Politics of our time

Politics of our time To view the political time of which we live and the nature of the outer world masters we serve from a spiritual perspective, we must be simple. Let us simply remove the events of the past and present and gauge only the spiritual qualities of this time. Have we grown spiritually as a result of a particular political leader or leaders being in power? Are we more compassionate? More loving? Happier? With reference to the brothers and sisters of our human family, have our political masters encouraged harmony, love, equality, tolerance and ultimately oneness?

Some political leaders are quite negative. They might even encourage the use of negative spiritual qualities such as fear and panic to maintain control of the masses. In the past, despots like Hitler or Stalin, have found an outside enemy for which to lay blame for internal errors or problems. We might gauge these techniques as if the world was a single person. Do you see how they would plunge a single person into dark depression and/or violence and rather than searching for answers within would cause them to lash out at whatever came close to being perceived as a threat. These are the unmistakeable signs of  political leadership that negatively affects the world spiritually. Leaders that try to manipulate the masses with fear are akin to spiritual criminals. We must treat our planet and our people as we should treat ourselves spiritually. That is, just as we are trying to expand the love, peace and joy in every moment of our lives and we are transforming our negative qualities, so we should do the same with our planet and our brothers and sisters upon it. When you view the world in this way - you may see very quickly - the awesome responsibility those of us that are trying to live a spiritual life hold in relation to the world. We are, in effect, the conscience, the 'inner voice' of our world. Lasting peace, lasting progress can only come when we can inspire the world's state of mind, and just as it is hard sometimes to hear our own inner voice, the world's consciousness needs to be pricked a little to hear the voice of spirituality.

Problems with your meditation?

Problems with your meditation? See the answers here.. Problem Solution 1.       Fidgety, can’t sit still. Physically tense unable to relax. Resistance by the ego, it fears change. Relax. Be reassured you are not going to some alien planet, you are simply inside your own heart. “I am safe inside my heart – all is well" 2.       “I can't meditate, every time I sit nothing happens”. “Meditation does not work for me” This can again be ego resistance, change scares us. Meditation takes us to the now. The ego only exists in the past and the future. "I am willing to evolve and grow" 3.       “I get a headache or tension when I meditate” Usually from trying to meditate in the head not the heart. Consciously change the source of your concentration by using your breath, feel that thoughts, love, everything is inside your heart. “Breathe into my heart, out from my heart” 4.       “Is this it? Am I doing it? Shouldn’t it be more....?” Don't worry, every meditation for every meditator is different. Do not try and force it to be something you think it should be. Let it be. “I am not going to judge or label my experience, I am just going to spend the time and let my heart work out what is best. ” 5.       Can’t get comfortable. Body is sore or itchy or cramping. Possibly more ego resistance. (See Problem 1) First, make yourself comfortable – it is not better to sit in a lotus position if you are uncomfortable. However, often lying down will just put you to sleep. Sit with straight back on the floor or in a chair, cushions are fine. “I am safe inside my heart – all is well” 6.       “Thoughts keep coming, my mind is a chatterbox, i can't concentrate.” This is not a problem, it is normal. Let go and refocus without beating yourself up. When we worry about the thoughts that are coming we have effectively multiplied the number of thoughts by the worry thoughts. Try to stop analysing and labeling and just breathe. Thoughts are normal, the art of meditation is to take your attention from them and give them no importance. In time, thought deepens into intuitive experience. Try listening to music or guided meditations, or chanting a mantra.  “Breathe in love, breathe out gratitude.” 7.       “I have no time to meditate. I have so much to do” Time is not the problem. Fear is. The ego is again resisting change. Go to bed 10 minutes earlier and get up 10 minutes earlier. Now you have 10 minutes to meditate. Get creative: you can meditate walking the dog, during the car or train trip to work or school, you can even meditate washing the dishes (but it is best to have structured meditation time as the basis and these as additions). Don’t fear meditation – it is your conversation with your deepest and most real you.  “I can use 3 seconds to meditate. Breathe from the heart 1,2,3.” 8.       “I keep thinking of all the things I have to do” Take a few minutes at the start of your meditation to write a ‘to-do’ list. Put everything down including things you are worried about. Then tell your mind that all those things will be dealt with, release them and begin your meditation. Be careful that it is not another form of resistance. "My meditation time is important to me." 9.       Sleepiness Use long, slow deep breaths at the start of the meditation, breathing in powerful inner energy. Affirm that you are becoming more conscious, more alert in meditation. Spend the first 30secs of every meditation being very intense about your concentration and focus.  Repeat mantras or affirmations and listen to music or guided meditations if still feeling sleepy or shorten your meditations, but meditate more often. “I am alert and more and more conscious of love in every moment of my life” 10.   Impatience Expectations of particular results or feelings are more resistance. They are us telling meditation what to be, and not allowing ourselves to change in the way our meditation wants us to change. Relax. When you plant a seed you do not immediately demand ‘ok where is the tomato?’ – you wait and water and watch it and then, in time, there is a fruit. “I am steady in my progress. My new ways of thinking are here now” 11.   Feeling Stuck See class 31. Be careful not to criticise yourself. Practise daily meditation, try and increase the time you are meditating and more and more feel the benefits in your life. Feeling stuck often has to do with impatience (see above) but it also can be that you are forcing your meditation experience to be the same every time you meditate because of fear. Try and find at least one different way to meditate every day. Perhaps it is in the train, or a different guided meditation, or a new sport, or writing a poem, or walking, or in a group. “I am always progressing and growing – there are an infinite number of ways to feel the flow of love.”

The gifts of meditation -Dr.VS.Suresh Phd.,

The gifts of meditation All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. - Lao-Tzu Improved physical health - Stress, tension and negative emotions silently erode your life force. As you decrease these negative influences through your meditation, you will experience profound positive effects on your physical health, from increased vitality to a greater sense of general well being. Better life decisions - In the whole history of the world, you are unique, and you have uniquely special path to follow in life. In the silence and stillness of meditation, you will perceive more clearly the still, small voice within that can guide you safely along your life’s path. By bringing you closer to your life’s purpose, meditation sets you free to become more truly and uniquely yourself.
You will be happier - Have you noticed that in the past you might have been getting to ‘happy’ but not any ‘happier’. We tend to seek happiness outside ourselves – where we are, what we possess, who we are with - but meditation helps us to realise that real, lasting happiness is an experience which flows from within and exists independently of our outer circumstances. As our meditation evolves, we become increasingly happier. Spiritual Growth - At the very core of your existence lives a being of great beauty, wisdom and delight. This being is none other than your own highest self. Jesus Christ spoke for all faiths when he declared that the “kingdom of heaven is within.” Through meditation you will grow into your highest self, and all its inner wealth will be yours to use in your day-to-day life.
Inner peace brings outer peace - Everything starts from within! As you develop more inner peace through your practice of meditation, your outer life will become more peaceful as well. Little things start to happen as your life is touched by the expanding inner fragrance of meditation: problems fall away or are resolved more easily; your dealings with people become deeper and more fulfilling; and you will develop new and greater outer capacities. Enhanced Creativity - The essence of real creativity is the same revelatory experience encountered in meditation. Imagine developing the skills to source your infinite creativity at will. Rather than your creative moments arriving at their leisure, with meditation you will be able to discover and explore your infinite potential when you decide. Deeper Sleep - Meditation will have a positive effect on the quality of your sleep. As your mind becomes calmer, you will fall asleep more easily, your dreams will be more soulful and you will sleep more soundly.

The kingdom of heaven is within

the kingdom of heaven is within The Universal Spiritual Journey as seen in quotes from many religions. Go to poems home
	Guru Nanak (Sikh) As fragrance abides in the flower, As the reflection is within the mirror, So doth thy Lord abide within thee, Why search Him without?
Lord Buddha (Buddhist) The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to which I devote myself is the truth. The topic of my conversation is truth. My thoughts are always in truth. For lo! my self has become the truth.
	Jesus Christ (Christian) Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
Vedas (original Indian holy text) There is one Supreme Ruler, the inmost Self of all beings, who makes His one form manifold. Eternal happiness belongs to the wise, who perceive Him within themselves - not to others.
	Lao Tzu (Taoist)Worlds and particles, bodies and beings, time and space: All are transient expressions of the Tao.
Prophet Mohammed (Islam) He who knows his own self, knows God.
	Yehuda Ashlag (Jewish)There is no single substance existing in the world, whether it be that which we experience through the senses, or that which we perceive through the mind, which is not comprised in the Creator. Everything emanates from Him. Therefore, what we know as contrary, or unrelated in Him, are but one unified Substance.
Native American The first peace, which is most important, is that which comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its Powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real Peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.
	Sri Rama (Hindu) Think that you are Parabrahman, you have noattachment,  you are all-knowing and you are pure. Always feel like  this and establish your oneness with the Paramatman and derive bliss within yourself without caring to know what is outside of you.
Baha'u'llah (Baha'i) "The worlds of God are in perfect harmony and correspondence one with another. Each world in this limitless universe is, as it were, a mirror reflecting the history and nature of all the rest. The physical universe is, likewise, in perfect correspondence with the spiritual or divine realm. The world of matter is an outer expression or facsimile of the inner kingdom of spirit. The world of minds corresponds with the world of hearts."
	Zoroaster (Zoroaster) One need not scale the heights of the heavens nor travel along the highways of the world to find Ahura Mazda. With purity of mind and holiness of heart one can find Him in one’s own heart.
Zen (Zen Buddhist) One moon shows in every pool; in every pool, the one moon.
	Sri Sankaracharya (Hindu) Curb your senses and your mind and see the Lord within your heart.
Rumi (Sufi) Where is that Moon that never rises or sets? Where is that soul that is neither with nor without us? Don't say it is here or there. All creation is Him but for the eyes that can see.
	Sri Ramakrishna (Hindu) Do you know what I see? I see Him as all. Men and other creatures appear to me only as hollow forms, moving their heads and hands and feet,  but within is the Lord Himself.
Swami Vivekananda (Hindu) It is impossible to find God outside of ourselves. Our own souls contribute all of the divinity that is outside of us. We are the greatest temple. The objectification is only a faint imitation of what we see within ourselves.

Healthy Living and Wellness

Healthy Living and Wellness

Beating stress Spinning mind, spiraling health

The negative effects of stress, worry, fear and anxiety upon our health has for many years concerned modern society. In this, the fastest paced, most stressed period that humanity has experienced, it is critical for us to be aware of the strain we are placing upon our bodies just to keep up.

In short, a spinning mind means spiraling health!

According to the Meditation Society of Australia this is where meditation excels. An ancient practice that can be dated back to the east at least six thousands years ago, the practice of meditation has for years been gaining a groundswell of widespread modern acceptance.

People who meditate have been shown to quickly achieve health benefits such as slower heart rates, lower blood pressure, reduced oxygen consumption and lower lactic acid levels. Some have used meditation to help with everything from headaches and respiratory problems to cancer and coping with death. It is seen as a crucial tool in treating many mental illnesses such as depression or schizophrenia while it has also been shown to actually boost functionality of the immune system. Beyond the science, however, one common health benefit in dealing with stress is perhaps the most important, and that is meditation’s ability to help the practitioner to shut up and listen.

“The clatter of the media, of advertising, of stress and anxiety creates a cacophony of noise that makes it increasingly impossible for us to hear ourselves”, says Sunirmalya Symons of the Meditation Society of Australia.

 Sunirmalya says that meditators are more attuned to their bodies and its requirements because they are able to ‘intuitively’ feel its needs.

"Meditation is listening. Listening not for words or sentences but intuitions. We are very complex beings with trillions of physical functions, not to mention the multitude of mental and spiritual dimensions we each possess. From time to time, we need to hear what our body, our mind and our soul are saying to us. Our health - physical, mental and spiritual  - absolutely soars when we take the time to listen." He says that people that meditate have been shown to eat more healthily, exercise more and generally possess more vigor. 

“There are so many pressures on individuals to ‘try that’ or ‘have this’, that it becomes impossible to actually know what is right for you. With meditation we develop a faith in our own internal dialog, a faith that is fortified by the simple result of it time and again being right.”

 "Meditation is for every one without exception, but each of us will meditate in different ways, so try the course if it doesn't work for you - try another one, there's a multitude on the web."

Meditation may be old, but it seems it is one of the most important tools for our health and wellness in our modern world.