The Blue and the Red

The Blue and the Red by Jonathon Earl Bowser Oil on Canvas-Panel - 24" x 16"

This striking painting speaks volumes to me. Creation, movement, life, ensoulment, light... as well Void, stillness, innerspace, non-existence, darkness. The Goddess of Darklight (dark matter, innerspace) - Christenya, the Mother, the womb of Creation. It speaks of energy and matter, light and darkness, duality and Oneness. The infinite nature of 'All That Is'. Of cycles - birth, life, death. Of time as Present Moment.  Fabulous!  Prints are available.

Jonathon Earl Bowser was born in Canada in 1962. He began drawing at age 8, painting at age 18, and graduated from the Alberta College of Art in 1984.

~Bonnee

Quan Yin - Goddess of Mercy and Compassion

Quan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion in Buddhism. She is known as Kannon in Japanese, Guan Yin in Chinese, Chenrezig in Tibetan and Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit. Avalokiteśvara and Chenrezig are usually depicted as a male or androgynous, while Quan Yin, Kannon and Guan Yin are female.  Illustration left is Kannon.

Guan Yin (觀音, pinyin guānyīn, Wade-Giles: kuan-yin) is an exact translation of Avalokitasvara (अवलोकितेश्वर, Sanskrit). The prefix ava = down; lokita = to notice, behold, observe and svara = sound, noise or sound perceiver. Literally “he who perceives sound (or hears the cries of sentient beings who need help)."  From Tibetan Chenrezig translates as chen = eye; re = continuity and zig = to look. From this one can derive the meaning "he who always looks upon all beings (with the eye of compassion). Illustration right is Avalokiteśvara.

According to legend, Quan Yin was born into this world as Miao  Shan, the daughter of a king of the Chou Dynasty (1050-256 B.C.). Another legend says, in a previous time a devoted, compassionate monk became a Bodhisattva, who later became Avalokiteśvara. Most of the Buddhas and Boddhisattvas have a living breathing man or woman associated with them. This shows humanities ability to become enlightened with dedicated practice.

In the Buddhist teachings, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva postponed his own Buddhahood and vowed to end suffering by listening to and assisting every sentient being to attain enlightenment.

Lama Jigme a Tibetan Buddhist monk explains, "No matter how you address the Buddha of Compassion (by which name), the Buddha of Compassion is still the Buddha of Compassion." He says about the mantra, "Chenrezig’s Six-syllable mantra, Om  Ma-ni  Pad-me  Hum, is the compassionate wisdom of all the Buddhas manifested as sound." Illustration right is Chenrezig.

Bokar Rinpoche writes, "Every person whose heart is moved by love and compassion, who deeply and sincerely acts for the benefit of others without concern for fame, profit, social position, or recognition expresses the activity of Chenrezig."

Duane, Reiki Teacher says "I’ve always found the theory that Quan Yin, Mother Mary, Isis, Avalokiteśvara, Kannon and even Ha Hai-i Wuhti of Hopi Indian lore (amongst many others) are all actually one and the same… manifesting at different times, to different cultures in an attempt to bolster the belief that love and compassion are amongst the stronger powers known to man to be quite fascinating."

Interesting indeed... let's take that a step further... ultimately we are all One. This implies that you and I are One, as well you and Quan Yin are One. And Quan Yin and I are One... as she and every sentient being are One. We humans just don't recognize this. We have forgotten and see ourselves as separate from everything and everyone. Isolated and alone... we suffer. This is an illusion! We simply have forgotten our connectedness and our own Sacredness.

A few Souls incarnate with full remembrance. Some of them we recognize and call 'Buddhas, Avatars, Saints or Messengers of God'. They are us... walking, breathing, talking reminders who impart knowledge. They show us 'Who We Truly Are'. But we only see their Specialness or Godliness, put them on pedestals and end up worshiping them. We create entire religions full of dogmas based on their messages. We think so little of ourselves that we couldn't possibly be 'THAT'. So we worship it, rather then remembering, emulating and becoming 'THAT' ourselves.

Even if we have the understanding we are 'THAT', we still don't fully believe. For if we did... when we do... we will walk not only in the footsteps of the Great Masters... we will be the One's creating the footsteps. All we have to do is set aside our beliefs, forget all we have learned, feel our connectedness and just be... in this moment.

We are all Love and Compassion in beautiful diversity. If we all walked this, imagine the wondrous, magical things we'd create together. Reiki helps us remember, builds our compassion and love, and reconnects us to the Gift of Spirit. Thanks Usui Sensei for this great gift!

~Bonnee

This blog post was inspired by 'Reiki Sense of Compassion' by Duane Flowers

oh life... sweet wondrous life

~a poem by Bonnee Klein Gilligan

So much more then simple words

deep hearted inner sorrow.

Say what you will, time will allow

for life speaks not tomorrow.

Each breath, each move ignites our soul

and fills our cups with wonder.

How we spend this mighty gift

or choose which path to walk on.

Is only that and nothing more

a choice, a simple choice.

Wrapped within experience

set upon a golden plate.

With love and laugher, joy or sorrow

in each and every moment.

Thus we write our book of life

Oh Life... sweet wondrous life.

10 Commandments of Life - Video

10 Commandments of Life brought to life.

Daniel (a.k.a. Philosopher Fresh) contacted me in May 2008 through MySpace. He said, "I have had a copy of your 10 commandments on my wall for the last 5 years! Wonderful! First of all thank you so much for those inspirational words!!! They have helped change my life!"

Through his videos Daniel is bringing the world messages of peace and upliftment. You can view them at Philosopher Fresh on youtube.com

Thanks Daniel for your kindness and for lovingly giving my words life!!!

~Bonnee (a.k.a. Adonea)

Who am I?

This week I've had a series of thoughts and concepts present for a revisit. A friend mentioned Tolle's book 'A New Earth' and said I might want to watch the review at Oprah.com. While there I surfed around a bit and came upon Dr. Wayne Dyer on Oprah's Soul Series. Then one day on Twitter Paulo Coelho tweeted the quote below so I visited his blog. All week I've been pondering the concepts of ego, personality, pain body and now. And working  with present moment. It has been an interesting week. Thought I'd share with you some of my outer and inner workings.

 So I begin... When asked who are you? We often reply with a series of socially acceptable identifiers like, "I am 'name', I work for 'employer', I live in 'town', I am 'relationship status'." Are we that? A name? A job? A town? A relationship?

No of course not. These are identifiers.... name, job, location, relationship. They are current points in time which can change. We get married/divorced, move, change our name and jobs all the time these days.  But if we aren't these... what are we? 

We also say, 'I am a 'man or woman', 'I'm 'age','I'm 'sexual preference' . We look in the mirror and see ourselves. We think, "That's me." But we can alter our body too. Change hair color, lose or gain weight, have plastic surgery and not look the same at all. We can even change our sex. If we make any or all of these changes are we still the same? We look different. No one may recognize us. But are we still the same?

We describe ourselves as, "I'm 'outgoing or introverted or other'. I'm a 'habit (smoker, drinker, etc.)'. I'm 'emotional state (happy, sad, thankful, etc.)'. " And other descriptive phases which talk about our emotional state or ego/personality. Are we how we feel or even what we think?

Dr. Wayne Dyer gives this collection of ideas about ego...

I am what I do

I am what I have

I am what others think of me

I am separate from you

I am separate from what is missing in my life

I am separate from God

"We are not our ego. When we see ourselves and the world from these ideas we are 'Edging God Out' (EGO).  We are already connected to all... have all, we just need to align and surrender. Become empty."

"Oh Krishna, The stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? " ~Bhagavad Gita

If not egoic thought, who are we? What is at the core? How can we know who we are? Where do we begin?

"Not as I will, but as thou wilt." ~2 Corinthians 3:4,5

"We need to forget what we think we are, so that we can really become what we are." ~ Paulo Coelho 

So 'I will' is akin to ego. Forget or surrender 'I will' or 'what we think we are'. Give up beliefs about self which come from ego or personality. The concept is clear enough but how?

"Be still, and know that I am God." ~Psalms 46:10

"True self essence comes out of stillness. Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.

To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe. I call it stillness, but it is a jewel
with many facets: that stillness is also joy, and it is love."~Eckhart Tolle

'Be still'. In the stillness we begin to understand 'what we are'.  But we have a life to live, things to accomplish. How can we become still or empty and have a life?

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." ~Buddha

"Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life." ~Eckhart Tolle

Life can only be experienced Now. Not in past or future. Aligning self with the present moment aligns self with Life (God). But then how do we know our purpose? What we are to do?

"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want." ~Lao Tzu

Being is focusing self on something other then brain grinding or mindless doing. It is Life. Breathe. Follow the breath. Still self inward by following stillness into through and around a flower, tree, plant. Becoming that stillness, quiet, peace. It enlivens. Follow it into the body, feel the buzz, hum or vibration of Life within you. Feel the Peace. Stillness. Joy. Bliss. Then you are fully present... NOW.  The fullness of Life can truly only be experienced now... end.

The photo above of the glorious rose was taken by my beloved friend Light who made his transition. Now he works in Spirit.

Hope you enjoyed my pondering.

~Bonnee

For more on Eckhart Tolle see eckharttolle.com or oprah.com  to watch 'A New Earth' book review with he and Oprah.

For more on Paulo Coelho see paulocoelho.com.br or read his blog.

For more on Dr. Wayne Dyer see drwaynedyer.com