HAPPY SPRING CELEBRATIONS! ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NOROOZ....

Spring and spring time refer to a new season and also to the idea of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal and growth. The Persian New Year NOROOZ is on the first day of spring (March 20th) and is an ancient Persian Festival dating back to 1700 BCE.

NOROOZ has no religious affiliations. It is an international day based on the UN declarations and is celebrated by many countries all around the world. At this time of the year days are close to 12 hours long and they get longer as the season progresses (Spring Equinox).

The last Wednesday of the year before the New Year is called "Wednesday Light" and in the evening bonfires are lit and people jump over the fire saying a purification rite.

This year (2015) the first day of spring coincides with occurrence of a Total Solar Eclipse covering 90% of the sun. Based on the available information the eclipse starts at 07.41 UTC and ends at 11.50 UTC. Among other places in the world it also affects West in North America.

On New Year's Day families gather around a traditional table setting called "HAFT-SEEN" to observe the rituals of spring season. The name of the items on the table each starts with the letter "S" in Persian language and each have their own significance symbolizing something special.

The seven essential items can be selected from the following list but you can also use them all:

SABZEH: Sprouts grown in a dish using lentils, wheat, etc. symbolizing rebirth.
SEEB: Apples symbolizing health and beauty.
SENJET: Dry fruit of Lotus tree symbolizing love.
SEER: Garlic symbolizing medicine.
SUMAC berries: symbolizing sunrise.
SAMANOO: Wheat germ pudding symbolizing new life.
SEKKEH: Coins symbolizing affluence
SERKEH: Vinegar symbolizing age and patience
SOMBOL: Hyacinth flower symbolizing constancy

Other items:

Gold fish swimming in water: Symbolizing life
Painted eggs: Symbolizing spring celebrations
Mirror: Symbolizing the sky
Candles: symbolizing fire
Cookies: symbolizing sweetness of life

You can also put other decorative items on the table as you like.
The traditional food of the New Year's Day is a especial kind of vegetable rice with white fish.

Happy Celebrations!!

#NOROOZ

EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE....

Lessons of Life are not so easily learned but once they are learned they have to be shared as an expression of gratitude:

• Don't cling to or rely on others for your happiness

• Don't fight the facts of life, deal with them

• Have the courage to accept what you cannot change

• Look within before looking without to blame others

• Don't do it if what you are doing is the vanity of your ego and not a service to the wholeness of life

• Detach your self-worth from the opinion and approval of others

• Protect your boundaries by having your own standards in life

• Have the courage to face and own your vulnerabilities. Have no fear of being judged.

#Expressionofgratitude

THE MOMENT...

I feel that
"the moment"
is my share of the pages of history.

A window is enough for me,
a window for a moment of awareness,
for seeing and silence.

Say something to me
I am in the shelter of the window
and I am connected with the sun.


FOROUGH
Modern Persian Poetry

YOU ARE WHAT YOU SEEK....

If the faceless face of the beloved is what you seek
Look within, you are what you seek

You have taken the outward path, many times
Take the inward path, this one time

Knowing the address to the house, a comforting thought
But when you arrived, it was empty was it not?

If you found the garden where is the flower?
If you found the house, where is the owner?

Your search for the external god, fulfilling, but no avail
To reach the beloved, look within, you are the veil!

RUMI

#Lookwithin

OUR TRUE LIFE

Birth of the morning by Yuriyshevchenko

It's January, the start of a new year in my actual existence although many believe that, as souls, we never leave the world in order to come back, moreover, no one knows how to come back again!

Early on at the start of this month I challenged myself with a question - does love guide my every action in life? I was inspired by Kahlil Jibran the poet, philosopher and artist who asks - who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless?

I have been observing myself day by day to find out where do I stand, and it has been a difficult task to judge myself and be totally objective about it.

In my observation I recognized the "self" at the forefront in everything that I did and everywhere that I moved. That's where I learned that in many instances I was actually pre-occupied with judging the situations as good or bad and getting carried away by trying to maintain the good and happy, and avoid the sad or unhappy.

I learned that even when I was worried and concerned about other people I was in fact stabilizing the position of the "self" in controlling my behavior and forcing me to declare my unhappiness. The big question is, how could I love or be loving in all my actions when most of the time I am busy  judging the situations or worrying about it which in fact it is a kind of feeding the "self". In those moments I was indeed inhibited to be there with my whole being and with my complete attention and love.

The whole experience was an eye opener for me and I realized that in life situations I just have to be there with boundless love instead of trying to judge everything and move up and down riding the waves of my emotions.

That is what RUMI my favorite poet has said about our true life:

As you start to walk out on the way,
the way appears.
As you cease to be,
true life begins.
As you grow smaller,
this world can not contain you.
You will be shown a being
that has no you in it.  

#ourtruelife

THE ENDING YEAR.....

I am looking back at the year which is almost ending. The months, the days and the moments which are gone. I have been alone but in touch with my essence which is my soul. I focused on my intentions at every given moment of time and that helped me face my fears and learn from them.

My life events in the past year have enabled me to stay in touch with people, to learn from them and to develop a strong sense of recognition and discernment in everything that I do. Although the connection has mainly been through social media and within a virtual world but the mutual impacts are undeniable.

At the very early stages of my life I already learned that everything that happens to us is meant to educate us in amazing ways, and due to that understanding, my world kept expanding and I started to see myself standing among millions of people from all over the world who were just like me. The thought of oneness brings tears of joy to my eyes and a sense of freedom from the "me" bringing back the RUMI's words of wisdom to my mind:

Be a melting snow,
wash yourself from yourself.

A white flower
grows in the quietness.
Let your tongue
become that flower.

As time has passed I have become more eager to better understand and study myself in thinking, feeling and acting. I know that self-knowledge has no end and I have been using my life as a vehicle to learn to live in harmony and appreciation of the wholeness of life.

The tranquility is gradually setting in, something that I know is not of the mind only but it is an active transformation within me. I have become more conscious of the activity of "me" especially when I am upset, impatient, feel bored or depressed. Could this "me" be forced out? I have learned to deal with it by getting help from the creativity within me but without clinging to the outcomes or getting addicted to the applause or the rewards.

I move forward by focusing on my intentions instead of worrying about the outcomes. I face my fears by being patient and unattached to my expectations and by being creative and innovative. I navigate though the difficulties of life without giving up my goals allowing for authentic transformation and empowerment.

STRESS OR DISTRESS? SEVEN BEST WAYS TO COPE!

Stress is simply resisting what is, and the resistance can produce exhaustion, high blood pressure, visual difficulties, headaches and more. If it goes above certain levels, we can become prone to diseases. 

Experts believe that stress is a “non-specific response of the body to a demand”. The body responds to stress by going through the stages of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. Psychologists and spiritual teachers believe that resistance is the operation of ego which prevents letting go of holding on to ourselves. The result is obsession with an issue and continuous suffering.

According to the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, stress is followed by physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions. The reactions can be acute, chronic, or delayed but no two people are likely to experience the exact same combination of reactions to any given stressors. When stress becomes prolonged or frustrating it becomes a distress. Distress is always followed by acute physical or mental suffering.

Stress is with us all the time and it is unique and personal to each of us. It is so personal, in fact, that what may be relaxing to one person may be stressful to another. The American Institute of Stress has an inventory of stressful life events which is worth checking it out and using it for yourself or others accordingly. http://www.stress.org/holmes-rahe-stress-inventory/

There are 43 items on the above mentioned scale with different point values. The life event with the highest point value of one hundred is the death of spouse. The event with the lowest point value of eleven is minor violations of the law. You can add up all the points you have within the past 12-18 months in order to find your stress score. The scores are interpreted based on the available guidelines in the stress scale document.

The steps to deal with stress are as follows:

1. Explore and expose your stress by asking yourself what is it that I am resisting? What is it that is not working for me?
2. Acknowledge your stress and retreat with acceptance. Don’t try to be right rather than being objective and considerate of the existing facts.
3. Dissociate from the problem by taking a break and doing something different.
4. Make it easier for yourself by not staying alone and by sharing your concerns with close friends.
5. Deal with your stress by decreasing the load of your work and by making time for some relaxation, reflection, walking meditation and similar activities.
6. Discipline yourself, cry if you need to, and avoid self-medication.
7. Ask yourself why am I in this situation, what am I learning? Your answer to this question is the key to your healing.

#dealingwithstress, #stressinventory, #distress

http://www.stress.org/holmes-rahe-stress-inventory/