“Not all who wander are lost.” – JRR Tolkien.
Happy Mother’s day
Clouds and Waves – by Rabindranath Tagore
Mother, the folk who live up in the clouds call out to me-
“We play from the time we wake till the day ends.
We play with the golden dawn, we play with the silver moon.”
I ask, “But how am I to get up to you ?”
They answer, “Come to the edge of the earth, lift up your
hands to the sky, and you will be taken up into the clouds.”
“My mother is waiting for me at home, “I say, “How can I leave
her and come?”
Then they smile and float away.
But I know a nicer game than that, mother.
I shall be the cloud and you the moon.
I shall cover you with both my hands, and our house-top will
be the blue sky.
The folk who live in the waves call out to me-
“We sing from morning till night; on and on we travel and know
not where we pass.”
I ask, “But how am I to join you?”
They tell me, “Come to the edge of the shore and stand with
your eyes tight shut, and you will be carried out upon the waves.”
I say, “My mother always wants me at home in the everything-
how can I leave her and go?”
They smile, dance and pass by.
But I know a better game than that.
I will be the waves and you will be a strange shore.
I shall roll on and on and on, and break upon your lap with
laughter.
And no one in the world will know where we both are.
Happy Mother’s day to all Moms out there 
Zen Sunday
The obstacle is the path. – Zen Proverb.
Citizenship day – Naturalization Oath Ceremony
“Our awesome responsibility to ourselves, to our children, and to the future is to create ourselves in the image of goodness, because the future depends on the nobility of our imaginings.” — Barbara Grizzuti Harrison.
Heritage Theater in Campbell, California.
Oath of Allegiance -” I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”
Pledge of Allegiance - I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.To the new beginning……………………………
Zen Sunday
“A haiku is the expression of a temporary enlightenment in which we see into the life of things.”
- R.H. BLYTH.
Zen Sunday
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. – Lao Tzu
Spring at Jikoji Zen Center
I find peace at www.jikoji.org
Satsangatve Nissangatvam
Nissangatve Nirmohatvam
Nirmohatve Nischalatattvam
Nischalatattve Jeevanmuktih.
- Shankaracharya.
How To Be Alone
Language… has created the word “loneliness” to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word “solitude” to express the glory of being alone. -Paul Johannes Tillich.
Zen Sunday
“When you paint Spring, do not paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots, but just paint Spring. To paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots is to paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots – it is not yet painting Spring.”― Dōgen.
Almost Spring
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
from A Shropshire Lad (1896) by -Alfred Edward Housman.
I could not resist taking a picture of spring flowers, when I went to pick up my eight year old son from school, yesterday. He was patient while I stopped walking, taking pictures and enjoying the signs of spring. While I am in no rush to hustle or hurry, my son is always talking about how he can’t wait to be sixteen and get his driver’s license. He wants to work, save up $$ to buy his own car. So, whenever we go to stores like Safeway, Nob Hills, Trader Joe’s, he says to me I wish I could work here. He even asked the cashier if he can get a job at a couple of stores. And I keep telling him, but you are only 8 years old, even if you save for your car you can’t drive until you are old enough to get your driver’s license. We have these regular conversations. This little bird already has plans and getting ready to fly away from mama Anyways I hope you enjoy the above poem by A E Housman as much as I do.
Zen Sunday
Don’t try to be someone you’re not, you may get arrested for Identity Theft. – Daniel Ritz.
Zen Sunday
Every path, every street in the world is your walking meditation path. -Thich Nhat Hanh.
Spring is almost here Happy International Women’s Day!
You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. – Maya Angelou.
Zen Sunday
Have good trust in yourself – not the one you think you should be, but the one that you are.— Taizan Maezumi Roshi“
I quit Facebook 3/2/2013
“I will not be available via Facebook from this point on as I am deleting my Facebook account.”
“I can be contacted at radhikabauerle@gmail.com.
“Please delete any data in your Facebook account that involves me. This includes conversations we’ve had and photos of me that you can part with.”
“Please respect my privacy and avoid posting anything in future that personally identifies me.”
“Thank you.”
Happy Valentine’s Day!
If you judge people, you have no time to love them. – Mother Teresa.
As you continue to send out love, the energy returns to you in a regenerating spiral… As love accumulates, it keeps your system in balance and harmony. Love is the tool, and more love is the end product. – Sara Paddison.
Kindness in words creates confidence; kindness in thinking creates profoundness; kindness in giving creates love. – Lao-Tzu.
On reflection, one of the things I needed to learn was to allow myself to be loved. – Isha McKenzie-Mavinga.
The best portion of a good man’s life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts, Of kindness and of love. – William Wordsworth.
To keep your marriage brimming, with love in the wedding cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; whenever you’re right, shut up. – Ogden Nash.
If you love something, set it free; if it comes backs it’s yours, if it doesn’t, it never was. – Richard Bach.
There isn’t any formula or method. You learn to love by loving — by paying attention and doing what one thereby discovers has to be done. – Aldous Leonard Huxley.
The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.- Theodore M. Hesburgh.
We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it. – John Lennon.
Zen Sunday
Prayer is your speaking to God and meditation is allowing the spirit to speak to you, but it speaks in silence and it then manifests as intuition. Inspiration … the word means ‘in spirit’… [the word] enthusiasm [is rooted in] “en theos” … ‘To be in touch with God.” -Deepak Chopra.
Sunset of the day
California Coast.
Enthusiasm.
Meditation creates, keeps enthusiasm alive. This is my fundamental belief and observation. Do small 10min meditation about 4-5 times during the day, I recommend it because I am practicing it. Happy Friday. Have a great weekend!!!
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
I can still hear my Mother reading it to me, and explaining. We had no Youtube you see, to watch and to feel snow. I have to only imagine….Imagine and visualize a lot of things in my mind, spend hours imagining, how they all might look like, about all the things alien to my life in India, my Mother was reading to us, the stores, the poetry of distant lands so very different from what i was surrounded by at that time in my little town of Gadwal.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-Robert Frost
What do I do? Good question.
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.”- Siddhartha Guatama Buddha
When you need a little bit of inspiration…..
I work in sales, I just finished my first quarter at work. I am just not happy and satisfied with what I have done so far. Well! we all need some inspiration, some prep talk to cheer us up every one once in a while don’t we? Here we go….
“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” -Dalai Lama.
All the best to you in what ever you aspiring to be….Have a good weekend!
Zen Sunday
Don’t get involved in partial problems, but always take flight to where there is a free view over the whole single great problem, even if this view is still not a clear one.
-Ludwig Wittgenstein (26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951).
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.
UNICEF
I wish Anjali all the success …May all her dreams come true…..I saw this inspiring picture to day. I thought I will share this with you.
“She (Anjali) is talking to another girl by eye contact and saying…”Being girls we will have to face so many challenges in life. Like every girl should be wanted child, rights to education, rights to food, to get same place, same importance like my brothers have in family, not be neglected, not to be rejected, rights to choose my life partner and finally to remove this gender based discrimination from my society….Yes, will face them with smile and take them as opportunity to learn, to get experience so that we can change our life, society, India and rest of the world”…-in Chayas words.
Nine-year-old Anjali Kumari in her class room in middle school in Supaul district of Bihar.
Photo Credit: UNICEF India/2012/Dhiraj Singh
Christmas at Dell
I get really excited about every day stuff, just like my little one Johnny. It is one of those things I made a habits, from reminding and staying in “NOW”. Thanks to Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey. I was attending “New Earth -Webinars” Oprah did a while back, I believe in 2007.
Anyways each time I pass I smile when I look at our Christmas Tree at work. Did I ever tell you I work for Dell? Selling Cloud Clients/ Thin Clients. By the way we came of up with new product first of its kind “Cloud Client Manager”. You guessed it I love working for Dell.
David Garrett.
Happy Thanksgiving every one. I am listening to David Garett’s music tonight. I thought you might like it too
Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Tagore’s portrait is by Sasi kumar Hesh.
Feng Shui Flowers
Orange Lilies at Feng Shui love corner at home. Helps me get back my attention to here and NOW.
How are you all doing?
God Bless America.
Nice morning! I went for my walk at Campbell Community Center Track. I made friends with two runners Juan and a lady. They both offered to coach me to run a half marathon. I love this American spirit. Random strangers become buddies for a common cause. God bless all those Angels, Teacher’s that come my way and teach me the things I need to survive and thrive. God bless America. It feels fantastic to live here
Solitude…………..
I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.
~ Henry David Thoreau.
Steve Jobs
7 Secrets to Success of Steve Jobs
1. Do what you love.
2. Put a dent in the universe.
3. Say no to 1000 things.
4. Kick start your brain.
5. Sell dreams not products.
6. Create insanely great experiences.
7. Master the message.
Solitude, Silence & Stillness
When I dance, I dance; when I sleep, I sleep; yes, and when I walk alone in a beautiful orchard, if my thoughts drift to far-off matters for some part of the time for some other part I lead them back again to the walk, the orchard, to the sweetness of this solitude, to myself. -Montaigne-Michel de Montaigne.
Some people pursue happiness, others create it.
If you want to be happy, be.- Leo Tolstoy.
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it. – Groucho Marx.
Attitude is 200% of how we handle life and all it brings. Work Hard, play hard and smile even harder! – Jacob Atkins.
If you keep a smile on your face, you’ll always know where it is.:) – Susan Gale.
The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.- Benjamin Franklin.
When someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy. – Samuel Goldwyn.
Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.-Victor Hugo.
Happiness is the art of never holding in your mind the memory of any unpleasant thing that has passed. – unknown.
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. – Buddha.
The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mode of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change; happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up. – Charles L. Morgan.
Prayer and Peace- NYC shooting.
Prayers and Peace for the shooting victims and families at NYC shooting.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.- Seymour Miller & Jill Jackson.
It is not enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” Peace is found within us if we believe on it, only then it would happen. -Eleanor Roosevelt.
Prayer and Peace
Prayers and Peace for the shooting victims and families at Wisconsin Gurudwara.
“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.”
Gandhi’s Prayer For Peace
Happy 77th Birthday Amma
Counting my blessings for a wonderful mother
1) Thank you Amma for always taking excellent good care of yourself. I love seeing you fit and healthy. You are my role model, and I completely agree with you “ health is wealth”.
2) Thank you Amma for always speaking to me about the importance of peace and nonviolence. I understand it better now.
3) Thank you Amma for always encouraging me to focus on getting good education and work.
4) Thank you Amma for always supporting “women empowerment”. I can still hear you say “All women need to be financially independent”.
5) Thank you Amma for working hard, so that I could have the education that you didn’t get to have.
6) Thank you Amma for always loving me, being kind to me and forgiving me.
7) Thank you Amma for helping me to learn Carnatic classical music. Today I very much enjoy listening to and appreciating world music.
8) Thank you Amma for spending awful amount of time talking to me, counseling me about life and such. Thank you for taking me with you to travel across India. Thank you for the movies we watched together. Thank you for all the cool, fun things we did together. Thank you for your precious time. I really appreciate it.
9) Thank you Amma for always being very optimistic, futuristic and positive. I love it.
10) Thank you for being my Mother. You are my best friend forever. I love you. A very happy 77th Birthday to you.
India, you're incredible!
Out of all the places I have travelled to, India has been my favorite. Trying to explain the country to people that haven't been is like explaining astrophysics to a 5 year old or social skills to Sheldon Cooper. Just impossible.
India is organized chaos to the absolute extreme. Regardless of whether you go north, south or somewhere in the middle you'll be surrounded by people, cows and maddening traffic.
Olympic Games London 2012
I am getting all excited about watching Olympic Games London 2012, July 27th to 12th August. I feel the energy, i feel inspired. I can’t wait to watch the top best sport performers.
Picture by Blue Cross Blue Shield Montana Google Plus.
Sacred Sunday
On my way driving back home from Skyline Boulevard, I heard on the radio, an English classic, Ralph Vaughan Williams – The Lark Ascending ..having a very best Sunday ever! Enjoy!
Touched by an Angel by Dr Maya Angelou.
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
-Maya Angelou.
Sunset
Beautiful Sunset @ Blufftop Coastal Park, Half Moon Bay State Beach, CA
The day turned out to be a fantastic Friday indeed. Have a good night!
Sunrise
I happen to watch a beautiful Sunrise this morning at Los Gatos Creek Trail. You all have a fantastic Friday!
Let me be me, I am that I am, Aham Brahmasmi.
I am getting tired of sarcasm and the small talk to slim down and workout from friends and family. Everyone seems to advice me, as though what I do to keep myself 100% healthy is not enough, even though my doctor tells me I am in excellent health and she would give an A+. I am happy being me, myself, content where I am at in my life, joyful, cheerful, peaceful most of the time. Here is what I have to say. Please let me be me, I am that I am, Aham Brahmasmi.
Tranquility
“We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds. We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious. If we smile at someone, he or she will smile back. And a smile costs nothing. We should plague everyone with joy. If we are to die in a minute, why not die happily, laughing? ”
― Swami Satchidananda, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
ZaZen at Jikoji Zen Center
Awesome morning Za Zen at peaceful Jikoji Zen Center. Here are some pictures.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Body Image and Self-Esteem.
I am incredibly grateful to Louise Hay for all these fantastic affirmations she provides in her books, news letters and website. Honestly like everyone else, I struggle with my body image problem, I am no exception. I still worry about my eye glasses, big ears, my tummy, I am not being tall enough etc…..the list goes on and on I found this beautiful piece of affirmations I am currently working on from a recent new-letter by Louise Hay. I wanted to share it with you. Hope it helps. Pass it on. Pay it forward.
I love my body exactly as it is.
I am my perfect weight.
I am my perfect size.
I eat only when I am truly hungry.
I am drawn only to foods that truly nourish my body.
I eat slowly.
I savor every bite.
I love to eat.
I release the fear of food.
Chewing every bite thoroughly, I stop the moment I am full.
I drink lots of water and herbal teas.
Every bite I eat is easily assimilated in my body.
Food flows through my body with ease.
Every morsel I eat rejuvenates my cells.
All the food I eat energizes me.
I breathe deeply as I eat and digest.
I eliminate any excess with ease.
I love to exercise.
I love walking briskly.
I have respect and a high regard for myself.
I balance my life around work, rest, and play.
I support, love, and accept myself unconditionally.
I am happy and peaceful beyond my wildest dreams.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Phir milenge chalte chalte …until next time…love you all!
Asha Stanford Holi, The colour Festival.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma Gandhi.
My child had a fantastic, fun time at the recent Asha Stanford Annual Holi, he calls it the color festival. Asha for education a non-profit organization is doing a great job of bringing hope through education, in India. Please take a look at their website. I like their support a child project. Support A child program efforts help sponsor the costs for health, living and educational costs for individual children.
It was a fun day for a wonderful cause and a nice way for my child to learn about India.
“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”-Brigham Young.
When we go to Heaven do we take our race and religion with us?
When we go to Heaven do we take our race and religion with us?
Well! I do not believe in caste system anymore, so I did not mention.
I must say I am heavily influenced by Buddhist, Christian and Hindu spiritual teachings, and I consider myself part of all those and in no particular order.
When I feel joyful, peaceful, I somewhat believe Heaven is here and now.
To be continued…..
Photograph by: Varina Patel
Mother Teresa
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
~Mother Teresa.
