Contemplating the Light

Some time ago, I heard something as a voice, but I could not understand its meaning, only to realize while in the deepest silence, that the voice would become music and the music, would recite as if it was a poem.

It was strange, different, nevertheless, it also had calm and depth. Once, in the middle of the silence, the voice became light and light became a sea of stars, and from those stars and from that light, pure feelings of love, would spring. And that light would fill everything and I could contemplate everything as if was without beginning or end.

This word reveals, this word is light, there is power, authority, peace, love, in her. This presence, in turn, has grace, candor and also intelligence which overcomes wisdom itself. Because is unconditional Peace.

That word, that light, that silence are called meditation, which is an essential step, to ascend the path, and for man to be able to look at his destiny, beyond this and other worlds.

Because, everything can be ephemeral except Love if it is true. And the understanding of this, brings Love and plenitude. I don’t have any doubts that man and the universe are only one, even though it may seem that there is distance and separation. There is nothing in the true reason, but lasting perfection and the purest and eternal Love.

The Wisdom of the Madman on Happiness

A wise man happened to be in the middle of the way; his clothing was old; clean but messy; he was walking up and down, would sit, stand up, would laugh, apparently for no reason; because of his appearance, he was called the madman. He also had an answer for everything and was called the wise man. Since nobody could understand him, he was called, the wise madman. One day, he was walking by the city and a few intellectuals, thinkers, and philosophers – not having anything better to do, decided to make fun of him. And said : ” Hey, today is a hot day, come under the shade, let’s chat ; we are discussing about happiness and want to know your opinion.” He said: ” Good, I always have the best disposition to share with you.” Then, the philosophers asked him in a very ironic way: ” Where is the secret of happiness found?” While they were thinking, “What can this poor , simpleton, madman know?” And the such called madman, answered: ” Oh, that is a good question, but the answer is too evident, nevertheless, nobody can see it, the reason is that it is an answer in stages, if you go up one step, you will be able to go to the next, then to the other, and you will find happiness on top.” They said: ” Be more specific, we do not know what you mean.” The madman said: ” There are stages in happiness, and what is fundamental and necessary is to find errors, defects, problems and lacks.” Ha, ha, ha. They laughed and said: ” How funny, happiness needs of defects, now.” The madman said: ” So that something exists, it first must not exist, and only when it has not existed, the biggest lack is found. If I do not have water to drink and I am thirsty, then, I will look for it and if I make the right effort, I will also value it. If I do not know my limits, I cannot look for solutions, nevertheless, this is very easy but happiness is much more complex, then the second stage is a double stage, is like a jump; but in the first stage I have lacks and in the second stage, I will look for solutions, but what is sure is that I cannot solve all of them.” The philosophers laughed again and said: ” But that is conformism. How can you say that happiness is that?” The wise madman said: ” Men, usually want to live their whole lives in one day, they want everything very fast, and taken to extremes, they eat intensely, they desire intensely, they work intensely, they have fun intensely, but so intensely that it is not intense any more; then, they do not take a moment to realize that they are alive; and everything is so fast that life goes by too quickly. And when you realize that you will not be able to overcome your problems in the totality, you also realize that you will have to live with the problems and thus to slowly overcome them, this will make you humble, besides, it will make you look for refuge and spiritual consolation; then, you will not see yourself as a super man and you will also understand that the others can make mistakes, this is not to justify them, this is just to live in a society where the habitants are not gods who can do everything.” They laughed again and said: ” If you think that way, then you are a retrograde; society must be ambitious, must cast aside what is bad, and must look for the supreme perfection; if you are not in control, you do not know the power and if you do not know the power, you are oppressed and by thinking in that way, you will never be happy; besides, if you look for refuge in what you call spiritual, you will live out of the dreams and that is not reality.” But the wise madman said: ” Wait a moment, I told you from the beginning that all this is in stages; when you learn about your lacks, then you work on them, you accept the limits, and you mature in many ways. This does not mean that you let yourself go, but on the contrary, you look for a superior help, you edify and when you understand the inevitable, you do not separate from happiness, but you realize that happiness is there, as a path to travel.” Ha, ha, ha, they all laughed and said: ” Your madness does not have sanity. Your happiness for us, is the example of your ruin, you live in a fantasy, which is truly madness. We need to have control, power, direction, and all that for us, is happiness.” The wise madman answered: ” To end, I can only say that happiness is a path to cover; happiness is here, there and beyond; we all have been invited to be happy, but sometimes we ask too much of happiness. It is not that I am a conformist or simpleton. But I have found out that one can be happy in spite of all the mistakes in the path; and the fact is that one must learn to improve while in the path, and not to make a condemnation out of the goals. I begin my day as if it was the first and the last day of my life, I talk with happiness as my friend, not an enemy to conquer.” But they said: ” It is getting late and you do not need the shade any longer, go on, continue your way.” He answered: ” Thank you for sharing with me.” They said: ” Leave, once and for all.” One thing was very clear: The heart of the madman never changed but they kept making fun of him as he walked away. That is why, the madman is wise, because nobody believes in him; and the fact is that he has a knowledge that nobody understands.

~~~

From ” The Wisdom of the Madman” by Oscar Basurto Carbonell
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The Tunnel. Short Inspirational Story

It happened that four persons died and they found themselves traveling by a luminous tunnel. One of them was an attorney, another a professor, another a salesman and the other was a cook. While they were traveling in the tunnel, they found a wall, but everything was happening so fast that they were confused.

The first to speak was the professor, who said: ” Gentlemen, do not worry, I have studied this and I can assure you that this is not a dream, what happens is that we are dead.” And the attorney, immediately raised his voice and said: ” Dead? of course not, we cannot be dead because nobody has warned me, besides, I did not leave the things in order, I have many things to do, so, please, stop dreaming I need to get out of your dream and to go on with my work.” When he finished, the salesman said: ” If this is a dream, I might be able to get you a better dream. And if we are dead, by sweet talking, I can get you to the doors of heaven. The one who does not want to buy, well, the rooms to the side are a little bit warm and that place has a red sign that says : Little Hell. I do not know the place but I advise you to take my services.

After he finished, the cook said: ” Gentlemen, it is getting late, so you better start placing your order or maybe an special order and when I awake, it will be my inspiration for the recipe of the day.” The professor spoke again saying: ” Gentlemen, nothing of what you have said, applies.” And the attorney, answered: ” Whether, it applies or not, I am going to suit you because I do not want to be in this dream.”

The salesman said: ” You do not need to fight, I am going to make you an offer because either you are alive or death.” And the cook replied: ” Try to get a little table, it is almost 12.” Then, they listened to something like a bell giving the time and two doors were opened, one of them was beautiful with many flowers, and a very nicely decorated place could be seen, while the other door was in very bad shape, falling apart with bad smell and neglected appearance. The persons went to the beautiful door but they saw a sign that said: ” Today we do not need professors, attorneys, salesmen or cooks. Please, knock the other door”

And the attorney said: ” I am going to suit them for discrimination.” The salesman said: ” Bad marketing.”

The cook said: ” The top restaurants are like this.”

The professor said: ” Let’s do everything for the sake of learning.” Then, they went near the door of hell that had a sign that said: ” We are looking for professors, attorneys, salesmen and cooks. Immediate availability. Go to the reception and ask for Don Sata. You will go through a short interview and if you qualify, will be assigned to a position to a very tropical area. A new pavilion is now been opened.”

The four persons looked each other and thought: ” How do we get out of this? It seems that it was not a dream after all.” The attorney had an idea and said: ” They say in the sign that we will be interviewed, so what we will do is not to know the work and they will not give us the job and we will not stay here, they will send us to heaven or back to earth. They better send me back because is past twelve and I have a lot of things to do.”

The professor said: ” Then, let’s make a draw and let’s change professions.”
The salesman said: ” Just a moment, I agree but only with the condition that if we go back to earth, you must buy something from me.” The cook said: ” I only know about cooking, you can put me in any position, I do not care.” The moment of the interviews came and Don Sata presented himself. He looked somewhat busy and perspiring. He was tall, of a reddish complexion and with a deep look. So he called the first one in the list and said: ” The professor please.” The professor had changed places with the attorney, so the supposed professor who was truly an attorney went. And Don Sata said: ” Well, you have been a very dedicated and learned man, we want to do some changes here and we want to have a well educated personnel, so our guests will feel that we take care of them, there is nothing like a lecture and pardon me because I cannot say good lecture because of principles.” And the supposed professor said: ” What we must do first is to change some statutes, articles and to establish new norms.” Don Sata gave him a somewhat perplexed look and said: ” Enough of questions. Please go to this next room for evaluation.”

Then, Don Sata called the cook who was the salesman and Don Sata asked : ” We worry a lot here about food, can you give us your recommendation?” And the salesman who was acting as the cook said: ” What is most important is not the food but the menu. ” In less than a minute, the salesman who was acting like the cook, gave him a lot of information. Don Sata gave him a surprised look and said: ” Please, go with the previous gentleman and we will proceed with your evaluation later on.” He, then, called the attorney who in this case was the professor and Don Sata asked: ” We would like to change our fame in earth, what steps do we have to take?” And the professor who was acting as the attorney said: ” What is important is to establish the dates and also the information of the persons who gave their opinion and then we would know how to proceed.” He had not even finished when Don Sata interrupted him and said: ” Please, go with the other persons.” Then, he called the salesman who was acting like the cook and asked:
” How can we improve our visits?”

And the supposed salesman who was the cook said: ” Well, perhaps a few appetizers will do.” And Don Sata said: Please, go with your three partners. ” And there was a window between the two rooms from where they could appreciate how Don Sata was turning more red and it seemed that he was calling some collaborators. While in the room, the four of them were commenting: ” This has been a piece of cake, we deceived him for sure, because we answered different things than what he wanted to know, so we will be sent back to earth or to the beautiful heaven.” Suddenly, they saw like different persons coming to the interview and they noticed that these persons went out crying to another place and the four of them said: ” We escaped but these ones are probably crying because they are going in.” A few hours passed by and then Don Sata called them and said: ” Listen to the news.” Immediately, the four interrupted, especially the attorney, who said: ” He probably saw that we cannot be approved.”

The professor said: ” He has found many mistakes.”
The salesman said: ” There is no buying or selling here, so we are disqualified anyway.”

The cook said: ” We are probably not approved because we do not fit the positions.”

And they said to Don Sata: ” We have seen and heard the crying of the other persons and we are ready to say good bye, it was most interesting to see you and we will tell the persons on earth how it went.” And Don Sata said: ” Take it easy boys, everything has been solved. About the people that you saw crying, those fools were crying of happiness, because they were not admitted here, those were defective and we sent some back to earth others to the door of the competition. But you perfectly passed the test and you are hired here for all eternity because we had never interviewed such a dumb professor, such a bad attorney, such awful salesman and even worse cook. You won the positions because there will be nobody worse here in hell.“

 

 

The Personal Relationship with God

To have Faith, is to have a personal relationship with God. The topic is very ample; we can talk from the historical point of view, but what is most relevant here, without subtracting importance to the past, is its meaning in all its dimension, which is and will always be, the vision of God, for us, as individuals, family and society. The topic on Faith must not be simplistic. If I believe that God exists, that is good, but if I don’t do anything, then, is very bad.  Since knowing that Truth exists, is supposed to take me to search, know, interpret and learn about it, otherwise my knowledge would be too loose. I can pronounce and repeat the name of God, many times, but if I don’t feel Him in my heart, then, I am not true but I will be ignoring the principles of Faith, in a deliberate way. Which means, not only to love and to believe in theory, but practicing, to accomplish the effective conversion of faith. How to have more faith? The person who has faith, appreciates, respects, honors and manifests it; it is a gift, given by spiritual virtue and the one who has it, knows in a positive, absolute way, that God loves and knows him and that God is just and true. And with this knowledge, he treasures faith and practices in a very active way – by thought and action- the laws and commandments of God, based on the purity of Love. The key to growth is found here. Since man can only grow, by making progress in his beliefs, because faith is the active Love of God, the presence of His Word and it is a daily inspiration. By acceptance and knowledge, faith will grow in the Love expressed with solidarity to the human family as universal service. 

 

The Contest. Short Inspirational Story

A contest was announced to award a prize to the best horse. Many and different, with various forms and types, sizes, colors were present. Some were even dancing while others were pulling carts. Many hours passed and the judges reached the point, where they were undecided because the horses were really beautiful and to pick the first place was difficult since all these horses had many good qualities. Suddenly, a very animated and agitated man showed. He seemed to be a simple man in appearance and he was carrying a bag in his back. He said:

-Please forgive me, I come from far away and I am late. You must excuse me, I always come late because I only come to pick up the prize.

And the judges said:

 -What prize? You don’t even have a horse. Unless that you are the horse.-

 And they all laughed. Then, they brought the two most beautiful horses and asked him:

 -Can you compete with these two horses? They are great. What do you have to say about your horse?-

The man looked at them and said: -These horses are very handsome but not as much as my horse. Allow me to show him to you.-

He opened the bag that he was carrying in his back and showed some bones. It was the head of a horse who had died many years ago. The bones were as white as the snow. And the persons started shouting.

-Are you planning to win with that?-

And the man said:

 -I always win with this. Because what you are seeing is not dead neither alive. This horse loved me and I loved him. We traveled together by rivers, valleys and gorges. We were one. That is the reason that he is not dead neither alive. He is beyond all this, he will always be, forever and ever. Your horses are very handsome but some day the time will pass and nothing will be left behind. But my horse is everything for me and this everything is always with me.-

 And then, this man was awarded the prize because he had carried the most handsome horse: The horse of Love, the horse of eternity. 

 

 

The Great Battle.

A great battle happened in a very far away place; Good and Evil were fighting but the situation was very delicate for Good since there were one hundred men of Evil fighting against every men of Good, up to the point that the men of Good were surrounded, unable to defend themselves and dying at the hands of the evil ones who were enjoying their criminal actions.

The battle lasted the whole day and night and the next day at noon, very few men of Good were left. The battle field was covered with innocent blood since Evil had strengthened and they were close to victory. Good was close to die since Evil had surrounded them as a ring but he said to his men: “Do not be afraid of being what you are, do not be afraid of death if it comes. Put all your will, free your thoughts of conflict and in your heart, abandon fear, get your strength in Love.”

This small army who was surrounded, strengthened their hearts and recovered their purpose while their guide said: ” We are going to win this battle and we’ll do it by honoring Good, put your swords aside, don’t be afraid, join your hands, join your hearts, let Love guide you. And they all joined their hands and opened their hearts and in a moment, their blood stained garments, turned as white as snow, bright as the morning’s sun. And it was as lightning illuminating the night, and that shine became as sun but more luminous and potent. And a natural thing happened, that light shone on the field and on every corner and as a natural thing, also, took possession of Evil, whose men were badly hurt, their eyes were blinded and they were so angry that their desire to kill increased and by being blinded and mad, they kill themselves and not one was left. But with so much blood that it reached above the ankles and so much dead that a few hours later, the vultures filled the place.

And the one guiding the army of Good said these words: ” We will never be happy about the dead of our enemies and the violence and cruelty that they experienced. Let’s keep our hearts high, let’s pray and let’s honor theirs and ours in their graves by placing seeds of flowers to clean the horror, violence, anguish and desperation. We didn’t win with violence, or rancor but with the strength that the truth give us; the truth of good sustained in Love. ”

And from that day on, those warriors became farmers. Time passed and many years after, everybody had forgotten about the death and destruction. But what stayed and triumphed is that in that valley of death and desolation live people who cultivate Good and they know in their hearts that in that valley violence died and in the same moment Good and Peace were born forever.

Healing a Broken Heart. For Reflection

If a broken heart with symptoms of spiritual illness, would come to us, we would notice right away because of the symptoms: He has lost hope, does not have dreams, he is bitter, weak, desolated. He has forgotten or does not know the experience of faith, ignores the term Love, and moves away from affection, because, he never received tenderness.

He is full of confusion, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, apathy, and tired of life. This heart has lost order and discipline, is lacking method, energy, enthusiasm, and a feeling of solidarity. He has moved too far away from natural love, he has self rejection, he rejects everyone, and he doesn’t have peace, but looks like a ghost of horror and loneliness.

But the spiritual medicine, is going to cure this heart for sure. It will not be easy, and this will be done through stages, going from deep affliction, until he experiences a superior comfort which will start the healing by helping him to recuperate and start beating with the enthusiasm to be, to live, by and for Love.

This delicate care is tenderness, caress, embrace, kiss, respect, appreciation, admiration. And also recognition, filial love, personal dedication, and most important, God is in the center of this existence, and this moribund heart, will start palpitating and it will sound like bells ringing, since the only thing needed in order to know Love, is to Love.

Dreaming. For Reflection

I seduce and I trap you; I rule and control you, no matter your strength, fortitude or your decision because I will always conquer your mind and your heart, even though, you may say that you are strong willed, I listen and smile because I know that I will see you fall in front of me.

You may fight me as much as you want, I don’t need to fight back, I know your strength and weakness, even more, I have the power to make you laugh and cry; I can convince you and make you weak, also, I can debilitate, scare you.

I have the power of the invisible world and you are in my hands. There is nobody that has not been subdued by my decision since I am “Dreaming”

Consciousness. For Reflection

Many persons suppose that consciousness is unique and indispensable, inseparable and absolute. But consciousness is formed by structures and levels of the mind. Understanding this, as self reasoning, that is to say, ” I can see myself ” but this ” to see me ” is also as ” to see me through who saw me.”
That’s why consciousness always depends on the environment. And is the preferential state of the perception of the environment through my cognitive senses which are not the same in every person, but there is some similarity. Nevertheless consciousness has great intensities and this allows a better or worse adaptation to the environment. Consciousness as such, begins from the function of ” to think ” which is directly related with the function of ” to act ,” having as a result complications of interaction. Consciousness must have intention of action and thought and direction of method. Otherwise, it simply is a reflected answer. When we speak of a more complete consciousness, we use to call this, human consciousness, which refers to the person and to all the combination of strategy, association and relationship that are established in each one of the thoughts, that directly or indirectly commonly relate with a psychological state, which we called ” I. ”
This consciousness of the ” I ” is formed by innumerable levels of consciousness and thoughts. And is really conscious as a level of intelligence, of self control of each one of the grades in which the consciousness relates to.
By example, we have a result when we define a body in space, time and work. This result produces judgment and with this judgment, consciousness develops or dies. Besides, that consciousness develops preferences and with these characteristics, such as : typical, classic, specific, which derive to a position, which later is known as ethics, moral, virtues or values of consciousness. These are usually called levels of consciousness.
But, what is consciousness ? It is an active and defined answer in front of the environment with a very clear position of what I am not, of what I don’t want.
Also, much is talked about spiritual consciousness. This term, is often confused, and persons using conceptual dreams, try to define and think they know about this subject. Consciousness is that identity which has a very clear and active definition of itself.
Consciousness, is active as far as been independent and interdependent. All this is because consciousness is a result of the experiences -called memory- by which, all other levels of consciousness surge. In reality, all this levels of consciousness surge from a primary experience in all the different sensorial levels of consciousness, either from the body, the emotions, thoughts, and abstractions. What is certain is that consciousness will stay as mystery which all will resolve. And the fact of defining it, because of the particular of developing each action or each thought, dignifies or deteriorates the consciousness. For this clear reason, the environment is a predominant factor in the development of the individuals, since the environment, easily perverts the consciousness. Someone who has been exposed to horror, tragedy and violence, may consider those as something natural.
Then, we said that consciousness is immobile, very fragile and vulnerable and is affected by time, space and many other factors that make consciousness not the best real perception. That is why consciousness usually suffers crisis in its development, even factors such as endocrine, psychological, social and cultural can affect the development of consciousness, as well as nutrition and habitat. It is really very vast the susceptibility of consciousness. Now, there are factors of great importance, clearly called, spirituals. And these does not fall in the category of mental consciousness but of other consciousness, which clearly shares attributes with mental consciousness. But there are great differences that in many cases, must draw a line of separation because together don’t cause the right synergy and right definition. Then, these spiritual and mental consciousness must go through a process of adaptation very well established.
Let’s say that a person in meditation, may feel that she is elevating. But, does this -physically speaking- mean that the person can fly ? Of course not, but spiritually speaking, this person has more perceptions, which are very real. The person may even feel that she can communicate with deceased persons. But in time and space, this ability of speaking with the dead does not belong to many persons, who let’s say, can interchange consciousness. But, these are existential dimensions, which are very different and well defined.

The Wisdom of the Madman. Short Inspirational Story

A wise man happened to be in the middle of the way; his clothing was old; clean but messy; he was walking up and down, would sit, stand up, would laugh, apparently for no reason; because of his appearance, he was called the madman. He also had an answer for everything and was called the wise man. Since nobody could understand him, he was called, the wise madman.
One day, he was walking by the city and a few intellectuals, thinkers, and philosophers – not having anything better to do, decided to make fun of him. And said : ” Hey, today is a hot day, come under the shade, let’s chat ; we are discussing about happiness and want to know your opinion.”
He said: ” Good, I always have the best disposition to share with you.”
Then, the philosophers asked him in a very ironic way: ” Where is the secret of happiness found?” While they were thinking, “What can this poor , simpleton, madman know?”
And the such called madman, answered: ” Oh, that is a good question, but the answer is too evident, nevertheless, nobody can see it, the reason is that it is an answer in stages, if you go up one step, you will be able to go to the next, then to the other, and you will find happiness on top.”
They said: ” Be more specific, we do not know what you mean.”
The madman said: ” There are stages in happiness, and what is fundamental and necessary is to find errors, defects, problems and lacks.”
Ha, ha, ha. They laughed and said: ” How funny, happiness needs of defects, now.” The madman said: ” So that something exists, it first must not exist, and only when it has not existed, the biggest lack is found. If I do not have water to drink and I am thirsty, then, I will look for it and if I make the right effort, I will also value it. If I do not know my limits, I cannot look for solutions, nevertheless, this is very easy but happiness is much more complex, then the second stage is a double stage, is like a jump; but in the first stage I have lacks and in the second stage, I will look for solutions, but what is sure is that I cannot solve all of them.”
The philosophers laughed again and said: ” But that is conformism. How can you say that happiness is that?”
The wise madman said: ” Men, usually want to live their whole lives in one day, they want everything very fast, and taken to extremes, they eat intensely, they desire intensely, they work intensely, they have fun intensely, but so intensely that it is not intense any more; then, they do not take a moment to realize that they are alive; and everything is so fast that life goes by too quickly. And when you realize that you will not be able to overcome your problems in the totality, you also realize that you will have to live with the problems and thus to slowly overcome them, this will make you humble, besides, it will make you look for refuge and spiritual consolation; then, you will not see yourself as a super man and you will also understand that the others can make mistakes, this is not to justify them, this is just to live in a society where the habitants are not gods who can do everything.”
They laughed again and said: ” If you think that way, then you are a retrograde; society must be ambitious, must cast aside what is bad, and must look for the supreme perfection; if you are not in control, you do not know the power and if you do not know the power, you are oppressed and by thinking in that way, you will never be happy; besides, if you look for refuge in what you call spiritual, you will live out of the dreams and that is not reality.”
But the wise madman said: ” Wait a moment, I told you from the beginning that all this is in stages; when you learn about your lacks, then you work on them, you accept the limits, and you mature in many ways. This does not mean that you let yourself go, but on the contrary, you look for a superior help, you edify and when you understand the inevitable, you do not separate from happiness, but you realize that happiness is there, as a path to travel.”
Ha, ha, ha, they all laughed and said: ” Your madness does not have sanity. Your happiness for us, is the example of your ruin, you live in a fantasy, which is truly madness. We need to have control, power, direction, and all that for us, is happiness.”
The wise madman answered: ” To end, I can only say that happiness is a path to cover; happiness is here, there and beyond; we all have been invited to be happy, but sometimes we ask too much of happiness. It is not that I am a conformist or simpleton. But I have found out that one can be happy in spite of all the mistakes in the path; and the fact is that one must learn to improve while in the path, and not to make a condemnation out of the goals. I begin my day as if it was the first and the last day of my life, I talk with happiness as my friend, not an enemy to conquer.”
But they said: ” It is getting late and you do not need the shade any longer, go on, continue your way.”
He answered: ” Thank you for sharing with me.”
They said: ” Leave, once and for all.”
One thing was very clear: The heart of the madman never changed but they kept making fun of him as he walked away.
That is why, the madman is wise, because nobody believes in him; and the fact is that he has a knowledge that nobody understands.