Posts Tagged ‘Invitation’
What Does It Mean to Be Peace?
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
How are you being peace in the world?
I recently launched a website, triZENbe (Zen Tribes). triZENbe is a global movement and community of people who want to bring (more) peace into their lives, into their homes, into their schools, into their communities, and into the World.
As I began to listen for my inner voice of peace, I became curious about when people experience peace. I had conversations with folks about what peace means to them.
What is your voice of peace? On the triZENbe website, there is a section called Zen Voices. I am looking to add ideas of what it means to be peace in the world. If you would be willing to add your voice to this page and share your thoughts about peace, please email me at maflanagan@toningtheom.com to listen for my inner voice of peace. I had conversations with folks about what peace means to them. I am curious about how and when people experience peace.
My hope is that by creating more peace within ourselves, we extend that to our “tribes” – whether our tribe is our family, friends, co-workers, community, and/or the world.
What does peace mean to you?
We are one thought away from peace. ~Mary Anne Flanagan
May OM Meditations
Saturday, May 29th, 2010
As we prepare ourselves for a long holiday weekend, let us remember all those who have given their life to serve our country. As one of my teachers, Sri Dharma Mittra, says, “With my sincere wishes and devout prayers to all that you will become lost in constant remembrance.”
As we bring that sense of remembrance into our heart and mind, let us take time sit in meditation and experience contemplative questions as a way to open up to remember our original self with love.
As an invitation, feel free to close your eyes, sit with your spine straight and take a few soft breaths. Then inhale a little deeper through your nose, and on the exhale, repeat the mantra OM (AUM). Do this three times. Allow yourself to really feel everything and become the observer of your thoughts. Feel free to focus on one question or statement below and just allow your experience to unfold.
In every breath, there is love.
In the end it is the love that we already are that brings us home.
Light will shine your path. Love will be your guide.
What allows each of us to remember that light within that is always there?
How do you honor the sacred?
What value do you want to offer others – even when it is difficult – even when your voice is the opposite one of what is being said?
Every breath is a miracle. Every day is a gift. Everyone is love.
There are times when hiding our gifts is more painful than sharing them with others. What will it take for you to open up & risk sharing the blossom of you?
How do you want to create more silence in your life?
Each person will have their own experience so the invitation is to be open for whatever thoughts flow through you. Allow your mind and body to expand into the experience (without judgment). Feel free to start with whatever mantra calls to use.
May you experience the beauty of remembrance.
Mary Anne
Lessons Learned in 2009
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
I spent this week rereading all the blogs I posted this year. Each one felt like a personal recipe for living, learning, & loving. Each blog held a nugget of hope, a spark of light, & moments of absolute love. I have put together some of the best quotes from my blogs of 2009. May they give you the hope, light, & love that is already awakening in every way.
“Starting over means we can release the past without judgment and move forward without baggage.”
“Forgiveness is not an act; it’s a process. In order to forgive, there must be a journey of going to the place of healing. It’s coming to a place and resting – just resting.”
“The question then becomes, are we willing to practice and share peace with one another? It starts with each person being peace. We can then see peace in each other. Each of us can be the peace story.”
“Do it afraid. Whatever the ‘it’ is, do it, live it, breathe it…Do it anyway. Do it despite yourself.”
“The phrase “Truth Be Told, I Choose You” represented the grandest invitation to life. This is the experience of totality – the gift of fully inviting another person on your life’s journey.”
“When I am open, the world is open, when I am grateful, the world is grateful.”
“I am the one I have been waiting for. The teacher I have been waiting for is me.”
“How are we prisoners to our own minds and project it out to the world? Freedom starts with each one of us. Step forward for yourself and for another.”
“Here was an opportunity to live in harmony with the way things were. Now was my chance to ask myself how I am unconscious in the world.”
“How much is mind chatter costing you? Stillness is free.”
“Imagine taking a planned break to clear yourself of all distractions. Perhaps we are not ready or able to take a year off, but what if we could actually plan in our calendar a sabbatical to generate new ideas, listen to our inner creative voice, and appreciate our work as a calling.”
“As we prepare for a season of “Peace on Earth”, may each exchange this season be one of love and presence. It’s the economy of the heart that I am looking to build this coming year. It’s increasing our capacity to love that I am hoping to stimulate.”
Happy New Year! Here’s to learning more lessons ~ Mary Anne
“Truth Be Told – I Choose You”
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
Truth Be Told - I Choose You
I opened up my email from a friend, and read the first line, “Truth be told – I choose you.” Seeing the words on the screen, a flood of tears came. I took a breath and read it again. More tears came rolling down my cheeks. Suddenly, I felt overcome with emotion. I turned the computer off and just repeated the words. I felt a huge release come over my body. I began to shake and I could feel an old protective rusty cage around my heart snap open. My heart felt softer and expansive at the same time. Years of caution and mistrust just melted away with that one powerful line.
My heart felt open and ready to receive love. I wiped the tears from my face and sat quietly. I repeated the line, truth be told – I choose you, over and over again. Voicing the phrase aloud, I felt an enormous power inside that revealed a pure essence that has always been there, but one I had not accepted. Each word in that line was a transformative vibration – truth, be, told, I, choose, you. This phrase represented the grandest invitation to life. This is the experience of totality – the gift of fully inviting another person on your life’s journey. It’s the power of invitation.
When we invite others to join us on our journey, we open ourselves up to a vulnerable place that can reveal incredible gifts. If we really allow others into our hearts, we can experience the fullness of life. One invitation can be the difference in how we experience the world. Inviting others into our world can be a life changing event. Truth be told – I chose you was a spiritual awakening.
I so deeply experienced the intimacy of allowing a friend to connect with my essence – it wasn’t about what I do or who I know – it was about inviting me because of who I AM. I felt like an apostle when Jesus said, “Come, Follow Me.” This is the greatest of faiths. The invitation is about dropping everything to be present with another.
I turned the computer back on, read the line, and smiled. I felt so much gratitude to have such a wonderful friend and hoped she knew just how powerful that opening line was in her message. There was so much relief after so many years of carrying such a protective cage around my heart. Now, my heart feels open to receive more love in every form.
How do you invite more love into your life? Byron Katie says, “Love is action.” Choose to invite someone into your heart. Give the gift of invitation.
Truth Be Told – I Choose You, Too!
Special thanks to my friend for sending me this powerful message of invitation and love. I am blessed to have you in my life. Thank you for opening my heart and feeding my soul.
More Love!
Mary Anne