Kundalini
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kundalini is a psycho-spiritual energy, the energy of the consciousness, which is thought to reside within the sleeping body, and is aroused either through spiritual discipline or spontaneously to bring new states of consciousness, including mystical illumination. Kundalini is Sanskrit for "snake" or "serpent power," so-called because it is believed to lie like a serpent in the root chakra at the base of the spine. In Tantra Yoga kundalini is an aspect of Shakti, the divine female energy and consort of Shiva.(see also Tantrism)
The power of kundalini is said to be enormous. Those having experienced it claim it to be indescribable. The phenomena associated with it varies from bizarre physical sensations and movements, pain, clairaudience, visions, brilliant lights, superlucidity, psychical powers, ecstasy, bliss, and transcendence of self. Kundalini has been described as liquid fire and liquid light.
Indian yoga, with its emphasis on the transmutation of energy to higher consciousness, was the chief contributor to the cultivation of kundalini and the preservation of its knowledge prior to present times. Kundalini was a rarity in the West before the 1970s until more attention became centered upon the consciousness. In 1932, for example, psychiatrist Carl G. Jung and others observed that the kundalini experience was seldom seen in the West.
However, an examination of mystical literature and traditions showed that kundalini, called by various names, seems to have been a universal phenomenon in esoteric teachings for perhaps three thousand years. Kundalini-type descriptions or experiences are found in esoteric teachings of the Egyptians, Tibetans, Chinese, some Native Americans, and the !Kung bushmen of Africa. Kundalini has been interpreted from the Bible as "the solar principle in man," and is referenced in the Koran, the works of Plato and other Greek philosophers, alchemical tracts (the philosopher's stone), and in Hermetic, Kabbalistic, Rosicrucian, and Masonic writings.
There has been an awakening of kundalini knowledge among the Western populations since the 1970s because of two major reasons: more people who are trained in the spiritual disciplines are likely to release the energy, and the increased number of people that are aware of kundalini are more likely to recognize its symptoms or benefits.
Not all kundalini experiences are identical to those classical awakenings experienced in yoga, but may vary in intensity and duration. Typically the yogi meditates to arouse the kundalini and then to raise it through his or her body. (It should be remembered though, not all types of yoga are devoted to the arousal of kundalini.) First, the yogi feels the sensation on heat at the base of the spine, which may be intensely hot or pleasantly warm. The energy then travels up a psychic pathway parallel to the spinal column. The sushumna is the central axis, crisscrossed in a helix by the ida and pingala. As it rises the kundalini activates the chakras in succession. The body becomes cold and corpse-like as the kundalini leaves the lower portions and begins to rise. The yogi is likely to shudder, tremble, or rock violently, feel extreme heat and cold, hear strange but not unpleasant sounds, and see various kinds of lights including an inner light. The length of the kundalini may be fleeting or last several minutes. The objective is to raise the kundalini to the crown chakra, where it unites with the Shiva, or the male polarity, and brings illumination. The yogi then attempts to lower the energy to another chakra, but not below the heart chakra because descent to lower chakras is thought to produce ego inflation, rampant sexual desire, and a host of other ills. By repeatedly raising the kundalini to the crown, the yogi can succeed in having the energy permanently stay there.
It is said that kundalini opens new pathways in the nervous system; the pain associated with this apparently is due to the nervous system's inability to immediately copy with the energy. Yogis assert that the body must be properly attuned for kundalini through yoga, and that a premature or explosive awakening can cause insanity or death.
Other individuals, it has been determined by Western psychologists and psychiatrists, have experienced kundalini awakenings but not the explosive kind. One notable characteristic of these lesser awakenings is that the individual thinks, acts, and feels remarkably different. Symptoms may involve involuntary and spasmodic body movements and postures; pain; abnormal breathing patterns; paralysis; tickling itching; vibrating sensations; hot and cold sensations; inner sounds, such as roaring, whistling, and chirping; insomnia; hypersensitivity to environment; unusual or extremes of emotions; intensified sex drive; distortion of thought processes; detachment; disassociation; sensations of physical expansion; and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Generally the elimination of such symptoms can be brought about by a heavier diet and temporary cessation of meditation. The phenomena of these lesser kundalini awakenings seem to indicate that the definition may have to be expanded from that of the coiled serpent of yoga. Such experienced awakenings are difficult to definitely define though because scientific research of kundalini energy is still in its embryonic stages, little is known of the energy's nonphysical nature, and many of its symptoms are similar to those associated with mental disturbances and stress.
One of the most dramatic instances of classic kundalini awakening was experienced by Copi Krishna (1903-1984), of India, who meditated for three hours every morning over seventeen years. On Christmas Day, 1937, he had his explosive awakening with kundalini pouring up his spine. By his personal account, he rocked out of his body and was enveloped in a halo of light. His consciousness expanded in every direction, and a vision of luster unfolded before him; he was like a small cork bobbing on a vast ocean of consciousness. This extraordinary experienced occurred once again, and then Krishna was plunged into twelve years of misery, during which he "experienced the indescribable ecstasies of the mystics…and the agonies of the mentally afflicted." Following twelve years his body apparently adapted to the new energy and stabilized, but he was permanently changed. Everything in his vision was bathed in a silvery light. He heard an inner cadence, called the "unstruck melody" in kundalini literature. Eventually he could experience bliss just by turning his attention inward. He became, as he said, "a pool of consciousness always aglow with light." He creativity soared allowing him to write poetry and nonfiction books.
Krishna devotedly spent most of the remainder of his life learning the secrets of kundalini. He considered it "the most jealously guarded secret in history" and "the guardian of human evolution." To him it was the driving force behind genius and inspiration. He also thought within the brain is the blueprint to evolve humankind to a higher consciousness, one that makes use of kundalini. Too, he believed kundalini could improve the health of humankind with its ability to regenerate and restore the body, to lengthen life, and eradicate such conditions as mental retardation.
Krishna made ever effort increase the cultivation of kundalini in the West. Many researchers followed him, but some disagreed with the importance that he gave kundalini. A.G.H.
Om Namah Sivaya
Lokah Samasthah Sukhino Bhavanthu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: 29, 319-321.
LINK :
http://www.elcollie.com/index.html
http://heartseva.com
http://www.kundalini-teacher.com/awakening/types.html
http://www.kundalini-reiki-healing.net/kundalini.html
Full Version: Shuklas :Kundalini Awakening
J.Krishnamurthy- An Interview
Subject : Revolution & Inner Transformation
Shuklas
http://www.badongo.com/file/689067
Hatha Yoga breathing
Before we can improve our breathing we must remember that the process existed long before we did - we have nothing to teach it. What we have to do is to prepare ourselves to receive its revitalizing strength by removing any obstacles that might hinder its good effects. Proper breathing depends on our eliminating tension, correcting bad habits, wrong mental and physical attitudes; the moment we get rid of these obstacles it will come into its own and bring us vitality and good health.
The corsets of 1900 are no longer in fashion, but there is still more than one item of clothing which prevents us from normal breathing - leather belts for men, girdles and bras for women. These must be as flexible as possible if they are not to hinder respiration. But the physical obstacles are even more daunting: the hard tense stomach which encumbers every breath, imprisoning the personality; the rib-cage as inflexible as a breast-plate; the diaphragm immobilized by the wind - itself caused by spasms - which has accumulated in the alimentary canal. The first step is to relax all these muscles, which when permanently tense are designed more successfully than any corset to prevent normal breathing; and this is why relaxation is the open door to yoga.
Priority given to exhalation
In the act of respiration, Westerners give precedence to the in-drawing of the breath. Yoga, on the other hand, maintains that all good respiration begins with a slow and complete exhalation, and that this perfect exhalation is an absolute prerequisite of correct and complete inhalation, for the very simple reason that, until a receptacle is emptied, it cannot be filled. Unless we first breathe out fully it is impossible to breathe in correctly.
Normal respiration therefore, begins with a slow calm exhalation carried out by relaxing of the inspiratory muscles. The chest is depressed by its own weight, expelling the air. This out breath must be as silent as every other action involved in breathing (you should not hear yourself breathe), and because it is silent, it will also be slow. At the end of the expiration the abdominal muscles help the lungs to empty to their fullest extent, by means of a contraction which expels the last traces of tainted air. The spongy make-up of the lungs does not allow them to be emptied completely - there is always a residue of impure air in the lungs. We must attempt to minimize this "residue" because with the fresh air provided by inhalation it makes up the actual air we breathe. The more complete the exhalation, therefore, the greater the quantity of fresh air to enter the lungs, and so the purer the air in contact with the alveolar surfaces.
The total volume of air which the lungs are able to contain is known as "the vital capacity". A more apt term cannot be imagined, and innumerable techniques have been thought up aimed at increasing this capacity. Before we can contemplate this improvement we must make use of what we already possess by carefully exhaling. Yoga recognizes three separate forms of breathing - diaphragmatic, intercostal, and clavicular. Complete yogic breathing combines all three, and constitutes the ideal technique. Diaphragmatic breathing
The majority of men breathe in this way. The diaphragm subsides while the breath is drawn in, and the abdominal region swells. This is the least faulty method of breathing. The base of the lungs fills with air, and the rhythmic lowering of the diaphragm produces a constant, gentle massage of the whole abdominal content, and helps these organs to function correctly.
Intercostal breathing
This is achieved by raising the ribs through dilating the thoracic cage or chest wall like a pair of bellows. It is a form of breathing which fills the middle section of the lungs, allowing less air to enter than the abdominal respiration, and more important, involving far more effort! This is 'athletic' respiration. When combined with abdominal breathing it ventilates the lungs satisfactorily.
Clavicular breathing
Air is introduced by raising the collar-bone and shoulders. In this way, only the upper part of the lungs receives any fresh air. It is the least satisfactory method of breathing and is often characteristic of women.
Complete breathing
Complete yogic respiration incorporates all three methods, integrated into one single, full and rhythmic movement. The method is best studied while you are lying on your back, here is a brief description of the various phases:
1) Empty the lungs entirely.
2) Slowly lower the diaphragm allowing air to enter the lungs. When the abdomen swells filling the bottom of the lungs with air...
3) ...expand the ribs without straining, then...
4) ...allow the lungs to completely fill by raising the collar-bones.
Throughout this procedure, the air should enter in a continuous flow, without gasping. No noise must be made for it is essential to breathe silently!
It is of the utmost importance to concentrate the mind entirely upon the action of breathing!
When the lungs are completely filled, breathe out, in the same sequence as when inhaling. Now breathe in again in the same way. You may continue for as long as you wish. It should not induce any discomfort of fatigue. You can practice it at any time of day, whenever you think of it, at work, walking, any time; breathe consciously and as completely as possible. Gradually you will acquire the habit of complete respiration, and your method of breathing will improve as you go on. It is essential to reserve daily, for a few minutes' practice, a special time convenient to yourself (the morning when you wake up is a good time, and so is the evening before going to sleep).
Whenever you feel tired, depressed or discouraged do a few complete breathing exercises; your fatigue will disappear magically, your mental balance will be re-established and you will set to work again with renewed will.
Inspiration like exhalation must be silent, slow, continuous and easy. Do not blow yourself up like a balloon or tire! Breathe easily without straining. Remember that the ideal respiration is deep, slow, silent, easy. Those engaged in sedentary work are liable to accumulations of blood or to develop congestion in one organ or another. The slowing down of the bloodstream produces wear and premature aging in the organism. With complete breathing, the bloodstream in our organs is prevented from slowing down to the point where it stagnates and degenerates from "stream" into "marsh". Complete Yogic respiration
Remember, Inhalation is made up of three partial phases:
a) Diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing induced by lowering and flattening the dome-shaped diaphragm.
Intercostal breathing brought about by expanding the rib cage.
c) Clavicular breathing from the top of the lungs, produced by raising the upper part of the thorax.
Each of these phases has its own merits, but yogic inspiration is only complete when all three are done in conjunction. How can this breathing be learned? Before attempting to combine them - that is to say before we can achieve in one single, smooth and continuos movement complete and easy filling of the lungs, thereby supplying them with reviving air, and expanding the pulmonary alveoli (all 70 million of them) - we must learn to dissociate the three phases. First of all we practice breathing from the diaphragm.
Diaphragmatic breathing
In order to learn to breathe correctly from the diaphragm - easily completely and naturally - it is wise to practice it lying down, since it is then easier to relax the muscles of the abdominal wall, which serve to hold us upright when we are sitting or walking. Later you will be able to breathe from the diaphragm whenever required - even when walking or running.
To insure complete comfort it is often a good idea to place a cushion under the knees: this diminishes the lumbar arch. Do not lie on too soft a surface, because although it is possible to breathe from the diaphragm when in bed, it is even better to do the exercises on some firm support - such as a rug laid on the floor.
When practicing it is a good idea to close the eyes: this helps to increase concentration.
Before you begin, be sure to breathe out completely a few times; either by giving a few sighs, after which you pull in the stomach thus contracting the abdominal muscles, in order to get rid of any remaining air, or, if alone in the room, by emitting the sound OM. This obliges you to breathe out slowly and completely - and since the sound should be uniform, you will be able to expel the remainder of the air at the rate required. sound a long and sonorous OOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM, vibrating the MMMMMMM inside the skull, and concentrating meanwhile upon the various muscles of which the abdomen is composed. After a few long, slow, deep exhalations there is an automatic tendency to breathe in more deeply from the stomach. We are going to try to accentuate this tendency as far as possible.
It is important to empty the lungs thoroughly, thereby getting rid of the greatest amount of air. This piston-like structure is however not rigid, and unlike that of a motorcar is not flat, but convex rather like the lip of a casserole dish. The diaphragm has a rather rigid, flat central section - the aponeurotic - and is surrounded by a girdle of peripheral muscles whose contraction determines its downward movements: the diaphragm muscles are among the strongest in the human body, or perhaps we should say, they are designed to be the strongest, because their owner alas, may allow them to atrophy. We can also understand why complete relaxation is only possible once the lungs are emptied without forcible exhalation - because at that moment the diaphragm muscles are at rest.
Absolute relaxation, therefore can only exist during those few seconds of respite which we allow when we hold our breath with the lungs empty.
Having completely emptied the lungs and held the breath for a few seconds, you will soon realize that your breathing is attempting to start up on its own - therefore relax your stomach and allow the breath to flow. As air enters the lungs, the stomach expands and rises, because the dome of the diaphragm has flattened, and not because the muscles in the abdominal region have contracted. People believe, often in all good faith, that they are "breathing from the stomach", because they are flexing their abdominal muscles. In fact, the latter should be relaxed, and must remain so throughout the inhalation. The lungs gradually fill with air from beneath. the inhalation will be slow, easy and unquestionably silent. If you do not hear yourself breathing it means that your respiration has acquired the correct slowness. If audible it means you have inhaled with much too haste.
It is essential to breathe in as well as out through the nose.
the stomach should rise gently like a balloon being blown up, and the muscle structure should remain supple: should you wish to control the movement you may place your hand on your stomach near the navel, at the same time resting the elbow on the floor. In this way it is easy to follow the expanding movement of the stomach. While this is going on, place the other hand against one side so that you can ensure that the ribs remain completely still, and so realize that the abdominal and thoracic breathing are completely separate.
Should your ribs still move while the stomach is rising, they should be immobilized by girding the thorax with a belt placed near the lower part of the sternum, in the pit of the stomach. Fasten the belt when the lungs are empty, to the required girth. While you breathe in the breathing and your diaphragm will be forced to flatten and your stomach to expand.
While you are breathing in, you should be conscious of what is going on in the warm depths of the thorax; you will soon find you are conscious of the movements of the diaphragm, and you will be able to separate the two phases and dispense with the belt.
Breathing from the ribs
We are now going to learn thoracic or costal breathing.
As its name implies, this is the action of expanding the thorax which leads to the inflation of the lungs by conducting air into them. This time we work sitting in a chair or on the ground, it does not matter which. Empty the lungs completely and keep the abdominal muscles contracted: in this way it becomes impossible to breathe through the stomach. Throughout the inhalation you should keep the stomach contracted in order to prevent any breathing through the diaphragm.
Needless to say those who used the belt to keep the ribs from moving, should remove it for learning thoracic breathing!
Place the hands on the sides a few inches away from the armpits, in such a way that the palms can feel the ribs. Point the fingers to the front. Breathe in, attempting at the same time to push out the hands as far as possible with the ribs, that is, not in front of you but towards the sides. After a few attempts, you will feel the exact position.
You will notice clearly a greater resistance to the entrance of air than you did during the abdominal breathing, which allowed entry to the largest volume of air with a minimum of effort.
Despite the resistance a fairly large quantity of air will enter during thoracic breathing.
Breathe about twenty times from the ribs only.
Clavicular or high breathing
In this type of breathing, you must attempt to raise the collar-bones while the air is being inhaled.
Immobilize the abdominal muscles, in the same way as you did when you were learning thoracic breathing, and keep the hands upon the sides in the position described previously. Now try to allow the air to enter by drawing the collar-bones up towards the chin, without however raising the shoulders, which will anyhow be almost impossible if the hands are kept on the sides.
You will feel air entering, but you will also be aware that a very small quantity does so, despite a considerable greater effort than involved in thoracic breathing.
This is the least efficient way of breathing, but woman habitually do it. If you watch women breathing, eight out of ten will show no signs of breathing other than a distinct raising of the collar-bones, while their brooches or necklaces rise and fall. this is a form of breathing also used by nervous subjects and those suffering from a degree of debility or anxiety. It is only useful or to be tolerated when it is integrated onto complete yogic breathing, and only takes on meaning when it is preceded by the other two phases of this breathing.
Yogic breathing
Yogic breathing as we know, incorporates the three types of partial respiration.
In the first stages of learning, it is best to lie flat on the back. Begin by breathing slowly and deeply from the stomach, and, when you feel that it is impossible to raise the stomach any further, expand the ribs, and allow still more air to enter the lungs. When the ribs are fully extended, raise the collar-bones so that yet a little more air can enter. By this time you are filled to the brim with air! Avoid any tensing of the muscles of the hands, face and neck, particularly in the last stage (clavicular) of the breathing. The three movements, as we have already pointed out, should be done in a "chain link" system, keeping them entirely separate and visible to the outside observer.
FAULTS: Having allowed the stomach to fill with air by flattening the diaphragm, people sometimes cut short the entry of air at that moment, drawing in the stomach in order to allow the air to rise (or so they think) to the apex of the lungs.
source :
http://abel.hive.no/oj/musikk/trompet/exercise/yoga.html
Before we can improve our breathing we must remember that the process existed long before we did - we have nothing to teach it. What we have to do is to prepare ourselves to receive its revitalizing strength by removing any obstacles that might hinder its good effects. Proper breathing depends on our eliminating tension, correcting bad habits, wrong mental and physical attitudes; the moment we get rid of these obstacles it will come into its own and bring us vitality and good health.
The corsets of 1900 are no longer in fashion, but there is still more than one item of clothing which prevents us from normal breathing - leather belts for men, girdles and bras for women. These must be as flexible as possible if they are not to hinder respiration. But the physical obstacles are even more daunting: the hard tense stomach which encumbers every breath, imprisoning the personality; the rib-cage as inflexible as a breast-plate; the diaphragm immobilized by the wind - itself caused by spasms - which has accumulated in the alimentary canal. The first step is to relax all these muscles, which when permanently tense are designed more successfully than any corset to prevent normal breathing; and this is why relaxation is the open door to yoga.
Priority given to exhalation
In the act of respiration, Westerners give precedence to the in-drawing of the breath. Yoga, on the other hand, maintains that all good respiration begins with a slow and complete exhalation, and that this perfect exhalation is an absolute prerequisite of correct and complete inhalation, for the very simple reason that, until a receptacle is emptied, it cannot be filled. Unless we first breathe out fully it is impossible to breathe in correctly.
Normal respiration therefore, begins with a slow calm exhalation carried out by relaxing of the inspiratory muscles. The chest is depressed by its own weight, expelling the air. This out breath must be as silent as every other action involved in breathing (you should not hear yourself breathe), and because it is silent, it will also be slow. At the end of the expiration the abdominal muscles help the lungs to empty to their fullest extent, by means of a contraction which expels the last traces of tainted air. The spongy make-up of the lungs does not allow them to be emptied completely - there is always a residue of impure air in the lungs. We must attempt to minimize this "residue" because with the fresh air provided by inhalation it makes up the actual air we breathe. The more complete the exhalation, therefore, the greater the quantity of fresh air to enter the lungs, and so the purer the air in contact with the alveolar surfaces.
The total volume of air which the lungs are able to contain is known as "the vital capacity". A more apt term cannot be imagined, and innumerable techniques have been thought up aimed at increasing this capacity. Before we can contemplate this improvement we must make use of what we already possess by carefully exhaling. Yoga recognizes three separate forms of breathing - diaphragmatic, intercostal, and clavicular. Complete yogic breathing combines all three, and constitutes the ideal technique. Diaphragmatic breathing
The majority of men breathe in this way. The diaphragm subsides while the breath is drawn in, and the abdominal region swells. This is the least faulty method of breathing. The base of the lungs fills with air, and the rhythmic lowering of the diaphragm produces a constant, gentle massage of the whole abdominal content, and helps these organs to function correctly.
Intercostal breathing
This is achieved by raising the ribs through dilating the thoracic cage or chest wall like a pair of bellows. It is a form of breathing which fills the middle section of the lungs, allowing less air to enter than the abdominal respiration, and more important, involving far more effort! This is 'athletic' respiration. When combined with abdominal breathing it ventilates the lungs satisfactorily.
Clavicular breathing
Air is introduced by raising the collar-bone and shoulders. In this way, only the upper part of the lungs receives any fresh air. It is the least satisfactory method of breathing and is often characteristic of women.
Complete breathing
Complete yogic respiration incorporates all three methods, integrated into one single, full and rhythmic movement. The method is best studied while you are lying on your back, here is a brief description of the various phases:
1) Empty the lungs entirely.
2) Slowly lower the diaphragm allowing air to enter the lungs. When the abdomen swells filling the bottom of the lungs with air...
3) ...expand the ribs without straining, then...
4) ...allow the lungs to completely fill by raising the collar-bones.
Throughout this procedure, the air should enter in a continuous flow, without gasping. No noise must be made for it is essential to breathe silently!
It is of the utmost importance to concentrate the mind entirely upon the action of breathing!
When the lungs are completely filled, breathe out, in the same sequence as when inhaling. Now breathe in again in the same way. You may continue for as long as you wish. It should not induce any discomfort of fatigue. You can practice it at any time of day, whenever you think of it, at work, walking, any time; breathe consciously and as completely as possible. Gradually you will acquire the habit of complete respiration, and your method of breathing will improve as you go on. It is essential to reserve daily, for a few minutes' practice, a special time convenient to yourself (the morning when you wake up is a good time, and so is the evening before going to sleep).
Whenever you feel tired, depressed or discouraged do a few complete breathing exercises; your fatigue will disappear magically, your mental balance will be re-established and you will set to work again with renewed will.
Inspiration like exhalation must be silent, slow, continuous and easy. Do not blow yourself up like a balloon or tire! Breathe easily without straining. Remember that the ideal respiration is deep, slow, silent, easy. Those engaged in sedentary work are liable to accumulations of blood or to develop congestion in one organ or another. The slowing down of the bloodstream produces wear and premature aging in the organism. With complete breathing, the bloodstream in our organs is prevented from slowing down to the point where it stagnates and degenerates from "stream" into "marsh". Complete Yogic respiration
Remember, Inhalation is made up of three partial phases:
a) Diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing induced by lowering and flattening the dome-shaped diaphragm.
Intercostal breathing brought about by expanding the rib cage. c) Clavicular breathing from the top of the lungs, produced by raising the upper part of the thorax.
Each of these phases has its own merits, but yogic inspiration is only complete when all three are done in conjunction. How can this breathing be learned? Before attempting to combine them - that is to say before we can achieve in one single, smooth and continuos movement complete and easy filling of the lungs, thereby supplying them with reviving air, and expanding the pulmonary alveoli (all 70 million of them) - we must learn to dissociate the three phases. First of all we practice breathing from the diaphragm.
Diaphragmatic breathing
In order to learn to breathe correctly from the diaphragm - easily completely and naturally - it is wise to practice it lying down, since it is then easier to relax the muscles of the abdominal wall, which serve to hold us upright when we are sitting or walking. Later you will be able to breathe from the diaphragm whenever required - even when walking or running.
To insure complete comfort it is often a good idea to place a cushion under the knees: this diminishes the lumbar arch. Do not lie on too soft a surface, because although it is possible to breathe from the diaphragm when in bed, it is even better to do the exercises on some firm support - such as a rug laid on the floor.
When practicing it is a good idea to close the eyes: this helps to increase concentration.
Before you begin, be sure to breathe out completely a few times; either by giving a few sighs, after which you pull in the stomach thus contracting the abdominal muscles, in order to get rid of any remaining air, or, if alone in the room, by emitting the sound OM. This obliges you to breathe out slowly and completely - and since the sound should be uniform, you will be able to expel the remainder of the air at the rate required. sound a long and sonorous OOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM, vibrating the MMMMMMM inside the skull, and concentrating meanwhile upon the various muscles of which the abdomen is composed. After a few long, slow, deep exhalations there is an automatic tendency to breathe in more deeply from the stomach. We are going to try to accentuate this tendency as far as possible.
It is important to empty the lungs thoroughly, thereby getting rid of the greatest amount of air. This piston-like structure is however not rigid, and unlike that of a motorcar is not flat, but convex rather like the lip of a casserole dish. The diaphragm has a rather rigid, flat central section - the aponeurotic - and is surrounded by a girdle of peripheral muscles whose contraction determines its downward movements: the diaphragm muscles are among the strongest in the human body, or perhaps we should say, they are designed to be the strongest, because their owner alas, may allow them to atrophy. We can also understand why complete relaxation is only possible once the lungs are emptied without forcible exhalation - because at that moment the diaphragm muscles are at rest.
Absolute relaxation, therefore can only exist during those few seconds of respite which we allow when we hold our breath with the lungs empty.
Having completely emptied the lungs and held the breath for a few seconds, you will soon realize that your breathing is attempting to start up on its own - therefore relax your stomach and allow the breath to flow. As air enters the lungs, the stomach expands and rises, because the dome of the diaphragm has flattened, and not because the muscles in the abdominal region have contracted. People believe, often in all good faith, that they are "breathing from the stomach", because they are flexing their abdominal muscles. In fact, the latter should be relaxed, and must remain so throughout the inhalation. The lungs gradually fill with air from beneath. the inhalation will be slow, easy and unquestionably silent. If you do not hear yourself breathing it means that your respiration has acquired the correct slowness. If audible it means you have inhaled with much too haste.
It is essential to breathe in as well as out through the nose.
the stomach should rise gently like a balloon being blown up, and the muscle structure should remain supple: should you wish to control the movement you may place your hand on your stomach near the navel, at the same time resting the elbow on the floor. In this way it is easy to follow the expanding movement of the stomach. While this is going on, place the other hand against one side so that you can ensure that the ribs remain completely still, and so realize that the abdominal and thoracic breathing are completely separate.
Should your ribs still move while the stomach is rising, they should be immobilized by girding the thorax with a belt placed near the lower part of the sternum, in the pit of the stomach. Fasten the belt when the lungs are empty, to the required girth. While you breathe in the breathing and your diaphragm will be forced to flatten and your stomach to expand.
While you are breathing in, you should be conscious of what is going on in the warm depths of the thorax; you will soon find you are conscious of the movements of the diaphragm, and you will be able to separate the two phases and dispense with the belt.
Breathing from the ribs
We are now going to learn thoracic or costal breathing.
As its name implies, this is the action of expanding the thorax which leads to the inflation of the lungs by conducting air into them. This time we work sitting in a chair or on the ground, it does not matter which. Empty the lungs completely and keep the abdominal muscles contracted: in this way it becomes impossible to breathe through the stomach. Throughout the inhalation you should keep the stomach contracted in order to prevent any breathing through the diaphragm.
Needless to say those who used the belt to keep the ribs from moving, should remove it for learning thoracic breathing!
Place the hands on the sides a few inches away from the armpits, in such a way that the palms can feel the ribs. Point the fingers to the front. Breathe in, attempting at the same time to push out the hands as far as possible with the ribs, that is, not in front of you but towards the sides. After a few attempts, you will feel the exact position.
You will notice clearly a greater resistance to the entrance of air than you did during the abdominal breathing, which allowed entry to the largest volume of air with a minimum of effort.
Despite the resistance a fairly large quantity of air will enter during thoracic breathing.
Breathe about twenty times from the ribs only.
Clavicular or high breathing
In this type of breathing, you must attempt to raise the collar-bones while the air is being inhaled.
Immobilize the abdominal muscles, in the same way as you did when you were learning thoracic breathing, and keep the hands upon the sides in the position described previously. Now try to allow the air to enter by drawing the collar-bones up towards the chin, without however raising the shoulders, which will anyhow be almost impossible if the hands are kept on the sides.
You will feel air entering, but you will also be aware that a very small quantity does so, despite a considerable greater effort than involved in thoracic breathing.
This is the least efficient way of breathing, but woman habitually do it. If you watch women breathing, eight out of ten will show no signs of breathing other than a distinct raising of the collar-bones, while their brooches or necklaces rise and fall. this is a form of breathing also used by nervous subjects and those suffering from a degree of debility or anxiety. It is only useful or to be tolerated when it is integrated onto complete yogic breathing, and only takes on meaning when it is preceded by the other two phases of this breathing.
Yogic breathing
Yogic breathing as we know, incorporates the three types of partial respiration.
In the first stages of learning, it is best to lie flat on the back. Begin by breathing slowly and deeply from the stomach, and, when you feel that it is impossible to raise the stomach any further, expand the ribs, and allow still more air to enter the lungs. When the ribs are fully extended, raise the collar-bones so that yet a little more air can enter. By this time you are filled to the brim with air! Avoid any tensing of the muscles of the hands, face and neck, particularly in the last stage (clavicular) of the breathing. The three movements, as we have already pointed out, should be done in a "chain link" system, keeping them entirely separate and visible to the outside observer.
FAULTS: Having allowed the stomach to fill with air by flattening the diaphragm, people sometimes cut short the entry of air at that moment, drawing in the stomach in order to allow the air to rise (or so they think) to the apex of the lungs.
source :
http://abel.hive.no/oj/musikk/trompet/exercise/yoga.html
Pranayam- What It Does ?
http://www.sakthifoundation.org/index.htm
http://www.sakthifoundation.org/index.htm
http://www.sakthifoundation.org/index.htm
http://www.sakthifoundation.org/index.htm
Mind Power News
Saturday, July 10, 2004 / Issue No. 51/ © 2004 by Andreas Ohrt
www.mindpowernews.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week: The Power Of Now
"The Power of Now," by Eckhart Tolle, is widely considered one of the greatest guides to happiness and inner peace ever written. In five years it has sold millions of copies worldwide, so chances are you have probably already read it. If not, get your hands on this book as quickly as you possibly can. In this remarkable book, Tolle lays out the easiest and quickest path to a quiet mind and a happy life. In simple language, he explains how focussing on the present moment -- the NOW -- instantly dissolves the mind's habitual desire to dwell in anger, fear, pain, and judgement. In order to introduce you to this brilliant book, or as a quick refresher for those who have read it, here are two excellent interviews to introduce you to his unique wisdom. Enjoy!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Power of Now and the End of Suffering
For two years, a small man sits quietly on a park bench. People walk by, lost in their thoughts. One day someone asks him a question. In the weeks that follow there are more people and more questions. Word spreads that the man is a "mystic," and has discovered something that brings peace and meaning into our lives. It sounds like fiction, but today that man, Eckhart Tolle, is known worldwide for his teachings on spiritual enlightenment through the power of the present moment. His first book, The Power of Now, is an international bestseller, and has been translated into 17 languages. More than 20 years have passed since Eckhart Tolle answered his first question on that park bench. While his audience has grown, his message remains the same: that it is possible to stop struggling in your life, and find joy and fulfillment in this moment, and no other.
SOUNDS TRUE: Can you describe to us your own experience of spiritual awakening (and of course, can you define spiritual awakening as well)? Was there a singular event that occurred or has it been a gradual process?
ECKHART TOLLE: Since ancient times the term awakening has been used as a kind of metaphor that points to the transformation of human consciousness. There are parables in the New Testament that speak of the importance of being awake, of not falling back to sleep. The word Buddha comes from the Sanskrit word Budh, meaning, "to be awake." So Buddha is not a name and ultimately not a person, but a state of consciousness. All this implies that humans are potentially capable of living in a state of consciousness compared to which normal wakefulness is like sleeping or dreaming. This is why some spiritual teachings use terms like "shared hallucination" or "universal hypnotism" to describe normal human existence. Pick up any history book, and I suggest you begin with studying the 20th century, and you will find that a large part of the history of our species has all the characteristics we would normally associate with a nightmare or an insane hallucination.
The nature of spiritual awakening is frequently misunderstood. The adoption of spiritual beliefs, seeing visions of God or celestial beings, the ability to channel, to heal, to foretell the future, or other paranormal powers -- all such phenomena are of value and are not to be dismissed, but none of them is in itself indicative of spiritual awakening in a person who experiences them. They may occur in a person who has not awakened spiritually and they may or may not accompany the awakened state.
Every morning we awaken from sleep and from our dreams and enter the state we call wakefulness. A continuous stream of thoughts, most of them repetitive, characterizes the normal wakeful state. So what is it that we awaken from when spiritual awakening occurs? We awaken from identification with our thoughts. Everybody who is not awake spiritually is totally identified with and run by their thinking mind -- the incessant voice in the head. Thinking is compulsive: you can’t stop, or so it seems. It is also addictive: you don’t even want to stop, at least not until the suffering generated by the continuous mental noise becomes unbearable. In the unawakened state you don’t use thought, but thought uses you. You are, one could almost say, possessed by thought, which is the collective conditioning of the human mind that goes back many thousands of years. You don’t see anything as it is, but distorted and reduced by mental labels, concepts, judgments, opinions and reactive patterns. Your sense of identity, of self, is reduced to a story you keep telling yourself in your head. "Me and my story": this what your life is reduced to in the unawakened state. And when your life is thus reduced, you can never be happy for long, because you are not yourself.
Does that mean you don’t think anymore when you awaken spiritually? No, of course not. In fact, you can use thought much more effectively than before, but you realize there is a depth to your Being, a vibrantly alive stillness that is much vaster than thought. It is consciousness itself, of which the thinking mind is only a tiny aspect. For many people, the first indication of a spiritual awakening is that they suddenly become aware of their thoughts. They become a witness to their thoughts, so to speak. They are not completely identified with their mind anymore and so they begin to sense that there is a depth to them that they had never known before.
For most people, spiritual awakening is a gradual process. Rarely does it happen all at once. When it does, though, it is usually brought about by intense suffering. That was certainly true in my case. For years my life alternated between depression and acute anxiety. One night I woke up in a state of dread and intense fear, more intense than I had ever experienced before. Life seemed meaningless, barren, hostile. It became so unbearable that suddenly the thought came into my mind, "I cannot live with myself any longer." The thought kept repeating itself several times. Suddenly, I stepped back from the thought, and looked at it, as it were, and I became aware of the strangeness of that thought: "If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me -- the I and the self that I cannot live with." And the question arose, "Who is the ‘I’ and who is the self that I cannot live with?" There was no answer to that question, and all thinking stopped. For a moment, there was complete inner silence. Suddenly I felt myself drawn into a whirlpool or a vortex of energy. I was gripped by an intense fear, and my body started to shake. I heard the words, "Resist nothing," as if spoken inside my chest. I could feel myself being sucked into a void. Suddenly, all fear disappeared, and I let myself fall into that void. I have no recollection of what happened after that.
The next morning I awoke as if I had just been born into this world. Everything seemed fresh and pristine and intensely alive. A vibrant stillness filled my entire being. As I walked around the city that day, the world looked as if it had just come into existence, completely devoid of the past. I was in a state of amazement at the peace I felt within and the beauty I saw without, even in the midst of the traffic. I was no longer labeling and interpreting my sense perceptions -- an almost complete absence of mental commentary. To this day, I perceive and interact with the world in this way: through stillness, not through mental noise. The peace that I felt that day, more than 20 years ago, has never left me, although it has varying degrees of intensity.
At the time, I had no conceptual framework to help me understand what had happened to me. Years later, I realized that the acute suffering I felt that night must have forced my consciousness to withdraw from identification with the unhappy self, the suffering "little me," which is ultimately a fiction of the mind. This withdrawal must have been so complete that the suffering self collapsed as if the plug had been pulled out of an inflatable toy. What was left was my true nature as the ever present "I AM": consciousness in its pure state prior to identification with form. You may also call it pure awareness or presence.
In your own life story there seems to have been a relationship between intense personal suffering and a breakthrough spiritual experience. Do you believe that for all people there is some connection between personal suffering and the intensity that is needed for a spiritual breakthrough?
Yes, that seems to be true in most cases. When you are trapped in a nightmare, your motivation to awaken will be so much greater than that of someone caught up in a relatively pleasant dream. On all levels, evolution occurs in response to a crisis situation, not infrequently a life-threatening one, when the old structures, inner or outer, are breaking down or are not working anymore. On a personal level, this often means the experience of loss of one kind or another: the death of a loved one, the end of a close relationship, loss of possessions, your home, status, or a breakdown of the external structures of your life that provided a sense of security. For many people, illness -- loss of health -- represents the crisis situation that triggers an awakening. With serious illness comes awareness of your own mortality, the greatest loss of all.
For many people alive at this time, loss is experienced as loss of meaning. In other words, life seems to lack purpose and doesn’t make sense anymore. Loss of meaning is often part of the suffering that comes with physical loss, but it can also happen to people who have gained everything the world has to offer -- who have "made it" in the eyes of the world -- and suddenly find that their success or possessions are empty and unfulfilling. What the world and the surrounding culture tells them is important and of value turns out to be empty and this leaves a kind of painful inner void, often accompanied by great mental confusion.
Now the question arises: What exactly is the connection between suffering and spiritual awakening? How does one lead to the other? When you look closely at the nature of human suffering you will find that an essential ingredient in most kinds of suffering is a diminishment of one’s sense of self. Take illness, for example. Illness makes you feel smaller, no longer in control, helpless. You seem to loose your autonomy, perhaps become dependent on others. You become reduced in size, figuratively speaking. Any major loss has a similar effect: some form that was an important part of your sense of who you are -- a person, a possession, a social role -- dissolves or leaves you and you suffer because you had become identified with it and it seems you are losing yourself or a part of yourself. In reality, of course, what feels like a diminishment or loss of your sense of self is the crumbling of an image of who you are held in the mind. What dissolves is identification with thought forms that had given you your sense of self. But that sense of self is ultimately false, is ultimately a mental fiction. It is the egoic mind or the "little me" as I sometimes call it. To be identified with a mental image of who you are is to be unconscious, to be unawakened spiritually. This unawakened state creates suffering, but suffering creates the possibility of awakening. When you no longer resist the diminishment of self that comes with suffering, all role-playing, which is normal in the unawakened state, comes to an end. You become humble, simple, real. And, paradoxically, when you say “yes” to that death, because that’s what it is, you realize that the mind-made sense of self had obscured the truth of who you are -- not as defined by your past, but timelessly. And when who you think you are dissolves, you connect with a vast power which is the essence of your very being. Jesus called it: "eternal life." In Buddhism, it is sometimes called the "deathless realm."
Now, does this mean that if you haven’t experienced intense suffering in your life, there is no possibility of awakening? Firstly, the fact that you are drawn to a spiritual teaching or teacher means you must have had your share of suffering already, and the awakening process has probably already begun. A teacher or teaching is not even essential for spiritual awakening, but they save time. Secondly, humanity as a whole has already gone through unimaginable suffering, mostly self-inflicted, the culmination of which was the 20th century with its unspeakable horrors. This collective suffering has brought upon a readiness in many human beings for the evolutionary leap that is spiritual awakening. For many individuals alive now, this means: they have suffered enough. No further suffering is necessary. The end of suffering: that is also the essence of every true spiritual teaching. Be grateful that your suffering has taken you to this realization: I don’t need to suffer anymore.
Your teaching about "the power of now" seems so simple. Is that really our primary spiritual task -- to fully engage the present moment?
Identification with thoughts and the emotions that go with those thoughts creates a false mind-made sense of self, conditioned by the past: the "little me" and its story. This false self is never happy or fulfilled for long. Its normal state is one of unease, fear, insufficiency, and nonfulfillment. It says it looks for happiness, and yet it continuously creates conflict and unhappiness. In fact, it needs conflict and "enemies" to sustain the sense of separateness that ensures its continued survival. Look at all the conflict between tribes, nations, and religions. They need their enemies, because they provide the sense of separateness on which their collective egoic identity depends. The false self lives mainly through memory and anticipation. Past and future are its main preoccupation. The present moment, at best, is a means to an end, a stepping stone to the future, because the future promises fulfillment, the future promises salvation in one form or another. The only problem is the future never comes. Life is always now. Whatever happens, whatever you experience, feel, think, do - it’s always now. It’s all there is. And if you continuously miss the now -- resist it, dislike it, try to get away from it, reduce it to a means to an end, then you miss the essence of your life, and you are stuck in a dream world of images, concepts, labels, interpretations, judgments -- the conditioned content of your mind that you take to be "yourself." And so you are disconnected from the fullness of life that is the “suchness” of this moment. When you are out of alignment with what is, you are out of alignment with life. You are struggling to reach a point in the future where there is greater security, aliveness, abundance, love, joy ... unaware that those things make up the essence of who you are already. All that is required of you to have access to that essence is to make the present moment into your friend. And you may realize that most of your life you made the present moment into an enemy. You didn’t say “yes” to it, didn’t embrace it. You were out of alignment with the now, and so life became a struggle. It seemed so normal, because everyone around you lived in the same way. The amazing thing is: Life, the great intelligence that pervades the entire cosmos, becomes supportive when you say “yes” to it. Where is life? Here. Now. The “isness” of this moment. The now seems so small at first, a little segment between past and future, and yet all of life’s power is concealed within it. When there is spiritual awakening, you awaken into the fullness, the aliveness, and also the sacredness of now. You were absent, asleep, and now you are present, awake. The secret of awakening is to unconditionally accept this moment as it is. Some people do it because they can no longer stand the suffering that comes with nonacceptance of the isness of this moment. They are almost forced into awakening. Others have suffered enough and are ready to voluntarily embrace the now. When you become present in this way, the judgments, labels, and concepts of your mind are no longer all that important, as a greater intelligence is now operating in and through you. And yet the mind can then be used very effectively and creatively when needed.
Now the question may arise: Would there be anything left to strive for when you are so present in the now? Wouldn’t you become passive in that state? Many meaningless activities may fall away, but the state of presence is the only state in which creative energy is available to you. When your fulfillment and sense of self are no longer dependent on the future outcome, joy flows into whatever you do. You do what you do because the action itself is fulfilling. Whatever you do or create in that state is of high quality. This is because it is not a means to and end, and so a loving care flows into your doing.
Being "in the present" sounds so obvious, and yet is quite hard to sustain. Do you have any practical tips for people for maintaining awareness of the present moment?
Although the old consciousness or rather unconsciousness still has considerable momentum and to a large extent still runs this world, the new awakened consciousness -- presence -- has already began to emerge in many human beings. In my book The Power of Now, I mention ways in which you can maintain present moment awareness, but the main thing is to allow this new state of consciousness to emerge rather then believe that you have to try hard to make it happen. How do you allow it to emerge? Simply by allowing this moment to be as it is. This means to relinquish inner resistance to what is -- the suchness of now. This allows life to unfold beautifully. There is no greater spiritual practice than this.
On your video The Flowering of Human Consciousness, you talk about a "new" consciousness that is emerging in our time. What do you mean? Hasn’t the present moment always been available to genuine seekers? What’s new about our current time in history? Are you pointing to a certain evolutionary process -- an acceleration in human spiritual development?
Yes, the present moment has always been available to spiritual seekers, but as long as you are seeking you are not available to the present moment. "Seeking" implies that you are looking to the future for some answer, or for some achievement, spiritual or otherwise. Everybody is in the seeking mode, seeking to add something to who they are, whether it be money, relationships, possessions, knowledge, status -- or spiritual attainment. "Seeking" means you need more time, more future, more of this or that. And there is nothing wrong with it. All that has its place in this world. To make money, to gather knowledge, to learn a new skill, to explore new territory, even to get from A to B -- for all these things you need time. For almost everything you need time, except for one thing: to embrace the present moment. You need no time to open yourself to the power of now and so awaken to who you are beyond name and form and realize that in the depth of your being, you are already complete, whole, one with the timeless essence of all life. For that you not only need no time, but time is the obstacle to that realization, seeking is the obstacle, needing to add something to who you are is the obstacle. The story of your life, how it all unfolds, whether you succeed or fail in this world...Yes, it matters, yes, it’s important -- relatively, not absolutely. Only one thing is of absolute importance and this is it. If you miss it, you miss the deeper purpose of your life, which I call the flowering of human consciousness. And ultimately nothing else will satisfy you.
Some of the first human beings in whom the new consciousness emerged fully became the great teachers of humanity, such as Buddha, Lao Tzu, or Jesus, although their teachings were greatly misunderstood, especially when they turned into organized religion. They were the first manifestations of the flowering of human consciousness. Later others appeared, some of whom became famous and respected teachers, whereas others probably remained relatively unknown or perhaps even completely unrecognized. On the periphery of the established religions, from time to time certain movements appeared through which the new consciousness manifested. This enabled a number of individuals within those movements to awaken spiritually. Such movements, in Christianity, were Gnosticism and medieval mysticism; in Buddhism, Zen; in Islam, the Sufi movement; in Hinduism, the teachings called Advaita Vedanta.
But those men and women who awakened fully were always few and far between -- rare flowerings of consciousness. Until fairly recently, there was not yet a need for large numbers of human beings to awaken. For the first time in human history, a large-scale transformation of consciousness has now become a necessity if humanity is to survive. Science and technology have amplified the effects of the dysfunction of the human mind in its unawakened state to such a degree that humanity, and probably the planet, would not survive for another hundred years if human consciousness remains unchanged. As I said earlier, evolution usually occurs in response to a crisis situation, and we now are faced with such a crisis situation. This is why there is indeed an enormous acceleration in the awakening process of our species.
This new large-scale spiritual awakening is occurring primarily not within the confines of the established religions, but outside of those structures. Some of it, however, is also happening within the existing churches and religious institutions wherever the members of those congregations do not identify with rigid and exclusive belief systems whose unconscious purpose is to foster a sense of separation on which the egoic mind structures depend for their survival.
How much time and effort is required to realize "the power of now?" Can this really occur in an instant or is this the work of a lifetime?
The power of now can only be realized now. It requires no time and effort. Effort means you’re trying hard to get somewhere, and so you are not present, welcoming this moment as it is.
Whereas it requires no time to awaken -- you can only awaken now -- it does take time before you can stay awake in all situations. Often you may find yourself being pulled back into old conditioned reactive patterns, particularly when faced with the challenges of daily living and of relationships. You lose the witnessing presence and become identified again with the "voice in the head," the continuous stream of thoughts, with its labels, judgments and opinions. You no longer know that they are only labels, judgments, and mental positions (opinions) -- but completely believe in them. And so you create conflict. And then you suffer. And that suffering wakes you up again. Until presence becomes your predominant state, you may find yourself moving back and forth for a while between the old consciousness and the new, between mind identification and presence. "How long is it going to take?" is not a good question to ask. It makes you lose the now.
Source: SoundsTrue.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tibetan Exercises Unleash Energy
Five Secret Tibetan exercises will help you increase energy and improve mood. Activate your power centers and pop out of bed alert and happy every morning. Learn more here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interview with Eckhart Tolle
By Michael Bertrand
In Focus
Michael Bertrand: How are things for you these days? Are you very busy? How are you handling all the attention that’s coming your way?
Eckhart Tolle: Well, the book came out two and a half years ago now and certainly my external life has changed dramatically with a lot of travelling and talking. I used to live a very sheltered life and now it seems to be the opposite of that. I’m out there in the world all the time. I’m actually quite enjoying it, but I am perhaps at heart a hermit so I love to take time off where I don’t travel or see people and I’m just alone in stillness.
I’m amazed how many people responded to the book. I never expected that many people to respond to it. I knew the book would be around for a long time. I thought it might grow very slowly but it’s growing very quickly now.
What people reading this might be most interested in is what is the teaching that you describe in the book and in your talks?
The essence, the very foundation, of the teaching is that a different state of consciousness is possible for humans. The state of consciousness that is considered normal and that has been running human history for thousands of years is not the only possible state of consciousness. It’s also not the most advanced state possible for humans.
It’s nothing new. All the great teachings and teachers have pointed to the fact, since the normal state of consciousness is a state that is extremely deficient, a state that in the ancient teachings has been called suffering. The Buddha called it suffering, Jesus called it a state of sin and illusion, and the Hindus call it a state of illusion.
So, all ancient teachings agree that the normal human state of consciousness is, as I call it, a state of insanity. Anybody can verify this for themselves if they look at human history, 90 percent of which -- really, if you look at it objectively -- would be called the history of collective insanity, with the enormous amount of suffering inflicted by humans on other humans and on themselves and other species.
The second part of the teaching is that it’s possible to enter that state now. Not only is it possible to enter it now, but the only time when you can enter that state of consciousness is in the Now; not needing the future in order to arrive at a projected state of consciousness, but realizing that new state of consciousness one that is free of time.
The main characteristic of the old state of consciousness is that it is dominated by past and future, in other words by time. If you observe the workings of your mind you will see that you’re almost never in the present moment. The mind is always engaged in projecting a future, thinking about the future, trying to get to the future or reviving the past.
The old state of consciousness is also a state of identification with thought processes. Now what does that mean? To be identified means to derive your sense of self, of who you are from thought movements, to be completely trapped in the mental noise, to have your identity in the mental noise.
Then your whole sense of self is derived from thought, which means an image forms in the head of "who I am," of "that’s me," and that image is always ill at ease, even in the people who look very confident. The self image of the Little Me as I call it, a mind-made sense of self or ego, is always ill at ease. This sense of self needs conflict in order to feel that it exists. It cannot tolerate a prolonged period of non-conflict because the Little Me depends for its continuous existence on the feeling of separateness.
It defines itself as "me" and "other," which is not me. So, the more I can be in conflict with the not me the stronger my -- ultimately illusory -- sense of self becomes. The ego tells you continuously that it wants to get out of conflict. It’s looking for happiness, but the ego is constructed in such a way that the state of happiness it says it looks for it cannot afford to find when its very survival depends on conflict.
So one could come right to the edge of, say, moving into a selfless, non-egoic state and then pull back. You could get very far and then the ego just marshals all its forces. How does one get through that?
First of all, it’s true that you can get to the edge and then pull back because peace is too threatening for the mind-made ego self. The first thing is to realize that unhappiness, dissatisfaction and discontent always seem to be caused by external factors but that’s an illusion. They are built into the very structure of the egoic mind and that is the essence of the old consciousness.
It is an amazing realization that no matter where you go those structures will go with you. You could go into the most paradisiacal island or to a planet that is heaven, but you would still be carrying with you the structures of the egoic mind and it will transform heaven into hell. It’s an enormous step forward to realize for oneself that all the unhappiness, discontent and conflict in most people’s lives originate within the structures of our minds rather than being externally caused.
When you see very clearly what the origin of the state of non-freedom is, that is the beginning of liberation. It’s actually already the beginning of the new state of consciousness. One could say that as soon as you begin to be able to witness the workings of your mind instead of being totally identified with them (and I include emotions in that because they are the reflections in the body of what the mind is doing), this is already the arising of the new state of consciousness.
Then you watch how discontent arises, how unhappiness arises and then you look more deeply and you see the very root cause: It denies or resists or fights against the present moment. The very root cause which keeps the structures of unhappiness going is the refusal to accept life totally and say "yes" to this moment.
The moment you say yes to what is, you’re no longer resisting life, because life is always now. The non-acceptance of what is lies at the basis of the egoic sense of self because it grows stronger through fighting and resisting and saying, "No, no, no." Then the illusory sense of who I am get stronger. So, the illusion gets stronger, the ego gets stronger, the suffering gets stronger. They all go together. The ego loves that.
So, it’s not surprising that if you look at human history you see how mad it is and you can see that it all originates in the structures of the human mind. It created that hell on a planet that is basically paradise.
In order to feel the present moment, I have to find a way to feel what I haven’t been feeling. I have to get beyond the pretense or the shield that’s over my heart, to somehow get through that to even get to the place of thinking about it.
Yes. Very often there is denial of what is happening in the present moment, not wanting it to happen, which includes what’s happening inside you at that moment, to completely say "yes" to whatever emotion may be there or whatever your inner state may be at this moment or to completely say "yes" to whatever the external situation may be at this moment. It’s too late to fight it because it is. You can’t fight what is.
You can take action on the basis of your acceptance of what is. Action that arises out of that acceptance is very empowered. Action that arises out of a negative state of resistance and denial and saying “no” can also sometimes contain a lot of energy, but it is contaminated with heavy negativity. It comes out of the saying “no” and it’s there to strengthen or defend the egoic sense of self. So, whatever action arises out of that would, in Eastern terms, be called "karmic" which produces further karma and further suffering.
The moment you say yes to what is, you’re no longer resisting life, because life is always now.
A very radical shift in human consciousness is possible, but when I say that, the egoic mind will immediately come in and say, "Okay, just tell me how to get there and I will draw up a plan and we’ll get there at some point in the future." The ego will project a state of perfection that "I can reach at some future time" and it will strive towards that. That means it has taken the message of liberation and incorporated it into its old structures of "at some point in the future I will be okay and complete and fulfilled and whole. I just need to get there. In the meantime, I’m unhappy because I’m not there yet."
So, how can one drop into the Now?
Very good question. Whenever you are observing what your mind emotions are doing, witnessing what is going on inside you, the state of presence is already arising. You can watch all of this, how noisy your mind is. When you’re suddenly aware of it, that ability to watch means you’ve dropped out of the time-bound state. Something has arisen that is very different. I call it the state of presence.
So, again, one could almost say there is no how. That state of consciousness, which I call the state of presence, being fully present in the Now, is the state of high alertness. Some people have experienced it in certain situations of great danger accidentally. That can be good if one remembers being in a state of intense aliveness where there was also absence of thinking and of mental noise, just a state of intense alert presence.
People who climb mountains or engage in other dangerous activities love that state. It’s the only time when they can be in that state. If they were in past or future climbing a steep wall they wouldn’t survive for very long. So, in some situations you’re forced into a state of presence and it’s so alive and fulfilling that the old state becomes very unsatisfying.
People keep wanting to go back and have more experiences so they can be in that state.
Yes, but it’s very limiting if the only place where you can be in that state is where you engage in dangerous activities. Ultimately the risk is very high that something will happen and you will drop off the mountain.
That state of consciousness that I call presence, the good news is that state is actually arising now almost by itself in many humans. So it’s not so much that we need to bring it about, "How can I make it happen?" We can’t. Rather it’s being open for it so it can happen with greater ease.
So hardly any of us are going to have some flashing moment of realization.
Some do, but that’s not necessary. Gradually a state arising that is inner stillness rather than noise, a state when mind activity becomes secondary. All the mental noise no longer has the power to grab you and to draw your attention in so completely that you’re totally identified with it. You begin to be able to see thinking as just thinking, not such a big deal, and you realize that all the problems that you and most humans are burdened with are mental noise.
There’s no reality to any problem. I’m not saying that challenges don’t exist in life. Challenges come, but the only way they can exist is in the Now and that’s the only place where you can face the challenge by taking action in the Now or surrendering to what is. In either case it’s not a problem.
You can verify this for yourself by asking, "What problem do I have at this moment?" When you ask that question the mind becomes still and you realize this moment is actually fine, because most moments are fine. Even when they don’t look fine on the surface, if you become still enough the present moment always has a deep goodness to it underneath the external appearance of what’s happening in it because the very power of your being is inseparable from what I call the Now.
Ultimately the Now is the power of your consciousness prior to thought, prior to forms arising out of it.
What you’re saying would sound quite familiar to someone studying Buddhist Vippasana meditation techniques, using the practice of watching the breath and just noticing what arises. Are you bringing a message that’s akin to that or is it different from what one would experience in practicing that technique?
The essence of the Buddha’s message was that, also. Meditation methods are aimed also at bringing about the state of presence, although he never used those words. The drawback with any technique, although they may work occasionally but only ultimately when you drop the technique, is that it gives you time.
There’s a chapter in the book that is called The Inner Body. Some people say it’s a wonderful technique, but what I call the inner body is to feel all the time the energy field that permeates the physical body. The invisible energy field, the animating presence, is in every cell of the body. To consciously be in and inhabit the body, even when engaged in activities or talking or listening, is to have some attention in the inner energy field of the body.
I wouldn’t call it a technique because it’s too simple. The oak tree when it feels its roots deep in the earth isn’t practising any technique. It’s a state of being. And not to be drawn back continuously into identification with the mental noise is simply to have attention in the inner energy field of the body.
To sense, to feel the body from within keeps you present. That keeps you present and it’s really all you need. If you want to call it a technique that’s fine, but it’s so simple there isn’t much to it. If you inhabit the body, you’re open to the state of presence and it becomes a whole body state.
You become present with every cell of the body. You feel that state of alert and alive presence in your feet, your arms, your chest, your head. It’s an entire body state. There you are in the Now in that state of still alertness and whatever needs to happen comes out of that state. In other words, the higher consciousness is already operating, no longer the limited conditioned noisy human mind but a far greater intelligence. The intelligence that runs the body is far greater than that of the conscious mind. So you connect with that.
The whole of nature, the beauty of the flower, unfolds in complete silence.
Then your whole life can be an expression of no longer being Little Me trying to make it, trying to survive or succeed, always trying, trying, trying. Instead you become an expression of that consciousness, the very intelligence that runs the universe, realizing that you’re far greater than you could every have imagined coming from the Little Me trying to become a Big Me.
That’s the state of just inhabiting the body. That becomes an anchor for staying present. It’s also the entry point into that state of beautiful inner stillness where the mental noise subsides and you’re then highly conscious without noise. The amazing thing then is that intelligence operates noiselessly.
Humans think that intelligence is associated with thinking. Thinking is just a tiny aspect of intelligence, but most intelligence, the whole of nature, the trees, grow in complete silence. The embryo in the womb grows silently. It doesn’t make a noise. The whole of nature, the beauty of the flower, unfolds in complete silence.
The galaxies exist in total silence and stillness and yet there’s incredible activity there, so they’re all expressions of intelligence that is at work silently. It’s only in humans that intelligence, in its limited expression as the human mind, is very noisy. The far greater intelligence that is at work within yourself operates in silence. That is the state of presence which is inseparable from inner stillness.
That becomes your dwelling place, your home. You can still think when it’s needed. Thought will arise, but it will be in the service of that deeper field of stillness, of being, no longer self-serving thought. There’s no effort, no trying to make it happen. That would be the opposite of it. It’s simply being open for it to happen because it wants to happen.
Some people read the book and it happens. They experience inner transformation because there’s an energy that comes with the words that triggers the state. It’s like saying, "Don’t you remember?" Or people read the book and realize it’s already arisen in them before but they didn’t have a name for it.
Some people also come to your lectures and experience or hope to experience it.
Yes. It can be very helpful to be in the energy field of presence in a group. It’s not the words. Some people come to all my talks. They must have listened many times. I basically always talk about the same things. So, after a while they don’t come for the information or the words any more. They come for the energy field of presence and may hardly listen to the words.
Is that something you see as coming from you?
It depends what you mean by "you." It doesn’t come from me. It comes through me. It’s deeper. It’s a movement of consciousness. I mean that the form that I am is like the window frame for it and then the light comes through the window.
Some people arrive for talks an hour early because they want to sit close to me, not to be near the form of me but to be with the light. It has nothing much to do with the window.
One way of putting it is that it’s not me and that it happens through me. But, it would be more true to say that the consciousness which operates through me is ultimately who I am, not the me that is the physical form that people see. That consciousness is also who you are. So, when people come, sometimes from halfway around the world, to a talk they don’t really come to see or hear me. They come to be with themselves, for the first time to be completely themselves, getting out of the conditioning and the identification with mental noise and emotions and simply be who you are.
If I forget that ultimately I’m nobody, then that would be the return of the ego.
It’s strange that they need to travel a long way to be with themselves, but it works. Then, after a while, you don’t need to travel anymore to be with yourself.
So, you’re hoping that people don’t feel they have to come and sit with you to get this experience.
No. For a while it’s useful, but after that it needs to happen from within. It’s fine as long as they feel it’s helpful to have the external reflection of it, but not become dependent on it. I occasionally tell people to go away for a while so they don’t become dependent. Now, with the talks getting bigger I can’t do that so I must just trust that it will be fine and people won’t become dependent.
Words are useful here, because I do point out that this needs to be lived rather than coming once a month or every two weeks to a talk. That state of consciousness needs to arise every moment, no matter what activities you’re engaged in and particularly when life challenges you. That’s always the test of where you’re at as far as your state of consciousness is concerned. How you deal with the challenges and whether the old reactive mind comes in or whether the challenge makes you more present.
More and more people are able to become more present with every challenge. In other words, something happens that the mind would in the past have judged as bad or negative and want to get away from or become angry about and resist and fight and deny, suddenly the same challenge brings about a state of greater inner stillness and alertness. Then action arises that is just right for that moment and that situation, no longer the reactive mind operating out of its old conditioning.
Challenges are wonderful things. With everything challenge comes the opportunity of being intensely present and then action happens if it’s needed.
You see teachers struggling with how to handle the adulation and appreciation that comes to them without getting bound up into it or torn apart by it.
That’s a challenge every spiritual teacher will be faced with at some point. In some the ego comes back because they’re bombarded with projections of specialness. The ego always thinks of itself as special either in greatness or misery. My problems, my achievements, my failures, my sufferings are special. The danger is that at some point he or she begins to believe that the form, me, is special. Of course, that’s the beginning of the end of the spiritual teacher.
So, I led a very secluded existence for many years being nobody in the eyes of the world. A few people came, sometimes for spiritual teaching, but not many. I was happy being nobody and I’m still nobody, but in the eyes of the world now I’m somebody. If I forget that ultimately I’m nobody then that would be the return of the ego.
It’s a challenge, but so far it seems to be fine. I don’t believe that now I have become somebody. The power that comes through can sometimes be very intense and wonderful. That’s fine if there’s no me that identifies with it as my power. It’s beautiful.
So that’s your job. To be nobody.
Yes, that’s right.
That’s a lovely paradox.
Yes. I don’t feel any different inside from the way I felt a few years ago when I was a hermit. It still feels exactly the same inside. And, I don’t have a mental image of myself as a spiritual teacher. When people go and I’m alone there really isn’t anybody there. It’s just a state of stillness. I don’t carry around inside me the image of me as a spiritual teacher. That would be the beginning of suffering.
Source: In Focus
www.mindpowernews.com
solve difficult problems through kali sadhana
mahakali Mantra have been created to make the human life more successful and pleasurable. Just try and perform these Mantras yourself in a systematic way, and surely all the, problems of your life will drift away. But it requires accurate pronunciation of the Mantras, authentic Sadhana material and proper guidance
Like a mother, Kali fulfils all needs of a Sadhak and blesses him with wealth, fame, respect and a happy family life. And where she assures material prosperity, she also ensures spiritual upliftment.
chant 51 rounds of this Mantra with Mahakali mala OR Rudraksha mala
|| Om Kreem Kreem Mahaakaalyei Kreem Kreem Namah ||
It has been the experience of Sadhaks and Yogis over the ages that enemies, pain, sorrows or diseases cannot harm a devotee of Mahakali. The life of such an individual remains brimming with joy, laughter, comfort and pleasures. He gets whatever he desires -- wealth, fame, prosperity, vehicles, property, social status, position and even spiritual enlightenment
Meditation & Happiness-
by Eric Armstrong
Meditation and Happiness
It is a remarkable fact that happiness can be generated from within, either in formal meditation or by informal "thought focusing" while going about the business of daily living. I learned this remarkable technique while studying with Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim. She has a remarkable range of techniques to get people to meditate in their daily life, and to discover the positive vibrations in the universe.
What I found, in that process, was that by focusing on appreciation, or gratitude, or forgiveness, I would first experience a welling up of powerful, positive emotional forces. Continued focus on those feelings would amplify them over and over, until they swelled into a crescendo of bliss, experienced as a joyful love of the universe and all it contains.
In one process, I focused on appreciation. I appreciated the gifts of nature: clouds, green trees, and flowers. I appreciated the life I had, the peace around me, the opportunities I enjoyed. In another process, I focused on gratitude. I felt gratitude for the life-giving sun, for the oxygen-producing trees, for the gift of sight and the mobility of my body. A third process had me focusing on forgiveness -- forgiveness for others, forgiveness from others, forgiveness for myself. In point of fact, it was the first time in my life I had ever experienced forgiveness.
The emotions begun in formal mediation were carried forward throughout the day. At odd moments, while driving, taking a walk at lunch, or taking a break, I fed these emotions, focusing more and more fully on the feelings, finding more and more reasons for them. When focusing on gratitude, for example, I began to feel gratitude for my car, my parents, the sun, the rain, clouds, stars, the people in my life, my job, and on, and on. I felt marvelously, blissfully happy. On each of these occasions, for periods lasting several days to several weeks, I experienced total enlightenment.
The Trap of the Intellect
As powerful as the feelings were, however, on each occasion they dissipated. It was rather disheartening. I mean, there I was -- enlightened! And now it was gone. Worse, I had no idea what made it go away. Partly, of course, it was the difficulty of maintaining that strong focus over such a long period of time. But in retrospect, I am convinced that "the trap of the intellect" more than anything else caused my "fall from grace".
The intellect is a very powerful tool in the meditation process. By focusing and holding a thought, it triggers an emotional response. Through creative imagination, it finds more and more reasons for that feeling. So, when focusing on gratitude, I first felt gratitude for one thing. Then the intellect found more and more things to be grateful for. The intellect acted as an amplifier in that process, producing more and more powerful feelings.
But like a chain saw, the intellect can be used either to perform a lot of work, or to undo the results of much effort. When the mind found things to be grateful for, it was assisting the process. But "the trap of the intellect" lay in identifying those things as the reason for the feelings I was experiencing. Its a subtle difference, but an important one.
The problem is that as soon as the mind is convinced that the feelings are produced by the various reasons then, when things change, the mind is totally convinced that your feelings should change! The fact is that your feelings can be motivated from within, or they can be motivated from without. It takes a lot of practice to "ride over" the external influences and consistently generate feelings from within, regardless of what is occurring on the outside. The very mind that was such a powerful tool for amplifying the feelings can be their undoing.
Recognizing the Trap
What began as an act of will -- a conscious decision to experience a chosen emotion -- gradually declines into an intellectual exercise of listing "reasons", and expecting the emotion to come about as a result. At first, it does. But over time, the emotions dwindle. The process of "counting your blessings" no longer seems effective, and you wonder why.
The problem is that the mere fact of thinking about a thing does not, in itself, produce an emotional reaction. You can either observe it, without emotion, or you can experience it, with emotion. Experiencing the emotion is fundamentally an act of choice. Whether replaying a recent traumatic event or reliving a happy moment, the feeling you have is a matter of choice, independent of the event. As you go about intellectually listing things, you gradually lose the sensation of making a choice, like a muscle that atrophies from neglect.
So merely "counting your blessings" as an intellectual exercise does not work. Unfortunate, but true. If it did work, parental admonitions to do so would have worked. But they never did, did they? Because thinking of a thing is not the same as choosing to experience a particular feeling.
So the first sign that one is caught in the "trap of the intellect" is a gradually diminishing of the joy and exhilaration you recently experienced. After a while, you begin to feel positively normal, and that is quite a letdown after your previous feelings. Then, eventually, something bad happens in your life and you feel powerless to resist the emotional onslaught associated with it. Where before you easily rode over the "bumps in the road", letting nothing annoy you or interrupt your continued good feeling, now the event causes any of the negative feelings that you were free of, at least for a short while. Anger, jealousy, shame, sorrow, depression, or some other negative emotion now enters your life as freely as it used to do before. You are now officially "down".
Avoiding the Trap
But before you experienced the gradual letdown, you experienced the crescendo of emotions that came from recounting your reasons for feeling that way. That was the intellect serving as a powerful amplifier, feeding back your emotions and amplifying them again and again, until you reached a pinnacle of emotion.
It may be possible to find things to be happy about (appreciative of, grateful for), without identifying them as "reasons". Because, once convinced that the external influences are the reason for happiness, the mind becomes an ally of external influences instead of a guardian against them.
On the other hand, it takes an extremely tight mental discipline to identify things without identifying them as reasons. Its not clear that the mind is capable of it. A surer course is one that was suggested to me by Tom Saunders, one of Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim's instructors. Once, when I told him how distressed I was at not being able to hold on to the peak experience I recently had, he said, "After a while, you learn to avoid the highs, as well as the lows".
This was a lesson told to me many times at different times by Grandmaster and her instructors. It was one I never really understood. But it makes sense. The "highs" come from the feedback effect when the intellect enters the process. The feeling builds and builds, but the process cannot be sustained indefinitely. Eventually, it burns out.
So the trick is to forego the amplification -- keep choosing to experience the emotion, but avoid listing reasons intellectually. Your feeling then comes more and more from within, from your inner choice. It comes less and less from external influences. And that is the beginning of your "inner strength" -- the ability to control your emotional state regardless of external circumstances.
Developing Inner Strength
Developing that inner strength to choose under your own volition, regardless of external influences, is precisely what Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim's deeply traditional training is all about. It has a martial arts component, but at bottom it is training of the mind, body, and spirit -- the ability to take charge of your life, regardless of your environment, and control your own destiny.
There is an interplay between the inner world of the spirit and the external environment, of course. Often it is helpful to make changes in your environment in order to develop your inner strength. But, like a muscle that needs weights for resistance in order to grow, your inner strength needs the strength of steadily progressing negative circumstances in order to develop to their fullest. Grandmaster calls these circumstances "tests". You never see them coming, and you don't see them at all until after you have been training for a while and have begun to develop your inner strength.
As you grow stronger, the tests become more demanding. Grandmaster is marvelously creative when it comes to designing these "tests". They are not limited to the training hall, but can come any time, anywhere. Witnessed from the outside, they may seem unfair or overly demanding. But like a muscle that exercised to soreness in order to promote growth, the tests are designed to be a little more than you can do.
When you experience such a moment, it is anything but comfortable. At such times, the experience may well seem unfair and overly demanding. But long afterwards, when you recognize the inner strength you gained from the process, you begin to appreciate how valuable it was.
Unfortunately, the process is impossible to gauge accurately. There are no measured "weights" on a weight stack, and no way to measure a person's inner strength precisely. So designing and executing the tests is more an art than a science. As a result, its impossible to avoid mistakes.
One example: One high-ranking person who had done a remarkable job conducting a public event was berated in front of everyone for forgetting some trivial detail. No beginner would ever have been given such treatment. But this person had been training for a long time. To an outsider looking on, it would seem grossly unfair, as though Grandmaster was on some kind of super power trip. To someone who understood the process, however, the question was, how would the person react? Did they have the inner strength and strength of purpose to recognize they had done well, and hold on to that regardless of how others saw it? Or would they get defensive and argumentative because they were upset by the yelling? In this case, the person was more than equal to the challenge. They remained smiling and agreeable throughout the challenge, and never for a moment lost their good humor. They had passed the test!
Sometimes, after such an occasion, Grandmaster never lets on that her performance was faked. That means the test is continuing. But her performance is so genuinely convincing that you are never totally sure it is a performance. The only clue comes from the times when she suddenly drops the front. Where one moment she was angry, chastising, scolding, in the next moment she is smiling and laughing and dancing with joy. It then becomes clear that she was feigning her angry -- because no human being on earth could possibly change their emotional gears so rapidly.
At the ultimate extreme, was the training given to one of her strongest students, Mark Amador. She gave him that treatment for four straight months. I was there when she let on what had been happening. Never once in that time had he doubted himself or been anything but totally positive in his outlook. Now there was inner strength that would not be swayed by external forces.
Of course, the risks entailed in such training are great. Feeling unfairly criticized, a person might well leave in a huff and harbor bitter feelings until the end of their days. Or someone witnessing the spectacle might form a totally mistaken impression of Grandmaster, or her motives. But the bottom line is that the training works. The people who train under her are the most joyful, loving people I have ever seen, anywhere. I have seen people from all walks of life, people who started with every conceivable emotional fixation -- fear, anger, depression, shyness, you name it -- cast off their emotional afflictions and begin to live the life they want to live, instead of the life someone else has determined for them.
It is an unfortunate fact that the training process can be easily misconstrued, and that it is not possible to scientifically design a test to just the right level, and no more. As a result, the teacher can easily suffer from public misunderstanding and even personal animosity. Fortunately, there are some teachers willing to take the risk. Because no process is as effective in developing the inner strength to become the person you were born to be.
http://www.treelight.com/essays/meditationAndHappiness.html
INDEPTH: MEDITATION
The Pursuit of Happiness
CBC News Online | April 23, 2004
Reporter: Eve Savory
Producer: Marijka Hurko
From The National
Erin Gammel is a shoo-in for the Canadian Olympic swim team. Canadian record holder, champion backstroker – unless something wildly unexpected happens, she's going to Athens.
But four years ago she was a sure bet for the Sydney Olympics, too.
"Everyone kept telling me you're a shoo-in," she says. "And we had the strategy and everything was perfect. And I thought this is it, I'm going to the Olympics."
She was racing at the Olympic trials in Montreal. She hit the lane rope, lost her concentration and lost her place on the team.
"It was just extremely disappointing. I was depressed. I was just really sad. I was crying and I couldn't control myself," Gammel says.
Erin Gammel cried for two years. Help was to come in a way she would never have dreamed, from Dharamsala in Northern India, 5,000 kilometres and cultural eons away.
Dharamsala is the home in exile to thousands of Tibetans who followed the Dalai Lama, after China occupied Tibet.
For 25 centuries Tibetan Buddhists have practised and refined their exploration. For generations they probed their inner space with the same commitment with which western science explored the external world and outer space. The two inhabited separate worlds.
But now, they are finding common ground in a remarkable collaboration.
In March 2000, a select group of scientists and scholars journeyed to Dharamsala. They came to share insights and solutions – to human distress and suffering.
Among them was Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist from the University of Wisconsin. He finds nothing contradictory about doing science with Buddhists.
"There is almost a scientific-like attitude that is exemplified by Buddhist practitioners in investigating their own mind," he says. "Their mind is the landscape of their own experimentation, if you will."
The westerners had been invited by the Dalai Lama himself to his private quarters.
For five days, monks and scientists dissected what they call "negative emotions" – sadness, anxiety jealousy craving, rage – and their potential to destroy.
One of the participants, Daniel Goleman, author of the book Destructive Emotions, says, "As we were leaving the U.S. to come here the headline was a six-year-old who had a fight with a classmate and the next day he came back with a gun and shot and killed her. It's very sad."
Why would the scientists seek answers in Tibetan Buddhism?
Because its rigorous meditative practices seem to have given the monks an extraordinary resilience, an ability to bounce back from the bad things that happen in life, and cultivate contentment.
Richard Davidson's lab is one of the world's most advanced for looking inside a living brain. He's recently been awarded an unprecedented $15-million (Cdn) grant to study, among other things, what happens inside a meditating mind.
"Meditation is a set of practices that have been around for more than 2,500 years, whose principal goal is to cultivate these positive human qualities, to promote flourishing and resilience. And so we think that it deserves to be studied with the modern tools of science," Davidson says.
A little over a year later, in May 2001, the Dalai Lama returned the visit to Davidson's lab in Madison, Wis.
His prize subjects – and collaborators – are the Dalai Lama's lamas, the monks.
"The monks, we believe, are the Olympic athletes of certain kinds of mental training," Davidson says. "These are individuals who have spent years in practice. To recruit individuals who have undergone more than 10,000 hours of training of their mind is not an easy task and there aren't that many of these individuals on the planet."
The Dalai Lama has said were he not a monk, he would be an engineer.
He brings that sensibility – the curiosity and intellectual discipline – to the discussion on EEGs and functional MRIs.
But this isn't really about machines.
And it isn't about nirvana.
It's about down-to-earth life: about the distress of ordinary people – and a saner world.
"The human and economic cost of psychiatric disorder in western industrialized countries is dramatic," says Davidson. "And to the extent that cultivating happiness reduces that suffering, it is fundamentally important."
The monk and the scientist are investigating – together – the Art of Happiness.
"Rather than thinking about qualities like happiness as a trait," Davidson says, "we should think about them as a skill, not unlike a motor skill, like bicycle riding or skiing. These are skills that can be trained. I think it is just unambiguously the case that happiness is not a luxury for our culture but it is a necessity."
But we believe we can buy happiness…if we just had the money. That's what the ad industry tells us. And we think it's true.
People's theories about what will make them happy often are wrong. And so there's a lot of work these days that shows, for example, that winning the lottery will transiently elevate your happiness but it will not persist.
There's some evidence that our temperament is more or less set from birth. So and so is a gloomy Gus…someone else is a ray of sunshine – that sort of thing.
Even when wonderful or terrible things happen, most of us, eventually, will return to that emotional set-point.
But, Davidson believes, that set point can be moved.
"Our work has been fundamentally focused on what the brain mechanisms are that underlie these emotional qualities and how these brain mechanisms might change as a consequence of certain kinds of training," Davidson says.
His work could not have been done 20 years ago. "In fact, 20 years ago, we had dreams of methods that allows you to interrogate the brain in this way, but we had no tools to do it."
Now that we have the tools we can see that as our emotions ebb and flow, so do brain chemistry and blood flow. Fear, depression, love … they all get different parts of our brain working.
Happiness and enthusiasm, and joy – they show up as increased activity on the left side near the front of the cortex. Anxiety, sadness – on the right.
Davidson has found this pattern in infants as young as 10 months, in toddlers, teens and adults.
Davidson tested more than 150 ordinary people to see what parts of their brains were most active.
Some were a little more active on the left. Some were a little more active on the right.
A few were quite far to the right. They would probably be called depressed. Others were quite far to the left, the sort of people who feel "life is great."
So there was a range. Then Davidson tested a monk.
He was so far to the left he was right off the curve. That was one happy monk.
"And this is rather dramatic evidence that there's something really different about his brain compared with the brains of these other 150 people. This is tantalizing evidence that these practices may indeed be promoting beneficial changes in the brain."
Here, the Olympic athletes of meditation meet the Cadillac of brain scanners.
Khachab Rinpoche, a monk from Asia, came to Madison to meditate in perhaps the strangest place in his life: the functional MRI.
It let's scientists watch what happens inside his brain when he switches between different types of meditation.
They want to know how his brain may differ from ordinary people, and whether that change is related to the inner contentment the monks report.
So they test how subjects react to unpleasant sounds and images flashed into the goggles they wear in the MRI.
Normally when we're threatened one part of the brain is tremendously active, but in the monks, "the responsivity of this area is specifically decreased during this meditation in response to these very intense auditory simuli that convey strong emotions," Davidson says.
It's very preliminary work, but the implication may be that the lamas are able to move right through distressing events that overwhelm the rest of us – in other words, one of the keys to their happiness.
It may tell us something about our potential. "Our brains are adaptable, our brains are not fixed. The wiring in our brains is not fixed. Who we are today is not necessarily who we have to end up being," Davidson says.
Tibetan Buddhism is said to be one of the most demanding mental endeavours on the planet. It takes 10,000 hours of meditation and years in retreat to become adept. Few of us can imagine such a commitment.
But that doesn't mean the benefits of meditation are out of our reach.
Zindal Segal is a psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. He uses meditation to treat mood disorders.
It's based on Buddhist teachings and its called mindfulness.
Michael Herman, senior partner with the law firm of Goodman and Goodman, meditates in his office.
"Very few of us can sit for 10,000 hours to be able to do this but the interesting thing is that we don't need to. These capacities are available to all of us," Segal says. " We're talking about paying attention, we're talking about returning wherever our minds are to this present moment. These are things that we all have. We don't have to earn them, we just have to find a way of clearing away the clutter to see that they are already there."
Meditation is now out of the closet. The word is, it eases stress, drops blood pressure, helps put that bad day at the office in perspective.
Meditation is being mainlined by the mainstream, from corporate offices to factory floors.
These days it's not unusual to find hospitals like St. Joseph's in Toronto offering meditation programs. Some 360 people pass through the eight-week course every year.
Like most, this program has taken the simplest form of Buddhist teaching and adapted it for busy lives.
"Meditation is a skill, and like any skill it needs to be practised. So we use the breath as the place where we start to practise but eventually what we want to be able to do is to be able to use the awareness of the breath in our daily lives," Segal says.
"When we have the ability to do that we can then use the breath when we're standing in line at a bank, or if we're having an argument with a spouse, as a way of grounding ourselves in the middle of something that is disturbing."
Something disturbing, like the mind movie Erin Gammel couldn't escape: the day when she failed to make the Olympic team.
"I just remember my hand getting caught in a lane rope and thinking to myself, it's over," Gammel says.
She lost her focus, her place on the team, and her heart to swim.
"It affected my entire life. I cried at the drop of a hat. I wasn't improving and it didn't look like anything was really improving. And I felt everything I did I seemed to fail at," she says. "That was part of the depression and the sadness because I felt like I was failing at the time. Nothing was going well."
Until she hooked up with the National Swim Team's sports psychologist, Hap Davis. Davis had been fascinated by scientist Richard Davidson's work.
He had a hunch that reliving the trauma was suppressing that part of Erin's brain on the left that Davidson had found was so active in happy people.
He devised a rescue plan – a breathing meditation that she was to do before and after repeatedly viewing the video.
"If a person can ground themselves and feel centred with meditative breathing they can get to the point where they can look at it and view it with a critical mind, with a mind that is capable of being open to the experience and looking objectively at what took place," Davis says.
"You know what it felt like during the race. It felt like I stopped absolutely dead. But in the video I look and it looks like just a little glitch. Nothing."
It's more than two years since they've needed to study the tape – because it worked. Erin's joy of swimming returned; she's winning race after race.
"She's more resilient emotionally. She's more stable emotionally. She's more consistent in terms of performance," Davis says.
"Meditation isn't necessarily about happiness but it makes you happier. I guess that is how you would say it. And I feel more confident. That I know how to work with this stuff and work with bad things that happen in my life," Gammel says.
Once again there's one more race to win – the trials to make the team that goes to Athens.
"This is my year. That's what I keep telling everyone. This is my year to make the Olympic team because making it through all those times there it's just going to happen, I know it is. lt's just going to happen," she says.
"Meditation has been around for 2500 years so it's not like a new practice," Davis says. "But science is catching up to an old tradition and the evidence seems to be emerging that meditation can change the pattern of brain chemistry or blood flow in the brain."
And now there's proof meditation can change the brains of ordinary people and make them healthier.
Promega is a biotech company in Madison, Wis., where the researchers from the Brain Imaging Lab recruited typical stressed out workers – office staff, managers, even a skeptical research scientist, Mike Slater.
"Things were chaotic and crazy. We had a newborn. We had three deaths in the family. So it was a pretty topsy-turvy time," Slater says.
All the subjects had activity in their brain measured…and half – including Mike Slater – were given an eight- week course in meditation.
Then everyone – meditators and controls – got a flu shot, and their brains were measured a second time.
The meditators' brain activity had shifted to that happy left side. Mike Slater was almost too successful.
"I was pretty happy all the time and I was worried that maybe I was masking some stuff that might really be irritating me so I stopped it and my wife noticed an increase in my irritability, so, you know, I have both sides of the experiment now. It calmed me down and I stopped doing it and my irritability increased," he says.
That wasn't all. Their immune systems had strengthened.
"Those individuals in the meditation group that showed the biggest change in brain activity also showed the biggest change in immune function, suggesting that these were closely linked," Davidson says.
Davidson and his team had shown meditation could shift not just mood – but also brain activity and immunity in ordinary people.
And they'd answered a potential flaw in the monk study.
"Someone may say, well, maybe these individuals are that way to start out with. Maybe that's why they're attracted to be monks," Davidson says. "And we actually can't answer that on the basis of those data, but with the Promega study, we can say definitely that it had to do with the intervention we provided."
There are reasons to believe the insane pace and many aggravations of daily life can be dangerous to the health of our minds and our bodies.
We can't push the delay button on a busy world and we can't bail out.
But perhaps meditation is a way to encourage a sense of well-being – a deep breath in the centre of the whirlwind.
"As the Dalai Lama himself said in his book The Art of Happiness, we have the capacity to change ourselves because of the very nature, of the very structure and function of our brain," Davidson says. "And that is a very hopeful message because I think it instills in people the belief that there are things that they can do to make themselves better."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/meditation/
Tantrik bheej mantras
Kali: Kreem
For realization for Goddess Kali, health, strength, protection, elimination of enemies, solution of grave problems and all round success. Also creates a strongbase for Kali Mahavidya Sadhana.
Mahalaxmi: Shreem
For realization for Goddess Mahalaxmi, wealth, material gains, success in business or profession, elimination of ailments & worries, protection, gettinga beautiful wife, happy married life and all roundsuccess. Also creates a strong base for other Mahalaxmi Sadhanas.
Shiv: Hroum
For realization for Lord Shiv, protection from deadlydiseases, immortality, moksh and all round success. Also creates a strong base for Mahamrutyunjay Sadhana.
Durga: Doom (D as in Durga)
For realization for Goddess Durga, power, strength,protection, health, wealth, victory, wisdom, knowledge, elimination of enemies & grave problems, happy married life and all round success. Also createsa strong base for other Durga Sadhanas, ShaktiS adhanas and Mahavidya Sadhanas.
Bhuvaneshwari: Hreem
For realization for Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, getting everything including but not limited to Kundalini Jagran. The best and the most powerful. This also the mantra for Bhuvaneshwari Mahavidya Sadhana. Alsocreates a strong base for all sadhanas.
Saraswati: Ayeim
For realization of Goddess Saraswati, knowledge, wisdom, success in exams, pleasure and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Saraswati sadhanas.
Ganapati: Gam
For realization of Lord Ganapati, knowledge, wisdom, protection, fortune, happiness, health, wealth, elimination of all obstacles and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Ganapatisadhanas.
Hanuman: Fraum
For realization of Lord Hanuman, unlimited strength,power, protection, wisdom, happiness, elimination ofbad spirits & ghosts, victory over enemies and allround success. Also creates a strong base for otherHanuman sadhanas.
Vishnu: Dam
For realization of Lord Vishnu, wealth, health, protection, happy married life, happiness, victory and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Vishnu sadhanas.
Bhairav: Bhram
For realization of Lord Bhairav, success in Mahavidya or Shakti sadhanas, strength, protection, victory,health, wealth, happiness, fame, success in courtcases, elimination of enemies, success in Shmashansadhanas and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Bhairav sadhanas.
Dhoomavati: Dhoom
For realization of Goddess Dhoomavati, quick elimination of all adversaries, strength, fortune, protection, health, wealth and all round success. Alsocreates a strong base for Dhoomavati Mahavidya sadhana.
Bagalamukhi: Hleem
For realization of Goddess Bagalamukhi, quickelimination of all enemies, fierce power, victory, fame, elimination of tantra badha, nullifying maranproyogs of enemies and all round success. Also createsa strong base for Bagalamukhi Mahavidya sadhana.
Tara: Treem
For realization of Goddess Tara, unending monetarygain, unlimited wealth, fortune, fame, happiness, victory and all round success. Also creates a strongbase for Tara Mahavidya sadhana.
Narsimha: Kshraum
For realization of Lord Narsimha, quick victory overenemies, elimination of enemies, fortune and all roundsuccess. Also creates a strong base for other Narsimhasadhanas.
For realization of Lord Kuber, massive monetary gain,wealth, fortune and all round success. Also creates astrong base for other Kuber sadhanas.
Akash Tatva: Ham
For activating the Akash Tatva (space element) in us which gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments related to this element. Activation of all elements leads to quicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak to access all supernatural powers.
Agni Tatva: Ram
For activating the Agni Tatva (fire element) in uswhich gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments relatedto this element. Activation of all elements leads toquicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak toaccess all supernatural powers.
Vayu Tatva: Yam
For activating the Vayu Tatva (air element) in uswhich gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments relatedto this element. Activation of all elements leads toquicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak toaccess all supernatural powers.
Prithvi Tatva: Ksham
For activating the Prithvi Tatva (earth element) in uswhich gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments relatedto this element. Activation of all elements leads toquicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak toaccess all supernatural powers.
apas apas( jal) vij : Vang
Shanti (Peace): Tam
LAKSHMI SADHNA
In the field of Tantra Guru Gorakhnath is remembered with great respect. He accomplished a very powerful Sadhana of Goddess Lakshmi and made his hermitage so prosperous that no matter how much was spent, the wealth never ran out. It is said that Goddess Lakshmi ever remained present in his hermitage. Many Yogis even claimed to have her glimpse there.
In the night of a Sunday place a Shwetaark Ganpati in a plate and smear it with vermilion. Then with a silver straw write on the idol -
Shreem Hreem Shreem
In the night wear a Dhoti/Saree and stand facing East. Then with a Sfatik rosary chant 11 rounds of the following Mantra.
Hreem Hreem Lakshmi Aagachch Aagachch Hreem Hreem Phat.
Do not sit down or sleep or drink water till 11 rounds are over. If you feel tired you can stand against a wall. There is no need of any lamp or incense in this Sadhana. If you wish you can light an oil or ghee lamp. This is an unfailing ritual and is very success oriented
"Do not try to churn the ocean, Churn your mind instead, there is nothing outside, everything is in the mind"
"whoever conquers sleep conquers Mahakal"
- From Gorakh vani
Kali: Kreem
For realization for Goddess Kali, health, strength, protection, elimination of enemies, solution of grave problems and all round success. Also creates a strongbase for Kali Mahavidya Sadhana.
Mahalaxmi: Shreem
For realization for Goddess Mahalaxmi, wealth, material gains, success in business or profession, elimination of ailments & worries, protection, gettinga beautiful wife, happy married life and all roundsuccess. Also creates a strong base for other Mahalaxmi Sadhanas.
Shiv: Hroum
For realization for Lord Shiv, protection from deadlydiseases, immortality, moksh and all round success. Also creates a strong base for Mahamrutyunjay Sadhana.
Durga: Doom (D as in Durga)
For realization for Goddess Durga, power, strength,protection, health, wealth, victory, wisdom, knowledge, elimination of enemies & grave problems, happy married life and all round success. Also createsa strong base for other Durga Sadhanas, ShaktiS adhanas and Mahavidya Sadhanas.
Bhuvaneshwari: Hreem
For realization for Goddess Bhuvaneshwari, getting everything including but not limited to Kundalini Jagran. The best and the most powerful. This also the mantra for Bhuvaneshwari Mahavidya Sadhana. Alsocreates a strong base for all sadhanas.
Saraswati: Ayeim
For realization of Goddess Saraswati, knowledge, wisdom, success in exams, pleasure and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Saraswati sadhanas.
Ganapati: Gam
For realization of Lord Ganapati, knowledge, wisdom, protection, fortune, happiness, health, wealth, elimination of all obstacles and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Ganapatisadhanas.
Hanuman: Fraum
For realization of Lord Hanuman, unlimited strength,power, protection, wisdom, happiness, elimination ofbad spirits & ghosts, victory over enemies and allround success. Also creates a strong base for otherHanuman sadhanas.
Vishnu: Dam
For realization of Lord Vishnu, wealth, health, protection, happy married life, happiness, victory and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Vishnu sadhanas.
Bhairav: Bhram
For realization of Lord Bhairav, success in Mahavidya or Shakti sadhanas, strength, protection, victory,health, wealth, happiness, fame, success in courtcases, elimination of enemies, success in Shmashansadhanas and all round success. Also creates a strong base for other Bhairav sadhanas.
Dhoomavati: Dhoom
For realization of Goddess Dhoomavati, quick elimination of all adversaries, strength, fortune, protection, health, wealth and all round success. Alsocreates a strong base for Dhoomavati Mahavidya sadhana.
Bagalamukhi: Hleem
For realization of Goddess Bagalamukhi, quickelimination of all enemies, fierce power, victory, fame, elimination of tantra badha, nullifying maranproyogs of enemies and all round success. Also createsa strong base for Bagalamukhi Mahavidya sadhana.
Tara: Treem
For realization of Goddess Tara, unending monetarygain, unlimited wealth, fortune, fame, happiness, victory and all round success. Also creates a strongbase for Tara Mahavidya sadhana.
Narsimha: Kshraum
For realization of Lord Narsimha, quick victory overenemies, elimination of enemies, fortune and all roundsuccess. Also creates a strong base for other Narsimhasadhanas.
For realization of Lord Kuber, massive monetary gain,wealth, fortune and all round success. Also creates astrong base for other Kuber sadhanas.
Akash Tatva: Ham
For activating the Akash Tatva (space element) in us which gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments related to this element. Activation of all elements leads to quicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak to access all supernatural powers.
Agni Tatva: Ram
For activating the Agni Tatva (fire element) in uswhich gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments relatedto this element. Activation of all elements leads toquicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak toaccess all supernatural powers.
Vayu Tatva: Yam
For activating the Vayu Tatva (air element) in uswhich gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments relatedto this element. Activation of all elements leads toquicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak toaccess all supernatural powers.
Prithvi Tatva: Ksham
For activating the Prithvi Tatva (earth element) in uswhich gets us siddhis and eliminates ailments relatedto this element. Activation of all elements leads toquicker awakening of Kundalini and enables a sadhak toaccess all supernatural powers.
apas apas( jal) vij : Vang
Shanti (Peace): Tam
LAKSHMI SADHNA
In the field of Tantra Guru Gorakhnath is remembered with great respect. He accomplished a very powerful Sadhana of Goddess Lakshmi and made his hermitage so prosperous that no matter how much was spent, the wealth never ran out. It is said that Goddess Lakshmi ever remained present in his hermitage. Many Yogis even claimed to have her glimpse there.
In the night of a Sunday place a Shwetaark Ganpati in a plate and smear it with vermilion. Then with a silver straw write on the idol -
Shreem Hreem Shreem
In the night wear a Dhoti/Saree and stand facing East. Then with a Sfatik rosary chant 11 rounds of the following Mantra.
Hreem Hreem Lakshmi Aagachch Aagachch Hreem Hreem Phat.
Do not sit down or sleep or drink water till 11 rounds are over. If you feel tired you can stand against a wall. There is no need of any lamp or incense in this Sadhana. If you wish you can light an oil or ghee lamp. This is an unfailing ritual and is very success oriented
"Do not try to churn the ocean, Churn your mind instead, there is nothing outside, everything is in the mind"
"whoever conquers sleep conquers Mahakal"
- From Gorakh vani
‘I felt I was the Divine Mother. The trance would not break’
Shibani Chaudhury
Thirty-seven years old. Mother of five-year-old twins. Wildlife documentary filmmaker and scriptwriter, coming out of a semi-sabbatical. Currently based in Kolkata
Before I moved to Calcutta, for eight years I lived in Guwahati, very close to Kamakhya, the world’s most potent Shakti shrine, the nerve centre of Tantra. The deity here is believed to be the primordial womb of Sati, Shiva’s first consort. The Shiva-Shakti myth is riveting. Potent. But the rituals around it have mired Kamakhya in controversy over centuries, leaving it hostage to a vile bureaucracy of godmen.
For seven years I stayed as far as I could from it. I am a rational, logical person. Before I got married in Guwahati, I was a wildlife filmmaker in Delhi. I lived life on my own terms. Religion for me was always a simple and utterly internal process. I had never been driven by any spiritual quest. Instead, it sat within me very surely – from since I was little. A deep, quiet well, at the core of which was an unschooled, unconditional love for Shiva.
It was in June 2004 that I first succumbed to the elemental pull of Kamakhya. At first it was a purely academic thing. I was researching my film, Shakti Sutra. For this, I met scores of people who had dedicated their lives to serving the Ma. Local priests, ‘pandas’; hundreds of dusty mendicants in black, burgundy and leopard-print robes, most of them stoned, some hamming trances, some in deep meditation; lusty women in white and red rimmed saris with matted hair. One evening at the temple, a woman was suddenly possessed of the spirit. A shadow crossed her face. She rose in a spasm of movement – arms flailing, hair swishing, face clenched. Someone ululated in the crowd. Others echoed it. I filmed all this with a knot in my stomach. This was beyond my comfort level. Hysteria of this kind was alien and disturbing to me. I did not understand these layers of Mother Goddess worship. I wasn’t sure I wanted to walk that route -- even for a film. But I had a persistent friend with me on the project. So I hung in there.
For a week, I alternated between fear and disbelief at my delusional state. Finally, I went to see a psychologist. I wanted to understand
Our search took us to the camps of the serious ascetics, the ‘Babas’ -- each known for some phenomenal power, including bringing people back from the dead. Among these, the Aghori Tantrics are the most powerful of the Devi’s followers. Inaccessible and secretive, they are feared for their unorthodox ‘samshan kriya’ or cremation ground rites, through which they conquer the ultimate boundaries of fear, death and mortal bondage. I was intellectually lured into plumbing this further.
Then one day in 2005, a simple avuncular panda who had taken me under his wing took me to meet one of these high powered ‘Babas’. That short walk last June led me into the most frightfully inexplicable weeks of my life.
The room was spartan. Kedarnath Baba, as he was called, sat there dressed in white. He had a genial air and spoke in stirring analogies. It was an interesting meeting. All was well until he asked me if I felt I had reached my full potential in life. That question moved something dormant in me. I said I had not. He asked if I wanted to be shown the way. I said I did. He asked me to do a simple meditation and project myself towards him. I did. Within seconds my breathing changed. I felt as if I was being raised upwards by my spine and a huge, huge sob welled up within me. I cried tears of what seemed like several lifetimes and gradually calmed down. He turned towards my husband and said I had tremendous energy locked within me and that I could attain great spiritual heights if I meditated and practiced my dhyan. He told him he shouldn’t stand in my way. The past year had sucked me in. I was totally charged. I said I wanted to explore this side of spirituality.
Every time I sat alone in dhyan at home, I slipped into a mesmerizing world of rich colours and stunning effects. It drew me in deeper and deeper, until one time I saw feet of gold, shift to large golden eyes, and I felt such bliss, such bliss, I never wanted to withdraw from it. I felt I had reached the Mother. I was intensely grateful to Kedarnath Baba. I had always loved Shiva, always felt effortlessly close to him. Ma, in all her forms, had stayed away and I’d never gone in search of her. Now she was receiving me in all her glory. Every time I prayed or went into dhyan, I found myself flowing into dance like postures, striking powerful mudras I had never learnt. It was inexplicable and dizzyingly empowering. I felt I had magic at my fingertips.
One evening at a friend-devotee’s place, the Baba asked me to meditate. He had been on his mobile a lot, guiding people across India through difficult, intense meditative experiences. Then he turned to me. Suddenly, I was in a trance, singing a shloka in a language I absolutely do not know. I then bent over acrobatically, defying every constraint of bodily flexibility, and suddenly came up surging with energy – angry from some deep-rooted memory. I was dancing in anger and anguish, mutely admonishing Him for leaving me dead. For leaving me alone for centuries deep within the earth, while He roamed the Universe. I struck the Baba and wept tears that would wash a whole floor. When I came to, both the Baba and my friend seemed shaken. I felt distanced from my worldly identity. I felt a strange sense of invincibility, of having found my lost partner from some other world.
One morning soon after, the Baba asked me to bring him home from his room. I was grateful to the Baba for putting me in this heightened spiritual zone, but uncomfortable about going to him alone. Before I went to his room, I ran up to the Ma Tara temple and asked her to be with me. As I waited for him, a disciple in his room said to me in Assamese, ‘Aapnar ga ot Ma ahibo (the Mother will come to your body).’
At first the Baba was like any other visitor in the house. Only he seemed terribly put out by the heat. He kept referring to his abode in Kedarnath and how the plains’ summer made him burn. Finally I offered to put on the only ac in the house, which was in our room. He ate there. Then he asked me to eat the remains of his meal. He claimed Shiva’s divine energy would be insulted if it were wasted. I actually made myself eat it. But for some reason, the oddity of the act repulsed me. When he left, I went about involuntarily lighting camphor lamps to purify the house. I decided not to go further with this thing.
But two days later he was back in my house, dropped off by someone else. This time I made sure my husband came back early. We were all having tea when the Baba opened a diary. And suddenly, again, I was up. I circled a mantra in the book with my thumb and fell into this tremendous dance. I kept singing a hymn in Hindi saying ‘Good will prevail’. That evening the Baba gave me a rudraksha mala to bind me with the Shiva I loved so much. I wore it but kept telling my husband we needed to speak to someone about what was happening.
The next day, July 15, 2005, a meeting was arranged for him to impart his teachings. It was my birthday. That Aapnar ga ot Ma ahibo evening the trance like dances I had been lapsing into culminated dramatically. As I danced, I indicated that all the ‘Dasa Mahavidyas’ – the Devi’s avatars -- had found human representation except Tara. There was no Tara in the ring of women he had arranged around him – at the centre of which I was the Golden Mother, Ma Kamakhya. That evening my trance refused to break and at one point I felt as if I would just dissipate. Dissolve. I sobbed thinking I would never see my children again and prayed from deep within to connect with my own identity, to find normalcy.
Late that night, we went to drop the Baba back to Kamakhya with friends of ours. I was still in a daze and when he took his leave, I told him there was an ‘asur’ (demon) within him and that he should leave my presence. Suddenly I felt a deep urge to be grounded. I had to step out of the car. As my feet touched the ground, I slipped into the ‘mudras’ again in the pre-dawn night. I have never felt so unassailable.
The next morning my mother in law came to see me, saying she’d had a terrible dream where I was leaving for some other world and she wondered how she would handle my children. I was ravaged by the previous night. I alternated between hugging her and crying in fear, and sitting ramrod straight, hovering in some hangover trance where I believed I could look back into the past of each of our lives, and could gift all those around me with a bit of divinity.
After a while, I stabilized and everyone left. But the trance continued to wash over me in shudders. My husband kept phoning from work and suggested I write to purge myself.
July 16, 2005, Guwahati. Between 3 – 4 pm:
…As I write this I still don’t know what has transpired between me and the Universe – all I know is that I have been a conduit to something fantastic and immense. It has an energy, a palpable energy – something each person can tune in to and begin to ring in harmony.
I was an empty receptacle – as empty as the void that is Shiv – ‘shunya’. I have loved him so long and so purely that I became him… As I write, I am fighting the need to melt into one with the Universe. I cannot transmute that energy into a contained version in my human form. It is drawing me upwards into a plume of light that will melt into the void.
My children play, I hear their voices – they draw me back into this world where I choose to belong.
Yesterday I turned 36 – yesterday I could have become one with the divine and left behind the form of the person that writes this as Shibani. But I chose to stay and carry forward my duties in domesticity and perhaps document in snatches this Experience. What will be made of it – I know not…
…A golden Mother is what I am. That is what this boy has awakened in me. This boy – Shivputra Sukhdev Chaitanya. He is the prophet of the twin cosmic energies. Forces that have been quelled and abused since humans were granted intellect…What pours from within me is the truth of Nature – the play of Prakriti – the skill of the cosmos.
Two days later, someone phoned. At a community meditation I did not even attend, some people -- some of whom I don’t know -- said they saw me dressed in a red sari dancing in the middle of lit diyas.
All of it was beyond belief. Where had I arrived? What had taken me over? I made films, films on wildlife, environment, people in remote areas. I questioned status quos. Now, what was this?
I rang my parents, gushing about having found divinity within. Their response was uncertain. They didn’t share my euphoria. It didn’t quell me. Curiously, I rang a stupendously busy doctor friend; someone with a quiet philosophical and spiritual side he rarely shares with anyone. I told him he must meet this magic man. For some unexplainable reason he agreed to come up with me to the hill. It was past 9 pm. I phoned my parents telling them I was going up – they warned me in desperation, my father said he thought it was some version of hypnosis. I ignored him.
The doctor, my husband and I sat for about 45 minutes with the Baba. The doctor was polite but non-engaged. I worried about what he was thinking. Suddenly the Baba lost his gifted articulation. He started bragging of strange, petty acts of power. He tried to make me listen to someone’s voice on the phone and project myself. I almost sniggered. He gave me a deathly stare and snarled some mantra like commands at me. I just stared at him in disbelief. It all fell away. The doctor’s calm, detached energy worked like a prism, slanting the truth at me. It was incredulous, the recovery.
At that precise moment, I got a call from my friend frantically asking me to get away. Her mentor had suddenly divined that this man had spun us all into some spell to draw our ‘Shakti’ from us. He was a hoax. Back in the car, I thanked the doctor for his unlikely visit. Ma Tara guards those who ask her to. I had instinctively gone to her before I began this journey. She had brought me full circle.
For a week, I alternated between fear at what we had exposed ourselves to, and disbelief at my delusional state. We obsessed with cleansing our homes with frankincense, salt, camphor and ‘ganga jal’. I would sleep gingerly and wake up petrified. Then I’d force the fear away and rationalize.
Finally, I went to see a psychologist. I wanted to understand. As I walked into her office above her desk I saw a beautifully embroidered ‘yantra’ of Ma Bagulamukhi – the keeper away of demons. I was stunned at this coincidence. I wanted to know what psychological spell could be so potent as to ensnare 7-8 hard nosed, practical, family women in different parts of the country into a delusional web. She had no answers to that but she helped me analyse my state of mind.
I had spent seven years in Guwahati, my individuality overrun by a town I couldn’t really find a place in. I was probably unwittingly defeated at the point. But I don’t see this episode as an example of great intellectual failure and emotional weakness. I see it as a truth of what can be plumbed from within each of us. For months I could not pray. I was dogged by shadowy presences in my mind, my children were ill for 6 weeks. But I refused to concede. I worshipped the sun and healed myself. I did not reject Kamakhya. I did stay away – to distill and reconcile the experience again into a simple and direct connect with both energies in Nature: Shiva and Shakti. In those weeks I was crushed. Yet I came away with a knowledge of my own will and the human capacity for the divine and demonic. I am blessed that now live in understanding.
Source-
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main18.asp?fi...l_histories.asp
The Secret Dimension of Hatha-Yoga
By Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D.
The type of Hatha-Yoga taught in most Western Yoga schools shows little resemblance to traditional Yoga, as we know it from the Sanskrit scriptures and as it is still taught in a few âshramas in India. Contemporary Western Yoga practice focuses almost exclusively on postures (âsana), by and large omitting the moral disciplines, traditional purification techniques, meditation, and yogic philosophy. Ignorance of the philosophical foundations of Hatha-Yoga is especially unfortunate, as it prevents practitioners from understanding the original goals of Yoga. These goals relate to ego-transcendence, full knowledge of the body-mind (including the subtle sheath or sûkshma-sharîra), enlightenment, and the transformation of the body into what tradition calls an "adamantine body" (vajra-deha) or "divine body" (divya-deha).
To understand traditional Hatha-Yoga and its objectives, we must understand that this branch of the age-old tree of Yoga is an integral part of the Tantric heritage. Tantra emerged c. 300-400 A.D. more or less simultaneously in Hinduism and Buddhism. The masters of Tantra, the siddhas, introduced their teachings as a new revelation for the Dark Age (kali-yuga) complementing or, according to a more radical view, replacing the earlier teachings of the Vedas (in Hindism) and the Pali canon (in Buddhism) respectively. These masters felt that the old approaches were no longer effective, because humanity had entered into a phase of moral and spiritual decline. They invented new meditation techniques, rituals, and mantras, etc.
In particular, Tantra favored a new appraisal of the physical realm and the human body, regarding both not as enemies of the Spirit but as manifestations of it. Thus the Tantric teachings sought to overcome all artificial dualism between body and Spirit or, to put it differently, immanence and transcendence, path and goal. Spiritual realization (call it Self-realization, enlightenment, liberation, nirvâna) was no longer viewed as a distant goal to be attained but as our always present potential. The ultimate Reality, in other words, was considered not essentially different from our current state of existence. Hence the human body was not seen as merely a bag filled with puss and dirt, as earlier adepts had suggested, but as containing the seed of perfect inner peace, freedom, and bliss. This continuity between the empirical and the transcendental dimension is captured in the Sanskrit term tantra.
Once embodiment was regarded as a positive event, it was only a relatively small step to the Tantric approach of "body cultivation" (kâya-sâdhana). This orientation is based on the insight that it is difficult to purify the mind so that it shines forth in its natural state (as Pure Mind) without also taking the body and the complex human nervous system into account. The Tantric masters began to rigorously explore not only the inner workings of the mind but also the full potential of the human body and its subtle counterpart-the prânamaya-kosha or "sheath composed of life energy." They appreciated that the link between the material body and the immaterial mind is the life energy (prâna) that animates and sustains matter (even our gray matter!).
Apart from visualization-type meditation practices, they employed various forms of breath control (prânâyâma), seals (mudrâ), locks (bandha), and mantras, etc. to stimulate and guide the subtle bio-energy of the body. In the process they refined the age-old knowledge about the currents of life energy (prâna-nâdî) and the psychoenergetic structures called cakras. The Tantric adepts became masters in controlling the life energy. What they were after, however, was the still more subtle "energy" of the kundalinî-shakti, or "serpent power." The kundalinî ("she who is coiled") is the Energy of Consciousness itself, which, in the human body, exists in a state of dormancy from which it can be awakened by means of Tantric practices.
As I have explained in more detail in my book Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy, all Tantra is Kundalinî-Yoga. Therefore also all traditional (or Tantric) Hatha-Yoga has the awakening of the kundalinî as its central objective. We only need to read traditional Sanskrit manuals on Hatha-Yoga, such as the Goraksha-Paddhati, Hatha-Yoga-Pradîpikâ, Gheranda-Samhitâ, and Shiva-Samhitâ to realize the superlative importance given to the awakening of the serpent power. Unlike much of contemporary Hatha-Yoga, traditional Hatha-Yoga is not primarily concerned with fitness, flexibility, or beauty. These are side effects in a far more significant undertaking, namely to awaken the serpent power and allow it to transform the physical body and also the mind. The Tantric goal is to attain enlightenment here and now in a transubstantiated body-a vehicle that is not subject to the laws of the physical universe and is endowed with all kinds of extraordinary capacities. In Buddhist Tantra, this is known as the "rainbow body," because it is as insubstantial as a rainbow. With the help of such a body, the enlightened master can continue to work with disciples and others, without the limitations typical of the physical body.
Hatha-Yoga emerged within the ramifying tradition of Tantra c. 1000 A.D. Traditionally, its creator is said to have been Goraksha, who also founded the Nâtha order. His writings, if there were any, have been lost, though numerous texts (of a later date) are attributed to him. One such text is the Goraksha-Paddhati, which I translated into English and published in my book The Yoga Tradition. It is clear from this Sanskrit scripture that early Hatha-Yoga practice revolved around visualization/meditation and breath control. None of the postures practiced in later Hatha-Yoga for health and fitness are mentioned by name. This text, however, does state that God Shiva knows as many postures as there are species of beings (i.e., 8,400,000) and that only two of these are "special": the lotus posture (kamala-âsana) and the hero's posture (siddha-âsana), which are meditation poses.
Not until the Hatha-Yoga-Pradîpikâ, which belongs to the mid-fourteenth century, do we get descriptions of 15 postures all of which are still practiced today. To this the seventeenth-century Gheranda-Samhitâ added descriptions of 17 more postures and a whole range of techniques designed to cleanse the physical body in order to purify the network of bio-energetic currents (nâdî-cakra). So long as this network is not purified, the awakening of the serpent power is either impossible or attendant with many undesirable side effects. Some of these have been described by Pandit Gopi Krishna in his autobiography. Gopi Krishna, who experienced a sudden awakening of the kundalinî, was not prepared for it. His harrowing experiences often brought him to the point of despair and are a clear warning to those who, out of ignorance, seek to tamper with the Goddess Energy.
Unlike prâna, the serpent power is a spiritual energy that has an intelligence of its own. It can only be safely awakened by a practitioner who has laid solid moral, spiritual, physical, and mental foundations. Luckily, the kundalinî is not readily activated, which protects a great many over-enthusiastic but ignorant practitioners. Many of the so-called kundalinî awakenings are only activations of the life energy (prâna)-a necessary step toward the full awakening of the serpent power.
Meditation and breath control, which are fundamental to Tantra or Kundalinî-Yoga (which means traditional Hatha-Yoga), open a whole new vista for the yogin. They reveal to him the subtle dimension of existence, which is part of our nature but is hidden from our view until we have learned to see with the "mind's eye." Unless we know prâna, nâdîs, cakras, kundalinî, and other structures or processes connected with our subtle (sûkshma) body, we are not yet yogins. At least this is what Goraksha thinks, according to the Siddha-Siddhânta-Paddhati, which was supposedly written by him.
Since we seem to be embodied at various levels of existence, and not only the physical level, it makes sense to want to explore the hidden, secret dimension of our existence. Hatha-Yoga, as a Tantric Yoga, enables us to do so. It is curious that we should employ a highly esoteric discipline to work with the physical body only. Perhaps the time has come to remember the origins of Hatha-Yoga and benefit from its deeper wisdom. Its secret side deals with our own hidden nature. If we want to know it, we must first get to know the hidden dimension of Hatha-Yoga.
Georg Feuerstein has authored over 30 books in English, several of which are available also in German.
Source-
http://www.wegdermitte.de/index.htm?/engli...ions/secret.htm
By Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D.
The type of Hatha-Yoga taught in most Western Yoga schools shows little resemblance to traditional Yoga, as we know it from the Sanskrit scriptures and as it is still taught in a few âshramas in India. Contemporary Western Yoga practice focuses almost exclusively on postures (âsana), by and large omitting the moral disciplines, traditional purification techniques, meditation, and yogic philosophy. Ignorance of the philosophical foundations of Hatha-Yoga is especially unfortunate, as it prevents practitioners from understanding the original goals of Yoga. These goals relate to ego-transcendence, full knowledge of the body-mind (including the subtle sheath or sûkshma-sharîra), enlightenment, and the transformation of the body into what tradition calls an "adamantine body" (vajra-deha) or "divine body" (divya-deha).
To understand traditional Hatha-Yoga and its objectives, we must understand that this branch of the age-old tree of Yoga is an integral part of the Tantric heritage. Tantra emerged c. 300-400 A.D. more or less simultaneously in Hinduism and Buddhism. The masters of Tantra, the siddhas, introduced their teachings as a new revelation for the Dark Age (kali-yuga) complementing or, according to a more radical view, replacing the earlier teachings of the Vedas (in Hindism) and the Pali canon (in Buddhism) respectively. These masters felt that the old approaches were no longer effective, because humanity had entered into a phase of moral and spiritual decline. They invented new meditation techniques, rituals, and mantras, etc.
In particular, Tantra favored a new appraisal of the physical realm and the human body, regarding both not as enemies of the Spirit but as manifestations of it. Thus the Tantric teachings sought to overcome all artificial dualism between body and Spirit or, to put it differently, immanence and transcendence, path and goal. Spiritual realization (call it Self-realization, enlightenment, liberation, nirvâna) was no longer viewed as a distant goal to be attained but as our always present potential. The ultimate Reality, in other words, was considered not essentially different from our current state of existence. Hence the human body was not seen as merely a bag filled with puss and dirt, as earlier adepts had suggested, but as containing the seed of perfect inner peace, freedom, and bliss. This continuity between the empirical and the transcendental dimension is captured in the Sanskrit term tantra.
Once embodiment was regarded as a positive event, it was only a relatively small step to the Tantric approach of "body cultivation" (kâya-sâdhana). This orientation is based on the insight that it is difficult to purify the mind so that it shines forth in its natural state (as Pure Mind) without also taking the body and the complex human nervous system into account. The Tantric masters began to rigorously explore not only the inner workings of the mind but also the full potential of the human body and its subtle counterpart-the prânamaya-kosha or "sheath composed of life energy." They appreciated that the link between the material body and the immaterial mind is the life energy (prâna) that animates and sustains matter (even our gray matter!).
Apart from visualization-type meditation practices, they employed various forms of breath control (prânâyâma), seals (mudrâ), locks (bandha), and mantras, etc. to stimulate and guide the subtle bio-energy of the body. In the process they refined the age-old knowledge about the currents of life energy (prâna-nâdî) and the psychoenergetic structures called cakras. The Tantric adepts became masters in controlling the life energy. What they were after, however, was the still more subtle "energy" of the kundalinî-shakti, or "serpent power." The kundalinî ("she who is coiled") is the Energy of Consciousness itself, which, in the human body, exists in a state of dormancy from which it can be awakened by means of Tantric practices.
As I have explained in more detail in my book Tantra: The Path of Ecstasy, all Tantra is Kundalinî-Yoga. Therefore also all traditional (or Tantric) Hatha-Yoga has the awakening of the kundalinî as its central objective. We only need to read traditional Sanskrit manuals on Hatha-Yoga, such as the Goraksha-Paddhati, Hatha-Yoga-Pradîpikâ, Gheranda-Samhitâ, and Shiva-Samhitâ to realize the superlative importance given to the awakening of the serpent power. Unlike much of contemporary Hatha-Yoga, traditional Hatha-Yoga is not primarily concerned with fitness, flexibility, or beauty. These are side effects in a far more significant undertaking, namely to awaken the serpent power and allow it to transform the physical body and also the mind. The Tantric goal is to attain enlightenment here and now in a transubstantiated body-a vehicle that is not subject to the laws of the physical universe and is endowed with all kinds of extraordinary capacities. In Buddhist Tantra, this is known as the "rainbow body," because it is as insubstantial as a rainbow. With the help of such a body, the enlightened master can continue to work with disciples and others, without the limitations typical of the physical body.
Hatha-Yoga emerged within the ramifying tradition of Tantra c. 1000 A.D. Traditionally, its creator is said to have been Goraksha, who also founded the Nâtha order. His writings, if there were any, have been lost, though numerous texts (of a later date) are attributed to him. One such text is the Goraksha-Paddhati, which I translated into English and published in my book The Yoga Tradition. It is clear from this Sanskrit scripture that early Hatha-Yoga practice revolved around visualization/meditation and breath control. None of the postures practiced in later Hatha-Yoga for health and fitness are mentioned by name. This text, however, does state that God Shiva knows as many postures as there are species of beings (i.e., 8,400,000) and that only two of these are "special": the lotus posture (kamala-âsana) and the hero's posture (siddha-âsana), which are meditation poses.
Not until the Hatha-Yoga-Pradîpikâ, which belongs to the mid-fourteenth century, do we get descriptions of 15 postures all of which are still practiced today. To this the seventeenth-century Gheranda-Samhitâ added descriptions of 17 more postures and a whole range of techniques designed to cleanse the physical body in order to purify the network of bio-energetic currents (nâdî-cakra). So long as this network is not purified, the awakening of the serpent power is either impossible or attendant with many undesirable side effects. Some of these have been described by Pandit Gopi Krishna in his autobiography. Gopi Krishna, who experienced a sudden awakening of the kundalinî, was not prepared for it. His harrowing experiences often brought him to the point of despair and are a clear warning to those who, out of ignorance, seek to tamper with the Goddess Energy.
Unlike prâna, the serpent power is a spiritual energy that has an intelligence of its own. It can only be safely awakened by a practitioner who has laid solid moral, spiritual, physical, and mental foundations. Luckily, the kundalinî is not readily activated, which protects a great many over-enthusiastic but ignorant practitioners. Many of the so-called kundalinî awakenings are only activations of the life energy (prâna)-a necessary step toward the full awakening of the serpent power.
Meditation and breath control, which are fundamental to Tantra or Kundalinî-Yoga (which means traditional Hatha-Yoga), open a whole new vista for the yogin. They reveal to him the subtle dimension of existence, which is part of our nature but is hidden from our view until we have learned to see with the "mind's eye." Unless we know prâna, nâdîs, cakras, kundalinî, and other structures or processes connected with our subtle (sûkshma) body, we are not yet yogins. At least this is what Goraksha thinks, according to the Siddha-Siddhânta-Paddhati, which was supposedly written by him.
Since we seem to be embodied at various levels of existence, and not only the physical level, it makes sense to want to explore the hidden, secret dimension of our existence. Hatha-Yoga, as a Tantric Yoga, enables us to do so. It is curious that we should employ a highly esoteric discipline to work with the physical body only. Perhaps the time has come to remember the origins of Hatha-Yoga and benefit from its deeper wisdom. Its secret side deals with our own hidden nature. If we want to know it, we must first get to know the hidden dimension of Hatha-Yoga.
Georg Feuerstein has authored over 30 books in English, several of which are available also in German.
Source-
http://www.wegdermitte.de/index.htm?/engli...ions/secret.htm
Chanting as a Meditation Practice
by Jim Wilson
In September of 2002 I joined the Nichiren Shu Temple in San Jose. For decades I had practiced in the Zen tradition and this shift of focus for me, in terms of practice, has given me much to contemplate. The most obvious difference is that the primary practice of Zen is sitting in silence and stillness, the practice of Zazen. The primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism is mantra recitation, or chanting. I began to jot down random thoughts about the differences in these forms, and more particulary regarding chanting as a meditative practice. The following are culled from those notes.
Overview
Mantra recitation is the most widespread form of meditation in the Buddhist world. Nichiren Buddhism shares with Pure Land Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism an emphasis on this kind of practice. While the practice of mantra recitation is very common, the specific mantra used varies from tradition to tradition. Pure Land Buddhism in Japan uses the mantra "Namu Amida Butsu", which means "Homage to the Buddha of Infinite Light." In Tibetan Buddhism many different mantras are used, depending upon the specific lineage. A widely used mantra in Tibetan Buddhism is "Om Mani Padme Hum." This means something like "Om, the Jewel in the Lotus, Hum." In Zen Buddhism practitioners chant the Heart Sutra which ends with the mantra "Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi, Svaha!" This mantra means, "Gone, Gone, Gone Beyond, Gone Beyond Beyond, Awakening, Svaha!" (Svaha is an exclamation, something like "hurray!" or "hallelujah!".) However, although the Zen tradition chants the Heart Sutra regularly, its primary meditative form is silent meditation.
The mantra used in Nichiren Buddhism is "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo." This mantra means "Homage to the Lotus Sutra." Nichiren Buddhists chant this mantra on a daily basis at their home altars, and also collectively at their temples and meetings. It is the primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism.
Mantra recitation is a highly efficacious form of meditation. As mentioned above, it is the most widespread form of meditation in the Buddhist world, a form of meditation that crosses sectarian lines. The only tradition where this might be an exception is Theravada Buddhism. However, I have recently begun to realize that chanting practice is fairly pervasive in Theravada Buddhism. For example, someone practicing the cultivation of the Four Immeasurable states of love, compassion, sympathy, and equanimity often uses a chant in which these four states are cultivated by successively focusing them on 12 types of beings in 10 directions. Since there are four contemplations, which are successively rotated through 12 types and 10 directions, this generates hundreds of verses in this simple chanting practice. It is a beautiful form of chanting practice and it allows the practitioner to dive deeply into this kind of contemplation. Though this is not specifically an example of mantra recitation, it shares many of the features of mantra recitation.
The dominance of mantra and chanting meditation in the Buddhist world may come as a surprise to western practitioners of the Dharma. This is because westerners, for the most part, when they use the term "meditation" mean the kind of silent and introspective practices that appear in concentration practices such as vipassana, or spacious awareness practices that are prominent in traditions such as Zen and Dzog Chen. Because the term "meditation" in the west has come to mean these kinds of silent practices, it is sometimes difficult to view mantra recitation as a form of meditation.
However, the term meditation in a Buddhist context means something like "mind cultivation", or "heart cultivation"; mind and heart not being viewed as mutually exclusive in a Buddhist context. If looked at from the point of view of mind cultivation, mantra recitation clearly falls within that category and constitutes an effective and powerful means for the cultivation of the mind and heart. And what is being cultivated in mantra recitation? Like all Buddhist traditions, what is being cultivated is wisdom and compassion.
Because mantra recitation is so central to Nichiren Buddhism, I want to spend some time discussing this form of practice, how it works, why it is efficacious, and why so many people in so many Buddhist traditions find this practice so rewarding.
A Personal Story
First, a personal note. My own introduction to Buddhist practice, my first retreat, was a chanting retreat. The retreat was held by Zen Master Seung Sahn, a Korean Zen Master. I was just a dharma pup at that time, knowing almost nothing about Buddhism and less about Zen. But I had read a book or two written by Seung Sahn, and found his teachings attractive. I therefore signed up for the retreat, thinking that it would consist of hours and hours of quiet sitting and the contemplation of those strange, yet oddly attractive, Zen puzzles called koans.
What actually happened shattered all my expectations. Instead of quiet sitting about 50 people spent hour after hour chanting the name of Kwan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion (in Korean, Kwan Yin is pronounced Kwan Seum Bosal). Everyone had a percussion instrument; drums, tambourines, woodblocks, gongs. It was thunderous. The melodic Korean chanting rose and fell, hour after hour, as the chanting speeded up and slowed down at the direction of the Zen Master.
I was stunned. I had a very strong image of what Zen meant, and what Buddhism looked like. My image was wood, black robes, hours of silence, bare walls; you get the picture. What in the world was going on here? I had no idea. After the first few hours, if I could have left, I would have. But I had accepted a ride from a friend, so I was there for the duration. Which was a good thing, because by the middle of the second day, my bewilderment fell away, and I was able to merge with the chanting.
The retreat turned into the pivotal experience of my spiritual life. All my preconceptions about Zen, about meditation, about the form that spiritual activity must take, fell away. Because of this pivotal experience I have always remained open to chanting as an important practice form. And because Korean Buddhism has a strong tradition of integrating both views and practices, I never felt a strong dichotomy between chanting forms of meditation and silent forms of meditation. However, I am aware that many people do reserve the term “meditation” for the silent forms of concentration/vipassana and spacious awareness/Zen. For this reason, I would like to explore the practice of chanting meditation, and mantra recitation; how it works, the effects it has. By exploring this more extroverted form of meditation I think we can gain a clearer understanding of why chanting is the central practice of Buddhism in general, and Nichiren Buddhism in particular.
The Early Roots of Chanting in the Buddhist Tradition
Chanting is deeply rooted in the Buddhist tradition. This began immediately after the Buddha’s death. His disciples gathered together and worked his teachings into a form that could be chanted. Remnants of these chanted teachings are found in sources such as The Numerical Sayings. Take, for example, the Book of Sixes. At the end of the Book of Sixes, from the Numerical Sayings, three sets of six categories, one set of eleven categories, and one set of 17 categories, are all rotated through each other to generate 509 verses, each verse considered a Sutta. When chanted, these 509 verses become hypnotic and it is surprisingly easy to remeber all the categories, and how they feed into each other, after the first few verses.
This kind of repetitious chanting is very close in feeling, if not identical in structure, to mantra recitation. Some of the simpler rituals, such as chanting the Three Refuges, could easily become mantra like in both structure and feeling. I am suggesting here that mantra recitation grew naturally from the early Buddhist tradition of chanting doctrinal lists, and the simple ceremonies involving simple formulas, such as the Three Refuges, the names of the Buddha, and other widely used rituals.
Seen from this perspective, mantra recitation may be the oldest form of mental cultivation in the Buddhist world.
The Beginnings of Chanting?
I suspect that chanting was done during the Buddha’s lifetime. I sometimes imagine his disciples circumambulating the Buddha, chanting the three refuges, clapping their hands, stomping their feet, in a show of enthusiastic devotion and admiration.
Body, Breath, Voice, and Mind
Part of the power of chanting meditation is that it unites Body, Breath, Voice, and Mind as these aspects of our existence become focused through the activity of chanting. The mind itself experiences a high degree of unification when chanting. Normally the part of our brain centered on rhythmic patterns is not united with the conceptual part of the brain. Chanting brings them together into a single act. The emotions are also brought into a unity in this act as the emotions are allowed expression through the agency of the voice. Overall, I can’t think of a better means for bringing about full concentration than chanting.
Why do I say this? In chanting the mind, and its disparate functions, become unified in the act of chanting. The voice also participates in this meditative process. The breath is an additional essential component for the chanting process. Through the breath, the body as a whole is brought into the meditative practice. Thus mental, emotional, and physical functions all become engaged in, concentrated on, a single act; that of chanting the mantra. All the energy of the human organism is brought to a single purpose.
Chanting and Healing Energy
I suspect that chanting has healing effects. On the level of mind, chanting gradually, but effectively, overcomes distracted and scattered mind. It works like this; when body, breath, and mind repeat a phrase or mantra over and over, the mind has an object of focus that is both interior and exterior. The wandering mind is gently brought back to the sound. Thus, the mind learns how to focus, how to notice when it is scattered, and how to move from a scattered state to a focussed state. In this way chanting meditation heals the scattered and distracted mind.
On a physiological level, chanting seems to energize the organism. I remember the first chanting retreat I attended, the one I attended unintentionally. After chanting all day, for many hours, the chanting would end around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. No one would go to sleep. Everyone was in a state of high energy and there followed many hours of Dharma talk, forming of friendships, sharing of views.
In contrast, at the conclusion of a day of zazen, people often feel very tired and my experience is that most people head straight for bed. There is something paradoxical about this. At a chanting retreat one is engaged in activity all day long. At a zazen retreat, one is doing very little, just sitting, all day long. Yet the sitting retreats tend to be much more energy draining than the chanting retreats.
I think the reason for this is that the physical process of chanting, and the rhythm of the breathing involved in chanting, circulates energy in the body system. Blood is flowing, air is pumping, and on a more subtle level, the life energy of chi is flowing freely.
Years ago I read a story about a Trappist monastery whose Abbot had died. In accordance with traditional procedures the monks elected a new Abbot. The new Abbot decided to reduce the amount of chanting at the early morning Matins services. An immediate result was that the monks had greater difficulty staying awake. Even though the reduction in the length of the service would have seemed conducive to better attention, the opposite actually happened. The chanting that had been removed was soon reinstated and this proved conducive to a wakeful and attentive early morning service.
Body and Mind Falling Away
There is an interesting experience that sometimes happens when chanting, particularly in the case of mantra recitation. For me it only happens after a long period of chanting. What happens is that the chanting begins to unfold without any conscious effort or calculation. The process unfolds of its own accord. It is simply what is happening.
I identify this experience with Dogen’s "body and mind falling away." I understand this to mean that there is no longer a feeling of separation between the practitioner and the world. There is only the presence of the world and even such an insignificant person as I finds myself embedded in the ongoing ebb and flow of the rivering world without any sense of separation. This is a glimpse of the mind that dwells in the realization of the primal interdependence of all existence, the heart of the Buddha’s realization.
Chanting and Sangha
Chanting is often done as a group activity. Nichiren Buddhists practice at home, twice a day, and in these cases the chanting is often done solo. But most Nichiren Buddhists also belong to a Temple or group, and gather regularly for group chanting as an integral part of their commitment to Nichiren Buddhism.
The fact that chanting is often a social activity differentiates chanting from silent forms of meditation. Silent meditation, even when done in a group, tends to isolate individuals. I think this is one of the reasons why Zen appeals to the rugged individual type of personality. The practice of zazen has a lot of features that make it look like one is self-reliant. I think that is why in Japan, Zen is often referred to as a "self-powered" practice.
Chanting in a group weaves a group together. It is a demonstration of interdependence and a clear example of the Buddha’s insight into interdependent transformation. In other words, chanting in a group gives people an opportunity to directly perceive the truth of interdependent transformation, to experience this truth.
Chanting and Interdependent Transformation
Chanting, as mentioned above, gives us the opportunity to directly perceive interdependent transformation, the seed from which all the Buddha’s teachings emerge. Normally we do not perceive interdependent transformation, as our perception of objects seems to indicate a world of separate and self-sufficient things.
In contrast, with the sound of chanting, particularly chanting in a group, the sound of the chanting arises due to causes and conditions which we have clear contact with and perception of. Because the sound of the chanting emerges from our own voice, and the voices of those we are chanting with, it is a clear demonstration of the truth of interdependent transformation.
Everything is like that, like the sound of chanting voices, but normally we are unable to perceive this. In the case of chanting we can directly perceive the quality of dependence, and therefore directly perceive the emptiness that the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras refer to. This is done effortlessly and clearly when we chant together with others. This is one of the most powerful lessons of group chanting.
Chanting and Change
All things are constantly changing, but we forget this. If it is the case that all things are constantly changing, why, then, do we forget this? It is because our perception does not clearly present this truth to us. The desk I am writing on does not seem to be changing. I infer that it is changing, but I do not peceive that it is changing.
The sonic realm is different. With sound I can directly perceive the truth of constant change. Chanting offers us an opportunity to directly perceive this truth by drawing our attention to the sound we are chanting. The contours of the chanting constantly change, yet the chanting maintains a sense of coherency and pattern. This is a wonderful lesson in how constant change does not negate coherence, how form and change are compatible with each other.
Chanting and Impermanence
Chanting allows us to directly experience the meaning of impermanence. As the chanting ceases, impermanence appears. Nothing could be clearer.
Impermanence is difficult for people to understand. Why is this? It is because most objects of perception do not readily display their impermanence. We can infer thier impermanence, but we do not directly experience that impermanence. This is particularly true of visual objects which, for the most part, appear stable.
This is why a sonic object, such as a mantra, is an ideal embodiment of the Dharma. Sonic objects exhibit in a way directly accessible to our senses the core Dharma truths of dependent origination, of constant change, and of impermanence. Therefore, as an object of reverence, the mantra is the ideal teaching tool for human beings.
Transforming Obsession
It is clinging which gives rise to suffering, according to numerous discourses. I think of clinging in its extreme form as obsession. In its extreme form we can observe this mechanism in various addictions, which give rise to much suffering. In silent forms of meditation obsession manifests as thoughts or images that replay, over and over, in the mind of the meditator. This is a common experience among practitioners of vipassana and zazen. It can feel very frustrating to the meditator, for no matter how hard the practitioner tries to “just let it go,” the repetitive though just keeps reappearing like some maniacal jack-in-the-box who won’t go away.
Chanting meditation in many ways resembles obsession. There is the same fixation, the same repetitiveness. Contemplating the similarities between obsession and chanting, I have tentatively come to a view which comprehends chanting meditation as the transformation of obsession into the path of realization. Instead of fighting the human tendency toward obsession, chanting meditation takes advantage of that tendency and transforms obsession into the path and into an opportunity for realization and awakening.
In order to understand how this transformation occurs I will use as a model a strcuture borrowed from Vajrayana Buddhism. This structure is referred to as the elementals. The view of the elementals is to cosider all things as manifestations of energy, of moving and flowing energy. This energy takes a number of basic forms which have certain tendencies. In Vajrayana these basic forms are called earth, water, fire, air, and space.
The key here is that the energy manifestations can be comprehended in two ways. From one perspective, a particular manifestaiton is a hindrance and obstacle to awakening. From another perspective, it is possible to use any kind of manifestation to awaken to the presence of wisdom and compassion.
Taking the specific example of obsession; this kind of repetitive attachment is an example of fire energy. Fire clings and burns. People often spontaneously use fire imagery when speaking of their own obsessions. However, this kind of fire energy is also, when comprehended clearly, the presence of, and the gateway to, compassion. In other words, when obsession is transformed, it manifests as compassion.
How does this happen? The clearest way to comprehend this transformation is to examine the Bodhisattva Vows. The first Bodhisattva Vow is, "Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all." This is a commitment to work for the benefit of all sentient beings. All means every single one. Person after person, being after being, world after world, life after life. In other words, infinite compassion has the same constantly repeated and reasserting energy that obsession does; but now that energy is subsumed to the direction of releasing others from suffering. So instead of abandoning the fire of obsession, we transform obsession into awakening itself.
How does chanting facilitate this transformation of obsession? Chanting in the form of mantra recitation deliberately cultivates the process of a repetitive presence. In other words, mantra recitation uses the mechanism of obsession, but places that mechanism in a context where the object of repetition is not only not harmful, but actually beneficial. This demonstrates to the practitioner that the mind, even in this form, is not the enemy. This constitutes a profound unification of mind, and allows the practitioner to become more whole and grounded. And it demonstrates to the practitioner the liberative potential of the mind, even in forms that under many circumstances seem like hindrances.
All of this does not necessarily happen consciously. In most cases the practitioner may not be able to articulate the nature of the transformation taking place. However, the transformation does happen. It resembles someone taking medicine; they do not necessarily know, and in most cases probably do not know, how the medicine works. Nevertheless, they get better and the disease subsides. Similarly, a practitioner does not have to be consciously aware of how mantra recitation transforms obsession in order to benefit from such a transformation. Nevertheless, the transformation occurs. The specific transformation is that repetitive desires no longer have the same fierceness and grip because the process whereby they appear is seen through and no longer considered in and of itself problematical. The energy of these obsessions can now be shifted. Shifted where? Shifted to mantra recitation. In other words, every single time someone practices mantra recitation, they are transforming the mechanism of obsession into the path of awakening itself. One can observe this happening among many practitioners as an early result of such practice. What one observes is a lessening of the grip of obsessions as one’s practice of mantra recitation deepens.
The Object of Chanting
What I have said above applies to all forms of mantra recitation, of which there are many in the Buddhist world. There are also forms of mantra recitation in Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity. Short repetitive prayers are probably universal and any kind of short, repetitive prayer, done systematically, such as the rosary, is an example of mantra recitation.
In the Nichiren tradition the specific mantra used is "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo". This mantra means "Homage to the Lotus Sutra." Why this mantra? Why not some other mantra? Does it even matter what mantra we use?
This is a good question. My old Zen teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn, argued that in fact it doesn’t matter. He likes to say that chanting "Coca Cola, Coca Cola" will produce the same results as chanting "Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha," or "Om Mani Padme Hum". With all due respect to my old teacher, I believe he is mistaken.
My short answer as to why it matters which mantra is used is that we become the object of our attention. For this reason it does matter what mantra we use in mantra recitation practice. Advertising is a good example of a secular technology that attempts to instill a repetitive message in our minds. Advertising jingles have a powerful tenaciousness. But what is their purpose? The purpose of advertising jingles is to instill desire. And why do advertising jingles attempt to instill desire in us? Because the premiss under which advertising operates is that the possession of material goods will bring us happiness. Chanting "Coca Cola" will not bring about a transformation in us because the object of attention is not capable of leading to such a transformation.
Once again, we become what we place our attention on. If someone wants to become a mathematician, they study mathematics every day. Soon, they are a mathematician. If someone wants to become a musician, they practice every day. Soon, they are a musician. If someone wants to lear a foreign language, they practice that language every day. Soon they can comprehend that language.
Now, if someone wants to awaken to wisdom, compassion, and the presence of eternity, what is it that needs to be practiced in order to accomplish this? It was the great discovery of Nichiren that the Lotus Sutra is the surest guide, the clearest presentation, of how this is accomplished. That’s the connection between the specific mantra recitation practice of Nichiren Buddhism and the awakening that all Buddhist schools consider their ultimate goal.
This can be comprehended more clearly if one contrasts the mantra of Nichiren Buddhism with mantras used in other Buddhist traditions and what those mantras accomplish. If one wants to be born in the Pure Land, the celestial realm, then chanting "Namu Amida Butusu", or "Homage to the Buddha of Infinite Light", will accomplish this purpose. If one wants to gain facility in the doctrine of emptiness, then chanting "Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha," or "Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone beyond beyond, awakening, svaha!" will accomplish this purpose.
Just as various advertising jingles accomplish different purposes by steering us in a particular product direction, just as political slogans accomplish different purposes by cajoling us into a particular political direction, so also different mantras accomplish different purposes by bringing out different aspects of our consciousness. What, then, is the particular accomplishment of the mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo"?
The mantra of Nichiren Buddhism draws our attention to the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra has two primary messages (I will have more to say about this below). The first message is that all beings have Buddha Nature and that they will some day become Buddhas. This is a profoundly liberating teaching and makes the Lotus Sutra the most optimistic spiritual work I have ever encountered.
The second message of the Lotus Sutra is that the ability to awaken is eternally present, never absent, no matter what our circumstances, no matter how bleak our lives may appear. This eternal presence of the capacity for awakening is the eternal presence of the Buddha, compassionately assisting all beings in the great task of awakening to infinite wisdom and endless compassion.
These two pillars of the Lotus Sutra are condensed in the mantra of Nichiren Buddhism as "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo." How could such teachings be condensed into a mantra of only seven syllables?
Consider the power of words. I have never been to Paris, but just the word "Paris" conjures up all sorts of associations for me that have to do with art, literature, the Eiffel Tower, cafes and croissants. All of that is embedded in the single word "Paris". Or consider the power of derogatory words that are used to demean a racial or religious group. Just the uttering of these words can make us feel very uncomfortable because all sorts of negative associations crowd into our minds when we hear them.
Words are not isolated, either from each other or from the world at large. They are intimately connected to other words, concepts, and also to associations in our lives and the lives of many other people. For this reason, chanting "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" brings with it associations that, at first, may be largely unconscious, but are nevertheless strongly present. The associations in which this mantra are embedded are the presence of Buddha Nature not only in all beings, but also in myself; and that therefore it is possible, actually possible, for I and all beings to become Buddhas. This is a powerful message, far more powerful than the associations the word "Paris" carries with it.
So the mantra of Nichiren Buddhism is carefully crafted to remind us of our capacity to awaken to the presence of eternity, manifesting as infinite wisdom and compassion, in all sentient beings. We need to be reminded of this because we forget. In our daily lives, filled with distractions of all kinds, we loose our direction. In addition, the society at large does not particularly value this message. For example, one does not come across this message when watching T.V., listening to the radio, or reading a newspaper. The mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" is a skillfull way to keep us on track, to gently remind us that this human life is a great opportunity, an opportunity for awakening, not only ourselves, but all sentient beings, everywhere, without exception.
Webroads of Meaning
The mental realm is an actual realm in which humans dwell. Just as we dwell in a visual realm, and a sonic realm, we also dwell in a mental realm, which has a geography. For the most part, people are not clear about the geography of mind. There is a way, however, to clarify the geography of mind.
Take a word, say "freedom". The word exists at a location in mental realm. Now ask yourself what words you consider synonyms for the word "freedom". Write down the words. A synonym means a word that you would use as a substitute for the word freedom, or a word that you would accept as a substitute for the word "freedom" when someone else uses it. Common synonyms include "liberty", "justice", and "choice." But you will have your own words that come to mind. Don’t worry about creating a long list. A list of three to six synonyms is sufficient. Whatever words come spontaneously to mind is best.
These synonyms are located near the word "freedom" in your mind. The word "freedom" is in the center, and these synonyms surround the word, giving you an idea of the geography of the word freedom in your mind. Now, each of the synonyms you have come up with can be similarly treated, meaning you can ask yourself what synonyms you would come up with for this other word. By engaging in this process you bring to consciousness what I refer to as a "webroad" of meaning. Each synonym carries you farther from the central term you are considering; in this case "freedom." This webroad is a path in the geography of one’s mind.
We can apply this kind of analysis to mantra recitation, with slight modification. Since mantras are usually groups of words, instead of asking what synonym I would use for the mantra, I ask myself what associations come to m!y mind with the mantra.
I’ll give some personal examples. The first mantra I chanted was "Kwan Seum Bosal", the Korean pronounciation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kwan Yin in Chinese. If I ask myself what associations come to mind, I come up with "compassion, love, caring, responding, sheltering." These are the first four terms that come to my mind when consider the mantra. This gives me an idea of the meaning of the mantra for me.
If I ask myself what associations come to mind with the possible mantra "Coca Cola", I come up with "friends, thirst, sweet." This is a good way of delineating the differences in using different recitation formulas. There is a slight overlap between the two in the term "friends", which eventually could be linked to a term from "Kwan Seum Bosal". If I subject the term "friends" to the same kind of analysis, and I subject the term "caring" to the same kind of analysis, I may at some point, say three or four levels down a webroad of meaning, come to a common term. Which places them fairly distant in the geography of mind.
The meaning of Budhist mantras can be clarified through this process. For example, the mantra "Namu Amida Butsu" bring to mind certain associations such as "grace, heaven, gratitude." This is the first step along the webroad of meaning in the geography of the mantra in my mind.
The mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" brings with it the following immediate associatons, "eternity, compassion, equality, Buddhahood." Those are the associations that immediately come to my mind when contemplating the mantra. There is some connection between "Namu Amida Butsu" and "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" in the terms "gratitude" and "compassion". If we subject both of these terms to a similar analysis, I suspect that they will be fairly close in the geography of mind.
However, the differences are also striking. The Pure Land Mantra of Amida is focussed primarily on heaven and the grace that gets me there. The mantra of the Lotus Sutra is focussed primarily on the ability to awaken. Thus the two mantras are differently weighted.
Just as the term "Paris" conjures up in our minds certain associations, so also mantras are placed in a geography of associations and immediate meanings. Part of the meaning of a term, and of a mantra, is these associations. In some ways, these associations are more important than definitions; and when it comes to mantras, it is the associations which become primary. The associations that come with a term like "Coca Cola" are not particularly conducive to awakening. The associations with a mantra like "Namu Amida Butsu" shifts one’s focus to a celestial dimension; but, as the Buddha taught, no heaven lasts forever. The associations of the mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" are primarily to eternity, the presence of eternity, and awakening to that compassionately eternal presence. Thus the mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" is superbly crafted for entering into the ultimate awakening, which the Lotus Sutra teaches is available to all living beings.
May the Wonderful Lotus of the Dharma blossom within the hearts of all sentient beings.
Dharmajim
Notice: Copyright 2003 by Jim Wilson, also known as Dharmajim. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to download and copy this document provided that this notice remains a part of the document.
http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/dharmajim/...tingSpirit.html
Budddhist Chanting-Audio-
http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-chant.htm
http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-library.htm
by Jim Wilson
In September of 2002 I joined the Nichiren Shu Temple in San Jose. For decades I had practiced in the Zen tradition and this shift of focus for me, in terms of practice, has given me much to contemplate. The most obvious difference is that the primary practice of Zen is sitting in silence and stillness, the practice of Zazen. The primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism is mantra recitation, or chanting. I began to jot down random thoughts about the differences in these forms, and more particulary regarding chanting as a meditative practice. The following are culled from those notes.
Overview
Mantra recitation is the most widespread form of meditation in the Buddhist world. Nichiren Buddhism shares with Pure Land Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism an emphasis on this kind of practice. While the practice of mantra recitation is very common, the specific mantra used varies from tradition to tradition. Pure Land Buddhism in Japan uses the mantra "Namu Amida Butsu", which means "Homage to the Buddha of Infinite Light." In Tibetan Buddhism many different mantras are used, depending upon the specific lineage. A widely used mantra in Tibetan Buddhism is "Om Mani Padme Hum." This means something like "Om, the Jewel in the Lotus, Hum." In Zen Buddhism practitioners chant the Heart Sutra which ends with the mantra "Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi, Svaha!" This mantra means, "Gone, Gone, Gone Beyond, Gone Beyond Beyond, Awakening, Svaha!" (Svaha is an exclamation, something like "hurray!" or "hallelujah!".) However, although the Zen tradition chants the Heart Sutra regularly, its primary meditative form is silent meditation.
The mantra used in Nichiren Buddhism is "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo." This mantra means "Homage to the Lotus Sutra." Nichiren Buddhists chant this mantra on a daily basis at their home altars, and also collectively at their temples and meetings. It is the primary practice of Nichiren Buddhism.
Mantra recitation is a highly efficacious form of meditation. As mentioned above, it is the most widespread form of meditation in the Buddhist world, a form of meditation that crosses sectarian lines. The only tradition where this might be an exception is Theravada Buddhism. However, I have recently begun to realize that chanting practice is fairly pervasive in Theravada Buddhism. For example, someone practicing the cultivation of the Four Immeasurable states of love, compassion, sympathy, and equanimity often uses a chant in which these four states are cultivated by successively focusing them on 12 types of beings in 10 directions. Since there are four contemplations, which are successively rotated through 12 types and 10 directions, this generates hundreds of verses in this simple chanting practice. It is a beautiful form of chanting practice and it allows the practitioner to dive deeply into this kind of contemplation. Though this is not specifically an example of mantra recitation, it shares many of the features of mantra recitation.
The dominance of mantra and chanting meditation in the Buddhist world may come as a surprise to western practitioners of the Dharma. This is because westerners, for the most part, when they use the term "meditation" mean the kind of silent and introspective practices that appear in concentration practices such as vipassana, or spacious awareness practices that are prominent in traditions such as Zen and Dzog Chen. Because the term "meditation" in the west has come to mean these kinds of silent practices, it is sometimes difficult to view mantra recitation as a form of meditation.
However, the term meditation in a Buddhist context means something like "mind cultivation", or "heart cultivation"; mind and heart not being viewed as mutually exclusive in a Buddhist context. If looked at from the point of view of mind cultivation, mantra recitation clearly falls within that category and constitutes an effective and powerful means for the cultivation of the mind and heart. And what is being cultivated in mantra recitation? Like all Buddhist traditions, what is being cultivated is wisdom and compassion.
Because mantra recitation is so central to Nichiren Buddhism, I want to spend some time discussing this form of practice, how it works, why it is efficacious, and why so many people in so many Buddhist traditions find this practice so rewarding.
A Personal Story
First, a personal note. My own introduction to Buddhist practice, my first retreat, was a chanting retreat. The retreat was held by Zen Master Seung Sahn, a Korean Zen Master. I was just a dharma pup at that time, knowing almost nothing about Buddhism and less about Zen. But I had read a book or two written by Seung Sahn, and found his teachings attractive. I therefore signed up for the retreat, thinking that it would consist of hours and hours of quiet sitting and the contemplation of those strange, yet oddly attractive, Zen puzzles called koans.
What actually happened shattered all my expectations. Instead of quiet sitting about 50 people spent hour after hour chanting the name of Kwan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion (in Korean, Kwan Yin is pronounced Kwan Seum Bosal). Everyone had a percussion instrument; drums, tambourines, woodblocks, gongs. It was thunderous. The melodic Korean chanting rose and fell, hour after hour, as the chanting speeded up and slowed down at the direction of the Zen Master.
I was stunned. I had a very strong image of what Zen meant, and what Buddhism looked like. My image was wood, black robes, hours of silence, bare walls; you get the picture. What in the world was going on here? I had no idea. After the first few hours, if I could have left, I would have. But I had accepted a ride from a friend, so I was there for the duration. Which was a good thing, because by the middle of the second day, my bewilderment fell away, and I was able to merge with the chanting.
The retreat turned into the pivotal experience of my spiritual life. All my preconceptions about Zen, about meditation, about the form that spiritual activity must take, fell away. Because of this pivotal experience I have always remained open to chanting as an important practice form. And because Korean Buddhism has a strong tradition of integrating both views and practices, I never felt a strong dichotomy between chanting forms of meditation and silent forms of meditation. However, I am aware that many people do reserve the term “meditation” for the silent forms of concentration/vipassana and spacious awareness/Zen. For this reason, I would like to explore the practice of chanting meditation, and mantra recitation; how it works, the effects it has. By exploring this more extroverted form of meditation I think we can gain a clearer understanding of why chanting is the central practice of Buddhism in general, and Nichiren Buddhism in particular.
The Early Roots of Chanting in the Buddhist Tradition
Chanting is deeply rooted in the Buddhist tradition. This began immediately after the Buddha’s death. His disciples gathered together and worked his teachings into a form that could be chanted. Remnants of these chanted teachings are found in sources such as The Numerical Sayings. Take, for example, the Book of Sixes. At the end of the Book of Sixes, from the Numerical Sayings, three sets of six categories, one set of eleven categories, and one set of 17 categories, are all rotated through each other to generate 509 verses, each verse considered a Sutta. When chanted, these 509 verses become hypnotic and it is surprisingly easy to remeber all the categories, and how they feed into each other, after the first few verses.
This kind of repetitious chanting is very close in feeling, if not identical in structure, to mantra recitation. Some of the simpler rituals, such as chanting the Three Refuges, could easily become mantra like in both structure and feeling. I am suggesting here that mantra recitation grew naturally from the early Buddhist tradition of chanting doctrinal lists, and the simple ceremonies involving simple formulas, such as the Three Refuges, the names of the Buddha, and other widely used rituals.
Seen from this perspective, mantra recitation may be the oldest form of mental cultivation in the Buddhist world.
The Beginnings of Chanting?
I suspect that chanting was done during the Buddha’s lifetime. I sometimes imagine his disciples circumambulating the Buddha, chanting the three refuges, clapping their hands, stomping their feet, in a show of enthusiastic devotion and admiration.
Body, Breath, Voice, and Mind
Part of the power of chanting meditation is that it unites Body, Breath, Voice, and Mind as these aspects of our existence become focused through the activity of chanting. The mind itself experiences a high degree of unification when chanting. Normally the part of our brain centered on rhythmic patterns is not united with the conceptual part of the brain. Chanting brings them together into a single act. The emotions are also brought into a unity in this act as the emotions are allowed expression through the agency of the voice. Overall, I can’t think of a better means for bringing about full concentration than chanting.
Why do I say this? In chanting the mind, and its disparate functions, become unified in the act of chanting. The voice also participates in this meditative process. The breath is an additional essential component for the chanting process. Through the breath, the body as a whole is brought into the meditative practice. Thus mental, emotional, and physical functions all become engaged in, concentrated on, a single act; that of chanting the mantra. All the energy of the human organism is brought to a single purpose.
Chanting and Healing Energy
I suspect that chanting has healing effects. On the level of mind, chanting gradually, but effectively, overcomes distracted and scattered mind. It works like this; when body, breath, and mind repeat a phrase or mantra over and over, the mind has an object of focus that is both interior and exterior. The wandering mind is gently brought back to the sound. Thus, the mind learns how to focus, how to notice when it is scattered, and how to move from a scattered state to a focussed state. In this way chanting meditation heals the scattered and distracted mind.
On a physiological level, chanting seems to energize the organism. I remember the first chanting retreat I attended, the one I attended unintentionally. After chanting all day, for many hours, the chanting would end around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. No one would go to sleep. Everyone was in a state of high energy and there followed many hours of Dharma talk, forming of friendships, sharing of views.
In contrast, at the conclusion of a day of zazen, people often feel very tired and my experience is that most people head straight for bed. There is something paradoxical about this. At a chanting retreat one is engaged in activity all day long. At a zazen retreat, one is doing very little, just sitting, all day long. Yet the sitting retreats tend to be much more energy draining than the chanting retreats.
I think the reason for this is that the physical process of chanting, and the rhythm of the breathing involved in chanting, circulates energy in the body system. Blood is flowing, air is pumping, and on a more subtle level, the life energy of chi is flowing freely.
Years ago I read a story about a Trappist monastery whose Abbot had died. In accordance with traditional procedures the monks elected a new Abbot. The new Abbot decided to reduce the amount of chanting at the early morning Matins services. An immediate result was that the monks had greater difficulty staying awake. Even though the reduction in the length of the service would have seemed conducive to better attention, the opposite actually happened. The chanting that had been removed was soon reinstated and this proved conducive to a wakeful and attentive early morning service.
Body and Mind Falling Away
There is an interesting experience that sometimes happens when chanting, particularly in the case of mantra recitation. For me it only happens after a long period of chanting. What happens is that the chanting begins to unfold without any conscious effort or calculation. The process unfolds of its own accord. It is simply what is happening.
I identify this experience with Dogen’s "body and mind falling away." I understand this to mean that there is no longer a feeling of separation between the practitioner and the world. There is only the presence of the world and even such an insignificant person as I finds myself embedded in the ongoing ebb and flow of the rivering world without any sense of separation. This is a glimpse of the mind that dwells in the realization of the primal interdependence of all existence, the heart of the Buddha’s realization.
Chanting and Sangha
Chanting is often done as a group activity. Nichiren Buddhists practice at home, twice a day, and in these cases the chanting is often done solo. But most Nichiren Buddhists also belong to a Temple or group, and gather regularly for group chanting as an integral part of their commitment to Nichiren Buddhism.
The fact that chanting is often a social activity differentiates chanting from silent forms of meditation. Silent meditation, even when done in a group, tends to isolate individuals. I think this is one of the reasons why Zen appeals to the rugged individual type of personality. The practice of zazen has a lot of features that make it look like one is self-reliant. I think that is why in Japan, Zen is often referred to as a "self-powered" practice.
Chanting in a group weaves a group together. It is a demonstration of interdependence and a clear example of the Buddha’s insight into interdependent transformation. In other words, chanting in a group gives people an opportunity to directly perceive the truth of interdependent transformation, to experience this truth.
Chanting and Interdependent Transformation
Chanting, as mentioned above, gives us the opportunity to directly perceive interdependent transformation, the seed from which all the Buddha’s teachings emerge. Normally we do not perceive interdependent transformation, as our perception of objects seems to indicate a world of separate and self-sufficient things.
In contrast, with the sound of chanting, particularly chanting in a group, the sound of the chanting arises due to causes and conditions which we have clear contact with and perception of. Because the sound of the chanting emerges from our own voice, and the voices of those we are chanting with, it is a clear demonstration of the truth of interdependent transformation.
Everything is like that, like the sound of chanting voices, but normally we are unable to perceive this. In the case of chanting we can directly perceive the quality of dependence, and therefore directly perceive the emptiness that the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras refer to. This is done effortlessly and clearly when we chant together with others. This is one of the most powerful lessons of group chanting.
Chanting and Change
All things are constantly changing, but we forget this. If it is the case that all things are constantly changing, why, then, do we forget this? It is because our perception does not clearly present this truth to us. The desk I am writing on does not seem to be changing. I infer that it is changing, but I do not peceive that it is changing.
The sonic realm is different. With sound I can directly perceive the truth of constant change. Chanting offers us an opportunity to directly perceive this truth by drawing our attention to the sound we are chanting. The contours of the chanting constantly change, yet the chanting maintains a sense of coherency and pattern. This is a wonderful lesson in how constant change does not negate coherence, how form and change are compatible with each other.
Chanting and Impermanence
Chanting allows us to directly experience the meaning of impermanence. As the chanting ceases, impermanence appears. Nothing could be clearer.
Impermanence is difficult for people to understand. Why is this? It is because most objects of perception do not readily display their impermanence. We can infer thier impermanence, but we do not directly experience that impermanence. This is particularly true of visual objects which, for the most part, appear stable.
This is why a sonic object, such as a mantra, is an ideal embodiment of the Dharma. Sonic objects exhibit in a way directly accessible to our senses the core Dharma truths of dependent origination, of constant change, and of impermanence. Therefore, as an object of reverence, the mantra is the ideal teaching tool for human beings.
Transforming Obsession
It is clinging which gives rise to suffering, according to numerous discourses. I think of clinging in its extreme form as obsession. In its extreme form we can observe this mechanism in various addictions, which give rise to much suffering. In silent forms of meditation obsession manifests as thoughts or images that replay, over and over, in the mind of the meditator. This is a common experience among practitioners of vipassana and zazen. It can feel very frustrating to the meditator, for no matter how hard the practitioner tries to “just let it go,” the repetitive though just keeps reappearing like some maniacal jack-in-the-box who won’t go away.
Chanting meditation in many ways resembles obsession. There is the same fixation, the same repetitiveness. Contemplating the similarities between obsession and chanting, I have tentatively come to a view which comprehends chanting meditation as the transformation of obsession into the path of realization. Instead of fighting the human tendency toward obsession, chanting meditation takes advantage of that tendency and transforms obsession into the path and into an opportunity for realization and awakening.
In order to understand how this transformation occurs I will use as a model a strcuture borrowed from Vajrayana Buddhism. This structure is referred to as the elementals. The view of the elementals is to cosider all things as manifestations of energy, of moving and flowing energy. This energy takes a number of basic forms which have certain tendencies. In Vajrayana these basic forms are called earth, water, fire, air, and space.
The key here is that the energy manifestations can be comprehended in two ways. From one perspective, a particular manifestaiton is a hindrance and obstacle to awakening. From another perspective, it is possible to use any kind of manifestation to awaken to the presence of wisdom and compassion.
Taking the specific example of obsession; this kind of repetitive attachment is an example of fire energy. Fire clings and burns. People often spontaneously use fire imagery when speaking of their own obsessions. However, this kind of fire energy is also, when comprehended clearly, the presence of, and the gateway to, compassion. In other words, when obsession is transformed, it manifests as compassion.
How does this happen? The clearest way to comprehend this transformation is to examine the Bodhisattva Vows. The first Bodhisattva Vow is, "Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to save them all." This is a commitment to work for the benefit of all sentient beings. All means every single one. Person after person, being after being, world after world, life after life. In other words, infinite compassion has the same constantly repeated and reasserting energy that obsession does; but now that energy is subsumed to the direction of releasing others from suffering. So instead of abandoning the fire of obsession, we transform obsession into awakening itself.
How does chanting facilitate this transformation of obsession? Chanting in the form of mantra recitation deliberately cultivates the process of a repetitive presence. In other words, mantra recitation uses the mechanism of obsession, but places that mechanism in a context where the object of repetition is not only not harmful, but actually beneficial. This demonstrates to the practitioner that the mind, even in this form, is not the enemy. This constitutes a profound unification of mind, and allows the practitioner to become more whole and grounded. And it demonstrates to the practitioner the liberative potential of the mind, even in forms that under many circumstances seem like hindrances.
All of this does not necessarily happen consciously. In most cases the practitioner may not be able to articulate the nature of the transformation taking place. However, the transformation does happen. It resembles someone taking medicine; they do not necessarily know, and in most cases probably do not know, how the medicine works. Nevertheless, they get better and the disease subsides. Similarly, a practitioner does not have to be consciously aware of how mantra recitation transforms obsession in order to benefit from such a transformation. Nevertheless, the transformation occurs. The specific transformation is that repetitive desires no longer have the same fierceness and grip because the process whereby they appear is seen through and no longer considered in and of itself problematical. The energy of these obsessions can now be shifted. Shifted where? Shifted to mantra recitation. In other words, every single time someone practices mantra recitation, they are transforming the mechanism of obsession into the path of awakening itself. One can observe this happening among many practitioners as an early result of such practice. What one observes is a lessening of the grip of obsessions as one’s practice of mantra recitation deepens.
The Object of Chanting
What I have said above applies to all forms of mantra recitation, of which there are many in the Buddhist world. There are also forms of mantra recitation in Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity. Short repetitive prayers are probably universal and any kind of short, repetitive prayer, done systematically, such as the rosary, is an example of mantra recitation.
In the Nichiren tradition the specific mantra used is "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo". This mantra means "Homage to the Lotus Sutra." Why this mantra? Why not some other mantra? Does it even matter what mantra we use?
This is a good question. My old Zen teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn, argued that in fact it doesn’t matter. He likes to say that chanting "Coca Cola, Coca Cola" will produce the same results as chanting "Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha," or "Om Mani Padme Hum". With all due respect to my old teacher, I believe he is mistaken.
My short answer as to why it matters which mantra is used is that we become the object of our attention. For this reason it does matter what mantra we use in mantra recitation practice. Advertising is a good example of a secular technology that attempts to instill a repetitive message in our minds. Advertising jingles have a powerful tenaciousness. But what is their purpose? The purpose of advertising jingles is to instill desire. And why do advertising jingles attempt to instill desire in us? Because the premiss under which advertising operates is that the possession of material goods will bring us happiness. Chanting "Coca Cola" will not bring about a transformation in us because the object of attention is not capable of leading to such a transformation.
Once again, we become what we place our attention on. If someone wants to become a mathematician, they study mathematics every day. Soon, they are a mathematician. If someone wants to become a musician, they practice every day. Soon, they are a musician. If someone wants to lear a foreign language, they practice that language every day. Soon they can comprehend that language.
Now, if someone wants to awaken to wisdom, compassion, and the presence of eternity, what is it that needs to be practiced in order to accomplish this? It was the great discovery of Nichiren that the Lotus Sutra is the surest guide, the clearest presentation, of how this is accomplished. That’s the connection between the specific mantra recitation practice of Nichiren Buddhism and the awakening that all Buddhist schools consider their ultimate goal.
This can be comprehended more clearly if one contrasts the mantra of Nichiren Buddhism with mantras used in other Buddhist traditions and what those mantras accomplish. If one wants to be born in the Pure Land, the celestial realm, then chanting "Namu Amida Butusu", or "Homage to the Buddha of Infinite Light", will accomplish this purpose. If one wants to gain facility in the doctrine of emptiness, then chanting "Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha," or "Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone beyond beyond, awakening, svaha!" will accomplish this purpose.
Just as various advertising jingles accomplish different purposes by steering us in a particular product direction, just as political slogans accomplish different purposes by cajoling us into a particular political direction, so also different mantras accomplish different purposes by bringing out different aspects of our consciousness. What, then, is the particular accomplishment of the mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo"?
The mantra of Nichiren Buddhism draws our attention to the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra has two primary messages (I will have more to say about this below). The first message is that all beings have Buddha Nature and that they will some day become Buddhas. This is a profoundly liberating teaching and makes the Lotus Sutra the most optimistic spiritual work I have ever encountered.
The second message of the Lotus Sutra is that the ability to awaken is eternally present, never absent, no matter what our circumstances, no matter how bleak our lives may appear. This eternal presence of the capacity for awakening is the eternal presence of the Buddha, compassionately assisting all beings in the great task of awakening to infinite wisdom and endless compassion.
These two pillars of the Lotus Sutra are condensed in the mantra of Nichiren Buddhism as "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo." How could such teachings be condensed into a mantra of only seven syllables?
Consider the power of words. I have never been to Paris, but just the word "Paris" conjures up all sorts of associations for me that have to do with art, literature, the Eiffel Tower, cafes and croissants. All of that is embedded in the single word "Paris". Or consider the power of derogatory words that are used to demean a racial or religious group. Just the uttering of these words can make us feel very uncomfortable because all sorts of negative associations crowd into our minds when we hear them.
Words are not isolated, either from each other or from the world at large. They are intimately connected to other words, concepts, and also to associations in our lives and the lives of many other people. For this reason, chanting "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" brings with it associations that, at first, may be largely unconscious, but are nevertheless strongly present. The associations in which this mantra are embedded are the presence of Buddha Nature not only in all beings, but also in myself; and that therefore it is possible, actually possible, for I and all beings to become Buddhas. This is a powerful message, far more powerful than the associations the word "Paris" carries with it.
So the mantra of Nichiren Buddhism is carefully crafted to remind us of our capacity to awaken to the presence of eternity, manifesting as infinite wisdom and compassion, in all sentient beings. We need to be reminded of this because we forget. In our daily lives, filled with distractions of all kinds, we loose our direction. In addition, the society at large does not particularly value this message. For example, one does not come across this message when watching T.V., listening to the radio, or reading a newspaper. The mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" is a skillfull way to keep us on track, to gently remind us that this human life is a great opportunity, an opportunity for awakening, not only ourselves, but all sentient beings, everywhere, without exception.
Webroads of Meaning
The mental realm is an actual realm in which humans dwell. Just as we dwell in a visual realm, and a sonic realm, we also dwell in a mental realm, which has a geography. For the most part, people are not clear about the geography of mind. There is a way, however, to clarify the geography of mind.
Take a word, say "freedom". The word exists at a location in mental realm. Now ask yourself what words you consider synonyms for the word "freedom". Write down the words. A synonym means a word that you would use as a substitute for the word freedom, or a word that you would accept as a substitute for the word "freedom" when someone else uses it. Common synonyms include "liberty", "justice", and "choice." But you will have your own words that come to mind. Don’t worry about creating a long list. A list of three to six synonyms is sufficient. Whatever words come spontaneously to mind is best.
These synonyms are located near the word "freedom" in your mind. The word "freedom" is in the center, and these synonyms surround the word, giving you an idea of the geography of the word freedom in your mind. Now, each of the synonyms you have come up with can be similarly treated, meaning you can ask yourself what synonyms you would come up with for this other word. By engaging in this process you bring to consciousness what I refer to as a "webroad" of meaning. Each synonym carries you farther from the central term you are considering; in this case "freedom." This webroad is a path in the geography of one’s mind.
We can apply this kind of analysis to mantra recitation, with slight modification. Since mantras are usually groups of words, instead of asking what synonym I would use for the mantra, I ask myself what associations come to m!y mind with the mantra.
I’ll give some personal examples. The first mantra I chanted was "Kwan Seum Bosal", the Korean pronounciation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kwan Yin in Chinese. If I ask myself what associations come to mind, I come up with "compassion, love, caring, responding, sheltering." These are the first four terms that come to my mind when consider the mantra. This gives me an idea of the meaning of the mantra for me.
If I ask myself what associations come to mind with the possible mantra "Coca Cola", I come up with "friends, thirst, sweet." This is a good way of delineating the differences in using different recitation formulas. There is a slight overlap between the two in the term "friends", which eventually could be linked to a term from "Kwan Seum Bosal". If I subject the term "friends" to the same kind of analysis, and I subject the term "caring" to the same kind of analysis, I may at some point, say three or four levels down a webroad of meaning, come to a common term. Which places them fairly distant in the geography of mind.
The meaning of Budhist mantras can be clarified through this process. For example, the mantra "Namu Amida Butsu" bring to mind certain associations such as "grace, heaven, gratitude." This is the first step along the webroad of meaning in the geography of the mantra in my mind.
The mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" brings with it the following immediate associatons, "eternity, compassion, equality, Buddhahood." Those are the associations that immediately come to my mind when contemplating the mantra. There is some connection between "Namu Amida Butsu" and "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" in the terms "gratitude" and "compassion". If we subject both of these terms to a similar analysis, I suspect that they will be fairly close in the geography of mind.
However, the differences are also striking. The Pure Land Mantra of Amida is focussed primarily on heaven and the grace that gets me there. The mantra of the Lotus Sutra is focussed primarily on the ability to awaken. Thus the two mantras are differently weighted.
Just as the term "Paris" conjures up in our minds certain associations, so also mantras are placed in a geography of associations and immediate meanings. Part of the meaning of a term, and of a mantra, is these associations. In some ways, these associations are more important than definitions; and when it comes to mantras, it is the associations which become primary. The associations that come with a term like "Coca Cola" are not particularly conducive to awakening. The associations with a mantra like "Namu Amida Butsu" shifts one’s focus to a celestial dimension; but, as the Buddha taught, no heaven lasts forever. The associations of the mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" are primarily to eternity, the presence of eternity, and awakening to that compassionately eternal presence. Thus the mantra "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo" is superbly crafted for entering into the ultimate awakening, which the Lotus Sutra teaches is available to all living beings.
May the Wonderful Lotus of the Dharma blossom within the hearts of all sentient beings.
Dharmajim
Notice: Copyright 2003 by Jim Wilson, also known as Dharmajim. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to download and copy this document provided that this notice remains a part of the document.
http://nichirenscoffeehouse.net/dharmajim/...tingSpirit.html
Budddhist Chanting-Audio-
http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-chant.htm
http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-library.htm
Conscious Breathing
Reiki 1 level Attunements Thru VDO Try It.........
Yes u are right, Get ur attunments as the subject says thru Videos, and it works, See guys, i have had around 35 attunments the previous year and 14 this year alone. And had some wierd experience till date, Like the one from Julian a close friend from the US and had to tell i sweated like Hell, as if i had just taken a bath, the second experience is From Marijas, the feeling was enourmous like some type of invisible liquid going thru my lungs was a beautiful experience. Then i had a attunment from Sara was extremely freaky for me!!!!!!!!! Then i had from Cherag, which had some Icy effect on my whole body.Jessy,James were also wierd.
And then i had this attunment that to from a Video of My favourite reiki master Steve Murray!!! The Man responsible for Exposing every False Myths of reiki & its believe system!!!!!!!!
Many Thousands of people throughout the world have successfully received Reiki Attunements from Steve Murray’s Videos and DVDs and are now Healers.The Attunement brings in high frequency healing energies and helps clear any blockages and you have on all levels , you all are attuned thru a SEDONA Crystal displayed in the video, just follow the instructions and attuned ur self to level 1 or REIKI.
( NOTE : Download is distributed in four parts each around 15 Mb, just download all the files in one folder and extract, and watch!!!)
Download:::
part 1-- 15 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465578/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Part 2 --15 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465580/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Part 3 ---15 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465582/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Part 4 ---11 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465583/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Source-Orkut.com
Yes u are right, Get ur attunments as the subject says thru Videos, and it works, See guys, i have had around 35 attunments the previous year and 14 this year alone. And had some wierd experience till date, Like the one from Julian a close friend from the US and had to tell i sweated like Hell, as if i had just taken a bath, the second experience is From Marijas, the feeling was enourmous like some type of invisible liquid going thru my lungs was a beautiful experience. Then i had a attunment from Sara was extremely freaky for me!!!!!!!!! Then i had from Cherag, which had some Icy effect on my whole body.Jessy,James were also wierd.
And then i had this attunment that to from a Video of My favourite reiki master Steve Murray!!! The Man responsible for Exposing every False Myths of reiki & its believe system!!!!!!!!
Many Thousands of people throughout the world have successfully received Reiki Attunements from Steve Murray’s Videos and DVDs and are now Healers.The Attunement brings in high frequency healing energies and helps clear any blockages and you have on all levels , you all are attuned thru a SEDONA Crystal displayed in the video, just follow the instructions and attuned ur self to level 1 or REIKI.
( NOTE : Download is distributed in four parts each around 15 Mb, just download all the files in one folder and extract, and watch!!!)
Download:::
part 1-- 15 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465578/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Part 2 --15 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465580/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Part 3 ---15 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465582/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Part 4 ---11 MB
http://rapidshare.com/files/26465583/Reiki...evel_Attunement.
Source-Orkut.com
Kundalini Yoga - Chakra Dhyana 1 to 3 (Good One)
Beautiful Tracks of Chakras with soothing music and its Mantras.
For Image:
http://imageigloo.com/images/8299Chakras.jpg
Kundalini yoga is a physical and meditative discipline, comprising a set of simple techniques that uses the mind, senses and body to create a communication between "mind" and "body". Kundalini yoga focuses on psycho-spiritual growth and the body's potential for maturation, giving special consideration to the role of the spine and the endocrine system in the understanding of yogic awakening.
Kundalini Yoga concentrates on psychic energy centers (called "chakras") in the body in order to generate a spiritual power, which is known as kundalini energy.
Kundalini is the potential form of life force, lying dormant in our bodies. It is conceptualized as a coiled up serpent (literally, 'kundalini' in Sanskrit is 'That what is coiled'.) lying at the base of our spine, which can spring awake when activated by spiritual disciplines.
Included here is an introduction and step-by-step meditation exercise for initiation and accession of each chakra. Starting from Chakra 1 to 7, the student is required to meditate by following the simple instructions (preferably, use a head-phone) as described for each chakra.
Download::::::::
7 MB in size
http://rapidshare.com/files/26919364/1-Chkr01-Mooladhara.mp3
3 MB in size
http://rapidshare.com/files/26919365/2-Chk...Swadisthana.mp3
4 MB in size
http://rapidshare.com/files/26919366/3-Chkr03-Manipura.mp3
Guided breathing meditation
http://rapidshare.com/files/23171288/Medit...tation.rar.html
Beautiful Tracks of Chakras with soothing music and its Mantras.
For Image:
http://imageigloo.com/images/8299Chakras.jpg
Kundalini yoga is a physical and meditative discipline, comprising a set of simple techniques that uses the mind, senses and body to create a communication between "mind" and "body". Kundalini yoga focuses on psycho-spiritual growth and the body's potential for maturation, giving special consideration to the role of the spine and the endocrine system in the understanding of yogic awakening.
Kundalini Yoga concentrates on psychic energy centers (called "chakras") in the body in order to generate a spiritual power, which is known as kundalini energy.
Kundalini is the potential form of life force, lying dormant in our bodies. It is conceptualized as a coiled up serpent (literally, 'kundalini' in Sanskrit is 'That what is coiled'.) lying at the base of our spine, which can spring awake when activated by spiritual disciplines.
Included here is an introduction and step-by-step meditation exercise for initiation and accession of each chakra. Starting from Chakra 1 to 7, the student is required to meditate by following the simple instructions (preferably, use a head-phone) as described for each chakra.
Download::::::::
7 MB in size
http://rapidshare.com/files/26919364/1-Chkr01-Mooladhara.mp3
3 MB in size
http://rapidshare.com/files/26919365/2-Chk...Swadisthana.mp3
4 MB in size
http://rapidshare.com/files/26919366/3-Chkr03-Manipura.mp3
Guided breathing meditation
http://rapidshare.com/files/23171288/Medit...tation.rar.html
Guided-Breathing-Meditation-
Click & Listen-
http://www.esnips.com/doc/04be54a0-4237-48...ling-Meditation
SHARED TRANSFORMATION-El Collie's book on Kundalini awakening
http://www.elcollie.com/st/st.html
Kundalini is the agent of self-transformation on the physical, mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual levels.
http://www.elcollie.com/st/st.html#Book
How to Pray
Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East
Our Chief asked if a desire could be fulfilled as soon as it was expressed. Our hostess answered that if the desire were put forth in true form it would be fulfilled. She then went on to say that desire is but a form of prayer, that it was the true form of prayer which Jesus used, as his prayers were answered, that prayer which is always answered must be true prayer, therefore must be scientific and, if scientific, must be according to fixed law.
Continuing, she said, "The law is 'As you know your prayer is granted', and 'What things you desire, when you pray, know you receive them and you shall have them'. If we know positively that whatever we have asked for is ours already, we may know that we are working in accordance with the law. If the desire is filled, that we may know that the law is fulfilled. If the desire is not filled, then we must know that we have asked amiss. We should know that the fault is with us and not with God.
Then the instructions are, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength'. Now go deep, deep down within your own soul - not with foreboding, fear, and unbelief, but with a glad free, thankful heart, knowing that that which you stand in need of is already yours.
The secret lies in getting the at-one-ment, getting the consciousness of it and then holding firmly and never deviating, though all earth should oppose. 'Of myself I can do nothing', said Jesus. 'The father that dwells in me, He does the work'. Have faith in God. Have faith and doubt not. Have faith and fear not. Now remember there is no limitation to God's power. 'All things are possible.'
Use positive words in making your request. There is naught but the perfect condition desired. Then plant in your soul the perfect seed idea and that alone. Now ask to manifest health and not to be healed of disease, to express harmony and realize abundance - not to be delivered from inharmony, misery and limitations. Throw these off as you would discard an old garment. They are old and only outgrown things, you can afford to discard them joyfully. Do not even turn to gaze upon them. They are no-thing - nothing.
Fill the seemingly blank spaces about you with the thought of God, Infinite Good. Then remember the word God is a seed. It must grow.
"Leave the how, when, and where to God. Your work is merely to say what you want and to give forth blessings, knowing that the moment you have asked, you have received. All the details of this bringing forth is the work of the Father. Remember, He does the work. Do faithfully your part, leave and trust God's part to Him. Ask. Affirm. Look to God for what you want, then receive God's fulfillment.
"Keep the thought of God's abundance always in mind. If any other thought comes, replace it with that of God's abundance and bless that abundance. Give thanks constantly, if need be, that the work is done. Do not go back again to the asking. Just bless and give thanks that the work is done, that God is working in you, that you are receiving that which you desire, for you desire only the good that you may give out the good to all. Let this be in silence and in secret. Pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees the secret of your soul will reward you openly.
When the demonstration is complete, you will look back upon the time faithfully given as one of your greatest treasures. You will have proved the law and you will realize the power of your word spoken in faith and blessing. Remember that God has perfected His plan. He has poured out and is continuously pouring out, lovingly and lavishly upon us, all good and every good thing that we can desire. Again He says, 'Try Me and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out such a blessing there will not be room to receive it.'
From "Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East"
Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East
by Baird T. Spalding
Source-
http://www.deeptrancenow.com/books_exc.htm
File: Yogi Ramacharaka - Science Of Breath.pdf
DownloadLink:
http://rapidshare.com/files/42523626/Yogi_...e_Of_Breath.pdf
Guided Chakra meditations-Audio
1. http://rapidshare.com/files/40256896/01._Introduction.wma
2.http://rapidshare.com/files/40260459/02._Root_Chakra..._Grounding_and_abundance.wma
3.http://rapidshare.com/files/40261075/03._Hara..._Feelings_and_relationships.wma
http://rapidshare.com/files/40348858/04._S...nd_strength.wma
5.http://rapidshare.com/files/40262510/05._Heart_chakra..._Love.wma
6.http://rapidshare.com/files/40263215/01._Throat_chakra..._Communicating_with_awareness.wma
7.http://rapidshare.com/files/40264810/03._Crown_chakra..._Faith_and_flowering_of_consciousness.wma
8.http://rapidshare.com/files/40263956/02._Third_eye..._Intuition_and_focus.wma
Uploaded by Vikram-Orkut.com
JCF Associate "Bliss" Stories
I am following my bliss as we speak after years of living a schizophrenic life tied to a desk in a cubicle while all of my being wanted to be outdoors. You see: I was "following my career" instead of my bliss. After years invested in
degrees and training to become a better engineer, I was laid off in 2001. Finding a new job proved to be impossible with the downturn in the Seattle economy. I eventually came to realize that when one does not have control over the next step in one's employment, an upward trend or a positive change in one's suggested career becomes a pipe dream - my career was no more.
I convinced myself that if I was going to be unemployed and make no money in my chosen career, I could as well pursue what I loved to do even if it did not pay as much. I anticipated that my gratification would more than make up for the loss in income and recognition that I had suffered. I was going to pursue climbing as a career. If I became a certified mountain guide, that could be one way to make a living in climbing. I also started to work at REI as a salesperson in their climbing department. This was a life changing decision for me during early 2002.
In September 2002, I went rock climbing with Göran Kropp. He was the Swedish man who had bicycled from Stockholm, Sweden to Nepal to climb Everest without motorized or porter help in 1996. He had towed all of his climbing gear all that distance on a trailer hitched to his bicycle. I had met Göran in the summer of 2001 when he came to Seattle to give a talk about his journey. A truly inspiring event that had encouraged me to share my dream with him: a human powered circumnavigation of the world. I had this dream since 1997, having daydreamed about it in a software development lab for the longest time. Göran was not surprised by the scope of the undertaking - he was a climber like me and he had done the long haul. He knew what it would take, and he understood my drive. His questions to me were affirming: when was I leaving, did I have sponsors, could he kayak the Siberian coastline with me... he validated my dream on that day, I had found a kindred spirit in him. Our rock climbing day a year later turned tragic when Göran fell to his death on my watch. This was the life changing event...
Life was not fair. The lesson that faced me that September day was: "life is short, get it done, stop talking about it, pursue your dream before you are too old."
I felt like a baton had been passed, and I was meant to be with Göran that day. On the way back from Göran's funeral in Stockholm, I decided to include a tribute to him in my project: I would reach the highest summits in Göran style on the six respective continents that I would touch - no motorized help, towing my gear to the mountains by bicycle and climbing them under my own power. I would row the oceans in between the continents...
We quickly set up the 501©(3) non-profit organization Around-n-Over to serve as the structural catalyst. Our charitable goal is to support the Göran Kropp Bishwa Darshan Primary School in Nepal which now lacked a sponsor. We will feed educational content and inspirational stories to schools during the journey that will last until 2010. We will share lesson plans freely with schools around the world to turn the journey into a learning opportunity.
We have already reached the summit of Denali (Mt. McKinley) in North America. I bicycled up there roundtrip from Seattle, Göran style, covering 5,546 miles in the process. We walked in 67 miles to base camp over glaciers and reached the summit on May 29, 2003. I started from Seattle on Feb 1, 2003, ending back in Seattle at the end of August same year. The next step is to bicycle down to Florida from Seattle in the Fall of 2004, and to row from Florida to Ecuador on my way to Aconcagua in Argentina. Aconcagua is scheduled for January 2006, after which I will be crossing the Pacific Ocean by rowing on my way to Carstenz Pyramid, Everest, Kilimanjaro, and Elbrus. The journey will continue until the end of 2010 if all goes according to plan.
I am following my bliss, and many have stepped forward to help me during my journey. I will have made many more friends as my journey unfolds. I am convinced as Joseph Campbell was that more in my field of bliss will appear to open doors and to make my journey a more meaningful one. Do follow me on my life journey at: http://www.around-n-over.org
Erden Eruç
President and Chief
Exploration Officer
Around-n-Over
http://www.jcf.org/bliss-stories.php
http://www.jcf.org/index2.php
I am following my bliss as we speak after years of living a schizophrenic life tied to a desk in a cubicle while all of my being wanted to be outdoors. You see: I was "following my career" instead of my bliss. After years invested in
degrees and training to become a better engineer, I was laid off in 2001. Finding a new job proved to be impossible with the downturn in the Seattle economy. I eventually came to realize that when one does not have control over the next step in one's employment, an upward trend or a positive change in one's suggested career becomes a pipe dream - my career was no more.
I convinced myself that if I was going to be unemployed and make no money in my chosen career, I could as well pursue what I loved to do even if it did not pay as much. I anticipated that my gratification would more than make up for the loss in income and recognition that I had suffered. I was going to pursue climbing as a career. If I became a certified mountain guide, that could be one way to make a living in climbing. I also started to work at REI as a salesperson in their climbing department. This was a life changing decision for me during early 2002.
In September 2002, I went rock climbing with Göran Kropp. He was the Swedish man who had bicycled from Stockholm, Sweden to Nepal to climb Everest without motorized or porter help in 1996. He had towed all of his climbing gear all that distance on a trailer hitched to his bicycle. I had met Göran in the summer of 2001 when he came to Seattle to give a talk about his journey. A truly inspiring event that had encouraged me to share my dream with him: a human powered circumnavigation of the world. I had this dream since 1997, having daydreamed about it in a software development lab for the longest time. Göran was not surprised by the scope of the undertaking - he was a climber like me and he had done the long haul. He knew what it would take, and he understood my drive. His questions to me were affirming: when was I leaving, did I have sponsors, could he kayak the Siberian coastline with me... he validated my dream on that day, I had found a kindred spirit in him. Our rock climbing day a year later turned tragic when Göran fell to his death on my watch. This was the life changing event...
Life was not fair. The lesson that faced me that September day was: "life is short, get it done, stop talking about it, pursue your dream before you are too old."
I felt like a baton had been passed, and I was meant to be with Göran that day. On the way back from Göran's funeral in Stockholm, I decided to include a tribute to him in my project: I would reach the highest summits in Göran style on the six respective continents that I would touch - no motorized help, towing my gear to the mountains by bicycle and climbing them under my own power. I would row the oceans in between the continents...
We quickly set up the 501©(3) non-profit organization Around-n-Over to serve as the structural catalyst. Our charitable goal is to support the Göran Kropp Bishwa Darshan Primary School in Nepal which now lacked a sponsor. We will feed educational content and inspirational stories to schools during the journey that will last until 2010. We will share lesson plans freely with schools around the world to turn the journey into a learning opportunity.
We have already reached the summit of Denali (Mt. McKinley) in North America. I bicycled up there roundtrip from Seattle, Göran style, covering 5,546 miles in the process. We walked in 67 miles to base camp over glaciers and reached the summit on May 29, 2003. I started from Seattle on Feb 1, 2003, ending back in Seattle at the end of August same year. The next step is to bicycle down to Florida from Seattle in the Fall of 2004, and to row from Florida to Ecuador on my way to Aconcagua in Argentina. Aconcagua is scheduled for January 2006, after which I will be crossing the Pacific Ocean by rowing on my way to Carstenz Pyramid, Everest, Kilimanjaro, and Elbrus. The journey will continue until the end of 2010 if all goes according to plan.
I am following my bliss, and many have stepped forward to help me during my journey. I will have made many more friends as my journey unfolds. I am convinced as Joseph Campbell was that more in my field of bliss will appear to open doors and to make my journey a more meaningful one. Do follow me on my life journey at: http://www.around-n-over.org
Erden Eruç
President and Chief
Exploration Officer
Around-n-Over
http://www.jcf.org/bliss-stories.php
http://www.jcf.org/index2.php
Excerpts from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's -I AM THAThttp://www.nonduality.com/asmi.htm
CONTENTS
1. I am not this person, this body-mind, or any thing.
As I can't be what I perceive, I am not this body-mind or any thing that I am conscious of.
As there must be something unchanging to register discontinuity, I am not this body-mind, which is neither continuous nor permanent.
As the person is a changing stream of mental objects that I as the subject take to be my body-mind, I cannot be a person. I am, but I can't be this or that.
As it is my presence, which is always here and now, that gives the quality of actual to any event, I must be beyond time and space. I was never born, nor will ever die.
2. I am the Self, the Witness of Consciousness, pure Awareness.
I am only the Self , which is universal and imagines itself to be the outer self, a person.
I am not an object in Consciousness but its source, its Witness, pure shapeless Awareness.
Only the feeling "I am", though in the World, is not of the World nor can be denied.
3. The World exists only as a dream in my Consciousness: Part One
As I only know the contents of my consciousness, and as an outside world is unprovable, all perceivables are only in my mind.
Transient things only appear and have no substance.
What changes has no reality. Time and space are imagined, ways of thinking, modes of perception. Only timeless reality is, and it is here and now.
The World exists only as a dream in my Consciousness: Part Two
Whatever has a form is only limitations imagined in my consciousness.
The World is but a show, a make-belief.
The World I perceive is entirely private, a dream.
Desire and fear come from seeing the World as separate from my-Self.
While I see the dream as real, I'll suffer being its slave.
Nothing in the dream is done by me.
4. There is only one dreamer, the one Self, dreaming many dreams.
In every body there is a dream, but the dreamer is the same, the one Self, which reflects itself in each body as "I am".
All the dreams are of a common imaginary World and influence each other.
Love is seeing the unity under the imaginary diversity.
5. I alone am, the One, the Supreme.
Not only the multiplicity of selves is false: even the duality of I/World, Subject/Object, is a transient appearance in my
Consciousness.
There is only my-Self, Consciousness.
I am not even Consciousness, which is dual and perceivable: I am the unknown Reality beyond.
Though unknown and unknowable, my real being is concrete and solid like a rock.
I am the light that makes Consciousness possible, pure Awareness, the non-dualSelf, the Supreme Reality, the Absolute, the Beingness of being, the Awareness of consciousness.
6. The big cycle: part one
The alternation of manifested (existence, becoming) - unmanifested
(pure being).
The manifestation of the Absolute.
The big cycle: part two
The return to the Absolute.
There are no real differences. Only the One is.
7. The goal: Liberation through Self-Realization
The gospel of self-realization
The enlightened one (gnani)
8. The way to Self-Realization: Part One
Not through activity. No effort is necessary, but there is a precondition: earnestness now
The way to Self-Realization: Part Two
Not through knowledge of things or experiences, but through self-knowledge.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Three
Not through the mind.
See everything as a dream, a show, a film.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Four
See that happiness is not pleasure; see that desires and fears create bondage; and be free and happy through detachment.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Five
As self-identification with the body-mind is the poison that causes bondage, seek liberation by seeing that oneself is not any thing personal or perceivable.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Six
Meditation, Witness attitude, Awareness.
No thought but "I am".
9. Miscellaneous
Why the ignorance and the illusion? What is the purpose of it all?
Violence, Evil, Sin.
Progress.
Karma.
Death, Suicide, Reincarnation.
Religions, God.
The real Guru.
Yoga.
Love.
Numbers after quotations refer to pages of the edition by Chetana (P) Ltd, Bombay, 1992.
I am not this person, this body-mind or any thing
As I can't be what I perceive, I am not this body-mind or any thing that I am conscious of.
As body, you are in space. As mind, you are in time. But are you a mere body with a mind in it? Have you ever investigated? (252)
Why not investigate the very idea of body? Does the mind appear in the body or the body in the mind? Surely there must be a mind to conceive the "I-am-the-body" idea. A body without a mind cannot be 'my body'. 'My body' is invariably absent when the mind is in abeyance. It is also absent when the mind is deeply engaged in thoughts and feelings. (434)
You observe the heart feeling, the mind thinking, the body acting; the very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. (2)
The perceived cannot be the perceiver. Whatever you see, hear or think of, remember - you are not what happens, you are he to whom it happens. (519)
Desire, fear, trouble, joy, they cannot appear unless you are there to appear to. Yet, whatever happens points to your existence as a perceiving centre. Disregard the pointers and be aware of what they are pointing to. (220)
Realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear. (201)
When you realize that the distinction between inner and outer is in the mind only, you are no longer afraid. (464)
You are neither the body nor in the body. There is no such thing as body. You have grievously misunderstood yourself. To understand rightly, investigate. (253)
You are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in you. They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting.
(212)
You only know that you react. Who reacts and to what, you do not know. You know on contact that you exist: "I am". The "I am this", "I
am that" are imaginary. (337)
To myself, I am neither perceivable nor conceivable; there is nothing I can point out to and say: "this I am". You identify yourself with everything so easily; I find it impossible. The feeling "I am not this or that, nor is anything mine" is so strong in me that as soon as a thing or a thought appears, there comes at once the sense "this I am not". (268)
Whatever you may hear, see or think of, I am not that. I am free from being a percept or a concept. (152)
As you cannot see your face, but only its reflection in the mirror, so you can know only your image reflected in the stainless mirror of pure awareness. See the stains and remove them. The nature of the perfect mirror is such that you cannot see it. Whatever you can see is bound to be a stain. Turn away from it, give it up, know it as unwanted. All perceivables are stains. (126)
Having perfected the mirror so that it reflects correctly, truly, you can turn the mirror round and see in it a reflection of yourself -true as far as the mirror can reflect. But the reflection is not yourself - you are the seer of the reflection. Do understand it clearly - whatever you may perceive, you are not what you perceive. You can see both the image and the mirror. You are neither. (330)
Remember, nothing you perceive is your own. (510)
What is really your own, you are not conscious of. (445)
You are nothing that you are conscious of. (458)
As there must be something unchanging to register discontinuity, I am not this body-mind, which is neither continuous nor permanent.
The mind is discontinuous. Again and again it blanks out, like in sleep or swoon or distraction. There must be something continuous to register discontinuity. Memory is always partial, unreliable and > evanescent. It does not explain the strong sense of identity pervading consciousness, the sense "I am". Find out what is at the root of it. (307)
You cannot be conscious of what does not change. All consciousness is consciousness of change. But the very perception of change - does it not necessitate a changeless background? (516)
Changes are inevitable in the changeful, but you are not subject to them. You are the changeless background, against which changes are perceived. (333)
The self based on memory is momentary. But such self demands unbroken continuity behind it. You know from experience that there are gaps when your self is forgotten. What brings it back to life? What wakes you up in the morning? There must be some constant factor bridging the gaps in consciousness. If you watch carefully, you will find that even your daily consciousness is in flashes, with gaps intervening all the time. What is in the gaps? What can there be but your real being, that is timeless? Mind and mindlessness are one to it. (333)
Realize that whatever you think yourself to be is just a stream of events; that while all happens, comes and goes, you alone are, the changeless among the changeful, the self-evident among the inferred. Separate the observed from the observer and abandon false identifications. (215)
The succession of transient moments creates the illusion of time, but the timeless reality of pure being is not in movement, for all movement requires a motionless background. It is itself the background. Once you have found it in yourself, you know that you had never lost that independent being. (409)
What changes is not real, what is real does not change. Now, what is it in you that does not change? As long as there is food, there is body and mind. When the food is stopped, the body dies and the mind dissolves. But does the observer perish? It is a matter of actual experience that the self has being independent of mind and body. It is being-awareness-bliss. Awareness of being is bliss. (210)
You must realize yourself as the immovable behind and beyond the movable, the silent witness of all that happens. (319)
As the person is a changing stream of mental objects that I as the subject take to be my body-mind, I cannot be a person. I am, but I can't be this or that.
Nothing is wrong with you, but the ideas you have of yourself are altogether wrong. It is not you who desires, fears and suffers, it is the person built on the foundation of your body by circumstances and influences. You are not that person. (424)
The person is never the subject. You can see a person, but you are not the person. (64)
Your being a person is due to the illusion of space and time; you imagine yourself to be at a certain point occupying a certain volume; your personality is due to your self-identification with the body.
(205)
How does personality come into being? By identifying the present with the past and projecting it into the future. (206)
The body-mind is like a room. It is there, but I need not live in it all the time. (153)
The person is merely the result of a misunderstanding. In reality, there is no such thing. Feelings, thoughts and actions race before the watcher in endless succession, leaving traces in the brain and creating an illusion of continuity. A reflection of the watcher in the mind creates the sense of "I" and the person acquires an apparently independent existence. In reality there is no person, only the watcher identifying himself with the "I" and the "mine". (343)
It is because the "I am" is false that it wants to continue. Reality need not continue - knowing itself indestructible, it is indifferent of forms and expressions. To strengthen and stabilize the "I am", we do all sorts of things - all in vain, for the "I am" is being rebuilt from moment to moment. It is unceasing work, and the only radical solution is to dissolve the separative sense of "I am such and such
It is not the "I am" that is false, but what you take yourself to be. I can see, beyond the least shadow of doubt, that you are not what you believe yourself to be. (458)
What is really your own, you are not conscious of. What you are conscious of is neither you nor yours. Yours is the power of perception, not what you perceive. It is a mistake to take the conscious to be the whole of man. Man is the unconscious, the conscious and the superconscious, but you are not the man. Yours is the cinema screen, the light as well as the seeing power, but the picture is not you. (445)
As it is my presence, which is always here and now, that gives the quality of actual to any event, I must be beyond time and space. I was never born, nor will ever die.
Take the idea "I was born". You may take it to be true. It is not. You were not born, nor will you ever die. It is the idea that was born and shall die, not you. By identifying yourself with it you became mortal. (392)
Your mistake lies in your belief that you were born. You were never born nor will you ever die. (83)
Between the remembered and the actual there is a basic difference which can be observed from moment to moment. At no point of time is the actual the remembered. Between the two there is a difference in kind, not merely in intensity. The actual is unmistakably so. By no effort of will or imagination can you interchange the two. Now, what is it that gives this unique quality to the actual? A moment back, the remembered was actual, in a moment the actual will be the remembered. What makes the actual unique?
Obviously, it is the sense of being present. In memory and anticipation, there is a clear feeling that it is a mental state under observation, while in the actual the feeling is primarily of being present and aware. Wherever you go, the sense of here and now you carry with you all the time. It means that you are independent of space and time, that space and time are in you, not you in them. It is your self-identification with the body, which, of course, is limited in space and time, that gives you the feeling of finiteness. In reality you are infinite and eternal. (516)
I am the Self, the Witness of Consciousness,
pure Awareness.
I am only the Self , which is universal and
imagines itself to be the outer self, a person.
Somebody, anybody, will tell you that you are pure consciousness, not a body-mind. Accept it as a possibility and investigate earnestly. You may discover that it is not so, that you are not a person bound in space and time. Think of the difference it would make! (441-2)
The personality (vyakti) is but a product of imagination. The self (vyakta) is the victim of this imagination. It is the taking yourself to be what you are not that binds you. The person cannot be said to exist on its own rights; it is the self that believes there is a person and is conscious of being it. (143)
How can there be two selves in one body? The "I am" is one. There is no "higher I-am" and "lower I-am". All kinds of states of consciousness are presented to awareness and there is self-identification with them. The objects of observation are not what they appear to be, and the attitudes they are met with are not what they need to be. If you think that Buddha, Christ of Krishnamurti speak to the person, you are mistaken. They know well that the vyakti , the outer self, is but a shadow of the vyakta , the inner self, and they address and admonish the vyakta only. They tell him to give attention to the outer self, to guide it and help it, to feel responsible for it; in short, to be fully aware of it. Awareness comes from the Supreme and pervades the inner self; the so-called outer self is only that part of one's being of which one is not aware. One may be conscious, for every being is conscious, but one is not aware. What is included in awareness becomes the inner and partakes of the inner. (294)
The self you want to know, is it some second self? Are you made of several selves? Surely, there is only one self and you are that self. The self you are is the only self there is. Remove and abandon your wrong ideas about yourself and there it is, in all its glory. (516-7)
There is no second, or higher self to search for. You are the highest self, only give up the false ideas you have about your self. (517)
Your own self is your ultimate teacher (sadguru). The outer teacher (guru) is merely a milestone. It is only your inner teacher that will walk with you to the goal, for it is the goal. (51)
Yoga is the work of the inner self (vyakta) on the outer self (vyakti). All that the outer does is merely in response to the inner. It [the outer self] has some control over the body and can improve its posture and breathing. Over the mind's thoughts and feelings it has little mastery, for it is itself the mind. It is the inner that can control the outer. The outer will be wise to obey. The inner is the source of inspiration, the outer is moved by memory. The source is untraceable, while all memory begins somewhere. Thus the outer is always determined, while the inner cannot be held in words. The mistake of students consists in their imagining the inner to be something to get hold of, and forgetting that all perceivables are transient and therefore unreal. Only that which makes perception possible, call it Life or Brahman, or what you like, is real. (74-5)
The self by its nature knows itself only. For lack of experience whatever it perceives it takes to be itself. Battered, it learns to look out (viveka) and to live alone (vairagya). When right behaviour (uparati) becomes normal, a powerful inner urge (mukmukshutva) makes it seek its source. The candle of the body is lighted and all becomes clear and bright. (110)
You can observe the observation, but not the observer. You know you are the ultimate observer by direct insight, not by a logical process based on observation. You are what you are, but you know what you are not. The self is known as being, the not-self is known as transient. But in reality all is in the mind. The observed, observation and observer are mental constructs. The self alone is. (219)
The self is universal and its aims are universal. There is nothing personal about the self. (212)
I am not an object in Consciousness but its source,
its Witness, pure shapeless Awareness.
You are and I am. But only as points in consciousness; we are nothing apart from consciousness. (92)
You are not the body. You are the immensity and infinity of consciousness. (264)
The source of consciousness cannot be an object in consciousness. To know the source is to be the source. When you realize that you are not the person, but the pure and calm witness, and that fearless awareness is your very being, you are the being. It is the source, the inexhaustible Possibility. (65)
Discard all you are not and go ever deeper. Just as a man digging a well discards what is not water, until he reaches the water-bearing strata, so must you discard what is not your own, till nothing is left which you can disown. You will find that what is left is nothing which the mind can hook on to. You are not even a human being. You just are - a point of awareness, co-extensive with time and space and beyond both, the ultimate cause, itself uncaused. If you ask me "Who are you?", my answer would be: "Nothing in particular. Yet, I am." (318)
I am not my body, nor do I need it. I am the witness only. I have no shape of my own. You are so accustomed to think of yourself as bodies having consciousness that you just cannot imagine consciousness as having bodies. Once you realize that bodily existence is but a state of mind, a movement in consciousness, that the ocean of consciousness is infinite and eternal, and that, when in touch with consciousness, you are the witness only, you will be able to withdraw beyond consciousness altogether. (327)
Do realize that it is not you who moves from dream to dream, but the dreams flow before you, and you are the immutable witness. No happening affects your real being - that is the absolute truth. (333)
The witness is not a person. The person comes into being when there is a basis for it, an organism, a body. In it, the absolute is reflected as awareness. Pure awareness becomes self-awareness. When there is a self, self-awareness is the witness. When there is no self to witness, there is no witnessing either. It is all very simple; it is the presence of the person that complicates. See that there is no such thing as a permanently separate person and all becomes clear. Awareness, mind, matter - they are one reality in its two aspects as immovable and movable, and the three attributes of inertia, energy and harmony. Awareness becomes consciousness when it has an object. The object changes all the time. In consciousness there is movement; awareness by itself is motionless and timeless, here and now. (233)
The difference between the person and the witness is as between not knowing and knowing oneself. The person is in unrest and resistance to the very end. It is the witness that works on the person, on the totality of its illusions, past, present and future. (358)
[The person and the witness] both are modes of consciousness. In one, you desire and fear; in the other, you are unaffected by pleasure and pain, and are not ruffled by events. You let them come and go. (190)
The pleasure to be is the simplest form of self-love, which later grows into love of the self. Be like an infant with nothing standing between the body and the self. The constant noise of the psychic life is absent. In deep silence, the self contemplates the body. It is like the white paper on which nothing is written yet. Be like that infant, instead of trying to be this or that, be happy to be. You will be a fully awakened witness of the field of consciousness. But there should be no feelings and ideas to stand between you and the field. (216)
Only the feeling "I am", though in the World,
is not of the World nor can be denied.
A reflection of the watcher in the mind creates the sense of "I" and the person acquires an apparently independent existence. In reality there is no person, only the watcher identifying himself with the "I" and the "mine". The teacher tells the watcher: you are not this, there is nothing of yours in this, except the little point of "I am", which is the bridge between the watcher and his dream. "I am this, I am that" is dream, while pure "I am" has the stamp of reality on it. (343)
That which makes you think that you are a human is not human. It is but a dimensionless point of consciousness, a conscious nothing. All you can say about yourself is "I am". You are pure being-awareness-bliss. To realize that is the end of all seeking. You come to it when you see all you think yourself to be as mere imagination, and stand aloof in pure awareness of the transient as transient, imaginary as imaginary, unreal as unreal. (316)
Only your sense "I am", though in the world, is not of the world. By no effort of logic or imagination can you change the "I am" into "I am not". In the very denial of your being you assert it. (200)
It [the "I am"] is unreal when we say: "I am this, I am that". It is real when we mean "I am not this, nor that". (395)
To identify oneself with the particular is all the sin there is. The impersonal is real, the personal appears and disappears. "I am" is the impersonal Being. "I am this" is the person. The person is relative, and the pure Being fundamental. (71)
CONTENTS
1. I am not this person, this body-mind, or any thing.
As I can't be what I perceive, I am not this body-mind or any thing that I am conscious of.
As there must be something unchanging to register discontinuity, I am not this body-mind, which is neither continuous nor permanent.
As the person is a changing stream of mental objects that I as the subject take to be my body-mind, I cannot be a person. I am, but I can't be this or that.
As it is my presence, which is always here and now, that gives the quality of actual to any event, I must be beyond time and space. I was never born, nor will ever die.
2. I am the Self, the Witness of Consciousness, pure Awareness.
I am only the Self , which is universal and imagines itself to be the outer self, a person.
I am not an object in Consciousness but its source, its Witness, pure shapeless Awareness.
Only the feeling "I am", though in the World, is not of the World nor can be denied.
3. The World exists only as a dream in my Consciousness: Part One
As I only know the contents of my consciousness, and as an outside world is unprovable, all perceivables are only in my mind.
Transient things only appear and have no substance.
What changes has no reality. Time and space are imagined, ways of thinking, modes of perception. Only timeless reality is, and it is here and now.
The World exists only as a dream in my Consciousness: Part Two
Whatever has a form is only limitations imagined in my consciousness.
The World is but a show, a make-belief.
The World I perceive is entirely private, a dream.
Desire and fear come from seeing the World as separate from my-Self.
While I see the dream as real, I'll suffer being its slave.
Nothing in the dream is done by me.
4. There is only one dreamer, the one Self, dreaming many dreams.
In every body there is a dream, but the dreamer is the same, the one Self, which reflects itself in each body as "I am".
All the dreams are of a common imaginary World and influence each other.
Love is seeing the unity under the imaginary diversity.
5. I alone am, the One, the Supreme.
Not only the multiplicity of selves is false: even the duality of I/World, Subject/Object, is a transient appearance in my
Consciousness.
There is only my-Self, Consciousness.
I am not even Consciousness, which is dual and perceivable: I am the unknown Reality beyond.
Though unknown and unknowable, my real being is concrete and solid like a rock.
I am the light that makes Consciousness possible, pure Awareness, the non-dualSelf, the Supreme Reality, the Absolute, the Beingness of being, the Awareness of consciousness.
6. The big cycle: part one
The alternation of manifested (existence, becoming) - unmanifested
(pure being).
The manifestation of the Absolute.
The big cycle: part two
The return to the Absolute.
There are no real differences. Only the One is.
7. The goal: Liberation through Self-Realization
The gospel of self-realization
The enlightened one (gnani)
8. The way to Self-Realization: Part One
Not through activity. No effort is necessary, but there is a precondition: earnestness now
The way to Self-Realization: Part Two
Not through knowledge of things or experiences, but through self-knowledge.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Three
Not through the mind.
See everything as a dream, a show, a film.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Four
See that happiness is not pleasure; see that desires and fears create bondage; and be free and happy through detachment.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Five
As self-identification with the body-mind is the poison that causes bondage, seek liberation by seeing that oneself is not any thing personal or perceivable.
The way to Self-Realization: Part Six
Meditation, Witness attitude, Awareness.
No thought but "I am".
9. Miscellaneous
Why the ignorance and the illusion? What is the purpose of it all?
Violence, Evil, Sin.
Progress.
Karma.
Death, Suicide, Reincarnation.
Religions, God.
The real Guru.
Yoga.
Love.
Numbers after quotations refer to pages of the edition by Chetana (P) Ltd, Bombay, 1992.
I am not this person, this body-mind or any thing
As I can't be what I perceive, I am not this body-mind or any thing that I am conscious of.
As body, you are in space. As mind, you are in time. But are you a mere body with a mind in it? Have you ever investigated? (252)
Why not investigate the very idea of body? Does the mind appear in the body or the body in the mind? Surely there must be a mind to conceive the "I-am-the-body" idea. A body without a mind cannot be 'my body'. 'My body' is invariably absent when the mind is in abeyance. It is also absent when the mind is deeply engaged in thoughts and feelings. (434)
You observe the heart feeling, the mind thinking, the body acting; the very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. (2)
The perceived cannot be the perceiver. Whatever you see, hear or think of, remember - you are not what happens, you are he to whom it happens. (519)
Desire, fear, trouble, joy, they cannot appear unless you are there to appear to. Yet, whatever happens points to your existence as a perceiving centre. Disregard the pointers and be aware of what they are pointing to. (220)
Realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear. (201)
When you realize that the distinction between inner and outer is in the mind only, you are no longer afraid. (464)
You are neither the body nor in the body. There is no such thing as body. You have grievously misunderstood yourself. To understand rightly, investigate. (253)
You are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in you. They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting.
(212)
You only know that you react. Who reacts and to what, you do not know. You know on contact that you exist: "I am". The "I am this", "I
am that" are imaginary. (337)
To myself, I am neither perceivable nor conceivable; there is nothing I can point out to and say: "this I am". You identify yourself with everything so easily; I find it impossible. The feeling "I am not this or that, nor is anything mine" is so strong in me that as soon as a thing or a thought appears, there comes at once the sense "this I am not". (268)
Whatever you may hear, see or think of, I am not that. I am free from being a percept or a concept. (152)
As you cannot see your face, but only its reflection in the mirror, so you can know only your image reflected in the stainless mirror of pure awareness. See the stains and remove them. The nature of the perfect mirror is such that you cannot see it. Whatever you can see is bound to be a stain. Turn away from it, give it up, know it as unwanted. All perceivables are stains. (126)
Having perfected the mirror so that it reflects correctly, truly, you can turn the mirror round and see in it a reflection of yourself -true as far as the mirror can reflect. But the reflection is not yourself - you are the seer of the reflection. Do understand it clearly - whatever you may perceive, you are not what you perceive. You can see both the image and the mirror. You are neither. (330)
Remember, nothing you perceive is your own. (510)
What is really your own, you are not conscious of. (445)
You are nothing that you are conscious of. (458)
As there must be something unchanging to register discontinuity, I am not this body-mind, which is neither continuous nor permanent.
The mind is discontinuous. Again and again it blanks out, like in sleep or swoon or distraction. There must be something continuous to register discontinuity. Memory is always partial, unreliable and > evanescent. It does not explain the strong sense of identity pervading consciousness, the sense "I am". Find out what is at the root of it. (307)
You cannot be conscious of what does not change. All consciousness is consciousness of change. But the very perception of change - does it not necessitate a changeless background? (516)
Changes are inevitable in the changeful, but you are not subject to them. You are the changeless background, against which changes are perceived. (333)
The self based on memory is momentary. But such self demands unbroken continuity behind it. You know from experience that there are gaps when your self is forgotten. What brings it back to life? What wakes you up in the morning? There must be some constant factor bridging the gaps in consciousness. If you watch carefully, you will find that even your daily consciousness is in flashes, with gaps intervening all the time. What is in the gaps? What can there be but your real being, that is timeless? Mind and mindlessness are one to it. (333)
Realize that whatever you think yourself to be is just a stream of events; that while all happens, comes and goes, you alone are, the changeless among the changeful, the self-evident among the inferred. Separate the observed from the observer and abandon false identifications. (215)
The succession of transient moments creates the illusion of time, but the timeless reality of pure being is not in movement, for all movement requires a motionless background. It is itself the background. Once you have found it in yourself, you know that you had never lost that independent being. (409)
What changes is not real, what is real does not change. Now, what is it in you that does not change? As long as there is food, there is body and mind. When the food is stopped, the body dies and the mind dissolves. But does the observer perish? It is a matter of actual experience that the self has being independent of mind and body. It is being-awareness-bliss. Awareness of being is bliss. (210)
You must realize yourself as the immovable behind and beyond the movable, the silent witness of all that happens. (319)
As the person is a changing stream of mental objects that I as the subject take to be my body-mind, I cannot be a person. I am, but I can't be this or that.
Nothing is wrong with you, but the ideas you have of yourself are altogether wrong. It is not you who desires, fears and suffers, it is the person built on the foundation of your body by circumstances and influences. You are not that person. (424)
The person is never the subject. You can see a person, but you are not the person. (64)
Your being a person is due to the illusion of space and time; you imagine yourself to be at a certain point occupying a certain volume; your personality is due to your self-identification with the body.
(205)
How does personality come into being? By identifying the present with the past and projecting it into the future. (206)
The body-mind is like a room. It is there, but I need not live in it all the time. (153)
The person is merely the result of a misunderstanding. In reality, there is no such thing. Feelings, thoughts and actions race before the watcher in endless succession, leaving traces in the brain and creating an illusion of continuity. A reflection of the watcher in the mind creates the sense of "I" and the person acquires an apparently independent existence. In reality there is no person, only the watcher identifying himself with the "I" and the "mine". (343)
It is because the "I am" is false that it wants to continue. Reality need not continue - knowing itself indestructible, it is indifferent of forms and expressions. To strengthen and stabilize the "I am", we do all sorts of things - all in vain, for the "I am" is being rebuilt from moment to moment. It is unceasing work, and the only radical solution is to dissolve the separative sense of "I am such and such
It is not the "I am" that is false, but what you take yourself to be. I can see, beyond the least shadow of doubt, that you are not what you believe yourself to be. (458)
What is really your own, you are not conscious of. What you are conscious of is neither you nor yours. Yours is the power of perception, not what you perceive. It is a mistake to take the conscious to be the whole of man. Man is the unconscious, the conscious and the superconscious, but you are not the man. Yours is the cinema screen, the light as well as the seeing power, but the picture is not you. (445)
As it is my presence, which is always here and now, that gives the quality of actual to any event, I must be beyond time and space. I was never born, nor will ever die.
Take the idea "I was born". You may take it to be true. It is not. You were not born, nor will you ever die. It is the idea that was born and shall die, not you. By identifying yourself with it you became mortal. (392)
Your mistake lies in your belief that you were born. You were never born nor will you ever die. (83)
Between the remembered and the actual there is a basic difference which can be observed from moment to moment. At no point of time is the actual the remembered. Between the two there is a difference in kind, not merely in intensity. The actual is unmistakably so. By no effort of will or imagination can you interchange the two. Now, what is it that gives this unique quality to the actual? A moment back, the remembered was actual, in a moment the actual will be the remembered. What makes the actual unique?
Obviously, it is the sense of being present. In memory and anticipation, there is a clear feeling that it is a mental state under observation, while in the actual the feeling is primarily of being present and aware. Wherever you go, the sense of here and now you carry with you all the time. It means that you are independent of space and time, that space and time are in you, not you in them. It is your self-identification with the body, which, of course, is limited in space and time, that gives you the feeling of finiteness. In reality you are infinite and eternal. (516)
I am the Self, the Witness of Consciousness,
pure Awareness.
I am only the Self , which is universal and
imagines itself to be the outer self, a person.
Somebody, anybody, will tell you that you are pure consciousness, not a body-mind. Accept it as a possibility and investigate earnestly. You may discover that it is not so, that you are not a person bound in space and time. Think of the difference it would make! (441-2)
The personality (vyakti) is but a product of imagination. The self (vyakta) is the victim of this imagination. It is the taking yourself to be what you are not that binds you. The person cannot be said to exist on its own rights; it is the self that believes there is a person and is conscious of being it. (143)
How can there be two selves in one body? The "I am" is one. There is no "higher I-am" and "lower I-am". All kinds of states of consciousness are presented to awareness and there is self-identification with them. The objects of observation are not what they appear to be, and the attitudes they are met with are not what they need to be. If you think that Buddha, Christ of Krishnamurti speak to the person, you are mistaken. They know well that the vyakti , the outer self, is but a shadow of the vyakta , the inner self, and they address and admonish the vyakta only. They tell him to give attention to the outer self, to guide it and help it, to feel responsible for it; in short, to be fully aware of it. Awareness comes from the Supreme and pervades the inner self; the so-called outer self is only that part of one's being of which one is not aware. One may be conscious, for every being is conscious, but one is not aware. What is included in awareness becomes the inner and partakes of the inner. (294)
The self you want to know, is it some second self? Are you made of several selves? Surely, there is only one self and you are that self. The self you are is the only self there is. Remove and abandon your wrong ideas about yourself and there it is, in all its glory. (516-7)
There is no second, or higher self to search for. You are the highest self, only give up the false ideas you have about your self. (517)
Your own self is your ultimate teacher (sadguru). The outer teacher (guru) is merely a milestone. It is only your inner teacher that will walk with you to the goal, for it is the goal. (51)
Yoga is the work of the inner self (vyakta) on the outer self (vyakti). All that the outer does is merely in response to the inner. It [the outer self] has some control over the body and can improve its posture and breathing. Over the mind's thoughts and feelings it has little mastery, for it is itself the mind. It is the inner that can control the outer. The outer will be wise to obey. The inner is the source of inspiration, the outer is moved by memory. The source is untraceable, while all memory begins somewhere. Thus the outer is always determined, while the inner cannot be held in words. The mistake of students consists in their imagining the inner to be something to get hold of, and forgetting that all perceivables are transient and therefore unreal. Only that which makes perception possible, call it Life or Brahman, or what you like, is real. (74-5)
The self by its nature knows itself only. For lack of experience whatever it perceives it takes to be itself. Battered, it learns to look out (viveka) and to live alone (vairagya). When right behaviour (uparati) becomes normal, a powerful inner urge (mukmukshutva) makes it seek its source. The candle of the body is lighted and all becomes clear and bright. (110)
You can observe the observation, but not the observer. You know you are the ultimate observer by direct insight, not by a logical process based on observation. You are what you are, but you know what you are not. The self is known as being, the not-self is known as transient. But in reality all is in the mind. The observed, observation and observer are mental constructs. The self alone is. (219)
The self is universal and its aims are universal. There is nothing personal about the self. (212)
I am not an object in Consciousness but its source,
its Witness, pure shapeless Awareness.
You are and I am. But only as points in consciousness; we are nothing apart from consciousness. (92)
You are not the body. You are the immensity and infinity of consciousness. (264)
The source of consciousness cannot be an object in consciousness. To know the source is to be the source. When you realize that you are not the person, but the pure and calm witness, and that fearless awareness is your very being, you are the being. It is the source, the inexhaustible Possibility. (65)
Discard all you are not and go ever deeper. Just as a man digging a well discards what is not water, until he reaches the water-bearing strata, so must you discard what is not your own, till nothing is left which you can disown. You will find that what is left is nothing which the mind can hook on to. You are not even a human being. You just are - a point of awareness, co-extensive with time and space and beyond both, the ultimate cause, itself uncaused. If you ask me "Who are you?", my answer would be: "Nothing in particular. Yet, I am." (318)
I am not my body, nor do I need it. I am the witness only. I have no shape of my own. You are so accustomed to think of yourself as bodies having consciousness that you just cannot imagine consciousness as having bodies. Once you realize that bodily existence is but a state of mind, a movement in consciousness, that the ocean of consciousness is infinite and eternal, and that, when in touch with consciousness, you are the witness only, you will be able to withdraw beyond consciousness altogether. (327)
Do realize that it is not you who moves from dream to dream, but the dreams flow before you, and you are the immutable witness. No happening affects your real being - that is the absolute truth. (333)
The witness is not a person. The person comes into being when there is a basis for it, an organism, a body. In it, the absolute is reflected as awareness. Pure awareness becomes self-awareness. When there is a self, self-awareness is the witness. When there is no self to witness, there is no witnessing either. It is all very simple; it is the presence of the person that complicates. See that there is no such thing as a permanently separate person and all becomes clear. Awareness, mind, matter - they are one reality in its two aspects as immovable and movable, and the three attributes of inertia, energy and harmony. Awareness becomes consciousness when it has an object. The object changes all the time. In consciousness there is movement; awareness by itself is motionless and timeless, here and now. (233)
The difference between the person and the witness is as between not knowing and knowing oneself. The person is in unrest and resistance to the very end. It is the witness that works on the person, on the totality of its illusions, past, present and future. (358)
[The person and the witness] both are modes of consciousness. In one, you desire and fear; in the other, you are unaffected by pleasure and pain, and are not ruffled by events. You let them come and go. (190)
The pleasure to be is the simplest form of self-love, which later grows into love of the self. Be like an infant with nothing standing between the body and the self. The constant noise of the psychic life is absent. In deep silence, the self contemplates the body. It is like the white paper on which nothing is written yet. Be like that infant, instead of trying to be this or that, be happy to be. You will be a fully awakened witness of the field of consciousness. But there should be no feelings and ideas to stand between you and the field. (216)
Only the feeling "I am", though in the World,
is not of the World nor can be denied.
A reflection of the watcher in the mind creates the sense of "I" and the person acquires an apparently independent existence. In reality there is no person, only the watcher identifying himself with the "I" and the "mine". The teacher tells the watcher: you are not this, there is nothing of yours in this, except the little point of "I am", which is the bridge between the watcher and his dream. "I am this, I am that" is dream, while pure "I am" has the stamp of reality on it. (343)
That which makes you think that you are a human is not human. It is but a dimensionless point of consciousness, a conscious nothing. All you can say about yourself is "I am". You are pure being-awareness-bliss. To realize that is the end of all seeking. You come to it when you see all you think yourself to be as mere imagination, and stand aloof in pure awareness of the transient as transient, imaginary as imaginary, unreal as unreal. (316)
Only your sense "I am", though in the world, is not of the world. By no effort of logic or imagination can you change the "I am" into "I am not". In the very denial of your being you assert it. (200)
It [the "I am"] is unreal when we say: "I am this, I am that". It is real when we mean "I am not this, nor that". (395)
To identify oneself with the particular is all the sin there is. The impersonal is real, the personal appears and disappears. "I am" is the impersonal Being. "I am this" is the person. The person is relative, and the pure Being fundamental. (71)
The Quintessence of My Teaching
This dialogue took place about a year before Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's death, when he was 83 years old.
By SRI NISARGADATTA MAHARAJ
Maharaj: Whatever appears has really no existence. And whatever has not appeared also drops away; what remains is That, the Absolute. "That" is like Bombay.
Visitor: Bombay certainly seems to be appearing at the moment. We should sell him another city.
M: But I normally ask you this kind of question, whether Bombay sleeps, whether it wakes up in the morning, whether it is worried, whether it has pain and pleasure. I do not refer to the people of Bombay, nor to the land, but to that which remains.
Now you know that you are. Prior to this moment, did you have this knowledge that you exist? This consciousness, beingness, which you are experiencing now, was it there earlier?
V: It has been, on and off.
M: This confidence that you are, the knowledge of your existence, was it there earlier?
V: When I do what Maharaj tells me, it is very clear. It is still in an infantile stage, but my sense of "me" is completely undone, and there arises great happiness, peace and clarity; but it comes and goes, and I forget.
M: Its inherent nature is time-bound. It has appeared as childhood and it is there now; but it wasn't there some years back. So you cannot possibly say that it is the Eternal. So don't believe that it is true.1 And so long as you are having this "I"-consciousness, you will be trying to acquire things; so long as you know that you are, the things that you possess have an emotional significance to you. Now there is the fact that your "I"-consciousness itself is time-bound. So when this dissolves, what is the value of all those things which you possessed?
V: Nil.
M: As long as you have not understood this child-consciousness, you'll get involved in the world and its activities. Therefore, the real liberation is only when you understand that child-consciousness. Do you agree?
V: I do agree.
M: During your entire lifetime, you do not have any permanent identity. Whatever you consider yourself to be changes from moment to moment. Nothing is constant.
V: And what you think you are going to become changes too, with time, in spite of yourself.
M: That change is also made possible by the child-conciousness. Because of that, all these changes take place. That is why you must grasp this principle.
If you really want to understand this, you must give up your identification with the body. By all means, make use of the body, but don't consider yourself to be the body while acting in this world. Identify yourself with the consciousness, which dwells in the body; with that identity, you should act in the world. Will it be possible?
So long as you identify yourself as the body, your experience of pain and sorrow will increase day by day. That is why you must give up this identification, and you should take yourself as the consciousness. If you take yourself as the body, it means you have forgotten your true Self, which is the atman. And sorrow results for the one who forgets himself. When the body falls, the principle which always remains is You. If you identify yourself with the body, you will feel that you are dying, but in reality there is no death because you are not the body. Let the body be there or not be there, your existence is always there; it is eternal.
Now who or what has heard my talk? It is not the ear, not the physical body, but that knowledge which is in the body; that has heard me. So identify yourself with that knowledge, that consciousness. Whatever happiness we enjoy in this world is only imaginary. The real happiness is to know your existence, which is apart from the body. You should never forget the real identity that you possess. Consider a patient on his deathbed, certain to die. Now when he first comes to know of his disease, say cancer, he gets such a shock that it is permanently engraved in his memory. Like that, you should never forget your true nature — the true identity I have told you about.
1. On the basis that a transitory appearance cannot be the real.
A patient who is suffering from cancer is, as it were, all the time silently chanting "I'm dying from cancer"; and that chant proceeds without any efforts. Similarly, in your case: Take up that chant "I am consciousness." That chant, too, should go on without any effort.
A patient who is suffering from cancer is, as it were, all the time silently chanting "I'm dying from cancer"; and that chant proceeds without any efforts. Similarly, in your case: Take up that chant "I am consciousness." That chant, too, should go on without any effort. One who is constantly awake in his true nature — having this knowledge about himself — is liberated.
A patient suffering from terminal cancer always remembers his state and ultimately undergoes that very end; so much is certain. Similarly, one who remembers that he is the knowledge, that he is the consciousness, has that end, he becomes the Parabrahman.
So if you are about to photograph this land, I would say, no don't photograph… take a photograph of it but without land. Whatever is Bombay, take a photograph of that and show me. Can you?
V: I could not do it.
M: So that is like photographing yourself without the body. You are that, like Bombay. Remembering that you are the consciousness should be without any effort. When you say "I," don't refer to this body's "I," but to that "I" which represents this consciousness. The consciousness is "I," and make use of this knowledge when you act.
The pleasure or happiness that you have had, is it through the words that you have heard or because you have had a glimpse of your atman?
V: I have been studying a lot all along in doing the sadhana. Since I met Maharaj, things are becoming clarified and also I am getting confirmation of what I have learned.
M: What should be your ultimate conclusion after reading a lot, doing sadhana and listening to these talks? It is that the hearer, the knower, is not concerned with the upadhi — that is, the body, mind and consciousness — and that he is separate from this upadhi that has come upon him.
V: Does that mean sakshivan, witness-consciousness?
M: You use that word sakshivan, but what do you really mean by it? That there is sentience, through which you see what is happening. But other than that, is anything needed for witnessing to take place? The sun has arisen, and there is daylight. Have you put yourself out to do any witnessing? Or do you see effortlessly; therefore, witnessing simply takes place. There is nothing that what you call the "witness" has to do; witnessing happens purely by itself.
This knowledge "I am" has dawned on you. Since then, whatever other knowledge you have acquired, whatever experiences you have had, whatever you have seen of the world, has all been witnessed. But that one to whom the witnessing takes place is entirely separate from that which is witnessed. In this witnessing, in these experiences, you have assumed that you are the body, and you are involved in it. Therefore, you get the reactions of whatever you have seen and witnessed only through this identification with the body. But actually, you are not concerned with that which makes your seeing possible and that which has been seen. You are apart from either of them.
http://www.realization.org/page/doc1/doc100a.htm
Spiritual Documentary
http://www.poetryinmotionfilms.com/links.htm
Closer Than Close
One remarkable afternoon in 2006, seven friends gathered on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, to discuss their longing for a deeper meaning in life, the doubts and distractions that keep them from searching intensely, the friendships they have developed along the way, and the hope that keeps them looking. Their heartbreaking honesty resonates with all of us who were ever struck by the immensity of life and wondered what it was all about.
Woven within this conversation, we hear from three longtime seekers who found answers to their questions. Much older, they share the story of their early dissatisfaction with life. For one, the realization that “no one really knew what was going on;” for another, having everything he wanted in life, yet finding “something” still missing; and for the third, the undeniable fact of death encountered in Vietnam combat. Each began a unique spiritual search, not following any one teacher or tradition, which eventually culminated in a realization of the true nature of their self and reality.
We hope this contribution to the spiritual cinema genre will inspire the discussion, consideration, and action that an “examined” life requires. "Closer than Close" leaves us with this thought attributed to the Buddha: “Become a lamp unto yourself. Begin now. Work in earnest.”
http://www.poetryinmotionfilms.com/more.htm
http://www.poetryinmotionfilms.com/clips.htm
http://www.poetryinmotionfilms.com/links.htm
Closer Than Close
One remarkable afternoon in 2006, seven friends gathered on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, to discuss their longing for a deeper meaning in life, the doubts and distractions that keep them from searching intensely, the friendships they have developed along the way, and the hope that keeps them looking. Their heartbreaking honesty resonates with all of us who were ever struck by the immensity of life and wondered what it was all about.
Woven within this conversation, we hear from three longtime seekers who found answers to their questions. Much older, they share the story of their early dissatisfaction with life. For one, the realization that “no one really knew what was going on;” for another, having everything he wanted in life, yet finding “something” still missing; and for the third, the undeniable fact of death encountered in Vietnam combat. Each began a unique spiritual search, not following any one teacher or tradition, which eventually culminated in a realization of the true nature of their self and reality.
We hope this contribution to the spiritual cinema genre will inspire the discussion, consideration, and action that an “examined” life requires. "Closer than Close" leaves us with this thought attributed to the Buddha: “Become a lamp unto yourself. Begin now. Work in earnest.”
http://www.poetryinmotionfilms.com/more.htm
http://www.poetryinmotionfilms.com/clips.htm
A Journey of Consciousness -Shift
Awakening
Eckhart Tolle, the enormous power of YES
Concept of Enlightenment
Eckhart Tolle - www.eckharttolle.com
THE MOST..........................
The most destructive habit........................................................Worry
The greatest Joy........................................................................Givin
g
The greatest loss................................................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work.............................................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait...............................................Selfishness
The most endangered species............................Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource..............................................Our Youth
The greatest "shot in the arm"...................................Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome..............................................Fear
The most effective sleeping pill...................................Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease.........................................Excuses
The most powerful force in life......................................................Love
The most dangerous pariah................................................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer.................................The brain
The worst thing to be without.... ................................................ ..Hope
The deadliest weapon........................................................The tongue
The two most power-filled words..............................................."I Can"
The greatest asset........................................................................Fai
th
The most worthless emotion...................................................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire............................................................SMILE!
The most prized possession....................................................Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication.........................Prayer
The most contagious spirit................................................Enthusiasm
Everyone needs this list to live by................................pass it along!!!
The most destructive habit........................................................Worry
The greatest Joy........................................................................Givin
g
The greatest loss................................................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work.............................................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait...............................................Selfishness
The most endangered species............................Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource..............................................Our Youth
The greatest "shot in the arm"...................................Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome..............................................Fear
The most effective sleeping pill...................................Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease.........................................Excuses
The most powerful force in life......................................................Love
The most dangerous pariah................................................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer.................................The brain
The worst thing to be without.... ................................................ ..Hope
The deadliest weapon........................................................The tongue
The two most power-filled words..............................................."I Can"
The greatest asset........................................................................Fai
th
The most worthless emotion...................................................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire............................................................SMILE!
The most prized possession....................................................Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication.........................Prayer
The most contagious spirit................................................Enthusiasm
Everyone needs this list to live by................................pass it along!!!
Belief in God 'childish,' Jews not chosen people: Einstein letter
LONDON (AFP) - Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Blocked Ad
The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954.
As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people".
"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.
"No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this," he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper.
The German-language letter is being sold Thursday by Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair after being in a private collection for more than 50 years, said the auction house's managing director Rupert Powell.
In it, the renowned scientist, who declined an invitation to become Israel's second president, rejected the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people.
"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," he said.
"And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people."
And he added: "As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."
Previously the great scientist's comments on religion -- such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" -- have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith.
Powell said the letter being sold this week gave a clear reflection of Einstein's real thoughts on the subject. "He's fairly unequivocal as to what he's saying. There's no beating about the bush," he told AFP.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/080513/worl...e_jews_einstein
Visiting Bhrigu Samhita
On the 3rd of January 1990 at 6 o'clock in the morning, my wife Arlette Gürtler and I were standing, freezing near a little village in the Himalayan Mountains of North India. We were not feeling very comfortable as we were very near to a wooded area, where a pack of wolves were prowling about.
We were waiting for the bus to take us to down the mountain where our two Tibetan friends, Professor Drakton and Tenzin Choegyal, were expecting us with a cup of nice hot coffee. We knew by then that we had a hard journey and some strange adventures ahead of us.
Before I proceed with the story of what happened, maybe I should introduce our Tibetan companions:
Professor Drakton
Mr. Jampa G. Drakton is professor at the Tibetan Medical Centre, teaching Tibetan Astrology and rendering astrological services to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Mr. Tenzin Choegyal is his disciple.
We became very good friends and I will explain more about Professor Drakton and the Tibetan astrology in a future article.
During the many conversations, Mr. Drakton and I talked about the palm-leaf horoscopes and the remarkable predictions that can be obtained from them. The Professor was aware of some of the secrets behind them, and I myself have got an English translation of some palmleaf horoscopes from friends in India.
Both of us had heard about a huge collection of very old palm-leaf horoscopes belonging to some astrologers in Hoshiarpur in the state of Punjab. This collection was supposed to be something quite unique and extraordinary.
We met with our two Tibetan friends and got on the bus for Hoshiarpur. It was an unpleasant journey. The busses in India are not very comfortable and they drive so fast on the winding mountain roads that you almost feel that you are risking your life; but finally, some time after noon, we arrived safely in Hoshiarpur.
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur is a strange place, notably influenced by the fightings between the Sikhs and the Hindus that have been going on for years in Punjab (1990).
The atmosphere was rather depressed and there was a touch of suspiciousness. It was very dirty, and our hotel rooms had a terrible smell of urine. The bedclothes had probably never been washed, but fortunately we had brought our own sleeping bags.
The only reason for us to accept our hotel rooms was the fact that all doors and windows could be secured by bolts from the inside. The hotel-staff was rather suspicious looking and did not inspire our confidence.
Once when the four of us were sitting in one of the rooms, there was a strange noise coming from outside the door. Professor Drakton pulled out his large knife, and silently he opened the door. There was nobody out there, so we relaxed.
At this point, the Professor criticized my knife since it had no blood groove. He explained that "You cannot draw your knife out of the corps, if there is no blood groove, and this makes you defenceless".
I got the impression that he knows quite a lot about these things, as he was fighting against the Chinese in 1959, when Tibet was invaded.
Later we found out that we had good reasons for not feeling very secure in Punjab. During the short time of our stay, 8 persons were brutally murdered. Also, the Authorities had asked us not to stay in Punjab for more than a few days as a maximum, as it was too dangerous for foreigners.
Meeting the Astrologer
After this little incident we went by bicycle-rickshaw to the place of the Astrologer. It must have been a rather odd view: Two tall and well-fed Danes sitting in a bicycle-rickshaw with a very thin and humble Indian in front riding the bicycle. Behind us in another rickshaw you could see our two Tibetan friends, laughing.
After a while we came to the place of the Astrologer. He claimed that he had been expecting us and introduced himself as Mr. Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri. He said that he would try to find my horoscope in the huge collection of palm-leaves.
I gave him my date of birth etc., but it did not seem to interest him very much. He was more concentrated on a kind of Ephemeris from Chandigarh (a major town in Punjab) from this present year (1990). Actually he made a horary chart, and it was my impression that the time of our arrival to his ashram was the most important event, which set all other factors into motion, rather than my date of birth.
Then the Astrologer entered into a room next to us and looked among the bundles of horoscopes wrapped in silk of different colours. One of these bundles turned out to include my horoscope, giving the predictions of my life.
The Sage Bhrigu
It is said that these thousands and thousands of horoscopes are a kind of written physical counterpart of the The Akashic Records. They are supposed to come from the ancient sage Bhrigu, who lived thousands of years ago in the Himalayan region.
Later on the horoscopes have been copied over and over by clever astrologers who hold the knowledge of the secrets. Originally, the horoscopes were written on palmleaves or bark, but the horoscope that I saw was on paper.
The Hindus believe that nobody can consult the collection of Bhrigu unless it has been preordained thousands of years ago. It is also believed that sage Bhrigu was the greatest astrologer of all times.
In by book "Astrología India" (ediciones Indigo) which has recently been released in Spanish, I have explained about sage Bhrigu and the palmleaf horoscopes in more details, as well as the Indian Astrology on which these horoscopes are based.
The correct horoscope is found
After searching for about 10 to 15 minutes among the huge bundles of horo-scopes, the Astrologer Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri came back and said that he had found the right bundle. He returned with a large bunch, wrapped in black silk, containing 300 to 400 horoscopes. At this point I almost gave up, as I felt this was a hopeless task.
The Astrologer, however, was optimistic and suddenly he presented the correct horoscope that was an exact copy of my birthchart! It was written on a very old sheet of paper, and the ink had turned brown from age. I think it was at least 100 years old. It was the correct Ascendant, and all the planets were placed exactly as when I was born. Professor Drakton and Tenzin studied the horoscope closely. The Astrologer's son also looked at it. Everyone agreed: This was a perfect match.
I am aware of the fact that there must be millions of different birth charts. So from a scientific point of view this is completely crazy. But it is exactly the way it happened!
The predictions were written in some sort of code, and it was read out like this:
"Om - Sri Shukra asked: If a man is born in the Margasira month with this Graha-dristi (planetary aspects), what will be the name of the yoga, and what will be the results? Bhrigu answered: Hey Shukra, at that time there will be Karma-Bandham-yoga, and listen to me about the results: The man is born in Varn-mahadweep (Europe?) in a city beginning with K. (I was born in Copenhagen, which begins with the sound of "K"). He will come at the age of 35 to hear my predictions between the rivers Satluj and Vays in a city called Chachadpuri (Hoshiarpur?).
He has come for his family happiness, his longevity and for some special work, he has to do due to a deep feeling in his heart.
His name will be Finn Wandahl (I still think he said Pinn Wandahl). His father's name will be from Kai-namsa" (my fathers name is actually Kai).
Then the reading listed a number of good years, and a number of bad years; my longevity was fixed with an accuracy of a few hours. Additionally, it gave some predictions about the future, which would be too extensive to mention here. But the reading continued:
"Hey Shukra, because of bad karmas from the previous life some bad results have been seen. Since three years ago his wife is no longer with him, and the feeling in his heart became bad. He got obstructions and difficulties, and his family happiness was spoiled" (This is true, as my wife left me and took my daughter with her).
This was then followed up by a long story about my previous life, in which I obviously got a curse, which was supposed to destroy my family happiness in this life and the coming two incarnations as well.
Spiritual blackmail
The reading then continued by stating that the curse of the past could be canceled through a religious ritual, performed by Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri, for which I was supposed to pay him Rs. 51.000,-, equivalent to US Dollars 3.600,-.
Being an educated man I told him that under such conditions I would prefer the three bad lives, but of course I gave him his Rs. 301,- for the job he had done.
My personal opinion is that the demand for Rs. 51.000,- was something that the Bhrigu Shastri made up himself to see if he could make some easy money on this stupid westerner. On the other hand, it is my impression that this kind of spiritual blackmail has become quite normal among the different mystics of India. I think that it is a sad development that could give Hindu Astrologers a bad reputation in the long run.
I still find that this experience was something very unusual, but due to its suspect character I will leave it the way I found it: Written in the stars.
http://www.wandahl.com/Pages/Articles/Visi...riguSamhita.htm
On the 3rd of January 1990 at 6 o'clock in the morning, my wife Arlette Gürtler and I were standing, freezing near a little village in the Himalayan Mountains of North India. We were not feeling very comfortable as we were very near to a wooded area, where a pack of wolves were prowling about.
We were waiting for the bus to take us to down the mountain where our two Tibetan friends, Professor Drakton and Tenzin Choegyal, were expecting us with a cup of nice hot coffee. We knew by then that we had a hard journey and some strange adventures ahead of us.
Before I proceed with the story of what happened, maybe I should introduce our Tibetan companions:
Professor Drakton
Mr. Jampa G. Drakton is professor at the Tibetan Medical Centre, teaching Tibetan Astrology and rendering astrological services to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Mr. Tenzin Choegyal is his disciple.
We became very good friends and I will explain more about Professor Drakton and the Tibetan astrology in a future article.
During the many conversations, Mr. Drakton and I talked about the palm-leaf horoscopes and the remarkable predictions that can be obtained from them. The Professor was aware of some of the secrets behind them, and I myself have got an English translation of some palmleaf horoscopes from friends in India.
Both of us had heard about a huge collection of very old palm-leaf horoscopes belonging to some astrologers in Hoshiarpur in the state of Punjab. This collection was supposed to be something quite unique and extraordinary.
We met with our two Tibetan friends and got on the bus for Hoshiarpur. It was an unpleasant journey. The busses in India are not very comfortable and they drive so fast on the winding mountain roads that you almost feel that you are risking your life; but finally, some time after noon, we arrived safely in Hoshiarpur.
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur is a strange place, notably influenced by the fightings between the Sikhs and the Hindus that have been going on for years in Punjab (1990).
The atmosphere was rather depressed and there was a touch of suspiciousness. It was very dirty, and our hotel rooms had a terrible smell of urine. The bedclothes had probably never been washed, but fortunately we had brought our own sleeping bags.
The only reason for us to accept our hotel rooms was the fact that all doors and windows could be secured by bolts from the inside. The hotel-staff was rather suspicious looking and did not inspire our confidence.
Once when the four of us were sitting in one of the rooms, there was a strange noise coming from outside the door. Professor Drakton pulled out his large knife, and silently he opened the door. There was nobody out there, so we relaxed.
At this point, the Professor criticized my knife since it had no blood groove. He explained that "You cannot draw your knife out of the corps, if there is no blood groove, and this makes you defenceless".
I got the impression that he knows quite a lot about these things, as he was fighting against the Chinese in 1959, when Tibet was invaded.
Later we found out that we had good reasons for not feeling very secure in Punjab. During the short time of our stay, 8 persons were brutally murdered. Also, the Authorities had asked us not to stay in Punjab for more than a few days as a maximum, as it was too dangerous for foreigners.
Meeting the Astrologer
After this little incident we went by bicycle-rickshaw to the place of the Astrologer. It must have been a rather odd view: Two tall and well-fed Danes sitting in a bicycle-rickshaw with a very thin and humble Indian in front riding the bicycle. Behind us in another rickshaw you could see our two Tibetan friends, laughing.
After a while we came to the place of the Astrologer. He claimed that he had been expecting us and introduced himself as Mr. Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri. He said that he would try to find my horoscope in the huge collection of palm-leaves.
I gave him my date of birth etc., but it did not seem to interest him very much. He was more concentrated on a kind of Ephemeris from Chandigarh (a major town in Punjab) from this present year (1990). Actually he made a horary chart, and it was my impression that the time of our arrival to his ashram was the most important event, which set all other factors into motion, rather than my date of birth.
Then the Astrologer entered into a room next to us and looked among the bundles of horoscopes wrapped in silk of different colours. One of these bundles turned out to include my horoscope, giving the predictions of my life.
The Sage Bhrigu
It is said that these thousands and thousands of horoscopes are a kind of written physical counterpart of the The Akashic Records. They are supposed to come from the ancient sage Bhrigu, who lived thousands of years ago in the Himalayan region.
Later on the horoscopes have been copied over and over by clever astrologers who hold the knowledge of the secrets. Originally, the horoscopes were written on palmleaves or bark, but the horoscope that I saw was on paper.
The Hindus believe that nobody can consult the collection of Bhrigu unless it has been preordained thousands of years ago. It is also believed that sage Bhrigu was the greatest astrologer of all times.
In by book "Astrología India" (ediciones Indigo) which has recently been released in Spanish, I have explained about sage Bhrigu and the palmleaf horoscopes in more details, as well as the Indian Astrology on which these horoscopes are based.
The correct horoscope is found
After searching for about 10 to 15 minutes among the huge bundles of horo-scopes, the Astrologer Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri came back and said that he had found the right bundle. He returned with a large bunch, wrapped in black silk, containing 300 to 400 horoscopes. At this point I almost gave up, as I felt this was a hopeless task.
The Astrologer, however, was optimistic and suddenly he presented the correct horoscope that was an exact copy of my birthchart! It was written on a very old sheet of paper, and the ink had turned brown from age. I think it was at least 100 years old. It was the correct Ascendant, and all the planets were placed exactly as when I was born. Professor Drakton and Tenzin studied the horoscope closely. The Astrologer's son also looked at it. Everyone agreed: This was a perfect match.
I am aware of the fact that there must be millions of different birth charts. So from a scientific point of view this is completely crazy. But it is exactly the way it happened!
The predictions were written in some sort of code, and it was read out like this:
"Om - Sri Shukra asked: If a man is born in the Margasira month with this Graha-dristi (planetary aspects), what will be the name of the yoga, and what will be the results? Bhrigu answered: Hey Shukra, at that time there will be Karma-Bandham-yoga, and listen to me about the results: The man is born in Varn-mahadweep (Europe?) in a city beginning with K. (I was born in Copenhagen, which begins with the sound of "K"). He will come at the age of 35 to hear my predictions between the rivers Satluj and Vays in a city called Chachadpuri (Hoshiarpur?).
He has come for his family happiness, his longevity and for some special work, he has to do due to a deep feeling in his heart.
His name will be Finn Wandahl (I still think he said Pinn Wandahl). His father's name will be from Kai-namsa" (my fathers name is actually Kai).
Then the reading listed a number of good years, and a number of bad years; my longevity was fixed with an accuracy of a few hours. Additionally, it gave some predictions about the future, which would be too extensive to mention here. But the reading continued:
"Hey Shukra, because of bad karmas from the previous life some bad results have been seen. Since three years ago his wife is no longer with him, and the feeling in his heart became bad. He got obstructions and difficulties, and his family happiness was spoiled" (This is true, as my wife left me and took my daughter with her).
This was then followed up by a long story about my previous life, in which I obviously got a curse, which was supposed to destroy my family happiness in this life and the coming two incarnations as well.
Spiritual blackmail
The reading then continued by stating that the curse of the past could be canceled through a religious ritual, performed by Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri, for which I was supposed to pay him Rs. 51.000,-, equivalent to US Dollars 3.600,-.
Being an educated man I told him that under such conditions I would prefer the three bad lives, but of course I gave him his Rs. 301,- for the job he had done.
My personal opinion is that the demand for Rs. 51.000,- was something that the Bhrigu Shastri made up himself to see if he could make some easy money on this stupid westerner. On the other hand, it is my impression that this kind of spiritual blackmail has become quite normal among the different mystics of India. I think that it is a sad development that could give Hindu Astrologers a bad reputation in the long run.
I still find that this experience was something very unusual, but due to its suspect character I will leave it the way I found it: Written in the stars.
http://www.wandahl.com/Pages/Articles/Visi...riguSamhita.htm
TIBETIAN1.mp3
Jiddu Krishnamurti - The Nature of the Mind
The Nature of the Mind
A series of four dialogues between Krishnamurti, physicist Proff. David Bohm, biologist Dr. Rupert Sheldrake and psychiatrist Dr. John Hidley (with spanish subtitlеs)
Info: pathless.com
The Roots of Psychological Disorder: The Nature of the Mind 1 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JJ2HAD0B
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IT508E0J
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: DIVX
Video Bitrate: 1520 KB/s
Video Resolution: 640x480
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44100Hz VBR 319 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 61 min
Part Size: 658 MB
Psycological Suffering: The Nature of the Mind 2 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AUDF9X9T
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1WQ532KE
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: DIVX
Video Bitrate: 1721 KB/s
Video Resolution: 640x480
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44100Hz VBR 319 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 64 min
Part Size: 777 MB
The Need for Security: The Nature of the Mind 3 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KC2U3M9L
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9210H3DX
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: MPG
Video Bitrate: 1394 KB/s
Video Resolution: 352x288
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44000Hz 224 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 60 min
Part Size: 593 MB
What is a Healthy Mind: The Nature of the Mind 4 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RXWD98LM
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=07HIMKBH
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: MPG
Video Bitrate: 1394 KB/s
Video Resolution: 352x288
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44000Hz 224 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 57 min
Part Size: 567 MB
The Self: The Nature of the Mind 5
Krishnamurti does not appear in this video.
http://ariom.ru/forum/t11514.html
http://ariom.ru/forum/p314140.html
http://ariom.ru/forum/t24936.html
The Nature of the Mind
A series of four dialogues between Krishnamurti, physicist Proff. David Bohm, biologist Dr. Rupert Sheldrake and psychiatrist Dr. John Hidley (with spanish subtitlеs)
Info: pathless.com
The Roots of Psychological Disorder: The Nature of the Mind 1 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JJ2HAD0B
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IT508E0J
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: DIVX
Video Bitrate: 1520 KB/s
Video Resolution: 640x480
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44100Hz VBR 319 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 61 min
Part Size: 658 MB
Psycological Suffering: The Nature of the Mind 2 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AUDF9X9T
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1WQ532KE
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: DIVX
Video Bitrate: 1721 KB/s
Video Resolution: 640x480
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44100Hz VBR 319 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 64 min
Part Size: 777 MB
The Need for Security: The Nature of the Mind 3 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KC2U3M9L
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9210H3DX
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: MPG
Video Bitrate: 1394 KB/s
Video Resolution: 352x288
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44000Hz 224 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 60 min
Part Size: 593 MB
What is a Healthy Mind: The Nature of the Mind 4 - ed2k
part 1, part 2 - megaupload.com (compressed with winace)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RXWD98LM
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=07HIMKBH
Info: bookstore.kfa.org
Technical Specs:
VHSRip
Video Codec: MPG
Video Bitrate: 1394 KB/s
Video Resolution: 352x288
Video Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio Codec: MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio BitRate: 44000Hz 224 kb/s
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 57 min
Part Size: 567 MB
The Self: The Nature of the Mind 5
Krishnamurti does not appear in this video.
http://ariom.ru/forum/t11514.html
http://ariom.ru/forum/p314140.html
http://ariom.ru/forum/t24936.html
Anatomy of Hatha Yoga
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Manual for Students, Teachers, and Practitioners by H. David Coulter
Description
Anatomy of Hatha Yoga is the only modern authoritative source that correlates the study of hatha yoga with anatomy and physiology. Hatha yoga is comprised of stretching, strengthening and breathing exercises in upright, lying down and inverted postures. Yoga teachers and students, personal trainers, medical therapists, or anyone who is curious or troubled about how the body responds to stretching and exercise will find in this book a cornucopia -- partly new and partly old -- of readable and reliable information. It was written and edited to meet the needs of a general audience largely unschooled in the biomechanical sciences, and yet to attract and challenge the interests of the medical profession. This book features 230 black and white photographs and more than 120 diagrams and anatomical illustrations.
Chapter 1 summarizes general principles of anatomy and physiology as applied to hatha yoga. Breathing is next in chapter 2 because yogic breathing expedites movement and posture. Breathing is followed by pelvic and abdominal exercises in chapter 3 because the pelvis and abdomen form the foundation of the body. Standing postures will then be covered in chapter 4 because these poses are so important for beginning students, and because they provide a preview of backbending, forward bending, and twisting postures, which are covered in detail in chapters 5, 6, and 7. The headstand and shoulderstand, including an introduction to cardiovascular function, are presented in chapters 8 and 9. Postures for relaxation and meditation are treated last in chapter 10.
http://yabadaba.ru/files/10261
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Manual for Students, Teachers, and Practitioners by H. David Coulter
Description
Anatomy of Hatha Yoga is the only modern authoritative source that correlates the study of hatha yoga with anatomy and physiology. Hatha yoga is comprised of stretching, strengthening and breathing exercises in upright, lying down and inverted postures. Yoga teachers and students, personal trainers, medical therapists, or anyone who is curious or troubled about how the body responds to stretching and exercise will find in this book a cornucopia -- partly new and partly old -- of readable and reliable information. It was written and edited to meet the needs of a general audience largely unschooled in the biomechanical sciences, and yet to attract and challenge the interests of the medical profession. This book features 230 black and white photographs and more than 120 diagrams and anatomical illustrations.
Chapter 1 summarizes general principles of anatomy and physiology as applied to hatha yoga. Breathing is next in chapter 2 because yogic breathing expedites movement and posture. Breathing is followed by pelvic and abdominal exercises in chapter 3 because the pelvis and abdomen form the foundation of the body. Standing postures will then be covered in chapter 4 because these poses are so important for beginning students, and because they provide a preview of backbending, forward bending, and twisting postures, which are covered in detail in chapters 5, 6, and 7. The headstand and shoulderstand, including an introduction to cardiovascular function, are presented in chapters 8 and 9. Postures for relaxation and meditation are treated last in chapter 10.
http://yabadaba.ru/files/10261
Riley Lee - Music for Zen Meditation [2 CD]
| MP3 256 Kbps | Incl. Covers | 224 MB |
Original Release Date: April 8, 2003
Label: Narada
Riley Lee is the first non-Japanese dai shihan (grand master) of the shakuhachi and has garnered a large, international fanbase having performed and taught around the world. On Music For Zen Meditation, Lee expertly reveals the quiet dignity and simple elegance of this ancient instrument with starkly beautiful solos and duets.
Practiced for centuries by Buddhist priests in Japan, playing the shakuhachi during meditation is called suizen, or blowing Zen. Its warm, comforting sounds relax the mind, spirit, and body. Music For Zen Meditation is ideal for those who practice yoga and meditation as well as for new listeners eager for contemplative music in the face of today's hectic and troubled world.
~ devaworld.com
Tracklisst:
CD 1 - Solo
1. Sea Breeze 4:41
2. Under The Stars 4:13
3. Spiritus Lenis/Gentle Breath 4:08
4. Divine Ecstasy 4:57
5. Dulcet Rhythm 7:07
6. Serenity Flows 4:41
7. Tranquil Resonations 6:46
8. Stillpoint 4:10
9. Profound Elixir 6:35
10. Elemental Contemplation 4:35
11. Inner Quiet 6:43
CD 2 - Duets
1. Whispers Of Eternity 5:16
2. In Time Suspended 4:58
3. Echo Of The Scared 6:00
4. Dance-The Angels Of Light 4:54
5. Between The Stillness 5:16
6. Soaring With The Eagles 3:59
7. Fragment Of Memory 0:49
8. Journey Across The Night 3:37
9. The Tree Of Sadness 5:03
10. Cascade 4:06
11. Breathe The Fragrance Of Forever 2:38
12. Deep Night Blues 4:49
13. Silk Thread To The Cosmos 3:32
14. Divine Mystery 5:09
15. Merging With The Infinite 4:16
http://rapidshare.com/files/14746022/Riley...Medit.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/14763745/Riley...Medit.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/14762866/Riley...Medit.part3.rar
pass: kiwi
http://rapidshare.com/files/29311367/lee_zen.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/29282139/lee_zen.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/29291251/lee_zen.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/29299271/lee_zen.part4.rar
| MP3 256 Kbps | Incl. Covers | 224 MB |
Original Release Date: April 8, 2003
Label: Narada
Riley Lee is the first non-Japanese dai shihan (grand master) of the shakuhachi and has garnered a large, international fanbase having performed and taught around the world. On Music For Zen Meditation, Lee expertly reveals the quiet dignity and simple elegance of this ancient instrument with starkly beautiful solos and duets.
Practiced for centuries by Buddhist priests in Japan, playing the shakuhachi during meditation is called suizen, or blowing Zen. Its warm, comforting sounds relax the mind, spirit, and body. Music For Zen Meditation is ideal for those who practice yoga and meditation as well as for new listeners eager for contemplative music in the face of today's hectic and troubled world.
~ devaworld.com
Tracklisst:
CD 1 - Solo
1. Sea Breeze 4:41
2. Under The Stars 4:13
3. Spiritus Lenis/Gentle Breath 4:08
4. Divine Ecstasy 4:57
5. Dulcet Rhythm 7:07
6. Serenity Flows 4:41
7. Tranquil Resonations 6:46
8. Stillpoint 4:10
9. Profound Elixir 6:35
10. Elemental Contemplation 4:35
11. Inner Quiet 6:43
CD 2 - Duets
1. Whispers Of Eternity 5:16
2. In Time Suspended 4:58
3. Echo Of The Scared 6:00
4. Dance-The Angels Of Light 4:54
5. Between The Stillness 5:16
6. Soaring With The Eagles 3:59
7. Fragment Of Memory 0:49
8. Journey Across The Night 3:37
9. The Tree Of Sadness 5:03
10. Cascade 4:06
11. Breathe The Fragrance Of Forever 2:38
12. Deep Night Blues 4:49
13. Silk Thread To The Cosmos 3:32
14. Divine Mystery 5:09
15. Merging With The Infinite 4:16
http://rapidshare.com/files/14746022/Riley...Medit.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/14763745/Riley...Medit.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/14762866/Riley...Medit.part3.rar
pass: kiwi
http://rapidshare.com/files/29311367/lee_zen.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/29282139/lee_zen.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/29291251/lee_zen.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/29299271/lee_zen.part4.rar
Slowly start unfolding the spiritual self 12 Feb 2009, 0000 hrs IST, Sheel Vardhan Singh
The beginning of a new year brings new resolutions, a desire to give direction and control to life.
So, it was that the family sat huddled, reviewing the year gone by, discussing resolutions, setting goals and methodology to achieve them. Looking back, year after year, we had fixed physical, professional, financial, social, family and intellectual goals. Many were achieved, some goals became meaningless and new ones emerged.
It becomes apparent that a major portion of time was spent on fulfilling responsibilities and equipping ourselves to live more comfortably and peacefully. 'Intellectual goals' were the ones which stood out: reading, reflection and analysis were in the realm of challenging the mind and understanding life.
The most interesting aspect of looking back is that 'yoga' gently entered life under the head 'physical goals' and slowly made way to 'intellectual goals' in terms of understanding life and self. And, finally, yoga emerged as a means of 'spiritual goal', adding a new dimension to our lives. In some ways, intellectual and spiritual goals merged.
Over the years, this 'nectarine' aspect of life, though always present and experienced in parts, was not fully tapped. Yoga brings with it a lifestyle based in the 'spirit of the self' which pervades all other aspects of life.
Yoga teaches us that this body is essentially an instrument for realising the ` Param Atman' . Besides the physical body, there is an immensely powerful yet soft and gentle `spiritual body'. To build a spiritual body is a goal. The question is how to put this concept in 'actionable'? Here is where yoga as a discipline and as a 'body of knowledge' comes to our help.
Though conceptually, the spiritual body would be one 'established in its pure pristine self' we can take its outward manifestation and try to achieve them. Thus, a well-developed spiritual body would manifest in this world with the following attributes: i) Calm, ii) Serene, iii) Magnetic, iv) Efficient, v) Dynamic, vi) Tranquil, vii) Joyous, viii) Pure, ix) Disciplined, x) Graceful, xi) Physically fit, xii) Focused, xiii) Constantly learning and improving.
This list is not exhaustive. It is just a means to understand that deep within when the spiritual body will evolve what would be its manifestation in outer physical world. So, the output would be the list stated above. What would be the inputs to nourish the spirit so that the spiritual body develops? Yoga and 'yogic living' give us 'tools' to nourish our spiritual self. The list here is: i ) Mantra, ii) Jap, iii) Asana, iv) Pranayama, v) Pratyahara, and vi) Dharana .
Also develop i) Vivek or discrimination, ii) Vairagya or non-attachment, iii) Always make a conscious 'sattvic' choice, iv) Complete listening, and v) Considered speech. The above inputs and assiduous development of vivek, vairagya , always making conscious sattvic choice and considered speech would lead to an output of a calm, serene, emotionally stable, physically fit and a magnetic personality which is constantly learning and improving itself.
The 'mantra' breaks the emotional, mental and physical knots or barriers within. The vibrational powers of mantra make the spirit free-flowing. The 'jap' of 'guru mantra' pervades the spiritual self and connects the spirit of self to a very powerful source of energy and intelligence. The 'asanas' done with awareness make the body a more efficient machine. The 'pratyahara' leads to the journey within and 'dharana' leads to a focused efficient mind.
In the physical world, a person who is established in 'vivek' and 'vairagya' is like a magnet to others. The self comes nearer to its internal self, our spiritual body. The journey begins from the physical to internal with changed understanding of life. The new unfolding is that of the 'spiritual self'.
Source-The Times of India
namaste magical healing mantras osho
http://rapidshare.com/files/188058250/Namaste.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/188058253/Namaste.part2.rar
Meditation
http://rapidshare.com/files/21183100/u.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182141/u.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182227/u.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182139/u.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21184847/u.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21183318/u.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21184005/u.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21183700/u.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182101/u.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21183447/u.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182153/u.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182137/u.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182064/u.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182127/u.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21183420/u.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182178/u.part16.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182144/u.part17.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182352/u.part18.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182177/u.part19.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182115/u.part20.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21183226/u.part21.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182113/u.part22.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182835/u.part23.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182207/u.part24.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/21182157/u.part25.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/198167444/Wayn...L.Com.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/198163620/Wayn...L.Com.part2.rar
wayne dyer power of intention
http://rapidshare.com/files/75164199/WD-YSWYB.rar
wayne dyer you'll see when you believe
http://rapidshare.com/files/19468238/WynDy....Life.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/19470183/WynDy....Life.part2.rar
wayne dyer
http://rapidshare.com/files/54814887/WD-TAO.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/54851125/WD-TAO.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/54847454/WD-TAO.part3.rar
wayne dyer change your thoughts life
http://rapidshare.com/files/83933634/WD-Th...ation.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/83943534/WD-Th...ation.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/83951503/WD-Th...ation.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/84153936/WD-Th...ation.part4.rar
meditation wayne dyer
Shri Gopi Krishna
THE LAST INTERVIEW
THE LAST INTERVIEW WITH GOPI KRISHNA
Uploaded by tomzatarkay. - Arts and animation videos.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwrgp_the...krishn_creation
Gopi Krishna (1903–1984) of India was a yogi, mystic, teacher, social reformer, and writer. His autobiography is known under the title Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man.
In the 1970s he founded together with Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker a research foundation "for western sciences and eastern wisdom".[citation needed]
Born in a small village outside Srinagar, Kashmir, Gopi Krishna was one of the first people to popularize the concept of Kundalini among Western readers. His autobiography is entitled Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man later renamed to Living with Kundalini According to June McDaniel, his writings have influenced Western interest in kundalini yoga.
He chose the path of yoga due to his circumstances. His father renounced the world to lead a religious life leaving his twenty-eight year old mother with the responsibility of raising him and his two sisters. His mother now pinned all her hopes for success on her only son.[3]. Pandit Gopi Krishna was also a good freestyle wrestler and it is well known that he beat many a good wrestler. People who knew him well mention that he had the capability to be a world class wrestler, however, he spent most of his energy on intellectual pursuits. Great wrestlers such as Gama were of Kashmiri origin and also the famous Habib Koda was a Kashmiri.
But he failed to pass the examination to enter college, and he now took a lowly job and established his family. He also started on a discipline of meditation to discover who he was. After having been engaged in this for many years, he had his first Kundalini experience at the age of 34, which he describes thus in his autobiography.
Suddenly, with a roar like that of a waterfall, I felt a stream of liquid light entering my brain through the spinal cord.
Entirely unprepared for such a development, I was completely taken by surprise; but regaining my self-control, keeping my mind on the point of concentration. The illumination grew brighter and brighter, the roaring louder, I experienced a rocking sensation and then felt myself slipping out of my body, entirely enveloped in a halo of light. It is impossible to describe the experience accurately. I felt the point of consciousness that was myself growing wider surrounded by waves of light. It grew wider and wider, spreading outward while the body, normally the immediate object of its perception, appeared to have receded into the distance until I became entirely unconscious of it. I was now all consciousness without any outline, without any idea of corporeal appendage, without any feeling or sensation coming from the senses, immersed in a sea of light simultaneously conscious and aware at every point, spread out, as it were, in all directions without any barrier or material obstruction. I was no longer myself, or to be more accurate, no longer as I knew myself to be, a small point of awareness confined to a body, but instead was a vast circle of consciousness in which the body was but a point, bathed in light and in a state of exultation and happiness impossible to describe.
According to June McDaniel, his writings have influenced Western interest in kundalini yoga.[6] He wrote many books and traveled all over the world giving lectures. He came to feel the kundalini experience underlies all (or most) religions that started with a personal revelation. He could see kundalini iconography in cultures worldwide, from ancient Egypt to Quetzalcoatl to the caduceus of Mercury, and believed there was a common basis, and that he had been granted entry to this vision. Gopi Krishna theorized that the brain was in a state of organic evolution, and that the rising of Kundalini into the brain would open a normally silent chamber called brahma-randra in the yogic tradition. Krishna worked tirelessly to promote the scientific investigation of kundalini in the human frame, hypothesizing that this energy was leading humankind towards the goal of higher consciousness.
Shared Transformation
http://www.elcollie.com/st/st.html
An article from the Book "Ascending Goddess: Kundalini Shakti" - by Ruth Angela Bailey © (2004)
http://www.hol.com/~ruth/Kawake.html
The Essential Guide To Meditation
Anything calling itself The Essential Guide to Meditation leaves itself open to criticism that it's making too grand of a claim for any album to live up to, considering how many schools there are of meditation practices. Nevertheless, this three-CD set does hold considerable value, not only offering three-and-a-half hours of music, but also presenting music from much more traditional sources than most such compilations with this theme do. Each of the CDs follows entirely different sub-themes within the overall meditation concept: the first disc devoted to three Buddhist mantras originating within a Chinese tradition; the second to three pieces from the Indian Hindu tradition; and the third to six pieces from the Balinese Hindu tradition. As an anthology, this is a little problematic, whether it's used for meditation or not, since the musical styles are so different from each other that it's quite possible even open-minded listeners might not find all of the discs to their taste. Still, it does present material that's both considerably different from many new age-aligned recordings marketed as meditative aids, and much truer to the religious sources of much meditative practice than many such albums.
The music on the Buddhist disc is taken from recordings by flute and keyboard player Song-Huei, with accompaniment on two of the tracks by two-string violinist Jin-Long Wen, and it's the least satisfying from a musical point of view, tending toward the preciously pretty, slightly slick side in both arrangement and production. The Indian Hindu disc (entirely sung by Jagjit Singh), in contrast, is the best and most relaxing and entrancing of the three, highlighted by "Shree Krishna Naam Dhun," based around the "Hare Krishna" chant that is perhaps the most famous mantra to the international audience. With what sounds like a softly swelling vibraphone accompaniment (the precise instrumentation is not specified in the liner notes) and subtle drones and percussion, as well as hypnotic interplay between Singh and backup singers, this 37-minute track has a glow that can be enjoyed by both meditators and more general world music listeners. These qualities are also present, though to less striking degrees, on Singh's other two performances, justifying the claim in the liner notes that "so soothing is his voice that, legend has it, Indian psychiatrists have prescribed his records to relieve stress." The Balinese Hindu disc is performed by gamelan orchestras, and while it comprises perhaps the most unadulterated world music on the compilation, its heavily percussive and repetitious feel also make it the least accessible to Western listeners. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc: 1 (Buddhist)
1. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva - Wen, Jin-Long & Song-Huei Liu
2. Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva - Wen, Jin-Long & Song-Huei Liu
3. Greatest Six Word Brilliant Dharani - Liu, Song-Huei
Disc: 2 (Hindu)
1. Om Namah Shivay - Singh, Jagjit
2. Shree Krishna Naam Dhun - Singh, Jagjit
3. Om Shivay Hari Om Shivay - Singh, Jagjit
Disc: 3 (Indonesian)
1. Gending Petegak Sejar Gendotan - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
2. Gending Pemungkah - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
3. Gending Rebong - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
4. Gending Langiang - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
5. Gending Bendu Semara - Sari, Kusuma
6. Gending Tabuh Gari Saih Selisir - Gamelan Semar Pegulingan Saih Pitu
| MP3 - 320 kbs: 490 MB | Covers
Download links:
Download from HotFile
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837096/ea19e23/13V....part1.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837256/ab8b962/13V....part2.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837464/01295af/13V....part3.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837629/caec82c/13V....part4.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837820/26dbae5/13V....part5.rar.html
Download from Uploading
http://uploading.com/files/41a38373/13VA_E...tion.part1.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/mc54213b/13VA_E...tion.part2.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/e2c985e9/13VA_E...tion.part3.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/am4de57a/13VA_E...tion.part4.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/eff3e1b7/13VA_E...tion.part5.rar/
Anything calling itself The Essential Guide to Meditation leaves itself open to criticism that it's making too grand of a claim for any album to live up to, considering how many schools there are of meditation practices. Nevertheless, this three-CD set does hold considerable value, not only offering three-and-a-half hours of music, but also presenting music from much more traditional sources than most such compilations with this theme do. Each of the CDs follows entirely different sub-themes within the overall meditation concept: the first disc devoted to three Buddhist mantras originating within a Chinese tradition; the second to three pieces from the Indian Hindu tradition; and the third to six pieces from the Balinese Hindu tradition. As an anthology, this is a little problematic, whether it's used for meditation or not, since the musical styles are so different from each other that it's quite possible even open-minded listeners might not find all of the discs to their taste. Still, it does present material that's both considerably different from many new age-aligned recordings marketed as meditative aids, and much truer to the religious sources of much meditative practice than many such albums.
The music on the Buddhist disc is taken from recordings by flute and keyboard player Song-Huei, with accompaniment on two of the tracks by two-string violinist Jin-Long Wen, and it's the least satisfying from a musical point of view, tending toward the preciously pretty, slightly slick side in both arrangement and production. The Indian Hindu disc (entirely sung by Jagjit Singh), in contrast, is the best and most relaxing and entrancing of the three, highlighted by "Shree Krishna Naam Dhun," based around the "Hare Krishna" chant that is perhaps the most famous mantra to the international audience. With what sounds like a softly swelling vibraphone accompaniment (the precise instrumentation is not specified in the liner notes) and subtle drones and percussion, as well as hypnotic interplay between Singh and backup singers, this 37-minute track has a glow that can be enjoyed by both meditators and more general world music listeners. These qualities are also present, though to less striking degrees, on Singh's other two performances, justifying the claim in the liner notes that "so soothing is his voice that, legend has it, Indian psychiatrists have prescribed his records to relieve stress." The Balinese Hindu disc is performed by gamelan orchestras, and while it comprises perhaps the most unadulterated world music on the compilation, its heavily percussive and repetitious feel also make it the least accessible to Western listeners. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc: 1 (Buddhist)
1. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva - Wen, Jin-Long & Song-Huei Liu
2. Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva - Wen, Jin-Long & Song-Huei Liu
3. Greatest Six Word Brilliant Dharani - Liu, Song-Huei
Disc: 2 (Hindu)
1. Om Namah Shivay - Singh, Jagjit
2. Shree Krishna Naam Dhun - Singh, Jagjit
3. Om Shivay Hari Om Shivay - Singh, Jagjit
Disc: 3 (Indonesian)
1. Gending Petegak Sejar Gendotan - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
2. Gending Pemungkah - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
3. Gending Rebong - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
4. Gending Langiang - Muni, Sekehe Gender Bharata
5. Gending Bendu Semara - Sari, Kusuma
6. Gending Tabuh Gari Saih Selisir - Gamelan Semar Pegulingan Saih Pitu
| MP3 - 320 kbs: 490 MB | Covers
Download links:
Download from HotFile
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837096/ea19e23/13V....part1.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837256/ab8b962/13V....part2.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837464/01295af/13V....part3.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837629/caec82c/13V....part4.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/38837820/26dbae5/13V....part5.rar.html
Download from Uploading
http://uploading.com/files/41a38373/13VA_E...tion.part1.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/mc54213b/13VA_E...tion.part2.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/e2c985e9/13VA_E...tion.part3.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/am4de57a/13VA_E...tion.part4.rar/
http://uploading.com/files/eff3e1b7/13VA_E...tion.part5.rar/
REINCARNATION LIFE AFTER DEATH NEAR EXPERIENCE TORAH MYSTICISM KABBALAH ZOHAR
Mt. Kailash Manasarovar Yatra 2007
Documentary on Entheogens
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.