Release tension

Meditation Therapy: Sit in any comfortable asana or lie in Shavasan . Now relax the body, very slowly from head to toe. This relaxation will give the feeling of pleasure to the mind and body. Try to keep both hands in Mritsanjavini Mudra . As the body relaxes, the respiration will become slower. Now bring your whole consciousness on your breath. Try to concentrate on the breathing procedure. Do not try to control the breathing, just focus on it. Try to visualize the breath — how air is going in and coming out of the body. Now concentrate on the Cardiac chakra and meditate on green colour in the centre of chest region. Take a deep breath and start chanting the beej mantra "Yang" (pronounced as young) and feel the vibration of this mantra in the chest region. Continue to focus your awareness on your Anahat Chakra (cardiac chakra) for five minutes or as long as you wish. As the body relaxes further and the breathing becomes slower, the mind will also achieve a level of calm. Try to remain in this state for a few minutes. When you want to come back to yourself, become aware of your body step by step. First bring awareness towards the breath, and then the body parts, right from head to toe. Now slowly open your eyes and with slow movements of body parts return to the normal position. Laughter Therapy: Laughter is as good a relaxation therapy to overcome the problem of cholesterol. All of us should laugh out loud at least thrice a day. Each person should consider laughing as a key to health and releasing tension, restraint and worries. Studies show that laughter decreases adrenaline and cortisol production. If you are frustrated, unhappy or angry, just laugh and find yourself relaxing. It is one effective medicine you always have with you, without any expenses involved.

Acharya Vikrmaditya

Love is nothing but God, you and me

Love is euphoric, ecstatic, overwhelming joy। Why doesn't a newborn baby cry while in the mother's womb? Why does it start crying the moment it comes into this materialistic world? A mother's womb for a baby is nothing less than a temple, for there is only love... of the mother. Love is euphoric, ecstatic, overwhelming joy. Enjoying life in such a sweet atmosphere, the baby feels safe in her mother's womb. Why then should not a place like this be called a temple? No one, but God resides in a temple. Thus a newborn is regarded as God incarnate. When born it is separated from the spiritual and holy world of freedom and so cries to express sorrow on arrival in a world of falsehood. God has gifted every baby with the virtue of being loved and being lovable. It's we who tend to lose and make others too lose this precious gift. The innocence of a baby fills everybody's heart with happiness. Love does not expect. God loves us the most, and does not expect anything from us. It is up to us whether or not to offer prayers to God. God's love is boundless and immeasurable. We pray to God because we are grateful. We have the power to understand His Creation. Why do we think then that God also gives us sorrows? We tend to forget God in times of happiness. That does not mean that God wants us to pray to Him; it is to learn again how to love because praying is loving, a part of loving mankind. We do not show kindness to others once we get happiness. Service is the best way to love God. Kindness and courage are different dimensions of love. Kindness is the virtue of being compassionate and merciful towards others. Every living being is an image of God. It's also important to love ourselves and the life given to us by God. The spirit of God within us is called the soul. Problems come and go. Joys and sorrows are like day and night. But if a person keeps awake all night just to see the sun rise, he can never see it because when the sun rises he will fall asleep. Joy or sorrows... we must welcome every emotion that God wants us to experience, with courage. Anything that brings us closer to God is love. The great classical dancers of our country worship God through their dance. A farmer worships God by toiling in his field, which is his first love. Similarly, people in other professions worship God by performing their duty sincerely and honestly. There are many who are atheists but if they perform the duties assigned to them by God their noble deeds bring them closer to Him and a person close to God is a loving person and a loving person is a happy person. So it fills their life with happiness and prosperity. This is one way of bringing ourselves closer to God. All her life Meerabai loved Krishna, she worshipped him. She did not bother what the world would say. She just wished to be close to God, she just wished to be close to love. True love brings us closer to God and subsequently we become an image of love and finally an image of God in the true sense. Thus, God is love. You, too, can become love.

Siddhi Srivastav

Joy Is Sorrow, Life Is Death

When knowledge or wisdom is absent, facts can be misused। If there is balance, such a situation does not arise. A balanced view takes into account as many aspects as possible. This is the anekanta principle. The one who has perspective of anekanta does not take a single-dimensional view of things that could twist logic. In the explanation of universal laws anekanta has lent balance. Even in the world of conduct and thoughts, anekanta plays an important role. Restraint and equanimity are also results of anekanta . Without the anekanta view there would be no reason for restraint. Through anekanta we accept the coexistence of opposites as a fact. Everything has its limits. There is need for equanimity. Both loss and gain are to be accepted. It is the norm that if there is gain there will also be loss and if there is loss, there will be gain, too. The two are mutually connected. The two are, in fact, one. The difference is only in time or space. There is no distance between happiness and sorrow or life and death, they both go together. Sometimes one feels happy and life seems bright and sometimes one feels sad and life seems miserable. Where is the distance between water pulleys? It is one single chain. The wheels bring in water, empty it and return. Wheels full of water and empty of water keep coming and going. They work together. Similarly, joy and sorrow work together. Life and death work together. There is no second that belongs entirely to life or entirely to death. The first second of life is also the first second of death. Death is not an event that is to take place only after 70-80 years. It can take place even in the first second. With the first second of birth the event of death also takes place. Creation and destruction go hand in hand. One cannot find even one man who has been only praised, never condemned, or always condemned and never praised. Both go together. The balance is maintained. Loss and gain, praise and insults, life and death, all of them go together. We have a problem when we do not go along with them. If we learn to go along with them then we will be truly spiritual, followers of anekanta. This way our problems come under our control. But we are very strange, we don't usually adopt a balanced view. We do not like to move along with the principle of anekanta; we want to move independently. An individual wants gain but not loss, joy but not sorrow, life but not death, and he wants praise, never condemnation. He then forgets the universal rule. In this dualistic world, nothing comes alone. Everything is in pairs. Man is ignorant. He wants to break the order of anekanta and wants only a single dimension. When the world and nature have a rule, how can it be broken? Yet man makes his own single-dimensional perspective. Under pressure of not wanting loss but wanting gain, not wanting insults but wanting praise, man falls victim to uni-dimensional perception.

Acharya Mahaprajna

Let your thoughts be

How easy it is for people to become trapped in their conceptual prisons। The human mind, in its desire to know, understand, and control, mistakes its opinions and viewpoints for the truth. It says: this is how it is. You have to be larger than thought to realise that however you interpret your life or someone else's life or behaviour, however you judge any situation, it is no more than a viewpoint, one of many possible perspectives. It is no more than a bundle of thoughts. But reality is one unified whole, in which all things are interwoven, where nothing exists in and by itself. The realm of consciousness is much vaster than thought can grasp. When you no longer believe everything you think, you step out of thought and see clearly that the thinker is not who you are. The mind exists in a state of not enough and so is always greedy for more. When you are identified with mind, you get bored and restless very easily. When you feel bored, you can satisfy the mind's hunger by picking up a magazine, making a phone call, switching on the TV, surfing the web or going shopping. Or you can stay bored and restless and observe what it feels like to be bored and restless. As you bring awareness to the feeling, there is suddenly some space and stillness around it, as it were. A little at first, but as the sense of inner space grows, the feeling of boredom will begin to diminish in intensity and significance. So even boredom can teach you who you are and who you are not. You discover that a bored person is not who you are. Boredom, anger, sadness, or fear are not yours, not personal. They are conditions of the human mind. Prejudice of any kind implies that you are identified with the thinking mind. It means you don't see the other human being anymore, but only your own concept of that human being. To reduce the aliveness of another human being to a concept is already a form of violence. Thinking that is not rooted in awareness becomes self-serving and dysfunctional. Cleverness devoid of wisdom is extremely dangerous and destructive. That is the current state of most of humanity. The next step in human evolution is to transcend thought. It doesn't mean not to think anymore, but simply not to be completely identified with thought, possessed by thought. Feel the energy of your inner body. Feel the life that you are, the life that animates the body. The body then becomes a doorway, so to speak, into a deeper sense of aliveness underneath the fluctuating emotions and underneath your thinking. There is an aliveness in you that you can feel with your entire being, not just in the head. Every cell is alive in that presence in which you don't need to think. Yet, in that state, if thought is required for some practical purpose, it is there. The mind can still operate, and it operates beautifully when the greater intelligence that you are uses it and expresses itself through it. You may have overlooked that brief periods in which you are "conscious without thought" are already occurring naturally and spontaneously in your life. You may be engaged in some manual activity, or walking across the room, or waiting at the airline counter, and be so completely present that the usual mental static of thought subsides and is replaced by an aware presence. Your perceptions become crystal clear, unclouded by thought.

To the mind, all this is not significant, because it has more important things to think about। It is also not memorable, and that's why you may have overlooked that it is already happening. The truth is that it is the most significant thing that can happen to you. It is the beginning of a shift from thinking to aware presence. Become at ease with the state of not knowing. This takes you beyond mind because the mind is always trying to conclude and interpret. It is afraid of not knowing. So, when you can be at ease with not knowing, you have already gone beyond the mind. A deeper knowing that is non-conceptual then arises out of that state. Artistic creation, sports, dance, teaching, counseling — mastery in any field of endeavour implies that the thinking mind is either no longer involved at all or at least is taking second place. A power and intelligence greater than you and yet one with you in essence takes over. There is no decision-making process anymore; spontaneous right action happens, and you are not doing it. Mastery of life is the opposite of control. You become aligned with the greater consciousness. It acts, speaks, does the works.

Eckhart Tolle

The Power of One

Yes, we are living in a world where we are constantly shown, by the media, man's inhumanity toward each other through violence, terrorism, and war. Never has there been a time that our light is more needed than now. During this powerful time in history we, as a group of conscious beings, actually can shift the awareness of the planet. The soul work we are doing has prepared us perfectly for this precise moment. Our voices, actions and intentions will inspire and heal so many. No longer can we just pray and visualize our government making conscious choices; it is essential that we combine our spiritual practices with uplifting words and positive action.

If we can do this I believe, with my whole being, that we are on the brink of something truly amazing. The vision I hold is that we are a moment away from creating a world safe for our children, their children, and all generations to follow.

Some of you might be saying, How can I as one person change what is happening in our government and our world? By becoming a spiritual activist. By being that spark to help others raise their awareness and find peace. This can occur by committing to creating peace within yourself and your family, by voting and encouraging others to vote for political leaders who value humanity, and by helping others discover their light, you set in motion the intention of positive transformation.

If one by one each of us takes personal responsibility for raising the awareness of humanity we begin to shift the global consciousness.

There is a powerful phenomenon in group behavior called reaching a critical mass. What this means is that one person begins initiating a behavior, others observe it and begin imitating the action. Then one by one others join in until enough people are behaving in the same way and the entire crowd follows, this is the critical mass.

I personally witnessed this phenomenon when my husband and I took our children to a Marlin's game. The stadium was filled with the energy of 25,000 people, each an individual brought together for the collective purpose of enjoying an afternoon of baseball. My six year old daughter Riley, who is very wise and observant, was fascinated by the crowd. As she looked around with determined eyes she leaned over and said, “Mommy, do you think I can get the whole stadium to start doing the Marlins cheer?” I told her, Go for it and see what happens.

She began very quietly chanting, Lets go Marlins, then she looked around and noticed that her father, brother and I were chanting with her. She became more confident and began cheering louder. The section behind and in front of us joined in. Within moments all 25,000 people erupted in a frenzy chanting Lets Go Marlins. My daughter beamed knowing that she ignited a spark of inspiration and passion that spread so quickly.

The light that each of us shares is just like Riley starting the stadium cheering. The healing spark our government and world so desperately needs can be ignited by each of us at any moment. Change always occurs with one little spark, just look at Martin Luther King, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, Moses, Christ, and Buddha.

As in the immortal words of Mahatma Gandhi, be that change you wish to see in the world. You never know, you might just be the spark that changes our collective consciousness to peace and integrity.

May you have the courage to speak your truth, may you find peace within and may we all know peace on earth.

The CAB Approach to Spiritual Growth

I have been thinking a lot about the spiritual growth process and I thought I would share. I think that what enlightenment really involves is accepting the light that already exists within each of us and in every one and every thing. Of course we have created many layers and blockages to prevent us from seeing the light and we have gotten attached to these layers which is why clearing can be so painful. Anyway the approach I am taking to spiritual growth boils down to three things: Commitment, attitude and balance.

Commitment: We all have been given the gift of time and energy by Spirit. When we give this gift back to Spirit by dedicating our time and energy to finding out who we are then the universe responds by supporting us in this search. Eventually as long as we maintain a strong focus on being who we really are, we develop a force field around us that magnetizes and energizes the process. The time and energy we dedicate to this search for inner meaning/realization is magnified many times by Spirit so that growth for each of us becomes effortless in many ways.

Attitude: Most people on this planet operate from the victim/rescuer/observer role. This places us on an emotional roller coaster that only the ego enjoys. We always have the choice to stop playing this game but it takes a certain amount of courage to do so. Each day I try to focus on three things. I try to see everything I experience as something that I created in order to grow spiritually from. I also try to see the Christ/Love/Light/Spirit within everyone. And I often ask myself, how can I serve the people I encounter each day. Living in the now is also important to me.

Balance: Many people I have observed on the path focus so intently on spiritual growth that they ignore the needs of their bodies; experience out of control emotions; and operate from the ego mind. We are here to ground the energy of Spirit into our body, emotions and mind as well as to evolve the soul. Each body is like the leg of a chair; it is great to grow one leg but if you don't grow all of them roughly at the same time, your seat gets awfully wobbly and eventually collapses. If you want to focus on one thing, focus on love for love heals the body, soothes the emotions, slows down the mind and advances the soul. The path I prefer is to heal the body, then work with emotions, then the mind and then the soul and then back to the body to repeat the cycle all over again. This way I feel I grow in an ever-expanding spiral. This is really how the universe functions: Stars are like spirals of energy. Sort of like Van Gogh's picture, Starry Night.

Preparing For Enlightenment

Enlightenment can come in an instant or it may take many life cycles.

The shortest distance between two points is in a straight line and so the fastest way to achieve enlightenment is to know that you are already enlightened.

Few of us will be able to do that on demand because we all have lifetimes of experiences and circumstances that say we cannot do it. So we have to wrestle with all our memories and the wisdom of others that we have adopted to get to a place where we can accept our new awareness.

Changing a lifestyle can be met with great difficulty and struggle or wild abandonment and joy. It is simply another trip or a course along a different path that has an alternative purpose. It is not going to be any easier or more difficult than the one that you already chose and it will mean sacrifice or clearing depending on how you think of it.

Because there will be a profound change in you and your lifestyle you will lose people along the way, including friends and family. For one thing as you move along your new path you will learn a different language and as you start to master this language your friends and family will no longer understand you; it will not be so easy to communicate with them, nor they with you.

Along with having difficulties communicating with each other you will not be able to relate to each other just as a grade one student will not be able to relate to another in grade 12 except on the most basic levels. As you empty your mind of old business and memory, new concepts and awareness will replace them and become your new truth. You will travel lighter and pay little notice of others that are around you, they will call you crazy or weird and as your awareness increases you will eventually move to a state of transformation.

One transforms when one has raised his/her vibration level so high that they virtually disappear and enter another realm of awareness. You will become invisible to all in the old realm.

If your feet are firmly planted in the physical world and this is where you are strongly focused, transformation may take several lifetimes. Death is a human or physical concept and in truth you do not have to leave your physical body behind.

The first step in the thousand mile journey is to make a choice or decision for enlightenment. With this choice comes the eventual transformation that will take you out of this physical realm and into another.

With this level of awareness comes rejection of all physical things and people. The truth is we are all headed there anyways. Those that have a higher level of enlightenment or awareness simply move faster and with anticipation lacking any fear of what is to come. It is the tendency for all things to move back to its source, it is a natural law of cause and effect or Karma.

There is a Buddhist teaching that says if you want to put new tea in your cup you must make sure you have an empty cup.

In preparing for this new enlightenment you must let go of old belief systems and thoughts. You must clear your mind to make way for new concepts and ideas. Enlightenment will not come when your mind is busy with old thoughts. Neither will it come while you try to analyse it, acceptance is the key to enlightenment.

There are many who say that they want enlightenment but few will receive it. The pull of the physical world is strong, and addictive. For those that have found great meaning in the earth experience they will find it hard to let go. “A rich man cannot get into heaven,” for when you are attached you are not going anywhere.

In preparing for enlightenment you must be prepared to leave all things behind. It is the natural tendency for all to move to the next level of awareness and to better themselves. Leaving this world and moving into the next realm comes in two ways with the highest level of enlightenment and transformation or the lowest through physical death.

There are few that have gone the first way and most people tend to get there slowly and through many lifetimes experiencing physical life again and again. Once you have grasped the idea that life is an occurrence that you are in control of, and you grow to understand that you are not in school to learn anything, you will begin to look farther ahead to greater awareness with the knowledge that the spirit is eternal and cannot be destroyed.

Enlightenment should never be taken lightly but seen as a natural course of experiences that you have absolute control of.

Enlightenment can come in an instant or it may take many life cycles but always it is about freedom of choice and unconditional love.

Getting to Spiritual Enlightenment

The expression "Spiritual Enlightenment" has been used often in reference to personal spiritual development. What exactly is meant by this term however has been vaguely defined. My research on the topic has found it linked to some of the following experiences:

1. A connection to a higher self

2. A connection to an inner knowing

3. A connection to spiritual energies or beings beyond one's self

4. Altered states of consciousness

5. Out of body experiences i.e. astral travel, remote viewing etc.

6. An greater intuitive awareness

7. An enhanced energy state in the body

8. Precognitive or other clairvoyant experiences

9. Extrasensory perceptive experiences

10. Hypnotic experiences

In this article I aim to propose a new experiential definition of Spiritual Enlightenment that is not only accessible to everyone but which also provides a road map to achieving this sought after state of being.

In order to achieve this goal I wish to examine the word "Enlightenment" itself from a strictly literal standpoint. To be "Enlightened" can be taken to mean the following:

1. To feel "lighter" as in more buoyant or less weighted down.

2. To feel or perceive oneself as being "lighter" as in brighter, more luminescent, or more radiant.

3. To be brought "into the light" thereby making things clearer or more visible.

In other words we can distill, from these literal definitions the experiences of a) Buoyancy, b) Luminescence and c) Clarity. For the analysis that follows I now propose an experiential definition of "Enlightenment" which embodies these three qualities of being.

According to this definition one can be said to be "Enlightened" if they are experiencing these three qualities simultaneously. Whether this is possible and whether this corresponds to what one might subjectively describe as being "Spiritual Enlightened" however remain to be determined.

I also wish to put forth the hypothesis that the simultaneous experience of these three qualities of "Enlightenment" can be used as a starting point in our search for what one might subjectively describe as "Spiritual Enlightenment". In order to assess this latter hypothesis I wish to digress for a moment and discuss a matter that is often missed in the discussion of Spiritual Enlightenment. That is, that in order to be searching for it we must already know, at some level within our being that a) it exists and b) what the state actually looks like.

This can be readily seen by the fact that we may feel, say in our current state, that we are not yet enlightened. This means that within us we have a "set point" (i.e a set point is like the desired temperature setting in thermostat which lets the furnace know whether the desired temperature has been attained or not) with which we compare our current state of being and which tells us whether or not we are there. Hence, in order to know that "we are not yet there" we must at some level harbor the knowledge of where "there" is.

Although we are not completely conscious of what "there" looks like we strangely know what "not being there" looks like. Having said that, it follows that an individual will "know" when they are there, or at least are getting there. With this in mind we created a tool that helps individuals move in the direction of our definition of Enlightenment (i.e. buoyancy, luminescence and clarity). We then asked individuals to assess whether this felt like what they would subjectively describe as a state of Spiritual Enlightenment.

This tool is called the Mind Resonance Process™ (MRP) and we will describe it shortly. When we looked at the effects MRP had on individuals' descriptions of their new state, we, as expected found them to correspond repeatedly to our definition of Enlightenment i.e. Buoyancy, Luminescence and Clarity. This basically affirmed that MRP did what it was designed to do. What we also found was that this state of "Enlightenment" repeatedly corresponded to individuals' subjective report of what they described a state of Spiritual Enlightenment.

What does all this mean? Well to start with it means:

1. That our definition of Enlightenment appears to correspond with what individuals repeatedly subjectively described as an experience of Spiritual Enlightenment.

2. That repeated exposure to MRP facilitates shifts towards successive and heightened states of Enlightenment and subjective Spiritual Enlightenment.

3. That the effects of MRP are not reversible. That is the effects are cumulative and cannot be undone.

The MRP process is essentially a simple but powerful algorithm (i.e. a multi-step process) that targets and facilitates the complete and permanent release of "negative" beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories from the mind/body system (or in Energy Psychology terms, from the individual's bio-field). Please note the emphasis on the word "negative". Negative here implies that the targeted item is "not desirable" i.e. our definition of "negative".

The release of such negativity is accompanied by most or all of the following: a sense of physical buoyancy, a visual sense that one is more luminescent or radiant both to self and to others, a greater sense of clarity about who one really is and who others around them are, a deep feeling of love and compassion, a sense of joy, a feeling of fulfillment, a deep sense of inner peace, a feeling of wholeness or completeness, a feeling of increased energy in the physical body, a heightened feeling of self-esteem and self-confidence, a great feeling of resilience, a feeling of expansiveness which was described as extending beyond the limits of the physical body yet being in at the same time, and much more.

Many have described this as an experience of their Real Self or even their Divine Self. Some interesting and common reactions to this new state are:

1. That it is familiar yet feels ancient at the same time. In other words, it has existed far longer than the individual has had a connection to it. Additionally, the state has been experienced at some distant time in the past.

2. That this new state feels like it has always been there i.e. there was never a time when it did not exist.

3. That who the individual thought they were before exposure to MRP is not who they ever were i.e. the negativity is not experienced as part of the Real Self.

As a result of our observations with MRP we would like to propose that:

1. Our definition of Enlightenment is taken as a close approximation to what most would consider an experience of Spiritual Enlightenment.

2. MRP is an effective tool in facilitating the shift towards a more Enlightened and Spiritually Enlightened State.

3. MRP is a powerful yet simple way of achieving what human beings have long been seeking, their Divine Self.

Acknowledging the Existence of Your Soul

Talking about your "soul" and the deeper things in life is so frequently considered as spun out or weird in modern, take-away-eating, order-it-on-the-internet life, but if you are one of these people, you'll find that letting go of socialistic trends like these will free you in a way that you simply cannot be freed in a materialists world.

The end result is inner peace that no material possession could ever come close to. No, really.

How do I acknowledge its existence?

It starts by simply observing your own nature, or the actions and reactions you exhibit to different situations. Your thoughts from day to day, loves and hates, etc.

Ask questions. Not about the happenings of creation, but internal questions. Question your nature, and in doing so you will gain a greater knowledge of self.

Your soul is the part of you that makes you unique. Remember, your body is quite common. There are over 6 billion examples on the planet at this particular point in time, and at least on a biological level, they all function in the same way.

It is your mind that separates you from those around you, and mind is manifest. Your mind is your souls mind, and your strongest link to your soul.

Meditate.

It's simple.

Just quiet yourself and allow thoughts to bubble to the surface. Don?€™t dwell on them. Let them go and move on. Clearing your mind will open your eyes to the existence of your own soul and those of the people around you. To be conscious of your soul is to be on a higher level of consciousness.

Why would I want to acknowledge its existence?

To put it simply, the world we live in is at least as spiritual as it is physical. If you are confined within the boundaries of just one then you are missing out on at least half of what life has to offer. By simply acknowledging your soul, you're enabling yourself to become aware of the greater things in creation and life.

So many people move around from day to day only believing what they see and hear around them. Life to these people is temporary. Their meaning is to acquire as many physical possessions as possible, as this life -- consisting of but one lifetime -- has no definite meaning and hence they are forever filled with a sense of why. Why am I here? Why do I feel empty? Why do I have everything yet have nothing at the same time?

Those who make happiness and the betterment of the spirit the central goal of their life can recognise the fact that there is more to life than the physical sense of the word.

This brings a 3rd dimension to life, which is more than emotions can express. It is a bliss that surrounds you from day to day, when you realise that there is something else out there. Meaning starts to appear in what you do day-to-day.

People who are unaware of their spiritual side and focus on the attainment of possessions as their central goal hardly experience a moment of contentment, and when they are confronted with the fact that their lives seem to be meaningless they are cast into a pit of despair.

If they had been aware of their spiritual side then their minds would be more evolved to see that life is just a series of lessons, educating you in the subtle laws of creation and bringing about an understanding of your own nature. Nothing more, nothing less.

So, acknowledging the existence of your soul enables you to bring meaning to your life -- even where there are no material possessions. You soon see that you don't need material possessions to advance on a spiritual level as it is what's inside of you that does the growing, not what's on the outside.

Letting go of the material confines of society and allowing yourself to believe that there is a deeper side of life -- and that it's ok to believe that this will grant you inner peace -- will truly help you find a solid grounding of happiness and calmness that you may never before have experienced.

Acknowledging the Existence of Your Soul

Talking about your "soul" and the deeper things in life is so frequently considered as spun out or weird in modern, take-away-eating, order-it-on-the-internet life, but if you are one of these people, you'll find that letting go of socialistic trends like these will free you in a way that you simply cannot be freed in a materialists world.

The end result is inner peace that no material possession could ever come close to. No, really.

How do I acknowledge its existence?

It starts by simply observing your own nature, or the actions and reactions you exhibit to different situations. Your thoughts from day to day, loves and hates, etc.

Ask questions. Not about the happenings of creation, but internal questions. Question your nature, and in doing so you will gain a greater knowledge of self.

Your soul is the part of you that makes you unique. Remember, your body is quite common. There are over 6 billion examples on the planet at this particular point in time, and at least on a biological level, they all function in the same way.

It is your mind that separates you from those around you, and mind is manifest. Your mind is your souls mind, and your strongest link to your soul.

Meditate.

It's simple.

Just quiet yourself and allow thoughts to bubble to the surface. Don?€™t dwell on them. Let them go and move on. Clearing your mind will open your eyes to the existence of your own soul and those of the people around you. To be conscious of your soul is to be on a higher level of consciousness.

Why would I want to acknowledge its existence?

To put it simply, the world we live in is at least as spiritual as it is physical. If you are confined within the boundaries of just one then you are missing out on at least half of what life has to offer. By simply acknowledging your soul, you're enabling yourself to become aware of the greater things in creation and life.

So many people move around from day to day only believing what they see and hear around them. Life to these people is temporary. Their meaning is to acquire as many physical possessions as possible, as this life -- consisting of but one lifetime -- has no definite meaning and hence they are forever filled with a sense of why. Why am I here? Why do I feel empty? Why do I have everything yet have nothing at the same time?

Those who make happiness and the betterment of the spirit the central goal of their life can recognise the fact that there is more to life than the physical sense of the word.

This brings a 3rd dimension to life, which is more than emotions can express. It is a bliss that surrounds you from day to day, when you realise that there is something else out there. Meaning starts to appear in what you do day-to-day.

People who are unaware of their spiritual side and focus on the attainment of possessions as their central goal hardly experience a moment of contentment, and when they are confronted with the fact that their lives seem to be meaningless they are cast into a pit of despair.

If they had been aware of their spiritual side then their minds would be more evolved to see that life is just a series of lessons, educating you in the subtle laws of creation and bringing about an understanding of your own nature. Nothing more, nothing less.

So, acknowledging the existence of your soul enables you to bring meaning to your life -- even where there are no material possessions. You soon see that you don't need material possessions to advance on a spiritual level as it is what's inside of you that does the growing, not what's on the outside.

Letting go of the material confines of society and allowing yourself to believe that there is a deeper side of life -- and that it's ok to believe that this will grant you inner peace -- will truly help you find a solid grounding of happiness and calmness that you may never before have experienced.

Acknowledging Emotions and Feelings

We'll begin with a question:

What is a moral?

I'd say it's something you have an intense feeling or emotion about, generally so intense you would never cross its boundary.

Agree?

Have you ever crossed a moral boundary? It doesn't feel good does it. But why? Morals are not a physical thing - i.e. They can't be touched, purchased or photographed. They are an emotion manifested in a feeling; they manifest in the essence of your soul, which, in turn, is the very shape of your identity.

When you cross a moral boundary you go against a very strong emotion your soul has, and in doing this you are defying your own nature and it leaves you feeling terrible.

So, why did you cross that boundary? It's simple -- because you didn't acknowledge the feelings which were of your own nature. Due to a lack of understanding of your own nature perhaps from a pressure imposed on you from your immediate surrounds.

How do I start to feel? It is simple. Start with a thought, not just any thought but an important thought. Try quietly, just for a few seconds observing your immediate feelings from a happening in your life; it can be simple or a life changing thing.

Acknowledge it by resolving that this is how you feel about this, but don't stop there and close yourself off to it. Try to understand it, as it is a part of you and there for a reason -- your soul may be trying to tell you something

Acknowledging your true feelings is more than just saying "Yes, I feel this way right now". It's about feeling the feeling and applying thought to it, and coming to a decision as to whether to act on it or not. Acknowledge your feelings in this way and it will lead to a relaxed composure not only of your body, but of your thoughts and mind too.

Why bother with any of this? Well, for one, acknowledging your feelings brings you into contact with the immortal part of your own nature -- your soul. This is important as it is your soul that guides you and shapes the world directly around you.

Because of this, victims will always be victims; unsatisfied individuals will never be content and those who poison their own good days with imaginings and nit picking will never be happy.

Feelings are an interpretation of events that happen to you in life; the interpreter is the soul and hence is the root of the feeling. Acknowledging these feelings leads you into contact with your soul and therefore a greater understanding of self.

Feelings and emotions can manifest tension in different areas of your body. For instance, there are sympathetic points in the sternocloidemastoid (the frontal muscle of your neck). When your emotions get backed up and are not dealt with, this muscle can become tight and lead to irritability, headaches and lot more.

Simply by dealing with a feeling, such as standing up for yourself can ease these muscles and save you from pain and suffering. This is just a physical manifestation of feelings, deeper feelings and emotions that are left in the "too hard basket" can lead to lack of focus, motivation, hypertension & depression.

When you become one with your feelings, you merge with yourself and are free to observe and enjoy life in all its glory. It is your feelings that guide you towards the meanings of the questions you are here to answer; they guide you to your niche in life where you are happiest and able to learn the most in the easiest of life's ways.

For example, it is your feelings and emotions which enable you to identify your greatest love in life -- your own identity! Acknowledging them would lead you to take that on as a physical profession, and in doing so you dissolve one of the largest constraints of modern life - work. In doing something you love you'll never have to work again because every day is play!

Some people get a buzz from accounting, some from skateboarding, others from retail and still others from law. No one knows why or understands someone elses passion but that's OK because they don't need to!

It is the feelings and emotions your soul transmits to you that will lead you towards your true identity and the happiest life possible, and living a happy life is what we all dream about, isn't it?

Peace is the way

Don’t lose yourself in conflict, obsessiveness, anxiety over the future, and feelings of guilt and inadequacy, says Deepak Chopra.

Want to get to peace consciousness. Here are 10 steps for you.

1. Change doesn’t start on the surface. It is generated from consciousness. This has been true throughout history. If both Buddhism and Christianity could begin with one person, let us not think in terms of numbers and odds. It may sound grandiose to compare ourselves to great spiritual guides, but we act collectively, as an alliance. Our strength comes from critical mass.

2. We aren’t here to make the world evolve. We are here to evolve as individuals and then to spread that influence. In the wisdom tradition of Vedanta, the stream of evolution is known in Sanskrit as Dharma, from a root verb that means ‘to uphold.’ This gives us a clue how to live: the easiest way for us to grow is to align ourselves with Dharma. We don’t have to struggle to grow - that would be unproductive, in fact. The Dharma has always favoured non-violence. If we can bring ourselves to a state of non-violence, and connect with others who are doing the same thing, we have done a huge thing to reinforce Dharma.

3. Societies get into the grip of their own self-created story. It is helpful to realise that we can choose not to participate in that story. Realise that national and tribal stories are limited, self-serving, based on the past, reinforced by orthodoxy, and therefore opposed to real change. Stories are incredibly persuasive. Wars are fueled by victimisation that runs deep, for example. So let us not try to change anyone’s story. Let us only notice and observe ourselves when we buy into it and then let us back away from participating in it.

4. Let us not demand of ourselves that we alone must be the agent of change. In a fire brigade everyone passes along a bucket, but only the last person puts out the fire. None of us know where we stand in line. We may be here simply to pass a bucket; we may be called on to play a major role. In either case, all we can do is think, act, and say. Let us direct our thoughts, words, and actions to peace. That is all we can do. Let the results be what they will be.

5. Let us realise that engagement and detachment aren’t opposite - the more engaged we become, the more detached we will have to be. Otherwise, we will lose ourselves in conflict, obsessiveness, anxiety over the future, and feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Keep in mind that we are pioneers into the unknown, and
uncertainty is our ally. When our minds want closure, certainty, and finality, let us remind ourselves that these are fictions. Our joyous moments will come from riding the wave, not asking to get off at the next station.
6. Since most misery is born of failed expectations let us learn to minimise expectations so that we will feel far less guilt and disappointment.

7. We aren’t here to be good or perfect. We are here as the antennas for signals from the future. We are here to be midwives to something that wants to be born. Good people have preceded us. They solved some problems and created others. As one wise teacher said, “You aren’t here to be as good as possible. You are here to be as real as possible.”

8. I know this sounds difficult, but let us try to be tolerant of intolerance. This is a hard one at times, but if you try the opposite - showing a hard heart against those with hard hearts of their own - all we have done is expand the problem. It is helpful (but often difficult) to remember that everyone is doing the best they can to form their own level of consciousness. Trying to talk a terrorist out of his beliefs is like trying to persuade a lion to be a vegetarian. All we can realistically do is seek openings for higher awareness.

9. Let us resist the lure of dualities. These include us versus them, civilised versus barbarians, good versus evil. The good, civilised people of Europe managed to kill millions of themselves, along with millions of “them”. In reality we are all in the same boat of human conflict and confusion. Sometimes it helps to admit that the doctor is not far from being a patient.

10. Let’s create an atmosphere of peace around ourselves. Imagine that we are like a mother whose children come home crying about fights at school. Would it be her job to soothe their wounds or to arm them for fighting back tomorrow? Simplistic as it may sound, the male principle of aggression can only be healed by the feminine principle of nurturing and love.

What is True Success?

The Art of Supportive Leadership :
Part 1

The definitions of success are legion, as are also the techniques for reaching it. Perhaps the most important "rule" of all is this simply principle: The outcome of any project always reveals, however subtly, the kind of energy that went into its development.

A work of art reveals not only the skill, but also the consciousness, the basic attitudes, the philosophy of life, of the artist.

A place of business reveals the general attitudes of its workers: their happiness or unhappiness, their confidence or frustration.

A leader who leads truly, and never drives others, will create in his subordinates the most constructive possible attitudes, and will ensure the best possible long-range results for his and their labors.

The true success of an undertaking depends, more than anything else, on the spirit of the people involved in it. And the spirit of those people is a reflection, always, of the spirit of its leader.

In your role as leader or coworker, consider practicing the following principles:

1. Think of your position as an opportunity to serve, not as a trumpet call to self-importance.

2. Hold always to the principle, “People are more important than things.” If you hold to this principle, those who work with you will always give you their best.

3. Give loyalty to those under you, instead of demanding it first of them. Be loyal to those who work for you, whatever their position on the “totem pole.” Loyalty inspires loyalty. By demanding loyalty of others first, you’ll develop “yes men,” and the burden of every decision will rest on you alone.

4. Share with others the credit for any work well done. You will then have their support in all you do. Support is given grudgingly to the leader who claims, “I did it all.” Take from others the burden of blame. For even if the fault was theirs, in renouncing responsibility you renounce your leadership.

Spiritual healing for cuts and bruises

This week we reveal certain emergency procedures for healing minor cuts and bruises. We need to once more emphasize on the fact that when we use the spiritual dimension for healing, it is not to be forgotten that this is not the dimension of common beings, it is the dimension of saints. Sadhnas (these are yogic kriyas like sanatan kriya etc) for increasing your position on the evolutionary ladder are the most advanced sadhnas and will result in a heightened ability to access the dimension of colours to effectuate healing. Certain energies (colours) which are non-accessible to common people would now be within easy reach for you. If you practice self- healing without any commercial thoughts/bias, the results would be miraculous. When observed clairvoyantly the cells which regenerate tissue and skins are of various shades of yellow. The first step is to bring your awareness to your Anahat chakra and connect with you Guru, whoever, wherever he maybe. Do keep a dust bin in the form of a bowl filled with water and sea salt, as described last week. The bowl is the place to throw off the diseased prana, as if you are dusting dust off a cloth. Some light yellow flowers and neem leaves are the tools you will need for this procedure. Hold the neem leaves in both your hands and sweep the whole body 50 times. The sweeping motion should be from top to toe. Then holding the neem leaves in your right hand clean the cut specifically in an anticlockwise circular motion. Your awareness should be on your vishuddhi chakra (in the throat) all the time. Then using the yellow flowers energize the cut for around 15 minutes with whitish yellow light, moving your hand in a clockwise direction. (At no time during the process should your hands or neem leaves or the flower touch the body.) Though your awareness is at the vishuddhi chakra you should also remain detached from the subject by being aware that you are just a channel for healing and the healing is being effectuated by a higher force. Then with your palms transfer a cooling sensation to the wound in the form of a blue colour. You should now be able to see the effects of your healing.

Religion And Spirituality

Religion is general associated with certain fundamental rituals and practices while spirituality is more concerned with the mental and intellect aspects. Both however seek to help the aspirant in attaining Godhead. God consciousness is experienced in a state of thought extinction. It is a state where the mind is totally extinguished and only awareness reigns supreme! Mind is related to thoughts like a river to water. It is the flow of water that constitutes the river. So too, is the flow of thoughts that makes the mind. A mind thus created veils the Divine Self within us. Religious practices generate spiritual undercurrents, which help in transcending the mind by arresting the Divinity inherent in us. The flow in each case generates power and dynamism. The nature of river is dependent upon the quality of water flowing in it. If the water is muddy, the river is muddy; if the water is fast, the river is fast and so on. Likewise, the quality of thoughts in the mind relates to the quality of the human... As the mind, so the man! All our religious rituals and practices have a subtle cleaning and energizing effect on the mind to pave the way for attaining the ultimate state of Divinity. And the state of Divinity is not merely a personal achievement; it must culminate in a Universal resurrection!