The journey of water as it flows upon the earth can be a mirror of our own paths through life. Water begins its residence on earth as it falls from the sky or melts from ice and streams down a mountain into a tributary or stream. In the same way, we come into the world and begin our lives on earth. Like a river that flows within the confines of its banks, we are born with certain defining characteristics that govern our identity. We are born in a specific time and place, within a specific family, and with certain gifts and challenges. Within these parameters, we move through life, encountering many twists, turns, and obstacles along the way just as a river flows.

Water is a great teacher that shows us how to move through the world with grace, ease, determination, and humility. When a river breaks at a waterfall, it gains energy and moves on, as we encounter our own waterfalls, we may fall hard but we always keep moving on. Water can inspire us to not become rigid with fear or cling to what’s familiar. Water is brave and does not waste time clinging to its past, but flows onward without looking back. At the same time, when there is a hole to be filled, water does not run away from it in fear of the dark; instead, water humbly and bravely fills the empty space. In the same way, we can face the dark moments of our life rather than run away from them.

Eventually, a river will empty into the sea. Water does not hold back from joining with a larger body, nor does it fear a loss of identity or control. It gracefully and humbly tumbles into the vastness by contributing its energy and merging without resistance. Each time we move beyond our individual egos to become part of something bigger, we can try our best to follow the lead of the river.

intuitive drawings in nz (6)

intuitive drawings in nz (5)

intuitive drawings in nz (4)

intuitive drawings in nz (3)

intuitive drawings in nz (2)

intuitive drawings in nz (1)

This is Uncle Charlie whom i've met along on this trip. He's a master carver in wood and bones and a tribal chief as well .. he likes one of my painting "Awakening" and we decided to do a barter trade instead ^__^

he decided to carve a kauri box for me and a albatross flute as well ... cool cool eh ? heheheh looking forward to that

Brave Spirits

Most of us are familiar with the idea that we are not human beings having spiritual experiences; instead, we are spiritual beings having human experiences. We hear this and even though we may experience a resounding yes in our bodies, we may not take the time to really acknowledge the truth of these statements. Integrating this idea into how we view ourselves can broaden our sense of who we are and help us appreciate ourselves as brave spirits on an important mission to learn and grow here on earth.

As spiritual beings, we are visitors in this physical realm. The fact that we came here and lost all memory of what happened to us before we were born is one of the many reasons that it takes so much courage for a soul to incarnate on earth. This is why spiritual inquiry so often feels like a remembering—because it is. Remembering that we are spiritual beings is part of the work that we are here on earth to do. When we operate from a place of remembering, we tap into the wisdom that our spirit accumulated even before we stepped into this lifetime. Remembering who we are can give us the patience to persevere when we become overwhelmed or frustrated. It can give us the courage to work through the most daunting challenges and help us trust the ancient wisdom we carry that is offered to us by our intuition.

We have chosen to be on earth because there is something we want to learn that can only happen by inhabiting a body. Some of us are here to repay a debt, learn about love, or teach forgiveness. Most of us are here for a combination of reasons, we carry this information in our souls, all we have to do is remember. As you go through your journey, try not to forget how brave you are, being here now. Honor yourself.

The Untethered Soul [book]

by Michael A. Singer

Who are you? In this remarkable book, author and spiritual guide Michael Singer explores this fundamental question, seeking the very root of consciousness in order to help you learn how to dwell in the present moment. Written in an engaging and uncomplicated voice, this book will open you up to the radical and powerful experience of simply being yourself.

Excerpt: It is truly a great cosmic paradox that one of the best teachers in all of life turns out to be death. No person or situation could ever teach you as much as death has to teach you. While someone could tell you that you are not your body, death shows you. While someone could remind you of the insignificance of the things that you cling to, death takes them all away in a second.

While people can teach you that men and women of all races are equal and that there is no difference between the rich and the poor, death instantly makes us all the same. The question is, are you going to wait until that last moment to let death be your teacher?

The mere possibility of death has the power to teach us at any moment. A wise person realizes that at any moment they may breathe out, and the breath may not come back in. It could happen any time, in any place, and your last breath is gone. You have to learn from this. A wise being completely and totally embraces the reality, the inevitability, and the unpredictability of death. Any time you're having trouble with something, think of death. Let's say you're the jealous type, and you can't stand anyone being close to your mate.

Think about what will happen when you're no longer here. Is it really all that romantic that your loved one should live alone with no one to care for them?

If you can get past your personal issues, you'll find that you want the person you love to be happy and to have a full and beautiful life. Since that is what you want for them, why are you bothering them now just for talking to someone?

It shouldn't take death to challenge you to live at your highest level. Why wait until everything is taken from you before you learn to dig down deep inside yourself to reach your highest potential?

A wise person affirms, "If with one breath all of this can change, then I want to live at the highest level while I'm alive. I'm going to stop bothering the people I love. I'm going to live life from the deepest part of my being." This is the consciousness necessary for deep and meaningful relationships. Look how callous we get with our loved ones.

We take it for granted that they're there and that they'll continue to be there for us. What if they died? What if you died? What if you knew that this evening would be the last time you'd get to see them?

Imagine that an angel comes down and tells you, "Straighten up your affairs. You will not awake from your sleep tonight. You're coming to me." Then you'd know that every person you see that day, you'd be seeing for the last time. How would you feel? How would you interact with them? Would you even bother with the little grudges and complaints you've been carrying around? How much love could you give the ones you love, knowing it would be the last time you'd get to be with them?

Think about what it would be like if you lived like that every moment with everyone. Your life would be really different. You should contemplate this. Death is not a morbid thought. Death is the greatest teacher in all of life. Take a moment to look at the things you think you need. Look at how much time and energy you put into various activities.

Imagine if you knew you were going to die within a week or a month. How would that change things? How would your priorities change? How would your thoughts change? Think honestly about what you would do with your last week. What a wonderful thought to contemplate.

Then ponder this question: If that's really what you would do with your last week, what are you doing with the rest of your time? Wasting it? Throwing it away? Treating it like it's not something precious? What are you doing with life? That is what death asks you. Let's say you're living life without the thought of death, and the Angel of Death comes to you and says, "Come, it's time to go." You say, "But no. You're supposed to give me a warning so I can decide what I want to do with my last week. I'm supposed to get one more week."

Do you know what Death will say to you? He'll say, "My God! I gave you fifty-two weeks this past year alone. And look at all the other weeks I've given you. Why would you need one more? What did you do with all those?" If asked that, what are you going to say? How will you answer? "I wasn't paying attention . . . I didn't think it mattered."

That's a pretty amazing thing to say about your life. Death is a great teacher. But who lives with that level of awareness?

It doesn't matter what age you are; at any time you could take a breath and there may never be another. It happens all the time -- to babies, to teenagers, to people in mid-life -- not just to the aged. One breath and they're gone. No one knows when their time will be.

That's not how it works. So why not be bold enough to regularly reflect on how you would live that last week? If you were to ask this question of people who are truly awakened, they wouldn't have any problem answering you. Not a thing would change inside of them.

Not a thought would cross their minds. If death were to come in an hour, if death were to come in a week, or if death were to come in a year, they would live exactly the same way as they're living now. There is not a single thing they carry inside of their hearts that they would rather be doing. In other words, they are living their lives fully and are not making compromises or playing games with themselves. You have to be willing to look at what it would be like if death was staring you in the face.

Then you have to come to peace within yourself so that it doesn't make any difference whether it is or not. There is a story of a great yogi who said that every moment of his life he felt as though a sword were suspended above his head by a spiderweb.

He lived his life with the awareness that he was that close to death. You are that close to death. Every time you get in the car, every time you walk across the street, and every time you eat something, it could be the last thing you do.

Do you realize that what you're doing at any moment is something that someone was doing when they died? "He died eating dinner . . . He died in a car accident, two miles from his home . . . She died in a plane wreck on a trip to New York . . . He went to bed and never woke up . . ." At some point, this is how it happened to somebody.

No matter what you're doing, you can be sure somebody died that way. You must not be afraid to discuss death. Don't get upright about it.

Instead, let this knowledge help you to live every moment of your life fully, because every moment matters.

That's what happens when somebody knows they only have a week left. You can be certain that they would tell you that the most important week they ever had was that last week.

Everything is a million times more meaningful in that final week. What if you were to live every week that way?

from New Zealand

PS: thought of putting this up while i'm still in NZ ! its a good read :)

Embraceable You
Comparing Yourself To Others


You are unique. There is no one else like you in the entire universe. In honor of your unique self, it is good to acknowledge and embrace the special qualities that make you the person that you are.

One way to do this is to not compare yourself with other people. It is human nature to want to see how we measure up in comparison to others – especially if we think that they are better than us or have more of something that we want.

Yet the truth is that it is not a good use of time to compare ourselves with others because there is no one like us and this makes us incomparable. It is sometimes almost easier to look outside of ourselves and feel like we are deficient in comparison to other people rather than taking responsibility for our own progress in relation to the fulfillment of our life purpose.

It actually takes more courage to be self-referential and look at ourselves to see whether we are measuring up to our standards or meeting our full potential.

Each of us has very special gifts, and we are here for very specific reasons. We each have a life purpose to fulfill and with this come the lessons that we must learn and the circumstances that we must go through in order to evolve as spiritual beings.

To compare our lives to other pe! ople’s lives when we have no idea of what they are here to learn or fulfill doesn’t benefit anyone – especially you.

Instead, if we can accept ourselves, appreciate the special talents and qualities that we alone possess, and realize that each of us is going through certain kinds of experiences for a reason, we are less likely focus so much on what other people have or are doing.

Realizing and valuing our uniqueness enables us to bring out the best in ourselves so we can get on with living rather than preoccupying ourselves with meaningless comparisons.

Try to not compare yourself to others, and you will see how much you have and how special you are.