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Lots of pics

It’s taken an extra day to share my touristy pics due to yesterday’s post being in honor of Swami Kriyananda’s discipleship anniversary.
But now…back to Wednesday’s tourist adventures!

Part 1
Cappuccino and brioche with Peter and Aanadi in Locarno.

Peter is the choir director for Ananda Assisi, and Aanadi is an accomplished artist.
Al Porto Café Lago, situated on Lago Maggiore in Locarno.

Part 2
Santuario Madonna del Sasso. A long ways down…and back up! It’s very touching to see the many expressions of gratitude for answered prayers; “G.R.” stands for Grazia Ricevuta (or Grace Received) through the intercession of the Madonna. I have lots more photos of the beautiful interior, but they’ll have to wait for another time…

Looking down on the Santuario Madonna del Sasso.
The Madonna as she appeared in a vision experienced by the Franciscan brother Bartolomeo d’Ivrea on the night of 14/15 August 1480. 
Grazia Ricevuta plaques.
Another expression of Grazia Ricevuta are paintings depicting the specific misfortune but showing the Madonna watching over and resolving the situation.
Yet another example of Grazia Ricevuto: silver heart tokens of gratitude.
The view from the Santuario.
The back side of the Santuario as we started climbing back up the hillside.
One of four or five sections of stairway we climbed after visiting the Santuario.

Part 3
Ascona, where we celebrated our 15th anniversary next to Lago Maggiore. We ate a delicious pizza in company with a cute (and fearless) little bird!

Lakeside in Ascona.
Another view of the lake in Ascona.
The little bird who joined us for lunch; he hung out with us for quite a while!
Very European!
Beautiful wall in Ascona.
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Discipleship

Honoring Swami Kriyananda on the 71st anniversary of his discipleship. I’m so grateful to Swamiji for demonstrating what it means to be a true disciple.

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Tourists

Today was our most intensive tourist day yet!

Part 1
Met our friends from Assisi (Peter and Aanadi) in Locarno, where they’ve been visiting family. It was lovely connecting with them over coffee and brioche in a beautiful cafe right by the lake.

Part 2
Ramesha and I drove up the mountainside to Orselina, parked the car, and walked down a ton of steps in order to visit the beautiful church at Santuario Madonna del Sasso. Then we walked back up all those steps!

Part 3
Next stop Ascona — where we finally celebrated our 15th anniversary at Lago Maggiore by eating a delicious pizza. A cute little bird even kept us company.

I have a ton of pictures, but I’m too tired to post them tonight.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I’ll post pics tomorrow!
It’s only a day away…!

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Disney magic

So I had an interesting topic in mind for today’s blog (interesting to me, at least), which required a bit of research. Namely, reviewing a song from the animated Disney classic, Sleeping Beauty.

Of course, before I knew it, a song from Sleeping Beauty turned into three songs from Cinderella and one from Beauty and the Beast. Ha ha!

Now it’s too late to write the original blog post, which will have to wait until tomorrow. At least I’ll be going to sleep with a smile on my face. 🙂

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i tre Nani

Now for a bit of silliness…

Our last name translated into English means “dwarves”. So…”i tre Nani” is “The three dwarves”! Otherwise known as (from left to right) Ramesha/Fabio, (big brother) Fulvio, and (father) Silvio Nani.

Or maybe I should have titled it: “Bhagavati and the 3 Nanis” (I warned you this would be silly)! 😀

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Strength in love

I woke up this morning wondering how, exactly, does one find strength in love?

I thought about it off and on all day and it seems to me that the real question lies in what kind of love are we relying on for our strength?

I have a hunch that lifetime after lifetime is spent trying to find strength in love of people, love of money and things, love of power, love of intelligence, love of physical health, and so on and so forth. But none of those is–in and of itself–a permanent, infinite love.

Not that I’m there yet (by any means!), but I believe we find strength in love only when we begin to have even a glimmer of an understanding that God IS love. That, in Truth, there is nothing BUT love. And that we are ONE with that Love, which is all there is.

So I propose we update the phrase to read “find your strength in Divine Love.”

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The greatest love

My recent “recess” day seems to have joined forces with my “best self” insight, leading me to remember a favorite song from long, long ago. It was a time when I had gotten (way) off track and was intuitively using music to get myself back to center.

The song was The Greatest Love of All, as originally recorded by George Benson. Whitney Houston later made it an even bigger hit, but I always resonated more with the original version. And something I only just learned is that it was written for the soundtrack of a movie about Muhammad Ali.

I think these are some of the most powerful lyrics ever set to a popular song…

The Greatest Love of All
I believe the children are our future;
Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside.
Give them a sense of pride, to make it easier;
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we use to be.

Everybody’s searching for a hero;
People need someone to look up to.
I never found anyone who fulfilled my need.
A lonely place to be, and so I learned to depend on me.

I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow.
If I fail, if I succeed.
At least I lived as I believe.
No matter what they take from me,
They can’t take away my dignity.

Because the greatest love of all is happening to me.
I found the greatest love of all inside of me.
The greatest love of all is easy to achieve.
Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.

And if by chance that special place that you’ve been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love.

My two favorite lines?
Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.
Find your strength in love!

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Monte Generoso

This past Tuesday we played tourist, exploring the panoramic views of Monte Generoso (5,581 ft in elevation).

Here’s Ramesha and his father, Silvio, on the train we took to reach the summit of the mountain; the cogwheel railway has been in operation for 125 years.

This interesting(!) structure is the Fiore di Pietra (Stone Flower), designed by famous Swiss architect, Mario Botta. It’s impressive, but seems rather out of place in that beautiful natural setting. Like Ramesha said, in New York City it would fit right in.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are these buildings, part of a farm located a stone’s throw from the Fiore di Pietra. I suppose you can guess which style I prefer… 🙂

Of course, we were really there to enjoy the view…

….which was stunning.

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My best self

“My best self”. This phrase popped into my head as I was praying before meditation this morning. I’m not even entirely sure what the heck I was thinking of exactly.

What surprised me is that thoughts of “my best self” were all externally oriented. In other words, what came to mind were things that were measurable and visible: things that could be (and have been!) judged.

Then something radical occurred to me… what if I’ve had it backwards all these years? What if aiming to be “my best self” is all (and only) about how I feel inside? What if being “my best self” is a matter of self-acceptance, of self-forgiveness, of compassion for myself? What if it’s opening up to wholly receive God’s love and then learning to love myself as God loves me: unconditionally?

I mean, it makes sense that the more I’m in tune with and expressing the Divine, the more I’ll be my “best Self”. What do you think?

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Recess

Today was a much-needed “recess” day. A stay at home kind of day. A day to sit at the patio table in the late morning, drinking coffee and listening to the birds and, later, the noon-time church bells.

I spent time on the computer, but it was mostly listening to/revisiting long ago “moments” of Whitney Houston (“…give me one moment in time…”) and Stephanie Mills (singing “Home” from the 1975 Broadway production of The Wiz).

Remembering long ago experiences and enjoying the musical energy (wow!). Going with the flow, getting my mind off “myself”, and finally starting to feel my own energy lifting again. What a relief!

Nothing has changed, yet everything feels different…because I feel different inside. And there’s my very own “teachable moment” for the week. 🙂