"My path is the path of stopping, the path of enjoying the present moment. It is a path where every step brings me back to my true home. It is a path that leads nowhere. I am on my way home. I arrive at every step" ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Posted by Param Pujya Sant Shri Asharamji Bapu on 22 January, 2013
Instead of tea or coffee, it is better to take seasonal fruits, which apart from being beneficial to health also nourishes the body. Taking a sattvic diet in moderate quantities is an aid to keeping up Brahmacharya. However moderation in diet doesn’t mean that if your normal diet is 200 grams, you should bring it down to 150 grams. No, what it means is that if you can digest 1000 grams of food and it does not excite passion, limit your diet to 990 grams. But if you can digest only 200 grams; then don’t ever take 210 grams. This helps in the observance of celibacy; which in turn develops all abilities and virtues quite automatically. Where there is a will, there is a way. One does attain the thing one yearns to get. Good deeds and good company breed noble thoughts and put our life on a sublime path; whereas bad deeds and bad company give rise to evil thoughts leading to corrupted life. Every great task is difficult, whereas a debased task is always easy. It is difficult to ascend to a higher level and easy to slide down. It definitely requires efforts to ascend the hill, but no effort is required in descending. Moral degradation is effortless; but it results in pain and leads to utter ruin. However while trying to elevate oneself morally; one doesn’t find it easy and has to work hard at it; but it results in happiness. Some people say, “It is hard to save oneself from (moral) degradation in this age… it is extremely difficult.” But does it make sense to dissipate sex energy on the pretext of thinking, ‘It is hard.’? Let bygones be bygones; let us protect what still remains… Mind, by its very nature, is ever inclined towards the lower psychic centres. As such, man is prone to fall into the abyss of sensual pleasures. However, with determined efforts, he can rise up again. There are people even in this age, who have practised self-control and have thereby become powerful. There is nothing that can’t be attained through self-effort, but by resorting to negative thinking like – “It is difficult… it is difficult”; we end up making the difficulties only stronger by giving them our mental approval; and thus fail to make any progress in life. Had Dhruva thought that God-realization is difficult; he would not have met the Lord. Had Prahlada thought, ‘It is difficult to get darshana of God…’ then God-realization would have become very difficult for him. If we reckon a task to be difficult… then such thinking will make the task all the more difficult. However, if we regard a difficult task as not difficult and put in determined efforts; we can win. No matter how many times one fails; if one resolutely and tirelessly perseveres, one will most certainly get the divine help. God helps those; who help themselves. Many a youth having reached the verge of a ruined, corrupted, and gloomy life have experienced a radical change in their life on reading the books ‘Divine Inspiration’, ‘Purushartha Parama Dev’, etc. published by the ashram when they received them from virtuous sadhakas. To save the nation’s wealth in the form of its youth from degradation, to make the upcoming citizens of this country brilliant, all noble souls associated with the ashram are requested to motivate the youth of their respective localities and get them read the book ‘Divine Inspiration’ at least five times. Though apparently small, this is actually a very noble act in itself. Even if the life of a single youth were to be elevated, the entire family and also the neighbourhood would also be benefited.
I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. Being a real follower of Chaitanya Deva, His lotus mouth showers every living entity with the effulgent names of Krishna.
I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. Smiling while in the ecstatic rapture of chanting the holy names, His teeth are pearls of wisdom. Bathing His face with tears of love, He is a prema sankirtana devotee.
I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. In harmony with the beats of the mridanga, His feet start dancing wildly. Merely watching Him dance is a cause of eternal fixation.
I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. Dancing better than Shiva, His beauty conquers the hearts of every professional dancer and singing demigod. Inventing His own style of sankirtana, no one in the three worlds can imitate Him.
I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. Falling unconscious on the ground, His lotus body makes even dust look good. Only by pleasing Him can one see such a rare exhibition of prema.
I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. Be careful when receiving His mercy, for once it is received, the thirst for anything other than Krishna is completely annihilated for eternities of time. I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. Having a level of faith and surrender that is as solid and unmoving as a heavy rock, His touch transforms every soul into pure gold. Whatever He says is thus as worshipable as the Vedas themselves.
I repeatedly submit myself to the true glories of Narottama Dasa Thakura. Whether an incarnation of devotion or of renunciation, holy persons bow down to His unfathomable greatness.
Reading these eight prayers aloud, the taste for Radha Krishna nectar will make any devotee obtain the same boons that Narottama Himself obtained.
By the grace of Narottama's smile, the anger of Rudra is pacified. May His beautiful limbs and transcendental qualities start to shine in my loving heart.
Out of all that a person could want, I desire to be able to serve such a magnanimous soul.
Copyright - The Blue Cross And Shining Sunset Academy
Create Time For Self-Compassion Being Gentle With Ourselves
During those times when our lives are filled with what seems to be constant change and growth, it is important to remember that we need to be gentle with ourselves. Since it can be easy to use our energy to keep up with the momentum of our lives, we may not be aware of the fact that we are much more likely to run ourselves down. When things seem to be moving quickly, it is especially essential that we make a point to slow down and be gentle with ourselves.
It might be difficult to notice what is happening to us for we may be so caught up in the whirlwind of our lives that we lose sight of the direction in which things are heading. Being gentle with ourselves doesn’t mean that we don’t accomplish things. Instead it means that we honor ourselves on an ongoing basis and take care of the needs of our bodies.
This means different things to different people. For instance, it could mean having a session with a healer; taking a remedy, herbs, or vitamins; or getting extra sleep. Putting our energy into ourselves in this way helps create space for a more positive, loving, and accepting view of our lives. By setting the intention to do so, we will be more cognizant of our energy levels on a daily basis and more able to replenish them as needed.
The more we are able to treat our bodies with gentleness, the more tenderness and compassion we will call forth into our lives. Learning to understand and pay attention to what our self needs will in turn allow us to fill our lives with unlimited loving and healing energy and to truly take care of the things that mean the most to us.
Posted by Dorothy M Neddermeyer on 22 January, 2013
Psychology
Guest Blog - Lance Armstrong’s Confession and the Psychology of the Competitor
By Bonnie Rochman Jan. 17, 2013
For elite athletes, competition is like a drug. How many times have we seen professional or Olympic athletes retire (or say they will retire), only to return again, inevitably older and with varying levels of success? For every Michael Jordan, who said he had played his last game — three times — and was still able to lead his team to league championships after coming out of retirement the first time, there are dozens of former great athletes whose decision to return only exposes how human they are. Brett Favre’s flirtations with retirement are so frequent it’s hard to keep track, hockey great Mario Lemieux retired in 1997 but laced on his skates again just three years later, and Deion Sanders retired from his dual careers in professional baseball and football, only to pick up the pigskin again several years later. And Lance Armstrong? After years of adamantly insisting he had not used performance-enhancing drugs to win seven Tour de France titles, he’s reportedly fessed up to Oprah…presumably because he can’t stand being out of the competitive loop.
Still training as if he’s preparing for cycling’s biggest race, Armstrong could have gone quietly into the retirement night. But facing a lawsuit from a former teammate that he used public money to buy doping products, Armstrong is apparently hoping for some leniency in the lifetime ban from the sport that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) imposed last summer, along with revoking his Tour de France titles, in exchange for his decision not to contest the doping charges the agency filed against him. Maintaining his innocence at the time, Armstrong left the question of did-he-or-didn’t-he officially unanswered, presumably for perpetuity (although that wasn’t the case in the court of public opinion).
But according to the Wall Street Journal, Armstrong met with Travis Tygart, CEO of USADA in December in an effort to lift the ban so he could continue his athletic career as an endurance athlete competing in triathlons. Tygart apparently told Armstrong that if he came clean, he could expect his lifetime ban to be reduced to eight years. Armstrong angrily responded: “There’s one person who holds the keys to my redemption, and that’s me,” and walked out of the meeting.
(MORE: Lance Armstrong’s Fall from Grace Tests Livestrong’s Strength) http://ideas.time.com/2012/08/28/lance-armstrongs-fall-from-grace-tests-livestrongs-strength/
David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, agrees that nothing short of a complete confession from Armstrong is necessary before he would even consider any leniency on the ban. “Only when Mr. Armstrong makes a full confession under oath — and tells the anti-doping authorities all he knows about doping activities — can any legal and proper process for him to seek any reopening or reconsideration of his lifetime ban commence,” he said in a written statement.
Why couldn’t Armstrong live with the longer ban and stripped titles? Why compete in triathlons rather than make the rounds on the speaking circuit or continue his admirable efforts in raising awareness and funding for cancer research? On a practical level, sports stars miss the training and the structure that competing lent to their lives. Plus there’s the feel-good factor: winners bask in the public’s adulation, which isn’t forthcoming when sports are played far from the limelight.
And for athletes at the top of their game, competing can be an act of self-affirmation, says Gavin Kilduff, an assistant professor of management at New York University who studies competition and rivalry. “His identity is probably very strongly tied to competing in endurance events,” says Kilduff. “He’s not living out how he sees himself if he’s not doing that. For highly competitive people, it’s hard to stay away.” Not long ago, he tweeted a photo of himself relaxing on his sofa with his yellow prize jerseys festooned on the wall: “Back in Austin and just layin’ around.”
(MORE: Why Lance Armstrong Couldn’t Stop Himself (And Still Can’t)) http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/01/16/viewpoint-why-lance-armstrong-couldnt-stop-himself-and-still-cant/
In fact, Kilduff says that the very nature of intense competition, and the features that make the best competitors, may explain not just Armstrong’s yen to feel the adrenaline rush of racing again, but the seeming incongruity of athletes who cheat. Certainly the drive to win can, on the one hand, be an inspiration for achieving excellence. “Elite athletes are elite because they can’t stand being average,” says Matt Rhea, an associate professor at A.T. Still University in Arizona and the president of RaceRx, a private sports conditioning and performance-enhancement company. Competition also motivates people to work harder, as Rhea found in a 2003 study he conducted of weightlifters. When amateur athletes performed both in front of bystanders and competed against others, they lifted about four pounds more than during training sessions. “We have measured a dramatic increase in performance during competition, which is one reason why so many records are broken at the Olympics,” says Rhea. “You don’t want to be an average Tour de France cyclist; you want to be the greatest. That’s what makes these athletes so unique and driven.”
But that same drive also tends to promote higher levels of unethical behavior, justified by the win-at-all-costs mentality, which isn’t just confined to athletics. In academia, the most competitive students are more likely to cheat.
So in the end, it’s likely that the very characteristics that made Armstrong a good athlete — the discipline to train, the unconditional commitment to achieving a goal, and the single-minded trust that he would succeed — may have fueled his doping and, ironically, his need to confess in order to regain his status as a competitor. “In their efforts to be viewed as legendary, they at times might cross the line when it comes to the law or to the rules of sport,” says Rhea. “Once you’ve experienced the thrill of victory, it’s really hard to go back to the agony of defeat.”
MORE: How Lance Armstrong Lost His Tour de France Titles http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/08/24/how-lance-armstrong-lost-his-tour-de-france-titles/
The law of conservation of energy in physics clearly tell us that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only be transformed from one form to another. What this essentially means is that the amount of energy in the Universe is fixed. Since matter and energy are interchangeable, it follows that the sum total of the Universe never changes; it just keeps changing in its form and appearance, as perceived through our senses.
The law of conservation has a lot of implications for us, something that we do not easily realize. It means that all resources here on earth always remain the same. We come into this world with empty hands and leave the same way. Nothing can be taken away from here. If someone could take away something when he dies---money, property, possessions, name, fame, health, power, position, and relationships, even a grain of sand---then this law would be violated. But the laws of the Universe, like the law of gravity or the law of birth and death, are always valid and will remain so, for centuries to come, till the very end of this Universe.
What this also means is that everything that is there on earth---natural resources, material wealth, water, air, food, solid objects, plants, animals and man---all have been here from time immemorial and will remain here. If someone gains money, it means that somewhere someone is losing it. One man’s gain is another man’s loss. If a person falls sick, he loses vitality and health, he loses peace of mind, he gains time, he loses work, and he loses money in curing himself and from the loss of income that he suffers due to his illness. At the same time, the doctor who treats him gains money, gains work, uses up his time, and gets happiness. The company which employs the sick person gains the money which it would have otherwise paid him as wages. As and when the sick person regains his health, the entire process is reversed. If we knew that the amount of money flowing on this planet is fixed and that according to some divine blueprint, you will manage to hold on to only a particular amount of money that you are destined for, we would not unnecessarily worry, fret and fume over our expenses, nor would we rejoice over our incomes. You can see this in your daily life; many expenses which you were worried about never happened, while many other unplanned ones did. The same is true of income.
Another area where the law of conservation of energy could have tremendous impact is in the lifespan of mankind going up. With the help of modern medicine, investigative techniques, better drugs, and superior modalities of treatment, the average lifespan of human beings has gone up all over the world. But if we were to believe that the total energy in the Universe is constant, it would naturally follow that if someone gained a few years in life, somewhere, someone else would have to give up those years. Is it likely that someone living up to the age of eighty or ninety, due to the rapid advances in all branches of medicine, is doing so, at the cost of another young person who dies at the age of forty or fifty? This is a point worth thinking about. This obviously does not mean we stop treating old people and giving them extended periods of good health and long lives, but when a young person suddenly dies, at the metaphysical level, we are often unable to comprehend why this happened. Maybe now we have an answer, or at least a concept which might satisfy our intellect and our minds. In all those countries where euthanasia is legal, this concept or belief might have a bearing in making the right decision, where a terminally ill patient is concerned. Or it might at least serve to reduce the guilt of those who have to make the decision of withdrawing life support systems to those patients who are unlikely to recover and who are leading a vegetable existence.
Life here exists as a perfect balance. If something is taken out, something has to be put in. As Swami Vivekananda said “Even if one atom in this Universe were to be changed, the entire existence would collapse”
Signing of the world peace treaty and World peace conference From Doreen: A request below from M. T. Keshe, Founder of The Keshe Foundation, invites this tract of humans to choose peace, and together empower a coherent, healthy, abundant, prosperous new civilization and world. Based on new opportunities I interpret the date Dec 21, 2012 as indicative of zero tolerance for human unawareness, denial, apathy, and inaction to end harm. http://alignshineprosper.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/boldness-has-genius-power-and-magic-in-it-begin-now/ From M T. Keshe: The Keshe Foundation made a promise that it will release a request and information on its forum today about the next step with release of its technologies for bringing peace and equality for Mankind. The four PDF documents below are important and to be understood individually and then collectively as one unified paper. We have not suggested a place and/or venues in our invitation letter for peace conference, as we thought that mankind choice will be the most appropriate. This peace conference can be held in Tehran, UN offices in New York, Beijing, Moscow or any another place on earth as location can be acceptable to all. The point is not the venue, but to achieve the world peace for Mankind. The 21.1.2012 for release of these documents is chosen for its importance. Mankind has 60 days to set the scene to achieve what his forefathers could not do for thousands of years, and by signing himself into accepting peace in its true sense individually and collectively. As a race, now man has the technology in hand to enforce world peace and man collectively has the determination to achieve it. To be able to achieve the world peace and see the process through, the Keshe Foundation is moving its headquarters to a new location and out of its present prison of Belgium, which has been enforced on it by international political pressure for the past nine years. The Foundation will soon announce where it will make its new home so that we can see this treaty safely through. In this way all political restrictions and press restriction on the Keshe Foundation will be removed and we will collaborate with all citizens of the world to make sure that the world peace treaty day can be realised. Please collaborate with the Foundation and let today be the day when humankind start a new chapter for the humanity, and in reaching our goal to let every man on this planet accepts and signs themselves into the world peace treaty with their deeds, their hearts, their soul and in their words. The Foundation calls upon world citizens to do what you have done in the last twelve months and as individuals to become a MESSENGER OF PEACE for your home, city, nation and mankind, and take the messages in these four letters to all world leaders, world ambassadors, mayors, religious leaders, your neighbour, brothers and sisters. By sharing these four letters everywhere, be it on the net, media, social media, home, work place, palaces, parliaments and by encouraging your governments, leaders of communities and individuals to sign the treaty and to organise and attend peace conferences organised by you and your nation. Please do with this message as you did when encouraging your governments in accepting the spaceship technology USB key. I thank you for your support and hope we can achieve together in short time what has eluded the mankind form the beginning of time. It is time to start a new chapter in the life of the man on earth, where peace and to serve humanity become the centre and focal point of every man and not the false materialistic life of today which has brought about so much misery for the man from his inspection on this planet. I cannot imagine that any true man of peace or world leader, will refuse to sign and act upon what he has signed his nation, faith and himself into by signing this treaty. 1. Signing of the world peace treaty and conference http://alignshineprosper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/world-peace-treaty-and-conference-f.pdf
2. An Insight into the Future of Man on Earth http://alignshineprosper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/an-insight-into-the-future_ed.pdf
3. The Status of Scientists http://alignshineprosper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/the-status-of-scientists_ed-1.pdf
4. Document to sign the World Peace Treaty click http://alignshineprosper.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/world-peace-treaty.pdf
Mehran Tavakoli Keshe The Founder of the Keshe Foundation http://keshefoundation.org From Doreen: In another post I will illustrate how ‘evolution’ is prompting us to cooperate, heal the past, and empower a coherent, peaceful, new Earth Garden together!
The story twist and turns, into castles and battles, through various roads the fairytale carries on Thank you Universe for all the surprises and gifts on my road, the metaphorical prince escape the toad
A word is a culprit let it bid it's master playfully, string a lover into the web. Red hot openness and raw truth grows passion, penetrate deeper into the consciousness without apology
That which is me bursting wide open, to the frequency and steadiness of your intent. Dripping ink from within your pen pools into a glowing sea of wetness, can you follow me deeper into the abyss?
Vulgar and divine, the labyrinth keeps twisting and flowing, more beautiful and glowing with each fervor movement. Ride on the waves until we reach higher concentrated lighting, explode so the moment impact forever.
Old lovers know, endings are many but our love is eternal, Shapes are many, and shadows hiding places of unknown delight. Tearful departures and joyful reunions. The dance thickens and thins in waves that pulsates, in between the everything that is eternal
All the lines and rules are ripped apart and spread wide open, just hot sticky wet naughty metaphor dripping down the inside out Explode in a firework piercing light into moments, of satiated darkness and comforting delight
The lovers fall into beautiful dreaming slumber, Lulled by the knowing that their explosion etched into the stillness of now forever. The trickling of diving laughter echoes through their dreams.
Salvation lies in knowing eternality Knowing eternality lies in understanding That everything is necessarily the way it is And nothing happens by chance.
Knowing this we are free To see from the perspective of eternity And to participate in it.
Posted by Agnes Claire MacEachern on 21 January, 2013
✫•°*”˜˜”*°•.✫ ✫¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.✫✫ .•°*”˜˜”*°•.✫
The Way To A Happy New Year
To leave the old with a burst of song; To recall the right and forgive the wrong; To forget the things that bind you fast; To the vain regrets of the year that's past; To have the strength to let go your hold Of the not worthwhile of the days grown old; To dare go forth with a purpose true, To the unknown task of the year that's new; To help your brother along the road, To assist with his work and lift his load; To add your gift to the world's good cheer, Is to have and to give a Happy New Year.
Posted by The Dragonfly's Student on 21 January, 2013
Yesterday, teacher left us a homework assignment. It is simple, yet difficult, so study the directions.
STEP 1 ... List the colors of emotions. Go through the rainbow, starting with black and ending with white. Does black represent sadness for you because of its connection to death or is it exciting because your favorite band only wears black? Go through the list quickly, choosing the emotion that first comes to mind.
STEP 2 ... Return to black and explain why each color commands that emotion from you. For example, if red means peace for you, is it because you remember sitting on your grandfather’s lap being read a story when he got a nosebleed? Think well. Make this a short trip to the therapist – is yellow the color of sadness because that’s the color you cousin was wearing the day she died? This might take some time of introspection.
STEP 3 ... Return to the top again. Now, list an opposite emotion. Is Red also an angry color because it reminds you of teacher marks over your cherished project in second grade? Is yellow a color of happiness because of the sunflowers that dot the road on your way home from work in the Spring? Many students have trouble finding the other side to the coin of their emotions, so don't dismiss this step. Teacher stresses it is of utmost importance, that is why he has given us a while to meditate on this.
FINALLY, By the time you reach this point in the assignment, you should have taken a very important step toward your spiritual advancement. We hope you realize that nothing in this world is an extreme. Borrowing from another teacher, the most revered Mr. Shakespeare -- "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
It is easy to come up with reasons why you aren't where you want to be. It takes work and discipline to push yourself a little every day until one day you are where you want to be. The amazing thing for those that have done it, you look back and realize somewhere a long the way, it stopped feeling like work. Somewhere along the way a weight was lifted as you moved closer to your dreams. You realized you were tired of focusing on what wasn't working and you were excited about what was. For those that the rest of the world sees as "Lucky" those individuals had doubts, fears and missed opportunities just like us. Yet, somewhere along the way they decided to change their attitude, their approach and ultimately their life... Start your journey today. C.Nordyke
Denver: I'll be having an art show this weekend. Sat, Jan. 26th with 11 other artists at the Brighton Cultural Center (Armory) from 5-9pm live entertainment and food. Hope to see you there! http://www.brightonarmory.org/Home.htm
Smiles Michael Schuessler www.holygwear.com www.schuesslerstudios.com
THE FREEDOM ROAD: In "Road to Freedom" David Icke gives a keynote lecture reveals many secrets where hidden by those who govern us and manipulate. Among other things, talks about the Freemasons and the Illuminati and its relationship with many of the U.S. Presidents.
En "Camino a la Libertad" David Icke nos ofrece una magistral conferencia donde desvela numerosos secretos ocultos por aquellos que nos gobiernan y manipulan. Entre otras cosas, nos habla sobre la masonería y los iluminatis y su relación con muchos de los presidentes de EE.UU.
Special music for relaxation, meditation and healing.
Special music for relaxation, meditation and healing. Are frequencies that affect the balance and harmony of the body, restoring energy patterns. Among other tunes are Ahu Saglam, Arnica Montana and music with dolphins and whales.
Música especial para relajarse, meditar y sanar. Son frecuencias que inciden en el equilibrio y la armonía del cuerpo, restableciendo los patrones energéticos. Entre otras, se encuentran melodías de Ahu Saglam, Arnica Montana y música con delfines y ballenas.
RELAJACIÓN MÚSICA, MÚSICA RELAX, MÚSICA MEDITACIÓN, MEDITATION MUSIC, FRECUENCIAS SANADORAS, MUSICA ALTERNATIVA, MUSICA SANADORA, MUSICA PARA SANAR EL ALMA, HEALING MUSIC, MUSIC FOR HEALING,healing frequency, FREQUENCY TO HEAL, MUSICA ESPIRITUAL, SPIRITUAL MUSIC, MUSICA DELFINES, DOLPHIN MUSIC, MUSICA NEW AGE, MUSICA REIKI, MUSICA YOGA, MUSICA DE BALLENAS, RELAX MUSIC FRECUENCIAS SAGRADAS SOLFEGGIO
