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Gururaj Ananda Yogi’s Satsang: By Ramon Leonato

gururajananda — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:30:49 +0000

Written by Ramon Leonato based on a satsang from Gururaj Ananda Yogi

There is nothing that is really apart from another thing. That is the greatest delusion man suffers, finding separation in this world. You have never been apart from Divinity, never ever. You are eternal, immortal, as Divinity is, and you have never been separate from that.

This is something we can easily understand intelectually, as we can see that the physical reality in which takes place our cognition of our own existence is just a vacuum in which different particles interact with each other in miraculous ways, and that It which brings together this manifestation is the Real Self we speak about. Because the manifestor and the manifestation cannot happen separately, if there is a manifestor, there is a manifestation, like with fire and heat. One does not happen without the other, and they are not separate.

Now realising this in daily living is a complete different ball game. Most of us are householders in the sense that we are not sadhus, or renunciates that are fed by the charity of others and that dedicate themselves to mull over The Divine or Self. We are householders and require of the actions of the so called ego in a way a sadhu will probably never understand.

Our little ego self has assumed a separation, although the ego self exists only on borrowed light of the real Self within. The ego self assumes that it is the thing that does everything. You would say even now, “I will get up from this chair and walk to that door.” What “I” are you talking about? Who is doing the walking? You mean I, John or James or Jack or Jean or Jane, is getting up from the chair and walking through the door.

But for such to happen everything else happens now.

Has it ever occurred to you that I am not the doer; it is not I that am walking to the door from this chair? There is an infinite power that permeates this little small I of mine that makes me walk to the door.

At every moment of our waking state or sleeping state, we are adding importance to the little ego self, which is manufactured by the various thoughts in our minds. What is thought? Just a combination of various factors surrounding you or within you that have formed themselves into a certain pattern.When we were born, to that particular family, a mother took us between her arms and smiled at us with such love. Thus, imprints started to be created in a machinery (mind) we have no control whatsoever. That bag of imprints create patterns. And we believe to be the patterns, while what is being while we walk, is something else, yet not separate.

We have a family to look after, children, husband and others things and we have to dedicate most of the day to actions in which the ego gets so involved, yet our life happens in one day, just that one day. The life of this day is were I am cognizing the existence of my particular energy pattern and this manifestation in which it takes place.

And this very energy, thinking itself to be the real self, finds itself separate from that which is divine. Even the ego self is divine, for illusion would not be there if there was not the factor of non- illusion. Illusions are superimposed upon reality, actuality. Everything is real to you because your senses can perceive them. Your eyes see, your hands feel, your tongue tastes, your ears hear, your nose smells. So many things around us seem totally real, but if you go down to the essence of them, are they really real? Is it not like a mirage in the desert that a thirsty man sees, and the more he chases after the mirage, the water, the more tired and weary he becomes until he collapses? That is exactly what man is doing in this desert of life. He is chasing mirages. And by chasing mirages, he distorts his thinking abilities and creates greater and greater confusion in his mind.

Like lifetime after lifetime, one day after another have created the memories, impressions or samskaras with which you cognize your existence this very moment. Which is were existence, the manifestor within its manifestation, eternally abides.

In this day we live in, we meditate and lead ourselves towards the universality, and then we start acting, which is our main part of the day, then as the day starts coming to an end, we meditate again, and perhaps dedicate some time to words of wisdom reading the scriptures or good books, or listening to a recorded satsang. Then we have dinner and as in a lifetime, we retire, we dedicate some time to our little ego before he is just about to dissappear in the deep sleep of the death of that day, to be born again the following day.

The history of a life happens in the life of one day

Action and meditation are not different, because meditation will bring the purity in action that will make action into a meditation (i.e. non-action in action).

Now, what do we do to integrate self and Self in actuality?

What we do is renounce. Renunciation does not mean renouncing the actions and responsibilities of life, like looking after one’s children or one’s husband. But the selfishness attached to the actions is to be renounced. Then meditation goes deep, where everything, all action and all thought, is nothing else but meditation.

There is a misconception that you sit down for half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening, and you say that you are a meditator. That is just to charge up your batteries. But that must last through the 23 hours of the day during your sleep and during your waking hours filled with activity. Therein you will find the secret of inactivity in activity, as the Gita says, and activity in inactivity. The selfishness attached to the actions is to be renounced. Then meditation goes deep, where everything, all action and all thought, is nothing else but meditation.

You want to meditate so as to find that oneness within yourself where the mind, body and spirit can become integrated. That is good, that must be done; but it must also find its expression in your daily action. What is the use of a seed of a beautiful flower if it is not planted and is rotting away? Just as within the ground the seed explodes, within you the very explosion or renunciation of selfishness makes the tree grow. That seed has to be exploded. It means you are getting rid of that little ego self, attaching no importance to it whatsoever, and then you experience the now of life. You experience what is.

We live life in the seemingly real, but not in the actual. In daily life one has to go through so many activities. But if it could just be remembered at the back of the mind, and with practice it comes, that “I am not the doer.” The little ego self is not the doer: the doer is He. When you have that idea, you become non- attached to your actions, and therefore any action you perform will not add any more samskaras to your mind. You gradually become samskara-free, free of impressions which imprison you.

Your actions and your thoughts become non-binding, and then you enter the realm of freedom. That is the meaning of liberation, self-realization–or, in other terms, unity consciousness, where the act, actor, and the action become one.

Even washing dishes, or sitting behind a desk with a pen, is a form of meditation. Thought forces are working away, and yet inside you are still. You feel that unity expressing itself in whatever work you are doing, and that work becomes effortless, restful. You do not develop stress. You do not develop tension. You are relaxed, and that is how we can go on and on and on. Even all kinds of sicknesses or diseases or incapacities of the body do not bother us.

It is a new world to be awakened to, and that new world is the nowness of life. Have you ever watched yourself performing any action? Have you watched yourself from the higher level of your mind? Then you will find that the action just goes on automatically. You are the observer. And even as you sit here now, look at the amount of activity that is going on within you without your being aware of it. You are breathing and you are not aware of it; your heart is beating, and you are not aware of it. Your motor nerves are functioning, and you are not aware of it. The various cellular systems in your body, the glandular systems, all the systems, are functioning, and you are not aware of it. Do you see? Why can this not be extended to the awareness of the grosser actions we perform in life? If this awareness is developed, then you will know the meaning of peace. And peace can only come with ease.

The body might be wracked with pain. The body will feel it; but if you become the observer, the pain is so so much lessened. For the real self within you is without pain or suffering. It is only the ego self, which is nothing but a patterning of thought forms, that knows of pain and suffering. So what is here in the mind? Nothing but confusion. I have to pick up this glass. Now I have to think, “Shall I pick up this glass or not?” Why must I think that? Pick it up. Do you see? Most of the energy we expend in life is by thinking useless thoughts.

So we trouble ourselves, and nothing else in the world can ever trouble us. Nothing. If you can find that freedom by non-attachment, then let the problems come and go. Why must I let the boat of this life be tossed around on those waves? I’m going to sit on the seashore and watch those waves. And what will I find? I will find beauty in that movement of the waves, and I will hear the sound of those waves which will have a great calming effect upon me, so harmonious. If you want the waves, you make waves. If you want calm, you find calm. Act! And if the action is unselfish it will not produce a reaction.

This is a revolutionary, philosophical truth. You won’t find it in any of the Vedas or Upanishads, because they maintain that for every action there is a reaction. Whatever you sow you reap.

If the action is unselfish there will be no reaction, because the unselfish action will not cause an impression in the mind to erupt again as an effect upon you. That is the secret of existence.

Everything is true–all opposites are true–but you got to go to the full cycle to understand that. Where there is the manifestor there must be a manifestation. But what to do with the manifestation is entirely left to us. Everything is joyful and beautiful if only we can cognize it, not with the mind but with the heart. With the core of one’s personality which is the heart.

Once you touch the live wires of the heart, you are touching the unmanifest. You cannot reach the core of your personality by touching the senses that compose you–all the indriyas (hearing, tasting, smelling, and all the organs) and the subtler ones which in Sanskrit are called jnanindriyas. Therefore meditation is important to dive deeper within ourselves and to touch the core of the personality, the core of yourself. Then you will find that life and Divinity are not separate because in the first place there has never been any separation.

And the recognition of that eternity comes through what? Through the ego self. The ego is not even to be thrown away, but to be used for the purposes of cognition.

And why is this stupid little ego of mine playing the fool with me now like the thirsty man in the desert? You could never eradicate the little ego self, the individuality, while you are still in the body. That will remain. Do you think a drop of water dropped into an ocean loses its individuality? No. It does not. It merges away, but that drop is still there in that ocean, so here individuality merges with universality. One can live as an individual and simultaneously as the universal force, that which is real. And then you accept all the fun that life gives. For all is fun and nothing else but fun; all is joy and nothing else.

Why do we find a situation painful? Because we dive into the mind and go through the cubbyholes in the subconscious and find another experience that in turn triggers some other experience, and another experience, and those all combine there. And then the subconscious mind translates itself into the conscious mind and says, “This is pain,” or “This is ugly.” So where does the ugliness come from? Not from the object. The ugliness comes from the impressions or samskaras that are already there in the subconscious mind. And the only way to get rid of this is through meditation, where we burn the seeds of karma so they don’t grow. We use that universal force that gets rid of all the karma. This is the message for this century and the next six centuries to come: Do not feel guilty of the things that you have done, or the things that you have caused to have been done, for you can go beyond it all. It can all be discarded like a dirty garment. It can all be washed away under the shower of that light that is deep down within us. We must never say, “Oh, my baby is crying so I cannot sit down to meditate.” True, you must look after the baby. But let the baby’s cry become a meditation to you instead of disturbing you. And you comfort the child with love, and is meditation not something that generates that love?

You have been given an opportunity there to generate love. Vivekananda tells a nice story. He says you sit down to meditate and the door bell rings. You get up from your meditation, you answer the door and do whatever is required, come back and sit down again to meditate. But remember one thing: regard yourself getting up and answering the door and coming back to be also a part of your meditation.

The separation we find between life and God is just a creation of our own minds, like a projection on a cinema screen. Here on the screen you will have thousands of people killed in a war or whatever. Many times people go to a cinema and they see a sad scene and they start crying. Handkerchiefs come out and yet they know that it is not real; it is just a picture being projected. But you get yourself involved in it. It affects your emotions, triggers off something in your mind, below the conscious level, and then tears come rolling down. But what would happen if you never had such an impression in the mind? Then you will not cry, for you are still aware that this is just a picture there.

So what do we have to do to rub away these impressions is to draw out that powerful light, that beam that will banish the darkness. The little flame which is the ego self has no force or power next to the bright sun. And if the action you do is performed unselfishly, then you are a karma yogi. And when you perform this action unselfishly, naturally there will be devotion to those actions and you will automatically become a bhakti yogi. Now when you combine bhakti and karma, naturally some understanding dawns within you, and you are jnana yogi. Thus, all these different yogas combine. They interpenetrate within each other and that leads you on and spurs you on to do spiritual practices, which are raja yoga.

We suffer with life’s challenges, yet we will not overcome the hurdles without going through them. The pot can only be cleaned up by a thorough scraping with steel wool so that the next meal that I cook in this same pot will not have the smell or the taste of the previous meal. So, so simple.

The purpose of existence is to exist. That’s the purpose. The purpose of existence is not to find God; He is already there. He has always been there in your life. And when you find the purpose of existence is to exist and know the meaning of existence, you know God, because God is existence. Let the mind just be centered in the heart, in meditation and spiritual practices. We say spiritual practices because they are practices to be made practical in daily living. Then spiritual practices really and truly and very quickly find their fruition.

I teach meditation in Barcelona and Asturias (Spain), if anyone is interested is very welcome. Every Wednesday at 19.30 hours. Free entrance.

Chinese Herbs Formulas – a story of a legacy that became history: by Dr Damiana Corca

Dr Damiana — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:17:19 +0000

Chinese Medicine is still relatively new for some people in US and sometimes I come up against the skeptic’s question: does Chinese Medicine work? I don’t quite understand those energy pathways and then those Chinese Herbs, and how would I know that this kind of medicine is trustworthy. My husband always says that he loves skeptical people, just because he can see how people’s reticent attitude is revolutionized after sampling the benefits of Chinese medicine – there is no need for explanation, as the results speak for themselves. However, before getting to the treatment proper, I like to tell a story to the patients that pose such questions.

The story goes like this: Born in a wealthy family some 2000 years ago, Zhang Ji knew nothing of the common worries up to the point where many of his 200 family members died during an epidemic. At that time towards the end of the Han Dynasty, China was greatly affected by disease, civil war, and poverty. Who would have thought that such a burden on thousands of people was to be the seed of a great doctor who left behind a tremendous legacy? The pain and loss that Zhang Ji has witnessed all around him lead him to fully dedicate his life to medicine.

His books are still required as textbooks in Chinese Medicine schools and many of his herbal formulas are being commonly prescribed nowadays. How could anybody ever top that? We live in a society where scientific studies are the way of demonstrating that something really works and there is a whole science behind all these studies, and debates, as nothing can really be tested in a few years of trials. This is were I need to emphasize that 2000 years of continuous trials of herbal formulas leave no place for error provided that such formulas are properly prescribed. Time is the only judge and you must agree that nothing can survive for 2000 years if there is nothing to it.

Zhang Ji left us the inspiration and the wonder about how one single person can truly and deeply change the world. People have been remembering him as the “Sage of Medicine” for the indelible mark he has left on Chinese Medicine.

To be honest, Zhang Ji has also made me gasp with surprise. While studying herbal medicine in college it seemed like his name was everywhere. So, one evening I just took a book of over 1000 pages on herbal medicine and searched for formulas made by him that are still in use today. To my surprise, I have found 28 herbal formulas, of which over 10 are very commonly used today.

The formulas made by him could be used for many diseases but this is not the point – many of the names that we call a “disease” today did not even exist 2000 years ago. What stays the same are our discomforts and pains as human beings. And this is why herbal formulas successfully used two millennia ago are as good as they have ever been.

I am sure you would even better understand the beautiful power of plants if I were to take an herbal formula and explain to you how it works, but I don’t want to bore you with a lengthy article. Enjoy this starter and I promise there is more to come!

More on my blog: www.elitehealthplex.blogspot.com

Damiana Corca, DOM, AP, Dipl. O.M., Dipl. C.H.

Doctor of Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture Physician

Board Certified in Oriental Medicine

Board Certified in Chinese Herbology

Western Family and Consultant Herbalist

Candidate, Board Certified Classical Homeopath

Love in relationship and Divine Love. By Mourad Rashad

mouradrashad — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:39:40 +0000

While the worldly man is quite free to take full liberties with his feelings, to the extent that he can indulge in whatever affective commitments -that might contradict all common sense- just to gratify his ego’s caprice or whims. The worldly man takes into consideration that he will pay a price in exchange for pleasure. The price paid by that man might be suffering or just giving up some of his comforts whether material or otherwise.

On the other hand, the spiritually-disciplined seeker disdainfully refrains from dissipating his energies through indulgence in such vagaries. Moreover, he is also keen to purge and cleanse even his legitimate affective commitments -such as his love to his parents and family – from the least ego-dependent attachments that might serve as permanent leakage unduly draining his energies for no use.

The word love had been used indiscriminately to denote a very wide range of feelings according to the spiritual maturity of man.

However, due to the fact that man is glamorized with the word love and always trying to experience love he will use the most sublime meaning of this word indiscriminately; even to signify the most trivial feelings of egoistic attachment to any person. While true love means the deferential unrestrained self-giving – on the part of the lover - that transforms his old self-assertive ego into a prayerful caring womb nestling the image of his beloved, which now magnificently and gloriously occupies the whole field of emotional vision of the lover. This sublime sense of the word is manifested and expressed by the love of the mother to her newly born child.

Downward gradation from that almost spiritual experience on the part of the mother towards her newly born child -where the mother is temporarily relieved from the grip of her ego through emotion- the word love is mistakenly used to denote an infinite variety of other feelings. These feelings range from that almost spiritual experience of the true love of the mother down to the stale egoistic attachment. This attachment is wholly dependent upon the derivation of the lover – from the relationship – of some fulfillment of his needs or some nourishment to his vanity. This is expressed and manifested in the lover’s possessive appropriation of his beloved, just to guarantee and secure an uninterrupted fulfillment of his needs or uninhibited nourishment to his vanity.

Apart from the experience of true love which can be undoubtedly described as ego-deflating, all other forms of egoistic attachments -which we term collectively love-, are highly ego-inflating. Why they are labeled as ego-inflating? They are labeled so because they constitute an undisguised source of ego’s gratification either to one party in the relationship or to both. This results that the gratified party/parties become strongly attached to the worldly interpretation of human existence. This worldly and wrong interpretation represents the spiritually ignorant perspective that concentrates on man’s ego as the sole worthy and decisive factor in human life. In such a way –through ego gratification- man has discarded and totally ignored the spiritual teaching that ascribes all human weal to the grace of the Lord God rather than to ego’s merits, qualities or effort.

Now, regarding the statement which says “God is Love” where does it fit here in the above exposition? It is what the newly born child experiences. The mother with that unending immeasurable care and concern in an attempt to bring uninterrupted comfort and protection to the child could be compared to the Love of the Lord God. From the stand point of the child, his mother is his God. When the mother fails to comfort or protect the child, the whole existence will move to carry on the job. If we can return again to the position of the child with his mother, the Grace of the Lord God will pour on us from every possible and impossible unthinkable direction.

Belly Breathing

Christine Wushke — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:09:52 +0000

The yogic word for breathing practice is “Pranayama”. The word “prana” means life force energy, and the word “yama” means to expand. Pranayama is a practice for increasing energy, and aliveness in the body.

One of the favorite practices of pranayama at Journey to light yoga studio, is called “Belly breathing”. Belly breathing is a great way to slow down the breathing and deepen your connection to the prana in the breath. It is very relaxing, deeply nourishing, and often therapeutic for stress and anxiety. Set aside 10 – 15 min for this practice, in a place where you can be free from all distractions. I hope you return to your day relaxed, refreshed, and nourished.

1. Take 2 folded blankets, and stagger them, so one is on top of the other, and the top blanket is pulled about 2 inches back. Fold the top blanket under at the other end, to make a pillow.

2. Lay on your back with the base of the spine touching the bottom blanket. Let your shoulders roll under and open the front of the chest.

3. Start by relaxing into the pose, and allowing the body to completely sink into the blankets.

Notice your breath. Imagine that your breath is like a drop of Prana (energy) and all around you there is an infinite ocean of Prana, and nourishment. Allow your inhalations to be a drinking in of this nourishment.

Allow your exhalations to be dissolving breaths, as if drops of water are diffusing into the infinite ocean of Prana, and nourishment all around you. Inhale nourishing, exhale dissolving. Imagine that the supply of nourishment all around you is limitless.

4. Begin to focus your attention on your lower abdomen. Breathe in and allow the lower abdomen to lightly inflate, as if you were blowing up a balloon of energy just below the belly button. Stay with the belly breathing for at least 10 min, focusing on breathing deep into the lower belly.

Benefits ~ Strengthens the parasympathetic nervous system. increases relaxation, increases oxygenation of blood, improved mental clarity, and emotionally uplifting. Therapeutic for anxiety and stress.

Christine Wushke is a yoga and meditation teacher with over 15 years of experience. Her aim is to create a sacred space for students to effortlessly find the presence of stillness and an inner silence. Christine’s mission is to raise consciousness on the planet by empowering people to realize their own Divinity and to uncover a deep peace within. Christine is committed to assisting you in your journey, and helping you to realize directly for yourself the truth of what you are, and the stillness of truth within.

Christine’s meditations, and yoga articles will guide you to deepen your understanding of the wisdom within this ancient practice and experience the spiritual elements of yoga.

www.innerlightyoga.blogspot.com
www.journeytolight.net

If you enjoyed this meditation you can purchase Christine’s meditation CD in stores, by download, or by clicking here. Listen to sample .