Mortal prowess

  • Providing Emotional Support To Your Loved Ones

    What do we do when friends and loved ones come to us for, and expect emotional support from us? Spirituality teaches us the right technique of providing emotional support – the technique of detached involvement, which is the technique of not being overawed, of not being affected ourselves by the emotions of others. If a friend, colleague or any loved one is upset and we also get upset (because we love them – that’s what we normally say), we cannot provide them the necessary support or the assistance to see why they are reacting emotionally and how they might change the nature of their emotions by themselves. True love for someone would mean that I am able to provide them that. While being concerned is fine, but by becoming upset, seeing them upset simply aggravates the situation and adds fuel to their fire.

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  • The Power To Transform Emotions

    As with feelings, when emotions are aroused, there are physical changes inside the body in the form of chemical and electrical activity. In fact, strong emotions don’t just affect the body; they also have an impact on the soul. When the soul suffers emotional trauma, from which there is lasting impact, the emotional trauma brings about an immense strain on the brain and body. Brain chemical production is likely to be affected, and there may also be feelings of depression and tiredness. But the real trauma at the root of these physical effects is at a deeper level within the soul itself, and the resulting emotional sensitivity will also arise from the soul.

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  • Meditating With Open Eyes

    It is advised to practice meditation with eyes open. When we sit to meditate, if we close our eyes, what we do is that we send a signal to our mind, intellect and our physical body that sleep is close and that signal, in turn, induces sleep. That is the last thing we want to induce inside ourselves, while meditating. Meditation is a way to wake up and stay awake, not only physically, but in terms of being conscious and alert about what is happening internally and externally. It is therefore good to practice with eyes open, so that during your meditation, you can become used to going beyond the physical inputs of what you see, hear, feel and smell and at the same time, remain exposed to these inputs.

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  • Effects Of Anger On The Human Body

    In numerous studies, anger has been found to have a completely negative effect on our physical well-being. In one such study, reported at a recent conference on forgiveness and peace in the US, it was demonstrated that letting go of negative feelings that we have for someone due to his/her negative actions relieved and reduced chronic back pain.

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Can Love And Freedom Co-Exist (Exist Together)?

Is it possible to love others and be free at the same time? Yes. To reach this state in relationships great wisdom is required. In different types of close relationships, most people love the other, but tie one another down. Thus they lose their freedom. When freedom is lost, happiness goes away, and true wellbeing gives way to unhappiness. Often we look above all for love, love we believe will change our life. We see it as the recognition of our inner value by another person. However, we trip over ourselves in looking for this love. Necessity is what motivates us and we try to satisfy it with an object or person who matches up to perfection.

We have an immense emotional need for love, and the fear of remaining in a state of unsatisfied wanting. In our search to fill our need, we are prepared to deceive ourselves. Many people allow the love of another person to define their personality to such a point that, if they are rejected, they lose any sense of who they are and of the purpose they have in life. Often the relationship is colored by one or both people in the relationship, by fear.

To free ourselves of the tendency to depend, we should have a strong heart, without any selfish desires; a heart that has nothing to hide and that, as a result, is free and without fear; a heart that does not hold on to closed beliefs, to old negative experiences; a heart that has good feelings and is free of bitterness; a heart filled with the true values of peace, love, freedom and solidarity . which as a result is stronger and fuller.

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The Two Dimensions Of Being A Detached Observer

There are two dimensions of being a detached observer - the inner dimension and the outer one.

Let us look at the inner dimension of detached observation. It is the ability or the technique to stand back from or observe in a detached way our own thoughts, feelings, emotions, attitudes and behavior. We are creators and our thoughts, feelings, emotions and attitudes are our creation. In fact, this is the first step to becoming a ruler of the self and making the self powerful. If we fail to detach from our thoughts and emotions then they will be our masters, they will go out of control and will, as a result, leak away or waste our energy. Practice simply being the witness of whatever you are thinking and feeling. This is an important aspect of any good spiritual practice and after a while you will find it an experience that both, frees you and empowers you.

The external dimension of detached observation is the technique of being a witness to or an observer of the scenes, of the world around us. As we stand back and watch the scenes of life being played, on the world stage around us, without being actively involved, we can see the 'big picture' more clearly. This makes it easier to judge clearly what is the most suitable contribution that we can make and the most suitable role we can play - through our thoughts, words and actions.

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Is Physical Relaxation The Road To Peace?

It.s a common notion (idea) to think of peace as being closely related to the beauty of nature - the play of waves on a beach, the blowing of wind through a forest, the soaring and swooping of gulls; in short, anything away from the rush and hurry of the city. Alternatively we associate peace with some physical form of relaxation like headphones plugged into soothing music, a hot bath after a hard day, a brisk walk in the park, etc. In meditation we realize peace to be our very essence (nature); we realize very quickly, trying to extract peace from the world around us or even from some physical sensations in our own bodies gives us only a temporary experience of it.

Once we start meditating, we start to see physical relaxation as an escape from tension and not a solution for it; and the beautiful scenes of nature now no longer as sources radiating permanent peace. But in fact it is their mere absence of conflict, their harmony of colours, forms and sounds, which appeal to us. There is something in each of us, which cries out to be free from conflict. We discover that "small voice" or need is only our true nature demanding to be recognized. We realize that neither the body nor nature can give the peace that the soul was longing for, but it has to be tapped from within. Having found it, it remains constant, whether in the city or countryside, in comfort or discomfort. In the midst of noise and confusion, peace is really our own.

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What Is Consciousness?

The soul is conscient energy, aware of its own existence. Consciousness can be described as the feeling "I am" or "I exist". If you examine any thought-decision-action process, you will find that behind it, there is always the feeling: "I am something or the other". Consciousness is thus the springboard for thought, decisions and actions. In other words, the soul reacts to external circumstances according to how it regards itself at that particular moment.

e.g. a doctor is able to perform an operation when there is the consciousness of being a doctor. That very consciousness unlocks or gives the soul access to all the information and experience related to being a doctor. The soul when it has the consciousness of being a soul is able to have instant access to its own original qualities. As we have discussed, there are two different basic levels of consciousness; "I am a body" or .I am a soul," the former, illusory (false) and the latter, real. When the feeling is "I am a body," the thought process is trapped in the limitations, problems and vision of the physical identity. Its reaction to others is on the same level.

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Relationships

A prison in Miami, USA had the highest levels of conflict, drug abuse and break-out rates amongst all prisons in the US. In came a new governor, who sent all the managers and staff of the prison on a three-day, customer service training course. When they returned he told them, "Now go back in there and treat the prisoners as if they were your customers." Two years later the prison had the lowest levels of conflict, drug abuse and break-out rates in the US. Reason? One word. Respect. Instead of seeing the prisoners as low life trash (waste), they saw them as human beings with their original but suppressed dignity, and therefore worthy of their respect. It transformed (changed) the culture of the institution.

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Realizing The Law Of Karma

Many times one meets someone with the feeling of either attraction or repulsion and the thought "Where have I seen this person before?" What happens is that the soul recognizes the other soul, even though their bodies are different from the last time they met (in a previous birth). Someone may be a source of comfort or inspiration, while another for no apparent cause, causes a feeling of resentment, "Why does he treat me like this, I have never done anything to him?"

There are some, who even at a young age achieve extraordinary excellence in some branch of knowledge, art or music, while others in spite of their best efforts achieve nothing. Identical twins may be born to the same parents and have the same environment, food and education, but all their lives, their nature and "fortunes" will be completely different. All these examples can only be explained by the law of cause and effect (law of karma) over a series of births.

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