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Namaste. "Say it again."

2/5/2014

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Here's a fabulous video explaining the meaning of Namaste from maybe an unlikely figure: Click

Not only does Bobby have some God in him, so do you. And so too does the person nearest to you, as well as the person farthest from you. We all do. We usually just don't realize it. 

As an aside: by God I mean something that truly can't be expressed adequately in words, but never the less is that which is infinite, eternal and inherently perfect. God is the non-physical essence that permeates all things. It is the absolute Truth, as compared to the relative truth. 

What would make you happier than to know that you've gotta a little God in you? 

And I don't mean "know it" in an intellectual sense. I mean it in a "feel it resonate so deeply that you have less than no doubt." 

That'd be some pretty good stuff, wouldn't it?

You can feel exhilaration beyond words, completeness so profound effort and desire dissolve into joy. 

And this experience can be yours at any moment, like right now. That would be through grace. Maybe it's your time, you're fated to become illumined right about now. Wouldn't that be cool? Hey, just don't rule it out. 

You can also pursue it. All upward paths lead to the same mountain top. I'll tell you about one, which is not by any means to exclude others. 

If I told you that the God in you, the inherent perfection, the bliss and indescribably awesome aspect of existence comes as a whisper from your heart and all you have to do is quiet your shouting mind, could you do it?

Just because you can't do it now, at the drop of a hat, summon it any moment you choose, doesn't mean you can't learn to do it systematically. Enter: Raja Yoga. 

Raja Yoga is an 8 step system for realizing that you've got a little God in you and for realizing that Bobby does, too. It's so old you'd have to agree that it's a discovery, not an invention. Like gravity. It works. It just does. 

Here's a link to an explanation of Raja Yoga from one of the indisputable masters of recent times: Click. 

One read through is definitely not enough. But suffice it to say, it'll put you in the ball park. Just do that, follow the 8 steps, one by one, in order. Don't stop at 3 or 7. Try to reach all the way to 8. 

All I can say it that I've dipped my toes in step 7 by following steps 1 thru 6 and not even to the letter. That has been sufficient to remove all of my doubts, to know the real Truth, apart from the relative truth about myself, and you and this experience. I can only imagine what the rest of step 7 and any part of step 8 are like. Holy cow! 

I'm really looking forward to very old age when perhaps my body won't want to move around quite so much. Because with the body still, all there is left to still is the mind. And I'm pretty sure I've been taught how to do that. If you'd like to come over to Bhakti Yoga Lounge for my 3, 4, 7 Intro to Meditation class, or the new 3, 4, 7, Deeper class, it'd be my pleasure to show you what I've been shown that has been so beneficial to me. 

Yoga chitta vritti nirodha

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This part of you is eternally perfect

4/22/2013

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Normally, the feeling of perfection exists only in moments.

But there is a feeling of sustained perfection to be found within you.

This feeling is very similar to what would normally be described as perfect. But it’s different to what we call perfection in that it doesn’t depend on anything external (victory, accomplishment, someone else) and that it lasts indefinitely.

While I imagine there are various ways to experience this, the only one that I am familiar with is meditation.

There’s a point in meditation where the physical boundaries of your body disappear. It might be similar to being in 98.6° water. The feeling of where your body begins and ends, where it is separated from your environment, literally disappears.

Likewise, there’s a point in meditation where the mind effectively disappears. At the beginning of meditation practice the mind is full of thoughts, as usual. If the stream of thoughts passing through the mind is like water flowing from a faucet, the act of meditating effectively closes the tap and the thought flow becomes a trickle, then a drip. The spaces separating droplets of thought continue to increase until thoughts stop flowing altogether.

When the body and the mind disappear (not objectively, but relative to your perception) a feeling of absolute completeness emerges from the void.The feeling is one just like perfection experienced through action or engaging your senses with the world, but this feeling lasts longer than a fleeting moment. The feeling is accompanied by the realization that while you could open your eyes, get up and go do something, nothing you can experience “out there” will compare to the experience you are having “in here.”

You can experience this sustained perfection whenever you like because it’s a permanent part of you. Just as you are a physical body and a mind with thoughts and emotions, you are also this extremely subtle, yet unquestionably real essence.

It’s there right now, as always, but it’s hidden under your thoughts and sensations. Every time you go deep inside you’ll find it the same; perfect.

And when you experience it enough you’ll know that it’s as much a part of you as your hands are a part of your body and your personality is a part of your mind. You’ll know that a part of you is perfect.

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BODY – MIND – SPIRIT

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Flow: The perfect experience

4/14/2013

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Britney Spears once expressed a truly brilliant insight (seriously!) that applies to us all: “I wanna get in the zone.”

The Gatorade commercial from the 1990s featuring Michael Jordan that had people saying “I’d like to be like Mike” was sensationally popular because it tapped into the same thing: our desire to get in the zone, which during that era was embodied most visibly by MJ on the basketball court.

Likewise, the comparably popular Nike golf commercial where a diverse group of people spoke the same line “I am Tiger Woods” targeted exactly the same psychology. Tiger dominated the game of golf so thoroughly in the early 2000s that he single-handedly made golf cool
 – almost. No mean feat. So how did he do it? Because in Tiger Woods the golfer we saw someone completely in the zone, dominating not just the golf course and the field but also the apparent limitations of body and mind.  It's a deeply alluring trait.

The zone, known as flow in psychology circles, is so attractive that we will happily live vicariously through someone who we see in it, like Tiger or Michael. Flow liberates the spirit from the confines of the body and mind so completely that people often describe the experience as out-of-body and as being unconscious. The result is nothing short of euphoria. Even when the experience is second hand we still feel it and love it.

But we don't have to rely on others to feel that thrill. Everyone can get in the flow, not just ultra-elite performers. In fact, there are as many entry points to the flow as there are individuals.

Enter flow by following your passion. Search your past and identify an activity you have found so engaging that minutes passed like seconds or hours like minutes. It will have involved these four elements: 1. your skills, 2. values, 3. interests and 4. a challenge. 

Finding your entry to the flow is that simple. However, there aren't very many qualifying experiences. That scarcity contributes to its value, so appreciate it. 

    Where Flow Lives

Picture
Then commit 100% to experiencing it again. Eliminate distractions. Focus intensely. Look for that elusive, magical quality in the details of whatever it is you’re doing and you’ll find it. 

For more insights from science and experience read Flow: The Psychology of Optimum Experience. 

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BODY – MIND – SPIRIT

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The difference between mindfulness and meditation

4/10/2013

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These two words, mindfulness and meditation, are often used interchangeably, but they are not synonyms.

Both involve heightened states of awareness. Both are beneficial in myriad ways. And that’s where the similarities end.

Mindfulness is about noticing the interplay between you and your environment, whereas meditation is about immersing yourself in the world deep within yourself.

The aim of a mindfulness practice is to notice what’s happening now, as opposed to thinking about the past or the future. You can practice mindfulness while you’re doing other things like driving, conversing and eating.

Developing a mindfulness practice is as simple as focusing your attention on one, some or all of the following:
  • What do you see, hear, smell and feel around you? 
  • What sensations do you feel on the exterior and the interior of your body?
  • What thoughts are flowing through your mind? 
  • What feelings do you have about your surroundings, sensations and thoughts? 

Do that and voila! You’re practicing mindfulness.

You can know that you’ve developed a strong mindfulness practice when you find yourself in the flow and can return there often.

The concept of flow, i.e. being in the zone, is a deep form of mindfulness that we’re probably all familiar with. Whether it’s playing an instrument, a sport, or something else, nothing exists outside of the flow, not the audience or the noise in the arena. Not even the arena. Flow is complete absorption in the task at hand. That’s as close as mindfulness comes to meditation.

When it comes to meditation there is no task.

A quick, but important mention about the word meditation: It’s Latin for “deep contemplation.” Compare that to the Sanskrit word dhyana, which is a state of consciousness beyond the thinking mind. I’m actually speaking about dhyana, here. But I don’t want to complicate an already subtle subject, so I’m using meditation, instead. 

The practice leading to meditation is about stilling the mind. Activity, even if it can be performed without concentrating, such as something habitual like walking, engages the mind. Therefore, the practice leading to meditation is a solitary one. You can’t meditate while you’re doing other things, either physically or mentally. That’s why it often happens seated in silence with eyes closed.

Yet even sitting crossed legged with your eyes closed is no guarantee you’ll enter a state of meditation. If you’re noticing your legs aching and the wind whistling through the trees you’re not meditating. But you are practicing mindfulness, which is actually good preparation for the practice leading to meditation.

More specifically, this is how a mindfulness practice can evolve into a meditation practice. First, practice mindfulness to develop your ability to focus. It doesn’t matter what on. The aim is to restrain the mind from roaming boundlessly. Next, narrow the focus of your attention by concentrating on an object. Begin with a physical object. Try selecting one with either a positive connotation or none at all. When you can concentrate for a sustained period of time, switch the object of your attention to something subtler, like a sound or a simple concept. Next, remove that focal point and focus on either your ability to focus or nothing at all. After focus becomes both the subject and the object of your attention, relinquish the effort to focus at all. Eventually, subject and object merge into One.

When your attention dissolves in a formless, timeless realm that “feels” complete you’re in meditation. That state can’t easily be described with words because words are a tool of the intellect and meditation is a state beyond the intellect. Nevertheless, you’ll know when you’re there.

Practice mindfulness and you'll eventually experience meditation, which yields profound enjoyment of the gift of simply being alive.

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BODY – MIND - SPIRIT

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Who am I? When was the last time you asked yourself?

4/7/2013

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Many spiritual teachers and philosophers have emphasized the value of finding the answer to this question, or at least seeking to answer it.

Some have even said that within the answer to this question lie the answers to all others.

If you haven’t sought to answer it, the world has probably attempted to answer it for you. But the only label that really matters is the one you give yourself. 

Usually our label or identity speaks to the way our bodies look and the things it can do, or our minds – our personalities and ideas, and/or our relations to others.

In defining ourselves we rarely consider our spiritual identities. That's because it's just not practical. Or is it?

Unlike a body or mind-centered identity, which reinforces the idea of separateness and individuality, having a strong spiritual identity expands the notion of who we are.

Spirit has an ethereal quality that permeates the fibers from which the sense-based world is woven. It is the underlying essence of all that appears to be real.

Connecting with this makes us also feel more connected to each other and the rest of creation. It helps us to appreciate that some part of us is also a part of everything else. 

Experiencing life through the lens of a spiritual identity helps us understand Ramana Maharshi, a spiritual luminary, when he said, “There are no others.” He is directing our attention away from our apparently separate existences to point out that we are just different leaves on different branches of the same tree of life. True separateness is merely an illusion.

What does this mean in day-to-day life? There can be no loneliness, even in times of being alone. There are no true adversaries. There is only unity in diversity, a common ground from which we’ve grown and are sustained.

If you want a rational, Western explanation of the Self as spirit, I highly recommend Fritjof Capra’s classic, The Tao of Physics.

Or connect with some of your contemporaries to learn their thoughts and feelings on the matter. TED Conversations: The Age Old Question: “Who am I?”

So who are you?

I’d love to hear how you answer that question. 


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BODY – MIND – SPIRIT 

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The mind is a tool with its inherent limitations. Its domain is relative reality. Go beyond the mind to know absolute reality.

4/1/2013

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“I think therefore I am.” –  René Descartes

Descartes wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t totally right, either. You are much more than you think.

Thinking is a function of the intellect and we are capable of much more.

We’d all agree that an open mind is a good thing, right?

The more open it is, the wider our view of the world and the richer our experiences.

The extreme of an open mind is meditation. Meditation is not the process of sitting cross-legged with eyes closed. It’s the result of the process of opening your mind.

Sometimes we think the world is full of darkness. But that’s because we have our hands covering our eyes. As we spread our fingers a little light makes it through, but the view between them is obscured and confusing. Meditation is a view of the world that we attain when all obstructions are removed.

BODY – MIND --> SPIRIT 

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