Free Glide

In Vipassana we are keeping the Energy Blockage or negativity in the unconscious will not eradicate it; and allowing it to manifest in physical or vocal action will only create more problems. But if one just observes the blockage and heal it, then the defilement passes away, and one has eradicated that negativity, one is freed from the defilement. A good solution: it avoids both extremes–suppression and free license.

This sounds wonderful, but is it really practical? For an average person, is it easy to face the Energy Blockage? When anger arises, it overpowers us so quickly that we don’t even notice. Then overpowered by anger, we commit certain actions physically or vocally which are harmful to us and to others.

Later, when the anger has passed, we start crying and repenting, begging pardon from this or that person or from God: ‘Oh, I made a mistake, please excuse me!’ But the next time we are in a similar situation, we again react in the same way. All that repenting does not help at all.

The difficulty is that I am not aware when a defilement Energy Blockage starts. It begins deep in the unconscious level of the mind, and by the time it reaches the conscious level, it has gained so much strength that it overwhelms me, and I cannot observe it.

Then I must keep a private secretary with me, so that whenever anger starts, he says, ‘Look master, anger is starting!’ Since I cannot know when this anger will start, I must have three private secretaries for three shifts, around the clock!

Suppose I can afford that, and the anger starts to arise. At once my secretary tells me, ‘Oh, master, look–anger has started!’ The first thing I will do is slap and abuse him: ‘You fool! Do you think you are paid to teach me?’ I am so overpowered by anger that no good advise will help.

Even supposing wisdom prevails and I do not slap him. Instead I say, ‘Thank you very much. Now I must sit down and observe my anger.’ Yet it is possible? As soon as I close my eyes and try to observe the anger, immediately the object of anger come into my mind–the person or incident because of which I become angry.

In Vipassana I am not observing the anger itself. I am merely observing the external stimulus of the emotion. This will only serve to multiply the anger; this is no solution. It is very difficult to observe any abstract negativity, abstract emotion, divorced from the external object which aroused it.

However, in Vipassana, one who reached the ultimate truth found a real solution. He discovered that whenever any Energy Blockage arises in the mind, simultaneously two things start happening at the physical level. One is that the breath loses its normal rhythm. We start breathing hard whenever a negativity comes into the mind. This is easy to observe. At subtler level, some kind of biochemical reaction starts within the body–some sensation. Every defilement will generate one sensation or another inside, in one part of the body or another.

This is a practical solution. An ordinary person cannot observe abstract defilements of the mind–abstract fear, anger, or passion. But with proper training and practice, it is very easy to observe respiration and bodily sensations–both of which are directly related to the mental defilements.

Respiration and sensation will help me in two ways. Firstly, they will be like my private secretaries. As soon as a defilement starts in my mind, my breath will lose its normality; it will start shouting, ‘Look, something has gone wrong!’ I cannot slap my breath; I have to accept the warning. Similarly the sensations tell me that something has gone wrong. Then having been warned, I start observing my respiration, my sensation, and I find very quickly that the defilement passes away.

This mental-physical phenomenon is like a coin with two sides. On the one side are whatever thoughts or emotions are arising in the mind. One the other side are the respiration and sensations in the body. Any thought or emotion, any mental defilement, manifests itself in the breath and the sensation of that moment. Thus, by observing the respiration or the sensation, I am in fact observing the mental defilement.

Things keep on occurring that are contrary to our desires and wishes. So the question arises, how am I not to react blindly in the face of these things which I don’t like? How not to create tension? How to remain peaceful and harmonious?

In India as well as in other countries, wise saintly persons of the past studied this problem–the problem of human suffering–and found a solution: if something unwanted happens and one starts to react by generating anger, fear or any negativity, then as soon as possible one should divert one’s attention to something else.

For example, get up, take a glass of water, start drinking–your anger will not multiply and you’ll be coming out of anger. Or start counting: one, two, three, four. Or start repeating a word, or a phrase, or some mantra, perhaps the name of a deity or saintly person in whom you have devotion; the mind is diverted, and to some extent, you’ll be out of the negativity, out of anger.

This solution was helpful: it worked. It still works. Practicing this, the mind feels free from agitation. In fact, however, the solution works only at the conscious level. Actually, by diverting the attention, one pushes the negative Energy Blockage deep into the unconscious, and on this level one continues to generate and multiply the same defilements. At the surface level there is a layer of peace and harmony, but in the depths of the mind there is a sleeping volcano of suppressed negativity which sooner or later will explode in violent eruption.

Other explorers of inner truth went still further in their search; and by experiencing the reality of mind and matter within themselves they recognized that diverting the attention is only running away from the problem.

In Vipassana, escape is no solution: one must face the problem. Whenever a negativity arises in the mind, just observe it, face it. As soon as one starts observing any mental defilement, it begins to lose strength. Slowly it withers away and is uprooted.

This Vipassana works with all weak Energy Blockages, however for very deep and powerful Energy Blockages one must meditate with a Master of Meditation, within his Buddhafield. Let the Master do the work!.

Or one must learn very powerful blockage busting techniques like Energy Enhancement. Then, like Alexander the Great, you can learn how to cut the Gordian Knot with your sword of Discernment!

Usually, the necessary solution is a mixture of both being with a Master of Meditation, and learning advanced Blockage Busting techniques yourself. This we do in Energy Enhancement!

Satchidanand,
Director of Energy Enhancement, is one of the leading teachers of Meditation!

He helps people worldwide reach further than they EVER thought possible,
FASTER!!!

http://www.energyenhancement.org

Meditation is a form of relaxing and a method to spiritual enlightenment that has been around for centuries. Yet with all the different types of meditation as well as the varied methods, how do you know you are truly meditating? Which one is right for you?

We are often told that to meditate is to think of nothing and clear your mind, which to me is impossible. Our minds do not stop even when we are asleep, so how do we consciously clear them when awake? The fact is that our minds are equipped with a goal serving mechanism, which means that the mind does not hear differences but only understands actions. It does not understand “do” and “do not”, “will” or “will not.” So by saying to your mind, “do not think of anything whilst meditating,” the mind did not hear the “do not” and consequently you instructed your mind to do the exact opposite of what you wanted. It will now think of everything.

So, if thinking of nothing is impossible, then logically, to focus on one thing is possible, and to me that is meditating. Ironically, meditating can be done at any time of the day and on the contrary does not necessarily require being in a quiet, dark room. To meditate is to be one with that which I am doing, and that means to be focusing on that one thing I am doing.

For example, if I am cooking, then to “become” the knife that cuts the tomatoes is to me being focused and being at one with that which I am doing. To be the knife means that my only focus is to be cutting through the fibers of the tomato. I am not focusing on my to do list, nor on the errands I need to run. My mind is clear of all other thoughts.

This way I am always meditating and reaching a higher level, and I am also going about my daily life. I am focused on that which I am doing. Therefore, meditation is not clearing your mind but focusing on one thought, one activity and being fully present and one with that activity.

This method allows me to meditate daily and be completely in the moment during all my actions.

Start with a simple exercise as indicated below. As you become more masterful in the art of meditating you will then be able to apply this method to more challenging tasks in your life.

How To Meditate

1. Pick a daily activity to focus on
2. Become one with the activity. If you are vacuuming be the vacuum
3. The key is to feel
4. The only purpose of the vacuum is to pick up dirt
5. Imagine you are the vacuum, and feel it as though you are

Enjoy this process. you most certainly can achieve enlightenment without skipping a beat!

Muneeza Khimji is a Coach and a Psychotherapist. She lives in Toronto, and currently has a practice that serves both clients interested in coaching and therapy. She works with emotional issues and traumas as well as coaches around career transitions, workplace issues, team coaching and life coaching to name a few areas.

For more information on Muneeza please visit http://www.muneeza.com or send her an e-mail on coach@muneeza.com

Helping the broadest range of people attain enlightenment through meditation is my lifelong preoccupation. I have more than 20 years of daily interaction with people helping them meditate and encouraging them to set high goals and use meditation as a tool for attaining inspiration, precious insights, enlightenment and other benefits that come along with it.

In order to practice meditation, you need a pleasant quiet place where nobody is going to disturb you. Once you are comfortably seated, you can start with pranayama (rhythmic breathing exercise), followed by pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from the outer world), thorough relaxation of the mind and senses, and finally relaxation of the physical body. By breathing rhythmically - inhaling, holding the breath, and exhaling while following a simple pattern (4-16-8, for instance) - you will accumulate prana, revitalize your life force, and new spiritual strength will come to you. During the pratyahara you will play the role of a neutral observer of your thoughts, with the ultimate aim of achieving a state of consciousness without any thoughts.

In this way, the objective possibility of reaching the most inner part of your Being - God in you - is realized. This means that you can now start feeling the warmth in your heart, see the light which is present there, and experience the subtle energy of Divine love. Furthermore, you can become aware of the harmony of mind, heart, and will. Your devotion and relaxation can lead you into deeper levels of consciousness, into deeper meditation. You can turn your senses inward to further increase you awareness. Your meditation will start realizing its goals. This is the level of devotion where you can actually contact the source of inspiration, gain countless insights, and approach the possibility of enlightening your Being.

It is the harmony of your mind, heart, and will, that brings you into Unity with the One. When you learn to be quiescent, when there are no thoughts and aspirations of any kind, you will find yourself out of your mental body, out of limitations, free in the consciousness of Unity. Only when your intentions diminish, when your mind becomes unoccupied, the enlightenment will start to show its magnificence. The sustained flow of attention will connect you to the endless reservoir of power, the source of knowledge and inspiration. When meditation occurs, love is its flavor. This love is your true nature. When the consciousness starts perceiving itself, it becomes pure consciousness. What resides is only the voiceless spirit of awareness whose meaning is I AM, I EXIST, I ENDURE.

You should meditate every single day, if necessary two times a day. If some day you find yourself distressed, a simple exercise can help you. Light a candle and put it some 30 cm away, at the level of your eyes. Simply by gazing at the blue part of the candle’s flame for 5 minutes, you can relax yourself. Your positive attitude, faith, calmness, and serenity can help. You should consciously develop love toward your meditation and meditativeness. The results will be in accord with your efforts, persistence and fortitude. There is not a single individual who can not succeed. There are only different kinds of obstacles with different people. Don’t forget to consult your spiritual teacher, who is there to help you overcome your obstacles.

Olga Rezo is a mystic, writer, and painter. She is the founder and leader of the Psychophysical Development Society of Belgrade. She helps the disciples on the spiritual path with her original spiritual development method “Sunny Ray”. She is the author of the book “I am who I am”, and webmaster of the internet site
http://www.sunnyray.org

Astrology or Jyotish is an integral part of the Vedas. Though in the Vedas the emphasis is more on Astronomy, there was hardly any distinction between Astrology and Astronomy in the Vedic period. Both were studied to determine the auspicious timings for making offerings to propitiate the Gods. The Vedas, therefore, made detailed studies of the stars and the movement of planets across the sky. Eclipses had to be timed because they signified evil portents. The obliteration of the luminaries, however temporary, could not be good for the mere mortals.

The stories regarding the birth of planets are found in the Puranas, which are of a later vintage. There are 18 Puranas. They deal with the story of creation, the tussle between the Gods and demons, the various forms and reincarnations of Lord Vishnu and sometimes even the genealogy of kings on earth. The same story appears in several Puarnas and predictably, the versions differ from one another.

In the early stages, Puranas were also an oral tradition. While elaborate care was taken to preserve the integrity of the Vedas so that distortions might not creep into them through repeated retelling, no such precaution was thought necessary for the Puranas. The Vedas were sacrosanct. The Puranas were not quite as sacred.

Methods of memorizing the Vedas were very interesting. Let us assume that we have a sentence in the Vedas - “God is good”. (Actually, Vedas do not dish out such simple sentences. We have cooked up an example to illustrate a point). One student would memorize it as “God is good”. That is normal. We all go through a similar exercise the night before our exams.

But a second one would do it in a strange form:

“Doog si dog” - memorizing it backwards. There would be a third who would do something even more strange:

“Go od di is sg go oo od”.

This gobbledygook can be easily unscrambled to find the original message. There were many more ways; all were simultaneously practiced to ensure that if corruption took place in one it would be rectified by comparing it with the others.

In one method two sentences would be mixed up in a manner not entirely unlike sending scrambled digital packets across the broad bandwidth.

But enough of that! Let us go back to the story of the planets as given in some of the Puranas. These were subsequently changed, modified, expanded until they became part of a rich folklore of India with all its sectarian bias and regional garnish.

So the stores we bring to you here originated in the Puranas but got extensively revised through successive retelling!

Enjoy your look into Indian Mythology!

Note: You are allowed to republish this article in your website and ezines without any change in the content and the link to cyberastro must be provided as the article author.

Sujit Bose is a very well educated, wise and senior person having great insight into astrology. Read more astrology articles by some of the well know astrologers of cyberastro at http://www.cyberastro.com

Henry David Thoreau said, “People seldom hit what they do not aim at.”

Do you know what you are aiming at?

I grew up on a farm in eastern North Dakota. Because it is the site of a former ancient glacial lake-bed it is extremely flat. That makes for great farming where millions of acres of crops are raised.

I was always amazed at how straight my dad could plow a field. When I asked my dad about this he explained how he did it. He said, “you make the furrow straight by picking a point at the other end of the field and keeping your eye on it. Then you drive the tractor to that point (not taking your eye off of it) and when you get there and look back you will have a straight furrow!”

And he did plow a straight furrow if I have ever seen one!

Do you have a point in mind down at the end of the road that you are aiming at? It’s amazing how many people don’t!

Do you know what you are aiming at?

In your relationships with your spouse, significant other, children, and friends have you given thought to the kind of time you want to spend with them? Do you know what you mean when you say “quality relationships?” I’m not telling you. I’m just asking you if you know what YOU are aiming at.

In terms of your health, do you have goals that you want to reach in order to enjoy the physical fruits of all your hard work? Or, are you just going to plow through life hoping that one day you’ll have enough energy and health left?

In your ongoing life education (formal and informal), do you continue to have an inquisitive mind that is continually seeking to learn?

In your career do you know what you are aiming at or do you just go through the daily routine and collect a paycheck every week or two? Do you have a goal in mind at the end of the field?

How about your finances? Do you know what you are aiming at or do you just hope that one day when you retire there will be enough money to cover your expenses?

Do you really know what you are aiming at in life? If you don’t there will be a day when you look back and say, “What was that all about?” I think the people who ask that question are the ones who had nothing they were aiming at all along the way of life. Please, don’t be one of them.

Let this be the day that you begin to know what you are aiming at. Talk about it with other important people in your life. Get a road map out for your future and figure out what it is you aiming at!

And if you know what you are aiming it, some day when you look back, you will know that you plowed a straight furrow and hit your goals!

Scott Hove is “The Entrepreneurial Pastor.” Hove is a professional speaker in the areas of wealth-building, motivation and inspiration.

To learn more about him and how to have him speak to your business or organization visit: http://www.ScottHove.com

The behavior of pain was enigmatic. Its responses were strange. It was only a pin prick, but the surrounding skin reddened and the child cried out in pain. Yet, the caress of a gentle finger around the injury subdued that pain. A person suffering from the agony of chronic pain reported no pain at all, while focused on painting a canvas. Again, hypnosis caused a patient to report that his pain did not hurt. How could just a touch, or a change in the focus of attention reduce or remove pain? How could there be a pain, which did not hurt? Could such phenomena be explained as clear algorithmic behaviors of the brain? Could such knowledge be used to subdue the distress of pain?

An algorithm was a repetitive procedure, which yielded a trusted result. Recently, a new view of the mind suggested that it was an algorithm, which enabled the mind to race, like a lightning streak, through neural regions. It saw, recognized, interpreted and acted. In the blink of eye. From input to output, it took just 20 milliseconds. Myriad processes converted light, sound, touch and smell instantly into your nerve impulses. A special region recognized those impulses as objects and events. Another region, the limbic system, interpreted those events to generate emotions. A fourth region responded to those emotions with actions. The mind perceived, identified, evaluated and acted. So, the scream followed the injury, as swiftly as a flash of lightning. All of this was powered by intuition, a pattern recognition algorithm.

The algorithmic view received support recently, when science discovered that animals instantly differentiated between millions of smells through combinatorial coding. That discovery won a Nobel Prize in 2004. If a nerve cell had dendritic inputs, identified as A, B, C and so on to Z, it could then fire, when it received inputs at ABC and DEF. The cell could be inhibited for XYZ. It only recognized some combinations. ABC and DEF. A recognition algorithm. This new view of the mind suggested that such combinatorial coding enabled all regions of the mind to respond instantly and logically to incoming information. Such pattern recognition was intuition.

Even with pain, the mind perceived, recognized, interpreted and acted. The brain perceived tissue injuries through nociceptors. A neuron, which carried this pain message had many incoming dendrites. These branches informed it of neighborhood pain, touch, tension and much more. The neuron received a kaleidoscopic combination of inputs. If the neuron responded to combinatorial coding, it could fire for neighborhood pain to report sympathetic pain. Sympathetic responses by neighboring pain reporting neurons could increase the child’s sensation of the pain of a pinprick. The neuron could become inhibited when it received a touch message. The combinatorial coding algorithm could explain how the child’s pain reduced, when its parent caressed the regions surrounding the injury.

Similarly, the response to an emotion was an algorithmic action. If fear was generated, a deer bounded away. A bird took flight. A fish swam off. But, such escape was hardly possible by heading into the predator. An algorithmic intelligence remembered, evaluated and instantly chose the best of multiple escape routes to increase distance from danger. That region responded to pain, with a massive search for escape routes to avoid the pain. While nociceptors selectively reported pain, the action region generated a powerful drive to escape from it. That algorithmic drive was the “hurt” part of pain. Hypnosis was known to still that drive. A similar result was reported for an older surgical procedure, which cut the neural link between the perception of pain and the dynamic response to it. Both treatments had patients reporting the disappearance of “hurt.”

Pain was an awful affliction. Chronic pain sufferers had to endure it over extended periods. Physicians recommended the acceptance of pain as a solution. They suggested that a patient’s attitude was also critical to the treatment of pain. But, “acceptance” and “attitude” were difficult concepts. How could one accept continuing pain? How could a subconscious attitude ever be changed? This was where an appreciation of independent algorithmic processes of the mind helped. Practical steps could yield a trusted result. Remove the “hurt” part, the distress, of pain. Learning “acceptance” was a worthy endeavor.

The mind had the unique ability to see itself. Across centuries, sages looked inward and recognized their own feelings and thoughts. In the same way, it was also possible to identify your own drives. The key was awareness. And, the insight that identification was possible. The vital secret of the atomic bomb was just that it was possible. The drive to escape pain was a unique entity. Its operation had recognizable symptoms. By consciously identifying its physical symptoms, a patient could learn to identify it as a distinct mental event. Identify the tensions of the urge to escape, of the impatience, of the desperation. When the urge was recognized, it vanished. Later, this drive became a familiar entity, which vanished, on recognition. Recognition and practice stilled the “hurt” drive. The pain was there, but it did not hurt anymore. Which went on to prove that even “acceptance” could also be an algorithmic process.

Abraham Thomas is the author of The Intuitive Algorithm, a book, which suggests that intuition is a pattern recognition algorithm. This leads to an understanding of the powerful forces that control your mind. The ebook version is available at http://www.intuition.co.in. The book may be purchased only in India. The website, provides a free movie and a walk through to explain the ideas.

“Better is a handful with quietness, than both the hands full with painful effort, vain striving for the wind and feeding on it” (Ecclesiastes 4:6 Amplified Old Testament).

Dear readers, I realize I am a fanatic about all the cacophony in the world. I have a favorite bookstore I haunt, or used to, until the national chain succumbed to the cry of the masses to numb our minds with pop music, not even classical music which at least soothes the savage beast within us. The first time I heard it I appealed to the powers, but was told that mine was the first complaint. So much for the last place on earth I could enter and feel at peace!

I culled the following gem from a Bible commentary:

I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A QUIET SPIRIT.

The habit and disposition of quietness need not be accompanied by torpor. There is, indeed, a quietness of sleep, as there is also a silence of the grave. But in the passage before us the quiet spirit is directly connected with life. The body may be busy while the spirit is quiet; nay, the mind may be nimble and alert, even full of activity, while yet the spirit is at rest. Observe, then, the marks of a quiet spirit.

1. Peace. There is peace within the soul, and therefore quiet. The turbulent spirit is like a mutinous crew that may make tumult on board the ship while the sea is as still as glass, and the peaceful spirit is like a well conducted crew that works in quiet while the sea is torn with tempest.

2. Patience. The quiet spirit does not complain under chastisement, nor does it angrily resent unkindness. The psalmist was “dumb” under calamity. Christ was led as a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).

3. Unostentatiousness. Some give more show than service, and make more noise than profit. Eager to attract attention, they “sound a trumpet before them” (Matthew 6:2). Not so the quiet in spirit, who labor in silence, content to be obscure so long as they know they are not living in vain.

II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF A QUIET SPIRIT.

It is here set forth as a source of life. No doubt fretful restlessness wears out the life of the bad. Placidity makes for health. Moreover, the life that is dissipated in noise produces no good, and therefore does not collect the means of its own support. The quiet in spirit best make a livelihood. Further, certain special advantages of this quietness may be noted.

1. Depth. “Still waters run deep.” We can look far into the quiet lake, while only the surface waves of one that is fretted with cross winds can be seen. The calm, brooding soul knows depths of thought and secret experience that are unfathomable to the foolish, restless, noisy soul.

2. Strength. The silent forest grows strong. The mind is made vigorous by patient endurance. One who is calm is master of the situation, while another who is fretted and flurried feels lost and helpless.

3. Fruitfulness. The calm, strong, silent soul, vigorous and yet unostentatious, ripens best the fruits of experience. Such a one does most real work.

4. Beneficence. Noise vexes the world, and a restless, complaining spirit is a weariness to men. The quiet spirit breathes a perpetual benediction. Its very presence is soothing and healing.

III. THE ATTAINMENT OF A QUIET SPIRIT.

No doubt there are great constitutional differences in this respect, and while some are naturally or by ill health restless, irritable, demonstrative, others are naturally quiet, self-possessed, even reserved. Due allowance must be made for these differences before we attempt to judge our brethren. Still, there is a measure of quietness attainable by the use of the right means, viz.:

1. Self-mastery. When a man has conquered himself, the tumult of civil war in his breast ceases.

2. Faith. To trust God, to know that he is doing all well, to seek and obtain the help of his Holy Spirit, are to find the secret of peace and quietness of soul.

3. Love. Selfishness makes us restless. “A heart at leisure from itself” can learn to be patient and calm.

Prayer: Please, Father, save our sanity (SOS) from all the racket!

You won’t believe what my son said yesterday! It was so funny. I was sitting at the computer typing away on my latest project and he walked up behind me and looped his arms around my neck (just like he does almost every morning) and said, “Mom, what cha writing?”

I calmly responded, “Content for my site.” And leaned back for his warm hug. I love it when he does that.

“So, who did you write about this time?” His voice sounded almost excited, as if he really wanted to know.

I typed in another paragraph with him reading over my shoulder including his name in the conversational dialogue. “Mom, you’re writing about me again.” I got another hug and he was off to work on his next book. Kenton has been writing an average of one children’s book every three or four months, including illustrations since he first figured out he could be a published author and make money from his writing, almost a year ago.

How often are we inspired by seeing our name in print? It’s awesome! What more could a writer want than to be quoted?

Not very long ago, I saw an article that said, “According to Jan Verhoeff… and a bit later in the article, referred to Jan (me) as HE.” It didn’t matter. I’m sure the author of the article hadn’t done any research on me as a writer, just on what I’d written about. The quote was right out of one of my more prominent Internet documents, and well stated, fitting extremely well with the topic of the article where I was quoted. For those of you who have seen my picture, I’m definitely not a HE, and for those of you who haven’t, but do read many of my gender specific posts, you already know I’m a woman.

I ran around for two weeks telling everyone within shouting distance that I’d been quoted! I think I even posted it on a favorite writer site, to hear all the congratulations and encouragement. It made me feel special to be written about.

If you want to impact your reader - make them feel like you are writing your article specifically for them, about them, and to them. Put personality in the article. Get personal. Motivate your reader by bringing them into the action.

Content motivates. Inspire your reader to follow the directions included in your signature by actively inviting them to participate in the content. If not by name; at least by implication, invite your reader into the action.

Let them get to know you, and get to know them. Get personal. Get involved.

Impact your market as never before. Be seen. Be alive. Be creative in your endeavors to brand your business and consume your market. Let eBiz Blitz empower your dreams by infusing your business publications with Dynamic Content. Visit Dynamic Content Creator, Jan Verhoeff, at http://www.freewebs.com/ebizblitz