soulvessel:

The Health Benefits of Juicing Raw Cannabis!

victoriousvocabulary:

SATORI

[noun]

a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment, meaning “understanding”. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to the experience of kensho - a term used in Zen traditions meaning “seeing into one’s true nature.” Ken means “seeing,” sho means “nature” or “essence.” Satori and kensho are commonly translated as enlightenment, a word that is also used to translate bodhi, prajna and buddhahood.

victoriousvocabulary:

ZAZEN

[noun]

Zen Buddhism: (literally “seated meditation”; Japanese: 坐禅; simplified Chinese: 坐禅; traditional Chinese: 坐禪) a meditative discipline practitioners perform to calm the body and the mind, and be able to concentrate enough to experience insight into the nature of existence and thereby gain enlightenment.

Zazen is considered the heart of Zen Buddhist practice. The aim of zazen is just sitting, “opening the hand of thought”, that is, suspending all judgmental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them.

(Source: starseedthoughts)

mothernaturenetwork:

At backyard barbecues around the country, a vegetarian can often feel like the odd person out — forced to bring his own entrees or to pick around the edges. Fortunately grilling season kicks into high gear just as vegetable produce peaks.

5 vegetarian grilling recipes for summer

(Source: daninrwd)

(Source: dcavv)

Staying present under pressure 

You’re busy. You live with an amount of activity that would make your grandparents’ eyes bug out. You travel more miles in a week than they would in a year. Unfortunately you may often lose yourself, and your priorities, in your own busyness.

The pressure to get things done can be overwhelming. It can make you frantic and compulsive. You jump from doing the dishes to sweeping the floor to answering e-mails without celebrating those clean, shiny pans.

You live dizzy and busy finding yourself often in a tizzy. All the while who you really are is at peace, deep, calm, and tranquil. You deserve a little dip into that peace, especially when you are under pressure.

Time in the Present is Well Spent

Certainly you have experienced being in the present—those moments when time and space melt into this blissful moment. You are in the wildness of Times Square on New Years Eve and feeling head on perfect presence—present under pressure.

Presence makes the most mundane spiritual. Clarity prevails as deadlines inspire, rather than oppress you. Presence with peace offers you higher energy than usual but with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Presence surrounds you with resources when you need them most.

Tap into your presence under pressure! You can do it, and these three keys will help.

Embrace Perfection

Your life requires no improvement. In fact, the most ecological way to embrace change is to experience this moment as perfect just the way it is.

You just stubbed your toe perfectly. Your boss just yelled at you beautifully. Embrace, love, and flow with the perfection your life continually offers.

Celebrate everything that is. You are surrounded by the perfect present.

Dan Millman, author of The Way of the Peaceful Warrior which he enjoyed writing, was being interviewed. He was asked about a recent book of his. “Did you enjoy writing it?” the interviewer asked. “It was horrible” he replied.

“It was as horrible for me to read as Peaceful Warrior was fun.” He had written when he wasn’t supposed to write, which made his book difficult to write, difficult to read, and difficult to sell too.

Seek Your Own Approval

Good deeds can be their own reward. Help the frail widow across the street and remember that you aren’t doing it for her. You’re doing it for you.

You have your own values. Trying to impress others or seeking their approval instead of your own can cause you to neglect yourself.

Take care of yourself and do what’s important to you. You will naturally take care of others this way. Be a model for a happy, well-balanced life.

Do the most wonderful, charitable things in the world. Do them for yourself. Do them because they make you happy.

This can be particularly challenging if you have kids, a spouse, friends, or a mother.

Fix your mother tea. Help with the friends’ homework but do it for capital “M” Me. Hold the baby on your knee for the sheer pleasure of it.

When you do everything for you, you are really taking care of everyone.

Impress yourself. You are your own toughest audience. You have the lead role in your life. Play it up!

Question Obligations

There is nothing that you need to do and nothing you “should” do. However, there are plenty of things you act as if you “should” do.

Being forced, even by yourself to do anything turns what might be fun into a chore.

Relax. Take a breath. Notice what you are doing. Ask yourself if the pressure is justified. You’ll quickly find that many of the sources of pressure in your life are not as real as they seem.

Do what you do. Don’t do what you don’t do. But always celebrate what you do no matter what it is.

Test your presence by doing stuff. Zen it just for the fun of it.

Your Zen Monk Neighbor

Your neighbor’s lawn may be better groomed than yours. His kids may be smarter and spouse hotter.

Who are you kidding?

Comparisons set out to prove a point; the point is that you are either better or worse than someone else.

Be present to how your lawn is, how your kids are, how your spouse is, and how you are. If a beautiful moment or beautiful life could be represented by a beautiful lawn, spirituality would be landscaping, not the mysterious wonderment that it is.

From the wonderment of this moment, step into the mystery of the next. Plant a few weeds, pull a few weeds—what’s the difference?

A weed is a plant where it shouldn’t be. A Bird of Paradise in the middle of your lawn is a beautiful weed. So is a dandelion.

Dance with Passion

“Follow your bliss.” said Joseph Campbell.

Notice what you love. Notice what you don’t love. Surround yourself with equal measures of both, and you will discover that love comes and goes but presence is always there within you.

Presence focused gives birth to passion. Passion for this, that, and the other. Passion for everything in particular. Passion for your foot, the callus on your big toe, your ankle bone and your calves.

You will begin to notice passion everywhere; meet it, great it and embrace it as you fall in love constantly.

Presence under pressure is especially fun. Sitting silently in a cave is one thing. Living present in the world is quite another.

You can do it. Use the three keys above to open yourself to the perfection of presence anywhere, anytime, everywhere all the time.

Namaste, Sangha.