Reconnecting to Source: The Power of Inner Silence: Insights and an announcement 

Thank you and to you as well 🙂💜

Back to you too and everyone with love, light and energy from Malaysia.

🙏🏽💜💛🙏🏽

You too Harpal. Sending my Blessings to you and family.

👏🏻❤️

Sarthak Kulkarni 🐟 16. YOGA/RELIGION:

According to some sources, YOGA (authentic religion) was introduced to human society approximately seventeen thousand years ago, via the Ādiyogī (first religionist), Mahādeva Śiva, in His form known as Dakṣiṇāmūrti, in the subcontinent named Bhārata (India). Lord Shiva is universally recognized to be the first Avatar, that is, the first person to be born without sin (in other words, a pure embodiment of the Divine; enlightened from birth). Whether or not these historical events really occurred is irrelevant to the purposes of this chapter and this scripture.

Other sources claim that RELIGION began when Lord Brahmā spoke the four “Vedas” (books of knowledge) in ancient Sanskrit, the essential teachings of which are non-dual, that is to say, describe everything in existence having the same ground of being. In other words, “All is One” without a second. ‘Sarvam khalvidam brahma’ (Chandogya Upanishad 3.14) teaches that ‘All this is indeed Brahman’ (“Brahman” referring to the TOTALITY of existence/non-existence). Read previous chapters of “F.I.S.H" to understand the concept of Universal Consciousness.

Since then, systems of religion have evolved or have been revealed on the continent of ASIA. Supernatural mythologies and superstitions developed in other locations, most of which featured animistic narratives and primitive rituals, but not on the same level of the monotheistic and monistic religions of Middle East Asia, Bhārata and China.

The word “RELIGION” originates from the Latin verb “religare”, meaning “to join or unite”. It is the precise equivalent of the Sanskrit “yoga”, from the verbal root “yuj”.
Thus, religion/yoga means to unite with the Supreme, or the understanding and realization that there is nothing but the Supreme (Spirit).

Perhaps the best definition of yoga is “the UNION of the relative and absolute”, meaning one who has fully realized himself to be “Brahman”, but knows precisely how to integrate that understanding within temporal existence, just as, for example, Lord Jesus Christ so admirably demonstrated during his public ministry over two millennia ago in the land of Palestine (now Israel).

Union with the Divine has no circumstantial prerequisites. It is NOT necessary to do anything to wake-up from this cosmic illusion and to become self-realized (to make real the true self). Spiritual awakening occurs according to the preordained “Story of Life”, as explained in this “Final Instruction Sheet for Humanity”, although most (but not all) persons who experience awakening, liberation and enlightenment do so after practicing some form of religion/yoga, just as most persons (but not all) who become wealthy perform wealth-creation activities such as operating a business enterprise or composing a popular song. Some become instantly wealthy by being born into an aristocratic family, winning a lottery, gambling in a casino, by being the recipient of a donation, or by being the beneficiary of a bequeathed fortune.

The REAL purpose of religion/yoga is to improve the human being - to make one more gentle, loving, forgiving, self-controlled, moral, holy and righteous - none of which automatically unites the self with the Self. Union with the Divine depends solely on Divine Grace (or, as explained above, predestination). Most religious teachings focus on this aspect of life, rather than on the “goal” of attaining unalloyed, true peace.

Practically all religious precepts are prescriptive, that is, they instruct their followers to perform certain actions in order to achieve a particular objective. However, the most beneficial teachings are DESCRIPTIVE, that is, they describe Reality as it is, knowing that nothing can be done to alter the course of history. If a person is destined to be a great sage, nothing or nobody can prevent that destined occurrence.

There are FOUR systems of religion/yoga:

1. The religion of ACTION/labour. This is the simplest method of union with God, known as “karma yoga” in Bhārata, and is recommended by some experts as the one with which to begin one's spiritual journey. It involves a worker or businessman (or even a monarch) performing his duties with the goal of using his excess funds to support his spiritual preceptor or church/temple/mosque. It may also include performing beneficial deeds for one's master, such as cleaning his house or temple.
Even though the author of this Holy Scripture is the current World Teacher, he began his adult spiritual journey by diligently practicing karma yoga in the temple of a local religious organization. So even though it may seem simplistic and inane, “Working for God” is truly a wonderful introduction to the spiritual path.

2. DEVOTIONAL religion/yoga: By far the most popular form of religion, but also the most perilous. This system of religion, known as “bhakti yoga” in Bhārata, comprises of reading (or hearing) about the personal conception of the Godhead (usually a Divine Incarnation), offering prayers, performing rituals and serving the spiritual teacher.
The peril lies in the fact that a large number of devotees become radicalized towards his or her own group or spiritual leader (“guru”, in Sanskrit), unwilling to accept the validity of other traditions or paths.
The essence of love is the desire for all living beings to find true happiness. When we want the best for all creatures, then we can honestly say that we love everybody equally. One who appears to love one person more than another, in fact, loves nobody. True love revolves around sacrificing one’s selfish desires for those of his or her superiors, whether that be one's parents, husband, employer or spiritual master, even if they are imperfect. Should a child disobey its mother just because the mother is flawed? Of course not! This paradigm is applicable to everyone, without exception.

3. INTELLECTUAL union: This is known as “jñāna yoga” in Bhārata and as “gnosticism” in European-based languages, and is based on the investigation of spiritual concepts, often in conjunction with periodic meditation.
The bulk of what you are reading in this Holy Scripture could be classified under this system of religion, which explains why very few persons actually read this document - this yoga attracts only highly-intelligent persons.
No matter what system of religion one initially practices, it is virtually mandatory to have an inclination towards the systematic study of the King of Sciences (as Lord Krishna calls it in the “Bhagavad-gītā” portion of “Mahābhārata”), if one is to become truly enlightened.
Despite its name, the Path of Knowledge includes acts of devotion towards one's teacher, thus integrating the heart and the mind.
 
4. The EIGHT-STEP yoga system: “aṣṭāṅga yoga”, as it is known in the ancient language of Bhārata, has a defined series of stages, beginning with moral precepts and culminating in a state of “steady mind (or intellect)”. In his “Yoga Sutras”, the ancient Indian sage Patañjali defined the eight limbs as follows: yama (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (yoga postures), pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption). Samadhi is by far the most misunderstood concept in yoga. It refers to the state of true peace of mind, which is actually the natural state of being of the human mind, and not to some ecstatic or enstatic feeling of bliss, which is, by nature, temporary.
Despite what most believe, the third stage of ashtanga yoga does not involve a multitude of complex physical poses, but simply sitting with one's legs crossed and locked, with one's arms fully extended and resting on the knees. The purpose of sitting in this “lotus position” (“padmāsana”, in Sanskrit), or at least simple sitting positions, was in order to execute meditation and concentration in the higher steps. The myriad stretching exercises were devised in later centuries, presumably for those persons who were too inflexible to sit immediately in “padmāsana”.
Having stated that, modern yoga poses are highly-recommended for anyone and everyone, whether theistic or irreligious, because they bestow enormous benefits to one's health, particularly as one advances in age. That's something I learnt the hard way, unfortunately.

There is no reason why one cannot practice MORE than one yoga system simultaneously, but the typical person is usually attracted to devotional religion, because it is the most "innate" one. A child is naturally attached to his parents, in a strong familial bond. The attachment between a devotee and his teacher (or to an Avatar/God) is a natural extension of this bond.

However, the MOST beneficial spiritual practice is to “rest imperturbably in Flawless Awareness”, that is, to regress into one’s inner self (the sense of the unqualified “I am”), or return attention to its Source, without the affliction of any belief system, thus transcending all mundane concepts. This can occur during virtually any daily activity, and if practiced for short periods throughout the day, it eventually becomes one’s normal way of being. This is sometimes referred to as the “direct path”, or somewhat less accurately, the “pathless path”. In this practice there is no separation of what is aware and of what appears - no presumption of a perceiver and a perceived, or of a doer and what is done. This is genuine yoga/religion - union of the self with the Self. When coupled with a conscious avoidance of the five forms of suffering mentioned in Chapter 15, it brings perfect and pure peace, a peace which surpasses anything previously imagined - truly beyond human understanding.
Any other practice merely reinforces the notion of a separate, independent agent, which is the very cause of material bondage (“saṃsāra”, in Sanskrit), or to be more precise, the cause of all actual, psychological, suffering (“duḥkha”, in Sanskrit).


“Insofar as you keep watching the mind and discover yourself as its witness, nothing else can project itself on the screen of consciousness.
This is so, because two things cannot occupy the attention, at the same moment.
Therefore, delve within and find out where thoughts arise.
Seek the source of all thought and acquire the Self-knowledge, which is the awakening of Truth.”
************
“The way to the realization of Truth, is neither through attachment nor renunciation.
There is, in fact, no way.
No means of any kind, can either indicate or grasp the Ultimate.”
Ramesh Balsekar,
Indian Spiritual Teacher.


“The mind that seeks happiness (or enlightenment) is like a character in a movie in search for the screen. It will NEVER find the screen in the movie, although everything it finds is made of the screen.
The mind that longs for enlightenment or happiness will never find what it is longing-for. And yet it is made out of what it is longing-for.”
Rupert Spira,
English Spiritual Teacher.

Salam سلام ❤️

Maugirl 888 i met Chopra on the astral plane me and a group of travellers on the early hours of the 25th i was one of the only 2 men the 3 others were female Chopra flow past us in a Indigo robe smiling

it's ok, there are lots up to carry you through

I’m with you on that! Check out Mel Robbins M-F and Josie Grouse . Both are amazing substitutes or additions to your daily routine. Be healthy and be well!

I just stumbled upon these recordings yesterday. I don't blame him for taking some time to himself, though. Meanwhile, if you go to the Chopra Center website you can also take part in Oprah' and Deepak's 21-day Meditation Challenge: Hope In Uncertain Times. It just began yesterday, March 23rd.

Miss Kaylee drugs or alcohol will help

his next talk will hapen soon i find him ok but i prefer Echarrt Toll but Chopra is good to but more for Health