Eckhart Tolle – Awareness Compassion Pancakes

In a couple of months I will visit San Francisco for the very first time and I can promise you, that I will make sure to wear some flowers in my hair.

This sunday I am hosting the third Afternoon Pancake event. The theme is American Pancakes, and I will serve them with fresh berries and maple syrup. If I am lucky maybe some of my guest will celebrate the beginning of summer, and wear flowers in their hair.

Flowers are such delicate and fragrant beings, and have been the inspiration for many artists, poets and mystics.

Looking at a flower can give you a sense of joy – raising your awareness and increasing your presence.

“Buddha is said to have given a “silent sermon” once during which he held up a flower and gazed at it. After a while, one of those present, a monk called Mahakasyapa, began to smile. He is said to have been the only one who had understood the sermon. According to legend, that smile (that is to say, realization) was handed down by twenty-eight successive masters and much later became the origin of Zen.”

– Eckhart Tolle

There has been many interpretations as to the point Buddha was making; one is that things come and go (this too shall pass), another, that Buddha was trying to illustrate the concept of “suchness” – that things are just as they are, and a third, that an enlightened (ego-less) mind springs from our egoistic minds in the same way a lotus flower springs from pond muck.

We don´t have to agree on any of the interpretations – but I do hope, that you will wear flowers in your hair this sunday.

…. It is always now!

Well, he didn´t really say that, but close enough.

The story about Katrine is a hard one to follow. So I thought I would mention my daily inspiration to live in the moment, and to remember that; It IS always now!

Victor is my dog. And he is that inspiration. Just look at him.

Animals are a great reminder of living in the moment and being present. The present moment is where they live their entire lives. They don´t get caught up in thoughts about the past, or thoughts imagining the future – like most of us humans do.

It has been about 12 years since I first realized, that “now” is all there is, all there ever has been, and all there ever will be. It is always now.

I realized this, reading the book “The power of now” written by Eckhart Tolle. A book that I can highly recommend if you need to really understand this very important fact of life.

So what does Eckhart Tolle has to do with my dog?

Nothing really, but he did write the words to this great cartoon about the spiritual teachings from our cats and dogs.

I have taken the liberty to show you just this one of the cartoons – it is my favorite;

Just remember; it is the NOW now!