Adversity as opportunity (1 of 2)

Good morning friends.  We experience agony and pain when we come to face an emotional, social or financial upheaval over which we have no control. The word agony implies suffering that one goes through helplessly, maybe over a prolonged period of time. It could be a state of mental anguish in which we fear or question the uncertainty in our lives. We may feel like giving ourselves up to fate.

You might feel agony over the death of a loved one, separation from a loved one, a traumatic accident or chronic physical ailment. Suffering can also arise on account of being misunderstood by others or because of not being able to express yourself.

One who is in agony might think he is a total failure in life; that there is no hope left. However, what seems like suffering can be turned into a golden opportunity if it is dealt with intellect and patience. This in turn is brought about by means of setting goals, seeking guidance and cultivating positive thoughts.

Dealing with all that causes suffering means to overcome obstacles in our path to progress. There are many ways to accomplish this. First of all it means focusing on strengths and understanding our limitations better.

Interacting with positive people helps. Walking in natural environs, spending time alone, reading quietly or listening to music are all activities that engender positive thinking for it connects us to the whole; it opens our eyes to the interconnected nature of life and the concept of Brahmn starts making sense.

Explore the path of spiritual living (2 of 2)

We try to protect ourselves from fear through the influences of worldly life…by acquiring more money and more power. But spiritually we can insulate ourselves from fear, only if we have trust.

We were secure in our mother’s womb. At term when we were pushed out into the world, it was as though we were facing death. We experienced tremendous fear.

After being born, is it death or birth that marks our lives?

Trust that when one door closes, another door opens. Such trust insulates us from fear. The spiritual way of seeing is, if there is an impression or a negative impression of fear in the mind, one has to de-identify with it. This detachment or de-identification is the insulation that i am talking of. In yoga, it is called atma smaranam, self-remembrance.

What happens when we insulate ourselves from negative impressions?

Worldly influences do not touch us. Instead, we would be in touch with higher vibrations and open ourselves for higher influences. The higher centres in us are constantly communicating something profound to us, but we close ourselves to them. It is like a cup turned upside down. No amount of rainwater can fill the cup. The moment we are available for higher vibrations, we attract nobler aspects of life. Lower states attract lower aspects of life while the higher states attract higher aspects of life. This is the law of attraction.

Why is devotion necessary?

Devotion activates our higher centres. Devotion purifies our emotions. Devotion allows the finer vibrations to flow into our lives. With devotion, your third eye or intuitive eye opens, and you would see many meaningful coincidences occurring in your life. You will see the mysterious hand of God blessing you. – The Times of India

Two-hour interactive sessions and modules of meditation will be conducted by trained teachers every Sunday. Contact: Noida: 9312939812, 9810472906. Dabri-Palam road: 9868503034. For details visit: www.prasannatrust.org

Explore the path of spiritual living (1 of 2)

Good morning everyone.  There are some people who has materialistic living.  They found happiness on that.  But did you know that you will have the best part of your living spiritually?  Just explore the path to your spiritual living and you will see the best meaning in your life.  There is one article I have read and it shows the way on how to discover or see the sights of spiritual living. 

Is spiritual practice a must for everyone? 

You have to insulate yourself from the effects of worldly living. The environment has its strong impact. The external world is in a rat race for greed, glamour and respectability. It does not bother about real joy and purity. Naturally, external influence affects an individual. In this rat race even if one wins one continues to be a rat. Glamour gives you an illusory joy but your soul needs to grow.

‘Why does a fish in an ocean try to jump out?’ asked a Zen student.

‘The fish is trying to explore a world beyond the ocean,’ answered the Master.

Consciousness in each one of us is like a fish that wants to explore the unknown, to evolve and grow. If you do not insulate yourself from negative forces, there will be a leakage of energies and that would hamper your growth. So it is necessary not to struggle in life and not allow negativity to control your life. One has to learn to float in life, to let go, let in the essentials and negate unessential feelings.

How can I insulate myself from negative influences?

People live life in fear. It is out of fear that they worship; out of fear they get married; out of fear of insecurity they beget children. Whenever fear emerges, there is a leakage of energy. Fear creates a hurt body and it then tries to survive by quoting philosophy and logic.

Don’t look too far for solutions (2 of 2)

The process of strategizing while solving a problem throws up many facets of ourselves that we never knew existed. Adversity has been a blessing often enough and ought to be respected rather than feared. Complications arise most often because we take things personally and too seriously. Surrender only destroys self-esteem. Fighting enhances it. The difference between the two is just a matter of attitude.

Helplessness is a state of the mind. Most successful businessmen and corporate executives are paid for their ability to keep cool in the most trying of circumstances. They probably begin where others stop trying. Fixing the blame is not what absolves one of failure. Fixing the problem is the only redemption.

Anger, fear, resentment and frustration only muddle neural networks. They are mere manifestations of the fight, flight or fright response. What is actually needed is a right, bright, and trite response. This response can only be attained with a calm and controlled thought process. Knee-jerk responses are just reflexes without any form of cerebration. They are most often fruitless. A deliberate, conscious effort needs to be inculcated to programme a conditioned response.

A positive approach is a big help, as it tends to activate the right brain, the one that has great intuitive abilities. The most appropriate response to any problem would be whole-brained. That is with both the right and left hemispheres giving their inputs. The dominant half — the left-brain in right-handed persons and right brain in left-handed persons – enables analysis, logic and assessment. It tends to be a fragmentary approach.

The right has a more intuitive, subtle and holistic approach. A combined two-pronged approach is much more likely to bring out the best in adversity — and make it easier for the butterfly in you to take wing. – The times of Indian

A way to deal with frozen feelings (1 of 2)

Good morning friends.  Did we ever grow up? Well, yes and no! A part of us did and some parts of us didn’t. Let’s find out how that happens. 

Every child experiences all that happens around him with total awareness. In the first seven years the child’s brain is like a sponge, taking in all sensory inputs and building his idea of his surroundings. As long as the environment is safe, the child learns with incredible speed. However, when the environment is scary or stressful, the child unlearns past learning just as rapidly.

In the early years of every child’s life, whenever there is shock, violence, fear or pain, these intense emotions are imprinted deeply into memory. Whenever the same activity or situation is repeated, the nervous system and body subconsciously re-experience the memory of that trauma. This creates a blind spot in the child’s neurological process and he literally goes blind to any alternative except knee-jerk, repetitive reactions.

As an example, if a toddler is happily playing with a puppy and gets accidentally scratched or bitten he might forget the incident consciously but never be able to like being around dogs and may not know the reason why. All compulsive behaviors begin this way and continue into adulthood, until we are willing to make another choice.

For instance, when a child is learning the alphabets, say ABC, if there is stress around him like people shouting or judgments like, ‘You’ll never do it right’, or constant comparisons, this activity gets fused together with other sensory inputs like hearing and seeing and one package of memory is formed. From then on whenever he attempts to learn ABC or write he subconsciously remembers past events and feelings and the same stress comes on line. This interferes with his ability to do it well. Over time, the child may even avoid trying to read or write because he believes it is stressful and undoable.

Learning Now Helps Later

Good morning friends.  Pursuing your creativity is good for your brain.  When you learn a new language or study music or art, your brain works in a new ways to store information, say Dr. Bartzokis.

 

This is especially important in middle age, because when people reach their 50s, their brains do shrink a little.  We can offset some of the through proper diet, exercise and keeping mentally active.  The brain is more like muscle than we ever thought. We need to keep it physically fit by using it.

 

According to a nationwide study on creativity and aging, those involved in arts programs had better overall health, fewer doctor visits, took less medication and had less depression than those who weren’t.  although the study focused on seniors 65 and older, the preliminary findings have implications for all of us.  We know that when older adults engaged in meaningful activities that provide them a new sense of mastery and opportunity for social interaction, they lower their risk for disease by building stronger immune system.

 

For women who still think pursuing their creativity is too self-indulgent. Dr. Bartzokis says think again.  If a woman develops her skills and passions, she enriches herself, serves as a great model for her children and is a more interesting mate.  And she is less likely to become dependent n her family later.

 

Yes, it’s scary and jumbling to start something new later in life.  But facing your fears is worth it.  The payoff is an unbelievable feeling of self-satisfaction and accomplishment.  The question isn’t “Is it too late?”  Rather, it’s “What are you waiting for?” – Marnell Jameson

Reaching Peak

A peak experience often follows the release stage.  At this level you are more likely to experience greater insights, freedom from fear and anxiety and a sense of unification with an infinite or external dimension of reality. 

 

We now know that dramatic insights and personal breakthroughs are all rooted in the same underlying medical and biological phenomena, which is, basically, our body’s natural ability to heal itself.  So that while the challenges and circumstances may be quite different, each peak event is triggered in precisely the same way.

 

In short, if you can grasp what trigger has helped you improve your tennis serve, you’ll understand what it takes to strengthen your speaking ability.  And if you can learn the trigger to stimulate creativity on the job, you will be able to take giant steps toward improving your health—and even comprehending the biological foundation of your spiritual life. 

Caring without clinging – 2

As I rolled out my yoga mat and surrendered into a forward bend, I tuned in to the tides of love and worry surging through me:  the ferocious mother-bear longing for my child to be forever protected from fear and sorrow and rejection and the humiliation of big kids pushing him off the slide; my yearning to make the magic set of decisions that would ensure his happiness forever.  But as I smoothed out my ragged equanimity, I remembered that all I could do in this situation was give my very best.  I could love Shivam, nurture him, protect him, make the best choices I could for him.  But I could not control the unfolding of his life.

 

As life challenges go, of course, sending a child to preschool is rather minuscule.  Shivam and I were facing just a few hours of separation anxiety, not one of the infinite horrors that can strike anyone at any moment.  When it comes to equanimity, I’m still using training wheels.

 

But it’s through such small moments that we train our capacity for letting go—and begin to come to term with the fact that in the end, we can’t control anything but the intention we bring to our actions.

 

This is not a particularly cuddly insight.  It’s not comforting like a warm blanket; it feels more like a free fall off a cliff.  But when we open up to the terrifying truth that we can’t manipulate much of any experience worth having, we also open up to the incredible beauty and preciousness of every fragile, uncontrollable moment.  All of our fantasized security is revealed to be an illusion, but in the midst of the free fall into emptiness, it’s possible to be at peace.

How you can go for it!

♥  USE YOUR FEAR.  Often, being afraid of failure or of looking like a fool holds us back from pursuing our dreams.  But fear can be a great motivator, too.  Imagine yourself ten years from now, still totally stuck and afraid.  How would it feel to still be letting fear keep you from achieving your dream?  Use the rear of that to motivate you to take action.

♥  START A DREAM JOURNAL.  Dedicate one to your goal—write about your thoughts and plans, jot down facts and phone numbers, and paste in pictures that inspire you.  Getting everything down on paper gives you momentum.  It makes your dream real before you even get started. 

♥  MAKE A TIMELINE.  Write down when you’d like your dream to come true, and give yourself a deadline for each step that has to happen along the way.  For example, if you want to take a big trip abroad with your kids,  decide when you want to go, then figure out when you’ll need to make reservations, earn money to pay for it, and so on.  Make a poster of your timeline and keep it where you can see it every single day.  You may not hit each deadline exactly on time, but having a time frame helps you keep your dream high on your priority list.

♥  DO ONE THING EVERY DAY.  No matter how busy you are, set aside five minutes each day to take one small step toward your goal.  Whether it’s a phone call or doing research on the Internet, take daily action so you don’t look up and realize another six months have gone by and you didn’t even try to make your dream come true.  Plus doing something, even if it’s small, is what will give you that sense of accomplishment that pushes you to do even more.