The art of prediction

We are all aware that there are nine planets which are recognized by Vedic astrology. These are Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Like everything else in the universe, the planets also evolve from the 5 tatwas or the five elements. These are Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Ether.

As per the Hindu Scriptures the element predominant in a planet is as follows:

Earth : Mercury

Air : Saturn and Rahu

Water : Moon and Venus

Fire : Sun and Mars

Ether : Jupiter

Human beings acquire the temperament of the most powerful planet birth and also of planets influencing the ascendant. It is the influence of various tatwas or elements that determines the personality of a human being. These tatwas have great importance in Vedic philosophy. Below I am describing the basic effect of these elements.

When the ether element is powerful then the person is clever and creative. He is a good orator and will always acquire encyclopedic knowledge of the subject that interests him. These people make good diplomats. They are of a long stature and have a tendency of putting on weight after the age of 32 years.

When the fiery temperament is predominant then the person is confident, restless, proud and arrogant. He is of a very sharp intellect and fair complexion. When Sun and Mars are predominant, the native likes to be in a position of authority and are seldom happy working below someone. Fiery temperament makes a person daring and adventurous. Their face and physique exhibits rays of gold and a glowing fragrance.

When the earthy temperament is predominant then the individual is child like. His enthusiasm is like a small child and he is full of energy. He is fond of luxuries, comforts, and is always happy. He is very learned. His communication skills are amazing. Such a person is always clean and well dressed. Earthy temperament makes one hard working, preserving and devoted.

When watery element (Moon and Venus) gains predominance then the person likes socializing, is gregarious, can take the burden of difficult jobs, is soft spoken, loves art and music and has many friends. His body is slender, has robust health, is very good looking and has a very intuitive brain.

Airy element in predominance makes the person careless, absentminded and shabby. His power of comprehension is weak, thinks too much and has a tendency of getting depressed. He is sorrowful and indulges in self pity. He further has a charitable disposition, but is short tempered, fond of traveling, has a lean physique and lives more in the mental world than the physical.

The planets, also have the following three qualities or gunas:

(i) Satwic: Sun, Moon and Jupiter

(ii) Rajas: Mercury and Venus

(iii) Tamas: Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu

Satwic quality is a good quality. He is a human being of higher intelligence, well respected, truthful and in search of truth.

Rajas quality makes a native intelligent, hardworking and patient. He is clever, protects the weaker section and seeks comfort and luxury through hard work and truthfulness.

Tamsic quality signifies greed, falsehood and laziness. He is often a sadist who seeks pleasure in the sufferings of human beings and signifies the decay of human beings.

The four types of human beings:

Depending upon the predominance of gunas or qualities, Sage Parasara has described four types of human beings:

(i) Uttam (Excellent): When Satwic qualities are predominant.

(ii) Madhyam (Average): When Rajasic qualities are predominant.

(iii) Adhama (Despicable): When Tamasic qualities are predominant.

(iv) Udaseen (Neutral): A mixture of all the qualiies.

Vedic astrologers first determine the type of a person is from his birth horoscope or from the horary horoscope and then on that basis determine his stature in life. This is a prerequisite for making predictions.

by Dr. Ranjeet Mehta
Photo: Mike wade

Inner Nature

by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

The word nature means that aspect of life which is limited to the perception of the sense organs. Only what you can see, hear, feel, sense taste, smell - that is nature. All the things that we call as nature are physical
. Now, I am using another word called Inner Nature. That doesn’t come in the orbit of nature; it is not a part of the physical nature. Spirituality is about going beyond nature, it is about going beyond the limitation of the five sense organs. If we are limited to only those things which we perceive through five sense organs, our whole involvement with life will only be physical. Nature is physical quantity. It may be in the three different forms of solids, liquids and gases. Air is around you. Water is flowing. Earth is there. Body is there. Blood is there. All this is physical. Now, the material sciences are busy with the physical nature. They go on searching for more and more endlessly. But it is not endless. Anything you pursue on the physical level, somewhere there is an end. Maybe the end is far away. Maybe we can’t see the end right now. But there is an end to it. Whether it is medical science, or physics or chemistry, whatever you take, you go to a certain point and you stop. For example, physics has reached a certain point where it has stopped. Physics is not a growing science anymore. Because we have reached that end point where the physical quantity ends and something else begins. That something else cannot fit into the logical faculty of our perception. That something else cannot be perceived through the five sense organs. It cannot be deduced into this or that. So physicists, they have come up with what is called as fuzzy logic. These are all excuses to be illogical. You don’t want to admit that you are illogical. Because you are a scientist, you can’t be illogical. So, they have come up with what is called fuzzy logic - which is no logic. A poet is not logical. Mystics are not logical. Their scope of life is not limited to the logical mind. It is beyond that. They seek through their experience because they know the logical mind is useless. They seek through their intuition. But a scientist cannot seek through his intuition or through his experience. A physical quantity can never be unlimited. Spirituality is about transcending the limited and going into the unlimited nature. Not settling for the limited. If you want to become spiritual, you have to transcend nature. Only then you become unlimited. In the process of yoga, in any spiritual process, so many practices and other processes have been created to slowly transcend our nature. Gradually, one by one, one by one, you defeat nature. That’s one way. There is another way of simply slipping out of nature; there is no question of defeating. You are just above it. You are above your own physical nature. You have heard of yogis and others. They sit in one place - all needs of the body are forgotten totally. You have heard of many such people sitting for months or years in a place. Now, he has transcended his physical nature. Whatever the limitations of the body - it is no more a limitation for him. He has gone beyond that. All the animals are doing what is natural - eating, drinking etc. If all you want to do is live like any other animal - why do you need a philosophy, why do you need spirituality? You can simply live. You don’t have to evolve a philosophy or read Vedas to co-operate with nature. Nature will make sure that you co-operate. Now, if you have to transcend it, then you need something else. If you want to become a part of it, there is no problem. When you are with nature, slowly you’ll become a part of it. It will absorb you. Somehow, that kind of peace - when night settles, you also become peaceful. If you live in a place where there is no electricity or anything, you know - simply when sun sets, everything becomes quiet including your mind. Simply be in forest for 2 days and see. When the sun sets and everything becomes quiet - you also become quiet. So nature just overtakes you and absorbs you into its fold. That much will happen. But that’s not what we are looking for. We want to go beyond that. We don’t want to settle for nature. Nature means - it wants to perpetuate life. The moment you are born with this body, it has certain needs. It has to eat, it has to sleep, it has needs for certain pleasures. It has a need to reproduce itself. These are all nature’s tricks to keep life going on. Now, even that - man has forgotten because he has become so artificial. He doesn’t even enjoy that. Now, the elephant
you see in the wild here - he simply roams about, eats what he wants, drinks what he wants, he just goes about doing things, he is natural. Nobody taught him any philosophies. Simply he is natural. Man has forgotten that also. He has made himself so unnatural. He has not become super-natural. He has made himself so unnatural that his suffering has become very deep. If he becomes natural, definitely some amount of peace and happiness will enter his mind and heart. Definitely he will be more peaceful and more happy. But he is not totally free from suffering. Going beyond nature is the ultimate deliverance. All yogic processes are only methods to go beyond the limited dimension of nature.

Photo: Michael Lorenzo

Meditate with Surya mudra

Suryayog is a life changing odyssey that elevates your mind and transforms your approach to life. A self reflective way to evolve - the body, mind and spirit.

The most important or core of Suryayog is the Surya Mudra. This mudra, which consists of interlocking of fingers of the right and left hand, is a symbolic merger of male and female principles and balancing Panchabhuta or five elements to control senses and free ourselves from the claims and demands of the physical, emotional and mental domains. One can reach a meditative stage when pure energy of the sun’s rays cleanses our spirit and fills us with the spiritual energy of love.
Here little interpretation of Surya Mudra is needed. Equilibrium or balance of mind, body and soul is the foremost requirement for the path of enlightenment and bliss. Right hand represents male positive energy, the left brain - the reasoning power, while the left hand stands for female energy, negative, right brain- the creative power. Further right is supposed to be the embodiment of electro energy flowing from south to north (right) and left denote magnetic flex traveling from north to south (left). When one gazes at the early morning Sun, the rays activate positive pineal glands which can be called light meter of the body and negative pituitary glands which control hormone release- which is body’s reaction.

The finger tips reflect five elements or Panchabhutas - thumb is fire, index is air, middle finger is space, while ring finger and little finger represents earth and water, respectively. Thus interlinking of the finger tips not only balances the positive and negatives of the five elements of the body, but also mirrors the macrocosm of the universe in the microcosm of the human being.

A silver coin is placed on the third eye position on the forehead, while doing the Suryayog. If we take this as one of the tip and see the placement of the hands in Surya Mudra, a triangle or pyramidal formation can be seen. This is a representation of Shakti as well as a formation that helps in imbibing light and cosmic energy.

Passage of the Guru

Recently I wrote a brief article entitled “Passage to the Guru”. It described a recent retreat I was blessed to take in the company of my master, Avatar Adi Da Samraj, at his hermitage island in Fiji. This one is entitled “Passage of the Guru” since my beloved master unexpectedly passed from the body on November 27, less than two weeks after I returned. He had been in perfect health, and was working in his art studio when he suddenly took his Mahasamadhi. His devotees were in shock. Like hundreds of others from around the world, I immediately headed back to Fiji to participate in an extended vigil. It was a time of both heartbreak and grace. Heartbreak because there was a deep longing for this most precious of beings. And grace because his presence was felt as strongly as ever before. It is said that the passing of a true Realizer is a great wind that blows countless blessings to those open to receiving them. Many of my friends from various countries had remarkable stories of such blessings. What became completely clear was that Adi Da was continuing to teach and instruct his devotees. How is this possible? In Adi Da’s case he left a large number of books, essays, and art. There are DVD’s of his Darshan and CD’s of his discourses. There are temples for devotional worship, and a body of instruction for different phases of spiritual practice. There is a community of devotees around the world who are seriously committed to following the way he has given. But most importantly, his spiritual presence and his state of realization are untouched by the passing of his body. Just as there are millions of people who have a devotional relationship to Krishna, Buddha, Jesus
, or Sai Baba, the presence of Adi Da is a light that continues to burn bright. All that appears before our eyes arises from that which is formless, eternal, infinite, and Divine. Things come and things go. Bodies are born and bodies die. The passing of the guru is a stark reminder that one day each of us will pass, too. Until then will we live as suffering beings that follow our own desires only to be reincarnated for more of the same? Or are we willing to be mastered by a true Realizer (in the body or not) and thus participate in prefect freedom, beyond the reaches of birth and death? This is the question for both Adi Da’s devotees and for aspirants of truth everywhere.

Yogic ways for good eyesight

Yoga offers some yogic techniques which if practiced regularly can improve weak eyesight. If followed along with proper diet, results will be faster and better.

1. Netra Shakti Vikasak Kriyas

A. Blink the eyes quickly 10 times. Close and release. Do this at least 100 times in a day.

B. Sit in a comfortable position. Form your right hand into a fist with the thumb upright and in level with your eyes. Fix your gaze on the nail of the right thumb.
Slowly bring the hand towards your eyes then slowly move the hand away from you, maintaining the level and gaze as before. Repeat this three times.

C. Sit in a comfortable position. Light a candle at least 4 feet away from yourself and gaze at the candle. If your eyes water then close them and relax. After a few seconds begin gazing again. Do this at
least 3 times.

D. Rub the palms together till they become warm. Place the palms gently over your eyes, such that no light enters the eyes. Practice this for 1 to 3 minutes.

E. Take a wide mouthed bowl of clean, cold water. Tilt your head downward and put your open right eye in the water and rotate the eyeball. Repeat this with the left eye. Do this 5 times with each eye.

F. Without moving your head or the neck, move the eyeballs up and down. Repeat at least 50 times.

G. Keep your head and back straight. Rotate your eyeballs in a clockwise manner, 5 times; then similarly rotate them anti clock wise.

2. Asana:
Sarvangasana: Lie on your back and relax. Slowly raise legs, hips and trunk upwards in a continuous movement until vertical. Keep the knees straight. Keep the arms on the ground, bending the elbows, support the trunk with your hands. In this posture the chin is buried in the upper chest. Retain this position as long as comfortable. Then come down slowly. Relax. Do this only once.

Benefits: Blood supply increases to organs in the upper part of the body such as eyes, heart, face, thyroid, root of spinal nerves and brain.

Caution: Those suffering from high BP, heart ailments, cervical pain and slipped disc should refrain from doing this asana.

Logic of letting go

When we are children, and someone tells us to 'let go,' it is usually in reference to something material, and when we let go, we can either feel empty, as if we are being deprived of something, or we can feel full, knowing that we have allowed someone to have that something, and s/he must really need it.

As adults, letting go can still leave us feeling empty or full. Both feelings may occur simultaneously. Ultimately, letting go will allow us to feel free, unburdened, healed, happy, even joyous. I intend to address how we can reach these ultimate feelings. The concept of letting go is very complex. For the sake of this discussion, i will divide the various aspects of letting go into three categories: 1) physical, 2) psychological, and 3) spiritual.

When i discuss the physical realm, i am talking about anything tangible, whether it is our bodies or our environment. Our environment can often be cluttered, so purging of much of this stuff can be truly liberating. Our bodies may not please us, so we can choose to let go of extra weight. We can choose to let go of bad habits and addictions. We can choose to free ourselves of the indiscriminate materialism and consumerism that requires constantly acquiring more and more of anything.

Moving from the physical to the psychological, we move to the why of those items that we could let go of physically. For example, why do we have all of the stuff that needs to be purged? What has caused the rampant materialism that has allowed us to fill up our lives with objects and beings? I almost wrote 'inanimate,' but there are those who fill up their lives with pets and children and casual acquaintances rather than real relationships. All such acquisitional behaviour is symptomatic of a psychological need that longs to be filled, but which should be purged. The same is true of other unpleasant emotions, like anger, fear, jealousy/envy, even hate; when a psychological need exists, it causes these emotions to manifest in an attempt to satisfy that need. Guess what? The very same is true for any bad habits and addictions we want to let go of; while there may be a biochemical component to these, they also are indicative of some sort of need or self-perceived deficiency or pain that, in turn, is symptomatic of needing to spiritually let go.

Truthfully, one could argue that if one lets go and purges at the physical and psychological levels, spiritual level purges and progress will automatically follow. Instead of dealing with those two arguments, i am going to run to one common expression: Let Go; Let God. When we consider the spiritual level, by definition we are dealing with the Divine by whatever name we wish to call Him. Also, by definition, we are exiting the scientific arena that forms the foundation of most of my work, and moving into the realm of faith, which happens to form the foundation for the remainder of my work. Most spiritual advisors argue that happiness and joy are the natural state of our souls. Therefore, if these are not what we feel, what must be purged from the spiritual realm? Because every single major faith has reincarnation as one of its major tenets, and the purpose of reincarnation is for the spirit to achieve a higher state. Ridding ourselves of karma is the ultimate purge!

Now that we have seen the different levels of letting go and purging, how do we begin the process? Try beginning with just one small step in one aspect of your everyday life. Identify something that you don't need, and let go of it. Perhaps it will be your décor? Even though i embrace much of Mies van der Rohe's 'Less is More' philosophy, one does not have let go of an overall personal style that you might enjoy more in order to simplify and streamline your life. However, it may help to examine "Why" you have a particular décor, and whether it might merit letting go in order to have a more lifeenhancing physical environment. Mostly, this is about just getting rid of accumulated material items that aren't needed any more.

Think about the motivations you have for selecting a career, a hobby, a car, a house, even a spouse. Are those motivations from your own internal dreams and drive, or are there some external pressures? This is moving beyond the realm of everyday activity, and into the realm of special activity; these special events are most often psychological in nature.

Remember, though, that there are many ways to get an education, so temper all external pressures with your internal dream. Loosen the influence of external pressures, learn what your choices are, listen to your own internal dream, and then let go of what isn't part of that internal dream. Now that you have identified your internal dream, what is holding you back from achieving your greatness? Money? Fear? Inhibitions? Overwhelming anger? Frustration? Laziness? Whatever it is, you must start to let go of what is holding you back. For instance, i have a beautiful relative who is very intelligent and artistically talented; she once told me that her dream was to write children's books. When i asked her why she didn't 'just do it,' she said she was afraid of failing. I urged her to let go of her fear of failure, but that fear had its hooks in too deep.

Once you start letting go of what you don't need, and loving all, you will have fewer blocks in your spiritual Path! As you begin to 'Let go,' you automatically begin 'Letting In.' Both are processes, so please don't expect overnight success. Start small, and change will occur incrementally. Let go of the need for perfection and the physical, psychological and spiritual baggage that embodies. Let in the goal of self-improvement throughout your life. Let in Love. We are all works in progress. Make a pact with yourself to show just a little more love every day. Let in the Divine.
by Bret S Beall

Thank you for Not Smoking

A cigarette is many things to many people. For some, it's their cool quotient. For others, a relaxant. But for most, simply an addiction. What's constant is that smoking is injurious to health! On World No Tobacco Day (May 31), say sayonara to smoking ...

Journalist Shashank Mitra promises himself that come tomorrow, he'll quit smoking. But, as they say, tomorrow never comes. That wasn't the case with one-time chain-smoker Manish Bhatia. "I used to smoke at least 40 cigarettes a day. One day, my son came up to me and said I looked cool with a cigarette. That's all it took. I gave up," he says. It's been two years since, and Manish hasn't stolen any puffs. Smoking is an addiction—easy to get into, bloody tough to get out of. But help is at hand.

PATCH UP

A nicotine patch is the very first measure every quitter tries. It's like a small plaster strip that you paste on yourself. It releases nicotine into the body through the skin. Ananya Jha who took to the 'cancer stick' to fit in with her peer group tried one and it sure helped her patch up her habit. But experts say patches are of little help as they don't really cure the addiction or nicotine dependence.

MIND OVER MATTER

Most people will tell you to go cold turkey. Once you decide to quit, it's all about will power. But experts suggest that tapering off is better, as the chances of you reverting to it are then much lower You can opt for many behavioural therapies and medicines. While the former includes practises like not buying a full packet, not smoking a full cigarette and not giving in to peer pressure, the latter involves intake of medicines, which act on the neural pathway where the nicotine affects, thus curbing cravings. Happy quitting, and before we forget, thank you for not smoking!

WHY QUIT?

Because smoking is the maker of many maladies. Here's the list:
Lung cancer Damage to the mucous membrane, loss of taste, ulcers, poor oral hygiene and pyorrhea Coronary artery disease Atherosceloris (narrowing and thickening of the blood vessels) Buerger disease (a vascular condition where the arteries in your lower limbs get blocked, causing gangrene) Impotence (absence of blood supply to genital organs, rendering them dysfunctional!)

PUFF OR STUFF!

Myths and facts about smoking.. .

When you stop smoking, you tend to gain weight.

Fact: Absolutely! Because your craving for cigs increases and to curb it, you end up bingeing.

A morning smoke regulates your bowel movement.

Fact: True! Because the smoke that you inhale goes into your stomach and causes gastric colic reflux, which stimulates the colon. However, a healthier way is to take natural laxatives, drink lots of water and eat vegetables for roughage.

Smoking improves your mood.

Myth: Yup, it may give you a kick but it's quite short-lived and puts you at a higher risk of depression, hyperactivity as well as attention deficit disorder.

Smoking only a few cigarettes in a day is ok!

Myth: Every cigarette contains about 1 to 2 mg of nicotine, which reaches your brain within approx. 10 seconds of your inhaling. Immediately after that first puff, you get a rush of adrenaline that may increase your blood pressure, your heart rate and your breathing. So, even one ciggie is risky!

ABHIRUCHI CHAND

Drop the ego for enlightenment

Life is filled with truth, auspiciousness and beauty (satyam, shivam and sundaram) but our self is filled with a false ego. As long as the ego lives, we may not experience true beauty but our mind will be filled with dreams of expectations that define beauty in a subjective way. Ego is nothing but a self image of who we truly are.

This self image projects a reality defined by the expectations of the ego. When these expectations are not fulfilled, it creates its own resentments and regrets. These create a life of deficiency called 'samsara' and life becomes a movement from incompleteness to incompleteness.

If one increases one's awareness, which is a part of meditation, one realizes that resentment is nothing but a mental resentment to what has happened. It is a negative emotional fight of some unalterable past. Like a broken record one replays, relives the past injuries. Then they become mental constructs which project a subjective reality and hence we never see the objective reality. This mental construct act as a thermostat. To change the temperature of the room one has to reset the thermostat, to change the temperature of the internal room one has to drop the ego.

While listening to the chirping of the bird or music hear the foundation or the backbone of the sound. Look at the bird or the musician and see the formless presence in the form. Every form exists in a formless presence. A form is defined by the formless. It is only in the contrast the forms gets defined. This formless is the backbone of the form. Thoughts are moving. Any movement is change. Change happens in the changeless presence. Thoughts are internal sounds. See the soundless space while noisy thoughts are moving. When one deeply "sees" which is called 'Darshan' in Sanskrit, then one sees a formless, soundless, changeless presence as the backbone or foundation of life. This principle cannot be contained in any self image and hence self image is a prison in which most of us live. To drop this prison is enlightenment.

Repent and atone for all omissions & commissions

Exactly six weeks ago Christmas was celebrated with great fun and joy. And in Sao Paulo as well as in parts of Goa, the old tradition of carnival - again with much jest and festivity marking the beginning of the Lenten season - is just about over. With Ash Wednesday, Christians the world over begin a season of abstinence, prayer and voluntary fasting. Some would certainly add some form of physical mortifications to it, too.

On Ash Wednesday, the priest while applying ashes on the forehead of individuals during worship says either, "Remember, thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return", or "Repent and believe in the Gospel".

The words 'repent' and 'repentance' appear several times in the Old as well as New Testaments of the Bible, emphasising the need for people to change their sinful ways and turn to God. Right at the time when Jesus began sharing the good news of God's love with people, he asked them to repent of their sins. Though it is true that God's love is unconditional, Jesus knew that it would be much easier for people to receive God's love in abundance if they would first repent for their wrongdoings.
Interestingly, even John the Baptist who heralded the coming of Jesus, preached saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" and "therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance". In the Old Testament, for instance, Job who had to suffer a great deal in his life, becomes aware of his sinfulness and says to the Lord, "Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes".

Another prophet of the Old Testament, Daniel, finds himself in the same state saying, "Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession... "!

The original words in the Hebrew and Greek from which "repent" and "repentance" are translated, mean to turn, to change direction. It is a complete about-face from disobedience to obedience and love. True repentance is coming to a full realisation that we have rebelled against our Maker; against His way and His righteous law. It means that we come to abhor ourselves for our self-willed, rebellious, sinful past. We must be truly ready now, with God's help, to bury our old natures, quit sinning, and submit to God with all our hearts.

Lenten season is an invitation for all to turn within, to look inward. It is a time to see why our relationships with one another and with God are strained or broken. However, before real repentance can happen, you have to feel the need to be reconciled with your enemies and the need to turn to God.

Repentance leads us to forgiveness of our own sins and it helps us to forgive others even without them asking for our forgiveness. It also brings us great psychological relief, which ultimately frees us not only of our stress and burden but also saves us from psychosomatic illnesses.

Many spiritual healers insist on repentance and forgiveness as a prerequisite for any healing process to begin. The Lenten season invites people to live a life that is in accordance with God's will and plan.

What do you do when you do?

Psychologists say that a person living in western countries never sleeps for more than 14 minutes at a stretch - more often it is less. After 14 minutes he comes back to the dream state or wakeful consciousness or just floats in the dream level. Again he goes back to sleep for a maximum of 14 minutes. Then he comes back to the dream level. Again he goes back to sleep. They call this the rapid eye movement or REM sleep pattern.

You never sleep totally even when you sleep. There are levels of mind in which you will never have dreams. You never need to have any dreams. You can directly enter into deep sleep, if you know how to live in the now, the present moment.
If you know how to live in now, you will know the art of eating, the art of sleeping, and the art of doing everything. That is the art of living.

Can you try to remember one incident from your day in complete detail? You are more dead than alive even when you are awake. You almost live like a man in half sleep. You do things without fully knowing what you do. You do recall brushing your teeth; but do you remember the sensation of cold water in your mouth? Do you remember the feel of the taste of the toothpaste in your mouth or the pressure of your toothbrush upon your gums? And how did you feel after brushing? Or how was the water being poured on your body in the shower? How did the whole thing happen? What is happening after you have eaten your food? Look at your life; look at your face; you are all almost bored. Somehow you are pulling along. Life is just a drag. Why? Because, all you do, all that you know to do for everything is how to postpone. Your mind never sits with your being. Your mind never lives in the same moment that you are in. You are always in the space of tomorrow or in the space of yesterday. It is never in the space of today, now, the present.

Live in the present. This is the secret art of living.

PARAMAHAMSA SRI NITHYANANDA

Get enveloped by happiness

This is a wonderful centering meditation which Osho calls The Book of Secrets. The whole approach is on integrating your energies; when you are happy or unhappy, the focus is always on the outside. It is somebody who makes you happy or unhappy. The fact is that the feeling rises in your heart, the other is just an excuse.

The sutra is:

On joyously seeing a long absent friend, permeate this joy. When you see a friend and suddenly feel joy rising in your heart, concentrate on this joy. Usually people start talking, remembering things of the past and miss this joy. After the moment is gone this joy will wither away.

The sutra says, feel the joy and let it spread all over your being, get enveloped by the happiness. As if you have become it, and meet the friend while being aware and filled with your joy. Let the friend be on the periphery, and remain centered in your feeling of happiness. Let the emotion take precedence over thought.

Osho has given variations of this meditation. "This can be done in many other situations. The sun is rising, and suddenly you feel something rising within you. Then forget the sun; let it remain on the periphery. Be centered in your own feeling of rising energy. The moment you look at it, it will spread. It will become your whole body, your whole being. And don't just be an observer of it; merge into it.

There are a few moments when you feel joy, happiness, bliss, but you go on missing them because you become object-centered. And this is not only with joy, but with everything: with anger, with sadness, with misery, with happiness, with everything it is so. The difference between negative and positive emotions is: if you become aware of a certain emotion, and by your becoming aware the emotion dissolves, it is negative. If by your becoming aware of a certain emotion you become the emotion, if the emotion then spreads and becomes your being, it is positive. Awareness works differently in both cases."

The Best Way To Worship God

The Quan Yin Method is for you to realize that God is you, the way you make Him. God can be as low as a worm, if you are that. If you don't raise yourselves higher than the worm's level then God will forever stay as a worm. If you raise yourselves higher, the higher your God is, the higher God is glorified. So glorify God by your own power of meditation and realization. That's the best prayer. That's the best glorification for God, the most significant prayer and the most significant job that you could ever do for God. (Applause) If we say we worship God, Buddha, Allah or whoever you say, and we remain in ignorance, then we truly despite God; we truly disgrace God and Buddha.
Therefore, Buddha said, "If you believe in Buddha, but do not understand Buddha, you disgraced Buddha." That is the truth. How do you disgrace Buddha? By remaining in ignorance and letting others see that you are an ignorant God, that you have no belief in God anymore, because God is ignorant due to your own ignorant thinking and view point. You think God is like that. "I pray to Him, but He doesn't hear. I am crawling here, but He doesn't see." It is not God who does not see. It is you who does not know that God sees, and who does not directly receive God's blessing, because you build a lot of obstacles around yourself. You, yourself, deny the benefit and the blessing from God, because you think, from a conditioned mind, from many generations, that you're not worthy; that you're wrong; that you are ignorant; that you do all the wrong things against your God's nature.
Therefore, even now, when you pray, this kind of thinking subconsciously prevents you from knowing you are God, knowing the benefit of God. Then you think God is only that. God is only for you to pray to, to complain to and to demand from, but it is not so. Every God is truly different. Depending on how you think and on your level, God is different. Not that there are so many Gods, but our view points differ, so God differs. Do you understand now why we must understand and realize God in order to say that we truly worship God? (Applause) Therefore, what the Buddha said is not wrong. If you don't understand Buddha, don't just blindly believe in Buddha or you'll disgrace Buddha.
Anyhow, you are on the right path. I think you may have realized it by now, otherwise you wouldn't have come to see me. Even those who failed also came to see me, or wanted to come to see me, at least. They might not have the face to come, but never mind! If they want to practice slowly outside, without control, without somebody to keep reminding them, nagging them, then they can stay home and slowly crawl. Those who want to follow me faster, must work hard and be fast. I like you to be fast. You can never be too fast for me (applause), because the world is in need of such fast working people. The world is so desperately short of these fast thinking, intelligent, conscientious, moral and honest people. Therefore, the more the better.

TextMorph helps you THINK about your WRITING

While surfing the net I came across a magical site that is TextMorph Jan. 08, wondering what’s so magical about it. It helps you correct sentences while writing. It helps you improving your vocabulary. If you are into writing like me, that is I write paid reviews for various companies like I am writing one for TextMorph; you will definitely find this site helpful. It is as good as having a thesaurus helping you out with your writing. TextMorph helps you write what you actually mean. You just need to have words and leave the rest with TextMorph. It even assists you find synonyms of the words that can help you write afresh with better words meaning the same. It will even rearrange sentence order and improve general flow of your paragraph while writing stories, letters and blog posts. Just write your text into the TextIn box and click Morph it.For Example: While studying for my exams I had lot of tea to keep awake through the night.TextMorph Words: While perusing for my exams I had a-great-deal of tea to hold-me back through the night.It is like writing what you are thinking in a fantabulous manner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Initially, I kept using same words all the time while writing. After using http://www.textmorph.com writing has become more exciting, playful and adventurous.It has helped me a lot and hope that it works wonders for you as well.

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Improving landing page performance.

I started earning through writing reviews and it is really exciting to earn money while sitting at home so this is sponsored review .

Once you've begun to attract the right prospects, you need to focus on converting them. The fastest way to improve conversion is through testing various landing pages. If you have the technology to rotate landing pages, testing multiple pages within a fixed amount of time, then you can learn quickly what page has the highest conversion rate. If you are limited to testing one page at a time, run each landing page for a week and measure the results. Your data won't be as accurate but can certainly send you down the right path.
Another method for improving on-site conversions is with the help of an automated touch program. With this technique, you can use an auto-responder that gives individuals an opportunity to reconnect with your business. One example would be an abandoned shopping cart campaign. If users begin the purchase process (and have given you their email) but fail to complete the process, an auto-responder can be used to send and email message within minutes or hours, inviting them back to complete the purchase. You can use email best practices to enhance conversion, and touch individuals numerous times to move them through the purchase decision process.

In addition to targeting those who have started a purchase, you can also use an auto-responder for those who sign up for valuable information from your Just a Thought. Perhaps they sign up for your newsletter, free lessons, or whitepaper. Once an individual has registered, the auto responder goes to work, sending appropriate emails at set intervals. The result is communication with a prospect that was previously unavailable to you. Work on improving conversion of your automated touch program by testing creative and timing of messages.

Using the techniques of better targeting, improving landing page conversion rates, and auto-responders can significantly enhance the performance of your online marketing campaigns. Plan your programs carefully and measure performance along the way, making appropriate enhancements. Over time, your results become automatic! http://www.davidwoon.com/blog/