Spirituality
Choosing a New Year Gift – Importance of Genuine Intent
Everything in nature gives with a grace that comes of selfless giving. Even the tree lets falls its fruit into our lap. Mother Earth bears serenely our insults yet she cradles us nourishes us with every grain of Riceland wheat that we eat. We have free air to breathe and water to drink.
Loving speech is also a kind of generosity. Kind words could gift sunshine to a dark life . Generosity of spirit brings two hearts together in joy. True communication through loving speech and deep listening is a loving gift. How often do we hold back such gifts , even from our close friends and family? Continue reading
No Mud No Lotus
our real enemies are not outside but within
Reading the Gita, we come to better understand life as an inner battle, a struggle for the mind, heart, body, and spirit. And, make no mistake, it is a fight to the death. We learn that our real enemies are not outside but within: our own desire, anger, and greed. This is what makes it so hard. These archenemies have linked forces so powerfully that they are all but unbeatable. We’re losing. The Gita boldly declares that spirituality is the only winning solution. Turn inward, it directs us, and upward. Look no further than the True Self Within.
The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners
Jack Hawley
Pranayama : the Yoga of Controlled Breathing
The Yoga Sūtra describes the flow of prāṇa with this lovely image: If a farmer wants to water his terraced fields, he does not have to carry the water in buckets to the various parts of his fields; he has only to open the retaining wall at the top. If he has laid out his terraces well and nothing blocks the flow of the water, it will be able to reach the last field and the furthest blade of grass without help from the farmer. In prāṇāyāma we work with the breath to remove blockages in the body. The prāṇa, following the breath, flows by itself into the cleared spaces. In this way we use the breath to make possible the flow of prāṇa.
The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice
T. K. V. Desikachar
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Be full of Wonder
“And answers are dangerous, they kill your wonder. They are dangerous because they give you the feeling that you know, although you know not. They give you this misconception about yourself that now questions have been solved. Continue reading
observe what is actually taking place in our daily life, inwardly and outwardly
It is important to understand from the very beginning that I am not formulating any philosophy or any theological structure of ideas or theological concepts. It seems to me that all ideologies are utterly idiotic. What is important is not a philosophy of life but to observe what is actually taking place in our daily life, inwardly and outwardly. If you observe very closely what is taking place and examine it, you will see that it is based on an intellectual conception, and the intellect is not the whole field of existence; it is a fragment, and a fragment, however cleverly put together, however ancient and traditional, is still a small part of existence whereas we have to deal with the totality of life. Continue reading
one who is flowing with the river is winning….
I HAVE BEEN TELLING A SMALL STORY about two little straws that are driftingin a flooded river. ONE STRAW, which is laying across the current and trying to hold back the flood, is screaming that he will not let the river go forward. Although the river is moving ahead and the straw is unable to control it, yet he goes on shouting that the river will be stopped. He is boasting aloud that whether he lives or dies, he will stop the river. But the straw is still drifting.
Book Recommendation – Conscious Immortality by Paul Brunton and Munagala Venkataramiah
![Conscious Immortality by [Brunton, Paul, Venkataramiah, Munagala]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519XwW8Mz4L.jpg)
“So long as there is the sense of separation, there will be afflicting thoughts. If the original source is regained and the sense of separation is ended, there is peace. Consider what happens when a stone is thrown up. It leaves its source, is propelled up, tries to come down and is always in motion until it regains its source where it is at rest. So also the waters of the ocean evaporate, form clouds which are moved by winds, condense into water, and fall as rain, and the waters roll down the hill tops in streams and rivers until they reach their original source, the ocean, reaching which they are at peace. Thus you see where there is a sense of separateness from the source, there is agitation and movement until the sense of separateness is lost. So it is with yourself. Now that you identify yourself with the body, you think that you are separate. You must regain your source before this false identity ceases and you are happy. Gold is not an ornament but the ornament is nothing but gold. Whatever shapes the ornament may assume and however different the shapes of the ornaments are, there is only one reality, i.e. gold. So also with the bodies and the Self. The reality is the Self. To identify oneself with the body and yet to seek happiness, is like attempting to ford a lake on the back of an alligator. The body identity is due to extroversion and the wandering of the mind. To continue in that state will only keep one in an endless tangle and there will be no peace.”
– Ramana Maharishi
Meditation
It was monsoon period and there was incessant rain and tumultuous winds. A crow was asleep at the top of a big tree beside a large river. During the night the wind was so strong that the tree was uprooted. It fell into the fast flowing river and was swept away. The crow, however, remained fast asleep and had no idea that the tree was being swept out to sea. The wind subsided and the sun shone brightly. The crow awoke and was startled to find that he was surrounded by water. In all directions all he could see was water. He wanted to find land but didn’t know in which direction to fly. Finally the crow decided to fly east. He didn’t find any land in this direction so he decided to fly west for an hour or so. Not finding any land to the west, he decided to fly south. He flew south, then north, but still couldn’t find any signs of land. He felt very tired and then he realized that there was no place where he could rest. All he could see was water. The crow immediately thought of the tree. But where was it? Instead of looking for land the crow now desperately sought the tree from which he had started his search. After some time and effort he found the tree and rested. The crow was an intelligent bird, it learned from previous mistakes and experiences. Continue reading
ONE TUSK 