Zeynep Kocasinan is facilitating Transformation Games in Istanbul at Kocasinan Life Coaching and Personal Development Center and also in ROM Center. She is one of the four accrediated facilitators in Turkey
The Tranformation Game has been developed by Joy Drake and Kathy Tyler in Findhorn, Scotland. The Game is wonderful personal growth tool.
For more detailed information:
www.innerlinks.com
www.findhorn.com
www.donusumoyunu.com
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
From RUMI: Holiday Without Limits
From the great master, the Sufi poet of the 13th century – From Mevlana Celaleddin RUMI:
Holiday Without Limits
Going into battle, we carry no shield.
Playing in concert, unaware
of the beat or the melody.
We have become grains in the ground underfoot,
fold on fold, layers of love, nothing else.
Obliterated, as when the eye medicine
is no longer even a powder.
Then it cures sight.
An accident gradually gets accepted
as the thing that needed to happen.
Sickness melts into health.
There is nothing worse than staying congealed.
Let your liver dissolve into blood.
Let your heart break into such tiny pieces
it cannot be found.
The moon orb wanes.
Then for three days you could say
that there is no moon.
That is the moon that has drawn
so close to the sun,
it is nowhere, and everywhere.
Send us someone who can sing music
for the soul, though we know
such longing cannot rise from a lute
or a tambourine, not from the sun,
or Venus, or any star.
As day comes, give back
the night-fantasy things you stole.
Admit your arrogance as the stars do at dawn.
When the sun goes down, Venus begins bragging,
claiming lights, arguing her loveliness
over the moon’s. Jupiter lifts a gold coin
from his bag. Mars shows his blade
to Saturn. Mercury sits on a high throne
and gives himself successive titles.
That is how it goes in the middle
of the night. Then dawn. Jupiter
is suddenly poor. Mars and Saturn
have no plans. Venus and the moon
run away, broken and terrified.
Then the sun within the sun enters,
and this night-and-day talk
seems a meaningless convention,
the lighting business.
A true holy day for a man or a woman
is the one when they bring themselves
as the sacrifice.
When Shams shone his light from nowhere,
I felt a holiday without limits begin
where once was just a person.
*-*-*
May your days bring you such holidays of true love.
With love and light,
Z.
__________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“Create a future from your future, not your past.”
Werner Erhard
__________________________________________________
Holiday Without Limits
Going into battle, we carry no shield.
Playing in concert, unaware
of the beat or the melody.
We have become grains in the ground underfoot,
fold on fold, layers of love, nothing else.
Obliterated, as when the eye medicine
is no longer even a powder.
Then it cures sight.
An accident gradually gets accepted
as the thing that needed to happen.
Sickness melts into health.
There is nothing worse than staying congealed.
Let your liver dissolve into blood.
Let your heart break into such tiny pieces
it cannot be found.
The moon orb wanes.
Then for three days you could say
that there is no moon.
That is the moon that has drawn
so close to the sun,
it is nowhere, and everywhere.
Send us someone who can sing music
for the soul, though we know
such longing cannot rise from a lute
or a tambourine, not from the sun,
or Venus, or any star.
As day comes, give back
the night-fantasy things you stole.
Admit your arrogance as the stars do at dawn.
When the sun goes down, Venus begins bragging,
claiming lights, arguing her loveliness
over the moon’s. Jupiter lifts a gold coin
from his bag. Mars shows his blade
to Saturn. Mercury sits on a high throne
and gives himself successive titles.
That is how it goes in the middle
of the night. Then dawn. Jupiter
is suddenly poor. Mars and Saturn
have no plans. Venus and the moon
run away, broken and terrified.
Then the sun within the sun enters,
and this night-and-day talk
seems a meaningless convention,
the lighting business.
A true holy day for a man or a woman
is the one when they bring themselves
as the sacrifice.
When Shams shone his light from nowhere,
I felt a holiday without limits begin
where once was just a person.
*-*-*
May your days bring you such holidays of true love.
With love and light,
Z.
__________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“Create a future from your future, not your past.”
Werner Erhard
__________________________________________________
How to Get There?
This week I would like to give you some notes from the famous physiatrist Brian Weiss. His regression therapies have changed the way millions of people look at life, past lives and the journey of the soul. One of my friends will be attending one of his courses at the end of July in the US. Who knows maybe I can make it there as well. The book “Many Lives, Many Masters” by Brian Weiss is a book that I really recommend.
There are so many books, so many methods and techniques and teacher.
Neale Donald Walsch in one of his books says: “The job of the soul, of course, is to cause us to choose the grandeur – to select the best of who you are –without condemning that which you do not select.”
Sometimes I feel as if no words are necessary; and that we will all find our chosen path on our perfectly fine. I know that. Yet, at times I also feel that I need to share whatever I am able to.
This week’s messages are from a doctor. From Brian Weiss:
- The path of our spiritual journey is an inward one, unique to each of us.
- Wise teachers can point the way, but only we can make the journey.
- Regressing to significant childhood events, to infancy, or even to past lives may provide considerable relief and benefit in the present time.
- I know that there is a reason for everything. Perhaps at the moment that an event occurs we have neither the insights nor the foresight to comprehend the reason, but with time and patience it will come to light.
- Most people recite prayers in their churches, synagogues, mosques, or temples, prayers that proclaim the immortality of the soul. Yet after worship is over, they go back into their competitive ruts, practicing greed and manipulation and self-centeredness. These traits retard the progress of the soul.
- I believe strongly that therapists must have open minds.
- The answers are there. We are immortal. We will always be together.
- There was much practical advice along the way: the value of patience and of waiting; the wisdom in the balance of nature; the eradication of fears, especially the fear of death; the need for learning about trust and forgiveness; the importance of learning not to judge others, or to halt anyone’s life; the accumulation and use of intuitive powers; and perhaps most of all, the unshakable knowledge that we are immortal. We are beyond life and death, beyond space and beyond time. We are the gods, and they are us.
- (Through my work) I have become more intuitive, more aware of the hidden, secret parts of my patients, colleagues, and friends. I seem to know a great deal about them, even before I should. My values and life goals have shifted to a more humanistic, less accumulative focus.
- I have begun to meditate, something that, until recently, I thought only Hindus and Californians practiced.
- I still write scientific papers, lecture at professional meetings, and run the Department of Psychiatry. But now I straddle two worlds: the phenomenal world of the five senses, represented by our bodies and physical needs; and the greater world of the nonphysical planes, represented by our souls and spirits. I know that the worlds are connected, that all is energy. Yet they often seem so far apart. My job is to connect the worlds, to carefully and scientifically document their unity.
*
May your journeys lead you to true love and sharing.
With love and light,
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I love exploring the unknown.”
By Angeles Arrien
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“Read every day something no one else is reading. Think every day something no one else is thinking. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.”
Christopher Morley
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“What God Wants” By Neale Donald Walsch. The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Tanrı Ne İster?”.
______________________________________________________________________
There are so many books, so many methods and techniques and teacher.
Neale Donald Walsch in one of his books says: “The job of the soul, of course, is to cause us to choose the grandeur – to select the best of who you are –without condemning that which you do not select.”
Sometimes I feel as if no words are necessary; and that we will all find our chosen path on our perfectly fine. I know that. Yet, at times I also feel that I need to share whatever I am able to.
This week’s messages are from a doctor. From Brian Weiss:
- The path of our spiritual journey is an inward one, unique to each of us.
- Wise teachers can point the way, but only we can make the journey.
- Regressing to significant childhood events, to infancy, or even to past lives may provide considerable relief and benefit in the present time.
- I know that there is a reason for everything. Perhaps at the moment that an event occurs we have neither the insights nor the foresight to comprehend the reason, but with time and patience it will come to light.
- Most people recite prayers in their churches, synagogues, mosques, or temples, prayers that proclaim the immortality of the soul. Yet after worship is over, they go back into their competitive ruts, practicing greed and manipulation and self-centeredness. These traits retard the progress of the soul.
- I believe strongly that therapists must have open minds.
- The answers are there. We are immortal. We will always be together.
- There was much practical advice along the way: the value of patience and of waiting; the wisdom in the balance of nature; the eradication of fears, especially the fear of death; the need for learning about trust and forgiveness; the importance of learning not to judge others, or to halt anyone’s life; the accumulation and use of intuitive powers; and perhaps most of all, the unshakable knowledge that we are immortal. We are beyond life and death, beyond space and beyond time. We are the gods, and they are us.
- (Through my work) I have become more intuitive, more aware of the hidden, secret parts of my patients, colleagues, and friends. I seem to know a great deal about them, even before I should. My values and life goals have shifted to a more humanistic, less accumulative focus.
- I have begun to meditate, something that, until recently, I thought only Hindus and Californians practiced.
- I still write scientific papers, lecture at professional meetings, and run the Department of Psychiatry. But now I straddle two worlds: the phenomenal world of the five senses, represented by our bodies and physical needs; and the greater world of the nonphysical planes, represented by our souls and spirits. I know that the worlds are connected, that all is energy. Yet they often seem so far apart. My job is to connect the worlds, to carefully and scientifically document their unity.
*
May your journeys lead you to true love and sharing.
With love and light,
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I love exploring the unknown.”
By Angeles Arrien
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“Read every day something no one else is reading. Think every day something no one else is thinking. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.”
Christopher Morley
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“What God Wants” By Neale Donald Walsch. The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Tanrı Ne İster?”.
______________________________________________________________________
Burgaz Island, Findhorn, Shambhala and More
This noon I was on a boat with my brother. We went to Burgaz Island in Istanbul for lunch. It was quite a windy and rough weather, but it was also wonderful to watch the waves wash the boat. There were only a few boats out apart from the municipality public catamarans and vapurs, the typical boat that give service in Istanbul.
As we were having lunch at the Barbayani Restaurant, we talked about two books. One of them was by Jack Canfield. The title of the book is “How to Get from Where You are to Where You Want to Be? The 25 Principles of Success.” Although I found the title a little cheesy at the beginning, I need to admit that I really did like the book. I was reading it again on a flight the other day.
Jack Canfield is famous for his part in the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series of books. I like his other books as well. As some of the might remember, he was in the popular movie “The Secret”.
The second book we talked about was “Eckhart Tolle’s Findhorn Retreat”. This is a book with 2 DVD and it is composed of footage from a retreat in Findhorn, Scotland with Eckhart Tolle as you probably have already figured out. Since I will be in Findhorn for a couple of weeks to attend a training, we could not help talking about Eckhart Tolle’s teachings as well as the role Findhorn played in the world both in the spiritual and the environmental sense.
Where is Shambhala?
I was reading a book by Doreen Virtue this week, and I came across a sentence:
“When you have to make a decision between two directions, take the path that brings you closer to your life’s mission.”
Being an engineer and doing engineering and construction work for years, I was expected to be very logical and analytical. And maybe I expected this from myself more than anyone else. As time went by I found myself on another path, and I am pretty happy with the way things were unfolding.
Life gives us quite a number of clues in its own mysterious ways. How? Probably you have your own ways of receiving these messages. James Redfield’s books are also wonderful in creating an awareness. “Celestine Prophecy” is one of my all time favourites. “The Secret of Shambhala” is also a book I like in the series.
Shambhala is also the name of the Buddist Retreat I will be staying at in June. When I am visiting Findhorn, I will be staying at this retreat for a few days.
Shambhala is a Sanskrit term meaning "place of peace/tranquility/happiness". Shambhala is also believed to be a society where all the inhabitants are enlightened. I feel that I will find peace and tranquility at the Shambhala Retreat in Findhorn Bay.
Where is Shambhala for you? Could it exit, for you?
From Eckhart Tolle
This week I would like to quote Eckhart Tolle a little. It really fits my mood after a day on the sea and on an island:
- You are the sky. The clouds are what happens, what comes and goes.
- When you are present in this moment, you break the continuity of your story of past and future. Then true intelligence arises, and also love. The only way love can come into your life is not through form, but through that inner spaciousness that is Presence. Love has no form.
- The sun never sets. It is only an appearance due to the observer’s limited perspective. And yet, what a sublime illusion it is.
- Let go of excessive thinking and see how everything changes.
- You don’t solve problems by thinking; you create problems by thinking. The solution always appears when you step out of thinking and become still and absolutely present, even if only for a moment.
- Outer space and inner space are ultimately one.
- It has been said that there are two ways of being unhappy; not getting what you want, and getting what you want.
- When you awaken, nature awakens, too.
The Questions of the Week
Many masters say that questions bring about answers. Therefore here are
The Questions of the Week:
Q1: How many times a day do you use words such as “totally” , “always”, “certainly”, “must”, “never” and “absolutely”?
Q2: When you are closing a conversation do you usually end with a statement or a question?
Q3: What roles does each person in your family play?
Q4: How are the roles in the family interdependent?
Q5: Questions for the self:
a- What are my weaknesses, blind spots, and areas for improvement?
b- What are my strengths, my best qualities?
c- What can I do to be more effective, helpful, or sensitive?
*
May your questions bring you all of the answers that you seek.
May you find you own Shambhala.
With love and light,
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I am excited about growing and becoming even more of who I am.”
By Angeles Arrien
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark.
The real tragedy of life is when an adult is afraid of the light.”
Plato
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“The Secret of Shambhala” By James Redfield
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Kehanetlerin Gizemi”.
______________________________________________________________________
Mistakes and Mastery
What makes a teacher great?
As I am doing more and more teaching, I find myself asking this question to myself.
What made my great teachers great? What made the difference?
What made the difference for me?
*-*-*
I believe that what made my teachers special was the desire they created in me to learn and explore. How did they manage to create it?
This is the question I keep on asking myself - How can I create the desire to want to learn in others?
As I am getting older, I am also discovering that being a teacher is becoming a more difficult responsibility.
And I keep on uncovering pieces of this challenging and magical world...
*
I strongly believe that our approach to mistakes makes a big difference in our learning experience and in life. What are your own opinions about mistakes?
I would like to ask you some questions Michael Gelb poses in his book “How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci”:
? What did you learn at school about making mistakes?
? What did you parents teach you about making mistakes?
? What is the biggest mistake you ever made?
? What did you learn from it?
? What mistakes do you repeat?
? What role does the fear of making mistakes play in your daily life, at work and at home?
? Are you more likely to make mistakes of commission or omission?
These are tough questions to ask, and to answer.
The important point with mistakes is: How do we keep on going despite the mistakes?
For example, in the Reiki tradition Reiki teachers are called Reiki Masters. Master is a powerful word – a very strong word. I still find it difficult to use the term “Reiki Master” as I refer to what I do.
Who is a Master? I am not sure if I am certain about what I would prefer it to be. ...
Mastery also seems to be mastering the use of our time. Spending time where our heart belongs seems to make a big difference. Keeping cool and calm at times of change, turbulence and crisis seems to be a common trait of masters as well.
“It is not what you are that is holding you back in life. It’s what you think you’re not.”
“Remember, nothing can stop a person who refuses to be stopped” says Robin Sharma.
*-*-*
Back to now and back to questions that may help us.
My father used to tell me about the time when he broke his arm in elementary school. He had told me that he learned write with his left hand although he was right-handed. To increase our brain activity and to balance it, teachers recommend using both of our hands. Here are some simple exercises that you can do on your own:
- You could turn lights on and off with your non-dominant hand.
- Try drawing circles, squares, triangles with both hands at the same time.
- Try writing your name with your non-dominant hand.
- Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand.
Since left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, exercises like the ones mentioned above are known to balance the mind and the body.
*-*-*
If you would like to inject the taste of mastery, it is not all that difficult. There is a wonderful exercise that I use. It involves remembering something that we do with mastery, something like driving or cooking or writing or swimming, and transferring this energy to all of our actions, to our being.
Close your eyes. See yourself at your mastery of whatever it is that you do very well. It does not matter what the activity is; what matters is that you do it like a master, very well and without effort or tension. Then take this feeling, this energy and visualize it surrounding whatever you would like to master. You will see miraculous results.
Body and Mind
The state of our body also affects our mind. Words sometimes mean more that we realize. Moving our body is known to create flexibility in our thinking and increase our flexibility manoeuvring through life.
3 questions are suggested by Robin Sharma to test our words:
? Are these words truthful?
? Are these words necessary?
? Are these words kind?
He speaks of these 3 questions as the gates that the words that we would like to utter needs to pass through.
*
From Paul Arden:
There is a book that I read on and off. Its name is “Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite”. The author Paul Arden says “Good marks will not secure you an interesting life. Your imagination will.” And in the front cover of the book it says: “This book explains the benefits of making bad decisions. It shows how risk is your security in life. And why unreason is better than reason. It’s about having the confidence to roll the dice.” This book is now also available in Turkish.
Exercise of the Week:
Draw Music
Listen to your favourite song or music. And while listening to this piece of music, draw your feelings, thoughts and impressions with shapes and colours. Try this whenever you feel like it. Write the name of the song or piece and the date for future reference. You may try drawing with the same music at different times.
*-*-*
“The Last Samurai” was a movie that I really like. I watched it again after I came back from Japan. I believe it reflects what Japan really was and a lot about what it still is. There is a lot to be learned from that movie about mastery as well. Am I longing for feelings and times long forgotten?
There is a conversation I really like in this movie.
Preparing for battle:
Samurai Katsumoto asks: “Do you believe a man can change his destiny?”
Nathan Algren acted by Tom Cruise replies:
“…A man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed...”
…
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“Joy. Joy. Joy. I lovingly allow joy to flow through my mind and body and experience.”
By Louise L. Hay
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“What you do instead of your work is your real work.”
Caitlin Metthews
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“The Laws of Spirit” By Dan Millman
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Ruhun Yasaları”.
______________________________________________________________________
As I am doing more and more teaching, I find myself asking this question to myself.
What made my great teachers great? What made the difference?
What made the difference for me?
*-*-*
I believe that what made my teachers special was the desire they created in me to learn and explore. How did they manage to create it?
This is the question I keep on asking myself - How can I create the desire to want to learn in others?
As I am getting older, I am also discovering that being a teacher is becoming a more difficult responsibility.
And I keep on uncovering pieces of this challenging and magical world...
*
I strongly believe that our approach to mistakes makes a big difference in our learning experience and in life. What are your own opinions about mistakes?
I would like to ask you some questions Michael Gelb poses in his book “How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci”:
? What did you learn at school about making mistakes?
? What did you parents teach you about making mistakes?
? What is the biggest mistake you ever made?
? What did you learn from it?
? What mistakes do you repeat?
? What role does the fear of making mistakes play in your daily life, at work and at home?
? Are you more likely to make mistakes of commission or omission?
These are tough questions to ask, and to answer.
The important point with mistakes is: How do we keep on going despite the mistakes?
For example, in the Reiki tradition Reiki teachers are called Reiki Masters. Master is a powerful word – a very strong word. I still find it difficult to use the term “Reiki Master” as I refer to what I do.
Who is a Master? I am not sure if I am certain about what I would prefer it to be. ...
Mastery also seems to be mastering the use of our time. Spending time where our heart belongs seems to make a big difference. Keeping cool and calm at times of change, turbulence and crisis seems to be a common trait of masters as well.
“It is not what you are that is holding you back in life. It’s what you think you’re not.”
“Remember, nothing can stop a person who refuses to be stopped” says Robin Sharma.
*-*-*
Back to now and back to questions that may help us.
My father used to tell me about the time when he broke his arm in elementary school. He had told me that he learned write with his left hand although he was right-handed. To increase our brain activity and to balance it, teachers recommend using both of our hands. Here are some simple exercises that you can do on your own:
- You could turn lights on and off with your non-dominant hand.
- Try drawing circles, squares, triangles with both hands at the same time.
- Try writing your name with your non-dominant hand.
- Try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand.
Since left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, exercises like the ones mentioned above are known to balance the mind and the body.
*-*-*
If you would like to inject the taste of mastery, it is not all that difficult. There is a wonderful exercise that I use. It involves remembering something that we do with mastery, something like driving or cooking or writing or swimming, and transferring this energy to all of our actions, to our being.
Close your eyes. See yourself at your mastery of whatever it is that you do very well. It does not matter what the activity is; what matters is that you do it like a master, very well and without effort or tension. Then take this feeling, this energy and visualize it surrounding whatever you would like to master. You will see miraculous results.
Body and Mind
The state of our body also affects our mind. Words sometimes mean more that we realize. Moving our body is known to create flexibility in our thinking and increase our flexibility manoeuvring through life.
3 questions are suggested by Robin Sharma to test our words:
? Are these words truthful?
? Are these words necessary?
? Are these words kind?
He speaks of these 3 questions as the gates that the words that we would like to utter needs to pass through.
*
From Paul Arden:
There is a book that I read on and off. Its name is “Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite”. The author Paul Arden says “Good marks will not secure you an interesting life. Your imagination will.” And in the front cover of the book it says: “This book explains the benefits of making bad decisions. It shows how risk is your security in life. And why unreason is better than reason. It’s about having the confidence to roll the dice.” This book is now also available in Turkish.
Exercise of the Week:
Draw Music
Listen to your favourite song or music. And while listening to this piece of music, draw your feelings, thoughts and impressions with shapes and colours. Try this whenever you feel like it. Write the name of the song or piece and the date for future reference. You may try drawing with the same music at different times.
*-*-*
“The Last Samurai” was a movie that I really like. I watched it again after I came back from Japan. I believe it reflects what Japan really was and a lot about what it still is. There is a lot to be learned from that movie about mastery as well. Am I longing for feelings and times long forgotten?
There is a conversation I really like in this movie.
Preparing for battle:
Samurai Katsumoto asks: “Do you believe a man can change his destiny?”
Nathan Algren acted by Tom Cruise replies:
“…A man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed...”
…
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“Joy. Joy. Joy. I lovingly allow joy to flow through my mind and body and experience.”
By Louise L. Hay
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“What you do instead of your work is your real work.”
Caitlin Metthews
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“The Laws of Spirit” By Dan Millman
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Ruhun Yasaları”.
______________________________________________________________________
Konnichiwa from Fethiye
Konnichiwa from Fethiye
Konnichiwa. Hello from Fethiye. It is wonderful to be back home.
My friends know that I really love Fethiye. And I fell in love with Japan on my last trip. Japan is the land of gentle and respectful people and I really felt at home. Japanese people are kind, thoughtful and they are always smiling. This made me realize that how as a nation we do not smile as much anymore. Ok, maybe not that much in Fethiye. However, in Istanbul we forgot to smile and forgot to be respectful to each other.
I met an American couple in Japan, and they were sharing with me how they feel like “barbarians” in Japan. The husband also told me: “But I am also glad that I know that I act like one now.”
I believe that in our roots we Turks know how to be respectful and loving, honest and true. Unfortunately, after seeing Japan for the first time, I am faced with the fact that we forgot some of it. Maybe much less that the so-called western world, but we did forget.
When I used to look at my late father, he was a gentleman true to his word. He would tell me that “the word is the contract”. They were from a generation who took their words seriously and considered words to be enough to seal contracts. They were respectful and honour was very important. They cared and they worked for their country and worked for what they believed to be the benefit of the whole nation. Personal interests were always secondary to them. They were the nameless heroes that made this country grow from its ashes after the wars.
Well, then I am afraid that we forgot some of it ...
We forgot to show respect as we used to. We forgot the power of kind and loving words. We forgot the meaning of patience, tolerance and compassion, especially in the big cities and in the corporate world. We forgot to love, our friends, colleagues, neighbours, unconditionally as we used to.
I believe that it is time to remember. It is time to remember who we truly were and are.
I used to see how my parents were, and I used to think that the times have changed.
Well, it seems that there are parts of the world like Japan where it hasn’t.
This gives me hope.
I felt peacefulness and serenity in Japan, even in the busiest sections of cities.
Fethiye gives me that feeling and I wish to feel it in Istanbul.
People allow each other space in that crowdedness - a space to be, created by caring and respect.
*-*-*
Empowerment is a word that I like a lot. I believe empowerment to be an important concept in life – empowering myself and others. That is what my father taught me in the years that we worked together. He taught me to share the knowledge and to share the joy, accomplishments and success. He taught me the importance of being a team. He was a wonderful teacher.
There is a very good book titled “Empowerment” by John Randolph Price. There is another book by him called “The Angels Within Us” that I also love. His approach is always reminding us of our infinite potential.
Do we empower our family, our children, and our employees? Or do we go on to create dependent beings with low self confidence and motivation? Do we serve our ego or a higher purpose?
Are we living with concepts of limited resources and competition? Or are we living with the awareness that for our every action there is a reaction of similar intention and frequency?
Some say “the bad always wins”; I do not believe it to be so...
*-*-*
There was a conference in Fethiye a couple weeks ago by child psychiatrist Prof. Yankı Yazgan. He is an M.D. and a professor at the Medical School of Marmara University in Istanbul and he is also the author of 10 books on brain development and child and adolescent development. He also writes for the national Akşam Newspaper weekly.
I had met him a couple years ago in a training and had invited him to give a conference in Fethiye. He accepted and he gave a two hour conference to parents and teachers. The title of the conference was: “Being a Parent and an Educator in the Times of Change”.
I would like to share some of my notes from this conference with you this week.
Here is what I gathered from what Yankı Yazgan said:
- The importance of learning mathematics is learning to use the left side of our brain which teaches us problem solving in general. This is a tool beneficial for our whole life.
- Education is not learning things, rather something that gives us the capacity to think differently.
- What we learn is the system we use in the process of learning.
- The connection between the worst parent and the worst child is still the strongest than any other relationship.
- Be aware that children are excellent at reading faces and knowing the truth about the feelings and thoughts of adults.
- Schools are a place where we are taught to figure what happens to us and others when we take an action.
- Schools teach us when to fit in the crowd and when not to. Cheating because many do so is not ok. However, if there is a dress code, everyone also needs to respect it and obey it.
- Took at schools as areas to learn life.
- Intelligence of kids increase with the love given to a child and nourishment.
- Parents sometimes have issues with the teachers. Sometimes this may be the result of bad experiences that the parents had with their own teachers when they were kids. Be aware of the origin of the issues and problems.
- Going to schools, even with the worst grades, gives a general concept of culture and responsibility of fulfilling duties, essential all through life.
- Keep your babies and small kids away from television. Studies show that psychological disorders are directly linked to the number of hours a kid spends in front of the TV.
- The human brain develops the most rapidly between the ages of (0-4) and (12-16).
- Children are usually quite strong psychologically. What breaks a child’s psychology is bad behaviour from people the child loves and trusts and expects to be loved by.
- Teaching a child to lose, to learn to tolerate loss, defeat and failure and to try and to success despite past failures is very important. Teaching a child that life is a process is essential.
- Do not give your kids loads that they are not ready to carry. However, also make sure that you allow them to do the things that they are capable of. Not allowing the kids to carry out responsibilities that they would like to is interference and intervention. Please be careful in that respect.
*-*-*
Michell Cassou says “We live in a time in which most people believe there is not much inside them, only what teachers, parents, and others have out there.”
I believe that we are all here to uncover the potentials that are waiting to be expressed and gather the skills to do that the best.
*-*-*
With lots of love and light from Fethiye ...
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I am well structured and balanced.”
By Louise L. Hay
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.”
Thomas Merton
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“The Life You Were Born To Live” By Dan Millman
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Hayatınızın Amacı”.
______________________________________________________________________
With Love from Japan
Here I am in Japan.
Yesterday, on May 4th, I gave my speech in front of about ten thousand people at Meishusama Hall in Misono in Shigaraki Mountains.
Japan is so different and so very familiar in many ways.
I have been on a very busy schedule since we arrived and will keep on travelling to various different locations.
I would like to say many things, however I will probably need to wait to write about them until I come back to Turkey.
I would like to say that there is a lot of love and respect for Turkey.
I send you a picture taken in front of the Meishusama Hall where I gave my speech, and send all of you love and light.
Ah, one more interesting note, yesterday as I was walking to the Hall for the rehearsal of the speech at 7 am with my friends Chikako and Satoru Nakano, I saw an ad for a photography exhibition. If I recall correctly the title of the exhibition was ‘The Hallowed Land of Light’. Some of the pictures in the exhibition were taken in where I was, in Misono in the Shigaraki Mountais. I could not help myself from thinking about our wonderful Land of Lights, the wonderful area of Fethiye and its environs and our Land of Lights newspaper.
In my speech in one section I talked about coincidences and how they show us maybe more than we realize and about the messages that they store for us. I am thankful that they are happening wherever I am around the world.
I wish you all many happy coincidences and miracles.
With love and light from Japan.
Z.
Suggested Reading:
I would like to suggest to google or read about Japan this week, to discover this wonderful land for yourself.
Messages of the Week, from Napoleon Hill
Most of you have probably heard of the famous movie and book The Secret by now. There are also many books out about The Law of Attraction discussed in this book. There are also many books out by the teachers featured in The Secret such as Joe Vitale and Bob Proctor.
Jack Canfield, John Gary, Neale Donald Walsh and Fred Alan Wolf were some of the famous authors who were also featured in the movie The Secret.
There are also teachers from the past that have been credited and not credited in the book. Fewer people know of Napoleon Hill. He had his best seller in 1930 and wrote many books until he passed away in 1970.
Louise L. Hay is a teacher and author not mentioned in the Secret with respect to the law of attraction. However, I believe that with her enormous works on healing with affirmations, with changing our thoughts. “Heal Your Body”, “The Power is Within You”, “You Can Heal Your Life” are some of her great books. By the way, the movie “You Can Heal Your Life” is also out. www.hayhouseradio.com is a wonderful address where you can listen to many authors and teachers live. I recommend checking it out.
I would like to pay a visit to masters of all times and walks of life as much as I can. This week I would like to share messages from Napoleon Hill.
*
Messages from Napoleon Hill:
1. Edison failed 10.000 times before perfecting the incandescent electric light bulb. Don’t worry if you fail once.
2. The average person would have quit at the first failure. That’s why there have been many average men and only one Edison.
3. Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure.
4. Making life “easy” for children usually makes life “hard” for them in adulthood.
5. Most of us don’t mind being told of our faults if the critic is generous enough to mix in a few of our virtues as well.
6. Success requires no explanation; failures must be doctored with alibis.
7. There is a vast difference between failure and temporary defeat.
8. Your real courage shows best in the hour of adversity.
9. There always remains an opportunity to make a new start.
10. Most failures could have been converted into successes if someone had held on another minute or made more effort.
11. Success attracts success and failure attracts failure because of the law of harmonious attraction.
12. The one who tries to get something for nothing generally winds up getting nothing for something.
13. Failure is not a disgrace if you have sincerely done your best.
14. If you don’t know why you failed, you are no wiser than when you began.
15. You never know who your real friends are until adversity overtakes you and you need cooperation.
16. Before opportunity crowns you with great success, it usually tests you mettle through adversity.
17. The most important job is that of learning how to negotiate with others without friction.
18. If you have more enemies than friends, the odds are a thousand to one you have earned them.
19. Your reputation is what people think you are; your character is what you are.
20. Every thought you release becomes a permanent part of your character.
21. Some people resemble a cheap watch, they are not dependable.
22. If you are a shepherd, be the best and you may live to own the flock.
23. Take possession of your own mind, and you may soon make life pay off on your terms.
24. You cannot be entirely free until you are entirely honest with yourself.
25. Would you take a chance on being judged in heaven by the same rules you use to judge your fellow men?
26. Only one thing will attract love. And that is love.
*
As Doreen Virtue says “Keep expecting the best out of life, because you will truly get what you expect.”
With love and light,
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I am the joy of Life expressing and receiving. I am a Magnet for Miracles.”
By Louise L. Hay
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”
Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“Biology of Belief” By Bruce H. Lipton
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “İnancın Biyolojisi”.
______________________________________________________________________
Jack Canfield, John Gary, Neale Donald Walsh and Fred Alan Wolf were some of the famous authors who were also featured in the movie The Secret.
There are also teachers from the past that have been credited and not credited in the book. Fewer people know of Napoleon Hill. He had his best seller in 1930 and wrote many books until he passed away in 1970.
Louise L. Hay is a teacher and author not mentioned in the Secret with respect to the law of attraction. However, I believe that with her enormous works on healing with affirmations, with changing our thoughts. “Heal Your Body”, “The Power is Within You”, “You Can Heal Your Life” are some of her great books. By the way, the movie “You Can Heal Your Life” is also out. www.hayhouseradio.com is a wonderful address where you can listen to many authors and teachers live. I recommend checking it out.
I would like to pay a visit to masters of all times and walks of life as much as I can. This week I would like to share messages from Napoleon Hill.
*
Messages from Napoleon Hill:
1. Edison failed 10.000 times before perfecting the incandescent electric light bulb. Don’t worry if you fail once.
2. The average person would have quit at the first failure. That’s why there have been many average men and only one Edison.
3. Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure.
4. Making life “easy” for children usually makes life “hard” for them in adulthood.
5. Most of us don’t mind being told of our faults if the critic is generous enough to mix in a few of our virtues as well.
6. Success requires no explanation; failures must be doctored with alibis.
7. There is a vast difference between failure and temporary defeat.
8. Your real courage shows best in the hour of adversity.
9. There always remains an opportunity to make a new start.
10. Most failures could have been converted into successes if someone had held on another minute or made more effort.
11. Success attracts success and failure attracts failure because of the law of harmonious attraction.
12. The one who tries to get something for nothing generally winds up getting nothing for something.
13. Failure is not a disgrace if you have sincerely done your best.
14. If you don’t know why you failed, you are no wiser than when you began.
15. You never know who your real friends are until adversity overtakes you and you need cooperation.
16. Before opportunity crowns you with great success, it usually tests you mettle through adversity.
17. The most important job is that of learning how to negotiate with others without friction.
18. If you have more enemies than friends, the odds are a thousand to one you have earned them.
19. Your reputation is what people think you are; your character is what you are.
20. Every thought you release becomes a permanent part of your character.
21. Some people resemble a cheap watch, they are not dependable.
22. If you are a shepherd, be the best and you may live to own the flock.
23. Take possession of your own mind, and you may soon make life pay off on your terms.
24. You cannot be entirely free until you are entirely honest with yourself.
25. Would you take a chance on being judged in heaven by the same rules you use to judge your fellow men?
26. Only one thing will attract love. And that is love.
*
As Doreen Virtue says “Keep expecting the best out of life, because you will truly get what you expect.”
With love and light,
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I am the joy of Life expressing and receiving. I am a Magnet for Miracles.”
By Louise L. Hay
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”
Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“Biology of Belief” By Bruce H. Lipton
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “İnancın Biyolojisi”.
______________________________________________________________________
What Did the Master Say?
I am re-reading some of the books that I have. Some books are worth reading and reading again. “Many Lives, Many Masters” By Brian Weiss brought the topic to my mind.
What is mastery? We seem to associate the word ‘mastery’ either with skills of doing or on the opposite pole with spiritual practices.
In that sense is it something only a few lucky ones can achieve?
Is it an attainable concept or position in life?
What is “Mastery”?
And what does it mean to be a “Master”?
...
I believe that we all have an inner master, a higher intelligence. And also that we all have a connection waiting for us to give us all that we need to have or known. The pass code for that connection is also hidden within, for us to discover.
And there are Masters that lead the way. For me, mastery is more than being a teacher. A master is who lives by the principles he or she teaches...
They lead the way by just being and doing.
*-*-*
I received a message from the Kabbalah Centre that I would like to share:
“It is written that when a great Kabalist was on his death bed, all his students gathered around him and asked, "Master, please tell us, what was the most important thing you did in your life?" The Kabbalist thought for a moment and answered, "What I am doing this very minute."
What does this teach and reinforce for us? Thinking about the past or worrying about the future is a waste of time. It only takes us away from the importance of the moment we're in.
Today, be present in whatever it is you are doing. It is the most important thing you have ever done.
Impossibility is just an illusion of your ego, preventing you from true joy and contentment.
How do you allow your fears and insecurities to control you or limit you so that you don't take risks in your life?
Leaving behind the limitations of the physical world - what is your greatest dream yet unfulfilled? Let go of the critic within and truly dream outside the box today.”
*
Are you present now? Would you like to be?
For a day?
Or for a life time?
*-*-*
I believe that Brian Weiss is a brave Master.
Brain Weiss is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School. He is the founding chairman and chairman emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. This special medical doctor is a leading authority in past-life regression therapy.
He may be known as a psychiatrist; to me, he is an amazing healer with an open heart and mind. He is helping thousands remove barriers to reach freedom from fears, peace and happiness. His “Same Souls, Many Bodies” and “Mirrors of Time” are also intriguing books.
His biography is interesting:
“His background and extensive experience in traditional psychotherapy was set on a new course more than a decade ago when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. Astonished and initially skeptical, Weiss's skepticism eroded when his patient began to channel messages from "the space between lives," that contained remarkable revelations about Weiss's family and his dead son. Realizing that past-life regression presented potential as a powerful new therapy method, Weiss went on to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career.”
*
The Masters talking in the book “Many Lives, Many Masters” say interesting things:
“… We are given intuitive power we should follow and not try to resist. …. We are not sent back from each plane with equal powers. Some of us possess powers greater than others, because they have been accrued from other times. Thus people are not all created equal. But eventually we will reach a point where we will all be equal….
… Patience and timing . . . everything comes when it must come. . . . Everything will be clear to you in time. But you must have a chance to digest the knowledge that we have given you already. …
… Energy . . . everything is energy. So much is wasted. The mountains . . . inside the mountain it is quiet; it is calm at the center. But on the outside is where the trouble lies. Humans can only see the outside, but you can go much deeper. You have to see the volcano. To do it you have to go deep inside. …
… You were correct in assuming this is the proper treatment for those in the physical state. You must eradicate the fears from their minds. It is a waste of energy when fear is present. It stifles them from fulfilling what they were sent here to fulfill. Take your cues from your surroundings. ...
… To be in physical state is abnormal. When you are in spiritual state, that is natural to you …”
*
Brian Weiss says “Realize that life is more than meets the eye. Life goes beyond our five senses.”
*-*-*
‘Come to the edge,” he said.
‘We can’t, Master, we’re scared.’
‘Come to the edge,’, he said.
‘We can’t, Master, we’re scared.’
‘Come to the edge,’ he said.
They came.
He pushed them…
They flew.
*-*-*
My father was a master in solving problems and manifesting. He was a master as an engineer. Although he chose to leave his post in this lifetime, he will remain to be my Master.
With all my love and gratitude to all of my Masters in this life and beyond...
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I now follow my heart. I am open, and ready to go wherever it may lead me.”
By G. Ziegler
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“As you teach so will you learn. If that is true, and it is true indeed, do not forget that what you teach is teaching you.”
From the Course in Miracles
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“Many Lives, Many Masters” By Brain L. Weiss, M.D.
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Birçok Yaşam Birçok Üstat”.
What is mastery? We seem to associate the word ‘mastery’ either with skills of doing or on the opposite pole with spiritual practices.
In that sense is it something only a few lucky ones can achieve?
Is it an attainable concept or position in life?
What is “Mastery”?
And what does it mean to be a “Master”?
...
I believe that we all have an inner master, a higher intelligence. And also that we all have a connection waiting for us to give us all that we need to have or known. The pass code for that connection is also hidden within, for us to discover.
And there are Masters that lead the way. For me, mastery is more than being a teacher. A master is who lives by the principles he or she teaches...
They lead the way by just being and doing.
*-*-*
I received a message from the Kabbalah Centre that I would like to share:
“It is written that when a great Kabalist was on his death bed, all his students gathered around him and asked, "Master, please tell us, what was the most important thing you did in your life?" The Kabbalist thought for a moment and answered, "What I am doing this very minute."
What does this teach and reinforce for us? Thinking about the past or worrying about the future is a waste of time. It only takes us away from the importance of the moment we're in.
Today, be present in whatever it is you are doing. It is the most important thing you have ever done.
Impossibility is just an illusion of your ego, preventing you from true joy and contentment.
How do you allow your fears and insecurities to control you or limit you so that you don't take risks in your life?
Leaving behind the limitations of the physical world - what is your greatest dream yet unfulfilled? Let go of the critic within and truly dream outside the box today.”
*
Are you present now? Would you like to be?
For a day?
Or for a life time?
*-*-*
I believe that Brian Weiss is a brave Master.
Brain Weiss is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School. He is the founding chairman and chairman emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. This special medical doctor is a leading authority in past-life regression therapy.
He may be known as a psychiatrist; to me, he is an amazing healer with an open heart and mind. He is helping thousands remove barriers to reach freedom from fears, peace and happiness. His “Same Souls, Many Bodies” and “Mirrors of Time” are also intriguing books.
His biography is interesting:
“His background and extensive experience in traditional psychotherapy was set on a new course more than a decade ago when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. Astonished and initially skeptical, Weiss's skepticism eroded when his patient began to channel messages from "the space between lives," that contained remarkable revelations about Weiss's family and his dead son. Realizing that past-life regression presented potential as a powerful new therapy method, Weiss went on to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career.”
*
The Masters talking in the book “Many Lives, Many Masters” say interesting things:
“… We are given intuitive power we should follow and not try to resist. …. We are not sent back from each plane with equal powers. Some of us possess powers greater than others, because they have been accrued from other times. Thus people are not all created equal. But eventually we will reach a point where we will all be equal….
… Patience and timing . . . everything comes when it must come. . . . Everything will be clear to you in time. But you must have a chance to digest the knowledge that we have given you already. …
… Energy . . . everything is energy. So much is wasted. The mountains . . . inside the mountain it is quiet; it is calm at the center. But on the outside is where the trouble lies. Humans can only see the outside, but you can go much deeper. You have to see the volcano. To do it you have to go deep inside. …
… You were correct in assuming this is the proper treatment for those in the physical state. You must eradicate the fears from their minds. It is a waste of energy when fear is present. It stifles them from fulfilling what they were sent here to fulfill. Take your cues from your surroundings. ...
… To be in physical state is abnormal. When you are in spiritual state, that is natural to you …”
*
Brian Weiss says “Realize that life is more than meets the eye. Life goes beyond our five senses.”
*-*-*
‘Come to the edge,” he said.
‘We can’t, Master, we’re scared.’
‘Come to the edge,’, he said.
‘We can’t, Master, we’re scared.’
‘Come to the edge,’ he said.
They came.
He pushed them…
They flew.
*-*-*
My father was a master in solving problems and manifesting. He was a master as an engineer. Although he chose to leave his post in this lifetime, he will remain to be my Master.
With all my love and gratitude to all of my Masters in this life and beyond...
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I now follow my heart. I am open, and ready to go wherever it may lead me.”
By G. Ziegler
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“As you teach so will you learn. If that is true, and it is true indeed, do not forget that what you teach is teaching you.”
From the Course in Miracles
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“Many Lives, Many Masters” By Brain L. Weiss, M.D.
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Birçok Yaşam Birçok Üstat”.
Two Roads Diverged, Which One to Take?
Sometimes, talking is too much. Words are too much. Or are they too little?
But what are we to do if that is all that we have at hand?
*
Emotions are more difficult to handle than thoughts. They need and require to be handled with honesty.
I am back in Fethiye for quite a long while. I really missed this city. I feel complete when I am here and feel connected to a different part of my soul that I seem to connect only here.
Then I will be going to Japan for a few weeks. I will be visiting various sites of the Japanese Shumei Foundation mainly in the Osaka, Kyoto and Okayama regions. I feel very close to the Japanese traditions. The Japanese energy healing and balancing technique “Reiki” is one the techniques that I use the most. Reiki is a wonderful energy, gentle, intelligent and strong.
The other Japanese energy technique that I learned this winter is called “Jyorei” It is a technique developed by the founder of the Shumei Foundaiton, Mokichi Okada. Mokichi Okada is also known as Meishusama “Master of Light.” Jyorei is a frequency that supports the purification of the soul, and to create health, prosperity and happiness in our daily lives.
The Shumei Foundation, through supporting energy purification healing technique Jyorei, through supporting natural agriculture and supporting art and increasing the awareness of the importance of beauty in our lives, wants to help create a peaceful and better world. The Shumei Foundation is a UN recognised NGO.
*
I am excited about this trip. Naturally I am excited when I am to visit new places.
However, I feel that this will be different. On May 4th, I will have the chance to give a short speech in front of a couple of thousand Japanese people in Misono, at the Meishuhama Hall at the Shigaraki Mountains north of Kyoto.
I am excited not because I will visit this sacred location or talk in front of such a crowd.
It was in a meditation that I heard a voice say “When you go to Kyoto, you will find some missing parts of your soul”...
I feel it to be true. I feel that something new waits for me and I am at a loss for words to describe it.
*
What to do when I am at a loss for words?
Then I turn to poetry.
I used to write poems; much more that I do now.
I was not that fond of prose. I loved poems.
*
I love Robert Frost’s poems. I think I read them first when I was in 8th or 9th grade.
In my freshman year in college my best friend’s sister gave me a book by M. Scott Peck, “The Road Less Travelled”. This was during the Thanksgiving holiday in 1988 in Boston. Looking back I feel that my journey might have begun with that book Renin game me. I was impressed and happy and sad and motivated. It definitely is a timeless book.
Remembering my own travels, I want to share with you Robert Frost’s famous poem of diverging roads. I see that there is a path, and with our choices we move along. I believe that we decide on a path as we plan to come to this world. How we decide to act when we start walking seems to be more difficult.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
….
How do I choose my path?
I cannot help but think that at each step, I am creating my life and destiny. However, I also believe that there is also a best scenario waiting to be discovered.
What to do? I try to take the one road that seems to call me - the one that my heart and soul wants. I believe that when I am able to listen to my mind, my heart and soul in union – then gateways open, even new roads are created. I believe that we are meant to discover our bliss when we are willing to hear.
I believe that– that has made the difference for me.
*-*-*
And I would like to share some inspiration from Eileen Caddy's book “Opening Doors Within”. She is one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. In October 2007 and in February 2008, I had the chance to meet various teachers from Findhorn. This is a community that is trying to make sustainable living possible on this planet. I am also thankful for their efforts and their contribution to Turkey.
From “Opening Doors Within”:
“It is important that there is balance in every situation at all times. You will find when everything you undertake is done under My guidance, there will always be perfect balance. That is why you have to allow life to unfold without trying to force anything, for as you do, nothing can go wrong and nothing can be out of timing. It does not mean that you sit and do nothing, expecting everything to fall into your lap. You have to keep ever alert; you have to keep your consciousness raised; you have to expect the very best; you have to have faith that all is very, very well. You have to wait upon Me in absolute faith and confidence. You have to know without a shadow of a doubt that I AM your constant guide and companion. You have to know that your ways are guided by Me and by Me alone, so that every step you take is firm and sure and everything you do is done in love.”
*-*-*
As Leroy Bornlow said “There are times when silence has the loudest voice”.
May you find your answers in the sweet silence of your soul. Please listen.
May all your paths always be filled with love and light.
Z.
______________________________________________________________________
Affirmation of the Week:
“I am excited about growing and becoming even more of who I am.”
By Angeles Arrien
________________________________________________________________________
Quote of the Week:
“What I am looking for is a blessing that’s not in disguise.”
Kitty O’Neill Collins
______________________________________________________________________
Suggested Reading:
“Tuesdays with Morrie” By Mitch Albom.
This book is one of my favourites of all times. There is also a movie of this book out, with Jack Lemmon as Morrie.
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Öğretmenim Mori ile Salı Buluşmaları”.
But what are we to do if that is all that we have at hand?
*
Emotions are more difficult to handle than thoughts. They need and require to be handled with honesty.
I am back in Fethiye for quite a long while. I really missed this city. I feel complete when I am here and feel connected to a different part of my soul that I seem to connect only here.
Then I will be going to Japan for a few weeks. I will be visiting various sites of the Japanese Shumei Foundation mainly in the Osaka, Kyoto and Okayama regions. I feel very close to the Japanese traditions. The Japanese energy healing and balancing technique “Reiki” is one the techniques that I use the most. Reiki is a wonderful energy, gentle, intelligent and strong.
The other Japanese energy technique that I learned this winter is called “Jyorei” It is a technique developed by the founder of the Shumei Foundaiton, Mokichi Okada. Mokichi Okada is also known as Meishusama “Master of Light.” Jyorei is a frequency that supports the purification of the soul, and to create health, prosperity and happiness in our daily lives.
The Shumei Foundation, through supporting energy purification healing technique Jyorei, through supporting natural agriculture and supporting art and increasing the awareness of the importance of beauty in our lives, wants to help create a peaceful and better world. The Shumei Foundation is a UN recognised NGO.
*
I am excited about this trip. Naturally I am excited when I am to visit new places.
However, I feel that this will be different. On May 4th, I will have the chance to give a short speech in front of a couple of thousand Japanese people in Misono, at the Meishuhama Hall at the Shigaraki Mountains north of Kyoto.
I am excited not because I will visit this sacred location or talk in front of such a crowd.
It was in a meditation that I heard a voice say “When you go to Kyoto, you will find some missing parts of your soul”...
I feel it to be true. I feel that something new waits for me and I am at a loss for words to describe it.
*
What to do when I am at a loss for words?
Then I turn to poetry.
I used to write poems; much more that I do now.
I was not that fond of prose. I loved poems.
*
I love Robert Frost’s poems. I think I read them first when I was in 8th or 9th grade.
In my freshman year in college my best friend’s sister gave me a book by M. Scott Peck, “The Road Less Travelled”. This was during the Thanksgiving holiday in 1988 in Boston. Looking back I feel that my journey might have begun with that book Renin game me. I was impressed and happy and sad and motivated. It definitely is a timeless book.
Remembering my own travels, I want to share with you Robert Frost’s famous poem of diverging roads. I see that there is a path, and with our choices we move along. I believe that we decide on a path as we plan to come to this world. How we decide to act when we start walking seems to be more difficult.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
….
How do I choose my path?
I cannot help but think that at each step, I am creating my life and destiny. However, I also believe that there is also a best scenario waiting to be discovered.
What to do? I try to take the one road that seems to call me - the one that my heart and soul wants. I believe that when I am able to listen to my mind, my heart and soul in union – then gateways open, even new roads are created. I believe that we are meant to discover our bliss when we are willing to hear.
I believe that– that has made the difference for me.
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And I would like to share some inspiration from Eileen Caddy's book “Opening Doors Within”. She is one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. In October 2007 and in February 2008, I had the chance to meet various teachers from Findhorn. This is a community that is trying to make sustainable living possible on this planet. I am also thankful for their efforts and their contribution to Turkey.
From “Opening Doors Within”:
“It is important that there is balance in every situation at all times. You will find when everything you undertake is done under My guidance, there will always be perfect balance. That is why you have to allow life to unfold without trying to force anything, for as you do, nothing can go wrong and nothing can be out of timing. It does not mean that you sit and do nothing, expecting everything to fall into your lap. You have to keep ever alert; you have to keep your consciousness raised; you have to expect the very best; you have to have faith that all is very, very well. You have to wait upon Me in absolute faith and confidence. You have to know without a shadow of a doubt that I AM your constant guide and companion. You have to know that your ways are guided by Me and by Me alone, so that every step you take is firm and sure and everything you do is done in love.”
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As Leroy Bornlow said “There are times when silence has the loudest voice”.
May you find your answers in the sweet silence of your soul. Please listen.
May all your paths always be filled with love and light.
Z.
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Affirmation of the Week:
“I am excited about growing and becoming even more of who I am.”
By Angeles Arrien
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Quote of the Week:
“What I am looking for is a blessing that’s not in disguise.”
Kitty O’Neill Collins
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Suggested Reading:
“Tuesdays with Morrie” By Mitch Albom.
This book is one of my favourites of all times. There is also a movie of this book out, with Jack Lemmon as Morrie.
The Turkish translation of the book may be found under the name “Öğretmenim Mori ile Salı Buluşmaları”.
Our Big Transformaiton Game - Life
Last October I was introduced to a wonderful game called The Transformation Game. It is a game developed at Findhorn, in Scotland and I was introduced to it by Ms.Deniz Dinçel. Deniz was in Fethiye last November as a guest of the Fethiye Lions Club to give seminars in some of the high schools in Fethiye. The topic was ecological foot prints and global warming. She is a biologist by training and she is organising the eco-village design and sustainable living workshops with the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. Deniz is also one of the current three certified facilitators of The Transformation Game in Turkey.
I was in Ankara in February to attend the second international workshop on Sustainable Living at METU (ODTÜ). Teachers from Findhorn, Scotland and from Torri Superiori Ecovillage in Italy were in Ankara, to share their knowledge and experiences on sustainable living and permaculture. Prof. Dr. Ali Gökmen and Prof. Dr. İnci Gökmen of the Chemistry Department of METU were the hosts of the workshop. I am very grateful for the effort and contributions to the workshop.
Sustainability was discussed from the social and ecological aspects in depth. Of course it is a very broad area; however it was a wonderful experience to share a whole week with like minded people from all around the world and Turkey. There were participants from Portugal, Israel, France and Australia. The instructors were from Turkey, Scotland and Italy. This was a confirmation for me that, in order to find solutions to global problems, we need to get together as citizens of this Earth.
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When the topic is the welfare of the planet I cannot seem to stop myself. Maybe what we can do is very little, but we can only do what we can do…
Back toThe Transformation Game… The game has been on sale in the D&R book stores for the last 5-6 months. At least I bought mine last November after Deniz told me that the game was available in Turkish.
This game is a wonderful representation of life. We can start playing the game with an intention about life and in about five to eight hours, we can see how things will turn out or what qualities about ourselves that we need to realize, see, accept or change.
The game gives us a wonderful opportunity for self-discovery and self-awareness, and also the truer and the more sincere we are to the game, the more we benefit. It becomes, it represents a very honest and concentrated version of our life.
We learn and experience possibilities in life, without the permanent effects. After the game, we can choose to take action or not. Hard to explain.
I really recommend experiencing this game. Do not be fooled by the word “game”. The Transformation Game gives us an opportunity to learn, to grown to live the life that we desire, or whatever we truly desire.
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I was reading Neale Donald Walsch - again. My brother Yaman has been reading his books for the first time in the last few months and has been sharing with me his ideas about the books. I believe that Mr. Walsch has started a silent revolution for a happier world over a decade ago. I find his words sincere and from the heart. It has been maybe over four years since I listened to him in Istanbul. His approach to life and towards God could be worth listening to.
This week I would like to share some lines from his famous book series “Conversations with God”. So what could God be telling to us? Here it goes:
You don’t have a clear focus; you’re not really sure what’s true for you. And the universe is just a big Xerox machine. It simply produces multiple copies of your thoughts. Now there’s only one way to change all that. You have to change your thought about it.
Every prayer – every thought, every feeling, every statement – is creative. To the extent that it is fervently held as truth, to that degree will it be made manifest in your experience.
We dare not solve all the problems, or there will be nothing left for us to do.
Worry is the activity of a mind which does not understand its connection with God.
Your perception of ultimate reality is more limited that you thought, and Truth is more unlimited than you can imagine.
No one who has attained mastery is dull. Unusual, perhaps. Extraordinary, perhaps. But never dull.
A true Master is not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters.
Your ideas about Right and Wrong are just that – ideas. They are the thoughts which form the shape and create the substance of Who You Are. There would be only one reason to change any of these; only one purpose in making alteration; if you are not happy with who you are.
You have come here to work out an individual plan for your own salvation. Yet salvation does not mean saving yourself from the snares of the devil. You are saving yourself from the oblivion of non-realization.
Why not simply acknowledge the truth when you hear it, and move towards it?
You are not on this planet to produce anything with your body. You are on this planet to produce something with your soul. Your body is simply and merely the tool of your soul.
The more you are, the more you can become, and the more you can become, the more you can yet be.
There is no coincidence, and nothing happens “by accident.”
You misunderstand your power. I tell you this: Your life proceeds out of you intentions for it.
I talk to everyone. All the time. The question is not to whom do I talk, but who listens?
A true teacher is not the one with the most knowledge, but one who causes the most others to have knowledge.
Nothing occurs in your life - nothing – which is not first a thought. Thoughts are like magnets, drawing effects to you.
Be patient. You are gaining wisdom.
Every human thought, and every human action, is based in either love or fear. There is no other human motivation.
You must first see yourself as worthy before you can see another as worthy. You must first see yourself as blessed before you can see another as blessed. You must first know Self to be holy before you can acknowledge holiness in another.
You can know yourself to be generous, but unless you do something which displays generosity, you have nothing but a concept. You can know yourself to be kind, but unless you do someone a kindness, you have nothing but an idea about yourself.
The soul – your soul – knows all there is to know all the time. There is nothing hidden to it, nothing unknown. Yet knowing is not enough. The soul seeks to experience.
Treating others with love does not necessarily mean allowing others to do as they wish.
God asks that you include yourself among those you love.
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May your life be what you truly desire.
With love and light,
Z.
Affirmation of the Week:“Peace comes from remembering that only love is real.”
By Doreen Virtue
Quote of the Week:
“Lovers find secret places
Inside this violent world
Where they make transactions
With beauty.”
Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi
Zeynep’s Book Recommendation:“Sincerity and Truth – The Life Story of Meishusama” by Gerard Rohlfing
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