Please join Mahasweta Mitra (Shanti, at the AYP Forums) and Doug Sandlin (Kirtanman. at the AYP Forums), co-founders of Living Unbound, and AYP asana instructor Rohini Nellore (Rohini, at the AYP Forums), Sept. 27-29, for a weekend retreat at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the beautiful Berkshires region of western Massachusetts.
Mahasweta Mitra
We will be offering a weekend introduction to Advanced Yoga Practices (the practices are advanced; you don’t have to be — no previous experience with yoga or meditation is required), and kirtan (yogic chanting / singing). For more information and/or to register.
Doug Sandlin
AYP Deep Meditation and Spinal Breathing are the foundations of the daily practices that we recommend via Living Unbound, and kirtan is an additional and highly-enjoyable activity and practice that is popular with attendees at our retreats. The asanas (body postures) will be led by Rohini Nellore, a certified yoga instructor who runs regular private and group yoga classes, and who has led our asana sessions at other AYP retreats — which always receive enthusiastic reviews.
Rohini Nellore
While this is an Advanced Yoga Practices retreat, the principles of Living Unbound are inherently part of our retreats — we always spend time both inside and outside of the retreat sessions discussing the teachings, techniques and resources that each of us can make use of in our daily lives outside of sitting practices, in order to enjoy peace, freedom and fulfillment — living unbound — ever more completely.
Participants at our other retreats have found them to be enjoyable, inspiring, fun, and in some cases, life-changing.
One of the main reasons for so many people finding benefit in our retreats is that we address the reality of the benefits of practices and perspective that some call spiritual in ways that are truly independent of any traditions. AYP and Living Unbound work equally well for people of all religion, and of no religion; for people with years of spiritual practice, and with none at all.
As always, this weekend retreat will be both fun and profound — and will provide you with tools you can use beneficially, every day, for the rest of your life. Hope to see you there! If you know anyone else who might be interested, please feel free to forward this info — all are welcome.
If you have any additional questions, please use our contact form, or email info@livingunbound.net
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.”
“Do you know what I see? I see Him as all. Men and other creatures appear to me only as hollow forms, moving their heads and hands and feet, but within is the Lord Himself.”
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“There are pearls in the deep sea, but one must hazard all to find them. If diving once does not bring you pearls, you need not therefore conclude that the sea is without them. Dive again and again. You are sure to be rewarded in the end. So is it with the finding of the Lord in this world. If your first attempt proves fruitless, do not lose heart. Persevere in your efforts. You are sure to realize Him at last.”
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“What are you to do when you are placed in the world? Give up everything to Him, resign yourself to Him, and there will be no more trouble for you. Then you will come to know that everything is done by His will.”
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“A devotee who can call on God while living a householder’s life is a hero indeed. God thinks: ‘He is blessed indeed who prays to me in the midst of his worldly duties. He is trying to find me, overcoming a great obstacle — pushing away, as it were, a huge block of stone weighing a ton. Such a man is a real hero.’
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A man may not know the right path, but if he has bhakti and the desire to know God, then he attains Him through the force of sheer bhakti. Once a sincere devotee set out on a pilgrimage to the temple of Jagganath in Puri. He did not know the way; he went west instead of south. He no doubt strayed from the right path, but he always eagerly asked people the way, and they gave him the right directions, saying, This is not the path; follow that one.’ At last the devotee was able to get to Puri and worship the Deity. So you see, even if you are ignorant, someone will tell you the way if you are earnest.
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“Yes, God has form and He is formless too. Further, He is beyond both form and formlessness. No one can limit Him.”
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Parable of salt doll
Sri Ramakrishna: “In samadhi one attains the Knowledge of Brahman – one realizes Brahman. In that state reasoning stops altogether, and man becomes mute. He has no power to describe the nature of Brahman. “Once a salt doll went to measure the depth of the ocean. (All laugh.) It wanted to tell others how deep the water was. But this it could never do, for no sooner did it get into the water than it melted. Now who was there to report the ocean’s depth?”
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Sri Ramakrishna Story of a farmer
It was about five o’clock in the afternoon. Sri Ramakrishna was sitting on the steps of his verandah. Hazra, Rakhal, and M. were near him. Hazra had the attitude of a Vedantist: “I am He.”
Sri Ramakrishna (to Hazra): “Yes, all one’s confusion comes to an end if one only realizes that it is God who manifests Himself as the atheist and the believer, the good and the bad, the real and the unreal; that it is He who is present in waking and in sleep; and that He is beyond all these.
“There was a farmer to whom an only son was born when he was rather advanced in age. As the child grew up, his parents became very fond of him. One day the farmer was out working in the fields, when a neighbour told him that his son was dangerously ill—indeed, at the point of death. Returning home he found the boy dead.
His wife wept bitterly, but his own eyes remained dry. Sadly the wife said to her ncighbours, ‘Such a son has passed away, and he hasn’t even one tear to shed!’
After a long while the farmer said to his wife: ‘Do you know why I am not crying? Last night I dreamt I had become a king, and the father of seven princes. These princes were beautiful as well as virtuous. They grew in stature and acquired wisdom and knowledge in the various arts. Suddenly I woke up. Now I have been wondering whether I should weep for those seven children or this one boy.’
To the jnanis the waking state is no more real than the dream state. “God alone is the Doer. Everything happens by His will.”
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Parable of the chameleon
Sri Ramakrishna: “Listen to a story. Once a man entered a wood and saw a small animal on a tree. He came back and told another man that he had seen a creature of a beautiful red colour on a certain tree. The second man replied: ‘When I went into the wood, I also saw that animal. But why do you call it red? It is green.’ Another man who was present contradicted them both and insisted that it was yellow.
Presently others arrived and contended that it was grey, violet, blue, and so forth and so on. At last they started quarrelling among themselves. To settle the dispute they all went to the tree. They saw a man sitting under it. On being asked, he replied: ‘Yes, I live under this tree and I know the animal very well. All your descriptions are true.
Sometimes it appears red, sometimes yellow, and at other times blue, violet, grey, and so forth. It is a chameleon. And sometimes it has no colour at all. Now it has a colour, and now it has none.’ “In like manner, one who constantly thinks of God can know His real nature; he alone knows that God reveals Himself to seekers in various forms and aspects.
God has attributes; then again He has none. Only the man who lives under the tree knows that the chameleon can appear in various colours, and he knows, further, that the animal at times has no colour at all. It is the others who suffer from the agony of futile argument.
“Kabir used to say, ‘The formless Absolute is my Father, and God with form is my Mother.’ “God reveals Himself in the form which His devotee loves most. His love for the devotee knows no bounds. It is written in the Purana that God assumed the form of Rama for His heroic devotee, Hanuman.
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Sri Ramakrishna – Importance of Scriptures, Books
Sri Ramakrishna (with a smile): “Do you know my attitude? Books, scriptures, and things like that only point out the way to reach God. After finding the way, what more need is there of books and scriptures? Then comes the time for action.
“A man received a letter from home informing him that certain presents were to be sent to his relatives. The names of the articles were given in the letter. As he was about to go shopping for them, he found that the letter was missing. He began anxiously to search for it, several others joining in the search. For a long time they continued to search. When at last the letter was discovered, his joy knew no bounds.
With great eagerness he opened the letter and read it. It said that he was to buy five seers of sweets, a piece of cloth, and a few other things. Then he did not need the letter any more, for it had served its purpose. Putting it aside, he went out to buy the things. How long is such a letter necessary? As long as its contents are not known. When the contents are known one proceeds to carry out the directions.
“In the scriptures you will find the way to realize God. But after getting all the information about the path, you must begin to work. Only then can you attain your goal.
“What will it avail a man to have mere scholarship? A pundit may have studied many scriptures, he may recite many sacred texts, but if he is still attached to the world and if inwardly he loves ‘woman and gold’, then he has not assimilated the contents of the scriptures. For such a man the study of scriptures is futile.
“The almanac forecasts the rainfall tor the year. You may squeeze the book, but you won’t get a drop of water — not even a single drop.” (Laughter.)
Source: from book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”
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Parable of the weaver woman
Sri Ramakrishna : “Listen to a story. Once a woman went to see her weaver friend. The weaver, who had been spinning different kinds of silk thread, was very happy to see her friend and said to her: ‘Friend, I can’t tell you how happy I am to
see you. Let me get you some refreshments.’ She left the room.
The woman looked at the threads of different colours and was tempted. She hid a bundle of thread under one arm. The weaver returned presently with the refreshments and began to feed her guest with great enthusiasm. But, looking at the thread, she realized that her friend had taken a bundle.
Hitting upon a plan to get it back, she said: ‘Friend, it is so long since I have seen you. This is a day of great joy for me. I feel very much like asking you to dance with me.’ The friend said, ‘Sister, I am feeling very happy too.’ So the two friends began to dance together. When the weaver saw that her friend danced without raising her hands, she said: ‘Friend, let us dance with both hands raised. This is a day of great joy.’
But the guest pressed one arm to her side and danced raising only the other. The weaver said: ‘How is this, friend? Why should you dance with only one hand raised? Dance with me raising both hands. Look at me. See how I dance with both hands raised.’ But the guest still pressed one arm to her side. She danced with the other hand raised and said with a smile, ‘This is all I know of dancing.’ “
The Sri Ramakrishna continued: “I don’t press my arm to my side. Both my hands are free. I am not afraid of anything. I accept both the Nitya and the Lila, both the Absolute and the Relative.
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.
Living Unbound, the Freedom Beyond Imagination of our inherently fulfilled consciousness, aka spirituality, is for all of us, regardless of our religion or spiritual tradition, or our lack of one, or even lack of any previous inclination toward spirituality. Spiritual practices (prayer, meditation, devotional chanting and singing, directed breathing, contemplation, etc.) are universal practices, with millenia of proven effectiveness in facilitating Living Unbound. The effectiveness of these practices is now being verified by recent advancements in the ability of science to measure changes that take place in the brain, and therefore in our overall experience. Spiritual practices are to Living Unbound as diet and exercise are to physical health. Anyone who engages in effective, related activities, gets effective, related results.
“Yoga is not about belief; yoga is about practice.”
~Jesus Christ (~Matthew 11:30), with updated translation as noted, below.
Below, please find a Living Unbound video playlist, which showcases the reality that spirituality, and spiritual practices are for us all. The first video features some brief yet profound comments by “Silicon Valley’s resident enlightened guy”, Adyashanti (originally Steve Gray).
Note On Translation Of Matthew 11:30: The English Yoke derives from the Greek Zeugam, which derives from the Sanskrit Yugam, which is a verb meaning “to join”, so the English, Greek and Sanskrit terms are essentially identical. The modification isn’t intended to imply any endorsement by Jesus Christ of anything related to yoga, as that term is used in current times, but rather to highlight the universality of teachings related to spiritual union.
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.
