Quote of the Day - Reactions

‎"Never be right or wrong, always be neutral. Speak not through the positive mind or the negative mind, but from the neutral mind. And whenever you have to confront a calamity or a pleasure, take the altitude. Adjust the attitude. Do not react right away." 

Yogi Bhajan - 7/22/96

Vision of New Life Awakening

I have an intense feeling inside which relates to my life's vision and mission.

My primary rule in life is to never compromise who I am for anybody or anything. When a flower is in bloom who can tell it to be or smell any other way?

My mission in life is to bring spirituality to the common person, make it accessible, understandable and practical. Even whilst we are living in a highly technological, global and complex world - still spirituality must become our bedrock, our foundation, our grace because it is who we really are. It's what allows us to access our humanity.

As a result I'm going to create as many articles, books, workshops and videos to bring spirituality to the people in a form which can be used for hundreds of years to come. Well, to be honest, this is not a one man mission, but requires a whole team of like-minded people to come together and convert these old manuscripts of ancient wisdom into practical manuals for modern life, which can then be passed onto future generations.

The best thing is that, for the first time in billions of years, history will record these manuals and the process to create these manuals for all time to come. My name is unimportant. My personality is unimportant. All that matters is sharing these teachings purely. For when truth is spoken, it shines of its own accord and is recognised in value only by those who are seeking it and are open to receiving it.

Surely all that's worth the sacrifice of one human life, or for that matter, a few? ;)

With all my love and deep felt gratitude to you,

JHBSK xxx

The 21 Stages of Meditation

Below are the 21 Stages of Meditation, as outlined by Yogi Bhajan, along with Kundalini Yoga meditations which help realise each stage. Journey One - Experience and Crystalize the Self Stage 1 – Upset Meditation to Conquer Upset Stage 2 – Boredom Meditation: See Your Horizon Stage 3 – Irritation Meditation: Eyeglass Traatik Stage 4 - Frustration Meditation: Self-Hypnosis to Dissolve Frustration Stage 5 – Focus Meditation: For Focus and an Alert Mind Stage 6 – Absorption Meditation: For Absorption in the Crystal Being Stage 7 – Experience and Crystallize the Self Meditation : To Experience and Crystallize the Self Journey Two - Express and Distill the Self Stage 8 – Rasa/Nectar Meditation Series for Rasa/Nectar Stage 9 – Delight Meditation: For Delight, Destiny and Creative Flow in Life Stage 10 – Politeness Meditation for Politeness Stage 11 – Humility  Meditation: Bowing Before the Infinite for Humility Meditation: Speaking Humbly before the Creative Infinity Meditation: Bowing for Humility to Transfer Prana Stage 12 – Elevation  Meditation for Elevation Meditation for Rasas and the Inner Eye Meditation for Elevation Stage 13 - Graceful Enlightenment Meditation for Graceful Enlightenment and Strength of Heart The three gunas, the three forces of nature, are all balanced. That opens the heart. On that the head is fixed and steady. You are aware of All and the Crown Chakra shines as the Sixth Chakra commands. –Yogi Bhajan The key to this stage lies in how we handle the polarities we experience. Life is filled with them. How gracefully we handle them is the measure of an enlightened human being.  –from The 21 Stages of Meditation Stage 14 – Express and Be Your Self The Laya Yoga Kundalini Mantra Meditation: To Clear the Channels and Raise Kundalini Meditation on the Laya Yoga Kundalini Mantra Meditation: Sankh Mudra Kriya Laya Meditation to Beam and Create Meditation: Sukh Sadhana Meditation to Express Your Real Self and Develop the Subtle Body Journey Three - Transcend and Sublimate the Self Stage 15 - Presence Like a Beacon Tattva Siddhi Meditation for Presence Like a Beacon Stage 16 - Everywhere Radiance Meditation: Polishing the Radiant Body Stage 17 - Prayerful Stillness Meditation: Deeksha Patra for Prayerful Stillness Stage 18 – Preacher Meditation: Chautay Padma Nirgun Mantra Stage 19 – Teacher Teacher Meditation- Traatik to See the Energy Stage 20 – Sage Meditation for the Sage: Sarb Gyan Kriya Stage 21 - Infinite Pulse Meditation for Infinite Pulse: Sodarshan Chakra Kriya Learn to master the 21 Stages of Meditation in an  upcoming course with the Kundalini Yoga Research Institute. The 21 Stages of Meditation course has no pre-requisites. It is open to those at any stage of their spiritual journey. The 21 Stages of Meditation Hacienda de Guru Ram Das Española, New Mexico Wednesday, June 6-Tuesday, June 12, 2012 Registration Price: $995.00 (Discounts Available) Want to learn more? CLICK HERE

Picture of the Day - Meditation

Quote of the Day - Mother Teresa

“A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in his love than in your weakness.”

― Mother Teresa

The Story of How I Became Rich [Yogi Bhajan]

from Success and the Spirit - An Aquarian path to Abundance.

by Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji

A student asked Yogi Bhajan the following question:

"Is giving an act of God?"

Yogi Bhajan replied, "No, no, no, no. Not at all. It is a perfectly selfish act. Have you heard about when I became rich? Listen to this. It is true. Verbatim, this is exactly true.

I taught a class at the East-West Cultural Center. And I did a wonderful job. There were three hundred and some dollars collected at class. I do not know exactly how much. But I definitely know one hundred fifty and some cents were given to me in an envelope as my fifty percent of that lecture. This is what they do. You go. They advertise you. You teach in that center. And whatever money comes in on that day, fifty percent is given to the lecturer and fifty percent goes to the center.

I did that. Then the director of the center takes the speaker out to dinner. Now this lady, the director, was more spiritual, well-read with the scripture and much wiser than I was. I was very happy with her and she was extremely happy with me, because when she would talk scriptures, somewhere along the line, I’d give her the understanding of the scripture. I’m not very good with all this bookish knowledge but certain things I just know.

She said, "Today your lecture was so pleasing. I just want to take you to eat. Please come with me." She was just overwhelmingly joyful.

I said to her, "Well, there seems to be a storm behind the sunshine."

"What can it be?"

"We’ll see."

When we came to the restaurant, on the side there was a pole. Standing beside the pole was a very beautiful, well-dressed black man. And he was saying, “I do not want to beg, and I don’t want you to help me, but I have children. I have a life, and I have a family. I am selling these pencils. You can buy these pencils for any amount, because I am blind and can’t see it. But I hope by the end of the day there will be a profit and I can take care of my family."

When I heard that I handed over my envelope to him and I took one pencil out. She saw me doing that and God, that divine woman became a living fire. She said, "What have you done? You know, that’s what Indians do. You have encouraged beggary." She was so rude.

I said, “Ohhhhh!” That was my first experience, awakening the mind to encounter the bitchiness of an American woman. Up until then I was fine.

I said, "What have I done?"

"You took one pencil for one hundred and fifty dollars. Do you know that you can get a truckload of them?"

"I don’t need a truckload of pencils."

"Why did you take one pencil?"

"I want this one pencil to write my own fortune."

"And you paid one-hundred and fifty dollars for it?"

"No. I paid much less. I paid nothing."

"I don’t understand you. You don’t like money. You don’t love money."

I said, "I love money more than you like it. I love money. Don’t worry about that. I just wanted this pencil to write my fortune. I paid the money you gave to me."

She said, "I can’t believe it."

Meanwhile, we entered the restaurant. Then you know what she said? She said, "All right. I’ll teach you something practical." 

"Sure." 

"I’m not going to pay for your dinner." 

"Sure."

"That will show you what happens when you don’t have money."

I said, "Sure. It’s okay."

So I took my plate to the place where you pick up your salad, and you pick up this and that and I picked up everything I wanted to eat. I walked to the tables and the lady at the check-out counter said, "Thank you, sir." She never says that. I just went up there, took the things of the tray, and put them on the table. We were about three or four people and when the director came, the counter clerk told her, "Thank you, ma’am. You can pass."

She said, "Who paid for it?"

The clerk said, "It is all paid for."

So, she felt a little small and she came and sat down next to me. Meanwhile, the counter girl came and brought sixty-some dollars and gave it to me. Imagine. I didn’t have a pocket. I didn’t have a dollar. I didn’t have a penny. She told me that she isn’t going to pay and I said to the counter clerk, "Give it to her."

The clerk said, "No, no. It is for you, sir. It is for you."

"Why for me?"

"There was a student of yours sitting here. He left me with a hundred dollars and he said, 'My teacher is coming. All the people with him should be paid for, and the balance given to him.' So I am just doing what he said."

I looked at the director. I said, "You didn’t pay for it?"

"No."

"You got paid for, too?"

"Yes."

I said, "See how God works?" And I pulled out ten dollars and I gave it to the waitress.

She said, "O my God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

And I gave the director the fifty-some remaining dollars.

She asked me, "What for? I don’t understand. You seem so happy."

I said, "Today, my Guru and my God have made me a giver. Before this, I was a taker. I was at your mercy. And when you tested it, Guru came through. He saved me at the last minute. I am very mad at Him for that. But because He always does it, I am very grateful. I have seen my Guru. I have seen Him in action. I am grateful."

Copyright Sikh Dharma International without permission from The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan

How To Be A Good Human Being?

எல்லோரும் இன்புற்றிருக்க நினைப்பதுவே 

அல்லாமல் வேறொன்றறியோம் பராபரமே!

அன்பர் பணி செய்ய எம்மை ஆளாக்கிவிட்டுவிட்டால் 

இன்பநிலை தானே வந்தெய்தும் பராபரமே!

Excepting to think and act for

Well being of all beings, I know nothing.

If we all are molded to serve Humanity

Happiness will automatically Flow here.

Saint Thayumanavar

A Letter from Hargopal Kaur

From the March 2012 Library of Teachings Newsletter - Kundalini Yoga Research Institute

Sat Nam!

Have you also been searching for Infinity? Did you see which rabbit hole leads to the cosmos? And who are our guides?

"There are only two teachers: time or your teacher." 1 

Guided by time or teacher! Hmmm. Time can be a very hard task master. And there are so many rabbit holes to explore.

"Teachings are teachings whether I give them or you give them. It isn't the teacher who is important, it's the teachings. The teachings are pure, and they have been passed on purely and they will continue to be pure." 2 

Whether you met Yogi Bhajan in the flesh or not, he is still teaching us-through  Kundalini Yoga and meditation, through his students, through his students' students, and through his teachings. And he always seems to know which rabbit hole to take, or perhaps it's just knowing which rabbit holes to avoid.

"Teaching is not done to get money and sell the teachings. Teaching is done to keep the teachings going. It is not for your sakes. You are just the instrument for listening. But our children, our grandchildren, and great grandchildren will be grateful that we left the knowledge for them." 3 

We have all heard of the power of the word. Have you experienced it? Yogi Bhajan shared with us that

"A spiritual teacher has simple rules in life: obey, serve, love and excel. It is a direct route." 4 

Have you experienced this direct route or does the rabbit hole have a lot of turns and dead ends?

"The Golden Chain is a concept in which light flows to add to the frequency of an ordinary person to give him the power to be a Teacher. It is the red-orange colored light which is always coming out of the teacher and is always swallowed by other teachers in variance within the scope of time and space. It is continuous and unending, but those who fall in faith shall lose it. Man is a finite capacity of the Infinite which has come to consciously experience Infinity. Guru is the technology and a constant help. Through obedience to the Guru, one can reach the state of experience of Infinity. God is the Infinity in itself." 5 

Have you looked in the mirror before and after a yoga class or a meditation. Do you see that Infinity? This technology of light, of upliftment, of service, of being, of shuniya is a treasure.
 
Through the Library of Teachings the treasure embodied in Yogi Bhajan's teachings is being preserved, digitized, and prepared so that you can access the teachings anytime, anyplace.

With gratitude we thank you for donations that support this process. We all want it to happen yesterday. And with your help, the tomorrow in which it does happen gets closer and closer to being today.
     
Humbly,
Hargopal Kaur Khalsa
KRI Board Member

From the author's notes, December 7, 1993
 © 1979 The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan. Originally published in the Khalsa Women's Training Camp Notes, 1979, p 135.
 ©1985.The Radiant Body. Kundalini Research Institute: Pomona, CA, p. 64]
 ©1985.The Radiant Body. Kundalini Research Institute: Pomona, CA,, p205]
 © 1979 The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan. Originally published in the Khalsa Women's Training Camp Notes, 1978, p. 163.

To Become A True Professional [Poem]

To become a true architect, you must learn the architecture of the heart,
To become a true engineer, you must learn the inner engineering.
To become a true programmer, you must learn to reprogram your own mind,
To become a true accountant, you must know each action is a transaction.
To become a true analyst, you must be able to analyse your own thoughts,
To become a true consultant, you must be able to consult your higher Self.
To become a true artist, you must be able to paint the future of your life,
To become a true musician, you must be able to access the depths of your Soul.
To become a true priest, you must see God in everyone,
To become a true farmer, you must be able to plant the seed of Truth.
To become a true builder, you must know how to build your integrity,
To become a true entrepreneur, you must learn to transcend uncertainty.
To become a true sales person, you must learn to become authentic,
To become a true marketer, you must learn to listen to your intuition.
To become a true politician, you must learn honesty in service,
To become a true doctor, you must learn the medicine of the heart.
To become a true soldier, you must learn to submit to God,
To become a true volunteer, you must learn to ask for help.
To become a true leader, you must learn to be humble always,
To become a true human being, you must learn to be you, to be.

By Guru's Grace, Jasdeep Hari Bhajan Singh Khalsa - 15/03/2012 (Hot off the Press! ;D)

Jason Mraz Song for a Friend [Music]

One of my favourite tracks, simply beautiful...

Quote of the Day - Questions and Answers

"Answers require a timing and a spacing to deliver the correct impact and to create the wholeness of answer"

By Guru's Grace - 13/12/2009

Quote of the Day - The Sky

"The sky is only the limit for those who cannot see beyond it"

By Guru's Grace - JHBSK

Picture of the Day - Closed Minds

A True Spiritual Path Is Difficult

For those who are interested in living an ordinary life - a spiritual path is not for you.

A spiritual path is the most difficult climb, the steepest curve, the highest peak.

Before you walk on such a path, you must know that things will never be the same again. You cannot retain any part of your formed identity nor its various layers - only your core essence will remain i.e. who you really are and have always been throughout all time - and you will have an infinitely more beautiful ROYAL identity grafted upon you.

I often ask people a question: does a King or Queen ever live an ordinary life? Ask Prince Charles, he will tell you. No, a King or Queen has a duty to serve their country, a duty to always have royal actions, royal words, royal dress, royal food, royal activities. It is not possible for somebody who is royal to live an ordinary life.

The difficult part is giving up the ego, the formed identity, controlling the senses, having the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, touch under one's control, giving up objects which seek to just gratify the senses, overcoming attachment, balancing sexual desire, controlling anger, watching greed, dropping hatred, conquering the mind, filtering thoughts, conquering fears, overcoming shyness, transcending anxieties, breaking depression, becoming courageous, being forgiving, kind, compassionate, intelligent, assertive, intuitive, constant, dedicated, faithful. In other words: becoming totally balanced, unshakable, GLOWING.

So, although the spiritual path is the most difficult, it's also the most rewarding. The rewards cannot be quantified in words, as they will be beyond your wildest dreams, and more than you could have ever hoped or dreamed for. You will experience real miracles, superhuman abilities will grow within you, you will have humbling experiences that leave you speechless, your body and face will literally begin to glow with light, you will become AWARE of how to travel between the past, present and future at will, you will begin to hear other people's thoughts and feel other people's feelings, you will come into contact with other civilisations and beings through the intuition, the entire Universe will begin to serve each of your needs, you will find the Universe revolving inside you, nature will become your friend, the elements will change as you want them to, each of your words will become a meditation full of purity and clarity.

You will become incredibly powerful and capable of things only imagined within science fiction, but all your power will be because of your humility, because you would have given up your identity, given up your likes and dislikes, given up being right and making others wrong, given up your ego, your ambitions, your desires, your goals, your fears, given up everything you know and believe to be true, given up your breath, your mind, your body and your soul and dedicated it before God, before the Supreme Being, the Lord of the Universe. Your power will be because of your complete and constant surrender to God and the Guru, the teacher who shows you how to get to God.

I write all these things because there is too much doubt about the spiritual path nowadays. Spirituality and God have just become an empty belief, a childish belief, without any reality, substance, without any true effects and changes taking place within the human psyche, without the idea of God changing our character, improving our character and expanding our awareness about ourselves, without us gaining insight into the impact of our actions on others. True religion makes one a better human being day by day. Nowadays, religion makes one more egotistical day by day.

Therefore... a true religion, a true path is difficult to find within this modern world, but there are paths that exist, and they are very difficult to walk, but the rewards for walking them are mind-blowing and heart-rendering, making you glow and grow beyond what you can ever imagine.

I am always looking for people who want to walk a spiritual path, so if you feeling a calling towards walking such a path please get in touch and allow us to humbly serve you.

Sat Naam.

How To Listen to Spiritual Masters

Listening is a major human faculty which we tend to not use to its maximum.

The whole Universe is always telling us something, people are always explaining something, life is always talking to us, the trees, the birds, the environments are all alive and communicating. But how much do we really hear? How much do we really listen to?

Inside our ears there is a filter, a kind of barrier, which filters out even the purest of information and knowledge and dirties it with our opinions, our viewpoint, our mindset. No matter how much somebody may be telling us the truth, the secrets of the Universe, the keys to making our life work: we cannot hear because we are not listening.

People who do not listen in life ultimately never find their destination. Even the basis of meditation is listening to words of the enlightened teacher, the Guru, who only speaks pure words, pure knowledge which is untainted by opinions or viewpoints. However, the disciple who listens to these words should give up their own ideas about life, about God, about spirituality and the Universe in order to fully listen to and hear this pure knowledge from the Guru. This is true meditation.

Spiritual masters always speak knowledge purely and untainted by the ego. The job of the ego is to confine, to create boundaries, to make the infinite finite. Where there is no ego, there can only be discussion of the infinite and true nature of the self and the Universe.

Ordinary life is always concerned with the finite and perishable. Extraordinary life is always concerned with the infinite and indestructible.

So next time you listen to a spiritual master, withhold your own opinions, drop your chattering mind and listen to each of their words and the silence in between their words. Within both of these is the energy, the awareness, the secret to unlocking your true potential.

Sat Naam.