Honour Yourself.

What is honesty? 

Honesty is

to honor yourself

to respect yourself

to respect god.

If you honor yourself,

then honesty will come automatically. 

                                                    SS

Cafe Paradiso- Chapter 2 Meeting Elaine

    The banana pancake and the pineapple juice, reminded me of my time in Cambodia. The coffee was barely drinkable. Kerala was changing, I knew I would find some decent coffee somewhere. Hopefully that somewhere, will be soon.

   I was thinking to buy a small motorcycle  and ride around the south of India. I had just spent six months in Cambodia doing the same thing and I was confident India, would be as manageable. After 3 years of special care nursing, I had desperately needed a break and I still wasn't ready to go home. Although now well rested, there was so much I still wanted to do and experience. And there was some unfinished business with India. 

      I wanted to see what had pulled Dad to this place. I wanted to see if it would do the same to me. I was curious, I was hopeful. Maybe I was hoping this place would bring me closer to the old man. His memory was fading so quickly. 

       I'd loved that old man too much, if there is such a thing. Ever since I could remember, Dad had been my best mate. I'd had regular friends but not a best friend. Not for any great length of time anyways. 

      There was some girls I'd felt close to and there was Elaine, but she was more than a friend. She was fast becoming more than that. I wish Dad could've met her, he would've loved her. He would've loved her intensity and he would've loved the way we met.

     I'd travelled home from Cambodia last year, for my brother's 21st.  I'd keep seeing this girl walking along the street near my Mums and we'd smile shyly at each other.  

      While I'd been back in Brisbane, I'd been spending a bit of time with an old friend of my brothers, Jack. 

      Jack was a charmer. He would talk to just about anybody and knew just about everybody at our local. 

       Anyway, maybe because of Jacks influence on me, I just suddenly stopped on the side of the road the next time I saw her. I parked my brothers bike and walked across to the bus stop to where she was sitting, waiting. I just started talking to her and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to do.

      It felt like we'd known each other for a long time and were just getting reacquainted. Except there were no old stories. We just kept to stuff like, how long we'd lived in the area, what work we did, school, Uni etc. We had actually gone to the same Primary School, but were in different grades. We joked that her mum and my mum probably knew each other from old Tuckshop days and it turned out that they did, but had just exchanged a few hello's and goodbyes. 

     When I went back to Cambodia we  kept in contact through Facebook and later through emails and Skype. She would write me long journals about everything she'd been doing, things she was worried about and people she was worried about. People I didn't know, but it didn't matter. 

       I'd answer her with stories about my adventures and misadventures. She understood that I needed to do what I was doing and respected it.

         She even encouraged it for Gods sake. I'd always wanted a best friend. Someone I could share my inner world with. I wasn't frightened of telling her anything. She didn't seem to have any judgment about anything . She didn't pull me up for mine, but she wouldnt answer me either. She'd just start talking about something else or smile and say nothing. 

      I wondered if it would always be like this with her. It was unrealistic and even stupid to suppose it would be. She was so caring and compassionate, that it gave my pessimistic mind hope. 

       Dad had said those things about me too, but Elaine was different, she really lived it. I felt I had to do the right thing but she really wanted to, she welcomed it. Her kindness was more a part of her than her smile or the way she looked when she felt vulnerable. It was her truth speaking through her, it was the light reflecting off her soul. 

       

Know the Price.

Life is like a big department store, there's no point being in it, if you're not there to buy. 

Where  not here to window shop. 

Know the price - Karma. 

Know if you can afford it - Discrimination. 

Discern wether you really need it- intellect   

or you just want it - Desire.

Be It

Love - you don't have to get it to give it. You just have to be it!

The Power to Destroy.

On a cold, grey Winters day in New York, two complete strangers ended up at the top of a tall grey stone building, at the same time. 

    They both had come to end their lives and both stood on the edge of the building and prepared to jump. 

     Someone on the busy streets below spotted the jumpers and an ugly crowd gathered. 

     They shouted and jeered and screamed at the two jumpers on the roof to hurry up and jump. 

      One of the jumpers on hearing the taunts, lost what little will he had to live and leapt from the building. 

      The other man stepped back from the edge of the building and was grabbed by the fire and rescue guys. 

      One of the rescuers asked the man why he changed his mind, even though the crowd below were encouraging him to do it. The crying man read the rescuers lips and answered, "I wanted to jump but when I saw all the people below yelling and screaming, I'm deaf but I was moved that they were
moved, by my actions."

       The message behind this story is, that our words have the power to save lives but they also have the power to destroy them. Be careful which ones you choose. 

        Once the stone is thrown into the pond, the ripples can't be stopped. Catch the negative thought before you  act on it, before you cast the stone.  

        This parable is inspired by my Gurus teachings. Sai Saileshwara. 

The Two Sons.

   There was once a very wealthy and very honest merchant. He had two sons who were identical twins.

   As the father grew older, he worried about who, he would leave the family business to. 

   One son was overly ambitious and would use anybody, to make a deal and win the sale. 

   The father knew of the sons unscrupulous behavior but a part of him couldn't help being impressed by the boys ingenuity and results.

    The other boy couldn't even hurt a fly and was often mocked for his gullibility and naivety. 

    The father worried about the second boys business acumen and lack of a killer instinct but he also worried about the first boys ethics.  

    So the Father set them a test, he said to them both. "I have a new product that I want you to test in the marketplace. You have a week to trial it, whoever sells all of the product first, inherits the business. But you can't trap anybody by unscrupulous means, into buying. And you cant play with their emotions to boost your sales." 

     The first brother was at a loss as to what to do, for he only knew how to manipulate, bully and deceive people into buying. 

    The second boys face lit up. He took the new product to his local villages market and put up a sign. It read, If you purchase this product and after one week you aren't happy, I will buy it back, for twice the price!!!

      People were incredulous and challenged him. He simply replied, "I know nothing about the product but I know with full faith, that my father wouldn't sell anything, that is useless."

    He had followed his father's instructions to the letter. Firstly, he hadn't  trapped the customer, he had offered the customer a way out if they weren't happy. 

     Secondly, he hadn't played with their emotions or trapped, them by coercive or deceptive means. He simply told them the truth, which they already knew. And he  gave them the freedom to choose, not caring if they bought or not. His only sales pitch, was claiming his father's good name, which none could argue. 

     'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink,' but you can make it thirsty. The buy back offer made them thirsty, because it showed integrity. 

    He sold all of the product on the first day, had no returns and eventually inherited the business from his father. 

    This is a parable I have written to interpret my Guru's teachings into story form. 

     "Don’t trap any body. Don’t play games with someone’s emotions, free them. You'll be free as well." Sai Saileshwara 

Outcomes.

When we have one eye 

on the outcome

and one eye on the task at hand. 

It will take twice as long,

to reach the goal.

For our concentration,

has been halved. 

Rotten Fruit.

In a box of fruit if there's a rotten one, it will usually be in the centre. Same way with us. Our bad habits are hidden deep within. We have to go deep within, with awareness and root them out, before they send the whole box rotten and unusable. 🍎🍏🍊🍋

Giving

If you need my love,

I'll never forsake you. 

If you want my love,

it's always there for the taking.

If you feel my love, 

there's no need to return it,

just share it, don't hoard it,

and never ignore it.

Love

     Love isn't an emotion

     it's a way of living.