MatisyahuSk8er
More About Me
My Tagline:
"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'Thank You', that would suffice." -Meister Eckhart
My Interests:
Prayer, Meditation, Worship, God, Afterlife, Interfaith issues, Charity, History, Movies, TV, Music, Books, Travel, Art, Environment, Yoga, Health, Marriage, Pets, Astrology, Martial Arts
Who Inspires Me:
Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha, Lao Tzu, Thich Nhat Hanh, Bede Griffiths, Mother Teresa, St. Francis of Assisi, Deepak Chopra, Bruce Lee, Morihei Ueshiba, Jet Li
My favorite spiritual activities:
Prayer, Mindfulness, meditation, Giving thanks, Contemplation, Lighting incense to my Spiritual guides filling my senses with the sweet smell of enlightenment and adding the nice aroma to my enviroment and therefore to the universe.
What is your current spiritual mood?:
Mindful
What's your spiritual type?:
Active Spiritual Seeker - I'm spiritual but turned off by organized religion.
About Me
Name: Daniel
Age: 19
Person I look up to: Bruce Lee
Get Away: Florianoplis, Brazil in the winter or Disney World
Words to live by: "Be still and know that I am God"
Favorite Movie: Hero
Free Plane Ticket Anywhere: Japan (or maybe China or India)
Stranded on a desert island with one thing: The love of my life Eliane. We would live our lives like the movie 'The Blue Lagoon'
Read this: The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
Listen to this: Carlos Santana
Watch this: House MD and Dead Like Me
About Me: Here are some statements I have written about important aspects of my life.
Faith/Spirituality:
“Yoganandaji has taught me the oneness of all religions and the ultimate glory of Christ.”
“It is written in the book of St. Matthew that Jesus said, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’ I have learned to practice this through the practice of mindfulness which I have learned from the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. It is also written in the book of Psalms ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Through the practice of mindfulness, meditation, and detachment I have learned to do this as well. I feel at peace in learning from many traditions because from Paramahansa Yogananda I have learned the oneness of all religions and of the ultimate glory of Jesus that surpasses all religion. I truly believe Jesus is who He said He was.”
“St. Francis’ simple life of detachment and love for God has influenced me. Through mindfulness and striving to live the middle way that I learned from the Buddha I feel that I can see God’s breath in every moment and therefore grow closer to Jesus. I feel that relying on love is more important than relying on doctrine, I strongly believe in love above dogma. St. Francis’ life of dedication to love has helped me see Jesus and to not be hindered by doctrine. I seek to apply what I have learned from Buddhism, a faith that has helped me understand myself, to my belief in Jesus. I believe Jesus to be the shelf on which all other religions sit and that as long as you follow the law of love you are doing ok. This is my path. I have been greatly influenced by Paramahansa Yogananda, Thich Nhat Hanh, St. Francis of Assisi, Gautama Buddha, Lev Tolstoy, and Lao Tzu.”
Yoga:
"Yoga is a wonderful mindfulness meditation exercise. To be mindful of the pose you are in, to be mindful as you change poses, to be mindful of how your body feels, to be mindful of your breath. It is truly a great exercise in mindfulness."
“Yoga strengthens the body, and because it is a wonderful mindfulness exercise it can be seen as a form of meditation and therefore strengthens the mind as well. It truly unites both body and mind.”
Martial Arts:
"I view martial arts as a way of strengthening the body and mind. Through the study of martial arts you learn your limitations and what you are capable of, therefore growing in knowledge and control of your body. The martial arts should not be used by the warmonger but by the pacifist, for only he has the safety of himself and that of his opponent in mind. Through martial arts you learn to be in control of your body and your opponent's body, therefore by being in control in a violent situation the pacifist can preserve peace. One must never see Martial Arts as purely for combat, the philosophy should never be forgotten. Adapt, be like water. Don't fight against your opponent, fight WITH him. Just as the bamboo tree bends to survive the storm you must ‘bend’ your techniques to survive ‘the storm’ that is your opponent and maintain control therefore preserving peace. Remember that all styles are limited, you must seek knowledge from all around you. But It's not just about mixing styles, you have to respect where each style comes from, don't just throw techniques together without truly respecting the tradition it comes from. Always respect tradition, just don't be trapped by it. Realize that it's not just fighting, it's martial ARTS, it is about training the mind, body, and spirit, and not just fighting for the sake of fighting. The ultimate technique is no technique, to be able to stop a fight before it happens and to make your enemy your friend. As a martial artist I must preserve peace and never glorify violence. Competition is pointless, we must eliminate the ego completely, seek no glorification for ourselves and therefore avoid competitions for they only strengthen rivalry among people and that is not the point of martial arts, the point of martial arts is peace.”
I am grateful for the opportunity to share my path with everyone. Namaste.
My Basics
MatisyahuSk8er's Journal
God God God by Paramahansa Yogananda
Posted: Feb 5, 2008 5:49 PM
This is a wonderful poem by Paramahansa Yogananda that helped me in my personal journey to bring together the mindfulness of Zen with... (more)
My Photos
Audio/Video
MatisyahuSk8er's Friends
Friends: 9
My Groups
Feeds
Guest Book
December 13, 2007 - 08:29 AM
All comments are read with care then deleted. Peace.