prayer

I'm just liking this prayer as of recently:

Praise be unto Thee, O my God! I am one of Thy servants, who hath believed on Thee and on Thy signs. Thou seest how I have set myself towards the door of Thy mercy, and turned my face in the direction of Thy loving-kindness. I beseech Thee, by Thy most excellent titles and Thy most exalted attributes, to open to my face the portals of Thy bestowals. Aid me, then, to do  53  that which is good, O Thou Who art the Possessor of all names and attributes!

I am poor, O my Lord, and Thou art the Rich. I have set my face towards Thee, and detached myself from all but Thee. Deprive me not, I implore Thee, of the breezes of Thy tender mercy, and withhold not from me what Thou didst ordain for the chosen among Thy servants.

Remove the veil from mine eyes, O my Lord, that I may recognize what Thou hast desired for Thy creatures, and discover, in all the manifestations of Thy handiwork, the revelations of Thine almighty power. Enrapture my soul, O my Lord, with Thy most mighty signs, and draw me out of the depths of my corrupt and evil desires. Write down, then, for me the good of this world and of the world to come. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. No God is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, Who help is sought by all men.

I yield Thee thanks, O my Lord, that Thou hast wakened me from my sleep, and stirred me up, and created in me the desire to perceive what most of Thy servants have failed to apprehend. Make me able, therefore, O my Lord, to behold, for love of Thee and for the Sake of Thy pleasure, whatsoever Thou hast desired. Thou art He to the power of Whose might and sovereignty all things testify.

There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, the Beneficent.

- Bahá'u'lláh

me, me, me, me version 2010

here's the update of "me" from last year:

Borna, a town in Saxony, Germany - maybe I should go visit myself? :)

A part of Bahretal in the Sächsische Schweiz district, Saxony, Germany - has apparently changed owners quite a lot...

Borna disease, an infection neurological of warm-blooded animals caused by the Borna virus

Borna of Croatia, a Medieval Slavic Prince of Dalmatia - wow!

A Persian word meaning "young." Can also be used as a name. The Persian diction is "بر نا" - yupps, that's me

The Rabha name of Channa amphibeus - apparently a rare species of snakehead

removed since 2009:

Borna Bartolović, a Croatian breakdancer - this article is empty right now [no update 2009]

and no new entries :(

on a coincidental note: this is post number 800 (including drafts) on my blog, and it is the 801st day I've been in Israel... :)

what will they say of you?

from paulo coelho's blog:

As a boy, Abin-Alsar overheard a conversation between his father and a dervish.
“Careful with your work”, said the dervish. “Think of what future generations will say about you.”
“So what?”, replied his father, “When I die, everything shall end, and it will not matter what they say.”

Abin-Alsar never forgot that conversation. His whole life, he made an effort to do good, to help people and go about his work with enthusiasm. He became well-known for his concern for others; when he died, he left behind a great number of things which improved the quality of life in his town.
On his tombstone, he had the following epitaph engraved:

“A life which ends with death, is a life not well spent.”

day 1

today is day 1. in spirit of my previous post and the reference to not saying too much, I'll leave it at that. I just wanted to officially record it somewhere. so there we go. done :)

I have a new favorite blog

alright, derek sivers seems to be an all around generally awesome guy: "Derek Sivers, bequeathed his company to a charitable trust for music education, and had them sell it. This agreement allows him to receive only 5% of the company's profits for living expenses, while the rest of the money (22 million) went into the trust."

I just read up a little bit on his blog today, but check out posts such as this about shutting up, and a recent one about not putting any speed limit to yourself. very interesting ideas and thoughts, and I just recommend it to everyone!

letting go of the past

I just finished reading a new earth, a book well worth reading. I actually recommend it to more or less everyone. am re-reading it again, and will probably write some more once I finish it, but for now, here's a nice story from it:

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. As they came around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross at an intersection.
"Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"

Now imagine what life would be like for someone who lived like Ekido all the time, unable or unwilling to let go internally of situations, accumulating more and more "stuff" inside, and you get a sense of what life is like for the majority of people on the planet. What a heavy burden of past they carry around with them in their minds.

(I copied the story from wikipedia, and the final paragraph from the book.)

ice ice baby

we accidentally spilled some ice on the table at a dinner. quick to realize the power of the close-up, I took some shots.

on a soap bar

"if you want to be free, learn to live simply."

I like it :)

empowering junior youth

the age of 12-15 is often seen as a troublesome age. the kids are starting to grow up, not knowing exactly what is expected of them or where they belong. the Bahá'í juniour youth programs aim to bring some coherence into the lives of junior youth. see more here:


you can read more here or here.

charice

wow. all I can say is wow.