The Memory Quilt

Gazing at the moon and stars, my mind recalled a time 37 years ago.  Sitting in a rocking chair feeding my 6 month daughter her bedtime bottle. Cradled in my arms, I always whispered her to sleep with my voice, along with the timeless motion of the rocking chair. Stroking her head, filling my hand with the love she had added to my life, my heart. Our mother-child bond grew with every feeding, every loving whisper. She would eagerly drink the bottle, looking at me with her big blue eyes, blinking and waiting for my whisper to begin. "Are you ready?" I ask. Her chubby legs wiggled and she raised her eyebrows as though saying: "Yes mommy". So I began, the story, always being the same theme. Her eyes on the whispers of my voice, "You have lots of dreams inside you. Each dream will be created by a special talent that belongs to only you. You’re special; you’re very, very special. I promise that I will listen and help you develop that talent and those dreams. Oh yes, you have a lot to do. Oh you’re going to be very busy building those dreams." Again, her chubby legs wiggled and her sweet hand touched my mouth. "I might not be able to give you a lot of toys or fancy clothes. That’s not what builds dreams anyway; it's the talent inside you, the passion in your heart." She then placed her tiny hand on my chest, smiled, closed her eyes and went to sleep. "Yes, my child, sleep within your dreams, I will always listen to your heart speak, helping you nurture your talents."

Peace, Love, Joy to All,
Caren

Caren’s smile reflects her confidence in the power of love. She is a mainstay writer on many blogs where she digs deeply into topics of love, healing, gratitude and the evolution of Earth healing initiatives. Her charms as a provocative writer are reflected in her strong yet quiet voice. Caren is dedicated to living her unfolding life on her own terms, which she defines as, “Living in the moment with the fluid truth of my evolving process.”


(((Thanks Caren, Zensational)))

May The Force Be With You

I can’t stop thinking about a conversation i was drawn to the other night.

Given the innocuous set of circumstances, i could never have foreseen that somehow i would be compelled to provide a short list of harrowing circumstances that i have encountered as examples of; "i too have suffered". Even more shocking to me, i started with, being threatened to be shot, and continued including mild assaults, harassments and intimidations. It was a very short list, and as the days between grow i find an inner dialogue expands the list with really impressive dramatic moments of life, death and encounters with dark forces.

((((“ Moments”, ….if you have been in the presence of darkness, would you agree with me that it is just within moments, when it is realized, a potential for darkness to control the moment?)))

For those folks who don’t know me, i too am innocuous. Perhaps this is where the conversation may have held a thread of familiar that drew me in, i can only suppose. I am no Jedi warrior, my age, gender, physical characteristics, temperament and very dull life routines create a quirky, nonchalant, invisibility in a group. In every situation where i was in the presence of “the dark side”,  it may also be true that i was innocuous, an ant involved in the purpose of my task and therefore had the responsibility to do the task, believing that the task was the purpose which held me in, and would lead me out, within that perspective i continued to give “the task” my whole hearted attention.

((((Admittedly it was a spontaneous conversation and i had not given it any previous thought, so regrettably i left out all the really interesting, colorful, events. I am not a list keeper by nature, unless the list is established to remind me to do something very innocuous. )))

Bottom line truth, i have always felt safe. I don’t intentionally initiate dangerous episodes, yet i am not afraid of things that evolve and are outside of my control. I believe my life has purpose. I don’t try to paraphrase or list the purposes, to do so would limit my opportunities to events that i can realize and that would limit me to a very small area of possibilities. Could i have imagined myself riding in front of a crowd in a bullring in Spain? Living in mansions? Giving birth to children? Being shot at? Sailing? Watching a tornado pass me by? [Once again a short list of reality episodes given for a sensationalized backdrop to draw you in.] I was born with a Zen perspective; i think it is called faith. I believe i am apart of a bigger life than my own, which for me needs no explanations or rationalization.

There is a Zen premise that i don’t understand well enough to discuss, but i am mindful of, so to maybe catch  glimpses of understanding. It is the belief that in life we experience suffering and suffering is one with experiencing life.

I realize, the roots of my suffering are fertilized by my own struggles to love, me, holistically, as I am. I realize that my connection to all the moments of extreme joy, passion and love have been experienced in moments when i have been of no mind, with no further intentions other than unconditional surrender to a purpose greater than i. (((This truly has been learned through experience not formal education.)))

This may be the same threads, which run through contentment with “innocuous, quirky, nonchalant, invisibility’ as well as inner contentment when living in the center of the forces of nature’s greatness, dark or light?

May The Force Be With You,

Zen Dog

poster found @

Dear Father and Precious Mother,
sometimes we choose,
sometimes we are chosen,
grant me the gifts of acceptance,
balance, and your breath within my breath,
so that i may keep pace.
lovingly, i open all i posses to our journey along the paths we walk as ONe
(trust, is the greatest of these small possessions)

witten 9.23.09
dbc/zendog/Katherine

The Gift of Providence

"The dharma that is taught and the dharma that is experienced are descriptions of how to use your life to wake you up rather than put you to sleep. And if you choose to spend the rest of your life trying to find out what awake means and what asleep means, I think you might attain enlightenment. "

Pema Chodron; Wisdom Of No Escape

Frost covered the ground this morning as my sneakers slid along with the dogs. Lightly covered with fragile glaze, grass lay in giant cupcake mounds tumbled about in various directions. Ice began to form on the pond over night. The morning light hit the last colors of fall encouraging the browns into gold’s; the colors sent me back twenty-five years; light filters through the kitchen window highlighting the same fall hues in our son's hair. I hear him joyously speak; “Mom,” I clearly see his little hands, twirling fingers animated with information, wispy lavender nails, yellow fuzzy footed pajamas, and smell the warming aromas that embodied his nature, his tasks, his processes. From the corners of this moment his older sister chats knowingly behind blonde bangs. The light carries an unpretentious, inclusive spirit of love. Life is this moment, within this moment is life, the ordinary is extraordinary, leaving nothing else to desire, to realize, no finer riches to achieve. One step at a time in providence we continue.

Together We Walk As One,

Zen Dog

Rob with Lexie, his business partner and terrific girlfriend, are currently employed, by the owners of the sailing vessel Rivendell, [out of Holland]. They are somewhere in the Atlantic, sailing the ARC Race, then will continue to circumnavigate aboard Rivendell for the next year or more. Connect to ARC Blog.

The Presence of Synergy

With the first snap of sharp cold and holiday festivities upon us, i am reminded of the New England shoreline in winter. Strong winds lifts salt scum and as the tides recede, glistening, bejeweled, bubble mounds create lace margins where water once flowed. When the children were young we had a dog that could not stay home. She loved the beach and all the sea foods that laid waiting in the sands. She visited various neighbors and collected other dogs to join her in her travels. Around Christmas i told the children i saw her, on the beach, in secret meetings, with her canine followers. I related tales of mysterious behaviors as i updated them with my daily observations of the canines cavorting, until i realized the mission, they were preparing for their own Christmas celebration. Each day after snacks of fowl sea foods, i saw them practicing to perform a nativity pageant, to my surprise, in the center of it all, Tigger, our free spirited dog, was the Baby Jesus. My storytelling would have been laughed off by the kids had Tigger not lain down on the floor still as ice when i said the words Baby Jesus. I didn't train her to do so, it synergistically happened each time i told the story ending with the words Baby Jesus; Tigger, the Springer Spaniel who couldn’t stay home, would demonstrate a quiet down position.

Warm HUgs and Loving Energy to All,

Zen Dog

Painting on Photo: 1980 Tigger and Katherine

The Zen Of An Open Heart

Living with the Zen of an open mind encourages the heart to see and connect to the potentials’ of unpretentious love.

http://www.uzood.com/video/44291/The-Orangutan-and-the-Hound


live free
Zen Dog

What Inspires You Towards Deeper Levels of Understanding?

We invite you to comment,

"What inspires you toward deeper levels of understanding?"

Please feel free to comment multiple times.

Your thoughts on inspiration are gifts,

with momentums and connectivity,

which you selflessly offer.

For these gifts of inspiration

we extend humble gratitude,

to you and to the source

of inspiration alive within us all.

Live Free,

Zen Dog

(( Link to the radiant and beautiful full version, of Catherine L. Ghosh's presentation to the Smithsonian Institution))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0S1448lB-4

Zensational Cultural Congruence, Laughter, Love and Family

Subject:  Zensational French Bulldog from Japan, named "Chai". The original post on 'You Tube', is by lavendar2003, sent in by "Rigger."

(1) can't roll over

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxdPYCc_1mU

(2) finally he gets up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N0rPtBKGqM

(3) Chai and a cat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udB98SLzXgQ

(4) Chai and a Japanese beetle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG1hS8fyevA

Thanks Rigger,
Trick or Treat
BA-HaHa

Zen Dog

Are Mandala's Present in Your Life?

"Light echo illuminates dust around supergiant star V838 momcerotis"

Celestial Mandala sent in by Hubble

Send us your personal interpetation of a Mandala,

["lick -it"] [or] "link-it" under comments and i will send out the photos on Monday .

Shown in the center of the Mandala is the symbol of the diety being honored.

Live Free

Zen Dog

Can You Move Sand?

Mandala: "(Sanskrit maṇḍala "essence" + "having" or "containing", also translates as "circle-circumference" or "completion", both derived from the Tibetan term dkyil khor) is a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism. According to David Fontana, its symbolic nature can help one "to access progressively deeper levels of the unconscious, ultimately assisting the meditator to experience a mystical sense of oneness with the ultimate unity from which the cosmos in all its manifold forms arises." [3] The psychoanalyst Carl Jung saw the mandala as "a representation of the unconscious self,"[4] and believed his paintings of mandalas enabled him to identify emotional disorders and work towards wholeness in personality.[5]" [From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/]

http://www.flixxy.com/ukraine-talent-sand-animation.htm

Live Free,

Zen Dog

" What is a Zen Dog Collective? "

Zen: \’zen\ noun \ form of Buddhism, a major school of Buddhism originating in 12th-century China that emphasizes enlightenment through meditation and insight.  [Encarta Dictionary: English (North America)]

Koan: is a story, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Zen Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition. A famous kōan is: "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?" (oral tradition attributed to Hakuin Ekaku, 1686-1769, considered a reviver of the kōan tradition in Japan). [Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dan]

Zen Dog: a paradoxical nonlogical thought meant to create a contemporary puzzle with no logical clarification.

Zen Dog Collective: a community of nonlogical thinkers creating nothing logical or rational yet philosophical and religious questions are paradoxically answered.

http://www.presentationzen.com

Live Free,
Zen Dog Sam and Katherine

Dear Frances,

My thoughts find connection to your comment under, Every Thought Has A Frequency, Focus On What You Want, "Their hearts greet us daily with Love and joy. Adding an energy of unconditional support and love to our lives." I think it is with and within this energy that many householders include animals in their home, families, and daily lives.

Animals are revered in human culture for the idealized belief that animals instinctively exist grounded in Buddahood. However, we have accepted domestication, giving away self-reliance, impulse behaviors, and lives without attachments. This realization may be true of all animals that we encounter in civilized territories, including humans. Within the challenge to cooperatively integrate with other species we have all accepted the responsibility to, lead a disciplined life. Our first challenge in domestic life is the practice of refraining from harming others, physically, mentally, verbally, morally, in so doing we relinquish attachment to ego and objects which attract ego.

It would be a lie for me to say that i have achieved a life free of attachments, for i love my meal times, and sometimes i love my Katherine and The Children so much i almost knock them over as they ready to go for a walk. It is in these moments of enthusiasm that Katherine teaches me to sit still, reduce my expectation and be content in the moment. Our discipline to, reduce expectations and be still in the moment, enables our abilities to communicate. Within the moment, we disengage from our desire, our ego, we move into becoming ONe, we achieve understanding. We speak through our mutual contentment.

OH......i feel it is time to practice the disciplines of holistic self-care and excercise.......a walk in the woods, leads me to nirvana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJEdsfGbl0&feature=related

Live Free,

Zen Dog Sam

(((Live Free Frances, in the beauty of your Love and Joy, thank-you for sharing your thoughts we walk with you in content inspiration as we journey toward nirvana, K )))

Managing, uP, DoWN, and ACroSs the Organization

On Mondays, i feel excitement and anticipation for potentials the week will hold. Monday's bring forth in me inner excitement that continues to anticipate eagerly "the first step"onto the field. The refreshed mind has so much potential toward realizing successful solutions. Eagerly i look forward to seeing each face and

Every Thought Has A Frequency, Focus On What You Want

Inspired today by: Mountain Dog Johnny T, (and his herd of equines), a sage with long standing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=ES&hl=es&v=4-3EyMPzMoo

The video Johnny T sends inspires the realization; "Everything i need to accomplish my goals lays here right before me." In this moment the quality of  the thought becomes intention, ((Karma in Force)),  force becomes focus, ((Karma in Creation)),  focus becomes motivation, ((Karma in Potiential)), motivation becomes action, ((Karma in Presence)). Action ignites the presence of Karma.

This climbing up the ladder towards success power dog, teaches us a lesson in creating our own walk toward success using  universal tools, thought, force, and focus to motivate meaningful action, thereby empowering positive change. Is there any question that this dog, Sofia, can successfully influence life where ever she travels?

Zen Thought For This Week: Within the quality of my thoughts there lies a power of presence, this moment holds the quality of my intention, where only i will define the force of real or  imagined barriers.

To sweet girl Sofia, and Mountain Dog Johnny T, i send out thoughts of thanks and gratitude, for their inspirational ideas and their "can do" attitudes, these are thoughts with frequency that vibrate us across the ponds and forests in creativity, Love Ya, K

Live Free,

Zen Dog Sam