I at first believed that a still mind is absolutely silent and devoid of everything and anything. I eventually came to accept that a silent mind is alert to surroundings. A silent mind is devoid of judging, clinging, rejecting, comparing. The silent mind is free from hatred, anger, jealousy, confusion and conflict. I began to understand in time that stillness of mind refers to inner peace and serenity and that there may be thoughts of love and kindness or other positive thoughts that do not at all detract from the stillness of connectivity. What I want in fact is connectivity. Being devoid of everything and anything is not the point of stillness at all. The point is connection to everything that is loving.
I’ll begin with a short story that Eckhart Tolle likes to tell:
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Two Zen monks, Tanzan and Ekido, were walking along a country road that had become extremely wet with mud and deep puddles after heavy rains. .
Near a village, they came upon a girl who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep. it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side. .
The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were approaching the lodging temple, Ekido couldn’t restrain himself any longer. He finally snapped, “Tanzan, why did you carry that girl across the road? We monks are not supposed to hold girls like that.” .
“I put the girl down hours ago,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her Ekido?” . .
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Sometime I just go with what the expert says. In this case, I have a few clarifying paragraphs.
The story that Tolle relates is used to illustrate a point that we have a vulnerability protection system. He calls it the ego.
I just want to clarify what happened (in this story).
First, the mind is not who we/you are. However, the body believes whatever thoughts that mind allows. Thus as the information is processed in the body, it actually changes subtly the body; the brain and molecules, etc… we know there are chemicals and brain waves and signals being transmitted throughout the brain-heart-gut-body (form, aka. mind-body, un-awakened consciousness). The information, together with form, is ever changing. Thinking, therefore, requiring time, occurs in form (as interpretations of information / consciousness) … not in a/the single unchanging mind (divine mind).
This is confusing and difficult when there is an upset.
In the story, Ekido believes that Tanzan did wrong by carrying the girl. The monks have been walking for a long time when Ekido finally tires of his burden. Ekido has been carrying his belief of the wrongness for hours. He’s been feeling upset. Finally, he relieves himself of this upset by confronting Tanzan rather than himself. He might have said right away to Tanzan, “I got uncomfortable with what happened. What is bothering me is my thinking that it was wrong. We are not supposed to hold women. Still, no harm came of it. She clearly needed some help. I ought to get over this.”
Instead, Ekido allows the disturbance to grow into greater discomfort. He begins to believe that Tanzan is the cause of his discomfort.
Negative thinking about it may have seemed to be the best thing. However, negativity attracts more negativity and the mind then is left feeling badly and having a pressing urge to find some relief. Typically, a person acts out when under this sort of pressure. If there is someone else that can be blamed, that seems the right thing then to do. The upset gets taken over by the body’s pain management system — the source of the pain being out there, Ekido accuses his friend of doing a wrong.
Ekido unknowingly was maintaining a separation from the present moment while he was feeling disturbed. This gets tiring. The disturbance feeds into a delusion that Tanzan is responsible for the upset. His mind is unable to break free of the discomfort while ruminating about the past event. Finally his mind then convinced him that the problem can be fixed by blaming Tanzan. Fortunately Tanzan feels free to accept that Ekido is needlessly upset and his reply is matter-of-fact rather than defensive. If Ekido wants to think excessively, he may. The thinking was tiring his mind. Since the incident is past and Tanzan was free of it when he put the girl down, Ekido wasted his time carrying the upset for miles.
There are two parts to Ekido’s problem. First off, he is excessively thinking.
. Here is a training video by Eckhart Tolle… “How do we break the habit of excessive thinking?”
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Eckhart explores excessive (addiction to) thinking, offering a handful of ways to put the stop to thoughts and to choose presence of now instead. When body sends a signal, mind gets a thought. You may allow this or you may choose to diminish the thought by coming back to the presence of now.
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A second problem for Ekido is that he didn’t have any control to change what upset him since the upset is about Tanzan’s action. The inner dialog lead to excessive thinking about something that was beyond his control. Some of us spend our time when dealing with people trying to change circumstance that are beyond our control. This is, it turns out, usually just a waste of time and energy.
We may even threaten, scold, manipulate, coerce, bully, plead, beg, shout, pout, bribe or try anything to make a situation go the “right” way — often, only to see things getting progressively worse before they get better. Since negativity attracts more negativity this is quite stressful and the mind-body then is left feeling badly.
Peace is my goal and tolerance, acceptance, compassion, genuine concern and loving presence is my way to get this. Getting better at this began for me with reducing stress and finding inner peace. I began to understand that I was reactive to the content of my life situations and that I was sacrificing sanity this way. Self-will was inadequate. Controlling my surroundings by exercising self-will was not healthy. I began to look for solutions and I found that there are hundreds of great ways to reduce stress and gain personal freedom. Today’s second video may help you to gain some peace of mind for dealing with stress.
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“How to live without Stress in your day-to-day life”
by Eckhart Tolle
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Learning how to achieve peaceful living may be much eased by knowing how to live without reacting to the “content” of our lives. There may be realization that the form of thought need not make a home in me as a lasting identity.
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I hope you find this training useful. I added some more in the comments section and there are additional related articles listed too.
Need help or want to collaborate with me?
e-mail me at thehunt4truth@yahoo.com
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.” ~ Lao Tzu
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good and honest
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Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained. ~ Lao Tzu
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I like these teachings; the Tao Te Ching speaks to everybody on different levels. The book is felt rather than understood. Empty yourself and let the mind be still. This is the way that opens onto the mystery of the empty vessel that is used but that is never filled. Love the world as your own self and then you can truly care for all things.
I haven’t worked out all yet of my self-sabotage; reading of Tao passages is definitely helpful. Sometimes, I tend to be philosophical to have no action. Usually though, I like to immerse myself in Tao passages for the reason of relaxing and to enjoy being. Isn’t that action?
NOTE: The Tao Te Ching is not a religious study. Unlike Taoism, Zen is philosophical. However, Zen philosophies were greatly influenced by Taoists. Zen is the Chinese Taoist philosophy with its central image of “yin and yang” which are Tao.
Mind is expression of Energy originating from beyond the limits of space-time through the information layers of consciousness.
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Most of this post is from work
by Eckhart Tolle.
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Eckhart Tolle is asked, “Is the ego the source of our thoughts or are our thoughts generated elsewhere and pass through the ego?”
Tolle begins, “There is no ego apart from thoughts. The identification with thoughts is ego. But the thoughts that go through your mind, of course, are linked to the collective mind of the culture you live in, humanity as a whole, so they are not your thoughts as such, but you pick most of them up from the collective (most of them). And so, you identify with thinking and the identification with thinking becomes ego, which means simply that you believe in every thought that arises and you derive your sense of who you are from what your mind is telling you who you are. Opinions, viewpoints, ‘that’s me.’”
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Did the universe make a mistake with the ego?
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“The realm of consciousness is much vaster than thought can grasp. When you no longer believe everything you think, you step out of thought and see clearly that the thinker is not who you are.”
The ego arises out of the state of identification with thought. The moment of freedom arises when we realize that we are not our thoughts—rather, we are the awareness. .
Eckhart, Could you elaborate on ego versus healthy self-esteem? How do you know when higher consciousness guides you? How do we break the habit of excessive thinking? What is music and why is it so important to us?Why Does the ego put up such a fight? Do you ever regret what you say? Do we have a choice in suffering?
For two years, a small man sits quietly on a park bench. People walk by, lost in their thoughts. One day someone asks him a question. In the weeks that follow there are more people and more questions. Word spreads that the man is a “mystic,” and has discovered something that brings peace and meaning into our lives. It sounds like fiction, but today that man, Eckhart Tolle, is known worldwide for his teachings on spiritual enlightenment through the power of the present moment. Read more.
The ego has the benefit of beliefs that will sustain it until I am dead. How much power will we wrest from each other is in the balance each moment. My day-to-day life is where it seems that the match occurs. Yet, really this is a match of mind and consciousness. One is eternal and all powerful. The other is temporary and yet seems all powerful. The ego makes its points by turning away in fear from love. The mind makes its points by looking through the anxious devastation of fear to see an outcome that is beyond the space-time present; manifest in the design of this universe, yet largely unknown to me.
I know that I am changing and according to what I am reading, so is my brain and my body adapting too. I wanted to learn how mindfulness is aiding me; spiritually, and how mindfulness and meditation and praying stimulate physical changes, so, I’d been posting on this as I was learning more.
Often, I’m told that prayer is all that is necessary for spiritual growth. I cannot disagree. However, I need stillness away from the ego to be able to do this. I put my mind to learning to want meditation time and I began to know the God of my youth, in a relevant and deep Christian way, as I pursued the practices of meditation. Later I began to experience the stillness and being in the flow, in the present of now, for periods of connecting but in still, timeless, moments. These experiences brought me to want to be joy as well as being softening humility and compassion for others.
The ego that Tolle describes is cunning and powerful and this is the ego that I discovered that I am otherwise unable to escape. It runs by fear, primal instinct, and it is a cunning foe, this arcane chameleon foe of personality shifting identities.
I’ve taught in programs that serve people that dissociate. So, I’ve read about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Identity Disorders; always… have for years now. It may be, I am sure more than suspect, that mindfulness is a tremendous beneficial practice for people that suffer from PTSD and ego fragmenting dissociate disorders. The techniques are being researched and there is new hope for vets and abuse victims. The problems of PTSD and for others that dissociate are deeply attached to subconscious ego defense mechanisms that are hardly yet understood. With Tolle’s teachings and with mindfulness practices, there is great hope.
I already know from research and seeing people get well that these practices are greatly benefiting people that suffer from anxiety and depression.
Discover your divinity, find your unique talent, serve humanity with it, and begin to experience your life as a miraculous expression of divinity — not just occasionally, but all the time. You are to know true joy and the true meaning of success — the ecstasy and exultation of your own spirit.
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Everyone has a purpose in life
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a unique gift
or special talent
to give to others.
And when we blend this unique talent
with service to others,
we experience the ecstasy
and exultation of our own spirit,
which is
the ultimate goal
of all goals.
When you work
you are a flute
through whose heart
the whispering of the hours
turns to music.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth
with threads drawn
from your heart,
even as if
your beloved were to wear that cloth
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— Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
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This is the seventh Deepak Chopra law for success from his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.
If you’d like,
open the series
from its beginning point
or continue along from here.
Each skill builds on the previous skill.
If you want to make maximum use of the Law of Purpose, then you will make several commitments. The first commitment is: I am going to seek my higher self, which is beyond my ego, through spiritual practice.
The second commitment is: I am going to discover my unique talents, and finding my unique talents, I am going to enjoy myself, because the process of enjoyment occurs when I go into timeless awareness. That’s when I am in a state of bliss.
The third commitment is: I am going to ask myself how I am best suited to serve humanity.
According to this law, you have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing your specific talent. There is something that you can do better than most anyone else in the world — and for every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative expression of your talent, that is the spark that makes you right to fulfill your purpose.
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I will put the Law of Purpose (Dharma) into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
(1) Today I will pay attention to the spirit within me that animates both my body and my mind. I will awaken myself to this deep stillness within my heart. I will carry the consciousness of timeless, eternal Being in the midst of time-bound experience.
(2) I will make a list of my unique talents. Then I will list all the things that I love to do while expressing my unique talents. When 1 express my unique talents and use them in the service of humanity, I lose track of time and create abundance in my life as well as in the lives of others.
(3) I will ask myself daily, “How can I serve?” and “How can I help?” The answers to these questions will allow me to help and serve my fellow human beings with love.
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Summary of the 7 Laws The universal mind choreographs everything that is happening in billions of galaxies with elegant precision and unfaltering intelligence. Its intelligence is ultimate and supreme, and it permeates every fiber of existence. Everything that is alive is an expression of this intelligence.
Every cell has its birth in the Law of Pure Potentiality. DNA is a perfect example of pure potentiality; in fact, it is the material expression of pure potentiality. The same DNA existing in every cell expresses itself in different ways in order to fulfill the unique requirements of that particular cell. Each cell also operates through the Law of Giving. A cell is alive and healthy when it is in a state of balance and equilibrium. This state of equilibrium is one of fulfillment and harmony, but it is maintained by a constant give and take. Each cell gives to and supports every other cell, and in turn is nourished by every other cell. The cell is always in a state of dynamic flow and the flow is never interrupted. In fact, the flow is the very essence of the life of the cell. And only by maintaining this flow of giving is the cell able to receive and thus continue its vibrant existence.
The Law of Cause and Effect is exquisitely executed by every cell, because built into its intelligence is the most appropriate and precisely correct response to every situation as it occurs. The Law of Least Effort is also exquisitely executed by every cell in the body: it does its job with quiet efficiency in the state of restful alertness.
Through the Law of Intention and Desire, every intention of every cell harnesses the infinite organizing power of nature’s intelligence. Even a simple intention such as metabolizing a molecule of sugar immediately sets off a symphony of events in the body where precise amounts of hormones have to be secreted at precise moments to convert this molecule of sugar into pure creative energy.
Of course, every cell expresses the Law of Detachment. It is detached from the outcome of its intentions. It doesn’t stumble or falter because its behavior is a function of life-centered, present-moment awareness.
Each cell also expresses the Law of Dharma. Each cell must discover its own source, the higher self; it must serve its fellow beings, and express its unique talents. Heart cells, stomach cells, and immune cells all have their source in the higher self, the field of pure potentiality. And because they are directly linked to this cosmic computer, they can express their unique talents with effortless ease and timeless awareness. Only by expressing their unique talents can they maintain both their own integrity and the integrity of the whole body.
The internal dialogue of every cell in the human body is, “How can I help?” The heart cells want to help the immune cells, the immune cells want to help the stomach and lung cells, and the brain cells are listening to and helping every other cell. Every cell in the human body has only one function: to help every other cell.
By looking at the behavior of the cells of our own body, we can observe the most extraordinary and efficient expression of The Seven Spiritual Laws. This is the genius of nature’s intelligence.
In the series, I used descriptions and text from Chopra almost exclusively — because his work works as he wrote it. I just want to add this:
This is the language of God. If you begin with this and prayers and meditation to build a positive inner serene peaceful outlook then you are on your way to a deep understanding of the profound mysteries in life. The miracles — the seemingly supernatural occurrences — are natural — not really so unusual; not at all. If your science or if your education tells you otherwise, let it go — it may be flawed. You don’t need it if it isn’t bringing you inner peace, happiness, joy, and freedom to be who you are intended to be. The realization that you can be, do, and have the genuine you is extraordinary and exhilarating. Listen to your heart and when it tells you to get more positive, do that. You are meant to know your maker. This series is only about love. Do it that way.
Deepak Chopra observes in his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, that desperate striving isn’t necessary or even desirable. To the contrary, this law says that in order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it.
This doesn’t mean that you must give up the intention to create your desire.
You give up your attachment to the result.
This is a very powerful thing to do.
The moment you relinquish your attachment to the result, combining one-pointed intention with detachment at the same time, you will have that which you desire. Anything you want can be acquired through detachment, because detachment is based on the unquestioning belief in the power of your true Self. Attachment comes from poverty consciousness, because attachment is always to symbols.
From his book, “The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success“ — Chopra lays out another of seven laws of spiritual success — The Law of Detachment — one each day is recommended.
If you’d like, open the series from its beginning point or continue along here, the sixth day in the series. Each skill builds on the previous skill.
Detachment is synonymous with wealth consciousness, because with detachment there is freedom to create. True wealth consciousness is the ability to have anything you want, anytime you want, and with least effort.
In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty . . . in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.
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Put the Law of Detachment into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps:
1. Today I will commit myself to detachment. I will allow myself and those around me the freedom to be as they are. I will not rigidly impose my idea of how things should be. I will not force solutions on problems, thereby creating new problems. I will participate in everything with detached involvement.
2. Today I will factor in uncertainty as an essential ingredient of my experience. In my willingness to accept uncertainty, solutions will spontaneously emerge out of the problem, out of the confusion, disorder, and chaos. The more uncertain things seem to be, the more secure I will feel, because uncertainty is my path to freedom. Through the wisdom of uncertainty, I will find my security.
3. I will step into the field of all possibilities and anticipate the excitement that can occur when I remain open to an infinity of choices. When I step into the field of all possibilities, I will experience all the fun, adventure, magic, and mystery of life.
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December is self-improvement month at this blog — let’s all get in touch with our best true selves and make this our month to end the year at our best. I’ll feature lots of content to improve the inner and outer us. Check back frequently.
From his book, “The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success“ — Chopra lays out another of seven laws of spiritual success — The Law of Intention — practicing one each day is recommended.
If you’d like, open the series from its beginning point or continue along here, the fifth day in the series.
Everything we do and think affects the people in our lives and their reactions in turn affect others. Getting every day grounded in a solution for my whole self is essential, I think. Thus, I declared for myself that December is a month for self-improvements. Thanks for looking in on my blog. I hope this post is helpful for you personally or someone that you know.
There is always abundant energy and information necessary for creating. We are so fortunate of being capable to accept training of our minds to become consciously aware of the abundance of energy and information. The lesson today is about tuning toward this energy and information to accept the tremendous enlightenment of effortless living in abundance.
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The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
The seven spiritual laws aren’t difficult or mysterious but are easy to understand and to apply. Dedicate each day of the week to one of the seven spiritual laws. Develop a daily practice in which you meditate or take a few moments to quiet your mind, and then read the spiritual law of the day and practice applying it throughout the day.
The Law of Intention (and desire) Inherent in every intention and desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment . . . intention and desire in the field of pure potentiality have infinite organizing power. And when we introduce an intention in the fertile ground of pure potentiality, we put this infinite organizing power to work for us.
This law is based on the fact that energy and information exist everywhere in nature. A flower, a rainbow, a tree, a human body, when broken down to their essential components are energy and information. The whole universe, in its essential nature, is the movement of energy and information. The only difference between you and a tree is the informational and energy content of your respective bodies. You can consciously change the energy and informational content of your own quantum mechanical body, and therefore influence the energy and informational content of your extended body—your environment, your world—and cause things to manifest in it. Intention lays the groundwork for the effortless, spontaneous, frictionless flow of pure potentiality.
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Put the Law of Intention into effect making a commitment to the following steps:
1. I will make a list of all my desires. I will carry this list with me wherever I go. I will look at this list before I go into my silence and meditation. I will look at it before I go to sleep at night. I will look at it when I wake up in the morning.
2. I will release this list of my desires and surrender it to the womb of creation, trusting that when things don’t seem to go my way, there is a reason, and that the cosmic plan has designs for me much grander than even those I have conceived.
3. I will remind myself to practice present-moment awareness in all my actions. I will refuse to allow obstacles to consume and dissipate the quality of my attention in the present moment. I will accept the present as it is, and manifest the future through my deepest, most cherished intentions and desires.
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Mind Body Spirit Wellbeing Longevity and Health with Deepak Chopra The Atlantic Meets the Pacific 2013
Steve Clemons (re book: Super Brain)
conference interview (begins at 2:10)
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December is self-improvement month at this blog — let’s all get in touch with our best true selves and make this our month to end the year at our best. I’ll feature lots of content to improve the inner and outer us. Check back frequently.
“Get out of your head and into the moment.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
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This post is from work
by Eckhart Tolle
“The past has no power over the present moment.”
What does this mean?
Observe Your Mind Do you complain about yourself, for example, how useless you are? When you hear in your mind repetitive thoughts, you may realize, “I’ve been thinking these same thoughts again and again (almost every day lately) without really knowing it.” Allowing futile regrets, hurts and resentments, bitterness and frustrations to dominate the present moment closes us off from living enjoyably. The repetition of negative thoughts destroy joy, happiness, peace of mind — serenity. We need to stop harming ourselves.
Distinguish Between the Voice of Ego and the Actual Situation Becoming free of destructive ego thoughts comes by way of a dawning of new awareness, first of the happening of this and next by taking action that is freeing. It is in these moments that you realize that your thoughts — and the negative emotions they produce — are dysfunctional. They are unnecessary. You were irritated by what your ego-mind began telling you about a situation. Perhaps instead, you could actually be enjoying that moment. This is the dawning of a new awareness.
Let Go of Limiting Stories We devise and cling on to fairy tales of supposed happiness. We hold on also to futile regrets. Its time to let go and to focus instead on what is actually happening; without judgment.
Bring In Your Awareness When you see the difference between your voice and the reality of the situation, that’s the moment of awakening. Recognizing that the torturous thinking is unnecessary is freeing of itself.
Lay Down Your Defenses Your challenge will be to become more aligned internally with the present moment and of making choices of neutrality in the present moment. Fighting with your ego by self-will just makes the ego stronger. Surrender to being present. Coming into enjoyment will follow from this with practice. Take time in the morning and at night before retiring to enjoy some freedom from the ego mind.
The following are helpful recordings and lessons by Eckhart Tolle.
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Eckhart Tolle – Silence and Stillness from ‘Stillness Speaks’ by Eckhart Tolle Stillness is your essential nature. What is stillness? The inner space or awareness in which the words on this page are being perceived and become thoughts. Without that awareness, there would be no perception, no thoughts, no world. You are that awareness, disguised as a person. When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world. Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.
The equivalent of external noise is the inner noise of thinking. The equivalent of external silence is inner stillness. Whenever there is some silence around you — listen to it. That means just notice it. Pay attention to it. Listening to silence awakens the dimension of stillness within yourself, because it is only through stillness that you can be aware of silence. See that in the moment of noticing the silence around you, you are not thinking. You are aware, but not thinking.
When you become aware of silence, immediately there is that state of inner still alertness. You are present. You have stepped out of thousands of years of collective human conditioning.
Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.
When you look at a tree and perceive its stillness, you become still yourself. You connect with it at a very deep level. You feel a oneness with whatever you perceive in and through stillness. Feeling the oneness of yourself with all things is true love.
Silence is helpful, but you don’t need it in order to find stillness. Even when there is noise, you can be aware of the stillness underneath the noise, of the space in which the noise arises. That is the inner space of pure awareness, consciousness itself.
You can become aware of awareness as the background to all your sense perceptions, all your thinking. Becoming aware of awareness is the arising of inner stillness.
Any disturbing noise can be as helpful as silence. How? By dropping your inner resistance to the noise, by allowing it to be as it is, this acceptance also takes you into that realm of inner peace that is stillness.
Whenever you deeply accept this moment as it is — no matter what form it takes — you are still, you are at peace.
Pay attention to the gap — the gap between two thoughts, the brief, silent space between words in a conversation, between the notes of a piano or flute, or the gap between the in-breath and out-breath.
When you pay attention to those gaps, awareness of “something” becomes — just awareness. The formless dimension of pure consciousness arises from within you and replaces identification with form.
True intelligence operates silently. Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found.
Is stillness just the absence of noise and content? No, it is intelligence itself — the underlying consciousness out of which every form is born. And how could that be separate from who you are? The form that you think you are came out of that and is being sustained by it.
It is the essence of all galaxies and blades of grass; of all flowers, trees, birds, and all other forms.
Stillness is the only thing in this world that has no form. But then, it is not really a thing, and it is not of this world.
When you look at a tree or a human being in stillness, who is looking? Something deeper than the person. Consciousness is looking at its creation.
In the Bible, it says that God created the world and saw that it was good. That is what you are to see when you look from stillness without thought.
Do you need more knowledge? Is more information going to save the world, or faster computers, more scientific or intellectual analysis? Is it not wisdom that humanity needs most at this time?
But what is wisdom and where is it to be found? Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and just listen. The truth will come to you as needed. No more effort is needed. Being still, looking, and listening activates non-conceptual intelligence within you. Let this stillness direct your words and actions. You will grow in this wisdom in time. It will be with you and you will be enjoyment.
This post continues to cover another of Chopra’s seven laws of spiritual success that are detailed in his book, “The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success“ — practicing one each day is recommended. If you’d like, open the series from its beginning point or continue along here, the fourth day in the series.
Many of us grew up with the belief that achieving success requires relentless hard work, grim determination and intense ambition. As a result, we may have struggled for years and even reached some of our goals but wound up feeling exhausted, our lives out of balance. Such desperate striving isn’t necessary or even desirable. In the natural world, creation comes forth with ease. A seed doesn’t struggle to become a tree―it simply unfolds in grace.
The seven spiritual laws aren’t difficult or mysterious but are easy to understand and to apply. Dedicate each day of the week to one of the seven spiritual laws. Develop a daily practice in which you meditate or take a few moments to quiet your mind, and then read the spiritual law of the day and practice applying it throughout the day.
The Law of Least Effort Nature’s intelligence functions with effortless ease . . . with carefreeness, harmony, and love. And when we harness the forces of harmony, joy, and love, we create success and good fortune with effortless ease.
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Put the Law of Least Effort into effect making a
commitment to the following steps:
1. Practice Acceptance. Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. I will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete. I accept things as they are this moment, not as I wish they were.
2. Having accepted things as they are, take responsibility for any and all those events that seem to be problems. I know that taking responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for my situation (and this includes myself). I also know that every problem is an opportunity in disguise, and this alertness to opportunities allows me to take this moment and transform it into a greater benefit.
3. Today my awareness will remain established in Defenselessness. I will relinquish the need to defend my point of view. I will feel no need to convince or persuade others to accept my point of view. I will remain open to all points of view and not be rigidly attached to any one of them.
December is self-improvement month at this blog — let’s all get in touch with our best true selves and make this our month to end the year at our best. I’ll feature lots of content to improve the inner and outer us. Check back frequently.
This post covers Chopra’s Law of Cause and Effect from his seven laws of spiritual success that are detailed in his book, “The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success“ — practicing one each day is recommended. If you’d like, open the series from its beginning point or continue along here, the third day in the series.
Law of Cause and Effect This is commonly understood even in the West as Karma. “Karma” is both action and the consequence of that action; it is cause and effect simultaneously, because every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in kind.
Everyone recalls the expression, “What you sow is what you reap.” If we want to create happiness in our lives, we must learn to sow the seeds of happiness.
We must become consciously aware that the future is generated by the choices we are making in every moment of life.
Do this on a regular basis, making full use of this law. The more you bring your choices into conscious awareness, the more you will make those choices which are spontaneously correct — both for you and for those around you.
The energy flow of life is a harmonious interaction of all the elements and forces that structure the field of existence — that maintain reality. Because your body and your mind and the universe are in constant and dynamic change, stopping the circulation of energy is like stopping the flow of blood. Whenever blood stops flowing, it begins to clot, to stagnate. That is why you must give and receive in order to keep anything you want circulating in your life. Thus, the more you give, the more you will receive.
Deepak Chopra defines success as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals. This definition is quite different to society’s rules for success, which is almost always connected to material gain or external recognition. Although these things are often the result of success, it is by no means the cause or even the definition of success.
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The abundance of the universe is circulating in our lives. When choosing actions that bring happiness and success to others, the result is that happiness and success abound.
Here are three steps for putting the Law into effect:
1. Today I will witness the choices I make in each moment. And in the mere witnessing of these choices, I will bring them to my conscious awareness. I will know that the best way to prepare for any moment in the future is to be fully conscious in the present.
2. Whenever I make a choice, I will ask myself two questions: “What are the consequences of this choice that I’m making?” and “Will this choice bring fulfillment and happiness to me and also to those who are affected by this choice?”
3. I will then ask my heart for guidance and be guided by its message of comfort or discomfort. If the choice feels comfortable, I will plunge ahead with abandon. If the choice feels uncomfortable, I will pause and see the consequences of my action with my inner vision. This guidance will enable me to make spontaneously correct choices for myself and for all those around me.
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The Secret of Creativity
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Program Description
Deepak Chopra explores the dynamics of a creative life and relationship of creativity and age (we don’t have to lose imagination as we grow older). How do you keep your creative spirit alive even as you progress further into adulthood? Rediscover plasticity.
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You’ll possibly enjoy the debate and comments in “what danger?” where Chopra and Dawkins debate on consciousness and the origin of mankind and so on.
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December is self-improvement month at this blog — let’s all get in touch with our best true selves and make this our month to end the year at our best. I’ll feature lots of content to improve the inner and outer us. Check back frequently.
This post covers Chopra’s Law of Giving from his seven laws of spiritual success that are detailed in his book, “The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success“ — practicing one each day is recommended.
If you’d like, open the series from its beginning point or continue along here, the second day in the series.
Law of Giving Energy exchange appears to be the single most important and central law of all because everything directly or indirectly needs appropriate exchanges or transfers of energy for either sustainability or to grow/expand. The universe operates through dynamic exchange — flow of matter and energy.
The flow of life is nothing other than the harmonious interaction of all the elements and forces that structure the field of existence. Because your body and your mind and the universe are in constant and dynamic change, stopping the circulation of energy is like stopping the flow of blood. Whenever blood stops flowing, it begins to clot, to stagnate. That is why you must give and receive in order to keep wealth and affluence—or anything you want—circulating in your life. Thus, the more you give, the more you will receive.
Deepak Chopra defines success as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals. This definition is quite different to society’s rules for success, which is almost always connected to material gain or external recognition. Although these things are often the result of success, it is by no means the cause or even the definition of success.
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The following are Chopra’s three steps for the willingness to give that which we seek — the abundance of the universe that is circulating in our lives.
1. Wherever I go, and whomever I encounter, I will bring them a gift. The gift may be a compliment, a flower, or a prayer. Today, I will give something to everyone I come into contact with, and so I will begin the process of circulating joy, wealth and affluence in my life and in the lives of others.
2. Today I will gratefully receive all the gifts that life has to offer me. I will receive the gifts of nature: sunlight and the sound of birds singing, or spring showers or the first snow of winter. I will also be open to receiving from others, whether it be in the form of a material gift, money, a compliment or a prayer.
3. I will make a commitment to keep wealth circulating in my life by giving and receiving life’s most precious gifts: the gifts of caring, affection, appreciation and love. Each time I meet someone, I will silently wish them happiness, joy and laughter.
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You’ll possibly enjoy the debate and comments in “what danger?” where Chopra and Dawkins debate on consciousness and the origin of mankind and so on.
December is self-improvement month at this blog — let’s all get in touch with our best true selves and make this our month to end the year at our best. I’ll feature lots of content to improve the inner and outer us. Check back frequently.
There is always abundant energy and information necessary for creating joy and happiness, peace and serenity. We are so fortunate of being capable to accept training of our minds to become consciously aware of this abundance.
From Deepak Chopra’s book, “The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success“ — this is the first of the seven laws of spiritual success — The Law of Pure Potentiality — practicing one each day is recommended.
If you’d like an
introduction,
the series begins here: Spiritual Laws
Law of Pure Potentiality This law is based on the fact that we are, in our essential state, pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is pure potentiality; it is the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. When you discover your essential nature and know who you really are, in that knowing itself is the ability to fulfill any dream you have, because you are the eternal possibility, the immeasurable potential of all that was, is and will be. One way to access the field is through the daily practice of silence, meditation and non-judgment. Spending time in nature will also give you access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite creativity, freedom and bliss.
Deepak Chopra defines success as the continued expansion of happiness and the progressive realization of worthy goals. This definition is quite different to society’s rules for success, which is almost always connected to material gain or external recognition. Although these things are often the result of success, it is by no means the cause or even the definition of success.
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1. I will get in touch with the field of pure potentiality by taking time each day to be silent, to just Be. I will also sit alone in silent meditation at least twice a day for approximately thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the evening.
2. I will take time each day to commune with nature and to silently witness the intelligence within every living thing. I will sit silently and watch a sunset, or listen to the sound of the ocean or a stream, or simply smell the scent of a flower. In the ecstasy of my own silence, and by communing with nature, I will enjoy the life throb of ages, the field of pure potentiality and unbounded creativity.
3. I will practice non-judgment. I will begin my day with the statement, “Today, I shall judge nothing that occurs,” and throughout the day I will remind myself not to judge.
This post is from Chopra’s book,
“The 7 Laws of Spiritual Success“
Practicing one each day is recommended.
Deepak Chopra about resting and playing:
Rest and play are not luxuries. It is part of our destiny to simply be. It is becoming more understood that play, rest, rejuvenation and celebration cultivate and inspire some of our best ideas.
When we are relaxing and playing, we are engaged in the here and now and more open to the ideas that come to us from pure consciousness. When we let go and have fun, we release all sense of ego and all the ‘shoulds’ that can creep into our lives. Opening the door for the creative spirit to flourish.
Play is so important in helping us find our true purpose in life. When we dance through life like children, engaged in activities that truly delight us, we open our minds and hearts to the essence of pure consciousness. When we play, we lose all track of time and are absorbed completely in the present moment.
Our best creative ideas come to us when we are delighted. Our minds are free to roam and explore. We are wide open and the world is at our feet – ours to enjoy.
Rest is equally important. As a society, we tend to be chronically sleep deprived and sometimes even proud of it since it indicates a busy life and total dedication to our work. But true dedication requires balancing the brain for optimal performance which includes rest in the form of sleep, and spending time in meditation. Connecting with the stillness of meditation, playfully engaging with nature, life and those around us, and making sure that we get adequate sleep are the perfect recipe for self care. These practices recharge and revitalize us, paving the way for creative inspiration and truth to enter our lives.
You’ll possibly enjoy the debate and comments in “what danger?” where Chopra and Dawkins debate on consciousness and the origin of mankind and so on.
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December is self-improvement month at this blog — let’s all get in touch with our best true selves and make this our month to end the year at our best. I’ll feature lots of content to improve the inner and outer us. Check back frequently.
Program Description
In this interview Dr. Dean Radin talks with Merryn Jose about the topics of entanglement, psi phenomena in science, quantum physics and more! Dr. Radin is Laboratory Director at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California. He worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories and GTE Laboratories on telecommunications systems, and for nearly two decades he has conducted research on psychic phenomena in academia and in three Silicon Valley think tanks. At Stanford Research Institute he served as a scientist on a highly classified program investigating psi phenomena for the U.S. government. He is the author of The Conscious Universe and Entangled Minds and has appeared in the movie What The Bleep Do We Know?!- Down The Rabbit Hole Extended Director’s Cut. (Merlian News)
I want to share this additional find with you:
Program Description Jill Price cannot forget anything in her life. This is a 20/20 investigative report about Jill and her condition known as hyperthymesia or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM). The gift of a perfect memory remains a scientific mystery.
As I’ve declared on my front page, “In my opinion there is a beginning and an end, but there is uncertainty in between. Its this in between where we find that we have a great need for each other. In the end we are all again one and there nothing is impossible.”
How can information be correlated at a distance without energy transferred between the two points? Do microscopic entanglements “scale up” into our macroscopic world? Is Jill’s memory related to the investigations being discussed by Radin with Merryn Jose (first video)?
Come back often as I seek expert opinions and to figure out these and other mysteries. Would you like to explore a unique perspective about time and consciousness here (because this is pretty wild stuff)?
Oh yes, I’m back on happiness and changing your DNA and your brain chemistry too; and so I’m taking a closer look with my new friend Matthieu Ricard from his Google Tech Talks in 2007 at how to re-program brains. His lecture is stored in the Youtube video library (its so nice to browse Youtube occasionally–well, actually, I do daily).
A healthy mind should act like a mirror – faces can be reflected in a glass but none of them stick. Use the same technique with thoughts – let them pass through your mind but don’t dwell.
It’s impossible to stop thoughts from coming but focusing on a particular sound or the breath going in and out calms the mind, giving greater clarity. Controlling the mind is not about reducing your freedom, it’s about not being a slave to your thoughts. Think of it as directing your mind like a boat rather than drifting.
Be mindful – pay attention to the sensations of your breath going in and out. If you notice your mind wandering simply bring it back to focusing on your breath. This is known as mindfulness. You can apply it to other sensations to bring you into the ‘now’ rather than dwelling on the past or future. You could focus instead on heat, cold and sounds that you hear.
Once you’ve achieved some skill in this you can use that to cultivate qualities such as kindness, or dealing with disturbing emotions. He says everyone has felt all-consuming love but usually it lasts for about 15 seconds, but you can hold on and nurture this vivid feeling by focusing on it in meditation. If you feel it becoming vague you can consciously revive it.
Like when playing the piano, practicing the feeling for 20minutes has a far greater impact over time than a few seconds. Regular practice is also needed like watering a plant.
You can then use meditation to gain some space from negative emotions. Ricard says: ‘You can look at your experience like a fire that burns. If you are aware of anger you are not angry you are aware. Being aware of anxiety is not being anxious it is being aware.’ By being aware of these emotions you are no longer adding fuel to their fire and they will burn down.
You will see benefits in stress levels and general wellbeing as well as brain changes with regular practice in a month. Those who say they don’t have enough time to meditate should look at the benefits: ‘If it gives you the resources to deal with everything else during the other 23 hours and 30minutes, it seems a worthy way of spending 20 minutes,’ Ricard says.
A friend wants to know if I’m still Christian. YES, I am. Everything that I’m referring to from science and new age and Buddhist teachers is complimentary with Jesus’s teachings. I posted a couple of the most important Christian practices–in my opinion, 1 John (NIV) and the Our Father prayer are essential in Christian belief.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Soninto the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
I’m working on this and on how consciousness works. Don’t miss it.
Memories are powerful — but they change… so, I set out to learn all there is to know. This will take considerable time; meantime, I’m reporting as I go. I’ve uncovered some rewarding findings including why telling another person about your anger, fear, even a phobia is part of a powerful healing technique.
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awakening a new future
Recalled memories are reconstructions of events, situations, thoughts, ideas, and so on. Memories are not an actual record of what happened. Additionally, your own experience tells you that memories need not even be at all accurate. In some cases though, we “think” a memory is accurate and yet find out sometime later that this is not true. It proves out to be that exploring of memories is a way to heal. There is a reason of the physical laws of the universe for this is what eventually that I’ll explore.
There may be an image copyright
In fact, taking this just a bit further, you’ll realize that reviewing a memory creates a new memory… the very act of remembering changes memories; in treatment, perhaps substantially. My friend; so, a past memory is REALLY a memory of a memory. So, what about creating memories? Well, I’ve been experimenting with something that ties in. In fact, during meditation, I sometimes review past memories; even of events and times that I’d prefer to forget. It turns out that if I concentrate on what I did and only what I was feeling during the event, I can actually take it out of the mental/emotional baggage area and by doing a positive review with the person or with a substitute if need be, I can choose to handle future situations differently and even take the sting out of my shameful self or victim memories and even for others too. Its truly amazing that I can heal of the emotional past.
Yes, it seems that the mind’s ability includes being able to heal past hurts and past mistakes. So, in effect, the future came reach back to change the past. Now, actually according to quantum physics, the Newtonian sense that cause and effect move only toward a future end point, in reality, perhaps the points in between a cause and effect sequence of events may in fact be uncertain. In fact, modern physics supports that anything can come from nothing and that time is based on units that are infinitesimally small (see planck time). Because particles can physically occupy alternate realities, there is possibly something to the experience that is similar to miraculous. I’ll get back to this in a future post and that in effect will change this experience (memory).
Back to this post… the set right-minded idea isn’t to hide the truth. That’s what we tend to do with painful situations — hide it or suffer and so, hide it generally. That is in ways the other side of mind’s strength and yet its a tremendous weakness if without the important review process. In cases where I’d like to heal, hiding memories isn’t a good thing… it preserves the fear and the inner hurts too. The hiding drains energy — matter is compressed energy and matter requires tremendous amounts of energy. Think about this:
Going over hurts and feelings is potentially a positive force for change. Again, its too much for this one post, so, I’ll return to this also in the future.
Now, what really happened is important. However, when I say really, I do mean exactly that. What did I really feel and therefore think and do? Is the truth in there? With it is my feelings, my reason and there is in where the problem lies… LIES to me. It turns out that my thoughts directed me… and it occurs upon review of a past event that there were many possible thoughts that I might have had. When I select to review past situations as purely an observer, many alternate realities become available sometimes.
As an example, most can relate to loss of control occasionally. Years ago, I yelled at my Dad and it turned out badly. I wasn’t really listening and I made assumptions. I thought I had a valid reason to yell at my Dad — turns out I was wrong to yell at him; and therefore, I needed to deal with what Dad did and the memory of my anger separately. Once I’d seen this, it was easy enough to change my thinking and see that two wrongs didn’t make either of us right. I went to my Dad and confessed that I had lost control and that it was wrong to get mad at him. He thought he was trying to help me. So, he’d been feeling that I was ungrateful and rebellious and selfish. Dad died about five years later. Meantime, I was free during all of that time to enjoy him and he to enjoy me. What if I hadn’t gone to him to discuss my outburst? Was that pre-determined or was it because of my conscience that we were saved from the bitter separation from each other?
Memories are important; but reviewing memories of failures and of loss of control is essential to making progress towards a peaceful and joyful life.
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Eric
Eric
The second commitment is: I am going to discover my unique talents, and finding my unique talents, I am going to enjoy myself, because the process of enjoyment occurs when I go into timeless awareness. That’s when I am in a state of bliss.
This doesn’t mean that you must give up the intention to create your desire.
1. I will make a list of all my desires. I will carry this list with me wherever I go. I will look at this list before I go into my silence and meditation. I will look at it before I go to sleep at night. I will look at it when I wake up in the morning.
from 
the Hunt for Truth 