Wednesday, April 27, 2011

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!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

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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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.

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Monday, April 11, 2011

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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