Don’t waste a good Mistake!!

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Rod's World

I have been reading a business development book written by Jack De Losa called Unprofessional. I have learned so much from it and after putting it down last night I thought about what sources I learn from these days and what were the ones I learned from during my previous 61 years.

I suppose the first I remember is Enid Blyton, an iconic English children’s writer who has sold over 600 million books, who has been accused of being elitist, sexist and racist in our more enlightened times but her books always had a high moralistic value that appealed to me.

How do you learn in these days of instant gratification? Do you Google it? Are you an old school radio and print media fan? Let’s have a look at how the world looks at it:

1. Three very important ways to look at learning, how many of them do you utilize?

2. There is a saying the day that you stop learning is the day you begin to die, I think that’s what Robert is referring to : It takes two to Tango.

3. I was often referred to as a curious child, I’m not sure which definition they were referring to: eager to know or learn something or strange; unusual.

4. We all come out with the same amount of knowledge, then it is up to our guardians to ensure that we attain a level of understanding that makes us a worthy human being: Absolute Beginners.

5. Sometimes I think whoever invented the examination system of schooling never learned this in their own education.

6. Check out Bill Cosby’s look in this clip : Reeling in the Years. My mum is 89 and still an avid reader.

7. His work includes several of the most popular children’s books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.

8. I wish I had known this acronym back in the day of my formal education. Called into the office and told not to come back because I hated it and never used to go: Feet , don’t fail me Now!

9. Gratitude is one of the great learning traditions, in Melbourne Australia, my home town, we have an FB page : Daily Gratitude Space. Join us and contribute what you have learned.

10. What a beautiful quote, live full out, learn like you were eternal : Eternal Flame.

11. Love my Lao Tzu, Confucious – Guess Who?

12. From the world’s most famous quotes author, The distinguished Anon. Get on the Unstoppable train : Unstoppable.

13. They say that it will keep occurring until you learn the lesson it/they have been sent to teach you. Yes, Life never stops teaching!!

14. It’s always an idea to do something with the learning, or it is really an obsolete practice: Do it like a Dude.

15. There is that part of learning we often try to ignore and wish that it would go away, guess what it doesn’t and yes, they happened as part of our learning.

Being alive puts you in the daily learning academy, do you resist the lessons or grow from this ever expanding life you have been given.

Namaste until next time my dear friends.

No matter the Situation!!

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Rod's World

I was always considered intelligent at school but was expelled at the end of Year 11 for non attendance. I may have been intelligent but did not consider a formal education the way to honour it. I spent many a day in Year 11 not attending the institution, Eaglehawk High School I had left my parents home to go to.

Many years later I began the education that would fulfil my desires, in the self development field. Through the tenets of Buddhism and Werner Erhardt and Associates I began a journey that I still continue today that will continue to the day I pass to the other side.So what does society have to say about where the fulfilment of intelligence lies, let’s have a look:

1. My favourite bird, the noble owl suits this quote that Henry Ford made famous in the early years of the last century questioning were people allowed to think in an education system that was set up to train clones for jobs that already existed.

2. Being supremely intelligent did not necessarily mean that you fitted in . Here are some unusual facts about Albert: Quirky Albert.

3. Often people who come up with the great changes on our planet are considered quite crazy because how could their idea work or there is no need for that when they first start talking about it.

4. Janis Joplin, one of the 60’s great philosophers, was not known for her answers , she was known for her questioning of society: Ball and Chain.

5. Albert again, he did not shout in life, just kept improving his arguments until they gave him the Nobel Prize for one of them.

6. Or Love, kindness, inner beauty etc. etc. etc: Money.

7. I read recently you should be the dumbest person in the room if you want to be a success, this relates to that.

8. Epictetus was a Greek-speaking Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia, and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in north-western Greece for the rest of his life. His teachings were written down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses and Enchiridion: Just Do It.

9. They say when you are born 60% of the jobs you will do have not been invented yet, but in our country they are trying to return the education system to a standardised system throughout the country, why would you do that?

10. There is also a fourth these days, artificial which could be seen as replacing one or two of the above: Prince Ea.

11. How can you keep on learning if you are always the smartest person in the room, if this occurs more times than less, then you are going backwards.

12. Your physical looks do not remain the same, we get lines and wrinkles as the years pile on. Your wit and foresight grow over time: I don’t want to change You!

13. I had to include this one, because I am known as the research nerd, research intellectual bad ass has a much better ring to it.

14. Intelligent people will really get this: Pharrell is Happy.

15. I love this quote by Albert, It’s why I rail against the education system that thinks everyone is the same.

Intelligence is a gift we could all participate in when we enter our lives from the womb, we just need to find the right education path. Don’r rely on the one that the system says is the one that will work for you.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

What’s meant to Be!!

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Rod's World

I spent quite a few years of my life being impatient that life should go a certain way then took up meditation on advice from a friend of mine who seemed much more relaxed about life than myself.

I was terrible at it first with my monkey mind on overdrive, but slowly I learnt the art of patience and mindfulness and have been able to accept that this madness of our society for instant gratification is not how life is meant to be , that good things come with patience. Let’s define patience before we begin our journey.

Patience (or forbearing) is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on negative annoyance/anger; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one can have before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast. Antonyms include hastiness and impetuousness.

I have found 15 quotes that go back as far as Ancient Greek times, lets begin.

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1. At first having a massive to do list may seem to some that we are getting more done, but our mind is so busy with getting from A to B to C that we are concentrated on what we already know and are missing out on what is available from the universe.

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2. Edmund Burke was an Irish statesman born in Dublin, as well as an author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher who, after moving to London, served as a member of parliament for many years in the House of Commons with the Whig Party. With all those occupations Edmund must have lived the above quote throughout his life: Growing Up.

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3. Often we leave the most important person off the list of people to be patient with, our parents, our siblings , our lovers, but what about ourselves, Yes, self love is one thing that must make that list.

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4. Here’s the ancient Greek. How many times have we begged something to happen when through it not occurring a much sweeter fruit has ended up in our basket: Strange Fruit.

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5. saadi – Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī, better known by his pen-name Saadi (سعدی Saʿdī( Saadi )), also known as Saadi of Shiraz, was one of the major Persian poets and literary men of the medieval period. He is not only famous in Persian-speaking countries, but has been quoted in western sources as well. He is recognized for the quality of his writings and for the depth of his social and moral thoughts. Saadi is widely recognized as one of the greatest poets of the classical literary tradition. How often we forget this.

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6. The quick wins don’t make you the master, It’s more how you react and recover from Mistakes that maketh the man, success includes patience as part of the recipe: That Power.

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7. Wait for what is meant to be , not force an issue. 365 or 1 day, it will find you.

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8. It’s the actions between the waiting that show you the power of patience. Do right things and the results will follow: Patience.

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9. The never ending story we tell ourselves in our heads like It will never work out, why doesn’t he/she like me are instant gratification stories. Have patience that yes, it will still happen.

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10. The traditional 10, 9, 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,Blast off we all can relate to from the space program points to how after spending millions of dollars time is still taken to the very end, and beginning: Space Oddity.

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11. You are unique among 7,000,000,000 people. Trust that and your journey will be a lot easier.

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12. I didn’t know this, when I buy one I will obviously have to be patient waiting on its delivery: It makes you feel like dancing.

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13. John Kabat-Zin is one of the pioneers of mindfulness in the western world. Check out his YouTube talks on the subject, he’s very impressive.

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14. Can’t wait for the result, I’m sure you have a few hundred other tasks you could do to take your mind off it: KIds.

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15. Augustine of Hippo – Augustine’s contemporaries often believed astrology to be an exact and genuine science. Its practitioners were regarded as true men of learning and called mathemathici. Astrology played a prominent part in Manichaean doctrine, and Augustine himself was attracted by their books in his youth, being particularly fascinated by those who claimed to foretell the future. Later, as a bishop, he used to warn that one should avoid astrologers who combine science and horoscopes. (Augustine’s term “mathematici”, meaning “astrologers”, is sometimes mistranslated as “mathematicians”.) According to Augustine, they were not genuine students of Hipparchus or Eratosthenes but “common swindlers”.

So my request is to aim high, but also to show patience on the journey.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends

namaste

Are you on the right path!!

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Rod's World

I have done several workshops lately, the latest being on Experiential Astrology , the new Moon and Kali. I don’t know a great deal about Kali, having studied more the Lilith and hecate lineage of goddesses over my trip so I looked up Kali.

Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time. There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time. In Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala. Mother Kali is the most misunderstood of the Hindu goddesses. The Encyclopedia Britannica is grossly mistaken in the following quote, “Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love.”

It is partly correct to say Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality. Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death). It is true that both Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate. This is not to worship death but rather it is to overcome the I-am-the-body idea by reinforcing the awareness that the body is a temporary condition. Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego. Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego. Thus we are the eternal I AM and not the body. This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds.

Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality. The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise. A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome form. A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.

A worthwhile guidance to follow in Life, so let’s have a look at what life says about being guided:

1. They sat very few individuals ever reach enlightenment because most people do not have the stamina to take all the steps required. I think we need to remember this and that there will be a lot more steps.

2. Yes, you are not one of the 150,ooo people who died on the planet today if you are reading this. That means you have survived those countless mistakes you have made and are still being guided: Life is a Flower.

3. In a week one of the two most unelectable people in the western world will be president of the United States. Guess what , have the courage to let go of what you can’t change.

4. Mason Cooley (1927 – July 25, 2002) was an American aphorist known for his witty aphorisms. One of these such aphorisms Cooley developed was “The time I kill is killing me.” He was professor emeritus of French, speech and world literature at the College of Staten Island. He was also an assistant professor of English at Columbia University from 1959 to 1967 and an adjunct professor from 1980 to 1988. He received his B.A. from San Diego State University and his Ph.D. from Oxford: Bad Blood.

5. One of the more forgotten religious guides, if you say you follow your guiding angel you often get a smirk from certain individuals.

6. If you are lucky you might find one of these guides in your life, perhaps even more than one. I have one at the moment, Arion Light from the Activation School: Blinded by the Light.

7. You can’t read the whole quote but certainly get the gist of it.

8. Pick a side to be on, Douglas bader was a famous fighter pilot in WW2 who lost both his legs in an accident and returned to combat. I want some of the divine guidance he was receiving: Break the Rules

9. I love the emoji for a hug, the little yellow creature holding its hands out, perhaps it’s doing this.

10. I would suggest you are being well guided by this quote,and there’s butterflies, yay!!: Stuck on You.

11. I am always so thankful the Chinese gave us the wisdom of Lao Tzu. This is from Confucius, another very wise man.

12. Coco Chanel was known for her lifelong determination, ambition, and energy which she applied to her professional and social life. She achieved both financial success as a businesswoman and catapulted to social prominence in French high society, thanks to the connections she made through her work. These included many artists and craftspeople to whom she became a patron. In 1970, her net worth was $19 billion (equivalent to $118 billion in 2015), making her one of the richest women of all time. She thought for herself, very loud: I Won’t Back Down.

13. My friend Leyolah Antara swears by prayer, saying it is vital in entering being guided, she is the founder of Kundalini Dance, Leyolah Antara.

14. If there is a piece missing, all there is to do is persevere, really: Prince Ea.

15. My favourite cigar smoker, Led England during WW2, made great speeches and wrote some great quotes, here’s one.

Don’t give up on looking for your guided, I found my best one at 60.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

P.S. I was having the day off, and nearly forgot to write this.

We’re all in the same Game!!

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Rod's World

I live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. It was the policy of succeeding governments , both left and tight to place the heavily demonised asylum seekers who had arrived on the shores of our proud country amongst our population. What they did not mention is they placed them in houses without furniture and food, some without electricity for days. This would never be reported in the mainstream media of our country as they are on the side of asylum seekers are evil.

I work at Darebin Intercultural Centre, set up to assist the assimilation of new groups to our multicultural neighbourhood. We set up an asylum seeker lounge to get the new arrivals out of their houses and into the community and provided free English lessons for anyone, some visa classes issued to asylum seekers banned them from working, volunteering and receiving the basic 510 hours English training, but we are called a civilised country.

So who is an asylum seeker, here’s the definition if you didn’t know :

asylum seeker – a person who, from fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, social group, or political opinion, has crossed an international frontier into a country in which he or she hopes to be granted refugee status.

It does not say if you came by boat you were queue jumping, that is something our government made up, so lets have a look at what the world has to say about it:

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1. I was asked a question at an event called The Awakening that I attended yesterday. It was, What is it that makes you lose hope? My answer is tribalism or nationalism, that ethos that makes people thing that there are human beings on the planet who matter less than people born in your country.

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2. What would the world look like if we followed the above words of the great orator and civil rights champion, Martin Luther King : Justice.

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3. I teach English to asylum seekers. One of them is a Sri Lankan woman who was born in a refuge camp in Indian, having two children there. Whose relations paid for her to travel to Australia by boat as she had no chance of getting out of the camp legally, where she and her children was placed on Christmas island and Darwin detention centres for 12 months before being allowed into our community.

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4. This is how having to look after Asylum seekers is portrayed by mainstream media in our country : Share It Maybe.

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5. These are two lines from our national anthem Advance Australia Fair, we seem to have forgotten something.

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6. One of the tricks used to raise worry about asylum seekers is that they won’t fit in. Perhaps the fact that modern day coffee and the guitar owe their discovery to the middle east may allay these fears: Guitar Live.

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7. Our Air Force at the moment bombing parts of Syria, I would call that shock and awe, get the connection.

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8. How do we fix the problem of asylum seekers flooding our shores? Our country has increased its equanimity with each cultural intake of refugees. When I grew up as a child all you could get was steak and three veg. at roadside cafes, I now live in a suburb with about 20 different culture’s food outlets; When you say nothing at All.

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9. William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer and Nobel Prize laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays, and screenplays. He is primarily known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where he spent most of his life.

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10. Before planes everybody arrived in our country by boat, The first boat arrivals, the English, declared Australia Terra Nullius,Terra nullius – Indigenous Australians had inhabited Australia for over 50,000 years before European settlement, which commenced in 1788. Indigenous customs, rituals and laws were unwritten and their social and political organization was unknown or understood by Europeans as being analogous to their own institutions, and the British could not find recognised leaders with whom they could sign treaties.

The first test of terra nullius in Australia occurred with the decision of R v Tommy (Monitor, 29 November 1827), which indicated that the native inhabitants were only subject to English law where the incident concerned both natives and settlers. The rationale was that Aboriginal tribal groups already operated under their own legal systems. This position was further reinforced by the decisions of R v Boatman or Jackass and Bulleyes (Sydney Gazette, 25 February 1832) and R v Ballard (Sydney Gazette, 23 April 1829).

Prompted by Batman’s Treaty (June 1835) with Wurundjeri elders of the area around the future Melbourne, in August 1835, Governor Bourke of New South Wales indicated the significance of the doctrine of terra nullius by a Proclamation that Batman’s so-called treaty was null and void because Indigenous Australians could not sell or assign land, nor could an individual person or group acquire it, other than through distribution by the Crown. a land with out people , and set about trying to wipe out the native indigenous people on their arrival: Treaty.

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11. One of the methodologies used by the Australian government was to stop reporting the arrival of boats in the name of national security.

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12. One of the asylum seeker couples I taught English to were a civil engineer and a doctor who had to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban declared a fatwa on Lina, who was a doctor who had been empowering women. Most people who seek asylum had jobs before they had to drop everything and run for their lives: Getting It On.

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13. Words not included in the asylum seeker who arrived by boat in Australia policy. We have generously given them temporary visas where they must reapply every three years to see if they can stay. What would you feel like in your life was measured on a three year life span.

14. And this is one of the main reasons that we know the term asylum seeker: War, what is it good For.

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15. I have friends who say questionable things about asylum seekers, The first question I ask them is have they ever met an asylum seeker? There answer is usually in the negative.

I request you to research your knowledge of what is written about asylum seekers. A viewing of the excellent Mary meets Mohammad documentary helps greatly.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

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Real Heroes don’t wear Capes!

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Rod's World

I won a competition when I was very young dressed as a super hero. As you get older you realise that the heroes in life don’t necessarily wear capes. That heroics are much simpler than that, a smile when you feel down, a hug when you feel lonely. a dollar in a cup.

Appreciation of what they do is what people remember, it has been an ongoing battle for me as it was not a strong point in my family as I was growing up. I have to remember to say thank you as it was not something I learnt from an early age.

Acts of appreciation, what does society say about them, lets have a look:

1. Margaret Elizabeth Cousins, also known as Gretta Cousins (7 October 1878–11 March 1954) was an Irish-Indian educationist, suffragist and Theosophist, who established All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) in 1927. She was the wife of poet and literary critic James Cousins, with whom she moved to India in 1915. She is credited with composing the tune for the Indian National Anthem Jana Gana Mana in February 1919, during Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to the Madanapalle College.

2. I am not like the millions who think that the Tony Robbins documentary I am not your Guru is a classic. Too me it looks a lot like manipulation but a lot of people I respect swear by him and have done the fire walk : The Tony Robbins Experience.

3. I still remember the Japanese airline staff member who walked us to the front of the line in Kyoto airport because we were due to miss our flight as we had assumed a flight to Moscow would be international. It was domestic and we could not read the signs in 1990.

4. Expectations versus acts of Appreciation. How dull has your relationship become when your day to day actions are expected? : Someone Like You!!

5. This is not so easy to do, a dear friend of my brothers is in hospital at the moment with the possibility she will not see 50, you never expect this.

6. Bruce Wilkinson is a Christian philosopher and author who has given keynote addresses at major national and international events with stadium audiences of 80,000 or more. He has written more than 60 books that have been translated into 30 languages, including several books that reached the number one spot on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Bruce’s book, The Prayer of Jabez, remains the fastest-selling book in history, with worldwide sales exceeding 20 million. Scarlet Begonias.

7. A little known secret that can have you lead a fulfilled life.

8. The Wonder of you. A lot of songs have been written about this. Here’s the most famous by the King: The Wonder of You.

9. Aaron Polson currently lives in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife, two sons, and a tattooed rabbit. His stories have featured magic goldfish, monstrous beetles, and a book of lullabies for baby vampires. His work has seen print in Shock Totem, Blood Lite II, and Monstrous with several new stories forthcoming in Shimmer, Space and Time, and other publications. The Saints are Dead, a collection of weird fiction, magical realism, and the kitchen sink, is due from Aqueous Press in 2011. “

10. These people are rare, we usually marry them or have them as our children. Have you seen that ad were the father announces his death to get his children to come at Christmas. It says a lot about unconditional love. Here’s a disco version: Unconditional Love – Donna Summer.

11. One of the most famous quotes ever written about appreciation comes from Maya Angelou and it doesn’t even use the word.

12. When you put your love out there you are giving your power away, it lies within the life within you, the same for flowers, don’t pick them and bring them to an early death : Dead Flowers by Townes.

13. My friend Daniel started a Facebook page : Daily Gratitude Space for a forum so people could write what they appreciate daily. It has grown to over 1,000 members. Join, its a beautiful thing to do.

14. Love her or hate her, Mother Teresa’s words are still quoted 20 years after her death. There are many Indians alive today who appreciate what she did for them even though she was considered a bit narky : Mother Teresa’s Song.

15. What can you not say about the great man who is Wayne Dyer. Who did he appreciate? Wayne Dyer stated Nisargadatta Maharaj to be his Teacher and cited the quotation, “Love says: ‘I am everything’. Wisdom says: ‘I am nothing’ from a compilation of talks on Shiva Advaita (Nondualism) philosophy I Am That. He was influenced by Abraham Maslow’s concept of self-actualization and by the teachings of Swami Muktananda, whom he considered to be his Master. In his book, Wishes Fulfilled; Mastering the Art of Manifesting, Dr. Dyer also credited Saint Francis of Assisi and the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu as foundational influences in his work.

I appreciate all of you who read my blogs, I am in awe you are from all over the world. I was especially bemused by the person from St. Kitts who read one.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

It’s a divine Purpose!!

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Rod's World

Support – It means many things across our society which could not exist with out it. We often hold ourselves as separate but this is far from the truth as without the support I received on my arrival on this blessed planet from my parents I would not be here writing this. It could be any of the following areas but I have focused on the support of family and friends, to me a divine purpose:

VERB

bear all or part of the weight of; hold up:

give assistance to, especially financially:

provide with a home and the necessities of life:

give approval, comfort, or encouragement to:

be actively interested in and concerned for the success of (a particular sports team).

(supporting)

(of an actor or role) of secondary importance to the leading roles in a play or film.

(of a pop or rock group or performer) function as a secondary act to (another) at a concert.

suggest the truth of; corroborate:

produce enough food and water for; be capable of sustaining:
endure; tolerate:
(of a computer or operating system) allow the use or operation of (a program, language, or device):
NOUN
a thing that bears the weight of something or keeps it upright:

the action of supporting something or someone or the state of being supported:

material assistance:

approval, encouragement, or comfort:

technical help given to the user of a computer or other product.

evidence that serves to corroborate something:

a secondary act at a pop or rock concert:

Lets have a look at how life talks about the act of supporting one another:

1. I spend time volunteering at two organisations because over my many years on this planets I have learnt that the biggest changes in my life have occurred when I have been involved in community action.

2. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a non-academic historian, a writer (as Winston S. Churchill), and an artist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his overall, lifetime body of work. In 1963, he was the first of only eight people to be made an honorary citizen of the United States, he espoused that any one could lead a good life: Everybody.

3. Are you on some ones to do list or do you live in their heart?

4. I spent yesterday at a workshop called clarity and productivity, this is the type of support that would honour the person you are giving it to: Aretha’s Respect.

5. Possibly the most famous love affair of our time, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, who is the Snoopy in your life?
6. I have put my siblings through times where it was their love that sustained out relationship not my actions, I regret doing this but at the time I was not capable of anything else: That’s what friends/family are for.

7. Through giving support this is the gift you give to yourself, unconditional self love.

8. I saw this image and fell in love with it, then I read the message about the knowing. I have this in my life, thank you all: Sometimes when we Touch.

9. Gloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite. During the 1930s, she was the subject of a high-profile child custody trial in which her mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, and her paternal aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, both sought custody of the child Gloria and control over her $5 million trust fund. The trial, called the “trial of the century” by the press, was the subject of wide, sensational press coverage due to the wealth and notoriety of the involved parties and the scandalous evidence presented to support Whitney’s claim that Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt was an unfit parent.

10. When you have that thought that its time to contact a particular friend and give them a boost, do it. Trust your Inner Pilot Light, that’s why you are friends: One Day.

11. High Five what your friend is good at, their soul is in there waiting to hear it in times of trouble.

12. The hug, one of the ultimate givings of support, here are her allies: Say Something.

13. I love the silliness of this one, but then again is it silly?

14. A little support is better than no support. Eeyore puts it so well:Stand up.

15. Do this exercise program daily and we will change the world!!

So my request is when you have that thought that that person or that cause would be a good thing to do don’t ignore it, go with your gut feeling, the more the merrier.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

I am a leaf on the Wind!!

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Rod's World

One of the things I have wanted to do my whole life is fly unaided. I tried gliding, hang-gliding, parachuting but they were all too noisy. I wish to float in the clouds like an eagle, silently looking down on the planet as I soar over it.

Birds do not see the borders we have made up for the planet, when they fly thousands of miles to return to their nesting sites from their wintering grounds they do not require a passport to cross the imaginary lines we have drawn on the planet. That is the freedom of soaring, the word that most fulfils my desire to fly.

Soaring is defined as soaring to fly or rise high in the air: “the bird spread its wings and soared into the air” ·, “when she heard his voice, her spirits soared” synonyms: fly up · wing · wing its way · take off · take flight ·

So lets have a look at what the world has said about soaring :

A. W. Tozer was a American Christian pastor, preacher, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. For his work, he received two honorary doctoral degrees.

Tozer had seven children: six boys and one girl. Living a simple and non-materialistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Ada Cecelia Pfautz, never owned a car, preferring bus and train travel. Even after becoming a well-known Christian author, Tozer signed away much of his royalties to those who were in need. Sean Lucas has commented on a biography of Tozer by Lyle Dorsett. He said “Dorsett exposes a fundamental contradiction in Tozer’s character that raises all sorts of questions about holy zeal and its effect on the whole of life. The contradiction could be summed up: how did Tozer reconcile his passionate longing for communion with God with his failure to love passionately his wife and children? Perhaps the most damning statement in the book was from his wife, after she remarried subsequent to his death: “I have never been happier in my life,” Ada Ceclia Tozer Odam observed, “Aiden [Tozer] loved Jesus Christ, but Leonard Odam loves me”.

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2. One of the parts of the recipe of soaring is looked at in this quote, the essential ingredient of Self Love: Feeling Myself.

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3. Love this powerful quote by Anne Bronte, the lesser known of the Bronte literary family. Her second novel, The tenant of Wildfell Hall, considered the first feminist novel was prevented by her sister Charlotte being re published after her death.

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4. How often do you soar above the clouds? : Eagle Flying.

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5. Don’t you love those nature documentaries where young birds take their first attempts at flying, often they fail, but they never give up.

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6. I love how eagles and albatrosses soar in the sky high up on their own. It is such a powerful statement about this is my life and I’m creating it: It’s my Life.

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7. Don’t you love those moments when life clicks and whatever it throws at you you feel like you are floating on the timeless winds above those that usually toss you around day by day.

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8. Victor Hugo – Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo’s views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes. I don’t really know what his quote means: The Pun Song.

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9. Rufus Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer. He has recorded seven albums of original music and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written a classical opera and set Shakespeare sonnets to music for a theatre piece by Robert Wilson. Not sure if he is referring to the fae or the fact that he is gay in this cute quote.

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10. Just a little detail, I will never give up on my dream to fly unaided, even if it only in my dreams. Who knows what they will invent on the next few years?: I believe I can Fly.

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11. Who says you can’t be the one, don’t listen to them.

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12. Perhaps I need to befriend Dumbo, he can fly unaided: Dumbo Flies.

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13. There are theories as babies we have invisible angel wings and they fade as we stop believing in our ability to soar as we age. Time to reverse the process.

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14. When you locate the Self Love within, you gain the strength to soar: Don’t stop Believing.

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Chetan Bhagat(born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author, columnist, screenwriter, television personality and motivational speaker, known for his English-language dramedy novels about young urban middle-class Indians.A noted public intellectual, Bhagat also writes for columns about youth, career development and current affairs for The Times of India (in English) and Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi).

Bhagat’s novels have sold over seven million copies. In 2008, The New York Times cited Bhagat as “the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history”.Bhagat’s screenwriting efforts have included the dramedies Kai Po Che! (2013), 2 States (2014) and the action-superhero movie Kick (2015). He won the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay for Kai Po Che! at the 59th Filmfare Awards in January 2014. He has definitely flown above the stone throwers in his life.

So how do you choose to soar in your life? What is you desire that equals mine to fly unaided. Please don’t give up on it. That is what is your passion in life.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

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Like Icing with Cake!!

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Rod's World

How many truly intimate moments do we have in our lifetime? Is it a touch from our beloved, a feeling surging through our heart or screaming at a person you desire for 5 minutes like recently happened to me because words didn’t seem enough.

Type in Intimacy in Google and it brings up over 9,000,000 results. Lots of books, on line and experiential courses abound. It is defined as Intimacy:

the state of being intimate.

a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.

a close association with or detailed knowledge or deep understanding of a place, subject, period of history, etc.:

an intimacy with Japan.

an act or expression serving as a token of familiarity, affection, or the like:

to allow the intimacy of using first names.

an amorously familiar act; liberty.

sexual intercourse.

the quality of being comfortable, warm, or familiar:

the intimacy of the room.

So academics are not even sure what it means, how has it been quoted over the centuries, lets have a look:

1. I like this definition a lot, it has happened to me recently leaving me gob smacked as what to do about the situation after it occurs.

2. Same person, blowing all over each others face: These Boots are made for Walking.

3. I’m available for this. Not sure if there is someone there at the moment.

4. Sounds like song lyrics , these words are so intimate: Just give me a Reason.

5. My friend Chris runs beautiful events that allow people to experience the intimacy of this over a day : The Yoga of Eye Gazing.

6. Is bilss really Bliss? my anal proofreading picked up the mistake. Obviously they didn’t go the hard yards of intimacy when creating this: I was Here.

7. A deadly trio for the sacredness of true intimacy. Watch out for them.

8. How often do we withhold this integral form of intimacy in the name of not hurting someone ? : Only Love can hurt like This.

9. I see You, a phrase donated to the English language from the blockbuster film Avatar. It expresses the depth of intimacy well.

10. Intimacy cake, without the icing you end up in bed, alone. : Commitment.

11. Do you do the small things from which big things grow in the intimacy stakes on a daily basis?

12. I want this oh so badly, come on. I am ready and able.

13. Are you a player. How much does the C word scare you in your dealings in your relationships.

14. Henri Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian. His interests were rooted primarily in psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice and community. Over the course of his life, Nouwen was heavily influenced by the work of Anton Boisen, Thomas Merton, Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh and Jean Vanier.

After nearly two decades of teaching at academic institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School, Nouwen went on to work with mentally and physically handicapped people at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario.: Fear and Love.

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15. And isn’t this what we are seeking in the end, access to someone’s soul?

Hoping that you remember your intimate moments a little more after reading this.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Does Popularity equal Quality?

Posted on September 19, 2016 by Rod's World

I lost my Bose headphones recently, they were beautiful and the sound impeccable. I cannot afford to pay $200 for another pair so have been buying made in China $3.00 ones from a two dollar shop. They do not do the same job and they do not last for very long, stretch them too far and they become headphone not headphones,

I can always excuse this with the fact it will take nearly 100 pairs of them to cover the cost of another set of Bose headphones but the quality is just not the same. What is it that has us declare what is quality? Relationships, computers, phones are several areas in our lives that we use this word for, so what has the world said about it and how have they defined quality over historical times, lets have a look:

1. Steve Jobs, CEO of the iconic Apple company kept the launch of the Apple 2 computer on hold for over a year until his company got it right, the first successful mass produced computer and the beginning of a journey that saw him being sacked from his position in 1985 and returning to save the company in 1997 with ideas such as iMac, the iPod, the iTunes Store, the iPhone, the App Store, and the iPad.

2. Quality is developed by having integrity in what you do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 12 month a year, all the years of your lifetime: Circle of Life.

3. Do you perform only for an audience, remember your soul is watching if you are in the middle of a desert.

4. Kaoru Ishikawa is known for his diagrams that are known as fish-bone diagrams that showed the causes of a specific event. They were used to turn around the quality of an event, showing that failure could be turned into success: Resilience. Failure to Success.

5. They say you can change or create a habit over a 21 day period, quality is on of those thing you can create in that time too. It doesn’t take for ever.

6. Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to “win” as a team or an organisation; and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.

Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way: Leader of the Pack

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7. John Ruskin(8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and political economy. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. Ruskin also penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art was later superseded by a preference for plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation. he definitely lived the above quote in the many areas he strived in life.

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8. I have always loved this speech by Allan Watts on the subject of Choice, may we make them sincere, intelligent and skillful: Allan Watts – Choice.

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9. Many people have issues in increasing the amount they charge for their services, especially in the healing sector. How much do you charge for your gift? Provide quality and it should not be an issue.

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10. In producing quality in our lives, there must be a high level of caring involved. As this quote states it’s not in the knowledge you have gathered over the years but the effect you have had on people that is remembered at your passing: If Everybody Cared.

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11. Peter Drucker ( November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-born American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation. He was also a leader in the development of management education, he invented the concept known as management by objectives and self-control, and he has been described as “the founder of modern management”.

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12. A rather controversial statement as we are all born within our mothers wombs and then it is up to us to survive and prosper with the support of what is offered to us: Time of my Life.

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13. The king of fire-walking, Tony Robbins says it is the questions we ask in our lives that have the quality of it occur. Never stop asking quality questions.

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14. I spent a lot of my teens hanging around with people of questionable quality to try to get at my parents. I gave it up and spent a lot of time alone before I found my tribe: Can’t Get Enough.

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15. Said to be a taskmaster to the extreme, Steve Jobs had this as his motto when dealing with his employees, a request for the best quality possible each day.

We have the choice of leading a quality life or one that is so so. I vote for the former.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

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