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Post by aneaglesangel on Feb 24, 2011 14:13:26 GMT -5
Note: I don't think we can help but sing our song. I think our strings sing the song no matter what we do!
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Post by aneaglesangel on Feb 25, 2011 11:04:11 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - February 25 "The Creator was responsible for the existence of everything, a part of the Creator's spirit exists in everything and thus all things are connected." -- Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA The Creator designed nature, people, and all things as an interconnected system. Everything is connected to each other. This connection exists in the Unseen World. The same way our body parts are all port of the body - the parts are separate but also connected. If a part of our body is in pain, the rest of the body recognizes this pain as its own. In other words, the pain of one is the pain of all. This is also true of every interconnected system. Because we are connected, we should respect and take care of our Earth and each other.
Great Spirit, let me treat everyone, today, as if they were You.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Feb 26, 2011 12:46:13 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - February 26 "The Great Spirit is the one that's looking after us." -- Jimmy Jackson, OJIBWAY The only place our minds can find peace is when our focus is on the Creator. Daily we need to ask the Creator to direct our thinking. When we look at our brothers and sisters, we need to see the Creator in them. When we look at the trees, plants and the animals, we need to realize the Creator is within us. Our attention needs to be on the Creator. When we work, we do it for the Creator. When we are troubled, we need to pray to the Creator. When we are happy and joyful, we need to realize we are feeling the presence of the Creator. Thinking God thoughts will produce peace.
Oh Great Mystery, let me focus on You today.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Feb 28, 2011 10:03:59 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - February 27 "The Old Ones have always said that no matter who despises or ignores you, no matter who keeps you from entering their circles, it is right to pray for them because the are like us, too." -- Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA You don't know how an apple tastes until you taste it. You don't know what a fish tastes like until you eat it. You don't know how it is to be a woman unless you are one. You don't know what it means to have a baby until you have one. So it is with the natural laws. An example: the natural law of forgiveness says, if you hate someone, pray for the person to be blessed with happiness, joy and all the blessings of the Great Spirit. You will not know about this law unless you do it. The natural law says love others as you love yourself. If you hate yourself or feel guilt in some area of yourself, you will tend to judge and condemn your neighbor. You cannot give away what you don't have. You teach your children by your example, not by your words. The natural laws are written in our hearts.
Great Spirit, teach me how to look into my heart.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Feb 28, 2011 10:04:41 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - February 28 "Ultimately, nature will do the teaching." -- Tom Porter, MOHAWK There are things man has control over, and there are things man does not have control over. No matter how smart we get, whether it be in technology or science, there are things we will never control. The Great Spirit carefully protected and hid the control over certain things in the Unseen World. There are forces in the Unseen World that make sure humans don't mess things up. The bottom line is, no matter what we do, nature will have the last say. Nature is the teacher, we are the students. May we honor and respect our teacher.
Great Spirit, today, help me to live in harmony with people, principles, and life.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 1, 2011 9:30:36 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 1 "The beginning is purification, that's the first step. And purification means purification of body and mind. You don't purify the body without cleansing the mind; that's the way it works." -- Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE If we have bad thoughts or poison in our minds, they will eventually show up in our bodies in the form of headaches, pains, and stomach problems. It works this way because we are interconnected. Our minds and our bodies are one system. So when we start to grow, or commit to the Red Road, we need to start cleaning up our thoughts and start showing respect for our bodies. We start purifying our minds by prayer and meditation, and we start cleansing our bodies by getting the right amount of sleep and developing good eating habits. Today, I'm going to observe my thoughts. Will my thoughts be clean today?
Great Spirit, let me focus on Your love today so my mind will be pure.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 1, 2011 9:31:59 GMT -5
Welllll, my thoughts might not exactly be "clean" but they'll bring a smile to my face!
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 3, 2011 9:51:04 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 2
"The voice and the heart are not working together."
-- Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
We can say any words we want with our voice but we cannot hide the true meaning and the true spirit behind the words. The true meaning is always understood. The voice is heard in the physical world, but the meaning is transmitted in the spiritual world. If our voice says one thing but the heart is saying something else, it's the something else that is heard. It is said that the truth will set you free. Reaching the truth means your voice and your words will be in alignment with the heart.
Great Spirit, let my tongue, speak the truth today.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 3, 2011 9:51:33 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 3
"For me writing has become prayers that say, `Great Spirit, return to us our freedom, our land, and our lives. We are thankful for the present from which we learn how to be thankful for the past, and how to be hopeful for the future."
-- Barney Bush, SHAWNEE
We Native people have really been tested. This testing is having our land taken from us, our culture challenged, and our way of living altered. Gratefully, we have not lost our spirituality. Our spirituality has been the key for our people making it through all of these tests. Our prayers are strong. Indian people have also been able to adjust to change and still keep their culture and spirituality. Today, we should be grateful to the Creator for the present and for the lessons of the past. May our future be guided by the Great Spirit.
Great Spirit, thank You for Mother Earth and Father Sky. Thank You for my life.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 14, 2011 11:17:11 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 6 "And there are Four Corners of the Earth that we talk about, the Four Colors of people, and the Four Winds. You see the winds - they are spirits." -- Grandfather William Commanda, ALGONQUIN The Elders teach us about the four directions. If we learn about direction, we also learn about attention, about focus, and about power. Each direction has spiritual power. In the morning, go outside, face the east and get still; then, listen to your thoughts. After you have done this for a while, turn and face the west. Get quiet once again and listen to your thoughts. Did your thinking change when you changed direction?
Great Spirit, teach me the power of the four directions.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 14, 2011 11:17:52 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 7 "We are responsible for the condition of the Earth. We are the ones who are responsible and we can change that. If we wake up, it is possible to change the energy. It is possible to change everything." -- Hunbatz Men, MAYAN The environment we want outside will be created by the mental pictures we have inside our heads. We must have the right environmental picture as well as the right values. These values will give the mental picture its true meaning. If we respected Mother Earth, we would not throw garbage on Her, nor would we put poison in Her. We would not misuse Her in any way. Mother Earth is like She is today because of the mental pictures of previous generations as well as the mental pictures of our own generation. If we want the environment to change, each individual must change their mental picture. "As within, so without."
Great Spirit, today, let me be alert to Your guiding voice.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 14, 2011 11:18:42 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 8 "Balance is implicit in the Red Road. When you're on the Red Road, you are in the center. Yet, you do not go to either extreme, and you allow both sides to exist. This is accomplished by continually postponing surrendering to temptation, whatever it may be. It is saying `later' instead of `no.'" -- Dr. A.C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA The Sacred Path of life has a middle, a left side, and a right side. As human beings, we are designed to walk this middle path as much as we can. As we walk, we will stray to the left and to the right and come back to the middle. Straying to the left or right side is as sacred as being in the middle. Sometimes we call this straying our mistakes. We are designed by the Creator to walk the Sacred Path of life, and realize that our mistakes are the source of lessons. These lessons give us our wisdom. It is not wrong that we are tempted. What matters is what we do with the temptation.
Great Spirit, today, let me enjoy the Sacred Path of Life
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 14, 2011 11:19:16 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 9 "In the life of the Indian there was only one inevitable duty, the duty of prayer, the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. His daily devotions were more necessary to him than daily food." -- Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa), SANTEE SIOUX The most important habit one can develop is the daily act of prayer. Prayer is our eyes, our ears, our feelings, our success, our guidance, our life, our duty, our goal. There really is only prayer and meditation. We can only help others through prayer. We can only help ourselves through prayer. You can never become an Elder unless you pray. You can never stay an Elder unless you pray. You never get wisdom unless you pray. You never understand unless you pray.
Great Spirit, today, teach me to pray
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 14, 2011 11:20:10 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 10 "I know Grandpa told me that to smoke is wakan (holy). The smoke you inhale represents the spirits of everything you put into the pipe. When you breathe in the smoke, you are asking to become one with everything or to become whole." -- Dr. A.C. Ross (Enhanamani), LAKOTA The smoke allows us to go from the Seen World to the Spirit World. It is in the Spirit World where we are all connected. In this way, we can become one with all things. Our pipe is sacred. We need to be respectful of our medicine. When we smoke the pipe, we need to have good thoughts because these thoughts are shared with the Spirit World. The pipe, the smoke, the spirits, our thoughts - these things are Wakan.
Great Spirit, today, let my thoughts be Wakan.
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Post by aneaglesangel on Mar 14, 2011 11:20:40 GMT -5
Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 11 "The symbol of wholeness, represented by the medicine wheel, is still being used in D/Lakota ceremonies today. The center where the "X" crosses is considered the home of Tunkasila, Wakan-Tanka, God. I speculated, `If this is the symbol of wholeness, the symbol of the psyche, with Wakan-Tanka at the center, then Wakan-Tanka or God would be within you.'" -- Dr. A.C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA The Medicine Wheel represents everything. All the directions originate from the center outward. The center is the home of the Creator. The Medicine Wheel represents the human being. At our center is the home of the Great Spirit. This is why we are spiritual. The easiest way for us to find God and talk to Him, is for us to become centered. This means, relax our bodies, still our minds, let go of our emotions and listen quietly. Shhh. Be still.
My Creator, let me walk in the stillness today.
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