BEST of PONDER on THIS for Monday, September 21st, 2015 by John Randolph Price in LIVING A LIFE OF JOY

Posted on September 20, 2015 by jmaz479

“I have heard people say that they learned the truth of health and wholeness by being sick, the reality of abundance by suffering lack, the beauty of harmonious relationships by witnessing firsthand the ugliness of discord. Such educational experiences may be fine for some, but they remind me of the old joke about the person who hit himself on the head with a hammer so it would feel good when he stopped.

Many of us do that – worship the hammer god as our way of seeking the good life. No wonder the wise ones shake their heads and wonder why we can’t accept the fact that the only problems we have are those of our own creation. They know this is strictly a loving universe with joy as its song – that everything in life is meant to be positive, and that if God didn’t cause it, it isn’t so.

I think it’s a wonderful thing to know that our challenges are self-created. With no one to blame we can stop fearing what’s “out there” and start taking charge of our lives.”

John Randolph Price, in “Living a Life of Joy”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Taking Responsibility | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Monday, September 21st, 2015 by John Randolph Price in LIVING A LIFE OF JOY

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Friday, September 18th, 2015 by Deepak Chopra in THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS

Posted on September 17, 2015 by jmaz479

“Practicing the Law of Giving is actually very simple: if you want joy, give joy to others; if you want love, learn to give love; if you want attention and appreciation, learn to give attention and appreciation; if you want material affluence, help others to become materially affluent. In fact, the easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. This principle works equally well for individuals, corporations, societies, and nations. If you want to be blessed with all the good things in life, learn to silently bless everyone with all the good things in life.”

Deepak Chopra, in “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Giving and Receiving | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Friday, September 18th, 2015 by Deepak Chopra in THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS

PONDER on THIS for Thursday, September 17th, 2015 by Mark Nepo in THE BOOK OF AWAKENING

Posted on September 16, 2015 by jmaz479

“We’d all like a guarantee before making a decision or taking a risk, but the irony is that taking the risk is what opens us to our fate. It’s like wanting to know what things will taste like before putting them in your mouth. It just can’t be figured out that way.

I always seem to be relearning that real commitment comes before I know where anything is going. That’s what listening to your heart is all about. Without jumping off its perch, the bird would never fly. Without jumping out of your heart’s silence, love is never possible. Without asking to be whole, the divine essence waits inside everything the way bread hardens if never bitten into.”

Mark Nepo, in “The Book of Awakening”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Trust | Tagged , | Comments Off on PONDER on THIS for Thursday, September 17th, 2015 by Mark Nepo in THE BOOK OF AWAKENING

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, September 16th, 2015 by Dr. Stephen Russell in BAREFOOT DOCTOR’S GUIDE TO THE TAO

Posted on September 15, 2015 by jmaz479

“A phase of heightened vulnerability usually occurs when you’re forced to let go of someone or something that you were using to help shore you up a little. This exposes the deficiency you were compensating for by  using that person or thing to prop you up. When you’ve been leaning on a rotten wall (lover, job, bad habit, etc.) and the wall suddenly collapses, you are momentarily unbalanced, and it is in this period, while striving to retrieve your balance, that you feel unsupported and vulnerable.

Vulnerability, however, is the only authentic state. Being vulnerable means being open, for wounding but also for pleasure. Being open to the wounds of life means also being open to the bounty and beauty. Don’t mask or deny your vulnerability; it is your greatest asset. Be vulnerable; quake and shake in your boots with it. The new goodness that is coming to you, in the form of people, situations, and things, can only come to you when you’re vulnerable, i.e., open.”

Stephen Russell, in “Barefoot Doctor’s Guide to the TAO”

For more information regarding this book, visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Vulnerability | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, September 16th, 2015 by Dr. Stephen Russell in BAREFOOT DOCTOR’S GUIDE TO THE TAO

PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, September 15th, 2015 by Don Miguel Ruiz in THE VOICE OF KNOWLEDGE

Posted on September 14, 2015 by jmaz479

“The voice that says, “That’s the way I am,” is the voice of knowledge. It’s the voice of the liar living in the Tree of Knowledge in your head. The Toltec consider it a mental disease that is highly contagious because it’s transmitted from human to human through knowledge. The symptoms of the disease are fear, anger, hatred, sadness, jealousy, conflict, and separation between humans. Again, these lies are controlling the dream of our life. I think this is obvious.

My grandfather told me in the simplest way, “Miguel, the conflict is between the truth and what is not the truth,” and this was nothing new. Two thousand years ago one of the greatest masters, at least in my story, said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ Free from what? From all those lies. Especially from the liar who lives in your head and talks to you all the time. And we call it thinking! I used to tell my apprentices, “Just because you hear a voice in your head it doesn’t mean that it’s speaking the truth.”

Don Miguel Ruiz, in “The Voice of Knowledge”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , | Comments Off on PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, September 15th, 2015 by Don Miguel Ruiz in THE VOICE OF KNOWLEDGE

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Monday, September 14th, 2015 by Stuart Wilde in INFINITE SELF

Posted on September 13, 2015 by jmaz479

“You have to think of yourself as a bank account of energy. How much are you paying out, and what is your return on effort? Sometimes you’ll see that the potential upside in a particular situation is very limited, and the possible downside might include defeat, ruin, ill health, loss of a valued friendship, or suffering of some kind or another. So don’t be obstinate. When faced with obstacles, work your way around them, or wait patiently; sometimes the obstacle disappears or melts away in time. Use your brain, not your skull. There is no heroism in whacking things with your head. That’s dumb.

Trust your feelings, ask, and watch the signs all around you. You’ll know how hard to try, when it’s right to push a little harder, and when it’s best to pull back. It’s in the constant asking of questions that you logically don’t know the answer to that you empower your inner guidance.”

Stuart Wilde, in “Infinite Self”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Patience, Trust | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Monday, September 14th, 2015 by Stuart Wilde in INFINITE SELF

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Friday, September 11th, 2015 by Michael Tamura in YOU ARE THE ANSWER

Posted on September 10, 2015 by jmaz479

“Whenever you’re trying to be something other than who you are, in a condition other than how  you are, somewhere other than here  and at some time other than now, you’re going to be out of your body. The good news is that the choice is entirely yours. Most of the time, however, you don’t consciously choose to be out of your body. You go out as a means to avoid pain. Nonetheless, you must consciously decide to return to your body if you are to fulfill your purpose. Every time you’re unhappy and choose to blame, judge, criticize, hate, covet, cling or resist in some way, you leave your body’s space-time continuum.

As you can see, there are many ways to leave the body, but there is only one way to be in  it. You must learn to enjoy being who you are under all the present conditions.”

Michael J. Tamura, in “You Are the Answer”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Present Moment Awareness, Self-acceptance | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Friday, September 11th, 2015 by Michael Tamura in YOU ARE THE ANSWER

PONDER on THIS for Thursday, September 10th, 2015 by Alan Cohen in DARE TO BE YOURSELF

Posted on September 9, 2015 by jmaz479

“It is said that if we want to be truly powerful we need but command what is happening to happen. While there is a humorous note in this advice, there is also a profound wisdom. We are most powerful when we are aligned with the flow of the universe. To deny what is, would be like running out on your front lawn in the morning and commanding the sun to reverse direction and set in the east. No matter how strong your wish for this to be so, your chances of succeeding are very slim.

Our attempts to make life other than it is, are just as foolish and ineffectual. To try to change people to suit us or fight against unchangeable situations is debilitating and useless. If something cannot be changed, our most powerful position is to go with it and find a blessing that we could not see when we wanted to be in charge.”

Alan Cohen, in “Dare to Be Yourself”‘

For more information about this book Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Acceptance | Tagged , | Comments Off on PONDER on THIS for Thursday, September 10th, 2015 by Alan Cohen in DARE TO BE YOURSELF

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, September 9th, 2015 by White Eagle in THE PATH OF THE SOUL

Posted on September 8, 2015 by jmaz479

“Many successful people – the good, religious people as well as the materially-minded – are tempted to believe that their success is entirely due to themselves. They think how clever they are! They forget that without the help and blessing of God nothing can be accomplished. Not through man alone but by the will of God do conditions arise in a human life destined to give the soul opportunities to serve God.

Many worldly people become intoxicated with their own material success, and this can also happen on the spiritual path. People can become charged with spiritual pride, inwardly thinking how good they are and how nice they are to know! They have indeed been carried up into a high mountain.

When the soul is thus raised, the tempter, which is the lower self, now whispers, “How wonderful I am! It is “I” who have attained this spiritual height. “I” have made this progress – all by myself!” But the soul who would triumph over these three temptations must know that whatever it achieves spiritually, it is of itself nothing and can do nothing; and that all the good that is in it is of God.”

White Eagle, in “The Path of the Soul”

For more information regarding this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in God, Success | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, September 9th, 2015 by White Eagle in THE PATH OF THE SOUL

PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, September 8th, 2015 by Donald Altman in ONE MINUTE MINDFULNESS

Posted on September 7, 2015 by jmaz479

“The sky and the moon are waiting for your gaze. Their spaciousness invites us to a revolutionary perspective, the big view, the right now. To gaze at the sky and the moon is to leave the thinking, discursive, calculating, judging mind behind and to expand our awareness beyond the limited self to vast consciousness, of which we are an integral part. Stargazing and moongazing do not have to be an escape from the mundane; instead, they can be a way to grasp that the ordinary is also sublime when we become fully present to it.

The practice of gazing at the sky and the moon brings two important things into focus. First, it lets us embrace wholeness and unity, balancing out our personal, limited, and separate view of existence. British philosopher and Zen practitioner, Alan Watts, described this well when he said, “You are breathing. The wind is blowing. The trees are waving. Your nerves are tingling. The individual and the universe are inseparable, but the curious thing is, very few people are aware of it. Everything in nature depends on everything else. So it’s interconnected…When you look out of your eyes at nature happening out there, your looking at you.”

Donald Altman, in “One Minute Mindfulness”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Present Moment Awareness | Tagged , | Comments Off on PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, September 8th, 2015 by Donald Altman in ONE MINUTE MINDFULNESS

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Monday, September 7th, 2015 by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer in GIFTS FROM EYKIS

Posted on September 6, 2015 by jmaz479

“You have no reason to blame anyone for how you are treated, and yet most of you think that the problems you face and the treatment you receive is the result of other people’s lack of consideration. You have the inherent power to teach anyone how you want to be treated. When you simply sit back and accept being abused, you are responsible for permitting that abuse to be heaped on you.

I’ve noted that those people who refuse to be abused, insist on respectful treatment, and react swiftly and firmly when they are mistreated receive the respect that so many “blamers” never see in their lives.

Teach those around you through behavior not empty arguments, that you will tolerate nothing less than respect. This is never difficult for those who have self-respect, since a person with high self-esteem expects the same kind of treatment from others that they expect of themselves. Respect yourself, and you’ll receive respect. If you receive disrespect, look to yourself and ask that most important question, “Why have I allowed myself to be treated this way?” instead of “Why are they doing this to me again?”

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, in “Gifts from Eykis”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Blame, Self-acceptance | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Monday, September 7th, 2015 by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer in GIFTS FROM EYKIS

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Friday, September 4th, 2015 by Fr. Anthony DeMello in THE WAY TO LOVE

Posted on September 3, 2015 by jmaz479

“You stupidly squander so much energy trying to rearrange the world. If changing the world is your vocation in life, go right ahead and change it, but do not harbor the illusion that this is going to make you happy. What makes you happy or unhappy is not the world and the people around you, but the thinking in your head. As well as search for an eagle’s nest on the bed of an ocean, as search for happiness in the world outside of you.

So if it is happiness that you seek you can stop wasting your energy trying to cure your baldness, or build up an attractive body, or change your residence or job or community or lifestyle or even your personality. Do you realize that you could change every one of these things, you could have the finest looks and the most charming personality and the most pleasant of surroundings and still be unhappy?”

Fr. Anthony DeMello, S.J., in “The Way to Love”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Acceptance, Happiness | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Friday, September 4th, 2015 by Fr. Anthony DeMello in THE WAY TO LOVE

PONDER on THIS for Thursday, September 3rd, 2015 by Lisette Larkins in DIFFICULT PEOPLE

Posted on September 2, 2015 by jmaz479

“Once awakened, no thought goes unquestioned. Thoughts are recognized, when they cause suffering, to be lies; or at the very least, to be suspect until they are unraveled as a misunderstanding by a mind that can do nothing other than be offended. Thoughts are concepts and they produce an active mind. Even thoughts that contain seemingly altruistic ideas are still noisy thoughts. Simply attend a town meeting about how to obtain peace on Earth and you understand this point. Conversely, a deep sense of peace that arises from within is usually elicited by a feeling, not a thought, that comes from the source of life rather than from the ego. Again, a murderous thought is no different from a conceptual thought of universal brotherhood: busy mind or quiet mind is the choice.”

Lisette Larkins, in “Difficult People”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , | Comments Off on PONDER on THIS for Thursday, September 3rd, 2015 by Lisette Larkins in DIFFICULT PEOPLE

BEST of PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015 by Alan Cohen in THE DRAGON DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE

Posted on September 1, 2015 by jmaz479

“The force that opposes determination is INERTIA. Inertia is not a static thing; it is a “dynamic force.” Like any force, it tends to magnify itself and gain momentum until or unless it is superseded by another force stronger than itself. If you jog every day, and then stop for a day, and then two days, and then three, the momentum of inertia will make it more and more difficult for you to re-initiate your practice. This is how we can get sidetracked from our dreams.

We slip into the undertow of inertia, and then forsake our commitment. It takes a strong will to buck inertia, but overcome it we must. When we refuse to be intimidated by unchosen habit, and we do just one act of our practice again, the momentum of the ‘practice’ will increase, and it will be easier and easier, and not harder and harder to continue.”

Alan Cohen in, “The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Ponder on This Daily Inspiration | Tagged , | Comments Off on BEST of PONDER on THIS for Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015 by Alan Cohen in THE DRAGON DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE

PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, September 1st, 2015 by Polly Campbell in IMPERFECT SPIRITUALITY

Posted on August 31, 2015 by jmaz479

“Resistance, in a very real way, shows up as blocks in your life. It appears in the form of the same old problems, ongoing arguments, issues that never seem to resolve but always seem to matter – the twenty pounds you are unable to lose, the resolutions you repeat annually, the excuses you make. Because our pockets of resistance become familiar behavior and a habitual way of living, we often fail to notice that we’re resisting at all.

Once you do tune in and gently look for the places resistance may be rooted in your life, you’ll see some distinctive patterns. Resistance is almost always focused around our fears.”

Polly Campbell, in “Imperfect Spirituality”

For more information about this book visit Amazon.

Jeff MJeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

Posted in Resistance | Tagged , | Comments Off on PONDER on THIS for Tuesday, September 1st, 2015 by Polly Campbell in IMPERFECT SPIRITUALITY