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05 Oct

AstroNumerology

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By Jesse Kalsi

“Numbers are alive and are represented by planetary energy. They have a direct impact on our success, health, happiness and prosperity.”

 

There are several different kinds of numerology; each has its particular strengths. However, even the best system is worthless without clear and consistent interpretation relative to the issues at hand. With clarity, insight, and compassion Jesse has consulted with individuals regarding their personal and business lives.

 

I use the term “AstroNumerology” because I associate numbers with planets, which are astronomical bodies. AstroNumerology is not about adding numbers up; it is about looking at each individual number, since each represents a particular planet, and considering the totality of the number’s own “planetary system.” Each planet is further associated with different precious & semi-precious gems, colors, and the basic relationships of planets within the Solar System.

Adding a certain number to improve a vibration for a home or business (“patching”)* is like adding the energy of another planet to a home or business. Most homes or businesses are patched very specifically, based on the type of business or the date(s) of birth and names(s) of the person(s) living in the residence. In the Vedic tradition, numbers are also related to the four elements, which correspond to the cardinal points. Since I grew up in India, I was surrounded by Vedic traditions, including Vedic numerology. However, I use the following correspondences between numbers and planets:

  1. The Sun
  2. The Moon
  3. Jupiter
  4. Uranus
  5. Mercury
  6. Venus
  7. Neptune
  8. Saturn
  9. Mars

Many traditional Vedic numerologists just add numbers up until they achieve a single-digit result and work with the characteristics only of that number. A home address of 2733 would thus be 2+7+3+3 or 15, then 1+5, or 6. The Vedic numerologist would then consult on the characteristics of the number 6 with the client. However, AstroNumerology takes all the planetary energies present in an address into account. Using the same home address, we see that 2733 has the Moon, followed by Neptune, followed by two Jupiter’s. These planets move about each other in a Venus vibration. All five of these planets (remember, two Jupiter’s!) must be considered.

Let’s look at a well-known address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Many traditional Vedic numerologist would add this up to a 7 (1+6+0+0) and consult with the client about the number 7 alone. In AstroNumerology, the number 1600 represents the Sun and Venus moving about each other in a Neptune vibration. The two zeroes amplify, for better or for worse, the energies represented by all three planets. The Sun and Venus together on a home address have a discordant energy. This combination also brings in confusion, deception, and miscommunication. One must be careful while close to a fire, whether in a fireplace or the kitchen, because accidents could easily happen near the flames.

If 1600 were a business address, it could be extremely profitable, depending on the kind of business. Food, music, and technology are three business’ which could flourish in such a number. Unfortunately, diplomacy and policy are not enterprises that flourish in this vibration, as many United States Presidents have discovered to their dismay. The number 1600 is also destructive of personal reputations and personal growth.

 

The Power Of Home Numbers

“Our old house was smaller, but much happier than this one. My husband’s job was more fulfilling and our children were joyful. We moved to this house, and…what happened?”

This question and others have been posed to Jesse Kalsi over the past two decades. His experiences in helping people improve the relationships under their roof are outlined in The Power of Home Numbers.

The Power of Home Numbers is a unique presentation of how your date of birth, home address, and name work (or don’t) in your favor. Moving to a “better” house can sometimes backfire in unexpected ways.

A favorable residential address can bring family peace, harmonious relationships, and long-lasting partnerships with good neighbors. An unfavorable residential address can have multiple negative effects: health consequences, financial stress, family disruption….

Drawing on Eastern and Western numerological traditions, Mr. Kalsi explains the energies of the numbers 1 through 9, discusses the significance of 0, and presents numbers as they appear in residential addresses. Each number signifies a specific planet, e.g., 6 represents Venus; thus, an address including a 6 involves the relationships of the resident(s) with Venus. This system, “AstroNumerology,” is used for business success by professional athletes, businesspeople, and celebrities in the media world.

The Power of Home Numbers analyzes combinations of birthdates and personal names, residential addresses, and their planetary energy so that the reader becomes aware of their inter-connection. Where an address is unfavorably aspected, Mr. Kalsi explains how he has used Number Patching™ to elevate the resonance of the address.

All analyses preserve the privacy of involved individuals; the only true names are in the chapters involving world affairs.

To understand why things are perhaps not working as well in your current home as they did in a previous dwelling, look to The Power of Home Numbers for enlightenment.

Business Naming

In addition to the home numbers being in tune with the occupants (the subject of my first book), it is extremely important that the business name vibrations be in sync with the owner’s name and the business address, based on the owner’s personal energy. In my experience, I have realized that these two vibrations – name and home – must vibrate positively for success and prosperity. Precious gems like blue sapphire, ruby, diamond, yellow sapphire, cat’s eye, pearl, amethyst, red coral, and emerald can also be used to bring good luck and more opportunities based on the owner’s personal energy.

Besides home numbers, name numbers, and the use of gems, bank account numbers to draw the energy of wealth, telephone numbers to bring positive information, and car registration numbers are some other examples that should be considered very carefully. Numbers correspond with colors, too: by knowing one’s basic numerology, the right colors can be used to enhance the well-being and draw the right spiritual energy.

It is also extremely important that the energy of homes be cleared on a regular basis. Many techniques, like burning sage, repainting the interior, removing old drapes, and dowsing, help in keeping the numbers vibrating positively.

 

Business Name Changes

The success of a business is greatly dependent on the business’s name with the right numerological vibration and a positive business address. Different kinds of businesses have different kinds of energy; for example, a food business works well with the Moon (#2) and Neptune (#7), real estate with Saturn (#8), and communications and the media with Mercury (#5). It is also extremely important that the business be born at an auspicious astrological time.

Numbers play a very important part in the buying and selling of real estate. Having been in the real estate business myself for 15 years, I have realized that certain numerologies always pull money while other numbers constantly drain cash and bring health challenges and other personal problems.

The name “Microsoft” has the energy of Jupiter, the largest planet, the energy of wealth and expansion; an excellent name that has brought Microsoft financial success and a huge global presence. The address (One Microsoft Way) and Bill Gates’ date of birth (October 28, 1955) work to the great advantage of Microsoft. There couldn’t be a better combination than the #1 and #4 coming together here: #4 and #1 act like a mirror image of each other. The Sun + Uranus are magical.

Apple, at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA, is represented by the mighty Sun (the #1 in the street address) and by Neptune (#7 represented in the name “Apple”), a very mysterious kind of planetary energy. The Sun and Neptune flow in harmony; they’re very compatible energies, and this is one of the many reasons Apple has become a global company. For additional Sun influence, one need only look to Steve Jobs’ date of birth-February 24, 1955-and see that it’s an additional Sun-influenced day. Two Suns working together bring the success Apple has experienced, in harmony with its name.

 

The Importance of Jersey Numbers in Sports

Over the years, I’ve observed that jersey numbers vibrate very powerfully for the players who wear them. These numbers need to be in sync with the players’ names and dates of birth for the player to maximize his potential for success.

In India, where cricket is a huge interest and players also wear player numbers, numerologists are consulted before a player is assigned a number. This is because the number must vibrate with the player’s personal energies. Even in individual sports (for example, tennis or golf), an athlete’s date of birth and publicly known name will vibrate either to help or hinder the athlete.

In June 2005, NFL running back Clinton Portis agreed to pay $18,000 to former Washington Redskins teammate Ifeanyi Ohalete to avoid a trial between the two players. When Portis had been traded to the Redskins by the Denver Broncos in 2004, he wanted jersey number 26, which he had worn for two seasons at Denver. However, Ohalete was already wearing 26 for the Redskins. After discussions, the two players agreed that Ohalete would give Portis the number 26 in exchange for $40,000 and would wear number 30 instead. Clearly, jersey numbers mean a lot to their wearers!

 

About the Author

Jesse Kalsi is a world-renowned numerologist. He specializes in residential, business, and sports numerology and provides valuable insight on the power of numbers and how they affect our lives. In his book, The Power of Home Numbers, he combines his Eastern upbringing with his Western experience to bring awareness and understanding of this phenomenon.

Over the past 20+ years, Jesse has consulted thousands of people and affected their lives positively. His clients include prominent business people and extremely successful communication and entertainment companies. Jesse Kalsi has appeared on many radio and television shows in the U.S., and his unique perspective on Numerology has amazed his audience. He lives in Northern California with his family.

More information is available at http://www.jessekalsi.com.

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26 Sep

Meditation is a Spiritual Practice

As a longtime yogi, meditation teacher, and student of the mystical, I’ve observed the various points through which hatha yoga and meditation have entered the US psyche. Not intending to be historically immaculate, I simplify timeline details using broad brush strokes. The process I reference was most significantly launched by Emerson’s Transcendentalism, the Theosophical Movement, and the eventual arrival of Swami Vivekananda in the late 1800’s. After teaching in America for several years, Vivekananda returned to India but his visit was subsequently followed by that of Swami Yogananda in 1920 (later re-titled Paramhansa Yogananda). Yogananda made the US his base of operations and taught until leaving the body in 1952. Following his death, a host of other Indian gurus visited, taught, and helped fashion the yogic meditation culture. Enter Buddhist traditions through Alan Watts and Shunryū Suzuki who introduced Zen to the West. Then, in 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn adapted ancient Buddhist Vipassana and hatha yogic practices to create a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. His standardized, 8-week course couched meditation practices in Western, scientific terms using a definition of mindfulness as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, and non-judgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment.” This non-theistic concept became readily accessible to, and absorbed by, a religiously skittish western audience who sought something esoteric yet ‘safe.’ And, it garnered ever-increasing popularity after Bill Moyers TV series, “Healing & the Mind,” showcased Kabat-Zinn’s work. According to Medical News Today, Mindfulness is currently the most common form of meditation in the Western world.

This is a truly significant statement and, for me, a simultaneously disheartening one. Not that I mind folks trying their hand at meditation. I laud them wholeheartedly. Rather, I object from the standpoint of being a purist. Meditation has traditionally been used in spiritual frameworks to deepen realization of our essential nature, its relationship with Source or Spirit, and the meaning of life itself. Instead of pursuing such goals, modern versions of Mindfulness effectively strip-mine enlightenment traditions to foster relaxation, reduce stress, improve health, and enhance job performance. This is not what any spiritual master sought, taught, or counseled.

Noting sensations and thoughts as secretions of the mind, arising and passing like clouds across a vast sky is noteworthy, even therapeutic, but meditation is far more than this. It redirects energy and consciousness purposefully, shifting awareness from external sensory perceptions to realms of ever-expanding subtle reality. As this inner process unfolds, the limited identification of self with body and mind is replaced by perceptions of unified oneness with All-That-Is. That state of realization; Oneness, Returning to the Source, Reunion with Spirit, is the true purpose of classical meditative endeavors. Thus, I encourage all meditation practitioners to take a deeper look at what you’re doing and why. If seeking awakened connection with Source, you are on the right path. If merely pursuing less painful means of engaging the world, you are bypassing bigger realities and selling yourself short. When all is said and done, Spirit is the ultimate goal of life because It is existence, joy, love, consciousness, fulfillment Itself. Until we return Home, i.e. reunite with the Sacred, we remain stranded in a world of delusive separation and malcontent. No amount of mindful awareness or being present in the moment can change that fact, only union with Source can. So, make meditation a spiritual practice; that’s what it is for and why that emphasis will serve you better.

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09 Sep

Making One of Two

Why is it so difficult for us to imagine ourselves as One with the divine, with each other and with all of nature?  Why is it that we struggle so hard to repeat those rare unitive experiences in which we have found ourselves as One with the light, one with the divine, One—not two?

The reason is that we have all accepted as part of our human journey a hypnotic trance state called duality.  Our very finite natures seem to prove to us that we are not One at all, but two, a duality—separate and distinct from all else.  We are born and we die—thus proving to ourselves that we are not divine beings in a human experience—rather we are separate from the life force—i.e., we must be born into it, and die to it.

Our suffering also seems to prove to us that we are not One with the divine.  How, we say, how could the divine allow such suffering?  We don’t know that we could ask that question of ourselves in this way:  Why am I, as a divine being, allowing this suffering in my life right now?  What gift does it have to give me?  What piece of my Self, left behind, does this suffering remind me to bring home?

The duality trance state is actually a part of our journey to wholeness.  It will allow us to finish the creative process begun when we decided to take physical form. What we are trying to do is bring physical form and the formlessness of soul together into One entity.  But as Carl Jung reminds us, we must differentiate before we can integrate.

We must begin to see and clearly understand the distinctions between the false and the true.  There is only one way to do that:  We must experience both.  Like any other experience in life, once we have experienced it long enough, examined it thoroughly and begun to outlive the experience, we know what was false and what was true about that experience.  We know, for example, that we talked ourselves into marrying someone we actually knew on an intuitive level was not going to work out for us.  We know that our naiveté was misleading us into all kinds of false assumptions about the character of a boss who later turns out to be quite unethical.  We know these things on a deep personal level, because we have experienced them.  And we will come to know duality and Oneness in the same way.

We will experience the seeming separation of the human from the divine in enough incarnations to come to see that duality was a state of deep hypnosis—in which we totally believed an absolute falsehood.  There is no actual duality.  We only believe that to be true and, therefore, we act as if it is so.  When we get that, really finally get that, we will have finally finished the creation we started eons ago—the creation of Oneness.

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07 Sep

Political Correctness is not Spiritually Correct

It doesn’t take much review of current headlines to wonder if we’re truly going to hell in a handbasket. Even I, who firmly believe we’re headed in a positive direction of global unity and spiritual evolution, find it challenging to remain upbeat in the face of such unrelenting negativity. Since the scope of pernicious news topics is so broad, I’ve chosen to address a personal pet peeve, political correctness. The latter is spiritually offensive to me because it fundamentally denies or skews truth. More, it inhibits thoughtful consideration of complex issues and aligns self-righteousness with repressive behavior to quash free speech, thought, and action. Rather than facilitate mature policy reformation, political correctness’ shame-&-blame M.O. hounds anyone willing to consider the highly textured, multi-factorial nature of complex social scenarios and, instead, favors emotional diatribes that usually misrepresent facts, discount context, and justify myopic, self-serving biases.

Social modification requires meaningful dialogue and action based on perceiving levels of cause and outcome. Grasping causation, therefore, is often a key component to crafting reform. Without clarity of insight, the ability to mend situational wrongs is blunted or misdirected. Political correctness undermines such by decrying critical thinking and misrepresenting origins of issues. Case in point: If a person persists in overeating or eating wrongly – for whatever reasons – they will gain weight. This is simple biology. Until they accept responsibility for this cause-effect relationship and undertake necessary steps to alter their habits of thought, activity, and eating, the problem shall remain. Spinning scenarios to blame others or glorify unhealthy body types won’t change reality. When pressure exists to replace facts with revisionist beliefs, as championed by PC protocol, such behaviors undermine societal health and become systemically problematic.

Political correctness fundamentally rejects notions of personal responsibility preferring sanitized versions of life which appease its ideological doctrines. Conversely, the esoteric route to problem solving lay in thoughtful self-reflection. Much in life happens mysteriously, yet justifiably, due to subtle causative principles. From a spiritual perspective, we’re not hapless victims of unknown forces foisted on us by ‘others’ but architects of outcomes arising from choices and actions made consciously or unconsciously overtime. That is why when unpleasant life events occur it is advised to contemplate our possible role in fashioning such, then, devising ways to remedy situations – including by changing ourselves. Consider these statements of Paramhansa Yogananda:

“The habits you cultivated in past lives have substantially created your physical, mental, and
emotional makeup in this life. You have forgotten those habits, but they have not forgotten you.”

“A man (person) takes birth in a certain family, a particular social and national environment,
owning to specific causes—his own past actions. Therefore man is the architect of his own destiny.”

“Your failure or sickness or other troubles started with unwise actions in past lives, and the effects of those causes have been brewing within, waiting for the right time to bubble over. Disease, health; failure, success; inequalities, equality; early death, long life—all these are outgrowths of the seeds of actions we have sown in the past…Each person has made himself the way he is.….Don’t blame God or anyone else if you are suffering from…upsets. You created the cause of the problem in the past and must make a greater determination to uproot it now.”

The reason I put all this forward is because I recoil at the decline of truth, understanding, and moral backbone so prevalent today. Like everyone else, I wish for a more just and equitable society. However, that doesn’t mean we can overlook the subtle infrastructure which contributes to its makeup. Dharma, or cosmic righteousness, won’t be trifled with nor tolerate fools. Life operates precisely and mathematically not by ungoverned whimsy. There are consequences to actions made in accordance with, or in disregard of, cosmic laws. As such we must realize that whatever exists in our lives does so by subtle principles like cause-effect and energetic-magnetic affinity. Individual, societal, and global activities are governed by these universal laws. Therefore, we must be willing to at least consider the potential contribution our own actions have wrought while also compassionately seeking to correct whatever is amiss. This commentary is not meant to deny the wrenching impact of life tragedies nor substitute PC thinking with spiritually-flavored blame doctrines. That is neither intended nor proper. Karma is too complex a doctrine for such simplicity. Nor are we victims of unalterable fate. As souls we possess free will and the inherent potential to modify karmic outcomes in ways to our liking. That said, we must also accept that every event has it roots in diverse energetic components. When the reflex to deny accountability is replaced with thoughtful consideration of our potential role in shaping life, we begin to approach and remedy life imbalances in ways that are more spiritually correct, and, enduring.

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06 Sep

Secrets of the I Ching

Secrets-of-the-IChingIn her documentary, THE SECRETS OF I CHING, filmmaker Bettina Wilhelm goes in search of the life and achievements of her grandfather, Richard Wilhelm, by following in his footsteps through China and Europe. She combines historical exposition with pictures of China today in pursuit of the essential theme of Richard Wilhelm’s life: to discover how the great truths and wisdom of mankind can outlast historical change and continue to retain their relevance. Richard Wilhelm was fascinated by the cultural heritage of the universal wisdom he discovered in the Chinese classics. With his translations he tried to impart these Chinese cultural treasures, so that Europe and the West might meet together, eye to eye and on a par. Wilhelm’s indefatigable efforts and the fascinating texts he made available, give the film a longlasting vibrancy.

Richard Wilhelm came to China as a young missionary, where he soon set up a mission that went against conventional expectation. He did not baptize a single Chinese. Instead he strove towards an understanding of Chinese thinking. China was being bled to death by the colonial powers and Richard Wilhelm experienced at first hand revolts against foreigners, the passing of the imperial-dynasties and the First World War. During a time of such turbulent upheaval, he searched relentlessly for the deepest truths that might enable people to deal with the changes and to shape their own lives. He accomplished some of the greatest works of translation of the 20th century: CONFUCIUS, LAOTSE, other classical texts of DAOISM and, most importantly, the I CHING, THE BOOK OF CHANGES. This book has served as an inspiration for many readers. Even today, Wilhelm is considered one of the most distinguished mediators of Chinese culture in the West.

Whilst Wilhelm’s translation of Confucius and Laotse arose from his own personal quest, it was a Chinese scholar who drew his attention to the I GING, THE BOOK OF CHANGES, one of the most complex works of Chinese culture and philosophy. Like other imperial magistrates in 1911 after the decline of the empire and China’s transformation into a republic, the scholar had taken refuge in the German leased territory of Qingdao. Wilhelm was both fascinated and worried by the tremendous changes taking place in China and in the world at large. Like C. G. Jung, with whom he was friends from the 1920s, he searched for universal wisdom that could withstand historical change. It was Wilhelm’s translation of the I Ging, transcribed from German into English, which lead to the wide circulation in the West of The Book of Changes and to its being held to be one of the greatest and most relevant of classical Chinese texts.

BIOGRAPHY RICHARD WILHELM

Born in Stuttgart in 1873, Richard Wilhelm went to Qingdao in 1899 as a young missionary with the East Asia Mission at a time when the territory was leased to Germany. He founded a school there, which still exists today and bears his name, as well as a hospital.  He was an unusual missionary for throughout his entire life he never baptized a single Chinese. Instead he allowed himself to be converted to Chinese wisdom. The times he lived through were turbulent. In 1900 the so-called Boxer Rebellion broke out against foreigners who had colonised the country. During this period, Wilhelm was no mere observer. When German troups attacked Chinese villages he, together with a Chinese doctor, intervened as negotiator thus avoiding further bloodshed.  In 1911 he experienced a tremendous turning point in Chinese history when the country became a republic after more than two thousand years of empire. During the first World War, Germany had lost its Chinese colony and Qingdao was occupied by the Japanese. In the face of dire conditions, Richard Wilhelm retained his ironic sense of humour, enabling him to observe events as they unfolded with relative objectivity.
In 1920 he returned to Germany for a short period, where he met with C. G. Jung, Albert Schweizer, Hermann Hesse and Count Keyserling. Once more he spent two more years in China, this time not as a missionary but as scientific advisor to the German embassy and a visiting professor at the Beida, the University of Beijing.  In 1924 he assumed the first chair of Sinology at the University of Frankfurt, where he also founded the China Institute to further cultural exchange and research into the most profound truths that unite different cultures and periods of time. His friendship with C. G. Jung deepened, with whom he published the book, THE SECRET OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER.

Richard Wilhelm died in 1930 at the age of 56. He is buried at the graveyard of Bad Boll in Swabia. The eight symbols, which make up the cornerstone of the I Ching, surround his grave.

I CHING – THE BOOK OF CHANGES

For some time the I Ching has not only been known by experts, but from the 1970s in particular by a broader public as well. The I Ching is one of the oldest books of mankind, whose oracle was consulted by Chinese emperors since more than three thousand years ago whenever important decisions had to be made. In the course of succeeding centuries it was augmented by the flower of Chinese wisdom in the form of added commentaries by great scholars. Thus it became the fundamental philosophical text of Chinese culture. One might compare the significance of the I Ching in China with that of the Bible in Christian cultures. In the West Richard Wilhelm’s translation of the Book of Changes influenced a whole generation during the 1970s, who were seeking a deeper understanding of life. It remains a “perennial,“ which is reprinted over and over again.

 

THE SECRETS OF I CHING, is narrated by internationally acclaimed award-winning actor, Jonathan Pryce, known for his outstanding performances on both stage and screen, including the lead in Brazil, Glengarry Glen Ross and Age of Innocence, as well as James Bond villian Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies, and most recently The High Sparrow in HBO’s Game of Thrones. 

THE SECRETS OF I CHING is currently available on VOD at DirecTV and Dish; Digital platforms include Google Play, Amazon, MicroSoft, Vudu, Vubiquity and Hoopla.

 

Connect with us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SecretsofIChing

For more information, please visit: http://www.wisdom-of-changes-i-ching-the-movie.com

 

 

TriCoastLandBlackPR CONTACT:

Maggi Simpson

Tricoast Entertainment

Maggi@Tricoast.com

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26 Aug

A Logical Perspective on God

People have many different perspectives on who or what God is. For some, God has a specific form, for some God has many forms, and for some God is formless. Some believe in multiple Gods and some in One. Some believe their notion of God alone to be correct and all else to be wrong, while some believe their notion of God to be inclusive of all other beliefs. And then there are some who think there is no such entity as God.

Among all these perspectives, the term “God” refers to a Higher Power or a Higher Reality than the world we live in. Some pray to the Higher Power in the hope of making things better for themselves in this world and/or beyond. Some have true unconditional love and devotion towards the Higher Reality as they believe its lot more pure and unchanging compared to anything else in this world and hence much more worthy of love. Some think this world is the only reality and don’t believe in any other Higher Reality.

People who fall in the last category are usually being rational/logical/intellectual about what they believe to be real. They only go by what science has to say about reality, and since science hasn’t proven the existence of a Higher Reality, they don’t believe in it. Before you congratulate yourself for being in this category, let me mention that those who have true unconditional love and devotion for God are much more peaceful and happy in life than those who don’t. I can vouch for this as I have personally experienced all these categories myself up-close. So the intellect could actually be blocking you from experiencing something really wonderful. As Mark Twain said: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that it just ain’t so.”

Instead of letting the intellect be a blocker, it can be used as a tool to explore if the existence of a Higher Reality atleast makes logical sense. Lets see how it actually does:

Say you are taking a walk downtown amidst many shops, malls, etc. and the place is bustling with people, some of them with pets, and there is probably also a small park on the side. You marvel at the tremendous variety of apparel, art pieces, gadgets, devices, etc. on display, admire the architecture of the buildings, and maybe also notice the different types of vehicles moving about. You think to yourself how advanced human intelligence is to have created all these sophisticated things. And then you look at the different humans, animals, trees, plants, etc. that are way more sophisticated than the most advanced machinery ever created by human intelligence. Would you think that all of them were just created by chance without requiring any intelligent cause?

We take for granted a human-like intelligence to be the cause of even a simple piece of pottery, what to say of the magnificent array of galaxies, stars, planets, moons and other celestial objects spread across the entire universe. One may believe that all of these came into existence after a big explosion (as a popular science theory tells us), but it doesn’t take too deep a thinking to wonder if it really appeared just by chance out of nothingness. And even if it somehow did, how come all the “stuff” coming out of this explosion arranged itself so elegantly? One may argue that those are just the different fields, forces and other laws of nature in action. But why do these laws even exist in the first place? By chance? And then how come dead non-living matter suddenly became alive and started sustaining itself and producing more of its kind? Again by chance? And those single living cells just started evolving into complex organisms by chance too? And eventually, just by chance, we have human beings who are capable of looking back at the universe and ponder upon its and their own existence!?

If left to chance, each of the above events would have an extremely low probability of happening, and a long series of them occurring one after the other would be surely considered impossible. In fact, if such events can happen by chance, pretty much anything can happen, e.g. all the water on the planet might dry up instantly or a new moon might appear in the sky suddenly or you might start growing another head this moment or pretty much any such random thing that seems to be impossible. But such things don’t happen and the universe appears to work in a very systematic and lawful manner. All of these indicate the presence of an intelligent cause, making it a way more logical and sensible option than the absence of it. Having an intelligent cause in-turn points to the existence of a Higher Reality that we seem to be unable to perceive, understand or even imagine.

This would all be just plain theory if there weren’t countless people through the ages across different parts of the world who have actually experienced a Higher Reality. These people are not bluffing. A bluff would not last more than a few years or a few decades at max, but we still see majority of the world trusting various scriptures written many thousands of years ago. This is only because the Truths revealed in these scriptures have been repeatedly validated and re-validated over the centuries and millenniums through real experiences of innumerable people. Moreover, the teachings in these scriptures cannot have any underlying selfish motive as they do not benefit anyone else except the student.

Its true that the experiences people have had are very diverse, as is clear from the variety of descriptions of the Higher Reality across different religions and sects. The reason for this diversity is that the Higher Reality is vast (has to be if its the intelligent cause behind this entire universe and more) and the human mind is tiny. So, in most cases, the mind is only able to experience the Reality partially. Hence, people’s accounts of it vary depending on which aspect of Reality they personally experienced. Moreover, different minds have different temperaments and have an inclination towards a certain aspect of Reality, which also results in them having different experiences. Even if there are differences in people’s experiences, they are all inherently consistent. Upanishads, the ancient scriptures of India, are the most comprehensive account of the Higher Reality as they are based on the experiences of hundreds of realized sages and saints as compared to just one (which is the case in most other scriptures of the world). Here is an immaculate talk on the nature of the Higher Reality as per the Upanishads: Defining God

One of the reasons why intellectually-oriented people are put-off by the notion of a Higher Reality is because it usually gets portrayed as God(s) in superhuman-like forms located somewhere within or beyond the universe. Its important to note that these forms are much more effective than something formless in terms of vividly expressing the pure and perfect qualities pertaining to the Higher Reality. They help stimulate tremendous love and devotion within an individual, which is a proven path (called Bhakti Yoga) to directly experience the Higher Reality. But one doesn’t have to blindly believe in these forms as there is another path to directly know the Higher Reality completely based on intellect and knowledge (called Jnana Yoga). The talk I linked above is especially beneficial for this path.

You might be wondering what difference does the knowledge of a Higher Reality make in your life. Apart from the fact that your whole life and everything around you derives from that Higher Reality, here’s the ultimate bombshell answer straight from the Upanishads: That Thou Art (Tat Tvam Asi) – the Supreme Highest Reality is what you really are! You think you are a body-mind-intellect complex but you are gravely mistaken about your own reality. The search for the Higher Reality – which is both transcendent and immanent – is not about explaining the creation or working of the universe, neither is it about experiencing something externally, its about knowing who you truly are. You will eventually discover on this magnificent journey that you are not a living being trying to have a spiritual experience, but that you are an eternal spiritual “being” that seems to be undergoing a life experience. And its high time for you to realize your own true nature which is no less than Infinite Existence, Consciousness, Bliss. That alone can help you overcome the miseries and sufferings of life and bring unlimited peace and joy. It is the highest and the only real purpose of life – nothing else matters!

(This article was cross-posted from happinessjourney.net/post/149527488930/a-logical-perspective-on-god)

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01 Jul

Spirituality for Atheists

Lot of highly intelligent people in an intellectually-oriented field (like science, technology, engineering, etc.) tend to be atheists i.e. they don’t believe in the existence of God. This is primarily because their understanding of the term “God” is usually limited to some super-natural being(s) sitting in the heavens controlling the universe – as portrayed in many religions. Any person of reasonable intelligence might question the validity of such an entity without any proof, so their disbelief is quite understandable.

One huge mistake they commit though is to equate spirituality with religion. Spirituality is about discovering the absolute Truth or Reality that underlies everything and answering some of the most fundamental questions regarding life and existence, like who am I?, what is the purpose of life?, where did this whole universe come from?, how can I experience enduring and lasting happiness?, etc. Its very inquisitive and experiential in nature. Religion on the other hand is generally a belief system built upon spiritual truths and evolved in a way that makes it easier for the masses to practice. Spirituality serves as the foundation for many major religions in the world like Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, etc. It usually starts with someone – like the great ancient saints of India, Vyasa, Buddha, Jesus, Sankara, Mahavir, etc. – discovering and experiencing the Reality through meticulous spiritual practices. They then, out of their unconditional love and compassion, share how others may also discover the Reality for themselves and experience unlimited peace and bliss that gets rid of all miseries and sufferings in life forever. Large number of people tend to follow the philosophy and teachings of these enlightened beings closely for some time and lot of them are able to realize the Truth. But as time passes, with the original teacher long gone, it turns into a religion of blind faith completely hiding, and sometimes even forgetting, its underlying spiritual core. And, since many people don’t dive deep enough to learn the spiritual basis of religion, they take religion to be baseless and stop believing in it and leave spirituality also behind in the process. What a terrible loss!

Spirituality is the science and technology of our internal world, the world of our mind (our thoughts, feelings, experiences, memories, intelligence, ego, desires, aversions, tendencies, etc.). Even if you are an atheist, you are surely looking for one and only one thing in life – happiness. If you think about it, everything that you ever do is so that you can feel happy. And happiness exists in one and only one place – the mind. Just like we use mainstream science and technology to better understand and manage the external material world, we need to use spiritual science and technology to systematically understand and manage the internal world of our mind. Without that, its like groping in the dark searching for happiness in the external world and quite often getting hit in the head with various miseries and sufferings in the process. Its quite a pathetic state to be in.

Another common mistake is to equate mind and brain. Brain is a part of the physical body, an organ, that enables the mind to operate. But the mind is something subtle. We may cut open the head and monitor the brain as deeply as we like but we will not be able to tell a single thought, feeling, experience, memory, etc. of the person. We will only be able to correlate activities of the mind with activities in the brain. Hence the science of brain doesn’t serve as a science of mind. The latter needs a very subjective approach which is what spirituality provides.

One might raise a question as to why spirituality and not psychology? Various reasons. Psychology is primarily focused on curing mental illness (like depression, stress, emotional imbalance, etc.) and not on improving the well-being of a normal mind. A new branch of psychology called positive psychology has started exploring that front but its still in its infancy, whereas spirituality has been developed and practiced over thousands of years by innumerable people with incredible results. Moreover, psychology, like any other science, tries to understand the mind in an objective manner whereas there is a lot going on in the mind that is highly subjective in nature which cannot be objectified.

Although there are many spiritual philosophies and most of them can be quite effective, the best I have found is Advaita Vedanta. Its one of the most rational and comprehensive spiritual philosophies. Even some of the cutting-edge science like quantum mechanics, para-psychology, etc. is getting more and more aligned with what Vedanta has already been saying for thousands of years.

Here are few excellent videos that I highly recommend you watch to learn more about Vedanta and Spirituality in general. They shall be worth every minute of your time!

 

Please don’t let your intellect block you from diving into the wonderful world of spirituality. Instead, use the intellect as a tool to analyze and manage your mind through proven processes, and lead a much happier and fulfilling life. Innumerable highly intelligent people have been doing it successfully over thousands of years all over the world and so can you. I wish you all my best!

(This article was cross-posted from happinessjourney.net/post/146773002410/spirituality-for-atheists)

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01 Jul

ESTABLISHING A HOME YOGA PRACTICE

An Excerpt from THE ART AND BUSINESS OF TEACHING YOGA by Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith, PhD

 

Yoga in America is booming. A 2016 report by Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance reported that 36.7 million people practice yoga, up from 20.4 million in 2012, and 28 percent of all Americans having taken a yoga class at some point in their lives. As a result, the demand for yoga instructors has never been higher and increasing numbers of practitioners are becoming inspired to teach  — a career that can be as challenging as it is fulfilling.

 

In their new book The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga: The Yoga Professional’s Guide to a Fulfilling Career yoga “teacher of teachers” Amy Ippoliti and wellness entrepreneur Taro Smith, PhD, build on their popular “90 Minutes to Change the World” online course for yoga professionals to offer instructors a road map for creating a career that sustains and inspires not only themselves, but their students as well.

 

We hope you’ll enjoy this short excerpt from the book, which offers powerful tips for fitting a home yoga practice into your busy schedule, which should prove helpful to both yoga teachers and practitioners alike.

 

# # #

 

Have you ever taken a yoga class when you could just tell that the teacher was not into it? Or have you been that teacher? A passionless teacher can’t inspire students. Fortunately, there is a remedy, and that is to get on your own yoga mat and meditation cushion. As the yogini Dana Trixie Flynn puts it, “Just as a concert musician must practice their instrument, a yoga teacher must practice on their mat.”

 

This doesn’t mean going to a workshop or retreat only once in a while — though that can be nice — and coming back inspired and enthusiastic. This is about continual refueling. It means getting on your yoga mat consistently, at home, in a class, or at a practice for teachers and advanced students.

 

This may seem obvious, but the majority of teachers we’ve polled complain that their single biggest challenge as a teacher is keeping up their own practice. If this is a problem for you, here are some ideas to get you rolling. If you’re practicing consistently already, you can skim this section, but you might consider helping to uplift the whole teaching community by organizing group practices that help others stay motivated too.

 

Establish — and Maintain — Your Home Practice

Having a practice of your own can be not only empowering but often incredibly creative and innovative. If you don’t continue to practice regularly in addition to teaching, your only source of inspiration for your teaching is the stale memory of a regular practice. Do whatever it takes to get yourself on your mat five to seven days a week, even if only for a short time. Put on your favorite music first thing in the morning, and get on your mat and just experiment with movement.

 

Vow to practice at least ten minutes a day, five to seven days a week. By committing to only ten minutes, you avoid putting pressure on yourself, and you’re more likely to stick to the resolution. If you start small, you will find yourself craving more time on the mat.

 

Create a dedicated space in your home for your practice. This will encourage you to practice at home more often. It doesn’t have to be anything special — and you certainly don’t want to put so much thought into it that the planning process prevents you from rolling out your mat! But when you put just enough energy into a space, it can become magnetic, drawing you onto the mat.

 

Other tips for practicing consistently and keeping your practice interesting include the following:

  • Go straight from your bed to the mat in the morning
  • Queue up new music to listen to while practicing
  • Attempt a new pose and do a warm-up that gets you there
  • Practice someplace new — in a different room, outside, or even in a hot tub
  • Lay out your mat in an unavoidable space
  • Set a goal for the week, such as a certain number of days on the mat, a certain pose, or more time in a pose
  • Keep an asana and meditation journal to stay accountable to yourself
  • Write down any inspiring sequences you’ve done in other teachers’ classes or practices, and work on them again

 

# # #

 

Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith, PhD are the authors of The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga and founders of the online school 90 Monkeys, which has enhanced the skills of yoga teachers and studios in over 40 countries. Amy is known for bringing yoga to modern-day life in a genuine way and has been featured on the covers of Yoga Journal and Fit Yoga Magazine. Taro is the Chief Content Officer at Yoga Glo and has over two decades of experience developing yoga, medical, and wellness enterprises. They both live in Boulder, Colorado. Visit them online at www.90monkeys.com and www.AmyIppoliti.com.

 

Excerpted from the book The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga. Copyright © 2016 by Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith, PhD. Reprinted with permission from New World Library. www.newworldlibrary.com

 

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27 Jun

Desire as a Personal Power

We generally do not think of desire as a form of empowerment.  But it is actually a personal power of immeasurable influence.  The problem is that most of us don’t live out of desire.  We live, rather, out of should, ought to, have to, obligation, loyalty and lots of other synthetic demands.  These synthetics were manufactured in a society that demands that we conform to its obligations to image as a way of maintaining the social order.

Most of us have a long list of obligations, duties, shoulds, ought tos, have tos.  We have to go to work, we should spend quality time with the kids and the spouse, we ought to be there for Mom or Dad, we have a duty to be there for our friends, the church, temple or mosque in which we participate, and we are loyal to the government, city, state and federal.  All of these obligations and duties, tie us to the mule, so that the mule and its labor are our only focus.  Desires come around only when we are exhausted, and with a deep sigh of regret, we implode “I wiiiish I could have….”  These longings have been dismissed, repressed, put on the back burner while we live lives full of the synthetic—that is, false, fake, unreal, contrived—obligations placed on us by the external world.

But we are so often afraid to allow ourselves to live out of our desires for fear that they will make us selfish.  We will become self-involved, self-absorbed, selfish, self-invested, all-about-me kind of people.  Because there is nothing inside of us that desires anything for anyone besides us, right?  We want only for ourselves.  We never want for anyone else.  But think about it.  Is that really true?  Don’t we also have deep desires for the happiness of our loved ones?  Don’t we long for that?  Even when they are making all the wrong decisions, going down all the wrong paths, aren’t we praying, pleading, cajoling for them to choose a life with more promise of happiness?

What we don’t know, have not been taught, is that compassion is also a desire.  We have not been taught this, however, because we have all made an under-the-table of consciousness agreement to deny that the inner world has anything of importance to give us.  Rather the should, have to, ought to, of the external world’s bidding is what we are obligated to do.  We have all agreed with the powers that be that the inner world is of no value, while the mores of society are the truth.  Therefore, body image, ego, ego aggrandizement and obligation are the orders of the day.

But if we look within, we find all manner of interesting messaging systems and personal powers.  Desire is a personal power.  It asserts the authentic Self in the real world, that is, IF we allow it to have a say in our decision-making processes.  Desire is a sacred connection to the authentic Self.  In expression, it is an I AM.  In fact, the ancient root word for the Jewish God is desire.   It is hava’ ‘aher hava’, which has been translated as I AM that I AM.  The word hava’ means to fall, to exist, to become, to happen.  It is rooted in ‘avah, which means desire, incline, covet, wait longingly, wish, sigh, want, be greedy, prefer, crave, long for, lust after; and in hayah, which means to be, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out. The word ‘aher means which, who, that which, that, when, since, as or a conditional if.  The name became Jehovah Hwhy, the existing one, the primitive root words of which are hyh (hyh), to be and hwa (hwa), to desire.

Of course the Jewish God is not everyone’s God, nor does everyone have or need a God.  But the point can be made here that desire is sacred.  Yet, we have put it on the back burners of our lives because we fear its power to make us selfish.  Indeed, as a general rule, we fear the inner sanctum of the individual and collective humanity.

When we get past the identifications with the external world, however, the desires of the authentic Self are sacred. The do not make us selfish.  They make us Self.

~Andrea Mathews

Learn more about Andrea at www.andreamathews.com

 

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26 Jun

How Do You Play the Prosperity Game?

Have you ever played the Prosperity Game?   I play it periodically when I am feeling out of sorts financially or feeling the urge to grow.  And this morning I was inspired to look at it from a new direction.

Basically, the game is played by picking an amount of virtual money to spend each day.  You can spend it on yourself, on your business or anything else you choose.  I started with a penny which was challenging because very little costs a penny these days.

Once you pick a starting amount, it doubles every day – and you have to spend all the money each day.  What I quickly found the first time I played is that the virtual amount you can spend on “things” you need and want personally is quickly satisfied.

So perhaps you create a business and grow it with the virtual resources you have at your fingertips.  At another point, you may find that you want to contribute to the well-being of others.   Once you have received everything you desire, where can you spend it?  More businesses, more contributing and you may find you experience joy in helping others.

This morning, the question I am pondering is:  How much do you have to have before you are comfortable giving to others?

The question emerges from a T. Harv Eker class I listened to yesterday.  He was addressing the internal conflict many of us feel between making lots of money and our concept of being spiritual.  We want to pursue our dreams, serve the world, and make a difference, yet we cannot justify charging for our services.  If you cannot charge, you cannot afford to continue the work.  If you cannot continue the work, then your dreams flounder, you do not serve the world or make a difference.  And, in fact, if your thoughts about money are seriously negative, you become part of the problem.  “You become a taker rather than a giver.”

If you knew that you receive money (income) in direct proportion to the value or service you give others, but felt that you could not continue to provide that service if you did not have the financial wherewithal to do so, what would happen?  What would you do?  Eker suggests that you get comfortable with charging for your services and satisfy your spiritual side by contributing to others in some way.  Find a way to balance your income.  He tells a wonderful story of someone who charged for services 4 days per week, and donated those same services 2 days per week to those who could not afford to pay for what they desperately needed.

And so the question:  At what point are you comfortable giving to others?  Or vice versa, at what point are you uncomfortable giving to others?

Would you be willing to play a version of the prosperity game designed to expand your comfort zone when considering when you can give?  This time we will start with a penny, a real penny.  I’d like you to donate a penny to someone or something today.  Toss a penny into the tip cup on someone’s counter.  Feel okay?  If not, do it again tomorrow.  Is it harming you in any way?  Get comfortable with giving a penny.

As soon as you are comfortable, double it.  Put in 2 pennies and keep doubling the amount you give as long as you feel comfortable spending real money in this way.  You can change the beneficiary at any time you wish.  And when the amount starts to have a real impact on your finances, you can switch to donating time, services or stuff.  And when even that amount no longer feels possible, organize a way to raise the next level of resources for someone, perhaps a crowdfunder platform. As soon as you reach it, double the giving goal once again.   Keep donating to the causes that call to you, the ones that give you joy in the giving and the ones that make you feel the way you want to feel when you have enough to pursue your dreams and live the lifestyle you desire.

It is said that when you appreciate your life now, more of what you appreciate comes to you.  Your dreams take off.  Your goal to be of service and make a real difference in the world can be fulfilled.   May your giving be your way of showing appreciation for all that blesses you and may even more blessings follow.  Try it and let me know what you experience.

To a more abundant life,

Susan

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