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The Commonplace Book

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Discover the Power of The Commonplace Book

The Feather

The First Nations believe when you are going through a hard time or a problem and a feather appears on your path that you will be blessed with spiritual support and guidance. You must accept this feather and use it as your smudging item in your smoke prayers, the spirit that dwells in this flyer will come to you as your guide to help you with your problems and will protect you from harm. 

growth

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?”

― Rumi

growth

“A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels…” ~Albert Einstein, N.Y. Times, 1946

growth

Interestingly enough, the total number of neurons in the human brain falls in the same ballpark of the number of galaxies in the observable universe.

https://nautil.us/the-strange-similarity-of-neuron-and-galaxy-networks-236709/

The spiritual path

"Our generation must walk the spiritual path that is available to us only in this time, with its

own unique combination of wisdom and creation." -adrienne maree brown

I think there are many ways to find that simple path within ourselves, and I think that those of

us who wish to see a truly, radically different world must demand of ourselves the possibility

that we are called to lead not from right to left, or from minority to majority, but from spirit

towards liberation." Bell 2017 p2

The spiritual path

“Worlds are cracking open. It's time to make new gods.” -Bayo Akomolafem right to left, or from minority to majority, but from spirit

towards liberation." Bell 2017 p2

Meditation

“Instead of meditating with your eyes closed, pay attention to your behavior. It is the greatest meditation.”

Wisdom of Aghoreshwar Bhagwan Ram

Someday . . .

“A berm overlooking a pond in Vermont. The lip of the Grand Canyon at sunset. A seat on the subway. And something bad will have happened: You will have lost someone you loved, or failed at something at which you badly wanted to succeed. And sitting there, you will fall into the center of yourself. You will look for some core to sustain you. And if you have been perfect all your life and have managed to meet all the expectations of your family, your friends, your community, your society, chances are excellent that there will be a black hole where that core ought to be. I don’t want anyone I know to take that terrible chance. And the only way to avoid it is to listen to that small voice inside you that tells you to make mischief, to have fun, to be contrarian, to go another way. George Eliot wrote, ‘It is never too late to be what you might have been.’ It is never too early, either.”

—Anna Quindlen

Someday . . .

IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100 PEOPLE
In the world today, more than 6 billion people live.
If this world were shrunk to the size of a village of 100 people, what would it look like?
59 would be Asian
14 would be American (North, Central and South)
14 would be African
12 would be European
1 would be from the South Pacific
50 would be women, 50 would be men
30 would be children, 70 would be adults.
70 would be nonwhite, 30 would be white
90 would be heterosexual, 10 would be homosexual
33 would be Christians
21 would be Moslems
15 would be Hindus
6 would be Buddhists
5 would be Animists
6 would believe in other religions
14 would be without any religion or atheist.
15 would speak Chinese, Mandarin
7 English
6 Hindi
6 Spanish
5 Russian
4 Arabic
3 Bengali
3 Portuguese
The other would speak Indonesian, Japanese,
German, French, or some other language.
In such a village with so many sorts of folks, it would be very important to learn to understand people different from yourself and to accept others as they are. Of the 100 people in this village:
20 are underonurished
1 is dying of starvation, while 15 are overweight.
Of the wealth in this village, 6 people own 59% (all of them from the United States), 74 people own 39%, and 20 people share the remaining 2%.
Of the energy of this village, 20 people consume 80%, and 80 people share the remaining 20%.
20 have no clean, safe water to drink.
56 have access to sanitation
15 adults are illiterate.
1 has an university degree.
7 have computers.
In one year, 1 person in the village will die, but in the same year, 2 babies will be born, so that at the year's end the number of villagers will be 101.
If you do not live in fear of death by bombardment, armed attack, landmines, or of rape or kidnapping by armed groups, then you are more fortunate than 20, who do.
If you can speak and act according to your faith and your conscience without harassment, imprisonment, torture or death, then you are more fortunate than 48, who can not.
If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet and spare change somewhere around the house, then you are among the richest 8.
If you can read this message, that means you are probably lucky!
(The statistics were derived from Donella Meadows "State of the Village Report" first published in 1990)

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