Oneness and Peace Mandala meditation

Theme is oneness and use of mandala influenced meditation music and mandala activity to enhance the theme.  
 1.  Mandala meditation 

https://youtu.be/U-5kttiDPnw

2.  Song  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5nLBBMWBXw8

3.  Narrative 

https://cac.org/themes/oneness/

Oneness: Weekly Summary

Saturday, May 29, 2021

Week Twenty-One Summary and Practice

Sunday, May 23—Friday, May 28, 2021

Sunday
What has been “unveiled,” especially this past year with the pandemic, is that we really are one.

Monday
All we have to do is discover our own gift, even if it is just one thing, and use it for the good of all.

Tuesday
Spare me perfection. Give me instead the wholeness that comes from embracing the full reality of who I am, just as I am. —David Benner

Wednesday
To be in unity with the Spirit is to be in unity with one’s fellow people. Not to be in unity with one’s fellow people is thereby not to be in unity with the Spirit. The pragmatic test of one’s unity with the Spirit is found in the unity with one’s fellow people. —Howard Thurman

Thursday
There is a stereotype of mystics seeking to escape the world, concerned only with the ecstasy of their own experience of union with the Divine; yet in that union is a doorway that opens out into everything and everyone. —Liza J. Rankow

Friday
We sometimes think that affirming oneness means refraining from taking a stand on issues of importance. Instead, clear-headed dualistic thinking must precede any further movement into nondual responses, especially about issues that people want to avoid.

 

Interbeing

Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926) has offered the world much wisdom through his personal example and teaching. Here he offers a meditation about a piece of paper to illustrate the mysterious interconnection of all things which he calls “interbeing”:

If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. “Interbeing” is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix “inter-” with the verb “to be,” we have a new verb, inter-be.

If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. Without sunshine, the forest cannot grow. In fact, nothing can grow without sunshine. And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper. The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see wheat. We know that the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper. The logger’s father and mother are in it too. When we look in this way, we see that without all of these things, this sheet of paper cannot exist.

Looking even more deeply, we can see ourselves in this sheet of paper too. This is not difficult to see, because when we look at a sheet of paper, it is part of our perception. Your mind is in here and mine is also. So we can say that everything is in here with this sheet of paper. We cannot point out one thing that is not here—time, space, the earth, the rain, the minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the heat. Everything co-exists with this sheet of paper. That is why I think the word inter-be should be in the dictionary. “To be” is to inter-be. We cannot just be by ourselves alone. We have to inter-be with every other thing. This sheet of paper is, because everything else is.

Suppose we try to return one of the elements to its source. . . . Without non-paper elements, like mind, logger, sunshine and so on, there will be no paper. As thin as this sheet of paper is, it contains everything in the universe in it.

Experience a version of this practicethrough video and sound.

Reference:
Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, ed. Arnold Kotler (Bantam Books: 1991), 95–96.

4.  meditation

https://youtu.be/r5idBO3wn1M

5.  mandala activity during meditation

mandala activity done online.  copy link below and open it if you have not done so before the meeting and then click it to go the site and do the coloring following instructions.  meditation music will be on. 

https://coloringbook.pics/antistress-coloring-pages/mandala/

you can also color the mandala sheet you downloaded from the attachment i sent in the email and color them

6.  Song

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0_DxNpW1kHQ

 

  

During our last visit to New York City months ago, we stayed at a hotel near a poke bowl place where I was able to savor their salmon poke bowl and it was good.  The drizzle on top was particularly memorable.  

I decided to mimic this bowl using whole food plant based ingredients.  I used crispy tofu for the salmon.  I did not try to make it fish like by adding nori or dulse flakes in order to simplify the preparation.  I just wanted well seasoned and good textured tofu pieces not naked ones. Voila the recipe I found in YouTube fitted the bill.  

The crispy tofu is a dish in itself  But I had a craving for a poke bowl with the characteristic drizzle, the rice and veggies  and so I prepared this and I was very happy. Made my day.

Air Fryer Crispy Tofu Poke Bowl

Poke Bowl

Crispy Tofu 

Rice cooked according to package 

Sauce or Drizzle 

Vegetables of your choice (I used spring mix, carrots, cucumbers and radishes as is or pickled in water, vinegar and sugar)

Crispy Tofu

Adapted from this Youtube video 

16 oz firm tofu, pressed and drained 

1tbsp garlic powder 

1 tbsp onion powder 

1 tsp smoked paprika 

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp water 

cornstarch

Cut the tofu in thirds and then into another thirds or whatever size you prefer.  

Place all the ingredients except cornstarch in a ziplock bag  Marinate for 15 minutes  or so. 

Take out the seasoned tofu from the bag and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle the tofu with cornstarch till well covered.

Lay the tofu out in the air fryer pan.   Spray sides of tofu with cooking spray. 

Air fry 375 F for 20 minutes  Flip halfway and spray top  

Sauce or Drizzle 

1/4 cup soy sauce 

1 tsp rice wine vinegar 

1 tsp sriracha 

1 tsp sweetener 

Mix all the ingredients with a fork.  You can double the recipe  

Assembly for one bowl

Put 1/4 to 1/2 cup rice in the middle or on one side of the bowl and top with two pieces of crispy tofu. Surround with vegetables of your choice. Drizzle the top with the sauce. 

paula's prayer meeting 1/11/2023

 

Come Unto Me by Dan Shutte

https://youtu.be/Tauqd8mEjRk

Called By Name….

You Are Mine and I Love You.

Come unto Me all who are weary and find rest for your soul.
Come to Me, all who are burdened,
You shall learn from Me.

Take My yoke upon your shoulders, do not be afraid.
For I will gently teach you of the ways of the Lord.

I have come not to know the strong, but for sinners frail.
The powerless shall not be favored in the eyes of the Lord.

You shall come to know secret things, hidden from the wise.
And children shall be rulers in the land of the Lord.

 

The LORD said to me: You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, the LORD says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

 

I wanted a change of pace for my breakfast and decided to try blueberries on top of chia pudding instead of oatmeal or cereal. I have made chia puddings before (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here) but not lately and also have not top them with blueberries. I was pleasantly surprised that this version was so good and satisfying. The chia pudding is a good vehicle to savor the blueberries. This particular berry is highly touted as good for your brain aside from other benefits.  This version is very simple to prepare. Do try the others I have cited on this post for variety.

Blueberry Chia Pudding

See here, here, here, here, here, here, here

• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup nondairy milk of your choice (I used oat milk)
• 1 tbsp sweetener or to taste
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of cardamon powder (optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix the chia seed, milk, sweetener, vanilla and cardamon (if using) till blended.  Allow the mixture to sit for 15 minutes at least or overnight in the refrigerator.  Top with the blueberries. 

Thank God for Music

 

To soothe ones soul. Fix

POV for the better. 

Lift dampened spirit. 

Asian Peanut Butter Dip

 

I love dips and boards, even mini ones. The one shown above is one of my favorites. Big umami taste rendered by peanut butter with soy sauce. I ate the whole plate. That addictive. 

Prep of dip is easy peasy. I just used ginget and garlic powders but you cam use minced fresh ones. You can just lessen the sesame oil to just give the taste of it. Adjust the soy sauce amounts too 

For the veggies, I went for what I have on hand. Mini peppers, radishes, grape tomatoes and green onions. The latter was surprisingly good as is, unchopped. Carrots, celery, world be good too.

 I have used the same sauce for coleslaw burritos too. It has endless uses and warning it makes them addictive  

Asian Peanut Butter Dip

Based on this past blogpost. 

1\4 cup peanut butter
1-2 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
2 tbsp sesame oil (you can lessen this to 2 tsp to just give that taste of sesame oil)
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp sweetener or to taste
Juice of one small lime
1/8 tsp dry red chili pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and blend with a fork or use a small blender. 

Pray share chat 1/4/2023 Stillness

 Focus of today’s meeting is on stillness.

1.  Meditation 

https://youtu.be/BbCZ131Zw8o

Will 

2.  Song

https://youtu.be/UkKW1_uLlFE

3.  Narrative 

You Cannot Capture Silence, It Captures You

Richard Rohr

https://www.awakin.org/v2/read/view.php?tid=1065

For me, the two correctives of all spirituality are silence and service. If either of those is missing, it is not true, healthy spirituality. Without silence, we do not really experience our experiences. We may serve others and have many experiences, but without silence, nothing has the power to change us, to awaken us, to give us that joy that the world cannot give, as Jesus says. And without clear acts of free service (needing no payback of any sort, even “heaven”), a person’s spiritual authenticity can and should be called into question. Divine Love always needs to and must overflow!

To live in this primordial, foundational being itself, which I am calling silence, creates a kind of sympathetic resonance with what is right in front of us. Without it, we just react instead of respond. Without some degree of silence, we are never living, never tasting, as there is not much capacity to enjoy, appreciate, or taste the moment as it purely is. The opposite of contemplation is not action, it is reaction. We must wait for pure action, which always proceeds from a contemplative silence in which we are able to listen anew to truth and to what is really happening. Such spiritual silence demands a deep presence to oneself in the moment, which will probably have the same practical effect as presence to God.

You do not hear silence (precisely!), but it is that by which you do hear. You cannot capture silence. It captures you. Silence is a kind of thinking that is not thinking. It’s a kind of thinking which mostly sees(contemplata). Silence, then, is an alternative consciousness. It is a form of intelligence, a form of knowing beyond bodily reacting or emotion. It is a form of knowing beyond mental analysis, which is what we usually call thinking. All of the great world religions at the higher levels(mystical) discovered that our tyrannical mode of everyday thinking (which is largely compulsive, brain-driven, and based on early patterning and conditioning) has to be relativized and limited, or it takes over, to the loss of our primal being and identity in ourselves. I used to think that mysticism was the eventual fruit of years of contemplation; now I think it all begins with one clear moment of mystic consciousness, which then becomes the constant “spring inside us, welling up unto eternal life”.

4.  Prayer 

O blessed Jesus, give me stillness of soul in You. Let your mighty calmness reign in me. Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace. God, teach us what it means to have faith in silence.May 17, 2022

https://www.womansday.com › life

5.  Meditation 

https://youtu.be/RqlMoaWyw_Q

6.  Song

https://youtu.be/2xeY7A2sEMA