Start by relaxing yourself completely, and then becoming aware of your breath, both incoming and outgoing, do not try to control it or guide it, simply watch it, as an observer, this would be good start...rest is just practise, as the mind wanders off, bring it back gently, back to your breath, and then let it go as well, just to enjoy the stillness within, the cessations of thoughts!

Soon you can bring this awareness mode, to every activity you do, to live a 'meditative life', of 'relaxed alertness', where ever you might go.

TO MEDITATE is be ones self, in the moment, and a constant practise of meditation, makes it easier for us to be who we are, within, at all times. Self awareness increased through constant meditation practice helps us recognize our light and be 'it' more often and easily. It helps us step into our own nature, which is pure joy. True meditation is what adds more to our life, when what's happening externally, stops mattering, as we know we are not that, we are that joy which constantly bubbles within us.

THE JOURNEY of a seeker is of connecting with inner joy, so that then we can be that joy every moment, and add joy to watch everything we do, or be. Joy is the only benchmark of spiritual growth and its only guiding energy. Following our inner joy we come closer to our inner guidance, and constantly move towards our greater self. All life is flow towards joy. When we are being ourselves, we are in joy. That's why to just be, is the greatest spiritual advice if there ever was one. 

 

IT IS SO EASY to not be our SELF, so easy to step out of the flow, when we just want to be comfortable, or want things to go our way. Though, the challenge really is to learn to be ourselves no matter what. And that is where the practise of meditation comes handy, as there in for the first time we recognize our true self, and slowly with practise, we learn to allow it to step into our everyday life. Soon we start seeing its magical effects, when we begin to come into our power, the power of being our self. Being our authentic self, is the greatest power of all, and to be that at all times, is true what meditation is best for, to bring our real self out.

ALL SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS are about stepping beyond our ego self, our wounded self, and stepping in to the wonderful self that we really are within. We have all seen or felt it, at sometime or another, when we felt the presence of our divinity within. Bringing this light out is the journey of a seeker, seeking his or her own inner light, that can illuminate not just our life path but also our life purpose. This journey is an eternal one, as we are. To help us out in this arduous task we have our guides, and gurus, people who have devoted their lives to help others find their light. The word Guru itself means the one who takes us out of our darkness and takes us into the light that we are. Fortunately, we all have a guru, a guide by our side, at all times, and that is our Higher self. Following its instructions can be hard, as it doesn't massage our ego, rather its pushes us to abandon it and embrace our true Self, and sets ourselves on the path of becoming, who we truly are within.

 

“When the student is ready, the Master appears.”

THE FIRST STEP IS SOLITUDE AND SILENCE. Solitude helps us face our true self, our fears and our gifts, so that we can become what we are here for, an expression of the divine on earth.

 

Meditation is simple. First, close your eyes and relax your mind, gently become aware of your breath, and relax into the slow rhythm of your breath and just observe.

That is how most meditations begin, a deliberate way of becoming self aware. With practice we can remain aware at all times, thus maintaining a meditative or a state of self awareness through the day.

 

Though what would you really prefer, being awake for an hour a day during your meditation 'session' or being awake the whole day? Emotional awareness, and then taking responsibility of how we are feeling in the moment, is what constitutes a spiritually aware life, and makes for a true spiritual practise, to practise what the spirit dictates; the rest is the just plain talk and such a waste of human life. So a simple thumbrule for every human life would be, if you are feeling joyous, you are flowing the right way, towards your Self. And learning to be yourself; afterall there is no journey in life other than that, as everything external would be gone one day, what you'll take along would be what you hold within, memories, laughters and above all love, so if you are learning to love out here, yourself to begin with, you are on the right track. Rest will happen on its own, as it is the 'being' that is far more crucial that our 'doing', and we focus other way around, don't we? The truth is that it is a mental universe we live in, as in we create our reality through who we are within, flip it in and we immediately become aware of the immense power we hold within over our lives. Realizing it is empowerment, and the beginning of a joyous life, afterall a joyous life begins with a joyous moment, now! 

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BECOMING AWARE OF OUR KARMA.
Whatever we are going through right now is the result of our past choices, our karma creates hence our fate, that is why there is no point blaming any God or deity later for our present predicaments, or try to appease one just to ease out from our Karmic bondations. It is our Karma we only can clear it, by going through it, and if possible learning not to repeat the same mistakes, as we did the last time around. 
When we become aware of our thoughts, we become aware of our Karma, as Karma is what we are constantly creating through our thoughts and emotions. Each Karma is simply the bundle of energy that we send out, each time we make a choice, or each time we speak, think, or act. By making a choice, we release a specific form of energy into the universe, based on our intention behind that choice, and that is what then comes back to us as consequences. It is not our actions per se that create consequences for us, rather it is the overriding energy behind our actions that creates consequences for us, in life.
Becoming aware of this energy is part of becoming self aware. With awareness we know exactly what we are creating for ourselves in the future, through the very choices we are making in the moment, through our actions, words and above all through the intentions we are making, behind them all. 

Now we can take responsibility of our experiences instead of operating victims mindset and blaming our fate or others for our mishaps in life, in act there nothing as a bad experience, only experience not seen in the light of the soul, as when we do begin to see the light behind every such experience, as we not only see its source in us, but also receive its gift in wisdom, for the future, and thus just get empowered. 

 

USING THE MIND TO OBSERVE ITSELF, occupies it so much that it soon it learns to watch itself with a detached awareness. This detached awareness gives us the necessary space or a gap between us and the outside world, or between an occurrence and our response to it. Soon we begin to observe our behaviour and learn to catch ourselves before we make an unconscious or a habitual choice.
 
This way, we stop making unconscious choices, governed by the urgency of a mind in panic, thus we learn to relax into the present moment and learn to make conscious choices, guided by our inner guidance or intuition.
 
This relaxed awareness is called Mindfulness, and soon with practice it becomes a 24 hour, state of being. Calmness descends, and detachment comes in, and with it comes awareness of a higher guidance available to us during every single choice.
 
It is this slowing down or easing of the frantic mind that makes the practice of meditation so charming, and rewarding in the end. For when we let go of the mind, we realize we are neither the mind, nor the beliefs or notions held by it, we are free, as our soul is; this is the beginning of our becoming, our true self.
 
Also an empty mind becomes an excellent vessel for receiving creative ideas from the Universe, for our everyday life, and it is the presence of the divine in our mundane activities makes life sacred and paves way for an inspired life.
 
HANDLING THE MIND DILIGENTLY requires daily practice, of sharpening the tool of mind. So that soon it becomes sharp and aware enough to spot on any emotions kink within, before it gets too big to handle.
 
This emotional awareness is the key to survival in any kind of situation, our intuition guides us through our emotions, so emotional awareness is the first step to becoming intuitive; it is only a matter of practice.
 
One of them being the legendary Zen practice of, doing only one thing at a time. So drop the habit of multi-tasking with your mind, and strengthen it daily and build your mental muscles. After all, it’s all in the mind.
 
Personally, the best way to heal your mind is to surrender it to the Divine and allow it to be healed. Devotion is the best way to soothe an aching mind as nothing soothes it than connecting with its source - the soul. Never over indulge in the mind, or in meditation, just live happily it is the best meditation you'll ever do.
 
TO BE WITH ONES SELF, is meditation. To be relaxed, aware and in the moment is another way of defining meditation.
 
What ever path you might choose to go within, it is just a starting point, a run way to your journey within. It is not concentration, it is letting go of the mind. It is becoming aware and learning to allow; to relax and learn to be comfortable in our skin; knowing that we complete, whole and worth loving just the way we are, just because we are that precious piece of the divine.
 
You can pick, Mindfulness Meditations, Dhyana, dynamic meditations or simple contemplative or self-reflective meditations, any thing that helps you connect within, and gets you going is a good start, rest will be taken care of, trust that much. Bon voyage! Your arrival is awaited, within.

 

SIGNS OF GROWTH
When the Light enters our being, also illuminates our darkness, for us to see, acknowledge and release that too from our system, so that Light can fill those very spaces with its love.
 
When we start feeling positive, peaceful, and blissful within and loved at all times, we start attracting similar energies, experiences and people on the outside as well. As our internal landscape shifts to a higher frequency, so does our external landscape. We start attracting to ourselves, better more meaningful experiences towards us; suddenly it might feel as if all life is suddenly conspiring to make our life easy for us, and where dream were harder to realise, now they seem to manifest far more easily for us. This is a clear sign that we are part of divine flow of life.
 
Soon our relationships also start changing for the better, the unhealthy ones start withering away or start revealing their darker sides, for a recognize and choose which ones are fit carry along on to the next phase of our life.
 
As we get more real, people around us are forced to become so themselves, otherwise we will start increasingly difficult to be with them. So we have to careful in choosing our company from here on, as that would greatly affect the support we would need in our journey ahead.
 
Be careful, as to not try to change them, they are entitled to take the same time or more as we did, to reach this point in our soul journey. So, instead of getting into the trap of fixing other people, or having company, first accept that it is a solitary journey for every soul, and then stay open as kindred spirit flock together, as and when needed for your journey, never expect people to walk along or follow, just walk on, one step at a time, that is the mark of a true seeker, as we all have to work out our enlightenment, no one can walk the path for us.
 
As people who are willing to grow and change join us, others who are unwilling fade away. This make way for newer souls, who are more willing to walk the path of self realization with us move in, leading to a more authentic life, within and without. 
 
Be prepared for your life to change, expect it every day that is the only sign of constant growth. One day, one breath at a time.
 
All great civilizations, great nations, their riches, all great people, their health, wealth, physical beauty, all one day decline and come to an end. So staying rooted in them, and identifying or defining ourselves with them is futile, as nothing is ever constant or eternal in life.
 
That is why, whenever, we find what we earlier considered as the bedrock of our lives, starts collapsing around us, it is apt time to drop anchor into what is eternal in us - the Self. And the eternal will then, help us sail through, into better times with lightness, grace and with humility.
 
And that is what all the cycles of life, its incessant rhythms are all about, to teach us how to detach ourselves from what is unreal and fleeting, and bring our roots back into what is real and everlasting. Getting real, is what it is all about. "GET REAL" as they say, is the task here, and rightly so.  Whenever we are connected with what is eternal in 'us', we are in bliss, or rather feel what the 'eternal' is.

 

 

SPIRIT-UALITY is only about our behaviour, in the present, so you can be spiritual or 'of spirit' only in this moment. Beyond that it is all talk. The amount of spirit you allow through, in the moment, is the amount of light that shines through you, and through every single choice that you make. Beliefs no matter how wonderful they might be, cannot change our lives, unless we allow them to reflected in our everyday, intentions, thoughts and then through actions and words!
 
Once the mind has been sharpened enough, through meditation, the real journey begins. The mind and the self awareness thus developed by keenly observing our breathe or mental thoughts can be then used to keenly observe, our every move, every action, and thus our every choice.
 
Gradually with constant practise and dedication to our growth, coupled with constant presence of the divine in us, as an intuitive voice, we can learn to make better choice, and what leads to a better life, than better choices, choices that are guided by the divine Himself.
 
WATCHING OURSELVES, in action in world, is the only way we can grow. This is earth school, we are on the 'path' from the moment we arrive here; so it is only wise to make use of our days here, and use them to our best.
 
CATCHING OURSELVES in action, in doing what we 'always' do, allow our dark side to take over, is the next challenge. Also embracing our brighter side, or the soul side that we so deny or are embarrassed about is what will save us eventually as famous quote goes..."That which we bring forth into the light will save us, and that which we don't will destroy us."
 
It is the illumination of both our dark and 'light' side, is what becoming whole, and 'integrated' as a personality demands, that is 'Yoga' is all about, not just asanas, mudras or pranayamas. Embracing our duality is what makes us whole, and once we accept internal duality, external duality stops bothering us, as we do not then need that to remind us to do our inner work.
 
First of all, know that everything single thing that we experience is to help us grow; our task then is to help us find that, as some will point us towards our weakness, and some will push us towards recognizing our strengths. Thus the old maxim that, “Everything that happens, happens for the best”, as a lot of truth in it, provided we are able to see that same event through eyes of our soul.
 
To grow within, we have to first accept every event as it is, without judgment or any blaming, either externally or internally, it is not one fault, sometime things happen because they need to happen in order for us to grow and learn from them, through and beyond them. Allowing our ego to interfere or take over, by taking it all so personally blocks us from transcending up to the symbolic sight level, which our higher self can offer us with our openness.
 
Sometimes, this can happen instantaneously, when we are in constant touch with our higher self, which then shows us the event in the higher perspective and suggest a suitable response. Thus we learn to break our habitual, and ego ridden habits. And that is how we grow, one choice, one episode at a time, by making a 'higher' choice every time. All that this requires is practise, practise, and practise.
 
Few guidelines that may help in this process are -
 
1. "The source of all our experiences lies within, either good or bad we are the co-creator of our life experiences."
 
2. "What we hate in others is only what we haven't accepted yet, in ourselves."
 
Once we accept our duality, we hate no more, and as we are the magnets, we no longer attract such situation any more, as life is just a mirror of who we are within; it just affirms what we already believe within to be true for ourselves.
 
After all, we only attract what we think about the most, and that includes things we don't want to experience, things we fear. We think about them the most and accept this habit as anxiety or worrying, while it is when we are creating our future, filled with those very energies. So we need to take our thoughts seriously and not excuse ourselves into indulging in any thought that we know will harm us, be it judging others, or thinking negative about any thing or anyone, including ourselves.
 
The point of power is choosing a different thought, rooted in a more healthy belief about ourselves, in the present moment.
 
If you don't like what you are experiencing; take responsibility and change it! Yes we can, that is our power as human beings, and realising that power, is getting empowered - coming into our power, and our power is the Self. So self-realization is all about getting empowered, realising our weakness and fears and turning them into our powers one by one.
 
Also it is important to start noticing, How do you loose your power, to whom and how? Also bring into awareness, who brings out the dark side or the painful side of you, and how come you have give them so much power? What do you gain by doing so, as no habit is ever continued, no matter how harmful, unless there is some gain from it? How do gain by staying a victim? Does it free you from taking responsibility of the situation or your life, and take positive action? A victim would just get angry, throw a tantrum or a fit and then do nothing to ensure it never happens again. And if you have been victimized as a child for example, it is your duty to break the pattern by refusing to get victimized each time and also choosing to 'not' see yourself as a victim before any challenging situation that pushes you to access your strengths, as that is why every challenging situation is for, to empower us.
 
Watch out everyday, for four basic Human Archetypes in action in you, be it their shadow or their lighter side. THE VICTIM, THE PROSTITUTE, THE CHILD AND THE SABOTEUR, noticing where and how do they show up can be a very fascinating thing to watch within us. How do we start playing out these characters and create 'drama' in our lives is the journey of every person who want to overcome their shadow behaviours, as what we become conscious of, we begin to heal.
 
Empowerment happens when we use life, not just live it, blindly, rather unconsciously. Conscious living is how we grow.
 
SELF REFLECTION at the end of the day is an excellent tool for self growth, viewing every incidence especially troublesome one, in the light of our soul, gives it a whole new meaning and that is when we grow fastest, using our soul as a partner, no someone we have to please or appease. We don't need to please God, He loves us unconditionally anyways, and we cannot do anything that we would anger or displease Him. We just have stop thinking of God as our physical parents were.
 
DIFFICULT PEOPLE are difficult to avoid, as just like all adversities, as they are, our greatest teachers. They are 'contracted' as souls to teach us our most enduring and difficult lesson, lasting a lifetime, and sometimes many. So we really don't avoid people, we avoid learning opportunities, as they challenge us to learn and grow; instead we try to change our landscape, externally; hoping that we won't need to change within. The truth is that we do not want to change, for when we are willing we are also willing to face and learn all the difficlut, irrirating and hurtful people, as what hurts us, scares us or irritates us, always lies within, and find it, is the challenge of every spiritual journey. Looking within to 'fix' our external landscape is the only way to grow, ever. As within, so without.

HANDLING THE AGGRESSION WITHIN. Growth be it spiritual or physical is a slow process, it is more a process of allowing, and just being ourselves, but to allow even that we have to first become aware of our inner aggression, be it passive or active.

FACING OUR INNER AGGRESSION is the challenge that every spiritual aspirant must face. The origin of all aggression lies in our past experiences of fears, challenging them and healing our memories of fear is the one primary task of our spiritual journey.

Our fears push us to become aggressive, and deny our own higher self to us. It is a stance of self-protection, for an empowered soul would rather be self assertive, and accommodating, generous, and kind.
 
A WOUNDED EGO is what makes us aggressive, so as to avoid getting into harms way again. Healing this wounded part is a most important task of one's spiritual journey.
Aggressiveness keeps away from experiencing the wholeness of who we really are, it denies our own divinity to us. That is why; tackling our inner aggression is the first task of every spiritual aspirant.
 
Otherwise each time we feel like merging back into the whole, we might once again feel as if we are getting annihilated or controlled, as a wounded ego does. It is the memory and learned response patterns of our past that keeps us away from embracing our own higher reality. Teaching a wounded ego to relax and trust again is a delicate task, yet with the presence of the divine it becomes easy, and smooth.
 
Aggression begets aggression, be it inside or outside, an aggressive personality would attract more aggressive energies to itself, leading to repeated breakdowns within, as well as on the outside.
 
So the point of departure is always surrender to the divine, to allow it to helps us find the right balance within, as well as without. Similarly, it is the balance of the masculine and feminine parts that a true spiritual aspirant would achieve eventually.
 
Aggressiveness keeps us from being patient enough to listen and follow our inner guidance or intuition. MEDITATION slows us down, and thus helps us become aware of our intuition, and intuition is the path of joy, so when we say follow your joy, it actually means follow your intuition, minute by minute, moment by moment, as intuition really is guidance for the moment, in the moment.
 
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PAIN, THE HARBINGER OF ALL GROWTH
 
A tooth grows we feel pain, but we also feel its joy.
 
For most of us, it is an experience of pain that wakes us to the possibility of light on the other side. So much is the pain, that we are not capable of humanly thwarting, unless we access the spirit within, using that very pain as a constant guide and a reminder of the soul’s deep desire to grow into it Self.
 
That is why many brave souls, choose to go through experiences of great pain early in life, to make them aware early on, of the need to grow, thus it helps them 'realise' themselves faster than others. So that eventual pain become a gift of grace, rather than a curse that they called onto themselves, having said that it is a long journey nevertheless. Sometimes all we need is a simple prayer to assuage all your pain, as that is when suddenly we become aware of the possibility of freedom, within.
 
Pain is what makes us aware of a tension or a discomfort within. Emotional pain makes us aware of emotional bruises that we carry within, and those that need to be healed immediately and soothed. For the older the wounds get, the urgent their healing becomes, as every wound is a point of rift that we create between ourselves and the Source energy, the flow, or what ever we might choose to call it. It is an unacknowledged, an untended wound that is more dangerous to the life force than anything else that we encounter, as wounds only replicate themselves all around and in so many ways. Wounded people create more wounded people, and wounded situations create more similar wounding situations.

But we can become aware consciously as well. Through practice of meditation, where we temporarily switch off ourselves from the external life, and turn all our attention, our minds within. That is when we discover that for so long what we have been defining ourselves as, was only the activities of the mind, while in fact we are something very different.

It is only when the mind settles down for a while that we get the glimpses of, who we really are, within. Self-reflection or contemplation is the key to spiritual life.
 
DREAMWORK. As you start opening up to your subconscious mind, you will start experiencing vivid dreams, both cleansing and informatory in nature. They will guide you to your next level of awareness, and the areas you need to give your attention to. Never does real life offer such clarity than a dream. Start taking note of them, the moment you wake revisit them in a meditative state, and unravel their guidance and purport in the presence of inner light.

 

Understanding Wholeness and Healing

Just as we are all born with a heartfelt desire to love, we are also born, with an innate desire to serve. To extend ourselves to others in an act of love and service.
 
But for an act of service, to be true to itself, it needs to be done as an act of love and done with a feeling of oneness, otherwise it is mere remains an act of charity, and charity doesn't uplift the soul, only the ego.
 
Our souls only need is to empower oneself and another, and that might sometimes require for us to withdraw from the scene, for a while, so that others can learn to pick themselves up, on their own and in the process learn to access their inner strength, as that way, they would never be again dependent on other, ever. Sometimes it is a gentle guiding, presence that is enough for others; universe has its unique way to empower and enrich each of us, and to know that we need to approach service intuitively. So that we know exactly what to do, for whom and when.

So, to truly be of service, we have to first connect with our own Self, so that it can then guides us to find the ways in which we can serve, ways that are unique to us, ways that utilize the unique gifts we have been born with, and it is the discovery of our calling that makes this journey of healing so exciting and promising, as it promises a life that is fulfilling not just on certain days, but every day.
 
To become worthy of service, of serving the 'whole', requires on our part, to become whole ourselves, that is when we use service to express our love and not to service our self esteem. That is the sole reason, no every body is 'called' to serve on earth, many do charity but few serve in the true sense with the feeling of oneness, gratitude and humility.
 
Though true humility comes in, with an awareness of our greater self. That is when we acquire an attitude of our 'greater' self, or simply gratitude.
 
To become whole, we must connect with the 'whole', with all that is, in oneness, and come forward as a spirit to serve. This coming as whole is healing.
 
Easy breakdown, easy breakthrough!
 
Sometimes things need to be broken apart before they can be fixed right back!
 
When resist breaking down by being strong and resilient we resist the break through that comes from being supple and malleable to the forces of nature that are constantly working towards mending us. Allow breakdown to happen chaos to occur within and without so that new reality can be shown created and hence experienced by us! Breakdown happens only when we need a breakthrough otherwise a system continues to work no matter how much internal disharmony it might be creating, but universe always works towards maintain harmony at whatever cost, that why sometimes when we get comfortable in our realities, we get stuck in them, and avoid breakthroughs!
 
When we allow even a smallest breakdown to upset us create a chaos in us we can easily see how much we can change by simple incidents that would have required great big traumas to occur for us to see the truth behind the facade of the lives that we lie every day, with out noticing the inherent malice and the possibility of fixing that could happen only if we allow nature to break us apart. Only then can we step out of our self created, ‘Truman shows’!
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HOW TO MEND A BROKEN VASE
When our spirit gets broken, as a vase does, its individual pieces stay alive within, and continue to act up, to remind us that of the need to be fixed, merged back into the whole. So they would invariably and secretively control our lives, by becoming our shadow beliefs, thoughts and behaviour patterns and eventually manifest as physical ailments, so we can then be pushed to look within and engaging with our spirit, to heal all that we are, and bring it together again. And who better to fix a broken glass vase than the Glassmaker itself, who can remould the vase instantly.
 
Otherwise picking up individual glass pieces and trying to fix them personally would take a lifetime. The Master Glassmaker can do that in a minute, and that is what we call a 'miracle' of healing.
 
THE DESIRE TO HEAL, is like the desire of a wave wanting to merge back with the Ocean. Though once that spark has been ignited in us, we can do little, but to allow.
 
It is this journey of becoming whole again, as we once were, making healing such a crucial part of the human journey, as realize it or not, we already are on our healing journey, and the more we do it consciously, the easier our lives get, as then we do not need to be reminded our healing needs or broken pieces by a smack in the head, when we hit a wall or a dead end.
The life we live, is a reflection of who we are within, so using meditation as a tool we can access all those broken pieces and accept them, instead of fighting them on the outside, as then really we are only fighting with ourselves, and as we all eventually realize, it is so futile. The source is always within, of all our problems, ailments and life experiences.
 
What we experience now is what we have created in the past, so now is the time to choose, and create better. As we learn to make better choices, we learn to create a better life for ourselves. Life changes, when we do; always.
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Wanting to Heal vs. Willing to do what Healing demands
 
We all want to have better lives and to heal, but I often question that if it is so easy, then why don't people heal?  The answer lies in the fact that healing begins with letting go and letting go begins with coming into the present, and finding something better to put our focus on, as mind always move to a next higher stimulation.
Wounds, especially those experienced as a child can be a great spell-caster, we might spend the rest of our life, spellbound as a victim if we are unable to break that spell, either through self awareness or through prayer. And we might get so used to deriving all our power by blaming or shaming others that we might never shift into our authentic power, which comes from taking responsibility of all our experiences past, present and future, by taking charge of our thoughts, actions, and words, this moment on.
 
LETTING GO
Accepting life as it is, be the past or the present, without hoping it to be any different, is letting go. Acceptance is an act of courage, humility, and of grace.
When we let go our need for perfection, we also learn to accept the present moment as it is. Hence we avoid feeling at dis-ease, whenever things, do not go our way.
 
Without the resultant anger or bitterness, we naturally are more willing to learn, whatever life is willing teach us through every single experience.
 
The truth is that angry or vengeful hearts don’t heal, nor can they give or receive love, they keep busy learning ways to avoid experiencing the same pain again, and learning coping mechanisms.
But life is not a coping mechanism nor it is an experience to avoid; it is meant to be lived fearlessly, every moment; as that is only when we can savour its true beauty and grandeur, for it is in our lives life that lies the true grandeur and magnificence of the divine, and that of our soul.
 
It is the desire to have a 'normal' day, or life, where nothing challenges us, or makes us question our addiction to external world, is what makes us so unhappy and sad and sometimes bitter and angry. The truth is that there are no perfect days or lives. It is only when we give up our need to be perfect or seek perfectionism on the outside that divine perfection reveals itself to us, hidden behind every single event of our life. It is only in our understanding the imperfectness of our life or that of a moment, do we get to receive the requisite wisdom hidden behind every life experience and it is this very wisdom that will be essential for us to move ahead towards our destiny.
True freedom comes only when while experiencing extreme powerlessness externally, we realize that it is after all only external, and that the true self, always is.
 
WHEN WE GIVE UP TRYING to be or making things perfect that we experience how perfect every experience is, in moulding us and in helping us realize that true power, joy and bliss lies within. That is when we experience a glimpse of the freedom our soul does at all times, knowing as it knows that the real thing, the truth is the light within, and not the reflection of the mirror - the outside world. It is the shattering of this illusion that requires divine intervention, through prayer, contemplation and meditation.
Sometimes, we feel if we just dig deep enough in the past we would be able to figure out why we had to suffer in the past, what we did wrong and where, we fear suffering again so much that we waste so many year, just living down in those trenches.
 
But the truth is that, we can never achieve any healing by digging deep mentally, it is the journey of the heart and the spirit, and the mind can do little in releasing it, so all we need to do is to accept the past, as it was.
 
Past is the useless journey to take upon to heal, as life can do that very well if only move into the present moment with all that we are. Usually it is our own unwillingness to leave the ground of our wounding that keep us rooted there, sometimes we just have to allow these wounds to heal, on their own. 
 
THE HEALING JOURNEY
 
Healing is a journey of faith and grace and with those two your healing journey can begin this moment.
 
Getting over our wounds is our personal responsibility, as much as willing to learn from them, and physically heal is. Then on, we have various tools to help us out, physical healing is just a tip of that iceberg, waiting for us to explore. It is our personal choice, as it is above all a personal journey, no one can walk it for us, not even God can, as God wants to empower us and not make us dependent on Him, so that we look up each time something goes haywire in our life. In fact He wants us to discover Him within us.
 
LEARNING TO FORGIVE through a meditation or prayer is an excellent way to make breakthroughs in forgiveness for initiating personal healing as in most cases it is the first step in releasing the past.
 
Forgiveness really is about accepting the past, allowing ourselves to move on, and the wounds to heal. It is not about who hurt us, and why or did we deserve to go through it, or why did God allow it to happen, and not even did I deserve it.
The day,  I added people who had hurt to me in my prayers, and I could forgive them, and set myself free of them. And then I remember what one guy who hung on the cross, once said, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do". And that was my clue.
 
BEYOND SUFFERING AND PAIN
Giving up the need to find the reason behind our pain and suffering is the first step towards letting go our past. As then we are willing to let go of the blame-game and bring all our energies into the present, so that then, we can do something about our healing.
 
Pain is often associated with growth and the need to grow is essential within each soul, so it asks for experiences of pain, to remind it to evolve, grow, and change.
Since pain is that makes us conscious enough to grow, it pushes us to grow, so be it financial, physical, or emotional, all pain can be a catalyst in our growth. And the more the pain there is, in a soul's life, the more growth it must have asked for, in its script for this lifetime. It is as simple as that.
 
Nothing helps us grow faster than pain, as nothing pushes us faster towards light than darkness itself. An experience of darkness is actually a gift of growth from the Universe; taking it in the spirit of soul, takes much humility, courage and above all willingness to grow, which comes with Grace.
 
Suffering is what we 'label' it, while all the while it has been a soul’s plan. It is the redemption of the spirit within that a soul seeks, in each lifetime, and in each time, in a different way.
 
The point is that this earth school, we come when we want to learn, to create better. So braver the soul, the more pain will it will be willing to endure in this life time. Simply put, it is the experience of suffering or of lack of compassion that gives us gift of compassion and the wisdom to reach to those in pain and suffering themselves, beyond that it is all just talk.
 
CULTIVATING DETACHMENT
DETACHMENT from the illusion of the external world and the mind is freedom. It is the freedom of the spirit from the holds of the mind that creates internal freedom, the only freedom that is eternal.
 
True letting go is letting go our need for external power to feel good, content or happy, be it through fame or fortune or just by having things under control, no wonder we so much of our energy to avoid chaos in everyday life, no knowing that chaos is what initiates growth within.
 
Our fears and longings for a certain experiences are all about the states of emotions or mind they create in us, so we crave for a few and abhor others. This creates an unnecessary tension within us, to fight the natural rhythms of life. Though once we embrace the chaos and the natural rhythms of the human experience, it bring us to a never before level of peace, freedom and agility to fleet through experiences of darkness which we know are then followed by experiences of the light, and vice versa. Fully knowing that no experience no matter how grand or severe can never last, as it is always fleeting.  Happiness or sadness is a just state of mind, never permanent, ever fleeting, and just I am not the 'states' of my mind, I am also not my mind.

 

HEALING IS NOT A MENTAL JOURNEY, it is certainly not one about finding who hurt us as a child, or whether we deserved to get hurt or not. It is a journey of the spirit, of the heart and soul, and no amount of mental analysis can heal us, as a simple, heartfelt prayer, flung up to heavens can.

   The truth is no one deserves to get hurt or stay unhealthy; we can all get healed if we want to, and allow it to happen, by switching our thoughts to healthy ones. We have the control over our minds and so our thoughts.

   CHOOSING TO STAY IN THE MOMENT is the first step towards healing, as when we are so we let go of the past, and then it can be healed by the Universe which is always willing and ready to heal its children.

   Beginning to view all life through the eyes of the soul, we begin to see this as a journey to get better, and not bitter.

   THE PRESENCE OF A DISEASE in us, reminds us of the presence of a 'dis-ease' within us that has gone unaddressed till and highlights the need for soul healing in us, to get ourselves more in alignment to our soul purpose. Physical healing is just outwards expression of inner healing, and inner healing can happen in an instant, and there is nothing that cannot be healed as all energy can be transmuted into its original form that is Love energy.

    So, if there is something we want to heal in our life, be it a pattern, situation, a relationship or an ailment, all we'll ever need to do is to accept it completely first; and then hand it over to the Universe for healing, and then 'Let it Go', switch to a happy thought. Allowing is our contribution in our healing, Universe is always ready to fill us with its Love and Light, it is we who have to allow, the greatest gift we can give ourselves is to get out of our own way.

  That is when we exercise our person power to initiate the new and the fresh into our life. 

   PERSONAL GRACE, or acceptance of what is, brings us to the point of surrender so that we can begin our journey ahead, towards healing.

    A simple, yet heartfelt prayer like "I surrender myself to this situation, I am willing to be open to receiving the wisdom hidden in this situation, I surrender this situation to my Higher Self, and let go all my controls over it, may the best happen, and I open myself to Divine Grace... Thank you for the Healing!" 

   Once our request has been delivered, we need completely let go of all beliefs of dis-ease, which means switching to a happy thought, by trusting that health and healing is on its way. The more we can believe the faster the healing can be.

  And we don't have remind the Universe about it again and again, or worry about it ever again, it hears our every thought, every prayer and every unspoken desire.

 

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 Golden Light Meditation for Healing

Invoke, the presence of Golden Light around you.

Now visualize whatever you wish to heal in your life, accept it completely as it is and watch it dissolve completely, into the Golden light. Let go completely, cut all your chords with it, and consider it gone!

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RELEASING FEARS IN MEDITATION

Naming a fear is also releasing it from our system. Start by asking yourself, "What is it that I do not want to experience in my life?" Know that, it is exactly what you will attract to your life as an experience, on the basis of the Law of attraction, so be pro-active, name your fears and set them free, one by one and throw them into their golden pyre.

 

"Imagine a field, filled with a million balloons, each representing one of your fears, or fearful experiences; and then at the count of three, let them all lift off into the sky, disappearing into its blueness, for ever."

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SELF REMEMBERING MEDITATION

Close your eyes, breathe normally, and relax your body and mind.

Now become aware of a point in your body, where you can keep your awareness there, for a while.

Next drop that point completely, and shift your focus to the point that had been watching it, all this while.

Thus Watching the watcher in you, you connect with the observer,

the Self in all of us, and become aware, of being aware!

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MEDITATION FOR CHANNELING PEACE & GRACE INTO THE WORLD

We all want peace, well-being and healing for ourselves, our family and our loved ones, but this seldom comes easy. The reason is that when we ask only for ourselves, we receive little, but when we expand our horizons to include our larger universe, our universal family, we become worthy of receiving Grace for the entire universe.
As a rule, as universal energy always flows in the direction of greatest good for the entire creation, so if we have well being for all, at our heart, it will automatically flow into our lives. That is when we become universal channels of divine love. We notice such people, the moment we meet them, as they connect us directly to the source of it all, as they channel divine grace constantly into their lives, and into the lives of all.

 

Start with a simple prayer for Universal healing, offer prayers for any specific person/s you wish to send healing to. "Lord make me a channel of your grace..." can be a good start. Let the words come to you, as you go along, and then let go, let the divine enter your life and use you as a channel of His grace and peace. Where ever you might go, and whatever you might do, be sure to bring the sacred along; as that is our ‘soul’ purpose out here, to let the divine in.

 

Be peace, be love and be grace, be you!

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Choosing to lead a Spiritual Life

 

A Spiritual life, it is not the same as having a religious life, it is not about how close you can get to the altar, it is about how close you can get to the God within.

 

That is the reason, pujaris, or priests seldom get enlightened, they stay at altar all their lives, seemingly most close to God. But the truth is that, God is not above the altar, but below it in our hearts. Those who ever find God are bhaktas or devotees and not rabbis or moulwis, and they do that , every day, every moment.

 

A religious life without a spiritual one is empty, just dry, empty pomp, an ego-driven pursuit, to get a special place in heaven or simply to assauge our tough times.

 

But Spiritual life is not about meeting God either, or having a darshan, a dekko at God, it is about being one with Him, and bringing Him to our everday life, every mundane task, as that is where He has always been, in the details.

 

God can never be found at altars, they are just the settings where we connect. When your life becomes your altar, how can God avoid you. The only God you would ever find in life would be within you, as that where the 'kingdom' lies.

 

Cultivating an inner or a spirit centered life, or simply living with God or the Spirit, is not about being silent or passive, and allowing others to assume responsibility of our lives and its choices, rather it is quite the opposite. It is about taking active charge, of our thoughts, actions and intentions. It is about staying aware of our inner connection, at all times.
 
Being actively tuned in to our inner guidance is the only spiritual practice we need to master in this life.
 
For once we are plugged in, our spirit will ensure that we do exactly the thing that would take the present moment to its highest potential, in spirit as well as in the physical world. The idea is to eventually learn to be straddle both the world simultaneously, being within fully connected within, and totally active and connected on the outside, as well. That is what we call, to have the best of both the worlds, and lead a complete life, within and without.
 
We are human beings, and not human 'doings', for no reason other than that life is not about doing, rather it is about being, so to just be who you are in the moment, and you are there already.
 
If we can 'be' love, in the moment, and then stretch it to another moment and then another, we are being ourselves, as our true Self is love, pure unconditional love.
 
So practicing 'being' love, no matter what the situation, place or person you might encounter is truly what a spiritual practice demand, as to be our spirit at all times, is to lead a spiritual life, as our spirit would.
 
And when we learn to be our Self, our spirit at all times, we can truly call ourselves, an empowered human 'being'. As we are centered in our power at all times, and what greater power can a human being have, than to be love.
 
To be love in the moment is to be successful as a soul, and as a human being, after all that is what we come here to learn, to be love, and if we can do that moment by moment, we can lead a successful life.
 
To be love is to be relaxed into who we are, in the moment, that way we can allow love to flow through us, in no matter form it chooses to do so; as affection, as passion, as Inspiration, or as rage.

 

Feeling what we are feeling and allowing its true expression is being ourselves, being love, in moment. It is being true to who we are within, the spirit. So our job, really is to be relaxed and comfortable in our skin, and when that happens we can be sure that we are being ourselves, no matter what the external conditions might be.

Seems easy that way, doesn't it, to be our Self.

 

ADDING MEANING TO OUR LIVES

The meaning of life, always depends what meaning we 'give' to Life, individually, or collectively, as a nation, race, society, species, or as a planet, every day or in this very moment.

We can start with this day, by giving meaning to it; let’s start by asking ourselves, “Did I do anything 'meaningful' today “ Did I add meaning to this day, so that it became memorable to me  or to someone else...and how I can still add more meaning to this day of mine, which will never come again?" 

So that when the time comes to say goodbye to this life I can say with a smile that “Yes I have lived this gift of life to its full, savoured and cherished its sublime beauty and now I express my gratitude to Life itself, for giving us such a wonderful opportunities to experience varied emotions and learn from them, one day at a time.”

The greatest meaning, we can ever give to a day, or to our life comes when we serve our fellow beings, with the gifts we have been given by life, and hence become of meaning to the larger humanity. So that when we die, our life would have had some 'meaning' to someone other than ourselves, so would our death.

Simply put, if you want to give meaning to your life, learn to love.
 

SERVING THE HUMANITY

 

"EACH ONE OF US HAS TO WORK OUT OUR OWN ENLIGHTENMENT."

 

“To each his own”, is the best way to progress, and once you get enlightened, turn around and shine the light on the path, for others. And that has been the way with humanity for generations, since eternity. So, to do our bit towards the upliftment of the humanity, let’s get busy finding our own light, as it is the best way to serve the humanity.

 

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Some books I like: In Search of the Unitive Vision:Letters of Sri Madhava Ashish to an American Businessman, with commentary by Seymour B. Ginsburg; The Tao of Healing: Meditations for Body and Spirit - Haven Trevino; Love Poems of RUMI, edited by Deepak Chopra; ENTERING THE CASTLE - Caroline Myss; Prakriti - Robert E Svoboda; Anatomy of The Spirit - Caroline Myss; Conversations with God - Neale Donald Walsch; Ask and It Is Given - Esther and Jerry Hicks; HEAL YOUR BODY - Louise L. Hay; Emotional Alchemy - Tara Bennett-Goleman; Seven Spiritual Laws of Success - Deepak Chopra, GEETANJALI - Rabindranath Tagore, Seat of The Soul - Gary Zukav; The Essence of Bhagwad Gita - Swami Kriyanada; The Secret - Rhonda Byrne; Start Where You Are - Pema Chodron; PRAYER and the FIVE STAGES of HEALING - Ron Roth; A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle; Walk Without Feet, Fly Without Wings and Think Without Mind - Osho; Guru by Your Bedside - S.D. Pandey; The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho.

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PS: NONE OF THE AUDIO FILES CAN BE DOWNLOADED, AS THEY ARE SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT, THOUGH YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Thanks!