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Online Guru Puppetji On Non-attachment
November 30, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
I recently came across online spiritual guru puppitji, and he had me in stitches. While clearly done for humor, there is spiritual wisdom too in puppetji’s words. The video I am posting here doesn’t have any swearing,most of them do, just to warn you if you are sensitive to such things. Enjoy!
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Religious Fear Of Yoga
November 28, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
The yoga ban for muslims in Malaysia story continues after Malaysia’s highest Islamic body, the National Fatwa Council, on Saturday banned yoga for Muslims, saying it could erode their faith. The decision triggered uproar from moderate Muslims, and from royal state rulers Malaysia’s sultans, or hereditary rulers,who are considered the guardians of Islam in the country. They are demanding that they consider the issue before it is banned.
Malaysia’s prime minister said Wednesday Muslims should still take up yoga, reversing an outright ban that has drawn widespread protests amid concerns over growing Islamic fundamentalism in the multiracial nation.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Muslims who performed yoga without chanting any mantra can carry on with their activity as it was good for their health. He also said that the "fatwa" or religious edit banning yoga would only be implemented if it received consent from a council of state rulers.
One sane voice came from the eldest son of the ruler of the central Negeri Sembilan state took the government to task over the yoga ruling.
"Islam is a progressive religion and the ulama (scholars) should be confident of the followers’ faith rather than micro-managing their way of life," …"If I go to a church or a Buddhist temple, is there any fear of me converting? … Where do we draw the line?"
Where indeed. I read elsewhere that the Catholic church is also worried about it’s members practising yoga which indicates to me how fear based these religions are throughout their heirachies. The great Indian saint Amma once said " so many people are ready to die for their religion, but so few to live by it’s teachings" . It is clear too how little understanding the different religions have of each other. Isn’t it a no brainer that there are many ways to God regardless of the name given to the Divine. I know there are many in each religion who do see this, but the ‘power’ in theocracy remains distinctly separated from anything but it’s own needs. Sad.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreChakras Pt2 The Dynamic System
November 27, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 4 Comments
If you haven’t yet read part one of this article on the chakras my suggestion is to go and read it first before you continue here.
In this section we are going to focus on the dynamic concept of the chakras which I have been terming western/ new-age in pt1. To clarify again, almost all references that you will come across to opening, balancing, healing, energizing, clearing or meditating on, the chakras, are referring to to the dynamic concept and not the yogic/ Tantric concept outlined in part one. As I said in part one these two concepts are quite different and incompatible as components of a single system. As I also said in part one and I want to emphasize again, most writings and descriptions of the chakras indiscriminately blend components from each of these two different concepts of the chakras. Most of the information is simply a repetition of the same misunderstandings and confusions between the yogic and dynamic concepts.
The point I am really wanting to convey now is that perception and interpretation of the dynamic chakra centers is from a state of relativity. So if we look at two reputable and contemporary exponents of chakra systems, like Barbara Ann Brennan, and Carolyn Myss, for example, we find both similarities and
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreChakras Pt1 East Or West
November 26, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
Despite everything you may have heard or read about chakras, there is no unified theory or explanation of exactly what the chakras are and what they do. Unfortunately much of the information on chakras is simply a repeating of what has been said or written elsewhere and the basis of it is only it’s repetition. Very often components from different theories become mixed together adding to the confusion and misunderstanding.
Perhaps the biggest confusion is between the yogic or Tantric concept of the chakras and western or new age concepts. In the yogic/ Tantric philosophies the chakras are subtle centers of consciousness, but have no energy-status of their own. While in the Western/ new age theories the chakras are seen as energy vortexes connecting each of the subtle bodies and the physical body. From this view the chakras are energy/consciousness transformers, linking the various subtle bodies (the etheric body, the astral body, the mental body, etc) to the physical, by stepping down the frequency of the consciousness-energy of the higher body, so it can be received by the lower one. It was CW Leadbeater of the Theosophists who first proposed these ideas in the early 20th century. Subsequently this idea became mixed with ideas largely derived from Sir John Woodroffe’s The Serpent Power, a very technical work based on a translation of two sixteenth century Bengali texts, first published in 1919 under the psuedonym Arthur Avalon.
The big difference between these two concepts of the chakras is this. In the yogic/ Tantric concept the chakras are latent dimensions of consciousness to be awakened and activated in the process of spiritual evolution. In the Western/new age concepts the chakras are dynamic energy centers and energy portals that have a direct impact on each level of our being from the physical to the spiritual. it is clear then that the two concepts do not exclude each other, and should be viewed and understood separately, to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. For example, many of the books, charts and diagrams of the chakras use the Sanskrit names and descriptions from ancient texts, while at the same time allocating colors, crystals and all manner of attributes and activities, derived from the Western/ new age concepts.
Common among many of the different concepts is the number of the primary chakras being seven. Exactly where they’re located is another matter. But here too we can broadly differentiate between the two primary groups of thought that I am discussing. The main difference between the two is the location of the second and third chakras. In the yogic/ Tantric view the second chakra is located in the lower abdomen at the ‘root of the genitals’ and the third chakra at the navel. From the Western/new-age view the second chakra is at the navel and the third at the solar plexus.
The Sanskrit names are, from top to bottom:
Sahasrara – crown
Ajna – brow
Vishuddha – throat
Anahata – heart
Manipura – navel
Svadhisthana – genitals
Muladhara – base of spine
According to the traditional Tantric teachings, the seven chakras are strung like pearls or jewels along the brilliant thin thread of the sushumna nadi, which is the primary nadi in the body in the center of the spine. On either side of the sushumna are the two main secondary nadis: the white moon-like ida on the left, containing descending vitality (apana), and the red sun-like pingala on the right, containing ascending vitality (prana in the narrow sense of the term). The tantric yogi aims to direct the subtle ‘airs’ from these two primary side channels into the central sushumna nadi, and so activate the dormant Kundalini energy. This then ascends piercing each of the chakras in turn, and when it reaches the top of the head, the six lower charkas are unified as one at the crown.
The Tantric texts describe the chakras as stations or centres of pure consciousness (chaitanya) and consciousness-power. They are focal points of meditation; iconographic structures within the "subtle body". Apart from the Sahasrara, each chakra is described by means of a whole array of symbolic associations or representations. In the later Upanishads more is added, each chakra, as well as having a specific position in the physical body, element, mantra, and deity, also has a particular number of "petals", each associated with one of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, a corresponding colour, shape, animal, plane of existence, sense-organ, mantric sound, and so on.
As is usually the case with intellectual esoteric systems, many of these correspondences are arbitrary, for example, smell and feet with Muladhara, taste and hand with Swadhishthana, sight and anus with Manipura, etc. The number of petals too seems to be more a device for visualisation in meditation than representing the actual reality. After some time of visualising these forms at specific locations in the body, they would naturally form in the subtle bodies.
The now almost universal application of the rainbow colors to the different chakras, was introduced by Christopher Hills in the early 1970s. Hills model of personality types based on the chakras that accompanied the rainbow colors is largely forgotten but the rainbow had an irresistible appeal and became fundamental in future presentations of the chakras and another flavor in the mix.
In part 2 I will look in detail at the Western dynamic concepts of the charkas.
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3 Personality Types
November 25, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 4 Comments
There are many ways and systems of characterizing personality types. Here we will look at three basic types of human personality. The first type governs his or her life and reactions mainly with reason. The second type does so mainly with emotion, and the third does so with the will. A personality is never completely one-sided; every person is a mixture of types, but one is always predominant. In some cases, the predominance is obvious; in others, the mixture is more complicated, and therefore the predominant type is more difficult to detect.
In the ideal personality, each of the three aspects has a rightful place. The harmonious person functions with each aspect in a perfect way, each rising to the fore as appropriate. More often, the three trends are often in imbalance or predominance. For instance, where reason should prevail, emotions do, or vice versa.
Let us begin with the personality governed predominantly by reason. Those who conduct their lives mainly by the reasoning process are apt to neglect the emotions. They can be afraid of emotions, and tend to suppress and control them. Unfortunately those who are afraid of emotion often don’t trust their intuition as they distrust its
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreThe 3 Gunas
November 24, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
In the philosophy of Yoga, all that is manifest in the universe arises from the fundamental unmanifest called Prakriti. Prakriti literally means the original power of action. It does not refer to substance in the physical sense but to the potential from which all forms of matter, energy and mind can arise. Prakriti is the original state of pure potential out of which all things become possible. Prakriti itself is said to be a composite of three prime qualities the 3 gunas sattva, rajas and tamas.
From this ethereal Prakriti the entire manifest universe comes forth. Within all that is manifest are all the three gunas (qualities) creating the essential aspects of all nature—energy, matter and consciousness. The three gunas are: Sattva – the power of harmony, balance, light and intelligence – the higher or spiritual potential; Rajas is the power of energy, action, change and movement – the intermediate or life potential; Tamas is the power of darkness, inertia form and materiality – the lower or material potential.
All three gunas are always present in all beings and objects surrounding us but vary in their relative amounts. The one which predominates will be the predominant tendency of that thing. We humans have the unique ability to consciously alter the levels of the gunas in our bodies and minds. The gunas cannot be separated or removed in oneself, but can be consciously acted upon to encourage their increase or decrease. A guna can be increased or decreased through the interaction and influence of external objects, lifestyle practices and thoughts and this forms the foundation of Yoga philosohpy and science for life.
It is important that we do not attribute value judgement to the gunas and their presence in our life or spiritual practice. Instead through understanding we can come to see where and how they are applicable. All are necessary and of value at different times and applications. If there was perfect equilibrium between the three gunas, there would be no manifestation of the universe. It is only when there are fluctuations or modifications (vikaras or vikritis) among them that there begins to be manifestation. For example if I really need to sleep and want to go to sleep, then my mind is, tamasic, and that is good. But if it is morning time, and the time that I would do sadhana, (spiritual practice) and my predominant state is tamasic, it is likely I will not do my practice, or if I do, get little benefit. In this last instance I need some rajasic energy to overcome the tamasic tendency. If I can get this balance right by the end of my sadhana my state should be sattvic.
The principle of the three gunas operate at all levels. In diet for example, all yogic strictures regarding diet are based on fortifying the sattvic quality. This is to optimize conditions for meditation and a useful spiritual life. The ideal of yogic life is for sattva to become predominant. In a sattvic state we tend to be clear and balanced in thought and deed. The sattvic state though should not be seen as the ultimate objective. It is from this state that we can most effectively undertake spiritual practice, the process of which leads to diminishing influence of any of the gunas, until we are free of all influence from the subconscious and rest once more in Purusha (true nature)
To increase sattva reduce both rajas and tamas, eat sattvic foods and enjoy activities and environments that produce joy and positive states. All of the yogic practices were developed to create sattva in the mind and body. Thus, practicing yoga and leading a yogic lifestyle strongly cultivates sattva. To reduce rajas avoid rajasic foods, over exercising, over work, loud music, excessive thinking and consuming excessive material goods. To reduce tamas avoid tamasic foods, over sleeping, over eating, inactivity, passivity and fearful situations.
Sattvic Food
This is the purest diet, the most suitable one for any serious student of yoga. It nourishes the body and maintains it in a peaceful state. And it calms and purifies the mind, enabling it to function at its maximum potential. A sattvic diet thus leads to true health: a peaceful mind in control of a fit body, with a balanced flow of energy between them. Sattvic foods include cereals, wholemeal bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, pure fruit juices, milk, butter and cheese, legumes, nuts, seeds, sprouted seeds, honey, and herb teas. Sattvis food is also ideally self prepared.
Rajasic Food
Foods that are very hot, bitter, sour, dry, or salty are rajasic. They destroy the mind-body equilibrium, feeding the body at the expense of the mind. Too much rajasic food will overstimulate the body and excite the passions, making the mind restless and uncontrollable. Rajasic foods include hot substances, such as sharp spices or strong herbs, stimulants, like coffee and tea, fish, eggs, salt and chocolate. Eating in a hurry is also considered rajasic.
Tamasic Food
A tamasic diet benefits neither the mind nor the body. Prana, or energy, is withdrawn, powers of reasoning become clouded and a sense of inertia sets in. The body’s resistance to disease is destroyed and the mind filled with darker emotions, such as anger and greed. Tamasic items include meat, alcohol, tobacco, onions, garlic, fermented foods, such as vinegar, and stale or overripe substances or those chemically treated, processed or refined. Overeating is also regarded as tamasic.
You can find Krishnas teaching Arjuna on the three gunas at the end of Chapter XIV of the Bhagavad Gita
Entitled "unatrayavibhaga-Yoga," or "The Yoga of the Distinction of the Three Gunas".
Yoga Ban For Malaysian Muslims
November 22, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council today issued a religious edict banning Muslims from practicing yoga, saying it involves hindu spiritual practices such as chanting that are prohibited in the religion.
"Yoga is forbidden for Muslims. The practice will erode their faith in the religion," Abdul Shukor Husin, chairman of the government-backed National Fatwa Council, told reporters noting that clerics in Egypt also issued a similar edict in 2004 that called the practice of yoga "an aberration.".
"We advice Muslims not to practice yoga. It does not conform with Islam," he said in response to a call to ban Muslims from doing yoga.
Decisions by the Fatwa Council in Malaysia are not legally binding on Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of the country’s 27 million people, unless they are enshrined in national or Shariah laws.
However, many Muslims abide by the edicts out of deference, and the council does have the authority to ostracize an offending Muslim from society.
Personally I cannot help thinking how much organized religion is about limiting and controlling people, it doesn’t really seem to have much to do with God by whatever name you term the Divine.
Sivananda Yoga
November 21, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Sivananda yoga was so named by Swami Vishnu-devananda after his master Swami Sivananda who in 1957 sent him to the west to teach, with the words "People are waiting" . Today there are more than 20 Yoga centers and 7 Ashrams + many Affiliated centers and teachers throughout the world. Swami Vishnu-devananda created the first Yoga Teachers Training Course outside India, which to date has trained more than 10,000 certified teachers in the field of Yoga and spirituality.
When most people talk about Sivananda Yoga they are referring to the typical yoga class involving rounds of sun salutation, 12 specific postures, two breathing exercises, and a deep final relaxation. The 12-posture sequence is also called the Rishikesh series as it originates in the region of that little town in the foothills of the Himalayas where Sivanada lived.
Traditionally, Sivananda Yoga classes last ninety minutes. Emphasis is placed on Savasana, the Corpse Pose, and this is how a class begins. Breathing techniques, such as Kapalabhati are implemented using the Lotus posture and are accompanied with rounds of the Sun Salutation – Surya Namaskar. Twelve yoga postures, called asana, are generally used and include:
Headstand- shirshasana
Shoulderstand- sarvangasana
Plough- halasana
Fish- matsyasana
Seated Forward Bend- paschimottanasana – followed by inclined plane
Cobra- bhujangasana
Locust- shalabhasana
Bow- dhanurasana
Spinal Twist – ardha-matsyendrasana
Crow Pose – kakasana or Peacock Pose- mayurasana
Standing Forward Bend- padahastasana
Triangle- trikonasana
Yoga relaxation commences and ends the class in Savasana, or Corpse Pose.
• Characteristics of Sivananda yoga also include:
• Mantra/prayers at beginning and end of yoga classes
• Longer holding of postures
• Pranayamas at the beginning or end of class
• An overall awareness and focus on breathing and the pranic dimensions of the practice
The practice of Sivananda Yoga is intended to tone and strengthen all of the muscle groups of the body. The objective of the class is to instruct students in the correct practice of yoga asanas, enabling the student to deepen his daily practice.
The philosophy of Sivanada Yoga is summarized in the following 5 principles:
• Proper breathing: Pranayama
• Exercise: Asanas
• Relaxation: Savasana
• Diet: Vegetarian. A yogic diet is encouraged, which is limited to sattvic foods and devoid of rajasic foods as well as tamasic foods
• Positive thinking and meditation: Vedanta and Dhyana
For those who are looking for a gentler pased class, Sivanda yoga may be a good place to look. Because the Sivananda yoga teacher training course is relatively short at 4 weeks, I would also suggest finding out how experienced the teacher is.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreByron Katie & The Work
November 20, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
If you aren’t familiar with Byron Katie and ‘The Work’ I am very happy to introduce both to you now. The video gives a little glimpse of who this wonderful woman is and what she is about.
The work is outlined below, it is a simple method of self inquiry, of questioning the nature of a thought or belief. It elegantly leads to to the insight that a thought is only true when you believe it is, and when we question it freedom becomes available. Why not give it a try?
1
Judge Your Neighbor
For thousands of years we’ve been told not to judge, but we still do it all the time—how our friends should act, whom our children should care about, what our parents should feel, do, or say. In The Work, rather than suppress these judgments, we use them as starting points for self-realization. By letting the judging mind have its life on paper, we discover through the mirror of those around us what we haven’t yet realized about ourselves.
Download a full worksheet for this part here.
2
The Four Questions
Investigate each of your statements from the Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet using the four questions and the turnaround below. The Work is meditation. It’s about awareness, not about trying to change your thoughts. Ask the questions, then take your time, go inside, and wait for the deeper answers to surface. Download the blue sheet for use as a facilitation guide.
In its most basic form, The Work consists of four questions and a turnaround. For example, the first thought that you might question on the above Worksheet is "Paul doesn’t listen to me." Find someone in your life about whom you have had that thought, and let’s do The Work. "[Name] doesn’t listen to me":
Is it true?
Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
Who would you be without the thought?
Then turn it around (the concept you are questioning), and don’t forget to find three genuine examples of each turnaround.
3
Turn it Around
After you’ve investigated your statement with the four questions, you’re ready to turn it around (the concept you are questioning).
Each turnaround is an opportunity to experience the opposite of your original statement and see what you and the person you’ve judged have in common.
A statement can be turned around to the opposite, to the other, and to the self (and sometimes to "my thinking," wherever that applies). Find a minimum of three genuine examples in your life where each turnaround is true.
For example, "Paul doesn’t understand me" can be turned around to "Paul does understand me." Another turnaround is "I don’t understand Paul." A third is "I don’t understand myself."
Be creative with the turnarounds. They are revelations, showing you previously unseen aspects of yourself reflected back through others. Once you’ve found a turnaround, go inside and let yourself feel it. Find a minimum of three genuine examples where the turnaround is true in your life.
As I began living my turnarounds, I noticed that I was everything I called you. You were merely my projection. Now, instead of trying to change the world around me (this didn’t work, but only for 43 years), I can put the thoughts on paper, investigate them, turn them around, and find that I am the very thing I thought you were. In the moment I see you as selfish, I am selfish (deciding how you should be). In the moment I see you as unkind, I am unkind. If I believe you should stop waging war, I am waging war on you in my mind.
The turnarounds are your prescription for happiness. Live the medicine you have been prescribing for others. The world is waiting for just one person to live it. You’re the one.
Examples of Turnarounds
Here are a few more examples of turnarounds:
"He should understand me" turns around to:
– He shouldn’t understand me. (This is reality.)
– I should understand him.
– I should understand myself.
"I need him to be kind to me" turns around to:
– I don’t need him to be kind to me.
– I need me to be kind to him. (Can I live it?)
– I need me to be kind to myself.
"He is unloving to me" turns around to:
– He is loving to me. (To the best of his ability)
– I am unloving to him. (Can I find it?)
– I am unloving to me (When I don’t inquire.)
"Paul shouldn’t shout at me" turns around to:
– Paul should shout at me. (Obviously: In reality, he does sometimes. Am I listening?)
– I shouldn’t shout at Paul.
– I shouldn’t shout at me.
(In my head, am I playing over and over again Paul’s shouting? Who’s more merciful, Paul who shouted once, or me who replayed it a 100 times?)
Embracing Reality
After you have turned around the judgments in your answers to numbers 1 through 5 on the Worksheet (asking if they are as true or truer), turn number 6 around using "I am willing …" and "I look forward to …"
For example, "I don’t ever want to experience an argument with Paul" turns around to "I am willing to experience an argument with Paul" and "I look forward to experiencing an argument with Paul." Why would you look forward to it?
Number 6 is about fully embracing all of mind and life without fear, and being open to reality. If you experience an argument with Paul again, good. If it hurts, you can put your thoughts on paper and investigate them. Uncomfortable feelings are merely the reminders that we’ve attached to something that may not be true for us. They let us know that it’s time to do The Work.
Until you can see the enemy as a friend, your Work is not done. This doesn’t mean you must invite him to dinner. Friendship is an internal experience. You may never see him again, you may even divorce him, but as you think about him are you feeling stress or peace?
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Yoga Medical Study For Back-pain
November 19, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Yoga has long been considered beneficial to the body, but could it be a cure for lower-back pain?
More than 300 people in five centres across England have been recruited for the York University for a large trial to test how lower-back pain responds to a 12-week course of yoga therapy. Each participant will be monitored for a year afterwards.
David Torgerson, director of the University of York clinical trials unit, said there had been several smaller trials in the US into the effect of yoga on lower-back pain, but that because they were so small it had been unclear if any benefits were down to the therapies or a particular teacher. He said their Arthritis Research Campaign-backed project would assess moves from the two most popular types of yoga, lyengar yoga and Hatha yoga.
The yoga classes will be carefully structured for people who are complete novices and will not involve any difficult poses. They will start off gently but become more demanding over the 12-week period, with a combination of stretches, bends, lying, sitting, standing and relaxing poses. Patients will also be encouraged to practise daily at home."We hope that at the end of it we might have a potential treatment for back pain," he said.
One participant, himself a yoga teacher and the professor in foetal and maternal health at Manchester University has signed up. Twelve years ago John Aplin broke his back in a walking accident in which he broke several bones, including three vertebrae in his back and ribs, when he fell 30 feet off a crag.
Because of fears that he might never walk again and he was kept immobile in hospital for six weeks to allow his bones to slowly recover. Once he was able he began to "very gingerly to practise yoga again". A teacher of Iyengar yoga he was fortunate to get advice directly from the Iyengar family in India, who asked for pictures of his injuries. From looking at these pictures they recommended a specific program for him, Mr Aplin followed this program to a full recovery returning to teaching yoga within six months.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
