AustinGranny.com - Prayer Flags

Our true home is in the present moment.
To live in the present moment is a miracle.
The miracle is not to walk on water.
The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment,
to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.

Peace is all around us—
in the world and in nature—
and within us—
in our bodies and our spirits.

Once we learn to touch this peace,
we will be healed and transformed.
It is not a matter of faith;
it is a matter of practice.

— Thich Nhat Han.

First He Looked Confused
(submitted by good friend, Vicki, from Adam)

I could not lie anymore so I started to call my dog "God."

First he looked confused,
then he started smiling,
then he even danced.
I kept at it:

now he doesn't even bite.

I am wondering if this might work on people?

Another grandmother, a friend, wrote the following about Thich:

"Just came across a childrens' book he wrote while looking for books I can bring to the reunion to read to my grandchildren (really I just want to get in a big cuddle with all of them and figure a story book's the thing.). I'm not getting Thich's book for them yet - none of my kids/their parents are Buddhists, so the book might not be treasured. You know how that goes - I'm hoping there will be a book that lights up their eyes and they'll have that deep knowng, "THAT's the book Grandma read to us...."
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That was a peaceful interlude.

Thich recommends those - I love his suggestion of a special meditation room in every home, with a "mindfulness bell" to ring when you're going in there to breathe and process and be and get peaceful.... Say, you're taking time out from a bit of tension that might be building into a squabble if you don't go breathe... "

So:
"RING!"

She also writes:

"My kids have plenty of in-laws and step-mothers among them, and therefore my grandkid should be very well grandparented....But this business of following a sacred Call does sometimes mean going where family doesn't gather, doesn't join you - and so you make every stranger your family...

The part of my mother's mother that lives in me is a fascination with color and an embracing of abundance. Don't be afraid to rummage through boxes. And don't wait to give gifts.

Come on! Loosen up those politicomolecules just a smidge - we'll help! - and the real solution will appear, just as the answer comes up out of the darkness into the 8-Ball window! Truth - the REAL stuff - is magical! Can't be gotten-to through human/human haranguing or preaching, now - it's a Mystery. Facts can be argued, you can use a fact to beat a person up with - but Truth, that's - ahhhhhhh - Truth is healing. Centering. Creativity-inspiring. Settling-in-the-Heart. Truth IS.

Ego loves facts. Higher Self lives in Truth.

Joy is Truth. Compassion is Truth. Saints are Truth. Give us Truth, then."

The colors of the flags symbolize the five elements: yellow/earth, white/water, red/fire, blue/wind, and green/space.

Prayer pennant colors: Earth - yellow, green - water, fire - red, cloud - white, sky blue.

Enlightenment is just another word for feeling comfortable with being a completely ordinary person.
— Veronique Vienne