Interior Journeys

We are so small yet think we are very big...possessed by an illusion of grandeur ! (Canute, Joe and I in Penang, Malaysia. Canute's comment.)

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: Inspiration1b View more OpenOffice presentations from smrebu . (Source of pictures: Various including mine. This is general acknowledgement.)

Loss...That one moment of complete, total helplessness. We will live by but will we ever come to terms with the loss of loved ones? (Sharing: The grief of a warm teacher and friend of mine who just lost his loving wife. Remembering my mother, father, sister and brother.)

About Smile: * A smile is a universal expression of happiness and recognised as such by all cultures. * A smile is the most frequently used facial expression It takes as few as five pairs of facial muscles and as many as all 53 to smile. * Regardless of the precise number of muscles used, smiling causes far fewer muscles to contract and expand than frowning. * Smiling releases endorphins and makes us feel better. * Even faking a smile can lead to feeling happier. * People are born with the ability to smile (They dont copy the expression, even babies who are born blind, smile). * Babies reserve special smiles (Duchenne smiles of joy and happiness) for their loved ones. * A newborn shows a preference for a smiling face over a non-smiling face. * Women smile more than men. * Younger people smile more than older American males with high testosterone, who smile least of all. * There are 18 different kinds of smile used in a variety of social situations. * Human beings can differentiate bet...

Children at a brick factory in Fatullah (Bangla Desh). For each 1,000 bricks they carry, they earn the equivalent of 0.9 USD. “All the problems of the world - child labor, corruption - are symptoms of a spiritual disease: lack of compassion.” Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama ------------------- Source

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Rootless consumerism: "dominant world religion of the planet." "Its God is economic growth for its own sake; its priests are economists and politicians; its evangelists are the advertisers; the shopping mall is its church,"...The consumer church has as its creeds, "More is better. Bigger is better. Faster is better. You can have it all," and the only blasphemy in the church is to say, "Enough!" Finally, the doctrine of salvation for the church of consumerism is "appearance, affluence and marketable achievement" summed up as, "I've made it." -- Jay McDaniel, a Christian influenced by Buddhist teachings in Telegraph - Herald (Dubuque), October 24, 2001 Picture Source