Friday, July 6, 2012
Phases and Changes
The subject of change from my last blog has taken my brain into 2 different paths: 1) The change you endure and grow into when a loved one dies. How one person makes all the difference in our lives, how they can bring peace of mind, hope and love into your life, and how their absence is missed and their silence felt at the deepest level of your being. 2) We are change. We are constantly changing and growing. When I was young I was told “it’s a phase you’ll get over it.” The thing is, it’s all a phase! Our entire lives consists of one phase after another- growing from a child, to a teenager, to an adult, to old age- all phases that come and go. As each decade passes you would be hard pressed to be exactly the same in one as you were in a previous one. Also, our state of mind, our finances, our physical well being…they are all phases that change. Incredible!
Thinking of life as just as a phase I’m going through kind of takes the emergency out of it. Life doesn’t have to be as heavy as it once was for me. Life is like the weather down south. If you don’t like it wait 5 minutes it will change.
Saints and Gurus equate life to a wave that feels separate from the ocean for a time and then once it is done “being a wave” it returns to the ocean fully intact. I can see how that is a true example of our lives. We are pure energy with a coating of skin and bones. When we are finished with this phase we leave our skin and bones behind and our pure energy returns into the ether (G-d), and it waits for its return back to a new life with a new name and new phases to go through. We can say the same for our skin and bones- they return to the earth which will help feed other people and animals. So we live on in both ways; through spirit and on earth. On Earth our remains help nourish the soil so our particles are in all other beings.
As above so below- Our pure energy makes up the ether and our bodies make up the earth. We are in both places at the same time! Our soul is always part of the ether even though we can not comprehend it (yet). Our bodies are always made up of everybody’s else’s bodies, as well as, everything else here because we are made out of the same chemicals and we are continually nourishing ourselves with past generations. Maybe that is why we have such a hard time letting go of harmful karma and useless drama from years gone by, we are subconsciously and physically attached to it through our particles and are still working out actions taken from yesterday to hundreds maybe thousands of years ago.
We infuse our bodies with our energy. So if we are loving, our bodies give off loving particles. But if we are angry, hateful, and bitter, our particles become as such; and these are the particles we are nourishing ourselves with from generations past. When we are angry and hurtful to others we infect ourselves, others, the land, and generations to come. Also, when we reincarnate not only do you have the hateful seed within you but you will re-infect yourself from your past particles.
In the documentary, What the Bleep do we Know, 14 physicists, neurologists, anesthesiologists, physicians, molecular biologists, as well as spiritual teachers, mystics, and scholars are interviewed. Dr. Masaru Emoto, explains how we individually and collectively have a remarkable response from water due to our thoughts and energy. When our thoughts and energy are happy the water crystals are vibrant and gorgeous. However, when our thoughts are angry and hostile the water crystals become lack luster and small. We are comprised of some where between 60- 80% of water depending on our age.
It is so important that we live our lives and help others live their lives in love, compassion, gratitude, and fortitude. It is also the only way for us to survive and become the society we all know we can be.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Changed
I have not been able to write for several months due to my friend's illness and passing. This blog will be different because I have been different since her passing. Words fail me to explain what a wonderful generous person Ilse had been. Using the past tense for her still shocks me.
I met Ilse after 9/11 when we both worked for the American Red Cross assisting the families and survivors of that horrible attack. I think you generally don't know who you will stay in contact with after a job has been completed, you usually move on and lose touch with the friends you have made. However, I knew Ilse and I would stay friends long after our work was done at ARC. Ilse was someone I loved being with because she loved and enjoyed life no matter what craziness was going on. She would always want to try new things and go to new places. She loved an adventure and to her everything was just that- a new experience waiting to be lived and tasted. Her favorite adventure always had to do with food which involved us following our noses to a yummy bakery for tea and a new desert to try.
Ilse was my maid of honor, our birthdays were a couple of days apart so we celebrated them together for several years, she was there calling and texing every day when my mom passed away, she was one of the first to come to the hospital when my son was born, and so many other things. It's no wonder that she died on the same day my brother died 28 years ago. Ilse was as close as a sister and I am forever changed and profoundly grateful for knowing her.
I met Ilse after 9/11 when we both worked for the American Red Cross assisting the families and survivors of that horrible attack. I think you generally don't know who you will stay in contact with after a job has been completed, you usually move on and lose touch with the friends you have made. However, I knew Ilse and I would stay friends long after our work was done at ARC. Ilse was someone I loved being with because she loved and enjoyed life no matter what craziness was going on. She would always want to try new things and go to new places. She loved an adventure and to her everything was just that- a new experience waiting to be lived and tasted. Her favorite adventure always had to do with food which involved us following our noses to a yummy bakery for tea and a new desert to try.
Ilse was my maid of honor, our birthdays were a couple of days apart so we celebrated them together for several years, she was there calling and texing every day when my mom passed away, she was one of the first to come to the hospital when my son was born, and so many other things. It's no wonder that she died on the same day my brother died 28 years ago. Ilse was as close as a sister and I am forever changed and profoundly grateful for knowing her.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Yugas Part 2
In my last blog entry I discussed the Kali and Dwapara Yugas that Swami Sri Yukteswar describes in his book “The Holy Science”. Yugas are ages or cycles that we as people and as a solar system go through internally and externally. Please read the February 3rd entry for further explanations.
To better explain the next two Yugas (Treta and Satya,) I first need to discuss Maya. Maya is the illusion and delusion of mankind itself. Maya was born out of the vastness of G-d to create our perception of this world; this perception includes the illusions of time, space and the Atom that was put forth from the vibration of Aum (Om, Amen). Swami Sri Yukteswar explains that Aum holds this vibration by being magnetized; one side is attracted to love, The Real Substance, and G-d, and the other repels it. The Atom that is the building block of all of creation holds this magnetism that has been infused with Chit, the Omniscient Consciousness or Universal Love. In other words, all of creation has a shared consciousness and an individual consciousness at the same time. When the Atom is within the individual it gives off an aura due to how it magnetizes us and it gives us heart called Mahat and feeling called Chitta and in doing so gives us the idea of separation (Ego) and an identification with the human body through our 5 senses (touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound). Also, within the Chitta is our calm state called Buddhi; the intelligence that can decipher the truth. The opposite of Buddhi is called Manas, meaning mind, that within it holds Repulsion. Repulsion holds us in our bodies by keeping us ignorant of our true selves and keeping us attached to our 5 senses. In order to see one’s way through the illusion of Maya and return to their rightful home with G-d, each individual must find balance with all of these forces within themselves.
When each person and future generations journey through the 4 Yugas we learn and grow as individuals and as a community and hopefully release more of Mayas hold on us. In Kali Yuga, the darkest time for mankind on Earth which is the farthest from Brahma, man’s heart and mind holds erroneous ideas of almost everything due to the strong hold of Maya. In Dwapara Yuga man’s heart and mind becomes stable as he learns to release the falseness of the outside world and begins to look within himself for truth and fulfillment.
Treta Yuga will begin in the year 4099 AD. This is the time period when the majority of mankind will understand all the different components of Maya, even how his own feelings are delusional. As a community we will have developed enough to understand the uses and misuses of energy and no longer be confused regarding how Maya manipulates the common man into believing his own diminished self worth. In Treta Yuga we will relearn Divine Magnetism opposed to earthly magnetism that we are now learning about in our current age of Dwapara Yuga.
In the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, and others like it, the discussion centers around how to magnetize oneself through belief, love, and gratitude so all one’s worldly dreams will come true. This is an important lesson for us to learn so we can have true faith that the universe is on our side, believes in us, and that through our lives in this world and the next we are co-creators with G-d. By the time we enter Treta Yuga we will have love in its purest form and will receive all that we wish for through G-d. How will this be done? Good question, I’m glad you asked. When we lighten our hearts and minds of misconceptions regarding fear, anger, jealously, worries, hatred and other emotions like them that drain us we disentangle ourselves and regain our true strength. We stop using our energy on useless wants and needs and look to G-d for our full strength because we understand that G-d was hiding in all those things we thought where so important but after some time we became bored with them or they wasted away and decomposed. This is true even of our loved ones who will grow old or sick and pass away. Nothing can stay the same on this realm. Once we can see through Maya, peace will be restored within our hearts and on this planet.
Paramhansa Yogananda states in “ Autobiography of a Yogi” that in Treta Yuga we will speak to each other via telepathic communication as well as having other “time- annihilators”. Yogananda did not specify what the other time-annihilators would be but I would hypothesize that they would have to do with being able to project our bodies to different parts of the world without ever leaving our house. I also believe that we will be eating less by the time of Treta Yuga. It will be cyclical- we will release our erroneous thoughts and emotions, we will feel lighter in response, we will receive more energy straight from G-d’s love (now that there is no interference from our troubled heads and hearts) and through all of this mankind will evolve as a species to where our physical forms will need less substance.
By Satya Yuga, which is called the Golden Age the veil of Maya will be almost unseen and we will be free to see our loved ones from days gone by and our future children in one wide scope. Yogananda explains that man’s intelligence will be completely developed and “he will work in harmony with the divine plan”. Satya Yuga will last 4800 years and then the earth will begin to move away from Brahma and man’s intelligence will begin to decline again.
As all things in this universe are cyclical, throughout the cycles called the yugas, Maya waxes and wanes and with it man’s ability to decipher the true meaning of his life and his world.
To better explain the next two Yugas (Treta and Satya,) I first need to discuss Maya. Maya is the illusion and delusion of mankind itself. Maya was born out of the vastness of G-d to create our perception of this world; this perception includes the illusions of time, space and the Atom that was put forth from the vibration of Aum (Om, Amen). Swami Sri Yukteswar explains that Aum holds this vibration by being magnetized; one side is attracted to love, The Real Substance, and G-d, and the other repels it. The Atom that is the building block of all of creation holds this magnetism that has been infused with Chit, the Omniscient Consciousness or Universal Love. In other words, all of creation has a shared consciousness and an individual consciousness at the same time. When the Atom is within the individual it gives off an aura due to how it magnetizes us and it gives us heart called Mahat and feeling called Chitta and in doing so gives us the idea of separation (Ego) and an identification with the human body through our 5 senses (touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound). Also, within the Chitta is our calm state called Buddhi; the intelligence that can decipher the truth. The opposite of Buddhi is called Manas, meaning mind, that within it holds Repulsion. Repulsion holds us in our bodies by keeping us ignorant of our true selves and keeping us attached to our 5 senses. In order to see one’s way through the illusion of Maya and return to their rightful home with G-d, each individual must find balance with all of these forces within themselves.
When each person and future generations journey through the 4 Yugas we learn and grow as individuals and as a community and hopefully release more of Mayas hold on us. In Kali Yuga, the darkest time for mankind on Earth which is the farthest from Brahma, man’s heart and mind holds erroneous ideas of almost everything due to the strong hold of Maya. In Dwapara Yuga man’s heart and mind becomes stable as he learns to release the falseness of the outside world and begins to look within himself for truth and fulfillment.
Treta Yuga will begin in the year 4099 AD. This is the time period when the majority of mankind will understand all the different components of Maya, even how his own feelings are delusional. As a community we will have developed enough to understand the uses and misuses of energy and no longer be confused regarding how Maya manipulates the common man into believing his own diminished self worth. In Treta Yuga we will relearn Divine Magnetism opposed to earthly magnetism that we are now learning about in our current age of Dwapara Yuga.
In the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, and others like it, the discussion centers around how to magnetize oneself through belief, love, and gratitude so all one’s worldly dreams will come true. This is an important lesson for us to learn so we can have true faith that the universe is on our side, believes in us, and that through our lives in this world and the next we are co-creators with G-d. By the time we enter Treta Yuga we will have love in its purest form and will receive all that we wish for through G-d. How will this be done? Good question, I’m glad you asked. When we lighten our hearts and minds of misconceptions regarding fear, anger, jealously, worries, hatred and other emotions like them that drain us we disentangle ourselves and regain our true strength. We stop using our energy on useless wants and needs and look to G-d for our full strength because we understand that G-d was hiding in all those things we thought where so important but after some time we became bored with them or they wasted away and decomposed. This is true even of our loved ones who will grow old or sick and pass away. Nothing can stay the same on this realm. Once we can see through Maya, peace will be restored within our hearts and on this planet.
Paramhansa Yogananda states in “ Autobiography of a Yogi” that in Treta Yuga we will speak to each other via telepathic communication as well as having other “time- annihilators”. Yogananda did not specify what the other time-annihilators would be but I would hypothesize that they would have to do with being able to project our bodies to different parts of the world without ever leaving our house. I also believe that we will be eating less by the time of Treta Yuga. It will be cyclical- we will release our erroneous thoughts and emotions, we will feel lighter in response, we will receive more energy straight from G-d’s love (now that there is no interference from our troubled heads and hearts) and through all of this mankind will evolve as a species to where our physical forms will need less substance.
By Satya Yuga, which is called the Golden Age the veil of Maya will be almost unseen and we will be free to see our loved ones from days gone by and our future children in one wide scope. Yogananda explains that man’s intelligence will be completely developed and “he will work in harmony with the divine plan”. Satya Yuga will last 4800 years and then the earth will begin to move away from Brahma and man’s intelligence will begin to decline again.
As all things in this universe are cyclical, throughout the cycles called the yugas, Maya waxes and wanes and with it man’s ability to decipher the true meaning of his life and his world.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Swami Yukteswar's Yugas
Have you ever wondered why ancient civilizations had a better grasp of the universe around them?
In the book "The Holy Science" by Swami Sri Yukteswar, he discusses in the introduction the different yugas, which are also cycles or ages. Swami Sri Yukteswar explains that besides the sun's dance with the moons and planets the sun has a binary star. Together, these stars also revolve around a "grand center called Vishunabhi, which is the seat of the creative power Brahma, the universal magnetism. Brahma, regulates dharma, the mental virtue of the internal world". When the sun and its dual is closest to Brahma man is able to understand all that has been hidden to us behind the veil. We can understand the meaning of life! The yugas relate to how near the sun is to these forces. Yugas explain our evolution and greater understanding through time when we are ascending and our loss of intellect when we are descending.
In its entirety, the revolution of the sun and its dual takes 24,000 years (12,000 ascending and 12,000 descending). When the sun is at its farthest point in the orbit from Barhma, dharma is at its lowest point and humans are unable to understand beyond the material world. When the sun begins to return to the point closest to Brahma, dharma starts to develop and flourish. This is accomplished in another 12,000 years. Each 12,000 year span slowly changes the material, electrical and intellectual world and is divided into 4 stages. These stages are the called the yugas. The yugas are as follows (from low to high): Kali, Dwapara, Treta, Satya.
Currently in the Dwapara Yuga we have developed 50% of our intellect. In only a short period of 300 years we have come so far, but we still have so much more to learn. Dwapara Yuga is specifically the time in which we learn about energy and how it is used not only outside ourselves but within. We will be able to better understand the mind and body connection and learn what disease really is and how to truly nourish ourselves. By eating foods that aid our body and improve our mind to think and reason, creating a positive environment in our home and family, we will comprehend the importance of clearing our space from clutter (within and without ourselves) and spending time with friends that truly love us for who we are and are able to assist in our growth and visa versa. We will begin spiritualizing our communities. We will profoundly begin to understand how everything we do, think, write, and eat has significant importance on our overall being.
In my next blog I will discuss the next 2 yugas and how they will impact our evolution.
In the book "The Holy Science" by Swami Sri Yukteswar, he discusses in the introduction the different yugas, which are also cycles or ages. Swami Sri Yukteswar explains that besides the sun's dance with the moons and planets the sun has a binary star. Together, these stars also revolve around a "grand center called Vishunabhi, which is the seat of the creative power Brahma, the universal magnetism. Brahma, regulates dharma, the mental virtue of the internal world". When the sun and its dual is closest to Brahma man is able to understand all that has been hidden to us behind the veil. We can understand the meaning of life! The yugas relate to how near the sun is to these forces. Yugas explain our evolution and greater understanding through time when we are ascending and our loss of intellect when we are descending.
In its entirety, the revolution of the sun and its dual takes 24,000 years (12,000 ascending and 12,000 descending). When the sun is at its farthest point in the orbit from Barhma, dharma is at its lowest point and humans are unable to understand beyond the material world. When the sun begins to return to the point closest to Brahma, dharma starts to develop and flourish. This is accomplished in another 12,000 years. Each 12,000 year span slowly changes the material, electrical and intellectual world and is divided into 4 stages. These stages are the called the yugas. The yugas are as follows (from low to high): Kali, Dwapara, Treta, Satya.
- Kali Yuga lasts 1,200 years, with a 100 years on either side of the actual yuga for the changes to occure, called sandhis.
- Dwapara Yuga lasts 2,400 years, with 200 years on either sides for sandhis.
- Treta Yuga lasts 3,600 years, with 300 years on either sides for sandhis
- Satya Yuga lasts 4,800 years, with 400 years on either sides for sandhis.
- William Gilbert (1600) studied magnetic forces and found the connection between magnetism and electricity.
- Keppler (1609) discovered significant laws of planetary motions.
- Galileo (1609) made the telescope
- Drebbel (1621) made the microscope
- Sir Isaac Newton (1670) discovered the law of gravity, law of motion, and foundation of classical physics
Currently in the Dwapara Yuga we have developed 50% of our intellect. In only a short period of 300 years we have come so far, but we still have so much more to learn. Dwapara Yuga is specifically the time in which we learn about energy and how it is used not only outside ourselves but within. We will be able to better understand the mind and body connection and learn what disease really is and how to truly nourish ourselves. By eating foods that aid our body and improve our mind to think and reason, creating a positive environment in our home and family, we will comprehend the importance of clearing our space from clutter (within and without ourselves) and spending time with friends that truly love us for who we are and are able to assist in our growth and visa versa. We will begin spiritualizing our communities. We will profoundly begin to understand how everything we do, think, write, and eat has significant importance on our overall being.
In my next blog I will discuss the next 2 yugas and how they will impact our evolution.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Prophecies, status quo and Buddha
We are living in an extremely interesting time. Between our failing economy, less than honorable congress, the horrific weather we have been experiencing through much of the country (I still can not rap my brain around the fact that most of Texas was on fire last summer), and then look at the turmoil through out the world - weather and wars. The question on every one's mind is, where are we going, meaning physically, materialistically, psychologically, and spirituality and how are we going to get there?
There is so much room for growth in ways that we never imagined. There has always been a status quo that we have had to follow. But now there is a crack, a fundamental crack, and it is the time to make things better for everyone.
That is what I believe the Mayan and Hopi prophecies are all about. That there is only so far that we as a materialist society can function and I believe many people will agree. So, we go back to the questions: Where are we going and how do we get there? I throw them back at you. Where do you want to go and how will you get there? There is much talk about bringing ourselves back to the earth. Well if you live in a city, how do you get to the earth, besides maybe if your're lucky you have a garden to sit in or a park to go to. But what if you don't? The way our counrty's middle class finances are dwindling more and more people are working in some cases double the amount of hours for maybe the same pay. At one point in my life my schedule was so busy that I contemplated sticking my hand in the base of one of my house plants just so I can feel earth.
May I suggest some help from Buddha. He came up with some great tools to assist us in our human dilemmas. One of his teachings is called The Noble Eightfold Path. It needs to be taught in every school and every home world wide. The beauty of Buddhism is that you don't have to be Buddhist to practice. The Noble Eightfold Path consists of Right View, Right Thinking, Right Mindfulness, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Diligence, Right Concentration, and Right Livelihood. These teachings give us a simple yet profoundly deep and sagacious way of interacting with others and with ourselves. It is also a way of going back to the earth, back to the beginning, back to ourselves. This path deserves more discussion and I will dedicate one of my future blog posts to just this.
In regards to the prophecy of 2012 I turn to the Bible:
"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" Mark 13:32
Amen
There is so much room for growth in ways that we never imagined. There has always been a status quo that we have had to follow. But now there is a crack, a fundamental crack, and it is the time to make things better for everyone.
That is what I believe the Mayan and Hopi prophecies are all about. That there is only so far that we as a materialist society can function and I believe many people will agree. So, we go back to the questions: Where are we going and how do we get there? I throw them back at you. Where do you want to go and how will you get there? There is much talk about bringing ourselves back to the earth. Well if you live in a city, how do you get to the earth, besides maybe if your're lucky you have a garden to sit in or a park to go to. But what if you don't? The way our counrty's middle class finances are dwindling more and more people are working in some cases double the amount of hours for maybe the same pay. At one point in my life my schedule was so busy that I contemplated sticking my hand in the base of one of my house plants just so I can feel earth.
May I suggest some help from Buddha. He came up with some great tools to assist us in our human dilemmas. One of his teachings is called The Noble Eightfold Path. It needs to be taught in every school and every home world wide. The beauty of Buddhism is that you don't have to be Buddhist to practice. The Noble Eightfold Path consists of Right View, Right Thinking, Right Mindfulness, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Diligence, Right Concentration, and Right Livelihood. These teachings give us a simple yet profoundly deep and sagacious way of interacting with others and with ourselves. It is also a way of going back to the earth, back to the beginning, back to ourselves. This path deserves more discussion and I will dedicate one of my future blog posts to just this.
In regards to the prophecy of 2012 I turn to the Bible:
"But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" Mark 13:32
Amen
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