Yin and Yang

abcradiology.blogspot.com

    Over one thousand years before the birth of Christ, Yin and Yang was first expressed. Chinese philosophy incorporated this belief during the Yin Dynasty (1400-1100 BC). But these two forces, or more appropriately, holistic force, has been maintaining the universe since its genesis. These polar forces, one negative and one positive, constantly interact. Neither is in absolute stasis. They exist to balance the universe.

    Western science also has its version of this, in Newton’s third law, “For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.”
     Each represents different conditions. Yin, the black fish, is negative, dark, passive, cold, wet, and feminine. Yang, the white fish, is positive, bright, active, dry, hot, and masculine.
    There are four aspects of yin-yang:
        1. They are Opposites
        2. Interdependent: one cannot exist without the other. Notice that each fish’s eye is the color of the opposite fish. (Black fish has a white eye, and vice-versa). That is because all yin has yang and all yang has yin. Take, for example, day and night. Day (yang) turns into night (yin), but, there is an intermediate phase -- evening (when yin begins to fill the yang). A similar situation happens towards the end of night -- dawn (when yang begins to fill the yin).
    3. Mutual consumption: levels of yin-yang are constantly changing, and though this is often harmonious, sometimes one is more powerful than the other, leading it to weaken (consume) the other. This accounts for many of what we deem as problems, (illness, depression, chronic anger), further explained in biological yin-yang.
       4. Inter-transformation: one force changes into the other after it has reached its peak. Like when day turns into evening and then into night.

     Notice that neither represents good or evil, because yin and yang forces both are necessary to maintain balance in the universe.  

 (courtesy of http://www.coolfreewallpaper.net/cool_free_wallpaper_Yin_and_Yang.htm

     

     How exactly do they balance each other?
    They arise from quiescence, or rest, and radiate until quiescence is reached again. For instance, when someone drops a stone into a calm lake, waves rise (yang) creating low points between the waves (yin). These waves will radiate until yin and yang balance out, meaning the lake calms down again, and its surface is once again flat. 
    In “Basics”, I used the concept of magnets, which are held by opposite polar ends with a force in the center that keeps them connected. This illustrates the universe in a mundane sense, where it is held together by opposite polar forces whose interactions are required to keep it together. These "opposite" polar forces are the very same thing we've been discussing --- yin and yang. Their, if you will, "magnetic" interactions create a force which keeps them unified and balanced. In turn, this force that they create gives rise to our universe.
      Theoretically, of course.
    Now, if you had two magnets and faced the positive end towards the negative, they would be attracted and join together. There is force in between them. But, what happens when you remove just one of those magnets? The force that once held them together would vanish. Such is the importance of yin and yang. Remove only one of them, and there is no longer a force. There is no longer a universe.
    No need to fear, though. Yin and yang are, in their nature, energy, as is everything in this universe (including matter). And we all know that energy cannot be destroyed. But, what's interesting is this: energy can be converted. So, what if one day, yin and yang is converted into something else?


     Yin-yang is drawn using trigrams, or a specific pattern of lines, that symbolize everything in the universe. Yang is expressed as – – while yin is —
    These are then used in the Eight Trigrams, which symbolize everything in the universe. Here is what they look like: 

(courtesy of http://learningtaichichuan.com/bagua.html

     The trigrams encompass the yin-yang symbol, and are labeled by their name and what they represent.
    Applying yin and yang to your daily life can have health benefits. Take the traditional Chinese diet, for example, which labels certain foods yin and others yang and makes sure to mix the two in each meal. When they are eating something cold, they make sure to have something hot as well. Same with dry and wet, sweet and sour, spicy and plain, and so on.
    Here is a link that will explain more on yin-yang as medicine: http://www.sacredlotus.com/theory/yinyang.cfm
    If you wish to experience yin-yang within you, practicing Tai Chi will help. Tai Chi involves a series of poses that stimulate the yin and yang forces in the body.

    Achieving total awareness in meditation is also a product of balanced yin-yang. “Meditation” describes how to achieve this.
    For those who have taken the spiritual path, understanding yin and yang will greatly help you on your journey --- for achieving total balance is key to enlightenment. When one has achieved this balance and total mastery of the world around them, they are ready to transcend, no longer needing to reincarnate.
    Thank you for reading, and may you achieve balance in your life.
    Namaste.

Meditation

(courtesy of http://www.moonsinger.com/meditation.htm)

   Meditation, from the Latin root meditatum (meaning 'to ponder'), has been practiced since the beginning of man.

   Typically, when one hears the word meditation, he or she thinks that it is sitting in a cross legged position and chanting sounds. This is only one type. There are many techniques, and often times, people meditate without realizing. Getting 'spaced out' is a very basic form of meditation, in that we forget about our surroundings. 

   To meditate is to focus one's mind on emptiness. No thoughts must cross the mind, no sounds must catch the ear. This state allows the practitioner to achieve enlightenment---an understanding of the universe, the world, and one's soul. I call it Awakening. And as far as I know, meditation must be practiced if one is to Awaken.

 (courtesy of http://spiritualreality.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/)

   Meditation is used to clear one's mind and increase one's compassion and love, creativity, focus, and flow of inspiration. It also decreases stress, anger, fear, hatred, pain and sickness.

   The above effects can be felt quickly, often in the first meditation, but it may take months and sometimes even years to achieve enlightenment. (Remember, if it takes years for you to become enlightened, there is nothing wrong with that, for we all learn at different rates).

   For those who achieve enlightenment, they begin to greatly increase the rate of their spiritual growth, realizing that  they have powers they never knew of, such as psychokinesis---levitating objects, bending fire and water and air, harnessing electricity, and so on.

   But before one can Awaken, he or she must practice meditation.
   Eager to get started? This technique, excellent for advancing to higher meditation, requires little effort and time. Simply lay down---on a bed, on a floor, on the roof---and close your eyes. It is good to turn off the lights and practice in a place with little noise.

   Once you feel comfortable in the place you will meditate, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. 5 minutes is adequate for a start. I would not recommend having an alarm set, as the jolt is quite unpleasant. To begin, slowly deepen your inhalations, feeling the air expand in your chest, in your diaphragm, and then in your belly. Then slowly release the breath. Do not force the breath to deepen, it will happen naturally. Aim for your inhalations and exhalations to be 10 seconds long. 

   This breathing exercise (excellent to get you relaxed prior to meditation) helps to focus the mind only  on your breathing, so as to forget about the stressing thoughts of your daily life. It also heals the body, for you are getting in many more times worth of oxygen than normal. It also relieves stress---an effect anyone notices during this exercise. It's also great for those whose jobs demand sitting long hours at a computer, for it will increase the flow of oxygen to the brain and help energize the thought process.

 (courtesy of http://danielpmacdonald.com/)

    Now, if you're eager, you can continue as soon as you feel five minutes have been spent. Or, you can start again at a later time. After the focused breathing, begin scanning your body from head to toes. You no longer need to concentrate on your breathing. Just visualize a disk that stretches all the way across your scalp, going down slowly and picking up any sign of pain. If you sense something hurting, focus your attention on that pain and imagine the disk curving around the pain and eliminating it. Continue, once going over your muscles, and another time through your bones. You can do this for the skin as well. And for those with vision problems, it may help to focus on the eyes as well---visualize the disk filling the eyeballs and healing them. During the exercise, you may have felt some tingling were you focused the disk.This is good, for it means you sensed the chi healing that very spot.

    Afterward, continue laying there, completely calm and relaxed. You can now begin the transitional step towards complete self-awareness. Watch your thoughts drift across the front of your mind. Do not focus on them, simply let them glide across, acknowledge them, and  have them disappear. Do this until no more thoughts occur. (This may take anywhere from a minute to an hour.) The reason for doing this is because throughout the day, the mind is constantly recording everything that happens as thoughts and stores these thoughts onto "shelves" to be looked at later. Often these thoughts grow too many and stress is produced, along with a drop in inspiration. One way the mind "cleans" theses shelves is through dreams, where it will pick up some thoughts and examine them, extracting any useful information. Though this helps, most thoughts are not cleared and they can prevent you from efficiency and creativity. That is why in all meditation, it helps to look over every single thought your mind brings up (and it will do this naturally---you don't have to worry about finding them). Eventually, no more thoughts will appear and your mind will be completely blank. You will feel as though time has stopped and that there is no future and no past. You will forget that you are on Earth and instead feel that you are just "there." Everything is calm, the calmest it has ever been, and perfect. You no longer think you are human, simply an entity in the universe, one with the universe---a soul with a purpose.
    Once you have reached this state, you have Awakened.
   All experience this differently, for we are all unique (for in the words of science, we all vibrate different frequencies) as do our souls. For instance, I saw the universe and its stars and galaxies drift past me in a breathtaking array of light, glowing all around me, hearing the words "I am one" over and over again and being applied to everything. It was truly beautiful, one of the most beautiful moments I have ever experienced. I felt as though I was in space itself.

 (courtesy of  http://www.wallpapershell.com)

   If you feel nervous about this, there is no need to fear. Your body will not actually be in space, (your soul might) it will still be in the same place as where you began meditating. Also know that if your soul is in space (if you're not sure you're in space, then you are not---this is something you know for certain) if your soul is in space, your soul cannot be harmed, for it is energy, and energy cannot be destroyed.
    And, once you are in this state, the beauty of it will be forever etched into your memory. 
   Now, as I have mentioned, to Awaken may take the practitioner between several months to a year to achieve. However, I do not doubt the possibility of Awakening on the first try. If this happens to be you, please email me (ayasenev@gmail.com) for this is a rare event and one I wish to know more about.
    Do not worry if you cannot clear all the thoughts in your mind or if they keep returning. Keep acknowledging them and visualize them disappearing. You are in control of your mind and you have the ability to direct it anyway you please. Oftentimes, music helps one to achieve a relaxed state. 

    The steps in brief are: (1) breath deeply for five or more minutes (2) scan the body to heal any pain (3) clear the mind of all thoughts. Remember, the first two steps are for relaxation---they are optional, yet highly recommended. It would be beneficial to practice all three steps everyday for one to three months. Afterwords, you can start on step three.
    Here are more meditation techniques:

   Zen meditation---it is a meditation practiced most often by Zen Buddhists (aka 'meditation Buddhists') which involves sitting in various positions and focusing on one's breath to achieve the total awareness state. 

Here is the most common position:

Burmese Position

(courtesy of http://www.dharma-rain.org/zazen/legs.html)

   This position is the standard cross-legged position. Sit on the edge of a pillow (specifically called a zafu) and cross your legs, trying to get your knees to rest on the floor. (If you can't do this at first, do not strain yourself. Position your knees where they are comfortable and they will naturally drop to the floor.) Keep your spine straight and place your hands in front of your navel. Have one hand rest in the dominant hand with the tips of your thumbs gently touching.
   Now, just focus on your breathing, counting each inhale and exhale until you reach ten. If a thought appears, restart the count until your mind is completely blank by the number ten. Once you do this, count only your exhale breaths until you reach ten. Again, no thoughts must appear. Once you do this, no longer count your breath. You should be in the total-awareness state.  

   The beauty of meditation is that is so simple to do, yet so life-altering and healthy. Practice meditation daily and you will see great results. You will gain ideas for whatever it is you want, whether you're a writer, an inventor, student, parent, employee or employer.

   No matter what profession, or what area you need inspiration in, meditation will help.
   I will cover various meditation techniques later. Keep in mind that no meditation is better than another. They simply have variant goals, all of which relate to the same thing---the soul.

   My friends, see for yourself what meditation can do for you. 

Namaste.

Energy

     A current that flows through the universe, through the world, through us. Produced by the vibrating atoms found in everything we see and do not see. Various sensations can be felt by energy, like heat, shock, and cold. Sometimes, energy cannot be sensed. Whatever the case, energy is everywhere, and it is used in everything.
    From automobiles and airplanes, to the healing arts of spiritual healers, energy is what gives us life, and creates action in the universe.
    Sometimes, the energy within us is low, and we fall victim to fatigue, stress, and illness. Sometimes, we are full of negative energy, also creating stress and illness.
    The purpose of energy, in Spirituality, is for us to learn how to sense it and how to use it in day to day life. And it is really not that hard.
    The easiest energy to sense is Chi (also known as Ki, Qi, Reiki, Prana, or Love Energy). It is located a few inches below the navel and a few inches away from the body, concentrated into a ball known as the Lower Dan Tien. From this source, Chi enters the body and flows through it, healing all ailments.

    To sense this energy, place your hands a few inches below your navel, palms facing each other, and imagine you are holding a balloon. Look forward and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths, keeping the image of the balloon in mind. Now, visualize the skin of the balloon vanishing, leaving the air concentrated in a ball. Feel your hands surrounding this air. Breath in and breath out. Imagine the air from your exhalation spiraling down towards the space between your hands, feeding the ball of air and expanding it. Do this for each exhalation, and do at least 10 exhalations.

   Depending on how naturally sensitive you are to sensing energy, and how healthy you are, you should feel a tingling or a warmth (or both) on your palms. If not, it is perfectly okay---just keep doing this exercise at least once a day and eventually you will sense it. After a while, the tingling and warmth will grow more powerful as you become more sensitized and more powerful in controlling Chi.
    Some martial arts forms exist to help the Chi flow through the body, such as Tai Chi and Qigong. If you are interested in these, here is a sample from a video series of the Yang Chen Fu Tai Chi form. All the postures are divided into parts and explained in detail so that you can learn it yourself. (Try to learn one part everyday and master it. I recommend one, as it helps you memorize the sequence faster. If you feel like you can learn more a day, then by all means do so.)

    Other techniques to help the flow of Chi are Yoga and various meditations. The link below is from the show Namaste Yoga, an easy sequence of postures accompanied with relaxing music and setting. Each episode is divided into 3 parts: Warm-up, the main sequence, and relaxation and savassana. Doing one episode a day will greatly improve overall health, reduce stress, add flexibility, balance your chakras, and get the Chi flowing.

    Remember when I mentioned Chakras in “Basics?” Chi flows through your 7 main chakras, allowing them to function. The 7 chakras, from bottom to top are: Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus (or Navel), Heart, Throat, Brow, and Crown. Each chakra has its own specific function, although they all work together like a system. If one part of the system is flawed, the rest suffers. So, if you have an under-active Root chakra, for example, then other chakras will compensate by becoming over-active. Know that if this is so, it is unhealthy and is hindering you from full optimization. This link will take you to a chakra test, and will assess how each of your chakras are functioning.  http://www.eclecticenergies.com/chakras/chakratest.php At the end, there will be suggestions on how to open them using matras (sounds) and mudras (hand positions).
     Now, this test is not 100% accurate, since the answers to those questions depend on the mood you're in. To get more accurate results, try doing it in the morning on a day where you are relaxed and nothing much is happening. The results of your test will indicate how active your chakras are when you are calm. And though it still will not be 100% accurate, perhaps closer to 80-90%, it is a good guide to see which chakra(s) you need to focus on.


     Attempt to open your chakras at least once a day. Doing it soon after waking is preferred because it will set you off to a good start.
    There are other ways to work with your chakras, some that do not involve opening, but balancing all of them. These individual healings are usually all you need to help you balance and re-energize. There are, however, healers who are very experienced and summon enormous amounts of Chi with little or no difficulty. If you have a serious condition, (either physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually) going to these healers would be very helpful.
    Sometimes, those of us who are Spiritual like to take the path of the healer, and help others recover from illness. If you would like to do so, seek out a Spiritual healer in your neighborhood and see what you can learn from him or her.
    On the negative side of this is what are called energy vampires. They suck up energy from their surroundings (people, animals, vegetation). Oftentimes they are unaware, because they do not consciously know they are on the spiritual path. Usually, these people are frail, chronically fatigued, depressed, and so, the body naturally absorbs energy to keep itself alive. These people should not be labeled as vampires. They require help and energy healing.

    Here are some videos of incredible Chi power:

    Most likely you will not be able to shoot sparks between your hands or light paper on fire, but you can amplify the amount of energy you produce. Crystals are immensely useful when it comes to energy and meditation. They are able to absorb energy and do different things based on what type they are. If you already have a crystal, try summoning Chi in one hand while holding the crystal in the other. It will amplify your results. I strongly recommend getting clear quartz, as it is useful in almost every application. Remember, before you use crystals for Chi work, make sure you cleanse them, either by using a tuning fork near them (as crystals respond very positively to pure notes), holding them over incense, or breathing on them and visualizing the breath cleansing all the negative and replacing it with positive. 

 

      Even with crystals, it takes practice to do Chi work, so practice everyday and you will gain results. Though, it will be no good if you are aggressive in your practice. Getting angry for not having results and pushing yourself harder out of anger and disappointment will only hinder you because of all the negative energy that will be produced. Instead, think positively by knowing that with each attempt, you are increasing your skill with Chi, even if you do not sense it. Everything happens for a reason, and that is to learn.
      May you succeed in all your attempts.
      Namaste. 

Basics

Realizing You are on the Path

 

Spirituality---the belief of a soul in each of us, a soul that we can communicate with to gain knowledge and wisdom and an understanding of our purpose. Whether you know it or not, we all are on a spiritual path, and we all learn from our lives, from challenges we have overcome and failed, to problems we have fixed or not, everything that happens serves as a lesson for us to learn from. Learning, in a sense of not just academics, but limits, morals, and solutions of how to overcome a problem should it ever arise again.

    Learning increases drastically once one is consciously aware that he or she is on the path. We begin to improve our lives, and the lives of others, and we see that there is more meaning in life than what we had previously thought.

    To become consciously aware that you are on the path, you must believe that whatever happens in life serves as a lesson for you to learn from--- a soul within and around you, guides you through life.

    Once you believe, you enter the path to enlightenment.

Fundamentals

     Remember this, Spirituality is not a religion. Though it is a belief, it is no religion. Spirituality, is instead, more of a philosophy, a look on life and the universe that is coherent, and always (in the end) logical. It does not force you to believe in an omnipotent God. It does not make you pray and place all your faith in something in the hopes that it is real. But, neither does it ask you to give up your religion. You are free to place faith with the idea fed to you during your lifetime.

    But what it does ask you is to take a new look on things. It's easy to say, "Well, God created everything, and that's that." It's simple, it doesn't require too much thought, and you can go on. But what happens when you really want to know why something happens. Why do bad things happen to good people? And good to bad? Why are we alive? Is Heaven (or Nirvana) a reality? Why are there so many religions? How can mine be right, and not his? Since there are so many, how can we be sure which one is correct? Is any religion correct? If we all believe in God, why can't we just say "Hey, we all believe in God. Let's leave it at that, and stop warring over who is correct." Sometimes, questions just need to be answered to make us feel more secure. Spirituality gives us that opportunity. It is a combination of scientific knowledge, mixed with pseudo-science (that which is not yet scientifically proven but has been experienced for thousands of years, such as astral projection). 

    To assist you on your path, lets start with one of the spiritual basics, the soul.
    “What exactly is a soul?” You probably have seen them in movies as hollow replicas of our bodies. Though in certain meditations it can appear as such, it is not normally in that state. A soul is energy. Everything in this universe, is energy, vibrating at different frequencies. Heat is energy. It vibrates at a frequency that creates a sense of heat when these vibrations hit us. Matter is energy as well, extremely condensed energy. Humans are energy as well, our thoughts and emotions included. Indeed, energy is what binds everything together. It is our most basic connection to everything. It is like an ocean. A girl lowers a hand into the water, and thousands of miles away, a different girl puts her hand in the water as well. Though thousands of miles apart, both girls are now connected by the ocean.

Electromagnetic Energy from: www.my-blackberry.net

     So, a soul is energy. “But how can energy record information and guide me through life?” Because, since everything in the Universe is energy, wouldn't this just make sense? Our thoughts are energy. The memories we store are in the form of energy. A soul is just an extremely complicated source of energy the likes of which may never be entirely understood.
    But one thing is clear. You are not your soul. Think about this. Do you know anything about you from before your birth? Not that you were conceived, and that your cells formed in such a way. No, I mean, do you have any understanding of what went on in the womb? That is a definite No. (If you do, then you are of tremendous scientific value, and would have probably been studied already, and heard by the masses.) For the rest of us, that is a No. Where am I going with this? Think about your life, think of your memories from as far back as you can remember. Think of your likes, and your dislikes, your hobbies, your favorite foods, your dreams, your goals, your view on the world. This is you. You are your intelligence, your memories and personality. Can you agree with that? For most of us, yes. For example, we have Joe. When asked who he is, Joe says "I'm an office worker. I grew up in Brooklyn. I like to hike. Someday, I want to be the C.E.O of my company." Most of us will answer this way, we'll say what our job is, what we like to do, where we grew up, and where we want to end up. That's you. And basically that means, you are your conscious.
    What's the difference between a conscious and a soul? Your soul is an energy being (because everything is energy) that is far more grand than anything that can be imagined. It is your own, personal guardian, your Higher Self. Your conscious is merely a sliver of your Higher Self. That is why we have no intimate connection with our soul, because unless we concentrate on it, we will never realize it is there. It is like an ant trying to realize that it is in a baseball field.
    It is this soul that chooses our time and place of birth, and what type of life form we will be.
    But, how can something like this possibly exist? Author, how do you know this? For those who have connected with their soul, they absolutely know that their soul exists. There is no longer doubt. Buddhists often have this experience, for that is one of the aims of their religion. For the majority of us who have not experienced this "supposed grand energy being responsible for our creation" (I empathize with you on this. It is not something you pick up and instantly fall for. I didn't always believe in it either. But the connection certainly changed that)...for those of us who have not experienced it, we are left baffled by it and unsure. That is the nature of humanity. New things need to be examined, studied, and approved. We need to be sure it exists. Lucid Dreaming (realizing you are dreaming and then taking control of it) was for a long time, in the scientific community, regarded as a hoax. But now it has been concretely proven. The same is true for almost everything. When science first began, everything was new and unproven. Now, new things are being proven every day.
     Basically, to realize your soul exists, you have to connect with it. I won't cover connection, for then this post will turn into a novel. But what I will say is, meditation is a great way for connection. Look into it if you want. And I will also say this (I'm just full of things to say today), Spirituality does not ask you to place faith in the existence of souls. If your reasoning suggests that souls aren't real, that is your reasoning and that is what you know at the time. That is fine. You are not obliged to believe. But you are always free to try and experience it. And that is a difference between religion and spirituality. In religion, you are required to possess utmost faith in something. In spirituality, believe in what you want according to your reasoning. 
     But enough about that. Your soul created you, and now you're on Earth. Shizam! Now what? What was the purpose? Basically, the soul created you to use you as a vehicle for experiencing new things. The soul is like a library. The more books (experiences) a library (the soul) contains, the better the library. As a human, your place here on Earth is to learn and to progress. You do this through the four planes of existence.
   

                       Physical                      

                       Emotional
                       Mental
                       Spiritual

 
    These 4 concepts define our humanity, what we actually are.

 

  Physical is of course, the body, the matter. All the muscles, tissues, bones, organs, and brain matter. The physical level is the only level we can see with our eyes (physical sees physical). The physical plane is like the sliver of visible light on the electromagnetic scale. It composes a very small portion of a human being. 

    The Emotional plane is, naturally, the emotions that humans experience throughout the lifetime. They include joy, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, anticipation, and acceptance. They are important in our interaction with others. The more positive we are with emotions, the more we attract people, and the more negative, the more we distance ourselves away. Emotions aren’t visible because we only see the effects of the emotions on our physical bodies. (Happiness leads to smiling, sadness leads to crying). Smiling results from an impulse, a smile is not in itself an emotion.

    Mental is the mind and how we use logic and reasoning to solve problems. The more powerful the mental level is, the more one is able to intellectualize life’s challenges and use sense and creativity to accomplish them. The Mental level also involves our creative side, and how we can express ourselves through art, music, dance, writing, theater, etc, and how we solve problems this way.

   The Spiritual level is the soul, and how we progress through life, knowing our soul is guiding us. The higher you spiritual sense is, the more you begin to see that life is a school and that we are here to learn. Our bodies are our soul's vehicle on Earth. We experience new things, and the soul records them.

    Now, the 4 levels always work together, either at the same time or in steps, and it is different for everybody. (Let’s say your car is stolen. First, your Emotional level kicks in and you panic. Your Physical level reacts when your heart beats faster. Your Mental level reacts when you ask yourself who could have taken it, and what you are going to do. The Spiritual level is active the entire time and it records everything that you are experiencing. Later, in meditation, it will bring up the event and allow you to learn from it.)
    As the 4 levels work together to progress the learning, it is important to understand that if you face a difficulty and do not consciously learn from it, then the difficulty will repeat itself until you do learn. For example, if someone is always insulting you, calling you names and angering you, and if you  imply try ignoring the problem, the insulting will persist. When it does persist, that means it is a lesson and that it’s time you learned from it. It could be that the person insulting you needs help, probably with a life crisis, and that he or she is in immense turmoil and is being subconsciously directed to put out emotions through insults. If you decide to help that person, then soon you will realize he or she is a great person that just needed some guidance.)

    So, there was the four planes in brief. Confused? Not enough cleared up yet? Don't worry. Just stay tuned and they'll be explained later on. Remember this for now. Our soul created us and uses us to learn new things through the four planes of existence. Simple.

    Next is yin and yang.

    This is an idea that describes the state of our universe as both positive (white fish) and negative (black fish). Both positive and negative must be equal in order to achieve a state of balance, as the universe always tries to balance itself. Notice that in each fish, the eye is the color of the other fish, because all positive has negative and all negative has positive. One of Newton’s laws, “every action has an opposite but equal reaction” is the Western version of yin and yang. Anytime something you consider positive happens, something negative happens as well, and vice-versa. (Whenever a volcano erupts and destroys the surrounding land (negative), new life will arise (positive)). The universe will always balance itself. There is never all positive or all negative. The saying “You can never have too much of a good thing” agrees with this.
    It is important to understand that negative does not mean bad or evil. Just that it is a necessary part of the universe. And positive does not necessarily mean good. Instead, think of the universe as two magnets. Each faces the other, with one end being positive and the other being negative. They attract and hold each other together with the forces in the center, acting as neutrality (the state that the universe is in). If one end were to vanish, the forces in the center would cease to operate and the other end would simply fall. Thus, no more universe.
    Buddha strived to achieve neutrality while on his path, to see everything in positive and negative, and to act as both.

    Now, let's return to energy. I mentioned that there is a universal energy, and that your soul is a part of that energy. There are other kinds of energies as well, such as chi and psi (more on that in another article) and there are vortexes of energy known as chakras, which run along through your center, from the base of the spine to the top of the head.

    There are 7 physical chakras, and each is a different color of the rainbow, starting red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. (Notice they follow the spectrum of visible light) Each chakra has its own function on our being, and we can control each. These chakras are either opened, closed, under-active, or over-active. The ideal state of the chakras is to have them all open and balanced. (But more on that later.)
    Another aspect of Spirituality is meditation. In later articles, I will describe various techniques. For now, the idea and goal will suffice.

    Meditation is the act of clearing one’s mind to be void of any thought or feeling. This state allows one to connect with the soul, if the soul chooses to appear. The healing properties of meditation include a riddance of stress, and pain (if the individual focuses on the area of pain and is able to use chi), and a calming effect that can lead to a state of pure happiness (Nirvana in Buddhist tradition). Meditation connects the 4 planes together in harmonious balance, and boosts the overall health of an individual. And because it clears the mind of excess thoughts, it makes room for new ideas, something called inspiration. (Great for people with writers block). Answers to a current challenge you are experiencing (because there are no problems, only lessons and challenges) can be provided in the course of meditation.

     As a final topic, Spirituality involves the idea of reincarnation. That is, your soul creates you numerous times to add books to its library.

    Remember, what you just read was a brief article describing the basics. Many more concepts will be viewed in later articles in detail. The idea here is to see whether you wish to learn more.

    I wish you success on your path. Go and learn all you can, and embrace every difficulty and every convenience, and see if you can take a new look on things.

   

     The light in me shines with the light in you.

Namaste

The World as it Seems

    2010. Here is humanity, progressing faster than ever, with new technologies coming out everyday, from new cell phones to new jet planes. Crises are ever growing---the war in Afghanistan, the BP oil spill, the Haiti and Chili earthquakes, increasing threats from North Korea. And here we are, in the midst of all this, wondering where the world is going, and hearing occasional rumors of 2012, attaching it to any new crisis. We think, “Will peace ever be accomplished? Will climate change ever become a first priority for governments? Just where are we in the cosmic scale? Do other intelligent species exist? Do they watch over our shoulders?” And we think about our individual lives: “Why am I here? Does my life have any meaning? Am I really like everyone else? How can I improve my life? Is there anything better than what I am in now, and how can I get it?”
    These questions are important, and all of us have them or have had them. Many go unanswered and people give up, surrendering to the continuous motion of job, money, family. We feel as though we are powerless, and that our voice doesn’t matter in big decisions, that it should be left to the politicians, because we have our own concerns. Everyday is a struggle to earn income, and the crisis of the outside world doesn’t seem worrisome.
 We just want to be happier, to be rid of stress and to earn enough money not to care about the bills anymore. We all strive for this happier state, to feel rich and powerful, so that we can buy Ferrari’s, and manors, and the latest fashions. That kind of future seems splendid, and nearly every thought we have is of that future and how it can be achieved. The future is constantly in our minds. “What if this happens? What should I do? Where will I be in a month, a year, a decade? Will I be safe with this decision? I just don’t know!” The stresses of such decision making burden the mind, and the body, and our emotions. To have a life we want, we go through stress to ensure we can eventually achieve it. We try to find comfort in having firm plans of what we want to do. Such plans almost always revolve around money. “I’m not earning enough. How can I earn more? Do I have the ability to do so?” And so, the stress of thinking of the future turns into fear---fear that you won’t earn enough, and that the street will soon be your home, that your very shelter will be foreclosed and all your possessions taken. That you will walk the sidewalks, searching for scraps of food and begging passerby for money. That kind of fear fills the mind and heart, and pushes us to further our plans for a better future, creating more stress and then more fear and so on, until we are consumed by it, and the side effects it creates---depression, fatigue, bodily illness, etc.
    So, the question then is “What do I do? I work every day and it gets me nowhere. I hate it. Why can’t I make more money? What does it take? How do those rich people get so rich?” These questions then create anger and jealousy. Anger that our efforts get us nowhere, and jealousy that there are people simply born rich and have every luxury in the world, loving life and not needing to work while you’re stuck in a dead end job, working until your sore and in need of a bed.
    This is what the modern life creates. Stress about the future, fear of being foreclosed, anger that you’re getting nowhere, and jealousy towards the rich and powerful. And who is there to help? Friends? Family? They have the same problems. The government? They have some programs, but barely enough to get anywhere, and it seems too petty. So, where can I get help?
    And the answer is, you. There is more to you than what you believe. Allow me to guide you, to help you find your true self, and your view of life will be forever changed.