Happy New Year!
Upanishads as phrased by Francis Lucille
What is the purpose of our existence? Happiness.
We are born out of happiness and we are an expression of happiness. We are also an instrument that is very well designed to find happiness.
We are an instrument of celebration.
CONCEIT:
She speaks about conceit where there are several meanings to the word and one meaning is it is an idea , a conception. Nowadays we tend to think of conceit as a kind of Pride…. somebody praises you and if you’re conceited, thinking we’re better than other people. It can mean thinking we’re worse than other people because that’s a kind of conceit also. Most of us compare ourselves with other people a lot of the time – it’s a part of the critical mind to which we are all prone: seeing fault in other people or seeing thoughts in ourselves as well kind of conceit in a sense comparing making endless comparisons between ourselves and others. If we didn’t make comparisons there’d be no judgment no ground for criticism. All this comparison is not the reality, it’s just an idea we have so that’s related to conceit in the oldest sense, a conceit of something that really isn’t true. The Buddha said: thinking I’m better than somebody else is deluded thinking, I’m worse than somebody else is equally deluded and even thinking I’m equal to somebody else is deluded. And we all do this we all compare ourselves with others it’s a habit of mind that we might often not even be aware of. It’s just so endemic somehow if we tend to think generally that we’re better than other people we tend to look down on them and we don’t really respect them. You might be dismissive or rude, you might prejudge somebody based on our own biases or maybe we just don’t like that person so we tend to think they’re less good than we are in some way or we think they’re not as smart or as wise or competent or whatever as we are. We might not even be aware that we’re thinking we’re Superior to other people. It’s just a habit of mind we are caught into and we don’t even see it because we’re used to it or we think it’s true: “well yes I really am better than other people! What’s the problem? I’m seeing clearly.” Or you might think: oh no I’m not like that I think everybody’s equal I don’t think I’m better than other people I respect everybody but if we look more closely we might see those little seeds of conceit little waves that we think we’re better than somebody else because we all have them. We might have a little bit of conceit but praise is always in relation to unpraise! …it’s a proud vs inadequacy thing as Rev. Master Jiyu used to say: the two sides of one coin. We we try to prop ourselves up if we’re feeling badly about something. We look for thoughts on another person to make us feel better sometimes…thinking I’m anything if deluded. it’s separating ourselves off from other people: there’s me over here and then others over there. And this is the false conceit that the Buddha talks about: the false view of oneself that we think is real. …Our body is impermanent, painful and subject to changes. it will age it’ll change and eventually it’ll die and it’s just a body we’ve been given. There’s no cause for pride in it at all. The illusion of being a me, a self with its attributes a strong body or a weak mind-all those attributes that we might attribute to ourselves. In fact they all change they all come and go, Nothing lasts forever. Our minds change constantly – thoughts-they’re not our own. Whoever we think we are, we’re responsible for what we do with them. We can actually keep letting go over and over and over.
1. During meditation exercises, emphasize acceptance of experiences.
“Mind will frequently wander, this is completely normal and to be expected”
“There is nothing to change, no particular state to be achieved”
“Allowing your experience to be how it is, right now”
“Welcoming all of your experiences like a friend”
2. Mindfulness of breathing
Awareness on quality of breathing (fast/slow, deep/shallow)
Abdominal breathing (inflating/deflating like a balloon)
3. Practicing full body awareness of tension/discomfort
Breathing “into” tension and letting go on exhale
What if what you’re doing with these thoughts, memories, and feelings is like fighting with a ball in a pool? You don’t like these things. You don’t want them, and you want them out of your life. So you try to push the ball under the water and out of your consciousness.However, the ball keeps popping back up to the surface, so you have to keep pushing it down or holding it under the water. Struggling with the ball in this way keeps it close to you, and it’s tiring and futile. If you were to let go of the ball, it would pop up and float on the surface near you, and you probably wouldn’t like it. But if you let it float there for a while without grabbing it, it could eventually drift away to the other side of the pool. And even if it didn’t, at least you’d be able to use your arms and enjoy your swim, rather than spending your time fighting.
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
The Guest House
By Jalaluddin Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks
Every day is a new day. This day will never come again. So how can we live fully, completely, and totally in harmony with this moment, with this day? Dinacharya is a ancient vedic art of unfolding the inner balance of the body, mind and consciousness and inner balance of
Dr. Vasant Lad
observer, observation and the thing to be observed.
Every day is a new day. This day will never come again. So how can we live fully, completely, and totally in harmony with this moment, with this day? Dinacharya is a ancient vedic art of unfolding the inner balance of the body, mind and consciousness and inner balance of
Dr. Vasant Lad
observer, observation and the thing to be observed.
One of the very first things that you are taught as a student of Ayurveda is dinacharya —or a daily routine. It’s an integral component to maintaining stability within your life, while also helping you to live according to the rhythms of nature. A strong routine can help your body stay healthy and work at its fullest potential.
There are so many articles nowadays talking about the importance of morning and evening routines, and how both of these help to create successful and productive days. It’s easy to view this from a very mechanical and goal-oriented perspective—the more efficiently we can accomplish our day-to-day tasks, the more we can tackle and achieve in life. But we never think about how this ambitious mentality actually affects our beings as a whole.
When we create consistent daily routines, with overall well-being as our goal, this supports our bodies in truly being great instruments to carry us through life—not just for the sake of the to-do lists that are constantly floating through our brains, but to serve our deepest dharma, dreams, and desires.
Strong routines allow our body to know exactly what’s going to happen and when. This consistent rhythm creates an inner resilience and stability that supports us in being better able to manage stress or whatever unexpected situations life may throw at us.
Even when you know the benefits of a daily routine and feel ready to dive in, it can be hard to decide exactly what your routine should consist of. Ayurveda has a beautiful list of simple daily rituals to start with—things like brushing your teeth, oil pulling, tongue cleaning, and showering.
One thing I always try to emphasize with my clients and friends is to find the things that work for you. Is it important to brush your teeth and shower every day? Yes, you absolutely should! Good hygiene is necessary for a healthy body. But you will only feel compelled to stick to a daily routine if it’s something that calls to you, something that you believe is worth maintaining, and that you feel drawn to do because you can really feel the benefits it offers to your body and mind.
Here are a few tricks to help you get started and actually stick to a routine, even when life feels crazy.
What do you imagine when you picture the best version of yourself? Your daily routine should help you to get there. Spend some time asking yourself, “What kind of person do I want to be? Where can I improve? What is most important to me?” It’s not about criticizing yourself or wallowing in the things that you haven’t yet accomplished, but rather about connecting to your own unique purpose.
For me, having a consistent daily routine boosts my ability to handle stress, increases my ability to ebb and flow with life, and simply makes me HAPPIER! It is a way to keep the bigger picture in mind even when I am surrounded by chaos. We all know that life is crazy, and busy, and wild. But you don’t have to be. Embrace your routine!
www,banyanbotanicals.com
Whole is happening as a Whole.
Upanishads
The mind is only one but due to its association with many sense organs, it appears as many.
Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana, Foundational text of AYURVEDA Medicine
Oneness and minuteness are the qualities of mind.
The mind is the only sense organ that has the capacity to see itself. The ears cannot hear themselves. The eyes cannot see themselves, unless there is a mirror. The tongue cannot taste itself. Nevertheless, the mind can see itself. It has double-arrowed attention. The mind can look outside and, at the same time, it can look inside. In the kingdom of the senses, the mind is king. Mind has the capacity to choose and is a powerful instrument of experience. Right from this moment, bring discipline and watch the mind. Watching the mind means looking at your thoughts as they are, looking at your feelings and emotions as they are, without identifying them as “this is my fear, this is my thought.” Without identification, justification, evaluation and notification, you can see a clear-cut gap between two thoughts, a space between two memories, a distance between two emotions. In that space, there is a door. Enter into that door.
Thought is like a lingering cloud in the sky of consciousness. You are not the cloud; you are only watching the cloud. In between two clouds, there is a vast space. Remember that no cloud can stay in the sky. In the same way, no thought can stay in the consciousness. Just sit quietly or lie on the floor and watch the total movement of thinking. Let the mind thinkwhat it wants. It may think about good things or bad things. It does not matter; do not judge. Just observe the thinking. When you go on observing your thinking in this way, within one week you will see that thinking becomes slower. You can clearly see a space between two thoughts. If you enter that space, you will forget your body and your problems and you will be in a dynamic space. Take care not to name it.
The vast, incredible, immeasurable space is your true nature. Your true nature is endless and boundless existence. Live in the present, in the state beyond time and aging, which can be reached through sensitive awareness. You can remain in that vast space 24 hours a day.
External sounds— the cry of a child, the barking of a dog, or a musical sound— all come into the ear and dissolve. You become the center of the whole universe, the whole existence, the whole presence.
To maintain such a state is pure love. When you are in the state of love, it is joy and bliss, which is your true nature. The molecules of bliss start flowing into your body. All disease is wiped out. You can achieve radical transformation of your brain cells simply by watching the movement of your mind at every moment.
Mano vaha srotas is profound, because it has its root in the universe and its fruit in the heart of every human being. Your heart, the fruit, and the universe, the root, merge together. Then you flower. The flowering of bliss and love takes place when the fruit and the root merge together.
“Before practicing meditation, we see that mountains are mountains.
When we start to practice, we see that mountains are no longer mountains.
After practicing a while, we see that mountains are again mountains.
Now the mountains are very free. Our mind is still with the mountains,
but it is no longer bound to anything.”
—Thich Nhat Hahn: —
“What is our relationship with holding a grudge, with not being able to let go of our anger at someone, or our jealousy and pride and lust and craving, wanting, grasping?
Pema Chödrön and Songyal Rinpoche’s “Handshake” practice
Songyal Rinpoche uses the word “handshake” to describe having appreciation rather than criticism for what we see in ourselves, as a way for things to be able to be ventilated and to move…move on. In other words, if something is frozen like ice, warmth is what allows it to melt.
The attitude of warmth or loving kindness, of tenderness, of unconditional acceptance, is not the same thing as saying “oh my anger is good, my grudge justifiable.”
The traditional practice of Abhyanga: Sneha is a sanskrit word meaning both oil and love…
Abhyanga (Full body massage with warm herbal oil) is one of Ayurveda’s most beloved self-care holistic practices. How can lubricating the tissues with warmth and touch, loving kindness and tenderness towards oneself, benefit our nervous system, our relationship with ourselves and others?
Brihat Trayi and Laghu Trayi texts of Ayurveda-Dinaycarya
Abhyanga, the Ayurvedic practice of self-massage with oil, is an excellent way to nurture your whole being every day, and can be done at home. Massage has been proven to have many benefits for the body, including releasing tension in the muscles, supporting healthy circulation, and leaving the skin feeling replenished and hydrated. In this video, we’ll show you how to give yourself a massage the Ayurvedic way, including self-massage techniques and best practices. In Sanskrit, the word sneha can be translated as both “oil” and “love.” So in Ayurveda, there is an inherent connection between enveloping the body in oil and enveloping it in love. Both experiences can give a deep feeling of stability, warmth, and comfort. Sneha—oil and love—is sukshma, or “subtle.” This allows it to pass through minute channels in the body and penetrate deep layers of tissue ( dhatus ). Abhyanga is a technique unique to Ayurveda. It involves mindfully massaging the body with specific oils for one’s physiology and present health condition. The skin, being the largest organ of the body, performs several important functions. Some include providing a protective barrier, regulating body temperature, synthesis of vitamin D, maintaining water electrolyte balance, providing a storehouse of fat, water, salt and glucose, and creating an acid base equilibrium by maintaining acid-alkaline levels. By allowing the oil to penetrate the skin before daily bathing, it protects, nourishes and supports one’s mind, body and spirit. Over time, with routine practice of abhyanga, one’s health and well-being are dramatically improved to the deepest and most subtle cellular levels.
Abhyanga can be practiced daily or as time allows. You can apply oil to the whole body or to specific locations like the feet or head.
Although receiving a massage from a professional massage therapist is sometimes advised, there is a lot to be gained by learning and practicing Ayurvedic self-massage techniques. With self-massage, the fantastic benefits of abhyanga become readily available to you in the comfort of your own home. In fact, in a recent clinical trial studying the effects of self-massage, abhyanga proved to be an effective way to decrease stress levels, improve quality of sleep, and enhance one’s overall quality of life. Over time, self-massage becomes a regular act of self-love you can look forward to every day.
Read more on Abhyanga here.
Nothing can truly affect our true nature and it is thoughts that create the illusion that
Rupert Spira
fear has such unpleasant powers.
The channel of the mind is rooted in the heart.
Charaka Samhita, Sutrasthana, Foundational text of AYURVEDA Medicine
The mind is only one but due to its association with many sense organs, it appears as many.
Oneness and minuteness are the qualities of mind.