fight with what you experience, just observe it all mindfully.
-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, "Mindfulness in Plain English"
Copyright Wisdom Publications 2001. Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365
Buddhist Inspirations," edited by Josh Bartok.
In this world, in order to enable society to develop,
all its members have to assume responsibilities and make their
contribution. If we do not make collective contributions then there
will be no development.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, speaking to the Tibetan National Assembly
in Dharamsala, May 1989 From "The Pocket Dalai Lama,"
The Buddha compared people to four kinds of clay vessels. One type of
vessel has holes in the bottom. We can pour in as much water as we like
and
it runs right out. When this type of person hears the Dharma, it goes
in
one ear and out the other. The second type of vessel has cracks. Though
we
pour in the Dharma, it seeps out slowly until the vessel is empty
again. The
third vessel is full to the brim with stale water--views and opinions.
One
can't pour anything new in, everything is already known. The only
useful vessel
is the fourth, without holes or cracks and totally empty.
-Ayya Khema, "Be an Island"
Copyright Wisdom Publications 2001.
Reprinted from "Daily Wisdom: 365 Buddhist Inspirations,"
Anger is the real destroyer of our good human qualities; an enemy with
a weapon cannot destroy these qualities, but anger can. Anger is our
real enemy.
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
From "The Pocket Dalai Lama,"
You should roam in places that are your own, that arise in accordance
with your own true nature.
And what is the place that is your own? It's the pasture of ardent
clearness and mindfulness, where discontent and greed are put aside for
the sake
of the world. That is your own place, your natural range.
-Samyutta Nikaya
From "Buddha Speaks,"
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| Hindu Wisdom
Excessive anger is a great harm, but greater still is
The unmindfulness born of excessive pleasure.
Just as perpetual poverty slowly slays one's knowledge,
So does frequent forgetfulness destroy one's prestige.
-Tirukkural 54: 531-532
Excerpted from the Tirukkural, translated by Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami.
He who utters the Name of God while walking
gets the merit of a sacrifice at every step.
His body becomes a place of pilgrimage.
He who repeats God's Name while working
always finds perfect peace.
He who utters the Name of God while eating
gets the merit of a fast
even though he has taken his meals.
-Tukaram
From "Teachings of the Hindu Mystics,"
They say it is to know union with love
That the soul takes union with the body.
Love makes a man affectionate toward all,
And affection affords the priceless treasure of friendship.
They say love's greatness is this: it yields to good families
Worldly happiness here and heavenly bliss there.
-Tirukkural 8:72-74
Excerpted from the Tirukkural, translated by Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami.
In the depths of meditation, sages
Saw within themselves the Lord of Love,
Who dwells in the heart of every creature.
Deep in the hearts of all he dwells, hidden
Behind the gunas of law, energy,
And inertia.
He is One.
He it is
Who rules over time, space, and causality.
-Shvetashvatara Upanishad
Excerpted from The Upanishads, translated by Eknath Easwaran, copyright
1987
The fool tries to control his mind.
How can he ever succeed?
Mastery always comes naturally
To the man who is wise
And who loves himself.
-Ashtavakra Gita 18:41
From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by
Thomas Byrom, 1990.
Those who act without thought of personal Profit
and
lead a well-disciplined life Discover in course of time the divine
principle
That all forms of life are one.Those who work in the service of the Lord
Are freed from the law of karma.
-Shvetashvatara Upanishad
Better than a gift given with a joyous heart
Are sweet words spoken with a cheerful smile.
-Tirukkural 92
From him come all the seas and the
mountains,
The rivers and the plants that support life.
As the innermost Self of all, he dwells
Within the cavern of the heart.
-Mundaka Upanishad
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Prophesies of the Q'ero Shamans (forwarded by Beverly Nickerson)
To My Spiritual Family,
I sense the day is close at hand, the day when the world wakes
up from his-story. But this isn't just a change of outer circumstance
(to be sure there will be plenty of that) its it more a shift in Consciousness itself.
Its a shift that we all have been waiting for, yet I wonder if we really know what
we're in for. Let me just say that I feel it is not only more than we imagine,
its quite possibly more than our left brains can imagine.
I refer in part to the Q'eros' prophesy that there will be a rip
in time itself, that we will have the opportunity to make things right
and to recreate our future, for ourselves and our children's children.
Before we get the the Q'ero prophesy, though, let me review the Lakota one(s) first:
Crazy Horses vision
On the day of his greatest vision, the voice from above came to him instructing
him to look down and see what is to be. He realized that from the top of
Bear Butte he could see a great distance and all was in great detail.
Below was a town of the white people with many houses and much busy activity
but there was a coldness he couldn't understand until he saw some shacks near
the edge of town where Indians lived. He saw that his people were no longer
in their proud buckskins but now in cast off white man's clothes.
There was drunkenness, weariness and despair where pride had always been.
He felt sorry for his people and anger toward the whites but was unable to
relieve their suffering or punish their despoilers.
He heard the voice again that said "This had to be but will pass,
for all people of the earth must gather together to create a new future."
He then saw that there were a few elders who were passing the virtues of
the red road to some few of their grandchildren. Perhaps they would be the
ones to keep the spirit alive into the future...
(envisions two great wars and much strife)...
Suddenly a haze began to lift as a new dawn light began in the east.
He smiled, as the light became brighter, for he knew that a new day was arriving.
Where the light touched the earth a sacred bush began to sprout and as he watched
became a sacred tree. Beneath this Sacred Tree the animals and little people were
dancing and there was much happiness. But beyond this light there was a darkness
where men were in a hole and trying to climb free. Some could see the distant
light and were reaching to pull themselves free but others could not see it and so had given up hope.
Then he saw that some of his people were already dancing beneath the Sacred
Tree for the spirit had drawn them to this beautiful place.
He then realized that there were many different faces under this tree.
He understood that it was a tree too big for only his people alone,
it must include all races of all people, all of the people of sacred
colors of the directions, all of the red, white, yellow and black peoples.
The people were happy and dancing and there was laughter and joy among all
the people. They formed a circle and though they sang many different songs
in many different languages it was the same song of joy and happiness.
And also:
Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about
beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I
saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was
seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and
the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.
And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops
that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the
center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of
one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy.
~ from Black Elks vision
Prophesies of the Q'ero Shamans
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/profecias/esp_profecias_inca.htm
The light of idealism gleamed in his eyes as Dr. Alberto Villoldo described how an earthquake
in 1949 underneath a monastery near Cuzco, Peru, had rent the ground asunder, exposing an
ancient Incan temple of gold. This fulfilled a sign that the prophecies of Mosoq, the "time
to come," were now to be shared with the modern world.
Dr. Villoldo, a psychologist and medicinal anthropologist, has lived among and trained
with the Q'ero shamans and has played a key role in bringing their ritual and prophecy
to the awareness of the modern world. The Q'ero are the last of the Incas -- a tribe of
600 who sought refuge at altitudes above 14,000 feet in order to escape the conquering
conquistadors. For 500 years the Q'ero elders have preserved a sacred prophecy of a
great change, or "pachacuti," in which the world would be turned right-side-up,
harmony and order would be restored, and chaos and disorder ended.
The Q'ero had lived in their villages high in the Andes in virtual solitude from
the world until their "discovery" in 1949. In that year, Oscar Nuņez del Prado,
an anthropologist, was at a festival in Paucartambo, in southern Peru, when he
met two Indians speaking fluent Quecha, the language of the Incas. The first
Western expedition to the Q'ero villages then occurred in 1955.
Four years later, at the annual Feast of The Return of the Pleiades
taking place in the Andes, the gathering of 70,000 pilgrims from
South America were awed, and the crowd parted to let the Q'ero,
unannounced and wearing the Incan emblem of the sun, make their way
forward to the mountain top to make known that the time of the prophecies
was at hand. They were welcomed by the assembly and were
told, "We've been waiting for you for 500 years."
Recently, Q'ero elders journeyed to North America in fulfillment of their prophecies.
In November 1996, a small group of Q'ero, including the tribal leader and the
head shaman, visited several cities in the US, including New York, where they
performed a private ceremony at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
The shamanic ritual had not been performed for 500 years. But in the very
home of those who symbolized the former conquerors of their Incan ancestors
they shared their ritual and knowledge, not only with interested Westerners
who were learning their ways, but also with the Dean of the great cathedral,
thereby symbolically and spiritually linking the two continents of North and South America.
According to ancient prophecy, this is the time of the great gathering called
the "mastay" and reintegration of the peoples of the four directions. The Q'ero
are releasing their teachings to the West, in preparation for the day the Eagle
of the North and the Condor of the South (the Americas) fly together again.
They believe that "munay," love and compassion, will be the guiding force of this great
gathering of the peoples.
The new caretakers of the Earth will come from the West, and those that
have made the greatest impact on Mother Earth now have the moral responsibility
to remake their relationship with Her, after remaking themselves," said Don
Antonio Morales, a master Q'ero shaman. The prophecy holds that,
North America will supply the physical strength, or body;
Europe will supply the mental aspect, or head;
and the heart will be supplied by South America.
When the Spanish conquered the Incas 500 years ago, the last pachacuti, or great change,
occurred. The Q'ero have been waiting ever since for the next pachacuti,
when order would emerge out of chaos. For the past five centuries they
preserved their sacred knowledge, and finally, in recent years, the signs
were fulfilled that the great time of change was at hand:
the high mountain lagoons have dried, the condor is nearly extinct
and the discovery of the Golden Temple has occurred, following the earthquake in
1949 which represented the wrath of the sun.
The prophecies are optimistic. They refer to the end of time as we know it --
the death of a way of thinking and a way of being, the end of a way of relating
to nature and to the earth.
In the coming years, the Incas expect us to emerge into a golden age,
a golden millennium of peace. The prophecies also speak of tumultuous changes
happening in the earth, and in our psyche, redefining our relationships and
spirituality. The next pachacuti, or great change, has already begun, and
it promises the emergence of a new human after this period of turmoil.
The chaos and upheaval characteristic of this period will last another four years,
according to the Q'ero.
The paradigm of European civilization will continue to collapse, and the
way of the Earth people will return. Even more importantly, the shamanic
elders speak about a tear in the fabric of time itself. This presents an
opportunity for us to describe ourselves not as who we have been in the past
but as who we are becoming.
Pachacuti also refers to a great Incan leader who lived in the late 1300s.
He is said to have built Machu Picchu and was the architect of an empire the
size of the US. For the Incas, Pachacuti is a spiritual prototype -- a Master,
a luminous one who stepped outside of time. He was a messiah, but not in the
Christian sense of the only son of God, beyond the reach of humanity.
Rather he is viewed as a symbol and promise of who we all might become.
He embodies the essence of the prophecies of the pachacuti, as Pacha means
"earth" or "time," and cuti means "to set things right." His name also means
"transformer of the earth."
The prophecies of the pachacuti are known throughout the Andes.
There are those who believe the prophecies refer to the return of the
leader Pachacuti to defeat those who took the Incas' land. But according to
Dr. Villoldo, the return of Pachacuti is taking place on the collective level.
"It's not the return of a single individual who embodies what we're becoming,
but a process of emergence available to all peoples."
The Q'ero have served as the caretakers of the rites and prophecies of their Inca
ancestors. The prophecies are of no use unless one has the keys, the rites of passage.
The Star Rites, or "Mosoq Karpay" (The Rites of the Time to Come), are crucial to
the practical growth described in the prophecies. Following the "despachos"
(ritualistic offerings of mesa, or medicine bundles) at the ceremony in New York City,
the shamans administered the Mosoq Karpay to the individuals present, transmitting the
energies originating with the ancestors of their lineage. The transmission of the Mosoq
Karpay is the ceremony representing the end of one's relationship to time. It is a
process of the heart.
This process of Becoming is considered more important than the prophecies themselves.
The Karpay (rites) plant the seed of knowledge, the seed of Pachacuti, in the
luminous body of the recipient. It is up to each person to water and tend the
seed so that it can grow and blossom. The rites are a transmission of potential;
one must then make oneself available to destiny. The Karpays connect the person to
an ancient lineage of knowledge and power that cannot be accessed by the individual.
It can only be summoned by a tribe.
Ultimately, this power can provide the impetus for one to leap into the body of an
Inca, a Luminous One. That person is connected directly to the stars, the Incan Sun
of cosmology. The Q'ero believe that the doorways between the worlds are opening again.
Holes in time that we can step through and beyond, where we can explore our human
capabilities. Regaining our luminous nature is a possibility today for all who dare to take the leap.
The Andean shamans say,
"Follow your own footsteps.
Learn from the rivers,
the trees and the rocks.
Honor the Christ,
the Buddha,
your brothers and sisters.
Honor the Earth Mother and the Great Spirit.
Honor yourself and all of creation."
"Look with the eyes of your soul and engage the essential,"
is the teaching of the Q'ero.
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