When we truly know Love...
There is no Envy...
There's only Celebration...
We understand Abundance...
We understand that Grasping only Closes Ourselves
From the Infiniteness that already exists.

Love Freed

One cannot possess Love...
One can only give Love...

All Expansive Love

Do we treat Animals, The Way we would treat People?
Do we treat People, The Way we would treat Animals?

Our Inner Savage

The silent savage that beats within
Acting in ways not considered "a sin"
Quenching a thirst in order to feed
Unable to see the other's need

To flesh then bone it will consume
Unable to fathom the suffering that looms
Justifying actions by claiming the norm
Guiltless destruction a blood-filled storm

What it Means to Me...

A Way of taking care of the only vehicle we've been given in this lifetime,
     the vehicle we permanently reside in.
A Way of decreasing the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer's,
     impotence of heart and body.
A Symbolic Way of extending kindness and love towards other beings
     by means of non-harm, by means of Ahimsa.
A Union of body, mind, and spirit.

The most important thing...

I still believe it to be love... But it must be acted upon for its presence to be felt...

Universal Nourishment for the Soul...

I was watching episodes of the travel show "Departures." And despite language barriers there was no shortage of universal language... Lots of smiles, lots of laughs... And tons of kindness displayed by the places visited... From Libya, Cuba, Vietnam, Brazil... anywhere they went there were plenty of smiling and loving people...

Love, laughter, and kindness... To me these are the universals... Universal nourishment for our souls... The things that break down barriers bring us closer... helping us to connect...

It's so refreshing to see so much kindness in the world...

Laugh, Cry, Love

Laughing... an audible expression of connecting...
Crying... a visual and tactile expression of feeling connected or disconnected...
Loving... the universal nourishment of the soul.

Often we laugh and cry with those we love...

Inner Goals...

Exploring what lies latent within me... while shedding the images of self... the images I attempt to project outward, those built up self-images seeking outward approval...

Letting go of ego... relinquishing protection of ego and being okay with what is... No fighting to prove I am this, or I am that... Instead trusting in whatever is already there within...

Letting go of perceived prices on actions... I want to get to the point where I feel no one owes me anything... I want my actions to be actions I did "Just because." Well, more like "Just because I care." I want to be free from tit for tat. I want to love, I want to act... just because I can... just because I want to... just because those around me are important to me...

I want to be more magnanimous...

I want to be free of self-concern, because no matter what happens... everything will be okay so long as I can get out of my own way...

In releasing looking at myself inwards too much... I hope to be free to look outward... To see others more clearly... To understand with clarity their wants, desires, concerns, their needs at a given moment... Energy expended on myself during self-absorption can be shunted and projected outwards...

Trust... Courage... Strength... Faith... To Love... This is what I pray for... My deepest wishes...

Tolerance?

Le sigh...  I know for myself I often have to catch myself from falling into pits of self-righteousness...  But what makes me feel sick to my stomach is when I see fellow veg-heads approach others not-behaving-like-themselves... with so much open hostility and anger...

If I came from an omnivore perspective, I'd say "Who the Hell are YOU  To think that you're so much better than me?"

Even when fighting for a good cause... Self-righteousness only serves to divide...  It stirs up anger, hate, and discord.  It's a way of inflating one's own ego...

I find myself battling my own sense of self-righteousness...  Perhaps even saying I'm uncomfortable with other people when they're openly hostile... perhaps that has a tinge of self-righteousness...  The only thing I really know is when something makes me feel uncomfortable to my chest...  I feel hurt inside, like a twisting in my chest followed by feelings of sadness...

Somehow there is irony in promoting "compassion" while condemning the actions of others.  In an ideal world, to me true compassion lies in understanding the actions of others.  From that understanding we develop a sense of sameness since we all have our own self-work to do on some level.  And hopefully from that we develop an attitude of kindness, caring, gentleness...  and love despite perceived difference.

I dunno... I feel sad... my heart sinks reading angry comments of fellow veg-heads...  Though I know there are times I fall into my own boat of self-righteousness and intolerance...