Meditation - Courtesy -> Times of India

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Quotes i liked today

When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves.
- Confucious

Past and Future are a duality of which Present is the reality. The now-moment alone is eternal and real.
- Why Lazurus Laughed by Wei Wu Wei...

Who ranks as the highest? One who does not harm anything. One who never retaliates. One who is always at peace regardless of the other person's disposition.
- Buddha

You are now in control of your life. You see, the ego is never in control. The ego is controlled by wishes for comfort and convenience on the part of the body, by demands of the mind, and by outbursts of the emotions. But the higher nature controls the body and the mind and the emotions. I can say to my body, "Lie down there on that cement floor and go to sleep," and it obeys. I can say to my mind, "Shut out everything else and concentrate on this job before you," and it's obedient. I can say to my emotions, "Be still, even in the face of this terrible situation," and they are still. It's a different way of living. The philosopher Thoreau wrote: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps he hears a different drummer. And now you are following a different drummer--the higher nature instead of the lower.
- Peace Pilgrim

If we clearly apperceive (meaning - comprehend in terms of past experiences ) the difference Between direct apprehension (ability to understand) in Whole-mind And relative comprehension (intellectual ability to understand) by reasoning in mind divided into subject-and-object, All the apparent mysteries will disappear. For that will be found to be the key Which unlocks the doors of incomprehension ( inability to understand ).
- 'Posthumous Pieces' by Wei Wu Wei

What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.
-Confucius

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
-Albert Einstein

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

-Confucius

Play your part in the comedy, but don't identify yourself with your role!

-Wei Wu Wei

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride.

- Sutta Nipata

Locating "will" through feeling

Sleep is a cleanser for the subconscious mind. By the use of willpower this can be done slowly or quickly.

When you sleep, you are cleaning out the subconscious mind and educating it to face the experiences that you must go through as you evolve. This is done automatically, but you can help it by the use of your will. Everyone has willpower, but few know that they have any more than a certain amount. It is really unfair to tell them they have unlimited powers, because they have not the consciousness of how to awaken them, and it only leads to a subconscious frustration unless you give the key along with the statement. This is the key, and when you practice it you will realize that you are not a mere man in a physical body. You are a being that has unlimited power within: the power to acquire, to give, to understand, to love, to remember, to be magnetic and to be happy. This power is yours. It is locked up within you, only to be realized through the conscious use of the will. The will is a thing, just like your body, your mind and emotions when you learn to separate and control them. The will you can also control, once you locate it through feeling. This feeling you must search yourself for and try to locate where it is and trace it to what it controls and weigh it as to how much you use to accomplish different missions. You do this through concentration -- just plain thinking, coupled with feeling.

This is your birthright, your heritage. When you grasp this will from within, your consciousness will unfold before your vision. And during sleep you will speed up the process of purification and build strength daily until you fall into a conscious sleep.

2nd Visit to Kalahasti

Srikalahasti, the great place of piligrimage where Lord Shiva's devotees came into light, it was a spider (sri), a snake (kala) and an elephant(hasti). The pooja went well and we (me and my parents) were seated close to Lord Shiva in the form of a Shiv Ling and Rahu and Ketu in front of Him. Sri Kalahasti is exactly 300 km from Bangalore. 1 hour drive from Tirupati.

The place has now become very commercialized. The priests ask us to constantly offer dakshina (money). The priest who conducts dosha nivarana puja even demands a dakshina of 200 Rs which is supposed to be a voluntary contribution. Scriptures say that such poojas help the soul in clearing impediments and past karmas, but seeing the money minded priests there, one begins to wonder if its all a hoax.

Coming to the good part, I had a very good darshan of the lord (the massive Shiv ling) and also the darshan of the mother. My guru says that the temple, priests and poojas are all an external representation of our own super conscious mind. Keeping this in mind, i constantly enjoyed the darshan and the music which was continuously played in the temple which says 'Om namah Sivaya' repeatedly. Then myself and my driver\friend visited the temple on top of the hill where the great devotee of Lord Shiva Kannappa was graced by Lord Shiva. I meditated for a while on top of the hill and hope to maintain the mountaintop perspective when im entangled in emotions or the instinctive/intellectual subconscious states of mind.

Thus having charged by the cosmic rays of the darshan we returned to Bangalore safely. Thank you Baba for making our trip pleasant and peaceful. Aum namah Sivaya.

The Golden Age

Much has been predicted about the beginning of the Golden Age. The timelines go as per below. For the full list this is the place to go.

-3102 Astrology:Beginning of Kali era calendar according to contemporary Hindu scriptural calculations. fourth cycle

1879 ce Scrolls: Fourth time period (manvantara) referenced in Lemurian Scrolls begins. Sat Yuga

1879 ce Modern History:Thomas Edison invents the incandescent bulb, and man learns to light the night.

Scrolls: The fourth manvantara and current Sat Yuga (Golden Age) begin. "When the inhabitants of the Earth are able to light the night with their own devices...the Sat Siva Yuga will begin through this one advent in time and space...."

1945 Modern History:As chronicled in Lemurian Scrolls, revolutionary advancements are seen in technology and communication, and a blending of the races begins.

The Mayan calender which started in -3114 ends in 2012 AD. Some say that its the end of the world and the facts such as Global Warming have already triggered it. But our scriptures say that despite the problems faced by mankind, a new age will dawn when man turns inward, becomes spiritual. Competetion will be replaced by mutual co-operation and the like.


I came across this speech below from Sri Amma Bhagawan of Nemam which refers the same Golden age.

Staying positive with willpower

Willpower is a spiritual quality which makes all our inner quests and dreams a reality. Willpower is defined by my guru as follows "Willpower is the channeling of all energies toward one given point for a given length of time."

As explained in earlier posts -- It is not developing a strong will by having a lot of half-finished jobs. It is not developing a strong will by starting out with a bang on a project and then fizzling out. These only attach awareness to that which it is aware of and lead us into the distraction of thinking the external mind is real. One extremely important lesson in life ---- When we find ourselves not able to finish a project that we have started, because it got too boring or because its taking too much time. we have to be extremely positive and not allow the subconscious to become ramified with our basically being disappointed with ourselves. We have to work out extremely positively with our subconscious. -- Take a mountaintop attitude. If you are having a difficult day, tell yourself, "I'm working with my subconscious mind. Admittedly, things are not working out very well for me today, but I think I will have it all adjusted by evening." Then leap back in into the project where you had left it,work on it and finish it well beyond your expectations. Make every work you do satisfy your inner scrutiny and that brings about a little more willpower. Willpower has to be 'cultivated' like how we cultivate plants.

The habit of becoming constantly distracted makes it impossible for you to truly concentrate the mind or to realize anything other than distractions and the desires of the conscious mind itself. But with love & understanding of your own mind and with a constant positive attitude its possible to get right back on track and finish what we had started.

Driving a difficult project to completion doesn't take a lot of time. It just takes a lot of willpower. Someone can go along and work years and years and years and, with a minimal amount of willpower, constantly be distracted, constantly be complaining and constantly be unsuccessful. Another person can have the exact same approach and over a short period of time be extremely successful, because he has will. The previous way he lived his life, the previous things that he did, he handled in such a way that that willpower was there, or his awareness is a manifestation of willpower, and he goes soaring within on this will.

A person situated in the 'manipura' chakra is already doing pretty well in this arena. If you are working on a project creatively, you maintain your efforts until you bring it to a conclusion. It is such people who become truly successful in meditation.