Irene Hoff

Wandering Spirit

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Stone angel

It is funny.
The contradiction of independency.
We believe we’re independent, but we’re not.

We’re attached to habits, rituals, things, a job, a car, certain friends, things we know, we have or we believe. And we like to talk about it, show it, or just think about it, so we feel good and confident. We feel these things are part of who we are.

Now imagine these things are taken away.
What’s left of you?

Everything and more!
It is not the things that make who we are, that is the ego that attached to these things. The true you, your spirit is unattached and doesn’t need things to be the coolest being on earth. Yes, that’s who you are, without things, isn’t that amazing?

It is like going parachute jumping.
Sitting high up in the air, with the parachute strapped on, frantically holding on the the handles. Thinking about that, it is not a nice place to sit. The only thing from keeping you from flying, instead of sitting there stuck, is letting go of the handles. Then you’re free as a bird, weightless, majestic and a great view.

Sit back, relax, keep breathing and let go.
And let go again and again, until it becomes a natural habit,
Like a wondering spirit.

Remember: Even statues can fly, they just need stronger wings.

Wandering Spirits is part of the Heavenliness

 

Animal Zen Masters: The Gecko

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The word Gecko comes from Indonesian-Malay word gēkoq, which is an imitation of sounds that some species make. In Indonesia we call them Cicak and children love to sing about them. We’re happy to have them in the house, because they eat the moths and mosquitos.

It’s amazing to see how cicak’s can walk any surface vertical or upside-down with their ‘magical’ adhesive power, and theirfeet are self-cleaning and will usually remove any clogging dirt within a few steps. Very practical.

The really cool thing about Gecko’s is that they leave their tail behind when they’re in danger. It’s called autotomy (self-amputation) and it’s a way to distract the predator, thereby allowing to escape.

Losing ego,
saves the soul.

 

 

ego = 1/knowledge
EINSTEIN

Apparition – Spirit FM

Gerard S. Hoff2 Comments

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Do you recognize that?
That constant stream of words going on in your head?
That is Mind.FM, the radio frequency of your ego. Mind.FM has a very powerful transmitter and has the power to overrule all.

That ego is not you, but pretends it is, and does anything to proof it.

In a way there’s nothing wrong with ego. In fact without it, life becomes perhaps boring. But ego is also responsible for a lot of negativity, like fear, jealousy, the feeling you’re not good enough, or the feeling of being a victim. In that sense it gives a wrong or fake purpose in life.

It is like looking in the mirror. The person you see is the one you recognize as yourself (or at least the image you have of yourself). When you smile, it smiles, when you frown it frowns, but when you raise your right hand it does the opposite. Looking at it from the perspective of the ego that is frustrating.

The trick is to become aware of the one watching the one who’s watching the image in the mirror. The one that is listening to your mind’s continuous flow of words and thoughts (and has some good laughs about the crazy things that happen there), that is the true you, your spirit, your connection to the source. The closer you get to the spirit, the less the ego can interfere.The real purpose in life is to live in the now and enjoy the moment. Watching your mind through the eyes of your spirit gets you there. The way is to be fully aware of the ego in order to learn and to grow.

Just remember there’s always the one watching you, watching yourself in the mirror. Try to connect to him or her at anytime, especially when you feel negative energy, like anger, envy, hate, frustration, jealousy. That awareness is the beginning of a new powerful radio frequency: the one of the spirit.

The one of the true you.

Animal Zen Masters: The Giraffe

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Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the presence.

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A giraffe must be an happy animal, as it can eat the best and juiciest leaves from the top of a tree. No other animal gets that high. At the same time, the advantage of a long neck is a disadvantage when drinking. Still, it is mathematical, symmetrical piece of art.

Celebrate your strengths and your weaknesses seize to exist.

Zen Masters: The peregrine Falcon

Gerard S. Hoff4 Comments

Nature delivers the greatest Zen masters in learning how to live in the presence.

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Imagine a brid faster then a Ferrari. It exists and its Latin name is Falco peregrinus. Its normal airspeed is 105-115 kilometers per hour, but when it dives it reaches velocities that exceed 320 km/h!

How?

It climbs up to a high altitude and gravity plus a perfect body shape does the rest. Nostrils and eyelids are protected, because of the pressure is so high.

Be the falcon, shape your being to reduce friction and use the power of gravity.

What about the wings 

Gerard S. Hoff1 Comment

image1

Imagine you’re an angel but are not able to use your magnificent wings because somehow, it is not accepted. Because it’s weird and out of the ordinary. What would you do?

Wings are hard to hide. Their too big and they’re also a piece of art. Let’s face it, art should not be hidden in a darkened cold cellar, it has to be out in the open.

Talents are like the wings of an angel.

Showing them is out of the ordinary and catches (too much?) attention. But, is the opinion of the less talented the convention? Or the opinions of the ones that are too shy or insecure, hiding their own wings? No.

Spread you’re wings so you can fly and people look up in wonder instead of looking down at the floor. Using your wings inspires everybody, sooner or later, direct or indirect, small or big. But most of all, it will inspire the hidden angels to spread their wings as well.

Imagine.
Fly.

The painting is part of the Heavenly-series

The power of the mind

Gerard S. Hoff1 Comment

 

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She drained the energy out of me in a way, even a Duracell Power Plus battery couldn’t handle for long. She was full of negative energy almost to a level I had difficulties coping with it. Fortunately, I was aware in time, and wasn’t sucked into this river of negativity.

It was clear, our visitor was a very unhappy person.
She blamed past (and future) of the heavy life she is in now. Her ‘egoic’ controlled mind was driving her behaviour a 100% and blamed anyone and everything as the cause of her misery. Even I couldn’t change her mind in a positive way, and believe me I tried.

It made me realize how strong the mind or ego can be in controlling behaviour and life, by squeezing out all oxygen out of consciousness. A terrible feeling.

The Mind,
it is talking continuously in my head as well, so I was wondering how much it controls my behaviour (and fears) and how to handle that in relation to my consciousness. I too have negative thoughts, feel anxious or insecure now and then, have judgements about others. I know it’s my ‘egoic’ mind that takes control, but I want my spirit to be. I want my spirit to be free and in direct contact with the source.

Instantly it became clear: It is the moment I think of my mind thinking.

It is then I am becoming the watcher of my thoughts and thus ‘in control’ of them and closer to consciousness. It is that space I want to be, briefly at least, or longer when possible.

So, the moment you’re aware of thoughts (negative and positive), you’re able to put things into a perspective (enlightenment). A perspective where mind and consciousness (ego and being) can team up and create synergy. All thoughts, bad and good, are positive energy, it is important be aware of the thoughts, in order to tap into the infinite source of energy.

Be conscious of mind

The painting is part of the Heavenly-series

Beyond the noise

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FullSizeRender2

Einstein once said: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

I like that saying a lot. Besides the fact that it promotes being open for change, it also means that it is good to go against the grain now and then. Not just to make a point, but also get a stir. Make people (and yourself) thing about he way we do things and we tend to do things always in the same way. That isn’t moving.

I love to ride a bicycle.
I get up ridiculously early and put in my bike gear to make my round. I do that no matter what weather, Cold, warm, rain or snow. But there’s always the noise of wind in my ears.

In a way think of it as the noise inside your head, that distracts you from being in the presence. It is the voice of your mind that interfering in being in touch with true spirit.

When I ride my bike I consciously listen beyond the noise and listen to the birds, the cars, my tires on the road, really feel the presence of everything around.

I even turn out the light and ride in darkness, with only the moonlight. It feels like the road is moving underneath you, instead of you moving over the road. Standing still while the world moves. What a thought.

Now, when I walk to the bakery or to my car I make it a habit to listen beyond the noise. The birds singing; the rustling of the leaves in the trees; my footsteps on the pavement, the beating of my heart.
It is a great and way to be in the presence.

Try it.
Turn on your in dolby and start listening beyond the noise.
Boom-boom-boom

 

The outcome of a dream

Gerard S. Hoff1 Comment

Dream big 140x140 cm

“The outcome of a dream can only be
the result of dreaming”

 

Dream
When you’re not having a dream there will be nothing to materialize or become real.
Therefore my message is to start dreaming immediately. It doesn’t matter whether it is dream in the night or daydreaming or in between (try it some times!), but be careful what you dream, because before you know it, it is real.

Polarize
So what is a dream? Is a dream is a result of a thought or a wish? I know a dream is the unconscious processing the emotions of the day, but active dreams have to be positive in order to have a happy outcome. It is a precondition to ban any negative thoughts from your mind. Best is to use the negative thoughts as input to make them positive. If you’re not able to ban the negative thoughts, they become part of (or interfere with) your dream and become part of the outcome.

Recognize
The outcome of a dream will, most of the time, not appear at once. It is a gradual process of small pieces coming together. It is important to recognize and see these little pieces, for they are vain… If you do not pay attention, they feel ignored and will hide again, so be aware.

And Be Here Now
Even when your dream is not yet realized at all, any thought is part of it and contains the biggest joy. That party is now. It has to be experienced and celebrated.

What’s your dream?
Think carefully,
because
before
you know,
it’s real.

 

 

True Zen

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Two Bhudhas

It is an interesting trend: Buddha statues are replacing Jesus. The question is of course whether it will improve the way we experience live. In essence they both preach the same: “Live life consciously” I had to think of a true Zen story that took place two hundred years ago in Japan.

Two Zen masters decided to have a debate on their different styles of teaching. On the day of the debate it was raining. One Zen master was sitting in the floor drinking tea when the other entered the room and sat opposite him. The tea-drinking Zen master said, “On which sided of your shoes did you put your umbrella?” The other Zen master sat still for a while and realized he didn’t know. He immediately gave up being a master and became a pupil of the first Zen master.

By not knowing something as simple as that, he realized he had been thinking about the debate instead of actually being alive. The thing is that the only time you can actually be alive is now. Not in the future, not in the past, but right now. Every time that tiny moment.

Now..

Now..

It is gone in a blink of the eye.

We worry too much about the future, that we forget about the now. We’re stuck in the past, reliving things that have gone bad, and are to busy to enjoy the.

Future and the past of course, don’t actually exist. They’re concepts in our mind. We don’t live our lives in the world, we live it in our minds and that was what the Zen master realized he was doing. Thinking about something else and while doing that, he wasn’t really alive. Not living in the now and that’s why he decided to become a pupil again to learn to be actually alive all over.

So Buddha or Jesus, the truth of the matter is, it doesn’t really matter. It is about what you do with it. Remind yourself with Jesus or Buddha, a sign on your hand or every smile of a child to be that pupil. Be the observer of your own thoughts (and laugh about hem now and then) and live in the now.

In remembrance of David Bowie, who died at he peak of his being.