A Quiet Mind: 6 Meditative Steps To Freedom by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Meditation is simple and transformative, yet it highly misunderstood. Some people think it is about controlling our mind or stopping our thinking, while others see it as both weird and wacky or boring and meaningless.

Yet meditation really just means being totally present, totally aware with whatever is happening. It is being with ourselves completely as we are. If the mind is thinking then we are aware of the thinking; if the body is moving then we are aware of the movement. Hence we have sitting meditation, sound meditation, walking meditation, even running meditation. It is not purposefully doing anything other than just being here and now.

And just this is transformative. It creates an inner spaciousness in which we can gently stop the endless ‘me-centered’ dramas, our mind that is like a drunken monkey leaping from one scenario to another.

“Meditation can mean really being focused on something, or it can mean letting go of all focus and simply being still,” says Gangaji in our book, Be The Change, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World. “It is not a matter of saying, ‘I am going to meditate,’ it is more like ‘I am just going to be here for a moment without doing anything, without following any thought.’ And, in that, there is peace, a surrendering the mind’s activity to this vast silence and spacious awareness. It is not anti-mind activity; it is simply that usually the mind is spinning round and round, so it is a stopping of that spin.”

Meditation is both an experience of oneness and the practice that enables us to be aware of this. When we make friends with ourselves we discover a freedom from habitual tendencies, from repetitive behavior, and we experience a great joy, peace, and unconditional happiness. It is, therefore, the greatest gift we can give ourselves.

But the world is like a magnet pulling us outward into all manner of distractions, so we often need help, methods or techniques, to remind us to just be still. We need to be guided inward. Here are six steps that can lead us in that inner direction:

Six Steps to Freedom

1. Create a daily practice even if it is just for 5 minutes. Meditation has an accumulative effect so by doing it for a few minutes every day is actually more helpful than an hour once a week.

2. Meditate for the sake of it without expectations, as it can cause stress and even a sense of failure if you look for results. No appointments, no disappointments!

3. Make friends with your breath. Focusing on the natural flow of your breathing will give your mind something to do and encourages your attention to go inward. In this way you also make friends with your meditation practice.

4. Make friends with your chattering monkey mind. When you are still your mind can seem very busy and distracting. Name this your monkey mind and don’t take it too seriously.

5. Commit to your peace. There is nothing more important than your peace, it is the core of your being, so make a commitment to being still and quiet regularly.

6. Do It

Meditation techniques are many and varied, but all that matters in being fully present. Try this:

Sit comfortably with your back straight.

Take a deep breath and let it go.

Be aware of each breath and silently count at the end of each out breath, up to five: Inhale, exhale, count one… inhale, exhale, count two… and so on for five breaths. Then start at one again. Just five breaths and back to one, following each breath in and silently counting. So simple.

Do this as many times as you want, breathing normally.

****

See our award-winning book: BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World, forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman, with contributors Jack Kornfield, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Byron Katie and many others.

Deb is the author of the award-winning YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, Decoding the Emotional, Psychological, and Spiritual Messages That Underlie Illness.

Our 3 meditation CD’s: Metta—Loving kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi–Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra–Inner Conscious Relaxation, are available at: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman and Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Gold Book Award. Deb is the author of the bestselling book, YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, winner of the 2007 Visionary Book Award. They are featured bloggers on Oprah.com/spirit, HuffingtonPost.com/Living, and Care2.com. They have 3 meditation CD’s: Metta — Loving Kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

Read more from Ed and Deb Shapiro:

What The Buddha Might Say To President Obama by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Gitmo or Gandhi by Ed and Deb Shapiro

 

 

Technorati Tags: appreciation, gratitude, Happiness, inspiration, Meditation, personal development, self-discovery, Spirituality

Breath Meditation: Some of the many ways in which breath meditation may help you enhance your general well being by Dr Robert Puff

Now I’d like to share with you my favorite form of meditation, called “breath meditation.” I believe it is one of the most powerful, yet one of the easiest, meditations to learn.

Before we begin, let’s talk a bit about the mind. The mind is made up of wave patterns. When we think, it causes wave patterns to occur in the brain. There are four main types of brain waves. The pattern we are normally in when awake and thinking is called “beta wave” or “beta state.” When we are dropping off to sleep and the mind begins to quiet, that is “alpha state.” When we are asleep or quietly meditating, that is “theta state.” The deepest state of sleep or of meditation (where there is no body awareness) is called “delta state.”

The goal in meditation is to get you to the theta/delta stage. I have found that the breath meditation technique is one of the most effective ways to get to the deeper levels of meditation and still the mind. Most people who are new to meditation and are trying a variety of ways to meditate will vacillate between the beta and alpha states in their initial practice. These stages of meditation are relaxing and a wonderful experience, but as with all things in life, the more you practice, the better you will get. Eventually you will desire to quiet the mind at the theta/delta levels and will go to the deeper realms of meditation to achieve this stage.

Now let’s talk about this effective and helpful way to quiet the mind, called “breath meditation.” It can also be the most challenging way, because although it’s simplistic, it is not always easy to do. It is easy to learn but sometimes difficult to practice.

In this form of meditation, you simply “follow your breath.” Just observe your breathing with no mantra, no prayer word, just simple and quiet noticing of the breath. How it works is that you sit up straight in a quiet, comfortable place with your feet on the floor or legs crossed. As you sit there, watch or take notice of your breath. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and breathe out. You can breathe in through your mouth or your nose, it doesn’t’ matter. The only thing that matters is paying attention to your breath.

If something distracts you, simply come back to your breathing. When strenuous or uncomfortable thoughts arise (come to the surface), don’t try to ignore them or push them away but instead acknowledge them and go back to observing your breathing. Allow your attention to focus on that. Acknowledge any distractions, without being annoyed by them, and simply direct your awareness back to your breath. Eventually, thoughts will diminish, your mind will get quiet, and your brain patterns will begin to be at those deeper levels. You will find a deep peace that you may have never experienced before. Stresses will dissolve, and a sense of well-being will envelop you.

I encourage you to try the breath meditation and to practice it often. I also strongly suggest you meditate twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night. I find these times to be the easiest to make into a habit. We can meditate any time of the day or night, but it’s best to make a point of doing it twice daily and to establish a routine of morning and evening meditation. A sense of peace will develop in your life with regular practice. In my experience, breath meditation is one of the most powerful meditations in the universe.

The Breath Meditation is a simple technique.  In this form of meditation, what I want you to do is simply “follow your breath”.  Follow your breath with no mantra, no prayer word, just simple and quiet following of your breath.  How it works is that you sit in a quiet, comfortable place, sitting up with your feet on the floor or legs crossed.  As you are sitting there watch or take notice of your breath.  Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, and breathe out.  You can breathe in through your mouth or your nose, it doesn’t’ matter.  The only thing that matters is following your breath.  If something distracts you, simply come back to your breath.  When strenuous thoughts or uncomfortable thoughts arise or come to the surface, don’t try to ignore them or push them away but instead acknowledge them and go back to your breath.  Focus on your breath, nothing but your breath.  Again, any distractions are acknowledged but always to simply go back to your breath.  There are no thoughts, your mind will get quiet and still inside and your brain patterns will begin to go to those deeper levels.  You will find a deep peace that you may only experience when you are at a deep sleep at night; however, with meditation you are giving your mind this break during the day.  Stresses will go away and peace will come to you.

I encourage you to try the Breath Meditation and practice it often.  I also highly suggest you meditate twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night.  I find these times to be the easiest to make into a habit.  You can meditate at any time of day or night, but I highly suggest you make it a point to do so twice a day, once first thing in the morning and again just before bed at night.  The Breath Meditation is truly what I consider to be one of the most powerful meditations in the universe.

Dr. Robert Puff - About the Author:

Dr. Robert Puff, Ph.D. is a meditation expert, international speaker and has a blog athttp://www.Meditation-Enlightenment.com  He is the creator of the weekly Meditation For Health Podcast, available at http://www.MeditationForHealthPodcast.com  He has a weekly podcast that explores the world of Happiness at http://www.HappinessPodcast.org  If you would like to contact Dr. Puff, his e-mail address is DrPuff@cox.net

Read more on Meditation:

A Guided Video Meditation with Gangaji

6 Reasons Why Meditation Appears So Difficult by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Two Faces of Grace by Gangaji

The experience of the gift of life, of the grace of life, is a mysterious blessing we celebrate and bow to. Grace is the answer to our prayers, and yet it is free of our bidding. How joyous to bask in even an instant of surprising good fortune. How sweetly humbling to be delivered from misfortune.

We most easily and delightedly recognize grace in its form of deliverance. Yet it has another, equally humbling, equally mysterious face. The horrific face of grace can fill us with dread and fear when it appears, but if we are willing to welcome it — as we welcome the good news of the grace of bounty — it too brings us home. In whatever form it presents itself, grace reveals home as free and at peace. Grace is the messenger of the silent core of us, regardless of any tumult on the surface.

Who can truly comprehend what we each have to experience in our lives? We know of horrible experiences, diseases, wars, loss and degradation that many have to go through. And we also hear from many of the surprising grace present with the loss and pain: grace’s horrific face.

This is not the face of grace that we want. We want grace that is easy and beautiful and flowing. We usually — at least initially — resist grace that is ugly and painful. You must have experienced certain events, however they have shown up, as unwanted. If you are still resisting some unwanted event in your life and are willing to open to it now, you can find the grace in that very moment.

Grace does not require you to want something that you do not want. What is required is that you tell the truth about what simply and irrevocably is. What is required is that you stop fighting and hiding from what is. When these utterly simple and deeply challenging requirements are met, the innate grace of your own consciousness naturally reveals who you are and what you can bear.

We have many ideas about what we can bear. These ideas are the reflections of our fear. We doubt our capacity to meet what life and the changes in life give us. But when the willingness to tell the truth in open stillness comes, capacity is discovered.

Part of the horrific grace of being a human being is the knowledge that non-existence is at the end of the arc of our lifetime. We avoid death — other’s or our own — but when death comes close, the possibility is just as close for the discovery of great horrific grace. We don’t want to die. It may sometimes seems dying would be easier than meeting the challenge of living, but you wouldn’t be reading this if you hadn’t chosen life. And yet death will come.

In the horrific knowledge that what we don’t want (death, loss) will come regardless of our desires, there is an indescribable grace that is available. The fact that you have the gift of a human life with reflective consciousness allows you to open your consciousness, rather than to engage in the usual habitual strategies of denial.

The Tibetans speak about this precious human life. I used to doubt the preciousness of a human life because it seemed that the cows, in their unconsciousness of inevitable death might actually have a better life. But what are the cows doing in the pasture? They are waiting for the slaughterhouse. Even the lilies of the field, though not doing anything, simply living and being beautiful, are dead soon enough. We too are headed for the slaughterhouse, we too will be dead soon enough. And because of the horrific grace of consciousness we can meet that inevitability.

If we stop at the horror, if we try to find something to cover it or fix it or distract ourselves from it, we deny ourselves the grace of it. When there is enough willingness to face what has been avoided, the preciousness of every moment of every limited life form is celebrated and welcomed. Facing the horror of changes and endings allows us to fully participate in both what is inherently transitory and what is changeless.

Precious human life. Precious life form. Precious moment of every life — the cow’s life until it is slaughtered or the lily’s life until it wilts — how precious it is to be conscious of being and not being.

This blog is adapted from a talk given by Gangaji at Kripalu Center, MA in September 2011. Gangaji’s new book Hidden Treasure: Uncovering the Truth in Your Life Story, was published in September 2011 by Tacher/Penguin. In this life-changing book, Gangaji uses the telling of her own life story to help readers uncover the truth in their own. Publisher’s Weekly said, “This gently flowing but often disarming volume invites readers to examine the narratives that shape them, and is a call to pass beyond personal stories to find a deeper, more universal self.”

Gangaji will be offering a free open webcast on Sunday May 20 at 11:00  AM pacific time. After that, you can join her for a Silent Retreat at Fallen Leaf Lake, South Lake Tahoe, CA, beginning May 29. Visit www.gangaji.org for more information about Gangaji and her upcoming events, including the monthly Webcast / Conference Series, With Gangaji, which is currently undergoing an in-depth study of Hidden Treasure.

Gangaji shares a simple message – “This is an invitation to shift your allegiance from the activities of your mind to the eternal presence of your being.” Born in Texas in 1942, Gangaji grew up in Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Mississippi in 1964, she married and had a daughter. In 1972, she moved to San Francisco where she began exploring deeper levels of her being. She took Bodhisattva vows, practiced Zen and Vipassana meditation, helped run a Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center, and had a career as an acupuncturist in the San Francisco Bay area. Despite her successes, Gangaji continued to experience a deep and persistent longing for fulfillment. She pursued many paths to change her life including relationship, motherhood, political activism, career, and spiritual practice, but even the greatest of her successes ultimately came up short. In the wake of her disillusionment, she made a final prayer for true help. In 1990, the answer to her prayer came unexpectedly, taking her to India and to the meeting that would change everything. There on the banks of the river Ganga, she met Sri H.W.L. Poonja, also known as Papaji, who opened the floodgates of self-recognition. In this meeting, Gangaji’s personal story of suffering ended and the promise of a true life began to flower and unfold. Today, Gangaji travels the world speaking to seekers from all walks of life. A teacher and author, she shares her direct experience of the essential message she received from Papaji and offers it to all who want to discover a true and lasting fulfillment. Through her life and words, she powerfully articulates how it is really possible to discover the truth of who you are and to be true to that discovery. Gangaji’s website www.gangaji.org

Read more from Gangaji:

The Point of Authentic Inquiry by Gangaji

Going Inside ~ Direct Experience Is Like a True Kiss by Gangaji

 

Technorati Tags: authenticity, awakening, Death, enlightenment, grace, humanity, loss, spiritual awakening, Spirituality

READ: Healing ~ Name it, Move it, Mind it, Soul it! by Em Claire

And did you get what you

wanted from this life, even so?

I did.

And what did you want?

To call myself Beloved, to feel myself

beloved on the earth.

 (Raymond Carver, Late Fragment)

It was a springlike day, my close girlfriend and I sitting with hot mugs of tea, watching the hail and the sun alternate outside the window. We were sharing comfy galpal time together on a spacious Sunday afternoon, but with the intention of “keeping it real” – a shared intention not to simply get together and engage in our stories about ourselves, or our stories about others – but to do The Work with our beliefs, a process discovered and shared by the beloved Byron Katie, author of Loving What Is.

Sometimes I’ll ask my friends how I can best support them when they come to me with stuff roiling and boiling, churning and turning. Would it be most helpful if I just listen and say nothing, allowing them to get it all out?  Would they like my feedback afterward, or would they like me to simply bear witness and listen with compassion?

In this case, my friend wanted both – to get it all out, and then to have me reflect back to her what I heard or observed, and any insights I might have. “I got it,” I said. “Go for it!”

So she began to tell me about something that had recently happened between herself and her mother. At one point, when she was really rolling, she said, “You know I just hate my mother sometimes,” her face darkening, her lip shaking with a mixture of deep anger and sadness. “Okay,” she said, “I don’t really hate my mother – I don’t hate anything – but she makes me so angry.” At this point I felt drawn to interrupt her flow, not wanting to miss what I felt like was an important moment.

“Hon?” I said. “You know how I shared with you about a friend of mine who keeps having these ongoing dreams at night  where he is hollering and yelling at the top of his lungs at his parents?” Her eyes lit up and she said, “Yes!” already sensing where I was going. I said, “Well, what I’m picking up on is that in those seemingly unsolicited dreams he must be speaking from a very real, very young place that needs to say those things.”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t any longer try to be “spiritual” or lofty about what feels like hatred or rage but I would name it – and then find a way to express that stuck energy in a way that’s not harmful to myself or anyone else. Then the log jam is finally moving and we are more free and in the flow and coming from a more balanced place from which to address the Mind, and to work with the core beliefs we took on as an infant, or a toddler, or young child or teen, and have carried with us for often many decades.”

My friend said, “That’s exactly right, Em. It reminds me of a process I use where I allow my body to “tone” sounds but don’t allow them to become words or anything intelligible. I drop into that feeling of anger or sadness and then just let it rip, allowing whatever sounds to come, and allowing my body to move in whatever way it does during that time – being kind to my body in the process, of course. I used to wait until I was alone in my house for a few hours and knew no one would be coming and going, and then do this practice. Even more healing was to have a close friend watch and witness it, feeding back to me what they saw that might provide even more insight later. I realize that this part is for those of us who are a little less self-conscious, but it’s profoundly helpful.”

“This is really timely,” she went on to say, setting her writing journal and pen aside. “This is exactly what’s needed before I next look at the beliefs I have around my relationship with my mom. I’m glad I’m reminding myself about this in the form of our conversation today!”

*

A day or so later I was recounting this experience to my husband in the dawning hours of the morning, triangles and rectangles of light playing across the ceiling above our bed. He said, “Yes. I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, if I may, I would add a another piece to that process. – I would say that once you have approached it from the Body, and the Mind, you want to definitely come back around and include the Soul. I’m not surprised that you are right on top of this, because in the book I’m writing right now I’m addressing the identical topic, and our explorations always seem to be right in sync.”

“Yes, Honey! – “I said, replumping my pillow emphatically. “But what I notice about myself and many of us who have been on “the spiritual path” is that we have learned to bypass what we actually feel, and we edit ourselves – even to ourselves – in order to try to fit the saintly, or enlightened ideal we have conceptualized. We try to “be” farther along the path than we actually are in that particular moment. And I think this serves no one, but only serves to increase our resentment that will come to the fore later. That’s why I no longer want to skip over what has been true for me in my body for years or decades or perhaps many generations – I want to move and release that stuck energy. Expression is our birthright and our natural state, and I think when we weren’t allowed to express in those moments our individuality or what was true for us, that energy stayed “stuck” somewhere and now is a time when we can lovingly bring our adult, aware attention to it, and allow it to move on. Let’s hear it for Recycling!”

“Agreed,” he said, apparently missing my awesome Recycling reference. “You don’t try to leap to the Soul’s perspective first – but without that larger perspective, I believe that it would be hard for any of us to make any “logical” sense of the seemingly complex relationships we have in our lives, and why they are appearing in our reality to be experienced. And my belief is that they will – keep appearing in our experience – until we understand what it is they are trying to show us.”

These are the kinds of things my Beloved and I awaken at five in the morning and lie in bed talking about. Then, we bound out of bed and onto our laptops, warmed by socks and robes and by having been met, and having felt heard.

And for me, the crucial part about having someone in my life who can truly hear me is that it has given me a cellular experience of feeling expressed and heard, which can then help me to listen to myself more of the time and yes – “to call myself Beloved; to feel myself beloved on the earth.”

As I wrote this article, I came up with a mantra to help bring consciousness to any moment in time when I feel suddenly as if something young, or deep in me has been triggered:

Name it, Move it, Mind it, Soul it

Naming it is simply telling the truth to yourself about yourself. It’s a momentary truth, but if you’re feeling it, you’re feeling it. Too late to pretend it didn’t come up and rationalize it away. So be gentle with yourself. You are really BE-ing with You, for perhaps the first time in your life!

Moving it can be done in a number of ways, too many to count here. I’ve used 1) Exercise: running, biking, or even walking straight up a steep hill to really get the energy moving out of my solar plexus 2) Yoga 3) Breathing Techniques 4) Singing 5) Chanting 6) Dancing 7) Laughing Toning/Moaning/Crying

Specific techniques focused on clearing the emotional body might be found on the following website, as it begins by introducing the idea that we each have a “signature sound” we came in with, and that once we discover this, it can be used to heal and balance our own mind/body whenever we choose to. As you read on, you will come to the section on releasing trauma, etc. if that is a particular section that is calling out to you.  http://www.juliarogershamrick.com/articles.html?article=vocal_toning&title=Vocal%20Toning:%20Discover%20One%20of%20Your%20Power%20Tools

Minding it is turning our attention toward our longstanding thoughts, beliefs, and concepts that make up one’s constant inner dialogue and I’ve yet to find anything more helpful than Byron Katie’s process called The Work. If you are new to it, you can watch every video on her site, or on Youtube, and then download the worksheet (lovingly called the “Judge Your Neighbor” worksheet) having become more familiar with the 4 Questions and what are called “Turnarounds”.  There is also a 24-hour free helpline where facilitators will take you through The Work. To find this number click on Resources, after visiting the homepage at:  www.thework.com

I have also found great value in a book by Richard Moss that was recently published called Inside-Out Healing. I give it Five Stars!

Souling it can of course be achieved in countless ways as well, and although Neale is my husband, I try mightily not to frequently bring his material into my own website or into blogs so that no one feels as if they are being “upsold” once there. However, his books had a tremendous impact on my life back when I was 23, and this many years later, I continue to see incredible value in what he brings through for each of us to contemplate. Although the SouLogic Process is found in the When Everything Changes, Change Everything addendum workbook by Neale, and will appear as a deeper exploration and explanation in The Only Thing That Matters (his next book due out this fall), I wanted to give you a link here to his website where he has posted the process as well as a transcript of him taking someone through it, creating the possibility for someone to acquire a much broader understanding of what has transpired in their lives, and to find a place of true peace with what has happened.   Click here:  http://www.nealedonaldwalsch.com/index.php?p=doc&c=soulogicprocess

(To read the transcript section first, scroll down to The SouLogic Process in Action, once there.)

My wish is that in the sharing of what is working for me, others may also benefit. Please always trust your own inner guidance as to whether any of these tools are timely for you.

All My Love and Deep Blessings, as we end this Chapter & Verse blog entry with, as always, a poem…

 

A Mind Full of Joy

 

Whereas the Heart is used to being

the only place where Love is found

a Mind full of joy

draws the Heart like a moth,

into a surprisingly different flame.

A flame where nothing burns -

no wings are forfeited.

As if God stretches the length of The Home

to abide in every room at once,

 simply

because

We

can

*

“A Mind Full of Joy” – Em Claire ©2008 – All Rights Reserved

Technorati Tags: Em Claire, Neale Donald Walsch, Poet, Poetry, staying spiritual, When Everything Changes Change Everything

READ: Sex, Love, and Spirit by Mahasatvaa Ananda Sarita

Evolution is an integral aspect of each life form. We evolve physically, mentally and spiritually, in ever ascending spirals, moving from order to chaos, and from chaos to a higher level of order, and so on ad infinitum. The chaos factor is necessary, in order for old patterns, which no longer serve us, to break down and dissolve. As we discover how to accept these life changes and learn from them, life becomes ever more rich and inspiring with each new cycle.

An area where evolution of body and psyche is very apparent is the arena of relationship. It is considered normal for two people to feel sexually attracted to each other, and jump into bed to experience sexual ecstasy together. The heat of sexual experience, if lived deeply and totally, will naturally give rise to feelings of love and a desire for emotional intimacy. The couple may then decide to live together, and explore the shift from ‘honeymoon hormones’ to ‘nesting hormones.’ This phase may include giving birth to children and raising them. However, life should not end there.

In the usual scenario, a couple will move from parenthood to grandparenthood, and from there into old age and into assisted living, waiting for inevitable death. This pattern brings with it, feelings of depression and even desperation, the reason being that life has much more to offer. And if we do not live what is offered by existence, we feel, quite rightly, like we have missed the train.

If individuals and couples learn meditation and apply this to sexuality, love and relating, as happens in Tantra, a wonderful opportunity opens up. Powerfully lived sexuality, coupled with awareness, naturally blossoms into love. And when love is deeply lived as a path of meditation, it very naturally evolves into prayer. My definition of prayer is, when each cell of the body is attuned to source, and we sense ourselves to be an open conduit for ever-flowing divine energy.

Sex, love and prayer is all the same energy, lived in different ways. It is like having a 3-story house. It is the same house, but the experience of the 3 floors will each be uniquely different. Our life experience goes on expanding to include more of our evolutionary potential. In this sense, as we get older, we do not have to degenerate, but can continue to evolve, discovering more of who we are in relation to the whole.

That is why, in our ancestral past, elders were highly respected. It was understood that they had evolved into higher wisdom, having more of an overview of the full spectrum of life.

And there is another step, which is even more profound than linear evolution. If we are able to expand our consciousness to include all three aspects at once, we become one with all that is. The merging of sexuality, love and spirituality as one organic unity, is an enlightened state of consciousness. It is a big yes to life in it’s totality.

NEXT ARTICLE (16)

WOMEN’S SEXUAL ANATOMY

Sarita is a world renowned Tantra master and mystic offering courses and retreats across the globe. Having received a direct transmission from Osho, she is true to the spiritual essence of Tantra and leads us on the path to self realisation. At the same time she takes care to help us transcend the psychological blockages that we carry as a result of our cultural background and past experiences. She is also a master healer, author and consultant. website: http://www.tantra-essence.com

 

Read more from VividLife.me bloggers: 

Tantra and the Divine Feminine by Mahasatvaa Ananda Sarita

In the last 2000 years or so, women have been considered to be the weaker sex in much of the so-called civilized world. In actual fact, women have simply forgotten how to access their own power, the Divine feminine. In Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, he says:

Tantra and the Divine Masculine by Mahasatvaa Ananda Sarita

The Divine Masculine is a timely subject for 2012, as this is the year when the old world transmutes into a new world, according to the famous Maya predictions. Bring it on! The old world has been dominated primarily by an imbalanced masculine, which shows itself in the number of wars and general raping of planetary resources. This has happened because the masculine has been divorced from the feminine for a few thousand years, and by so doing has gone into a fevered testosterone fueled orgy of competition and destruction. I am by no means saying,…

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