Low in numbers like may other groups this month but we still went ahead and I believe we all enjoyed the get together.
We first listened to a recording from a team building life coach - interesting but only applicable at certain times when set a task her philosophy of belief in ones self that you can win is useful at times.
We then read up on the technique of centering the self (below).
finally we listened to David Icke talking about the Law of Attraction and like him we agree that it is mainly true.
Centering Yourself: The Key to Sustaining Healthy Boundaries
Martha Baldwin Beveridge is a psychotherapist
You can handle whatever tough situations you encounter with grace and wisdom. The key to doing so is keeping yourself centered in love and firmly grounded in your space – with your boundaries held securely about you.
Centering and grounding yourself are processes you practice – ideally a number of times everyday. Healthy boundaries flow from your steady center. They embrace the whole of you, define you as distinct from others, and protect you from harm as you interact with others.
Healthy boundaries make intimacy possible. Without them partners can't connect as two complete people who love and respect each other. Instead they become entangled. They function as if one of them wears a T-shirt that says, "We are one, and I am the one," while the other's says, "We are one, and you are the one."
That kind of thinking comes from the relationship model that was our cultural standard before the women's movement took hold. In the past thirty years, relationship roles have shifted significantly. Yet many people still are running mental software that dates back to the first half of the twentieth century. Though they may pay lip service to equality of the sexes, old ways of thinking determine much of how they relate to their mates. Especially when they are stressed, they automatically default to their most obsolete but firmly embedded behavioral programming.
When this happens, they violate each other's boundaries in a variety of hurtful ways. We'll take a look at how boundary violations happen and what we can do about them in my next article. In this one, we'll get clear about what boundaries are and how centering and grounding help us sustain them.
Do you remember having a protractor when you were in grade school? Your teacher showed you how to use it to draw a circle. You placed the arm with the pointed end where you wanted the center to be, adjusted the arc of the radius to determine your circle's size, and then traced it with the little pencil attached to the other arm of the tool. A perfect round emerged on your paper – and you could make others like it again and again.
The core of you is like the expanded center of that circle. The rest of you flows from your center out to the boundaries that define you as unique and distinct from everyone else you meet.
Your boundaries encompass the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of your being. Your physical boundaries are easy to see. They are defined by your body which obviously is separate from everyone else's. But there is more to you than meets the eye. Your physical form is not all of you. This is because you are not inside your body. Your body is inside you.
Beyond your physical form a field of energy surrounds you. Your emotional, mental, and spiritual boundaries are like concentric circles of light that extend far beyond your body and radiate all around you. Your energy field reflects what you feel, think, and believe. It moves and vibrates at different rates as your emotions, thoughts, and spiritual experiences vary.
The hurt you feel when your physical boundaries are violated is clear and visible. If someone hits you, you have cuts and bruises. If you fall or suffer other accidental injuries, you bleed. If another person steps on your toes, you feel pain. You instinctively do your best to protect your physical boundaries because your survival depends upon your body remaining healthy and in tact.
When someone violates your mental, emotional, and spiritual boundaries, you feel hurt, angry, confused, misunderstood, and discounted. Emotional, mental, and spiritual wounds are very real, but they are not clearly visible. You may try to hide them from others and sometimes even from yourself. Protecting your emotional, mental, and spiritual boundaries is just as important to your well being as protecting your physical boundaries.
Healthy boundaries allow you to relate in loving ways with others without intruding upon them or being intruded upon, without neglecting them or being neglected, without freezing them out or being frozen out. Ideally your boundaries are both firm and flexible. You can expand or contract them as you deal with different people and different kinds of relationships.
You can best establish and sustain healthy boundaries by being centered in the loving core of your Self. Being centered is like firmly planting the point of your protractor in the heart of you and expanding the love you feel there – then drawing a beautiful circle of light that radiates from your center and surrounds you as you interact with others.
A long time ago, I asked one of my wisest teachers, "What is the most important thing people need to learn to live life well?" Her answer was simple. "Teach them to center themselves."
Since that exchange, I've shared centering experiences with lots of others over the years. Like most things that are really valuable, centering is basically a simple process. And it is one that most of us intuitively recognize and easily embrace.
One way to center yourself is by putting your hand over your heart in the center of your chest. As you press your hand gently against your chest, take three deep breaths and slowly release them. You can say to yourself, "I give thanks that I am centered in love," or "Come Loving Spirit and fill me." Ron Roth suggests saying, "I am," as you inhale and "God breathed" as you exhale.
Let your face relax and soften. Feel light flowing throughout your body and all around you. Imagine that strong roots are growing from your feet, nourishing you, grounding you, and anchoring you to the center of the earth. Then rest in that peaceful place with your eyes open or closed for as long as you like – a few moments while waiting for a traffic light to change or several minutes in the midst of a busy day or a stressful situation.
The more you practice centering at odd times, the more naturally it will come to you when you find yourself feeling frightened, anxious, defensive, confused, discounted, or overwhelmed. When you center yourself, you automatically set your invisible energy boundaries in place. As long as you stay centered – and keep returning to center if you feel yourself slipping into fearful reactivity – your loving presence overrides whatever negativity others send toward you. Centering firmly establishes and sustains the healthy boundaries you need for all the ins and outs, ups and downs of living.
Centering gives you genuine power as you connect with your partner and everyone else. Genuine power is quite different from competitive force. It flows from your place of essential wholeness – a place where you embrace all of yourself and are not afraid of the shadow parts when they show up – in yourself or in others. Genuine power pours forth from an attitude of gratitude and forgiveness rather than dissatisfaction and judgment. It manifests as tender toughness and gentle firmness rather than challenging confrontation.
The Love of God that is the core of your being is always stronger than fear and negativity. Centering yourself – moment by moment – gives you the clarity and genuine power you need to face whatever challenges are before you. Centering establishes and protects your boundaries and makes intimacy possible. Centering yourself in Love gives you miraculous moments of healing – again and again – miracles that are yours right now in each instant of your opening to receive them. Try it out! Being centered is your natural, God given, healthy and most satisfying way of being. And it is yours – simply for the allowing.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
July Meeting
No written thoughts today we first explored Spiritualism and its faith after seeing a short film. Not too impressed.Then we tried our hand at seeing who had psychic power with a pendulum and a hidden coin - none of us.
We also looked at a film describing the weird world of quantum theory with its multi dimensions and parallel universes. After that we looked at a film of an Australian woman who gave out a peaceful vibes to help the meeting end on a good note.
Next month something different life coaching.
We also looked at a film describing the weird world of quantum theory with its multi dimensions and parallel universes. After that we looked at a film of an Australian woman who gave out a peaceful vibes to help the meeting end on a good note.
Next month something different life coaching.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
19th June
Anne joined us today so thought best to go over the three enquiries that in my opinion philosophy is all about
1. What we know about the world
The Greeks Romans thinkers thought that if you divided any substance continuously you would come to halt when you reached an atom a solid object the building block of life. Science now tells us that an atom is not solid it is almost empty space. There is a trillion atoms in a grain of sand. The center of an atom is called the nucleus. Tiny electrons spin around the nucleus in shells a great distance from the nucleus. If the nucleus were the size of a tennis ball, the atom would be the size of the Empire State Building only round.
Total stellar population in our galaxy the Milky Way
Recent numbers give about 400,000,000,000 (400 billion) stars, The Hubble Space Telescope has found there may be 125 billion galaxies in the universe."
There are far more stars in the Univese than grains of sand on all our shores of this world
Most astronomers believe the Universe began in a Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. At that time, the entire Universe was inside a bubble that was thousands of times smaller than a pinhead. Then it suddenly exploded
Modern ideas of the world compares favourably with Alice in Wonderland.
2. How do we know the world?.
All the five senses rely on electrical signals to the brain. The nose analyses molecules of scent and then turns that into an electrical signal, so does all the other organs. The eyes transmit digitally a picture as an electronic signal to the brain so that all of the world as we know it is in our own brain. You are now "seeing" inside your head. If true there are no "things" no more than there are "things" in a television film. And there is no person looking at what is happening otherwise you have the same problem how does the person see. There can be no movement. So is it true?
3. Who am I?
The prize is finding yourself or enlightenmight. But maybe there is no "I" and we are free now.
1. What we know about the world
The Greeks Romans thinkers thought that if you divided any substance continuously you would come to halt when you reached an atom a solid object the building block of life. Science now tells us that an atom is not solid it is almost empty space. There is a trillion atoms in a grain of sand. The center of an atom is called the nucleus. Tiny electrons spin around the nucleus in shells a great distance from the nucleus. If the nucleus were the size of a tennis ball, the atom would be the size of the Empire State Building only round.
Total stellar population in our galaxy the Milky Way
Recent numbers give about 400,000,000,000 (400 billion) stars, The Hubble Space Telescope has found there may be 125 billion galaxies in the universe."
There are far more stars in the Univese than grains of sand on all our shores of this world
Most astronomers believe the Universe began in a Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. At that time, the entire Universe was inside a bubble that was thousands of times smaller than a pinhead. Then it suddenly exploded
Modern ideas of the world compares favourably with Alice in Wonderland.
2. How do we know the world?.
All the five senses rely on electrical signals to the brain. The nose analyses molecules of scent and then turns that into an electrical signal, so does all the other organs. The eyes transmit digitally a picture as an electronic signal to the brain so that all of the world as we know it is in our own brain. You are now "seeing" inside your head. If true there are no "things" no more than there are "things" in a television film. And there is no person looking at what is happening otherwise you have the same problem how does the person see. There can be no movement. So is it true?
3. Who am I?
The prize is finding yourself or enlightenmight. But maybe there is no "I" and we are free now.
Friday, May 15, 2009
15th May
Lively discussion this morning after a review of all the revelations we have learnt during the last year or so we read the following summary:
Contemplating the Nature of Experience The Perennial Understanding
The essential discovery of all the great spiritual traditions, including Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Sufism, Kashmir Shaivism and Judaism, is that experience is not divided into a perceiving subject, an entity known as 'I,' and a perceived object, world or other.
The apparent separate entity and the apparent separate, independent world or other are understood to be concepts that are superimposed onto the reality of experience.
If we look for this Reality, for the essential ingredient in every experience of the mind, body and world, we find Consciousness or Awareness, a Knowing Presence that we intimately and directly know to be our own Being, and that is experienced simply as 'I am.'
This understanding, sometimes referred to as Non-Duality or Advaita, lies at the core of all these traditions and although it cannot be expressed directly, teachers, sages, mystics and poets use the language of their culture to point towards this Reality.
This non-conceptual or experiential Reality or Knowingess, although in fact always present, embedded in all experience, is veiled in most cases by beliefs. The primal belief, upon which all others are based, is that Consciousness or Awareness is located in and/or as the body.
With this fundamental mistake we shrink ourselves into a separate entity that resides in and as the body. That is, Consciousness seems to contract into a tiny, vulnerable entity and, as a result, the peace and happiness that are inherent in our true nature, in Consciousness, are veiled and seem therefore to be lost. This is the beginning of the search for happiness.
Consciousness seems to contract into a separate entity that we know and feel to be 'I,' and the world (including all others) simultaneously seems to become outside, separate, other, 'not me.'
Although this division of experience never actually takes place, it is a powerful illusion that seems to divide the Oneness of experience into two separate things. With this apparent division suffering is born.
In most cases a friend or teacher is required to point out this fundamental mistake, and through association with him or her, through the sharing of Being in conversation, meditation, contemplation, silence, self-enquiry, investigation, exploration and simply spending time together in silence and in normal everyday activities, the dense web of beliefs and feelings that comprise the knot of separation is dissolved.
This is sometime called Awakening. It is the awakening of Presence, Consciousness, Awareness to its own Being as the Reality of all things.
Afterwards we listened to Florian Tathagata
People have always loved sitting and sharing in the presence of an awakened human being and experiencing that tender beingness. For about 7 years Florian Tathagata and his life companion Julia have travelled around the world untiringly inviting seekers to recognize in their own experience who they really are and to live as an embodiment of truth in everyday life.
In his unmistakable manner he embraces the daily and simple life that he is sharing with a constantly increasing number of 'friends of truth', as he calls all those being interested. Again and again visitors of meetings tell of spontaneous awakening, of an all penetrating silence, of simple clarity and presence and of overflowing love and gratitude which they experience in Florian Tathagata‘s presence.
With both legs firmly rooted in normal everyday life and at the same time in the heart deeply connected with Ramana Maharshi, Papaji, Jiddu Krishnamurti and his teacher and friend Isaac Shapiro, Florian Tathagata speaks and is silent, laughs and cries, is present with everyone who would love to savour the truth of awareness.
Contemplating the Nature of Experience The Perennial Understanding
The essential discovery of all the great spiritual traditions, including Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Sufism, Kashmir Shaivism and Judaism, is that experience is not divided into a perceiving subject, an entity known as 'I,' and a perceived object, world or other.
The apparent separate entity and the apparent separate, independent world or other are understood to be concepts that are superimposed onto the reality of experience.
If we look for this Reality, for the essential ingredient in every experience of the mind, body and world, we find Consciousness or Awareness, a Knowing Presence that we intimately and directly know to be our own Being, and that is experienced simply as 'I am.'
This understanding, sometimes referred to as Non-Duality or Advaita, lies at the core of all these traditions and although it cannot be expressed directly, teachers, sages, mystics and poets use the language of their culture to point towards this Reality.
This non-conceptual or experiential Reality or Knowingess, although in fact always present, embedded in all experience, is veiled in most cases by beliefs. The primal belief, upon which all others are based, is that Consciousness or Awareness is located in and/or as the body.
With this fundamental mistake we shrink ourselves into a separate entity that resides in and as the body. That is, Consciousness seems to contract into a tiny, vulnerable entity and, as a result, the peace and happiness that are inherent in our true nature, in Consciousness, are veiled and seem therefore to be lost. This is the beginning of the search for happiness.
Consciousness seems to contract into a separate entity that we know and feel to be 'I,' and the world (including all others) simultaneously seems to become outside, separate, other, 'not me.'
Although this division of experience never actually takes place, it is a powerful illusion that seems to divide the Oneness of experience into two separate things. With this apparent division suffering is born.
In most cases a friend or teacher is required to point out this fundamental mistake, and through association with him or her, through the sharing of Being in conversation, meditation, contemplation, silence, self-enquiry, investigation, exploration and simply spending time together in silence and in normal everyday activities, the dense web of beliefs and feelings that comprise the knot of separation is dissolved.
This is sometime called Awakening. It is the awakening of Presence, Consciousness, Awareness to its own Being as the Reality of all things.
Afterwards we listened to Florian Tathagata
People have always loved sitting and sharing in the presence of an awakened human being and experiencing that tender beingness. For about 7 years Florian Tathagata and his life companion Julia have travelled around the world untiringly inviting seekers to recognize in their own experience who they really are and to live as an embodiment of truth in everyday life.
In his unmistakable manner he embraces the daily and simple life that he is sharing with a constantly increasing number of 'friends of truth', as he calls all those being interested. Again and again visitors of meetings tell of spontaneous awakening, of an all penetrating silence, of simple clarity and presence and of overflowing love and gratitude which they experience in Florian Tathagata‘s presence.
With both legs firmly rooted in normal everyday life and at the same time in the heart deeply connected with Ramana Maharshi, Papaji, Jiddu Krishnamurti and his teacher and friend Isaac Shapiro, Florian Tathagata speaks and is silent, laughs and cries, is present with everyone who would love to savour the truth of awareness.
Friday, March 20, 2009
20th March
Interesting discussion this morning after talking about last month's subject of the Absolute we looked at two videos of Oprah and Eckhart on the sacred NOW and his book The New Earth.
We then went on to read that at the end of Candide, Voltaire writes, "We must cultivate our garden." This philosophy of working to change the conditions and circumstances of the world, instead of accepting it as "the best of all possible worlds," is strongly advocated by Voltaire in his satire of optimism. Superficially, it seems that Hegel's writings advocate an opinion contrary to this position.
finally we read about the dance of Siva the Indian Way of expressing the same thing.
Gurudeva sums it up beautifully in Dancing with Siva: "The world is seen as it truly is - sacred - when we behold Siva's cosmic dance. Everything in the universe, all that we see, hear and imagine, is movement. Galaxies soar in movement; atoms swirl in movement. All movement is Siva's dance. When we fight this movement and think it should be other than it is, we are reluctantly dancing with Siva. We are stubbornly resisting, holding ourselves apart, criticizing the natural processes and movements around us. It is by understanding the eternal truths that we bring all areas of our mind into the knowledge of how to accept what is and not wish it to be otherwise. Once this happens, we begin to consciously dance with Siva, to move with the sacred flow that surrounds us, to accept praise and blame, joy and sorrow, prosperity and adversity in equanimity, the fruit of understanding. We are then gracefully, in unrestrained surrender, dancing with Siva."
We then went on to read that at the end of Candide, Voltaire writes, "We must cultivate our garden." This philosophy of working to change the conditions and circumstances of the world, instead of accepting it as "the best of all possible worlds," is strongly advocated by Voltaire in his satire of optimism. Superficially, it seems that Hegel's writings advocate an opinion contrary to this position.
finally we read about the dance of Siva the Indian Way of expressing the same thing.
Gurudeva sums it up beautifully in Dancing with Siva: "The world is seen as it truly is - sacred - when we behold Siva's cosmic dance. Everything in the universe, all that we see, hear and imagine, is movement. Galaxies soar in movement; atoms swirl in movement. All movement is Siva's dance. When we fight this movement and think it should be other than it is, we are reluctantly dancing with Siva. We are stubbornly resisting, holding ourselves apart, criticizing the natural processes and movements around us. It is by understanding the eternal truths that we bring all areas of our mind into the knowledge of how to accept what is and not wish it to be otherwise. Once this happens, we begin to consciously dance with Siva, to move with the sacred flow that surrounds us, to accept praise and blame, joy and sorrow, prosperity and adversity in equanimity, the fruit of understanding. We are then gracefully, in unrestrained surrender, dancing with Siva."
Saturday, February 21, 2009
21 February
Only 5 of us again but we enjoyed a good discussion from viewing a short film of Peter Russel's explanation of how we know the world as realized by Plato many years a go without the benefit of science.
We then viewed a film of a young person who claimed that he was enlightened. We disagreed although the NOW is rewarding it does not happen when you have toothache or stomach ache. We went on to discuss the Aboslute that which is outside of all the appearances the perfect unblemished being which we are.
We then viewed a film of a young person who claimed that he was enlightened. We disagreed although the NOW is rewarding it does not happen when you have toothache or stomach ache. We went on to discuss the Aboslute that which is outside of all the appearances the perfect unblemished being which we are.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
16th January 2009
A smaller group than usual but all of us enjoyed the discussion and the short film.
We first watched the TED film of a French scientist turned Buddhist who lived in the Himalayas. He believed in training the mind and seemed a very good representative of a person who enjoyed life. Then we went on to discuss the immanent and transcendent philosophy from various sources including this.
The influence of Bergson's thought upon religion and theology may be put finally as follows: We must reject the notion of a God for whom all is already made, to whom all is given, and uphold the conception of a God who acts freely in an open universe. The acceptance of Bergson's philosophy involves the recognition of a God who is the enduring creative impulse of all Life, more akin perhaps to a Mother-Deity than a Father-Deity. This divine vital impetus manifests itself in continual new creation. We are each part of this great Divine Life, and are both the products and the instruments of its activity. We may thus come to view the Divine Life as self-given to humanity, emptying itself into mankind as a veritable incarnation, not, however, restricted to one time and place, but manifest throughout the whole progress of humanity. Our conception will be that of a Deity, not external and far-off, but one whose own future is bound up in humanity, rejoicing in its joy, but suffering, by a kind of perpetual crucifixion, through man's errors and his failures to be loyal to the higher things of the spirit. Thus we shall see that, in a sense, men's noble actions promote God's fuller being. A Norwegian novelist has recently emphasized this point by his story of the man who went out and sowed corn in his late enemy's field that God might exist! But it is important to remember that in so far as we allow ourselves to become victims of habit, living only a materialistic and static type of existence, we retard the divine operations. On the other hand, in so far as our spirit finds joy in creative activity and in the furtherance of spiritual values, to this extent we may be regarded as fellow-labourers together with God. We cannot, by intellectual searching find out God, yet we may realize and express quite consistently with Bergson's philosophy the truth that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
We first watched the TED film of a French scientist turned Buddhist who lived in the Himalayas. He believed in training the mind and seemed a very good representative of a person who enjoyed life. Then we went on to discuss the immanent and transcendent philosophy from various sources including this.
The influence of Bergson's thought upon religion and theology may be put finally as follows: We must reject the notion of a God for whom all is already made, to whom all is given, and uphold the conception of a God who acts freely in an open universe. The acceptance of Bergson's philosophy involves the recognition of a God who is the enduring creative impulse of all Life, more akin perhaps to a Mother-Deity than a Father-Deity. This divine vital impetus manifests itself in continual new creation. We are each part of this great Divine Life, and are both the products and the instruments of its activity. We may thus come to view the Divine Life as self-given to humanity, emptying itself into mankind as a veritable incarnation, not, however, restricted to one time and place, but manifest throughout the whole progress of humanity. Our conception will be that of a Deity, not external and far-off, but one whose own future is bound up in humanity, rejoicing in its joy, but suffering, by a kind of perpetual crucifixion, through man's errors and his failures to be loyal to the higher things of the spirit. Thus we shall see that, in a sense, men's noble actions promote God's fuller being. A Norwegian novelist has recently emphasized this point by his story of the man who went out and sowed corn in his late enemy's field that God might exist! But it is important to remember that in so far as we allow ourselves to become victims of habit, living only a materialistic and static type of existence, we retard the divine operations. On the other hand, in so far as our spirit finds joy in creative activity and in the furtherance of spiritual values, to this extent we may be regarded as fellow-labourers together with God. We cannot, by intellectual searching find out God, yet we may realize and express quite consistently with Bergson's philosophy the truth that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being."
Saturday, December 20, 2008
December meeting
We first watched an interesting interview where Dr. Robert E. Carter talked about self-cultivation.
The we read and gave our views on the following.
In the Past or in the Present?
Are you walking dead or are you walking alive?
"Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare; before you they spring forth."
Isaiah 42:9
In the Greek myth of Orpheus Descending. Orpheus went into the underworld to rescue his wife from death. He was told that he could do so as long as while on his way out, he didn't look back. Well, he looked back. Consequently, she was lost forever-frozen in time! The same similar story is found in the Bible. Lot and his wife are spared by God from the fiery destruction of the evil cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. They are told by the angel not to look back at the city as they are leaving. Lot's wife looks back; she is turned into a pillar of salt.
The same is true for us when we don't let go of the past We become frozen in the past like Lot's wife who became a pillar of salt and like Orpheus looking back at his wife sees only a frozen memory. Lifeless. We are dead to life. And like a pillar of salt we become bitter like salt. Bitter over the fact something was taken from us or something didn't last forever. We are no longer moving or changing. Stuck! The only change that is happening is the deterioration of our body and our minds because we lack the vitality of ongoing life. Like a pillar of salt, rigid, with time, we begin to crumble. We cease to be moistened and renewed by the current of life. We like Orpheus are in the underworld visiting the frozen images of yesterday. We see people doing the same thing to us as in the past, the same failures, the same relationships with different names, the same attitude and outlook, the same insecurity, the same outcomes- we always keep winding up in the same spot. Stuck in time! We ARE in the same spot! We are a tombstone. Petrified like a pillar marking some past event or past person we won't let go of. A lost marriage, unrequited love, tragic events, a dead companion, past hurts, past regrets, past cherished moments, our childhood. Whatever we want to go back to. We avoid the pain of letting go and the price we pay for that is death! We cut ourselves off from the flow of LIFE. Our thinking and actions becomes become old and rigid. We are dead to Life.
It is ironic that those who live in the past age quickly and are prone to alcoholism and addictions. While those who change and live in the present stay younger, happier and are not addicted. Mother Theresa once said, "Being in the Present is to be with God."
Get Back to the Present: Since Life is a series of deaths starting with the loss of childhood into adolescence. By letting go, we can be reborn into new and greater things. In other words grow or "grow up". By being constantly reborn we enlarge our capacity to experience greater capacities of blessings and opportunities. When we get stuck to someone or something that we need to let go of, we stop in the flow of life. Prosperity and Health cease. Medical science has proven that brooding over the past can bring rapid old age, arthritis, failing vision, heart trouble, high blood pressure, depression and death. With God's help we have to constantly let go of people, memories, ideas, yesterday. We must be in the present to experience Life. We have to renew ourselves daily to attract the blessings in life. We must save our energy from depression caused by being stuck. Youth is only an eternity in the present. In the present we attract prosperity, health and joy! Good things occur regularly. We move ahead in the flow of Life. We are ALIVE!
The we read and gave our views on the following.
In the Past or in the Present?
Are you walking dead or are you walking alive?
"Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things do I declare; before you they spring forth."
Isaiah 42:9
In the Greek myth of Orpheus Descending. Orpheus went into the underworld to rescue his wife from death. He was told that he could do so as long as while on his way out, he didn't look back. Well, he looked back. Consequently, she was lost forever-frozen in time! The same similar story is found in the Bible. Lot and his wife are spared by God from the fiery destruction of the evil cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. They are told by the angel not to look back at the city as they are leaving. Lot's wife looks back; she is turned into a pillar of salt.
The same is true for us when we don't let go of the past We become frozen in the past like Lot's wife who became a pillar of salt and like Orpheus looking back at his wife sees only a frozen memory. Lifeless. We are dead to life. And like a pillar of salt we become bitter like salt. Bitter over the fact something was taken from us or something didn't last forever. We are no longer moving or changing. Stuck! The only change that is happening is the deterioration of our body and our minds because we lack the vitality of ongoing life. Like a pillar of salt, rigid, with time, we begin to crumble. We cease to be moistened and renewed by the current of life. We like Orpheus are in the underworld visiting the frozen images of yesterday. We see people doing the same thing to us as in the past, the same failures, the same relationships with different names, the same attitude and outlook, the same insecurity, the same outcomes- we always keep winding up in the same spot. Stuck in time! We ARE in the same spot! We are a tombstone. Petrified like a pillar marking some past event or past person we won't let go of. A lost marriage, unrequited love, tragic events, a dead companion, past hurts, past regrets, past cherished moments, our childhood. Whatever we want to go back to. We avoid the pain of letting go and the price we pay for that is death! We cut ourselves off from the flow of LIFE. Our thinking and actions becomes become old and rigid. We are dead to Life.
It is ironic that those who live in the past age quickly and are prone to alcoholism and addictions. While those who change and live in the present stay younger, happier and are not addicted. Mother Theresa once said, "Being in the Present is to be with God."
Get Back to the Present: Since Life is a series of deaths starting with the loss of childhood into adolescence. By letting go, we can be reborn into new and greater things. In other words grow or "grow up". By being constantly reborn we enlarge our capacity to experience greater capacities of blessings and opportunities. When we get stuck to someone or something that we need to let go of, we stop in the flow of life. Prosperity and Health cease. Medical science has proven that brooding over the past can bring rapid old age, arthritis, failing vision, heart trouble, high blood pressure, depression and death. With God's help we have to constantly let go of people, memories, ideas, yesterday. We must be in the present to experience Life. We have to renew ourselves daily to attract the blessings in life. We must save our energy from depression caused by being stuck. Youth is only an eternity in the present. In the present we attract prosperity, health and joy! Good things occur regularly. We move ahead in the flow of Life. We are ALIVE!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
November meeting
First of all we watched "Tony Robbins motivates you in 20 minutes: TEDTalks" a very inspired speaker but seemed rather hyper for us and then we read and discussed the following. (Shortened)
The Fountain of Youth
Jesus answered and said unto her, (the woman at the well)
Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again:
But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 4:13-14
Look first for the Kingdom of Heaven. And all things will be provided for you. Mathew 6 the kingdom of Heaven is within You Luke 17:21
Yes it's always been INSIDE YOU!
Youth it has been said is a "state of awe or bliss"
Among those who had lost their youth it was imagined that there was such a thing as a "Fountain of Youth" which had magical waters which sprung up from a special spring that would give those who drank from it or bathed in it healing and rejuvenation. In effect it would reverse age and return those who drank of its waters back to his youth. Well, many people set out to look for it; sadly, none ever could find it. Why not? Because it was always inside of themselves. What they had of the Fountain of Youth-its healing and rejuvenating powers were inside of them. Then why could they not reach it if it was inside themselves? Because they had abandoned themselves in pursuit of things outside of themselves and found sadness instead. To set out looking for romances, people, power and material possessions to make us happy is to set out on a voyage to nowhere. It is like leaving your house to look for your bedroom.
The important point is that because it is a state of mind, it can be accessed in our minds.
Youth is a feeling of wonder, innocence, freshness; the opposite of cynical and worn out. So in that case younger in age or older in age it doesn't matter, we can be cynical and worn out at 25 years old and we can be full of wonder at 75 years old. Youth is a state of mind that can be found or lost at any age. Youth is a spiritual state! Youth is alive and full of feeling. Youth is vibrant and unafraid. Youth is very much a part of living, changing, discovering and yes, actually staying physically young without the help of cosmetics, fad diets, and work-out regiments. Youth has nothing to do with acting juvenile, crazy, arrogant, irresponsible, or aloof. Youth is child-like - fun, spontaneous, alive, energetic, emotionally responsive, in touch with reality, intelligent, creative and adaptive. Youth is full of wonder and surprise. And above all youth is very much in the "present"!
Pleasures outside of ourselves are seductive powers. They get us hooked and because they can never fulfill us, we drain our life energy pursuing them. We've plugged into a power drainage rather than a Power source. And the source of all Power is within ourselves! So when we hook into pleasures outside of ourselves, we direct that Power from within us to something outside of ourselves. And because those things outside of ourselves need our Power to keep them alive, they can not give us any Power back to replenish the power they have taken from us.
They take our Youth, our innocence, our wonder. They disappoint us and constantly let us down. We become miserable, diseased, insatiable, lonely, bitter. Because our energy is draining, we do not have enough energy to sustain our health. Thus, we become ill, stressed, depressed (drained), diseased, physically aged and inevitably dead.
So, to help with their illness and depression, these people look for cures to replenish their energy and restore them to well-being and health. Or even try moving to a new place, or having a new romance, or maybe it will be a new job, more money, a new project, a new relationship, a brand new drug, a new vacation spot, a new car, a new face lift. more vitamins, a vacation to a spa, a new exercise, a new look-change of clothes, a new house or a remodeling! And as we all know, these things don't last and furthermore, do not give us what we think they should be giving us. We get let down. Does that stop some of us? NO! Pursue and consume and pursue and consume, ad infinitum.
They get "high" on the new, on the pursuit, on consuming, and so forth. And all the while they can not understand why they are getting depressed and why their doctors tell them they have high blood pressure or anxiety disorder or manic depression, or panic attacks, and insecurities or hypertension. And still some of them keep trying to change the outer body to cause a change within themselves. So these people get hooked on plastic surgery, exercise regimens, cosmetic treatments, and so on. In actuality, the more money you have to spend on something to make you happy or to look good, it isn't going to work. That's why it's expensive! Because most of us know that the best things in life are free or minimally priced! It's the spending, the hype, the idea that they can afford it, the status and all the "mind games" If they believe in the "hype" (hypnotic) enough it will cause them to feel a certain way! And for how long? Until the newest invention comes along!
And like the powers they depend on for happiness and health and youth, they become just like them: short lived, worn out, unreliable, dependent, moody, unstable, used and abused, and discarded. An object! The saying "you are what you eat" is the same as you are what you touch, what you consume, etc...Depend on objects become like objects! Depend on the people you depend upon and you become like them. The same is true about ideas, depend on those ideas and you become like those ideas.
And another reason why outer dependency brings disappointment: all things outside of ourselves to make us happy, including people, have to be there for us. That means we have to rely on them being there. That means we have to pay some kind of price to maintain those things or people to be there for us. Very expensive! In a way, we have become dependent or even enslaved or addicted to those things to be there for us to make us happy and healthy.
So when they are not there or are unreliable, they cause us distress. The person or object we depend on becomes the source of power now. They actually control us! Look at how much money and how much energy people waste on others and things they depend on.
If we had to truly depend on ourselves we would find an awakening within ourselves. Throughout history including our own country's Depression in the 1930's people actually got stronger, more creative. Many great statesman and creative geniuses came out of that period. WHY? Because they found their REAL POWER! And that inner Power we always have access to. And we can replenish our inner Power from within through spirituality. And we can draw from it at anytime. And it doesn't matter what is around us or where we are. It's not like a car on a road that runs out of gas 40 miles from the nearest gas station. Whenever, we run out of energy, we can go within and draw from our "fountain of youth" - our source of vitality, strength, wisdom, happiness, creativity, and joy!
No matter who you are or what has happened in your life; whether you are young or old, rich or poor, religious or not, unlucky or lucky, famous or not, youth can be found inside yourself. YES! Everybody! When you find it, you will definitely know it! You will have found YOU! Nothing more needs to be said. You will never need to be like someone or dependent on someone or something ever again!
The Fountain of Youth
Jesus answered and said unto her, (the woman at the well)
Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again:
But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 4:13-14
Look first for the Kingdom of Heaven. And all things will be provided for you. Mathew 6 the kingdom of Heaven is within You Luke 17:21
Yes it's always been INSIDE YOU!
Youth it has been said is a "state of awe or bliss"
Among those who had lost their youth it was imagined that there was such a thing as a "Fountain of Youth" which had magical waters which sprung up from a special spring that would give those who drank from it or bathed in it healing and rejuvenation. In effect it would reverse age and return those who drank of its waters back to his youth. Well, many people set out to look for it; sadly, none ever could find it. Why not? Because it was always inside of themselves. What they had of the Fountain of Youth-its healing and rejuvenating powers were inside of them. Then why could they not reach it if it was inside themselves? Because they had abandoned themselves in pursuit of things outside of themselves and found sadness instead. To set out looking for romances, people, power and material possessions to make us happy is to set out on a voyage to nowhere. It is like leaving your house to look for your bedroom.
The important point is that because it is a state of mind, it can be accessed in our minds.
Youth is a feeling of wonder, innocence, freshness; the opposite of cynical and worn out. So in that case younger in age or older in age it doesn't matter, we can be cynical and worn out at 25 years old and we can be full of wonder at 75 years old. Youth is a state of mind that can be found or lost at any age. Youth is a spiritual state! Youth is alive and full of feeling. Youth is vibrant and unafraid. Youth is very much a part of living, changing, discovering and yes, actually staying physically young without the help of cosmetics, fad diets, and work-out regiments. Youth has nothing to do with acting juvenile, crazy, arrogant, irresponsible, or aloof. Youth is child-like - fun, spontaneous, alive, energetic, emotionally responsive, in touch with reality, intelligent, creative and adaptive. Youth is full of wonder and surprise. And above all youth is very much in the "present"!
Pleasures outside of ourselves are seductive powers. They get us hooked and because they can never fulfill us, we drain our life energy pursuing them. We've plugged into a power drainage rather than a Power source. And the source of all Power is within ourselves! So when we hook into pleasures outside of ourselves, we direct that Power from within us to something outside of ourselves. And because those things outside of ourselves need our Power to keep them alive, they can not give us any Power back to replenish the power they have taken from us.
They take our Youth, our innocence, our wonder. They disappoint us and constantly let us down. We become miserable, diseased, insatiable, lonely, bitter. Because our energy is draining, we do not have enough energy to sustain our health. Thus, we become ill, stressed, depressed (drained), diseased, physically aged and inevitably dead.
So, to help with their illness and depression, these people look for cures to replenish their energy and restore them to well-being and health. Or even try moving to a new place, or having a new romance, or maybe it will be a new job, more money, a new project, a new relationship, a brand new drug, a new vacation spot, a new car, a new face lift. more vitamins, a vacation to a spa, a new exercise, a new look-change of clothes, a new house or a remodeling! And as we all know, these things don't last and furthermore, do not give us what we think they should be giving us. We get let down. Does that stop some of us? NO! Pursue and consume and pursue and consume, ad infinitum.
They get "high" on the new, on the pursuit, on consuming, and so forth. And all the while they can not understand why they are getting depressed and why their doctors tell them they have high blood pressure or anxiety disorder or manic depression, or panic attacks, and insecurities or hypertension. And still some of them keep trying to change the outer body to cause a change within themselves. So these people get hooked on plastic surgery, exercise regimens, cosmetic treatments, and so on. In actuality, the more money you have to spend on something to make you happy or to look good, it isn't going to work. That's why it's expensive! Because most of us know that the best things in life are free or minimally priced! It's the spending, the hype, the idea that they can afford it, the status and all the "mind games" If they believe in the "hype" (hypnotic) enough it will cause them to feel a certain way! And for how long? Until the newest invention comes along!
And like the powers they depend on for happiness and health and youth, they become just like them: short lived, worn out, unreliable, dependent, moody, unstable, used and abused, and discarded. An object! The saying "you are what you eat" is the same as you are what you touch, what you consume, etc...Depend on objects become like objects! Depend on the people you depend upon and you become like them. The same is true about ideas, depend on those ideas and you become like those ideas.
And another reason why outer dependency brings disappointment: all things outside of ourselves to make us happy, including people, have to be there for us. That means we have to rely on them being there. That means we have to pay some kind of price to maintain those things or people to be there for us. Very expensive! In a way, we have become dependent or even enslaved or addicted to those things to be there for us to make us happy and healthy.
So when they are not there or are unreliable, they cause us distress. The person or object we depend on becomes the source of power now. They actually control us! Look at how much money and how much energy people waste on others and things they depend on.
If we had to truly depend on ourselves we would find an awakening within ourselves. Throughout history including our own country's Depression in the 1930's people actually got stronger, more creative. Many great statesman and creative geniuses came out of that period. WHY? Because they found their REAL POWER! And that inner Power we always have access to. And we can replenish our inner Power from within through spirituality. And we can draw from it at anytime. And it doesn't matter what is around us or where we are. It's not like a car on a road that runs out of gas 40 miles from the nearest gas station. Whenever, we run out of energy, we can go within and draw from our "fountain of youth" - our source of vitality, strength, wisdom, happiness, creativity, and joy!
No matter who you are or what has happened in your life; whether you are young or old, rich or poor, religious or not, unlucky or lucky, famous or not, youth can be found inside yourself. YES! Everybody! When you find it, you will definitely know it! You will have found YOU! Nothing more needs to be said. You will never need to be like someone or dependent on someone or something ever again!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
17 October
Just the six of us met up again for perhaps the last time to discuss the final aim of what philosophy is all about, enlightenment. We looked at a video of Tony Parsons author of The Open Secret in which he chronicles his Awakening. None of us believed that it was truly the complete answer. Like previous claimants they seem to lose the sparkle of the intellect a price none of us thought right.
This is description of his nirvana.
The Hypnotic Dream of Separation
There is no me or you, no seeker, no enlightenment, no disciple and no guru. There is no better or worse, no path or purpose, and nothing that has to be achieved.
All appearance is source. All that apparently manifests in the hypnotic dream of separation – the world, the life story, the search for home, is one appearing as two, the nothing appearing as everything, the absolute appearing as the particular.
There is no separate intelligence weaving a destiny and no choice functioning at any level. Nothing is happening but this, as it is, invites the apparent seeker to rediscover that which is . . . the abiding, uncaused, unchanging, impersonal silence from which unconditional love overflows and celebrates. It is the wonderful mystery.
This is description of his nirvana.
The Hypnotic Dream of Separation
There is no me or you, no seeker, no enlightenment, no disciple and no guru. There is no better or worse, no path or purpose, and nothing that has to be achieved.
All appearance is source. All that apparently manifests in the hypnotic dream of separation – the world, the life story, the search for home, is one appearing as two, the nothing appearing as everything, the absolute appearing as the particular.
There is no separate intelligence weaving a destiny and no choice functioning at any level. Nothing is happening but this, as it is, invites the apparent seeker to rediscover that which is . . . the abiding, uncaused, unchanging, impersonal silence from which unconditional love overflows and celebrates. It is the wonderful mystery.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Septembers meeting
Another small group but not in enthusiasm, we went back to basics discussing how can Samsara be Nirvana. Despite the wisdom that he who says he knows doesn't, we tried to clarify the meaning by seeing the mind when attachment is withdrawn. The ordinary mind that is the container of all things is spotless when unattached. We then looked at a video of a brain specialist describing her experience when she had a stroke in the left side of the brain. Afterward we read a paper on being a slave or master
Monday, August 18, 2008
August
Only five of us again but we still had a good discussion after watching the sixth instalment of the Kabbala where he explained why we should appreciate all things as a gift and in doing so it gives enjoyment to the giver - God.
Friday, July 18, 2008
July meeting
Only four of us but again we all watched the fifth video from the kabbalah school of philosophy. This one was less appealing with too many names but we got the gist of it and next month we will be shown a tool to gain enlightenment. Should be interesting. We then discussed the paper that proposed the trend for people to get fatter is through trying to fill an emptiness of a spiritual yearning rather than a hunger for food.
Broke up at 12.30 so must have been enjoyed.
Broke up at 12.30 so must have been enjoyed.
Friday, June 20, 2008
20th June
Only six of us but everybody seemed to enjoy the fourth video from the kabbalah school of philosophy. This time a great emphasis was placed on knowing the creator directly without an understanding or intellectual concept held in the mind.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
17th May
As we had a guest today we reviewed the main points of philosophy we have discovered. One the world is not "real". More akin to a hologram than a solid "thing". The "world" is in our minds as all knowledge of reality is an inward awareness of incoming senses. We do not look "out". The ego is not our true self but the unknowable watcher is the same in all of us.
We then watched the third short film of the kabbalah. The instruction given is that we are all on the path to the return to the creator but it can be done the easy way or the hard way. We then had more discussions on on our opinion of this that we never got round to reading the prepared article.
We then watched the third short film of the kabbalah. The instruction given is that we are all on the path to the return to the creator but it can be done the easy way or the hard way. We then had more discussions on on our opinion of this that we never got round to reading the prepared article.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
18 th April
Not many today at today's meeting but still enjoyable. We once again continued with studying the Jewish Kabbalah by listening to a half hour film first then after a break we then read a written summary and maybe you too would like to read it.
Cracking the Happiness Code
In Kabbalah—the science of happiness—happiness stops being a mystery. This elusive notion can be broken down into component parts and understood. And just like e=mc2, there's a formula for lasting happiness
"Quick: think about what would make you really, really happy."
This was the opening line of the cover story in the May, 2007 issue of Newsweek, dedicated to the subject of happiness. Top international psychologists, sociologists, biologists and economists tried to answer the eternal question: "What is the secret of happiness?" or more precisely, "What would it take to make us happy?"
The Dollar Is Always Greener on the Other Side
"Maybe money?" the researchers asked. "If I had the money," claims the typical happiness fantasizer, "I could have, or do, anything I want: travel around the world, buy anything I please, be independent, and take charge of my life... In short, money is bound to make me happy, isn't it?"
Surprisingly (or not), many recent studies show that once we have enough to meet our basic needs, money ceases to make us happier. One famous study showed that even lottery winners who were very, very happy when they won soon lost their euphoria. After a while, their moods were exactly the same as they had been before their big win.
In fact, once we have more money than we need for our basic needs, our ability to enjoy it becomes overshadowed by questions like, "Am I keeping up with the Joneses?" because no matter how much we earn, it always seems as if our neighbor's dollar is a shade or two greener.
Happiness Economics
What about free time? If we worked less and rested more, would we have our longed for happiness?
The happiness researchers flatly dismiss this hypothesis as well. On the "World Map of Happiness," recently published by the school of psychology at England's Leicester University, the hard-working USA takes a whooping 23rd place, while vacationing France staggers behind in 62nd place.
One by one, the happiness researchers revoked the most common theories about the road to happiness. They concluded that in the long run, things like a successful career, a happy marriage, and even good health will not make us happy.
So what would make us happy? That's precisely the question that leaves researchers dumbfounded. Somehow, it's easier to identify the factors that do not make us happy, than to offer a practical formula for true happiness.
"Happiness is everywhere—on the best-seller lists, in the minds of policymakers, and front and center for economists—yet it remains elusive," concludes Rana Foroohar, Newsweek's senior economics writer.
So how do we grab hold of that fleeting happiness?
The Mechanics of Happiness
To crack the happiness code, we must start by realizing who we really are, what our nature is. And that is something very simple: we are the desire to be happy. In other words, we all want to receive pleasure, to enjoy, or as Kabbalah calls it, we are "the will to receive."
"... The will to receive pleasure constitutes the entire matter of Creation, from its beginning to its end. … all the myriad types of creatures and their varieties are but rates and modified values of the will to receive."
Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal Hasulam),
"Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah"
Perhaps this sounds like something you already knew. But our nature, the will to receive, is more sophisticated than what we might think. It's not just a constant desire that's always nudging us to find happiness. This will to receive actually motivates everything we do, down to the smallest actions we make, and even every thought we have.
The will to receive seeks satisfaction every at moment and makes sure that we don't rest until we fulfill its demands. It also constantly determines how we feel: if we satisfy it, we're happy, we feel good, life's a song; if we don't, we become frustrated, angry, depressed, and even violent or suicidal.
Perhaps you also guessed this. But the thing that so often escapes our notice—and the key to cracking the happiness code—is the fact that once our "will to receive" is fulfilled, the pleasure we feel disappears.
The great Irish author, Oscar Wilde, certainly knew about this when he wrote, "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worst; the last is a real tragedy."
Kabbalah explains the mechanics of this process: initially, we want something and make efforts to acquire it. The moment we get what we fervently desired, we feel pleasure, joy and delight. Or, in Kabbalah's language, the first encounter between the desire and its filling is the peak of the pleasure.
So far so good—but the process isn't finished yet. The moment we get the thing we wanted, the desire abates. In other words, we gradually stop wanting what we attained, and as a result, our pleasure starts fading… until it disappears completely.
For example, you know what it's like when you're really hungry: you could eat a steak so big it needs its own area code (vegetarians: consider that a tofu loaf). But what happens when you start eating?
The first bite is pure ecstasy, and the next bite is wonderful. The next bite is good, and the next bite is… okay, and the next is whatever it is. And the next one is: "not another bite, I'm gonna be sick..."
This happens with everything, not just food. We can spend years dreaming about a fancy sports car and when we finally get it, we're thrilled—well, at least for a few moments or days. But soon we find ourselves enjoying it less and less until it stops giving us any pleasure. And then every time we look at the car, the only thing we feel is the weight of the gigantic loan we have to pay back for the next ten years!
Economics Professor Richard Easterlin of the University of Southern California, a pioneer of happiness research, calls this phenomenon "hedonic adaptation," which means, "We get a new car, and we get used to it. We get new clothes, and we get used to it again... We adjust very quickly to the pleasure we get..."
But that can't be the end of the story, can it? After all, even as we describe this, we all long for lasting pleasure. Did Nature place us in this vicious circle to remain forever unhappy? Could happiness be just a fairy tale, a Santa Claus story that will never come true?
The (Secret) Happiness Formula
Thankfully, Kabbalah explains that Nature is not cruel at all; in fact, its only desire is to bring us the happiness we seek. If our aspiration for happiness was not meant to be realized, we wouldn't have it to begin with. Nature's purpose is to let us independently attain a feeling of complete and total happiness—not "sort-of" happiness or "most of the time" kind of happiness, but the kind that is absolute, perfect, and eternal.
And we're actually closer to it than we think. In fact, the recent trend of happiness research and our growing realization that we are never satisfied have actually brought us closer to true happiness. We are beginning to identify the pattern: happiness has nothing to do with how much money we make or how good our marriage is—in fact, it has nothing to do with any other kind of pleasure we try to receive. We're starting to uncover the fundamental fact that happiness can only be felt using a different principle of enjoyment.
At this point, Kabbalah helps us solve the happiness problem at its root. We've already explained why we never feel lasting pleasure from anything: because the minute the pleasure meets the desire, the desire becomes neutralized. And since our desire is neutralized, we can no longer enjoy the pleasure.
So the secret of happiness, Kabbalah explains, is to add another ingredient to this process, the ingredient of "intention." This means that we keep wanting just like before, only we put a different spin on our desire: we direct it outward, as if we are giving to someone else. In other words, this intention turns our desire into a "passageway" for the pleasure. Thus, the pleasure we feel won't stop; it will keep going through our desire, following our intention. And our desire will be able to keep receiving continuously, without ever being quenched.
And that's the formula for endless pleasure, or lasting happiness. When a person applies this formula, he actually goes through a profound transition and begins to feel different kinds of pleasures. Kabbalah calls them "spiritual," and precisely they are endless.
In Conclusion—a Short Summary
What is happiness?
It's what we feel when we fulfill our "will to receive."
Why does it go away?
Because the pleasure neutralizes our desire, and without a desire, we can't feel pleasure.
What's the formula for feeling endless pleasure?
Adding an "intention of giving" to our "will to receive," so the pleasure will keep flowing through our desire, endlessly.
True happiness is just around the corner, waiting for us to learn how to feel it, how to add an intention to our desire. Studying Kabbalah, we naturally acquire this new, spiritual intention and start receiving the way Nature wants us to—perfectly. This is why "Kabbalah" is Hebrew for "reception"—it's the wisdom that teaches us how to receive.
Cracking the Happiness Code
In Kabbalah—the science of happiness—happiness stops being a mystery. This elusive notion can be broken down into component parts and understood. And just like e=mc2, there's a formula for lasting happiness
"Quick: think about what would make you really, really happy."
This was the opening line of the cover story in the May, 2007 issue of Newsweek, dedicated to the subject of happiness. Top international psychologists, sociologists, biologists and economists tried to answer the eternal question: "What is the secret of happiness?" or more precisely, "What would it take to make us happy?"
The Dollar Is Always Greener on the Other Side
"Maybe money?" the researchers asked. "If I had the money," claims the typical happiness fantasizer, "I could have, or do, anything I want: travel around the world, buy anything I please, be independent, and take charge of my life... In short, money is bound to make me happy, isn't it?"
Surprisingly (or not), many recent studies show that once we have enough to meet our basic needs, money ceases to make us happier. One famous study showed that even lottery winners who were very, very happy when they won soon lost their euphoria. After a while, their moods were exactly the same as they had been before their big win.
In fact, once we have more money than we need for our basic needs, our ability to enjoy it becomes overshadowed by questions like, "Am I keeping up with the Joneses?" because no matter how much we earn, it always seems as if our neighbor's dollar is a shade or two greener.
Happiness Economics
What about free time? If we worked less and rested more, would we have our longed for happiness?
The happiness researchers flatly dismiss this hypothesis as well. On the "World Map of Happiness," recently published by the school of psychology at England's Leicester University, the hard-working USA takes a whooping 23rd place, while vacationing France staggers behind in 62nd place.
One by one, the happiness researchers revoked the most common theories about the road to happiness. They concluded that in the long run, things like a successful career, a happy marriage, and even good health will not make us happy.
So what would make us happy? That's precisely the question that leaves researchers dumbfounded. Somehow, it's easier to identify the factors that do not make us happy, than to offer a practical formula for true happiness.
"Happiness is everywhere—on the best-seller lists, in the minds of policymakers, and front and center for economists—yet it remains elusive," concludes Rana Foroohar, Newsweek's senior economics writer.
So how do we grab hold of that fleeting happiness?
The Mechanics of Happiness
To crack the happiness code, we must start by realizing who we really are, what our nature is. And that is something very simple: we are the desire to be happy. In other words, we all want to receive pleasure, to enjoy, or as Kabbalah calls it, we are "the will to receive."
"... The will to receive pleasure constitutes the entire matter of Creation, from its beginning to its end. … all the myriad types of creatures and their varieties are but rates and modified values of the will to receive."
Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal Hasulam),
"Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah"
Perhaps this sounds like something you already knew. But our nature, the will to receive, is more sophisticated than what we might think. It's not just a constant desire that's always nudging us to find happiness. This will to receive actually motivates everything we do, down to the smallest actions we make, and even every thought we have.
The will to receive seeks satisfaction every at moment and makes sure that we don't rest until we fulfill its demands. It also constantly determines how we feel: if we satisfy it, we're happy, we feel good, life's a song; if we don't, we become frustrated, angry, depressed, and even violent or suicidal.
Perhaps you also guessed this. But the thing that so often escapes our notice—and the key to cracking the happiness code—is the fact that once our "will to receive" is fulfilled, the pleasure we feel disappears.
The great Irish author, Oscar Wilde, certainly knew about this when he wrote, "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. The last is much the worst; the last is a real tragedy."
Kabbalah explains the mechanics of this process: initially, we want something and make efforts to acquire it. The moment we get what we fervently desired, we feel pleasure, joy and delight. Or, in Kabbalah's language, the first encounter between the desire and its filling is the peak of the pleasure.
So far so good—but the process isn't finished yet. The moment we get the thing we wanted, the desire abates. In other words, we gradually stop wanting what we attained, and as a result, our pleasure starts fading… until it disappears completely.
For example, you know what it's like when you're really hungry: you could eat a steak so big it needs its own area code (vegetarians: consider that a tofu loaf). But what happens when you start eating?
The first bite is pure ecstasy, and the next bite is wonderful. The next bite is good, and the next bite is… okay, and the next is whatever it is. And the next one is: "not another bite, I'm gonna be sick..."
This happens with everything, not just food. We can spend years dreaming about a fancy sports car and when we finally get it, we're thrilled—well, at least for a few moments or days. But soon we find ourselves enjoying it less and less until it stops giving us any pleasure. And then every time we look at the car, the only thing we feel is the weight of the gigantic loan we have to pay back for the next ten years!
Economics Professor Richard Easterlin of the University of Southern California, a pioneer of happiness research, calls this phenomenon "hedonic adaptation," which means, "We get a new car, and we get used to it. We get new clothes, and we get used to it again... We adjust very quickly to the pleasure we get..."
But that can't be the end of the story, can it? After all, even as we describe this, we all long for lasting pleasure. Did Nature place us in this vicious circle to remain forever unhappy? Could happiness be just a fairy tale, a Santa Claus story that will never come true?
The (Secret) Happiness Formula
Thankfully, Kabbalah explains that Nature is not cruel at all; in fact, its only desire is to bring us the happiness we seek. If our aspiration for happiness was not meant to be realized, we wouldn't have it to begin with. Nature's purpose is to let us independently attain a feeling of complete and total happiness—not "sort-of" happiness or "most of the time" kind of happiness, but the kind that is absolute, perfect, and eternal.
And we're actually closer to it than we think. In fact, the recent trend of happiness research and our growing realization that we are never satisfied have actually brought us closer to true happiness. We are beginning to identify the pattern: happiness has nothing to do with how much money we make or how good our marriage is—in fact, it has nothing to do with any other kind of pleasure we try to receive. We're starting to uncover the fundamental fact that happiness can only be felt using a different principle of enjoyment.
At this point, Kabbalah helps us solve the happiness problem at its root. We've already explained why we never feel lasting pleasure from anything: because the minute the pleasure meets the desire, the desire becomes neutralized. And since our desire is neutralized, we can no longer enjoy the pleasure.
So the secret of happiness, Kabbalah explains, is to add another ingredient to this process, the ingredient of "intention." This means that we keep wanting just like before, only we put a different spin on our desire: we direct it outward, as if we are giving to someone else. In other words, this intention turns our desire into a "passageway" for the pleasure. Thus, the pleasure we feel won't stop; it will keep going through our desire, following our intention. And our desire will be able to keep receiving continuously, without ever being quenched.
And that's the formula for endless pleasure, or lasting happiness. When a person applies this formula, he actually goes through a profound transition and begins to feel different kinds of pleasures. Kabbalah calls them "spiritual," and precisely they are endless.
In Conclusion—a Short Summary
What is happiness?
It's what we feel when we fulfill our "will to receive."
Why does it go away?
Because the pleasure neutralizes our desire, and without a desire, we can't feel pleasure.
What's the formula for feeling endless pleasure?
Adding an "intention of giving" to our "will to receive," so the pleasure will keep flowing through our desire, endlessly.
True happiness is just around the corner, waiting for us to learn how to feel it, how to add an intention to our desire. Studying Kabbalah, we naturally acquire this new, spiritual intention and start receiving the way Nature wants us to—perfectly. This is why "Kabbalah" is Hebrew for "reception"—it's the wisdom that teaches us how to receive.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
21 march
Today we again looked at the Jewish Mystic philosophy of Kabbalah. First with a 30 minute film. It told us that since 1995 kabbalah became available for Gentiles to read and learn after a 4000 year hidden practice.
After a tea break we went on to read about practical Kabbalah from a woman's perspective.
I believe we all enjoyed the morning and intend to continue to learn more as there are 20 more films to continue the journey of discovery.
After a tea break we went on to read about practical Kabbalah from a woman's perspective.
I believe we all enjoyed the morning and intend to continue to learn more as there are 20 more films to continue the journey of discovery.
Friday, February 15, 2008
15 February
Down in numbers through an epidemic of colds but the five of us had a good meeting where we first looked at a short film about the Kabalah. According to this we are only aware of the 1% of reality which is physical the 99% is a hidden spiritual realm. Afterwards following a break for tea and biscuits we then read about this philosophy. (an extract below.)
The Freedom Blues
Did you ever wonder why you like going on vacation? What are you looking for in another place that you can't find at home? Kabbalah explains that what we're looking for is actually right in front of us, or rather, right inside of us.
Looking for a Getaway
Freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of information, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to create, freedom fighters, academic freedom, economic freedom, free time… In the 21st century, it appears that almost everyone can make up his own kind of freedom.
But is there such a thing as absolute, unconditional freedom? Not freedom of something, but simply limitless, unbounded freedom in every imaginable sense? Is there such a thing as simply, freedom?
Kabbalah says there is, but it's very different from what we usually imagine. For most of us, freedom means getting away from the daily grind and the troubles of day-to-day life. We want to be liberated from the worries, the pressures, the boss at work and the overdrawn bank account. In short, we'd like a bit of escape from real life so we can catch our breath.
So we work hard all year and save money, so as to finally get a few moments of mercy on a sandy beach.
And between you and me, something always doesn't work out quite the way we wanted. One time it's the hotel, another time it's the flight, and if it's nothing else, then the kids decide that now is the perfect time to get sick... Somehow or other, most vacations don't end up being exactly what we dreamed of.
And even when we get lucky and go on that perfect vacation, every passing moment reminds us that it will all be over soon and before we know it, we'll have to plunge back into "real life."
If you stop and ponder this for a moment, some interesting questions will pop up: Does getting away from the routine really make us freer? What if there were a way to live differently so we would not want to escape our lives in search of freedom? And is there such a thing as an endless, perfect dream vacation?
The Freedom Blues
Did you ever wonder why you like going on vacation? What are you looking for in another place that you can't find at home? Kabbalah explains that what we're looking for is actually right in front of us, or rather, right inside of us.
Looking for a Getaway
Freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of information, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to create, freedom fighters, academic freedom, economic freedom, free time… In the 21st century, it appears that almost everyone can make up his own kind of freedom.
But is there such a thing as absolute, unconditional freedom? Not freedom of something, but simply limitless, unbounded freedom in every imaginable sense? Is there such a thing as simply, freedom?
Kabbalah says there is, but it's very different from what we usually imagine. For most of us, freedom means getting away from the daily grind and the troubles of day-to-day life. We want to be liberated from the worries, the pressures, the boss at work and the overdrawn bank account. In short, we'd like a bit of escape from real life so we can catch our breath.
So we work hard all year and save money, so as to finally get a few moments of mercy on a sandy beach.
And between you and me, something always doesn't work out quite the way we wanted. One time it's the hotel, another time it's the flight, and if it's nothing else, then the kids decide that now is the perfect time to get sick... Somehow or other, most vacations don't end up being exactly what we dreamed of.
And even when we get lucky and go on that perfect vacation, every passing moment reminds us that it will all be over soon and before we know it, we'll have to plunge back into "real life."
If you stop and ponder this for a moment, some interesting questions will pop up: Does getting away from the routine really make us freer? What if there were a way to live differently so we would not want to escape our lives in search of freedom? And is there such a thing as an endless, perfect dream vacation?
Friday, January 18, 2008
18th January
As we had two new members attending our meeting for the first time we summed up the main findings from our last years meetings. Then watched a short film of the enlightened Eckhart Tolle explaining the joy of being in the now. Although we are all in the now as that is all there is most of us are either thinking of the future or the past but Eckhart tells us to regard all events as transient and not to expend our mindfulness on what is not real.
After tea and a biscuit we read and discussed Reality and Consciousness: Turning the Superparadigm Inside Out, Peter Russell, an abridgement of Russell's book, From Science to God.
His main conclusion is that to ask how consciousness arose out of the physical is wrong. This is trying to account for consciousness in terms that are themselves manifestations of consciousness. Space, time, matter, and all the forms and structures we observe in the world, are aspects of the phenomenon arising in the mind; they are aspects of the image of reality appearing in consciousness.
The question we should be asking is the exact opposite. How is that consciousness, which seems so non-material, can take on the material forms that we experience? How do space, time, color, sound, texture, substance, and the many other qualities that we associate with the material world, emerge in consciousness? What is the process of manifestation within the mind?
But this is not a question that science may ever be able to answer. It is more in the domain of the mystic, and others in the more contemplative traditions, who have chosen to explore the nature of consciousness first hand.
After tea and a biscuit we read and discussed Reality and Consciousness: Turning the Superparadigm Inside Out, Peter Russell, an abridgement of Russell's book, From Science to God.
His main conclusion is that to ask how consciousness arose out of the physical is wrong. This is trying to account for consciousness in terms that are themselves manifestations of consciousness. Space, time, matter, and all the forms and structures we observe in the world, are aspects of the phenomenon arising in the mind; they are aspects of the image of reality appearing in consciousness.
The question we should be asking is the exact opposite. How is that consciousness, which seems so non-material, can take on the material forms that we experience? How do space, time, color, sound, texture, substance, and the many other qualities that we associate with the material world, emerge in consciousness? What is the process of manifestation within the mind?
But this is not a question that science may ever be able to answer. It is more in the domain of the mystic, and others in the more contemplative traditions, who have chosen to explore the nature of consciousness first hand.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
21 December
This month we viewed a short film All You Need to Know about Angels, an Interview with Dr. Joy Philippou, President of Body, Mind & Soul International.
We do have an open mind and who is to say it is impossible, living is a miracle so why not another, although not persuaded that Angels exist we accepted that Joy is joyous through having the belief in Angels and a cosmic Christ who acts as a intermediary to God.
Her obvious health intelligence at an age that most of us are getting very tired she sparkles with a glow that is a testament to her faith.
We then went on to look at another person who claims to be enlightened A man, indeed, who was spiritually enlightened twenty years ago. Eckhart Tolle (pronounced Toll-ee) says that while “there are shifts in intensity”, he remains in the same state of “bliss and peace”. He no longer sits on a park bench but lives in a high-rise in Vancouver and teaches others how to attain enlightenment, among them Gillian Anderson of The X Files; Cher, who says he “has changed my life”; and Meg Ryan, who introduced Oprah Winfrey to Tolle’s first book, The Power of Now: A Spiritual Guide to Enlightenment. Last year, Winfrey chose the book for her Favourite Things show, saying she had read it eight times and keeps it on her bedside table. Sales skyrocketed: The Power of Now — with an original print run of 3000 — became No. 1 on Amazon.com and spent 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling more than one million copies in North America. Released in Australia in 2000, it was still on the top 10 list this year, and has been translated into more than two dozen languages.
Not having time to see a film of his we just discussed his philosophy of living in the "now" by letting go of the ego, where the world is enshrined with the light of God. We are not sure that this is the state we ought to live in constantly although it may be needed each day to help centre our being.
I have read A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle and found it very "enlightening." It is in the Totton library
Will look at this subject again.
We do have an open mind and who is to say it is impossible, living is a miracle so why not another, although not persuaded that Angels exist we accepted that Joy is joyous through having the belief in Angels and a cosmic Christ who acts as a intermediary to God.
Her obvious health intelligence at an age that most of us are getting very tired she sparkles with a glow that is a testament to her faith.
We then went on to look at another person who claims to be enlightened A man, indeed, who was spiritually enlightened twenty years ago. Eckhart Tolle (pronounced Toll-ee) says that while “there are shifts in intensity”, he remains in the same state of “bliss and peace”. He no longer sits on a park bench but lives in a high-rise in Vancouver and teaches others how to attain enlightenment, among them Gillian Anderson of The X Files; Cher, who says he “has changed my life”; and Meg Ryan, who introduced Oprah Winfrey to Tolle’s first book, The Power of Now: A Spiritual Guide to Enlightenment. Last year, Winfrey chose the book for her Favourite Things show, saying she had read it eight times and keeps it on her bedside table. Sales skyrocketed: The Power of Now — with an original print run of 3000 — became No. 1 on Amazon.com and spent 20 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling more than one million copies in North America. Released in Australia in 2000, it was still on the top 10 list this year, and has been translated into more than two dozen languages.
Not having time to see a film of his we just discussed his philosophy of living in the "now" by letting go of the ego, where the world is enshrined with the light of God. We are not sure that this is the state we ought to live in constantly although it may be needed each day to help centre our being.
I have read A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle and found it very "enlightening." It is in the Totton library
Will look at this subject again.
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