Category: Spirituality and Religion

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10 of the Dalai Lama’s Most Remarkable Quotes

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

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“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.”

“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.”

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”

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Creative Listener


Jeff Napier, Creative Listener
805-843-5353
jeff@500ways.com

As a creative listener, I ask just the right questions to help you understand things in new ways, come up with your own inventive solutions, or feel better about yourself and your situation. This is done by phone or email. I charge $3/minute. The average call runs 9 minutes ($27). The results can be worth $thousands!

You may come up with inventive ways to fix problems, overcome frustration, worry and mild depression, make solid decisions, or discover new ways to interact with friends, family, and co-workers.

I do not tell you what to do. The purpose is to help you sort things, make sure nothing is overlooked, take mental leaps, come up with entirely new ideas, help you see and really feel the lighter side when necessary, and come away with a new perspective and hopefully with a renewed sense of purpose.

Does it work for everyone every time? No, but since it usually works and is the best approach to so many things, it’s well worth spending a few minutes, don’t you think?

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You can phone me any time at 805-843-5353. If I’m not immediately available, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. You’ll enjoy my friendly style.

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Stories about Acts of Kindness




CBS reporter Steve Hartman looks for and finds inspiring stories all over the United States.

Steve Hartman is one of television journalism’s great storytellers, famous for finding extraordinary tales hiding inside ordinary lives. His segments often feel like tiny documentaries about kindness, coincidence, and human quirks. Here are some interesting facts about him:

1. He’s been with CBS News for nearly three decades

Hartman joined CBS News in 1996 and has spent much of his career producing human-interest stories that air on programs like CBS Evening News and CBS News Sunday Morning.

2. His “On the Road” segment revived a legendary series

His famous feature “On the Road” was inspired by the classic storytelling segments originally done by Charles Kuralt decades earlier. Hartman revived the tradition of traveling around the country to find remarkable everyday people.

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3. He once chose stories by throwing a dart at a map

In an earlier CBS series called “Everybody Has a Story,” Hartman would literally throw a dart at a map of the United States and travel to wherever it landed to find someone interesting to interview.

4. He has traveled enormous distances for stories

For that series alone, he logged over 100,000 miles and about 150 flights, chasing stories in dozens of states.

5. His work has won major journalism awards

Hartman has earned multiple Emmy Awards, an Alfred I. DuPont–Columbia Award, and many Edward R. Murrow Awards, including a record number for writing.

6. His children sometimes appear in his segments

During the pandemic he created “Kindness 101,” short lessons about character and empathy that he hosts with help from his kids, especially his daughter Meryl.

7. He helped create a nationwide Memorial Day tradition

In 2020 Hartman co-founded “Taps Across America,” encouraging musicians to step outside at 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day and play the bugle call “Taps.” Thousands now participate each year.

8. One of his children has autism

Hartman has spoken publicly about raising a child with autism and how it has influenced the way he tells stories about empathy and understanding.

9. He started small in local TV

Before national fame, he worked at local stations in Minnesota, New York, and Los Angeles, beginning as a news intern and general assignment reporter in Toledo.

10. His stories are used in classrooms

Teachers across the United States often use his segments to teach character, empathy, and storytelling, turning news clips into mini life lessons.

📺 His storytelling style is a bit like wandering through America with a lantern. Instead of chasing scandals or disasters, he points the light at surprising kindness, quiet heroism, and the occasional wonderfully odd human being.

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Coincidences

Both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were assassinated on a Friday while seated beside their wives. Both JFK and Abe Lincoln reported having dreams about being assassinated shortly before their deaths.

The Royal Synchronicity: Queen Elizabeth II was born on the same day that King George V, her grandfather, died.

The Unsinkable Woman: Violet Jessop, a stewardess, survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, the sinking of the HMHS Britannic in 1916, and the collision of the RMS Olympic in 1911.

On December 5, 1664, a ship sank off the coast of Wales. The only survivor was a man named Hugh Williams. On December 5, 1785, another ship sank. One man survived, another Hugh Williams. On December 5, 1860, yet another ship went down with only one survivor – you guessed it – his name was Hugh Williams.

Mark Twain and Halley’s Comet: Mark Twain was born in 1835 when Halley’s Comet appeared, and he died in 1910 when the comet returned.

The Triple Lightning Strike: In 2006, Roy Sullivan, a park ranger, was struck by lightning for the seventh time, making him the person with the most recorded lightning strikes.

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Jonathan Swift wrote a classic book called Gulliver’s Travels that borders on science fiction. It was written before ‘science fiction’ was what you called such books. In this book he wrote about two moons circling Mars. His descriptions of their size and orbital distance weren’t perfect but surprisingly accurate. He did this one hundred years before they were described by astronomers.

The Reunited Brothers: Two brothers, separated at birth, named Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, coincidentally named their sons James Alan and James Allan.

The Train Crash Prediction: In 1895, author Morgan Robertson wrote a novel titled “Futility” about an unsinkable ship named the Titan that hit an iceberg and sank. Fourteen years later, the RMS Titanic suffered a similar fate.

In 1979, a man named Frane Selak survived a train crash, a plane crash, a bus crash, and a car crash, and then won the lottery.

The Converging Paths: In 1975, two women with the same name, both traveling from England to the Canary Islands, wearing identical clothing, and carrying similar bags, ended up sitting next to each other on the plane.

The Identical Twins: In 2002, two unrelated identical twin brothers, separated at birth, named Jim Springer and Jim Lewis, coincidentally reunited and discovered they shared the same first name, occupation, and hobbies.

The Bridge Collapse: In 1940, a worker named Harold C. W. Keevil fell off the unfinished Tacoma Narrows Bridge but survived. A year later, he was on the same bridge when it collapsed, but he survived again.

The Struck by Lightning Brothers: In 2018, two brothers, aged 5 and 7, were both struck by lightning on separate occasions within the span of a year.

The Separated Sisters: In 2007, two sisters named Samantha Futerman and Anaïs Bordier, who were adopted from South Korea, discovered they were identical twins after one saw the other in a YouTube video.

The Winning Lottery Numbers: In 2003, the winning numbers of the Virginia Lottery’s Pick 4 game were 6-6-6-6, causing a record number of winners and resulting in the lottery having to pay out millions of dollars.

The Mysterious Subway Meeting: In 2008, two strangers named Laura and Laura, who had the same birthday, height, hair color, and were both wearing a black coat and a red scarf, accidentally bumped into each other on the London Underground.

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Catholic Church

The Vatican City, located within Rome, is the smallest independent state in the world and serves as the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican City has its own post office, radio station, and newspaper.

Latin was the official language of the Catholic Church until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

The Catholic Church operates the largest non-governmental network of education and healthcare institutions in the world.

The Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church, is recognized as a sovereign entity by international law.

The Catholic Church has canonized over 10,000 saints throughout history.

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The Vatican Secret Archives contain millions of historical documents, including papal bulls, letters, and manuscripts dating back centuries.

The Pope, as the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the Catholic Church, is considered the successor of Saint Peter, who was the first Pope.

The Vatican Observatory, founded in 1891, is one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world. This came 276 years after Galileo Galilei was brought before the Catholic inquisition and made to refute his findings that the Sun orbits the Earth.

The Catholic Church was a major patron of Renaissance art and commissioned works from renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.

The Swiss Guard, a small force responsible for the security of the Pope, is the oldest active military unit in continuous operation, founded in 1506.

The Catholic Church has its own diplomatic corps, known as the Holy See Diplomatic Corps, which maintains diplomatic relations with countries around the world.

The Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination, with over 1.3 billion members worldwide. One out of every six people is Catholic.

President John F. Kennedy was Catholic.

The Catholic Church played a significant role in the development of Western music, with composers like Palestrina, Mozart, and Bach creating sacred music for liturgical use.

The Code of Canon Law, the official set of laws governing the Catholic Church, contains over 1,700 canons.

The Catholic Church has its own legal system, known as Canon Law, which regulates various aspects of Church life, including sacraments, discipline, and governance. Code of Canon Law contains over 1,700 canons.

The Pope’s official title is “Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State.”

The Vatican City has its own railway station, connected to the Italian railway system, but it is mainly used for freight and special occasions.

The Catholic Church operates numerous charitable organizations, providing aid and assistance to those in need worldwide.

The Catholic Church considers the Pope infallible in matters of faith and morals when speaking “ex cathedra” (from the chair of Peter) on matters of doctrine.

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Massage

The word “massage” comes from the Arabic word “masah” which means “to press.”

In ancient Rome, massage was used to treat gladiators before and after battles if they were still alive.

There are some male massage therapists in England who specialize in massage of the penis.

The longest recorded massage lasted for 80 hours and was performed by two therapists in Bangkok, Thailand.

In some cultures, such as in India, massage is considered a form of spiritual practice and is performed in temples.

In the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries, some medical doctors attempted to cure ‘hysteria’ in female patients by massaging the clitoris.

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A study conducted in 2011 found that massage can reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

In Thailand, massage is considered a form of medicine and is taught in medical schools.

In the United States and many developed countries, massage is most often performed on padded tables, but in most other countries, the client is treated on the floor.

A female massage practitioner is often called called a ‘masseuse’ and a male is a ‘masseur.’

In some cultures, such as in India, massage is considered taboo for men to receive from women who are not their spouses or relatives.

Some medical professionals claim that healthy as well as enlarged prostate glands can be treated successfully by massage through the anus.

The first massage chair was invented in 1948 by Japanese engineer Nobuo Fujimoto.

In China, massage has been used as a form of healing for over 3,000 years.

Gentle massage of the testicles is claimed to promote overall good health.

The first recorded mention of massage in Europe was in the 5th century BC by the Greek physician Hippocrates.

In Japan, massage is believed to improve blood circulation and relieve fatigue.

The first massage oil was made from olive oil in ancient Greece.

Swedish massage, also known as classic massage, is the most popular type of massage in the Western world.

Massage therapy can help lower blood pressure.

In some cultures, such as in Morocco, it is traditional for a mother to massage her newborn baby.

In some countries, such as South Korea, it is common for people to receive regular massages as part of their healthcare routine.

Some massage therapists specialize in working with animals, such as horses and dogs.

In ancient Egypt, massage was used as a form of pain relief during childbirth.

The first massage table was invented in 1878 by a Dutch physician named Johann Georg Mezger.

In some cultures, such as in Indonesia, massage is used to treat a variety of medical conditions, including asthma and diabetes.

In the 1970s and 1980s, massage beds were common in hotels. One could put coins in a slot, then the bed would shake for several minutes.

Massage can help improve flexibility and range of motion.

Some massage therapists incorporate energy healing techniques, such as Reiki, into their sessions.

In ancient China, massage was used to treat a variety of medical conditions, including paralysis and digestive issues.

Massage therapy can help alleviate symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

In some cultures, such as in Egypt, it is believed that massage can help prevent baldness.

Some massage therapists specialize in working with cancer patients to help manage symptoms such as pain and fatigue.

Massage can help improve posture.

In most developed countries a licensed massage practitioner must go to school and have detailed knowledge of anatomy.

In the United States, massage practitioners must never touch genital areas for fear of losing their licenses.

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Where Our Emotions Come From

In the times of Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, around 350 BC, people thought that the liver, not the heart, was the center of emotion. Now we know that it is not the heart, either.

You may have trouble believing that your thoughts and emotions could reside anywhere but in your brain. That’s what you were taught. But what if you were taught that your thoughts came from your belly? Might that seem just as real as what you believe now?


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Seventh-Day Adventists and Disease

Members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church have ten times less lung cancer, 40 percent less heart disease and one-fourth as many dental cavities as average Americans. Many Seventh-Day Adventists are vegetarians, some are vegans (no meat, milk or egg products), many avoid coffee, and most do not smoke or drink any significant quantities of alcohol.