Entering the Castle again. Is it art, or whats important?

THE FIFTH ROOM

Who Is a Gift in My Life?

Do you consider just the people you love to be gifts? Everyone is in your life for a purpose. Appreciating the people who appreciate you is effortless. You have to learn to appreciate the reptiles in your soul as well. It is very difficult to find a divine purpose for people in your life who have harmed you, but consider that you yourself have harmed people who were busy trying to figure out why you came into their lives. Underneath it all, there is a purpose. You can choose to be defeated by adversity or cruelty or choose to keep going and never be cruel. These are gifts, great gifts, in fact. But of all the many gifts in life that bring joy and grace to the soul, among the greatest is the choice to see the people in our lives as gifts from God.

Soul Work: Ask your soul to show you the essence of each person whom you keep in you life. How you think of these people, how you feel about them, and how you remember them are reflected in the health of your soul. Dialogue with your soul until you see how each person is a gift. This is an intense practice because so many relationships are contaminated with power struggles-but identifying that struggle is precisely the purpose of the work in trhis room. Few relationships are easy, and you can suffer immense pain when you are unable to acknowledge the good in another. It is all the more difficult to see someone else`s goodness when he cannot see the goodness in you - but this work is your jouney, no one else`s.

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So much of what i have copied down from anothers writing resonates with my own sense of being. Some I already had an understanding of and had contemplated long ago. Do you remember me saying that I like to see the Universe as `One song` What an orchestra and boy what a choir.

This morning I did something both creative and useful. I cooked up and put in jars some Kimbles rubarb and ginger chutney to give as part of Chritmass presents to my family. The unfortunate thing was being unable to find the apples which me and my boys had picked free a month or so ago. I wrapped each apple in newspaper put them in a box somewhere in the flat, but couldnt find them this mornig. I will keep looking!

Just a little aside. We are often descibed as Human beings. What about Dog beings and Tree beings? Does a dog see much difference between a tree and a lampost?

When a Zen monk becomes enlightened have they reached their zenith? (ans to `theartistpgk@talktalk.net`)

I gotta go and try to find the digital video camera my sister lent me. I do hope that it hasnt dissapeared. Have a good day. Bro Peter