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November 1, 2018

Inquire Into The Absolute Truth

When my oldest daughter learned how to speak, which was at a very young age, she had an insatiable tendency to inquire about the nature of things. “Why is the sky blue?” “Why don’t the animals have houses?” “Can we eat dirt?” And on, and on, and on. She literally drove us crazy with all her questions. But, apparently, she was simply trying to figure things out so that she could efficiently operate in this world. For her, it was easier to ask her parents, whom she had faith in, than to experientially try to figure everything out.

Similarly, when we inquire into the Absolute Truth, we must be like an innocent child:not dumb, but honest in our inquiry. In other words, we must have a sincere desire to know the Truth, and a desire to dovetail our life so that it is in sync with the Truth. In the Bhagavad Gita, the Supreme Lord states:

“Just try to learn the Truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the Truth.”

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October 30, 2018

Back to Basics Series Part 2: The Search Continues…

At home, and at school, I was taught, and constantly reminded, that I needed to work hard and get good grades so that I could go to College. Why? So that I could get a degree, and with that degree, I could get a good paying job. Why? Because then I could afford to buy a nice house, a nice car, and attract a nice wife, and support nice children, and buy many of the nice comforts in life. Why? These things will make you happy. After all, you don’t want to end up digging ditches for a living. Can you imagine how miserable that would be?

Hummmm, I thought, maybe the ditch digger’s misery is no worse than the misery I would have to go through to get good grades, and to work my way through college, and to work for a corporation in order to get a good paying job, and to throw my hard earned money in buying goodies and people who may or may not make me happy? After all, when I looked around at everyone in the neighborhood, they had all these things, yet, they didn’t seem to be very happy. The next door neighbor was an alcoholic. The man down the street, was a drug addict, another man had a gambling problem and was often visited by heavy looking thugs, several of the neighbors were engaged in wife swapping, my friends’ mothers were stressed out about the lines in their face or a couple gray hairs which made them look old, my parents were constantly bickering, and practically everyone was struggling to keep up the facade of being successful and happy. And these were the country club set—the so-called successful people in life. Did I really want to grow up and become like them?

infant-in-spirit

Shortly after graduating from high school, I realized I was not who I thought I was: a medium sized, 17 year old body, with brown hair, green eyes, and enough smarts and abilities to help me succeed in whatever endeavor I chose. This was a very liberating realization, but at the same time, it was a death of sorts. My attraction to the material world, and to all that was previously meaningful to me, was dwindling, dying away; and my attraction for the spiritual had been awakened. It could be said that I had been reborn in the spirit. But I was an infant in the spirit. My spiritual knowledge was almost non-existent, and I didn’t know what to do—what action to take with this newly found world view. Where does one begin when searching for his essence and function in life?

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November 22, 2018

Back to Basics Series Part 1: Simple Living High Thinking

Shortly after graduating from High School, my entire life was shattered. It was the summer of 1968 and, until then, I could have been a poster boy for the “All American role model.” My grades were above average. I was an all-around athlete. I’d been offered scholarships to several Universities, and I had realistic hopes of making the 1972 Olympic team as a pole vaulter. I also had a nice girl friend, and was welcomed in just about any click at school: the so-called in-crowd, the jocks, the surfers, the nerds, the 4-Hers and most of the others. I’m not trying to brag or anything, just stating that I was basically your average all American Joe,and that life was going relatively well. Of course, life is seldom great in high school, but my future looked promising. Then, to my dismay, everything dear to me fell apart and faded into oblivion.

By the end of June, I had moved out of my parent’s home and rented a house with some friends. Like most kids with newly found freedom, we were in the party mood. At one of those parties, I got a little too intoxicated; and feeling dizzy, I sat down alone and leaned against a wall. My roommate was playing his guitar nearby, and my somewhat altered mind was quickly captured by its wonderful sounds. I had never heard such beautiful music before.

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November 22, 2018

Authority: Real And Apparent

Learning is a vital part of human existence. Whether it is learning on a physical, emotional, intellectual, artistic, or spiritual level, every single person has had to learn something from someone or somewhere. It is engrained into our psyche to learn from others who have more experience than ourselves. It is a natural instinct to watch and learn, or to inquire from others on how something is done. Children at a young age will ask a million questions.

Throughout the different stages of life we grow, and with that growth our inquiries also grow from simple questions to deeper ones. And most of the time there is always someone available to answer our questions. But sometimes we might learn the answers ourselves through our experiences, through our own self discovery.

But nonetheless learning from those more knowledgeable than us is always present.

We learn from our parents, from our friends, from our teachers, from our peers, from our co-workers, from our bosses, from our spouses, etc. The learning never stops and neither do the questions.

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November 22, 2018

Oh, The Tangled Web We Weave

“SEVEN seconds, my dear friends. SEVEN seconds. That’s how long it would take for Mr. Browser to click away from or go on clicking towards YOU—your company, your product,” said the Facial-Care-faced guy in an impeccably tailored pin-striped GQ-inspired suit, some hotshot guru for business and market development in Asia Pacific for a leading net-system software.

“Ergo, marketing strategies have to be calculated at lightning pace. Throw away all you learned at business school,” added this amiable vanguard of the WorldWide Mess—er, Mesh. “Don’t you ever doubt it: businesses will inevitably have to formulate new models at breathtaking speed. Oh yes. It’s a whole new ballgame. An exciting, challenging ride to a great new world of unimaginable opportunities. Grab every chance you get. You snooze, you lose.”

It wouldn’t be wild to surmise that almost the entire audience of dry-cleaned, cellphone-infected, espressoed-out yup-yup-yuppies listening to him that day were as awestruck as I at the forecast on the imminent tidal web—er, wave of internetization coming to sweep us into a world of clicking relationships.

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November 28, 2016

Make Fitness Enjoyable

There are so many people these days who have a negative mindset towards health and fitness; this is so unfortunate because on the contrary, it is the exact opposite. Yes, there are many fanatics out there who are putting out negative messages to people, giving extreme advice to do fad diets and exercise routines that are unreasonable but this is not what’s necessary to live a happy, healthy life. If you simply think of fitness as a lifestyle, you can reach your goals happily and without suffering.

fitness lifestyle

The first step to obtaining a balanced life is to start taking small steps towards your goals. For example, replace something that is not healthy in your meal with something green. Instead of zoning out on your phone for twenty minutes, go on a little walk in nature and do a little yoga to get your blood cells flowing. Just the other day I was reading an article from some fitness personality that was saying that you should go on the treadmill rather than walking or jogging outside because you’re less likely to burn the necessary calories. As this may work for some people who think with calculating methodical mindsets, those of us with a more whimsical approach to life just cannot process this positively. Instead of slurping down that soda that’s full of sugar keeping those pesky pounds hanging around, make yourself a refreshing water infusion with lemon and mint. Remember that being extreme is a double edged sword, therefore moderation is your friend in the beginning.

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November 22, 2018

5 Reasons You Need Yoga In Your Life

We all need something. Whether it’s a cup of coffee, a trip to the movies, or a sandwich, we all need something. Often times the things we actually need are elusive to us. Running through the hectic chaos that we call modern life, we often overlook the simple way of life. A quiet moment of peace, a walk in the park, or even your everyday sunset. We know we are missing something, but we’re either too busy to get it, or we are too focused on the hundreds of other distractions that arise daily. One thing we could all benefit from is a healthy dose of yoga now and again.

Here are 5 Reasons You Need Yoga in Your Life Right Now

Mental clarity – the power of being in the now
Emotional peace and balance – whether in our personal or professional lives
Physical Strength and Longevity – being in touch with your body leads to long term health
Self-awareness – being in tune with how your environment is affecting you
Self-discipline – being able to set goals and stick to them.

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November 22, 2018

Death by Overdose

I just read a figure that shocked me. In the US over 40,000 people die from drug overdoses each year. To be accurate, the last available statistic was 46,471 overdose deaths in 2013. For comparison there were 35,369 car accident deaths. In fact in many countries, including the UK, and Australia, over dose deaths overshadow road deaths. This implies a huge number of people hooked on some type of mind altering substance, either illicit, or prescription. In fact, prescription drug abuse is the larger part of the problem. The US Drug Enforcement Agency recently reported that prescription medication abuse is higher than use of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, MDMA and PCP combined, and kills more people than heroin and cocaine combined. And then there is that elephant in the room; alcohol abuse. Oh yes, we will admit there is a problem with alcoholism, but that is not us of course, not in our room. The fact that 6 o’clock comes and I’m anxious if there is no sight of my favored tipple, is nothing to do with addiction!

Actually we all take shelter in something, even if it is as innocuous as chips and the watching of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” or whatever other mind filler the black screen can offer up, or reading the latest trivia on our favored internet channel. So we can’t consider ourselves “better” than a drug addict. It’s just that our situation appears less immediately dangerous. We don’t tend to die from TV overdose.

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November 28, 2016

Enlivening & Inspiring – Sing and Dance to these Music

Listen to this Vibrant, Uplifting & Energizing musical video. This contains the chanting of holy names which don’t belong to any sect, country, or it is owned by someone other than the Supreme Person. In fact is a matchless gift by Him to help us realize our true position and discover ourselves, so that we can be happy and satisfied. We are fortunate to receive this gift from bonafide spiritual personalities from time immemorial.

In scriptures, it is rightly mentioned, “…The Holy Name alone can render all benedictions to living beings…”, this sufficiently confirms the necessity of our embracing these matchless gift of Supreme Person i:e the Holy Names.

The video is a masterwork with the images of devotees of the Lord dancing to the names and becoming happy from the heart. Additionally, the beautiful flowery animations and the transcendental pictures of the Supreme Person is a feast for the eyes. The visuals of budding saplings substantially hint at the spreading of seeds of love in our hearts. This is the growing love for the Supreme Person, if we have the love of the Supreme Person, we can actually be happy and satisfied from within. This is sung by Jagad Guru Chris Butler and other people follow after him.

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November 22, 2018

Cleansing the Heart by Singing the Holy Names

Listen to this wonderful devotional singing of Holy Names. These singing of Holy Names (or mantras) spread joy and happiness in the heart. This is not something falsely described to gain appreciation for the video. There is a deep reason behind this – these names possess the complete potential to purify from all kinds of uncertainty and anxiety. Because these names are not ordinary names and they do not belong to this material world.They descend from the eternal world through bonafide teachers.

These are transcendental, in other words these are spiritual sound vibrations. With gradual hearing to these names, you can taste the actual happiness. Such happiness far surpassed the short lived pleasures that are craved by most of the worldly people from material activities.

These holy names have originated from the Supreme Person (or God), who is omnipotent. He can descend in the form of His Names, it is so described in Holy Scriptures that the Names of God and God Himself are non-different.

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