Quote of the Day - Spirituality

The very purpose of spirituality is self-discipline. Rather than criticizing others, we should evaluate and criticize ourselves. Ask yourself, what am I doing about my anger, my attachment, my pride, my jealousy? These are the things we should check in our day to day lives.

Dalai Lama

Life Story of Guru Nanak [Video]

By Giani Sukha Singh

The Spiritual Warrior - 2/2

Continued from Part 1...

Beings exist in this Universe, in the astral realms (different dimensions within this Universe), as well as other realms and Universes.

Anybody who is on a true spiritual path long enough will come across interdimentional beings - which can cross over into our realm from another realm. When we go to sleep, sometimes we also cross over into their realm. Therefore, we are also interdimentional beings.

Some of these beings are dreadfully scary - a bit like in the picture. Some are extremely powerful, and even powerful mantras like "Sat Naam" and "Vaheguru" will not work on them. Neither will creating weapons through consciousness. When nothing will work, only one thing will work: listening carefully to the first 30 Minutes of Sukhmani Sahib. This is the world's best kept secret spiritual weapon.

If within your household nobody is doing any regular spiritual practice, these interdimentional beings will come to interfere, to make your emotions wilder, to push your buttons, to irritate you, as most of them feed upon our excess emotional and mental energy. They can cleverly create illusions within our minds, within our dreams, within our thoughts, within our emotions. That's not to say they are responsible for all our garbage, but they do play some part. If you're not careful, soon you may have hundreds of interdimentional beings floating around your house at some level. A SCARY THOUGHT, RIGHT?

This is where Sukhmani Sahib and Nitnem comes in VERY handy, in fact they become critical tools. Every house needs some sort of security, so what about securing yourself from astral invasion? I just created a new term here: astral invasion. The Nitnem is a very special daily recipe to ensure your electromagnetic field, your aura, is strong enough to protect you from invasion - on a daily basis.

And then the question comes: "is the energy of your house peaceful enough to get rid of these nasty uninvited guests?" Playing Sukhmani Sahib regularly in your home creates a profound peace in the environment of your house, and these beings are not looking for peace, because where there is peace there is no commotion and no mental disturbance. In other words: where there is peace, such beings cannot exist.

So it doesn't matter what religion you are from, if you have not listened to Sukhmani Sahib before, today is the day to download it, absorb it and enjoy it - you need not understand the words - Sukhmani speaks to the heart, which just so happens to understand all things:

• Download Sukhmani Sahib: http://media.sikher.com/audio/Sukhmani_Sahib.mp3
• Download Nitnem: http://www.sikher.com/wiki/sikh-scriptures/nitnem

Sat Naam.

P.S. This article contains the wisdom of my personal experience, my brother's personal experience and my father's personal experience - and so has been written taking all these experiences into account - which amounts to 50 years+ of practical spiritual experience and specifically in dealing with beings as described in this article.

It is also our experience that this type of astral invasion happens quite commonly, often whilst people are dreaming, but such experiences are often not understood or quickly forgotten about as being unimportant, strange, or merely "just dreams". It is our view that learning how to overcome the influence of such beings whilst awake and in dream can contribute massively to one's spiritual growth.

Quote of the Day - God

"God is everything. What is God? Your excellence. Your God is your excellence, your inner being, your soul, your spirit, your Self. God is nowhere to be found. You are God. God couldn’t create anything better than you. If you can find yourself, you have found God, right there and then."

Yogi Bhajan - June 25, 1984

Growing Your Potential

I'm going through a process of intense spiritual growth at the moment. Expanding my potential to a new height.

It's as if I'm going into a cave full of light and bathing in it. Everyday I'm just bathing in this light. I'm absorbing the light into myself. It's affecting my environments. I'm preparing myself for 2012.

2012 is going to be a big year for me and my work. I'm employed by the Guru now. My job is as a servant of the Guru, helping to prepare key individuals who will go on to make a profound transformation in the world. It's careful, precise work. The Universe sends somebody and I serve them. No marketing required.

2012 is the year to grow your potential. To become selfish. To focus on yourself. To understand the greater purpose you are destined for. And all will fit into place and be revealed.

Sat Naam.

Quote of the Day - Something & Nothing

‎Love says I am everything. Wisdom says I am nothing. Between the two, my life flows

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Why Your Schedule Should Have a Weekly Appointment Dedicated to "Thinking Time"

Jacob Gorban is an independent software developer who like many of us, lives with a work culture in which taking time to think feels like a luxury rather than necessity. In this post, Gorban argues for "Thinking Time" and suggests how you might include it in your work week, regardless of the kind of work you do.

Being an indie software developer, developing products and running the business, takes lots of time. I work during normal working hours and then often have a "second shift", when the family, or at least the kids, fall asleep. Still, I have enough planned stuff to do, when I'm near my Mac, to fill months of work. And most of this better be done sooner than later.

I'm pretty sure that if you're an indie software developer, a designer, a business man or almost anything where you have some control over your time and work, you know what I'm talking about.

In this state, we may become so reactive to the tasks that need to get done that we just don't stop, take a step back and reflect on the whole situation. We may just forget to think deeply, strategically about the business and even about the work tasks themselves.

Enter "Thinking Time"

When I was at the uniquely greatNSConference 2011 this March, I had the opportunity to discuss some of this with Matt Gemmell during a dinner there. Matt is a well-known Cocoa developer, conference speaker and, should I say, thinker. He appears to think deeply about stuff and publishes many of his thoughts in the articles on his blog.

So I asked him how he approached the thinking about software design, and his answer included something like "I take a walk, in the nature, by the river, and only take my Moleskine and a pen with me." It's not a quote but the gist of his reply.

And I thought to myself, "Why, that's a good idea. Step back from the monitor, the distractions, and devote time to just thinking for some time, writing thoughts down with analog pen and paper".

So, on my way back home I grabbed a couple of notebooks at the airport (they just happened to be Moleskine, of course), one for me and one for my partner, Kosta, and decided on having "Thinking Time".

I put it in my calendar, weekly, as the first thing to do each week. It's a good way to start a new work-week. While most of the population rushed to the jobs thinking "It's @#$%@#$ Monday again", I start the week slower, walking the streets or sitting on a park bench or under a tree to write things down, breathing real air. If the weather doesn't allow being outside, I'll sometimes go to a cafe, instead of skipping it completely.

During such couple of hours I can make good progress planning software architecture, sketching application design, preparing a conference talk, or thinking about strategic business stuff.

Then, by noon, I come back to my home-office, feeling refreshed, satisfied that I already did something important today, and overall feeling inspired for the rest of the week.

Try it yourself

If you don't yet have such "Thinking Time" on your schedule, I suggest you to try it. The beginning of the week works the best for me. But maybe you'll feel that the middle is actually better because it splits your work week and you get some kind of a break from your regular tasks.

In this age of Internet and social networks with all the fun distractions that they provide, it becomes more important to go away from it all at least for a couple of hours each week, sit down with a pen and paper (or even an iPad running some notepad-type application), and just think it all through.

Thinking Time | via Gorban.org

---

Jacob Gorban founded Apparent Software, an indie software development company for the Mac OS X and iOS. Along with writing code, he loves the business side of things, plays guitars and listens to progressive rock.
Jacob writes on http://gorban.org and can be found on Twitter as @apparentsoft.

Original post: http://lifehacker.com/5867860/why-your-schedule-should-have-a-weekly-appointment-dedicated-to-thinking-time

Thank You God [Picture]

The Spiritual Warrior - 1/2

This is a two-part article about living as a spiritual warrior in this modern age. As there are a lot of things to cover, I have split this article into two parts.

Part 1 - Fighting Dark Forces

As a spiritual warrior we must learn to fight two things:

1. Fight ourselves - the temptations, fears and emotions within our own mind

2. Fight dark forces in this world and the spiritual realms

I have highlighted how to do the first in depth throughout the articles on my blog, and now I wish to touch upon the fighting of the dark forces in the spiritual realms, as its a topic not really covered by many people.

First of all...

The spiritual realms are real and I have travelled them. In fact, we all travel them when we sleep, but usually we are unaware of it. Also, fighting dark forces sounds like something out of Star Wars, but believe me, forces out there exist that are far darker than the blackest hole you've never seen.

On a number of occasions other beings from other dimensions have interfered with my dreams. This is not meant as a way to blame other beings for strange, often horrible dreams, but instead to understand that these beings are meant for a purpose: to force us to expand and develop. However, they do this by interfering with our dreams, implanting temptations within our minds and feeding on our resultant emotional energy.

For example, on one occasion I came across a being in the spiritual realms who was full of anger, his face was something out of a horror movie with a reptile like appearance and orange scales across its face, and after grabbing me in surprise he said the chilling words "I'm going to find you!" - as if my life was so important in this Universe that somebody has sent an assassin to hunt me down - I had a moment of fear and then I laughed extremely loud and said the Sikh war cry "Bolehhhhhhhhh So Nihal!!! Sat Sri Akallllllll!!!" meaning "Whoever utters this, shall be fulfilled: the truth is the highest of all and immortal". This war cry sent a shock wave into the dark being and I was free from its grip.

Another time, whilst going to sleep, a higher being - benevolent but mischievous - sent me into a fantasy of programming. I was confused into thinking there was a programming puzzle which I had to solve in the real world. I was given question after question, which left me increasingly more confused and in a state of frenzy. I had no idea what to do! Each time I would wake up, I would wake up confused. After I finally get out of bed, I thought that there was something very strange going on last night. I used my intuition to connect to the higher realms and ask the Gods whether they were doing this. They indicated that they were and it was to remind me to meditate before I go to sleep, otherwise other beings could interfere with me. They found it funny, but I was not in the mood for laughter. I gave them a warning that if they ever interfere in my dreams in this way, I would seek them out and destroy them. They heeded the warning, and stopped laughing.

Just like this, on another occasion (today 16/01/2011 at midday in fact) - I just fell asleep on my sofa and strangely enough, knowing that nobody was in the house, it seemed like somebody had come in through the front door. I could hear my brother, who was meant to be at work, talking quite loudly and I opened my eyes knowing that any minute he would walk through into the living room - but strangely he didn't. I was confused. I tried to get up to check. But reality dawned upon me. My eyes were open and seeing, but I was not in my body. I was floating slightly above my actual body and my physical body was paralysed. The only thing to do was to relax and allow my soul body to be connected again to my physical body - surely enough after a few moments of careful consciousness, it happened and I was able to get up and check the whole house: but as I suspected, it was empty!

What I was hearing was a fabrication, an illusion, and things were just about to get a little more sinister. Since I was still a little tired, I fell asleep again. This time I heard my brother again, but he was as close to me as my ear! Only when I opened my eyes, there was nobody in the room. Except I quickly became aware that I did have a visitor, who was sitting on the table in the living room. It was well camouflaged, but was certainly there, a feeling of terror came into my heart that this being had me exactly where it wanted me, where I was extremely vulnerable, where as much as I tried I could not get up physically even though I could still see the living room and my eyes were open.

After a moment of fear, I decided to fight like a spiritual warrior - with courage. I used all the previous mantras and war cries but none of them worked, as they previously had done so! So with my consciousness I created a weapon and I conjured up fire balls (sounds funny, but they were devastating!). As I had noticed this being sitting on the table, I just aimed for the table region and started to fire and swing my sword! I felt the being then move position to avoid my onslaught, and by moving it again revealed its position for a second, to which I continue to fire towards. And then I laughed and smiled inside, as I knew I would win. I expanded my aura with a protective impenetrable shield. As soon as the being was gone automatically I fell into my body again, and my body took a breath and I was able to get up! My heart was pounding heavily, but at least this battle was over...at least for now.

So dear readers of The Divine Within, understand that you must learn to fight. First you must learn to fight your mind and its emotions, and then you must learn to fight beings in the spiritual realms which have been interfering with you. And then you will have the capacity to fight in the real world (or not!) for the ideals and betterment of the entire human race. This world is an illusion, but its an illusion worth fighting for, as through the illusion the truth can be found.

Sat Naam.

5 Steps to Conquering Wild Emotions

As a Cancerian, born in June, I have pretty wild emotions.

I'm empathic. I feel people's emotions.

It's a blessing, because I get to connect with people at a deeper emotional level.

It can also be a curse, because if I don't control my own emotions, I can become blind to what is really going on - as mostly I feel people's emotions to ascertain how to react to people - I see through the lens of emotion.

So here are some steps I found which help to conquer the wild tides of emotion that can upset the inner lake of stillness and joy:

Step 1 - Understand that choice is more powerful than emotion!
Emotions cannot harm us, but often we act like they are going to kill us. It is just our ACT. We pretend to ourselves, we make ourselves believe that our emotions are going to destroy us. The truth is - emotions are powerless against our choice. We have a choice of whether to act upon emotion or not. Sometimes we forget we have a choice, or the emotion feels so powerful that it seems like it leaves us with no choice, but we always have a choice.

Step 2 - Observe emotions for 24 hours
Emotions are just like waves in an ocean, they may rise up and become vast momentarily, but eventually if observed for long enough, they will crash and be gone. So whenever possible, observe emotions. The longer you observe them, the less they will become. Emotions have a short life, they are born, they live and they die usually within 24 hours ;).

Step 3 - Accept, respect & understand emotions
Every emotion has a story behind it - has a reason for being. Do not just ignore them! Instead accept them, respect them and understand them. Self acceptance here is KEY. Most people, especially spiritual people, begin to believe that its wrong to have such wild emotions. This belief only makes the emotions even more stronger! Emotions are trying to tell us something, listen to them, accept them, understand them. This requires a degree of honesty too - you have to be honest with what is really going on inside you!

Step 4 - Listen to music of the soul
Music has an inherent power: to affect our emotions. Listen to spiritual music, uplifting music, music which brings you deeper into your soul.

The best music to listen to is the Japji Sahib - the Song of the Soul - which is the destroyer of all worries, designed by Guru Nanak - the founder of Sikhism.

Step 5 - Remember who you really are
Emotions, thoughts and feelings are part of the human flesh. But we are not actually flesh, we are spirits, souls, beings of light.

Repeat this mantra:

I am love, joy and service. My innocent nature is pure, full of light, full of beauty. My true-self is untainted, immortal, all powerful, all kind, all fearless, all strength, all sweetness, all joyfulness, all playfulness, all immaculate, all everlasting, all blissful, all happiness, all laughter, all humour, all smiles, all lightness, all glorious, all service, all love, all love, all love.

Quote of the Day - Nobility

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”  

― Ernest Hemingway

Try Something New

I like trying out new things, and getting rid of old things. This happens at all levels, including mental, by letting go of old thoughts and replacing them with new ways of thinking, and physical, by finding new interests and exploring the physical world, and spiritual, by exploring more of the inner world.

In fact, whenever I go to work for a company, I like to throw away all their old instruction manuals and write new ones. Since the modern world is changing more quickly, we must get more comfortable with discarding old ways and creating new, more effective ones.

In review, in 2011 I have...

• Learnt to swim (albeit only on my back and not in deep water yet)
• I have learnt how to be more down to earth and spiritual at the same time
• I have learnt 3 new programming languages including JavaScript, JQuery and Python
• I have found a new interest in cycling (after cycling from France to Belgium)
• I have formed two new companies: New Life Awakening (personal development) and KhalsaSoft (web applications) - and also conducted a few exhilarating business deals in true apprentice fashion!
• I have realised the main golden rules of business, which are the key ingredients into making any business a success (which I intend to share once I have proved their worth myself)
• Also, I helped define a whole new form of personal development retreat for the Sikh community, on behalf of the City Sikhs Network, called the City Sikhs Retreat. It was a game changer for the Sikh retreat market (more on this later)

There's probably a lot more things - but these are the ones that readily come to my mind.

So...I wonder what gems are yet to unfold in 2012? OOoooooooo...EXCITING!

God Bless You.

Experience of Death

Today, I died. I experienced death, and it was a delightful experience.

I forgot all about my worries in life in that moment, life just became a dream.

We lie to ourselves that the people who have passed away remember us and are with us. We may remember them, but they have long forgotten us and moved on. It is our duty to remember them, but it is their duty to forget us, leave us behind and move on - which happens in an instant.

All of one's achievements and failures, all of one's love and hates, all of one's arguments and joys, all of one's relationships and families, all of one's close friends, siblings, spouses, children, relatives, all of one's weaknesses and strengths, all of one's property and poverty - it's all forgotten about the very instant one dies.

The Guru Granth Sahib on Ang 10 says:

Raag Goojaree, Fifth Mehl:

Why, O mind, do you plot and plan, when the Dear Lord Himself provides for your care?

From rocks and stones He created living beings; He places their nourishment before them. ||1||

O my Dear Lord of souls, one who joins the Sat Sangat, the True Congregation, is saved.

By Guru's Grace, the supreme status is obtained, and the dry wood blossoms forth again in lush greenery. ||1||Pause||

Mothers, fathers, friends, children and spouses-no one is the support of anyone else.

For each and every person, our Lord and Master provides sustenance. Why are you so afraid, O mind? ||2||

The flamingoes fly hundreds of miles, leaving their young ones behind.

Who feeds them, and who teaches them to feed themselves? Have you ever thought of this in your mind? ||3||

All the nine treasures, and the eighteen supernatural powers are held by our Lord and Master in the Palm of His Hand.

Servant Nanak is devoted, dedicated, forever a sacrifice to You, Lord. Your Expanse has no limit, no boundary. ||4||5||

It is true that some people who die are so attached to this life and this world, that they wonder around as ghosts, neither in this world nor the next. But, we must let them go so they can let us go and move onto the next world.

Death ironically gives life. I feel so alive right now, and so clear and so worry-free about the future. I forgot my destiny for a while, and suddenly now I remember it again, why I came to Earth. I remember that I was sent to complete a mission of service to others.

Death made me forget all my doubts. Death balanced all my wild emotions. Death made me clear about life. Death is a blessing on this Earth. I bow the great Lord Shiva, who brings death when it is time.

I bow to the great sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus, who brought a light to Earth purer than anyone can imagine. This light is so pure that one must die in order to experience it. One's ego must die. And in that moment it's all revealed. The glory of God is revealed.

Ladies and gentlemen, wandering souls upon this Earth. Let go of all your attachments to the world and live your destiny in your allotted time. Remember your destiny, live your destiny, live with the grace and blessings of God and Guru in your heart. Love all, not the few. Love all, not the few. Love all, not the few.

Sat Naam - This will always be true throughout all time.

Hurt Me With The Truth

Your Money Is Your Vote

My brother, Onkardeep Singh Khalsa, wrote about the idea of money being a vote in 2009. Money is a more powerful vote than the votes we give to elect governments and local councillors. Business and the private sector is arguably a more powerful force than the public sector.

It is easy for us to forget as individuals the power we wield in our hands. It is possible for society to transform very quickly if we all act consciously.

For example...

Instead of buying non-fairtrade chocolate just because it may be a few pennies cheaper, you can choose to buy fairtrade chocolate and help the third world countries get a fair bargain at the same time.

Instead of buying clothes manufactured in sweat shops to reduce their cost, we can choose to buy clothes which are certified to have been made ethically.

Instead of buying washing up liquid which harms the Earth, we can buy one which is kinder to the Earth.

Instead of leaving our lights on all the time, we can switch them off when not needed so the Earth is less polluted by our coal-fired power stations, or we can even switch to an electricity provider which generates electricity more sustainably and consciously.

Instead of buying chips (fries) which are poor quality from the chippie on the corner, go the extra mile to buy  from a quality chip shop so that all chippies must raise their standards.

Instead of buying milk which has come from sources where cows have been potentially harmed, we should buy milk where cows are treated respectfully or switch to another alternative like rice milk or almond milk.

Instead of buying meat which involves the harm of animals, and which exposes our barbaric human nature, we should err to become vegetarians or vegans. Or if that is too impossible, then at least to become vegetarian one day of the week.

Our money acts as a vote as to what we want in our society to continue and what we want to end. If a service or a product is cheap, poor quality, environmentally destructive, destructive to any species on Earth, or unethical in ANY way, THEN WE SHOULD NOT BUY IT! It's OK if there are no other alternatives, but in the developed world, there are ONLY alternatives. Choice is our basic freedom. So we should decide as a society what we want to continue and what we want to end.

Each person, and every pound or dollar they spend, makes a difference and acts as a vote as to what products or services we want in our society!

If we want animal suffering to continue, then we should continue to buy non-free range eggs. If we want plant suffering to continue, then we should continue to buy inorganic food. If we want human suffering to continue, then we should continue to buy non-fair trade goods. Money is a vote, choose wisely my beloveds.

Osho on Being [Video]