Struggling Against The Inevitable

Often we know something is inevitable, and although we try to struggle against it, to fight the current, we know we cannot stop it.

Like old ideas. We hold onto them, but inevitably they will die out. Like old relationships. We hold onto them, but they cannot continue.

For example...

The idea that money, property, wealth and position are important is outdated.
The idea that manipulation and secrecy are important is outdated.
The idea that competition and winning are important is outdated.

The idea that personality, names, titles and qualifications are important is outdated.

The idea that you can achieve happiness outside of yourself is outdated.

For example, we "believe" in a God. Believing in God does not make God so. God exists independent of our opinions or beliefs. God is too vast to believe in, to understand, to comprehend. And yet we still try to know Him, we still try to reach him. You can only reach the God in you. You cannot reach the God beyond the beyond. We want to hold onto something beyond ourselves, we are not secure in holding onto our own self within ourselves.

We do not realise that we are Gods. Our hands have the power of creation and destruction, as do our lips, our minds and our hearts.

But, we continue to struggle.

Religion is just a set of beliefs and rituals which are empty without consciousness. The job of religion is for individuals to grow in self awareness, in truth, in compassion and love for everyone, but often people who are insecure hold onto religion as a means of feeling reassured. People of such consciousness are outdated, they will not understand the new world which is coming to be.

Struggle happens when our expectations are not met by reality. Reality is changing and so should our expectations. The world is changing and so should our expectations. The universe is changing and so should our expectations.

The struggle only ends when we grow, when we learn to flow, when we learn to give it up.

Do not struggle dear soul of the new age, go with the flow, and allow the flow to lead you into the ultimate light of awareness and beauty.

Sat Naam.

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.

7 Billion World Religions

There are now 7 billion people in the world, and thus there are also 7 billion world religions, since each person on Earth has their own way of life, their own perspective, their own ideology, their own ethics, their own understanding.

We may claim that we are part of a particular religion, but the truth is that we see and experience that religion in a completely unique way to every other person. It is simply the ego which wants to keep things together, and just like human beings, even a religion has an ego that needs to be satisfied by asserting its distinct identity.

Yes - we may have some commonalities of understanding and we may think we believe in the same thing, and we may do some daily rituals or prayers which are the same, but that is not what defines a religion. A religion, a country, a nation is defined not by a mere title, but instead by our own perspective of that religion. HOW WE SEE THAT RELIGION THROUGH OUR OWN EYES!

For example, some may think Sikhism is a religion, but some take it to be a spiritual way of life which is compatible with other religions. Perspective changes everything. Therefore, what ultimately binds us together is not our religion, but our humanity.

I repeat: what binds us together is not our religion, but our HUMANITY. The very fact that we are from the same species, developing ourselves as human beings, is enough commonality for us to collect together as one Earth, one world, hand-in-hand, each a brother and a sister to one another. As one world we are stronger, as 'apparently' separate religions we are weaker.

There is nothing wrong with groups of people with common beliefs coming together as a religion - in fact we should encourage it as any togetherness is good - but ultimately as individuals we can never truly be defined by our religion as we are each totally unique individuals with totally different ways of life, different perspectives, ideologies, ethics and understanding to everybody else. It is this very variety and uniqueness in us which gives rise to the entire beauty of life.

It is in the variety of being human, and also in the commonality of being human, that we can learn to flourish as a society, as a world, as a humanity.

So let us see beyond our titles of religion and country, and unite together in our humanity - the rest of the Universe's nations are waiting for us to do so.

Sat Naam.

Quote of the Day - Osho on Religion

‎"Before a child even asks a question, you stuff his head with an answer. That is a basic and major crime of all the religions."

Osho

Quote of the Day - Osho on Religion

‎"Before a child even asks a question, you stuff his head with an answer. That is a basic and major crime of all the religions."

Osho

The Awakening - By Sonny Carroll

A time comes in your life when you finally get it...when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out...ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on.

Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon. You realize that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you... and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are... and that's OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself... and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval. You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you - or didn't do for you - and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that everything isn't always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself... and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties... and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don't know everything, it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you believe you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it's OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people... and you learn not to always take it personally.

You learn that nobody's punishing you and everything isn't always somebody's fault. It's just life happening. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than your heart's desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in your heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

By Sonny Carroll

The Awakening - By Sonny Carroll

A time comes in your life when you finally get it...when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out...ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on.

Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

This is your awakening.

You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon. You realize that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you... and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are... and that's OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself... and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval. You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you - or didn't do for you - and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and that everything isn't always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself... and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties... and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don't know everything, it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you believe you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it's OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people... and you learn not to always take it personally.

You learn that nobody's punishing you and everything isn't always somebody's fault. It's just life happening. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than your heart's desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in your heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

By Sonny Carroll

Quote of the Day: True Yoga

True Yoga is such an integration of the higher aspects of religion, philosophy and scientific methodology. Without devotion, yoga becomes mechanical and mentally dry. Without philosophy, the mind will wander and doubt such that the practice cannot be sustained over long periods. Without methodical and proven techniques, one merely engages in wishful thinking or emotional hallucinations.

By Rudra Shivananda - Page 2 of Sanatana Mitra: April 2010

Quote of the Day: True Yoga

True Yoga is such an integration of the higher aspects of religion, philosophy and scientific methodology. Without devotion, yoga becomes mechanical and mentally dry. Without philosophy, the mind will wander and doubt such that the practice cannot be sustained over long periods. Without methodical and proven techniques, one merely engages in wishful thinking or emotional hallucinations.

By Rudra Shivananda - Page 2 of Sanatana Mitra: April 2010

Life Explained with Two Wolves

TWO WOLVES
One evening an old Cherokee (Native American) told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said:
"My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all...
...one is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego...
...The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Life Explained with Two Wolves

TWO WOLVES
One evening an old Cherokee (Native American) told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said:
"My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all...
...one is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego...
...The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Religion and Science - Why and How!

I recently attended a talk about Faith and Post-Darwinism and with the anniversary of Charles Darwin I thought it would make an interesting article.

A lot of people suggest that religion is completely based on faith, which makes it completely incompatible with science because science is based on empirical, provable facts. Although it could be argued that even science needs an element of 'faith' this doesn't hold up very well because a scientific 'faith' is a reasoned point of view that is continually empirically tested. Religious faith is different in that it is unconditional devotion.

Yes, science explains the world around us and yes, religion gives us an element of virtues and morality and yes, both are ways of explaining Truth. That's all well and good but can religion and science truly fit together?

From a non-theistic perspective, the argument that religion is a source of morality/ethics can be more or less equated to 'religion is useless' because one can for example draw on virtue, utilitarian or Kantian ethics for morality. So what's left? Nothing?

From a more theistic perspective, true religion is a way of life. It governs ultimately our behaviour, in an open and non controlling way. The aim of which is to ultimately unite with the Divine (that's probably more of a Sikh take on religion, but I see it as the essence of all religions). OK, so that all sounds very nice and cosy, but what's the divine and what does it mean to unite? Isn't it all just 'faith'?

Science helps answer the why questions. Religion (or more accurately Dharma, way of life) helps answer the how questions. The essence of true religion is spirituality. It is only in the recent few centuries that the why questions have played a more important role in our western societies than the how. The reasons for this are huge but one influence certainly seems to be gradual loss in experiential Dharma. Over the last few hundred years the role of Dharma in our everyday lives has reduced. It has become an idealist theory that people think about. We don't live it, but simply think it. We now and again pop into the religious places of worship and if we're open enough, feel inspired and uplifted. But our habitual day-to-day activities take over soon after. They take over because we have no daily spiritual practice.

With the loss of this we have lost the knowledge of what it means to live Dharma. Obsession with power, control and the ego take the reigns and has now lead organised religion to be thought of as narrow minded, political and external. The paradox is that religion is about returning to the origin, to our origin, our higher conscious, the divine. We are God but we have forgotten that.

The thing is we don't like to simply go back to the experience because now, it has to make 'sense'. It has to fulfil our 'why' questions to stand a chance of changing our behaviour. Its a funny paradox because in an age where we ask why to everything which might challenge our habitual behaviour, we are happy to drink away the problems, get absolutely drunk and act in completely irrational and emotional ways in name of 'fun'. Fortunately, science explains our world, and spirituality is part of that world. So beginning with the questions of why, will eventually end up in the 'how'. Although not fully there yet, the boundaries of science, philosophy and spirituality are gradually merging. I genuinely strive to understand scientifically how these spiritual things work and this knowledge simply adds to my fascination with the 'how'. When you experience you know it works. The why just makes it easier to explain to others and yourself.

Its easy to think science provides us with progress and is more important than how to live a religious/spiritual/dharmic life. Don't get me wrong, its amazing! Its allowed us to as humans shape the world we live in and have all these cool things like the Wii!! But we have to remember to make progress in internally understanding ourselves, within our selves.

We are living in a very fortunate time. We are able to ask why and get empirically proven answers. But until we integrate our spiritual practice into our lives we'll simply not progress spiritually and spiritual progression is part of being a human. Of course that's until we hit our next evolutionary jump as humans and become far more aware of our spiritual selves!

Lets not be afraid of change. We should embrace it. Expand the thirst to understand our environment to our own souls and use religion and science together to progress in a balanced way.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." - Charles Darwin