“One day Buddha was sitting with all his disciples around him when an old man appeared and said, “How long do you want to live? Ask for a million years and they will be granted to you.” Buddha answered without hesitation, “Eight years!”

When the old man was gone, his disciples disappointingly pressed him, “Master why didn’t you ask for a million years? Think of the good that you would do for hundreds of generations!” And Buddha replied with a smile, “If I were to live a million years, people would be more interested in extending their lives than in seeking wisdom.”

Do you know what he meant? That they were more interested in surviving than in improving the quality of their lives. How true that is! Few spend time and energy to improve the quality of their existence. You can live without having lived. People think they are alive because they are breathing, eating, speaking, conversing, and going from one place to another. They’re not dead of course. But are they really alive? What does it mean to really be alive? It means three things: being yourself, being now, and being here.”

Fr. Anthony DeMello, S.J., in “Walking on Water”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

“Judging others is a way of covering up feelings of insufficiency and insecurity. I decide to examine each judgment I heard in my head and think of it as a mirror allowing me to glimpse some hidden part of myself. I discovered that there were very few people whom I viewed as “acceptable” and the majority of them were very similar to me. Since I rarely allowed myself to relate to anyone was who not exactly like me, I had put myself into an isolated box. From that day on, I used every judgment as a gift to learn about myself.

Making this shift meant that I had to give up judging the world. Giving up my righteous intolerance meant that I could no longer deem myself automatically superior to anyone, and the result was that I needed to take a good look at my own flaws.”

Cherie Carter-Scott, in “If Life Is A Game, These Are The Rules”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

“Changing your attitude from wanting something to having it is simple. You just must decide that it’s already within you, in spirit. Yet, many people have difficulty going from wanting something to having it because they believe that, if it’s not actually in their physical possession, they don’t have it. Actually, the opposite is true.

It isn’t until you know that you have it within you that you can produce it in your life. It isn’t out there somewhere in the world for you to go get. It’s inside your own being and needs only to be brought out of you into the world and into your life. Deciding that you already have it is making a commitment to yourself that you’re willing to make your dream real. Also, be grateful that you have it, for your appreciation and gratitude open you up and make you the beneficiary of life’s abundance.”

Michael J. Tamura, in “You Are the Answer”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

“Keeping in mind that every thought has a physical counterpart, you can see that these ego-produced elements materialize in your body in specific ways. The presence of this constant state of tension that comes from proving yourself, hurrying, chattering, worrying, chasing, acquiring and competing produces the same kind of results in your physical body. The accompanying tension that goes with all of these ego-engendered thoughts involves tension in the body.

High blood pressure, ulcers, skin disorders, headaches, back pain and even more serious ailments such as cancer, strokes and liver disorders are payoffs for the dominance of the ego. These disorders manifest because you allow ego to create turmoil to avoid the peace that is found within.”

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, in “Your Sacred Self”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.

“If you want to achieve something that has always eluded you, for this day act as if it were already here. For example, if you have always wanted to be in excellent physical shape, but have never achieved it, act as if today you are a perfect physical specimen. Ask yourself, “What would I do if I were in perfect condition?” Then be that person today. Walk instead of driving to the store. Swim fifty laps. Eat properly. Exercise. Read a book on nutrition. In other words, live in the physical world as if that which you want in your mind were here already. This is the avenue of miracle making. If you want to be confident but don’t normally act that way, today, just this once, act in the physical world the way that you believe a confident person would.”

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, in “Real Magic”

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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.