Pura Vida

and so it is...

...a magical place called "Pura Vida," where the thai workshop will be held in a few weeks. ..i came here for a quick visit, to scope out the facilities.

thank you:

° nati
° eduardo

° lahla

° jorge

° minor

° xana

below: the watsu spa

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below: breakfast

below: ananda hall (one of the multi-use classrooms)

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below: lahla applauds a sunset after yesterday's yoga class, which began (literally) 15 minutes after i checked-in.

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below: nice digs, if you can afford it

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below: a "tentelo" -this is where the people on my budget stay :)

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there is a reason why you are Here

it might not be apparent every day, but if we are Here...
...there is a reason.

assuming that you are reading this, that means that YOUR Purpose (Here) has yet to be fulfilled.

don.t give up! ..the person who needs you most might live inside of your home, or might be on the other end of your computer screen.

:)

26 february -- happy birthday, Mom!

happy birthday, Mom [1]

by m. iddleson

they say that it’s your birthday
when right envelopes wrong
when i can smile at you (the very reason for this song)
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[1] martineau, l. (2-26.1-2008). book 58: side effects. © 2008 by wellnesseducation.us.

28 february - happy birthday, janet!

28 february - happy birthday, janet!

the journey continues...

for the next month or so, the journey will continue in central america. ..i'll be teaching a thai massage workshop in costa rica (march/april), and will spend some time exploring belize. ..maybe... adventures will happen.

in association with zen thai, culture junkies, and stress-buster escapes, part of my job will be to find new places to schedule as retreat sites. ..if you have any favorite retreat destinations, please let me know.

the loosely-forming stress-buster retreat package is shaping-up as follows:

* you'll go someplace warm, when it's cold
* you'll learn and practice:

• nutritional & weight modification techniques (10 hrs)
  
• yoga with pranayama (10 hrs)
  
• meditation (2.5 hours)
  
• physical fitness (5-10 hours)
  
• chair massage, with thai massage option (2.5 hours-4.5 hours)
• Happy, Now! workshop/course (6-8 hours)

.
* you will explore a new country/cities (excursions, shopping)
* you will lose weight and improve appearance
* you will increase self-awareness using sound practices
* you will experience increased wellness
------------------------------------------------------------------

anyway, the costa rica phase of this trip is piecing together, and the belize adventure is up in the air (sort-of). ..my buddy pete lawrence is flying to belize from new jersey for about a week, and dick reinhardt is thinking about meeting us for some fishin', divin', & bikini watchin' (my apologies to pete & dick's girlfriends, jennie & mary laura).

check this out for a foreign country plan: pete and i are (literally) going to meet at (quote) "the airport bar that is closest to baggage claim." ..uh, oh.

my other (gal friends, sisters, brothers) apparently were a little concerned about running around a foreign country with a just backpack & no hotel reservations... plus it is sooooo difficult for people to get away, nowadays. ..waaaa.

if you want to take a last-minute flight, meet me on ambergris key! ..as we used to say at rugby parties, i'll be the guy with the big smile.
:)

the Whole is equal to the (some) of Its parts

in a world of holograms, labyrinths, and paradoxical oppositicality, there are a lot of clues as to the Nature of things.

in a hologram, for example, every "part" of a hologram reflects the Whole image.
this means that the Whole is with-In each (apparent) part.

what that means, of Course, is that your Higher Self
(Source, Truth, God, Soul, Uni-Verse -- however you choose to label It)
is with-IN you. ..It (literally) Is You.

using the transverse property of equality, we can deduce that...
if Source Is Love, then YOU are Love
(in the process of Love-ing).

whoa...

...okay, time for a time out.
:)


for more on holograms:
* http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~noelh/Holographic_universe.htm
* http://www.articlesbase.com/mysticism-articles/principles-of-holographic-awareness-part-2-the-whole-in-every-part-291801.html

for more on labyrinths:
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth
* http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm

for more on paradoxical oppositicality, with-In Wholeness:
* click on the poem of the day engine at www.wellnesseducation.us
* thoet joal martino writes almost exclusively on the topic
* thoet len martineau (me) is obsessed with the topic

-graphic by microsoft clipart

25 february - happy birthday, joe!

happy birthday, joe!

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wIerd

wIerd [1]

by wIe

Joyfully Abundant
filled with lack, and scared
dueling fun (it’s All for One) and altogether

weird
______________________________________

* this one is a little deeper than wIe have time for, at the moment. .. can you analyze it, and get back to me?



[1] martino, j. (2-25.1-2009). book 65: ‘neau news is G∞d news. © 2009 www.wellnesseducation.us.

YOU are Perfect, exactly as you are

how can i say "you're Perfect!"??

as a flawed, mistake-prone humanoid, how can anyone ever say that any of us is "Perfect"?

using 1 + 1 = 2 theory...

1. assuming, as wayne dyer says, that the Uni-Verse is a Perfect One-Song, and

+

1. assuming, as A Course In Miracles says, that "Forgiveness" is the Highest form of Love that can be demonstrated (here on earth), then

=

2. every, single mistake that you've ever made has been nothing less than an opportunity for someone else to practice Forgiveness.

chances are that your whole life has been sprinkled with "mistakes." ..little did you know that you were just being your Perfectly Love-ing Self, giving others ample opportunity to be their Perfectly Loving selves.

note: even if the mistakes that we make don't involve another person, our mistakes still provide us with the opportunity to Forgive ourselves.

(it's a fail-safe system)
:)

only a Perfect Source could create such a Perfect system.

out of gas

question: what do you do when you are driving a toyota prius on 485 southbound (charlotte), and you run out of gas at 70 mph?

answer: you get into the low-speed lane, slow down to about 45 mph, and drive (2-3 miles, without gas) to the nearest exit, where you drive until you find a gas station, and then you fill 'er up!
.

huh?

....................................................please do not try this at home.

the story: a car is like the human body. ..there are indicators and warning lights that act as feedback mechanisms to let us know how the thing is running. ..sometimes, in life, we don't pay attention to our gauges.

at 70 mph, it felt like the car just "died" ...except that prii (is that the plural of prius?), well, prii don't die. ..a big, red warning light came on, with a bunch of other crazy-looking yellow lights. ..the cruise-control automatically shut-off, so the car slowed down. ..these subtle hints reminded me to glance at my fuel gauge, and (oooooops!)... "duhhhhhh, it's empty. ..musta run otta gas. ..duhhhh."

being the eternal optimist, i decided to push down on the accelerator. ..to my surprise, she still had power! ..so i asked her (yes... out loud, and in a nice tone) to please take me to a place where i could fill her up. ..i'm happy to report that she complied.

i've since googled the situation, and found that it's not a good idea to drive for too long with no gas, but that the vehicle will get you a few miles (in a pinch, if you really need her to). ..

http://ask.metafilter.com/29512/Miracle-car-drives-after-it-runs-out-of-gasor-does-it

* picture: toyota prius outside of a beachside cabin, ft. fischer (army camp) n.c.

"versa-vice" (analysis)

someone asked about the thought process that went into "versa-vice."
to be honest, i rarely think when a thoem is being written.
i try to figure them out (if possible) later.

at the outset, any analysis of "Spirit" is an exercise in futility.
there is not a "right" answer, nor would i ever propose that anything i write is right.
right?

that being said...

analysis:

* “versa-vice” is the backwards version of “vice-versa,” or “the other way around.” .. it pokes a little fun into the idea that “this world” is but a reflection of the Real World (e.g. Spirit).

* what we see (in the mirror) appears to be reality, but it’s backwards. ..in a similar way, ego is “love-backwards,” which is fear, which is (really) a cry for love, which is love, well…backwards.

* the digestive system is actually “on the outside” of the body. ..since the system is open, humans are actually like donuts who process food through the center. ..wha???

* Spiritual musings often take on a “paradoxical” quality, because we are talking about two or three different levels at the Same time. ..like water (which can be solid, liquid, or gaseous), Spirit Is All -- at One(ce).

* …so now this thoem has come “full-circle” (so to speak), from a song with “no meaning” to that of a deep, Spirit-as-mirror-as-matter thought: Perfectly backwards, forward, inside-out and upside-down.

((you asked...))
:)

sidenote: the backwards version of “the other way around” is forward.
the human condition (chaotic, egoic, unfulfilled, imperfect…)
is the very reflection of Perfection.

sidenote, too: human language often gives us hidden clues:
notice what happens when we place an apostrophe after the "i" in imperfect.

* graphic by microsoft clipart

versa-vice

versa-vice [1]

by a. d. vice

switch-around the opposite of legible reflection
upside-down, a happy-face is mirror of dejection
inside-out, digestive system is a contradiction
paradox, a hologram of fate and chance-prediction

if there was a meaning to this song (that would be nice)
on the other hand, let’s make a stand for

versa-vice




[1] martino, j. (3-6.1-2008). book 59: versa-vice. © 2008 by wellnesseducation.us

* click here for an "analysis" of "versa-vice"


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Spiritual Awakening

there appears to be a massive Spiritual Awakening going on...

...i can feel it, both locally and globally. ..there is a very good possibility that YOU are a-part of that Awakening.

the beauty of this Awakening is that individuals seem to be experiencing Spirit, well, In-dividually. ..we don't have to get "stuck" into someone else's thought system -- when that which we seek is with-In.

it doesn't feel "religious" or "cult-ish," although it will likely be labeled many times. ..those who feel threatened by individual Inner Knowingness might make an attempt at control via negative labeling.

too late. ..the cat is out of the bag, so to speak.

it's a New Day, and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. ..the only thing that matters is what YOU think, feel and experience.

your YOU-nique-Verse is (literally) your mystory.

i, for one, am happy to be along with you on your journey.

:) len

when pawn and queen are kings

when pawn and queen are kings [1]

by k. ingdumb

when pawn and queen are kings
when differences subside
when all the players re-Cognize this rough and stormy ride

when life and Love are seen within the tiniest of things
when big is small,
when One Is All:
when pawn and queen are kings
________________________________________

* endgame = when everything is the Same.

sidenote: in chess, a pawn can become a queen
(who, as everyone knows) is the most powerful piece on the table.
when a pawn is "queened" (this typically happens during the endgame),
it usually doesn't take too long for the opposing king
to surrender (to mate).

ahhhhhhhhhhh.

[1] martineau, l. (2006). book 47: dark knight. © 2007 by wellnesseducation.us. graphic by microsoft clipart.

G∞d: a definition (2001)

definition:

G∞d (spelled "Capital G - infinity symbol - d"); ..pronounced "gahh-ood":

Infinite Good. ..Complete, Whole, Absolute, All-Ways Good. ..Unconditionally Good.
Love; ..One; ..the All; ..the Is; ..Omni; ..Macro. ..Absolute Good..

mmmm, mmmm, Good.

antonym: fear. ..an (apparent) movement away from G∞d (which, of Course, is i'mpossible).
i'mpossible (of Course) is the false sense of separate self, which has been defined as ego.

when e = energy, e-go = "energy, on the go" (or "the material world").

deduction: fear, ego, separation, split-mind, etc. isn't the "opposite" of G∞d, but rather the mind-body manifestation of G∞d, which means that:

It's All G∞d!

* from the book "Spiritual Play" (2001), unpublished.

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life is hungry, part 2

the good news about perpetual, insatiable hunger...
...is that we re-Cognize it for what it is (insatiable), thereby releasing us from ever trying to satisfy it.

the suffering isn't in the hunger, it's in the feeling that it might not ever get satisfied. ..once we know that there's no reason to chase "satisfaction," we become Free.

uh, what does that mean... in english?

example: let's say that a spouse thinks that the grass might be a little greener in the yard across the street. ..his insatiable urge to play on that lawn tends to subside when he re-Cognizes that, once he's playing (over there), the grass is going to be greener on the other side of the street. ..it never stops.

when we stop chasing the pot at the end of the unending rainbow, we transform from a "human, doing" to a human Be-ing.

when our very purpose is "to Be," we re-Cognize that we cannot not be Be-ing exactly that which we are meant to Be.

okay... what does that mean?

it means that you, yes YOU... are a perfectly unfolding Flow-er, in a Perfectly Unfolding Mellow-Drama. ..it means that YOU are Perfectly Perfect, just the way you are!

...and It. Is. All. G∞d!

life is hungry, part 1

have you ever felt "empty," or "unsatisfied," or "wanting"?

have you ever wondered "what (on earth) am i doing?," or "why isn't life easier?"

that's hunger. ..it could be thought of as a hunger for life.

plants have it, animals have it.
every living thing (from a rose to a cancer cell)
seeks a better way to survive & thrive & propagate.
have you ever wondered why living things seem so preoccupied with eating & sex?
we have a hunger.

while it would be easy to begrudge our lives, and to focus on how life isn't perfect, we (instead) can re-Cognize that hunger as the One, True signal that we are Alive! ..that hunger, often felt somewhere around our solar plexus, is the longing that motivates a tree to reach for the sun.

no matter what we acquire, no matter where we go, no matter what we experience, the hunger crops up (again and again and again). ..mick jagger might say "i can't get no satisfaction."

another way to look at this phenomenon: a false sense of separate-self (ego), believing that it is separate, can only survive by propagating separating thoughts. ..these thoughts crop up as:

* "i don't have as much as my neighbor..."
* "i'm not as bad as those people on jerry springer"
* "i hope that my team beats your team"
* "the grass is greener, over there."
* "i'd be happy, if only..."

instead of interpreting this hunger feeling as "bad," maybe we can embrace it as a partner who will be with us "till death do us part."

indeed, this marriage between life and its yearning could be thought of as a match made in Heaven.

during this journey, i've felt the feeling often.
mine crops up as "what am i supposed to do?"
sometimes, i get lucky, and i shift perspective...
and i re-Cognize my hunger as Life Itself,
helping me along to the next experience on
this miraculous roller-coaster ride.

lindzey graduates from massage school

lindzey robinson graduated from the southeastern massage therapy school today.

below: lindzey and her mom (linda), after the graduation ceremony.


both linda and lindzey attend ministerial school classes at the Unity Center for Spiritual Living, and are presently participating in the "Happy Now!" workshop.

happy birthday (s), john & patty!

happy birthday(s), john and patty!

john (20 february) and patty (22 february)

prana & apana

prana and apana [1]

by chi chi

prana and apana

born on winter's day

opposite yet similar yet prone to battle/play

destined (here) to love and fear in Game of life and death

prana and apana dance and fight (together):

breath

_________________________

• prana (to inspire; to take in) and apana (to expire; to release)...
  
• these fraternal twins appear to be as opposite as the black and white chess pieces who wage war -- in an effort to mate.

huh?

• without both, we experience what is called an “endgame.”

• as strange as it may seem, democrats need republicans as much as night needs day.

• this is the way of the chaotic, symphonic, catabolic, homeostatic… relative world.

---

[1] martineau, l. (2-3.6-2009). book 65: ‘neau news is G∞d news. © 2009 www.wellnesseducation.us. inspired by the “breathing” sections from “yoga anatomy” by leslie kaminoff. graphic by microsoft clipart.

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outlaw pete

alternate title: life = expression in action

the first song on bruce springsteen's new album is entitled "outlaw pete."
you get an immediate sense of where the song is headed from the first stanza,
which is vintage springsteen:

"he was born a little baby on the appalacian trail
at six months old he'd done three months in jail
he robbed a bank in his diapers and his little bare baby feet
all he said was "folks my name is outlaw pete"

* life, whether it is a flower, a tree, or a human being... expresses itself (it cannot not). ..life seems to cry out to the world "this is me!" ..no wonder we have websites and blogs and facebook and bumper-stickers, etc. ..our clothing, our hair styles, even our walking styles transmit obvious messages long before we ever share conversation.

"outlaw pete" (even when he's a child) cries out to the world:
"i'm outlaw pete! ..i'm outlaw pete!
can you hear me?"

* life communicates to that which is here, in the physical world. ..humans seem to have an innate need to relate with one another. ..sometimes we relate as lovers, sometimes as adversaries. ..either way, we have this need to be heard.

when "bounty hunter dan" pulls his gun on outlaw pete, he says:
"you're outlaw pete! .. you're outlaw pete.
can you hear me? ..can you hear me?"

* life also communicates to the World Beyond this world. ..life seems to have this Inner Knowing that it is headed on a transformational journey. ..life (like a salmon in the river) has an instinctive, insatiable drive to return to its Source. ..some people even try to communicate with those who've already made the transition to the Next World.

pete's navajo wife/daughter ends this sad song by crying:
"outlaw pete? ..........outlaw pete!............
can you hear me? ..can you hear me?
can you hear me? ..can you hear me?
can you hear me? ..can you hear me?..
can you hear me?"

in the final analysis, life (by expressing) answers the most basic question "who am i?" with the most basic, True answer: "I Am."

------------------------------------------------
lyrics excerpted from springsteen, bruce (2008). "outlaw pete"
from the cd "working on a dream."
produced by brendan o'brien



sidenote: as with many of springsteen's songs,
you might want to read the lyrics as you listen to the cut.
chances are you'll never hear this song on the radio,
because the song's running time is 7:57.
A+ (if you're a springsteen fan)

you can (literally) feel the pain when he sings:
"can you hear me?"

if you want to hear the song, click "play" (below) for the YouTube audio.

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how to insert graphics

this is a quick lesson, for those of you who've asked how i insert graphics & pictures into the thoetry documents on "poem of the day."
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* graphics by microsoft clipart.
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note: if you ever want to add graphics to one of your microsoft documents, all you have to do is:

1. open microsoft word

2. click "view"

3. click "toolbars"

4. click "drawing" (a bunch of icons will pop up on your document). ..one of the icons will look like someone's head. ..
.....................[in the (above) graphic, on the right-side, 5th row down, 5th icon in from the right.]
when you scroll your cursor over it, it will read "insert clipart."

5. click on that (the little head), and then you'll be routed to a box that allows you to put a keyword in a search engine (for the post entitled "private blog," i used the word "work" -- that's how i got those crazy gold guys, working [see february 18]).

6. when you search clipart, you'll usually be given several options of pictures or graphics to insert.
.....a. if you left-click, the graphic inserts into your document
.....b. if you right click, you get the option to "use graphic offline" which actually saves it as a picture in your "my pictures" folder. ..the reason that i do that, is because there's not a "clipart" option on this blog, so i have to insert pictures from my "my pictures" folder.

...anyway...the fun doesn't stop there:

7. once you've inserted a graphic from clipart into your word document, you should click on it (little squares will highlight it, around the edges).

8. then click on the "draw" option (part of your new selection of options that popped-up on your document when you select the "drawing" toolbar).

9. click "text wrapping" and you can decide whether you want the graphic to be "in front of text," "behind text," etc. ..i've found that, once you've assigned some type of "text wrapping" to your graphic, it's much easier to move the graphic around your document.

in addition, the "behind text" feature allows you to make great background "watermarks" behind your text. ..then you can use the "picture" toolbar to work with your watermark's brightness, contrast, etc.

as you can see, the "thoetry" can be a lot more creative than the blog, because sooo many options are available to you on microsoft word.

you'll jazz up your word documents with:

* fancy borders (in a variety of shades) around your pictures,
* cool "wordart,"
* and sooooo much more.

if you have any questions about graphics or pictures (e.g. "how did you get the thoem-picture on an angle?") just let me know and i'll help you in any way that i can.

smiles,
lenny



.graphic by microsoft at http://images.google.com/images?q=picture+of+the+microsoft+drawing+toolbar+picture&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=kcGdSY6gJqGbtwf5ntnhBA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

special note: as i went online to find a copy of this graphic, i learned that digital copyright law is confusing, when it comes to clipart. ..sometimes the clipart is "free use," and sometimes it isn't. ..the way i understand it (now) is that you cannot use microsoft clipart to illustrate chapters in books. ..if someone buys an e-book on www.wellnesseducation.us, the theom in the book will not be accompanied by clipart graphics shown in the "poem of the day" section of www.wellnesseducation.us.

Gas, then water: ice

Gas, then water: ice

by f. luidity

Air becomes the river,
flowing, liquid (nice)
take away the warmth and then the river becomes ice
__________________________










* H2O represents a Trinity (three apparently separate substances, yet the Same stuff).

* if we could envision "Gas" as the Unseen (Spirit) and the water & ice as the seen (matter), then "ego" would be "a movement away from the Unseen." .."ice" would be the most ego-ic form of H2O.

* if "ice" were to think of itself as separate from water & air, its "false sense of separate self" would manifest as "hard, cold, & f-rigid." ..it would be a "cold day in hell" (so to speak).

..........ego = fear = separation <<<<<<>>>>>> Love Is United (One)

* as "ego melts into Oneness," the ice re-Cognizes itself AS water, which (if its atoms vibrate at an even Higher Frequency), will re-Gognize it-Self as "non-matter."

* as a Gas, H2O (literally) IS the Life Force (prana, chi, etc.).

* if this world is a Giant Play, then "the seen" is what makes the scene. ..the Unseen, however, is the Source of that which makes the scene.

huh?
...............................................Gas, then water: ice


here's the cool part (in my humble opinion):

* ego (separation) is a necessary step toward pointing us in the Right direction, toward Love. ..instead of thinking of ego as another demon to battle, we can think of him as "love-backwards." ..we can use our ego-ic moments as feedback information, much like a pilot uses a warning-light as notification to take corrective action.


(inspired on february 18, 2009 by mohit singh, who said something about "melting the ego" during a morning meditation).




.graphics and images from microsoft clipart