Salutations. Salaam. Shalom. Namaste. I don't really do friend requests. I do welcome you and thank you for your kindness and your interest. This profile page has images indigenous and artistic nudity. These may be a blow to some sensitivities; however there are no depictions war or violence. Those images would be pornographic and obscene.

Please be inspired...
[: muse :]

Om purnamadah purnamidam
Purnat purnamudachyate
Purnasya purnamadaya
Purnamevavashishyate

The Whole is all that, the Whole is all this
The whole was born of the Whole
Taking the whole from the Whole what remains is the Whole.

"If you don't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?"
— RuPaul

"To have peace, one must employ peaceful means; for if the means are violent, how can the end be peaceful?"
—J. Krishnamurti

"Only when the last tree has withered, and the last fish caught, and the last river been poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money."
— Cree wisdom

"Nous ne voulons pas de richesses. Nous voulons la paix et l'amour."
— Sagesse indienne

"You cannot have Liberty in this world without what you call Moral Virtue & you cannot have Moral Virtue without the Slavery of that half of the Human Race who hate what you call Moral Virtue."
— William Blake

"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind."
— John F. Kennedy

"Garde toi de juger ton frère avant d'avoir marché quinze jours dans ses mocassins."
— sagesse amérindienne

"Good, Fast, Cheap... pick two..."
— unknown, 8,000 B.C.

Call Me by My True Names

Do not say that I'll depart tomorrow
because even today I still arrive.

Look deeply: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with wings still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
in order to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time
to eat the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily in the clear pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who, approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly weapons to
Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea
pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and
loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my
hands,
and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to, my
people,
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all
walks of life.
My pain if like a river of tears, so full it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.

Thich Nhat Hanh

"A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side."
— Aristotle

"It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace."
—Aristotle

"The problem with ideology is, if you've got an ideology, you've already got your mind made up. You know all the answers and that makes evidence irrelevant and arguments a waste of time. You tend to govern by assertion and attacks."
— Bill Clinton

Muse is a yoga practitioner and web designer too.
www.sweetpeaceyogacenter.com/

"Often the Muse will not respond to direct and logical requests. She must be lured in with the playful and gentle."
— Jill Badonsky

"The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths."
—Aleksandr Pushkin

"If you'll scratch a cynic, you'll find a disappointed idealist."
— George Carlin

"La tristesse est un mur élevé entre deux jardins."
— Khalil Gibran

"Impossible is a word humans use far too often."
— Seven of Nine [Star Trek]

"It is such a secret place, the land of tears."
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Whoever loves above all the approach of love will never know the joy of attaining it."
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."
— Aristotle

"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."
— Nietzsche

A strict Muslim, a moderate Muslim, and a liberal Muslim are walking down the street when they see a beautiful woman.
The strict Muslim shouts, "God forbid!"
The moderate says, "God is great!"
And the liberal prays, "God willing!"

"Rock is so much fun. That's what it's all about - filling up the chest cavities and empty kneecaps and elbows."
— Jimi Hendrix


Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves, and within it is the Creator:
Within this vessel are the seven oceans and the unnumbered stars.
The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;
And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth, and the spring wells up.
Kabir says: "Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within."

Kabir (15th Century)


"Take off all your clothes and walk down the street waving a machete and firing an Uzi, and terrified citizens will phone the police and report: 'There's a naked person outside!'"
— Mike Nichols


"I don't pretend to be an ordinary housewife."
— Elizabeth Taylor


“You can free yourself from aging by reinterpreting your body and by grasping the link between belief and biology.”
— Deepak Chopra


"Quand tu médites, le ciel s’ouvre à l’intérieur de toi."
— sagesse amérindienne


"I'm not much of a partier anymore. I enjoy clarity much more."
— Sheryl Crow

"The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows."
— Buddha

"Wound of speech is worse than wound of sword."
— Moorish Proverb

"Violence is not merely killing another. It is violence when we use a sharp word, when we make a gesture to brush away a person, when we obey because there is fear. So violence isn't merely organized butchery in the name of God, in the name of society or country. Violence is much more subtle, much deeper, and we are inquiring into the very depths of violence.

"When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind."

— Krishnamurti

"Seeing is not believing; believing is seeing! You see things, not as they are, but as you are."
— Eric Butterworth

"Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours."
— Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee

" Il est un soleil caché dans un atome : soudain, cet atome ouvre la bouche. Les cieux et la terre s'effritent en poussière devant ce soleil lorsqu'il surgit de l'embuscade."
— Rumi

"I have only three things to teach: simplicity, patience, and compassion. These three are your greatest treasures."
— Lao Tzu

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
— Gandhi


"God must be greater than the greatest of human weaknesses and, indeed, the greatest of human skill. God must even transcend our most remarkable — to emulate nature in its absolute splendor. How can any man or woman sin against such greatness of mind? How can one little carbon unit on Earth — in the backwaters of the Milky Way, the boondocks — betray God almighty? That is impossible. The height of arrogance is the height of control of those who create God in their own image."
— Ramtha

Henna paisley swirls
spun toward her secret ravine.
He kissed his name there.

—Muse

"How delightful the fishes are enjoying themselves," exclaimed Soshi.

"You are not a fish," commented his friend. "How do you know that the fishes are enjoying themselves?"

"You are not myself," ansered Soshi; "How do you know that I do not know that the fishes are enjoying themseves?"

– Taoist dialogue

"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other."
— Chinese proverb

"If you're going through hell, keep going."
— Winston Churchill

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion."
— The 14th Dalai Lama

"In the end these things matter most:
How well did you love?
How fully did you love?
How deeply did you learn to let go?"
— Buddha

"If my world is not sufficient without thee, my friend, I will wait till it is and then call thee. You shall come to a palace, not to an almshouse."
— Henry David Thoreau

Every child has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don’ts,
Not the God who ever does Anything weird,
But the God who knows only 4 words.
And keeps repeating them, saying:
“Come Dance with Me, come dance.”
— Hafiz

[muse made this: www.sweetpeaceyogacenter.com/ ]

[muse made this too: www.stlouisyogasource.com/ ]

[and now this: www.ombellyco.com/ ]

[and this: www.kirkwoodsugarshack.net/ ]

[and this: www.yogabreak.org/ ]

"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."
– Mark Twain

I think on-stage nudity is disgusting, shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a progressive religious experience.
— Shelley Winters

The music scene in Shawshank Redemption:
"I have no idea to this day what those two italian ladies were singing about. Truth is I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think it was something so beautiful it can't be expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you those voices soared... For the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free."
www.youtube.com/watch


"I'm gonna put a curse on you and all your kids will be born completely naked."
— Jimi Hendrix

"Connaître les autres, c'est sagesse. Se connaître soi-même, c'est sagesse supérieure."
— Lao-Tseu

“I am most fascinated by things that I don't like at first.”
— designer Dries Van Noten.

"I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else."
— Dolly Parton

"It's so curious: one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses."
— [Sidonie Gabrielle] Colette

"N'employez aucun parfum si ce n'est le charme des pensées."
— Sagesse bouddhiste

"To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."
— WIlliam Blake

The Archbishop of Genoa once said that although the Vatican opposed human cloning, "an exception might be made in the case of Sophia Loren."

At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

Seven Principles of Mevlana Rumi

In generosity and helping others, be like a river.
In compassion and grace be like the sun.
In concealing others' faults, be like the night.
In anger and fury be like one who is dead.
In modesty and humility, be like the earth.
In tolerance, be like a sea.
Either exist as you are, or be as you look.

Sois comme le soleil :
Dans la générosité et l'assistance, sois comme un fleuve
Dans la tendresse et la pitié, sois comme le soleil
Pour cacher les défauts d'autrui, sois comme la nuit
Dans la colère et la nervosité, sois comme le cadavre
Dans l'humilité et la modestie, sois comme la terre
Dans la tolérance, sois comme la mer
Ou parais comme tu es, ou sois comme tu parais
— Rumi


The body is like a letter:
look into it and see whether it's worthy to be read by the King.
Go into a corner, open the letter, and read what is in it,
see whether its words are suitable for royalty.
If it isn't suitable, tear it to pieces,
write another letter, and remedy the fault.
But don't think it's easy to open the letter of the body;
otherwise everyone would readily discover the secret of the heart.
How difficult it is to open that letter!
It's only for the strong, not for those playing games.
— Rumi


The Love of Woman

If you rule your wife outwardly, yet inwardly you are ruled by her whom you desire,
This is characteristic of Man: in other animals love is lacking, and that shows their inferiority.
The Prophet said that woman prevails over the wise, while ignorant men prevail over her;
for in them the fierceness of the animal is immanent.
Love and tenderness are human qualities, anger and lust are animal qualities.
Woman is a ray of God and she is not the earthly beloved.
She is creative: you might say she is not created.
— Rumi
[translation: Reynold Alleyne Nicholson]


The Taste of Morning

Time's knife
slides from the sheath,
as a fish
from where it swims.

Being closer and closer
is the desire of the body.

Don't wish for union!

There's a closeness
beyond that.

Why would God
want a second God?

Fall in love
in such a way
that it frees you
from any connecting.

Love is the soul's light,
the taste of morning,
no me,
no we,
no claim of being.

These words
are the smoke
the fire gives off
as it absolves its defects,
as eyes in silence,
tears, face.

Love cannot be said.

— Rumi

I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door. It opens. I've been knocking from the inside!
— Rumi


Ta tâche n'est pas de chercher l'amour, mais simplement de chercher et trouver tous les obstacles que tu as construits contre l'amour.
— Rumi


I honor those who try to rid themselves of any lying, who empty the self and have only clear being there.
— Rumi

I have learned so much from God
That I can no longer call myself
a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.
The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me
That I can no longer call myself
a man, a woman, an angel, or even a pure soul.
Love has befriended Hafiz so completely.
It has turned to ash and freed me
Of every concept and image my mind has ever known.

J'ai tant appris de mon Dieu que je ne puis plus dire que je suis chrétien, hindou, musulman, bouddhiste ou juif.
La vérité s'est tellement imposée à moi que je ne puis plus dire que je suis un homme, une femme, un ange ou même un pur esprit.
L'amour m'a tellement habité qu'il m'a consumé et libéré de tout concept, de tout image jamais conçue dans mon esprit.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

(from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, Harper Collins, 1992. From Chapter 7, Section 3 by Marianne Williamson)

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.
— Khalil Gibran

It is impossible to lick your elbow...

www.climatecrisis.net/

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
— Upton Sinclair

"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, it's what we know for sure that just ain't so."
— Mark Twain



“ It was the only colour we could see in the universe. We’re living on a tiny little dust mote in left field on a rather insignificant galaxy. And basically this is it for humans. It strikes me that it’s a shame that we’re squabbling over oil and borders .”
— Bill Anders, Apollo 8, whose photos of Earth became famous.

"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth."
— Niels Bohr


"You don’t have to be brilliant, It’s enough to become progressively less stupid"
— Marshall B. Rosenberg

"Anybody who preserves the ability to recognize beauty will never get old."
— Franz Kafka