a picture to admire

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a poem to ponder

This is a translation of “Beau Soir” by the French poet Paul Bourget

When streams turn pink in the setting sun,
And a slight shudder rushes through the wheat fields,
A plea for happiness seems to rise out of all things
And it climbs up towards the troubled heart.
A plea to relish the charm of life
While there is youth and the evening is fair,
For we pass away, as the wave passes:
The wave to the sea, we to the grave.

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music to meditate by

“Beau Soir” by Claude Debussy
Played by Joshua Bell violin and Frederic Chiu piano
uploaded by aNGLICANcHOIR92
2mins 34secs
Foir best viewing use full screen

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and a saying by Lao-Tzu

We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness 

inside that holds whatever we want.

-o0o-

taking the one less travelled by

is updated every Wednesday and Saturday

NEW  - The Haiku Habit - NEW

begins Monday 1st October

http://thehaikuhabit.blogspot.com

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a picture to admire

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a poem to ponder

Uphill

by
Christina Georgina Rossetti

Does the road wind uphill all the way?
    Yes, to the very end.
Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
    From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting-place?
    A roof for when the slow, dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
    You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
    Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
    They will not keep you waiting at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
    Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
    Yea, beds for all who come.

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music to meditate by

La Calinda (Koanga)
by Frederick Delius
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
conducted by Christopher Seaman
Uploaded by terencenunn35
4mins 20secs

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and a saying by Lao-Tzu

Surrender yourself humbly,
Then you can be trusted to care for all things.
Love this world as yourself,
Then you can truly care for all things.

-o0o-

taking the one less travelled by

is updated every Wednesday and Saturday

NEW - The Haiku Habit - NEW

beginning  on Monday 1st October

http://thehaikuhabit.blogspot.com

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a picture to admire

Courtesy of photoeverywhere.co.uk

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a poem to ponder

A New House
by Jennifer Edwards

If I search your face only looking for my reflection,
How can I see you as you really are:
If I fill the hours with empty chatter,
How can I hear you when you finally decide to talk:
It is love, indeed,
This that brings me to you,
And this is why a new house needs to be built
With doors big enough for understanding and compassion to fit through.

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music to meditate by

"I will always love you"
Uploaded by twotaur
4minutes.4seconds

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and a saying by Lao-Tzu

Whether you are a gem in the royal court or a stone on a common path, if you accept your part with humility the power of the universe will be yours.

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NRXT POST WEDNESDAY  26TH

a picture to admire

Buddhist Sand Art

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a poem to ponder

Unwelcome
by
Mary Coleridge

We were young, we were merry, we were very, very wise,
And the door stood open at our feast,
When there passed us a woman with the West in her eyes,
And a man with his back to the East.

O, still grew the hearts that were beating so fast,
The loudest voice was still,
The jest died away on our lips as they passed,
And the rays of July struck chill.

The cups of red wine turned pale on the board,
The white bread black as soot,
The hound forgot the hand of her lord,
She fell down at his foot.

Low let me lie where the dead dog lies,
Ere I sit me down again at a feast,
When there passes a woman with the West in her eyes,
And a man with his back to the East.

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music to meditate by

For best results, use full screen

Gymnopodie No.1 by Erik Satie
Uploaded by glasslipper
3 minutes 31 seconds

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and a saying by Lao-Tzu

See the small and develop clear vision.
Practice yielding and develop strength.
Use the outer light to return to the inner light and save yourself from harm.

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NEXT POST SATURDAY 22ND

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a picture to admire

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a poem to ponder

Life
by Daisaku Ikeda

I will cast out
All the vagueness and indecision within me
Because my wish is to construct
The castle of my whole life
On the fulfilment of each promise that I make.

I want to live my life
As a surpassingly broadminded man
Known for being happy and honest
A person in whom people can have absolute trust.

I've put behind me
The age of dreaming about a rosy future
And with roots extended into life's reality
I realise that the power to create happiness
Derives from what we actually do today.

-o0o-

music to meditate by

This Enya Watermark video lasts 3 minutes 26 seconds.

For best results, use full screen.

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and a sayimg by Lao-Tzu

Water is fluid, soft and yielding. But water will wear away rock which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox - what is soft is strong.

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NEXT POST WEDNESDAY 19TH SEPT

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a picture to admire

Click on the image to enlarge

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a poem to ponder

Do you hear the children weeping?
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Do you hear the children weeping, O my brothers,
Ere the sorrow comes with years?
They are leaning their young heads against their mothers,
And that cannot stop their tears.
The young lambs are bleating in the meadows,
The young birds are chirping in the nest,
The young fawns are playing with the shadows,
The young flowers are blowing toward the west:
But the young, young children, O my brothers,
They are weeping bitterly!
They are weeping in the playtime of the others,
In the country of the free.

“For oh,” say the children, “we are weary,
And we cannot run or leap;
If we cared for any meadows, it were merely
To drop down in them and sleep.
Our knees tremble sorely in the stooping,
We fall upon our faces, trying to go;
And, underneath our heavy eyelids drooping,
The reddest flower would look as pale as snow.
For, all day, we drag our burden tiring
Through the coal-dark, underground,
Or, all day, we drive the wheels of iron
In the factories, round and round.

They look up with their pale and sunken faces,
And their look is dread to see,
For they mind you of their angels in high places,
With eyes turned on Deity.
“How long,” they say, “how long, O cruel nation,
Will you stand, to move the world, on a child’s heart,—
Stifle down with a mailed heel its palpitation,
And tread onward to your throne amid the mart?
Our blood splashes upward, O gold-heaper,
And your purple shows your path!
But the child’s sob in the silence curses deeper
Than the strong man in his wrath.”



[The above is part of “The Cry of the Children” a poem of 13 verses. It was written at the time "when government investigations had exposed the exploitation of children employed in coal mines and factories."]

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music to meditate by

Uploaded by qovardis, this is a slide show of beautiful scenes in Japanese Gardens. The music is the humming chorus from Madame Butterfly by Puccini, played by André Rieu and his orchestra and singers.



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and a saying by Lao-Tzu

The wise man does not lay up treasure - his riches are within.
The more he gives to others, the more he has of his own.

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NEXT POST SATURDAY 15TH SEPT

a picture to admire

Click on the image to enlarge

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a poem to ponder

Let’s Not Blow it
by Homer Groening

There are millions of years in the past,
There are millions of years ahead of us,
And here we are
Right in the middle

Then there's space,
There are miles and miles of space in all directions,
And here we are
Right in the middle

This is a big deal
Being in the middle of time and space,
It sort of makes your eyes water.

We'd never find this moment again
In a million years.
This is our world,
Let's not blow it.

-o0o-

music to meditate by

Relaxing Ambient Music
Uploaded by VinylLPs
3 minutes 36 seconds



For best results use full screen

-o0o-

and a saying by Lao-Tzu

Live a simple life, be free, be yourself and be close to nature.
Do these things and you will be wise and happy.

-o0o-

NEXT POST HERE WEDNESDAY 12TH SEPT

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a picture to admire

Click the image to enlarge
Thanks to http://photoeverywhere.co.uk/east/china/slides/china_lake01599.htm

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a poem to ponder

For Warmth
by
Thich Nhat Hanh

I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
To keep the loneliness warm -
Two hands protecting,
Two hands nourishing,
Two hands preventing
My soul from leaving me
In anger.

[The poet wrote the above lines after hearing the comment made by an American officer about the bombing of Ben Tre in Southern Vietnam by US forces. “It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it.”]

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music to meditate by

“Dolphins - Meditation Music” uploaded by Gabicrystal9.
Time - 3 minutes 28 seconds

For best result, use full screen

-o0o-

and a saying by Lao-Tzu

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.

-o0o-

John says: If I'm satisfied with the blog, I'll post again mext weekend

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