Paradigm Shift ~ Living For The Weekend

tragedy living dead
i hope i never start living for the weekend
only to see it turn into a monday morning
i hope i never compete with my neighbors
to buy things i cannot really afford
i hope if i ever get married
i won’t refer to my spouse as a ball and chain
i hope my life never revolves around
so-called entertainment like monday night football
because i don’t want to be that family

i hope i never start living for the weekend
and calling in sick so i don’t have to go to work
i hope i don’t ever assume that others think just like me
and get caught up in my own idealism
i hope watching the dog chase the neighbors cat
doesn’t become the highlight of my day
i hope my evenings don’t revolve around tittie bars
and hot wings to keep me out of the house
because i don’t want to be that guy

i hope i never start living for the weekend
and forget how to relax
i hope i don’t get stuck in a job i hate
and do nothing about the situation but complain
i hope if things don’t work out
i can handle the situation
i hope i don’t end up like all those people
who let their lives pass them by
because i don’t want to live for the weekend

— Derek del Barrio
derek.delbarrio@gmail.com

 

Alan Watts ~ The Book: The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (full, audio book)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJzUug6qlNg

Alan Watts’ seminal text first published in 1966, here read/narrated by author Ralph Blum (who in 1982 wrote the Book of Runes and kick-started interest in runic magic). Of all his brilliant texts, this one just… nails it, over and over again. Ouch.

Chapters:

1. Inside Information
2. The Game Of Black-and-White
3. How To Be A Genuine Fake
4. The World Is Your Body
5. So What?
6. It

 

POWER MEDITATION ~ PART ONE

blooming rose love

COMPASSION

Compassion is called “non-violence” (Ahimsa) in the Eastern tradition and is sometimes relegated to speaking only of “non-injury” or “non-agitation.”  But compassion is much more than any of these.  Compassion is a basic approach to life that is unconditionally accepting, forgiving and loving.

Compassion is a goal and becoming compassionate is a process.  We seek progress as we become more and more compassionate.  We do not seek eternal and immediate perfection.  We seek progress.  We work each day at becoming more and more compassionate in every way.  Thus we make progress.

COMPASSION MEANS:

1.    Do no harm to yourself
2.    Do no harm to another
3.    Do no harm to animals
4.    Do no harm to plants
5.    Do no harm to the planet

Compassion means to do no harm to anything, anybody, anytime, anywhere.  Compassion is a state of being where we totally accept everything and everybody exactly as they are.  It’s a state where we forgive everybody and everything for all the harm caused to us or perceived to have been caused to us.  It’s a state of unconditional love for all things and all people.

Compassion is an ideal to which we aspire to the best of our ability each and every day.  When we attain this ideal, we become established in God Consciousness.  To become established in anything means that becomes our normal state.  Most of us are established in selfishness, greed, envy and self-importance.  As we practice compassion day by day these things fall away from us and we become established in higher and higher states, more accepting, forgiving and loving states.  We make progress.

COMPASSION OPERATES ON MANY LEVELS:

On the physical level we practice to cause no harm to ourselves and others.  When we observe ourselves causing intentional harm, we stop and we evaluate the cause behind this behavior.   When we observe ourselves causing unintentional harm. we stop and we evaluate the cause behind this behavior.  We evaluate this in a state of contemplation and meditation.  We root out the cause and we change our behavior.  As we do this, we become more compassionate.  That’s Physical Compassion.

On the intentional level of our being we desire to be compassionate in all things and with all people.  We daily affirm to ourselves that we are becoming more compassionate, more accepting, more forgiving and more loving of all people and all things.  This includes ourselves and the Divine.  As we do this, we become more and more compassionate.  That’s Intentional Compassion.

On the verbal level we practice speaking accepting, forgiving, loving and compassionate things.  We avoid speaking accusing, resentful, cutting, hurtful and insulting words.  We avoid speaking any words hatefully and with cruelty.  When we cannot do this, we avoid speaking or we change the subject and move on to something else.  As we do this, we become more and more compassionate.  That’s Verbal Compassion.

On the emotional level whenever we feel anger welling up within us, we transmute it into peace and calm.  Whenever we feel fear or anxiety, we transmute it into inner strength.  Whenever we feel sorrow or sadness, we transmute it into happiness.  As we do this, we become more and more compassionate with ourselves and others.  That’s Emotional Compassion.

On the psychological level, we resolve to play no games with ourselves or others.  We resolve to stop deceiving ourselves and others.  We drop our false images of ourselves and we become more and more real, more and more who we truly are.  We stop playing games and appearing to be something other than what we really are.  As we do this, we become more and more compassionate.  That’s Psychological Compassion.

On the mental level, we make a considerable effort to accept, forgive and love.  We make a conscious decision to accept, forgive and love more today than we did yesterday.  In every situation we face,  we intentionally and consciously decide to accept more and more, forgive more and more and love more and more.  As we do this, we become more and more compassionate.  That’s Mental Compassion.

On the spiritual level, we meditate and pray for others.  We meditate that they may obtain more compassion in their lives.  We pray they will find it in their hearts to be more compassionate with the people, plants and animals in their lives.  As we do this, we become more and more compassionate.  That’s Spiritual Compassion.

This the OM (or AUM) symbol used to end each lesson.  It’s a three-letter glyph of the Sanskrit voiced or unvoiced sounds for Ah – Oh – Mm.  The symbol approximates the sound of the Divine Creation we hear in deep meditation.  The more we meditate the sound of OM comes closer and closer to this reality.  Eventually we become washed in this sound most of the time.  That’s a sign of Enlightenment or Self-Realization.  In time we become “established in this sound.”  That means we hear the “Divine Voice” all the time and we become “God Realized.”

Within this sound of OM, the Divine speaks to us in many voices: parent, child, son, daughter, father, mother, friend and lover.  We can also enter this sound to travel wherever we want within the creation and do wondrous things.  So, this symbol is a reminder to listen to the “Voice of the Divine” within you.

These skills alone, if used on a daily basis for fifteen to twenty minutes two or three times a day, will eventually lead to deeper and deeper states of meditation.  This will be evidenced by the acquisition of the sound of OM more quickly during your meditation and the ability to hear OM during times when you are not meditating.  This process may take several lifetimes.

 

SEEDS FOR MEDITATION … Your Vision

mandalaeyeYou have sole ownership of your vision. And the Universe will give you what you want within your vision.  What happens with most people is that they muddy their vision with “reality”.  Their vision becomes full of not only what they want but what everybody else thinks about what they want, too.  Your work is to clarify and purify your vision so that the vibration that you are offering can then be answered.  — Abraham

 

JUST FOR TODAY …

cat_cockatooExperiment in slowing down the pace of your life today.


Images flash at us from every direction — from our social media accounts to advertisements on the road, and we have little time to take in anything. Seeing is not the whole story of learning — it takes time to process what we see. When we give ourselves time, on any subject, not just art, a new world of detail and understanding opens up to our consciousness. And, that kind of patience in education — learning how to slow down — is an essential part of a good education.

Nothing really worth having comes quickly and easily; If it did, I doubt that we would ever grow.

Meditation ~ Kundalini Yoga/Reiki Relaxation Session

REIKI RELAXATION MEDITATION — (1:20 hr.)

“Every human action, whether it has become positive or negative, must depend on motivation.”  –The Dalai Lama

Fortify your spirit with a daily “dose” of healthy affirmation, and you can learn to release negative emotions. By replacing them with positive ones, you can help strengthen your emotional reserves, and become more resilient and less susceptible to the effects of stress, anger and resentment.

Spending just a few minutes a day acknowledging the positive forces at work in your life can help weaken the grip of your fears or insecurities and help you sustain your greater plans and intentions for the day and in your larger life goals.

Please take a few minutes now to reflect on showing yourself some loving attention and relax to the beautiful visuals you can experience with this Relaxation Meditation.

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PLAYLIST:

1. Ong Namo by Mirabai Ceiba
2. Ra Ma Da Sa by Mirabai Ceiba
3. Ajai Alai by Mata Mandir Singh
4. Chattr Chakkr Vartee by Nirinjan Kaur
5. Ek Ong Kar Sat Nam by Snatam Kaur
6. Sat Siri, Siri Akal by Mirabai Ceiba
7. Guru Ram Das by Amrit Kirtan Kaur
8. Guru Ram Das Raakho Saranaee by Snatam Kaur
9. Mul Mantra by Amrit Kirtan
10. Waah Yantee, Kar Yantee by Mirabai Ceiba
11. Ra Ma Da Sa
12. Dhan Dhan Ram Das Guru by Guru Amrit Kaur
13. Narayan Shabd by Ajeet Kaur
14. Ganpati Mantra by Siri Sadhana Kaur
15. Mera Baid by Nirinjan Kaur
16. Mere Raam by Snatam Kaur
17. Long Time Sun (children’s version) by Snatam Kaur
18. Sat Narayan by Ajeet Kaur
19. Earth Prayer by Snatam Kaur
20. Guru Ram Das Chant by Mirabai Ceiba
21. Tithai Too Samarath by Snatam Kaur
22. Ra Ma Da Sa by GuruGanesha Singh
23. Aad Guray Nameh by Nirinjan Kaur
24. Long Time Sun by Mata Mandir Singh

 

Daily Words of the Buddha ~ August 04, 2014

changing mind

Abhittharetha kalyāṇe;

pāpā cittaṃ nivāraye.

Dandhañhi karoto puññaṃ,

pāpasmiṃ ramatī mano.

 

Hasten to do good;
restrain your mind from evil.
One who is slow in doing good,
one’s mind delights in evil.

Dhammapada 9.116

The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom,
translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita

 

 

Lee Holden ~ Modern Qi Gong Cheat Sheet

purple mist waterfall

This has been a massive week with a Himalayan-like range of high points, and because we shared so much information with you over the past few days, we thought you would appreciate having all of it together in one handy email.

If you noticed we took the liberty of calling it ‘The Qi Cheat Sheet’, so you can search for it in your inbox and any time to revisit any part of Qi 101.

We will be leaving the lessons up for you, so feel free to go over any of them again in the future whenever you wish. Maybe you want to review something you’ve seen before, or just want to see how you can get better results – now you can. Anytime.

But before we recap, we’d like you to think back to just a few days ago, when Qi Gong was perhaps a new and distant concept to you …

Something you had maybe heard of, or read about, but were more likely to find on an episode of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not than in your morning routine.

But now you know!

You’ve seen for yourself that there’s definitely something to it – after all – there’s a reason why it’s been around for over 4,000 years.

We started off Qi 101 with a very simple concept – getting you used to FEELING your Qi …

Here is your recap:

=============================

>>> Lesson 1 – Feeling your Qi

Consider this as your introduction to what Qi is all about. Lee has explained his story, how he discovered Qi, what Qi Gong did for him, and most importantly – what it can do for YOU.

You have learned:

* That your ‘Life Force Energy’ is called Qi and when it flows smoothly within your body, it revitalizes your immune system, nourishes your cells and activates your natural healing abilities.

* You can train your body to fight disease faster, and if you learn to work with your Qi you can even eliminate problems before they arise.

Qi Gong is an easy to follow practice, which at its core, cultivates Life Force Energy to help achieve healing and longevity.

* Apart of healing, Qi Gong has also other benefits – it gives you better sense of presence, sharpers your focus or greeters creativity.

* Lee’s way of teaching Qi Gong to new students involves taking them though 3 simple steps:

step 1 – FEELING your Qi; step 2 – ACTIVATING your Qi flow within your body and step 3 – LIVING your Qi though simple and fun daily routines to create long lasting results.

* You learned a simple exercise for FEELING your Qi within you (comes at 8 minutes of the video).

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Then we took it up a notch in the second lesson – ACTIVATING your Qi

>>> Lesson 2 – Activating your Qi

This was perhaps Lee’s most popular lessons as it featured one of our favorite techniques! Filmed in the Santa Cruz Qi Center, Lee has shared with you the ‘Knocking on the door of life’ technique – one of Qi Gong’s most famous and beneficial exercises.

This is where you really start working with all that energy you discovered you had in lesson 1, and is a video we would recommend you revisit as often as possible.

You have learned:

* What are some of the meridian points on your body.

* You got to know your lower back energy points known also as Doors of Life points responsible for improving your blood flow, activation of your energy and vitality.

* The second set of energy points were the Lung Points, responsible not only for your lungs but also for your immune system.

* You got a map of these meridian points for you to download and keep.

Here is the direct link to it >>>

* You experienced the ‘Knocking on the door of life’ exercise (it comes at 1:20).

This lesson generated a HUGE number of comments. Take a look through them, see if you agree or disagree, and if you’re yet to do it – leave your own!

One of our favorite comments about this lesson came from Dorothy Bonenberger:

before I started exercise 2, I felt like I had pockets of energy stored in my body. To my surprise, after doing the exercise I felt the flow of energy throughout my body.

We can’t tell you enough how much it warms our hearts to see comments like this, and we sincerely hope that you had the same experience as dear Dorothy did.

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The third and final lesson looked to serve as an almanac for all things energetic – LIVING your Qi

>>> Lesson 3 – Living your Qi 

Lee answers in numerous videos some of the most common questions we get on Qi, including how fast you can expect to see results, how to get started on a routine, how often you should practice and a lot more – including sharing some secrets like:

* That you can start getting results almost immediately! You should have felt something as early as lesson 1 that would have felt like a sense of calm and relaxation. That’s exactly what you’re looking for.

* When you get that feeling, the trick is to build on it and push it as far as you can. I share with you some stories of people who have done this to great effect, and reported benefits such as better general health and more positive energy.

* That it is not only about healing, there are other powerful side effects of Gi Gong too,  just as sharper focus and mental clarity.

* The difference between Tai Chi and Qi Gong. It is explained well in the Question 10.

* Finally, that there’s not much difference between you and a Qi Gong master, just that one is a little further along the journey than you are 🙂

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Enjoy!

 

Daily Words of the Buddha ~ July 31, 2014

BOATMANAppakā te manussesu, ye janā pāragāmino.
Athāyaṃ itarā pajā, tīramevānudhāvati.
Ye ca kho sammadakkhāte dhamme dhammānuvattino
te janā pāramessanti, maccudheyyaṃ suduttaraṃ.


Few among people are those who cross to the farther shore.
The rest, the bulk of people, only run up and down the hither bank.
But those who act according to the perfectly taught Dhamma
will cross the realm of Death, so difficult to cross.

Dhammapada 6.85, 6.86

The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom,
translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita

 

Daily Words of the Buddha ~ July 29, 2014

dog-heart-womanDhammapīti sukhaṃ seti
vippasannena cetasā.
Ariyappavedite dhamme
sadā ramati paṇḍito.

One who drinks deep the Dhamma
lives happily with a tranquil mind.
The wise one ever delights in the Dhamma
made known by the Noble One (the Buddha).

Dhammapada 6.79

The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom,
translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita

 

Biological Changes in Ascending Souls (Part 8)

ascend8What will actually happen as we move through the portals?

Your state of consciousness will be magnified hundreds, if not thousands of times. Your thoughts and feelings will manifest not only more quickly than ever, but with much higher amplitude and magnitude.

Biological Changes in Ascending Souls (Part 6)

ascend6If you have a lot of negativity in your subconscious mind, it will take a great many positive thoughts to have much of an impact on your physical health.

As you go through these accelerating experiences, your subconscious mind will rapidly empty itself of old programming and conditioning.

Ayurveda ~ Yogic Secrets of Magnetism (part 3)

starfish familyClick on the image for video link

 

In this latest video of our training, I teach how the body can work very much like a pranic machine that generates heightened energy, brightness and bliss.

 

You’ll discover how the life-force intelligence operates as five ‘pranic winds’ within you, and how to activate them so that the magnetic powers of your being begin to powerfully animate and project themselves. 

 

You’ll learn how the yogis use these pranic winds to acellerate the spiritual process and I’ll guide you through a simple exercise that demonstrates how it all works.

 

Click the link below to watch now and please let us know your thoughts on the comment section. Enjoy!

 

Sat Nam,

 

Jai Dev Singh

 

JUST FOR TODAY ….

EVENING MEDITATION (30 mins.) ~ Just for Today … If we are a global village, everything you do affects others. This week notice how your dreams and actions affect other people. You can bring light if you choose to.

Stories about the human colonization of other worlds were popular in the 1950s, with a promise of material abundance, and much of the population of the Western world excited about the possibilities offered by new technologies and a beneficial, authoritative science. That humans could extend their reach to other worlds seemed inevitable progress. Today, the popular faith in science and technology has drained away, to be replaced by a widespread, if often unspoken, fear. We have opened the box and seen where our ambition leads, and though we might quickly close it again and look away, it is too late in the day for any kind of innocence. We must move past the delusions of society.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.”  ~ The Buddha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtLHiou7anE

WEEKLY WORDWIDE PEACE MEDITATION

spiritual globeBelow is a Prayer and Meditation for Peace. I invite you to read this holy message and hold the energy of Peace and Love for our Holy Mother Earth. Our Planet can move toward restorative justice- we just need to hold to the Truth! We are One Being and We all want Peace to Reign Supreme in our World.

Hold Sacred Space – Envision Peace…

Hold sacred space several times throughout the day and envision Peace. Peace and healing for all individuals and peace and healing for our Holy Mother Earth. Now feel the Peace and Love well up inside of your body. Listen as it speaks its Truth to you. Feel yourself embrace accept and embody Peace. Rest in your forgiveness of all others. Become the energy of Peace and send it out to all beings and all of the warring nations and to our very own blessed Planet.

Daily affirm that there is enough of everything necessary to sustain all of life. Imagine that there is now equal distribution of all goods, including enough clean foods and nourishments, enough medicines healers’ medical equipment and support teams, enough clean water that is always available, dependable shelter, solar systems and wind energy. Affirm that there are enough of all life giving structures and systems that will support and sustain all human beings, including animals, and the biosphere throughout the world.

Claim that the political parties leaders and governments of the world are working together to create and uphold global harmony and peace. Affirm that everyone and everything that appears to be anything other than peace has transmuted transformed transcended into Harmony Joy Love and Peace.

Envision a world full of compassionate loving people who deeply embrace and accept each other’s race, religious, cultural and political beliefs, their gender, their looks and sexual preferences, the level of their education and their current socio-economic conditions.

Open your heart space and call forth the protection and healing of all women and children living in an active war zone. Open your heart space and call forth the protection and healing of all men who live in an active war zone and those men who are active participants of war.

Envision now the individual and collective healing energy of love light and deep peace and see it penetrate embrace and blanket all warring lands as it heals the deep sense of separation that is felt within the hearts and minds of all.

I call out to the lands and infuse the very grounds of Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Congo, the CARS (Central African Republic), Egypt, North and South Korea, South American and Mexico (drug wars), Ukraine and Russia, with DEEP PEACE. I include in this call for Peace, any of the forgotten lands or nations here not mentioned.

Let us now meditate on healing the very ground we walk on the air that we breathe the water we drink the foods we eat and heal the hearts and minds of us all as we move along the path toward realizing Peace in our lifetime.

Thích Nhất Hạnh said that “peace is every step”. So allow Peace to literally breathe you in and out each day. Remember that the Peace we demonstrate each day is in the reflection of every step we take.

Peace takes Practice Peace takes Effort Peace is Now.

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Theresa (1910-1997)


Namaste’

-Spirit Heart Counsel – Cathy Greer Gonzales

 

Daily Words of the Buddha ~ July 25, 2014

lillies
Tañca kammaṃ kataṃ sādhu,
yaṃ katvā nānutappati,
yassa patīto sumano,
vipākaṃ paṭisevati.

Well done is that action of doing
which one repents not later,
and the fruit of which,
one reaps with delight and happiness.

Dhammapada 5.68

The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom,
translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita

 

Daily Words of the Buddha ~ July 23, 2014

green buddhaUṭṭhānenappamādena,
saṃyamena damena ca,
dīpaṃ kayirātha medhāvī
yaṃ ogho nābhikīrati.

By effort and heedfulness,
discipline and self-mastery,
let the wise one make for oneself
an island which no flood can overwhelm.

Dhammapada 2.25

The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom,
translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita

Meditation ~ How to Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind However You Wish

10525874_779292448768071_3782994887827959206_n

The conscious mind can effectively change the subconscious mind with persistence and as long as one does not fight the very changes they are trying to make.  When we try to make changes to our subconscious mind or our belief structure, we are usually doing so in direct opposition to the patterns and programming already instilled there.  Therefore our mind is still working from the old programming in a certain sense.  We must then overcome this inherent tendency.  This is where persistence comes in.  If you imagine that the subconscious mind and/or each belief is like a block of stone and you are a sculptor, every day, you chip away at the block of stone in the formation of your new reality/programming/beliefs.  After a while, the new statue is created, in stone (permanently), in your subconscious mind.  By spending time each day affirming our new beliefs/programming, we can successfully change our lives and our reality.

However, we must also get out of our own way during the practice.  We do this by 1) setting aside a set time (5-10 min max) to work on planting the seeds of our new programming/beliefs.  This is focused, meditative time where we repeat this new programming/belief/affirmation to ourselves at the deepest level.  2) Once this process is completed, we let go completely of all attachment to outcomes and desired results.  We then go about life simply letting it unfold as it may, letting our new programming/beliefs/affirmations filter into our subconscious mind.  In this way we do not over analyze the process and unconsciously fight any changes we are trying to make.  When we obsess over, doubt, or question the process we are engaged in, we end up neutralizing its effectiveness.

We have also found that certain affirmations are far more powerful than what is typically presented in books or about the internet, but this is the subject of another article.  In the meantime, we recommend following your intuitive guidance as you do this work, as this is our method of developing these more powerful affirmations.  Practicing these techniques regularly you will find a natural evolution of the new programming/beliefs/affirmations you are using.  Follow this, as it is leading you exactly where you need to go.

– Truth

 

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– Read more at:  http://www.thehealersjournal.com/2013/09/11/how-to-reprogram-your-subconscious-mind-to-create-your-reality/#sthash.jWmMuJuf.dpuf

Setting Daily Intentions

prayer pyramidTo bring about personal change, you need to first begin with an intention. Without one, you’re on a journey with no map, and no destination. You can start with this simple practice:

Before you get out of bed each morning, take five minutes to set your intention for the day. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and envision the day you want to have. If you have an important meeting, see yourself presenting with confidence. If you have a date, anticipate and welcome the romance of the evening. You may choose to see yourself sending out and receiving positive energy from all the people with whom you interact. Or simply see yourself moving through your day calmly, without worry or anxiety. Setting a clear intention in this way can have powerful effects on the outcome of your daily activity.

Aloha Ke Akua

 

Daily Words of the Buddha ~ July 21, 2014

Exposed - Photography by Haakon Nygaard www.haakonphoto.com View fromSaddhīdha vittaṃ purisassa seṭṭhaṃ
Dhammo suciṇṇo sukhamāvahāti.
Saccaṃ have sādutaraṃ rasānaṃ.
Paññājīviṃ jīvitamāhu seṭṭhaṃ.

Conviction is a person’s highest wealth.
Dhamma, when well-practiced, brings bliss.
Truth is the highest of tastes.
Living with discernment, one’s life is called best.

Sutta Nipāta 1.184

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu