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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 16 2007 : 2:59:19 PM
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Beloved Immortal Selves!
The inner life of the spiritual aspirant is precisely such a constant struggle between the divine and the demoniacal aspects in him. The seeker’s Sadhana is this determined battle against the Asuric forces that try to drag him down into deeper darkness and take him away from his ideal. At times he becomes so totally helpless under the violent attacks of his lower nature that it seems as if all hope of progress is doomed to failure. He feels that he has fallen, never to rise again.
But, let all Sadhakas take heart that the compassion and grace of the Divine Lord is never-failing. It will never let you down. ‘Nil desperandum’ should be your guiding motto, for, the eternal law is "darkness cannot stand before light." Make a whole-hearted surrender at the feet of the Divine even as the Devas surrendered to Lord Siva. And like them pray earnestly with Bhava and sincerity. The divine help will surely come, and in your heart there will spring up the routing torrent of Divine Sakti. The Lord’s grace will become manifest to you in the form of inner Soul-force.
This power is the Skanda manifest in inner being to aid in your battle against the lower Asuric self with its devilish minions like passion, anger, greed, jealousy, falsehood, deceit, cruelty and thousand other aspects of evil. No more are you helpless!
The descent of the Divine Grace with this Atma Bala, with this Skanda Sakti, will vanquish all the undivine forces that attack you on the spiritual path and emerge triumphant and victorious. You achieve your life’s goal.
The grace of the compassionate Lord, when prayerfully and sincerely invoked, manifests as such irresistible Divine Power that all Asuric forces fly away in holy terror at its mere approach. The Lord’s Grace is the ultimate resort and unfailing support in the inner warfare of everyone’s spiritual life, of all struggles.
The significance and the spiritual message embodied in Skanda Avatara is the message of Supreme importance of self-surrender, the Supreme efficacy of sincere prayer and the unfailing compassion of the Lord. If you truly surrender yourself to the Lord with Bhava, He will at once shower His Grace upon you.
No real prayer from the bottom of your heart will remain unanswered. If you obtain the Lord’s grace, you will certainly succeed and overcome all obstacles and annihilate the force of darkness, that stand against you. There is no force that can stand against the Supreme Power of Divine Grace.
Take shelter at the Lord’s feet Pray to Him earnestly and invoke His aid and obtain His grace and compassion. Emerge triumphant and victorious. Attain the lofty and glorious spiritual state of freedom, perfection and bliss.
May the glorious Lord inspire you all and infuse in you with inner spiritual strength! May He lead you all to victorious triumph against the demons of nescience and worldliness!!
May He bless you all!!!
Excerpts from the writungs of Sri Swami Sivananda
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2007 : 09:13:48 AM
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Great post, Doc: 
I was wondering if you had any information on the planetary cycles as it relates to spirituality.
I'm investigating the precession of the equinox and influence on the attributes of the 72 Names of God. For example, the sun appears to move 1 degree backward every 72 years throughout the ages as it moves through the ecliptic. An interesting side note that once the sun passes over the equator on the vernal equinox we are at zero point where, at high noon, there is no shadow.
I've read that at the time of Christ the sun was in the sign of Pices, the fish, and we are in or are soon to approach the age of Aquarius, the water bearer.
Thank you:
VIL |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2007 : 11:04:33 AM
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Hi VIL:
Perhaps some of the material from my reference library will aid you in your search. I have posted it in the Kabbala, Gnosticism, and Christianity thread for better placement. Enjoy
Happy St. Paddy's Day! 
Doc
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Edited by - Doc on Mar 17 2007 11:11:23 AM |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Mar 17 2007 : 12:06:05 PM
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Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too, Doc:
VIL |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 19 2007 : 4:30:39 PM
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Excerpts from 'Integrating Spirituality Into Your Life'
by Dr. William A. Guillory, Ph.D.
Spirituality and religion are different and yet interrelated. Spirituality is essence and religion is form. Spirituality comes from one’s inner self and is often expressed as religious beliefs or practices. It may also be expressed as Zen, meditation, passion, kindness, support, and love. In addition, Spirituality can be the driving force behind creating better work-life quality and balance in our lives. Some steps you may want to consider in this process include:
1. Clarify Your Personal Innermost Values
The underlying motivation for those activities in life that give us the greatest joy, enthusiasm, and sense of satisfaction are our innermost values. Our innermost values are a reflection of who we are when we are being honest within ourselves and authentic in relationships with others.
Our innermost values are often clarified when we are forced to make difficult choices created by life experiences, such as the importance of family when work life becomes overly demanding, the onset of illness, an operation, exhaustion due to excessive work, the loss of interest or enthusiasm for work...or things that we simply do in behalf of others. These are activities that reflect values we cherish most: family, self, work, and service. Take 5 or 10 minutes to clarify for yourself the 10 most important values you have among these categories.
2. Balance Your Personal and Work Responsibilities
Once you are clear about the values that are most important to you, through values clarification, decide what activities naturally follow. For example, if you need to take care of yourself by being selfish sometimes --- do so! Learning to say “no” is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. Yet, it is one of the most difficult skills to master. Remember, you can’t help anyone else if you haven’t taken care of yourself.
Be thoughtful about the importance of family activities: time with children, spouse, parents, or others. Are you spending quality time doing meaningful activities that enhance communication and relationships? Be careful of the trap of simply “doing-activities,” such as movies, shopping, or other paying activities. Sometimes, the most meaningful quality time is having a heartfelt conversation --- and it’s free!
3. Be Kind To Others
Practice understanding and compassion for other people, particularly those who are a regular part of your life. Life is so much easier and less stressful when its free of conflict. Much of the conflict we experience is the result of our expectations and intolerance of others. If we stopped to consider the history and experiences of others, we would probably be just like them --- this understanding is wisdom.
How often have you gotten upset about something someone did, like not meeting a deadline, not living up to a promise, being late, revealing a confidence, or violating integrity or trust. If we stop to focus on ourselves, we would probably discover that we have also done similar things in the past. And perhaps, our intolerance is about ourselves! This realization is the beginning of compassion.
4. Embrace Personal Growth
Personal growth is the result of self-introspection. Although personal growth is uncomfortable at times, it’s a requirement for being a human on planet Earth. Learning to distinguish between a disagreement and a personal attack is the result of personal growth --- but many of us don’t make that distinction.
Personal growth is simply understanding those underlying motivations that result in counterproductive behavior, such as continual conflict in personal relationships with those we care about. Personal growth is also about stress-reduction and peace of mind. Practical ways of experiencing personal growth include, reading and thoughtful introspection, support groups, audio tapes, seminars, or simply “learning from life.”
5. Discover Your Passion
As we dig deeper into ourselves to explore questions such as, “why am I here?” “what special talents do I possess?” or “how do I want to be a difference?” we often discover our life purpose. This discovery can come as a child or a retired adult. There is no good or bad time to discover your passion. The difficulty arises when you are doing just fine (or not) and you suddenly discover you are “compelled” to do something else!
The longer the inner desire to do something else is denied, the greater the misalignment of your mental self and inner spiritual desire. This is a problem. The conflict arising from this misalignment is deposited in the body --- which eventually shows up as a chronic condition, severe illness, or possibly something more serious. In other words, our inner desire will not be denied or simply go away. A very prominent lawyer gave up his very lucrative practice to become a maker of non-traditional furniture. As a result, he no longer takes medication for stress and high blood pressure.
6. Go For The Moon?
Now that you know or suspect what “it” is, should you live your passion? No one can answer that one except you. It commonly involves making a difficult choice; at least at first. However, once you cut your ties with the past and fully focus your energy, time, and passion on the future, things may begin to fall into place. As Goethe is quoted as saying “once one commits to his or her passion, all sorts of support will come to his or her aid that he or she could never have predicted.” In other words, committing to your passion is a leap of faith in yourself. Where faith refers to your “inner knowing” that failure is not a possibility.
Before “going for the moon,” you might explore, in-depth, the following statements and questions.
Take time to explore your passion. Consider how it might be done where you presently are. How does the desire match your talents and experiences? What would be the consequences if you pursued it? Are the consequences real? At the peak of my career as a university professor and research scientist in chemical physics, I decided to resign and establish Innovations International Consulting with no outside funding. I also know of others who have made similar transitions. The major lesson I learned was that everything I had done to that point was all preparation for my new career direction.
Integrating spirituality into your day-to-day living using the suggestions above can lead to work-life quality and balance as well as a personal sense of overall well-being.
Hari OM!
Doc
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2007 : 03:44:09 AM
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“The time has come which is the beginning of spiritual struggles.”
Beloved brothers and children in the Lord,
The true nature of our spiritual struggle consists in aiming for the love of God as the object of our quest and desire. With the grace and blessing of God, then peace, joy, and perfect love will have settled permanently in our very existence.
The goal of spiritual struggle is not the acquisition of virtues, or of any other strange abilities solemnly through human powers, as it is believed by those who belong to various humanistic circles. This is the very reason why spiritual struggle is practiced neither with depression, nor with ostentation, but with as much joy and secrecy, as possible. If there is the desire to show off, then the goal of the love of God is put aside and in its place enters selfcontentedness. If there is depression and sorrow, the joy and the voluntary desire depart, and the person who lives in a state of oppression and constraint, namely in a spiritual state that is not pleasing in the eyes of God.
The spiritual struggle should be practiced with joy, and its main goal should be to introduce our heart into the Love and Joy of God, though which every sorrow and vindictiveness, and every complaint and protestation against our fellow men and women is expelled from us. In its place we will then have the unshakable and great peace of God that will radiate all around us.
+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
BY THE MERCY OF GOD,
ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE,
AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
Excerpts from:
CATECHETICAL HOMILY ON THE BEGINNING OF GREAT AND HOLY LENT 2007
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Edited by - Doc on Mar 20 2007 03:56:30 AM |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 20 2007 : 4:56:03 PM
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The Urantia Book on Conflict
Those God-knowing men and women who have been born of the Spirit experience no more conflict with their mortal natures than do the inhabitants of the most normal of worlds, planets which have never been tainted with sin nor touched by rebellion. Faith sons work on intellectual levels and live on spiritual planes far above the conflicts produced by unrestrained or unnatural physical desires. The normal urges of animal beings and the natural appetites and impulses of the physical nature are not in conflict with even the highest spiritual attainment except in the minds of ignorant, mistaught, or unfortunately overconscientious persons.
The Urantia Book, Page 383, (34:7.7)
Prayer is not a technique of escape from conflict but rather a stimulus to growth in the very face of conflict. Pray only for values, not things; for growth, not for gratification.
The Urantia Book, Page 1002, (91:8.13)
Religious living is devoted living, and devoted living is creative living, original and spontaneous. New religious insights arise out of conflicts which initiate the choosing of new and better reaction habits in the place of older and inferior reaction patterns. New meanings only emerge amid conflict; and conflict persists only in the face of refusal to espouse the higher values connoted in superior meanings.
Religious perplexities are inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle.
Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving.
The Urantia Book, Page 1097, (100:4.1)
The progression of religious growth leads from stagnation through conflict to co-ordination, from insecurity to undoubting faith, from confusion of cosmic consciousness to unification of personality, from the temporal objective to the eternal, from the bondage of fear to the liberty of divine sonship.
The Urantia Book, Page 1098, (100:5.2)
Every human being very early experiences something of a conflict between his self-seeking and his altruistic impulses, and many times the first experience of God-Consciousness may be attained as the result of seeking for superhuman help in the task of resolving such moral conflicts. Moral choosing is usually accompanied by more or less moral conflict. And this very first conflict in the child mind is between the urges of egoism and the impulses of altruism. A misguided conscience can become responsible for much conflict, worry, sorrow, and no end of human unhappiness.
The Urantia Book, Page 1131, (103:2.4)
But to attain perfection as an evolutionary time-creative experience implies something other-than-perfection as a point of departure. Thus arises imperfection in the evolutionary creations. And this is the origin of potential evil. Misadaptation, disharmony, and conflict, all these things are inherent in evolutionary growth, from physical universes to personal creatures.
The Urantia Book, Page 1159, (105:6.4)
There is never conflict between True Knowledge and Truth. There may be conflict between knowledge and human beliefs, beliefs colored with prejudice, distorted by fear, and dominated by the dread of facing new facts of material discovery or spiritual progress.
The Urantia Book, Page 1459, (132:3.4)
All forms of soul conflict consist in the lack of harmony between the moral, or spiritual, self-consciousness and the purely intellectual self-consciousness.
The Urantia Book, Page 1478, (133:6.6)
The human mind does not well stand the conflict of double allegiance. It is a severe strain on the soul to undergo the experience of an effort to serve both good and evil. The supremely happy and efficiently unified mind is the one wholly dedicated to the doing of the Will of the Father in Heaven. Unresolved conflicts destroy unity and may terminate in mind disruption.
But the survival character of a soul is not fostered by attempting to secure peace of mind at any price, by the surrender of noble aspirations, and by the compromise of spiritual ideals; rather is such peace attained by the stalwart assertion of the triumph of that which is true, and this victory is achieved in the overcoming of evil with the potent force of good.
The Urantia Book, Page 1480, (133:7.12)
The religion of the spirit means effort, struggle, conflict, faith, determination, love, loyalty, and progress. The religion of the mind--the theology of authority--requires little or none of these exertions from its formal believers.
The Urantia Book, Page 1729, (155:5.11)
And thus did Jesus make plain to the twelve the painful and conflicting path which they must tread if they would follow Him. What a shock these words were to these Galilean fishermen who persisted in dreaming of an earthly kingdom with positions of honor for themselves! But their loyal hearts were stirred by this courageous appeal, and not one of them was minded to forsake Him. Jesus was not sending them alone into the conflict; He was leading them. He asked only that they bravely follow.
The Urantia Book, Page 1760, (158:7.6)
"Forewarn all believers regarding the fringe of conflict which must be traversed by all who pass from the life as it is lived in the flesh to the higher life as it is lived in the spirit. To those who live quite wholly within either realm, there is little conflict or confusion, but all are doomed to experience more or less uncertainty during the times of transition between the two levels of living. In entering the Kingdom, you cannot escape its responsibilities or avoid its obligations, but remember: The Gospel yoke is easy and the burden of Truth is Light."
Jesus, The Urantia Book, Page 1766, (159:3.7)
"If you will be taught by the Spirit of Truth, never will there be conflict between the requirements of citizenship on earth and sonship in Heaven unless the temporal rulers presume to require of you the homage and worship which belong only to God."
Jesus, The Urantia Book, Page 1957, (181:2.10)
No matter what the apparent conflict between materialism and the teachings of Jesus may be, you can rest assured that, in the ages to come, the Teachings of the Master will fully triumph. In reality, True Religion cannot become involved in any controversy with science; it is in no way concerned with material things. Religion is simply indifferent to, but sympathetic with science, while it supremely concerns itself with the scientist.
The Urantia Book, Page 2076, (195:6.2)
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 21 2007 : 6:48:42 PM
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Sadhaka : You have warned us that the spiritual path is thorny and precipitous. Will you please elaborately explain the obstacles to meditation? Are there specific remedies to overcome these obstacles?
Gurudev : The chief obstacles are:
(i) Body : A sickly, dilapidated body stands in the way of yoga-abhyasa. The aspirant should try his level best to keep good health always, by regular exercise, asana, pranayama, moderation in diet, walking, running in the open air and by regularity in his work, meals and sleep. He should always keep up a cheerful attitude of mind under all conditions of life. If the mind is cheerful, the body also is healthy. That is the reason why doctors prescribe laughing three times daily in the treatment of diseases.
(ii) Poor Health: The body is a boat to cross over to the other shore of Immortality. The body is an instrument for attaining Self-realisation. You cannot meditate if you have a weak, sickly body. Take care of the body but have no attachment for it.
(iii) Drowsiness and Sleep: Laziness, half-sleepy state, sleep, laya (mental inactivity), etc. are the products of tamas (inertia). If the body is heavy, if the mind is dull, know that you were sleeping. While meditating, if the body is light, if the mind is clear, if there is cheerfulness, know that you are meditating.
Take only milk and fruits at night. Take the night meals before sunset. Avoid overloading the stomach. Do 10 to 20 pranayamas just before starting meditation. When sleep tries to overpower you, repeat the mantra loudly for some time. Sit in vajrasana. Dash cold water on your face. Do kirtan. Do pranayama.
(iv) Building Castles in the Air : When you constantly contemplate on the meaning of Mahavakyas (great utterances of the Upanishads), all the vishayas (sense activities) - seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling, - will stop. But owing to the force of samskaras (impressions and memories), manorajya (fancies and wild imagination or reverie) will continue. Mind builds castles in the air.
Closely watch the mind. Make it ekagra (focussed) and allow it to rest on the svarupa (real nature of the Self). Be thoughtful, careful and vigilant. Remove the two serious obstacles of drowsiness and manorajya by vichara (enquiry), discrimination, prayer, japa, pranayama, dhyana satsanga, and by light sattvic diet. If you are alert, by protracted efforts and incessant, vigilant svarupa-chintan or meditation on Brahman, you can get over the obstacles of sleep, manorajya, etc.,
(v) Mental Talking : During meditation you will be frequently talking to somebody mentally. Stop this evil habit. Have a careful watch over the mind.
(vi) Dreams In Meditation : Various sort of fantastic dreams trouble some aspirant very much. The presence of dreams denotes that you have not removed vikshepa(tossing of the mind), and that you have not done constant, intense sadhana.
(vii) Doubt : Doubt or uncertainty is a great obstacle in the path of Self-realisation It bars the spiritual progress. This must be removed by satsanga, study of religious books, vichara and reasoning. When a doubt arises whether there is God or not, whether I will succeed in Self-realisation or not, it must be dispelled by well-directed suggestions and affirmations.
(viii) Depression : Very often depression comes in meditation in neophytes owing to previous samsakaras, (subtle impressions) influence of astral entities, bad company, indigestion, and constipation. It must be removed quickly by cheerful thoughts, a brisk walk, singing laughing, prayers, pranayama and a purgative.
(ix) Cessation of Sadhana : Generally, the sadhaka is very enthusiastic in his sadhana in the beginning. When he does not get any result, he gets dejected. He gives up his sadhana completely.
You must develop the virtues of vairagya (dispassion), patience and perseverance to a maximum degree; you must have an unshakable conviction in the existence of God, and in the efficacy of spiritual practices. You must have a strong determination: " I will realize God in this very birth." Do not expect anything. Be sincere and regular in your daily meditation and tapas.
(x) Irregularity in Meditation : If you are irregular, if you give up practice for some days on account of laziness, it will be difficult for you to rise up again to the original height. Therefore, be regular. Rapid progress and great success can be attained if regularity is observed by the practitioner. You must keep your mind always in contact with the Brahmic fire of knowledge through constant and intense meditation.
(xi) Kashaya (hidden subtle desires) : Destroy kashaya through dispassion, discrimination, study of books, enquiry, etc.
Swamiji : Another disturbance is desires which you never thought were there and the unconscious ambitions within the mind. They can take endless shapes. You may think that you are meditating, but you begin to imagine this and that - building castles in the air. In the realm of meditation, they work havoc in the aspirant who does not take extra care to keep them at bay. Destroy kshaya through enquiry, discrimination, dispassion, study of books, meditation, etc.
(xii) Memory : Another obstacle is memory, because it is not under your control. When you do not want to remember past things all of them will be disturbing you. In the state of empty mind all vrittis and memories start coming and your imagination starts working havoc.
Obstacles to meditation have to be overcome by a number of methods. The salient ones are: prayer, practice of Divine Name, surrender to Guru, abhyasa and vairagya. If your abhyasa - unremitting effort - is always supported by vairagya, you will be able to overcome the obstacles.
Hari OM!
Doc |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 22 2007 : 10:15:35 AM
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Identifying Barriers to Meditation Practice
George A. Boyd © 2002
Those who become successful meditators must often overcome inner and outer obstacles that interfere with meditation.
Outer obstacles to meditation include environmental factors like a noisy, chaotic or polluted environment. This can take the form of nearly constant interruption by family, phone calls or clients. You may lack a peaceful place to meditate. You may not have the educational materials or instruction to learn how to meditate.
You may be missing the sacred objects necessary to carry out meditation or worship rituals in your faith. There may not be like-minded others to support you in your initial practice of meditation. There may be ideological, religious or political suppression of meditation in your community or nation.
Inner obstacles to meditation include physical, energetic, emotional, mental, volitional, unconscious and existential factors that interfere with the ability to meditate. These are listed below:
Physical obstacles to meditation: you may experience localized pain, itching, cramping of muscles, arthritic stiffness, or paralysis producing immobility and lack of sensation. You may have muscle armoring, spasm of muscles that blocks the flow of attention.
Energetic obstacles to meditation: These are conditions that both depress and heighten your energy levels to a point where you cannot meditate. Conditions that reduce energy include catatonia, torpor, sleepiness, or sloth. Energetic conditions that are too high include irritability, excessive excitement interfering with the ability to concentrate, and psychotic or manic states of uncontrolled energy; association and thought.
Emotional obstacles to meditation: This may take the form of various fears: fear of losing control, fear of being possessed, or fear of dying. You may doubt or devalue your spiritual experiences. You may glamorize or over-idealize your spiritual experiences, or other people, such as your spiritual teacher. You may develop unreasoning devotion to unworthy individuals. You may become over-zealous in your newly found faith, leading to excessive meditation, prayer or eagerness to convert others to your faith.
Mental obstacles to meditation: Mental retardation may influence your ability to articulate or describe your spiritual experiences. You may have beliefs that label meditation as evil. You may have learned beliefs that pervert the object or purpose of meditation, so that you seek spiritual powers for the control of others, to injure others, or satisfaction of carnal desires.
Your beliefs may limit the range or context of meditation so that you cannot extend spiritual progress beyond a certain level. You may have dogmatic beliefs that fuel intolerance or hatred for other religious, cultural or political groups. You may have a willingness to believe too easily (e.g., gullibility, or the formation of faith without discernment). You may develop distortion or disorganization of your cognitive processes, producing paranoia or psychosis –this is typically the result of incorrect use of meditation, which produces severe spiritual and psychological imbalances.
Volitional obstacles to meditation: You may have inner rebellion, which makes you refuse to meditate. Compulsion due to addictive patterns may take you away from meditation. You may have made commitments to projects and people that do not allow you time to meditate.
You may not be scheduling time to meditate, to do a personal process, or a personal inventory. You may not be incorporating spiritual goals in your life planning. You may be choosing not to meditate because of former traumatic experiences, fears, negative beliefs about it, or ignorance about its value or purpose.
Unconscious obstacles to meditation: These may take the form of terrifying images or traumatic memories that emerge when you try to meditate. You may slip readily into sleep states or states of unconsciousness when you meditate. You may encounter blockages or barriers that do not permit deepening beyond a certain level. [These blockages may appear as inner doors or gatekeepers that do not allow you to move beyond a certain point].
You may encounter defense mechanisms or stubborn mental traits that sabotage your efforts to meditate. You may have experienced psychic attack, possession experiences or encounter with terrifying or demonic entities in meditation that makes you frightened to meditate. [These terrifying experiences typically occur for individuals who travel through Subtle Bands of the Great Continuum of Consciousness without first building an armor of Light, or going without the protection and Grace of an overshadowing Initiate.] You may hold irrational beliefs based on a religious doctrine, which makes you afraid to meditate.
Existential obstacles to meditation: You may lack a sense of purpose or meaning in your life, which leads you to make random choices that do not involve meditation. You have made meaningful commitments to projects and people that do not allow a place for meditation in your life. Your cultural and religious identification do not utilize or advocate meditation.
You may value commitment to action and achievement and devalue passive introspection. Family, friends, roommates or other people may actively ridicule, devalue or interfere with your attempts to meditate. Your inner states of depression or despair are accentuated by meditation, leading you to avoid its use. You may cling to the ego or other state of identification that does not allow you to let go and experience the noetic and spiritual essences of Being.
With so many potential barriers to meditation, it is a wonder that anyone can successfully meditate at all! We encourage you to look within to identify, which of these factors may be interfering with your own ability to establish a regular, meaningful and fulfilling meditation practice?
Gradually, antidotes, solutions or workarounds can be found for your personal barriers to meditate, making it easier for you to go within to awaken, to unfold and to express your spirituality. When you identify what your barriers are, you may be able to identify what you can change or correct in order to improve your meditation experiences.
Hari OM!
Doc
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 23 2007 : 1:38:23 PM
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Excerpts from: 'Sadhana: The Spiritual Way'
by
Swami Krishnananda
THE OBJECT OF MEDITATION: THE APEX OF THE COSMIC TRIANGLE
Obstacles in meditation are supposed to be many. These obstacles do not come from anybody else. They come from your misconceptions about your own self and your relationship to other people, your wrong notion of God, immortality, and salvation. Discrimination, viveka, which is supposed to be a prerequisite quality in the practice of sadhana, clarifies this position, and it enables you to distinguish between what is proper and improper, what is right and what is not, what is real and what is unreal.
Your freedom is the only thing that you are seeking in all the walks of life. Everywhere you have found some kind of limitation, bondage, and insufficiency which you want to be rid of. For that purpose, you have come to listen to certain methods of practice, by which you will be able to free yourself from the tangles of wrong associations with things in the world. With these clarifications in your mind, gird up your loins for the practice of meditation, which is final Yoga. If this foundation is strong, then it is easy to build the superstructure of the further stages of Yoga practice.
As the apex of a triangle expands its compass further and further as it advances towards its base, likewise, imagine in your meditation that your chosen object of meditation is the apex of an inverted triangle. Even if it is a pin-point of the apex of the triangle, it has the seed of developing itself into the wider dimensions of the base of the triangle, which can extend itself to infinitude, to all space.
Imagine a triangle which is as big as this whole world - not a little Euclidian geometrical triangle that you draw on your mathematics notebook. This triangle is as big as you can conceive in its widest extent. And, the point in the inverted position is the object of meditation.
Thus, anything in the world is good enough for meditation; and if that is the case, any place in the world also is good enough to sit. All things are good enough and, therefore, all places also are equally good enough, but you should not be frightened whether this is so or not. Doubts tempt us like traitors, insinuating themselves into our heart and seeing to it that we do not succeed in our attempt. The whisper of the negative force will be heard continuously, together with our higher aspirations.
Hari OM!
Doc
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2007 : 7:13:45 PM
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Obstacles in Yoga
Consistent practice and detachment are very important for self-realization. There are several obstacles that affect our practice and hinder our spiritual progress.
The obstacles for spiritual progress are explained below:
Overeating
Hard work
Talking too much
helpful in stabilizing your mind.
Mixing with common people
Observances of severe vows
Unsteadiness
Diseases
Mental Dullness
Doubt
People often doubt about their path and progress. They always keep thinking whether they are on right path and progressing. Such doubt will take you nowhere. You must have complete faith on your path and practices you are following.
Mistakes
Laziness
Craving
Misconceptions
After achieving some progress many people start feeling that they need not practice anymore. They imagine themselves very near to the destination. They feel that Maya can no longer affect them. Some even feel attaining self-realization just by reading books! All these are misconceptions.
Inability to maintain stages of practice
By consistent practice one reaches certain stage but then suddenly progress halts. Mind can't achieve the same level of concentration. Then one starts thinking that there must be something wrong. This is very critical stage. Yoga practice always goes through ups and downs. One must continue the practice with the same zeal and enthusiasm as before.
Lack of concentration
Above obstacles generate symptoms of mental distraction such as pain, depression, shaking of the body during practice and unsteady breath. All the above obstacles must be overcome with constant efforts.
May the Peace be with you.
Author : Bipin Joshi
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Edited by - Doc on Mar 26 2007 01:43:51 AM |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 11:37:53 AM
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Excerpts from: 'Veterans of Inner Wars' by Rev. Lee Woofenden
We have all experienced these inner wars. Perhaps some of us are experiencing right now the battles that rage in our hearts and minds when what we want to do and what we know we ought to do are struggling to control what our hands will do; when our commitment to love and care for one another struggles with the bitter foes of jealousy, apathy, and despair; when the voices of our friends, our family, and our God are telling us that they love us and care for us, but hellish voices from within are telling us that we are no good, destroyed beyond repair, that we might as well give up and give in. And we have experienced the even more bitter struggle when we believe that all who have ever loved us--even God--have turned their backs on us. 
Yes, it is with the weapons of Truth, Righteousness, and Faith that we can do battle against all of the enemies within us and around us, which seek to destroy us from within outward. 
As we equip ourselves with the spiritual armor and weapons that the Lord offers us to struggle against these lies, and as we use them to overcome all that is false within us, we begin to feel the Joy of Victory. We begin to overcome those parts of ourselves that had always held us back. As a veteran, not of foreign wars, but of Inner Wars, we feel the Joy of Spiritual Victory.
Hari OM!
Doc
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2007 : 11:54:18 AM
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Excerpts from: Spirituality vs. Intelligence
by Steve Pavlina (Personal Development for Smart People)
Is there an inherent conflict between spirituality and intelligence? Are they perpetually at odds with each other? Must we choose to embrace either spirituality or rationality but never both at the same time?
In terms of the question of intelligence vs. spirituality, the problem arises from the perceived sense of conflict between these two supposed opposites. This perception prevents us from trusting and following either side far enough. We'll only go so far down one side or the other before flipping back to the other side. We have our intellectual pursuits and our spiritual pursuits, and never the twain shall meet. They are both kept separate and compartmentalized. We try to interact intelligently with our outer world and spiritually with our inner world.
However, this perceived conflict is a fabricated one. If you were only to follow your intelligence or your spiritual beliefs far enough — really push them to the limits — you'd see they end up at the same place. The conflict is purely imaginary. It exists only in our thoughts.
Regards to All ~
Doc
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 29 2007 : 1:17:48 PM
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Excerpts from:
MYSTICAL MUSINGS FROM THE ROAD:
ENTITIES, ORBS, ANGELS AND POWER ANIMALS by Cody Johnson
"When you experience something, you do not have to believe in it any longer; it’s not a matter of belief but a matter of experience. Mysticism is about trusting our experience…"
-- Matthew Fox, Ph.D.
Throughout history and in all cultures we have stories of all sorts of entities such as fairies, power animals, ghosts, gnomes, angels, and a myriad of strange lights. Now we have orbs showing up everywhere. Taken for granted in all times and places, these entities have appeared in a wide variety of often elaborate forms. This large array of life forms and peculiar creatures tells us of a fundamental belief system that is part of our human experience.
Because of the limited reductionist view of science about these beings, most often designating them as pathological figments of our ego imagination, we are lead to believe the entities are only dependent upon our conception; they are created mentally by us and have no independent existence. These phenomena are creating a lot of trouble for modern reductionist scientific humanism, because the entities are non-physical and have an existence apart from being perceived by humans. This is where science falls apart because it can’t explain what’s going on and simply discounts the great many people who experience these beings as disconnected from reality and nuts.
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hopeless meditator
United Kingdom
38 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2007 : 11:35:38 AM
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| Great thread, Doc. You have answered some nagging questions that have been troubling me for quite some time. I love the diversity of your sources too. Thank you. |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2007 : 3:13:34 PM
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Namaste hm:
Thank you so much for your kind words of support. In my own journey of self-realization, I have been blessed with opportunities to learn from several highly evolved teachers from different spiritual and religious traditions. I discovered through personal experience in each of the traditions I studied and practiced that the challenges and obstacles to success which arose were essentially the same. What a surprise, eh? 
I concluded, therefore, that perhaps similar challenges and obstacles face most spiritual aspirants, no matter what particular path they follow. Hence, this thread. Thanks again!
Hari OM!
Doc
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2007 : 12:59:56 AM
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Excerpts from The Mystery of Christ by Father Thomas Keating
The Temptations in the Desert
The biblical desert is primarily a place of purification, a place of passage. The biblical desert is not so much a geographical location--a place of sand, stones or sagebrush--as a process of interior purification leading to the complete liberation from the false-self system with its programs for happiness that cannot possibly work.
Jesus deliberately took upon Himself the human condition--fragile, broken, alienated from God and other people. A whole program of self-centered concerns has been built up around our instinctual needs and have become energy centers--sources of motivation around which our emotions, thoughts and behavior patterns circulate like planets around the sun. Whether consciously or unconsciously, these programs for happiness influence our view of the world and our relationship with God, nature, other people and ourselves. This is the situation that Jesus went into the desert to heal.
Jesus redeemed us from the consequences of our emotional programs for happiness by experiencing them Himself. As a human being, He passed through the pre-rational stages of developing human consciousness: immersion in matter; the emergence of a body-self; and the development of conformity consciousness--over-identification with one's family, nation, ethnic group and religion. He had to deal with the particular but limited values of each level of human development from infancy to the age of reason, without, of course, ever ratifying with his will their illusory projects for happiness.
Jesus appears in the desert as the representative of the human race. He bears within Himself the experience of the human predicament in its raw intensity. Hence, He is vulnerable to the temptations of Satan...the Enemy or the Adversary, a Mysterious and Malicious Spirit that seems to be more than a mere personification of our unconscious evil tendencies. The temptations of Satan are allowed by God to help us confront our own evil tendencies. Self-knowledge is experiential; it tastes the full depths of human weakness. In the desert Jesus is tempted by the primitive instincts of human nature.
Affection/esteem constitute the center of gravity of the second energy center. Everybody needs a measure of acceptance and affirmation. Jesus rejects the happiness program that seeks the glorification of the self as a wonder-worker or spiritual luminary.
The third energy center is the desire to control events and to have power over others. Adoration of God is the antidote to pride and the lust of power. Service of others and not domination is the path to true happiness.
Thus, out of love for us, Jesus experienced the temptations of the first three energy centers. He invites us to join him in the desert and to share his trials...designed to facilitate the reduction of our emotional investment in the programs of...the entire false-self system as the ultimate purpose. Fasting, prayer and almsgiving are in the service of this project.
As we dismantle our emotional programs for happiness, the obstacles to the Risen Life of Jesus fall away, and our hearts are prepared for the infusion of Divine Life...!
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 10:14:50 AM
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Thanks for the article, Doc:
"...but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin." Heb. 4:15
"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Heb. 2:18
The above Scriptures state that Christ was tempted so that He is able to help others, and yet, within the same Scripture, it states: "He was without sin".
In order for an "temptation" to exist there would have to be sin, since there would be an attachment/allure/desire for a thing and this was impossible for Christ, as James explains here:
"When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. " James 1:13-16"
There must be an error in translation when it comes to the word "temptation" within Hebrews and I think it may mean "test" and was wondering if anyone would know? Doc?
There also seems to be a general misconception that Christ endured an internal struggle with the human part of Himself and that He arrived at the end of this forty day "temptation", victorious, which doesn't comply with reason, since Christ was without enticement to sin. So it would have to mean that the symbolic journey to the desert was an "outward test", by the people/generation, as to Christ's being the promised Messiah after Moses. I would also like to mention that Christ didn't have to prove to Himself who He was, or to anyone else, but did this for the benefit of a faithless generation:
"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'"[1]
Reference to Moses:
"Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you,causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years." Deuteronomy 8:2-8 [Moses]
"The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" [1]
Reference to Moses:
"Fear the Lord your God,serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah." Deuteronomy 6:14-16 [Moses]
"The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." [1][Luke 4:1-13 Scripture split up]
Reference to Moses:
"If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the Lord, who is my refuge-- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." Psalms 91:9-12*[Written by Moses?]
They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, " Can God spread a table in the desert? When he struck the rock, water gushed out, and streams flowed abundantly. But can he also give us food? Can he supply meat for his people?" Psalms 78:18-20 *[Written by Moses?]
"But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes." Psalms 78:56 *[Written by Moses?]
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I thought this was interesting, relating to Christ's tomb:
"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away." Mark 16:1-4
"Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. There he saw a well in the field, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well's mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well. Jacob asked the shepherds, "My brothers, where are you from?" "We're from Haran," they replied. He said to them, "Do you know Laban, Nahor's grandson?" "Yes, we know him," they answered. Then Jacob asked them, "Is he well?" "Yes, he is," they said, "and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep." "Look," he said, "the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture." "We can't," they replied, "until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep." Genesis 29:1-8
*Doc, do you know who wrote Psalms 78 and 91? I assume it was Moses, or concerning Him, since all of the other Scriptures Christ fulfilled are related to Moses. Thank you:
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Apr 04 2007 1:13:55 PM |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 2:39:34 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by VIL
"...but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin." Heb. 4:15
"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Heb. 2:18
The above Scriptures state that Christ was tempted so that He is able to help others, and yet, within the same Scripture, it states: "He was without sin".
In order for an "temptation" to exist there would have to be sin, since there would be an attachment/allure/desire for a thing VIL
Hi VIL:
I think you're take on this is wrong. Sorry!  Let me explain.
A tempatation is merely an attempt to get someone to do wrong, with the promise of a reward for doing so. It's nothing more than a negative 'sales pitch'! It only becomes a sin when one metally accepts and entertains the proposition, whether it is ever acted upon or not.
Since Jesus acknowledged the propositions offered to Him for what they were...'temptations'...but did not mentally accept the propositions, and did not act upon them, he remained without sin. I hope that clarifies the Scriptural references for you.
Doc
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Apr 04 2007 : 3:43:30 PM
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quote:
Doc: but did not mentally accept the propositions, and did not act upon them, he remained without sin.
Then it couldn't be a "temptation", since you would need to feel mentally enticed by something for it to allure you, whether acted upon or not, no?
ie: Doc was tempted to smoke a cigarette, although he never did.
To me, this is saying that you desired the cigarette even though you decided not to take an action and smoke it.
ie: Christ was tempted to sleep with a married woman, but did not act upon it.
ie: Christ was tempted to hurt a person, but did not act upon it.
ie: Christ was tempted to curse God, but did not act upon it.
This doesn't make sense, since it would imply that Christ felt something internally, whether it be covetness, addiction, desire, or whatever, and goes against Changeless Reality, which is pure and free from these things.
I think that you are looking at it from the perspective of "test", but it would have to come from an external source and it couldn't be something that Christ felt internally, otherwise He would be impure and we know this is ridiculous.
ie: Christ was tempted (tested) by the Pharisee, as to whether or not He was the Son of God.
We can look at the above example from two different perspectives.
a. Christ doubted whether He was or was not the Son of God. He felt something internally, doubt, conflict. (erroneous).
b. Christ was the object of a test, or trial, to satisfy the desire of someone - something external - in this example a Pharisee. (accurate).
Do you see how the same sentence can have completely different meanings and how the two words can be used interchangeably?
So, maybe we are saying the same thing, but the meaning that most generally think of, in regards to the temptation of Christ is that He felt a desire or was enticed by the things presented to Him, although it wouldn't matter if there was an action present or not.
In other words, in the case of the temptation of Christ, the devil would have to represent a person, generation, and could not represent an aspect of Christ Himself, as an internal desire that Christ was struggling with, since He was free from desires and was the Prime Exemplar of Oneness and was without Ego and we know the devil isn't real, so it must mean that Christ was tempted by the people of the time or was allegory of the past/present/future generation in relation to testing/proving a Manifestation of God.
The word "tested" would be appropriate and not "tempted". They should rename it: The testing of Christ:
I know this is confusing, Doc: LOL Sorry.
"But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."-Matt. 5:28
VIL |
Edited by - VIL on Apr 04 2007 5:08:02 PM |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 02:06:55 AM
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Hi VIL!
Wow! I hope you didn't hurt yourself on that last post. Whew! LOL
Perhaps I didn't adequately communicate my meaning, or perhaps you merely misunderstood what I stated. In any event, allow me to rephrase a bit.
I believe that the use of the word 'temptation' in the Scriptural verses, regarding Jesus's encounter with Satan, totally refers to Satan's intention to persuade Jesus to do wrong for the sake of self-gain and ego gratification rewards....to tempt His human nature. However, Jesus was clearly aware of these intentions, and even overtly identified them as such verbally, but was never "mentally enticed", emotionally allured, or spiritually persuaded by the offers at any time during their 'negotiations'.
Thus, the effort made to tempt Jesus was strictly a reflection of Satan's own weak moral character, sinful pride, and egoistic vanity, as he alone accepted the temptation visualizations he proposed, and the rewards they promised, as a viable course of action, whereas Jesus never did as He was never tempted.
As a result, Satan's evil intentions found no place to take root, and thus immediately returned to their source...himself. In turn, Jesus prevailed by Virtue of His Divine Nature, which has no need of another's assistance to manifest anything...anywhere...at anytime!
Blessings to All!
Doc
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 07:54:58 AM
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quote:
Hi VIL!
Wow! I hope you didn't hurt yourself on that last post. Whew! LOL
LOL
Hey, Doc, it seems like we're saying the same thing:
VIL
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
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VIL
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - Apr 05 2007 : 10:53:44 AM
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quote:
Hi VIL!
OK. Probably so! But this IS the Spiritual Combat thread, you know, so we could slug it out for a few more rounds if you want to! LOL
LOL:
Like this?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg-TwaxTPSs
LOLOL:
VIL |
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Doc
USA
394 Posts |
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Spiritual Combat on the Path to Illumination
