※SpinalGap24 ※

"Never are we nearer the Light
than when darkness is deepest."

Swami Vivekananda

Hanggang may buhay may Pag-asa.
If there's life, there's hope.

Hello dearest friends, how I miss you all...
I'll write more fully, when I have some strength...I'm under heavy medication and between injections...does that sound painful??? does that sound possible?????? hahaha.

I love ALL the comments you've made on my blog, and feel so guilty at not replying yet...but I promise I will asap.

I'm also taking some Chinese medication too; ginseng and wild lingzhi. This is day 4 of the all natural Chinese powdered medicine, and I don't mind it at all.
But my NHS medication, has been forgotten...since yesterday the 'deliverer' forgot to stop by me, and I've therefore been 20 hours without my much needed medicine!!! sigh...

for the sake of my sigh
came an honest cry
tears failed my eyes
in the bitter taste of abscence.

Under a blanket of snow here in Norwich, I say take care, my thoughts are POSITIVELY with you all.
love,
lauren6

"Crying In The Rain"

I'll never let you see
The way my broken heart is hurting me
I've got my pride and I know how to hide
All my sorrow and pain
I'll do my crying in the rain

If I wait for stormy skies
You won't know the rain from the tears in my eyes
You'll never know that I still love you so
Though the heartaches remain
I'll do my crying in the rain

Raindrops falling from heaven
Could never take away my misery
But since we're not together
I pray for stormy weather
To hide these tears I hope you'll never see

Someday when my crying's done
I'm gonna wear a smile and walk in the sun
I may be a fool
But till then, darling, you'll never see me complain
I'll do my crying in the rain

I'll do my crying in the rain
I'll do my crying in the rain
I'll do my crying in the rain.

(I actually like A-ha's version of this song the best.)

I've been to the edge and stepped on your toes
Crossed swords and harangued my foes
Jumped for freedom flown
Resting realisation grown

Monday, 27th Feb. 16h00

Christopher Logue: Come To The Edge

Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came,
and he pushed,
and they flew.

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.

The trouble with a milk cow is she won't stay milked.

Forgive your enemies. It messes with their heads. (This is a modern adaptation of the original quote by Oscar Wilde: "Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more." - Ack I Mac.)

Don't corner something meaner than you.

Most of the stuff people worry about never happens. (Probably based on an original quote attributed to Leo Buscaglia: Ninety per-cent of what we worry about never happens, yet we worry and worry. What a horrible way to go through life!

Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree.

In the first book of the Bible, Guinness's, God got tired and took the Sabbath off.

Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark.

Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day but a ball of fire by night.

Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients.

The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.

Moses died before he ever reached Canada.

The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.

Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.

When Mary heard that she was the mother of Jesus she sang the Magna Carta.

Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.

He also explained, "Man doth not live by sweat alone."

The people who followed the Lord were called the 12 decibels.

The epistles were the wives of the apostles.

St Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony which is another name for marriage.

Christians have only one spouse. This is called monotony.

"If you stood on the bottom rail of a bridge, and leant over, and watched the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you would suddenly know everything that there is to be known..."

1] People deny that the innovation is required.
2] People deny that the innovation is effective.
3] People deny that the innovation is important.
4] People deny that the innovation will justify the effort required to adopt it.
5] People accept and adopt the innovation, enjoy its benefits, attribute it to people other than the innovator, and deny the existence of stages 1 to 4.

Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt's 'Three Stages Of Scientific Discovery', as referenced by Bill Bryson in his book, 'A Short History Of Nearly Everything'.

"With a strong heart and a ready mind what have I to fear?" (Chu Yuan, aka Qu Yuan, Chinese politician-turned-poet, c.300BC - China's first great poet and considered the father of Chinese poetry, his death in 278BC is celebrated every year on the Day of Dragon Boat Festival)

Another time another place
recovering amid fears
struggling against tears
mountains I attempt to face

eclectic symptoms of fate
the finest to date
bemoaning the sacred unknown
of pain hopelessly outgrown

superficially medicated rest
at doctor's bequest
calories replaced by miligrams
entwined divan penning spinelessly

tales seen without words
nerves tweaked by doctor's swords
I neither feel pain nor peace
Love nor hate...

...but I still feel life.

Morning dearest friends,

hope you're all fine?
These past three days have been even harder than I could have imagined. Deep in my subconscience, I guessed that Saturday would require help from my deepest reserves, and indeed it was true.

The hospital time, surgery, needles, operation etc, seem to have touched the nerves near my spine, as for some reason I was not 'asleep' but 'felt' the nerve by my broken spinal bone, being 'prodded' it was the most fundamentally disturbing feeling I have ever felt inside my physical body, and one which I cannot forget. That moment felt as if my whole entity was being compromised.
I was assured it would be "virtually painless" as I should have been 'put out' with the injection...but maybe my brain is too alert, too sceptical in fact, because I was awake...unable to move or speak, but awake, sure enough.

Well, I want to say so much, and reply to your beautiful comments, but I'm so weak, and fighting for my future mobility, which is in question, at present.

Nonetheless, I'll come out fighting.
Warm wishes, and love,
lauren6

Aesop's fables are as relevant today as they were centuries ago. Like the Panchatantra of ancient India or the Jataka tales of the Buddhist world, Aesop's fables fired the imagination of generations of young minds since ancient times and served as reminders of our age old moral values and the importance of being good and doing good in a simple and straightforward manner.

The fables are remarkably simple in expression but convey the deeper aspects of human life in a very appealing way and leave a strong impression upon the readers and listeners alike. They are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. For some it may be surprising to know that some of the best remembered and well known sayings like "self help is the best help" or "much ado about nothing" or "look before you leap", are drawn from Aesop's Fables only.

The history of Aesop is buried in antiquity and, like that of Homer, is shrouded in myth and legend. Aesop probably lived sometime around the 6th BC, in ancient Greece, first as a slave, serving two masters and then as a free intellectual, earning a good reputation for his remarkable wit and wisdom.

According to some legends, his death was unnatural. He was said to have been killed in Delphi by some people following some misunderstanding. There is no general consensus as to what constitutes the original fables of Aesop and how many were later added on ascribed to him owing to his popularity. There is also a theory that Aesop probably got some of his stories from the sailing Indian merchants or the traveling Buddhist monks and added them to his own. The similarity between some stories of the Panchatantra and those of Aesop do suggest that both these works had drawn probably from some common folklore of their times. It is possible that some of the fables might have traveled either ways along the trade routes and the wandering tribes and got incorporated in course of time into respective lists.

-V.Jayaram
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.

Like will draw like

In serving the wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pains.

If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter.

Slow but steady wins the race

Self help is the best help

Birds of a feather flock together

The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.

No arguments will give courage to the coward.

Fair weather friends are not worth much

Don't make much ado about nothing.

If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.

Pleasure bought with pains, hurts.

One story is good, till another is told.

If words suffice not, blows must follow.

Look before you leap.

Fair weather friends are not worth much.

Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.

Those who suffer most cry out the least.

Zeal should not outrun discretion.

Change of habit cannot alter Nature.

Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hid.

He is wise who is warned by the misfortunes of others.

The value is in the worth, not in the number.

Do not attempt too much at once.

No one truly forgets injuries in the presence of him who caused the injury.

Harm seek. harm find.

Evil companions bring more hurt than profit.

Do not be in a hurry to change one evil for another.

Little liberties are great offenses.

Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones.

Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.

Whatever you do, do with all your might.

Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.

Pride goes before destruction.

There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.

Time and place often give the advantage to the weak over the strong.

Example is more powerful than precept.

Better poverty without care, than riches with.

Harm hatch, harm catch.

Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed increase their means of injuring you.

Equals make the best friends.

Hypocritical speeches are easily seen through.

What's bred in the bone will stick to the flesh.

Abstain and enjoy.

The memory of a good deed lives.

Children are not to be blamed for the faults of their parents.

Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.

The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.

Might makes right.

We must make friends in prosperity if we would have their help in adversity.

False confidence often leads into danger.

The more honor the more danger.

Every man for himself.

He is not to be trusted as a friend who mistreats his own family.

They are not wise who give to themselves the credit due to others.

He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.

Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost.

Our mere anticipations of life outrun its realities.

In quarreling about the shadow we often lose the substance.

Stoop to conquer.

I should indeed be a very simple fellow if, for the chance of a greater uncertain profit, I were to forego my present certain gain.

The hero is brave in deeds as well as words.

Do nothing without a regard to the consequences.

It sometimes happens that one man has all the toil, and another all the profit.

In avoiding one evil, care must be taken not to fall into another.

Every man should be content to mind his own business.

The great do not always prevail. There are times when the small and lowly are the strongest to do mischief.

It shows an evil disposition to take advantage of a friend in distress.

The best intentions will not always ensure success.

Everyone is more or less master of his own fate.

How can you expect the sheep to be safe if you admit a wolf into the fold?

Know that not even the stars need to be relit

Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others.

Misfortunes springing from ourselves are the hardest to bear.

Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes.

Those who assume a character which does not belong to them, only make themselves ridiculous.

Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness.

The desire for imaginary benefits often involves the loss of present blessings.

Count the cost before you commit yourselves.

Be on guard against men who can strike from a distance.

Use serves to overcome dread.

No one can be a friend if you know not whether to trust or distrust him.

Fine feathers don't make fine birds.

Every tale is not to be believed.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

A willful man will have his way to his own hurt.

A false tale often betrays itself.

Acquaintance softens prejudices.

Counsel without help is useless.

Straws show how the wind blows.

The dishonest, if they act honestly, get no credit.

Union is strength.

Evil tendencies are shown in early life.

Persuasion is better than Force.

A man is known by the company he keeps.

What is most truly valuable is often underrated.

Youth's first duty is reverence to parents.

Some men are of more consequence in their own eyes than in the eyes of their neighbors.

Self-interest alone moves some men.

Try before you trust.

They who act without sufficient thought, will often fall into unsuspected danger.

No evil, whether it be small or large, ought to be tolerated.

The safeguards of virtue are hateful to those with evil intentions.

Source: Fables. Aesop.

If you don't get everything you want, think of the things you don't get that you don't want.
~Oscar Wilde

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.
~Voltaire

I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.
~Ancient Persian Saying

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
~Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, 1893

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical Essays

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.
~Buddha

The only end, is the one without a beginning.
~lauren6

Hi everyone...apologies for not replying to you yet...but I will soon, and your comments here are precious to me, so many thanks.

I have just had my eighth operation, and am severely weakened, particularly by the Chinese doctor's more open and honest words regarding my spine.
I am not sure how much more I can take, but for now, I'm fighting it all.

This is for you all, (I drew it yesterday), hope you like it...

EVENING EBB

The ocean has not been so quiet for a long while; five night-herons
Fly shorelong voices in the hush of the air
Over the calm of an ebb that almost mirrors their wings.
The sun has gone down, and the water has gone down
From the weed-clad rock, but the distant cloud-wall rises. The ebb whispers.
Great cloud-shadows float in the opal water.
Through rifts in the screen of the world pale gold gleams and the evening
Star suddenly glides like a flying torch.
As if we had not been meant to see her; rehearsing behind
The screen of the world for another audience.

Robinson Jeffers

Tame pigeons, which are pampered by high feeding, and lie perhaps under more frequent temptations from living together in crowds, are apt to forget the rules of strict chastity, and follow too often the example of people in high life.

Gilbert White, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, 1789

When the wild ducks or the wild geese migrate in their season, a strange tide rises in the territories over which they sweep. As if magnetized by the great triangular flight, the barnyard fowl leap a foot or two into the air and try to fly. The call of the wild strikes them with the force of a harpoon and a vestige of savagery quickens their blood. All the ducks on the farm are transformed for an instant into migrant birds, and into those hard little heads, till now filled with humble images of pools and worms and barnyards, there swims a sense of continental expanse, of the breadth of seas and the salt taste of the ocean wind.

Antoine de Saint Exupery, Wind, Sand and Stars

All I want to say, is right here, in my hand...

While recovering from successive operations, and awaiting the major one on a date to be arranged, I have read about Tao diets and wellbeing, and agree with many basic principals on good and stable eating habits, which actually cover every corner of the earth if we only realise it a little more, instead of being hauled into the norm.

Have a look at these;

Eat whole, natural foods.

Eat only foods that will spoil, but eat them before they do.

Eat naturally raised meat including fish, seafood, poultry, beef, lamb, game, organ meats and eggs. The best beef is grass fed.

Eat whole, naturally produced milk products from pasture-fed cows, raw and/or fermented, such as whole yogurt, cultured butter, whole cheeses and fresh and sour cream.

Use only traditional fats and oils including butter and other animal fats, extra virgin olive oil, expeller expressed sesame and flax oil and the tropical oils—coconut and palm. For best results use only coconut oil in cooking and small amounts of olive oil and flax seed oil for salad dressings.

Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably organic, in salads and soups, or lightly steamed.

Use whole grains and nuts that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting or sour leavening to neutralize phytic acid and other anti-nutrients.

Include enzyme-enhanced lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments in your diet on a regular basis.

Prepare homemade meat stocks from the bones of chicken, beef, lamb or fish and use liberally in soups and sauces.

Use filtered high PH alkaline water for cooking and drinking.

Use unrefined sea salt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.

Make your own salad dressing using raw apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and/or cold pressed flax seed oil.

Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, Barly Malt

Use only un-pasteurized wine or beer in moderation with meals.

Cook only in stainless steel, cast iron, glass or good quality enamel.

Eat your last large meal before sundown

Use only natural supplements made from whole foods.

Get plenty of sleep, exercise and natural light.

Always sit down to eat.

Always chew your food at least 30 times each mouthful

Think positive thoughts and minimize stress, always look for the positive in any experience that comes your way, even if that experience causes you pain. The key is not to waste life force in worry.

with so much to read
and plenty to tell
much to see
whether heaven or hell
these words shall be written
these hands will clutch
as feet will guide
the legs that walk

The road to positivity is strewn with the abandoned vehicles of the faint-hearted.”
Peter McWilliams

There would be nothing to frighten you if you refused to be afraid.
Gandhi

Take chances. When rowing forward, the boat may rock. -Chinese Proverb

At the center of your being you have the answer;
You know who you are and you know what you want.
Lao-tzu

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill where two worlds touch. The round door is open.
Don't go back to sleep.
Djalal ad Din Rumi

Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly.
Robert H. Schuller

As plentiful as the grass that grows,
Or the sand on the shore,
Or the dew on the leaf,
So the blessings of the King of Grace
On every soul that was, that is, or will be.
Traditional Irish blessing

Because today I'm being given chicken korma with rice, (in hospital), I thought this posting seemed fun...

The Legend of the Rice
In the days when the earth was young and all things were better than they now are, when men and women were stronger and of greater beauty, and the fruit of the trees was larger and sweeter than that which we now eat, rice, the food of the people, was of larger grain.

One grain was all a man could eat; and in those early days, such, too, was the merit of the people, they never had to toil gathering the rice, for, when ripe, it fell from the stalks and rolled into the villages, even unto the granaries. And upon a year when the rice was larger and more plentiful than ever before, a widow said to her daughter "Our granaries are too small. We will pull them down and build larger."

When the old granaries were pulled down and the new one not yet ready for use, the rice was ripe in the fields. Great haste was made, but the rice came rolling in where the work was going on, and the widow, angered, struck a grain and cried, "Could you not wait in the fields until we were ready? You should not bother us now when you are not wanted."

The rice broke into thousands of pieces and said "From this time forth, we will wait in the fields until we are wanted," and from that time the rice has been of small grain, and the people of the earth must gather it into the granary from the fields.

These past two weeks have been a testing time, indeed, this year ahead will be even more so.

I'm undergoing treatments, (at long last), for my damaged spine, which involved injections, awaiting a very major operation on my spine itself. An operation in which my consultant requested my permission three times.

Finally, after two months, my MRI results were shown to me, revealing that my spine is far, far worse than they had previously diagnosed, namely the 'slipped disc' is an absurd term for a vertebrae that is way off line, and cracked, with the added discomfort of having two areas of protrusion, both pressing the nerve, one of which is close to causing some paralysis.

There are several other battles going on within, such as a stomach ulcer too.
But, I've every intention of fighting, and eventually winning...

...it is the power of nature

...it is the certainty of the future

...it is the strength found in faith

...it is the glow of candlelight

...it is the scent of twilight

...it is the depth of the heart

...it is the power, of you and me

Where I presently find myself
cannot be called home
nor a comfort, when in Rome,
but an eyeopener
of self-healing, and inner reeling
fortunes lost and found
belief nutured and bound
escaping and arresting pain
this day, not like any other
my day, about to discover

The Oak
by Sheila Blair

The oak's icy outline,
Etched against the sky,
Winter's cold has stripped it bare,
Naked to the eye.

Sitting in the snow,
Beside this tall, strong friend,
There's warmth, steady comfort,
Promise the storm will end.

Inside the massive trunk,
A river of life flows,
Winter cold gives way to spring,
Hope of rebirth grows.

In the sun, a bud appears,
Unfolding a velvety leaf,
A new season arrives from patience,
Wisdom, and true belief.

Underneath the shady boughs,
The oak's rejoicing splendor,
Forget the blizzard's bitter touch,
The surviving bond, remember.

Reading, and loving this in hospital, at present.

...I could presently reply to all your lovely comments on my blog.

...I could say how precious you have all become.

...I could revisit my lake...and my friends, the mystical swans.

...I had more energy to realise these burning dreams inside me.

...good and especially bad were not so often seen and felt as a shard of glass.

...good health to you all, and please forgive me in my late replies to you all.

Richard Ashcroft: God in the Numbers

Sometimes you hold the world in your hands
Sometimes the world it baffles you with plans
Some days you drift oh so easy and free
Some nights you sleep in blissful harmony

How do we leave the wreckage of our lives?
How do you leave the past out in the night?
Don't throw away the pictures that give you a smile
Don't throw away the memories that make you cry

I saw God in the numbers
I saw God in the numbers
I saw God in the numbers
I saw God in the numbers

I know that I could learn a little harder
There's so much that I want to read and know
But maybe I'm a little lazy
Maybe I don't really want to know

I saw God in the numbers
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)

The more I learn of history the more I hate it
'Cos we're repeating things we did a thousand years ago
We're building palaces of fortune in the sky
There's an underclass dying whilst we smile

I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)
I saw God in the numbers (I saw God in the numbers)

(I don't wanna
I don't wanna
I don't wanna)

U2: Please

So you never knew love
Until you crossed the line of grace.
And you never felt wanted
Till you'd someone slap your face.
So you never felt alive
Until you'd almost wasted away.

You had to win, you couldn't just pass
The smartest ass at the top of the class
Your flying colours, your family tree
And all your lessons in history.

Please, please, please
Get up off your knees.
Please, please, please, please, oh yeah.

And you never knew how low you'd stoop
To make that call
And you never knew what was on the ground
Till they made you crawl.
So you never knew that the heaven
You keep you stole.

Your Catholic blues, your convent shoes,
Your stick-on tattoos now they're making the news
Your holy war, your northern star
Your sermon on the mount from the boot of your car.

Please, please, please
Get up off your knees.
Please, please, please
Leave me out of this, please.

So love is hard
And love is tough
But love is not
What you're thinking of.

September, streets capsizing
Spilling over down the drains
Shard of glass, splinters like rain
But you could only feel your own pain.

October, talk getting nowhere.
November, December; remember
We just started again.

Please, please, please
Get up off your knees, yeah.
Please, please, please, please, ah.

So love is big
Is bigger than us.
But love is not
What you're thinking of.
It's what lovers deal
It's what lovers steal
You know I've found it
Hard to receive
'Cause you, my love
I could never believe.

This song I dedicate to my doctors!!!

Hospital metal beds are my world for now, and I must thank you for your kind words, and apologise for my lack of time and energy, or health, to respond as yet.

I have had a succession of health scares, the latest of which concerned my appendix. This body if mine is fighting hard, and doing a good job when you consider it appears to be fighting on 7 fronts now...but what worries me, is how much more can a body take?
My doctors just look and offer bloody tablets all the time...are they sadists????
Why oh why can they not treat me, even when blood pours from my body?

Please someone, remind me of which world I am living in??

The Verve: This Time

Lookin' back on my life
You know that all I see
Are things I could of changed
I should have done
Where did the good times go?
Good times so hard to hold
This time, this time
This time I'm gonna find

Lookin' back on my life
You know that all I see
Are things I could of changed
I could have done
No time for sad lament
A wasted life is bitter spent

So rise into the light
In or out of time
Gonna rise straight through the light
In or out of time

Woke up one other day
The pain won't go away
I am growing
In peculiar ways
Into a light I pass
Another dream, another trance
This time, this time
This time I'm gonna rise into the light
In or out of time

Gonna find my way in life
In or out of sight
I'm still seeing things in black and white
Gonna rise straight into the light
In or out of sight

I'm gonna see the light
I'm gonna see the light
I'm gonna see the light

'Cause I know there is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
There is time
This time, this time
This time, this time
This time, this time
This time, this time

"If enlightenment is not where you are standing, where will you look?"
- Zen Saying

Morning everyone...I'm still battling away with all my medication and many ailments trying to get the better of me...but I'm going to sort them out.
However, this week, I'm really quite low, and without much power at all, my condition is really quite bad, actually.

However, I'll be back soon, as sure as the clouds will disperse...eventually.
It's all a merry-go-round really.

Take care all!
love,
lauren6

ps: thanks for everyone's concerns, I appreciate it deeply, will reply to you all soon.

THE MIND OF ABSOLUTE TRUST
Seng-Ts'an

The Great Way isn't difficult
for those who are unattached to their preferences.
Let go of longing and aversion,
and everything will be perfectly clear.
When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction,
heaven and earth are set apart.

If you want to realize the truth,
don't be for or against.
The struggle between good and evil
is the primal disease of the mind.
Not grasping the deeper meaning,
you just trouble your mind's serenity.

As vast as infinite space,
it is perfect and lacks nothing.
But because you select and reject,
you can't perceive its true nature.
Don't get entangled in the world;
don't lose yourself in emptiness.
Be at peace in the oneness of things,
and all errors will disappear by themselves.

If you don't live the Tao,
you fall into assertion or denial.
Asserting that the world is real,
you are blind to its deeper reality;
denying that the world is real,
you are blind to the selflessness of all things.
The more you think about these matters,
the farther you are from the truth.

Step aside from all thinking,
and there is nowhere you can't go.
Returning to the root, you find the meaning;
chasing appearances, you lose their source.
At the moment of profound insight,
you transcend both appearance and emptiness.
Don't keep searching for the truth;
just let go of your opinions.

For the mind in harmony with the Tao,
all selfishness disappears.
With not even a trace of self-doubt,
you can trust the universe completely.
All at once you are free,
with nothing left to hold on to.
All is empty, brilliant,
perfect in its own being.

In the world of things as they are,
there is no self, no non-self.
If you want to describe its essence,
the best you can say is "Not-two."
In this "Not-two" nothing is separate,
and nothing in the world is excluded.

The enlightened of all times and places
have entered into this truth.
In it there is no gain or loss;
one instant is ten thousand years.
There is no here, no there;
infinity is right before your eyes.

The tiny is as large as the vast
when objective boundaries have vanished;
the vast is as small as the tiny
when you don't have external limits.
Being is an aspect of non-being;
non-being is no different from being.
Until you understand this truth,
you won't see anything clearly.

One is all; all are one.
When you realize this,
what reason for holiness or wisdom?
The mind of absolute trust
is beyond all thought, all striving,
is perfectly at peace, for in it
there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow.

(from, Stephen Mitchell's The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry. Harper Perennial, 1989)

Current (old) favourite whilst in hospital;

The Mission: Heaven

Ever
There's oceans between us
Take to the sea, take to the sea
There's heaven before us
Float on the waves, float on the waves

Pale moon lay belief on me,
Mother come give me birth
You give me heaven,
And I'll promise you the earth

Heaven
Lays on your pillow,
Sleep in your eyes, sleep in your eyes
Lays in the waiting
Steal every moment, hold every breath

Gentle heart beat as one,
Dream for the beauty of birth
You give me heaven
And I'll promise you the earth

I'll die for you, if the time ever came,
I'll kill for you and shoulder the blame,
I'd cry for you and never feel shame,
For the child is within you,
For the child is within

Precious
I want the earth for you
Precious
I hold out my hands to touch the sky
And only the pure go to heaven
Suffer the child unto you
Forever more
Heaven on earth

Bless me my goddess of love
For all your blessing is worth
You give me heaven and I promise you the earth
I pray for the second coming
Worship you for the first
You give me heaven and I give you the earth
You give me heaven and I give you the earth
You gave me heaven and I give you the earth

Morning all.
My silence is due to being somewhat less than 100%, and some hurdles ahead, which I've every intention of meeting, and jumping.

Funny how perception changes at times like this.
Gentle hearts often beat together.

Heaven and hell BOTH seem within sight...remarkable.
Anyway, positivity all round.
love,
lauren6

U2: Drowning Man

Take my hand
You know I'll be there
If you can
I'll cross the sky for your love
For I have promised
Oh, to be with you tonight
And for the time that will come

Take my hand
You know I'll be there
If you can
I'll cross the sky for your love
And I understand
These winds and tides
This change of times
Won't drag you away

Hold on, and hold on tightly
Hold on, and don't let go of my love

The storms will pass (the storm will pass)
It won't be long now (it won't be long now)
This love will last
This love will last, forever

Take my hand
You know I'll be there
If you can
I'll cross the sky for your love
Give you what I hold dear

Hold on, hold on tightly
Hold on, hold on tightly
Rise up, rise up
With wings like eagles
You run, you run
You run and not grow weary

(Take my hand, take my hand)
Hold on, and hold on tightly
Hold on, hold on tightly
To this love, last forever
To this love, last forever

Take my hand
Take my hand

A man boarded an aircraft at London's Heathrow Airport and taking his seat as he settled in, he noticed a very beautiful woman boarding the plane. He realized she was heading straight toward his seat and bingo, she took the seat right beside him.

Eager to strike up a conversation, he blurted out, "Business trip or vacation?"

She turned, smiled enchantingly and said ; "Business. I'm going to the annual nymphomaniac convention in the United States."

He swallowed hard, here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen sitting next to him, and she was going to a meeting for nymphomaniacs!

Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, "What's your business role at this convention?"

"Lecturer," she responded. "I use my experience to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality."

"Really", he smiled, "what myths are those?"

"Well," she explained, "one popular myth is that African-American men are the most well-endowed when, in fact, it's the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait.

Another popular myth is that French men are the best lovers, when actually it is the men of Greek descent. We have also found that the best potential lovers in all categories are the Irish."

Suddenly the woman became uncomfortable and blushed. "I'm sorry," she said. I really shouldn't be discussing this with you, I don't even know your name."

"Tonto," the man said.

"Tonto Papadopoulos, but my friends call me Paddy."

Do you know which city possesses the longest name in the world?
Many will think of Wales, and that railway station, which actually is the world's third longest, but the 163 word winner is, in short, Bangkok...

"Bangkok is a city of extremes and superlatives, a city you do not react to indifferently," says Thailand at a Glance. "Recently declared the world's hottest city by the World Meteorological Organization, it also boasts the world's longest name:

Krung-thep-maha-nakorn-boworn-ratana-kosin-mahintar- ayudhya-amaha-dilok-pop-nopa-ratana-rajthani-burirom-udom-rajniwes-mahasat-arn-amorn-pimarn- avatar-satit- sakattiya-visanukam.

"Not surprisingly, only a handful of Thais can remember such a mouthful, although the abbreviated translation of the whole is a relatively brief Jewelled city of the god Indra. However, most Thais simply refer to it as Krung Thep, City Angels."

We sought a ruling from a Bangkok wordsmith, Theppitak Karoonboonyanan who said the correct spelling (163 letters) is

Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit.

Theppitak separated the words of K161t and translated them as:

krungthep mahanakorn
The great city of angels,

amorn rattanakosin mahintara yutthaya mahadilok phop
the supreme unconqueralble land of the great immortal divinity (Indra),

noparat rajathani burirom
the royal capital of nine noble gems, the pleasant city,

udomrajaniwes mahasatharn
with plenty of grand royal palaces,

amorn phimarn avatarnsathit
and divine paradises for the reincarnated deity (Vishnu),

sakkatattiya visanukam prasit
given by Indra and created by the god of crafting (Visnukarma).

"It's a kind of honoring or celebrating in (royal) Thai culture to name long (I couldn't confirm this in terms of historical background, though)," Theppitak said. "King Rama 1, the founder of the city himself, was named yet longer than the name of the city, in his ascending to the throne. Our King Rama 9 (King Bhumipol) also has a long name of a hundred letters.

"The name of the city was given by King Rama 1, the founder of the city, to celebrate the new capital, 219 years ago, after Sukhothai, Ayudhaya, and Thonburi. He moved the capital of the country from Thonburi to a place called Bangkok at that time, and named the new capital as rungthepmahanakhorn. The name has been changed a little by King Rama 4 (King Mongkut) which has been used until now.

"The name Bangkok is still used in international context because it was more familiar to foreigners in the past. In Thai, the city is called Krungthep in short, and is written with an abbreviation sign after it.

"It may be pronounced as Krungthepmahanakorn in some formal occasions. But when we refer to the full name, it's the one with hundreds letters as mentioned. If you want to get some formal evidence of the name, you may have to ask some governmental offices, or the Royal Palace.The old name Bangkok is only used in foreign languages, or it becomes informal in Thai."

from Thailandlife

As a footnote, may I add the shortest?
It is from my motherland in Picardie, France, where a village can be found, with how many letters??
-Just the one!
It is called 'Y' = with a population of 89, and rather remote when I last passed through it, predictably on a dull, foul day, it's close to the beautiful Baie de Somme. (Longitude 02° 59' 34" E, Latitude 49° 48' 14" N)

for more information, wikipedia entry on Y in France

Pass me the remote, to press FFWD
sensing darkness I only saw red
a sunshy persistant shadow blue with cold
runs aground together with the heart sacred

Pausing upon a frame capturing blurred reality
simultaneously putting the future into RWD
just as the past declared infinity
a disinclined heartbeat was thus entwined

U2: New Year's Day

Yeah

All is quiet on New Year's day
A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you, be with you, night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day
On New Year's day

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered, black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true, it's true
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one

I, I will begin again
I, I will begin again

Yeah, ohhh

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah

Ah, maybe the time is right
Oh, maybe tonight

I will be with you again
I will be with you again

And so we're told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day
On New Year's day
On New Year's day.

Meet Herman: a 22lb, 3ft rabbit that is more than half the size of its owner.

The giant bunny amazed onlookers at a Berlin food and agriculture fair - they first thought it was a giant cuddly toy.

Herman is one of a breed called the German Giant. Most grow to a maximum of 18lb, but Herman just kept growing.

Owner Hans Wagner, who raised him on a diet of vegetables, vitamin supplements and hay, keeps Herman in a specially built, solid oak hutch.

A spokesman for the German Rabbit Breeders' Association told The Daily Mail: "They are good natured, reliable and calm. They are, however, because of their size, not very suitable for children."

from AOL

Pocahontas and Norfolk

Everyone knows the story of Pocahontas, made famous by Walt Disney, but what is not so well known is the fact that she lived in my home county of Norfolk, England for a time.
Her connection lies to the west of the county, at Heacham not far from King's Lynn.

Pocahontas herself was the daughter of Chief Powhatan of the Algonquinn Red Indians.
Her fame can be found from the moment she saved the life of Captain John Smith, by laying her head over his, saving him from her father's order that he be clubbed to death. Amazingly, she was only 12 years old at that time.

Shortly after this time, we find a John Rolfe (also of Norfolk's Heacham Hall), who had just departed his family home in America, seeking wealth when he was shipwrecked off Bermuda. This is the point where he met Pocahontas, then aged 18, who captivated him with her grace, gentleness, beauty and bravery. John Smith had returned to England, without any further news, he was presumed dead from his critical sickness by Pocahontas.

John Rolfe and Pocahontas were married in 1613, and she converted to Christianity against her father's wishes, (The story goes, that whilst being held hostage, she became very interested in Christianity, and was helped in her instruction by the Rev Alexander Whittaker, and later became the first Indian to be baptised, changing her name to Rebecka, (some accounts of Pocahontas also spell it Rebecca)).

After marriage, they settled in the USA, in Virginia where Rolfe was working hard on the introduction of tobacco as a crop. Thomas, their son was born soon afterwards, and in their delight returned to Jacobean England, alongwith 10 Indian servants, to Norfolk's Heacham Hall.
Lady Rebecka as she was now known, was much admired for her beauty in the social circles of the time, especially in London, attending banquets, and also presented to King James I, though the unpleasant air of London didn't suit her, and she preferred the clearer Norfolk air surrounding the Rolfe's family home, Heacham Hall.

At one court presentation, she did meet John Smith again, though the call of America was becoming strong by this time, and the decision to return to Virginia was taken, and Gravesend was the location for her ship's departure.
However, the wait was too much, as she contracted smallpox and tragically died aged just 22.

Her broken-hearted husband continued his journey home to Virginia, though his son remained in Norfolk. Later he would lose his life at the Massacre of Henrico in 1622.
Their son Thomas however, returned to America where many claimas were made in his honour, as ancestor of a great and famous family.

Today we can no longer find Heacham Hall, as it was tragically destroyed by fire around the time of the Second World War, though the church of St Mary the Virgin in Heacham features a memorial to Pocahontas, carved by one of Rodin's pupils. She is depicted in stylish Jacobean trilby, fluffy neck ruff, and high fashion of the period.
Her husband, John Rolfe, is buried in the churchyard.

by lauren6

Chuang Tzu, ancient Chinese Taoist, once experienced a dream in which he was a butterfly fluttering to & fro. In the dream he had no awareness of his individuality as a person; he was simply a butterfly. Suddenly, he awoke and found that once again he was a human laying in bed. But then he thought to himself, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"

"Living for today
I'm going to live my life
I'm going to do things my way
Liberate my mind, my way"

Journey through dreamlands

Dawn starts the dreamy day
as dusk begins your sleepy way
throughout enchanted scenes abliss
or blackened streets a time to miss

fractured and elevated routes abound
congestion charges by the pound
slipped away by break of day
dreamlands so vivid without decay

more than this, memories exterior
reflecting the senses unspoken law
station to station, first or last
aligned with all today's gone past

A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall. Onlookers feared for his life. Miraculously, he came out alive and unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how he managed to survive. "I accommodated myself to the water, not the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the swirl, I came out with the swirl. This is how I survived."

ROYKSOPP - MELODY A.M

Oh this album! It simply oooozes quality and life, together with thought, emotion, desire, memories, sentiment, and everything I love about music and life.

When I hear this, it conjures up 2002, a very special year for me, when all the big events happened, and in part, shaped part.2 of my own life, but this album feels so warm, like a humid summer's day, just before a gathering of family and/or friends for an al fresco aperitif and meal, with a hazy sun, beside a lethargic yet refreshing river...the Wensum!

Even now, in 2006, the album has massive appeal, timeless quality, perhaps more than before, which is a true sign of a great album. I find that the shorter albums are the best. Even though I like to see the full 80 minutes used, this one manages just 46, but like great TV series, literature, arts, music, it is nothing to do with quantity, but the impression, the quality...appreciation is found in the here and now...or should I say hear and now?
When we read a book, are we conscious of how many pages remain?
When we visit an art gallery, are we bothered by how many more exhibits are left?
Likewise, when we listen to music, should be have half a mind on the minutes tally?
No, not at all...it's all in the power of THIS moment of pure pleasure.

In a second, just a second...
we can feel all life
see and feel another's life
as we constantly seek another
yet, the seconds speak in passing
our supply line ever-lasting.

lauren6

Some reviews of "Melody AM" -

The first time you play Melody A.M. you are greeted by a strange sense of déjà vu. It's one of those records that seems to have been taken apart and dissected by every advertising company, t.v. and radio station across the globe, in search of some background music for their latest product or programme. Consequently Melody A.M. has now been rereleased and repackaged in a bid to capitalise on their now near-ubiquitous sound.

So Easy appears on the T-Mobile advert, and is typical of the type of chilled, laid back music on offer here from the Norwegian dance duo, mixing different layers of sounds, beats and vocals. Eple is a more uptempo track, featuring on a Lynx advert amongst others, while In Space and A Higher Place nod to French compatriots Air, adopting a similar blend of cooled, cosmic, experimental sounds. Poor Leno, featuring vocals from Erlend from fellow Norwegians Kings of Convenience, is one of the highlights with a thumping bassline, cataclysmic beats and as much melody as can be feasibly crammed into four minutes of music. Sparks sees delicate guest vocals from a Beth Gibbons-esque Annelli Drecker take centre stage, and indeed one could easily be forgiven for mistaking it for a Portishead creation given the quality and intelligence on show. Röyksopp's Night Out is most certainly the standout track though; a seven and a half minute epic, which gains momentum building up into a thundering finale of sonar echos, bleeps and glitches. In Melody A.M., Röyksopp have created an album, which exhibits the same kind of intelligence, craft, ambition and thirst for originality that made last year's Avalanche's album Since I Left You so good. And this year it will be hard to find something that equals its precision at mixing a cocktail of beats, emotion and melody.

Review written by Michelle Dalton

Earlier in the year The Avalanches forced us all to sit up straight and pay attention with their stunning debut album, Since I Left You. In one fell swoop it planted the flag of Australian electronica firmly in the dance music map. Six months down the line it is the turn of the Norwegians.

With the release of Melody AM, Royksopp cause us to draw sweet breath and marvel as our stereo is seduced by a blend of porno sax kitsch (check out "She's So" for that hypnotic red light moment), dance floor stomp and studio wizardry. Seasonal Affective Disorder seems to have missed this dynamic duo as these guys have created one of the years' most beautiful surprises, kind of like a ...er...'a nice cup of tea' first thing in the morning on your birthday.

Influenced by the likes of classical composers such as Eric Satie as well as porn flick maker Francis Lai, Melody AM combines funk with electronic soul, and sweeping film scores with dance floor tactics. Don't be surprised if the guitar, piano and timbales of "Poor Leno" induces a state of hip wiggling wonderment.

The more down tempo "Eple" is propelled by a rolling, lazy break beat that shimmers and shines with more class than a room full of rowdy children facing a blackboard. But, be warned this is an album that will worm its way in to your affections. Weighing in at less than 45 minutes (like Basement Jaxx's Rooty) this is a record full of great ideas, none of which are laboured and some of which are over before you've had the chance to fully appreciate them first time round.

It is for precisely this reason that Melody AM can be played over and over - most likely, you won't take the CD out of the stereo for weeks. Houston this is control, the Norwegians have landed.

Reviewer: Andy Puleston, 12th August, 2002

"...Nordic funk. Their album twinkles like the Northern Lights, has the warmth of a well worn Rhodes and manages to mix up styles like Love Unlimited having a snowball fight with Mad Professor over at Brian Eno's gaff."
- Rob Da Bank (Wall of Sound)

This might not be super new but well, it's timeless, see, so the not really new thing doesn't make a difference. There's something refreshing to your insides about Royksopp. Maybe it's that they're from Norway and when you're Nordic or Norsk or whatever, you can't help but do fresh things. At any rate, this is chill out music with soul and depth and feeling and all the things that make chilling out good for you.

Ambient it may be, lack-lustre it is not. Variety is key to Melody AM's appeal: the folky sounds of So Easy, Eple's quirky bleeps, Remind Me's grey English vocals, the underlying sorrow of She's So. There's an innate warmth in Royksopp's music as well, and it seems, a tone and story unique to each tune. Sparks is your pick for sultry sirens leaning against pianos in smoky back rooms, In Space takes you on a happy little jaunt out through the cosmos, and Poor Leno wanders somewhere between icy fjords and a funky house club.

A good deal of this kind of music comes from fringe places, either because they're not pressured to do predictable mainstream stuff to compete with mass marketed radio fodder, or because they're stuck inside due to the cold weather and have turned slightly bonkers. Either way, we win and Melody AM will surely become one of those classics that hits the stereo every time something musical and beautiful is called for.

Tracklisting
01 So Easy 03:44
02 Eple 03:36
03 Sparks 05:23
04 In Space 03:30
05 Poor Leno 03:57
06 A Higher Place 04:31
07 Royksopp's Night Out 07:30
08 Remind Me 03:39
09 She's So 05:23
10 40 Years Back/Come 04:45

also try royksopp.com

I'm writing this from hospital, enjoying the delights of this album, which seems to offer far more benefits than any medicine!!

love,
lauren6

Craig Armstrong's "Glasgow" is a beautiful piece of music, fleeting, subtle, touching, eerie, reminiscent of human life, whereby our realisation is soon lost to time, as we eventually all are as beings. This music encapsulates such a mood for me.

It is also a gathering of personal thoughts, movement, night, life, emotion, raindrops, perspective and composition of feeling.

I read that Craig actually wrote this in the city of Glasgow itself, as Glesga is his birthplace, though his favourite locations for writing are Paris and Portugal, the latter of which helped him write, "Love Actually".

All his works are inspirational, but for me, especially at this extreme time in my life, this song is everything I seek in music. I'm immediately at ease with the sound, the feeling, the mood and source of such music as "Glasgow".

More information on Craig Armstrong, here

I wish to thank you all, dear friends, for your constant care and support. This has been one of the hardest times in my whole life healthwise, and I'm not sure of anything as yet, but fighting a difficulty, a health problem, will surely bring some form of fitness...I just need to find it!

feliz aniversario a uma pessoa grande