posted June 01, 2013 04:37 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Randall:
Is OM the sound the Universe makes?

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Yes. In addition to what’s already posted above, I wanted to add a few excerpts from Sri Ramakrishna’s Gospel—everything I’ve added in parenthesis is mostly from the glossary of the Gospel. I find Sri Ramakrishna’s metaphorical explanations very interesting and easy to understand. I’ve added definitions where needed.

Some of these definitions are from the Bhagavad Gita (Hindu scripture), translation by Eknath Easwaran. Everything in italics is my own addition from stuff I’ve read.

Hope this helps in getting a sense of this vast and complex topic .

Om (definition): The cosmic sound, heard in deep meditation; the Holy Word signifying Brahman, the Divine Ground of existence. Also, the most sacred Word of the Vedas; also written as Aum. It is a symbol of God and of Brahman … The Absolute, the Supreme Reality.

Nada The Word-Brahman, Om, the cosmic sound.

Brahma (distinguished from Brahman-below): The Creator God; the First Person of the Hindu Trinity, the other two being Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer. All Three have Masculine Gender as opposed to Brahman, which has Neuter Gender.

Brahman: The Supreme Reality underlying all life, the Divine Ground of Existence, the Impersonal Godhead. Brahman has Neuter Gender.

Bhakti: Devotion, worship, love.

Jnana (pronounced gyaana): Wisdom, higher knowledge.

Ajnana: Lack of wisdom or lack of higher knowledge.

Vijnana: Knowledge of the Supreme God.

Jiva (pronounced jeeva): The finite living soul that is identified with separate existence, as opposed to Atman, the eternal Self.

Vedas: The name of the most ancient Sanskrit (Hindu) scriptures, considered to be a direct revelation from God to the mystics of the past.

Vishnu: Second in the Hindu Trinity; the Preserver who incarnates himself in age after age for the establishment of dharma (see below) and for the welfare of all creatures.

Dharma Law, duty; the Universal Law, which holds all life together in unity.

Samadhi: Mystical union with God; a state of intense concentration in which consciousness is completely unified (with the Supreme Mind).

Shiva: Third in the Hindu Trinity, the other two being Brahma, the Creator, and Vishnu, the Preserver. Shiva destroys, but He also conquers death.

Shakti: Power; God’s Feminine Aspect; the Divine Mother.

Sadhana: A body of disciplines or way of life, which leads to the supreme goal of Self-realization (iQ has used this word while giving his interp of the trine aspects between the Vedic asteroids in my natal—on page 3 of this thread).

Krishna: From ‘krish’ … ‘to draw, to attract to oneself’ or ‘He Who draws us to Himself,’ name of an incarnation of Vishnu. He is the inner Lord, Who personifies spiritual love and lives in the hearts of all beings.

Rama: ‘Prince of Joy’, famous King of Ayodhya who killed the evil demon Ravana to reclaim his wife Sita. He is an incarnation of Vishnu.

Yoga: A path or discipline, which leads to a state of total integration or unity with God; realization of the unity of all life.

Yogi: A person who practices spiritual discipline.

Yuga: An age or an eon. In Hindu cosmology there are four Yugas, representing a steady deterioration in the state of the world from age to age. The names of the Yugas are taken from a game of dice. Krita Yuga is the age of perfection (when the Gods roamed the world), followed by Treta Yuga. The incarnation of Sri Krishna is said to mark the end of the third yuga, Dvapara. We are living in the fourth and final Yuga, Kali, in which creation reaches its lowest point. The world goes through 1,000 such Yuga cycles during one Kalpa, or Day of Brahma.

CONTINUED ...

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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 04:54 PM            

Sri Ramakrishna:
“The sound Om is Brahman (the Supreme Being). The rishis and sages practiced austerity to realize that Sound-Brahman. After attaining perfection one hears the sound of this eternal Word rising spontaneously from the navel.

‘What will you gain’, some sages ask, ‘by merely hearing this sound?’

You hear the roar of the ocean from a distance. By following the roar you can reach the ocean. As long as there is the roar, there must also be the ocean. By following the trail of Om you attain Brahman, of which the Word (Om) is the symbol. That Brahman has been described by the Vedas (Hindu scriptures) as the ultimate goal. But such vision is not possible as long as you are conscious of your ego. A man realizes Brahman only when he feels neither ‘I’ nor ‘you’, neither ‘one’ nor ‘many’.”

“Think of the sun and of ten jars filled with water. The sun is reflected in each jar. At first you see one real sun and ten reflected ones. If you break nine of the jars, there will remain only the real sun and one reflection. Each jar represents a jiva (the embodied soul, a living being, an ordinary man—pronounced jeeva). Following the reflection, one can find the real sun. Through the individual soul one can reach the Supreme Soul (Brahman). Through spiritual discipline the individual soul can get the vision of the Supreme Soul. What remains when the last jar is broken cannot be described.”

“The jiva at first remains in a state of ignorance. He is not conscious of God, but of multiplicity. He sees many things around him. On attaining Knowledge, he becomes conscious that God dwells in all beings.”

“Suppose a man has a thorn in the sole of his foot. He gets another thorn and takes out the first one. In other words, he removes the thorn of ajnana, ignorance, by means of the thorn of jnana, knowledge. But on attaining vijnana (Special Knowledge of the Absolute, by which one affirms the universe and sees it as the manifestation of Brahman), he discards both thorns, knowledge and ignorance. Then he talks intimately with God day and night. It is no mere vision of God.”

“He who has merely heard of milk is ‘ignorant’. He who has seen milk has ‘knowledge’. But he who has drunk milk and been strengthened by it has attained vijnana (knowledge of God).”

CONTINUED ...
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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 05:12 PM            

“The yogi, by following in the trail of the sound of Om, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahman (this merging is a state of samadhi; definition—ecstasy, trance, communion with God).”

“’A’, ‘U’, and ‘M’ mean Creation (Brahma Shakti), Preservation (Vishnu Shakti), and Destruction (Shiva Shakti).” [Note that each Divine Masculine Member of the Trinity—Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva also known as Mahesh, is inseparable from the Divine Feminine Principle or Shakti].

Sri Ramakrishna explains Aum further—

“But I give the illustration of the sound of a gong: ‘tom’, t—o—m. It is the merging of the Lila (Maya or that which is Relative) in the Nitya (that which is Absolute): the gross, the subtle, and the causal bodies (the three bodies or seats of the soul) merge in the Great Cause (Brahman); waking, dream, and deep sleep merge in Turiya (Brahman). The striking of the gong is like the falling of a heavy weight into a big ocean. Waves begin to rise: the Relative from the Absolute; the causal, subtle, and gross bodies appear out of the Great Cause; from Turiya emerge the states of deep sleep, dream, and waking. These waves arising from the Great Ocean merge again in the Great Ocean. From the Absolute to the Relative, and from the Relative to the Absolute. Therefore I give the illustration of the gong’s sound, ‘tom’. I have clearly perceived all these things. It has been revealed to me that there exists an Ocean of Consciousness without limit. From It come all things of the relative plane, and in It they merge again. Millions of Brahmandas (universes) rise in that Chidakasa (Absolute Consciousness, the All-pervading Spirit) and merge in It again. All this has been revealed to me; I don’t know much about what your books say.”

[Sri Ramakrishna—(1836-1886) could not read nor write, never liked formal education, even though he was urged by his family, especially his older brother, to study. Yet he had Knowledge, not only of all the Hindu scriptures “on his tongue”, but he also had Knowledge of the Supreme God … all through direct personal experiences. The Gospel is almost a stenographic record of his conversations with his disciples and others. Before his birth, his father, while away from home on a pilgrimage, had a dream in which Lord Vishnu promised to be born as his son. His mother too, while visiting a Shiva temple, had a vision indicating the birth of a divine child.

I particularly like reading Sri Ramakrishna’s Gospel because seekers of all faiths can find courage and faith, hope and illumination. Through his vivid experiences and stories, he made God very real and within reach of all. Moreover, he showed that each person’s sincere prayer is always answered and that EVERYONE can become perfect, through the grace of God].

CONTINUED ...
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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 05:29 PM            

So we were first an idea or thought in God’s Mind or Consciousness … before becoming manifest in the relative plane through the Divine Creative (Feminine) Power known as Shakti.

Incidentally, Om is the same as Nada (the Word Brahman or cosmic sound). iQ mentioned Nada earlier on in this thread (page 1), calling it “the music of the spheres”, after I described hearing music in one of my experiences.

Kundalini is the essence of Om. When She is awakened, lives which had seemed commonplace and arid, unenjoyable and frustrated, become gay and flourishing, filled with sweetness, contentment and delight.

~ ~ The Play of Consciousness: A Spiritual Autobiography by Swami Muktananda © 2000 Third Edition SYDA Foundation. p.xxiv

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 05:49 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Randall:
I have some niches in which I excel, but there's a lot in the New Age which I know little of. I don't meditate, for instance.

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Here’s my take on meditation. If you can immerse yourself in any activity … and be so focused on it so as to lose sense of time … you are in a state of meditation. For an artist this meditative state could be through his/her art, for an athlete his/her sports, etc. Because when time stands still for you through any activity, you are in your ‘center of peace’. With practice you can get to this ‘center’ more and more easily. And acting consciously from this place of ‘center of peace’ is the goal of all those who meditate, because they are then able to handle life from a place of peace, or perfect mental and emotional balance.

Physically, the biggest health benefit of meditation is the control of blood flow, so problems associated with blood flow (like hypertension and high blood pressure) can be kept in check.

Here’s a quick 3-minute meditation that anyone can do even in the middle of a busy day. In fact, it can be done several times in a day (even at work), if necessary, depending on how stressful is the day. Usually doing it in the morning before beginning the day is beneficial.

--> Sit upright in a chair (or sofa), relaxed, with both hands on knees … palms facing upwards. With eyes closed, breathe slowly, completely relaxed as though you’re in no hurry to go anywhere.

--> Bring your awareness to your heart by imagining it pumping strongly and healthily. See if you can actually feel or hear your heart beating when you’re focused on it (some people can). Now ask yourself the question, “Who am I?”

Give yourself a minute to answer while continuing to breathe slowly. The answer does not have to be profound, just whatever you know of yourself.

--> Next, bring your awareness to your fingertips for a few seconds.

--> Then, bringing your awareness back to your heart, ask the question, “What am I grateful for?” Mentally list one, two, or several things that you’re grateful for in that day … or in your life in general.

--> Then ask yourself the third and last question, “What do I really want?”

--> Next, bring your awareness back to your fingertips. See if you can feel your pulse beating at the fingertips. You have just diverted blood flow away from your brain, which helps in bringing down blood pressure.

Eating a handful of walnuts every day also lowers bp (by 3 points).

Having said what I have about meditation, I must admit that I don’t meditate … never have. I’m aware that meditation and yoga seem to be a standard practice for the vast majority to foster a safe Kundalini awakening. But I think there are more ways than one and prayer has been the ‘way’ for me … prayer and a regular mental ‘housecleaning’ or mental vigilance of my own thoughts.

I now realize that even this prayer, which I’ve been used to since childhood, is really an expression of my love and longing for God. So sometimes when my longing becomes very strong, even prayer doesn’t seem to be adequate. Maybe going deep into meditation will help at that point, so I should probably try it.

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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 06:01 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Randall:
I merely provide the venue here for the free exchange of ideas.

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Yes, thank you. The day I had the Om vision, my heart was filled with awe and wonder for the Goddess. That day, while thanking Her, I actually thought of you and all the other members at LL with whom I’ve had any sort of contact, no matter how brief, and I felt grateful. I thanked Goddess Parvati for continuously making it possible for you to maintain this website which has put me in touch with wonderful people, who have/are acting as guides for me on this awesome ongoing journey of discovery of Self. For me, the understanding of Kundalini Shakti is most important. So my gratitude is multifold

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 07:08 PM            

“There are probably better mantras for healing hair issues if you really want that as a priority.” Yes please, if you wouldn’t mind. Do you have links that you could give? I’d also like to pass them along to some women friends who, like me, routinely face stress related hair loss.

“I have noticed a lot of women having issues with hair loss (myself included). I posit it as either being related to interstellar radiation, or food intolerances due to our diet, which coincidently causes hair loss (you won't find that unless you research fastidiously enough).”

I agree that a big part of the cause is from the environment—the food we eat, the water we drink and use to bathe (in my area we get hard water in our taps, which is bad for hair and general health), as well as pollution and radiation.

The rest of the cause is stress, which creeps up on you before you even know it. Male psychologists are now openly admitting that life in current times is more difficult for women than men. 40% of women today are the breadwinners in US households compared to 11% some 30 years ago. Also, bringing up one child is equal to one full time job (regardless of how much the husband helps). So if a woman has two children plus a full time job … well, she’s actually working the equivalent of 3 full time jobs! And despite recent research showing that women’s iq is higher than men’s (men’s brains are larger in size), women in the US are still getting paid 70 cents to every dollar a man makes! So what’s a woman to do if not get stressed, lol.

Anyway, I think that there’s only so much we can do about the environment. But the stress factor is more or less in our hands—to continuously try and find ways to mitigate our internal reaction to our environment. Between action and reaction lies human freedom. What I’d like is to forever control this problem so that I don’t have to deal with it in future. Usually I find that the turn-around time for each hair loss episode seems to be 4-5 months, after which growth returns to normal provided the cause of stress is eliminated.

Thanks for the tip on thymuskin.

“Siva itself is also an asteroid.” Yes, I’ve gone back and corrected the spelling where I’ve written about my trine aspects. Wherever I’ve written Shiva aspecting another asteroid, I actually meant Siva. So one GT has natal Siva conjunct Part of Karma, trine Rudra, trine Saturn. Sorry for the confusion.

And I just realized something—Natally, I have Moon conjunct Rudra, Mars conjunct Hara (for Shiva), Mercury exactly conjunct Nada in exact sextile to Samadhi, Vishnu conjunct SN, Raman/Sita conjunct Asc/Desc (Raman is exactly opposite Sita), Ramakrishna conjunct IC, Jessie (for Jesus) conjunct IC in exact sextile to NN, and Siva conjunct Part of Karma.

So 3 inner planets and all 3 axes affected by mythological figures including one (Mercury) impacted by Nada or Om or the Impersonal God Consciousness! Helloooo ...

CONTINUED ...

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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 07:22 PM            

“Yes, love is the most important thing in spirituality, and I am still working on it, but maybe this will help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGp5Faz01vs&list=PL9682F1AB0282BC42. He is supposedly an incarnate of one of the souls who works in the Akashic records. He speaks of the tantric star/star of david etc as being the perfect emanation of enlightened man, having balanced the creative/feminine (downward triangle) to the masculine (upward triangle).”

The Matias De Stephano videos are wonderful! Thanks for the link! He gives a good explanation of who we are and why we’re here. It supports my pet theory that it is love which makes the world go around

“If you read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, he is very balanced in his bhakti and jnana as is Swami Vivekananda.” I’m still reading it, but you are correct, in that he has both bhakti and jnana (being a Vishnu incarnate). However, because of the Kali Yuga we’re living in, Sri Ramakrishna suggests that bhakti would be an easier way for people to follow and reach their goal.

“Rama is also just an earlier incarnation of Krishna/Vishnu.” Yes, thank you. I’ve corrected my error regarding this also. Rama is the 7th incarnation and Krishna is the 9th incarnation. The 10th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Kalki, is yet to arrive. There are some who believe that Krishna is the 8th incarnation, Buddha the 9th, and Kalki the 10th (yet to arrive).

There’s a very interesting site that has this discussion, in addition to detailing how the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu correlate with the evolution of human life and advance in human civilization. Amazing stuff! http://www.hindu-blog.com/2007/06/ten-incarnations-of-lord-vishnu-in.html

CONTINUED ...

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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 07:50 PM            

Thank you. I’ll try. This too is in God’s hands. Atm, I seem to be meeting up with a lot of cynics in general … People who are very suspicious of love and who prefer to box God in churches and temples as though they’re ashamed of Him. He is to be “taken out of the box” and contacted only when they are desperate, or when they want to use His name and image to promote self-interest like in politics and/or to manipulate others.

If I’m asked to share my views on anything in life, in general all my viewpoints are considered weird because invariably, my spiritual based outlook becomes apparent. Then I usually get a silence or very surprised responses like—

“But you’re so beautiful. Don’t you want to get married and settle down?”???? Or,

“Oh but you’re so pretty …” with the voice trailing off … like I’d just announced that I was wasting my life or something.

This type of response is similar to what a woman (a friend of a friend) once said to me after asking whether I had a boyfriend. I said no (I was in college and riding with her to Toronto, Canada, in her car which she was driving). She looked at me like I’d just told her I had a terminal illness. Lowering her voice in a shocked whisper, she said, “Oh honey, I’m sooo sorrrrry.” And this after she’d just finished recounting the last 13 years of her own suffering in relationships!

I thought to myself—hmm, let’s see, you just cried your heart out and told me you were married for 7 years before your then husband told you he was gay, then you were in a 4-year relationship with an older man, who was going to propose on Valentine’s day. Instead he showed up late at night telling you he was gay and had been running around on you picking up men at bars, and that he wanted you out of his house by the morning. You’d already sublet your own apartment so had to crash with friends for a while during which time you got yourself tested for AIDS. After this you wanted to be sure the next guy wasn’t gay, so you had a 2-year affair with a married man who had 2 teenaged children. He wrote you beautiful poetry, sent you flowers, and promised to leave his loveless marriage when his children turned 18, and to prove his “honorable” intentions he was going to give you a “promise ring.” You made the most scrumptious dinner and waited for him all dolled up. He came and cried that he didn’t have the heart to leave his children and couldn’t “dishonor” his wife by leaving her. So now you were on your way to Toronto to cry on your ex-husband’s (and best friend’s) shoulders. And you’re horrified that I don’t have a boyfriend!? Really?? No, reeealllly???? I opened my mouth to say, “I’m on my way to the banquet, so I don’t feel the need to spoil my appetite by feeding on crumbs along the way, honey,” but then I saw her tear stained face and red rimmed eyes, and put a lid on my sometimes smart aleck-y Mercury-in-exact-sextile-to-Mars mouth.

Some other responses to my outlook in life are—

“You’re nuts!” or

“I hope you don’t go around talking like this to other people because they’re going to think you’re nuts.” (thereby indirectly calling me nuts anyway), or

“You’re living in a fantasy world.” To this I usually reply beamingly, “Ain’t that somethin’? And I don’t even have to smoke anything to get there.”

Anyway, this is just a lighthearted look at something that actually makes me a bit sad—the total self-involvement of people with the most mundane things in life and their inability to look beyond their immediate physical needs. I don’t mean to imply that I’m looking to give sermons … hardly. But every once in a while, it would be nice to relate to others outside of the 3 lower charkas, ya know?

And these reactions are only concerning my general outlook in life. Can you imagine the reactions I’d get if I mentioned my Kundalini awakening symptoms? I’d most likely be considered a perfect candidate for careful psychiatric care … the “handle with care, we may need a straitjacket for her” kind.

Still, in the scheme of things, ultimately even all this is a non-issue … given that there are so many bigger problems and so much suffering in life.

CONTINUED ...

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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 08:47 PM            

I don’t think you’re being sexist at all because you probably know why it is unsafe beyond a certain point. So I’m curious, because given my vision of Om, I was planning on incorporating the chanting in my regular practice. So if I have to be careful I’d like to know how much of it I could do safely. Would you have any links because I think this info would be quite important. As it is, I’ve already tried the chanting and felt something, not sure what. I’ll write about it in a later post.

“I have had far less deity dreams than you have. Mine just tell me stuff I have a hard time believing ”

Well, what I do is try and ask specific questions about whatever information I’m seeking and then wait (with absolute conviction) for the Goddess to respond. The conviction and faith need to be strong … like a child’s. Meaning, when you ask for something, know that you’ll be provided with the answer.

And being specific creates less confusion in the energy you send out with your question. So I think it helps to first sort through in your own mind whatever it is that you’re dealing with, and then ask very pointed questions for guidance.

Here’s a true short story about faith. A town in Arizona was facing drought because they hadn’t had rain in a long while, and their crops were dying. The people of the town decided to get together and pray for rain. One little girl, when told by her Mother that they would all be asking God to make rain, went with her family and others to gather at the selected place. Well, guess what? While the people were praying, it began to rain heavily. They all got drenched except for that one little girl who had decided to bring along her umbrella! Unlike the others she really believed that God gives what you ask for, and came prepared. The faith of a child!

CONTINUED ...

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 01, 2013 09:15 PM            

You’re a storehouse of excellent information and I think you’re very generous with your time. I’m going to keep asking the Goddess to make time in your life so that you can continue to add your insights

iQ has very keen insight which, along with his copious knowledge is an awe-inspiring combination. I just hope he doesn’t wince at some of the things I ask or the stuff I post (he’s too kind to say anything about it). Some of my earlier questions on this very thread make me cringe a bit now, and I think that perhaps I shouldn’t have asked this or that. But then, because I don’t like to get trapped in the woulda, coulda, shoulda of things, and I always try to make myself feel good , or close to God, I remind myself of what iQ had said to me in some other old thread about a year ago—that for every question I ask, there are 7 other people who don’t ask. This allows me to rationalize that it’s ok to bug him … not too much though I know not to do that.

Thanks again, Baccha! And please don’t forget 2 things—links for hair mantras and info on the safe level of Om chanting for women [I figured you might need a reminder after plodding through the boat loads of words I use … Gemini Merc. here, whatcha gonna do?]

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 05, 2013 01:46 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Linda Jones:
[b] “You are right, you are very bhakti. Don't lose that. It is very endearing.”

Thank you. I’ll try. This too is in God’s hands. Atm, I seem to be meeting up with a lot of cynics in general … People who are very suspicious of love and who prefer to box God in churches and temples as though they’re ashamed of Him. He is to be “taken out of the box” and contacted only when they are desperate, or when they want to use His name and image to promote self-interest like in politics and/or to manipulate others.

If I’m asked to share my views on anything in life, in general all my viewpoints are considered weird because invariably, my spiritual based outlook becomes apparent. Then I usually get a silence or very surprised responses like—

“But you’re so beautiful. Don’t you want to get married and settle down?”???? Or,

“Oh but you’re so pretty …” with the voice trailing off … like I’d just announced that I was wasting my life or something.

This type of response is similar to what a woman (a friend of a friend) once said to me after asking whether I had a boyfriend. I said no (I was in college and riding with her to Toronto, Canada, in her car which she was driving). She looked at me like I’d just told her I had a terminal illness. Lowering her voice in a shocked whisper, she said, “Oh honey, I’m sooo sorrrrry.” And this after she’d just finished recounting the last 13 years of her own suffering in relationships!

I thought to myself—hmm, let’s see, you just cried your heart out and told me you were married for 7 years before your then husband told you he was gay, then you were in a 4-year relationship with an older man, who was going to propose on Valentine’s day. Instead he showed up late at night telling you he was gay and had been running around on you picking up men at bars, and that he wanted you out of his house by the morning. You’d already sublet your own apartment so had to crash with friends for a while during which time you got yourself tested for AIDS. After this you wanted to be sure the next guy wasn’t gay, so you had a 2-year affair with a married man who had 2 teenaged children. He wrote you beautiful poetry, sent you flowers, and promised to leave his loveless marriage when his children turned 18, and to prove his “honorable” intentions he was going to give you a “promise ring.” You made the most scrumptious dinner and waited for him all dolled up. He came and cried that he didn’t have the heart to leave his children and couldn’t “dishonor” his wife by leaving her. So now you were on your way to Toronto to cry on your ex-husband’s (and best friend’s) shoulders. And you’re horrified that I don’t have a boyfriend!? Really?? No, reeealllly???? I opened my mouth to say, “I’m on my way to the banquet, so I don’t feel the need to spoil my appetite by feeding on crumbs along the way, honey,” but then I saw her tear stained face and red rimmed eyes, and put a lid on my sometimes smart aleck-y Mercury-in-exact-sextile-to-Mars mouth.

...

[/B]

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LOL! You're awesome, Linda.

Yes--it's ridiculous, isn't it? How these assumptions of what is right or "natural" for a woman to want and aspire to has such a hold on us still, despite the overwhelming evidence that something is very missing from the picture here!
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EDIT: (Yeah, that WAS a thread hijack there. Man--I've got to look at that M.O. of mine.)

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Your tagline says it all:

I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

posted June 05, 2013 02:10 PM            

Hmm. What does this mean? That the wisdom of this age is somehow impure? Distorted? Not to be trusted? I would think that being in a Kali Yuga would mean we have to be discerning with all modes of learning.

The bhakti route is not my natural inclination. Honestly, that is the route that feels less reliable to me, personally. Perhaps I trusted wholeheartedly in the past, and was betrayed. I don't know.

posted June 12, 2013 07:36 PM            

In fact, I think you’ve made an important point …

“Yes--it's ridiculous, isn't it? How these assumptions of what is right or "natural" for a woman to want and aspire to has such a hold on us still, despite the overwhelming evidence that something is very missing from the picture here!”

This is exactly why we, as women, need to get in touch with our Kundalini Shakti … so that we can achieve greater wisdom, clarity of thought, and the courage to do that which we’re called to do irrespective of society’s expectations. That is the only way to get out from under the “hold” others have on us, or try to have on us. Ideally, pure love is the only “hold” that should exist in our lives.

Sometime back, I watched a story on TV about a South African village that was routinely pillaged and plundered by guerilla fighters. They would kill the men of the village and rape their women. One day when the guerillas came to the village yet again, they found an aging grandmother standing in their way. She called them cowards who were committing acts of horror on those who were helpless. She said that if they wanted to continue killing and raping, they would have to get past her by first killing her. Long story short, the guerillas turned around, left, and didn’t come back. The grandmother was hailed as a hero and interviewed by TV stations in other countries, including the US. She was asked what message she wanted to give to women all over the world. She had only one message—speaking slowly, her words being translated, she said that women must realize they are stronger than men, and they must use their strength to act with courage and wisdom, so that society can flourish.

I think that she was unknowingly referring to the Divine Feminine Power, which all women possess in abundance … the Goddess Shakti. Men possess it too. For example, every time a man uses his creative and intuitive energies to find solutions to everyday problems, he’s availing of his Shakti.

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 12, 2013 07:57 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jovian:
"However, because of the Kali Yuga we’re living in, Sri Ramakrishna suggests that bhakti would be an easier way for people to follow and reach their goal."

Hmm. What does this mean? That the wisdom of this age is somehow impure? Distorted? Not to be trusted? I would think that being in a Kali Yuga would mean we have to be discerning with all modes of learning.

---

Yes, all modes of learning are possible and Sri Ramakrishna suggests several. Out of them the two main ones seem to be the path of jnana, which follows Knowledge, discrimination, and renunciation, and the path of bhakti, which involves loving devotion to God.

Jnana (from the Gospel): Knowledge of God arrived at through reasoning and discrimination; also denotes the process of reasoning by which the Ultimate Truth is attained. The word (jnana) is generally used to denote the Knowledge by which one is aware of one’s identity with Brahman (Absolute God).

Bhakti (from the Gospel): Love of God; single-minded devotion to one’s Chosen Ideal (the Personal God).

The thing with the path of jnana, according to Sri Ramakrishna, is that it involves total renunciation … the kind that monks, sages, or sadhus undertake, in order to completely annihilate the ego. The ego has to be completely absent or “purified” in order to become aware of one’s identity or oneness with Brahman. Otherwise it will create an obstruction in the achievement of the realization of God.

But in the path of Bhakti, some ego (or “I-consciousness”) is allowed to remain in the form of separation between the Personal God and the devotee … a separation felt by the devotee.

Since Kali Yuga is a period marked by increased ego in people (the cause of increased vice and decreased virtue), Sri Ramakrishna felt that the path of Bhakti is easier for people living in the Kali Yuga. He also felt that it is easier to concentrate on a Personal God or God “with form” as opposed to the Absolute or God “without form”.

CONTINUED ...

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 12, 2013 08:35 PM            

Sri Ramakrishna: “There is a great deal of difference between the knowledge of a householder (a married person, or one participating in worldly life activities) and that of an all-renouncing sannyasi (monk). The householder’s knowledge is like that of a lamp, which illumines only the inside of a room. He cannot see anything, with the help of such knowledge, except his own body and his immediate family. But the knowledge of the all-renouncing monk is like that of the sun. Through that light he can see both inside and outside the room. Chaitanyadeva’s knowledge (Chaitanya—Indian prophet and God incarnate, born in 1484 A.D., who emphasized the path of Bhakti and divine love for the realization of God) had the brilliance of the sun—the sun of Knowledge. Further, he radiated the soothing light of the moon of Devotion. He was endowed with both—the Knowledge of Brahman and ecstatic love of God.”

“One can attain spiritual consciousness through both affirmation (Bhakti) and negation (Jnana’s reasoning). There is the positive path of love and devotion, and there is the negative path of knowledge and discrimination.”

“Both negation and affirmation are ways to realize one and the same goal. Infinite are the opinions and infinite are the ways. But you must remember one thing. The injunction is that the path of devotion described by Narada (a great Indian sage and lover of God) is best suited to the Kaliyuga.”

On ego or ‘I’: “Try to find out what this ‘I’ is. Is this ‘I’ the bones or flesh or blood or intestines? Seeking the ‘I’, you discover ‘Thou’. In other words, nothing exists inside you but the power of God. There is no ‘I’, but only ‘He’. It is not possible to rid oneself altogether of the ego; so, as long as it is there, let the rascal remain as the servant of God. (All laugh). The ego that makes a man feel he is a devotee of God, or a son of God, or a servant of God is good. But the ego that makes a man attached to ‘woman and gold’ (lust and greed) is the ‘unripe ego’. That ego is to be renounced.”

Note: The expression ‘woman and gold’ denotes focus on worldliness, and does not mean that Sri Ramakrishna was against women in any way. In fact, he advocated that men look upon all women (other than their wives) as their mothers.

“In the samadhi (ecstasy, trance, communion with God) that comes at the end of reasoning and discrimination, no such thing as ‘I’ exists. But it is extremely difficult to attain it; I-consciousness lingers so persistently. That is why a man is born again and again in this world.”

“The ‘unripe ego’ makes one feel: ‘I am the doer. I am the son of a wealthy man. I am learned. I am rich. How dare anyone slight me?’ A man with an ‘unripe ego’ cherishes such thoughts.”

“The aim of the jnani is to know the nature of his own Self. This is Knowledge; this is liberation. The true nature of the Self is that It is the Supreme Brahman: I and the Supreme Brahman are one. But this Knowledge is hidden on account of maya.”

Maya: Ignorance obscuring the vision of God; the Cosmic Illusion on account of which the One appears as many, the Absolute as the Relative; it is also used to denote attachment.

“The bhaktas (those who practice bhakti) retain ‘I-consciousness’; the jnanis do not. Nangta (literally, the Naked One. He was the sannyasi, monk, who initiated Sri Ramakrishna into monastic life and who went about naked) used to teach how to establish oneself in the true Self, saying, ‘Merge the mind in the buddhi and the buddhi in the Atman; then you will be established in your true Self.’

Buddhi: Intelligence or discriminating faculty.

Atman: Self or Soul; denotes also the Supreme Soul, which is one with the individual soul (according to the Hindu Non-duality school of philosophy).

“But the ‘I’ persists. It cannot be got rid of. Imagine a limitless expanse of water: above and below, before and behind, right and left, everywhere there is water. In that water is placed a jar filled with water. There is water inside the jar and water outside, but the jar is still there. The ‘I’ is the jar”.

“In front of the door of God’s mansion lies the stump of ego. One cannot enter the mansion without jumping over the stump. Unless one renounces the ego, one does not receive the grace of God.”

On signs of knowledge: “There are two signs of knowledge: first, absence of pride, and second, a peaceful nature.”

And finally …

“The path of knowledge is very difficult. One cannot obtain Knowledge unless one gets rid of the feeling that one is the body. In the Kaliyuga the life of man is centered on food. He cannot get rid of the feeling that he is the body and the ego. Therefore the path of devotion is prescribed for this cycle. This is an easy path. You will attain God if you sing His name and glories and pray to Him with a longing heart. There is not the least doubt about it.”

“Suppose you draw a line on the surface of water with a bamboo stick. The water appears to be divided into two parts; but the line doesn’t remain for any length of time. The servant ‘I’ or the devotee ‘I’ or the child ‘I’ is only a line drawn with the ego and is not real.”

Hope this helps in answering your question.

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 12, 2013 09:15 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jovian:
The bhakti route is not my natural inclination. Honestly, that is the route that feels less reliable to me, personally. Perhaps I trusted wholeheartedly in the past, and was betrayed. I don't know.

---

I wanted to share some thoughts here, if I may.

First, without question, life is difficult … full of problems, pain, and suffering. Buddhist practice recommends accepting this as a fact of life. And the pain of betrayal can be acute. But I think it’s important to remember that it is not love that causes pain and betrayal, rather the lack of it. Love itself is pure and does not hurt. It is the lack of love (in varying degrees) in people that hurts.

Second, I think there are two sides to trust—trust in oneself, and trust in the other-->

Trust in the other means understanding that the other can make mistakes through ignorance (when we know better, we do better).

Trust in oneself means having enough confidence that even if my trust is betrayed, I will be able to handle it without crumbling under the pain of the betrayal, and without letting it affect my future outlook.

This confidence is easier to attain when we have a sense of being loved unconditionally by God. And this is where Kundalini experiences come in. My own experiences give me a feeling of being enveloped in a warm blanket of God’s Love.

As iQ has mentioned, Kundalini awakening becomes easier when we have less negativity, which can be achieved by greater forgiveness.

Jovian, I hope you won’t think I’m speaking out of turn when I say that if I were you, I’d focus my energies on making sure nothing stands in the way of my progress in my relationship with God as well as my realization of God/Self. And if it means having to forgive someone for what they’ve done in the past, no matter how grave their error, I would do it.

You’re very kind, generous, lovable, and intuitive. So why should your soul’s growth be put on hold or become slow because of someone else’s actions? Let the consequences of their actions stick to them. Karma will take care of that, you can be sure.

Meanwhile, you need to heal so you can keep growing. And, in my experience, the healing comes from God. For example, I’ve learned (intuitively) to make God so big in my life that other relationships pale in comparison. This way if something devastating happens in any of my human relationships, I don’t feel like the rug’s been pulled out from under me. And I always turn over my hurt and pain to God, especially when I don’t feel strong enough to handle it. That’s what my nightly conversations with the Goddess are about—turning over everything to Her on a daily basis.

I hope I haven’t offended you by anything I’ve said here because that is not my intent.

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 12, 2013 10:05 PM            

May 9, 2013: On May 6. 2013, I’d told Shakti Ma that I trusted Her to explain the India incident involving the 5-yr old girl child, in Her own way and in Her own time. She did ... in this dream, and it has changed me. I feel that this dream is a past life recall within which there’s another past life recall (a brief glimpse) about this one man whom I don’t seem to know in my current life. iQ and Baccha, I’ll defer to your judgment to make the call.

Dream: I see myself as a woman in an unknown town (unfamiliar in this life), in another time. Many people are talking about a man who’s on a rampage killing others. I briefly see the man with what looks like a curved sword or a machete in his hand. People are running helter skelter.

I don’t seem to know this man in my current life but in the dream I see a glimpse of him in his previous life … a recall within a recall? (Is this possible?) I see his house exploding from a bomb blast killing his whole family and him. I realize that in his current life (the one in my dream) he’s carrying an uncontrollable rage within him, which is fueling his killing spree.

I try to explain his background to people … even showing them the place where the bomb had destroyed his home and family. I tell them not to be afraid of him … that he would stop the killings if everyone could convey to him that he was loved, instead of feared and hated.

I then see myself in a hospital building on one of the upper floors, in a patient wing. There’s word that the man is coming up the stairs to continue his killings. It seems like he’s already killed some people on the lower floors. The patients are frightened. I feel unafraid. I’m aware he could kill me too. But instead of fear, I feel a tremendous compassion for him as I see a man writhing in pain … like a terribly wounded and caged animal. I’m certain that he can be stopped if I can convey to him that he is loved. I’m as certain of this as I would be of an exam that I knew I was going to ace because I was well prepared for it.

The man enters the wing. There’s a woman patient in a bed in front of me closest to the entry doors. She begins to plead with him for her life. He grabs her head and buries the machete in her body, killing her instantly.

I am next in line as I’m standing in front of the next patient’s bed. Behind me I hear the other patients screaming. I think to myself again that yup, this is it. I’m next. But I do not feel a shred of fear as again, I’m fully convinced that he will stop just as long as I can convey to him that he’s loved. I feel my mind being crystal clear in its clarity of the singular thought of love. I do not budge from where I’m standing and look at him calmly and steadily … silently conveying to him that he has nothing to fear because he’s loved.

He looks back at me. He seems to be in his 20s, with a muscular build and dark hair. His eyes widen at first, either from recognizing me or, perhaps because of his surprise that I don’t appear to be frightened like the others. And then … as he continues to look at me silently … his right hand holding the machete slowly lowers to his side. I continue telepathically communicating to him that he’s loved. He then drops his gaze and turns his back to me. His shoulders hunch as though in shame. My eyes open from the dream.

CONTINUED ...
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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 12, 2013 10:38 PM            

When I woke up from this particular dream, I continued to feel the absolute and unshakable calm that I’d felt in the dream, as well as the ongoing compassion for the man. Still completely absent from my mind was any shred of fear, criticism, or judgment toward him. And this is what surprised me …the complete absence of condemnation in my mind for his horrific acts.

My natal 12th hse Mars/Hara (name for Shiva) in Aries could indicate my having been witness to violent death/s of other/s(?) in a hospital related setting in a past life (association with hospitals is in my current life also). With Venus as my chart ruler, and the driving urge (in this life), to understand and experience ego-less love … well, this urge could stem from some past life scenario like the one in this dream.

I think there are several possibilities about this dream, though I’m not sure which one has the greatest probability—

1) It is very possible that Shakti Ma showed me one of my past lives to make a point (in this life) about the Indian man’s horrific acts toward his neighbor’s child … that all is karma and even though he behaved abominably, he’s still human … a human who is mentally, emotionally, and spiritually in great pain. And She reminded me of the love and compassion I felt for the man in my dream even though he was committing acts of pure horror, as a way to foil my rage toward the Indian man in this current life.

2) Alternatively, Shakti Ma has, through this dream, given me an entirely new experience by placing some of Her Own thinking in my mind, in order to allow me to glimpse and experience a tiny fraction of the way Her Own Mind works … the limitless compassion She feels for all beings, regardless of their acts.

3) Yet another possibility is that She was giving me a glimpse into a future life by showing me who I’m going to be in my future … so I may as well give up thoughts of rage and condemnation toward abominable acts from now itself.

4) A final possibility is that this is something that occurred in a parallel life or maybe 5th dimension?.

Either way, my thinking and perspective have been changed permanently after this experience. As an example … after this dream … I heard about two incidents (locally) in which two men have killed the women in their lives (plus a small child in one case).

For the life of me, I couldn’t bring myself to feel any condemnation for either man. I still feel that society must continue to govern through laws to prevent anarchy, and that both men need to be held accountable for their actions. But mentally, I don’t feel any condemnation … just sadness and compassion for everyone involved in these cases.

I want to add that by allowing me to have this experience, Shakti Ma has healed me from my rage response over the Indian child incident. For this I’m completely grateful, as I know I’d taken a hit … not just mentally and emotionally, but also physically and psychically … caused by my own rage.

What do you think, iQ and Baccha? Was this dream a past life recall or was it a brand new experience inserted in my mind by the Goddess? Which of the 4 possibilities above do you think happened? Personally, I’m leaning toward #1, i.e., a past life recall.

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------------------
~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

posted June 23, 2013 03:29 PM              

Sorry for the delay, I am dealing with some things personally that are more or less holding me back. There are few things I find more beautiful than bhakti so I'd encourage you to keep posting for that and your kundalini emergence. Mine isn't nearly as bad it is used to be, and I still can't seem to ground it enough to not affect electricity .

You're really cute, demanding mantras of me. You'd make a good Radha. However, there's a huge karma to handing out mantras, and they have different energetic effects on the nadis. Some aren't advisable for some people. Not to mention, chanting them can cause what western medicine would call psychosis, so it can be inadvisable. I myself cheat on the advice and have used mantras beneficially. Amma hands them out, but I wouldn't feel comfortable handing them out. There's a very comprehensive site on mantras that I just can't find now which would probably have a hair mantra practice, but it amounts to hours of mantra chanting to cure an ailment. The one I use now which is general is very powerful though. I had an intense herxheimer reation and felt like I'd nearly fall off my chair with vertigo before vomiting lol. Some like Om namah Shivaya or Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya or of course the ever popular maha mantra (Hare Krishna etc). I personally could never figure out why people worshiped Krishna, but Ganesha scared me as a child. I kind of wonder if that's because in a past life I didn't say a Ganesha mantra before chanting mantras. Apparently you can make Ganesha very mad if you don't do that. I can vividly remember staring at Shiva statues of him dancing the tandava as a kid, in a kind of a past life way, just enraptured.

Concerning the AUM chanting with women, this is what I found:
http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/articles/id/abo utspiritualresearch/spiritualpractice/chanting/chanting-om

quote:

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Due to the spiritual energy generated by chanting Om, a person at a lower spiritual level may be adversely affected by chanting Om regularly. A person at a lower spiritual level can suffer physical distress such as hyperacidity, a rise in body temperature, etc., or psychological distress like restlessness. It is especially recommended that women should not chant just Om, by itself. The frequencies emanating from Om generate a lot of energy which in turn generates physical and subtle heat in the body. This does not affect the male reproductive organs as they lie outside the body cavity. However, in the case of women, this heat can affect the reproductive organs as they lie within the abdominal cavity. Thus, women may experience distress in the form of excessive menstrual flow, amenorrhoea (absence of a menstrual period), dysmenorrhoea (severe uterine pain during menstruation), infertility, etc. Hence, it is advisable for women not to chant Om by itself unless it is specifically recommended for them, by a Guru or a Saint.

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In my own studying, I do not agree with everything in this article, but this highlights some of the dangers of mantra chanting. There are other things like breathing and offensive chanting etc that one should be aware of.

quote:

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Mantras are powerful sound vibrations which are capable of transforming energy at all levels of creation. They affect mental and subtle planes of consciousness and reach the subconscious level where our karmic patterns are stored. The practice of mantra increases concentration, memory, purifies our heart and helps erase the effects of past karma. Proper recitation of mantras and chants helps invoke the latent power within us and can bless us in every facet of our life.

The most important thing you need to know, whether it is a mantra you are repeating or a chant you are singing – proper pronunciation is the key. Yes we all have different accents – that is not a problem – however mispronunciation changes the meaning and nullifies the very effect you wish to produce!

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Mistakes and their Effects

Even if we are not experts and have not learnt from a teacher, when we chant mantras or do kirtan, we should pay attention to the above mentioned aspects. Mistakes in chanting can cause a wide spectrum of problems – from merely nullifying its effect, to creating negative karma or physical and emotional imbalances, some of which can be very detrimental for us. That is why at the end of rituals and chanting we chant a mantra asking for forgiveness in case of any mistakes!

I am outlining the five most common mistakes people make:

Improper pronunciation
Improper stress on syllables
Incorrect metre
Not following rules specific to a particular mantra
Chanting certain mantras in random tunes

Om Namah Shivaya is a mantra found in the Yajur Veda hymn - Sri Rudram, however Govinda Jai Jai Gopala Jai Jai, is just a chant and not a mantra. Both can be chanted to many different tunes – but they must be pronounced correctly.

‘Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare.’ can be sung in different tunes, as it is a puranic mantra. However, stretching a syllable and chanting Haare Ram, implies that Lord Ram is a loser! It is the responsibility of kirtan singers to get it right on their CD albums and live performances!

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People also have to be especially careful when chanting seed syllables because they contain immense power and even a little distortion can have very negative consequences.

When proper chanting is done our chakras or energy centers come into balance. Incorrect chanting can affect a chakra and result in imbalances and all sorts of physical ailments.

Practices of meditation, yoga, and chanting invoke the parasympathetic nervous system - creating respite from chronic stress and activity. If practiced incorrectly, it may activate its counterpart, the sympathetic nervous system and fail to invoke the peace and space that was originally intended.

Primarily, the energy of the person and their attitude of reverence towards the chant is very important and if that is not one of purity, it can have serious consequences and bring unnecessary suffering to them.

Some people feel that if one has devotion in their heart they can chant any which way and it cannot bring any harm. It is a fact that the Divine accepts a true prayer and our intention is an important factor. Panini, the great sanskrit grammarian has clearly outlined the adverse effects of incorrect pronunciation in his texts. : “If some of the consonants in a mantra are deleted then they destroy its life, if the vowels (svar) are faulty then disease sets in. The consecrated rice (akshata) [consecrated with a mantra which has discordant vowels and omission of letters] descends upon the head of the host like a thunderbolt (vajra).”

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Not all paths are right for right people, and people play various roles in different incarnations. I kind of personally feel like devotion is the path of slaughter, and my job is to love God and be a dog that is eternally beaten for the sake of some story, but maybe I'll get some respite soon. My life is certainly better now than it has been Most paths of devotion aren't like that. The path of wisdom is certainly much faster, albeit more dangerous.

I love your posts on relationships. You're very funny . I feel the same way about them, or what people consider conventional, but I have been told time and time again, something about my venus trine north node I guess, that I need to be in them this lifetime for whatever reason. I would love to be a renunciant, but it's sometimes in being with and loving the projections of the mind that you can attain more mastery (I am that I am). I am not entirely sure why I can't just run to the hills . When I was younger, I used to like objectifying men as they would do that to me anyway and thought maybe it was somehow empowering, but you know, then I realized, we're just rotting sacks of flesh. I don't like being treated and loved for only something I'm not. When I die or age, this body will not be the same or will be gone, and then what will that conditional love mean? It's nothing. Then all that money and time spent on dressing nicely, sexually satisfying your partner (at the cost of more apana and less bhuta agni.. being a slave to your job), shaving, satisfying him with your hair, your time and unconditional acceptance with attention to inane circular interests. It's just not worth it. I don't want that kind of love, and I doubt I can ever give most men what they want. I desire celibacy. So, I don't see the point. I like being alone. I don't want to be objectified and have no interest in conventional cultures and edicts that I would need to vest time in to maintain a relationship. It's like that. You meet this wonderful soulmate and there's this powerful attraction, but you speak completely different languages, and it can be so frustrating. They are more in love with maya and their fears and attachments than they will ever be in love with you. But I digress. I'm rambling . I have to clean the inside of cups . I just would rather be married to god.

posted July 15, 2013 01:14 AM            

There’s a lot I’d like to say, so I hope you can bear with me as I force you to settle back and find time to read …

Good to know that Mantra sharing can incur karma. Next time I won’t ask. I’d thought that only seed mantras have to be given by a Guru. Thanks for answering my question on Om. It makes sense. The link for that article is wonderful and very informative. Thanks for posting relevant info from it.

And no worries about not being able to give a hair mantra. Actually, 3-4 days after I’d had the Om vision, I noticed that my hair loss had decreased. But I wanted to be sure and waited for a few weeks before I was convinced that I wasn’t tricking myself into believing something I wanted to. This is the fastest turn around I’ve ever had in an anxiety related hair loss cycle. In fact what I’m seeing now is that my hair follicles have not only recovered their strength, but that overall growth is thicker and fuller than before. I guess my feeling after having the Om vision that Shakti Ma was reassuring me about my hair was right. To me this is yet another miracle in my life because I’ve only chanted Om twice, once for a half hour and another time for an hour. The second time was for someone who was ill. What moves me deeply is that Shakti Ma responded to my worry about my hair, showing me yet again Her Unconditional Love.

I think it makes complete sense why mantras can be so powerful in their effect and therefore need the correct mindset … in addition to what you’ve already pointed out about correct pronunciation, meter, etc.

“You'd make a good Radha.” Interesting you should say this because that is how my feelings run for my TF. Personally I think of the immortal love between Radha and Krishna as ideal, as well as the love Shiva has for Parvati. These two pairs are my favs even though I generally love the other legendary pairs also (Greek, Roman, etc.) Amor and Psyche stand out for me among the others because I believe true love must necessarily be selfless and spiritual (devotional) as shown by this pair. From the spirit flows everything else.

“Amma hands them out.” Would it be ok to ask who’s Amma? If the question is not appropriate you can let it go

CONTINUED ...
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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

~ True meditation is the correction and lifting of our thoughts … from fear, doubt, and insecurity to love, trust, and faith.

posted July 15, 2013 01:30 AM            

The closest I’ve ever come to having a herxheimer reaction lol, was after attending a winter gala once, during which a dozen or so men surrounded me, each one putting out such low energy that my creep meter went off the charts and I became nauseous. One of the men was married and even whipped out his wallet, showing me a picture of his kids. And then while putting his wallet away, he asked if I would leave the party with him for the night!! Thankfully a friend, who asked if I wanted to go with her to the ladies’ room, rescued me. I didn’t want to stay any longer so she accompanied me home, on the way saying that those men were hovering around me like vultures and I’d looked trapped, prompting her to rescue me (thank Goodness for good friends). I threw up as soon as I got home. I think my body was trying to get rid of all the low energy I’d absorbed during the hour or so I was at the gala.

Here’s an interesting side story: The day after the gala, my roommate, a 6 feet tall, Californian blonde, asked about the party. When I told her, she looked at me puzzled and said that any other woman would have been flattered. I became a bit confused wondering at my own reaction … until I remembered the dream I’d had, the day after this roommate had moved in. In the dream I’d seen her standing next to a tall blonde man and a little girl of about 5 or 6. When I’d told her about the dream she’d been stunned enough to fall backwards on her bed. And then she’d spilled everything saying that each time she fought with her boyfriend (who was dark haired and had helped her move in), she went out with other guys and this blonde guy was one of the “other” men she’d met recently. The little girl was his niece whom he adored. She also said that the blonde guy knew she had a boyfriend.

After remembering all this I thought to myself … nah, I don’t think I need to be confused about my reaction after the party as I don’t think I’ll be needing her as my life coach anytime soon. LOL. Especially not, after witnessing some more of her relationship saga down the road—

Like the morning she showed up looking really guilty after having spent the night out. She blurted that she’d done “it” with the blonde guy without meaning to, but now was feeling terrible because she hadn’t told him that she had an STD (given to her by one of her ex boyfriends). Then she rationalized by saying she would tell him the next time “something” happened.

Because she looked at me for a response I said … you’re from California where … no matter what someone does, there’s always someone else to make you feel better by saying … it’s okay, don’t worry. I said I’m a hard-core east-coaster so the cultural divide is kinda huge as my thinking is different. She said she understood.

I said okay, since you want my opinion—it’s not ok to go out with other men every time you have a fight with your boyfriend, and it’s not ok to have sex with another guy while you’re in a relationship with your boyfriend, and it’s not ok to keep your STD a secret from any man you’re considering having sex with, and it’s not ok to wait until the next time “something” happens because that point is too late so you need to tell the blonde guy now when you’re both out of the bedroom. In fact it’s not ok for you to be in any relationship until you’ve taken the time to fix all this stuff that’s messing things up. (I don’t think she’d heard so many not oks in all her life).

She got defensive and said it was her Dad’s fault that her relationships with men were messed up … because her Dad (a cop) was a cold man and it was impossible to have a good relationship with him. I said ok, let’s do this … let’s send your Dad for psychotherapy so that when he heals, you can stop having problems in your relationships. She blinked, not understanding. So I explained further saying, in fact let’s all of us send our parents for psychotherapy so that we, as adults, can have problem-free relationships with everyone, after our parents have been healed.

She got it because she then said how are you so … so un-confused? I said it’s ‘cause of my hair and genes (which she understood as jeans … of course). Giving the once-over at my hair and pants, she said what do you mean? Pointing to my head I said since I’m not a blonde, I’m forced to use this 5 pound universe I carry on my neck all day long, so thinking is a compulsion with me, and this compulsion is in my hair genes. (To her credit she could handle my occasional mild digs at her blonde-ness).

A few weeks later, after having been dumped by both men (she told the blonde one about her STD, and her boyfriend found out about her cheating), I caught her reading a book on relationships. She later surprised me by sending me a thank you card a couple of months after moving out of state … I was surprised because I thought she rued the day she met me, lol.

CONTINUED ...
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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

~ True meditation is the correction and lifting of our thoughts … from fear, doubt, and insecurity to love, trust, and faith.

posted July 15, 2013 02:02 AM            

“You're very funny .”

Do you remember I’d teased you a bit when you’d posted on my other thread last year (about iQ’s dream)? It was the crack about MVA at the beginning of page 5 http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum24/HTML/214042-5.html

I was hoping I hadn’t offended you back then Anyway, sometimes I can get a bit loopy.

“I can vividly remember staring at Shiva statues of him dancing the tandava as a kid, in a kind of a past life way, just enraptured.” That feeling of being in rapture is heady and intoxicating. Once when I was looking online at a super gigantic statue of Lord Shiva, seated in meditation (I think it was in a temple either in the US or India and it looked like it was made from white marble), I went into a state of Kundalini bliss for about an hour (the kind of bliss I’ve described on page 1 of this thread). I could have carried on indefinitely in that state except that I had to physically move because there were other things I needed to do.

“I kind of wonder if that's because in a past life I didn't say a Ganesha mantra before chanting mantras. Apparently you can make Ganesha very mad if you don't do that.” Yes Lord Ganesha is supposed to remove obstacles from all that we undertake, including our prayers, if He is worshipped before starting anything. He is also likened to the word Om when His trunk is turned to the left. This image is in the Wiki link I gave in my Om post.

Lord Shiva has given Him this importance … so that an irate Goddess Parvati would be appeased. The Goddess had become angry that the Son created by Her had had His head chopped off by an impatient Lord Shiva and She insisted that He bring Ganesha back to life. Well … the restoration was not perfect, lol, since an elephant’s head was used. The Goddess was still not happy with the outcome, so Lord Shiva then pronounced that Ganesha would be so important as to be worshipped before all others and before the start of anything important.

After having an NDE (near death experience) at the hands of His own Dad, shortly after His entry into the world, I guess it’s understandable that Lord Ganesha might get annoyed if He doesn’t get due respect, lol.

CONTINUED ...
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~ I have a DO NOT DISTURB sign on my imagination ... because I want to frustrate the twins ... Convention and Dogma

~ The moment I cease to seek the truth, or settle for the truth in the moment ... that is the moment I cease to be a seeker, and become a fundamentalist instead.

~ The truest acts of charity are never disclosed ... they remain a secret between Man, the doer and God.
Because Man knows that each charitable act is an opportunity for him to revel in God just as God avails of His chance to revel in Man through every act of charity.
For them both to continue to rejoice in each other, Man knows he cannot allow worldly accolades to distract him. So he continues to act in kindness ... secretly.

~ True meditation is the correction and lifting of our thoughts … from fear, doubt, and insecurity to love, trust, and faith.