Buddha in Winter
This is the stone Buddha I pass on the way to my car buried in snow. He is not cold. He is not late. He just sits there, like he always does, reminding me of everything by doing nothing.
Photo: Evelyne Pouget
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)
February 27, 2012Your Strength is in Knowing
Premium Channel
IDEA for this post: Monika Winslow
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:33 AM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2012Simple
Premium Channel
IDEA for this post: Monika Winslow
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2012A Sign of the Times
Yes, indeed,
it's time to stop waiting for a sign.
Waiting for what sign, by the way?
That everything is OK?
That you are being guided?
That love is what it's all about?
What you've been waiting for
is already here.
Always has been. Always will be.
You got it. You do.
It's where you are right now
And while there may be
many ways to "get there/here",
here's one that works for me.
Breath by breath.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
Prem Rawat on Premium Channel
If you didn't get a chance
to listen to Prem Rawat,
at the Long Beach Convention Center,
on 1/29,
now's your chance
on Words of Peace Global's
recently launched Premium Channel.
Find out what
all the good vibes
are all about.
79 minutes worth.
"If there isn't the rain of gratitude on this field, it will remain a desert. If there isn't the rain of that deep, beautiful experience of being alive, then this field will remain a desert." - Prem Rawat
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2012The Five Regrets of the Dying
Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives.
She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom.
"When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again."
THE FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING
1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
"This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it."
2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."
3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result."
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
"Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying."
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again."
Thanks to David Passes for the heads up
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 22, 2012There Is An Infinite Amount of Poetry
There is an infinite
amount of poetry
in every drop of water,
an infinite,
always-being-written
book of psalms
in each and every breath.
There is milk and honey everywhere,
milkmaids, magic, and gypsies
who steal your heart,
then give it back
ten thousand times infused
with secrets that will take
far more than a full moon
and a lifetime to decipher.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:56 AM | Comments (1)
February 15, 2012A Simpler Way to Get The Keys
WOPG's Global Peace Initiative (GPI) is happy to announce a new, simpler way for people interested in Prem Rawat's message to get The Keys (an engaging set of explanatory DVDs).
Historically, the process of getting Keys 1-5 has been a little complicated, requiring online registration and five rounds of back-and-forth shipping and handling.
Plus, even if you liked Keys 1-5, you couldn't keep them.
Now, with an easy-to-navigate, online ordering page, GPI is launching a new approach that will enable everyone to own a set of Keys 1-5, instead of going through the hassle (and expense) of borrowing them.
This program is first being rolled out in Canada and the United States and will soon be available in other regions around the world
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:
1. Buy your own set of Keys 1-5, or purchase them individually here. (Canada and U.S. only for now).
2. When you receive the Keys, keep them for yourself or give them to a friend who is asking to learn more about Prem Rawat's message.
3. If you keep the Keys, view them at your leisure. You now own them.
4. If you give the Keys set to a friend, consider buying a replacement set so you can always have one on hand.
The process of asking for Knowledge (Key 6) remains the same.
The Benefits of This Approach
1. You get to keep Keys 1-5 so you can view them as often as you like -- whenever you like.
2. No registration or personal access number(PAN) is required.
3. The cost of buying Keys 1-5 as a whole set is less expensive than the total shipping and handling costs required by the previous online lending system.
4. The distribution of The Keys becomes more personal. Simple. Easy. Decentralized.
Alternate Methods for Obtaining The Keys
If the cost of purchasing or ordering online is not feasible for you, a Scholarship Program is available. The Keys are also available through volunteers in many local communities.
For information, contact WOPG Customer Service or call 855-367-9674
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2012Beautiful Thoughtlessness
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)
February 13, 2012Reboot, Refresh, Renew!
Sometimes, we all need
a fresh start,
a new beginning,
a chance
to wipe the slate clean,
or, to borrow a word
from techno-land,
reboot.
That's what
this piece is about.
newly published
on Words of Peace Global.
Clear the decks!
Let go!
Begin again, now!
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2012Cruising with Rumi
On a bone cold February afternoon,
23 miles from home,
in a car I leased three months ago,
sky outside turning the color
of old men's teeth,
I listen to Rumi, 800 years gone
from praising everything that breathed,
my heart racing with him
through towns with no name,
everyone love drunk and laughing.
Lights are flashing everywhere,
especially behind me,
not white
like those that lit up Rumi's eyes,
no, more like red,
the kind that signal stop
and oops
and maybe I should slow down and pull over.
Rumi, on the 5 CD changer,
is unconcerned,
his monologue of love making perfect
sense, as I,
poised, tribal, and whole,
anticipate a large man of the law approaching,
and reach for my license,
not the poetic kind I prefer,
but the other one,
the one with the photo
no one will ever show their mother,
even as the uniformed man
standing tall by my door
beckons me slowly to roll down my window
and announces, like a small town accountant
wishing he was home for lunch with his wife,
my speed,
which was 20 over the limit,
Rumi still holding forth
beneath an ancient Persian moon.
He had kind eyes, my sudden companion
in his well-pressed uniform,
kind eyes and a smile that spoke of long winters
keeping roads safe for travelers like me
who, somehow, must have missed the sign
about a mile back,
veiled, as it was, by that old willow tree
and the last few rays of light
finding their way past the steepest hill in town,
the one where all the kids go sledding,
eyes on fire,
kids, as far as I can tell,
who have never heard of Rumi,
the officer of the law,
or me.
(This poem, by the way, cost me $150).
Move Into Your House of Joy
Inside This New Love
Two By Rumi
Telling It Like It Is
Rumi and Kabir Go Bowling
Plenty of Rumi for Everyone
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:19 PM | Comments (3)
February 10, 2012Prem Rawat Speaking to Lisbon's YPO
In 2011, Prem Rawat spoke about leadership and success to members of Lisbon, Portugal's Young President's Organization. Here is a three minute excerpt.
More
Thanks to Paul Bloomfield for the heads up.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2012Letter from an Inner Mate
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 12:50 AM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2012The Ten Commandments for Visiting a Spiritual Retreat
During the past four decades, a curious phenomenon has swept this nation.
Inspired by the teachings of several Master souls from the East, an unusually large number of ashrams and retreats have made their appearance on the scene -- spiritual centers designed to provide seekers of the truth with a focused environment in which to practice their particular spiritual path.
Seduced by the Western notion of cause and effect, they somehow think that spiritual attainment is related to the way they act -- as if God were some kind of transcultural Santa Claus looking for good little boys and girls to bring his shiny red fire trucks to.
While most people who spend time in these places are extremely dedicated and sincere, there still remains a goodly number who, in their attempt to have "an experience," miss the point completely.
Not surprisingly, the spirit of the law is all too often traded for the letter -- a letter that, no matter how many stamps are put on it, is continually returned for insufficient postage.
Surrender is replaced by submission; patience by hesitation; and humility by timidity.
Alas, in the name of finding themselves, our God-seeking brothers and sisters have tended to lose the very thing that makes them truly human -- their individuality.
And so, with great respect to your personal God, your Guru, your Guru's Guru, and your favorite tax-deductible charity, I humbly offer you the following soul-saving tips should you decide to visit (or move into) the ashram or spiritual center of your choice.
Take what you can, leave the rest, and remember -- it's not whether your shoes are on or off, but if your heart is open.
1. Do Not Change the Way You Walk
Most visitors to a spiritual retreat think they have to change the way they walk if they are truly going to have a meaningful experience. Somehow, they believe there is a direct correlation between the way they move their feet and the amount of "grace" or "blessings" about to enter their lives.
The "spiritual walk," is actually a not-too-distant cousin of the "museum walk," the curious way a person slows down and shuffles knowingly, yet humbly, past a Monet (or is it a Manet?), silently getting the essence of the Masterpiece even as they move noddingly towards that incomprehensible cubist piece in the next room.
If you like, think of the spiritual walk as the complete opposite of the on-the-way-to-work-walk or the exiting-a-disco-in-New York walk.
Simply put, the spiritual walk is a way of moving that practitioners believe will attract small deer from nearby forests -- deer that will literally walk right up to them and eat from their hand -- more proof to anyone in the general vicinity that they are, in fact, enlightened souls, humble devotees, children of God, or the so-far-unacknowledged successors to their guru's lineage.
Ideally, the spiritual walk should be taken in sandals, though Reeboks or Chinese slippers will do in a pinch. Cowboy boots are definitely out, as are galoshes, high heels, and Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars.
2. Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Succumb to the Spiritual Nod
Closely related to the spiritual walk, the spiritual nod is routinely practiced in retreats the world over. And while no one completely comprehends it's divine origins, many believe it began when a blissful brother simply forgot the name of his roommate on his way to the bathroom.
Instead of issuing the familiar Sanskrit phrase of the week, our trend-setting friend simply tightened his lips, looked at the ground and... well... nodded.
Now, every time you walk by someone at the ashram, you are half-expected to flash them the nod, the non-verbal equivalent of "Hi! I know you know, and you know I know, and you know that I know that you know, and in my knowing, I know that I know you know, and by so knowing, need not speak, since words are finite and cannot express the knowingness which the two of us (being one) share from such a knowful place. Know what I mean?"
3. Do Not Judge Anyone, Including Yourself
This is the hardest of all commandments to obey. Why? Because spiritual environments not only bring out the best in people, they also bring out the worst. And while the worst is often more difficult to detect than the bliss of people wanting you to notice how blissful they are, the higher you get, the easier it is to notice -- that is, if you are looking for it.
Of course, it would be very easy to spend your entire spiritualized retreat noticing all the subtle ego trips going on around you. Resist this temptation with all your might!
Do not, I repeat, do not, focus on the stuff that would make good material for this article. You have no right. In fact, you have absolutely no idea why anyone is there, what their motivation is, or how they will learn the kinds of lessons you are absolutely sure they need to learn.
In reality, you are most likely seeing your own projections -- those disowned parts of your self that you've refused to acknowledge all these years...
Your spiritual groupie, your brownie point collector, your junkie for more experience, your suburban yogi , your guilty seeker of God, your con man, your eunuch, your resolution maker, your ass watcher, your closet fanatic, your glutton for humble pie, your too poetic definer of ecstasy, your flaming bullshit artist, your know-it-all, your have-it-all, your spring-headed bower towards anyone with more than two devotees.
All of them are you! Every single one of them! Don't judge them. Love them! Bring them tea! Rub their feet every chance you get!
4. Do Not Think That This Is the Only Place Where It Is Happening
Spiritual retreatants have a marked propensity to think that the grounds they inhabit are somehow more blessed than any place else on earth -- that they are privy to a special command performance by God, revealing himself in thousands of exotic ways for those lucky enough to be there, while thousands, nay millions, of George Bush-like souls are stumbling around in uncool places recently vacated by the Power of Life so a very cosmic thing can happen here and only here this weekend.
Life, in fact, is often perceived as so good in the "Center," that the rest of the world becomes eerily cast as the "booby prize."
Indeed, to new age seekers, everything else is simply referred to as "the world," much like Manhattanites speak of New Jersey. In short, the new age retreat comes to represent all that is good -- about God, about the Guru, about life itself.
Somehow ("and I don't know how, but you could ask anyone who was there this weekend") flowers seem sweeter there, the moon seems fuller, the air seems cleaner. Even the bread tastes better. If you glimpse a shooting star at night, it's the "guru's grace." If you see a double rainbow, it's directly over the meditation hall.
I guess it's all in how you look at it. The same shooting star convincing you that your guru is, in fact, the Supreme Guru, was also seen by a plumber named Leroy who just happened to be drinking a beer in between innings of the Mets game. His conclusion? The Mets were gonna win 20 of the next 25 and bring the pennant home to Flushing!
What do the signs in the sky (or what we perceive as signs) really mean? Isn't the whole world our ashram? Isn't the real issue one of appreciating what is happening all around us? The flowers? The stars? The beggars asking for spare change?
Flowers aren't any sweeter on retreat. It's our willingness to breathe deeply and enjoy them that's different. What's stopping us from being in this place right now? What's stopping us from realizing that the very ground beneath our feet is the promised land -- wherever we happen to be at the time.
5. Don't Put a Red Dot on Your Forehead If You Don't Want To
Unless you've been living in a trailer park your whole life, you probably already know what the red dot thing is all about. That's right. The third eye. The sixth chakra. High holiness. INDIA!! While sometimes mistaken for a beauty mark or a random bit of watermelon, the little red dot is actually a useful reminder to focus one's attention on the space between the eyebrows, which, for some people, is where God lives (or if not lives, at least vacations). Nothing wrong with that, now is there?
Still, you have to concede that the third eye isn't the only spot on the human body that's sacred. What about the earlobes? The belly button? The nipples? They come from God, too -- not too mention chakras #1 - 5 and the highly under-represented center of consciousness at the crown of the head. Sacred, every one of them!
Don't you think that, if the body is the temple of the soul, it follows that our entire physical structure is sacred? Shouldn't we be covered from head to toe with little red dots? And if so, why is it that we routinely quarantine people with measles -- the very people who have selflessly chosen to manifest disease just to remind us to honor our body's ultimate holiness?
6. Play With the Children
The only sentient beings free from the collective mentality of spiritual seekers are the children. Children visiting "holy places," in fact, behave the same way the world over no matter what adjectives their elders use for the unspeakable name of God. When they're hungry, they eat. When they're tired, they sleep. They cry when they want to, laugh for no reason, consume ice cream without guilt, and rarely wonder why your picture of the Master is bigger, newer, or better framed.
7. Fart At Your Own Risk
If you fart, and there's no one around to hear it at the ashram, did it happen? And if it did happen, does that mean you've been disrespectful? Is the resident Guru able to hear you? And if he or she is meditating, out of the country, or dead, is their guru or their guru's guru able to hear you? And if so, so what? Will you be reborn as a gerbil? Does the Guru fart? And if it's OK for him or her to pass wind, why not you?
OK, so it's their place and you're a guest. But after all, aren't we all guests here? Even the Guru? Who do they answer to? And if it's not the same one you're answering to, what the hell are you doing getting up at five in the morning and sitting in the lotus position?
Maybe the real question isn't whether or not it's permissible to fart on holy ground, but how you fart. For instance, if you're farting out of a blatant disregard for the Master's teachings or the sincerity of his or her followers, you might want to reconsider where you're coming from. However, if your farting is just a random release of gas, relax! Give yourself the benefit of the doubt. You see, a typical visit to a spiritual center quickens one's ability to "let go" -- so what you call "farting" may, in fact, be a timely sign of your evolving spiritual condition.
8. Do Not Think You Are Higher or Lower Than Anyone Else
One of the favorite pastimes of people visiting a spiritual retreat is comparing themselves to everyone else. "See the guy over there carrying firewood? He's a very old soul -- way older than me. Been on the path for years. And that dude laughing hysterically in the corner? That's Shiva. Oops, he can probably see through me, maybe I better walk around the other way."
Want to save yourself some time? Don't try to figure out how "on the path" anybody else is. It's impossible. Stare into the eyes all you want, watch for tell-tale signs of liberation, but when it comes right down to it, the only conclusion you'll reach will be your own -- one that may have absolutely nothing to do with the anything but your own projections.
Face it, how accurate is your assessment going to be when 99 percent of humanity couldn't tell that the carpenter from Galilee had something special going for him?
Indeed, it's not at all unlikely that the beer-bellied, first-time visitor you met this morning at the ashram is, at this very moment, being treated like a spiritual mongoloid by everyone who meets him (repeatedly being asked if "this is your first time") when, in fact, the beer-bellied, first-time visitor is actually the reincarnation of Buddha.
9. Do Not Think That You Are Going to Get Something
Many people visit a a spiritual retreat because they want to get something. They want "clarity" or "contentment," "enlightenment" or "grace," "blessings" or "peace of mind." At the very least, they want their business to improve or their marriage to be saved.
Alas, they miss the point completely: If you try to get, you will lose, left only with the sinking feeling of having just bought $300 worth of lottery tickets only to learn that some electrician from Staten Island just won the whole thing.
Look, it's really very simple. You don't go to a spiritual center (or a Big Time Teacher, for that matter) to get. You go to give, to let go -- to relax your grip on the very thing that's been separating you from getting all these years: Your grasping. Your fear. Your well-rehearsed strategy to realize God.
10. Do Not Feel Compelled to Change Your Name
OK, so your name is Joey. Ever since you were knee high to a jar of Cheese Whiz, everyone called you Joey -- as in, 
"Hey, Joey, what's goin' down, bro'?" Yeah, you grew up in Brooklyn, cut school once a week, and dated a chick named Angela with very big boobs.
Great. So, here you are at the ashram and ba-bing, you run smack into a bunch of dudes with names like Arjuna, Govinda, Namdev,Shanti, Krishna. "Hey," you think to yourself, "maybe they got something I don't."
Guess what? They do. They have spiritual names given to them by their Guru -- names that make their mothers somewhat close-lipped around the canasta table. And while these names are clearly given with a purpose, the fact of the matter is -- they are irrelevant. Do you think the people in India who have spiritual experiences get their names changed to Eddie, Gino, Stacey, or Shirley ?
Hey, what difference does it make? You are not your name -- even if your namesake was enlightened. It doesn't matter what they call you, when it's time to go, you're gone.
The only name worth knowing at that time is God's name -- and that, my friend, no matter how many mantras you've memorized, can never be pronounced.
It's All WITHIN You!
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:57 PM | Comments (5)
February 07, 2012Fit to Be Tied?
"The foolish man is always doing, yet much remains to be done. The wise man does nothing, yet nothing remains undone." - Lao Tzu
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2012Start With Yourself
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:25 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2012A Message for Dads Who Travel
Thirteen years ago I found myself standing in my closet, madly searching for clean clothes in a last minute attempt to pack before yet another business trip, when I noticed my 4-year old son standing at the entrance. In one hand, he held a small blue wand, in the other -- a plastic bottle of soapy water.
"Dada," he said, looking up at me. "Do you have time to catch my bubbles?"
Time? It stopped. And so did I.
At that moment, it suddenly made no difference whether or not I caught my plane -- I could barely catch my breath. The only thing that existed was him and that soulful look of longing in his eyes.
For the next ten minutes, all we did was play -- him blowing bubbles and laughing. Me catching and laughing, too.
His need was completely satisfied. His need for connection. His need for love. His need for knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that absolutely everything was perfect just the way it was.
Next time you're rushing out of your house for your next business trip, remember to STOP and catch the bubbles. Thirteen years later you won't remember the trip, but you will remember the bubbles.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:33 AM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2012WATCH NOW: Prem Rawat in Miami
Watch Prem Rawat's presentation at the Jackie Gleason Theater, in Miami Beach, on January 22nd -- now featured on Words of Peace Global's premium channel.
"Make a difference this year. Of all the years you have been alive on the face of this earth, make a difference this year. Light up that lamp inside, because that's the only way there can be light on the outside."
- Prem Rawat
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:39 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2012Good News from a Texas Jail
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:18 PM | Comments (0)
