1. Become a guru. All you need is plaid shorts and a towel. The entire outfit can be had for $7.99 in your local National Wholesale Liquidator store. What other business can you begin for such a low capital outlay? If you aren’t  close to a store, I can get you the outfit. Just add $3000 for postage and packing.

2.Never stop learning. Take up something new, a musical instrument, get a puppy, learn a foreign language, visit a foreign land.

3. Give up your crappy job, the one that’s tiring you out and making you feel old.  However much you’re earning isn’t worth the suffering. Find another that you’ll enjoy. See step 1. Enclose $6000 for postage and packing. What other business can you start for a mere $6007.99?

4. Meditate. Discover for yourself that you are not just this body, not this mind, not this set of ego and conditionings. If you want to learn a really good form, try: http://www.freemeditation.ca/

5. It’s time to give back. See: “It’s Time to Give Back. Entrepreneur launches a free online university. http://www.bit.ly/1afyD”

6. Take a walk into town. Study the faces of the young or old, especially the miserable ones. Then go home and take a good look in the mirror – are you there yet, or even on your way? It’s decision time.

7. Meditate. It’s the best beauty treatment known to mankind.

8. Enjoy the recession.

9. Make friends with children – and stop counting…..

PS. I was only joking about becoming a guru – the postage and packing for the gear is actually $9000 – but ask yourself this, where else can you start a really good business for only $9007.99?

PPS. If you really manage to become a guru, don’t charge money.

PPPS. This is at the reqest of Richard Payment of Vancouver, Canada, a true friend and the greatest designer this side of the Ural Mountians.

admin Awareness, Enjoyment, Knowledge, Meditation, Understanding, human brain, ydig Don't feel old and tired, Meditation

“Sahaja” doesn’t mean only that you get spontaneous Realization, it also means you get spontaneity, the whole nature gets spontaneity. All those subtle things that I have told you, they all get spontaneous and they work it out. Of course there are angels and there are ganas who are helping you. But you need not worry about them just now. Main thing is you must realize what you are, what you have got and how much you have faced it, you have got it and how it has worked out. I have seen every time I just have a little problem of something, immediately it works. It works in such quarters and such people that I never expected, just comes in. Everything works out. But whatever works out is for your good, is for your growth, for your understanding that you are a Sahaja Yogi; you have entered into the Kingdom of God, but this you have to develop. Also introspection can tell you that are you working out all those things, or not? If you take to introspection, you’ll be surprised to see, yes, you have these powers, and you can do wonders. So I bless you all. Please develop those subtle things within you. They are already there; you don’t have to do anything, only understand and locate.

(conclusion to: 1998-1216: Subtle Forms of Five Elements in us, Talk before music program, Delhi)

So I bless you all. Please develop those subtle things within you. They are already there; you don’t have to do anything, only understand and locate.

So like one pitcher which is in the River Ganges, you are like a cell in the body of the (primordial feminine energy) Adi Shakti. Your entity, your personality is preserved. Despite that you feel the (creative power of the primordial feminine energy) Brahmachaitanya through your senses and you can give realizations to others, but you are in the body of the Adi Shakti. As long as you are in the body of Adi Shakti you can do all that.                                            May 1987, Australia

Something special has happened to you that the whole of Brahmachaitanya, the whole ocean has taken the form of a cloud – that’s Adi Shakti – and has come on this Earth to shower the chaitanya (subtle energy/power) on you people, enrich you, nurture you, develop you, by manifesting the love in such a manner that you have entered into the body of the Adi Shakti.                                                                                                                                                                                              May 1987, Australia

This Mother Earth has to teach us …
Whatever is outside is also inside.
If you want to exploit your Mother inside
or if you want to trouble your Mother inside,
you can also trouble this Mother Earth.
Now what has replaced our understanding is very simple.
It is that we are paying more attention to money.
If you can cut a tree to get money, then it is hurting the Mother.
But if you are cutting a tree for beautifying Her, then She’s happy.
Her discretion is so great….
It’s very remarkable how nature is so much within us
and how this, whatever it is within us,
guides outside and receives the blessings.
We are not something separate.
This Mother Earth is our home.
We have a home in Her
and She has a home within us.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             September 1997

Every leaf, every branch tries to give a chance to another leaf and another branch, that they all get the sunlight. If you have to see collectivity, really you see it in a jungle, how they live together and with such happiness, with such unity.
5 April 1994

Every individual has to work it out for himself so that the whole can be all right.
16 January 1983, Vaiturna

The feeling is that the other is myself. Be kind and gentle. Try to improve and help in that manner.
“Mother Earth”

Without recognition, you cannot see the play. Without the play, you cannot have confidence within yourself. Without confidence, you cannot become a guru. Without becoming a guru, you cannot help others. And without helping others, you are not going to be in any way happy. So to break the chain is very easy, but to build the chain, one after another, is what you have to do.                                                                                                                                                                                           July 1979

This is the best way to bring non-violence: in violent places you go and stand steadily there, facing all the things that are happening and that witness state acts – acts and stops that kind of a violence that is going on. But the witness state is not a mental state. It is a state of a spiritual ascent where you become a witness. The best way to practice the witness state is not to criticize anyone.                                                                                                                                                                             August 1998

In thoughtless awareness nobody can touch you, that is your fortress.                                                                                                                                                                 August 1998

Your own attention is important, not the attention of others.                                                                                                                                                                                 August 1998

Don’t listen to those who say, “Mother said….”                                                                                                                                                                                                               August 1998

Either you lead a life which is luxurious on the material level or you lead a luxurious life of God’s blessings. One of the two you have to choose, the time has come. August 1998

If a lotus is there, it will open. But it must give fragrance. Even the lotus has a responsibility. Then what about you?
Christmas 2001

You must practise to see something without allowing any thought to rise. Then you start sucking through your spirit the beauty, the glory, the fragrance of a flower.
Every flower is poetry.
Easter 1984

This is the greatest joy-giving thing for Me, that one flower can enjoy the fragrance of another flower. It is real poetry.
5 October 1987

I don’t know if you people really are aware of your responsibilities. Sometimes you are only worried on “Where am I catching? What is happening to me? What is this?” So self-centered! Or, you are worried about others: “She should not have done this, he should not have done….” Nobody should think they love me more than anyone else. Nobody should think like that. Some people know more rituals, some people know more protocol, doesn’t matter, but I know who loves me. The one who loves others most loves me the most. I don’t care, your protocols and ritualistic things are nonsense for me. What does it matter to me? The ones who loves others really loves me. Take it from me, I’ve had all these rituals and all that and I have no care for these things. Makes no difference if you say good morning or good evening to me, is not important. What you say to your brothers and sisters is the most important.                                                                                                                                                                                                    05.24.1981 Chelsham Road, London

This criticizing nature comes from a terrible misunderstanding about oneself. What are we? Why should we judge anyone else? Are we paid for it? So why waste your energy in judging others, because in the realm of reality, it is all good, everything fine, everything first class. But if you are trying to see what is wrong with others, then you are not in reality.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           05.05.1996 Cabella, Italy

When you judge others, you should know that you are judged by God. If you are judging others, God has judged you also. So, in His judgment, whatever marks you have given to yourself and to others aren’t going to be consulted (ed. i.e. taken into account) at all.                                                                                                                                                  Bordi, India 01.27.1980

“You cannot know the meaning of your life until you are connected to the Power that created you.”
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

One should not be too attached to the body.  As it is we have too many wrestlers and archers. Now what we need are saints.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 V5.26 Mar.85.p41

He gave you freedom to know and this freedom has created all the problems you face, not God. God has not created any problems for you. No. He wanted to make a very smooth ascent. He has made your machine so beautifully.
V5.26 Mar.85.p36

Because of your habits, you may go down again, again you may ascend, again go down. It happens with some people, doesn’t matter. But, if you are steady, it is going to work out.                                                                                                                                                                        V5.26 Mar.85.p37

That is the most important thing, how many are going to be wise, to see to their own advantage, to their own ascent?  Is the only choice.
V5.26 Mar.85.p37

Darkness always disintegrates.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             V5.26 Mar.85.p32

When nobody is the other, where is compassion?  Because, supposing this finger is paining, and if I try to rub it, am I doing any compassion to this finger? Because it is a part and parcel of Me.
V5.26 Mar.85.p25

It is an erratic and funny heart which swells up in ego. Understand that what we lack is disciplining.  And that disciplining has to come, otherwise our caliber cannot improve.                                                                                                                                                                             V5.26 Mar.85.p6

Try to control your speech.  Whether you express temper in your speech or you express your compassion, or are you artificially compassionate?
V.4.21.May84.p11

With ego-oriented people it is more difficult, at the slightest pretext they topple down. And spirit, which is the source of joy, just doesn’t come, doesn’t show. The joy itself is beauty. But that is a state one has to achieve.
V.4.21.May84.p9

Enlightenment of your brain‚ means; the limited capacity of your brain to become unlimited in its capacity to realize God. I will not use the word understand. To realize God. How powerful He is, how miraculous He is, how great He is.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         V.4.21.May84.p7

One candle which is not enlightened can be enlightened by another enlightened candle. Now this candle doesn’t do anything except that; enlightens that candle, and that candle has to enlighten other candles. It’s as simple as that.
V.5.27.May85.p42

You have to run in the way of the roots, of the branches, of the leaves, of the flowers and of the fruits. You have to be the essence of the tree that nourishes and not just the outward leaves with wrong ideas about yourself.  Put the problems of the tree always ahead of the problems of the leaf.                                                                                                                                                                                                 V4.19.Jan84

Be joyful! The entire universe has to receive the bubbling streams of your love.
V.5.27.May85.p19

If there is no duality, what is the attachment?  If you are the light and you are the lamp, then where is the duality?  If you are the sun and you are the sunlight, you are the word and you are the meaning; then where is the duality?
V.4.21.May84.p10

Because there is a difference and a distance between you and yours, that’s why you get attached to it, but it’s Me, who is the other? The whole universe is Me.  Who is the other? Everything is Me. Who is the other?
V.4.21.May84.p10

Why didn’t He do it in our evolution, why did He make us so stupid? One can say to God, why did He create these problems?  But who are we to ask Him questions?  He does what He likes.                                                                                                                                                    V5.26 Mar.85.p37

How can you blame God for fanaticism?  I just can’t understand. He never created it. Actually he never created any difference between people, just a variety, just to make it look beautiful, that’s all.                                                                                                                                             V5.26 Mar.85.p37

Anything that creates such limitations within us, any kind of fanaticism, is dangerous, not only you, but to the whole society, and, if you support even this much, you are supporting that destruction.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               V5.26 Mar.85.p36

So religion is another way to disintegrate you.  You hate each other, fundamentalists fighting. For what?  Is there difference between the spirit of one and another?  Fundamentals are: that God is one.  He has created us.
V5.26 Mar.85.p36

Christ has said, ‘Thou shalt not have adulterous eyes‚, meaning your eyes should be clear and as you know, eyes represent both your ego and your superego so, when He said that about your eyes should be clear, He meant that your thoughts should be clear.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            V4. 19 Jan.84

This kind of myth exists among human being that when you look at something, or you think about something, then you solve the problem.  It’s not true; it’s a myth, because thinking is just an empty process of the mind.
V4. 19 Jan.84.p4

If in the heart there is no living force, then how can you progress?  You must know what to choose. You should grow mature to that point where you know what to choose. This is growth. Then you do not ask Mother, you do not ask anyone.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    V3.15 May.83.p15

The mastery of your attention will come when you start seeing that it is all a myth that upsets you. Just throw it away and understand that you are the eternal attention, that you are the eternal life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       V4.20.Mar84.p24

The only thing that keeps you away from the eternal is ignorance, and ignorance is too simple to understand, that you have accepted myth as truth.
V4.20.Mar84.p24

Those who are on the emotional side see the egos of others, while those who are on the ego side see the emotional side of others.  So once criticizes another.  But they don’t see themselves, that they are falling into a trap, into one of the extremes.
V.5.27.May85.p22

People get confused with emotions, they think it is joy.  Joy can only be achieved through complete detachment.  The detachment which is egoless and superegoless.
V.5.27.May85.p22

Some will say that we’ll just go on being austere about it.  Then that will become again another obsession.  Some will say, alright Mother has said we should enjoy, so we will just enjoy.  How to strike the balance is a big problem.
V.5.27.May85.p21

Get out of that mental conception that you know already about it.  You do not know, because what you know is just mental.  That should be a part and parcel of your being.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                V.5.27.May85.p21

What can you give?  That is what one should understand. If you humble down, then it’s yours, is there, it’s just in your heart. There’s a saying that whenever I want to see my God I have to just bend my head towards my heart, that’s all.
V.5.27.May85

Why a complicated human being has been created and so beautifully it is organized within himself, that it is hard to believe that some juggler was not behind the show.                                                                                                                                                                            V.Jul80.p7

One candle which is not enlightened can be enlightened by another enlightened candle.  Now this candle doesn’t do anything except that; enlightens that candle, and that candle has to enlighten other candles.  It’s as simple as that.
V.5.27.May85.p42

There is no need to go through the suffering at all.   When Christ has done it for you – finished. You have to awaken Christ within you.  Just count your blessings one by one. It’s not such serious stuff.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 V.5.27.May85.p40

it is a very common attachment nowadays with all the people knowing about everything and having nothing.  This mental attachment is to be really attacked. Becoming is seeing, becoming is experiencing.
V.5.27.May85.p21

The divine play is not frivolous, it is joyful. And the joy does not have that duality.
V.5.27.May85.p19

(God) has created this universe and you, in a mood of play, you have to see His play. So a kind of mood that is cheerfulness should be really bubbling through you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         V.5.27.May85.p19

You have the authority of your spirit.  Those in authority never try to show off. Because they are in authority, what is to show off?  Only mad people show off, you see.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          V.5.27.May85.p17

We have to enjoy our bliss within. That is important. Perhaps you are not aware of the bliss that you have. Not at all aware.
V.5.27.May85.p17

People should see bliss working in us. People should feel there is bliss. If a person is blissful, he looks blissful. He emits bliss. He radiates it.
V.5.27.May85.p17

If you have no confidence in yourself, bliss cannot be. And the worst thing against confidence is: Then what should I do? Then how can I get it? Then why do I not have? That’s the worst. You are fighting yourself all the time.
V.5.27.May85.p17

Those who are vain people can never feel bliss. Vanity kills bliss. Ego kills bliss.
V.5.27.May85.p17

Bliss has so many dimensions that you go beyond the realm of cause and effect.  And all the angels are there to help you. When you know that. It works out.
V.5.27.May85.p17

Bliss can only come through gratitude. Only through enlarging your heart with gratitude. Bliss is the reward of gratitude, gratitude of the heart.
V.5.27.May85.p17

What good things others have done to you, what good things there are?  What are the beautiful moments you have had?  Count your blessings. Otherwise you cannot create peace.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     V.5.27.May85.p16

So, to have peace, the best way to put your mind right is to think of good things. Think of the flowers, not of the thorns.
V.5.27.May85.p16

And you must know that you are in one body, active. All the cells of the body are never active, but those who are active have to be at peace with each other, otherwise, what will happen to the poor body?
V.5.27.May85.p16

It is a very subtle enmity that you carry on in your hearts. That cannot be forgiven. If you say sarcastic things to others, you are not in the culture of Universal Religion. You should be respectful. The more respectful you are to each other, the better it will be.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            V.5.27 May 85. p14

Only the peace within can register whatever is auspicious, whatever is nourishing for your growth. So try to make peace with yourself. Do not fight with yourself.                                                                                                                                                                                                       V.5.27 May 85. p14

But it is not what’s wrong with you is the problem. What is right with you is the attitude. Whatever is right with you, put your foot on that and establish yourself on that point. And then develop yourself higher.
V.5.27 May 85. p14

That peace has to be within yourself. You have it. Your spirit is absolutely peaceful.  “Avyagra”‚ without restlessness. There is no restlessness in your spirit. Absolutely peaceful and steady. It is for you to feel it. It is not for anybody else to certify you.
V.5.27 May 85. p13

You have to be compassionate, beautiful, sensible people, who are highest things on this earth. Take out your attention from all nonsense that you have been busy with.  That is how you get possessed. That is how you get conditioned. Small, small things you see.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            V.5.27 May 85. p9

You don’t have to spend too much time on meditation. But, whatever time you spend, whatever you gain, has to be visible outside. How you radiate and how you give it to others.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 V.5.28.Jul 82. p41

In meditative mood you are alone. No one exists there. You alone. And once you enter into that ocean then the whole world becomes your family. The whole world is your own manifestation. All the children become your children. And you treat all the people with equal understanding.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   V.5.28.Jul 82. p41

You have to enjoy the power of love – that people see you as their protector, as their help, as their support, as their friend, than somebody who is a dominating personality.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         V.5.28.Jul 82. p40

All the beauty that is created by human beings as possessions is exposed before you. And you start enjoying all those things without possessing them. You understand the myth of possession.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           V.5.28.Jul 82. p40

She talks like you, sits like you, She will behave like you, everything will be just like you.  And you would not be able to make out the depth of this woman who is a Mahamaya (The Great Illusion) because She plays such tricks on you and such things in such a beautiful way, that you cannot make it out.                                                                                                                                                                                V.5.28.Jul 82. p34

The first quality of the Mother is that she takes away fear.  The second that She knows your faults and can correct them.  And the third quality of the Mother is that She is a Mahamaya.                                                                                                                                                                   V.5.28.Jul 82. p34

Because, in the West especially, people are over-intelligent and if enlightenment does not enter into their intelligence, they can never overcome their attachments.                                                                                                                                                                                        V.5.28.Jul 85. p26

Ekadesha Rudra (The energy/power of transformation) is extremely powerful, explosive, but it is not blind. It is discriminative and extremely delicately woven. It avoids all the good points and attacks the wrong things. And it hits at the right time
V.5.28.Jul 85. p25

If you are a child of the same Mother, how can you go higher than anybody else?  You will remain always the child of the Mother. How can you be higher than any other child in the eyes of the Mother? You cannot.
V.5.28.Jul 85. p32

In thoughtless awareness nobody can touch you.  That is your fortress.
V.5.28.Jul 85. p24

That relationship with yourself should be tyrannical.  You should lash it up.  You should absolutely make it clear to yourself that I have to perfect myself, if I have to give this, my being, to God, it has to be perfect.
V.5.28.Jul 85. p16

You only have a horrible time when you are not the spirit. If you can watch the whole thing as a drama that is played, then you are not having a horrible time, but the outside of you is having a horrible time and you are watching.
V.5.28.Jul 85. p17

Never fight your ego. The only way is to witness it.You see you should never fight the ego. If you try to fight it, it will sit more on your head. That is not the way to fight it. Never fight your ego. Only way is to see it.                                                                                                       V.5.28.Jul 85. p15

You all have a direct access to me. You all can know your spirits, nobody can dominate you. Everyone has complete freedom to know their spirit.  And the spirit is something cannot be dominated by anyone.
V.5.28.Jul 85. p13

“Now you have become a flower, you cannot suddenly become a leaf. Now you are a flower and you have to live like a flower.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                             V.5.28.Jul 85. p10

“Our compassion, if that is flowing, then only can we get compassion from Mother.  Better give it away, empty yourself a little bit, then I can give you more compassion.  The source cannot flow unless and until it expands the flow of it.”
V.5.28.Jul 85. p9

“I have seen people what want to have compassion from me; they want that I should love them.  But reflect it back; do they love others like that?”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     V.5.28.Jul 85. p9

“Holding on to your source of power, you have to stand firm, courageously, without any fear.  That is the truth you have to achieve the other side of it is, that when this source comes to you, you become the compassion.The truth and the compassion are one thing.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                             V.5.28.Jul 85. p8

‘Like the wick and the oil combine to form the light.  In the same way compassion gives you the truth.  There is no difference whatsoever, only the state is different.  That you cannot see the light which is oil and the oil which is burning.”                                                                V.5.28.Jul 85. p8

“You should not feel disgusted with yourself, nor dejected with yourself, nothing.  But treat yourself as a separate entity. And dedication is actually turning back to yourself and looking forward to the Divine personality in you.”
V.5.28.Jul 85. p6

“Whatever you do, it should be done with the faith that you have in worshiping, the zeal of a warrior and the sensitivity of an artist.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Y3.V14.Mar83.p11

“Be joyful! The entire universe has to receive the bubbling streams of your love.”
V.5.27.May85.p19

“What is surrendering? Is nothing, because when you are detached you are surrendered automatically.  When you are holding on to other things, you are not surrendered, that’s all.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        V.4.21.May84.p12

“Enlightenment of your brain‚ means; the limited capacity of your brain to become unlimited in its capacity to realize God. I will not use the word understand. To realize God. How powerful He is, how miraculous He is, how great he is.”                                                                V.4.21.May84.p7

“You only have a horrible time when you are not the Spirit. If you can watch the whole thing as a drama that is played, then you are not having a horrible time, but the outside of you is having a horrible time and you are watching.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                      V.5.28.Jul 85. p17

“So, once you start facing yourself you will like yourself, because that is your Self I am talking about – it is glorious, is beautiful, without any Kalanaka (blemish)  But first of all your attention has to accept it, that this detachment is my life.  I am a different personality.  Detachment is my nourishment.”
V.5.28.Jul 85. p6

“Now to blossom, to become fragrant, you have to give up rationality.  That is binding.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                              V.5.28.Jul 85. p6

“This is the mantra for you, for controlling your temper, you have to tell yourself, ‘Ya Devi Sarva-bhooteshu, Shanti Roopena Samsthita’  So Shanti (peace) is the point, the axis point is that, from where you witness everything.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                    V.5.28.Jul 85. p12

Peacefulness can never mean cowardice, nothing can transgress it, nothing can overpower it.  It is never, never possible that cowardice and peace can go together.”                                                                                                                                                                                           V.5.28.Jul 85. p12

admin Awareness, Enjoyment, Knowledge, Meditation, Uncategorized, Understanding, human brain, ydig Add new tag, anxiety, Belief, discretion, discrimination, dogs, enjoyment of nature, health, Knowledge, love, meaning of life, Meditation, morality, self-knowledge, Self-realization, sister, spirituality, stress, transformation, Understanding, well-being, wife, wisdom, women, yoga

Where:

The Center for Arts Education (between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan)
225 West 34th Street
11th floor

When:

On Tuesday or Wednesday evenings at 7pm

How long are the classes? Around an hour.

Cost: Sahaja Meditation is

The Center for Arts Education (between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan)
225 West 34th Street
11th floor

How long does it take? The classes last around an hour.

Cost? There is no charge for Sahaja Meditation – all classes are offered by expert volunteers.

admin Awareness, Enjoyment, Knowledge, Meditation, Understanding, human brain, ydig Meditation, meditation in Manhattan

You don’t need it as much as you think you do, so:

1. Spend an hour with someone or something you love, just enjoying being with them. Take a walk, sit in a part, look at the trees and the sky.

2. Spend an hour counting your blessings, write them down, one by one.

3. Tell someone you love them.

4. Go and do something for someone less fortunate than yourself preferably without they or anyone else knowing about it

5. join the library and take out some books, movies or music.

6. Get a pet, for example, a dog from the dog pound. Focus on the same priorities as the dog, To eat, sleep and excrete. To enjoy loving and being loved.

7. Look at yourself in the mirror and smile. “And wisdom is a butterfly and not a gloomy bird of prey.” Be a butterfly all day tomorrow.

8. Meditate twice a day, for ten minutes, morning and evening. Prayer is where you talk to God, meditation is where God talks to you.

9. Check out this: http://www.sahajayoga.ca/sahajayoga/SelfRealization.html

admin Awareness, Enjoyment, Knowledge, Meditation, Understanding, human brain, ydig Avoid wanting money, Meditation

One of the elements [of the spiritual culture of the humanity] is the theatre which is distinctly Russian, whose objective is not to entertain the audience with plays, but to affect directly the viewer’s very soul with naturally created life of the human spirit. – K.S. Stanislavski

admin Awareness, Enjoyment, Knowledge, Meditation, Understanding, human brain, ydig Meditation, transformation

Zen And The Art Of Social Networking

Tara Stiles

I’ve been giving my use (ahem, addiction) of Facebook, YouTube, and now Twitter quite a bit of thought lately. I’ve gone through emotional cycles of distancing and reuniting with my status updates, wall posts and perusing pictures and videos. My conflict is that I have found social networking to be aiding my work, therefore fueling my addiction. I recently Twittered “researching HFCS’s rise to small screen stardom” and I heard back from an unusual Twitterer claiming to actually be HFCS — the substance. (Seriously: read my last post.) Need to find anything out? Post it and one of your “friends” will tell you in minutes! Isn’t that awesome?

Philosophically I pondered: is claiming usefulness of social networking a projecting assertion to perpetuate my addiction, or does it have any merit? Did our grandparents have this same struggle over the television? Is it useful or a waste of time? In my contemplation I decided to subject my addiction to my areas of expertise (health and yoga) to see if I could come up with a solution.

Here are a few starter questions for self-reflection. If you answer yes to more than one you should probably read on for the Zen part.

Do you ever feel like freaking out on someone on Facebook, or Twitter?

Have you ever wrote not-so-nice things about someone or someone’s photo or video on any social network site?

Do you find yourself spilling your latest psychological drama in your status updates or on multiple friends’ walls?

Are you a mood-based social networker and with little control over your typing impulses?

Has anyone had to physically tear you away from your iPhone or blackberry when they are trying to have a conversation with you?

Ok, now that we’ve all been diagnosed with social networking rage it’s time to do something about it. Let’s get acquainted/reacquainted with the Yamas and Niyamsas, often referred to as the 10 Commandments of Yoga. They are the ethical precepts described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras as the first and second of the eight limbs of yoga. So basically we are supposed to pay attention to these before we do any downward dogging or social networking for that matter. Having proper ethics will rid us of stress, addiction, and madness, and also classy up your image.

Yamas: Precepts of Social Discipline (Do you think Patanjali knew FB was coming?)

Ahimsa: Non-violence. Not harming other people, oneself, or the environment. Not speaking that which, even though truthful, would injure others.

Social Network translation: When your BFF calls you a cotton headed ninny muggins on FB, resist the urge to smack back. Step away from your mobile device and take 5 deep breaths.

Satya: Truthfulness. Note that sometimes we may know our words are literally true, but do not convey what we know to be truthful. Satya means not intending to deceive others in our thoughts, as well as our words and actions.

Social Network translation: Stop thinking because you held restraint from calling your BFF out on their childish acts that you are “so much better than them now.” Let it go.

Asteya: Non-stealing. Not taking that which is not given.

Social Network translation: Just because someone’s status says they are out doesn’t mean you can go to their house and raid the fridge. Text first!

Brahmacharya: Sexual responsibility. Regarding others as human beings rather than as male and female bodies. This includes not only sexual restraint, but also protecting our energy. For instance, by avoiding endless chattering with no clear purpose.

Social Network translation: Stay away from the teenagers unless you are one! Stop drooling over and posting skanky pictures of yourself and your friends. Rule of thumb: If you wouldn’t show it to your Mom or Grandma don’t post it or stalk it.

Aparigraha: Abstention from greed. Not coveting that which is not ours. Avoidance of unnecessary acquisition of objects not essential to maintaining life or spiritual study.

Social network translation: Taking pictures of you and all your fancy clothes, parties, and people won’t make you happy. Well, it might for the moment but it won’t last. Your friends like you because of who you are, not what you have. If they don’t they aren’t good friends anyway. Plus it makes you look like a cotton headed ninny muggins.

And now for the Niyamas: Precepts of Individual Discipline

Sauca: Cleanliness. Not only external cleanliness of the body, but attending to internal cleanliness such as avoiding the impurities of anger and egoism. Moderation in diet.

Social Networking Translation: If you spend the weekends in bed on FB, YouTube, and Twitter, take a shower. Don’t get into fights behind your computer screen and put the Cheetos down.

Santosa: Contentment. Not spiritual complacency, but acceptance of the external situation we are allotted in this life.

Social Networking Translation: Don’t be jealous of top Twitters and YouTube users. Be happy with you. You’re awesome.

Tapas: Austerity. Deep commitment to our yoga practice.

Social Networking Translation: Not to be confused with tasty appetizers. Simply, practice yoga. Go to class, practice at home and meditate.

Svadhyaya: Self study. Spiritual self-education. Contemplation and application of the scriptures or sacred text of our chosen path.

Social Network Application: If you feel like you have a problem, you probably do. Think about it and work it out.

Isvara Pranidhana: Surrender of the self to God. Acknowledgement that there is a higher principle in the universe than one’s own self. Modesty. Humility.

Social Network Application: How many pictures of you in your underwear do you need on FB? Do you have to Tweet every time you have done something you want to brag about? Think about shifting your social networking toward a purpose, other than serving and entertaining yourself (At least occasionally, we still have to have a little fun!)

Best name to call someone when angry: Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins. Repeat 5 times and your anger will turn into laughter.

admin Awareness, Enjoyment, Meditation Meditation, yoga

Can meditation reduce work stress?
By Dr Ramesh Manocha of Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women
Scientific studies have consistently found that meditation does not give better results than taking a short nap, listening to pleasant music or thinking pleasant thoughts. However, according to recent research, the application of a new definition of meditation involving “mental silence” appears to have effects substantially greater than this, especially with regard to the impact of stress.
Although more than 3,000 scientific studies exist on meditation within the major scientific databases, only about 4% are reports on randomised controlled trials (RCTs)  the only way to reliably exclude the placebo effect. Researchers who have systematically evaluated these RCTs consistently find that meditation, as it is practised and defined in western society (eg relaxation, attention focusing and mindfulness), is little more than a sophisticated way of generating a placebo effect.
Descriptions of the meditative experience that originated in ancient India, however, reveal that a key feature of meditation is the experience of mental silence. Western definitions have not emphasised this feature.
Currently, the Royal Hospital for Women’s Meditation Research Program (MRP) is systematically evaluating the mental silence perspective of meditation. Over the past nine years, a multifaceted evaluation program has been conducted to evaluate the effect of mental silence on a variety of health and behavioural factors, especially stress.
Key studies
In 2000, a health and wellbeing survey of 348 long−term meditators who used a single, homogenous form of meditation called Sahaja Yoga (SYM), which focuses on the experience of mental silence, demonstrated that these meditators had better mental and physical health than the general population. It also showed that a consistent relationship existed between health, especially mental health, and how often meditators reported experiencing mental silence.
An RCT of SYM for asthma demonstrated that mental silence meditation not only was significantly more effective at improving psychological factors and quality of life when compared to a standardised stress management strategy, but also showed that it reduced the severity of the physical disease process, whereas stress management did not (Manocha R et al, Thorax 2002; 57: 110−115).
Having recognised that the most profound effects of mental silence appeared to be related to mood, anxiety and stress, the potential of this approach for the management of occupational stress was obvious. Thus, in 2001 the MRP designed and implemented the Meditation for Work Stress project, the largest RCT of meditation for occupational stress currently in the literature (178 participants). The study was specifically designed to determine whether or not this approach to meditation resulted in more than just a placebo effect.
The stress management program was eight weeks in duration and involved one−hour evening sessions twice weekly, delivered at Sydney Hospital. Participants travelled directly from work to the sessions. They were asked to practise mental silence meditation twice daily for approximately 10−15 minutes each time with the aid of written and audio materials. Between classes, instructors made themselves available to take queries or give specific advice to participants.
A comparison group was selected that was also meditating but focused on the conventional western idea of meditation (relaxation and contemplation, rather than mental silence). A second comparison group comprised a no−treatment waiting list.
Classes for both intervention groups were conducted at the same locations, in similar rooms, at the same time of day, and were of equal duration. Both groups had experienced health professionals as principal instructors. Thus, the two interventions were structured identically, with the core experience of mental silence being the only major difference.
At the end of the eight−week program, the SYM group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in standardised measures of work−related stress, anxiety and depressive feelings, as measured using standardised assessment tools taken from the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ28) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS).
The reduction in work−related stress in the SYM group was 27%, compared to 15% in the non−mental silence group and 7% in the untreated group. Anxiety improved by 24% in the SYM and 12% in the non−mental silence group but worsened by 5% in the untreated group. Depressive symptoms improved by 66%, 39% and 10% respectively. Standard statistical analyses demonstrated that these changes were significant, thus confirming that mental silence has an effect greater than a placebo and probably greater
than conventional, non−mental silence approaches to meditation.
It has been generally assumed that meditative interventions reduce stress by mitigating its physiological effects, that is, by reducing levels of stress hormones, blood pressure, etc. However, our study indicates that mental silence may do more than this.
While both active interventions reduced somatic arousal, the SYM group also appeared to alter participants’ cognitions and perceptions, suggesting that changes in the way they thought and felt contributed to their reduction in stress.
For example, further analyses demonstrated that the participants in the SYM group improved their personal coping resources OHS Alert Newsletter> 2009 > Issue 1, 13 February 2009 > FEATURE >  Can meditation reduce work stress? 1
Copyright 2009, CCH Australia Ltd
(such as their ability for self care and coping skills). Similarly, participants in the SYM group also reduced their trait anxiety levels. Participants in the other groups, however, did not demonstrate these changes. Since the major differentiating feature of SYM is mental silence, it is reasonable to conclude that this experience might somehow modify the way that we think and feel about the various factors in our environment that contribute to stress. Thus this approach to meditation, and the state of
consciousness called mental silence, not only mitigates the physiological impact of stress but also alters cognitive behavioural style (ie the “way people think”) and hence the propensity to be stressed. (This will be the major focus area for future research.)
Based on the research outcomes, a flexible, evidence−based meditation strategy for work stress has been developed and implemented in a variety of settings, including corporate offices, healthcare institutions and government departments. Clients include Caltex, IBM, law firms and a number of public hospitals. Two case studies are provided below.
Case study 1: top tier law firm
Stage 1 was a one−hour combined lecture (45 minutes) and hands−on meditation workshop (15 minutes). The aim of Stage 1 was to familiarise participants with the rationale and benefits of meditation, followed by actual instruction in a basic meditation technique that participants could then use at home or in the workplace in conjunction with a resource kit (CD, instruction card, etc) given to each participant at the end of the session. Designed to occupy a single lunch hour, the event was advertised internally by HR and attracted 250 legal and administrative staff across three offices (Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane).
Stage 2 was a three−week follow−up program providing 30−minute in−house lunchtime meditation sessions twice per week at each office, facilitated by experienced instructors. Stage 2 aimed to teach workers more advanced meditation skills. One hundred and twenty staff participated, most attending once per week for the full three weeks. Attendance was voluntary, with approximately 25% attrition by the end of the program. Outcomes were quantified at each stage.
Assessment of the impact of Stage 1 using visual analogue scales indicated that 73% of participants experienced a significant degree (ie greater than 25%) of “mental silence”, 80% of participants experienced a significant improvement in “calm and peacefulness”, and 62% of participants experienced a significant improvement in “stress, anxiety and tension”. There was a strong correlation between participants’ ratings of the “mental silence experience” and their “sense of reduced stress” and increased sense of “calm and peacefulness”.
Participants who completed Stage 2 demonstrated improvements in resilience and stress of between 55% and 65% (p < 0.05).
This was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), a standardised measure designed to assess positive feelings (associated with better attitude to work) and negative feelings (associated with stress and burnout). Qualitative feedback indicated that participants found the initiative both enjoyable and beneficial. The law firm has requested similar programs in its remaining Australian offices.
Case study 2: general practitioners
Health professionals, especially GPs, are among the most highly stressed professional groups, and yet stress and its consequences can lead to reduced ability to make important, sometimes life−saving, decisions.
Stage 1 was an afternoon workshop involving lectures on stress, work−life balance and meditation. The lectures were followed by three meditation sessions designed to teach participants basic, intermediate and advanced skills. Recognising that many GPs are too time poor and/or isolated to access ongoing support and advice in their workplace, Stage 1 aimed to impart sufficient skills, experience and familiarity to allow GPs to practise meditation at home in a relatively self−sufficient manner. Three hundred and twenty GPs participated in Stage 1, in two events (Sydney and Melbourne).
Stage 2 was a self−directed two−week home practice program. Participants were required to document their twice−daily practice as well as their meditative experience and psychological state.
The program was endorsed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners so that participants could earn professional development points essential for their medical registration. Completion of Stage 1 earned 10 points and completion of Stage 2 earned an additional 40 points.
Outcomes were quantified at each stage. The Stage 1 event, as with Case study 1, was assessed using visual analogue scales.
Within these, 93% of subjects experienced a reduction in their “usual mental activity”, in line with the aims of the meditation technique. Specifically, 40% experienced a greater than 50% reduction of mental activity and 18.3% experienced a greater than 70% reduction in mental activity; 96% of subjects experienced an increase in their sense of “calm and peacefulness”, and 53% experienced a greater than 50% increase in “calm and peacefulness”. Further, 93% of subjects experienced a reduction in their sense of “tension and anxiety”, and 46% experienced a greater than 50% reduction in “tension and anxiety”. Again, the
improvement correlated with the experience of mental silence.
The Stage 2 component used the Kessler 10 (K10), a well−known psychological distress measure. One hundred and eleven participants who attended the event completed the home−based meditation tasks and provided pre− and post−K10 data.
At the beginning of the skilling program, 54% of the GPs were in the elevated risk category. The Australian population by comparison has only 36% in this category. At the end of the two−week home−based program, however, 28.6% of the sample OHS Alert Newsletter> 2009 > Issue 1, 13 February 2009 > FEATURE        >  Can meditation reduce work stress? 2
Copyright 2009, CCH Australia Ltd was in the elevated risk category, that is, one quarter of the participants had improved sufficiently to shift into the low risk category (p < 0.001).
Qualitative feedback was very positive, with 98.8% of respondents indicating that their learning needs had been fully (53.5%) or partly (45.3%) met, and 97.5% felt that the event was fully (56.0%) or partly (41.5%) relevant to their professional life. These pilot study outcomes have led us to begin designing an official program to be rolled out in the capital cities across Australia during the latter half of 2009.
For more information on the Royal Hospital for Women’s Meditation Research Program, email Dr Ramesh Manocha at
r.manocha@healthed.com.au.
OHS Alert Newsletter> 2009 > Issue 1, 13 February 2009 > FEATURE        >  Can meditation reduce work stress? 3
Copyright 2009, CCH Australia Ltd

admin Awareness, Knowledge, Meditation, Understanding, human brain, ydig Does meditation work?, Meditation

In meditation I become one with the flame of the candle… the computer image seems surreal as I begin to connect I feel the presence of The Mother.  She is with me as always and always will be, and at last I am free.  Free from the bondage of fear, doubt and worry. Like a good mother she cleans my house, sweeping away all of the dust and dirt in  my mind.  There is nothing to hide, nothing she can not find.  Afterwards, she embraces me and we cuddle and rock in a state of pure love, pure bliss, what can be better than this?  There is … no thing, no where, no time.

I feel like my body has dispersed with all that is surrounding me.  No beginnings, no endings… She and I fly, soar, drift away to a higher sky that rises above this reality.

The cool warmth of her embrace removes all sin within without a trace… being in the moment one and being one within the moment, all becomes one and one becomes all. Our split ends as it spins and then spirals into one.  Now I see that she is me, pure energy… contained within and without boundaries.

As I pass through the momentary ecstasy, I can feel it sustaining.  What is different now is that there is a much stronger bond.  She embraces me still even though I have returned to my consciousness.

Today there is something new… something true… something in a through my outer most reality.

I am forever changed.

admin Awareness, Meditation, Understanding, ydig Meditation, meditation works

admin Awareness, Knowledge, Meditation, Understanding Meditation, self portrait

In meditation I become one with the flame of the candle… the computer image seems surreal as I begin to connect I feel the presence of The Mother.  She is with me as always and always will be, and at last I am free.  Free from the bondage of fear, doubt and worry. Like a good mother she cleans my house, sweeping away all of the dust and dirt in  my mind.  There is nothing to hide, nothing she can not find.  Afterwards, she embraces me and we cuddle and rock in a state of pure love, pure bliss, what can be better than this?  There is … no thing, no where, no time.

I feel like my body has dispersed with all that is surrounding me.  No beginnings, no endings… She and I fly, soar, drift away to a higher sky that rises above this reality.

The cool warmth of her embrace removes all sin within without a trace… being in the moment one and being one within the moment, all becomes one and one becomes all. Our split ends as it spins and then spirals into one.  Now I see that she is me, pure energy… contained within and without boundaries.

As I pass through the momentary ecstasy, I can feel it sustaining.  What is different now is that there is a much stronger bond.  She embraces me still even though I have returned to my consciousness.

Today there is something new… something true… something in a through my outer most reality.

I am forever changed.

Constance J. Koepfinger

admin Awareness, Enjoyment, Knowledge, Meditation, human brain Meditation, new york meditation