Thoughts on Kuei-Shan

It seems it would be so nice to become a Zen Master... Its hard to be straight forward sometimes. You dont want to hurt people's feelings lol... or you dont want people to know exactly what you're feeling, so u beat around the bush n kinda sorta tell them whats going on. I guess when you are unattached to things, like it says Zen Masters are, you dont care about what people think of you, ...and when you want to be straigtforward to someone, but u think it might hurt their feelings, i think u still can but just let them know you really aren't trying to hurt their feelings.. ur just telling it like it is.
I like the analogy of the clam... "As soon as she opens her mouth, you can see her intestines." At first i wasnt sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing... but i think its good because its like saying you see the person's "true colors" , or who they are on the inside, who they are truely. They speak the truth and is "without deceit or delusion." Wouldn't it be nice if everyone was like this? lol

Thoughts on Isaac of Nineveh

I like how brief yet meaningful this reading is. And the statment about "our Father in heaven whose love infinitely surpasses the love of all earthly fathers and who gives us more than we ourselves could ask for or even imagine" is so true. I mean, there's so much we have to be thankful for... health, strength, right mind, love from friends and family, etc... I think a lot of ppl take these things for granted... and its actually pretty easy to. And i think also thats why God lets "bad things" happen to ppl... like what we were talkin about today. Like if a kid has cancer, of course thats a tragedy and a horrible thing... but, when things like this happen, it SHOULD make those who have kids appreciate that their kid has their health n strength... And also, i think that things like that are just a part of life. I dont believe getting cancer (for example) is evil. It's just something that happens sometimes with the cells in our body. Some ppl might ask "Well why doesn't God fix it?" ... Sometimes He does. And sometimes He doesn't. But u cant question God. If you truely trust in Him, you don't need to ask "why?" because you know that He is right in everything.

Now if a kid gets abducted and killed, i believe that's evil. ... but you still cant question "Why did He let that happen?" Maybe its so that people can be aware and keep a better eye on their childern, Maybe the child woulda grown up to be a killer themself, who knows.

Thoughts on Rilke

I liked this reading too. It tells you the importance of patience, which sometimes is something i really need to work on. It says "dont search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.... Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually , without even noticing it, live your way into the answer." I've learned to not really worry about whats in the future, because you never know what's going to happen. Tomorrow might not even come for you. And i mean, its good to make a plan, have an idea of what you would like to happen, for example plans with finishing school, buying a house, etc., but be able to be flexible if things dont go as planned. maybe there's a better plan instore for u....
I notice i get impatient with little things though... like if we go out to eat n the food takes forever lol or sometimes if we're planning to go out, and im ready, but then someone else isnt ready... lol i'll be like COME ON!!! haha but i think im more patient on a larger scale. Which is probably more important.

Thoughts on Hugh of St.Victor

I liked this reading. Basically it says to enter into yourself, and you'll find God. It says that "He who can, as it were, enter into himself and, going deeper and deeper, pass beyond himself, truly ascends to God. But a man, through the senses of his flesh, goes out to visible things, desiring what is transitory and perishable, he descends from the dignity of his natural condition to what is unworthy of his desire." So like we were talking about before, let go of your desires, and you'll find happiness...
None of these things in the outer world can truely make us happy.... i think love is what makes us happy and God is love... Love can't be bought, its not a material thing. Its more than an emotion though,... i believe.

Thoughts on Thomas Traherne

I liked this reading because to me it just seemed like it flowed. The discriptions were beautiful and it just seemed like poetry. For examble... it says "Your enjoyment of the world is never right till every morning you awake in heaven; see yourself in your Father's palace; and look upon the skies and the earth and the air as celestial joys: having such a reverend esteem of all as if you were among the angels." To me that just sounds beautiful, even if you dont try to figure out the meaning of it. If you just listen to it said aloud, it just sounds pleasant. And if you try to imagin the images it just looks beautiful. Awaking in heaven, being among the angels,... Also i liked the sentence "You never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself flows in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars." The image just sounds like a powerful image, like an image of a god.

Thoughts on Abi'l-Khayr

I liked this reading. I thought it was interesting the way it said explained that before God created bodies, He created souls that He kept beside himself, and He shed a light upon them, and that "the souls remained all that time in the light, until they became fully nourished." and that "Those who in this world live in joy and agreement with one another must have been akin to one another in that place." I've never thought about our souls like that, but its very interesting. Maybe that's how we sometimes feel like we've known each other before. But who know's really exactly for sure where our souls came from or how we were really created and all of that. I still like that idea though. I was watching a re-run of Silvia Brown on the Montel show, and she talks a lot about reincarnation... i dont know but just makes me think. I mean, as a Christian, i wasn't really brought up to believe in reincarnation, but who knows. Who really knows? So i try to be open minded to a lot of different religions and beliefs.