Just Kim U

Yep, you read that subject line correctly.

Around day 20 I had this deeply spiritual experience. It is something I explained to The Mister as Sacred Agnosticism. After reading 100s of prayers (and only posting a few), I found myself in a spot of "huh?"

There is a book by A.J. Jacobs about living a whole year biblically. At the end of the year he was still pretty much agnostic, but understood the sacredness of faith systems.

In short, I had to stop the prayers. Posting a prayer each day became something that was done, not something that had any feeling. For some reason my prayers offline started to lose their shine...their joi de vivre...

Anyway...in order to restore balance to my Universe, the prayer posting had to stop. It is doubtful that I will resume it in the public eye. The experience has completely changed me, for sure, but not in the way I first suspected.

At least I know that I'm still a proud Kimboist. ;)

Day 15
Perhaps I shall return someday
Once more to stand before this
Valley of the Winds

And the
Guardian of the Night
will fill my Cup and bid me drink, once again
of stygian nights in half remembered dreams
and
Sacred Barren Ground.

But my heart will still remember those
Ageless Hymns of old.
Which stirred my soul with their
Deeper Truths
and made my spirit bold.

For my task is not to seek some
Higher Ground,
nor make the darkness bright.

It is to walk with Faith amidst the gloom
Undaunted, Unafraid & Undiminished
by the darkness
of the
night.

raleigh michael smith - 2000

day 16
HO!
Mesmerised by the sheer variety of perceptions,
which are like the illusory reflections
of the moon in water,
Beings wander endlessly astray
in samsara's vicious cycle.
In order that they may find comfort and ease
in the all -pervading luminosity
of the true nature of their minds,
I generate the immeasurable love,
compassion, joy and equanimity
of the awakened mind,
the heart of bodhicitta.

nyingma buddhism - jikmé lingpa - 18th century

day 17
As you leave this place
may the Living Lord go with you;
May he go behind you, to encourage you,
beside you, to befriend you,
above you, to watch over you,
beneath you, to lift you from your sorrows,
within you, to give you the gifts of faith, hope, and love,
and always before you, to show you the way.

benediction - blair monie

And today, day 18
HYMN TO THE UNKNOWN GOD
(Peruvian)


O RULER! Lord of the universe,
Whether thou art male,
Whether thou art female,
Lord of reproduction
Wherever thou mayest be!
O Lord of divination
Where art thou?
Thou mayest be above,
Thou mayest be below,
Or perhaps around
Thy splendid throne and sceptre.
O hear me!
From the sky above,
In which thou mayest be,
From the sea beneath
In which thou mayest be.
Creator of the world,
Maker of all men;
Lord of all Lords
My eyes fail me for longing to see thee
For the sole desire to know thee.
O look down upon me
For thou knowest me.
The sun--the moon--
The day--the night--
Spring--winter,
Are not ordained in vain
By thee, O Deity!
They all travel
To the assigned place;
They all arrive
At their destined ends
Whithersoever thou pleasest.
Thy royal sceptre
Thou holdest.
O hear me!
O choose me!
Let it not be
That I should tire,
That I should die!

Now with more fun :)


From Joe Z
Wanted: Inner Revolutionaries
More than two centuries ago our founding fathers promised us
That Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
Was the birthright of every American citizen

What does that mean now in the twenty-first century?

The life of the planet and every species is in peril
Civil liberties are vanishing everyday
And how happy are we, really?

Why are we most often called consumers rather than citizens?

Technology, green or otherwise, will not solve this problem
Neither will more production nor more consumption
Only an Inner Revolution of Consciousness will turn things around

And it begins with you, right now, if you are ready and willing

In humility is the greatest freedom.

As long as you have to defend the imaginary self
that you think is important, you lose your peace of heart.
As soon as you compare that shadow
with the shadows of other people, you lose all joy,
because you have begun to trade in unrealities
and there is no joy in things that do not exist.

-- Thomas Merton

Today has been of the garden variety strange.

New folks on the f_list shakin' it up. Loads of comments on things I just pass by.

My prayer for today just didn't fit. I couldn't find a place for the words. A candle was lit, an incense was started...but nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Then I came across a quote about laughter...

Laughter is a divine gift to the human who is humble. A proud man cannot laugh because he must watch his dignity; he cannot give himself over to the rocking and rolling of his belly. But a poor and happy man laughs heartily because he gives no serious attention to his ego….Only the truly humble belong to this kingdom of divine laughter…Humor and humility should keep good company. Self deprecating humor can be a healthy reminder that we are not the center of the universe, that humility is our proper posture before our fellow humans as well as before almighty God…"I suppose,” wrote C.S. Lewis, “we should mind humiliation less if we were but humbler.”
-From Terry Lindvall’s book, Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis

Today muffybolding was sent by God to deliver me the biggest belly laugh ever.

EVER!

I've seen the glory. Now I will share it with you.

OM TARÉ TUTTARÉ TURÉ SO HA

*bows to each of you*

In allowing the great mystery of "click here" to decide my prayer fate, I find myself in the strange hands of destiny.

Each prayer has been an enigma to me, but as the day goes on...I find the answer comes clearly to me. I'm keeping a private journal on these prayers, and may share them at a later time.

Todays prayer hit me like a gentle wind in the last days of Summer...

NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO.

- a literal translation -

"DEVOTION TO THE MYSTIC LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT THRU SOUND"

daimoku of the lotus sutra - nichiren daishonin buddhism
~*~

Loads of love to you! :)

I'm using different sources for prayers. Today I'm using World Prayers.

Here's todays prayer...
How do you say thank you to the men and women
who risked their lives, and lost their lives to secure our freedom,
our way of life, our peace and prosperity?

How do you say thank you to the men and women
who went through the most terrible experiences of their lives,
surrounded by death and carnage, losing friends and loved ones,
seeing things that would change their lives forever?

How do you say thank you to those who went through all this
with the belief that their one life, whether lost or saved,
could make a difference, had to make a difference, for our sake,
the generation they had not even met yet?

How do you say thank you to the men and women
who had faith in us before we were even born,
faith that we would become people worth fighting for,
and worth dying for?



How do you say thank you?

You honour their sacrifice with your own life.

You go to war against your faults and failures.

You conquer all the things inside you that make this world
a worse place to live in; worse for your family, friends, neighbours, co-workers.


You fight to make the small space in the world that you touch a better place.

You win the battle for your own soul.

You be good and do good; you live selflessly, remembering the example
that the veterans, both living and dead, laid down for us.

You live life so well that those who remember the horrors of war
look on you with satisfaction and pride and are comforted,
never feeling for a moment that you weren't worth the price they paid.

on remembrance day - kevin ranville - november 11, 2000
~*~

This is a very interesting prayer to start the challenge. It is sitting in my heart as a teacher.

Love you!