When Seeing is Just Seeing...

The world is not the same for everyone. It varies according to the mind of the seer. To be more precise, your mind is the world for you.

The happiness or the pain that we suffer is dependent upon our mind and the way we look at the situations. When seeing happens, it does not just end with the seeing. There is always more to that seeing, that happens inside. That is interpretation of that seeing, according to the past moulding of the mind.

If you change the colour of the glasses that you see the world through, the visuals may appear accordingly. It is just the same. We see the world through a conditioned glass called mind. A pure mind has no conditioning and it sees it and only sees it. There is no interpretation. When there is no interpretation, there is just stillness and bliss.

When one starts experiencing that stillness and bliss, one losses the sense of doer-ship and starts observing the happenings. In the deep stillness, there is no you, but then the things happen through you. It cannot be called as an action. It is just a happening.

When this seeing is just seeing, no new karma is added and one is free from the entanglements of this world and lives a liberated life.

Enlightenment - Sudden or Gradual

Enlightenment may be a sudden and quick one. It may happen any time spontaneously. But it may take some time for the mind to get to a state of realization of the change that has happened. For some of the masters, it even took a long time to understand what has happened to them. They had to find some masters to get to know what has happened to them. At such times, the spiritual scriptures would make a great sense and would reveal a deeper understanding of what has happened.

In fact, the awakening or the realization is for the mind and it is not for your real being or the You. You are already in a state of enlightenment or realizing the ‘You’ by your mind could be termed as the awakening.

One could say that everyone is awakened to a certain extent, which means, the thoughts have started giving brief gaps in which the consciousness has started blooming. This process might have even started and you might not even be aware of that. It is at this stage, you get a strong inner urge to get liberation or feel the basic necessity to know the ultimate truth. Once the inner urge is fuelled, you become more aware and allow the consciousness to bloom and to transform your mind, allowing your being to be… then the progress becomes really quick and easy.

Fastest Way to Self Realization

Self Realization : Realization of the self. It is just the realization of the existing self and there is no need to add anything to the self. The self is ever pure and animates all the beings and it is changeless and everlasting.

Our responsibility is to just remove the layers that cover the 'I' by transcending 'i', where 'I' is the real self and 'i' is our imagination or the mental image of what we consider ourselves to be.

This is not to be achieved. Achievement is the play of the mind. It has to be realized. It is a simple happening that will happen by awareness.
This realization could be as quick as the blink of the eye as told by many realized masters. It is the start of the realization of the real self. As the progress happens, one completely transcends the mind and is able to use the mind as a pure channel for receiving the messages of the higher self.

This sounds too simple for the mind which may not allow one to realize this truth. So, in many cases, some techniques aid in this process. The techniques will just help quieten the mind (by shifting the awareness) and the rest of the process happens on its own. When the mind takes rest, the flowering of the consciousness happens in the human being.

The simplest way to achieve this, is to shift the awareness on the being that will give rest to the ever active mind. It is not very tough to get the awareness of your energy body or the being. Just close your eyes and feel your hand or feel your head. When you are comfortable doing that, just extend the awareness to your whole body. When you are able to feel your complete energy body, it will just dissolve and make the mind pure. This state is called as total dissolution in the vipassana lineage. This will give a good rest to your mind and would help realize the ever existing consciousness.

Initially, one could realize a short gap between the thoughts. Gradually the gap between the thoughts would increase which is the real indicator of a successful meditation. As the gap between the thought increases, the consciousness flowers. The same is achieved by directly observing the thoughts without analysing them along with breath, as in Zen meditation.

This simple and powerful guided meditation (Eckhart Tolle stye) may help you get aware of your inner being.

 

You can watch more of Eckhart Tolle's videos to understand his teachings better or could attend a vipassana meditation retreat in the lineage of Goenka which would be really beneficial for making a quick progress.

Realizing Truth - Possible only without mind

The Truth of human existence or the eternal truth or the so called liberation could only be achieved transcending the mind. The same has been referred to as nirvana, enlightenment and mukti. It is not possible to comprehend the ultimate truth with the help of the mind as the human mind has a lot of limitations. A human being is not just made of mind and body. There is one more important component, the consciousness, which animates the mind and the body.

To understand consciousness, you have to rest in consciousness and become consciousness itself (already you are the consciousness). This is possible when the mind is given rest and the consciousness is allowed to flower. Every human being is realized and nothing more has to be added or learned to attain that state. It is not a state to be attained at all. It is a state that has to be realized. To realize that state, we have to just remove the barrier, the curtain, which is the mind.


The consciousness is like a white canvas and our thought pattern is like the painting on the canvas. The painting is so rich with colours and overwhelming that we forget the canvas or fail to even notice it. When the layer of the paint is removed, the canvas becomes visible. In the same manner, when the continuous thought pattern is given a break, the consciousness makes itself visible and one can find one's reality.

We human beings, generally have a created set of thoughts. We create an identity like a doctor, engineer... and give that character a set of attributes and claim it to be the self which is a mind created play and not the reality. If one renounces the thoughts and realizes the eternal consciousness, one comes out of the play of the mind and gets established in the reality.

Is Vegetarian Diet a Must on Spiritual Path

This is one of the questions that pop up in the mind of one who is new to the spiritual practices. Many of the masters gave a lot of stress on a vegetarian diet.

There are even some famous masters who had given a green signal for non-vegetarian diet. Even the Buddha allowed his monks to eat meat if it is not heard, seen or learnt that the animal is not killed especially for that monk.

What we eat has a direct impact on our mind and body. But, the same food may not have the same impact on different persons. It greatly depends on the make-up of that individual.

Osho was not against the non-vegetarian diet for common people. But, he was very clear that the non-vegetarian diet is not suitable for spiritual aspirants as it makes the body gross and makes it gravitate more. But, Osho considers egg as a vegetarian diet and considers it acceptable.

S.N.Goenka who teaches Vipassana, a meditation practice given by Buddha is greatly against killing animals for the sake of eating as it breaks the sila.

If you do a research, you may find some who support a non-vegetarian diet and some who greatly condemn the non-vegetarian diet for some specific reasons. But, if you want to get to a conclusion that would satisfy you, it is best that you experiment with yourself and find out what is good for you.

If you are a vipassana meditator and sensitive enough, you could find a lot of gross sensations coming up and the body becoming very hot after a non-vegetarian meal. It may even continue like this for a few days. You may be able to find this sudden arising of gross sensations on the body if you are on a vegetarian diet for at least a few months and practicing vipassana regularly and sensitive to the feelings. This proves that a non-vegetarian diet is not suitable for meditation. But, it may not be the same at all stages of spiritual development.

In meditation, one has to move from gross to subtle and do a deep purification of mind and body. For this a vegetarian meal may support. But still, it is better that you experiment for yourself and find out the best that suits you. At the early stages, at least till subtler bodies are sensed, it is better to be on a vegetarian diet.

Even great realized masters have consumed non vegetarian diet. So, we cannot come to a conclusion that this is good and this is bad. At a higher level, any food consumed without any craving or aversion is the same, with the attitude to cultivate the physical and subtler bodies.
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Update:  Recently I have been going through a lot of channelled information. Their view is, eating flesh is not unethical.

Personally I feel that non-vegetarian diet activates the lower chakras. So, there may be more production of sexual fluids and stronger sexual instincts. If you know how to transmute the sexual fluids through meditation or when making love, you can get benefit out of that. If the energy does not move up and feeds continuously the lower chakras, it will not help in the spiritual progress. In that case, it is better to be on a vegetarian diet, until the energy channels are purified.

When you are sensitive, you know what a specific type of food does in your body. According to your lifestyle and the meditative practice, you have to select the food you need, intuitively.

Working Nature of Vipassana

If you have attended a 10 day vipassana programme, you would have observed S.N.Goenka telling on how different people understand how vipassana works. I have my own understanding of how vipassana works with the Eastern philosophy as the background.

A human being has three bodies: physical, astral and causal. The physical body is the gross aspect which is visible to the physical eyes. The astral body is subtler and the causal body is still more subtle compared to the physical body.

After death, the astral body is also dissolved. It is only the causal body that remains the same (with +/- karmic debts). This causal body is said to be the store house of the karmic imprints. If the causal body is cleared of all the imprints and dissolved, liberation is achieved.


In Vipassana, what we do is observing the sensations. When a strong sensation pops up and gets dissolved, it takes along with it the deep karmic impressions thus relieving us of its impact on our life.

As said by the teacher S.N.Goenka, the sensations are directly related with the unconscious mind. The causal body is also related with the unconscious mind. In my opinion, as we go subtler and subtler observing the sensations, we start directly working on the causal body. When these imprints start coming up and gets cleared, the deep impressions come up to the surface and gets worked on thus paving the way to liberation.

One more great advantage of vipassana is that, when we are consciously aware of the sensations we prevent a new action from leaving a deep impression, as karma, which will have its impact.

Yoga for Health

Yoga is a term which refers to the union of the human with the God or the Self with the Higher Self. This term is many a times used to refer physical exercise or just Yoga postures (Yoga asanas) as many commercial yoga masters are coming up with the idea of making money with this magical word. Yogasana is a part of the bigger picture. According to the eight fold path of the great saint Patanjali, Yogasana is one of the eight components that would aid in achieving the state of union of the Self with the Higher self.

A good health would be a natural result if the Yoga happens. Yes, it has to happen. We can just facilitate the process through some efforts like meditation.

For doing a proper meditation, the body has to be strong enough to sit in a right posture. Also the wandering mind has to be brought under control. Yoga asana would help achieve these in the initial stages. An advanced meditator may prefer to continue doing asanas or just get the complete command over the mind and body with only meditation.

A good physique and a fresh mind could be a achieved by a proper practice of the yogasanas (yoga postures) along with a right diet. But, for the spiritual journey to progress faster, it is necessary to make meditation, a regular part of the life. Through meditation, the evolution of the human being would be many times faster. In this evolution process, a person would become more divine, renouncing the Ego and developing pure love.

Meditation has a direct impact on the mind and the body. Even though the ultimate goal of meditation is to transcend mind and to attain liberation, along the way, one would be blessed with a good health and a strong mind to live in this world successfully.

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Developing Spiritual Eye

Third eye is referred to as spiritual eye and has been given significance in many of the spiritual scriptures. When the spiritual eye starts developing, a person on the spiritual path is able to observe the thoughts or the incidents, being detached from the thought or the incident, as an observer, thus coming out of the vicious grip of the mind. This establishes a seeker on the path and helps the further progress.

Developing spiritual eye

There are a lot of materials available in the market that claim to fasten the development of the spiritual eye. It would not be a holistic approach to just concentrate on the third eye or the spiritual eye, for its development. 

The spiritual eye, which corresponds to the higher chakras, ajna and sahasrara, are part of our energy body. These higher chakras start developing when the energy body is cleared of its blocks through meditation. When the blocks are cleared, the energy naturally starts flowing in the required direction and it does the necessary work for the spiritual development of the seeker.

The holistic approach

The holistic approach would be to work with the entire energy body or the entire chakra system and the sushumna channel. In Kriya yoga, when one does kriya pranayama, the entire channel is cleared and the proper flow of prana (life force energy) to the higher chakras is facilitated. In the case of meditation like vipassana, the practitioner works with the entire energy body which would help the holistic development of the third eye.

Attitude towards meditation

It would be better not to sit for meditation with the objective of activating the spiritual eye or the third eye. The opening up of the third eye may bring some powers that may pull down the seeker on the path, if the higher chakra sahasrara is not properly open. The reason for which meditation is done is to attain liberation. Specific desires and expectations may not help in that process. So, it is better to meditate, with no specific desires. The development of the spiritual eye would happen on its own and bestow the required benefits at the right time.

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Meditation and Karma

When one speaks of meditation, the first question one may ask, if not into meditation is, why do you meditate?

There may be different answers for this. It may be for better physical health, better mental health, dealing with stress... To attain liberation, would be the apt answer. If one dives deep into the Eastern philosophy, the word Karma (the fruits of the action one does) has a lot of significance as it determines the whole scenario for the individual. Instead of saying that the karma determines the life of an individual, it would be better to say, that the individual determines his life by creating karma (either good or bad) through his free will.

Store house of karma

A human being has both visible and invisible (to the physical eyes) components. Physical body is the gross visible aspect. Astral body and the causal body are subtler bodies of an individual that are not visible to the physical eyes.

Both the physical body and the astral body would be dissolved in the process of death (physical body is the first to disintegrate). It is the causal body that would be storing all the imprints of our karma and could be termed, the store house of karma.

Liberation

So, how to achieve liberation? When all the deep rooted karmic imprints are cleared and the causal body dissolved, one comes out of the cycle of birth and death. Sounds simple. Right? Indeed it is simple, if one has a right tool to work with, to attain progress. Meditation is the tool with which we could work with the subtler bodies.

Impact of meditation

Meditation helps to bring the deep rooted karmic imprints and dissolve it, not allowing it to manifest into troubles, in this physical plane. Imagine, how good it would be to burn the seeds of a banyan tree, rather than watering it and cutting it when it is big and magnanimous. In the same way, it is very easy to dissolve the karma in subtler body than dealing with the problems of life, in manifested state. It is easier and faster to clear the karmic debris in subtler body paving way to liberation for which meditation is a great tool. 

Mind is a Barrier for Enlightenment

A powerful weapon that a human being has got, in the process of evolution, is a powerful mind, which can imagine and manifest. It is through this mind we recognize what we see. For example, a flower is given in the hands of a Botanist and a Mechanic. Both have their mind conditioned in a different manner. If you ask both of them to write a page about that flower, you could see a great deal of difference in their writings. But, the flower is the same. How could it be? A same flower makes different sense for different persons! It is the play of the mind according to the conditioning. Both of them are seeing the same flower through a different lens (the conditioned mind). But, only a person who is capable of transcending the mind may see the reality of what it (the object that we recognized as flower) really is, without any lens.

The barrier

Mind becomes a barrier and makes us remain in ignorance which creates pleasure and pain. It does not allow us to enjoy the real bliss. Even though we always live in the present, mind does not allow us to completely participate in the present. It creates a past and a future and makes us spend most of our time in either the past or the future. It is only the current present which will have its impact in the future and it was the same present, long ago which has left some impact in the past. But, we ignore the importance of the present moment and are taken away by the past and the future which creates either joy or sorrow. Because of this, we react most of the time.

To transcend these duality of present and past, joy and sorrow, it is important to transcend the mind. It is the mind which creates this duality which is non-existent in reality and makes us ignorant of our real nature. When this great task is accomplished, we would become a better master of our mind and could call it to serve us, when we are in need of it. You could say, even now, I command my mind and have control over it. If that is so, you may try ordering it to stop its functioning for a while... Did you succeed? No thoughts popped up for a while? It may be a tough task, but not an impossible one to achieve.

The real freedom

If you could start observing your mind, it would be interesting to find that, there is a continuous flow of thoughts... continuous. When we start observing this flow of thoughts, the gap between the thoughts would become visible and it would increase in the due course of time. This process would take one to the inner stillness.

It is through meditation this could be achieved at ease and the grips of mind over us could be dissolved. When we are able to separate ourselves from the flow of thoughts and get a glance of the flowing thoughts, a great difference would come in. When this process sets in, we can start transcending the mind and enjoy the real freedom. Freedom from joy and pain! A feel of internal bliss!

Secrets of Vipassana

Vipassana is one of the ancient Buddhist ways of meditation. It is very well known for its efficiency and immediate results. Vipassana is being taught by different masters with slight variations. Some go completely with the body sensations and some go with only breath. In this article, by Vipassana, I mean the practice that gives more importance to body sensations, Vedana. Mr.S.N.Goenka spreads the practice of Vipassana which gives the entire stress on body sensations.   

There is another famous master Eckhart Tolle who speaks of a similar practice in a different manner. Eckhart Tolle refers to a practice in which the inner body is observed with its vibrations and sensations. Though both of the practices are very similar, they have been described in a different manner.

What is the practice?

To simplify meditation and make it easily understandable for everyone, it is a way to move from gross to subtler aspect of the individual, one’s own self. In Vipassana, one starts by observing the body from top to bottom. Once the mind gets sharp enough, it starts feeling the subtler sensations of the body. At times, it may not be even true to say that it is the mind that perceives the sensations, as the mind goes absent when going very subtle. When one becomes aware of the subtler sensations or the higher frequency of vibrations in the body and around the body, a great deal of work starts happening, expressing and dissolving the stores of energy blocks and karma. These could be felt as pain, heat and other sensations that appear and fly away.

The great secrets

As claimed by Reiki and many energy healers, the fact is, a physical disease could easily be identified in the energy body before it gets itself manifested as a disease in the physical body. In the same manner, a manifested disease could easily be healed on the energy body which would have its immediate impact on the physical body.

I have taken this example of a disease to show the relation between the physical body and the energy body. It not only applies to a disease or any mental situation. It applies to the whole life and the way we live it!! In East, the word Karma is very common and understood. It is the result of the action we do, be it physical or mental. This karma creates our future or the destiny, which may not be acceptable for a questioning mind. But, it is true that we create our life and we are responsible for what we are, whether we accept it or not. So, to transform and dissolve the past implications of our action, which are not yet expressed, it is very necessary to do a great deal of work in the energy body.

Just imagine how good it would be to burn a seed instead of watering it and trying to cut it once it becomes a big tree. In the same way, we would be really lucky to know a way to burn the unexpressed karmic implications before its manifestation happens, that would complicate our life. It is possible by working in the energy body with the technique of Vipassana.

Every thought pattern could be felt as a sensation in the energy body before it actually becomes a thought coming into the field of the mind. This is a great fact and possibility that could be exploited to avoid the accumulation of future karma. Once we become sensitive to the energy body, we could dissolve the karma of our present action, before it enters the store house, now and then. Thus, dissolving the past karma and by avoiding the accumulation of further karma, one gets freed from the cycle of birth and death and attains liberation.


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Secrets of Kriya yoga

Kriya Yoga is one of the ancient systems of meditation which is famous in India and it has spread in many parts of the world by the effort of Indian masters.

Kriya yoga is considered to be the fastest way of realizing the truth or the fastest way to realize our own identity. For a long time, the techniques of Kriya yoga were kept secret and guarded in the Himalayan ranges, by the practitioners. It was spreading from a Guru directly to his disciples.

The masters of the Kriya yoga lineage starts from Mahavatar Babaji, as generally known. Though there were many other masters before Babaji, it was Babaji who made it available to the mankind out of grace and compassion.


What makes Kriya yoga special?

There are different systems of meditation. Some give emphasis on observing the breath, some give importance on observing the thoughts, some give stress on observing different sensations on the body and some stress on concentrating on the chakras. It is all the different paths to reach the same destination. We need to select the shortest route to reach the destination at the earliest possibility. That is where Kriya yoga gains its significance, providing the shortest route, as claimed by the great masters.

What is the techinique?

In the lineage of Kriya yoga, it is always emphasized that the technique be kept secret. There are a few important reasons for this. It helps in keeping the technique pure as one would be forced to learn from the authentic source. In the past, the great masters gave techniques with slight variation according to the individual. If discussed regarding this variation, it might bring unnecessary confusion and a practitioner may not be able to practice properly.

Without going into the exact details, this article will shed some light on the way Kriya yoga is practiced. Kriya yoga consists of a set of techniques of which Kriya pranayama is the most important one. In Kriya pranayama(kriya means a technique) the prana shakti (life force) is rotated in a specific manner inside the sushumna channel (a subtler channel in the spine). Each such rotation is considered equal to the evolution of 1 year in this plane (earth). This is why the evolution of a Kriya yogi (practitioner of Kriyas) is considered superior.

Kriya yoga taken to west

The great yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda played an important role in taking the teachings of Kriya yoga to the west. It was through this book, Autobiography of a Yogi, kriya yoga was popularized in many countries of the world. The words of Paramahansa Yogananda would have special influence on you if you are already in the process of search and it is worth having this great asset.

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Third Eye Activation

Third eye has been mentioned in many spiritual texts. It is not the physical eye, but an esoteric or an inner eye. It refers to the ajna chakra, between the eyebrows, deep inside the brain.

There has been mention of 7 major chakras along the Sushumna channel (region of spinal cord), starting from the basal chakra to the crown chakra. Ajna or the brow centre is called the command centre as it has control over all the chakras down, from throat chakra to basal chara. So only, there has been a great emphasis on this chakra. Once the commanding centre is made active, it takes care of commanding and bringing in place the rest under its control.


This is the reason, many yogic practices focus on activating third eye and developing it. It is also considered a portal for entering different planes of existence. For the proper development of the third eye, the right practice should be taken up. It is a gradual process and a regular practice is a must.

The way

The sushumna channel has been referred as the highway to the heaven. It is through this channel, the dormant energy (Kundalini) flows from the bottom chakra, upwards. Purification of this channels and diverting the energy in a right way is necessary for the activation of the third eye.

In India, for irrigation of agricultural fields, using channels (creating a way in the soil) is a common practice. If the channel is not blocked and if it connects the water source and the destination, the crop, the purpose is served. In a similar manner, we have a channel already in place. The source and the destination is also there. We just need to work with the channel in the initial phase. Then, the work will be taken care by itself.

In Kriya yoga, one of the techniques gives a lot of importance in working with this channel, sushumna. So, the techniques of kriya yoga are kept in high regards by many yogis.

Divine light and divine sound

This divine light and divine sound has been mentioned by Sufis, Kriya yogis and many other different lineages. Nada yoga is a system of yoga, completely devoted to hearing the divine sounds. Nada means divine sound. Drishti yoga is a branch which speaks mostly of the divine light.

Why I am speaking here regarding the divine light and the divine sound is that, if a yogi starts hearing the divine sounds or seeing the divine light, it is an indicator that the third eye is getting more active.
It is also said, in the process of selecting the Guru (the master), the divine sound and the divine light should be used as an indicator. If a Guru is genuine, he should be able to make you perceive the divine light and the divine sound. After that, it is in the hands of the practitioner to meditate on the divine light/divine sound and progress further.

Meditating on the divine light and sound is a great way to come out of the grips of the varying thoughts. If the mind is rested upon the divine sound (para nada), it becomes pure faster. This is one of the great techniques to develop the third eye.

The final destination....

Considering the final destination, practice is just a part, from our side. Surrender to the divine will, or the action of the higher self is quite important. It takes care of the rest. Once you become aware of the subtler sensations, you could feel the work of the higher self on your subtler bodies, when you sit for the meditation. Practice and surrender are quite important to move faster towards the realization of our Self.

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Reiki healing and healer

When we have any complications with our health, the first thing we do is, rush to a hospital. Why do we do so? We do not know how to heal ourselves. Reiki is a system of healing which uses the universal energy to heal in a holistic manner.

Human being is considered the most evolved in the process of evolution. In this process of evolution, the capability of an individual has increased. But, we rarely care for it, to develop and make use of it. Reiki is one such great tool, we miss to use.

Unlike many healing systems, man has discovered, Reiki does not cure a specific symptom, rather it cures the root cause in a holistic manner paving way for holistic health. It not only cures the body, but also the mind. Also, here, we allow the universal energy to work on us, for the healing to take place. We just create a channel. The work is left to the higher intelligence. No doubt, it would be more efficient that the human intelligence could achieve.

Our capability

One of the great gifts that human being has got is the ability to heal oneself and the others. Does this Reiki healing involve any medicine? No.. Then, how does the healing happen in Reiki? It is purely based on the principles of energy of which the healer is aware of.

When we look at the human body, what is visible is the solid component. But, what will be resultant when we subdivide the matter to its finest detail? It is just the pulsating energy particles. Water when heated becomes vapor as the frequency of the vibration increases. In a similar manner, at a higher frequency of vibration, the matter is just energy. It is more effective to work at the subtler form. So, energy healing is very effective, which deals with the subtler part of the human and the cure become holistic.

How it happens

Like many physical channels that could be seen, with our visible eyes, like blood vessels, there are many invisible energy networks that form the subtler form of the human body. Energy healing focuses this aspect of the human, the subtler energy network. Before any disease manifests on the physical body, it could be detected on the subtler body and healed. Kirlian photography is a proof for the existence of energy fields closely related to the body. Even after the manifestation of any disease, it could be healed effectively working on the energy body.

Who can heal

Those who have expertise in the field of healing with energy could heal you, if you are willing. Every human being has this gift? Isn't it? Then why couldn't I do that on my own? It is highly possible. You just need to get your blocked energy channels opened out and start practicing, working with the energy. You would then become your own master possessing healing hands.

Become a healer yourself

Who can do that opening process? In the terminology of Reiki, this is referred to as attunement. It would be done by masters of Reiki. They clear the existing blocks and connect you to the higher source of energy. They also teach you how to tap the energy and use it in an appropriate manner. There are also some meditative practices to be followed to strengthen and build the energy channels. If you are interested and put a regular practice, you could become an effective healer.

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The Zen Way

The Zen way of meditation is simple and effective. Zen teaches one to live in the present with complete awareness, so that one comes out of dreaming about the future or reflecting on the past.

There is no sorrow or unhappiness in the present. It might have been in the past or it might be in your dream of future. When we flow with our thoughts, we forget our real self and become a bundle of thoughts ourselves. When we are able to separate ourselves from our thoughts and are able to observe our thoughts, life becomes clear and the implication of thoughts on us fades away.

I shall make this clearer with a simple example. A boy named Tom had a cat named Tommy. When Tom had been in the school, Tommy was bitten by a cruel dog. When this incident happened, he was not aware of that and was playing happily with his friends. When he returned home, he came to know what had happened from his parents and felt terribly sad. So, it is not the incidence that puts us out of balance, but the thought of that happening.
To get relieved from the impact of the thoughts and to know its reality, we need to detach ourselves from the thoughts and become a good observer of the thoughts. This is the essence of meditation. Once we separate ourselves from our mind and its ever flowing thought patterns, we may attain the real freedom.

So, how to achieve this freedom? Zen way of meditation is one of the easiest ways of doing this. A lot of emphasis is given on observing the breath and the popping up thoughts in this simple way of meditation. Once we observe the breath, the mind is attached with something happening in the present, the breathing. It prevents it clinging back to the past or wander in the future. While observing the breath, still the thoughts might come and try to take us away. In that case, we should not analyze the thoughts that enter our mind. Instead, we should just be aware of the thoughts, not following it. In due course of time, the grips of thought on us would become weak and fade away. Gradually, the gaps between the thoughts would increase and take us closer to our real nature.

The advantage of Zen

One of the great advantages of Zen is you can start practicing it right now. There is no need of any formal initiation and there is no need to wait for your master to come and teach you. There are a lot of good books to get you started in the path of Zen meditation. The book 'Zen Mind, Beginners Mind' is a great one. I liked it for its simplicity and the way it sheds light on Zen meditation.

Once the concept of Zen is understood, then the practice is what is important. A regular practice would take you towards success.

Wonders of Vipassana

Vipassana is one of the meditative techniques given by The Buddha. Some 2500 years back, the technique of vipassana was followed and spread over many parts of India. It was then taken to Burma and kept in its pristine purity. The technique was written and also spread in a oral tradition. In the due course of time, the technique lost its purity in India and was lost. It has now come back to India in its own purity through a well known lineage from Burma and is getting rooted. It is not only getting rooted in India, but also in many parts of the world because of its simplicity and effectiveness.


To learn this technique of meditation, one is required to attend a ten day residential programme offered by the current master, Mr.S.N.Goenka or one of his assistant teachers in any of the centers.

The specialty

In general, if one gets interested in meditation and takes to some practice, there are many claimed benefits of each meditative technique, one is promised to attain. With that belief in mind, one keeps on practicing and may attain a little benefit. But, in the case of Vipassana, one would certainly feel the difference in physical and mental health, immediately during the 10 day programme if the instructions are followed and practiced perfectly.

During the programme it is stressed again and again not to mix the technique with any other practice or ritual to give a sincere try to realize the potential of the technique. After the period of ten days, one could decide if that technique has some worth or not to be continued for life.

The lost link

Whatever be the meditative practice, it speaks of mind, its transformation and betterment of life. If there are mental blocks, it takes a physical form as disease and if there is any physical ailment, it shows its impact on the mental ability. Many practices speak of clearing these blockages. But to perceive the working nature of the technique and its effectiveness (in a live manner.. ha ha!!) would not be possible. But, in the case of Vipassana, the working nature of the technique could be felt, through different sensations on body, which makes this technique so special. These subtle sensations on the body is said to be the missing link, the link between the mind and the body which is not given importance in many of the meditative practices. When we work with the subtler body sensations, we directly work with the unconscious mind which is the main cause of misery and suffering in the life of an individual. If the unconscious mind is cleared and made perfect, the life becomes simple and comes under our control and the peace results. The improvement in the mental health and the physical health are just the side effects. The main goal of this practice is liberation.

The technique

During the 10 day programme, the mind is conditioned to realize the subtler realities of body. Whatever looks gross to our eyes is only some set of vibrations at a subtler level. Subtler the level of our perception deeper would be our level of understanding of the truth. When the mind is capable of realizing the subtler realities, the rest of the process becomes easy. A block could be a resultant of a trauma in ones life or a disease or any other cause that had left a deep impact. One would directly feel during the practice, different sensations coming up which represents these blocks and getting worked up for the relief.
To know more about the practice and learn the technique, you may visit www.dhamma.org

A change in life

If we are mentally hurt, which is so common in this money centered world, there is an impact on our mind and our mental output which may continue even for a long time. Even if we would want to get rid of such mental blocks, it would be tough to achieve at the practical level. But, with this technique, it becomes very easy. When one becomes aware of the subtler realities, one could easily feel the sensations as the thought arises and could immediately neutralize its effects before it takes form to bring about an expression. So, it transforms the whole life and the way we perceive and act.

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• Secrets of Vipassana

Meditate for a revolution

We are interested in having a better living environment around. To achieve it, we work in different ways, in different sectors, at different scales, individually or collectively. The activities may be focused on global warming, organic farming, pollution, health.... The list is endless. What we basically try to do is trying to bring some change in the attitude or the working nature of the individual or a collective.


For example, to bring down industrial pollution, the industries are asked to use right means of handling the pollutants from their industry. For health concerns, the individuals are asked not to use health retarding addictive.

So every development communication or a green concern is focused around an individual. When the focus is on transforming the individual, what could the impact of meditation be?

Acting wise

We cannot expect a donkey to give output like a horse when it comes to race. In a similar manner, to become better-makers of this world, we need to be better beings, with elevated goals and objectives. This could be achieved through meditation, which deals mainly with the mind. When we need to control the direction of movement in a big boat, we need not jump into the water and try to change its direction. It would be much easier to control the big boat by steering its wheel.

In a similar manner, to bring the change in the human being who would give a holistic output, we need to work with the mind of an individual, which is made possible through meditation. Thus, individual transformation, leads to transformation of the society and creates a peaceful environment to live in.

You may like

• Secrets of Vipassana (an ancient Buddhist meditation)
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• Zen meditation (a simple and effective way)

Fasting for health

Why should one fast?

Our human body is like any other working machine. But, one of the extraordinary feature it has got is the ability to repair itself. When this extraordinary feature is allowed to do its work, there is no need for any external intervention in the form of medicine or any therapy.

The human body continuously eliminates the toxic materials, cleanses the dead content and does rejuvenate. This process happens more efficiently and in a full swing when we sleep. Even during the sleep, this process is hindered if we eat late at night. Our body spends quite a lot of energy for digesting the food that we intake. This is the reason we feel a bit tired after a heavy meal. If the digestive system is given a proper rest, the body utilises the energy for other necessary functions of repairing and rejuvenating.

What is the proof?

If you have any pets, you would have observed this already. If a cat or a dog is not healthy, the first thing it would do is to refuse the food. If you are growing the pet animal and you have a garden, you would have observed one more thing. They eat grass or some other herb and vomit cleansing the digestive system. They take up fasting after that till the body is healed.

How to start?

If you are fasting for healing a specific ailment, then you should meet a practitioner who has the required expertise and should be under his supervision. But if you are fasting for a overall good health, it could be done on a simple manner to start with.

To begin with you could skip a night meal. To make the fasting more efficient, you could help the body to cleanse the toxins by having a glass of lemon water with honey before going to bed. According to your body condition and based on how you feel, you may do this once in a week or even on a regular basis. If you are interested in reducing your body weight, this could be done on a daily basis. It would serve to reduce your body weight promoting a good health.

What next?

Once you are comfortable and feel good by skipping a meal, you could even fast for a whole day. Instead of a complete fast, you could be on juices to start with. It is better to do such whole day fasting when you are at home, on holidays.

How to check the benefits myself?

When you are having common cold, try to do a fasting. You would be surprised to see how fast the healing is. You could try it yourself on any simple ailments. It would be advisable to meet a naturapathy practitioner if you want to heal a specific ailment by fasting. He would help you in selecting a right type of fasting and the duration of the fast.

Breath and Mind

There are different type of individuals in this world and each one has a own perspective towards the self, the others and the environment around. So, what makes this difference? Why is there such a high degrees of difference from one individual to the other? It is all dependent upon the mind and the intellect of the individual. Having command over breath means command over the mind.

To understand it completely, we need to know the difference between the mind and the intellect. Mind is one which generates different options or ideas and intellect decides which is right based on the past experiences. For example, if you go to a restaurant, mind gives different suggestions on what you could have and  the intellect decides what is right for that moment considering the health condition, climate and other factors. In the process of evolution, human beings were granted with a good intellect which the lower order of beings did not develop. It is with this intellect, the human being was able to create culture and come out of the grips of the instincts and develop further. Intuition is still higher than intellect which is not going to be discussed here.

We learn and develop our intellect with the help of our mind and the intellect in turn helps us to lead a holistic life. A human either just follows what the mind says or is able to see what the mind suggests and take a decision based on the intellect and the intuition. We all fall under these two categories and the varied degrees in between these two extremes. If one is able to separate the mind and the thoughts, his development is faster and his understanding of the natural laws are better.

So, how to reach the state in which we separate the thoughts and act wise? Directly working with the mind is quite tough. We need to have a grip over our mind and for that we require a tool which is our breath. Our mind and our breath are very closely related and one controls the other. You could observe this very easily. Just observe your breath during different moods (anger, joy, etc..). You shall find for yourself the difference. So, if we work on our breath, we could make a drastic impact on our mind. How do we do this? For this we need to develop the habit of observing our breath which is the start of meditation.

How do we meditate? Sit in a comfortable pose with your eyes closed and your back straight. Now we are going to start observing our breath. Where to observe and what to observe? As we know breathing process is always on whether we are conscious of it or not. So, just observing is our duty now. To start with, observing the breath inside the nostrils is the easiest way. If you are not able to get a feel of it immediately, you could do a few forced inhalations and exhalations to start with. But after that it is necessary to feel just the breath as it is. What to do with the mind (with all the thoughts popping in) when observing the breath? When a thought comes, just be aware of it and don't analyse it. Soon, it will lose its grip over you and fade away. As you do this regularly, you would find your breath going more feeble and the gaps between the thoughts increases which is a real indicator of your progress. As you progress this way, you get a command over your mind which is a powerful tool that we have got. This brings transformation in an individual and takes us closer towards our real divine nature.

Connect with your higher self

Human being is said to be the most evolved being in this planet as claimed by the scientists and the spiritual masters. A highly evolved being has to enjoy a perfect health and happiness when compared to all the beings in this world. But, this is not the case most of the times. We find animals and plants living a healthier life. A bird or an animal hunts or searches for its food till it dies in the forest. They never visit any hospitals. They have their strong system which is stable and is capable enough to heal and rejuvenate. It is sad that the highly evolved human being has lost the art of healing the self and is at the mercy of the doctors. So, it is high time that we find the ways of healing the self and regain our health which will be dealt in the article at a brief.

To heal our self, we should know both the visible and invisible aspects of the human being. If it is only the visible matter of the human being which is the entire system, the scientists and the doctors would have become Gods. It is the invisible sublter systems that are having direct influence on the physical body and our mental body which should be understood to regain a perfect physical and mental health. This is what is being stressed by the many self-realised beings.

In short, we have three bodies namely Physical, Astral and Causal. It is the physical body which is visible to the normal eyes. The astral body resembles the physical body and is subtler in nature with energy centres called chakras. and many other energy circuits called nadis (pronounced as naadies). A disease manifests when these astral body is disturbed due to irregular flow of energy, blocking the energy channels. The mental health and the energy flow in the astral body are directly related and the astral body and the physical health are directly related. If the mental state of the person is not balanced and healthy, the astral body gets disturbed and vice-versa.

To bring a faster healing, it is necessary to work in the subtler system as the impact is faster and more hormonised. To do that, we need the help of the higher self or our real self that we are ignorant of most of the times. To get the higher self working, we need to get connected to it. This union is the meaning of the word yoga. There are different schools of thought and varied practices to achieve that union. I would just like to suggest a simple and effective means of getting this connection work and regain our system of healing in a holistic way.

The higher self is always waiting for the time for intervention to help us and get us back to a state of perfection. It is easy to achieve this connection with a mere will. The technique is as follows. Sit with your eyes closed, with your back straight. If you are sitting on the ground, you may fold your legs in lotus or half lotus or any other comfortable pose which should be able to keep you steady. It is good to sit on a flat and stable surface on a woolen or a cotton material. If you are sitting on a chair, it is better to keep the trunk straight without leaning. Then observe your incoming and outgoing breath for a while not trying to alter the natural flow. Once you attain a inner harmony, just ask your higher self to start the healing process and do all the activities that are for the highest good. You will then feel the subtler energy movements and even sharp pain, tingling sensations etc.. All these mark the beginning of the work of the higher self working on your subtler bodies to get the blocks cleared and the energy flowing. Just sit observing all the happenings. Just doing this, you would observe within a week the drastic differences in your physical and mental health. It is necessary to allow the higher self to work on you without interfering atleast for one hour a day.

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How to sit for meditation

Body and our mind are very closely related. When the body is still, the mind becomes still. So, for a proper meditation to happen, it is necessary to select a comfortable and a steady position. It is always good to maintain the same pose for meditation, at least during the initial phases. This will properly train the body for long sittings.

Cross legged position is considered the best for meditation as it keeps the trunk perfectly straight which would help the energy flow to happen in the Sushumna channel naturally. But still, it may result in pain, if one is not used to this pose. In that case, it is better to sit in half-lotus position. In this position, you bend the left leg and keep the right leg folded above the left leg.

Sitting in the lotus or half-lotus position for long hours could be helped with a small cushion to sit on. This will raise your body and maintain a proper circulation to your legs. By this, you could avoid pain and feel more comfortable.

Always remember to spread a four-folded woolen or a cotton blanket over the floor before you sit. This would insulate the energy, flow down and allow the energy to move up.

If you are not at all able to sit on the floor, folding your legs, then it is better to sit on a flat chair. But, make sure that your trunk is straight and your legs are properly grounded on the floor. Do not lean on the chair.

Once you make yourself comfortable with an appropriate pose you choose, the rest of the process becomes easier. If you are planning to sit for a long sitting, it is better to sit on a cushion to promote a proper blood flow and to maintain the spine erect.

You may like

• Secrets of Vipassana (an ancient Buddhist meditation)
• Secrets of Kriya yoga (a great lineage from Himalayan range)
• Zen meditation (a simple and effective way)
• Breath and mind 
• Connecting with higher self

Why should one meditate

Meditation is a tool with which we could directly bring impact on mind and beyond. There are many reasons for which one takes to meditation. A business person takes to meditation to increase his efficiency of operation. A strained person takes to meditation to relax and rejuvenate. It could also be considered a tool to improve health.

Though there are different reasons for which one thinks of meditation, the highest goal of meditation remains the same. It is to transcend mind and to realize the truth or our own identity. Meditation yields maximum benefits when this goal is kept in mind. To be more accurate, meditation yields the highest results, when there are no goals for the meditation.

You may like

• Secrets of Vipassana (an ancient Buddhist meditation)
• Secrets of Kriya yoga (a great lineage from Himalayan range)
• Zen meditation (a simple and effective way)