07.29.07
Posted in Spirituality at 9:28 pm by Administrator
A few years ago I completed course work with the American Institute of Vedic Studies. The following are excerpts of a response to two emails I had sent to Vamadeva. This was all that was saved. I found it perusing old files I had saved. It holds many useful ideas on life and spiritual practice.
“Throughout the ages a multitude of spiritual techniques have been taught to sincere aspirants. Almost all of them have claimed to be the most effective in providing rapid and direct access to realizing the infinite truth of the divine. Each technique spoke to the needs of the practitioner and may very well have provided the spontaneous opportunity for enlightenment. In most cases though the plethora of spiritual practices only serve to create egotism and separatism between a body of people that are looking for the same thing and so should be united in purpose and action. Of all the techniques that have come down through the ages through various spiritual masters, there is but one that is common to all and yet rarely acknowledged or taught. Engaging life is the one practice that has consistently and effectively provided the framework to allow spiritual realization to come forth naturally. Without it, all other attempts may be in vain.
Many people seek out a spiritual path to solve the problems of their life. To often, this is just a masked attempt to escape from the problems. So no matter what path or technique they take up, not much changes be cause they are just running away from what they need to work on that they may make authentic spiritual progress. Resolving the trials of life is part of the spiritual path. We all have different areas of development we need to work on. Chanting through the chakras may provided a clearer state of mind to address these issues, but if we never use that clarity to work the issues what is the point?
The misconception that by meditation or worship alone life will be transformed into a unified field of experience where one’s relationship to the wholeness of life is realized needs to be eradicated. Specific spiritual practices are just as necessary as any other function of life. We need to eat and drink to maintain our bodies. We need enough resources to allow our worthwhile purposes to be actualized. We need to provide service to the world that we may play our part in the divine drama. We need time devoted to cultivating our spirit that we may experience life in its proper perspective. All of these together form the body of effective spiritual technique. They address all of life and allow us to develop the fullness of our infinite spirit.
Grace is important in spiritual development, and so is self effort. There is the saying that “God helps those who help themselves.” “
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07.28.07
Posted in Happiness, Thoughts, Healing at 10:39 am by Administrator
Usually I’m one for saying “Healing doesn’t have to hurt.” I still agree with that. It doesn’t have to hurt. But sometimes it does. Sometimes life delivers a good kick in the head and it is bothersome. Life doesn’t do that for fun, it does it when people aren’t listening to it. It is important to listen to life. Life can communicate gently and peacefully, but ultimately it will do what is necessary to get its message across.
This week I could say I got a good kick in the head from life. That awoke in me quite a few realizations of the way I had been thinking and being and how I needed to change some of my internal environment.
Thankfully I have a few very helpful and people in my life. Using the Yuen Method we cut through the underlying causes. Using meditation I was able to reflect on what needed to change in myself and to re attune to my spiritual source.
After spending a good week feeling unsettled and anxious, I had a good night’s sleep last night. I had pleasant dreams. I awoke up early, joyfully.
I attribute this to the fact that I seriously took stock of how I was living and thinking and made a firm commitment to change. I must say I’ve tried this in the past couple of years, but it did not stick. There is a difference this time. I now know why I need to be different. Before I didn’t know the why, and so there was no real energy behind the commitment. As I’ve said before, knowing the why is very important. It somehow takes the struggle out of the process of becoming the goal.
I’ve both implied and said this before too, what happens to me in my life is the result of my own actions and thoughts. However, reassuring it might initially feel to blame someone else, that just skirts around the issue and ignores the real source of my experiences. Both pleasure and pain are the result of my internal states. They come to me because something in me attracts them.
I have a friend who has often said, that “it is not you I’m worried about, it’s the other guy.” An example might be one could be a perfect driver but some nut will come along and smash up your car. So it wasn’t your fault it was the other guy’s. There is no other guy. If it is within myself than I will experience it. If it is not, then I will not.
I’ve often been afraid to admit that understanding out loud, for fear that some cosmic law called, “Let’s Prove Ryan Wrong” would go into effect. Well…that may be. If I have that concept within my consciousness it has the potential to occur. Same thing applies.
Last night I dreamt I was sleeping in a bedroom at my father’s parent’s (now deceased) house. Mostly I associated them with unhappiness and strife, as that is how I knew them in life. But in this dream it was peaceful. I knew they were no longer alive, and I got up from bed and wandered through the living room and kitchen down stairs to the basement where I knew Melissa was. Before reaching the basement I was slightly afraid I would see the ghost of my grandmother. I kept going. At the top of the stairs I could see candlelight flickering in the basement. I would say it was wintertime and probably chilly outside. At the bottom of the stairs, I saw Melissa sitting in the middle of the room with decorated christmas trees all around her, two candles lit and a slew of decorations everywhere. She looked up at me and said, “I finally got to airing out under the bar and found all these. Did you know they were there?” She was indicating all the decorations. It was a very happy feeling.
Alcoholism was a known problem in my dad’s side of the family. Hence, the reference to the bar. When I woke up this morning from that dream I had a sense that underneath all the crap (the negativity and alcoholism of my father’s family) there is good and there is beauty and there is peace (The Christmas decorations), and that we can choose to see either.
For the longest while I felt that I had to experience both the good and the bad to be whole. Now I know that there is no need to create or experience drama or problems. Good and bad are just words. An experience is an experience. The label doesn’t change that. To be whole requires being whole. It doesn’t have to be conditioned.
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07.27.07
Posted in Spirituality, Happiness, Thoughts at 4:39 pm by Administrator
The Bhagavad Gita 17:3
“Faith is in accord with the basic nature of each person. A person is made of faith. One is what one’s faith is.”
Commentary from The Eternal Way:
“Deferential regard is in accord with the basic mind-body constitution of each person. One’s personality and circumstances are the result of preferred attitudes and actions. A person’s present state or condition is the result of what is believed and done.” Read the rest of this entry »
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07.14.07
Posted in Thoughts, Healing at 3:33 pm by Administrator
“You are very strong at your core. Start living from that, in whatever way you can and it will become real to your outward experience.As far as feeling peoples traumas, emotions, etc. that is a natural result from your past. As I imagine it is similar with all people from alcoholic/abusive relationships, your sensitivity is extremely high to other peoples pain because you’ve been trained to be sensitive. It may seem like a problem at the moment when you work with people, but you have a leg up on other practitioners with this sensitivity. Your task is to bring the sensitivity under your control, so you can observe without getting sucked into it.
Posted in Spirituality, Healing at 3:22 pm by Administrator
This is a letter I sent to a man working to heal his body. It felt important on a global level, so here it is.
“After seeing you in the hospital yesterday I got to reflecting on your situation this morning.
You’ve had surgery to cut out large masses of cancer. You’ve undergone chemo, and utilized various natural means of healing from EFT, to the Yuen Method, to various energy work. You’ve even had an astrological consultation and other recommendations. You gotten advice from doctors, alternative health practitioners and listened to your own inner guidance. You’ve told me that the medical community is running out of options, which is why you are now putting more emphasis on the “alternative” options.
Here is what I see when I see you. I see life strong in your being. I see a man who has become and is becoming very clear in his mental, emotional, and spiritual realizations. When I look at you, I don’t see the mental, emotional, and spiritual issues blocking your way any more. This is based on my first encounters with you however many years ago we’ve known each other. Sometimes you can look at a person and they just look dead and unresponsive or resistant inside. I do not see this when I look at you.
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07.11.07
Posted in Spirituality, Thoughts at 2:10 pm by Administrator
For a long time I searched for a source of lasting happiness. I searched for it in the experiences of life, in the search for God, and in my self. Over the last few months it has become clearer as to the source of happiness.
There is a flow of “something”, I’m not sure what to call it, that permeates everything. It directs the life of all creatures and things from the minutest cellular function or atomic interaction to the grandest stellar and galactic dances. By attunement with this power life falls into synch with the infinite creation. It is here that happiness occurs.
This is not the joy of gaining something long desired, or the joy of relief from a troubling circumstance. It is an ecstasy beyond emotionalism or even devotion. It is indescribable perfection independant of pleasure or pain. It is simple and nothing special at all.
By clearing my mind and being of identification with the things that can be observed, and inviting this power to enliven my being, I ask for direction. What am I to do today, at this moment? Then in the silent waiting, an impulse arises directing a course of action in harmony with the intelligent design of all things. It could be as simple as washing the dishes, paying the bills, taking the time to write or play music, or working on an important project, but when that impulse to action is expressed, all burst alive with still perfection, like a rose taking in the sun, or existing in a storm, or dying to return wence it came.
Once this realization dawned, that by asking to participate willingly in the unfolding moments of creation centered in the depths of my beingness, I knew my duty.
It is my individualized duty to make what “I” want out of life. The design is already there. The resources are already there. I only need to remain receptive to the direction and timing, and know that the “I” that wants life to move in a certain way is more excellent than any random whims of the mental field, the store house of memories and conditioning.
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07.07.07
Posted in Quotes at 2:54 pm by Administrator
These quotes from pop culture felt worth noting. It just goes to show, if your listening, you can find truth anywhere.
“It’s not just about living forever, Jackie. The trick is…living with your self, forever.”
-Captain Jack Sparrow’s Father-
“Where ever you are, that’s the place to be.”
-Mike Demone-
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