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Yoga As Art
December 31, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Wishing Everyone A Happy Healthy and Enlightening New Year
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TM Improves ADHD
December 30, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 1 Comment
Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) has been found to be an effective, safe and drug free aid for remedying ADHD. These are the findings of an exciting new study. The study was published in the peer-reviewed online journal ‘Current Issues in Education’.
This initial pilot study tracked a group of middle school children with ADHD. These students meditated twice a day in school for ten to twenty minutes at a time morning and afternoon. Parents were also encouraged to have students continue regular meditation at home on weekends and holidays. Home compliance was not rigorously monitored.
The researchers saw more than a 50 percent reduction in
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreYoga For Hormonal Balance
December 29, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 5 Comments
WHILE A great number of women in our society develop various hormonal imbalances, many are confused about what it takes to achieve hormonal health. Our hormones are the messengers of our body, they tell our physiological systems what to do and when, they direct our emotions, they sustain us mentally, they tell us when to rest and they can even sustain our transcendental nature. Many people are under the impression that the aging process naturally creates “problems” in the endocrine system. However, endocrinologist Michael Borkin says that women’s hormonal problems are often formed, but remain unseen, during the adolescent years. So, by the time we reach pre-menopause and menopause, it is actually the cumulative physiological and psychological effects of stress over time, that disrupts hormonal balance. So what do we do with this information?
Adyshanti – Beyond Ego
December 27, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
After Christmas dinner with friends the conversation turned to spiritual matters. Sadly from my perspective it got stuck in ‘talk’.In my experience it is very difficult when there are more than 2 people to not get caught up in projecting or defending the egoic mind self. One on one I have had some profoundly deep conversations with spiritual friends, sharing insights and understanding of our process. Something clicks in these moments and no one is trying to prove anything.
What has this to do with Adyshanti, well, lucky guy that I am my wife gave me a place on a retreat with Adyashanti in March. I am so grateful and happy. Meditation is much more of a luxury now living a family life and 5 days meditating with Adya, well that’s pretty exciting to me. So here he is talking about the egoic mind, see, it’s all tying together now. Enjoy.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
The Best Time To Meditate
December 24, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 5 Comments
The best time to meditate is usually said to be first thing in the morning. First thing in the morning being the hour before dawn. For those of us who don’t live in a monastery it’s a pretty big ask. that those of us who don’t live in a monastery and have young children it’s just not going to happen.
The reason that this hour is specified as the best time to meditate is probably not applicable to most of us. The reasoning is, because most people are soundly asleep at this time the psychic space of the collective consciousness is not busy with their thoughts. At least in your immediate environment.
But are any of us really so sensitive that we would really notice the difference? I think not. We also have to remember that these directions on spiritual practice were written down a very long time ago. Before the advent of electricity most people’s daily rhythms were much more attuned to nature. Meaning they tended to get up with the sun and go to bed not long after it went down.
Considering then these things, and the many diverse demands on our time, let’s reconsider pre dawn as the best time to meditate.
Personally I don’t think it really matters, but there are different factors to take into consideration.
For Those who are new to meditation what is important is consistency. This means that the time of day you meditate should be a time in the day when you consistently can meditate. And then do, of course.
Those who practice yoga asana, an ideal time to meditate would be immediately after finishing your practice. There are those that believe that yoga asana practice is primarily a preparation and meditation. Whether this is true or not, it definitely is good preparation. For one thing yoga asana practice opens the body and allows a freer flow of prana or energy. It has subsequently softens and opens our consciousness. By this I mean that we become more present in awareness, and less caught up in the chatter of the mind. Yoga asana, when done correctly directs our awareness into the body, into a more direct and kinesthetic experience of ourselves. As such, yoga asana is in itself a form of meditation.
Another factor to consider in the best time of day to meditate, is the type of meditation to be practiced. If the practice involves a dynamic activation of your energy system it’s really not a good idea to do it at night. This type of meditation would include things like, chakra meditations, and any form of meditation when you are bringing energy into your body, or circulating energy within your body. These type of meditation it is a definitely more appropriate to do in the morning.
In conclusion I feel the most important factor in deciding the best time of day to practice meditation, is when is the time it works best? If during your meditation practice you are not really yet awake enough, or conversely are already too tired, it’s not the best time to be meditating. Equally if your time feels pressure and you are trying to squeeze meditation in, it’s unlikely to be very satisfactory.
The most important thing about your meditation practice is that you enjoy doing it, even when it’s challenging. So the best time to practice it is a factor in the equation creating consistency and ease, and limiting resistance, to sitting down and meditating.
From a completely different point of view, the best time to practice meditation is when you are upset. Once your practice is deep enough that you can be present with yourself when there is internal turmoil of one kind or another, you know that you are really making progress. There is too tremendous benefit to be gained from being able to practice meditation at such times.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out moreProfound Children’s Books
December 23, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Doing our best to practice conscious parenting means being vigilant about what information and influences our children come in contact with. The kind of books we read them, and in time they read for themselves, is an important part of this. The mainstream marketing children’s Disney stories and their ilk, lack for me a deeper appreciation of life and humanity that I hope to instill in my child. It was a great pleasure then when we first discovered the books of Jon J Muth.
His books are always my favorites to read. There are two parts to a children’s book that are really crucial, the first is the illustration and the other is obviously the story. As an illustrator Jon J Muth is very talented, his pictures have a warmth and intimacy that I have found in few other book. The stories themselves carry profound human and spiritual teachings in a simple and unpretentious way.
I think the child in me loves the idea of a giant panda zen master friend like Stillwater living in my neighbourhood and being a mentor/friend. Of course my little boy doesn’t get the joke in Zen Ties, when Stillwater greets his young nephew Ku from a train, "hi Ku". Ku of course speaks in three metrical phrases of 5, 7, and 5 – a haiku.
Another favorite is The Three Questions, a young boy Nikolai in his pursuit of the questions "When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do?". It was in this book that I first met the character ‘Old Turtle’, a mythic representation of the deepest wisdom.
Probably my favorite of all is ‘Old Turtle and the Broken Truth’, authored by Douglas Wood
I know that at the conscious level my 3 1/2-year-old boy probably doesn’t understand the depth and wisdom of these books. Until around age 8 children’s subconscious minds are wide open. So I know that on some level the repetition of reading these stories over the years, they are truths and values will be absorbed.
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
Time To Think About Jesus
December 22, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
Jesus, the story of his life teaching, seem far removed from the jingle bells tinged commercializing of this holiday season. It’s interesting for me then to be reading at the moment Deepak Chopra’s ‘The Third Jesus’.
It makes very stimulating and thought-provoking reading. In the book Chopra looks at the life and teachings of Jesus through the lens of his own spiritual awareness. This view is stripped of all religious iconification. One of the things of this does is made clear exactly how far away from Jesus’s teachings the Church of his name so often is.
More importantly is the attention on the spiritual dimension of the teachings themselves, and the challenges we face in attempting to live them. A great example of this is a recuring point that Chopra returns to from many different angles. Rather than the church’s perpetuation of heaven as somewhere removed from the earth awaiting those who were were righteous, Chopra points over and over again to Jesus saying that heaven was within us. All of us.
Chopra references many different versions of the Bible, and other Scriptures which were left out in the Bibles construction over the years. To those with an open-minded interest this is both a valuable
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more10 Tips To Help You And Your Body Recover From Pregnancy
December 20, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 1 Comment
Yoga in pre and post pregnancy is of enormous benefit to the mother, as my wife will testify. A new writer will be joining us in the new year who specializes in this area. So to set that ball in motion I want to share with you a post I just found 10 Tips to help you and your body recover from Pregnancy and the Holidays
Women still do not get the respect and admiration they deserve as mothers in our culture. Being with my wife as she gave birth to our son is something I will never forget, and will always admire her for. I am very happy that Jade will be sharing her experience and expertise here at lifedivine, which includes but is not limited to yoga.
Science V Religion
December 19, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
One of the perennial questions is the relationship between spirituality and religion. I’d like to look more deeply at this issue in the future and for today to offer a very interesting video. It isn’t really looking at spirituality and religion, but religion and science, which is today the third force that merits a inclusion in this discussion.
The talk is by Philosopher Dan Dennett who in it calls for religion – all religion – to be taught in schools, so we can understand their nature as a natural phenomenon. Then he takes on The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren, disputing its claim that, to be moral, one must deny evolution. Dennett argues that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes and are not what we traditionally think they are. His 2003 book Freedom Evolves explores the way our brains have evolved to give us – and only us – the kind of freedom that matters, while 2006’s Breaking the Spell examines religious belief through the lens of biology.
I have to say, somewhat prefacing future writing on the subject that I do agree with the idea of teaching all children about the religions of the world. I’m not sure about limiting the teaching to the ‘facts’ about them as in the talk Dennet doesn’t defined exactly how these would be defined. When we look at the world today and then turn our gaze back through history, it is appalling how much blood has been spilled and horrors inflicted in conflicts between religions. Understanding others religion would I believe go a long way to prevent the demonizing that makes this possible.
I hope you enjoy the talk, let me know what you think.
Are There Any Enlightened Yogis?
December 18, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
A thought that keeps occuring to me, well it’s a question I guess. We all know about Iyengar, Pattabi Jois, Desikachar and so on in the current world of yoga and clearly non of them are enlightened. We also know something about Krishnamacharya and a few of past generations. We know that yoga is a spiritual science whose ultimate aim is union of divine consciousness in the human form.
So where are the examples of someone who has through yoga, and I’m leaning heavily on contemporary ideas of yoga with a major emphasis on asana, where are the examples of those who realized the ultimate Union? I can’t think of any.
Maybe they are the kind of yogis who stay in their caves in the Himalayas and don’t make the journey to LA and international recognition. I wonder what they would think of the western yoga boom. In these times when I doubt there is a rock in India that hasn’t been looked under for such yogis, I wonder if there actually are any anymore?
“Living Liberation - Meditation Training, and so much more" "It changed my life"Find out more
