Letter from James Tyman:

Over 400 theaters and churches around the world will host screenings of the new documentary "The Indigo Evolution" this weekend, and judging from the several showings I've attended in Australia -- THIS IS THE MOVIE MANY OF YOU HOPED FOR LAST YEAR. The response has been overwhelming, and we hope you get the chance to attend a World Indigo Day event near you so you can experience it for yourself. To see where The Indigo Evolution is playing near you, simply go to: www.theindigoevolution.com. This is not only the most complete exploration of the Indigo phenomenon to date, but also a profound declaration of a New Humanity. 

Join in the celebration this weekend!

To view clips of the film, please go to the website today. Most of all, help us spread the word.

Eight Buddhist Principles for Relationship
Adapted from How to Be an Adult in Relationships, by David Richo (Shambhala, 2002).
The great Tibetan Buddhist teacher Geshe Langri Tangpa designed these teachings in the twelfth century, but they are still potent and helpful today as guides for human behavior, and for learning to relate to and love others unconditionally.

I see myself in all species
and I see all species in me.
~~Thich Nhat Hanh 

Thinner thighs just by breathing?
It's no myth: Just relaxing, breathing with your eyes closed and belly soft, helps you to center yourself and turn off the mechanisms that increase appetite and cause you to gain weight.

Sitting comfortably and focusing on the breath is actually a form of meditation. While you won't burn many calories, the practice allows you to filter out toxic chemicals directly related to the thickening of your waistline.

When you're stressed, your breath accelerates and races high in the chest, rather than low in your abdomen, where it resides when you're relaxed. In response, your adrenal glands pump out hormones to manage your anxiety, flooding the bloodstream with toxins and increasing muscle tension. The end result: a bigger appetite and buildup of abdominal fat. Ironically, weight-loss plans, including excessive dieting and physical training, also cause stress.

Here's how to do it:

-- For 20 minutes a day, sit quietly and listen to your breath. If you get distracted, let the thoughts pass and go back to your breath. Begin by exhaling all the air from your lungs and then breathing in through the nose. Inhale for a count of 10, hold for 10 seconds, then exhale slowly through the nose for another 10 seconds. Complete five cycles and feel yourself decompress.

-- Start each meal with five deep breaths and a mindful meditation about what you hope to achieve -- nourishment, wellness and a thinner you. --Amy Paturel

Just Do It!:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.     
Mark Twain

A nice meditation-take a break from your hectic day:
10 minute guided Buddhist meditation

How to avoid confusion:
To learn the path it is important to be sharp yet inconspicuous. When you are sharp, you are not confused by people; when you are inconspicuous, you don’t contend with people. Not being confused by people, you are empty and spiritual; not contending with people, you are serene and subtle.
-Liao-an

What about me?:
Be wise. Treat yourself, your mind, sympathetically, with loving kindness. If you are gentle with yourself, you will become gentle with others.
Lama Thubten Yeshe

Which Wolf Do You Choose?:
An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice...

"Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt great hate for those who have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It's like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die."

"I have struggled with these feelings many times. It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.  

But...the other wolf... ah! The littlest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all of the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing."  

"Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed."
-- -- A Native American tale told many times around the Sacred Fire

Mind, words and thoughts should reflect your actions:
Many of us spend half our time wishing for things we could have if we didn’t spend half our time wishing.”
Alexander Woollcott, 1887-1943

God and the Spider

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.
 
Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.
 
As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you.  Amen."
 
After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.
 
As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.
 
"Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have  sense of humor."
 
As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."
 
We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that Divine Energy would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. 
 
Remember: Whatever is happening in your life, with Divine Presence, a mere spider's web can become a brick wall of protection. Know that Divine Presence is with you always. Take time to connect with Divine Presence and you will see The Great Power and Love for you

Today's' thought:
We are blessed to be here, now, as human beings that can bring love and compassion to all the creatures we share this earth and universe with. Honor your being and use it to do good. The spirit and mind are willing, and so too, is the body

We have been given the gift of guardianship and the responsibility of voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.  Be their advocate.

*Arctic National Wildlife Refuge* 
Thank Your Legislator
 December 21, 2005

Saving the ARCTIC REFUGE is a victory for all Americans
The effort to link Arctic drilling to funding for America's troops and Hurricane Katrina relief, led by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and bolstered by intense lobbying from the Bush administration, failed in a cloture vote 44-56 (cloture requires 60 votes). We applaud those Senators who refused to let drilling proponents manipulate them and the democratic process. The vote reaffirmed the Senate's role as a deliberative body, not a place where unrelated and controversial issues are tacked on to any bill.

Senator Stevens -- the man behind the $450 million "bridges to nowhere"  tried to pass a bill that benefits his state and the oil industry at the expense of Americans. In 2005 the oil industry made billions in record profits, carved out billions more in government subsidies, and then lied to Congress. Americans know that Arctic drilling wouldn't put a dent in our dependence on foreign oil, would do nothing to strengthen  national security, and wouldn't save consumers money at the pump.

A recent report from the U.S. Department of Energy's own Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that 20 years down the road, when Arctic Refuge oil would be at or near peak production, gas prices would only be affected by about a penny per gallon. The United States sits on just 3 % of the world's known petroleum reserves. Government estimates indicate that there is less than a year's supply of oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and even the oil industry admits it would take 10 years to make it to US markets

The Old Woman In The Cave
This story told by Chief Lost Feather is similar to a legend that is recorded among the Sioux.  Although the Sioux are generally associated with peoples originating around the Ohio River basin and the Great Lakes, they were related to tribes that migrated extensively throughout the central plains area from Arkansas to Canada.

Both the Quapaw and the Osage belonged to the Siouan language group, which presents the possibility that visitors from one of these tribes could have introduced the story in the Hot Springs area where it became associated with West Mountain.   

A secret, mystic cave hidden somewhere on West Mountain has been the home for many centuries of an old woman who lives there with her dog.

The old woman spends her time diligently weaving a beautiful rug from pine needles that she has collected in the forest. Her dog spends his time napping in a corner of the cave and watching his mistress through narrow slits in his eyes.

From time to time, the old woman lays down her rug and goes to stir the soup she keeps cooking in a clay pot over a fire at the mouth of the cave. When she does this, the dog creeps out of his corner and, taken the rug in his jaws, shakes it until he has unraveled a part of it.

When the old woman returns to her work, she patiently tries to restore the damaged rug and resumes her weaving, but soon she must again attend to the soup that boils in her pot. Each time she leaves the rug, the sly old dog again ravels as much or more than she has been able to complete at the last sitting.

Thus, down through the years, the two have continued their ritual of weaving, raveling, and reweaving, but the rug never grows any larger. This is a good thing, for if ever the rug is finished, the world as we know it will come to an end.
FOOTNOTE:
The Old Woman in the Cave contains an element found in other stories about the area surrounding Manataka (Hot Springs).   

The story says there is a secret, mystic cave hidden somewhere on the mountain.   References about a such a cave are found in many stories originating at Manataka (Hot Springs) and in stories about this place found among tribes across the country.   

It is told that there are a total of seven hidden caves located inside  the sacred Manataka Mountain.   Some of the caves were used for ceremonies where visiting tribes placed gifts to the sacred mountain.   The southern-most cave was used by the Mayan and tribes from the Southwest.  The northern-most cave was used by tribes from the North such as the Lakota/Nakota/Dakota.  One of the caves was used by the Animal People to leave gifts and perform their ceremonies.  It is said the inside of the center cave was pure crystal once visited by the Star People who left messages embedded in the crystal stones. 

Update on Organic Foods:
On October 26th, the Agricultural Appropriations Conference Committee voted to weaken the organic label. The decision to allow chemically derived ingredients — some without careful, independent review — was made even after members of Congress heard from more than 325,000 of their constituents and more than 200 organic companies opposing this very action.

In response, Consumers Union plans to mount a widespread public education campaign to help consumers look for additional, meaningful labels on organic food products, such as ‘no-synthetics used’ or ‘100% grass fed’, so that American consumers can make informed decisions about the products they purchase.

Simple prayers:
For guidance:
  As I open my mind and heart to Higher Energy, I am guided
  in the way I should go. I am grateful.
   
For healing:
  As I open my mind and heart to Higher Energy, I am healed by
  the wondrous power of life and love. I am grateful.

For prosperity:
  As I open my mind and heart to Higher Energy, I am blessed with
  an abundance of all that I need. I am grateful.

About getting fit, emotionally and physically:
You have to save yourself. You’re the only one who will care enough, and go through the effort to make the changes you need to make. Tell yourself that you’re going to do what it takes to get healthy.

Tell yourself "I’ve eaten enough now, I’m full. I don’t need so much food." Tell yourself. "I can shift my mood, I have taken enough hurt now, I'm full.  I don't need so much pain."

Tell yourself "I have to get up and be active today."
Commit to every moment of every day, not just the beginning.  Commit to your lifestyle. Commit to saving you.