Spiritual Art Blog - *Ed P

We’re not alone

This picture is now moving along nicely. The concept is begining to take shape and the elements of the picture are coming together.

 

Happy thoughts

Thought for the week

10 ways to happy thoughts

There are times when we need a few happy thoughts in our lives. Too often we spend our time thinking about what we have to do next, how to solve a problem or how to avoid it. How do get from where we are now to where we want to go? What food will I have to eat today? How will I deal with this person? These thoughts go on and on.

Enough of that dull stuff. Let’s work on some happy thoughts. Below are a number of different happy thoughts. Some will be more appealing to you than others. If there is one that you connect with, take your time over it. Don’t rush to finish the article. Take your time to consider the though and contemplate on it. If it appeals to you, re-read it and read one sentence at a time. Let each idea which comes, develop within you. Savour these happy thoughts, these moments of joy. Take time to enjoy each thought. Here they are:

First Love
Your first romantic love as a teenager or the first time you met your loved one. How did it feel? What was the first touch like, the first time you held hands, the first time you held each other, the first kiss?

Time with a friend
The time you spent with a good friend. In conversation discussing a favourite topic or a new one which opened up new potential to you. The connection you had together. The unity of purpose. A companion on this part of your journey through life. The fun you had together.

When you were loved
Think of a time when you were loved, when someone did something nice for you. Think of the joy you felt, the appreciation for the person and how their gift to you made you feel.

An Achievement
The feeling you got when you achieved something in school, work, in sport or within your family. It was something you were striving for, a goal, an achievement. It may have been as simple as cooking a meal, getting over a barrier you had, learning a new skill or moving to a new position.

A Heavenly Place
Take a ramble in your imagination into a heavenly place. Think of a peaceful, calm, inviting place where you can rest, enjoy the soft sunlight, view the beautiful landscape around you. There may be someone who you would like to meet. Someone to bring you wisdom, kindness, sustenance and love.

Do something nice
Think of doing some deed or favour for someone. How will they fell and how will you feel? Firstly think of doing something loving for some you like, a friend, a family member, a pet or a plant. What will you do, how will the fell, how will they react? How will you react?

…for someone you don’t like
Now think about doing something nice for someone you don’t like or don’t get one with. What would they like or enjoy that you could do for them? Bring them a cup of tea or coffee. Help them out with their job. Do a task which they have to do regularly and save their effort. Now, having done this deed, in your mind, how do they feel and how do they react to you? How do you feel and what are your reactions? Interesting, isn’t it. :-)

Contemplation
Take time to be at peace. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and hold each for a while. Listen to the sounds within. Eliminate the sounds around your environment and listen for a sound coming from deep within yourself. At the same time, with your eyes closed, watch for lights within. There may be glows, sparkles, stars, flashes or colour changes. Let the lights and sounds combine to form a relaxing contemplation exercise.

The job you love
Imagine being in the position or job you’d love. How does it feel? You are now where you have aimed or dream of being for a long time. Look around you and see how it feels. Take time to see how you feel about being in this position and how the people around you feel about it too. What are their reactions? Are you happy here? Is it like you thought it would be?

A fountain of light
Be a fountain of light. Think of yourself as a candle, then add another candle, and another, and another. Now you are brighter. You are lighting up the place around you. You can add a rag soaked in oil. It flares up and there is now a fire there. Look around and see the light brighten everything around you. Now add some firewood to this flame. Watch it grow and the flames rise up into the dark night sky. Now the whole area is brightened. Add more fire wood and timber until you have a bonfire. The light reflects into the unseen areas beyond. The world around you is bright and warm.

So there we have ten different sets of happy thoughts. Did any of them bring a smile to your face? Keep them in mind, they may help you out of a dark spot and bring some light into your world.

Wishing that all your thoughts are happy thoughts

*Ed Parkinson

If you are looking for more positive and happy thoughts, click here to go to the Spiritual Writings page.

Happy Thought Quotes

“Every thought, word, or deed, either purifies or pollutes the body.” 
Harold Klemp

“A happy thought is like a seed that sows positivity for all to reap.”
Miriam Muhammad

“The best way for a person to have happy thoughts is to count his blessings and not his cash.”
Anon

“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.”
John Burroughs

“If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.”
George MacDonald

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
Roald Dahl

“Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.”
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“If I think, and therefore I am, am I just a thought?”
 Anon

“Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious.”
  Bill Meyer

"Discovery consists of seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought." 
  Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

"Sow a thought, reap a deed; sow a deed, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a lifestyle; sow a lifestyle, reap a destiny."
Charles Reed

"In this media-drenched, data-rich, channel-surfing, computer-gaming age, we have lost the art of doing nothing, of shutting out the background noise and distractions, of slowing down and simply being alone with our thoughts."
Carl Honoré

"The key to success is to risk thinking unconventional thoughts."
Trevor Baylis

"Happy thoughts are half your health."
Czech proverb

“Every sorrow which you pluck out from the thoughts and feelings of a fellow creature shall be replaced by beautiful peace and joy in the sanctuary of your soul."
Jeremy Bentham

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
Norman Vincent Peale


If you like some more happy thoughts have a browse through the Spiritual Inspirations page by clicking here.

We’re not alone

This is a picture I’m working on for the cover of a magazine. The title to be illustrated is ‘We’re not alone’. This is one of my early sketches where I try to find the right way of telling the story. Hopefully this gets the message across.

May the Blessings be

Thought for the week

There are many blessings in our lives which we fail to see. Most of these are hidden in the challenges or problems we face. It can take a long time to see them as they often need time to develop, grow and blossom into a blessing we can see. Here are a few stories to illustrate some of the blessings in life.

Bless the situation
Will was recently driving through the city with his teenage daughter. As they stopped at a red light, a drunk or drugged man fell on the street near them. Will’s daughter was upset to see an other human being in such a condition and wanted to help him. Then his friend came over to help get him back on his feet. Will could see the compassion and emotion his daughter was feeling and explained how to bless the scene.

He said “When you see a situation where you would like to help another Soul but it is not easy for you to do so, then the best thing to do is bless the situation. Ask the Holy Spirit, your Inner Guide or the Higher Power to bless the Souls involved. Let them be blessed and let them be. We do not know the situation behind the scene we see in front of us but the Higher Power knows what is right for them. Let the Holy SPirit bless them with a gift that will help them move to a happier and better place. Then forget about it. You have done what you can. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.”

Blessings arrived after a long time
Another friend told me about his childhood and how his mother gave him very little love and attention because his older brother was seriously sick and needed her constant care. He grew up longing for approval from her but rarely got it. It was hard for me to see where the blessings were in that scenario but he explained, they arrived after a long time.

Later in life when he was in his fifties, a skilled counsellor brought this part of his childhood into focus and helped him see how his mother had suffered similar neglect in her childhood. She was doing the best she could based on her own childhood. With this awareness he was able to heal himself and also partially heal his mother's neglect by showing her love and affection at the times when she needed it most. He counted the opportunity to be able to give this love to his mother as a real blessing. While he had to go through a childhood of partial neglect he saw that as necessary in order to reach the point where he could give love to both himself and his mother. This was a real blessing to him.

Blessing water
Dr. Masaru Emoto from Japan researched the effects of blessing water. He says “Molecules of water are affected by our thoughts, words, and feelings”. In his experiments he tried many techniques to test this and found that if he played beautiful classical music in the presence of tap water, it would then make beautiful frozen crystal formations. He also learned that the written word changed the water. Dr. Emoto stuck paper strips on bottles of tap water and then photographed the frozen water. He found that words such as "Thank you," and "I love you," caused the tap water to form beautiful crystals. Words such as "You make me sick," or "You are a fool," caused distorted crystals or no crystals at all. Dr. Emoto then found that we can cause tap water to form beautiful frozen water crystals simply by praying for the water, by sending it loving thoughts, and by blessing it.

There we have three different aspects of life and a way of seeing the blessings in different situations.

The difficulties in life are blessings waiting to be learned. When we learn how to deal with them, they give us strength and help us progress a bit further in our understanding. They then changed from problems into blessings. We have overcome the challenge and can see the positive side of the situation.

May the blessings be
The simple way of bringing blessings into our lives is to make a statement such as “May the Blessings be”. This is an acceptance of our situation at this moment and an attempt to realise that there is a blessing in everything in life. The blessings are not just in the pleasant things we experience but also in the challenges and problems we face. We need to remember that it can take time for challenges to become blessings.

Wishing you a life of blessings.
May the blessings be.

*Ed Parkinson

Have a look through the Spiritual Writings page for more insights and blessings by clicking here.

Inspirational Blessings Quotes

“If we want to keep the blessings of life coming to us, we must learn to be grateful for whatever is given.”
Harold Klemp

“It’s not what you get, it’s what you do with it.”
Annette McDermott

“May your days be many and your troubles be few. May all God's blessings descend upon you. May peace be within you may your heart be strong. May you find what you're seeking wherever you roam.”
Irish Blessings

“Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.”
Socrates

“He it is Who sends His blessings on you, and (so do) His angels, that He may bring you forth out of utter darkness into the light; and He is Merciful to the believers.”
Quran

“Envy is the art of counting the other fellow’s blessings instead of your own.”
Harold Coffin

“Ask God’s blessings on your work but don’t ask Him to do it for you.”
 Dame Flora Robson 

“May you live as long as you are fit to live, but no longer! or, may you rather die before you cease to be fit to live than after!”
 Philip Dormer Stanhope 

“An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”
Henry David Thoreau

“Here’s a sigh to those who love me,
And a smile to those who hate;
And, whatever sky’s above me,
Here’s a heart for every fate.”
 George Gordon, Lord Byron

“Better to lose count while naming your blessings than to lose your blessings to counting your troubles.”
Maltbie D. Babcock

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.”
Oscar Wilde

“Since the things we do determine the character of life, no blessed person can become unhappy. For he will never do those things which are hateful and petty.”
Aristotle

“My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island.to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing.”
Baltasar Gracian

“Reflect on your present blessings of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
 Charles Dickens

“If I choose to bless another person, I will always end up feeling more blessed.”
Marianne Williamson

“Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence.”
Og Mandino

“Blessed are those who give without remembering. And blessed are those who take without forgetting.”
Bernard Meltzer

“As a day well spent brings blessed sleep, so a life well spent brings a blessed death.”
Leonardo da Vinci)

“Change, like sunshine, can be a friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse, a dawn or a dusk.”
William Arthur Ward

If you’d like to find more blessings click her to go to the Spiritual Inspirations page.

Paths to God

I was away on holidays last week so I didn’t get a chance to do any painting but for this week I thought I’d show you a bit more detail of the Paths to God, the temples or churches. If you click on the image it will open a larger version so you see it better.

A better view of life

Thought for the week

If we can get a better view of life or view life in a better way we can make life happier for ourselves and those around us.

Envy is one of the hurts we can inflict on ourselves. When we compare ourselves with others we can despair of our situation. Our thoughts may go something like this, “How we can be in such a miserable place compared to our neighbour who seems to be happier and wealthier than we are. We deserve better.” This is a fairly standard complaint we have with life but we are making a lot of assumptions with this type of comparison.

We don't have all the facts
We assume because someone is rich that they don't have problems. We don't have all the facts. There are so many different aspects to our lives that it is impossible to see them all. Most of us cannot see all the things that influence the way we look at life or why our life is the way it is. Here is just a short list of the things which influence how we look at life:
Emotions and the control or lack of control we have over them.
Habits, do we control them or do they control us?
Family, how do they influence us as children and as adults?
Health, are we in good shape or have we problems, pains or sickness?
Friends, are they loving or are there some who use us?
Attitudes, do we see the bright side of life or is it a dark experience for us?
Intelligence, have we enough or are we ignorant of a lot of things?
Work, do we enjoy it or is it just like slavery to us?
Wealth, have we sufficient for our needs or are we constantly striving for more?
Location, are we happy where we are or do we wish to be elsewhere?
Energy, can we do all we want or are we hampered by some restrictions?
Freedom, do we have enough to do as we wish or are we hampered by restrictions?

Which one would you like to be?
All of the above and lots more elements within our lives determine the condition of our lives. Based on the above list, let’s compare two different people and their view of life. As we read the list below there is there is a negative followed by a positive, followed by a negative then a positive, all down the list. The character on the left starts with a negative and the character on the right starts with a positive so there is a balance between each character. Which one would you like to be?

Character A	Aspect	Character B
Has no control of his emotions	- Emotions –	Is cool and unperturbed
Has well organised habits	– Habits –	Lacks any real discipline
Comes for a problem home	– Family –	Comes from a happy home
Is fit and healthy	– Health –	Has several health issues
Has few loving friends	– Friends –	Has the support of many friends
Has a positive out lo ok on life	– Attitudes –	Life is always tough, the glass is half empty
Not good with figures or reading	– Intelligence –	Has a college degree
Enjoys his work	– Work –	Feels trapped by his career
Has just about enough to get by	– Wealth –	Has savings and investments
Is happy with his home	– Location –	Not happy living where he is
Is often too exhausted to do things he'd like to	– Energy –	Can go for hours and well into the night if need be
Has the ability to do as he wishes	- Freedom –	Feels restricted by requirements and people in his life

 

Which one would you like to be? Would you swap your current situation with either of these? We’ve only looked at twelve aspects of these characters and we probably wouldn’t like to be either of them. While they both have their good and bad aspects, would be really want to swap lives with them? Most of us are happy enough with the challenges life has given us. We can handle them but we don’t want anyone else’s, thank you.

We don’t see the challenges
The point I’m trying to make here is that when we compare our life with that of others we are usually not getting all the facts or a complete view of life. We don’t have all the details. When we see celebrities and their lavish lifestyle, we tend to compare our home, car, dress and friends with what we have. We don’t see the challenges they face or the problems they have hidden below the glamour of their super star lives. All too often we get an insight into their problems later when they are hit by tragedy.

Look at others as Soul
If we can look at others as Soul, who just like us are learning who and what they are, we begin to see the reality of their situation. We get a better view of life. No matter what our circumstances, life is going to be tough. We all have problems, challenges and difficulties. This is a school for Soul. We are learning how to get by in life without hurting ourselves or others.

Our attitude is key to our view of life. While we all have our difficulties the way we look at them will influence how happy or unhappy we are. We all know from our own experiences that life keeps changing. We may have enough for a while but there will come a time when we are short of cash, in poor health, emotionally exhausted or frustrated by our situation in life.

Love
The key attitude to nurture within ourselves is love. An unconditional love for others where we can see that they, like us, have a range of challenges which they are learning to get through as they live their lives. As soon as we learn one skill or insight, we will be presented with another challenge. If we can look at these challenges with love and the fact that we are becoming a stronger, better Soul because we can deal with these issues, we will have a better view of life.

Compare and we’ll despair. With love we move above to a happier more positive view of life.

Wishing you a loving view of life.


*Ed Parkinson

To expand your view of life, you can read more articles on the Spiritual Writings page by clicking here.

View of Life Quotes

“Life is trying to teach us one thing: to see the Eck, the Holy Spirit, in the eyes of all we meet.”
Harold Klemp

“Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.”
Robert E. Lee

“Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror.”
Byrd Baggett

“I take a simple view of life. It is keep your eyes open and get on with it.”
Laurence Sterne

“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”
Muhammad Ali

“Love towards all beings. The founders always had in view the Unity of all life and the progressive march of man towards Divinity.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

“Think of the long view of life, not just what's going to happen today or tomorrow. Don't give up what you most want in life for something you think you want now.”
Elder Richard G. Scott

“In my travels I have found that those who keep Heaven in view remain serene and cheerful in the darkest day. If the glories of Heaven were more real to us, if we lived less for material things and more for things eternal and spiritual, we would be less easily disturbed by this present life.”
Billy Graham

“The most fatal illusion is the narrow point of view. Since life is growth and motion, a fixed point of view kills anybody who has one.”
Brooks Atkinson

“You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated. It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences. It sounded like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act.”
 Barbara Hall

“The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.”
 Ben Stein

“Man is born to live, not to prepare for life.”
 Boris Pasternak 

“Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.”
 Brendan Gill

“Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.”
 Christopher Morley 

“Life is full of surprises and serendipity. Being open to unexpected turns in the road is an important part of success. If you try to plan every step, you may miss those wonderful twists and turns. Just find your next adventure-do it well, enjoy it-and then, not now, think about what comes next.”
 Condoleeza Rice

“Life is a thing that mutates without warning, not always in enviable ways. All part of the improbable adventure of being alive, of being a brainy biped with giant dreams on a crazy blue planet.”
 Diane Ackerman

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.”
 Isaac Asimov 

“Life is difficult and complicated and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”
 J. K. Rowling

“Life is a long lesson in humility.”
 James M. Barrie 

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”
 John Lennon

“Difficulties come when you don't pay attention to life's whisper. Life always whispers to you first, but if you ignore the whisper, sooner or later you'll get a scream.”
Oprah Winfrey

Looking for more inspirational quotes on life? Click here to go to the Spiritual Inspirations page.

Paths to God

This picture is now completed. You’ll find my thoughts behind it in the Thought for the Week below. Click on th image to see a larger version.

 

Paths to God

Thought for the week

Religions and spiritual teachings are paths to God. They all attempt to show us how to reach God, at least that was the original intent of the founder.

All religions are good for the people who are members of them. They give some instruction and insights into God and a way of getting closer to It. Many people within their own faith believe that theirs is the only true path to God. From God’s point of view how can this be true? It may be that while they are in a particular teaching they believe it is the true path to God but it is not something that can be used to convince others that their beliefs are wrong. At this time and in this lifetime it may be the only path to God for them and that is true of every other Soul in their particular religion.

Within Ourselves
As we go through our many lifetimes, we move from one teaching to another. In this way we learn a little more during each life. We eventually get to the point where we realise that the way to the Divine is within ourselves. While the outer paths to God give us guidelines to reaching the Higher Power, the real path is the one we decide to commit to within ourselves and strive to gain an understanding of life, who we are, what our purpose is and try to gain an understanding of the Divine Power or God.

If we can find a way to reach the top of this mountain of questions, challenges and doubts, we can get to the point to where we realise who we really are. We understand our reason for being and why God created us. We know where we fit into life and realise why we are here. We discover that we are a co-worker with the Divine. We are Soul. As Soul we are divine with the creative power of God available to us but we need to learn how to use it. In this process we are learning how to use our creative power to give love to those around us. This is the main reason we are here, to discover the divinity within us.

The top of this mountain
When we get to the top of this mountain and realise that we are Soul, we also realise that we are part of the Divine, Allah or God. At this point we then begin our search for the Higher Power and an understanding of It. We explore the spectacular God worlds. We are now on a new journey. We have realised who and what we are and now we begin our journey to discover the Creator of all things, the force that allows all things to exist and have their being and to understand and grasp our part in it all.

By being on many paths to God over many lifetimes we can eventually see how they fit into our spiritual education. We now realise that we are Soul and once we get used to the idea, we embark on the journey to the Divine.

The reason for all the paths to God is to get us to this point

*Ed Parkinson

If you’d like to continue your exploration of the paths to God, click here to go to the Spiritual Writings page.

Paths to God Quotes

“Courage brother, do not stumble, though thy path be dark as night: There is a star to guide the humble, trust in God, and do the right. Let the road be dark and dreary and its end far out of sight. Face it bravely, strong or weary. Trust God, and do”
Norman Schwarzkopf

“He who leaveth home in search of knowledge, walketh in the path of God”
Muhammad

“So many gods, so many creeds, So many paths that wind and wind, While just the art of being kind Is all the sad world needs”
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

“God is the name by which I designate all things which cross my path violently and recklessly, all things which alter my plans and intentions, and change the course of my life, for better or for worse.”
  Carl Gustav Jung

“Sink the Bible to the bottom of the sea, and man's obligation to God would be unchanged. He would have the same path to tread, only his lamp and his guide would be gone; he would have the same voyage to make, only his compass and chart would be overboard.”
Henry Ward Beecher

“Throw away thy rod, throw away thy wrath; O my God, take the gentle path.”
George Herbert

“Be patient. The path of self-discipline that leads to God-realization is not an easy path: obstacles and sufferings are on the path; the latter you must bear, and the former overcome -- all by His help. His help comes only through concentration. Repetition of God's name helps concentration.”
Swami Ramdas

“In fact, service is the first step along the spiritual path, for service to man is service to God.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

“A 'brahmachari' (a celibate) acts in such a way that treading the paths of both earth and heaven becomes a pleasurable experience; that is why all the Gods always dwell with him(in his heart).”
Atharva Veda

“If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes.”
Corrie TenBoom

“God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.”
Ramakrishna

“I believe God has a plan. God has a direction for me. He may put me on a few detours, but the path with ultimately reveal itself. My job is to be a decent human being no matter how rocky the road gets.”
Clay Aiken