What, exactly, is suffering?

Our pains are caused by our wrong viewpoints toward things. The
false self throws up an imaginary picture of how it insists things
should be. And every time this should be clashes with what actually
happens, we react painfully. The problem is not what actually hap-
pens, but our demands that something else should happen. Don't take
my word for this; experiment for yourself.

~Vernon Howard

Some Wisdom

Группа выпускников, успешных, сделавших замечательную карьеру, пришли в гости к своему старому профессору. Конечно же, вскоре разговор зашел о работе - выпускники жаловались на многочисленные трудности и жизненные проблемы.

Предложив своим гостям кофе, профессор пошел на кухню и вернулся с кофейником и подносом, уставленным самыми разными чашками -фарфоровыми, стеклянными, пластиковыми, хрустальными и простыми, и дорогими, и изысканными.

Когда выпускники разобрали чашки, профессор сказал: "Если вы заметили, все дорогие чашки разобраны. Никто не выбрал чашки простые и дешевые. Желание иметь для себя только лучшее и есть источник ваших проблем.

Поймите, что чашка сама по себе не делает кофе лучше. Иногда она просто дороже, а иногда даже скрывает то, что мы пьем. То, что вы действительно хотели, было - кофе, а не чашка. Но вы сознательно выбрали лучшие чашки. А, затем разглядывали, кому какая чашка досталась. А теперь подумайте: жизнь - это кофе, а работа, деньги, положение, общество - это чашки. Это всего лишь инструменты для хранения Жизни. То, какую чашку мы имеем, не определяет и не меняет качества нашей Жизни.

Иногда, концентрируясь только на чашке, мы забываем насладитьсa вкусом самого кофе.

Наслаждайтесь своим кофе!!!!!!!!!"

У самых счастливых людей нет всего лучшего. Но они извлекают все лучшее из того, что есть. Счастье в том, чтобы хотеть то, что у тебя есть, А не в том, чтобы иметь то, что хочешь.

Жизнь коротка - нарушай правила - Прощай быстро - Целуй медленно - Люби искренно - Смейся неудержимо . И никогда не сожалей о том,что заставило тебя улыбнуться.

The Second Ring of Power

Anything is possible if one wants it with unbending intent and you don't let your thoughts interfere.

Power comes only after we accept our fate without recriminations.

When one has nothing to lose, one becomes courageous. We are timid only when there is something we can still cling to.

A warrior doesn't seek anything for his solace, nor can he possibly leave anything to chance. A warrior actually affects the outcome of events by the force of his awareness and his unbending intent .

~CC Don Juan

Attaining Inner Peace and Mental Mastery

Do you desire to attain inner peace and mental mastery?

What would you prefer, inner peace and mental mastery, or a mind filled with rushing, restless and uncontrolled thoughts?

Who is the master and who is the servant, you or your mind? Do you choose your thoughts, or does the mind choose your thoughts for you?

Does your mind constantly occupy your attention with worries, anxieties and problems?
Can you calm down your mind and impose peace on it?

The mind is a great and useful instrument, but it is greater and more useful, when you possess the ability to accept or reject thoughts at will, and not accept and dwell on every thought that passes through your mind.

It is usual for the mind to be always busy, always thinking, but are all its thoughts useful and necessary? How many of them are just useless or negative thoughts, worries and fears?

Most people are enslaved by their thoughts. It does not occur to them that they can become free from their grasp. The chatter of the mind continues incessantly from the moment they wake up in the morning to the moment they fall asleep at night. The habit of constantly of thinking is very deeply ingrained in the human race. Nevertheless, this habit can be undone. The mind is a great and useful instrument, but it should not be allowed to rule our lives. We should be able to silence it when we want to.

Thoughts constantly come and go. You may choose to ignore them and enjoy inner peace, or you may choose to give them your attention and be constantly occupied with them. It is not so simple and easy to be able to choose which thoughts to accept and which ones to reject, but there are ways to do this.

By reducing the amount of thoughts in your mind, you attain mastery over your mind, and are able to focus it on whatever you want. You will be able to use it in better and more useful ways.

A calm mind is a powerful mind. A peaceful mind brings inner happiness that also affect other people. It is a great asset and advantage to be able to silence the mind when its services are not required. A person who is able to silence the inner chatter of the mind is free from worries, anxieties and fears.

Making the mind peaceful and free from the compulsion of incessant thinking is possible, provided the proper training is undertaken. With the proper method and exercises, everyone can attain at least some measure of inner peace and mental mastery.

True control the mind is not just the ability to concentrate on one thought and disregard other thoughts. It is the ability to cleanse the mind completely and make it silent. This silence brings peace, contentment, happiness and bliss.

How can you attain inner peace and mental mastery? By learning to concentrate the mind according to your will, through meditation, and by developing self discipline and inner strength.

~ Remez Sasson

Avoiding Stress and Strain

If you want to avoid stress and strain, you will have to train your mind to view everything you encounter — persons, objects, events, and experiences — realistically, as transient phenomena, dependently arisen through conditions. You should reflect upon them in terms of the three characteristics — as impermanent, unsatisfactory, and without a self. Doing so will help to reduce the investment of self-concern in these phenomena, and thereby will reduce the craving and attachment for them. You should also avoid anger, anxiety, and pride — the thoughts of "me" and "mine" — since such emotions are productive of stress and strain. When you adopt this attitude to life, you will discover greater detachment, deeper calm, more durable peace of heart even amidst the same situations that previously produced nothing but stress and worry. The key to managing stress is through the disciplining and mastery of the mind.

~Robert Bogoda

We need to improve ourselves wherever we are weak. A little practice everyday is all that is necessary. We should remember that the more often an action is performed, the easier it becomes for us to perform it in the future and the stronger becomes the tendency to do it again and again until it becomes a habit, an ingrained part of our character.

~Robert Bogoda

Self -Transformation

"Self-transformation comes by enduring an inner storm consciously. This means you must stand aside as an impartial observer instead of just being the storm. Then, many interesting experiences will come your way."

~Vernon Howard

Эмоционально-волевая устойчивость

Эмоционально-волевая устойчивость может рассматриваться как один из важнейших показателей психологической подготовленности человека к любым проблемным ситуациям. По сути, это способность всегда сохранять благоприятное психическое состояние. Это качество проявляется определёнными следующими моментами:

1) наработка стереотипов поведения в сложных условиях;
2) умение реально оценивать степень риска при неожиданном возникновении опасности;
3) способность противостоять психологическому давлению со стороны окружающих;
4) умение вести психологическую борьбу с лицами, проявляющими агрессивность;
5) способность нивелировать провоцирующие ситуации, не доводя их до конфликта.

Умение снять эмоциональное напряжение, подавить чувство страха и неуверенности, сконцентрировать внимание и мобилизовать все силы, когда это необходимо

"продлевая прошлое в будущее, мы лишаем себя настоящего."

Zen Teaching’s Job

Buddhism’s teaching is actually quite simple, but the consciousness of human beings is very complicated; it is always checking and holding on to something. Zen teaching’s job is to take this complicated mind and make it simple, simple, simple, until finally, there’s nothing. All clean. Nothing.

If you are nothing, then a new idea will appear; that new idea is the truth. When your mind is clear, then everything you hear, see, smell, taste or touch is the truth. That is a very important point.

A long time ago in Korea, three famous masters from different traditions were talking about the path.

The Confucian master said, “See clear, hear clear—then everything becomes clear.”

The Taoist master said, “It is clear like space. Keep your mind clear like space.”

Finally, the Zen Master said, “Moment to moment, do it.”

The three masters had different styles of speech, but the meaning is the same. Confucianism means keeping the correct situation, correct function and correct relationship at all times. Never think about the past, present or future. Only this moment: correct situation, correct function and correct relationship. This is Confucianism.

Taoism means keeping a mind that is clear like space. Don’t make anything: don’t make mind, don’t make body, don’t make “I,” don’t make “you.” Everything is clear like space. Then reflective action is possible.

The Zen Master’s speech means: don’t make anything, moment to moment. Just do it. Just do it means don’t make past, don’t make present, don’t make future, don’t make sky or earth, don’t make anything. Moment to moment, only one thing: “What are you doing now?”

This is very important. When you are doing something, just do it, okay? When you eat, just eat. When you sit, just sit. When you are working, just work. When you are teaching, just teach. When you listen, just listen. Moment to moment, just do it! Moment to moment just do it means correct situation, correct function and correct relationship.

~Zen Master Seung Sahn

That is why they appreciate it

'Never give people anything they ask for until at least a day has passed!' said the Mulla.

'Why not, Nasrudin?'

'Experience shows that they only appreciate something when they have had the opportunity of doubting whether they will get it or not.'

~Hodja Nasruddin

Of Risks and Failures

The more rapid the pace of our lives, the more rapid the pace of change and the bigger our opportunity for failure. It is very tempting to try to be correct at all times and to not take any risks. If we truly attain this, then for us any mistake is no problem.

~Zen Master Wu Bong

Don't Hold

"Zen is very simple. Dish washing time, just wash dishes; sitting time, just sit; driving time, just drive; talking time, just talk; walking time, just walk." That's all. Not special. But that is very difficult. That is absolutes thinking. When you're doing something, just do it. No opposites. No subject, no object. No inside, no outside. Outside and inside become one. That's called absolutes.

But don't hold. Thinking is OK. Checking is OK. Only holding is a problem. Don't hold. Feeling coming, going, OK. Don't hold. If your mind is not holding anything, it is clear like space. Clear like space means that sometimes clouds come, sometimes rain or lightning or airplane comes, or even a missile blows up, BOOM! World explodes, but the air is never broken. This space is never broken. Yeah, other things are broken but this space is never changing. Even if a nuclear bomb explodes, it doesn't matter. Space is space. That mind is very important. If something in your mind explodes, then don't hold it. Then it will disappear. Sometimes anger mind appears but soon disappears. But if you hold it, you have a problem. Appear, disappear, that's OK. Don't hold. Then it becomes wisdom. My anger mind becomes wisdom. My desire mind becomes wisdom. Everything becomes wisdom. That's interesting, yeah? So don't hold. That's very important point.

~Zen Master Seung Sahn

Don't know... Just try, try, try!!

"Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results"
-Albert Einstein

The Power of Now

“The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life. The pain that you create now is always some form of non acceptance, some form of unconscious resistance to what is. On the level of thought, the resistance is some form of judgment. On the emotional level, it is some form of negativity. The intensity of the pain depends on the degree of resistance to the present moment, and this in turn depends on how strongly you are identified with your mind. The mind always seeks to deny the Now and to escape from it. In other words, the more you are identified with your mind, the more you suffer. Or you may put it like this: the more you are able to honor and accept the Now, the more you are free of pain, of suffering - and free of the egoic mind.”

~Eckhart Tolle

YOU ARE WHAT YOUR THINK: THE POWER OF THOUGHTS

Categories of Thoughts

Thoughts can be divided into three broad categories: what I want, or positive thoughts; what I can do, or action thoughts; what I don't want, or worry thoughts. Most thought is about the future or the past. Very few of us are able to stay centered in the present moment. For the sake of clarity, let us assume I have an upcoming surgery that is occupying most of my thoughts. If I am thinking about how fortunate I am to have an excellent surgeon, I am thinking positive thoughts. If I am thinking about the activities I need to do to prepare for the surgery, I am thinking action thoughts. If I am thinking about what can go wrong in surgery, I am thinking worry thoughts.

Worry Thoughts

If you were surprised to find most of your thoughts were worry thoughts, you are not alone. Most people are not aware of their thoughts. They go through the day with uncensored mental programming playing in the background of their minds. They experience feelings and reactions that they do not understand.

They believe their emotions and thoughts are something that happens to them; something over which they have little or no control. Many people feel it is their duty to worry. They adamantly defend their worry thoughts. They believe that if they do not worry they have not done all they could to prevent something negative from happening.

These people resist positive thoughts because they see no value in them. In their mind thoughts cannot affect the outcome of a situation, so why waste time thinking positive. It is almost as if the negative thoughts are preparing them for the worst possible scenario. For most worry thinkers, such mental activity is learned behavior based on faulty information about the power of thoughts.

Let us examine some of the premises upon which worry thinking is based. Note which of the statements listed below seem true to you. These may be some of the beliefs out of which your worry thinking has developed.

My thoughts are a reflection of who I am. I cannot control them, they simply happen to me.

You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are an activity of your mind. You have the right and the responsibility to choose your thoughts. Your thoughts are based on the things you believe about the world. They are a perfect reflection of your core beliefs, not your True Identity. At some point in your life you accepted certain belief systems out of which your thoughts are formed. You can change your beliefs and your thoughts.

Many of my thoughts are unconscious; therefore, I can not know what they are.

Thoughts are readily available in your mind. You may not easily see them because you do not consciously listen to your thoughts. You allow them to play repetitively in the background of your mind. When you focus your awareness on your thoughts you will be amazed at what you spend your time thinking.

My thoughts have no effect on my emotions or the events of my life.

Emotion follows thought. If you are thinking positive thoughts you will feel hopeful and uplifted. Worry thoughts create fear and anxiety. Worry thoughts inhibit the flow of energy blocking you from taking action in your life. Positive thoughts stimulate activity, assisting you in transforming your life. Worry thoughts keep you from seeing options, blinding you to possible solutions to your problems. Positive thought relaxes your thinking processes allowing you to see new ideas and recognize opportunities.

The fear and anxiety caused by worry thoughts will flow into your personal relationships, creating discord and conflict. The joy caused by positive thinking will improve every aspect of your life. Positive thought enhances the body's immune system, while worry thoughts inhibit the body's natural healing response.

If I do not worry, I have not done all I can to prevent disaster from happening in my life.

As I mentioned earlier, worry thoughts inhibit action. Action thoughts are fundamental to preventing disaster. When you have taken all the action there is to do, thinking positive thoughts is the most productive action you can take. There is no positive benefit to worrying.

If I spend all my time thinking positive thoughts and disaster comes anyway, I would have wasted my time.

I believe faith and positive thought create positive events in your life; but, even if that were not true, thinking positive thoughts has tremendous benefits for you. Positive thoughts create healing, produce enjoyable emotions, and reduce the stress in your life. Positive thought stimulates you to look for solutions to your situation and increases the energy you have to take action. Positive thought makes the journey worthwhile no matter what the outcome.

Someone once asked Patricia Sun, a spiritual teacher, what would happen when she died and found out she was wrong about the philosophy of joy she was teaching. Patricia laughed and said, “You mean what would I do if I discovered I had been having all this fun for nothing?” I am sure you can see the absurdity of the question!

If I don't worry, I won't be prepared for the worst possible scenario.

If the worst possible scenario does happen, you will have plenty of time to be upset when it arrives. Spending months in anxiety does not prepare you for anything. You can not pre-experience emotions caused by a disaster. Worrying ahead of time will simply weaken you, limiting your natural ability to cope with crisis or loss.

Thoughts As A Tool of Creation

If you want to learn to soar above every situation in your life, you must learn to use your thoughts to create the reality of your choice. Earlier we discussed the way thought affects our emotions, responses, and our ability to see options and take actions. Thoughts, combined with emotion, create specific outcomes in your life. You can use thoughts to create the events in your life and not simply to affect how you respond to events life brings to you.

Thoughts combined with emotion are fundamental to creation. When people first learn about the power of thought, they fear every passing thought. It is not random thoughts which create your reality; it is those thoughts you predominately have which produce such a powerful effect in your life.

Creating reality with thought is similar to the process of hypnosis. You must focus all of your attention on the thoughts of what you want to create. Combined with an intense feeling, your thought goes forth to produce what you desire.

~Marty Varnadoe Dow

“Dissipating a mood through overanalyzing it wastes our power.”

~CC Don Juan

Let go of your desire to cling

“You must let go of your desire to cling. The very same thing happened to me. I held on to things, such as the food I liked, the mountains where I lived, the people I used to enjoy talking to, the good state of mind I was in. But most of all I clung to the desire to be liked. Those things are our barriers to losing our human form. Our attention is trained to focus doggedly. That is the way we maintain the world. Now is the time to let go of all that.”

~CC Don Juan

“We become what we think about most of the time.”

Worrying

"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength.”

~Anonymous

When you finally accept that you cannot make sense out of life on the basis of anything fixed, then and only then can life make sense!

In the Moment

Awareness is continually here, it's not hidden. It's right here. In this moment---this moment...this moment...this moment...this moment...this moment---this moment---simply come back to this moment. And every time you find you are in a dilemma, or a confusion, or you are suffering, it is because you are not here.

You've gone off into the labyrinth with the chatter-mind!

Simply be here, in this moment, and you are free.

Each moment is another chance to let go of control. Life can be really and truly simple if we don't fight it. Ripe seekers understand that existence cannot be fully entered with ego in hand; thus they let go of control and allow the flow of life to live them. They live less from the mind and more from the heart.

~Maitreya Ishwara

In silent awareness all beliefs and concepts dissolve in the fire of Now.

Thoughts and Reality

~Your thinking creates your filters (the way you see the world)

~Those filters influence the way you react to the world

~Your reactions lead directly to the way you experience the world

~The way you experience the world generates more thoughts, opinions and filters

It becomes a circle. It becomes the way you create your own reality.

Thus, if your thoughts create your reality then, if you change your thinking, you change your reality.

"Self-development begins where self-righteousness ends."

~Vernon Howard

Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about other people

~ Anonymous

До тех пор, пока отсутствует внутренняя дисциплина, приносящая спокойствие уму, никакие материальные блага и прочие внешние условия не принесут вам ощущение радости и счастья, которые вы ищете. С другой стороны, если у вас есть это внутреннее качество — душевное равновесие, даже при отсутствии различных внешних условий, которые большинство считает необходимыми для счастья, вы сможете вести жизнь, полную счастья и радости.

~Далай-лама

When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us.

~Dalai Lama

Безвыходных ситуаций не бывает, бывают решения, которые нас не устраивают.

Time and Thoughts

The reason time seems to be running so fast, is that we get so involved in our thoughts that the world goes by us unseen and unheard. Come to think of it, the worst possible thing you can do to yourself is to be engulfed by thoughts in such manner. It is equivalent to lifetime of solitary confinement.

Detect and Stop Secret Self-Sabotage

It's a little known - yet much denied fact - that people treat you the way you secretly ask to be treated. Your unspoken request that determines how others behave toward you is extended to -and received by - everyone you meet.

What is your invisible inner life? It's the way you actually feel - as opposed to the way you're trying to appear - when meeting any person or event.

In other words, your invisible inner life is your real inner condition. It's this state of internal affairs that communicates with others long before any words are exchanged. These silent signals from your inner self are what a person receives first upon meeting you. The reading of them determines from that point forward, the basis of your relationship. This unseen dialogue that goes on behind the scenes whenever two people meet is commonly understood as "sizing one another up." But here's the point of this introduction.

We're often led to act against ourselves by an undetected weakness that goes before us - trying to pass itself off to others - as strength. This is secret self-sabotage. It sinks us in our personal and business relationships as surely as a torpedo wrecks the ship it strikes.

Any person you feel the need to control or dominate - so that he or she will treat you as you "think" you should be treated will always be in control of you and treat you accordingly. Why? Because anyone from whom you want something, psychologically speaking, is always in secret command of you.

It would never dawn on any person to want to be more powerful or superior to someone else unless there was some psychic character within him or her that secretly felt itself to be weaker or lesser than that other individual. Any action we take to appear strong before another person is actually read by that person as a weakness. If you doubt this finding, review the past interactions and results of your own relationships. The general rule of thumb is that the more you demand or crave the respect of others, the less likely you are to receive it.

So it makes no sense to try and change the way others treat you by learning calculated behaviors or attitude techniques in order to appear in charge. Stop trying to be strong. Instead, start catching yourself about to act from weakness. Don't be too surprised by this unusual instruction. A brief examination reveals its wisdom. Following are ten examples of where you may be secretly sabotaging yourself while wrongly assuming you're strengthening your position with others.

1. Fawning before people to win their favor.
2. Expressing contrived concern for someone's well being.
3. Making small talk to smooth out the edges.
4. Hanging onto someone's every word.
5. Looking for someone's approval.
6. Asking if someone is angry with you.
7. Fishing for a kind word.
8. Trying to impress someone.
9. Gossiping.
10. Explaining yourself to others.

The next time you feel yourself about to give into any of the above behaviors, give yourself a quick and simple internal test. This test will help you check for and cancel any undetected weakness that's about to make you sabotage yourself.

Here's what to do: Run a pressure check.

Here's how:

Come wide awake and run a quick inner scan within yourself to see if that remark you're about to make, or the answer you're about to give without having been asked for it, is something you really want to do. Are you about to speak because you're afraid of some as yet undisclosed consequence if you don't?

Your awareness of any pressure building within you is proof that it's some form of fear - and not you - that wants to do the explaining, fawning, impressing, blabbing, or whatever the self-sabotaging act the inner pressure is pushing you to commit.

Each time you feel this pressurized urge to give yourself away, silently but solidly refuse to release this pressure by giving in to its demands. It may help you to succeed sooner if you know that fear has no voice unless it tricks you into giving it one. So stay silent. Your conscious silence stops self-sabotage.

Summary: In any and every moment of your life, you are either in command of yourself or you are being commanded.

Excerpted from Design Your Destiny Copyright 1999 - Guy Finley. Published by Llewellyn Publications

"You can never know who you are by thinking about it."

~Vernon Howard

Some music I like

Phutureprimitive - Sub Conscious
Red Jerry - Deep & Chilled Euphoria [IMPORT]
Global Communication - The Grid's Rollercoaster
Tacit Blue - Dreamland
Solea Amphibia - Stratosphear
Slowdeck - Multiple Offenses
Omnimotion - Omnimotion
Starseeds - There Is Enough for Everyone
Moodswings - Horizontal
Alpha Wave Movement - Transcendence
Skin to Skin - Temenos
Robin Guthrie - Imperial
Robert Schroeder
Indian Ropeman - Elephant Sounds
Saafi Brothers - Liquid Beach
Biosphere - Patashnik [IMPORT]
Blackfish - Pole Navigation
Tosca - Dehli9
Villain Accelerate - Maid of Gold
Steve Jolliffe - Zanzi
Tipper - Surrounded [ENHANCED]
Excursions in Ambience
Mars Lasar - The Eleventh Hour
Sofa Surfers - Transit [IMPORT]
Phutureprimitive - Sub Conscious
Various Artists - Elysian Vibes
Numatic Soul - Clean Machine
Bob Holroyd - A Different Space
Loop Guru - Duniya
Eastern Sun - In Emptiness
Barramundi - The Spirit of Wandjina: The Third Barramundi Sampler
Rara Avis - Beneath the Radar
Alkymia - Alkymia
Bluetech - Prima Materia
Gino D'Auri - Flamenco: Passion & Soul
Akumu - Akumu [IMPORT]
Adham Shaikh - Drift
H.u.v.a. Network - Distances
Zero 7 - When It Falls
Lagowski - Ashita
Higher Intelligence Agency - Freefloater
Ian Boddy - Chiasmata [IMPORT]
Corciolli
Tuu - All Our Ancestors
Steve Jolliffe - Zanzi
Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors - Still Chillin'
Asura - Lost Eden
LONER - LONER
Various Artists by Music Mosaic - Return to Serenity
Cybertribe - Dharma Cafe
Vangelis - Voices
Two a.D. - Two A.D.: A Waveform Compilation
Vidna Obmana, Brannan Lane - Deep Unknown
LSG = The Best of L.S.G.: The Singles Reworked

A Calm Mind Is Clever, Creative, Effective, and Resourceful

Zen teachings: "Spring Comes And The Grass Grows All by Itself." ; what a powerful reminder that sometimes, it's best to allow things to unfold in their own way, without too much effort on our part. In Zen philosophy we learn that when you let go of things rather than struggle against them, your life will flow, and when it does, you'll be on your way to a great life.

By allowing relationships to unfold, In their own time and in their own way, a extraordinary connection has a chance to develop. So often , Instead of being open and accepting of whatever we are experiencing, we resist it, push it away, and demand that it be different. But like fighting the weather, It's a losing battle. I like to think There really isn’t any kind of "bad" weather, only different kinds of good weather.

To be too serious, too often, is to miss out on a great deal of the joys of life.

Life appears to be more orderly when you have a quiet mind. The chaos doesn’t get to you as much. You're able to see higher levels, the bigger picture, and you're able to prioritize much more effectively. When your mind is quiet, it's as though everything settles down, life appears to come at you much more slowly, when in reality, of course, it doesn’t, the only thing that changed was your thinking. Any task, when attempted with a quiet mind, is substantially easier. Without the distraction of busyness, chatter, and confusion, you're usually able to accomplish a lot. You become able to see what needs to be done much more clearly.

Patience is a quality of heart that can be greatly enhanced with deliberate practice. Your intention to be patient, especially if you know it's only for a short while, immediately strengthens your capacity for patience. Becoming more patient involves opening your heart to the present moment, even if you don’t like it. Its entirely possible to train your mind to be less reactive to ordinarily difficult events. Once I adopted a sense of humor about my own serious attitude, it became easier to differentiate between small concerns and that which was more significant.

One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be "fair", or that someday it will be. If you can be okay with changing moods (including your own), you'll live with more peace of mind. Your openness to change will enable you to go with the flow of life. When we get bent out of shape by little things, when we are irritated at ourselves and others, our overreactions not only make us stressed out and miserable, but they actually get in the way of our getting what we want.

Reflecting on the necessity of change helps us see the perfection of life as it is instead of as it was or as it should be. Without change, we could not exist. If your kids didn’t grow up, they couldn’t have kids of their own. If we didn’t get both rain and sunshine, the plants wouldn’t grow, and so forth. When we hang on to things beyond a certain point- Youth, Beauty, Power, a role, Success, or whatever it may be- we suffer.

In the absence of being in the present moment, you live in a world of fear, anticipation, regret, anxiety, and stress. Your mind takes you back into the past, reminding you of painful times and your world of troubles, as well as off into the future, encouraging you to worry and fret. The fact that life isn’t always what we might call "fair" doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives or the world as a whole.

Much of our anxiety and inner struggle stems from our busy, overactive minds always needing something to entertain them, something to focus on, and always wondering,"what's next?" By reminding yourself of the power of prevention and implementing its wisdom into your life, you can save yourself a great deal of grief, and, in the process, reduce some of the stress you experience. When we compound our multitude of tasks and responsibilities with an equally frantic and busy mind, the result is confusion, chaos, and stress. If you can see the value of becoming a little less serious- for yourself and those around you- then you have it in you to do so. Instead of waiting until the end of your life to have a change of heart, Make that effort Now. If you do you'll be glad you did.

Quieting down is a mind set, not a set of circumstances. There are plenty of people with relatively few actual emergencies to deal with, who are freaked out and stressed almost all of the time. There are others who deal with extraordinarily stressful things, but who are able to take most of it and stride. Being present is one of the most talked about mental dynamics in spiritual life, and, I believe, may be the single most important concept of living if your goal is to be happy in life and effective in the things you do. When your mind wanders, contemplating problems, becoming absorbed and caught up in various dramas, you experience the feelings associated with those thoughts- confusion, fear, anger, worry, anxiety, and so on. Many of us tend to think of things as emergencies, or at least treat them as such, when its probably not necessary to do so.

We have the power to recognize our own thinking when its taking us places we don’t want or need to go. When we do, we're able to bring our attention back to the moment to whatever we are doing whomever we are with. By practicing being more present moment oriented, you'll create a peace of mind that you'll carry with you throughout your life. As events unfold, you'll deal with them effectively and wisely, while at the same time keeping your stress levels under control. Choosing not to take action or not to make a decision can make you feel powerless over your own life, and, ultimately, can create a great deal of anxiety. Keep in mind that if you don’t make a decision or procrastinate in making a decision. Its a choice that you are making to not taking any action- which usually means that you lose some control over what happens.

When it comes to "change" we are always faced with the same choice- Embrace or suffer. Remember , Change is going to be there whether you like it or not. What we're left with is the degree to which we embrace or push it away. One of the most important question you can ask yourself is, "Am I making the absolute best of this moment?" If you were to make the most of this particular moment, and then do the same in all future moments, Life would have a natural way of working itself out.

We say we want our children to be calm, yet we ourselves are hyper, sometimes even frantic. Ask Yourself , "What messages am I really sending to my children? Every time you make an ethical decision, offer your support, choose honesty, or lend a helping hand, you make a difference. Every time you are polite, pick up litter, or send someone a thank you note, you make a difference. The more time you spent with kids, the less seriously you'll take even the serious adults you spend time with. It seems that you become, to a certain degree, almost immune to any negative effect that might otherwise come your way. At times we as grown ups are far too serious! We get so caught up in the minutiae of life and focus on all the wrong things. We get so busy planning for life that sometimes we forget to live.

~Richard Carlson

Не страшно если ты один. Страшно если ты - ноль.

Living in the Present Moment

If you live fully now, tomorrow will take care of itself. If you are happy now, the past will not torment you.

Living in the Present Moment brings calmness, endurance, silence, non reactiveness, confidence, faith and smile into our lives.

Be aware of your thoughts!

Have you ever thought about the fact that there is never a moment when you are not thinking—that whatever happens in this world begins with a thought?

Start watching your thoughts, without identifying with them. Watch them as a detached observer. Our true nature is to renounce thoughts every passing moment. Simply allow each thought to rise like a bubble and burst.

You may even get carried away by your thoughts. Never mind. It is natural. What you need to do, whenever you detect this, is to take yourself out of your thoughts immediately and get back to the process of thought-watching once again as a detached observer.

Do not get perturbed by your thoughts. Don't condemn or justify them. Don't try to control them. Just watch them. After some time, you will come to know what your negative thoughts are about. Our goal is to be able to think only thoughts that are productive and dismiss the rest. Keep yourself busy. Simple food, deep breathing and relaxation exercises also help manage your thoughts easily. Expect less from others.

Как накапливать психическую энергию и повышать защищенность?

Накопление энергии начинается с принятия решения начать работу над собой в этом направлении. Решение должно быть абсолютным и неуклонным, ибо частичное, половинчатое решение даст половинчатые последствия, которые в итоге закончатся для человека возвращением в исходную точку пути, где единственным нажитым капиталом будет отрицательный опыт, а запас энергии останется на прежнем уровне, но при этом будет бесполезно потрачено время. Решение следует принимать не одной лишь головой, на уровне умственного заключения, и не одним лишь эмоциональным порывом, а всем существом, то есть:

1) сознанием, которое хорошо понимает для чего нужен этот путь и почему он является единственно необходимым;

2) менталом, или умом, который превращает это понимание в четкую кристаллическую формулу;

3) сердцем, наделяющим данное решение эмоциональной силой;

4) волей, продлевающей решению жизнь за счет постоянного удерживания его в памяти (так называемое памятование цели) и помогающей превратить его из внутреннего намерения во внешние действия, несмотря на психологические и жизненные препятствия. Таким образом, решение становится правильной установкой поведения и входит в жизнь, оживает.

На этом этапе усиливается сопротивление такому решению. Определенные силы, как в самом человеке, так и вне его, вовсе не заинтересованы в том, чтобы еще одно существо на свете освободилось от духовного сна и стало накапливать живую энергию ради светлых эволюционных целей. Не желая, чтобы человек становился сильнее среды, они начинают оказывать на него достаточно интенсивное воздействие, направленное на то, чтобы лишить его приобретенного запаса сил.

Именно здесь человек должен остановиться и провести всестороннюю ревизию своих энергетических трат. Жизнь предполагает постоянные энергетические потери, они неизбежны, но для того, чтобы духовно совершенствоваться, необходимо поддерживать определенный баланс между тратой и накоплением силы. Накопление должно превосходить вынужденные расходы, а для этого следует уменьшить свои энергетические потери, оставив из них только те, что нужны для выполнения жизненно важных функций и кармических платежей. Необходимо отсекать от себя именно те виды энергетических расходов, которые обусловлены человеческим невежеством, несовершенством и внешними вампирическими воздействиями.

Для того, чтобы преодолеть внутренние механизмы, ведущие к упадку сил, и накопить положительную энергию, помогающую обретению защищенности, необходимо принять определенные меры.

K основным причинам энергетических потерь можно отнести:

• хаотический поток мыслей, слов и образов в голове, «съедающий» основной запас психической энергии и подобно туче закрывающий «солнце высших энергий» — божественное Я человека;
• мысли, окрашенные отрицательными эмоциями;
• идеи, направляющие волю на ложные, приводящие к энергетическому истощению, цели;
• негативные мысли, усиленные яркими образами;
• мысли, лишенные образов и построенные на одной логике;
• мысли, обслуживающие низшие эгоистические желания;
• мысли, лишенные живого огня сердца и любви;
• всякую мыслительную активность, протекающую без живительного света осознания.

Thoughts and Thinking

We collectively glorify our ability to think as the distinguishing characteristic of humanity; we personally and mistakenly glorify our thoughts as the distinguishing pattern of who we are. From the inner voice of thought-as-words to the wordless images within our minds, thoughts create and limit our personal world. Through thinking we abstract and define reality, reason about it, react to it, recall past events and plan for the future. Yet thinking remains both woefully underdeveloped in most of us, as well as grossly overvalued. We can best gain some perspective on thinking in terms of energies.

Automatic thinking draws us away from the present. We wistfully allow our thoughts to meander where they would, carrying our passive attention along with them. Like water running down a mountain stream, thoughts running on autopilot careen through the spaces of perception, randomly triggering associative links within our vast storehouse of memory. By itself, such associative thought is harmless. However, our tendency to believe in, act upon, and drift away with such undirected thought keeps us operating in an automatic mode. Lulled into an inner passivity by our daydreams and thought streams, we lose contact with the world of actual perceptions, of real life. In the automatic mode of thinking, I am completely identified with my thoughts, believing my thoughts are me, believing that I am my thoughts.

Another mode of automatic thinking consists of repetitious and habitual patterns of thought. These thought tapes and our running commentary on life, unexamined by the light of awareness, keep us enthralled, defining who we are and perpetuating all our limiting assumptions about what is possible for us. Driving and driven by our emotions, these ruts of thought create our false persona, the mask that keeps us disconnected from others and from our own authentic self. More than any other single factor, automatic thinking hinders our contact with presence, limits our being, and blocks our path. The autopilot of thought constantly calls us away from the here and now, and keeps us fixed on the most superficial levels of our being.

Sometimes we even notice strange, unwanted thoughts that we consider horrible or shameful. We might be upset or shaken that we would think such thoughts, but those reactions only serve to sustain the problematic thoughts by feeding them energy. Furthermore, that self-disgust is based on the false assumption that we are our thoughts, that even unintentional thoughts, arising from our conditioned minds, are us. They are not us and we need not act upon or react to them. They are just thoughts with no inherent power and no real message about who we are. We can just relax and let them go — or not.

Sensitive thinking puts us in touch with the meaning of our thoughts and enables us to think logically, solve problems, make plans, and carry on a substantive conversation. A good education develops our ability to think clearly and intentionally with the sensitive energy. With that energy level in our thinking brain, no longer totally submerged in the thought stream, we can move about in it, choosing among and directing our thoughts based on their meaning.

Conscious thinking means stepping out of the thought stream altogether, surveying it from the shore. The thoughts themselves may even evaporate, leaving behind a temporarily empty streambed. Consciousness reveals the banality and emptiness of ordinary thinking. Consciousness also permits us to think more powerfully, holding several ideas, their meanings and ramifications in our minds at once.

When the creative energy enters into thought, truly new ideas spring up. Creative thinking can happen after a struggle, after exhausting all known avenues of relevant ideas and giving up, shaping and emptying the stage so the creative spark may enter. The quiet, relaxed mind also leaves room for the creative thought, a clear channel for creativity. Creative and insightful thoughts come to all of us in regard to the situations we face in life. The trick is to be aware enough to catch them, to notice their significance, and if they withstand the light of sober and unbiased evaluation, to act on them.

In the spiritual path, we work to recognize the limitations of thought, to recognize its power over us, and especially to move beyond it. Along with Descartes, we live in the realm of “thoughts ‘r us.” But thoughts are just thoughts. They are not us. They are not who we are. No thought can enter the spiritual realms. Rather, the material world defines the boundaries of thought, despite its power to conceive lofty abstractions. We cannot think our way into the spiritual reality. On the contrary, identification with thinking prevents us from entering the depths. As long as we believe that refined thinking represents our highest capacity, we shackle ourselves exclusively to this world. All our thoughts, all our books, all our ideas wither before the immensity of the higher realms.

A richly developed body of spiritual practices engages thought: from repetitive prayer and mantras, to contemplation of an idea, to visualizations of deities. In a most instructive and invaluable exercise, we learn to see beyond thought by embracing the gaps, the spaces between thoughts. After sitting quietly and relaxing for some time, we turn our attention toward the thought stream within us. We notice thoughts come and go of their own accord, without prodding or pushing from us. If we can abide in this relaxed watching of thought, without falling into the stream and flowing away with it, the thought stream begins to slow, the thoughts fragment. Less enthralled by our thoughts, we begin to see that we are not our thoughts. Less controlled by, and at the mercy of, our thoughts, we begin to be aware of the gaps between thought particles. These gaps open to consciousness, underlying all thought. Settling into these gaps, we enter and become the silent consciousness beneath thought. Instead of being in our thoughts, our thoughts are in us.

Automatic Energy

Have you ever gotten into the shower, shampooed your hair by habit, and a moment later stood there in the shower wondering whether you had shampooed yet? Have you ever looked for your glasses, only to find them on top of your head? My favorite example: sitting at dinner, frantically looking all around for my fork, until I finally discovered it in the least expected place – in my hand. To see the automatic energy in action like this is a sobering event. Whatever we do under the automatic energy, we only partially experience and only vaguely remember. Nevertheless, the automatic energy has its uses.

Awkwardness reigns when we first learn a complex new task, such as driving a car. Its unfamiliarity forces us to think about where the gas pedal is, where the brake pedal is, which foot to use, where the rearview mirrors are, what the traffic signs and signals mean, when we have the right-of-way, and so on. Thinking how to drive makes us clumsy and inefficient, as we use the mind to do the body’s work. Eventually, we learn to drive with ease when it all becomes automated; the appropriate responses emerging without needing to think of them. Our body drives the car while our mind freely engages in conversation, listens to the radio, plans our day, dictates a letter, or considers higher level driving strategies like how to bail out of a traffic jam. The driving itself happens automatically.

The automatic energy can work in the body, in the mind, and in the heart. We learn to play a musical instrument, play a sport, brush our teeth, walk, type on a keyboard, speak and read a language, know the product of 7 times 8, recognize a face, recall a name, all with the help of the automatic energy. For such purposes, the automatic energy finds its appropriate place: directing repetitive or simple processes, thereby freeing up the higher energies for tasks befitting them.

The nearly continuous stream of random, loosely connected, aimless thoughts and images that flows through our minds usually carries us with it and prevents us from being fully present in the moment. This persistent current of automatic thought all too often captures our attention, drawing us into passivity in a dreamlike world, disorganizing and usurping the higher energies of sensation, consciousness, and creativity.

Another problem with the automatic energy occurs when it acts in ways that deplete us. Our habitual and unnecessary muscular tensions burn energy we could better use elsewhere. Our bad habits drain us: smoking, excessive drinking, overeating ­­¾ all due, at least in part, to misuse of the automatic energy, letting it control rather than serve.

Automatic emotional reactions to life situations, such as anger, rage, fear, jealousy, lust, greed, timidity, and sadness, may be appropriate and even useful for a brief period. But when we allow our automatic energy to run with them, unseen by consciousness, our thoughts and feelings dwell on the reactive emotions. We wallow in them to the point where they take a central role in our inner life, controlling us. All manner of social and psychological troubles result.

The automatic energy, while useful and even necessary, does not bring us into real contact with life. To our unrecognized misfortune, we live almost exclusively under the domination of the automatic energy, enthralled by our habits and conditioning, forever repeating similar patterns of behavior, inner and outer. Our lives pass us by without our participation. Centered in the automatic energy, we are, in effect, asleep. We relish anything that temporarily alleviates the dullness. We even go for strong reactive emotions or thrill seeking, substituting them for a freer, more satisfying, non-automatized way of living. The proven remedy is to embark on a path of spiritual practice leading to greater wakefulness and greater awareness in the midst of normal life.

Carlos Castaneda (part 1)

"You take yourself too seriously. You are too damn important in your own mind. That must be changed! You are so goddamn important that you feel justified to be annoyed with everything. You're so damn important that you can afford to leave if things don't go your way. I suppose you think that shows you have character. That's nonsense! You're weak, and conceited! In the course of your life you have not ever finished anything because of that sense of disproportionate importance that you attach to yourself."

Vernon Howard (part 1)

"Slowing down is the only way to move forward."

"Develop sincerity by questioning your sincerity."

"Anytime you are unhappy, instantly realize it is a wrong thought which is unhappy, not the essential you."

"Never try to turn failure into success. But instead of trying to turn failure into success, try to turn your failure into understanding."

"No one needs to be a submissive victim of his own weakness."

"The feeling of self-worth of every person is like an elevator, right? Your feeling of self-value goes up, stays up for a short time, plunges down again. Something favorable comes across your
path and the elevator goes up. Up and down. Up and down. Always restless. Never stable, never still. Always making a racket and making movements. This a form of self-betrayal, which you have not as yet detected."

"Do not burden yourself with worry over results. Enjoy your voyage toward your goal."

"Stop giving bothersome people false rewards and they will stop bothering you."

Richard Carlson (part 1)

All of us have within ourselves a great deal of wisdom, something you might call innate mental health. Unfortunately, however this inner wisdom is often interfered with by all the confusing and conflicting thoughts, ideas, plans, and fears that fill our minds.

To go inside yourself you must empty your mind and clear your head.

The less you care about seeking approval, the more approval you seem to get.

The Truth is we don’t have to find the cure for cancer to "make a difference", we can do small things, by taking small steps and actions, our lives can become instruments of Love and Compassion.

As you learn to respect the value of a quiet clear mind and place your attention on this moment, you will nurture your ability to be present moment oriented, free from your worries, concerns, and inner tribulations; all of those things that eventually turn into insecurity and self destructive or erratic behavior.

We are different at every age, and beautiful too. Thank G-d for how boring to stay exactly the same for our whole lives. Your acceptance of aging will add peace to your path, and you will be all the more beautiful because of it.

Nothing helps us build our perspective more than developing compassion for others...

When your busy comparing one person to another or one experience to something else, you often miss out on what's right before you. Being trapped in comparisons is nothing more than a habit. A way of thinking about life. The solution for it is quite simple, stop doing it. when you break the comparison habit, or at least lessen its grip on the way you see the world, you’ll begin to notice that life really is an adventure. Each experience is unique and worthy, just the way it is.

Fearful, frantic thinking takes an enormous amount of energy and it drains the creativity and motivation from our lives.

Gently remind yourself that life is okay the way it is, right now.

Achievements and accomplishments are important but they can take you only so far. In the end, what really matters, and what people remember you for and how you value yourself; is all about the type of person you are and the type of role model you become.

One of the keys to being happier and handling life with more ease is to know your hot spots: Those emotional triggers that leave you feeling vulnerable, frustrated, stressed, or agitated-those triggers which you consistently react to in a negative way.

Don’t keep people waiting. Time is precious to Everyone. One of the ultimate slaps and surefire ways to annoy someone is to keep them waiting. I think its easy to forget that other people have stressful lives and demands and pressures that we can’t even begin to imagine.

One of the best strategies, especially when dealing with relatively minor stuff is to remember to keep your sense of humor and to not take it too seriously.

Stress will decrease and happiness will increase as a result of knowing you are doing the best you can to be a part of as many solutions as possible.

I will always have the ideal set of friends as long as I accept the fact that not everyone I think should be my friend will be. That’s the important part that will free you from feeling bad when you’re not feeling accepted by certain people.

So much of the time when we are sweating or stressing about something, its because we are resisting something that we have little or no control over rather than accepting it for what it is.

So ask yourself the question when you get insecure, "Will this matter a year from now?"

One of the greatest sources of inner peace that I’m aware of is expressed in this motto, "It is as it is." This prescription for peace is a reminder that there are times in life when acceptance is a far wiser choice than the option to struggle.

While it's important not to live in fear of calamity, you can take an assessment of your skills and current marketability, even if you have no plans or intentions of seeking employment.

Just as we wouldn’t intentionally rub salt into an open abscess, if we absolutely must vent we should try doing it with one person one time and let it go after that.

We must not look to another individual for our fulfillment, we must look to ourselves.

Feelings and thoughts are temporary experiences-even the bad ones will lift and go away. When they do, everything will look different, less hostile and frightening.

Seeing the innocence in others is a powerful tool for transformation; we can "look beyond" behavior.

Knowing what it is that tends to push your buttons allows you to take a step back, see it coming, and make any necessary allowance so that you wont be bothered so much.

I’ve found that doing the occasional "nice thing" for someone acts sort of like a reset button, It has the effect of helping us to remember to keep our perspective. If Little acts of kindness make our own lives better and do some good for someone else why in the world don’t we do more of it?

Remind yourself over and over again that you are a competent bright person who will find a way to rise to the occasion whatever the occasion happens to be. You must believe in yourself because you are worth it.

While I don’t have as much control over which thoughts come to mind as perhaps I would like, I do have a great deal of control over which thoughts I give significance to and decide to act upon.

Step back, Slow down and reflect on the miracle of life, on the gift of being here on this planet for this brief period of time, its easy to see how connected we really are to everything else and each other.

Being fulfilled is not something you can delegate. You must take charge of your own happiness and emotional well-being.

All of us are part of certain solutions and a part of other problems. The value of reflecting on this issue is that it gives us a chance to take an honest look and to assess where we are in terms of our own contribution to humanity, compared to where we might want to be.

Everyone has innate health, as all people have direct access to a health motivated outlook, no matter what their past involves or their current situation. This state of mind is characterized by Maturity, Good judgment, Social competence, Positive self worth and Motivation.

People need only to become less attached to conditioned habits of self defeating alienated thoughts to gain access to healthy functioning. This step engages a self renewing process.

The ability to live in healthy functioning is accelerated by an understanding of what this healthy state is and from where it originates.

Continual growth and change is reinforced through realizations about the role of thought in relation to our behavior in our day to day lives.

To engage healthier states of mind there is no need to work through past traumas or to re-experience negative feelings.

We process and interpret experience via thought. Since people carry Their past into the present through their thinking, it helps tremendously to understand how thought functions as we move in and out of healthy states of mind.

Positive change occurs through insights brought out by a person's experience of new, more positive feeling states.

My goal is to educate myself and other people about their own capacity for healthy functioning, beginning with these new, more hopeful feelings.

To fulfill my role/goal, I must be able to see health inside of people, develop respectful empowering relationships, and to teach people about their capacity for health while providing support and understanding without fostering dependency.

The catalyst for change is my depth of understanding of the source of their own innate capacity for mental health. This recognition allows others to see this capacity in others.

Since everyone has this capacity, they can be empowered to improve the quality of their personal lives, to build a healthier family environment, and to create viable, empowered communities using these principles.

Regarding Criticism

We know it is not necessary or even possible to follow every suggestion we receive. We can certainly consider them, but once we do so in the light of our inner wisdom, we will know if they are right for us. It is important to remember that one person’s criticism or advice may have less to do with you than it does with them and their path. They may see a reflection of their lessons and choices in you, and seek to correct the reflection rather than doing the more difficult inner work necessary. With this in mind today, you can let criticism from others fall lightly upon you and choose whether or not to accept or reject it without feeling vulnerable.

Many times we react most strongly to criticism that we worry may be true, as if that person could see our hidden fears. It may feel as if we are a piano whose lid has been lifted, and among all the uniform notes of the keyboard, they have hit the note that we hoped would go unnoticed. It reverberates within us, but we can choose to harmonize with it, building chords and themes from what was said to be a weakness into great and complex strength.