We are all seekers, and our goal is the same: to achieve inner peace, light, and joy, to become inseparably one with our Source, and to lead lives full of true satisfaction.
To live in joy is to live the inner life. This is the life that leads to self-realisation. Self-realisation is God-realisation, for God is nothing other than the Divinity that is deep inside each one of us, waiting to be discovered and revealed. We may also refer to God as the Inner Pilot or the Supreme. But no matter which term we use, we mean the Highest within us, that which is the ultimate goal of our spiritual quest.
A spiritual person should be a normal person, a sound person. In order to reach God, a spiritual person has to be divinely practical in his day-to-day activities. In divine practicality, we share our inner wealth. We feel the divine motivation behind each action and share the result with others. Spirituality does not negate the outer life. The outer life should be the manifestation of the divine life within us.
– Sri Chinmoy, The Wings of Joy
Category: General
Inner Management…
Our Path… Love and Acceptance…
How how can we bring the Truth out of its prison cell? Again, I have to say it is through love. Love for whom? Love for God. And who is God? God is the highest illumined part in us. God is nothing and nobody else. I have a head and two feet. Let us say that my head represents the highest in me and my feet represent the lowest in me, my ignorance. I know that the highest and the lowest are both mine. The lowest has to enter into the highest in order to be transformed, liberated and fulfilled. The highest has to enter into the lowest in order to be revealed and manifested.
In our path, the sense of identification is absolutely necessary. The highest has to feel its total oneness with the lowest. The lowest has to feel its total oneness with the highest. Needless to say, the highest always feels its oneness with the lowest. It is the lowest that finds it extremely difficult to be one with the highest because of its fear, doubt, jealousy and so forth.
What kind of commitment is necessary to follow our path? It is not the kind of commitment that you have to make in other spiritual or cultural organisations. For these organisations, you may have to give a regular fee. But when I ask you to make a commitment, it is different. I say that if you see something in me, if you see or feel light inside me, then if you want to follow our path, you can. There will be no monetary demands. You do not have to give me five dollars or ten dollars or anything like that. No! Here it is a matter of your own aspiration-how sincere and regular you can be in your spiritual life. If you are not sincere, then you will not be able to run fast. But if you are sincere and dedicated, then you will run very fast. The commitment I ask for in our path is regularity in your meditation and aspiration, a sincere inner cry. I ask nothing else from any student.
Our path, the path of the heart, is also the path of acceptance. We have to accept the world. If we enter into a Himalayan cave or sit on a mountain top and cry for our personal achievement and satisfaction, then we are not going to do anything for the world. It will be like this: I shall eat food to my heart’s content and let my brothers remain unfed and starving. That is not good. If I am a real human being, I have to see that my brothers also eat along with me. If we eat together, then only we shall get real satisfaction.
Similarly, in the spiritual life, real spiritual Masters feel that it is their bounden duty to eat in front of humanity and share the spiritual food with humanity. Now, if humanity as a whole does not want to eat as it should, if many are still sleeping and have not yet felt the spiritual hunger, then what can the spiritual Master do? But if there are a few sincerely hungry seekers, the spiritual Master tells them, “The meal is ready. Let us eat together.”
In our path of acceptance, we have to know that the earth is far from perfection. But unless we accept the earth consciousness, how are we going to perfect it? If someone has some pain, I have to massage him. Then only his pain will go. Similarly, if the earth is imperfect at a particular place, I have to touch it with my aspiration and concern. Then only can I transform it. As long as the earth consciousness is not fully realised, I will try to remain on earth to be of service to mankind with my inner consciousness.
– Sri Chinmoy, The Master and The Disciple
Everyday Awakening… In This Very Moment…
While you’ve been busy with your attention captured by feelings and thinking of yourself as separate and limited, you’ve missed the absolute truth: you have always been all that you ever wanted.
The self-help industry is fundamentally flawed. It perpetuates the myth that we are limited, damaged, inadequate selves who need to be fixed. Sadly, it keeps millions of people just like you hoping for a better future when they will finally be happy and fulfilled.
But what if this inadequate self isn’t who you are? What if it’s possible, at any moment, to be happy and free?
Discovering this possibility is a journey that leads you to the amazing fact that all you seek has always been here. What you discover won’t be new or unfamiliar. You’ve always been who you really are despite your distractions.
You’ve already delighted in the burst of joy that comes out of nowhere, if only for an instant;
You’ve felt the all-consuming feeling of love;
You know the wondrous sense of the unity of all;
You’ve experienced the spark of unexpected creative expression, and
You’ve dissolved into a bout of uncontrollable laughter.
You know in your heart of hearts that you’re bigger than your imagined limits.
Happiness isn’t nearly as elusive as we might think—if we know where to look for it. There’s a current alive in each of us that flows toward contentment, toward resting effortlessly in peace and ease. This current is so strong that every action we take is an attempt to find happiness.
When you seek approval, you’re trying to feel whole and relaxed. If you strive for money or material goods, you’re searching for the moment of ease when you finally fulfill your desire. If you overdo anything, you’re really looking for happiness, peace, and relief from inner turmoil.
You might think you want a relationship or the perfect job or even your mother’s love. But, your real desire is the inner longing to be free of conflict, satisfied and complete, with no sense of something missing.
This is the ease of being you’ve been searching for your whole life. And you absolutely can know it in your own direct experience.
But you won’t discover it in the objects, people, and situations in the world. You won’t even discover it in your own thoughts. These are changeable, unreliable forms you can’t trust to make or keep you happy. If this is where you’re looking, then you probably already know your search will fail.
The good news—the most amazing news—is that the peace you long for is available, here and now, in this very moment…and endlessly. You come to know it when you learn how to stop relying on ideas about how you wish things were—and say “Yes!” to the reality of how things actually are.
The path to realizing the unlimited potential for happiness in every moment is radical. It involves a shift in consciousness that invites you to question everything you take to be true—all the stories, beliefs, hopes, expectations, and feelings that make up who you think you are—and discover that they’re the very source of your dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and personal suffering.
Take an honest look at the thoughts and feelings that consume your attention. Are you:
Waiting for others to do something so you can be happy?
Obsessing over all the things you don’t like about yourself?
Recycling thoughts about what should or shouldn’t happen in your life?
Living in fear, shame, worry, or depression?
No wonder you’re not happy. These everyday problems set you up for frustration and disappointment. They make you think the present is unfulfilling, and they delude you into believing that the ease you seek will be available at some future time.
This “if only” thinking keeps you chasing happiness rather than living it. And while you’re distracted by these thoughts and feelings, the deepest peace and happiness—available right now—go unnoticed.
Let me be clear: we’re not just talking about that smile-on-your-face feeling we call happiness. It’s not even the satisfaction you feel when things are going well—these are expressions of it. When you deeply accept everything as it is, the inner war with your own experience ends, and you’re not only peaceful, but joyful and content, as well.
This is your natural state: what you knew before any conditioned habits or emotional pain concealed it. It’s the pure aliveness that remains—when the pressure to do, fix, try, and accomplish falls away. Fear subsides, and you feel intimately connected with everything.
This is the happiness that is always available, always ready to be discovered. Even though you may not consciously experience it, you and I both know that it’s here. Even if it’s hidden, this loving presence is alive in your true heart.
– Gail Brenner
Source: http://www.scienceandnonduality.com/everyday-awakening-in-this-very-moment/
3rd Anniversary…
I am very glad to let you know that we are gracefully completing 3rd year of our learning journey today. “Known is a drop, Unknown is an Ocean” was started as knowledge sharing blog with the purpose to know our Self better, explore our Self further, listen our Self sharper, see our Self clearer and be our Self forever…
Each and every post here is step towards that journey… keep inspiring us to learn more… grow more… share more… and ultimately remembering us who we are…
On this note to take our learning and sharing to next step, I have added eBooks section today with “Mind – Its Mysteries and Control”. Will be adding more interesting and thought-provoking eBooks soon…
Concluding with Rumi’s words “We are not a drop in an Ocean, we are the entire Ocean in a drop” and Mamuni Mayans quote “As in Micro, so in Macro. The whole exists within the minutest particle and the minutest particle contains the whole. The atom contains the universe and the universe contains the atom, and neither exists without the other. Creator exists within creation, even as creation exists within creator.” 🙂
We Are All One Organism
When Ramana Maharshi said, “There are no others,” he was expressing the essence of nonduality. Today scientists are exploring the boundaries between Self and Others and unsurprisingly, they are finding the all wondrous ways in which we are not separate.
This interconnectedness was explored recently in an episode of NPR’s Invisibilia. The show looked at the many ways in which our lives — and our very being — are entangled, like two atoms separated by a large distance, but still intimately affected by the other.
One way in which we are connected with others is the way we act and feel. Many people walk around thinking that their actions and emotions arise entirely from within — from somewhere in the brain, caused by a series of physiological events. But the truth is we are like giant radio receivers, picking up the signals put out by others and imitating them.
You may have already noticed that if you spend any amount of time around other people, you might adjust your posture or speech patterns to mimic theirs. Sometimes it’s something less obvious, like how quickly you blink or breathe.
Over time, you may start to match your actions with theirs and all without conscious control.
“Whether you want to or not, all day long, you are engaged in a kind of synchronized dance with the people you come into contact with,” said Lulu Miller, co-host of Invisibilia.
For some people, this mimicry can be more extreme — they actually feel what they see other people feeling. If someone else receives a hug, they feel that hug. If they watch people eating, they feel food in their mouth, even though they themselves are not eating.
Scientists have studied people like this — who have a condition called mirror-touch synesthesia — and found that essentially the wires of their visual system and touch system are crossed. This gives them a deep connection with other people.
But these people also have less gray matter in the part of the brain that helps them distinguish self from other. For them, “there are no others” is a physiological state of their brain.
But all of us experience this kind of effect to some degree. And it can even bleed over into other, more subtle aspects of our personality like our emotions.
Some emotions show up on our face as a broad smile or a creased forehead. But our faces also leak out much smaller, micro-expressions that signal things like happiness, anxiety and depression.
When we pick up on the micro-expressions of other people, we unconsciously imitate their facial expressions. From that, we start to develop the same emotions — building them from the outside in.
“We get real pale, little reflections of what others are thinking and feeling,” said Elaine Hafield, a psychological researcher from the University of Hawaii, on the show.
This is the ripple effect caused by our emotions, passing from one person to the next like a contagion. Until we are all connected — was never really a question in the first place.
Or as Miller explains: “It’s like without quite being aware of it, we are all one organism, a heaving, swirling organism contracting the feelings and thoughts of the people around us.”
– Shawn Radcliffe
Source: http://www.scienceandnonduality.com/we-are-all-one-organism
The 7 Secrets to Knowing Your Higher Self!
Each of us is connected with the Divine. The Higher Self within us far transcends the understanding of our conscious minds. This is the power that all the great geniuses and teachers of history have accessed. It is also the place of magic and miracle in our lives. Here are the seven key steps to contact it.
1. Belief & Expectation: Transform Your World View!
The first step is to BELIEVE that you have a Higher Self to establish communication with! Then EXPECT every day that this communication will improve as you focus diligently on inner growth. Without these two essential pre-requisites, it is hard to achieve anything at all in life, even on the physical level. For inner growth, these two qualities are essential. So set a GOAL to achieve contact with the Higher Self, review that goal daily, and maintain your purpose with determination until success is yours.
We are brought up with a primarily materialistic world view that neglects the role of Spirit. To establish close contact with spiritual realms, we need to have our entire being – conscious and subconscious – congruent with our goal. In any major activity/goal, you have to establish the rules of the game and the way it is played. Contacting your Higher Self is the same. Therefore, seek out writings and teachers that expand your understanding of the universe as fundamentally being a realm of Consciousness and Mind.
2. Solitude & Meditation
Make regular time for yourself where you can be totally alone. A quiet place is preferable. Just sit quietly with no expectations. Do NOTHING. This may feel very uncomfortable and strange in the beginning. Persist. You give time and space for the inner voice to make itself heard. It will do so either during that quiet time, or else during the events of the day. A synchronistic event will occur; someone will tell you exactly what you need to hear; you will get a sudden flash of insight. All the great geniuses of history have found times of regular solitude and silence for themselves. You should too.
In meditation, you work to discipline your mind and silence the internal chatter that constantly fill it. You create a pure vessel for the Higher Self to fill. Following your breath is an excellent meditation discipline, as is concentrating upon a candle flame. Or visualize a golden ball of light in your Solar Plexus that fills your whole body with energy and healing. There are many practices that you can study and use.
3. Journal
Record your feelings, emotions, dreams and insights every day in a journal. This will help you to come into closer contact with your inner intuitive depths. You can ask the Higher Self questions here, and then later on record whatever insights/answers you receive. If you do this regularly with belief and expectation, you WILL receive the answers you need.
4. Inner Dialogue
Conduct a regular inner dialogue with your Higher Self. For the next 40 days, decide to keep in contact throughout the day. Say to your Higher Self, “I know you are there and I want to get to know you and pay attention to you. Please begin to speak to me and guide my life” Don’t worry if this dialogue is entirely one-way to begin with. Remember that you have been out of touch for decades. It takes a while to clear the cobwebs! Persist with this inner dialogue as if talking to a friend – chatting, asking questions, sharing your hopes – and begin to listen for answers. They will come.
5. Life Lessons
Look upon life as a Mystery School. Believe that the whole of your life – events, situations and people – has been structured PRECISELY in order to teach you exactly what you need to know right now. Approach life as if the whole of creation is conspiring to do you good! Whenever something happens in your life, for good or ill, ask yourself what the lesson is for you. Even unpleasant people/situations have been deliberately placed there as a challenge to help you grow. As you begin to view life as a drama in which you are play the starring role, the role of the Higher Self will become increasingly evident in your life. Record your findings in your journal.
6. Dreams
Expect your Higher Self to speak to you in dreams. Before going to sleep, do some stretching and bending to relax your body completely. Ask your Higher Self a question and expect an answer. When you wake up, recall whatever you can of your dream and write it down in your journal. If you are not used to remembering dreams, this will take time and persistence. However, with patience, you will begin to recall your dreams AND receive answers from your Higher Self.
7. Mindfulness
Focus upon living more and more in the present, on the NOW. When you are eating, be aware that you are eating. When you walk, know that you are walking. The only real moment is now – the past is gone forever and the future has yet to be. Therefore, work to clear your mind of concerns, illusions and extrapolations. Clear the mental clutter from the mind and create space for the Higher Self to fill.
Patience Is The Catalyst To Progress!
Remember, you may have spent your entire life out of touch with Source. Therefore, it takes time to learn how to re-establish contact. Anything worth doing takes time and practice. Be vigilant and practise these seven steps every day, and you will receive the answers you need. Remember: The Higher Self WANTS to be in contact. In fact, to even speak of it as someone apart from you is contradictory. The Higher Self IS you! The real you. So get in touch with YOU!
– Asoka Selvarajah
Known is a drop, Unknown is an Ocean 