“Banish uncertainty.
Affirm strength.
Hold resolve.
Expect death.

Make your stand today. On this spot. On this day. Make your actions count; do not falter in your determination to fulfill your destiny. Don’t follow the destiny outlined in some mystical book: Create your own. (more…)

I’ve written a lot of the teachings of people but I felt it time to write a little about other types of animals that have something important to teach us. Ever since I was a child I’ve always admired Sloths, I even chose to write about them in primary school, compiling an entire folder on them full of research. I feel there is something we can learn from the way they live their lives. (more…)

Excerpt from “The Way of Zen” – Alan Watts

“Moksha (liberation) is also understood as liberation from maya – one of the most important words in Indian philosophy, both Hindu and Buddhist. For the manifold world of facts and events is said to be maya, ordinarily understood as an illusion which veils the one underlying reality of Brahman. This gives the impression that moksha is a state of consciousness in which the whole varied world of nature vanishes from sight, merged in a boundless ocean of vaguely luminous space. Such an impression should be dismissed at once, for it implies a duality, an incompatibility, between Brahman and maya which is against the whole principle of Upanishadic philosophy. For Brahman is not One as opposed to Many, not simple as opposed to complex. Brahman is without duality simple as opposed to complex. Brahman is without duality (advaita), which is to say without any opposite since Brahman is not in any class or, for that matter, outside any class.
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Nisargadatta: Can you communicate to me what it is you have understood?

Visitor: It is all concepts, all illusion.

Nisargadatta: Yes.

V: I don’t believe in processes that take a lot of time and discipline. I’ve done all that. I want it to end.

Nisargadatta: The basic fact, that you are not the body – must be clear to you by now.

You are working in the world and you think that you are doing that work, but what is happening is this:

The life force, when it comes out in thoughts and words, is the mind, so it is this prana mind, life force mind, which is the acting principle.

The beingness, the consciousness, is the God which witnesses the life force and mind working.

It does not interfere; it merely witnesses.

The reason for your unhappiness is that you think it is you who are working.
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This week I would like to talk about EFT, which stands for: Emotional Freedom Technique.
EFT is also known as Meridian Tapping or just Tapping, and is a wonderful tool for improving our well-being. EFT is a practice that combines eastern and western disciplines in order to balance the energy in our bodies, which in turn, will help us improve our physical and psychological state. For a more in-depth description, I will quote EFT expert Carol Look:

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“The sage whose words are ambiguous you call great.
Those who advocate discipline you shun.
With one, you treat words the way you want.
With the other, you resent having no quarter. (more…)

Spiritual realization is the aim that exists in each one of us to seek our divine core. That core, though never absent from anyone, remains latent within us. It is not an outward quest for a Holy Grail that lies beyond, but an Inward Journey to allow the inner core to reveal itself.

In order to find out how to reveal our innermost Being, the sages explored the various sheaths of existence, starting from body and progressing through mind and intelligence, and ultimately to soul. The yogic journey guides us from our periphery, the body, to the center of our being, the soul. The aim is to integrate the various layers so that the inner divinity shines out as through clear glass. (from “The Inward Journey” by  B. K. S. Iyengar)
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“When the order to move comes, the warrior looks at all the friends he has made during the time that he followed the path. He taught some to hear the bells of a drowned temple, he told others stories around the fire.

His heart is sad, but he knows that his sword is sacred and that he must obey the orders to the One to whom he offered up his struggle.

Then the warrior thanks his travelling companions, takes a deep breath and continues on, laden with memories of an unforgettable journey.” (more…)

Wu Wei (non-action) as defined by Chuang Tzu (compiled by Thomas Merton): Wu Wei is not intent upon results and is not concerned with consciously laid plans or deliberately organised endeavours: “My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness … Perfect joy is to be without joy … if you ask ‘what ought to be done’ and ‘what ought not to be done’ on earth to produce happiness, I answer that these questions do not have [a fixed and predetermined] answer” to suit every case. (more…)

“Bird song flies unfettered
Over blue sky and green fields
Once you feel Tao run,
Give way, give way. (more…)

“A tree hemmed in by giants
Requires tenacity to survive.

Times of adversity inevitably confront us all. We are denied influence, people will not listen to what we have to say, and we are restricted by circumstance. In this situation, followers of Tao must rely on their determination. Without that, they cannot emerge successfully from the danger. (more…)

Releasing your Fears Guide

Releasing your Fears

Releasing your Fears with this Practical Method is actually really easy. Are you presently be controlled by your Fears? This method is handed down by the American Indians to allow one to do just that. They aren’t just telling one to release their Fears. They are showing us how! When one wishes to release their Fears using this Practical Method they find it is a simple, fun and enjoyable way to let them go. One has nothing to lose but the fears themselves. Be free of them. They serve no purpose but to enslave ones mind. Nokomis will help you find your Manidoo.

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“The warrior hears someone say: ‘I need to understand everything before I can make a decision. I want to have the freedom to change my mind.’

The warrior regards these words suspiciously. He too can enjoy that freedom, but this does not prevent him from taking on a commitment, even if he does not know quite why he does so. (more…)

Krishnamurti: If you already know what you are changing to, is that change at all? If one knows what one will be tomorrow, then “what will be” is already in the present. The future is the present; the known future is the known present.

The future is the projection, modified, of what is known now.
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“Age is covered with cosmetics,
Gray hidden with dye,
Confidence is sought in men,
Awareness deferred for the future.
She toils on her job,
Enduring tension and fatigue,
Subsisting on tranquilizers,
Pinning future hopes on her children. (more…)

The Buddha developed the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path as a means for each of us to understand the nature of suffering, i.e. what suffering is, and to show us a way to overcome it. Though they are his teachings and guidelines, each of us still has to come to the awareness of what suffering is and how to free ourselves from it on our own. Being told or studying how to do something doesn’t mean we truly know and understand it. We must go through the process and do it ourselves. And usually it takes a lot of practice, practice, practice! Understanding ourselves from within is no different.
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“An ancient gnarled tree:
Too fibrous for a logger’s saw,
Too twisted to fit a carpenter’s square,
Outlasts the whole forest. (more…)

Zen is a form of Buddhism that emphasizes meditation rather than ideas, and experience rather than understanding.  The philosophy entails being effortlessly mindful of all that exists within the present moment without goals or expectations. (more…)

“Give back what you’ve learned.

Share your experience.

If you are in the position of teaching others, then you should teach without reservations. What need is there to hold back? You could tell the secret of life ten times over, and it would still be safe. After all, the secret is only known when people make it real in their own lives, not when they simply hear it. (more…)