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The following article was written by Steve Ficks in response to a posting in the AYP forum asking about the overwhelming nature of Love. It speaks of divine Source, the heart, love and prayer and how enlivening our direct connection with Source through the innermost heart can change the nature of life and spiritual practices in the most beneficial of ways. Steve’s journey has been influenced by the practices of internal Taoist yoga, AYP and Padmacahaya.Thank you Steve for sharing your words of wisdom with us.
Love is the greatest power in the universe. But it also is gentle and Self calibrating. It holds and embraces each of us with perfection providing the perfect touch for every situation and circumstance. The magnitude of Love becomes overwhelming through resistance when we try to contain it, control it or treat it as an object or energy experience to get. We already are love. There is nothing to get or hold onto. The real meaning of love, being love can only be discovered in freely giving it away without condition. Love is not ruthless. It always has our best interests at heart.
If one shuts down, is afraid, or overwhelmed, then pray to Source. Each of us has a direct connection with Source through our innermost heart. Ask not for more but for what is best, what Source wants for you. Give up any need to know what that is. Sincerely offer one’s complete Self and entire being as an instrument, as a foci to Source to freely share the love, light and blessings with all beings everywhere. And trust, and if you can’t, then pray for that too. Give it all up for Source. You don’t have to do anything. Be assured, the prayer has already been answered even before you pray it.
We are all loved completely. As we learn to trust, to let go and allow the Love to work, deeper layers of heart begin to open. There is a gentleness, a softness and sweetness, a depth of peace, being and silence, that expands and deepens without pressure. There is an outflow and radiance that eliminates the sense of overwhelming because there is nothing to hold onto, nothing to overwhelm for all is being given away, freely shared with all-in-All.
It is a process. It does not happen overnight. There are stages and transitions that allow one’s heart and whole being to begin to embrace, accept and let happen the Love and Will of Source. At times patterns of mental-emotional interference constituting resistance emerge. That’s a blessing. It is an opportunity to let go, trust Source more and let the Love do its work. This will dissolve and release the layers of interference taking you deeper into Heart further strengthening the direct connection.
No stage need occur in overwhelming manner or degrade into a constricted energy experience. If it does, that too is a blessing. It’s direct feedback indicating that you are efforting, doing, controlling, resisting, in some way interjecting mind-ego into the process corralling and limiting the working of the Love. This is where the sense of overwhelming arises. If you utilize the practices of AYP follow the guidelines of self-pacing prudently. In addition, pray directly to Source. This will begin to open and enliven the innermost heart, the direct connection with Source.
When the inner heart takes over the direction of the sadhana, the nature of practice and living changes. The constrictions of the ‘I’ and doing are reduced. The inner heart is the pure undiluted core of Self, the direct link with Source. It truly knows best. It is more than just silence. It is silence and love. It is Heart. As it takes over more completely, it provides deeper levels of guidance. This is deeper and different than intuition and gut feeling. It is beyond mind and occurs via the direct-link connection with Source. It is precise. It perfectly understands the unique matrix of obstructions constituting you.
The necessary unfolding of the nervous and energy systems begins to take place under the direction of Heart which improves and changes the nature of self-pacing and self-directed effort. Not only will there be a love that emanates outward from Heart, but a pure flame of Love and Light will ignite within the core of Heart and begin to purify every level of being. There will also come a downpouring of Love from above that helps to further open the heart and works with the kundalini in soothing fashion to open the sushumna and chakras removing blockages and restrictions that create energy imbalances and overload. The pure love of Source coupled with the fragrance of a naturally emerging heart-soul forgiveness will begin removing the effects of patterns-blockages-events constituting lifetimes of karmic influence. All of this under the direct guidance of the inner heart.
Prayer is consistent with AYP practices. Yogani has spoken about it in his samyama book. AYP + prayer, silence and love. Choose Source. Choose Heart without reservation. Dive deep into Heart. There is no end. Allow Heart to continuously sing in silent communion with Source. Give it all up, give it all away. Let Source take charge completely. The choice is yours. The environment is changing. This blessing, gift-opportunity is available to all. No exceptions. We are all Heart. Much will change. The Yoga of Grace.
“Beloved True Source, open all hearts to the silent presence of your spirit. Lead us into that mysterious silence where your love is revealed to all who call. Thank You True Source. Amen.”
The following post was contributed by Nandhi, a yogi from the South Indian Siddhar tradition. These are inspirational words he is sharing with us, to help us all in enjoying Living Unbound, in reality. Thank you, Nandhi for sharing your beautiful wisdom with us.
***Photos were taken from Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram by Nandhi.
The Inner Voice of the Prophet: Mahatma Gandhi’s story & thoughts
This is a powerful story of how India received its independence by the spark of the “inner voice.” Like the event of Pearl Harbor attack that led to USA joining in the World War Two or the Declaration of Independence signed in the American march towards independence, the Dandi March, a non-violent rebellion by Mahatma Gandhi was the watershed event leading to the India’s independence.
As human, we share a powerful gift that some of us are aware of and others are yet to wake up to. It is the inner voice of higher consciousness. The inner voice ‘speaks’ to us clearly with more of meditation & cosmic union with Source.
This is the age of the Prophet. When we wake up and hear the inner voice of consciousness speak, direct and guide us, we are connecting to the same Source that all masters of higher consciousness connected to throughout ages. Through history, we have put many on the pedestals of prophets and saints, when they spoke of their inner voice. Prophet Mohammed convinced the society of his time to believe his words to be from God saying, “Is it not true these are words from your Deepest Being?”. As we awaken to the inner voice, these are moments to wake up and make note of rules and disciplines to be followed (strictly by ourselves and never enforced on others), to set ourselves free to be the Prophet.
Prophets come in different disguises. Humanity chooses the right ones and the wrong ones. If greatness of a Prophet was measured by peace, then Mahatma Gandhi, is the greatest Prophet we have had on planet earth in recent times, who disguised himself in utter humility. His lifetime message was- Ahimsa & Satyagraha. Ahimsa means being- non-harming, non-hurting, non-violence towards any human or living being. Following higher consciousness of truth & Spirit was the principle of Satyagraha.
Was reading this interesting story of Mahatma Gandhi in his book called, Prayer. This was Mahatma Gandhi’s words- “I do not know what you call a vision and what you will call prophetic. When I announced my fast of 21 days in jail, I had not reasoned it. On retiring to bed the previous night, I had no notion that I was going to announce a fast for 21 days. But in the middle of the night, a voice woke me up and said, “Go through a fast”. “How many?”, I asked. “21 days”, was the answer.
Now let me tell you that my mind was unprepared for it, disinclined for it. But the thing came to me clearly as anything could be. Whatever striking things I have done in life, I have not done prompted by reason but prompted by instinct, I would say God. Take the Dandi Salt March of 1930 (the single most important event that set the Indian freedom movement onwards to victory). I had not the ghost of a suspicion how the breach of the salt law would work itself out. Pandit (who later became the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru) and other friends were fretting and did not know what I would do; and I could tell them nothing, as I myself knew nothing about it. But like a flash it came, and as you know, it was enough to shake the country from one end to the other.” *Dandi March was the first major non-violent rebellion of India’s march towards freedom through satyagraha (truth). The whole of India rose up together and independence came to India in a noble manner. It was the inner voice of Mahatma Gandhi that sparked the thought as flame of reality. In the yogic path, with practice of bringing the mind to stillness, a natural power of the mind awakens- the inner guidance. In yoga this extra sensory powers is called ‘siddhi’ . Thoughts on the Inner Voice:
1. The ultimate aspiration for a human is to be free & be freedom itself. Follow your path of yoga, tai-chi, or any practice that takes you to a state of ‘no-mind’ where the experience is pure bliss. The objective of yoga is to attain “Satchidananda”, the experience of being the embodiment of bliss which is to be Lord Siva. If a yogi is meditating in a cave for months and days, he must be doing something so special, is it not? To enjoy the sacred joys, the yogi disciplines himself to acquire and be the state of joy.
2. Belief systems of nearly all religions serve as road maps to the destination of experience of Source. Beyond this destination, they serve little purpose. Breaking free to allow higher consciousness to gain precedence over ignorance, let the stillness of joy and the focus of one thought lead our inner journey to Source experience. Learn the most crucial teachings of all Prophets- none followed the previous belief systems that they were born into. The only true religion is that path of light that makes ourselves God/Goddess. All mystics of all religions made this declaration that the Divine dwells in our own heart and each of us are shrines of Source.
3. While doing yoga (hatha), know that it is a powerful tool to reach Source and be Source. The ultimate offerings to Source is our body & mind. If we are the form of God, we must have millions of angels worshipping us. When we worship the altar space within each posture through breath, we fulfill the angelic intent to be the Presence as the joy of states of turiya, the higher consciousness that is of Source. As in states of supreme inner joy, our outer reality too is filled with love and compassion.
4. When awake, we are confronted with a newer truth- the knowing of laws of karma and dharma that sustains the foundation of peace that we stand on. In our journey towards Source, we are gifted with lightness- less karmic baggage and more inspired action that is dharma. It is simply not true that an enlightened master just continues to chop wood. No. On the contrary, after waking up, we realize we have a human body of limited shelf life and as angelic presence in the human reality, we are here for a purpose. The moment we are awake to our purpose, we are in the receiving end of grace each moment. Awake to know the vastness of spirit and purpose as human, we consummate the cosmic union through action as inspiration aligns us towards oneness.
5. The only truth of all masters of higher consciousness is the presence of peace. This ‘peace’ is relative to the human mind. When Christ spoke of peace over two millenniums ago, humanity at that place and moment in time did vibe with the teachings as it did resonate from the depth of their own being. However, Christ did not teach the yogic methodology of resurrection as it would have been information overload at that time. Humanity’s collective consciousness has grown since. We understand ‘peace; not just with humans alone but peace with animals and Planet Earth. This is the same Oneness each prophet strived to practice and teach over ages with each prophet getting better with more inclusions for non-violence and non-harming. The today’s Prophet, each of us, understand ahimsa (non-violence, non-killing, non-harming any living being) as the first step towards the peace we wish for ourselves. Peace is the foundation of an awake mind.
6. Meditation is the roots to our journey towards Source. Mature religions of the East were in harmony with science in the past and gives room for science in the future. For instance, several thousands of years back the calculations & information regarding distance between the sun and earth, the speed of light, the distance between the earth and moon, the age of planet earth, the existence of black holes in the universe etc stands perfectly aligned with our scientific discoveries. A mind that meditates and listens to the ‘inner voice’ is able to comprehend vastness of reality- and therefore follows reason; tolerance of each other paths to Source; and is constantly expanding in consciousness.
Meditate to Source to be Source in our own unique way & Name. When our mind runs out of Names & attributes, we become the nameless void Oneness, vibrating as One.
The key is- meditate to acquire the mind of the Prophet! The Soul awake is Mahatma.
May humanity arise in the awake consciousness of wisdom that enables each of us to be the prophets and masters of higher consciousness!
The following article is written by Andrew Thompson, the founder of Inspirational Works, an organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, providing “Events that Inspire, Motivate and Transform Lives”. Inspirational Works has hosted Byron Katie, and is thrilled to be hosting Don Miguel Ruiz (author of The Four Agreements and other books), April 9th-11th, 2010. Andrew has been a fellow traveler with us at AYP (Advanced Yoga Practices), and is also dedicated to unveiling and sharing new ways of working with mind more effectively. Thank you Andrew for sharing your words of wisdom with us.
We go through our lives with our minds constantly active, day and night whether we are sleeping or awake. While awake, thoughts can come at a tremendous rate, often one on top of another, it happens very automatically and seemingly without control.
So much of our thinking is repetitive and when we listen closely, we can notice that our minds are often expressing our fears, frustrations, judgments and concerns. With each thought there is a corresponding emotional reaction and often a reinforcement of a limiting belief. When a thought comes along about something in our lives that isn’t going the way we want, we can feel a variety of so called “negative” emotions in reaction like anger, fear, sadness etc. So it can be observed that what we think quite clearly impacts our emotional state and hence our enjoyment or lack of it in our daily life experience.
So yes, thinking can be very automatic and can feel like something we can’t really influence, but practice would suggest otherwise. Often we don’t realize it, but we practice thinking particular thoughts all the time. How do we inadvertently practice this? Many have experienced how repetitive our minds can be, there seems to be so much energy caught up in much of our thinking. Sometimes we will become aware of how certain negative thoughts will repeat in our minds over and over again. This in itself is a form of practice even if much of it happening subconsciously and automatically. This constant repetition of negative thinking will eventually impact our emotional state and create a negative life experience of misery and unhappiness. When our thoughts are repeatedly negative or about subject matter that upsets us in some way, we can imagine how we feel at the end of a day.
The good news is that we can also choose our thoughts more consciously as well. If it is our desire, we can intentionally create a life where we live feel positive feelings like love, gratitude and peace or relaxation. Right now in this moment, we can choose to say to ourselves pretty much anything we want. We can choose a thought that describes how we feel about a loved one and when we do, there is a corresponding emotional sensation. How does it feel to think about how we love someone or something in our lives?
We can also choose a thought that describes something we are grateful for and it feels good to be grateful. We can even choose to repeat a thought about how we would like to feel in the near future. For example, we could notice we feel tense and instead repeat “I am physically relaxed and emotionally calm”. The positive emotional reactions from thinking positively like this will eventually have an impact even if it can be hard to notice at times. Thinking positively will help remove the tension from our bodies and we relax and feel better when this happens. With repeated practice, the effects of intentionally choosing positive thoughts or observations about our lives can be seen in a powerful way and we can create a wondrous emotional experience every day of love, gratitude and peace or whatever else we choose.
Of course the mind will not simply give up the old habits of thinking negatively over night. The mind has a lot of practice and repetitions of thinking negatively for many, many years so time and practice of the desired positive thoughts and corresponding emotions needs to be given in order to turn the mental and emotional “ship” around. It is all about repetitions. How many positive thoughts are you willing to intentionally practice in a day? How many times will you feel grateful or love for something in your life? It is up to you how much you want to practice, the more you practice and repeat the desired thoughts, the better you will get at it and the happier you will feel.
In addition, the way we practice will also have an impact. In other words the “technique” used to intentionally repeat the positive thought and create the corresponding emotional reactions we want is important. So use good technique and rather than simply repeating something positive in quick rapid succession without really feeling it, take your time and repeat a positive thought once, feel the emotional results and then release it into silence by being aware of the silence before repeating it again. This can be a very powerful and effective way to practice and will require fewer repetitions over the long term to create a positive thinking habit and a happy emotional body.
So if we want to feel good let’s choose our thoughts carefully and redirect our minds to repeat things that empower us and make us feel good rather than bad. Daily practice of intentional positive thinking with “good technique” will yield results over the long term and can improve our enjoyment of life in powerful and meaningful way. This coupled with other proven practices that help us to create a positive life experience like meditation, self inquiry, yoga etc. will help us to change ourselves even more quickly and live the dream of life that we have always wanted.
“Here is a question: It is suggested in many traditions that if one is experiencing true depression (not just a blue mood, but an actual disorder, where one can’t feel any pleasure), since the meditation will amplify the inward ruminations of the depressed person. I have through personal experience verified this for myself–over a year of meditation did nothing to keep me from spiraling downwards, and in fact made me feel worse. I forced it in an effort to overcome my situation, but it just prolonged the experience.
What has made it to start to lift is a combination–medication, physical exercise, good diet (note: diet and exercise alone were nothing for severe depression!), therapy, and doing the internal work with the help of these external things.
So–any suggestions for one that is truly, clinically depressed, for whom meditation will not help or make things worse? I think meditation is risky in such cases–with a suicidal person, downright dangerous.
Should they focus on just connecting with things that make them feel better, or are there any other spiritual practices they could do (besides meditation)?”
Living Unbound Answers:
Thanks for asking this question; it’s a very good one.
Per your mention of potential danger, yes: when dealing with significant depression, it’s always wise to get input from a trained professional (medical doctor, psychiatrist, etc.) regarding best courses of action, overall. And yes, some people do find that meditation can seem to make depression worse. However, meditation is also one of the most proven practices for opening to Living Unbound.
Most of us who deal with depression have a custom-mix of factors that caused the depression, and a custom-mix of factors that keep the depression in place:
Psychological tendencies, lifestyle induced biochemical issues (i.e. sedentary lifestyle, poor eating or sleep habits, alcohol or drug use, etc.), other medical issues which contribute to depression-related symptoms, and so on. And so, for many of us, a custom-mix of changes, ranging from becoming more active, to becoming more social, to positive adjustments in diet and activity level, to positive adjustments in mind-habits, to starting daily spiritual practices, is usually what it most helpful in stepping free from our sense of depression.
When we go through a depression we have a tendency to pull ourselves inward, to move into a shell, so to speak, and we tend to do a lot of thinking inside this shell; thinking that is usually not pleasant or positive, to say the least. Hence diet, exercise, doing things that involve being more active and outwardly-oriented, such as being with friends, or otherwise connecting with people, maybe taking up a new sport or recreational hobby; doing things that lift us up and get us active. These things are important, and can be as important, or more so, than medication alone, depending upon the exact nature and depth of our depression (if we decide with our doctor that medication may be useful).
This is the cycle we talk about in the first lesson in the Teachings section of Level 1, The Cyclic Nature of Living. Depression pulls us toward inertia, and so its “antidote” is that which take us into activity, away from inertia. Exercise, work, activities with friends, spiritual practices, and so on, all contribute to restoring the natural cycle, with balance between activity and rest.
If we decide with our doctor to start anti-depressant medication, there is often an initial period where the medication may seem to be working very well. Many of us have heard, and or experienced, people who start on anti-depressant medication say: “This medication I am on is really working!”
However soon, with many of us, the medication is not as effective as it was when we started it. There are many reasons for this dynamic, and this is why doctors and patients so often go through multiple trials of anti-depressants. The main reason that anti-depressants tend to have temporary effects, is that our conditioned thinking patterns essentially re-create the depression in ways that medication can’t overcome. We think ourselves back to the place we started and no medication can get us out of that place. Changes in our activity level, and increases in connecting with people may offer relief of the worst of our symptoms, but only permanent changes in attachment to thought patterns, and permanent biological changes brought about by effective practices of various types, can permanently alleviate depression.
This is because these permanent psychological and biological changes eradicate the underlying causes of depression. We can change medication several times, but if we don’t supplement it with identifying and dissolving our conditioned mind-shafts, we will just think ourselves back to where we began, depression-wise. So-called “talk therapy” can help, too, but the quality of this therapy varies widely. And usually, the patient is not taught how to think in ways that facilitate freedom from depression.
This is a key part of what Living Unbound is here to do: to help us all find, utilize and share the tools which help us all in Living Unbound, at every level of body, mind and spirit.
A bit of inner silence goes a long way in helping us to see the mind-stories, mind-labels and mind-shafts, which re-create depression. When we meditate, attention moves inward, and any depressing thinking may be even more noticeable, and therefore may seem worse than ever. This can give us a sense of not only worsening depression, but also a sense that it’s the meditation that is making our depression worse.
However, if we can consciously meditate for a few minutes by focusing on our breathing, or on a mantra, we will notice that we can actually experience a gap in the thinking. Even few seconds of experiencing a gap is a way to touch our inner silence. Our inner silence is past the depressed layer, it is not touched by thoughts or depression.
And so, meditation helps us know the part of ourselves that is free from depression, and it helps us notice the mind patterns that keep us bound to the long shaft of depression, while we’re in it.
Once we see through the illusion of the shaft of depression, then, even when we do feel depressed, it is only that moment of depression we live though. We don’t mentally pull in the previous 20 years of depression into this current moment of depression. This results in the current moment of depression not getting the energy of the memories of the past 20 years of depression; it is not connected. One moment of depression is a lot easier to deal with than 20 years of depression. It then gets easier and easier to handle this single moment, if and when it arises, and it gets easier to release it, and to let the next/current moment just be what it is, without automatically bringing depression-enhancing memories and thinking into it.
However, in order to see any of this, getting in touch with our silence for a few minutes is essential. Without touching our inner silence ever more deeply over time, we can only cycle between activity and inertia, and depression will always return, or have the possibility of returning. However, touching our inner silence helps us to experience the part of ourselves that is ever free from depression. Inner silence is the doorway to Living Unbound, to Freedom Beyond Imagination in our own experience, in reality.
And we don’t have to practice 20 minutes of mantra meditation, especially when just starting or when we feel like we are going through a depressive phase; even 2 to 5 minutes twice a day, of breath or mantra meditation will help us to connect with our inner silence, our true nature.
The few minutes of suggested meditation is to simply touch the stillness, our own inner silence. One moment of experiencing stillness has more power than the mind can think. This stillness helps us see though the workings of the mind, by giving us a vantage point beyond and before it, and most importantly, by allowing us to experience that there is actually a part of ourselves that is actually, ever free from depression or the possibility of depression.
And, over time, meditation literally facilitates changes in the body-mind at every level, which can ultimately eradicate the underlying causes of depression.
A good analogy might be:
Starting daily walks is clearly something that can be helpful toward relieving depression. However, we might find that we tend to think in depressing ways while walking, and decide that walking is making our depression worse, when the walking is actually helping, and only our thinking is worsening our sense of depression.
Mantra-based meditation can be helpful in cases of depression for many, because focus on the mantra helps to prevent the mind from dwelling on depressing thoughts. However, sometimes meditation itself can cause temporary discomfort mentally and/or emotionally. Yet, like dwelling on certain depression-enhancing thoughts while walking, this does not mean that the meditation itself is necessarily counterproductive.
Everyone is different, and so, we each need to evaluate for ourselves what may or may not work. However, it may not be necessary to give up meditation entirely, especially since its long-term benefits cannot be overstated.
Spiritual practices can certainly be a pillar, even the primary pillar in healing from depression. However, whether our specific set of practices is meditation-heavy, meditation-light or meditation-free, is something best determined for ourselves.
There are many activities and practices which can help alleviate depression. In terms of daily spiritual practices, we may want to consider:
Sacred devotional chanting (for instance of mantras, known as kirtan, though sacred chanting and singing is part of every spiritual tradition) especially with a group of like-spirited people, can be a powerfully uplifting and heart-opening practice. Even if alone, chanting along with a kirtan (yogic chant) cd or mp3 can help to open and uplift our hearts, in a variety of ways.
Mindfulness and Presence, allowing ourselves to be truly present, relaxed and aware in our bodies and breathing, can be beneficial as well; this practice helps us to rest in this moment, rather than think about other moments.
Connecting with people in any positive way, especially in a spiritual or otherwise loving context, is always helpful.
Opening in Gratitude is another powerful practice. A few minutes, even two or three minutes, each morning and evening, upon first arising, and as we are falling asleep, focusing only on the things for which we are truly grateful: God, our spiritual path, family, love, health, music, life itself, whatever it may be, can be a wonderful anti-depressant. The key is to really let ourselves feel the depth of our gratitude; to let emotions come up, if they do (as opposed to just quickly reciting a mental list). As with all spiritual practices, it has an aggregate benefit over time.
Spiritual Study, reading sacred, inspiring uplifting texts from any tradition can help uplift our minds and spirits.
Acceptance is one of the most powerful practices of all, and at essence, simply involves acknowledging reality, and letting our minds flow in natural harmony with reality, as it is. All this simple practice involves is noticing that this moment is the only actual moment, and that no memory of the past nor imagination about the future is actually part of this moment. We simply release, and let this moment be as it is. Actual moments are almost always fine. It is almost always our vast amounts of evaluation related to memory and imagination, which exacerbate depression.
Any Joy-Inducing Activity, ranging from uplifting music, books and movies, to making and meeting with new friends, or like-spirited groups of people; engaging in creative activities, or even purely fun activities, is a great way to help alleviate depression, even significant depression.
One of the most wonderful advancements in neuroscience in recent times is the reality of lifelong neuroplasticity in the brain, and the hope that this discovery can offer for any of us who may be dealing with depression on any level. Neuroplasticity simply means: our brains can be changed and reprogrammed, just as our muscles and physiology can be changed with exercise.
Books such as Sparkand The Brain That Changes Itself (both available in the Living Unbound Store) highlight the fact that neuro-plasticity and bio-plasticity are real for us all; changing activities changes brain chemistry and physiology.
Spiritual practices and spiritual awakening are filled with countless examples of those who were deeply depressed, and arose out of their depression to live happy and lives, and serve the world around them in beautiful ways.
Eckhart Tolle (author of the Power of Now, and other books) was essentially suicidal, prior to his spiritual awakening, and is now a world-respected spiritual teacher.
Byron Katie (author of Loving What Is, and other books) awakened spiritually while living in a halfway-house, isolated from the other residents, due to her abrasive behavior at the time.
Greg Baer (author of Real Love, and other books) almost took his own life with a shotgun, prior to awakening spiritually, and contributing the Real Love series of books and teachings to the world.
Krishna Das was deeply depressed and dealt with addiction issues, prior to spiritually awakening and blessing the world with his awesome “Mantra Meets Rock N Roll” kirtans and albums.
… and these are just a few of many examples. Spiritual practices work, and they do lead to Living Unbound for every one of us who practices consistently and doesn’t stop.
And, again, it us up to each of us to decide if we are ready for a given type of practice, or amount of practice. One size does not fit all. However, we can all find a combination of uplifting activities and spiritual practices which can help us to experience ever-greater degrees of freedom from depression, and which can ultimately result in Living Unbound, in reality.
The truth of this has been understood for a very long time; in closing, here is a quote from a well-known yogic text, from 9th Century India:
“Just as a thief carries away the valuables of a home, so depression saps away the vitality of the body. This depression proceeds from ignorance.* If that ignorance disappears by unmesa, how can that depression last, in the absence of its cause?”~Yoga Spandakarika, III.8
*The term “Ignorance” isn’t meant as it is used in modern times; in modern usage, the term “unawareness” might be used, instead. This sutra is simply saying that depression can only stay in place when we don’t experience the part of ourselves which can never be depressed: the inner silence, described above. Also, “Unmesa” is a Sanskrit term meaning “beyond thinking mind”, another way of referring to our inner silence.
Massage and related healing methods have been very helpful to me, with respect to my overall health. My massage therapist, Cindy Vagner, is an amazing healer who works with a variety of healing methods above and beyond traditional massage. She uses various methods such as Reiki, Physio-Spiritual Etheric Body Healing, CranioSacral Therapy, Raindrop Treatment, Etc., in combination with massage, in order to best serve the individual needs of her clients.
Cindy has found that the use of essential oils can provide significant healing benefits when used in conjunction with massage and other healing methods. She has also shared the benefits of essential oils with our meditation group on numerous occasions. These oils have a certain power and vibration to them that is very healing. I asked Cindy if she would share something with us here at Living Unbound about these oils, and their use. The following article was written by Cindy Vagner . Thank you Cindy for sharing this with us. ~ Shweta
Healing With Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils:
When I first heard about “therapeutic” grade essential oils, my ears perked up. That meant they could heal-I thought. I began to do some research into these oils I had heard about from Young Living. As a massage therapist, I didn’t know much about aromatherapy and really wasn’t interested in knowing, since most knowledge about essential oils was what many others thought-put a few drops of some smell-good oil in a burner diffuser and you were good to go. Wrong!!
It’s been nearly 10 years since I first heard about Young Living, and the truly wonderful healing oils they produce. When I received my first kit of their oils, I literally dropped to my knees, holding that box, unopened, with tears in my eyes, feeling as though I was holding a box of jewels. I didn’t understand what was making me so emotional about something I didn’t even know how to use, but I knew that there was something very sacred within that box.
During the last 10 years I have learned a great deal about how it is that Young Living’s essential oils are the most pure and therapeutic oils in the world today. Other oil brands, or those that are homemade cannot meet the standards set by the Young Living company. In fact, other oils may harm you due to the chemicals used to cut them and make them go further, so they can be sold cheaply.
There are no chemicals used in the growing or production of Young Living oils. They use high-tech devices to test their oils, to insure purity and therapeutic value. It is for this reason that only Young Living’s therapeutic grade essential oils can aid the body in recovery from disorders and disease, build up immunity and help alleviate many emotional issues.
In my massage practice I do Raindrop Technique which is exclusive to Young Living. I was taught by the founder of the company, Gary Young, in doing this procedure. You see, these essential oils have a very high energy frequency that has been measured and tested by Young Living. By applying these oils in the Raindrop procedure, they actually raise the energy frequency of the one receiving the technique. This increase in energy frequency helps the body to heal and to stay well. Amazing results are experienced by those who experience Raindrop Technique.
If you are interested in giving Raindrop Technique a try, just contact me at Tranquil Touch Therapeutic Massage. I can detail the procedure and discuss your specific issues and how the Raindrop could help. It is all about HEALING, on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.
Please read on, as important information is given below that will help you to understand what to look for when choosing what essential oils are truly Therapeutic Grade.
How To Be Sure Your Essential Oils Are Theraputic Grade.
Are the fragrances delicate, righ and Organic? Do they feel natural? Do the aroma vary from batch to batch, indicating they are distilled in small batches, rather than industrially processes on a large scale.
Are these analysed by the suppliers, through individual labs, and tested for purity and theraputic quality?
Does the supplier gro and distill its own herbs?
Are the distillation facilities part of the farm where the herbs are grown, so the oils can can be freshly distilled, rather than wait for days to be processed and hence lose some of it’s potency?
Does the supplier use low pressure and low temperature distillation so as to protect the fragile chemical constituents of the essential oils? Are the distillation cookers made with food-grade quality stainless steel allys to reduce the likelyhood of the oils chemically reacting to the metal?
Does the suppiler make sure no synthetic or harmful solvents or chemicals are being used to grow the herbs?
Do the oils meet AFNOR or ISO standards?
How many years of experience does the supplier have in growing and distilling?
AFNOR & ISO STANDARDS
When deciding to use essential oils for better health, it is imperative to only use the purest quality of oils that are available. Inferior quality or adulterated oils more than likely will not produce therapeutic results. They could actually be toxic and cause harm to the body.
European standards have been established to ouline the chemical profile and principal constituents that a quality essential oil should have. These standards are AFNOR, (Association French Normalization Organization Regulation), and ISO, (International Standards Organization). These are guidelines that help buyers know the difference between therapeutic-grade essential oils and a lower grade oil with similar chemical makeup and fragrance.
*Young Living Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils meet the above standards!
The following quotes are from Nandhi, a yogi from the South Indian Siddhar tradition. These are inspirational words he is sharing with us, to help us all in enjoying Living Unbound, in reality. Thank you, Nandhi for sharing your beautiful wisdom with us.
Climbing above the mind is yoga; to be the multiple reality as oneness is the yogi. Awake to the knowing, realities ascend consciousness to the peak, to simply Be. AUM
The ancient bridge of source and mind is grace flowing as the sacred, to Be. The bridge dissolves in oneness to be the momentum of intent, knowing purpose. AUM
The mind clear as sky to be the universe within, and the vast void beyond the mind as awareness; to be oneness, and the many as one, each thought aligned. AUM
Past burnt to acquire the infinite now, each thought flows empowered of source, merging all thoughts to the thought of One, become Oneness, the sacred One. AUM
Within is the vastness of space that is void filled in the presence as light of oneness; expanded consciousness as the vibrant light, the bliss being be. AUM
Celebrating divinity through each yogic posture as breath, wisdom is tranquility worshipped and the journey to be a light; bliss the awake guide to being. AUM
Merging thoughts to be womb space of void, celebrate realms of all sages, the ancient soul awake to being the celebrated Siva, whirl within breath to be. AUM
Breath, nada and awareness as bhakti fire ascends to the calm third eye perch of the vibrant flame. Yogic grace calms the fire to stillness, delving to Be. AUM
Within breath through yoga is the guru, the ancient presence beyond breath. Aligning silent wisdom with the intellectual offerings, we alight to be bliss! AUM
Each sheath of consciousness pierced, Kundalini climbs as consciousness awakening to dissolve senses into the inner fire of tapas, to be the bliss body. AUM
Propelling the mind to embark on its inner journey, each sheath of consciousness as gratitude to be absorbed through breath surrender, inner fire awakening. AUM
The throb within the atom is the vibrant awareness of the AUM that is also the vast space that holds universes, expanding consciousness to be; simply be! AUM
Our yoga is the lightness that dwells as light. Consciousness flows empowering each thought as ancient intent of all sages to be our now; as grace that alights! AUM
Awakening to each magical moment, time, matter and space converge to the root of thought. In bliss reality, each thought manifests the now. AUM
Celebrating silence with each thought merged with the mantra fire is the enlightened realm. Conscious samadhi is fullness that celebrates void through each breath. AUM
The word ‘freedom’ is most used by poets of every language spoken on planet earth. Above the mind’s rooftop is ananda, wisdom to be; prophet, as joy; ananda! AUM
Alight as the inner music where the mind and breath has merged, the awake joy transcends the mind as the fire of knowing and the surrender. AUM
Scriptures are for altars and not rules to be followed. The sum total of all scriptures written by humans through all ages weighs less than source that is the now. Scriptures guide to higher conscious truth and higher consciousness is independent of need for scriptures.
Stillness and the vibrant stillness of being is fulfilling fire that has the light of knowing and the warmth of inspiration as the sun lit within; So be. AUM
Ascending states of consciousness above the mind is oneness and celebrations of vibrant joys that empower the mind to seek more of cosmic union; so to be. AUM
Beyond sleep and tiredness is the primal grace of inspiration. Beyond being awake is the knowing. Beyond focus is to simply Be. Each breath the breathless Be. AUM
The following post is by Carson Kadatz, the founder of Blissed Yoga, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Per his post, Carson has had deep personal experience with successfully making the journey from the nightmare of addiction, to enjoying Living Unbound, in reality. Thank you, Carson, for sharing your beautiful wisdom with us all.
Many of us know what it is like to feel addicted to something. But what often comes to mind when the word “addicted” is said, is a mental picture of a junkie, strung out, trying to find a way to score his next hit. In reality, most of us are addicted to something in one form or another. Addictions are not limited to substances like heroin, crack or methamphetamine. We can be addicted to money, to television, to our job, to sex, to lying to ourselves, to our thoughts and to hundreds and hundreds of other things, situations and concepts. Addiction comes in all flavors and varieties and we have all suffered from them to one degree or another.
So how does one overcome an addiction? Most would think that it would be obvious that the solution for a person who suffers from a drug addiction, would be totally different from the solution for a person who is addicted to television or to their job. Nothing could be further from the Truth. There is only one thing that can universally help anyone who suffers from any addiction, and that is a personal connection to Inner Silence. But before we can truly understand what this means and how Inner Silence can help save us from our addictions, it will be important to understand what causes addictions.
So…. what causes us to be addicted to something? The answer to that question is: Misidentification. Thinking that we are something we are not. Believing the thought that we are our body, that we are our thoughts, our beliefs, our ego, our job, our house, our relationships…… that we are something other then the consciousness that underlies all form. This misidentification causes us to feel “un-whole” and feel like there is a void inside that needs to be filled. We try and fill that void with all sorts of things…. with money, with sex, with toys, with drugs, with anything that will temporarily distract us from the reality that we don’t feel Whole inside. In the words of Greg Baer in his “Real Love” series of books, these are all forms of “Imitation Love”. They give us a brief period of relief when we partake, but soon after, we are back feeling “un-whole” again. And often the next time we partake we need just a little bit more of whatever we are addicted to, to help us feel some relief again. This easily and very quickly becomes an endless cycle…… a cycle that leads into a deeper and deeper sense of despair and hopelessness, as we continue looking for something that will fill that void indefinitely.
What yogi’s and other mystics worldwide have come to realize, is that if we can learn to connect to that which we truly are, we can step out of that feeling of un-wholeness into the bliss of Reality…. we can become that which we truly are; Pure Bliss Consciousness.
So how do we learn to connect to Pure Bliss Consciousness? The answer to this is very simple….. Deep Meditation and other yoga practices. The practice of Deep Meditation, when undertaken in a consistent and self-regulated way, will bring us out of the cycle of needing different forms of Imitation Love for relief, and into the Reality that we already are that which we have been seeking all along…. that we have been looking for God with His own eyes. A consistent, twice daily practice of Deep Meditation allows us access to Inner Silence, which as we continue to practice, begins to leak out into our daily lives. We begin to notice that everything is perfect just the way it is….. even the stuff that used to cause us endless suffering, is perfect. We begin to notice that we have more “space” in our daily lives, and that the things that used to bother us, the things that used to trigger us to run to our favorite form of Imitation Love, no longer bother us so much anymore. We are able to see things from a completely different perspective. A perspective from which we can love things just the way they are, no longer feeling un-whole inside.
Now, you may be saying to yourself…. “This guy doesn’t know what he is talking about! How is Deep Meditation going to help me stop needing to have sex or do drugs or work 80 hours a week or watch 6 hours of TV a night? He probably has no clue what it is like to really be addicted to something.” Well friends, nothing could be further from the truth. When I first came to yoga I was addicted to heroin, methamphetamine, methadone, marijuana, sex, anger, fighting, control and just about every form of Imitation Love known to man. When I first started practicing yoga it was right after ending an 8 year relationship, my career, and being forced into bankruptcy, all in the same day, and then deciding I wanted to end it all by trying to kill myself with an overdose of heroin. It took time, and a bit of flailing for a while, but eventually I found the practice of Deep Meditation, and once I did, things started to change, and fast. Within 14 weeks of starting a twice daily practice of Deep Meditation I had downdosed off of my methadone prescription without feeling any opiate withdrawals (which is not biologically possible), I soon lost my desire to fight reality and anything that wasn’t the way I figured it “should” be, I learned to truly Love my ex (and all) unconditionally, I lost my need to have sex several times a day, I lost the desire to change the way my family relates to each other, I became content with my job, I no longer had a temper, and I began to help others find peace and silence through meditation and yoga as well. Now, I can say from personal experience, that everything you could ever want, everything you could ever desire, you already have…. you already are. It is all inside, waiting for you to touch, waiting for you to embrace, waiting for you to Be. Learn to silence the mind a few times a day, every day, and soon you too will find that all these forms of Imitation Love that you have been addicted to for months, weeks, years, decades, just aren’t necessary anymore…. that everything is perfect, just the way it is.
Excellent overview of the deeper stages of meditation by Yogani (author of the AYP Enlightenment Series), at the AYP Forum.
Any or all of the variations in experience (and mantra) you mentioned above are fine. The particulars are not important. What is important is the intention.
If the intention is to favor the mantra when we realize we are off it, and allow it to go however it will (patterns do not matter), then this will lead to losing (refinement) of the mantra, which is the cultivation of inner silence. This is the process we keep repeating easily for the allotted time of our meditation session.
If the intention is to analyze, control, question, modify, report, etc., this will not be meditation. And it will not matter what system of meditation we may be following. All meditation procedures involve systematically going beyond the object, whether it be mantra, breath, nada, vision, sensation, concept, or whatever.
It is dharana (attention on an object), becoming dhyana (natural dissolving of the object), becoming samadhi (absorption in inner silence). These are the last three limbs of the eight limbs of yoga, which gives an indication of how important this process is in the overall scheme of yoga. Samyama also utilizes these three limbs, in a different way.
Obviously, choosing and sticking with a method of meditation is important. We can’t cross the vast ocean of samsara (impurity/illusion) in two or more boats at the same time. It is all about developing and maintaining consistency in practice over time.
This is the only question we need to be asking ourselves about meditation: “Am I in a consistent practice with a proven method?” All the rest is diversion.
We can never, ever, ever! put it in a mental bottle. Meditation is about emptying the bottle, and dissolving the bottle. So all this talk is not very relevant – only to get rid of doubts about the simplicity of sitting down and doing it every day. That’s all. If it is going to keep going in endless circles of mental analysis, etc., don’t expect any serious meditator to take that ride with you for long. It is not about creating complexity. It is about releasing into simplicity. Meditation is for that.
“Each light in the world increases illumination for all, and so it is with the many and diverse teachings and works underway that hold the intention of uplifting and transforming human consciousness, and so, naturally, I will hold you and your work in my thoughts and prayers, wishing you every success in your endeavors.”
~Tau Malachi
Founder of the Sophia Fellowship, and author of Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ, and other books in the tradition of Gnostic Christian Kabbalah.
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“aum namah sivaya
happy to receive your intent and endeavor vision at this auspicious mahasivratri time of tapas.
may your endeavor be fulfilling, inspired and awakenings celebrated.
jai guruve thunai”
“Your new site looks great. The more paths up the mountain, the more people will find their way. Best of luck with Living Unbound!”
~Wayne Wirs,
Founder of the Down-To-Earth Enlightenmentsite and blog, and author of Fading Toward Enlightenment, and other books regarding Down-to-Earth enlightenment for all.
Conversations Unbound is the home of the Living Unbound community, which consists of …. all of us.
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