The definition of a Gnani Purush is One who has complete experience of the Self. That said, what of the claims of many spiritual Gurus and other religiousity leaders? Who, or what, are individuals confused about when encountering the plethora of New Age notions about all things mystical, spiritual and religious?
I know my father who recently passed over last summer still contacts us, especially Mom, in many different ways. We each experience similar metaphysical experiences, but likely pass them off as synchronicities, “coincidences”, or freaky moments … but that is the mind attempting to interpret what your heart already senses is a genuine experience. The truth is, loved ones often attempt to contact us after passing.
Snatam Kaur discusses how to practice Jap Ji for the upcoming Spirit Voyage 40 Day Global Sadhana: Meditation of the Soul – An Experience of Jap Ji. We begin on January 1, 2016. To register in English, click here:
O ka mihi laʻau mua, a he piko hou. I lā hoʻokamahaʻo nou a me ʻOhana e na hoaloha. Lawe I ka maʻalea a kuʻonoʻono. A me puʻu wai.
New beginnings start with forgiveness. Relax, have a wonderful day with family and friends. Take wisdom and make it deep..Be generous, open-hearted. Enjoy what you have, give gladly from the heart.
Why is goal setting so important? Why do people set goals? One of the main reason why setting goals is important is that it is human nature to strive when in pursuit of a goal. Having great goals makes us feel alive, gives meaning to our life. That’s the reason why many people feel empty after they retire from their job if they don’t take the time to set new goals to achieve.
In our professional life, we generally have goals set but we usually don’t take the time to set clear goals for our personal life. Many people spend a considerable amount of time to plan their next vacation in details, looking for the best location, comparing prices, buying the necessary equipment but how many people really take the time to plan their future? If you start planning everything in advance and constantly setting goals you will achieve way more that you would normally achieve.
However, there is no point setting goals you cannot achieve. That’s why you need to have a clear strategy to ensure you will achieve your goals. With the right strategy, most of your goals are achievable. Most of the time the reason people fail to achieve their goals is not because their goal is to hard, but because they don’t have the right strategy.
How to achieve personal goals
The biggest mistake is to set goals that are vague. For instance, “I’m gonna lose weight” or “I want to become rich”. Your goal should be very clear. Clarity is the key!
I will lose 10 kilos by March 31st
I will earn $10,000 per month by December 31st of next year
Decide how much and when.
Decide on the day or even on the hour by which you will achieve your goal. The clearer the better. It is very important! You should constantly try to find a way to measure any of your goals, because otherwise you cannot be held accountable and cannot track your results. When you find a way to measure your goals it will become suddenly more real, more tangible.
Choose a goal that you know you can achieve but that will be quite challenging
You want a goal that will push you out of your comfort and make you feel better once you achieve it. If the goal is out of reach you will have no motivation or you will feel desperate and your self-esteem will suffer. Don’t compare yourself with other people. No matter how small is your achievement, if you had to push yourself a little bit to achieve your goal it is a big success that you should celebrate. It might not be a big deal for others but it is for you. And you matter!
Ambitious goals are good, but they should be followed by massive actions in order to be achievable.
Write all the reasons why you want to achieve that goal
Why is it so important for you? Make sure your goal truly matters to you and is not something you are doing just for your family, your friends or your colleagues. Intrinsic motivation is always better than extrinsic motivation. Make sure you don’t spend years pursuing a goal that is not going to make you happy.
Write down your goals.
Writing down your goals makes them more real. A pen and a piece of paper can work wonder when you think about your life! Make sure you write your goals using positive words and read your goals everyday.
Make the necessary preparations before starting your goal
If you would like to be thinner, spend all your time with skinny people. Have all your meals with skinny people – Vasant Lad
You have a limited willpower. Save it as much as possible. Don’t try to become a vegetarian if your father is a butcher! (just an image :)) Try to create a friendly and supportive environment that will help you achieve your goal. If you want to become a vegetarian buy recipe books, fill you fridge with vegetables and fruits, join a vegetarian association before getting started.
Share your goals with as many people as possible.
For instance, if you want to lose 10 kilos, make a public announcement at work in front of your colleagues. Tell all your family members about your goals. Whenever possible, tell people you encounter that you are on a diet and you will lose 10 kilos by March 31st. You should commit yourself so that you have no way backwards. Make it your reality. If you don’t feel confident enough to do that, it means that your goal might be too ambitious for you right now and or you don’t really want it. In that case, you might want to check whether your goal is achievable or not and modify it if necessary.
When talking about your goals, avoid using vocabulary such as “I will try”, “I think”, “Maybe”, “If it goes well” but use “I will”, “When I will achieve”, “I know I will”, “I definitely will”.
Anticipate all possible ways it can go wrong and elaborate a strategy.
The fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate – Thomas Watson
We tend to be overoptimistic regarding our ability to achieve a goal and more than often we underestimate the amount of work and the time necessary to perform a task. Ask yourself what things can happen that will prevent you from achieving your goals? If your goals are long-term goals, chances are that you will face multiple setbacks before you succeed. In the past I had many goals but I didn’t achieve most of them. One of the reasons was obviously my lack of confidence. Other major reasons were that I was overly optimistic and was not prepared mentally to face major setbacks. I would try to create a blog about Japan but would give up due to the many technical difficulties I encountered. I would wait for everything to be perfect before launching the blog. This blog was never created. I planned to make videos of my trips abroad and publish them; it never happened. Once I understood that failure was actually part of the process and not an anomaly it helped me significantly to achieve my goals. Here is how I see setbacks or failures: setbacks are here to test you, to see how bad you want it. When you set a goal, you have to be clear not only about your goal but about what you are ready to go through to achieve that goal. If you already made your mind that huge setbacks are likely to occur, you will be prepared to face them and be able to keep pushing and move forward. You should already know how you’re going to react to potential setbacks before they occur.
Avoid putting yourself in difficult situations
If your objective is to lose weight or to stop smoking for instance, you should avoid temptation. Identify all those situations where you are at risk, think of what makes you fail in your previous attempt and see how you can avoid those situations. Maybe you like to have a cigarette when you are drinking coffee, when you eat outside or when you are under stress. Identify those kinds of situations and come up with an effective strategy.
Sharing goals with other people is a great way to push ourselves to take action. Do you have any goals you are working on currently? Please leave me a comment below and let me know how it is going.
In the beginning there was only endless darkness.Out of this darkness, two beings were born; the male Kumulipo, whose name means “The essence of darkness” and the female Po’ele whose name means “darkness itself”.
These two created all the creatures of the total darkness; the shellfish that live at the very bottom of the ocean floor,the plants that grow during the dark of night and the grubs that burrow in the earth. As these creatures were born the dark became slightly lighter.The first beings gave birth to the male Pouliuli whose name means “deep darkness” and the female Powehiwehi, whose name means “darkness with a little light”.
This couple created all the creatures of the almost-darkness; they created the fish that swim in the deep seas and land creatures that live in almost in darkness.
These dark creatures had offspring, and with every new life, the deep darkness of this world got a little brighter.The second couple gave birth to a third: the male Po’el’ele, whose name means “night” and the female Pohaha,whose name means “coming into dawn”.
These two created the creatures of the darkness-near-dawn; the insects that fly by night, the caterpillar, the grass-hopper and a large egg.
The egg hatched into thousands of birds. These were the birds that fly and sing in the hours just before dawn.The fish, the birds and the insects all had offspring- each new creature added some light to the darkness, until it was getting closer to the light we have in the hours before dawn.
Next to be born were Popanopano and Polalowwehi who gave birth to sea-turtles, lobsters and other shellfish that live in shallow waters in near-darkness. They gave birth to the male Po’hiolo and the female Po’ne’a’aku. Their names mean “night ending”. They produced the rat Pilo’I and Kamapua, the pig, both creatures of day and night.
By this time it was almost dawn and the earth was already buzzing with the life from so many creations. These twocreated the first dawn and light finally came into the world.
The first man, Ki’i and the first woman La’ila’a were born — they were both dark since they were born just at dawn. The first man and first woman had many children. With each generation, their skins became lighter and lighter until they became the color they are now.
Please join us as a worldwide community as we celebrate ourselves and each other under the light of a most auspicious Full Moon in Gemini … below is our meditation focus.
Aloha Ke Akua … Namaste’ … Metta … Peace.
Full Moon Meditation
Preparation: If at all possible for this healing meditation, allow yourself to stand or sit barefoot upon the earth in a quiet place bathing yourself directly in the light of the full moon. You may even want to do this meditation with a group of likeminded friends. This is a powerful opportunity to trigger an ongoing purification process of body, mind, emotions and spirit and of Mother Earth and for letting go of all that no longer serves you.
If you cannot do this meditation physically under the light of the full moon, then just imagine with all your senses what it would feel like if you were standing bathed in the light of the full moon.
Meditation: Breathe deeply, filling your lungs with the cool, crisp evening air, and then exhaling slowly and patiently, feeling worries, stresses and tensions just melting out of that body and mind, as you relax deeper and deeper. – It seems so easy to just let go and relax in the glorious light of the full moon – feeling so safe and so wonderfully supported by her nurturing feminine energy. – Each long, slow deep breath in and out taking you comfortably into deeper and deeper states of relaxation – Everything else is becoming unimportant and is fading into the background as you connect more and more with the energy of the full moon.
Now standing completely in the light of the full moon, raise your face to look directly at the moon. – Feel her energies blessing your face.- Experience her divine feminine presence.- Feel her cool, clear energy bathing you – your body now tingling with this purifying energy going into each and every cell, right down to the level of the DNA. If your eyes are not already closed, just allow them to softly close now.
Take you awareness to the top of your head to where the energy center called your crown chakra is. – Imagine that there is a pure white lotus bud there – Rotate this beautiful white lotus bud slowly anticlockwise until the petals are open wide and flat.
– Your crown chakra is now open. –
Feel the feminine energies of the moon now flooding into your whole being via your open crown chakra.- Now take your awareness to about 15 cms or 6 inches above your crown chakra to an energy center called the soul star chakra where you can connect strongly to the higher realms of light and love. Imagine another pure white lotus bud in your soul star chakra and rotate this slowly anticlockwise to open your soul star. – Feel your energy field beginning to expand with the inflow of more and more light.
Bring your awareness to the soles of your feet and imagine energetic roots developing from them and connecting to your earth star chakra about 15 cms or 6 inches below your feet.
Imagine those energetic roots going even deeper, grounding you firmly to the earth.
– A strong connection to your earth star chakra allows you to hold more Divine Light and Love in your body and energy field and also anchor this into Mother Earth. –
You may even like to visualize a downward-pointing lotus bud in your earth star chakra that you can rotate to open, connecting that energy center to deeper and deeper levels within the earth.
You may already be beginning to see or sense one or more of the divine feminine goddesses gathering close by, watching you through the eyes of Love.- Use your inner sight to become aware of at least one of the nurturing goddesses of the Divine feminine, such as Mother Mary, Kwan Yin – the Goddess of Compassion – or the Egyptian Goddess Isis, the Universal Mother Goddess. – Allow them to gather around you, silently, serenely and filled with Grace. – You may catch a glimpse of angel wings – or feel them gently flutter past as angels descend around you. – Experience this gathering of Divine Love. – Friendly nature spirits, the bridge between the 3rd and 5th dimensions, are being drawn to you now like moths to a candle flame. – Bathed in the moonlight, you are now encircled by these higher presences of light and Love.
Continue breathing in the pure white light energy of the full moon, drinking the moonbeams of Love into your very soul.
– Getting a sense now of every cell in your body being cleansed and purified. –
With your inner sight you may even be able to see your organs, such as your liver, being energized, purified and filled with transformational white light.
– Feeling or seeing your energy field expanding, as it is filling with white light, you are beginning to comfortably lose awareness of the boundary of your physical body. –
Experience your energy field tingling and merging with those of the assembled higher Divine feminine presences, all becoming one field of energy.
– Feel this energy of Divine Love intensifying. –
Feeling and finding that you are now effortlessly breathing rhythmically in and out of your heart.
– You are now heart breathing, connecting to the heart of the moon and the heart of the Earth –
You are now breathing deeply and rhythmically through your heart.
– It’s as if you have BECOME your heart. –
All you are sensing is your heart opening and expanding in bliss. – It may even feel a little ticklish inside like a heart orgasm. –
Releasing the heartache, the grief, the sadness, the relationships gone wrong, and all emotional hurt and pain that has been blocking the heart from fully experiencing Divine Love.
Feel yourself breathing Divine Love from this energy field into your heart, filling it to overflowing and then breathing Love back out into this unified field of Oneness.
– As the energy of your heart is expanding wider and wider, old energetic blocks are melting away and are being healed with Divine Love. –
In the serene silence you sense the rhythmic pulse of your own heartbeat now harmonizing with the heartbeat of all Creation.
– Underlying your own heartbeat is the heartbeat of Gaia, our Mother Earth, who nurtures and feeds us. –
Allow yourself to tune into this much deeper and more sustained heartbeat.
– You may receive it as a very subtle sense, or it may be quite strong. –
Take this opportunity now to say a prayer of Gratitude in your mind for all the ways in which Mother Earth sustains you.
Allow this energy of Divine Love to flow directly from your expanded heart chakra on the in-breath to deep into the heart of Mother Earth on the outbreath, via your earth star chakra.
– Wherever you are in the world, you are activating a portal of Divine Light and Love from the higher realms directly into the crystalline grid of the Earth. –
Allow yourself to imagine the awesome power of thousands of people across the globe all under the light of this full moon activating energy portals of Light and Love, or Divine doorways, connecting heaven and earth.
– See or get a sense of thousands of Lightworkers across the planet now opening these portals of Divine Light and Love, using the Divine Feminine energies of the full moon and anchoring these into the heart of the Earth and the crystalline grid. –
Take a minute to imagine this now. – How do YOU experience it? –
I’m seeing the Earth like a spherical, multifaceted clear quartz crystal radiating out brilliant radiant light.
– Spend some time now either channeling this Divine feminine energy of Love and Light into the crystalline grid generally or specifically to those places you feel are most in need of healing. –
How are you experiencing the energies shifting and changing in this crystalline grid?
Mother Earth has her own chakra system, with many ley lines sending energy throughout her chakra system and throughout the crystalline grid.
– Glastonbury in England is purported to be the Earth’s Heart Chakra. Bali is known as the World Purification Center where the two most important leylines of the Earth intersect, known as the feminine Rainbow Serpent and the masculine Plumed Serpent. –
You may like to intentionally send the energy of Light and Love to Glastonbury and/or focus your intent on feeding this energy into Bali at the intersection of these two strong leylines, which are rather like the aorta of the Earth.
– You are now contributing, as the powerful, magnificent Lightworker you are, to the purification, raising of consciousness and healing of Mother Earth and all her inhabitants. –
Imagine all the following receiving healing with Divine Love and Light: toxicity, pollution, environmental degradation, loss of rainforests, loss of animal habitats, stripping of resources, greed, war, political instability, starvation and suffering everywhere.
– All receiving healing –
You are an agent of planetary change.
Realise your God-given power for the highest good of all. See or get a sense of the positive energetic changes that are taking place even now with the efforts of you and other Lightworkers around the world.
From this full moon until the new moon you will easily and effortlessly shed old outmoded beliefs, patterns, habits, people and material goods that have been holding you back from full expression as the magnificent healer and Lightworker you are.
When you are ready to come out of this meditation, you will see or get a sense of the angels and Divine feminine presences starting to recede gently into the background.
– Thank them for their nurturing love and support. –
Allow your energy centers to readjust themselves to being able to hold the greatest amount of Divine Love and Light that you can cope with vibrationally in your full waking consciousness.
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Notes: You can repeat this meditation at any full moon, continuing to send more and more Love and Light into the Earth for healing.
Become aware of your physical body now and the cool, dark earth beneath your feet, grounding you safely and securely to Mother Earth. Still feeling yourself bathed in the moonbeams of cleansing, purifying white light, begin to wriggle your fingers and toes.
– Taking a couple of good deep breaths, feel yourself coming fully back into your physical body and having a bit of a stretch –
If you are so guided, you may place your hands in the prayer position in front of your heart and give thanks for being chosen as a Lightworker at this important time in history.
Have a glass of water, relax and allow the energies of Divine Love and Light to continue to integrate within every cell of your body, right down to the level of your DNA.
“We are caged by our cultural programming. Culture is a mass hallucination, and when you step outside the mass hallucination you see it for what it’s worth.” – Terence McKenna
The first and foremost gland that controls your physical Endocrine System and the metaphysical seat of your subconscious and superconscious mind: your proverbial Eye of Horus!
I am here and not anywhere else, knowing there is nowhere else to be.
This is meditation.
It doesn’t matter how I sit or don’t sit, or how I hold my hands. It is not how still I stay or silencing my mind.
Meditation is noticing my body’s posture, whatever form it takes, and noticing how my hands rest if they are resting, their movements if they are in motion.
It is following the quiet of each breath.
It is stepping back and listening to the music of thoughts, one note at a time, and watching the beauty of cognition.
It is opening space with curiosity for observation and observing, across the hush of that space, the dawn and dusk of joy and sorrow, seeing the winter and spring of laughter and tears, seeing and not changing anything.
It is gently watching the poetry of life breathing without waking it.
What is Meditation?Meditation is an art of realizing and mastering self. Meditation does not mean the art of obtaining something from outside as it is an art of unlocking your energy from within. It is an art and it can be learn by any person. Some person does meditation for few years and after that they give up it as they were expecting miracles which is a wrong way of looking at meditation. Meditation allow you to enjoy life. It is not the path of running away from family life as it is an art of living a family and social life at it’s best. Now lets look at the first myth.
“A man becomes good by good works, evil by evil.” Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. 3. 2.13
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:4.3-7 continues giving more detailed conceptsand goes on to explain the concept as follows:
“When a caterpillar has come to the end of a blade of grass, it reaches out to another blade, and draws itself over to it. In the same way the soul, having coming to the end of one life, reaches out to another body, and draws itself over to it.
“Just as a goldsmith, having taken a piece of gold, makes another form, new and more beautiful, so also, verily the Atman having cast off this body and having put away Avidya or ignorance, makes another new and more beautiful form” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad).
“As people act, so they become. If their actions are good, they become good; if their actions are bad, they become bad. Good deeds purify those who perform them; bad deeds pollute those who perform them.
“Thus we may say that we are what we desire. Our will springs from our desires; our actions spring from our will; and what we are, springs from our actions. We may conclude, therefore, that the state of our desires at the time of death determines our next life; we return to earth in order to satisfy those desires.
“Consider those who in the course of many lives on earth have become free from desire. By this we mean that all their desires have found fulfillment within the soul itself. They do not die as others do. Since they understand God, they merge with God.
‘When all the desires clinging to the heart fall away, the mortal becomes immortal. When all the knots of desire strangling the heart are loosened, liberation occurs.
“As the snake discards its skin, leaving it lifeless on an anthill, so the soul free from desire discards the body, and unites with God who is eternal life and boundless light.”
Katha Upanishad 6.1-5, 10-11, 13-16
“The tree of eternity has its roots in the sky, and its branches reach down to earth. It is God; it is the immortal soul.
The whole universe comes from God; his energy burns like fire, and his power reverberates like thunder, in every part of the universe. In honor of God the sun shines, the clouds rain, and the winds blow. Death itself goes about its business in fear of God.
If you fail to see God in the present life, then after death you must take on another body; if you see God, then you will break free from the cycle of birth and death. God can be seen, like the reflection in a mirror, in a pure heart.
When the senses are calm and the mind is motionless, then your heart is pure; you have reached the highest state of consciousness, in which you are unified with God. If this state of consciousness is firm and secure, so it can never be broken, then you are free.
To calm the senses and still the mind, you must abandon the self. You must renounce ‘I’ and ‘me’ and ‘mine’. You must suppress every desire that surges around the heart. You must untie every knot of attachment.
A hundred and one lights radiate from the heart. One of them shines upwards to the crown of the head. This points the way to immortality. Every other light points to death.”
“Like corn, does a mortal ripen; like corn, does he spring to life again” (Kathopanishad).
So much of our freedom revolves around healing the wounds that have caused us to disavow important aspects of ourselves. Too often we unilaterally gauge freedom in terms of being able to do and have things: lots of money, being able to travel, or being able to act as we like. These are external, feel-good freedoms. But how often do we gauge our freedom by the inner freedom we get to experience from imposing certain external limitations and making sacrifices? By Contributing Writer Jack Adam Weber
Lecture where Alan Watts goes into the control freak tendencies in our individual mind and as a society. Then the lecture shifts more into unmasking religion, spiritual practice and such.
and certain individuals are being called to a higher light.
It is a silent revolution.
From the inside out.
From the ground up.
This is a Global operation.
A Spiritual Conspiracy.
There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet.
You won’t see us on the T.V.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper.
You won’t hear about us on the radio.
We don’t seek any glory.
We don’t wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.
Most of us work anonymously.
We are quietly working behind the scenes
in every country and culture of the world.
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys,
in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.
You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice.
We go undercover.
We remain behind the scenes.
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit,
but simply that the work gets done.
Occasionally we spot each other in the street;
we give a quiet nod and continue on our way.
During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs.
But behind the false storefront, at night is where the real work takes place.
Some call us the Conscious Army.
We are slowly creating a new world
with the power of our minds and hearts.
We follow, with passion and joy.
Our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence.
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs
when no one is looking
Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~
Movies ~ Kind words ~ Smiles ~ Meditation and prayer ~
Dance ~ Social activism ~ Websites Blogs ~
Random acts of kindness …
We each express ourselves
in our own unique ways
with our own unique gifts and talents.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
That is the motto that fills our hearts.
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place.
We know that quietly and humbly
we have the power of all the oceans combined.
Our work is slow and meticulous,
like the formation of mountains.
It is not even visible at first glance.
And yet, with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come.
Love is the new religion of the 21st century.
You don’t have to be a highly educated person
or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it.
It comes from the intelligence of the heart,
embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us —
Or, already have.
All are welcome.
The door is open!
*************************
This is being distributed as an anonymous piece to share with the World …
Please feel free to block and copy this Mission Statement to all who can read, recite it to all who can hear. It’s true … the Revolution will not be televised: We are living it. Aloha pumehana e malama pono kakou!
Not nearly as well-known as Ayahuasca, but every bit as miraculous, Salvia Divinorum is a small leafy shrub growing in Southern Mexico’s Oaxaca province that is one of nature’s master healing herbs with significant psycho-spiritual effects.
Shinto or kami-no-michi (the original traditional term) is the natural spiritual cult of Japan extensively followed by the Japanese people. Shinto or literally meaning the way of the Gods was originally adopted from the ancient Chinese inscriptions. The very word Shinto is the combination of the two terms, “shin” or ‘shen’ meaning gods or spirits and “tÅ” or “do” denoting an idealistic path of study or path of existence. On the other hand, Buddhism is a tradition envisaged as the ultimate path of salvation which is to be achieved through an imminent approach into the absolute nature of reality and existence.
Shinto essentially integrates the various religious practices consequent of the diverse regional and local prehistoric traditions that were practiced in ancient Japan. On the other hand Buddhism takes within its purview many diverse traditions, religious practices and spiritual beliefs which are majorly based on the teachings of the Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.
Shinto is a unique religion where the ritual practices, actions and rites are a lot more significant than the words or preaching. On the other hand, Buddhism is a religion that does not recognize many religious rites or practices. It primarily focuses on the relation and study of the words and philosophies of the Buddha and the paths of existence as showed by him.
Shinto exemplifies the worship of the abstract forces of nature, the ancestors, nature, polytheism, and animism. The central focus remains on ritual purity which revolves around the honoring and celebration of the existence of Kami which is the ultimate spirit of essence. In a differing way, the foundation of Buddhism lies on the performing of altruism and following the paths of ethical conduct. Some of the common practices of Buddhism are cultivation of wisdom through meditation and renunciation, invocating the bodhisattvas and studying the scriptures.
Buddhism has two main branches termed as Mahayana and Theravada. Mahayana includes the traditions of Pure Land, Nichiren Buddhism, Zen, Shingon, Tibetan Buddhism, Shinnyo-en and Tendai whereas Theravada centers on the thoughts from the earliest surviving School of Elders. But Shinto has no branches and exists as one single institution of ancient Japanese religion.
Summary:
1. Shinto is an ancient religion from Japan whereas Buddhism is a tradition envisaged in India by Siddhartha Gautama.
2. Shinto originated from ancient Chinese inscriptions, whereas Buddhism has its inception in the thoughts and teachings of Gautama Buddha.
3. Shinto lays importance to religious actions and rites rather than words and preaching whereas the foundation of Buddhism is the words and preaching of Buddha. Buddhism focuses on an altruistic life that leads to salvation.
4. Buddhism has religious branches in the form of Theravada and Mahayana whereas Shinto has no such religious sects.
5. Shinto worships the forces of nature, polytheism and animism whereas Buddhism is all about following an ethical code of conduct in one’s life and practice meditation and renunciation.
Test subjects taking part in an 8-week program of mindfulness meditation showed results that astonished even the most experienced neuroscientists at Harvard University. The study was led by a Harvard-affiliated team of researchers based at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the team’s MRI scans documented for the very first time in medical history how meditation produced massive changes inside the brain’s gray matter. “Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychological benefits that persist throughout the day,” says study senior author Sara Lazar of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program and a Harvard Medical School instructor in psychology. “This study demonstrates that changes in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improvements and that people are not just feeling better because they are spending time relaxing.”
Sue McGreevey of MGH writes: “Previous studies from Lazar’s group and others found structural differences between the brains of experienced meditation practitioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with attention and emotional integration. But those investigations could not document that those differences were actually produced by meditation.” Until now, that is. The participants spent an average of 27 minutes per day practicing mindfulness exercises, and this is all it took to stimulate a major increase in gray matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection. McGreevey adds: “Participant-reported reductions in stress also were correlated with decreased gray-matter density in the amygdala, which is known to play an important role in anxiety and stress. None of these changes were seen in the control group, indicating that they had not resulted merely from the passage of time.”
“It is fascinating to see the brain’s plasticity and that, by practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life,” says Britta Hölzel, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and Giessen University in Germany.
Be open to the natural world anywhere and everywhere you find it, from bugs to clouds to birdsong on the city streets.
The Importance of Swapping Screen Time For Sunshine
In “How to Raise a Wild Child,” Dr. Scott D. Sampson asserts that topophilia, a love of place, is the key to restoring sustainability on our planet. As chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and host of the PBS KIDS television series Dinosaur Train, he argues that the current disconnect between kids and the natural world is a threat to their physical, mental, and emotional health. Sampson offers the topophilia hypothesis: that bonding between people and place offers adaptive advantages to human beings. He believes topophilia can become the foundation for the young generation to regain their connection to nature.
“There is only ONE solution to ALL world issues of this planet, to let the ALL souls, nations & the planet become united as ONE.
There is an X-Wave and great energy from the Star Sirius, is on the way to hit planet Earth and ALL its inhabits.
ALL will be affected by it, and it will trigger great awakenings ALL around the planet.
People in higher states of consciousness will be affected mostly, but people in lower states of consciousness will have nowhere to run.”
“The White Temple of ONE Inner Light is going to be the New World-Council of this planet, WE will take ALL power from the rich and few, governments and politicians.
The White Temple of ONE Inner Light is going to be inhabited by the 144 + 144.000 Light-Masters from the Brotherhood of the Star.
The White Temple of ONE Inner Light is going to provide truth, justice and equality to the planet and ALL its inhabits.
The White Temple of ONE Inner Light and the 144 + 144.000 Light-Masters from the Brotherhood of the Star is going to change everything, but only for the good of ALL.”
When you are living in your sweet spot you feel … calm and energetic, accomplished and joyful. As more and more things continue to drain and distract our attention, it is imperative that we uncover ways to gain back our focus. Try creating an environment that is relaxed, comfortable and productive, versus a mental state that is filled with anxiety and stress.
Next time you have an important task to tackle, be sure to make an effort to see if you can achieve a deep focus by getting into your ‘sweet spot.’
The most common reason that people lose their magical “mojo” is that they don’t practice daily rituals. Daily rituals provide regular contact with spirit guides and the Universe, and a good working relationship with these beings does improve chances of getting assistance in magical acts. Also consistent practice of regular magical rituals helps boost your magical force — every successful daily ritual adds magical force until your magical bank account is overflowing; but failing to keep in touch with your magical practice can leave you magically bankrupt!
As Above So Below
How much do you move your body? Many of us spend a great part of the day sitting and not moving. By the esoteric law of “As Above, So Below” each part of our being affects the other parts. So when you find yourself mentally stuck, moving your body helps get your mind moving. By this law, when we change one part of our being, every other part has to change to match it. So as you move your body, your mind and spirit move to match it. Understanding how this law works can help you transform every area of your life.
Slow Movement
Now that you see how moving your body can help get your mind and spirit moving too, you can also use this principle to control your mind when it starts running away with you. That means times when you start obsessing about something that happened during the day or incessant worry or just mind chatter that interferes with your inner silence or trying to meditate. In these cases when you get up and move your body, move it slowly. Walk across the room taking slow deliberate steps or slowly do some Tai Chi or yoga moves. Whatever type of movement you do, do it consciously and slowly, feeling all the sensations of your body moving and your breathing. This slowing down of the body will help slow down your mind so you can have some inner silence to hear your guides, higher powers and beings and your own inner wisdom. Regularly practice with moving your body slowly will help your mind slow down and stay more focused and help you get better sleep at night. The next time you’re feeling nervous or anxious, give this a try and magically help slow down your racing feelings and thoughts.
Give these techniques a try and add them to your magical toolbox.
Source: Living with Nature – School on Blog by Dr. Abercio V. Rotor: Sampaguita – Pride of Filipinos
What’s it like to meet a babaylan in the flesh? Rappler contributor Claire Madarang tells us.
I know my father who recently passed over last summer still contacts us, especially Mom, in many different ways. We each experience similar metaphysical experiences, but likely pass them off as synchronicities, “coincidences”, or freaky moments … but that is the mind attempting to interpret what your heart already senses is a genuine experience. The truth is, loved ones often attempt to contact us after passing.
“The less promise and potency in the self, the more imperative is the need for pride. The core of pride is self-rejection.”
So much of our freedom revolves around healing the wounds that have caused us to disavow important aspects of ourselves. Too often we unilaterally gauge freedom in terms of being able to do and have things: lots of money, being able to travel, or being able to act as we like. These are external, feel-good freedoms. But how often do we gauge our freedom by the inner freedom we get to experience from imposing certain external limitations and making sacrifices? By Contributing Writer Jack Adam Weber
Walk with me with my meditation, “Beyond Awakening”, and let’s prepare for tomorrow’s powerful Full-Blood-Moon-Eclipse.
Hālau 'Aha Hui Lānākila 