@damnitstrue: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe Before u talk, listen. Before u react, think. Before u criticize, wait. Before u pray, forgive. Before u quit, try.

@ddiaz_wann: Be nice with people, they will respect you. But don't be too nice with them, they will disrespect you.

#ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe
@supricky06: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe when you get older "daddy" will mean something completely different.

@WhereDeeAt: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe How to Be there for my child, because I personally know how it feels to not have a daddy.

@John__Rieber: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe to always say yes ma'am, no sir, please and thank you

@TheClassyLife_: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe you can't always get what you want

@KhalifaAM: His 10 years of sickness implied: No matter how tough your situation is, just don't lose faith in life. #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe Allah yr7amk♥

@ShaikhaAlBadi: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe always stand for what u believe is right, even if the whole world is against you

@salsabootyy: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe don't drink milk and orange juice because acids dont mix with milk and you will have diarrhea

@angelinamujan: #ThingsMyDaddyTaughtMe Do what u love, u'll enjoy every single moment when u're doing it w'out nagging and stuffs haha

- The purpose of life is to sing
http://www.shivpreetsingh.com

Listening to Ashley Monroe today, a beautiful song called "Like a Rose."  It seems more of her until now than a song, which is what makes it beautiful.

***


I was only 13 when daddy died
Mama started drinking and my brother just quit trying
I'm still bouncing back, heaven only knows
How I came out like a rose

Ran off with what's his name when I turned 18
Got me out of North Dakota, but it did not change a thing
I left it in the yard, all covered up with snow
And I came out like a rose

Sitting in this diner with a coffee in my hand
Waiting on a bus to some promise land
I got a one way ticket as far as it goes
And I came out like a rose

So I'm headed south to anywhere that ain't so damn cold
Where I can warm my heart and shake the chills from my bones
It took a while to get here, it's been a long hard road
And I came out like a rose

Sitting in this diner with a coffee in my hand
Waiting on a bus to some promise land
I got a one way ticket as far as it goes
And I came out like a rose

It took a while to get here, it's been a long hard road
And I came out like a rose

*****

This is how Ashley describes herself:


I’m Ashley Monroe, and they call me “Hippie Annie.” I was born in East Tennessee and have been singing all my life. When I was 13 my dad passed away, and soon after me and mama headed to Nashville where we’ve been ever since. I met Ran when I was 17. We were both on Sony. At first we wrote each other off as “another blonde singer,” but after we heard each other’s music we couldn’t stay away from one another. I started writing with good ol’ “Holler Annie” a couple years ago and had to play her music for Ran. When I did, she flipped out!! We called “Holler” that night and told her we wanted to start a band! And here we are, the best of friends, writing and singing songs together, and I have a feeling this is just the beginning.

The year 2012 marks the 300 year death tercentenary of Bhai Nand Lal Goya. Even though Bhai Nand Lal was one of the dearest devotees of Guru Gobind Singh and his compositions have been awarded canonical status by the Akal Takht, he seems to be a neglected figure amongst common Sikhs. A new UK based website project wishes to change this. Bhai Nand Lal (c. 1642 – 1712) was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan where he spent most of his childhood years. During his formative years, his father engaged him in classical Islamicate learning which encompassed a deep study of the Persian and Arabic languages as well as a comprehensive schooling in the Qur’an, Hadîth and works on mysticism such as Hujwirî’s Kashfu’l- Mahjûb and Rumi’s Mathnavi-ye Ma’navi. As he grew up he took a keen interest in the political and administrative affairs and eventually took over his father’s job as a Munshi after he passed away. His destiny however, was not to remain in Afghanistan. After marriage and the birth of two sons, he left for India where he found employment in the Mughal court at Agra where he served the crown prince Muhammad Azzam, who was to become the future Mughal emperor. As the tradition goes, Aurangzeb once assembled his court mullahs and Islamic scholars of Delhi to have them interpret a certain verse of the Qur’an. Each of them came up with different interpretations based on tradition and new thinking, yet none of them satisfied the emperor who got weary of the many failed attempts of skillful exegesis. At this, Bhai Nand Lal volunteered to come up with an interpretation. After the emperor had heard the exegesis of Bhai Nand Lal, he was so fascinated that he wished to meet Bhai Nand Lal in person. When he found out that Bhai Nand Lal was a non-Muslim, he gave Bhai Nand Lal the opportunity to convert or die, as it was a shame to have such talent be wasted as a non-Muslim. After hearing this, Bhai Nand Lal escaped from the Mughal court during the night and sought shelter at Anandpur where he met the young Guru Gobind Singh.Life at  AnandpurIn the holy city of Anandpur, Bhai Nand Lal joined the entourage of 52 poet-scholars who had come into the presence of the Guru to compose and translate ancient works into the common language of the time. Amongst the translated works were those of spiritual treaties, political manifests of government and diplomacy, ancient mythology and philosophy, manuals of rhetoric, tales of love, eroticism and treachery, literature of warfare and heroism etc.. In this entourage of poets, Bhai Nand Lal stood out as a great scholar of Persian, but even more as a deeply devoted follower of Guru Gobind Singh. His many compositions were praised by the Guru and he was given a hukam to convey his compositions to the many sangats that arrived from near and far to have the darshan of their Guru. A special place in his Gurus heartIn the City of Bliss, thousands of residents lived, studied and worked in the near presence of their Guru and Master. Furthermore, thousands of pilgrims came from far to see their Guru and amongst all of these, Bhai Nand Lal acquired a special place in his Guru’s heart. Many different stories from Anandpur relate how Bhai Nand Lal was praised and honored by the Guru who called him his own jewel, while others indicate that he was part of an inner circle of close and beloved devotees. While the evolution of the Adi Granth to Guruship was publicly announced in 1708, Bhai Nand Lal was given this information in a private conversation in 1695, that is, 13 years before it was announced to the world. The compositions of Bhai Nand Lal Amongst the many works of Bhai Nand Lal, a great majority are written in the classical Persian language and metre similar to the poetry of the classical Persian poets Hafez and Rumi. In many cases, Bhai Nand Lal actually uses the poems of these two celebrated poets as a platform to conceptionalize the tenets of Sikhi and how they differ from those of other traditions. Bhai Nand Lal wrote 11 compositions in total, these being: 1. Diwân-E-Goya 2. Zindagînamâ 3. Ganjnamâ 4. Tankhâhnamâ 5. Jot Bigâs 6. Joti Bigâs (Punjabi) 7. Arz-Ul-Alfâz 8. Tausif-O-Sana 9. Khatimât 10. Dastûr-Ul-Insha 11. Prashanuttar While most are written in classical Persian, others are written in Arabic and Punjabi, and some of the compositions are a mix of two or more languages. While most of his works are commentaries on the Guru Granth Sahib, others are eloquent responses to other Persian poets of the past, paraphrases of Qur’anic verses and eulogy of the 10 Gurus. In the early 20th century, the Akal Takht raised his works from mere poetry to canonical scripture in the Sikh tradition. The only other Sikh to have been raised to such a high platform is Bhai Gurdas. Neglected amongst Sikhs In spite of his fascinating life story however, Bhai Nand Lal remains a neglected figure amongst common Sikhs. Most people know his name, but only a few have actually read his compositions and life story. A UK based project wishes to change this and spend the next couple of years in celebrating the name and works of Bhai Nand Lal. As a part of this project, a website will be launched later this summer and serve as a platform for information on the life and works of this celebrated poet. The website will include various articles and e-books on Bhai Nand Lal. As an extension of the website, the project has also commissioned new paintings of Bhai Nand Lal, Persian Calligraphy and musical Kirtan renditions of the Persian and Punjabi compositions. In this way, it is hoped that the 300 year death tricentenary of Bhai Nand Lal will result in a greater awareness of his life and works. For Sikhs of today, Bhai Nand Lal is a representation of the spiritual aspect of Guru Gobind Singh. While much focus has been laid on Guru Gobind Singh’s soldierly aspect, not much has been written on the saintly aspect. Bhai Nand Lal and his poetry is the very image of this soft and tender side of Guru Gobind Singh. As a man of piety, non-Indian roots and an exceptional talent in mystical writing, the Afghan-born Bhai Nand Lal deserves to be known throughout the world in the same way as his predecessor poets Rumi and Hafez have been known in the past few decades. As a first step of achieving this goal, a Facebook page has been set up which sends out a daily quote from the Diwân-e-Goya. Click here to become a fan of this page and receive a daily quote. As the moon merely reflects the light of the sun, likewise, Bhai Nand Lal is an eternal reflection of the majesty and tenderness of Sri Guru Gobind Singh.

You know all this excitement about whats going between Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson?  The hope that we have.  The pleasure we would get to hear another love story.  Well we are looking for love in the wrong places.  And we are not loving ourselves enough.  We can be happier if we do the search the right way.  And I found an article that provides a good start.  Here it is:

How to Love  – By Michael Alperstein

What is the deepest, purest source of love available? Is it relationships? Well, they are usually where we look for love. We look for a special someone to give us love and return us to a state where we feel supported and safe. This can work great…. for a while. But does the honeymoon last? Does human love fulfill and mend our hearts? Or is there a love beyond human love that is more fulfilling, a spiritual and unconditional love that underlies our lives? If so, how do we access it?

Love is the motivation behind many of our dreams, actions and thoughts. People move across the country, quit jobs, stay in unhealthy situations, all because they want love and they think their actions will increase it. Yet we often have a lot of rules and ideas about love that stop us from feeling love for ourselves and others.
What rules or requirements do you have around love? Fill in the blank with a few statements:
“When someone does or is ___________(such and such), it means they love me.”
One way to expand your capacity for real love in your life is to look at your inner rules honestly. See which ones work and see which ones place limits on your capacity to give or receive love.
Consider this: See the rules for what they really are: attempts to make human love conform to the parameters of divine love. Our rules around love are well-intentioned, but they are usually stifling. Divine love has no bounds and conditions; human love is filled with bounds and conditions. We want others to love us as we are, but we usually put so many conditions on what love is in the first place.
We have to step out from the rules and move into Spiritual love. Love, without any rules, conditions, limitations or neediness is spiritual love, in the way I use it here. Human love or “Hollywood versions of love” say: ‘I will love you if you show up on time, take the trash out, dress a certain way, etc….” It’s fleeting; it comes and goes depending on what people are doing and thinking. It gets mixed up with a lot of nonsense!
Spiritual Love on the other hand is pure and unveiled. It is always present, regardless of whether or not we are in a relationship. It is in your own heart.
Take a deep breath…. Let’s access it now. Watching good meditation videos will help.

How do you increase spiritual love in your life?

You go for the source of it and you realize its source can never be outside you, that it MUST BE revealed from within.
This may sound strange, but part of you knows how to find and access love in your heart. Part of you knows intuitively what these next sentences means:
You travel nowhere to get more spiritual love. Nowhere —-> NOW HERE. There is nowhere to go but here in your heart
Being present and seeing the people and circumstances in your life with curious eyes, fresh eyes, reveals a shining love that was there all along…. but it may have been blocked. It’s available when you look at the your life with a gentle smile.

Realize the game of human love is a game of ideas about what love should be like and how others should act. It’s a game of hide and seek.
Go for real love instead. Or at least put inner spiritual love along SIDE your pursuit of outer love. Real love is the Essence of what you want and what you seek. Is it not?
You want chocolate? Doughnuts? Cupcakes? The essence you seek is sweetness. You really want to “be sweetness,” to feel sweetness.
You want travel? A home in Switzerland? A private yacht? The essence you seek is freedom.
You want to meet someone special? Feel attractive? Connect with others? The essence you want is love—spiritual love—which does not discriminate, in contrast to human love that takes or needs.

“Teach only love, for that is what you are.” ~ A Course in Miracles
What are you looking for in your life? Love. But since you ARE love, we could say your desire is for Life itself. Your desire is for You. Capture the feeling of being yourself and you will feel like you are flying.
“When your sense of worth exceeds your conditions, conditions will shift to match your vision.” ~Alan Cohen
Trust that what you really want is the reality of your Self. This reality is the feeling of being vibrantly alive. When your trust in the reality of your Self becomes expansive and totally envelopes all your old thoughts, suffering falls away effortlessly. Darkness does not stand a chance in light.
Don’t fight the darkness with judgment, just bring in more light.
Breathe deep. Open your heart. And thrive.

The fulfillment that comes as a result of seeing that the source of love is inside you is not a compromise; it is not a substitute for your “real desires” in the world. It IS your desire in pure form.
Whenever you are seeking “more” of any thing or circumstance, what lies underneath this seeking is always a wish to be your true nature, which is love. And under that wish is a pure knowing that you ARE this nature.
You ARE sweetness, freedom, and love. This realization may get covered over by thoughts and ideas, but YOU are still there.
Outer seeking of love is usually a striving to become one with the essence of a form or circumstance. For example, trying to attract a new lover may very well be an attempt to be “at one with love.” Similarly, wanting to buy a new car may be an attempt to be, or unite with, movement, freedom, or in some cases the feeling of status or attainment.
You are never seeking for the reason you think you’re seeking.
But the good news is that you are not trapped. You’re not even trapped in seeking. You can find love where you are. There’s no need to stop seeking new circumstances or things in order to find essential love. You just have to be who you are. Seeking is not an obstacle to knowing yourself.
Even with the knowing that real love comes from within, outward seeking may still continue. However, it’s likely that it will take on a less important and more surreal quality.
You will see that relationships are spiritual teachers, not true sources of love and fulfillment.
If you feel you are trapped in seeking love on the outside, remember this: The more you see your freedom within your trap, within your prison cell walls, the more you will know looking out there for love is a game. Access love where you are. If you want freedom, see freedom. Be freedom. Step out of the game of looking for love.
Be love.

The opposite of strangeness is oneness. The learners of oneness have no place for strangeness.  Thats why Guru Arjan says, "There is no stranger." Everything appears to be acceptable.  The will has been accepted.

On the other hand, strangeness is often shared among parties estranged.  Whoever you feel is strange also feels you are strange.  Dialogs, smiles and love can build bridges; but if those bridges are not built, the two banks surrounding a river keep apart.  Two people who do not speak, remain strangers. 

Thats why Walt Whitman pleads to the stranger who wants to talk to him: "Stranger, if you, passing, meet me, and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you?"

People who come across each other, and neighbors who live next door, have been brought together.  Then why do they remain estranged? 

Here are two poems from Jim Shields, a poet whose name you probably have not heard.  More on him below the poem.  The first one about strangeness, and the second about oneness.


More On Jim Shields: His first book was published in 2009 and he was most recently the chief commercial officer of a pharmaceutical company called Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, for which I currently work.  His poetry is beautiful -- it oozes everyday wisdom in a way I have not seen from any poet.  Look for "Knothole Relections On Life's Parade" -- thats the name of his book.  And if you can't find it, send a message to me and I will try to get a copy for you.

                                      To You
STRANGER! if you, passing, meet me, and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me?  
And why should I not speak to you?