Today I will abandon all self centered ideas
I will abandon all greed, hatred, and fear within my heart
Empty my mind of selfishness
Instead I will only water the seeds of unconditional love, forgiveness, compassion and grace
I will water these seeds within me, other beings and the universe
Bringing transformation and joy to myself and to all living beings
Nourishing the planet with love with each step
May we have the courage to sit down with our enemies
Look into their eyes
Seek to understand why they harm us
To truly love someone we must first have the courage to understand them
Keep asking questions and seek to understand with curiosity
Soon you will see the suffering in their heart and mind
They were born into the suffering of war, violence, and greed
Taught wrong perceptions by their ancestors and society
If you look deeper we can see that our enemies were once innocent smiling babies
They were not born with hatred and fear in their hearts
With this deep insight, compassion and understanding will be born
This deep love will be liberate us from hatred and violence
And a river a joy will rush through us
This is the way of the peaceful warrior
To love our enemies and pray for those who spite us
With love,
Johnny
May I empty myself to you God
So you can fill me with your divine love
May I empty myself of all self centered ideas
So you can fill me with your divine grace and humility
May I empty myself of all hatred, fear and greed
So you fill me with your infinite compassion
I empty myself to you God
I surrender to your unconditional love
Beyond all beliefs
There is a sanctuary
Let’s meet there
A land of no hatred
No dogma
No sinners
No fear
No religion
Only compassion for all beings
A kingdom of radical peace
A land of unconditional love for all, no matter how lost they are in the darkness of hatred and fear
Lets meet there right now on this beautiful planet
With love,
Johnny
Some have given up on humanity and focus on our destructive nature
Some believe only will power and technology will save us from self
destruction
Some want to leave earth behind and escape into the sky
My truth is that humanity is worth
saving
Humanity is worth unconditional love
But we must return to little children once again to save ourselves from destruction
Children who haven’t closed their hearts to love
Only true unconditional love can save us
No amount of willpower or technology will save us from the greed, hatred and fear inside us
Only forgiveness, love, and radical nonviolence can liberate humanity
Don’t lose hope
Don’t close your hearts and become cynical
Keep your heart open to love as children do
Your brother,
Johnny
Some say I’m a Buddhist
Some say I’m a Christian
Some say I’m a Taoist
Some say I’m a Sufi
You can label me all of these or none
No one religion or philosophy has a monopoly on the truth
Many streams lead to the ocean
Many paths lead up to the mountain top
All spirituality has a common ancestor
Unconditional love unites and purifies all religious teachings
Some teachings call it God, the divine, Dao, Buddha nature etc
We must not get attached to believing that our tradition has the ultimate truth while diminishing other spiritual paths
I plan to never get attached to one philosophy, religion or teacher
I only seek the ocean of unconditional love within my own soul
With aloha,
Johnny
Look within your heart and mind
The healing source of infinite love is within you
Do not seek love outside of yourself
Look within
Seek only the barriers within your heart that keep you from its infinite source of healing
May we have the courage to dissolve these barriers and let the light of unconditional love vibrant through every cell of our body
With love
Johnny
I forgive my family
I forgive society
I forgive the casino owners
I forgive the credit card companies
I forgive the government
I forgive myself
To truly forgive others and ourselves is to liberate ourselves from the burden of hatred that drags us down emotional and spiritually
It’s free and available if we have the courage to open our hearts and minds to forgiveness
Forgiveness is a gift we give to ourselves
I whole heartedly forgive all that have harmed me in the past, including myself
Your brother,
Johnny
Question this blog post, leaders, religion, philosophy etc
Question everything and everyone
Question not with hatred
Question not to prove others wrong or you right
Question everything with a childlike curiosity
Is this true to you in our daily life?
Is it practical or possible?
Will this bring peace and love to ourselves and all living beings?
Let go of all bias and dogmas
Question everything with curiosity to find out the truth for yourself in your day to day lives
Most importantly, question yourself
Question your own beliefs and behaviors in the world and where they stem from
Are they serving you and others around you?
You might find out that most of your beliefs and opinions are from your parents, culture or government
They might be outdated or not helpful to you anymore
With love,
Johnny
On the spiritual path there are many obstacles diverting us off towards pleasure, money, or fame
Each time our eyes divert from God we must return them
If we can keep our eyes on our family, friends, coworkers, jobs, bank account, shopping, food, or pets we will be diverted off the path towards God.
We will be lost and afraid in the woods
Not knowing which way to go and suffer tremendously
It takes tremendous conviction to keep going on this path
But the rewards of inner peace, serenity and complete liberation are more precious than diamonds
The path towards God is liberation from all greed, hatred and fear
God brings many the gift of unconditional love which liberates us from all self-centeredness and fear
If we keep our eyes on God we have nothing to fear and our days will be filled more and more with love, joy, and inner peace
With love,
Johnny Hoffman
The Narrow Path 