Aligning with Grace

"The awakened mind has two attributes.  One is compassion, what some would call love. The other is clarity, what some would call sight. They are not really two things.  Each is a function of the other. When you see, really see, you just love. When you love, really love, you just see. You see things as they are, not as you expect, and in that wide open space is love." ~ Karen Maezen Miller In the book "Paradise in Plain Sight," the author, Karen Miller, dedicates nearly two decades of her life to restoring a Zen garden to its former glory. This is no small feat. Along the way, she also seeks out a Zen teacher because she deems that her life is lost. "Your life is your practice." This is the message he entrusts her with. How simple is this? How pure? How unique? And yet how challenging? "Your life is your practice." Your life is the medium and the message.  Your life is the vehicle for the manifestation and the embo...

"Each of us inevitable, Each of us limitless - Each of us with his or her right upon the earth, Each of us allow'd the eternal purports  of the earth, Each of us here as divinely as any is here." ~ Walt Whitman, (Leaves of Grass) "There is nothing more impoverished as the deeply unawakened heart; and nothing enriches us more, and brings more life and meaningfulness, that the awakened heart." ~ Christina Feldman It amazes me how every day one can receive the messages needed, if one is open to them. Last night I was reading a chapter entitled, "Making the conscious decision to love your life," in Lorna Byrne's "Love from Heaven: Practicing Compassion for Yourself and Others."  In this section of the book, Lorna, who has had a life long ability to see and communicate with angels and beings that have passed on, states that to love is our most important mission in life. Love is indeed our essence. And so...