Silence

When you become fully present, thoughts stop and your mind is silent. You are not trying to stop the thoughts. It simply happens as you become present. Thoughts stop as you become present, because thoughts are always about the past or future. You cannot think about the present moment. You would have to take yourself out of the present moment in order to think about it. So if you bring yourself fully present with something that is actually here now, you must emerge out of the mind, and the world of thought. It cannot be otherwise. A noticeable shift will occur within you as you transition from the past and future world of the mind, to the world of now.

You cannot stop thoughts. It is impossible. The very effort to stop thoughts is a reinforcement of the thinking process. All you can do is relax, notice that you are in the mind, and then bring yourself present with that which is already present. If you can see it, hear it, feel it, taste it, touch it or smell it, in this moment, then it is of the present moment.

It is not something you are remembering or imagining with your mind. And so you can be present with it. You are not thinking it into existence. It is actually here now and so you Thoughts will stop, and you will experience a deep feeling of peace as your mind falls silent.

But there is an even deeper level of peace and silence waiting to emerge, as you become more and more present. As your mind becomes more silent, an inner door is opened, allowing an infinite and eternal silence to emerge. This infinite and eternal silence is the very essence of your Being. It is your true nature. It is the essence of all existence. It is the eternal silent presence of pure consciousness. It is the "I AM" of you. It is that dimension of you that exists in this moment and only this moment. It is that dimension of you that exists in Oneness.

It is your Buddha nature. It is the Christ of you, which exists in Oneness with God. It is awakened man. It is awakened woman.

Leonard Jacobson

How does one have a direct experience of God?

From my perspective, belief in God is the obstacle to knowing God. Belief is a function of the mind and we can only know God through direct experience. Belief is what we resort to when we do not know God through our own direct experience.

So how does one have a direct experience of God?

God is here now, but we are not! Mostly we are lost in the world of the human thinking mind. It is a world of the remembered past and the imagined future. It is a world of thought, memory, imagination, concept, opinion, idea and belief. When we are in the world of the thing mind, the one place we are not is in the world of the present moment.

God is present. God exists as the silent presence at the very heart of all things present. The present moment and all that is in the present moment is God revealed.

If we are to know God, we must bring ourselves to where God is. In other words if we are to know God, we must bring ourselves fully present. At first, the experience of being present may seem ordinary. But as you remain present, and deepen into presence, the hidden treasure is revealed. Slowly and gradually, you will encounter the living Presence of God in all things present.

The more you choose to be present, the more you will become grounded in that dimension of you which exists in this moment and no other. I am not saying that you cannot continue to function with the mind and the world of time. Of course you can. You do not have to be fully present all the time. What is most important is that you honor the present moment as the truth of life, and recognize everything else as an illusion. Sometimes it is a happy illusion. At other times, it is an unhappy and painful illusion. The unhappy times bring us the opportunity and incentive to awaken, for who will choose to awaken out of a happy dream? Very few!

The direct experience of God is essentially an experience in Silence and oneness with all things present. Everything that you can see, hear, taste and touch is the body of God and so why would you not choose to be fully present with it?

To awaken means to free your self from the limited world of the mind and become fully present.

How to accomplish this is beyond the scope of this answer. I suggest that you read my three books and if you have further questions, I would be happy to answer them. A telephone session is also very helpful in bringing it all together and entering into the fully awakened state.

Does God speaks to us individually? The answer is that if we are fully present we enter into direct relationship with God and so we can speak to God and God can speak to us.

God exists at the very heart of silence within us. If you are fully present and silent, you open the door to God. In conversing with God, speak from silence into silence. And make sure that any response arises from silence and not from some part of your thinking mind. God's responses can come in the form of words, or a visual image or a feeling of peace and love. God's response can also be one of total silence. You will have to surrender all expectations when speaking to God, for those expectations will hold you in the mind and keep you separate from God.

Finally, how God responds to you will depend largely on what you bring to God. My experience is that the more you bring love and gratitude and silent Presence to God, the more God will respond to you.

It is important to know that God is not separate from you and that the deepest level of Oneness is realized in perfect loving silence. Not one word need be spoken.

Leonard Jacobson

Detox' From the Thanksgiving Feast

Detox' From the Thanksgiving Feast


© 2007 Johns Hopkins University.


It's the day after Thanksgiving, better known as Black Friday thanks to all the huge sales.

But instead of shopping, you may be feeling lazy and sluggish, trying to recover from a day of overdoing it on the foodstuffs (and I do mean stuff!) during the traditional Thanksgiving food fest. The question now is, how to repair the damage we've done to ourselves by overeating?

While there's no magic bullet that will quickly allow you to jettison all those extra calories and fat the day after Thanksgiving, you may feel better doing a short "detox" diet.

No, I'm not suggesting laxatives or lemon juice and cayenne pepper, or some other unusual concoction. There really isn't a need for a long-term diet like that, which can cause vitamin and mineral deficiencies. I'm talking about healthy eating that lets your body recover from the great Turkey Day insult.

There is normal day-to-day digestion, but there is also the need occasionally for our body's organs to help us get rid of extra amounts of substances we don't need, like waste products, chemicals, fat, and sugar. Here are some guidelines that will help your body get back into healthy eating. Try these tips for three days:

* Drink plenty of water and other low-calorie, non-caffeinated fluids. Fluids help to flush out toxins from our body. Our kidneys must do the hard work of filtering out the toxins and they need water to their job. Drink as much fluid each day as is comfortable for you.
* Choose lower-fat foods. Our bodies have to work longer and harder to digest higher-fat foods. Give your digestive system a rest and choose low-fat alternatives.
* Include high-fiber foods. Fiber is the body's scrub brush; it can help sweep out your colon.
* Aim for lots of fruits and vegetables. These foods are not only naturally low in calories and fat but also high in fiber. Over these three days, eat less protein and starchy foods and fill up on fruits and vegetables — aim for six to eight servings per day.
* Don't forget about exercise. Exercise itself is a great way of detoxifying the body. Plan to go for at least a 30-minute walk each day.

And what about all the Thanksgiving leftovers? You can save and freeze some of them, but don't feel guilty about tossing away the sweets and higher-calorie and -fat foods. This will save you the calories later and you will be the healthier for it!

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/nutrition/4018/detox-from-the-thanksgiving-feast/

Freeing Yourself From The Past

In truth, there is no life outside of the present moment. Sooner or later, we must all come to terms with this simple fact.

If you are to awaken fully into the present moment, and remain fundamentally grounded in Presence, then you will have to liberate yourself from entanglement in your own past. It is not the true past. It is the remembered past, which you access through the mind whenever you think. You will also have to free yourself from the imagined future, which is nothing more than the past projected forward. It is simply a fantasy.

The true future does not exist in the world of the mind. The true future unfolds through the doorway of the present moment, just as the true past is accessible through the doorway of the present moment.

To free yourself from the past, there are a number of steps you will have to take.

1. If there are feelings from the past, which have been repressed within you, will have to allow these feelings the opportunity to surface into conscious and responsible expression. You are not trying to get rid of these feelings. You are simply allowing them to express. Everything in existence has a right to exist, including the feelings of need, hurt and anger. If they were denied the right to exist when you were young, because they were too painful then or simply not allowed expression, they will have to be restored into the flow of conscious expression that was once denied them.

2. Forgiveness is a powerful force, which can release the past from you and you from the past. Forgive all those who have hurt you and seek the forgiveness of everyone you have hurt. The forgiveness must be authentic. Sometimes, the pain and the anger at those who have hurt you must be experienced fully, before forgiveness can occur.

3. With some people, healing of the past is necessary before forgiveness and release can truly arise. The good news is that, through the power of awakened Presence, which is a state of Oneness with God, emotional and soul healing is possible in a way that defies all reason and is beyond belief. In working with others, I have so often seen their lives transformed, as we successfully bring to consciousness some traumatic experience from the past, either in this lifetime or some earlier life time, which has been unconsciously projecting into and affecting their current experience of life.

4. To the extent that you maintain yourself in resentment, guilt or blame, you cannot be present, simply because these feelings keep you imprisoned within the past. You must bring these feelings to the surface. Bring them to consciousness in a loving and accepting way. Identify, own, confess and express these feelings, but do not project them onto anyone. Do not believe in them. You are allowing them into consciousness, simply so that they are no longer hidden and so they can no longer control you unconsciously. Feelings of resentment, blame and guilt are an indication that you are not taking responsibility for your life or for yourself. It is easier to blame someone, than to take responsibility for yourself.

5. This next point is the most difficult to understand and is the most easily resisted. If you continue to generate good feelings by remembering happy experiences from the past, you will remain in bondage to the mind and ego forever. Identification with happy memories holds you in the world of the mind and locks in place all those unhappy and painful memories you would rather avoid. This is because the mind is a world of duality, and there is no way to avoid duality, other than by becoming so fully present that Oneness is revealed as the fundamental ground of your existence. It is the same with deriving pleasure from the anticipation of a future event. Only the present moment can fulfill you. It is only when we awaken fully into the present moment that duality is transcended and Oneness is revealed.

Leonard Jacobson

The Awakened Way

What is it like to live an awakened life?

While the world is trying to solve its problems and everyone around you is engaged in the same, you’re not. While everybody around you is trying to figure it out, trying to arrive, trying to “get there,” trying to be worthy, you’re not. While everyone thinks that awakening is a grand, noble, halo-enshrouded thing, for you it’s not. While everybody is running from this life right now, in this moment, to try to get there, you’re not. Where everybody has an argument with somebody else, mostly everybody else, starting with themselves, you don’t. Where everybody is so sure that happiness will come when something is different than it is now, you know that it won’t. When everybody else is looking to achieve the perfect state and hold on to it, you’re not.


When everybody around you has a whole host of ideas and beliefs about a whole variety of things, you don’t. Everyone on the path is getting there; you haven’t gotten anywhere. Everyone is climbing the mountain; you’re selling hiking boots and picks at the foot in the hope that if they climb it and come back down, they may be too exhausted to do it again. When everybody else is looking to the next book, to the next teacher, to the next guru to be told what’s real, to be given the secret key to an awakened life, you’re not. You don’t have a key because there’s not a lock to put it in.


When you’re living what you are in an awakened way, being simply what you’ve always been, you’re actually very simple. You basically sit around wondering what all the fuss is about.


When everyone is sitting around saying, “I hope that happens to me,” you remember when you did that. You remember that you didn’t find a solution to that. You remember that the whole idea that there was a problem created all of that.

When you’re being what you are, when you’re living the awakened life, there’s nobody to forgive, because there’s no resentment held, no matter what.


The truth of your being doesn’t crave happiness; it could actually care less. It doesn’t crave love, not because you are so full of love, but because it just doesn’t crave love. It’s very simple. It doesn’t seek to be known, regarded highly, or understood. When you’re living what you are in an awakened way, there’s no ideal for you anymore. You’ve stepped off the entire cycle of suffering, of becoming; you’re not interested.


It’s a curious life you find yourself in. You find yourself… where you are. Not where I am, where you are. Where you really are. Where we really are. It’s a curious place to be (especially in the beginning) not to be driven by anything—pleasure or displeasure, helping or hurting, loving or hating. The only thing that will move you (and I don’t mean to be too poetic about this) is the same thing that moves a leaf hanging from a tree. It’s simply because the breeze blows that way. So you always know what to do: The breeze blows that way, and that’s the way you go. You don’t ask questions anymore. You don’t evaluate why the breeze is blowing that way because you know that you don’t know why. And you know you can’t know why. There’s never been a leaf anywhere that knows why the wind blows that way on that day at that moment. That breeze changes the orientation of your life, moment to moment to moment, simply because that’s the way life’s moving. And when you’re living in your awakened self you have no argument with the way it’s moving because it is the same as you are.


And you know that the breeze was always there, from the very beginning, and that it wasn’t reserved for special people. If you didn’t notice it at some point in your life, you know it was because you weren’t listening, or because you thought you had to figure something out before you could listen, or because you thought there had to be some conclusion before you could just listen so deeply, so without agenda, so without hope of a better future that you would feel the movement.


Many of you know what I’m speaking of.


Truth never explains why it’s moving that way at that moment. And if you ask, it won’t give any information. It would be like a leaf asking the wind, “Why are you moving that way right now?” The question doesn’t make any sense to the wind.


But your argument with the way the truth would move—whatever that way is—is no longer there for you. You’re no longer arguing with it. You’re no longer trying to figure it out. Mother Mary didn’t figure it out. Buddha didn’t figure it out. Ramana didn’t figure it out. None of them figured it out. They just became That. Simple. Ordinary—in the same way a leaf is ordinary.


When you’re living in your awakened being and living in an awakened way, power on any level is not an issue for you. It’s not interesting. The power to control another human being is not interesting. Intellectual power is not interesting. The power to control yourself is not interesting. The power that people want to give you is not interesting to you—not because it shouldn’t be; it’s just not. What would you want to do with it? You see that there’s nothing you want to do with it.


You realize, in the truth of your being, that you are the totality itself, but you have no interest whatsoever in doing anything with that knowledge, with using that knowledge.


Finally, you realize that you really don’t want to change anybody, not because you shouldn’t want to change them, because you just don’t. You might not want to be around everyone, but still you don’t want to change them.


None of this is an ideal—it’s the end of ideals. None of this is holiness; it’s the end of holiness. It’s the beginning of wholeness. None of this is something to achieve, because it’s not achievable. It’s simply what is in the truth of your being. It’s just what is. You can’t attain what’s naturally so. And nobody anywhere can ever tell you when or why, or to what degree you’ll let go of untruth; you will let go when you let go, usually when nothing else works.


When you’re living in the awakened way, in the awakened being that you are, you’re alone, and you’re finally comfortable with it. You’re alone, but you’re not lonely at all, because the only one who was ever supposed to meet you where you are—the only one who ever could meet you where you are one hundred percent—was you. Nobody else could ever fully meet you where you are—maybe ninety percent, maybe ninety-five. Nobody can meet you fully but you. When you finally do, then you don’t need anybody else to do it for you. Then you’re alone, more alone than you could ever imagine. And strangely—very strangely—you are more connected, more intimate, more at one with everything. More. And you would have never thought that those two could in any way be together: total aloneness and total oneness. You would have never guessed that that’s the way it would end up. But it does, and it always has.


And finally, when you’re just living in the awakened way that you really are, you’ll never form an image again of what it’s like. Even as it’s happening, you won’t form an image because you’ll know they’re all images, dust. The way it was yesterday won’t be the way it is today.


Adyashanti

Main Obstructions to freedom

The main obstruction is that the total , absolute desire for freedom is missing .This is because the relationship with the world has not been absolutely cut off .In a dream, sometimes , we have a wedding , and then we have children , and we of course love our children .When we wake up , we see how we instantly detach ourselves from our dream wedding , from our dream wife , and from our dream children .Like this , when we wake up from this dream , and the relationship terminates , there is freedom .Viveka ( discrimintaion) is to discern the real from the unreal .

Papaji alias Poonja

Inspirational Goals

Make sure your vision or goal is not an inflated image of yourself and therefore a concealed form of ego, such as wanting to become a movie star, a famous writer, or a wealthy entrepreneur. Also make sure your goal is not focused on having this or that, such as a mansion by the sea, your own company, or ten million dollars in the bank.

An enlarged image of yourself or a vision of yourself having this or that are all static goals and therefore don’t empower you. Instead, make sure your goals are dynamic, that is to say, point toward an activity that you are engaged in and through which you are connected to other human beings as well as to the whole.

Instead of seeing yourself as a famous actor or writer and so on, see yourself inspiring countless people with your work and enriching their lives. Feel how that activity enriches or deepens not only your life but that of countless others. Feel yourself being an opening through which energy flows from the unmanifested Source of all life through you for the benefit of all.

From: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Language of Silence

Bhagavan' Ramana Maharishi's language was that of silence. The speech delivered through this medium was full of miraculous potency, as the following anecdote reveals.

When he was staying in Virupaksha Cave, a District Collector and a Deputy Collector came there for his darshan. After prostrating to Sri Bhagavan, the District Collector began to speak, narrating at length all the sadhanas he had done and all the spiritual literature he had read. At the end of his speech he confessed that in spite of all these activities peace was as far from him now as it had ever been.

As soon as he had finished, the Deputy Collector began to tell his own story, which was equally long. These two speeches took quite a long time to deliver, but Sri Bhagavan did not interrupt them even once. He continued to remain in silence even after the speeches had ended. The senior Collector gave up waiting for a reply and delivered yet another long speech. Sri Bhagavan listened in silence and continued to remain in silence when the speech was over. The officer, not surprisingly, was a little put out by Sri Bhagavan's unresponsiveness. He said in an aggrieved tone of voice, "We have been speaking to you for a long time, but you don't open your mouth at all. Please tell us something. Anything, however brief, will do."

Sri Bhagavan finally spoke to them saying, "All this time I have been speaking in my own language. What can I do if you won't listen to it?"

The Collector was an intelligent man, well versed in spiritual matters. He caught the meaning of Sri Bhagavan's cryptic reply. Suddenly overpowered with devotion, he fell down at the feet of Sri Bhagavan and chanted a Sanskrit verse from Sankaracharya's "Sri Dakshinamurty Stotra":

"Look at the wonder under the banyan tree!
While the disciples are old and gray-haired,
The teacher is a blooming youth.
And though the Master's speech is simple silence,
The doubts of the disciples are all resolved!"


Both of the visitors then abandoned their speeches and questions, preferring instead to sit before Sri Bhagavan in silent meditation. They got the peace they had come looking for and departed fully satisfied.

Sandhyopasana

Sandhyopasana

Sandhyopasana literally means ‘worship at the junctions of time.’ It is a prayer and worship offered to the Lord at the junction (Sandhi) of night and morning, forenoon and afternoon and at the junction of evening and night. The Arghyapradana to the sun and the meditation on and recitation of Gayatri, form the heart of the worship. Properly understood, the whole Sandhya is an earnest prayer addressed to the Lord to forgive all one’s sins committed during one’s routine, daily activities and to bestow illumination and grace.

Sandhyopasana must be performed at the proper Sandhyas. Then only the performer can derive much merit. There is a special manifestation of force at Sandhyas. This force disappears when the Sandhya is past.

An Obligatory Duty

Sandhyopasana is the daily religious practice of the Hindus whose investiture with the holy thread has been performed. Sandhya is a Nitya Karma or an action that is to be done daily. Sandhya is an obligatory duty to be performed daily for self-purification and self-improvement.

Sandhya should be performed by all followers of the Sanatana Dharma. Every Brahmachari and every householder must perform it every day. If he fails to perform it, there is Pratyavaya Dosha or the sin of omission. He loses his Brahma-Tejas.

According to the Hindu Sastras, a Brahmana, a Kshatriya and a Vaisya will get hell, if they do not perform three times Sandhyopasana (Traikalika Sandhya) daily. It is for the purpose of Sandhya only, the law of Yajnopavita-Samskara is laid down in the Yajnavalkya Smriti which says: “The Brahmana in his eighth year, the Kshatriya in his eleventh year and the Vaisya in his twelfth year are fit to be given Yajnopavita.” Because, only after this particular Samskara, they are supposed to be worthy to worship Sandhya and take to Vedic rites. They should keep themselves pure internally and externally. They can nicely understand the sacred glory of this divine science.

Benefits Of Sandhyopasana

Sandhya is a combination of Japa, Upasana, Svadhyaya, meditation, concentration, Asana, Pranayama, etc. He who does Sandhya daily has Brahma-Tejas or spiritual lustre, in his face. A man who performs his daily Sandhya, according to the prescribed rules, at the appointed time as laid down in the scriptures, attains purity and success in his every effort. He becomes powerful as well as calm. Regular Sandhya cuts the chain of old Samskaras and changes everybody’s old situation entirely. It brings purity, Atma-Bhava, devotion and sincerity.

The Ceremony

The important features of this ceremony are: (i) Achamana or sipping of water with recitation of Mantras (viz., Achyutaya Namah, Anantaya Namah, Govindaya Namah, etc.), Marjana or sprinkling of water on the body which purifies the mind and the body, Aghamarshana or expiation for the sins of many births, and Surya Arghya or oblations of water to the Sun-god, (ii) Pranayama or control of breath which steadies the wandering mind, and silent recitation of Gayatri, (iii) Upasthana or religious obeisance.

Arghya

The first part up to Arghya consists of hymns addressed to water and its benefits. The sprinkling of water on the face and the head and the touching of the different organs (the mouth, nose, eyes, ears, chest, shoulders, head, etc.) with wetted fingers, are meant to purify those parts of the body and invoke the respective presiding deities on them. They also stimulate the nerve-centres and wake up the dormant powers of the body.

The Arghya drives the demons who obstruct the path of the rising sun. Esoterically, lust, anger and greed are the demons who obstruct the intellect from rising up. The intellect is the sun.

Pranayama and Japa

The second part of Sandhya consists of Pranayama and Japa of Gayatri.

Suryopasthana

The third part of Sandhya is the Suryopasthana. It is a prayer for forgiveness, mercy and grace. The prayer is: “Let me not go down to the earthly house. Have mercy, O Lord! My strength was very weak, O Lord! I did wrong actions. Have mercy, O Lord!” These are Vedic hymns addressed to the sun in the morning, noon and evening. The sun is the intellect in man. Ignorance is the night. Knowledge is the light. When you rise up from the darkness of ignorance, when the eye of intuition is opened through the grace of Gayatri, the Blessed Mother of the Vedas, you attain eternal bliss, supreme peace and immortality. It is that divine light which dispels delusion and the darkness of ignorance. It is that adorable splendour with which the world is glowing. It is that holy lustre which graciously fills the heart of a devotee with eternal bliss. It is this supreme Light which the aspirant craves from God through the Gayatri Mantra. He begs of God this Knowledge for his Realisation.

Sandhyopasana—An Exact Science

Man naturally wants to realise the Truth. He wants to know the secret of Creation. In this connection, scriptures emphatically declare: “Only at the moment when all doubts are cleared, ignorance is destroyed, hypocrisy and cruelty are rent asunder, and when a man sees Him in the abode of his heart, the real and ultimate Truth is revealed.”

Sandhya-Vijnana or the Science of Sandhya is an exact science to attain success in the realm of Truth. One need not have any kind of superstition to learn this divine science. One need not prove its greatness. Its greatness, its glory, is open truth. Even the materialistic society of today agrees with the truth of Sandhya-Vijnana. In the scriptures, it is laid: “Brahmanhood is the tree, Sandhya is its root, Vedas are its branches, religious acts are its leaves; therefore take care of its root, i.e., Sandhya.” Now the glory of Sandhya is very clear. Sandhya is absolutely necessary for a man who is treading the path of Truth. Aharahah Sandhyamupasita, i.e., a Brahmin should perform regularly his daily Sandhya at any cost—is the injunction of the scriptures.

Prerequisites For The Practice Of Sandhya

Diet

If you want to learn this science, you must be careful about your diet. Take regular and light Sattvic food. Man is much influenced by his diet. See the difference between a small lion and a big elephant. You will be able to improve yourself by adjusting your diet. Idleness is due to a variety of rich diet only. Therefore, be strict in your daily diet. You will be ever active and strong.

Sitting Pose

A man who performs Sandhya does not care about his sitting pose. He sits in any posture. This is not much beneficial. He should daily sit in a perfect posture, Padmasana or Sukhasana, facing the particular direction. As far as possible, he must finish his Sandhya in one sitting. He must have perfect mastery over Asana. Then he will have concentration in his Sandhya.

Faith and Devotion

You must do your Sandhya with faith and devotion. Mere repetition will not bring much good. Pray from the core of your heart to the Lord to forgive your sins.

A Word To The Younger Generation

Our young college students, who are under the influence of wrong Samskaras and wrong education and evil company, have forgotten all about the glory and high efficacy of Sandhya. They are not doing Sandhya. Sandhya has no meaning for them. They have become Godless men. They want laboratory tests and scientific proofs for the usefulness of Sandhya, before they begin to do Sandhya. It must be supported by the statements of western scientists. The words of ancient Rishis do not appeal to them. What a greatly degraded state!

O young students! Do not ruin yourself by neglecting Sandhya. Regular performance of Sandhya will give you success in life and material and spiritual prosperity, good health and long life, purity of heart, and help you to attain God-realisation. Do it from now at least. Yet there is hope for you. Wake up. Be sincere.

Now take strict resolve from this very moment to be regular in your daily Sandhya, even under many distractions and obstacles. Begin it from this very moment. Do not delay. Reduce your useless activities. Talk little. Do not mix much. You will get plenty of time for your Sandhya.

Be strict in your Sandhya. Let there be rain or wind. Even if the Pralaya comes, do not leave it half-done. Many people say that they have not got time to perform Sandhya. They have to attend several functions. This is due to their weakness and lack of good Samskaras. They do not know the glory of this divine science. If they see one of their friends sitting on the banks of the river and performing Sandhya, they will begin to shout or they will play some sort of mischief. But these poor creatures do not know what secret is hidden behind the Sandhya. The Secret of secrets is hidden in this sacred performance. This is why ancient Rishis say: “One who does not perform daily Sandhya is a real animal.”

May God give you the mind to perform daily Sandhya at any cost. May you follow the rules of Sandhya. May you realise the glory of Sandhya-Vijnana and be free from all tribulations and torments. May the divine science named Sandhya-Vijnana bestow purity, immense joy and immortality on you!

Swami Sivananda

What matters in life absolutely

Many things in your life matter, but only one thing matters absolutely.

It matters whether you succeed or fail in the eyes of the world. It matters whether you are healthy or not healthy, whether you are educated or not educated. It matter whether you are rich or poor — it certainly makes a difference in your life. Yes, all these things matter, relatively speaking, but they don't matter absolutely.

There is something that matters more than any of those things and that is finding the essence of who you are beyond that short-lived entity, that short-lived personalized sense of self.

Eckhart Tolle

Being in Presence and participating in the world

At the very deepest level of Presence, there is no time and so you cannot function in the world of time. Quite literally, there is no past or future. You are simply immersed in Oneness and the moment of now. All sense of yourself as a separate individual has dissolved. All sense of your self from the past and future has disappeared. You are in Oneness with all that is. It is impossible to know what I am speaking of other than through your own direct experience of what I am speaking of.

At this level of Presence, you cannot function as others do within the world of time. You will need at least two caretakers to care of your day to day needs and to lovingly watch over you. This seems to be the highest level of spiritual attainment. But an even greater challenge is to master the art of balance. We must awaken so fully that we are fundamentally grounded in Presence, but we can participate in the world of time, without getting lost there.

Once you awaken, there are two worlds, the world of the present moment and the past and future world of the mind. At this stage of human evolution, we must master the art of balance and flow between these two worlds. How is this accomplished? As a part of the awakening process, we must hold the right intention. Intend to be present often enough that the present moment will become the very ground and field of your existence. This means that you will have to choose to be present many times each day. When you notice that you have drifted off into the world of thought, memory and imagination, gently bring yourself back to the present moment. You do this by bringing yourself present with that which is already present. That is the key which will liberate you from the world of the mind. If you can see, hear, feel, taste, touch or smell it, it means it is actually here now in this moment with you and so you can be present with it. To be truly present with something that is actually here now will immediately bring you out of the thinking mind into a state of silent and awakened Presence. Your second intention is that when you do play within the world of the mind, which takes you into the world of time, with all its memories, imaginings, thoughts, ideas, concepts, opinions and beliefs, you will not become identified with any of it. You will not believe in any of it as the truth. The past is gone. The future will never arrive. Only this moment is the truth of life. Your third intention is to transcend judgment in your life. The energy of judgment imprisons you in separation. To transcend judgment, simply own it, acknowledge it and confess it whenever it arises, without judgment. Your fourth intention is to live as an expression of love and truth in this world, even when you are functioning within the world of time. No longer functioning as an ego in a world of separation, your expression at the personal level, within time, is now in perfect alignment with the impersonal and eternal dimension of you. In other words, you are now a personal expression of the impersonal, and you are an expression of love, truth, acceptance and compassion.

To reach this level of consciousness is a process. You will make mistakes. You will get caught in the mind, or in emotional reaction. When you notice yourself acting or reacting from within the mind and ego, simply acknowledge it and then disengage from it, without any sense of judgment of yourself. Just notice when you are in the mind and then bring yourself present. That is the only solution. There is no other way. You may need to allow the ego its expression, for you do not want there to be any hint of judgment, repression or denial. You may need to allow emotions into conscious expression for exactly the same reason. Do not even have the sense that you need to fix or improve yourself, for that is a very subtle form of judgment. Just allow it all to surface into the bright light of consciousness. Only acknowledgment, love and acceptance of everything that you have been denying, hiding and repressing will bring about the alchemy of healing and transformation.

Leonard Jacobson
http://leonardjacobson.com/about.php

Characteristics of an enlightened person

One who is awake or enlightened lives predominantly in the present moment. The present moment is always recognized as the truth of life, even when entering into the mind and functioning within the world of time.

At the very deepest level, an enlightened person does not function within the world of time. The past and future have disappeared and only the present moment is available. This does not mean that an enlightened person is always functioning at the deepest level. At other times, he or she might be functioning at a more superficial level of Presence and so the world of time becomes available.

An enlightened person lives without judgment.

An enlightened person lives without fear and desire.

An enlightened person lives in a state of acceptance.

An enlightened person lives as Love in the world.

For an enlightened person, the illusion of separation has dissolved. He or she lives with a strong sense of the Oneness of all things.

An enlightened person lives with a continuing awareness of the impersonal or Eternal dimension of existence.

An enlightened person is compassionate.

An enlightened person always acts with integrity.

It is impossible for an enlightened person to be dishonest.

One who is truly enlightened sees all others as equal and enlightened, even if they are unaware of it. This extends to animals and the world of nature. It is impossible for an enlightened person to intentionally harm another.

An enlightened person is substantially free of ego motivations and reactions.

This is not to imply that an enlightened person is somehow perfect. An enlightened person can, at times, react like any one else, and experience fear and uncertainty or feelings like hurt and anger. The difference is that the enlightened person knows that he or she is caught temporarily in the illusion of separation and takes full responsibility for whatever he or she is experiencing. The experience is owned and accepted but not acted upon as if it is the truth.

In the midst of constant change, an enlightened person knows himself/herself as the One who never changes.

Leonard Jacobson
http://leonardjacobson.com/about.php

Changing the world

Remember, all you are is consciousness, everything that arises within it changes, but not what you are. Think of it this way: What you are is a perfect mirror which only reflects what stands before it. Does a mirror judge itself in any way? No, it just reflects. Does it lament the past. No, it just reflects the present. Does it fear the future? No, it just reflect what is before it. But the mind/ego creates goals, wants to "be something special" in its own eyes or in the eyes of others. It thinks about the past, it regrets its mistakes, it plans for what it calls the future, it feels anxious about that imaginary future, it feels somehow that it doesn't "measure up", that it hasn't made its mark in the world, and on and on it goes. All that does is allow the mirror of consciousness to reflect that as well - it's very good at reflecting illusions. But when the mirror of consciousness has been cleaned of those things which are illusory, what remains? Consciousness reflecting without the distorting influence of mind/ego, and that, whether your ego believes it or not, is pretty awesome.

This emerging consciousness in people, this ability to reflect without distortion is huge in terms of what it can mean for the world of form. Could there possibly be anything greater? Can anything measure up to this? So your ego feels "left behind", not accomplishing some idea it has of what should be. Big deal! That kind of thinking only contributes to the familiar world we find ourselves in. Being a true reflector of the world is the very basis of changing that world. Without "doing" anything other than consciously being what you really are you are changing the world.


Kiki's Wisdom