Serenading the Virgen de Guadalupe by Peace Mother

A Buddhist nun once said that if you want to become enlightened, you have to be rubbed by sandpaper, not velvet. So, if you want to develop true peace, thank all those who push your buttons, and be great-full. Remember that if it is all peachy, all the time, and no one is pushing your buttons, then you will not have the opportunity to go further in your self inquiry, in your self examination, and advance in your spiritual growth.

Today was the day all of Mexico honors the Virgin de Guadalupe, serenading Her with devotional songs, parades, and special masses. I went to bed playing a song which praises Her, on the CD player on repeat. So, when I awoke, my heart was already bursting just thinking of Her. When I put on a cassette with my favorites songs to Her, my heart was flooded with devotion and I cried and cried tears of humble gratitude. I could feel Her wave of Compassion that She was sending out to bathe the world... sooooooo much love!

The Mexicans are very devotional and will often make pledges to Her, that if She answers their petitions, they will make a pilgrimage, on foot, or even on their knees, traveling long, amazingly long distances, to one of Her temples. The lyrics in the songs I was listening to were about this kind of gratitude, this kind of devotion. They are about the longing for Her blessings, the flowers the supplicant brings to place at Her feet....and it all reminded me of how much we take our blessings, and our Spiritual Protectors for granted. So, my prayers were infused with more humility, more invocations for even more gratitude than ever for having this great honor of serving Divine Mother.

Let us all pray that we all-ways have all the qualities we need in the perfect measure, to do Mother-Father God's work with unshakable faith and devotion, great-full for every moment of it, especially when the sandpaper is purifying us. Remember, learn the lessons well, for no torture lasts forever, and you may fined yourself transferred temporarily out of that classroom, before you know it. But if you have NOT mastered that lesson, it will be waiting for you down the road. The sand paper is your friend.

I was reading the life story of a great being, Saint Bernard of Clarivaux who described monk-hood as a battle that must be waged, saying, "If you desert your ranks, do you think you can escape the enemy?...An armed multitude surrounds your house, and yet you sleep. They are scaling the wall; they demolish the palisade; they will soon burst through the postern...Where are your arms of battle? where the shield of faith? the helmet of salvation? the breastplate of patience? Of course, these are words of wisdom for everyone on the spiritual path, not just monks or nuns, or Peace Mothers

He also wrote:
"The soul who loves, loves and knows nothing else. Love is sufficient unto itself for its own sake; it is itself a merit and its own recompense. Love seeks neither cause nor fruit beyond itself. I love because I love; I love that I may love. Love is the great reality.

At first man loves himself for his own sake. When he sees that he cannot subsist by himself, he begins by faith to seek after and to love God...so he loves God on a secondary level,for his own sake, not God's. Then little by little God becomes known to him....having found by testing how sweet the Lord is, man passes to the third stage in which he loves God for God's sake. In the fourth stage he loves himself only for God's sake."

As all-ways, I remind you my dearest children, choose to be happy, choose to love, choose to succeed, choose to serve humanity impeccably, I love you all and all-ways remember the love which inspires you to donate your time and energies to the Sacred Peace Center

From the Tripura Rahasya, "those in the highest state are like the citizens of two countries. They live in the world, yet simultaneously remain absorbed in the Self...

While acting in the world, the eternal being of an enlightened one remains undisturbed in all conditions"

What does this mean on a day to day basis? That the spiritual work goes on...things come and go...the gratitude goes on....things seem up or they seem down, the attitude is still: "it is a pleasure and an honor Divine Mother". When you are not sure, when there is confusion or lack of clarity on something, the prayers go on, "Let me look at this through your eyes Divine Mother, show me what I need to be aware of in this situation. How can I serve you best in this case?"

In this way, let go of struggle, attachment, fear, laziness, vanity, pettiness, and all qualities of the little ego... come back to your inner peace... none of you are a Motherless child... all of you are being watched over by me and Divine Mother, you are all-ways in our hearts and prayers, take refuge in the sacred company you keep... choose to love and honor your higher Self.

~ Love, Peace Mother ~