Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philosophy. Show all posts

Thursday, October 04, 2012

Conversation with a taxi driver

I often meet interesting cab drivers when I travel around on taxis in Seattle (usually going home from a late night research work). They have interesting perspectives to share - How they got here or what they want to do in life, etc.

Today I had one such experience. The taxi driver was from Somalia.
He said that he was studying architecture at the Seattle University. He had purchased
the cab he was driving with his brother. The cab cost him about 300 grand. He told me that
he could repay the loan in 3 years using his earnings.

What fascinated me was the conversation that followed. I told him that it seemed like a great idea - You  have your own cab, you drive on your own terms and you also get to study the remaining time and also pay for the tuition. Why weren't his friends doing the same? He told me that they were afraid, they thought it was too risky to take a loan. They were comfortable with what they were doing. On the other hand, he wanted to go back to his country and create a positive impact. He wanted to rebuild his country. And that was why he was studying architecture. He encouraged his friends to do the same. They told him that he was acting older and more mature than his age and perhaps he should enjoy his life more. He told me that he was very passionate about his architecture course and I could sense that passion in the conversation.

His family repeatedly told him that he would never graduate from college. That was their belief.
No one in their near ancestry have been to college and so shall it be. Beliefs. How they affect how we behave and act in this world. How wonderful these beliefs can be and how crippling they can be too.
My taxi friend told me that in his case, his family's belief (or disbelief) in him only motivated him further - He would be very passionate and get a college degree and not just stop there - He was going to go home and rebuild his community.

How wonderful was his conviction that he would go back and affect a change. That's the kind of passion I like to see and hear in people. Do things passionately, let fear not cripple you.
Believe fiercely in yourself and your abilities and let not people's opinion cripple you, your dreams and ultimately your work in this world. As my taxi friend says, when you encounter fear, you face it - You look right into its eye and stand tall and you shall have taken a big step in life.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

On Death


Death is a great leveller. Rich, poor, famous, average Joe - All kinds of people have to face one thing - Their own death.

My uncle, whom I greatly admired for his will power in getting things done and who I had a close relationship with, passed away recently.

I am sad about his death. He was in his 70's and he had helped a lot of my relatives with their personal problems including my own family. He was a man of great will power, was very organized in life and a stickler to his routine. He has helped and inspired a lot of people I know.

I understand that death happens to everyone. I believe in life after death. I believe that death is to the body and not to the soul. My belief in this has recently strengthened due to a few out of body experiences I have had. I believe my uncle has passed on to another realm, another place, another time. My prayers to him, that he be happy and joyful wherever he is.

Death of some one we know reminds us that we have finite time on earth.
Every moment is precious. Let us use every moment towards what we really wish to do in life. Towards our highest idea of what we think is a life worth living. Towards our greatest desires. Towards our greatest love. For there is not a minute to spare and we know not when death can come knocking.
If I were to live as if today was my last, I would have no regrets passing away tomorrow - I would have enjoyed my stay on earth and perhaps it was time for me to move on.

Let us therefore enjoy our stay on earth, devoting our efforts and time towards what we love doing in life whether that be research, music, hiking or one of the gazillion things one can do while on earth.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Talking about synchornicities....

Synchronicity: Coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related, conceived in Jungian theory as an explanatory principle on the same order as causality.

Now that we have that definition out, let me state some synchronicities that have happened of late...

I was at the PCC store at Greenlake deciding what to buy from the bulk items, when I came across an ionized water dispenser that was selling water for cheap. I was just looking at that dispenser and reading some stuff when the song that was playing at the background changed to tune that was familiar. As I was placing what that tune was similar to, I was reminded of this beautiful song by the band called Indian Ocean. The lyrics of the song came in again... 'Maa rewa, tharo pani nirmal, khal khal behko jayo re' meaning, ' Oh beautiful river, your water is so pure, and you glide along gently'. The synchronicity ofcourse was that my buying water coinciding with the song in the background that was similar to the one by Indian Ocean on appreciating the purity of water of Narmada river.



B) Today I went to the east west bookstore to a talk by Margaret Carson about the 'Healing of waters' and we did some guided meditations imagining the purification of water we held in a glass. Silly as this exercise may seem, there is some research done by Masaru emoto showing that the crystals of water form beautiful or deformed shapes depending on the kind of messages(good or bad) posted on the container in which they are held after a period of time..This person at the talk seemed very passionate about the ocean and healing of the ocean so we did a guided meditation imagining that we are at an ocean doing just that.. The experience felt good. Now, here's where the synchronicity kicks in: Towards the end of the talk, we did one last guided meditation where we held water in a glass in front of us and send it our positive intentions and thoughts. While I was doing this, this song by Indian Ocean came to my mind. After the meditation, while sharing experiences, I mentioned this song(actually sang the first line) and it's meaning. The lady at the talk was surprised. She also mentioned that during the guided meditation, a thought came up to her that there would be 'a song' and she was like, 'What song?'. And also, the song is by Indian Ocean while the talk was about purifying water and in particular her passion for ocean. I love these synchronicities, even mathematically their probability is relatively small(i.e. probability of two independent events happening simultaneously = product of probability of the two events happening).

Friday, July 31, 2009

A beautiful prayer

Watch it here. The video has both visual and audio appeal.

The lyrics go:

Asatoma Sadgamaya
Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya
Mrityurma Amritangamaya

Meaning (my interpretation added):

May I move from untruth to truth, from lack of clarity to clarity, from illusion of life to reality of self.

May I move from darkness to light, from negative thoughts to positive thoughts, from fear to love, from worry to peace, from stress to relaxation, from depression to joy, from resentment to gratitude. May I move towards a fuller appreciation of life, towards a celebration of life, towards a greater understanding of this grand journey, towards this grandoise unravelment of the self.

May I move from fear of death to the truth of my own immortality. May I find my true self that resides within me and know that it resides within everyone and everywhere. May I with this realization spread the word of love,peace and truth through my actions, through my thoughts, and through my words.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti hi

Peace Peace Peace.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Nothing matters revisited

Nothing matters is one of my favorite insights, and more so because I have actually been in an experience that forced me to ask myself if it really matters. And the answer was it doesn't. Nothing really matters.. Because at death, what you amassed in terms of money or what position you rose to in your career.. It doesn't matter. And death is just a horizon to a new beginning.
Nothing really matters.. yes, I had this profound insight in September 2007 and it's the most delicious insight I have ever had. My life came to the point where I said, it doesn't matter.. It doesn't matter if I need to quit my Phd program..(I was ready at that point to accept that situation if it happened..) I am good, if I am penniless, I am good. It doesn't matter at all if any of my fears come true. To hell with my fears. That's the power of nothing matters.. You can kick the word 'fear' out of your life. Here's an article I read that reminded me of this insight.
Enjoy.. Because It doesn't Matter!!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Heaven and Hell: Do they exist?

What do you think? Or rather, what do you believe in?

I believe you can and do have heaven and hell right here on earth: Heaven and hell are states of mind. Not some real places in the far beyond.

Hell
Hell is when you mull over your past and worry about the future incessantly.
Hell is when you beat yourself up for not living up to your goals or expectations.
Hell is when you think that there is a God out there judging each and every action of yours.
Hell is when you think that the concept of sin is real
Hell is when you do something so as to not hurt others but that in turn hurts you.
Hell is when you try to be in every one's good books.
Hell is when you turn to fear instead of love.
Hell is when you think you are only capable of so much - Hell is when you limit yourself, or have limiting beliefs such as 'I am no good' or 'I knew I would fail doing this'.
Hell is when you can't understand why the so-called bad things happen to people.
Hell is when you always see the negative aspects of every situation that you come across in your life.
Hell is when you fear death.
Hell is when you don't recognize the divine within you.

Heaven
Heaven is when you know that there is no reason to fear... ever. Not even death (Look up NDE).
Heaven is when you know that, 'What you believe, you become'
Heaven is when you know that there is no limit to what you are capable of.
Heaven is when you know that your 'thoughts, beliefs, actions' create or determine your reality or how you perceive it, and that the very knowing of this can empower you.
Heaven is when you know that 'Situations, people's behaviors, incidents are perfect as they are and that all you have to do is accept the gift that they bring to you.
Heaven is when you know that you are fundamentally divine. (String theory says that the fundamental essence of matter is energy).
Heaven is when you know that you are here on earth to grow spiritually through experiences.. good and bad.
Heaven is when you know that experiences, especially the bad ones, bring you the greatest life lessons and accelerate your spiritual growth.
Heaven is when you know that life is just a game, and that we are all God essence, pretending to be humans.
Heaven is when you know that nothing, really nothing, that happens on earth has even the slightest impact on who you really are: A god-being.

Friday, February 20, 2009

On Death

Wondeful article on death here.
I am copying the above article below ;)

Summary of the article
1) Death is a transition as is birth. Life is a momentary experience that the soul wishes to have to expand it's perspective and learn lessons. The soul existed before birth and exists after death.
2) There is no reason to fear death. Death is a joyful experience and not a painful one as thought by the masses.
3) You exist.. Forever. During birth, you take on a body, the physical body.
During death, you shed the same body. But shedding one's clothes doesn't have anything to do with shedding one's identity does it? Same is the case with shedding your body. Your identity remains the same after death, albeit the body that limits you is given up. You can think and feel in the same way you did on earth, except that you have more freedom now to explore.
4) Your loved ones are just a heart beat away from you. We are all one, so we are all connected even after death and beyond.


The Article

Dear friends, beloved angels of light, I greet you all. It is from the heart of the Christ energy that I, Jeshua, reach out my hand and extend my greeting to you.

Beloved angel, know that you are cherished. Know that you are loved unconditionally, even now while you reside in a body of flesh and blood, a mortal body. Even while living within the boundaries of this temporary home, you are still unconditionally part of God, the Home for which you long so much. You have never truly left Home, yet you do not recognize the eternal flame which remains alight forever within your being. Get in touch with that light in this moment, cherish yourself, know who you are. A light burns within you, so beautiful and pure. How come you ever doubted this?

Today we speak about dying. Much fear exists concerning death. Fear of annihilation, fear of oblivion, fear of being swallowed up by the big black hole associated with death. As so often the case in the earthly dimension, you tend to turn things topsy-turvy and present them exactly opposite to the way they actually are. In reality, death is liberation, a homecoming, a remembrance of who you really are.

When death comes, you effortlessly return to your natural state of being. Your consciousness blends with the flame of light which is your true identity. Earthly burdens are lifted from your shoulders. Residing within a physical body imposes limitations on you. It is true that you chose to dive into this state of limitation because of the possibility for experience it had to offer. Nevertheless it’s a sensation of bliss to be restored to your natural angelic state. The angel inside you loves to fly and be free, to freely investigate the myriad of worlds which constitute the universe. There is so much to explore and to experience. Once you are born into an earthly body, you more or less lose touch with this angelic freedom and sense of being without limits.

Please join me now, as we go back to the moment just before the dive into your present incarnation. On an inner level you permitted yourself to commence this earthly life. It was a conscious choice. Perhaps you have forgotten about this, and you occasionally feel doubtful about whether you really want to be here. Yet there has been a moment in which you said “yes”. This was a courageous choice. It is an act of great bravery to temporarily trade your angelic freedom and sense of non-limitation for the adventure of becoming human, of becoming mortal. That adventure holds a promise that makes it all worthwhile. Feel the “yes!” that once rose from your soul. Remember also being drawn to earth. Feel how you connected to earth reality, and feel the moment you descended into the embryo within your mother’s womb. You may notice there is heaviness surrounding planet earth, a certain greyness or thickness.

There is much suffering on earth. Pain, loss, fear, negative thoughts are part of earth’s collective atmosphere. And that is what you, as a freshly incarnating soul, passed through. Your light found itself a way through this darkness and in doing so an unavoidable veil of ignorance fell over your original angelic awareness. Feel the sadness of that event, and behind it, your courage and bravery. You were determined: “I am going to do it. Once more, I am going to root myself into this earth reality, in order to find my own light, in order to recognize it, to rediscover it, and to pass it on to this world which is so in need of it.”

Yes, it has been a leap into ignorance. Temporarily forgetting who you are, not remembering your unbound state of being is part of being human. You forget that you are safe and free, no matter where you are. Being human, you set out to reclaim that natural sense of freedom and safety. In your quest, you can become ensnared by powers that seem to offer you what you are looking for, but in fact are making you dependent on something outside of you. You may lean upon judgments coming from outside yourself, telling you how to behave in order to be loved. These false images of Home, these substitutes, tend to sadden and depress you. Indeed, the journey down from heaven to earth has been a tough one. Death, however, transports you back to the plane of eternal love and safety. It is in dying that you surrender to who you have always been. If you die consciously, if you can accept death and surrender to it, dying becomes a joyous event.

What happens when you die? Before you die, you pass through a stage of parting and letting go. It is a phase wherein you say farewell to earthly life, to your loved ones. This can be difficult, yet at the same time it offers you the possibility to reflect deeply upon who you are, and what you have learned and accomplished on earth during your lifetime. In the grief you may sense in letting go of your loved ones, it becomes ever so clear what connects you to them. It is a bond of love which is immortal. This bond is so powerful that it effortlessly passes across the boundary that is death. Love is an inexhaustible source, forever giving rise to new life. Do not fear to lose your loved ones, for it is in the moment of saying goodbye that the bonds of unconditional love are reinforced and given new life. For it is certain: when you part in love, you will meet again. You will find one another again, effortlessly, because the shortest way to another always remains the way of the heart.

If you have loved ones who passed over, you can be sure that they are near to you at the level of the heart. Feel their presence, for they are here among us, extending their greeting to you. They feel privileged and free. They are free from the doubt which plagues so many on earth and they yearn to share with you the love and kindness which is available to you at all times.

Those who remain behind often associate the phase prior to their loved one’s dying with feelings of sadness and loss. It is natural to grieve the departure of a loved one; it is natural to miss and yearn for the loved one’s physical presence. However, we encourage you to try and feel that with their departure a gate toward a new dimension is opened, a dimension where communication is of a nature so pure, clear and direct that it rises above the methods for communication commonly used on earth. You can have direct communication with a loved one after they die, from your heart to their heart. This way, misconceptions which used to stand between you can easily be cleared, once you honestly and openly communicate with the other. Your message will be received, always.

Once you yourself have died, you will view people who are living on earth from a different perspective. You will be more tolerant, mild and you will find yourself with an increased sense of wisdom. You will not be completely balanced all at once, because there are emotions and feelings that you take with you and which need to be dealt with. You will not be perfect or omniscient once you let go of physical life. And that’s not so bad really, for there is still so much to experience and discover on this side! Yet, in most of you there is a new perspective. The dimension of eternity is tangible and this respectfully mitigates your view of what occupied you and the people directly around you during your stay on earth.

Now, what happens to YOU once you pass the boundary of death? Once you have gone through the mourning stage, the stage of saying farewell, you will feel start to feel death drawing closer. The focus of your consciousness now changes. Letting go of the outside world, the people, your body, it will now turn within and move deeper inside of you. Your awareness of the outside world diminishes and this allows you to prepare for the inner journey you are about to embark on. If you consciously accept death, you will experience a “getting ready”, a readiness to truly let go. For your loved ones, this is the moment to let you go, for you need all your strength to turn within and prepare yourself.

Dying need not be a painful process. What actually takes place is of a grand and majestic nature. Dying is a holy event wherein the soul connects with itself in a most intimate manner. During the final stage, the dying person senses the earthly dimension in a detached way: the body, the scents, colours, and other physical sensations. Another dimension is entering their awareness, with a radiance so promising and inviting, that it is not so hard anymore to surrender and leave all things earthly behind. Even the presence of your loved ones will not stop you from going now. The energy of Home - God, heaven or whatever you want to call it - is so overwhelmingly kind, warm and reassuring that it become easy to let go and return your tired and worn-out body to earth.

Once you let go in peace, your soul will rise up from your body gently and fluidly. You will feel supported by universal forces of wisdom and love. If you die without resistance, your immediate surroundings will be filled with warm and loving energy. You will experience an unspeakable sense of relief. You are free, and everything becomes clear. You remember the omnipresence of Love, not as an abstract idea but as a palpable reality. While on earth, you called this kind of love “God”, and you kept a biased, human image of what this God “wanted from you”. You were convinced that there were certain demands made by this God, demands to which you usually did not comply. But here in this dimension, you recall what God’s will truly is: to ensoul you, to inspire you, to experience creation through you and to finally recognize Itself in your countenance. God wanted to become human through you. The goal of the universe’s evolution is YOU: God become human!

God is the source of creation, and you are its fulfilment. You, who have given the light of God human form, are never judged for being human. Instead you are honoured. The idea of a vengeful God is yet another perversion, a reversal of truth instigated by fear. God recognizes Itself in you, regardless of what you do or don’t do. When you are back on this side, you become aware of this again, and a truckload of self-judgment and feelings of inferiority will slide off your shoulders. You will feel the original joy of living again, safe in God’s hand.

Soon after your arrival here, you will perceive light beings around you. There will be guides to assist you and people you knew who passed over before you. Sometimes it will surprise you who you will run into over there: people whom you met only briefly, but who touched your heart deeply, may be there alongside lifelong friends and relatives. Anyone you had a connection with based in love, will come to greet you at some point. Once again, it becomes so clear to you that saying farewell is but an illusion, that the heart-connection is eternal. You will experience a sense of thankfulness and of awe, as you enter this plane of unconditional love and wisdom.

After you arrive on this side, there is a phase of adjustment, in which you get used to your new environment and slowly release your attachment to earth life. You will need to acclimatize. There will be guides to support you who are specialized in this. You will still have a body yet it will feel more fluid than the physical body you were used to. Most likely it will take on the appearance of your most recent physical body. Although there is freedom to take on any appearance that you desire, most people appreciate some continuity for a while. You are also free to create your own living conditions, for instance a beautiful house with a lovely garden, in a natural environment you were fond of while on earth. It is quite all right to live out your earthly fantasies on this plane, which I refer to as the astral plane. This is a dimension or realm of being which allows for much creative freedom, although it still resembles and is closely connected to the dimension of physical earth.

Some people have had difficulty accepting death on earth and their transition to the other side may have been less peaceful. They usually need more time to adapt to their new life circumstances. Sometimes it takes a while before they truly realize that they have passed on. Some people have suffered a long-term illness, and find it hard to shake the idea of being ill. They cannot fully believe they are healthy again, and it often takes the patient and gentle support of a spiritual guide to help them release their old body. The old body can stick to the soul, purely as a concept, as a thought-form. The same goes for emotional habits and patterns of behaviour. They can repeat themselves on the astral plane until the soul discovers its freedom, its power to let go and open up to something new.

Another possibility is that a soul remains attached to the earth realm, to loved ones in particular, because they died suddenly or very young. This can happen in the case of accidents, disasters, or when the person was in the prime of life. These are situations in which a particular soul did not feel ready or prepared to make the departure. Dying in those cases is more or less traumatic. There is loving support on this side for these traumatized souls, as there always is. Sooner or later the soul will reach a state of acceptance and understanding of the situation. There is always a viable reason for what seems to be a premature departure from the earth plane. Dying is never a coincidence.

As your stay on the other side extends, your spirit expands into wider and deeper levels of awareness. More and more will you let go of the ways of thinking and feeling you were used to on earth. Essentially, you gradually go back to the core of who you are, your soul, the divine spark within. The more you enter – or return - to that state of consciousness, the more you detach yourself from your earthly personality and the dimension of earth. You will sense a flow of being which reaches beyond that aspect of you. You will get in touch with other lifetimes you spent on earth, incarnations wherein you embodied other aspects of your soul. You become aware of the boundless space that is your soul and the many experiences you have gathered on your journey through the universe.

When people on earth connect to you now, they will sense a person who has gained in wisdom and spiritual love. In fact, as you are moving closer the core of your soul, you are leaving the astral plane and entering what I call the essential plane, the realm of Essence. Most people stay on the astral plane for quite a while after they have died. They look back on their life on earth and reflect on all the experiences they have gone through. In the astral realm, you can experience both joy and depression, both positive and negative emotions. Your surroundings mirror your inner psychological reality. The emotions you have to come to terms with, take on the form of colours, landscapes and encounters. You often visit the astral realm in your dreams, so you are familiar with this field of awareness. In your esoteric literature, when they speak of many layers or spheres in the afterlife, ranging from dark to light, it is the astral plane that is referred to.

On the astral plane, you get a chance to sort out the emotional luggage you’ve brought along from your recent life on earth. In this you are assisted by several loving guides. At some point, you will let go of all your attachments and emotional pain, and you’re ready to move beyond the astral plane altogether. That’s when you pass on to the plane of essence. When this happens, it is like a second death. You leave behind anything that does not truly belong to you and allow yourself to merge with the greater You, your divine core. The moment you pass on to the essential plane, you will be aware of the immense power that moves you. You will experience your oneness with God.

The plane of essence, the plane of the eternal You, is the seat of the divine consciousness from which all creation originates. I ask you to take a moment to connect to this plane, here and now. It is not far away. It permeates everything, both the astral plane and the earth plane; it permeates the entire cosmos. The presence you sense here is the presence of God, pure and untainted. It may be sensed as a deep silence, completely peaceful yet brimming with life and creativity. From this source springs all of creation and to this source it shall return.

When you reach the essential plane in afterlife, you will be able to make conscious choices regarding your future destination. On this plane you may arrange, with the help of teachers and guides, another incarnation on earth, or plan a different journey, dependent on your goals. You can clearly hear the voice of your soul on the essential plane. It is from this plane that you once said “yes” to the life in which you now find yourself.

Take a moment to remember what it felt like to be on this plane. The more you become aware of this dimension during your life on earth, the easier it will be to die peacefully and, after your death, to move beyond the astral plane into the plane of essence.

Death is nothing more than a transition, one of the many transitions you go through in life. Birth is a transition. Life on earth knows so many moments of transition, of passing through and letting go. Just think of it. The body you now reside in has at one time been very small, a vulnerable little baby. And yet your soul, the divine essence inside you, was already working through you when you were that vulnerable little baby. When you reached maturity, many of you got swallowed up by the demands which life on earth made on you, and you were confronted by fears and doubts. The awareness of your divine core, your soul, got pushed to the background. However, there arrived moments in your life when the dimension of divine awareness opened up again. This often happened at moments during which you had to let go, when you had to say farewell.

Maybe it was saying farewell to a loved one, perhaps letting go of a job; any conceivable scenario. Such events are transitions which resemble dying, not in a literal sense but on a psychological level. You are being asked to let go on a deep level, and it is exactly during those moments of letting go that you can start to feel the reality of your eternal Self, the divine light that burns inside you. This reality remains with you unconditionally, even when everything around you falls away. And so it is when it comes to physically dying. If at that moment you are courageous enough to let go, the plane of the eternal will embrace you and you will experience a very strong awareness of who you really are.

Dying in conscious surrender is a holy event, filled with life and beauty. The majesty of what is enfolding will be tangible for those present. The more the ones who are present have experienced “dying while being alive”, the more they will be filled with awe and reverence about the transition they are witnessing.

With regard to all the transitions available in creation, ranging from physical birth and death to moments of intense emotional detachment during your life, the pivotal question ever remains not whether you will survive, but whether you are able to retain the connection with your own divine core. Can you stay in touch with the plane of Essence, your origins, Creation’s heartbeat? Connecting with the essential plane often during your life is the best way of preparing yourself for death, and for what lies beyond. By becoming aware now - prior to physical death – that the very core of who you are does not depend on the current physical body you reside in, nor on the identity which you assume in the world, do you set yourself free to smoothly make the transition once the moment arrives.

Connecting with the essential plane is a choice you make. Dying in itself won’t get you any closer to it. After dying, you will very much be the same person as you are now, albeit endowed with different possibilities and given a wider perspective. Yet the crucial question ever remains: do you remember yourself? Are you able to consciously connect with that dimension of timelessness which flows through you and which truly inspires you ?

You are un-perishable, dearly beloved angels of Light. Take faith in this. Let yourself be comforted and supported by this knowledge when your hour of death arrives; and now also, while you struggle with the issues of your life.

In order to die peacefully, you are asked to detach yourself on the inner level from anything that ties you to earthly existence. Practice this detachment continually while you are living, and you will be prepared to die.

You may ask: “Isn’t it tragic to detach yourself from life, while you are standing in the middle of it?” The answer is: “No. Instead, it is testament to a truly powerful spirit.”

What does detachment mean? It means that you pay attention to essence, that you do not get caught up in non-essential matters. It means you do not create unnecessary emotional drama; it means you experience joy in the simple things of life. To practice detachment and stay tuned into the plane of essence entails being aware of a hidden dimension, which lies directly underneath and behind the observable. It means to renounce quick judgment in terms of good and bad, and to trust a cosmic intelligence which far by exceeds the human mind.

Many of you are trapped in a thinking fever. You feverishly consider life; how to solve problems, how to accomplish all the things you think you need to do. You are very fixed on organizing life through your will and your mind. Detachment means you take this thinking aspect of yourself less seriously. Is this a tragic thing to do? No. Instead, it brings light and airiness to your life.

It is by your excessive urge for control that life becomes a struggle, tiring and heavy. Detachment brings peace of mind, humour and thoughtfulness. Being aware of the finiteness of life inspires the natural desire to cherish life. And it is there where your divine core can effortlessly flow through you, from the essential plane to your earthly reality. Once that happens, you will have conquered death before you have died.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Holy shit!! - The concept of God, Part 2

Holy shit indeed. I mean it literally.
Let's back up a moment. In the previous post, I mentioned that God being omnipresent means that God is present in every thing imaginable and also everything beyond our imagination. Now, shit is something we see every day and by our previous definition, God is present in shit.

Now, some might look at this as an attempt to deprecate God. To them, I would say, please look deeper into what is being implied. I hold God(which I don't think is a person, btw, I just think of God as a divine consciousness that is the 'Unseen seer' or the 'Unmoved mover') in the greatest of love and awe. Even if I did deprecate God, God doesn't judge. Humans judge, God doesn't. God just observes and thrills in our actions, and responds to our thoughts, beliefs and cocreates our reality with us.
God is a consciousness, and it pervades everything. If you go to a chemist or biologist and ask her to look at the molecular structure of shit, she's not going to say that the molecules look shitty! She might just go into the technical details of what kind of atoms and molecules bond together to form the thing we call, shit.
But the fact remains, that every object in this world has one thing in common.. It's made up of molecules.
Going one step further into the physics of it: String theory says, that the fundamental essence of all matter is energy and energy vibrating at different rates produces different kinds of matter (correct me if I am wrong).
So what we call 'shit', is just the outward appearance, it's fundamental essence is energy.. You could also call that energy or essence, God. And we all know that God is what we call (w)hol(l)y (or whole), and thus shit is also a part of the whole and hence, holy.

Holy shit!!
Here's an associated funny video: What is sacred?

Monday, February 16, 2009

The concept of God, Part 1

Once I encountered a definition of God through spiritual books(not to be confused with religious books) that embodies limitlessness, purity and freedom, I find most of the religious definitions of God to be very limiting, and very 'old'.

I think we can all agree that God is something or someone that is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.

What does omnipresent mean? It means something that is present everywhere. How can God be present in all of universe, unless God is all of the universe? What does that mean?
It means that Universe is not just God's creation, the Universe is also a part or an extension of God, literally!!!

It means that the stone you see on the road has God consciousness. It means that dirt, flowers, shit, water, good, bad, everything has God consciousness. It also means that we, human beings have God consciousness. This is what is meant by saying that everyone has a divine spark within them.

Many religions think of God to be a perfect bodied male!! Why not female?? Why not just consciousness?? Why the heck are you limiting God to be just a male or a female? Why can't God have no form or why can't God be a flower or a tree or a river or the sky? Why not?? If God is indeed omnipresent and Omnipotent, God can be any or all or none of that. God can also be an alien, God can damn well be anything God wishes to be.

This is the concept of limitless God: A God that can take up any form.. Human form, animal form, plant form, a rock form, any form (or no form) that God chooses. God can be a female, male, transgender, anything that it pleases to be.

I mean, think about it. If humans were ants, and not humans, we would be having an ant god. . If humans were dogs and not humans, we would be having dog gods!!. If humans were plants and not humans, we would be having a plant god/goddess and so on.. Thus we are making up the concept of God, based on how we look.. That is the first step to defining God, but a baby step nevertheless, since we have limited God to have the characterisitcs we have, only in a more perfect way.

Man is made in the image of God, but that image refers to the divine spark within everyone, not to the external physical form.
We look at our external physical form(the body) and say, God should also have a human form.. That to me, based on the previous paragraph is an elementary way to define god.

The definition of God that makes God limitless (not restricting God to be a male or a female or any shape or form), all loving and completely non-judgemental is the definition I will take of God. Indeed, ye are all gods refers to the fact that what makes God, a God is present as a potential in everyone of us. It's only our limited understanding of who we really are that makes us think that we are separate from God, or that we are not powerful as God is, or that we are mere bodies.. No, we are not just bodies, we are spirits that are embodied. This understanding can really transform limiting belief systems into a more expansive, all inclusive and empowering belief system. Let's have that on our earth, let's have a new understanding of a limitless, expansive, all-loving, non-judgemental God and a new understanding of who we really are.

Follow up: Holy shit!! The concept of God, Part 2

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Making sense of a few spiritual concepts

While reading new-age, spiritual, religious, self-help books, I came across many concepts that seemed conflicting at first. A deeper examination revealed that they build on each other. For example, there is this concept of 'letting go'. A person who hears this for the first time, might sarcastically comment, 'Oh yeah, let go of your job, it's all good'. And then there is another concept of 'following your bliss or passion'. Do these two concepts seem to conflict with each other?
Now, another concept I have encountered is, 'Nothing matters'. Now you are like, 'that's even worse than letting go'. Well, all these concepts have their contextual frames of reference, where they hold good. So here's my understanding of these concepts:


1. Letting go: Letting go refers to letting go of worries and cares, past hurts, grief, anger, hate, etc. It's not about letting go of your passions or your happiness. This concept comes from the larger than life perspective that whatever is showing up currently in your life in the form of circumstances, people, situations, etc are for your highest good...that essentially circumstances you are currently facing are perfect for your spiritual growth despite apparent evidence to the contrary. It comes from the larger than life perspective that life is meant to be fun, life is a game, we need to enjoy the journey and not worry about the destination. That doesn't mean you don't dream, on the contrary, it means that you could dream as much as possible but don't let your circumstances curtail your beliefs that you can achieve these dreams... As you can see, letting go is in total harmony with 'following your bliss or passions', because you have done away with worries and fears that stop you from pursuing your passion through the process of letting go or surrender.

2. Circumstances don't matter, only state of being matters:
This concept is related to the concept of 'letting go'. This concept is essentially the same as "thought-belief-creation paradigm"[2] or the "Be-do-have" [1] paradigm.
Normally, people look at their cicumstances and say, oh I am having a bad time, if only things were better, I could be more happier and enjoy my life.. This is the 'have-do-be' paradigm. That is, if I have my (fill in: money, skills, time etc), I can do the things I like to do, and therefore be happy. The, 'have-do-be' paradigm comes from the belief that happiness is a product of circumstances.
Now, the new paradigm, the 'be-do-have' paradigm is essentially based on the understanding that happiness is a state of mind and therefore be happy, and your circumstances will change for the better. On the other hand, if you choose to be depressed, worried, fearful,and all the negative states of being, then your circumstances will mirror those states of being..You see this is a vicious circle.
The 'be-do-have' paradigm goes hand in hand with the 'thought-belief-creation' paradigm, which states that your thoughts and beliefs create your reality..literally.
I have tested this concept out, works very well. I thus immediately check myself if I see myself having thoughts that are based on fear or doubt or lack. For example, 'I somehow seem to lack the resources I need to pursue my passion'...This thought is based on 'lack', and by our paradigm, you would get stuck in circumstances that reflect your belief of lack.
Thus, we get this concept of 'Circumstances don't matter, only state of being matters' [3] i.e. to say, irrespective of how good or bad the circumstances seem, they can always get better. For that to happen, stop worrying and change your state of being to happiness or joy or peace and once you change your state of being to joy or peace or happiness, you would then create better circumstances from these positive states of being.

3. Nothing matters
This is the ultimate and one of the broadest spiritual concepts I have encountered.
Though it may be difficult to apply, understanding this concept can keep your boat afloat in the most depressing of times. I have personally come to a realization of this concept through some experiences I had in 2007.
I read about this concept in a book and I asked myself, how can "Nothing matter?". Ofcourse, my grades matter. Ofcourse, money matters. How the heck can you say that nothing matters?
It seemed like I was challenging the universe. The universe responded in kind by giving me a profound experience, where the only way I thought I could get out of the situation was by letting go of my fears, and by understanding that even if the worst possible thing happened to me, that would be ok - Once I came to that level of acceptance of my situation and its worst case possibility, the situation cleared magically and all my fears were unfounded. I then realized that this situation had a lesson for me- Nothing really matters.
The broader spiritual basis for this concept is that death is just a horizon[5] and that you always exist either with a physical body in the physical reality or as a spirit being in the spirit realm[1], which indicates that death is a transition from the physical realm to the spiritual realm; and also that the core of your being or the spirit that you are is a spirit of love, bliss and joy. So despite the seeming travails that you face on earth, when you go back to the spiritual realm, it would seem like you just spent a day on earth, and you are back home, full of joy and full of love.
That is why nothing matters on earth or anywhere, for the core of your being is always untainted and always full of love, bliss and is also eternal[1].


Summary

The three concepts of 'letting go', 'thought-belief-creation paradigm', and 'nothing matters' are in perfect harmony with each other. 'Thought-belief-creation paradigm' is very practical, since once you begin to test this concept out([2]&[3]) (and notice that for example, if you have been thinking of someone all day, you get a call from that person or you get a visit, etc ), you have immediately started empowering yourself with this paradigm. Another way to use this paradigm is to have a list of intentions that reflect what you wish happen in your life and then say those intentions or give thought to those intentions everyday. 'Letting go' is also a useful concept, although, this concept is usually applied in practice once a person reaches a certain level of spiritual growth or if circumstances are such that you surrender to god/goddess/All-that-is and trust that the circumstances are assisting your spiritual growth.
Nothing matters is useful if you want to get the broadest perspective possible on life.. Life is essentially meaningless, it is you who assign meaning to it based on your beliefs and expectations. And circumstances turning out one way or the other doesn't matter, because in the ultimate reality, you are a whole, complete being of love, light, and bliss..you(or we) are essentially god in the ultimate reality. This is explained very well in [1].

References
[1] Conversations with god series. Neale Donald Walsch.
[2] Ask and it's given. Abraham Esther Hicks.
[3] Channeling video by Darryl Anka: Circumstances don't matter.
[4] Spiritual growth. Sanaya Roman.
[5] Autobiography of a yogi. Paramahamsa Yogananda.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

World of light: Good video

Introduction
You read these books on philosophy and spirituality and some of them can be abstract to begin with, mind-boggling to begin with, paradigm-shifting to begin with, confusing to begin with... I remember when I first read the 'Complete works of Swami Vivekananda' in my 10th grade/class. I was mind-boggled and confused. It is a great compilation of the essence of vedanta and correlates well with the western spiritual books I have read (E.g.: Conversations with God series by Neale Donald Walsch). The idea that was mind-boggling was the idea of my identity. In that book, Vivekanada explaining the concepts of advaita(or non-dualistic philosophy of creation), said that who you are is not the physical body, who you are is not the mind, who you are is verily the spirit.
The terminology used is: Atman, Brahman.
Atman is analogous to Holy spirit in christianity, and Brahman (not to be confused with Brahma or the creator god) is analogous to Father the God in christianity. Except that, Brahman was supposed to be undescribable. The best analogy that could be given to Brahman was an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent being of light, knowledge and bliss (sat-chit-ananda). Brahman is supposed to be something that pervades everything and everyplace and everywhen. Brahman is supposed to be the very essence of life and non-life.

So, you have an ideological understanding of the identity. But visually, not so much.
Here comes along a video (see below), that comes close to describing this idea of this magnificent being of light and love that is supposedly our identity, but that we forget this after our birth and assume that we are just the body, that we are just the mind.
As one video I saw mentioned, we are the hosts that inhabit this body, we are the hosts that go beyond time and space, we are the hosts, who are gods. Indeed, ye are all gods. In vedas, it is mentioned, Aham Brahmasmi(I am Brahman or Atman = Brahman, Holy spirit = Father the God).

Watch the colorful video here.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Insight

Had an insight today. Usually, these insights arise from a better understanding of what you already know..the knowledge you gain from books and experiences. But, some times, the insights seem to come from a source outside of yourself..but then that means you don't know yourself.
Here's an insight I had on spiritual growth:

The process of self-discovery is bitter-sweet to begin with..lots of confusion in the beginning. Slowly your life gets streamlined with the flow and that's when the fun begins...that's when you see the dramas of life for what they are..That's when you stop being afraid of uncertainity and welcome what shows up with open arms.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Wonderful interview with Tulku Thondup 'plus' some reflection

Read it here.
I just ordered the book, "Boundless healing" by Tulku Thondup. I was in the university bookstore browsing through books, when I came across the book. I leafed through the chapters and liked the clear, succinct messages and meditation exercises.

Going beyond reading
Now, the important thing about buying spiritual books, I have realized, is to not just buy them and read 'em up like a paperback novel. Ofcourse, you will be doing that in the beginning, when you get on to this thing called the 'spiritual journey'. Once, you get the basic idea behind what this 'spiritual journey' is all about, it's time for action. It's time to stop bragging to yourself or others about the books you read, and actually implement the principles and the broader perspective you gain through these books into your life and see if there is truth to these meditations and if you feel more peaceful, etc.
I have been meditating regularly since July 11th 2008. Missed only a day or two so far.
Have I become enlightened? He he, that's a funny question.
Well, my understanding is that enlightenment is a process. It's not about getting there and it's all over. No, it's never over. But it get's better and better and better. More peace, more joy, more happiness, one little footprint at a time.

Effects of meditation
So how has my life changed since I began meditating? Again, a funny question. Not much externally. I am still doing research, being a geeky grad student, making two ends meet (well fortunately it does meet comfortably). It's not about what has changed externally, it's about what is changing within me. It's a subtle process, it's so subtle that you don't notice it.. Unless you do. I place a lot of emphasis these days on thought, word and deed. Because, I have come to believe, that what I think, say and act upon ultimately creates my reality, irrespective of how bleak it is out there, irrespective of what others say or think I am capable of, irrespective of.. well.. the list goes on. Note, that this thought-belief-creation paradigm is still a belief, albeit a strong one, in me.
Here's an interesting statement:
Whether or not you believe that your thoughts, speech and actions create your reality, that is whether or not you believe in this thought-belief-creation paradigm, you are right.
Because if you don't believe that your thoughts create your reality, you will see your life that way. You will think that, what the heck, I don't control my life, I just do damage-control all the time life throws the kitchen sink at me.. and you will be right... Because that's what you believe in.
So, there is no escaping this thought that your thoughts, your beliefs, your actions influence your future.

Ofcourse, you can't just explain away your life saying that: I brought on the bad experiences I had in my life, because I didn't take control of my life. Here's where, the bigger picture kicks in:
Certain experiences, especially the "bad ones", act as catalysts for change and therefore are supposed to be part of the "master plan". They force you to examine yourself, to take a deep look at yourself, and ask, what went wrong? Is this who I really am? And then you come to a new understanding of who you really are!!!

Who am I? - The fundamental question
This question, "Who am I?" is the most fundamental question you can ever ask yourself.
Some people might respond, 'what kind of a question is this? I am 'fill in your name'''.
Do you realize that your name is just a label. Now moving beyond, people would say I am my body. Some would say, I am just a bunch of atoms. Really? Do you think of yourself that way?
Because, I think that really forces you to examine how the bunch of atoms that make you up is gelled up together, so to speak, and does not fall apart.
Some say I am my mind. Some say, I am the mind-body complex.
Let's look at what the ancient texts have to say:

1) According to the vedas, we are not just made up of one body, but sheaths of bodies:
The physical body, the energy body, the mental body, the intellectual body, the causal body, and then comes the soul, the real you!
Wow, so if that's true, where is my energy body, I can't perceive it!.. That's a good statement.
Seeing is believing, right. Well, it depends on whether you can see properly or not!
One of the effects of meditation is that I am able to sense energy around me.

Sensing energy
For example, when I sit down to meditate, I sit in the traditional lotus posture (padmasana)
and I curl up the index finger so that it's tip touches the tip of the thumb on both the hands. Two months into the meditation, I could sense energy pulsing in and out of the tip of the index and thumb fingers when I sat down to meditate.
Also, I have had involuntary body movement during some of my meditations.
[Clearly to me, I wasn't causing it. Because, if I stopped the body movement, it would begin again - involuntarily.
I wasn't sick during that time, ofcourse I was having a lot going on in my mind, but no indications of any disease, physical or otherwise. During those early periods of my meditation practice, whenever I sat down to meditate, a gentle 'ticking' would begin at the base of my spine and gradually expand throughout my whole body so that I would be swaying rhythmically within a minute.
]

Other small things I notice is that, when I bring my palms together, facing each other, and with 5 inch gap (or any small gap) between the plams, I can sense energy exchange between the two palms. Now, what the heck is this energy exchange? When I move the hands apart, I feel as if something is tearing apart as if a rubber sheet was being stretched apart and when I bring the hands together I feel a pull again. It's a subtle sensation but very distinct. So, again, this is another example of what I mean by sensing energy.
Is this energy I am sensing, a part of the energy body? I don't know, but I believe so. You can't escape belief. You investigate a little, you believe a little. You believe a little, you get more clues and that's the game I am playing here.

Another experience, I frequently have these days, especially when I do visualization meditations or healing meditations (I visualize that I am bathed by healing light that permeates my energy body - oh yeah, putting theory into practice) is that:
I sense tingling sensations or crawling sensations on my head and sometimes on my forehead too.. but mostly on the top of my head. It might be because I have a lot of dandruff in my hair (!!), but why does the tingling have to happen only when I meditate and especially when I visualize healing light permeating my energy body?

Life after death
If it's true that we are made up of more than one body, what happens after death. Here's the kicker: Only the physical body dies, the other bodies continue to another plane of existence. What does this mean? It means that you, as you know yourself to be, your identity, as you think yourself to be, continues to exist beyond death.
Again, this is a belief, but near-death experiences kind of confirm this phenomenon of life after death.
Isn't it amazing to know and believe, that life exists after death, not as a mere fantasy of our imagination to alleviate the suffering that surrounds death, but as an actual reality, as real as I feel my fingers typing this sentence, if not, more real.

What do you fear?
What is the worst thing you can fear. Most will say death. Some say, they don't fear death, but the experience of dying itself. Oh common, how long are you going to be in this 'process of dying'. Ofcourse, if it's a terminal illness, which is a long process of getting to death, it's going to be painful...But again, it all depends on your perspective. If you firmly believe (with parts of your belief validated consistently by books and maybe your experiences too - out of body experience, for example) that life moves on after death :- you strip your physical body during death
just as you would strip down before you hit the sack, then you are actually releasing a heavyweight, your physical body and becoming lighter..and moving into light. He he, this is getting funny and I am getting light-headed...even more funny.

If you don't fear death, your worst fears are put to rest. Fear of losing a job, fear of losing a relationship, pale in comparison to the fear of death. But if you don't fear death, because of a deep understanding that you gain from reading spiritual books and also from meditation experiences (and/or some might add - salvia divinorum), your whole perspective towards death changes: There's no more deep mourning at funerals, atleast for you, since you understand that this guy who is dead is not really dead and is actually quite happier and lighter with the burden (physical body) that he has shed and you might actually want to celebrate death. And, the wonderful interview above, talks about the importance of understanding in a little more detail, this wonderful death - because it is supposed to be a wonderful experience.

Some books on death:
1) Home with God by Neale Donald Walsch - A clean spiritual book with ground-breaking ideas on death.
2) Heart links by Louise Platt Hauck - A nice book of real life (or death stories) on communicating with the dead or shall we say, 'not so dead'. Ha ha.
3) Buddhist texts - Tibetan book of the dead (I have not read this book).
4) Vedas and upanishads - Not on death per se but throw a lot of light on the ultimate question - "Who am I?" which, amazingly is consistent with all the spiritual literature I have come across on the question of human identity.

Friday, October 10, 2008

My core spiritual beliefs

Here are my core beliefs. Feel free to disagree with them. These beliefs are not taken from any religion but are definitely borrowed from the multitude of spiritual (not to be confused with religious) books that I have read:

a) We are all one (despite the apparent physical differences) - The essence of us all is one.
String theory in theoretical physics says that the fundametal elements of our body are not atoms or sub-atomic particles but strings of 'energy' that have different vibration frequencies. If our fundamental essence is indeed energy, and if energy can neither be created nor destroyed, then the next belief follows:
b) There is no death. Death is just a horizon, death is to the physical body, not to my 'identity'. My 'real self' doesn't die. And 'self-realization' is all about knowing and experiencing this 'real-self' which is eternal. That is to say, I don't fear death. Why will you fear an illusion?
c) God is not a person, sitting out there in heaven. God is in the present moment, in the mundane, in everything basically: God is an omni-present, omni-scient, omni-potent entity. Hence, it makes perfect sense to see god in every 'thing' (even rocks or mud or filth/garbage or air or water, etc) and every 'sentient being' (person: male, female, asian, black, white, blue; animals, birds, earthworms!!, reptiles, etc ).
In short, I believe that anything that you can imagine (Real or unreal) is a part of god. There is only 'one'.. but that 'one' has infinite 'manifestations', giving rise to these multitude of lifeforms and universes.
The mistake religions do is to limit god to a human form. If god is indeed a 'god', shouldn't that 'god' be all-encomapssing? Shouldn't that god have no boundaries? If god is really 'god', then it should be able to take up any form it so chooses or no form at all. Only then will god be truly limitless. Why don't religions get this?
Also my concept of god is one that loves unconditionally, a god that does not judge or condemn. Some religions have a hard time understanding this concept. Also they inject the component of fear anywhere and everywhere. You have to fear god's wrath, etc.. What total crap!!!
Man is made in god's image. The problem is that the man faltered. God didn't. So if you equate a
faltered man to a god, that is a mistake. A faltered man judges people, condemns people.
A sage neither condemns nor judges. A sage exudes peace and unconditional love. Now, equating a sage to god makes sense.
d) We are on this earth for a reason. We are here to learn from our experiences and grow.. grow spiritually. Indeed we are spiritual beings having a human experience (oft quoted).
e) Reincarnation exists and makes sense since if you only had a lifetime, your growth is limited to the experiences learnt from that particular lifetime. But you are a spiritual being that keeps on evolving (See d)), therefore, it makes sense to have many lifetimes of the 'earth experience' to evolve and learn all possible lessons on the earth plane of existence.

My first ever(professional) reiki experience

In short it was relaxing, it was interesting, and it was "spacey".

Detailed description
The Reiki session was held in a spa room. I comfortably settled onto a nice bed, laying on my back, and I was told to relax myself and be open to any experience I would have and also be open to let the ki or chi or prana do its work. Eileen started out with placing her hand gently on my chest and then going on to behind my neck, my forehead, my scalp, then moving down to the shoulder and chest again. Each hand placement was initially made for a minute or two. Thus far, I was just relaxed and didn't feel any sensations or heat that are usually said to accompany a Reiki experience.
She then moved her hand to my chest and placed it there for a prolonged period.. I started feeling heat on my chest and felt 'lightness' in the chest.
I asked her if she still had her hand on my chest, for I was not sure, even though I 'felt' pressure, as though from a hand. Just as I asked this question, I felt her two hands on my feet. Wow, so her two hands were on my feet, and I was feeling pressure on my chest, just as if there was a hand placed there. This was amazing. The pressure stayed for a while. Periodically, I was reminded to take deep breaths and allow the chi to work through.
I was then asked to flip over and Eileen worked her hands on my back and did I feel some heat there or what. I wasn't imagining it for sure, it was searing out there, though in a sort of bearable way. Eileen worked on the back of my neck, my hands. I remember her pressing my hand hard and the pressure stayed (similar to the chest), even though she went to work on my legs.
So this was again the case where, there was pressure applied onto my legs from her two hands and then there was the 'phantom hand' (sure did feel like that) applying pressure on my wrist.

At this point, I started feeling spaced out. I was feeling a little disoriented and the eastern instrumental music in the background seemed to be aiding this 'spacey' feeling. I was kind of scared, and mentioned this to Eileen. She suggested that I imagine myself grounding my body to the earth. I did that visualization and in a few minutes, I felt less dis-oriented. This dis-orientation is really new to me. I have felt this feeling once before, when I was undergoing a lot of changes in my life. And as before, it felt frightening and weird.

The reiki master mentioned that she had seen very few clients getting 'spacey' on their first reiki session. Hmm, I have been meditating regularly, the past three months, and that might have contributed to my current experience. So, after exchanging some more ideas, and having my questions answered (a lot of them), I left the place feeling a little 'spacey' but oriented back to the so-called 'real' world.

Principles:
So from what I understand, the philosophy behind Reiki is that: The 'chi' (china) or 'Ki' (Japan) or 'Prana' (India) or the life force is a universal energy that can supposedly be tapped by anyone if required. Reiki is one such way of tapping into this 'ki'. The patient's or client's body is considered intelligent and wherever there is a need, the body directs the flow of the Ki through the Reiki Master's hands to the affected part of the body. So, in accordance with this understanding, Eileen let me know that I needed the energy most on my back and shoulders and hence I felt the ki there as 'a lot of heat'. This makes sense, since I sometimes carry a laptop along with many books in my backpack and my shoulders and back take a beating when I do that.

I am going to go for some follow-up reiki sessions and see how they go and what I experience.
I am pretty open to energy work and the like. It fits my belief system pretty well (although you don't need a belief system for Reiki, which is a secular practice) .

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Spiritual books inventory

I thought a post on the books I have read, am reading, wish to read would make up a good post. Also, in future posts, I would like to capture the essence of these books.
I will be continually modifying this blog as I read more and more books and I will also capture the essence of the books briefly below.

Books read:

--------------

1) The Complete works of Swami Vivekanada - An astounding book covering the vedantic philosophy of monotheism and eternal reality. Also covers the four prinicple yogas - Karma, Jnana, Bhakti and Raja yoga in detail. Swami Vivekanada was a great spiritual leader and monk. His most famous quote is: "Arise, awake. Stop not till the goal is reached".

2) Conversations with God series (Neale Donald Walsch) which include several books: Book 1,2,3. Home with God. Communion with God. Friendship with God. Tomorrow's God. - A wonderful series.
Note, though this book is titled Conversations with God - this book is not affliated with any religion and it revolutionizes the idea of what a God is - God is more than a mere person - God is emptiness. God is the all in all. God is life and God is Change.

3) Soul stories by Gary Zukav - Simple life stories, but profound spiritual lessons - That's the essential theme of this book. The life stories are taken from the author's life but the author took the liberty to modify them as necessary.

4) Past lives, Future Growth by Armand Marcotte - See life through the eyes of an accomplished Psychic. I believe that we are all psychics. Many people cosider psychic powers to be otherworldly. But Psychic powers are something that can be as intrinisic as the power of sight, the power of speech or the power of hearing. It can basically be seen as a latent power.
The essence of this book is that many problems we face in life might be carried over from past lives. We live lives to understand who we are and basically remember who we are through life's various experiences. If we don't learn our lessons in one life, those lessons need to be learnt in subsequent lives.
The essential perspective is that life's trials and tribulations are lessons for us - lessons for developing our character, lessons to grow spiritually, lessons to realize who we truly are and what our true potential is. Some lessons not learnt in previous lives are therefore carried forth to subsequent lives and this is where Armand comes into the picture - He lets you know what is the lesson to be learnt from the trial you are undergoing. He is helped by his spirit guides as is described in the book.
A wonderful book - I suggest you read this book with an open mind and be open to the ideas in the book, which are more important.

5) Miscellaneous ebooks: There are many ebooks that I have read that gave me a good understanding of the essence of Hindu Philosophy. You can look for ebooks by Swami Sivananda, Vivekananda, Krishnananda. Hindu Philosophy and new-age spirituality have a lot in common.
Both agree on the oneness of life - the essence of all kinds of life forms - animals, humans, even inanimate objects such as rocks, pebbles, and mountains is the same. Interestingly, String theory in Physics also says that the fundamental unit of matter is "Energy"!!! These energy are represented through strings which vibrate at different rates. The different rates of vibrations totally decide the shape, density, colour and other characteristics of matter (objects) that we see around the world. What does this mean? Appearances can be deceptive. According to string theory, strings (Energy forms) are more fundamental than the elementary particles discovered by Quantum physics.
In this context of string theory and Quantum physics, I have a read called "Hyperspace" by Michio Kaku. I highly recommend this book for readers who are interested in the progress made by physics in the past few decades in the understanding of what matter is fundamentally made up of.

6) "Call" - I read this book at the udub book store today (June 5th 2008). It's a book that in very plain english explains how the author had his spiritual call. Everyone receives the call, only a few are aware of it, and fewer heed it. The book explores the type of calls one can receive and is a philosophical delight to read.

7) Songs of the soul - I read this book recently (June 2nd 2008). It's a basic but very foundational book in how one begins on the spiritual path.
The key concepts are forgiveness, unconditional love (this word is often the least understood word in our human experience), one-ness of beings. The all in all is verily the self. The self is verily unconditional love, total joy, and total freedom.
All these words are synonyms of the essence, the brahman, the atman, the tao, the chi, the prana, the father, the holy spirit, the jesus, the rama, the krishna, the GOD. In Art of living, I believe, there is an exercise where you say to the other person, "You belong to me". This is a practical expression of "We are all one".
Note, that this needn't be a metaphorical statement and it is not. The essence in everybody is the same, the energy that drives the universe is present in every sentient and non-sentient object and that energy is "who you really are".

8) Soul Traveler by Albert Taylor - Describes the experiences of Albert Taylor in astral travel. We are pure consciousness covered by layers of bodies - There is the physical body, the astral body, the causal body, and so on. Albert actually narrates through his experiences what it feels like to shed one body and assume another one.
Taylor highlights that although soul travel might seem like an extreme adventure, out of the world experience (literally), such experiences also come with a sense of responsibility.
Books in progress:

---------------------

1) Joy of living: A wonderfully simple book that touches on the various aspects of meditation from a Buddhist perspective. What are the common pitfalls that a beginner faces. Strategies to regularize the meditation practice. Fruits of meditation. Some results of scientific tests on the benefits of meditation.

2) The power is within you by Louise HaY: Louise Hay writes the book with utter simplicity so as to make the book easily comprehendable. Through various examples and true stories she relates the power of affirmations. The essence of this book is "What you believe, you become". But my personal perspective is that affirmations alone are not enough to attain equanimity and peace of mind. Though affirmations can be used to supplement a core spiritual practice that involves some kind of meditation. On second thoughts, I realize that prayer is also a form of meditation and affiramations can fall in that category.

3) Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi: A very powerful intellectual book that describes the conversations that the great being Sri Ramana Maharshi had with people who came to his Ashram during the early 1900's. Sri Ramana Maharshi is a proponent of 'Jnana Yoga'. The question "Who am I?" is fundamental to many of the conversations in the book. It takes a long time to go through the pages of the book since you can't just do a light reading. The recorded conversations make you think about your own identity during the process of reading.



Books to be read:

----------------------

1) The Tibetan book of the Dead.
2) The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.
3) New Earth by Eckhart Tolle.
4) A rigorous study of upanishads. There are many sources on the web to get
materials on the upanishads. The vedanta and upanishads form a core part of Hindu Philosophy, which by the way has little to do with the rituals of the Hindu Religion, atleast at the surface. The basis for the rituals could ofcourse be argued to be found in the philosophy.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Chat on "Nothing Matters"

My gtalk status for the past few weeks has been "Nothing matters". Curious, my friend (AM) had a lot of questions to ask and that turned into a wonderful conversation that I would like to share with the world. Here's the unedited transcript of that chat:

AM: hey man
me: hey wasup
AM: hey u r in whch univ?
me: univ of washington
seattle
AM: oh
i think thats a very good app
from what i heard
me: yeah it is..
AM :)
me: but good app doesn't necessarily mean good research or good experiences :(
AM: hmm
how come
good experiences
hey tell me abt ur status message
nothing matters
whats the funda
me: Its based in philosophy
Nothing matters is - No matter what situation comes in your life, no matter how depressing it is, it doesn't really matter - Because the essence of you is not the ego but beyond that
Hence your ego might be affected by good or bad experiences, but the real 'you' is not.
AM: right
what u r remains the same
lol
:)
me: No what you are keeps changing - always, but what you are is beyond what you think you are
AM: hmm
how come that
u mean to say ppl are greater than what they think they are
me: Much much greater
AM: great as in qualities
or abilities
me: everything.. great in every aspect
AM: hmm..
but they underperform miserably
all the time
me: That's because of their belief that they are not good
anil.marthi: hmm
miserable people
i'm sick of them
me: No even you are one of them.. I am also one of them... Everyone has beliefs that constricts them.. Some have fewer such beliefs, some have many such constricting beliefs
AM: no man
i dont have any such constricting beliefs
im not saying that im great though
me: Well.. your last statement is a constricting belief
You believe you are not great
AM: hey i believe im great
but im not telling u that
:)
me: He he.. think about this.. there is always room for improvement... alwaus
AM: right
me: And the improvement comes from changing your beliefs.. Hence constricting beliefs always exist
AM: hehe
how true
me: yeah.. don't believe in whatever I say.. see if it is the case..
AM: but then if u start thinking that how great we are, then our ego will boost
and self esteem too
and it cant easily tower other's self esteem
me: You can't just say I am great - you can't trick your mind - You have to also show yourself that you are great - Then your belief will become stronger
AM: true
yeah
still even if u r great
if you keep thinking u r great
it wont augur well with other ppl
u ll start having problems with me
abt how they shd treat you and all
me: You won't say to others I am great.. You will say you are as great as I am
AM: hmm
me: Everyone is great.. they just don't realize that.. so boasting will not help... but if by example you show to others that anyone is and can become great.. everyone will appreciate that
AM: hmm yes
hold
but if u tell someone that
you are as great as i am
some just dont like that
like putting pseude and all
its not good
also
thiking that im great im great
me: Yes if they have a very strong belief that they are just about average.. So they don't like that because their constricting belief is strong.. In such cases, you should be very gentle in how you talk to them
AM: yes man
ppl will knw that they are good man
but still dont want to show it off
how abt that?
me: Why are you worried about showing off.. That shows that you are worried about what people think.. Which shows that you have a belief that your image is dependent on what others think... :D
AM: no no
not like that
im talking abt practical point of view man
not abt worry what they think abt me
i ve experienced this practically
it is always good to be very down to earth
and maintain a significant class in your manners and actions

me: My point is not that you go around saying that everyone is great.. My point is your "belief" should be that everyone is great and you use that belief to guide your actions...
AM: yea
me: Another thing philosophy says is life is a game.. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose a cricket match right.. That's why it doesn't matter what happens in life.. Nothing matters
anil.marthi: haha true
but u wont feel good with tears na
me: Who is getting tears?
AM: anyone
arising out of actions
me: Ok say you?
or me?
AM: me
me: Ok let's say you
Who is that you who is getting tears
AM: its me man
what ever the eternal self is thr, let it be
me: You the body, you the mind, you the brain, which you?
AM: but i can experience the pain of tears right
me: Your ego does...
When "you" identify with the "ego", "you" experience pain.. When "you - the real you" don't identify, you don't
AM: hmm true
still man.. u can expect people to separate ego from self all the time
that way there is no materialism
me: That's why people do meditation.. They want to stop the chattering of the "mind" or the "ego"..What happens, when the ego stops, "you" still exist
AM: im saying u cant*
me: Which means you are not the ego..
Yeah the point of philosophy is that materialism is not everything.. Materialism is ego gratification, but spiritualism is "real" gratification
AM: yeah
u r right
again we ll be back to ancient ages
we ll all become saints
no need of moeny
information technology
me: No we will be technological saints..
:D
AM: thats even worse
me: No it is not.. I am not saying you should avoid technology.. Technology makes life easier.. But also understand that technology is not everything.. That's why I believe in spiritual materialism.. You don't have to go to himalayas.. You can do your work, have money and still be peaceful..
AM: hmm
me: I think we have discussed a lot of stuff man.. Don't believe anything of what I said.. Believe in it if you find it true for yourself... I also follow the same policy.. If there is something I wish to believe in, I see if it applies practically atleast to some extent...
AM: true
my TL recently indicated indirectly that i think im great
:)
me: It doesn't matter.. What matters is what you think.. People may shit about you.. but what do you think..
AM: hmm
actually ny body language itself indicates that i have very self esteem or that i'm great
my*
me: Hmm.. good..
But it doesn't matter even if I have a low self-esteem.. Nothing matters!
AM: haha
me: Everything is energy.. that's why nothing matters
:D
AM: :)
me: Ok man... nice discussion.. got to go.. if you are interested in philosophy or spirituality, there are tons of good books.. you might find them useful
AM: sure

Friday, May 09, 2008

Expectation and its effects

The word 'expectation' is ubiquitous. The advisor has some expectations on the advisee.
The student has some expectations from the course she/he is taking. You might be expecting to land a job soon. The lover expects his lover to reciprocate his show of love. "We have high expectations of our employees", says the employer.
Let's say that you are expecting an important email. I have noticed many times, that when I expect an email, I sometimes don't get it, when I let go of that thought, and check my email, there it is sitting in the inbox, when I didn't expect it at all.

Expectation as far as I have come to realize is something that I can do without in life. Why? "Because it interferes with creation". We are creating every moment in our life. We are drawing our future landscape right here, right now through our thoughts, words, actions and our state of being. These four tools (thoughts, words, actions and beingness) are the tools of creation. What expectation does with this process is, it creates a sense of doubt in your creations. Why?
When you expect an email for instance, and you don't get it, there is an element of doubt that arises in your mind. Why is that person not sending an email. This 'doubt' is actually a 'thought' that interferes with your creation. Your creation is intended to bring you that email, but the expectation, which is just another thought, counteracts that creation unnecessarily because, well, thoughts are creative and hence expectation is also creative, only that the 'creation' of the expectation goes against your original creation because of the element of doubt.

Hence, it is always better not to have expectations on the behavior of any person or event in life. Then creations will always be as you intended, because, your intentions haven't been modified by the expectation.

Hence, masters, I believe, intend things and don't give a second thought to it. Because, they don't give a second thought, the first thought, which was their intention manifests without interference from successive thoughts (or expectations).

Friday, April 18, 2008

Fear and its ramifications - My thoughts

Fear in my experience hasn't helped me at all. People who have used fear to manipulate me have given me the worst in life. I have come out of these experiences becoming fearless and with a new resolve to face fear boldly. The worst thing you can fear is death. I don't fear that - I don't fear anything. It's easy to make the previous statement but difficult to implement it in reality. You have to be clear in life - You are not going to live a fear-based life, your life is going to based on a lack of fear or better, love.
Fear is basically 'false evidence appearing real'. The false evidence is your wrong perception of what is true.

Notice instances of fear in your life - Fear of losing your love, fear of displeasing your boss, fear of being less competitive, fear of being less productive, fear of disease, fear of... The list goes on.

Stop right now and think for a moment how your life would change when in these situations you replace fear by fearlessness and courage. Think of the opportunities you are missing by cringing in fear. If you can't imagine how not fearing would help, try it out. Try courage and being bold the next time you face fear in some situation in life. Look fear eye to eye and it should vanish.

You might ask, all this is nice but what if I lose my job because I was fearless with my boss. Well, you lose your job, you find a new job where fear doesn't have a high place. Also if you are afraid of losing your job, you are still caught up in fear, you are still caught up in 'what-if' scenarios. Let go of fear, try it out in instances that may not have huge repercussions and then you can extend the confidence you gain from these situations in life to any situations.

Live without fear, live in the present, and enjoy life to the fullest, enjoy the uncertainity of life and you would truly have lived life.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Interpreting "Things are perfect as they are"

You must have heard of the saying oft repeated: "Things are perfect as they are. Situations are perfect as they are".

The basis for these statements is founded in spirituality and philosophy and I give two interpretations of the "perfect" statement:

1) Who am I?
The first interpretation is based on the definition of the self. Who is the real 'self'. New age spirituality and old age philosophy says that "you are verily the supreme spirit - The Tao, the Brahman, the Atman, The holy spirit, The father, The God, etc". According to this adage, you are no longer limited to the "Ego" or the self that we think we are. In that case, since you are unlimited in nature, the events or occurences in the real world have no bearing on your identity and hence you are "very ok" with any event or outcome that occurs. You are very ok with people's behaviors simply because you don't have any expectation on them and that is again because your sense of identity is independent of their behaviors: You are not insulted by them because 'you' are not 'you the ego', but you are 'you the infinite - you that cannot be tainted or insulted'.

2) Creation philosophy
The creation spirituality has that:
Creation occurs at three levels: Thought, word and deed. There is also another level, the level of being.
According to the creation philosophy, most of whatever we experience in life is due to our creating that experience through thoughts, words or actions.
Since we have created our experience beforehand, the experience should itself be perfect. If it is not perfect, then
we may have mistakenly intended or called forth another experience than we wished to.
Even in this case, since we are the creators of our experience, we can always "recreate" to create a new experience that we like or wish for.
But the problem with the creation argument is that the creation happens at three levels: sub-conscious or the unconscious, conscious and the super-conscious levels.
And people are not usually aware of what they are creating at the super-conscious level or the sub-conscious level. So they create at the conscious level and they assume that things will turn out the way they should. They do except when they conflict with what they are creating at the super-conscious level.

So in both the cases discussed above, things are indeed perfect as they are and as we experience them. In the second case, we may not be aware that we are creating at the super-conscious level. In the first case, we are not aware that we are the "supreme spirit".
But "believing" in the philosophy of "Thou art God" or "We are creative beings" and understanding what that means is sufficient for us to "act as if" things are perfect.

These philosophies give us a basis and act as an incentive for us to practice "perfection" or the adage that "Experiences, events, people's behaviors" are perfect as they are.

When you know that things are perfect, you don't have expectations on the result and hence the saying: "Work towards your goal but do not expect the results to turn out as you expect. That is to say don't have expectations".
When you don't have expectations in life, you "accept" with joy and love and peace, what you get. Isn't this a beautiful way of living life? Indeed this way of living life is a path to mastery - mastery of the self and experiencing who you really are (refer to 1)).