[Skipping detail of previously realized steps of awareness.]

10. (arbitrary number) After having recognized one's essential self and having studied ones reactive self, unpeeling the layers of conditioning, and dropping concepts, beliefs, etc, from doing a regular meditation practice and studying various spiritual texts, and having conversations with other spiritual people. Then one comes to a place where one feels one knows all there is to know about it, and then one becomes a 'teacher' of what one has learned. it is often the case then that when one encounters another that one looks very near to see how the other is stuck, what concept might be impeding them, and then one responds back in a creative way to try to tell the other what they can't see in themselves. This is the step of becoming a teacher, one gets value from being it, thus one is identified with it. by being like this, then what happens is one is insulated from being able to look at oneself anymore. It's all about critiquing the other, seeing where others need help. The intention is good, to help others realize, yet the problem is the one doing it, stops growing because attention is now outward. Many people are happy with this realization level, because the rewards that come back with healing and teaching others gives it's own kind of confirmation. To go beyond this step, one must realize one is doing this, and then turn back to oneself and go back to basics, with the intention to further deconstruct the deconstructor (of others. This step is the glass ceiling that today, keeps so many spiritual people from reaching further steps.

11. The next realization comes, as one becomes acutely aware of one's internal dialog and judgments about all kinds of things. One starts to realize this voice is going on all the time, it rarely ever stops. Even after years of meditation, where one believed one was being quiet in mind, one starts to see that this wasn't so, it was only what one told oneself. One's awareness is increasing, so also one's ability to see the dialog, the internal noise, becomes greater. Being aware of the non-cessant chatter, then one starts to get more serious in one's ability to turn it off, in meditation and in daily life.

12. the next realization is that of the story-teller, of of what one is telling oneself is truth and one's tendency to believe what one tells oneself is truthful reality. One's own perspective, interpretation, or viewpoint is what one believes is truth. One starts to realize everyone is doing this, so the reality is that hardly anyone is really there and present. Everyone is in their own world, the world of the dreamer. when one sees one's own dream, how one's story telling affects oneself, and how one reacts to it as truth, then one is ready to drop it.

13. After realizing the story teller, then one realizes that everything one repeats to oneself - consciousness becoming visible as thought - what one can see, is only 'one's momentary take' or one's interpretation, all of which comes out of one's past, as a reaction to happenings. One sees clearly in this step why one can never know anything, what one knows is in fact, already passé and not truth. It's simply an individual reflection of the truth, one is coloring non-formed reality with one's personal interpretation. This is fine, it's best to know the reality, thus after this you are truly open to receive any kind of information from any individual or from life, which doesn't give you confirmation for those truths you are holding. You become ready and open to drop everything, to just let things pass through you and let them go.

14. After this step above, then you start to wonder anew, what is truth, where is truth then, if it's not here? As you ponder this, it will appear to you again what is truth as it did when you first awakened so many years ago. But this time will be different you will feel it strongly, as your essence arises up. At this time, then you will be done with seeking, you have found your answer, that which you were seeking and there is no point to study any more about it. It is time now to start realizing this truth physically in the world, beyond all concepts.

15. When you start to concentrate on truth and not concepts, then your meditation starts to become really effective. The amounts of time spend in no-mind increase dramatically. It is then that you become aware of the energetic aspects of your personality and how you use the environment to provoke to be able to energize your personality to be able to react. Before you might have understood this intellectually, as a concept, but were not able to see it first hand, as your energy and emotional body gets contorted into the shape of anger or fear, for instance. You start to see that you are pretending in a major way, with all your energy, you are pretending to be alive, because when your wallow in listening to your thoughts and believing in what you heard, then you generate strong emotions in the body, and the reason you do it, is because it gives you the feeling of being alive. I call this step seeing the tricks of the ghost.

16. After you have seen the pretending ghost, then you become even more focused on increasing your energy, to do more meditation, because even though you try to not energize your personality in the way you've seen, it is in fact very difficult to hold one's energy and not react how one has been hard-wired to do it all one's life. You discover that when you have higher awareness, it's easier to do. then you also discover that higher awareness comes from doing more meditation. So at this point, you know what you want to 'be', and to do it, you need to give up more of 'being the little you'. So you increase your meditation efforts from two hours per day to 6 or 10.

17. Sensitivity to energy increases. As you increase your meditation hours, you will be looking very closely at your meditation, because you can distinguish clear between being quiet and being in talking mode, you will start experimenting with various meditation tools, to see what actually works in your meditation to get the effect you want, which is simply total silence. During this period, your sensitivity in growing strongly and you will start to become very sensitive to other energies around you, because your own energy is growing. You will start to see auras, feel energy vortices, feel differences in energy in objects such as rocks and crystals. Your intuition will be increasing and your 3rd eye is opening.

18. As you continue in this way, when your energy is high enough (you have been successful to transform energy held in personality to that of free awareness then it will trigger by itself full kundalini activation, or the physical growing. There are latent DNA instructions in your body for the second growing, but it can't be triggered until there is enough energy to do it. This will result in a full healing and remaking of your entire body, like a reverse aging, as this work transforms the final remnants of personality energy held in your physical bones and body, to that of spontaneous form or free being.

[there are more steps after this, and I'm sure more for myself as well beyond where I'm at today. As a help for you realized ones, I let you know that you are most likely on the first step in this list.]

Betsy

Acredito que o medo que muitas pessoas alegam ter de Kundalini seja decorrente de leituras que fizeram, e não de experiência pessoal. Esta minha crença decorre da percepção de que, embora muitos praticantes de Yoga tenham lido ou ouvido falar sobre Kundalini, na verdade não têm uma compreensão clara sobre o assunto. Se perguntados sobre o que é, em geral são capazes apenas de repetir algumas generalidades da literatura comum.

A principal fonte de desinformação sobre Kundalini é a literatura ocultista, em especial aquela alegadamente produzida por "clarividência". É importante que o praticante de Yoga entenda que o Ocultismo ocidental não é fonte confiável de referência para ele. Para entender Kundalini ele precisa buscar a literatura do Tantra.

Depois, é interessante destacar que a literatura do Tantra é muito difícil de se encontrar fora da Índia. Pois está em sua maior parte traduzida apenas do Sânscrito para o Hindi, ou foi composta em Tamil ou Hindi e jamais traduzida. Será preciso, portanto, se valer de poucas fontes mais acessíveis.

Por fim, como a tradição do Tantra está muito focada na relação guru/shiShya, uma parte da literatura positivamente adverte que não se deve estudar o assunto senão sob a orientação pessoal de um guru. Isso deve ser entendido como uma característica comum a todos os assuntos tratados pelo Tantra, e não apenas Kundalini.

Carlos Eduardo

Kundalini representa a força que dá identidade e sentido para o nosso corpo, e essa identidade é o nosso Dharma pessoal. Se você acreditar que Kundalini existe, então deve aceitá-la como a referência energética de sua vocação pessoal. Ela te dá vigor e perspicácia para realizar aquilo que dá significado para a sua vida.

Quanto a essa conversa de "despertar" Kundalini, é a mesma coisa que "despertar" nosso sistema endócrino ou "despertar" nossa musculatura. Isso não significa que nossas glândulas endócrinas vão subir para o alto de nossa cabeça, ou que nossos músculos vão passear por várias partes de nosso corpo.

Kundalini "desperta" apenas no sentido de expandir o efeito de sua presença para o resto do sistema orgânico, dando ao indivíduo uma autenticidade maior. A idéia tântrica é a de que o nosso ideal espiritual está estampado em nosso corpo, junto à nossa genitália. Para realizarmos esse nosso ideal, buscamos nessa região do corpo os sinais indicadores do rumo que devemos dar à nossa vida. Como Kundalini tem a natureza da contemplação (de acordo com Abhinavagupta), então é entrando em modo contemplativo que trazemos o modo de ser dessa força para o corpo todo - o que seria o "despertar" dessa serpente cósmica em nós.

Além disso, nossa consciência opera quando Kundalini repousa, e ela assume o controle quando caímos na inconsciência.

Em suma, há muito para se dizer sobre Kundalini, mas primeiro precisamos olhar Kundalini sob a mesma luz que aqueles que a descreveram para nós.

Carlos Eduardo

While a familiar and likely reason would be laziness, it was mostly not the case. In my small span of life, what I have noticed about myself is that I need a compelling reason to do something. Now, additional characteristics about this compelling reason would be that the reason should have to do something with an intrinsic drive rather than an externally inflicted/ forced course of action. To offer examples, if my mother asks me to avoid eating non-vegetarian food, I would probably do it for a couple of weeks and when I know that my mother would no longer mind or if I notice that my drive to have non-vegetarian food is more or less bigger than my fear that my mother would scold me, then I just go ahead and have a chicken briyani. 

The moot point is that I was never convinced about why I have to avoid non-vegetarian food in the first place. There was some internal resistance in following a vegetarian diet, to start with. This resistance seemed to build up everytime I saw people consuming meat and I felt that I was being forced to avoid something I enjoyed for no apparent reason. This feeling of suppression built up like a dam and then when the dam would no longer take the load, i.e., when the feeling to have meat over rides the negative fall-out of having meat, I go ahead and have a chicken briyani.

Given that this has played out more than once, I try not indulge in any activity which does not offer me a compelling reasont to do it. This is particularly true of activities which are recurrent and have a tendency to repeat themselves in my daily routine.

I need a reasont to act and my mission nowadays in to find that reason. The reason in the case of my emphasis on discipline is simple. I have my hand full with my family, work and Kundalini Gnanam. I need to do justice to each and in this case I have to increase my personal level of efficiency. And discipline is a key ingredient in increasing both efficiency and potency of habits. Even if you are walking just half a kilometre per day, doing it everyday will add up to a lot of miles. 

Discipline and consistency are two habits which have never let me down.

I feel like I am straddling Shu, with one foot on the belly of Geb and one foot held in the hands of Nut. It is a tricky balance and occasionally I wobble. Yesterday I was thrown and challenged by certain comments, I floated momentarily in the arms of Shu before stamping my childish feet and reaching through Nut to the Otherworld. I began some spellwork, a sequence of brief bursts that will continue today and every day until it is all done. Sometimes Thought is an angel's restraining hand; I listen and think and listen and think, and I do nothing. Anger, that self-protective energy that burns through my eyes, pushes me to action. The demon winks and beckons and I shrug off the philosophising angel who continues to talk and talk and talk, and I walk away hand in hand with the devil to actually get down to it. And who is the devil but the Bringer of Light, the Morning Star? Venus of my heart, venous of my blood.

I know that some of you will have no idea what I'm on about, others will misinterpret (some willfully so in my experience of the last few weeks - if you don't like what I write, don't bloody read it), others will know exactly what I'm saying. And in all respect to you my dear Readers, I really don't care. Some of you are aware of the trouble I have had over the last month. Friends have justified hurting me by saying that my blog is in the public sphere and therefore fair game. How ironic that in the 6 months of blogging I have only encountered kind, sincere, lovely people (Abdur Rahman, Andy, Owlish, Mary LA, Sabrina, danaofthebells, sleepygirl, stoneshaman and all of you; not forgetting dear TGW, Arnametia, Boleskine93 and Naufragiobella) … and then suddenly the hurt and betrayal should come from people who were real-world 'friends', who apparently cared for me. This is what I mean by wilful misunderstanding - coming here to find the "thing" that makes me bad in their eyes, a justification to beat me with. And if you are stupid enough to still be reading my blog, I know that you will be getting riled and ready to fire off another dart of bile. Don't bother. You are dead to me, I want nothing more to do with you. Through my relationship break-up I have seen who my true friends are. They are the ones who cheer me from the sidelines, who rejoice in my happiness, who praise my fire and spirit and marvel at my new-found health and well-being. And you accuse me of rejecting the people I love, of surrounding myself with "yes-men" (you haven't met Boleskine, have you? Remind me to introduce you... methinks he will shove your "yes" where the sun don't shine.) No, I have fallen into the arms of the people who love me entirely and utterly, and have rejected those people who put conditions on their love for me. Irony again that through all of this my ex-partner should be the one to understand my fury at this unexpected attack; he has been more than disappointed at the way people have been treating me. I am glad our friendship has withstood the assaults. He is a good man. It's so hard for other people to understand that sometimes a relationship just dies for no specific reason. Even though it is none of their f***ing business, they look for a reason; and me with my quirky beliefs, my wierd, intense ways ... well, I'm fair game. Burn the witch! Right? What you will never understand though, is that I am the Benu bird, the Phoenix. Fire is my meat and blood. I refer you kindly to my prophet, Le Prodigy :-)

© starofseshat 2008

It's chilly, cloudy and rainy. Lovely rain, oh how we need thee!

This weekend is Fall for Greenville, a food festival that is held each year. I love food festivals. We go on Sunday as it's a lot less crowded. When we lived in Orlando, we would go to the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. I have to say that our little festival beats Epcot's, yes it does. At least, it does when it comes to the food. We can't compete with the park, of course.

I have a ton of library books to pick up. All of them cookbooks. I was going to start reading the Outlander series but I've decided that I want to read Dickens instead, starting with The Old Curiosity Shop, Bleak House and Ghost Stories.

I have started doing yoga during lunch break. Not everyday, but three times a week, and a long practice on the weekend.

Breath is an archetypal creative substance mentioned in many traditions. We have all heard of the gods breathing life into their creations, or the breath of god moving across the waters: breath, spirit, wind, air. In Kundalini the belief is that if there is anything divine within you, it is your breath. So once my essence has mixed with the ingredients of the spell I release the spell to its target. This embodiment and merging with the spell is hugely important to me. I have worked with "external" spells; the mixing, crushing, burning … yes, it is all by my hand, but I have a compulsion to become my spells, to embody and be possessed by the spirit of it. I have never done anything half-heartedly; it's all or nothing. The more ways I can think of to bring my body into magic and spellwork the better. This tremendous physical awakening of the last few months has shown me the untapped resources of my own body. I want neither my spellwork nor my worship to be an external act of puppetry - remove the hand and you have but a flaccid piece of cloth. If I cannot embody my worship, embody my gods, encapsulate my magic, then I don't see the point. I have spent so much of my life split and detached, engaging with people on partial levels, never revealing the whole integral and integrated self. But through my magic I am achieving a wholeness of being, so that I now rail against any situation where I feel myself splitting and detaching. Once you start being true to your Self, the energy released is compulsive and addictive. There's no going back. For which I thank the gods.
So even though in some ways I began Kundalini/Tantric yoga as a means to physical strength and peace of mind, I have been stunned at the integration I have achieved (still so much more to do, a life journey for sure) and my expanding capacity to take in the spiritual, to breath the Breath of Life, to hold the essence inside and release it in the well-timed exhalation. Know when to hold on, and know when to let go and fall into that ecstatic embrace of release. Spiritual love with open hands … Physical love with open limbs ... I will breathe in the essence of you and transform you …
© starofseshat 2008

No one looking at me now would know about the five years of pain, agony and illness. I knew all along that it was a spiritual initiation, that I was being forced to face my mortality. I looked Death in the face 3 times and really, really felt his power. How much do you want to live? You have been living a half-life up to now, you have given away your power too often. How much do you want to live? Maybe it speaks of my slow aptitude that it took 5 years of struggle to reach the other side, to fling off the hand of Death and say, "I'll be seeing you, but not yet." To then throw myself into the arms of life, to fall into the sun and feel the ecstatic burn.
Yes, I embrace life. I wish to live. I do live. The energy pulses within me: I grin like a child and walk like a woman. Only my eyes and some bodily scars may betray my journey. An old soul, but one that still lives...
"I am a creature of light. I weave the cloth of life. I wear its shining robe and live a million years …"
© starofseshat 2008

 image by axinia

The Legend of the Jewel – Intro to the film “The Water of Life” by Björn Kurt, his aother beautiful intro.:

This "certain young man" is mentioned only in Mark's Gospel and was almost certainly John Mark himself. A rather obscure character in the New Testament--yet the Lord chose him to write what is probably the earliest of the gospel records of the life of Christ. If so, his account of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is the first record we have of the most important events in all history.

Mark's family (Acts 12:12) apparently was prosperous enough to own a home in Jerusalem with a large upper room where the disciples (even 120 of them, Acts 1:14-15) could meet for prayer after the resurrection. This was possibly the same "large upper room furnished and prepared" (Mark 14:15) where the Lord's last supper took place. Note that Mark's account says: "And in the evening he cometh |not 'goeth'| with the twelve" (v. 17). Thus Mark--probably as a teenager--was very likely an intensely interested observer of all the moving events that took place in the upper room, both before and after the crucifixion and resurrection.

He may well have overheard the conversation with and about Judas, and then watched as the disciples went out to Gethsemane. Perhaps Judas returned with the soldiers, and Mark, already in bed, grabbed a "linen cloth" and rushed out to warn Jesus. The soldiers found Jesus first, however, and Mark had to watch the disciples flee, and then finally had to flee himself.

In any case, this close proximity to these great events made such a profound impression on him that he was later led to write about them, very probably working closely with Peter (1 Peter 5:13), and Mark's Gospel was the result. HMM

From a daily devotional by the INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH www.icr.org

Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. ]]> http://returnnow.wordpress.com/?p=271 Sat, 04 Oct 2008 02:39:41 +0000 René Greenwood http://returnnow.org/2008/10/03/egypt-one-converts-never-ending-struggle/ Snares abound as Christian seeks to protect wife, baby and future faithful.

ISTANBUL, September 12 (Compass Direct News) – Egypt’s most famous convert to Christianity is a prisoner of his own home, hiding for his life.

After Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy, 25, became the first Muslim-born Egyptian to file a case a year ago for his identification card to reflect his newfound faith, his face has been shown on TV channels and newspapers. Anywhere he goes, he might be recognized by fanatical Islamists bent on killing him – besides his own family members, who also want him dead.

In the last eight months, since an Egyptian court closed his case in a Jan. 29 court ruling that declared it was against Islamic law for a Muslim to leave Islam, Hegazy has had to move five times with his wife and baby daughter.

“The verdict for my case was discriminatory [on the part] of the judge,” Hegazy told Compass in an interview last month. The judge based his decision on Islamic law, which says one can convert “up” in the Muslim hierarchy of religions – from Judaism and Christianity to Islam – but not vice versa.

But months after the final court decision, even after the issue is fizzing out in the media, Hegazy said that his life is in danger – as is that of every convert in Egypt.

Living on the Run

“The most difficult thing for me is that the lives of my wife and daughter are in danger all the time,” Hegazy said.

In one instance a year ago, he and his family barely escaped alive. Last October, he received a phone call from a friend who told him that one of his own lawyers had given authorities his address. His friend told him he might have to move in the next few days and to be careful.

“I had a feeling we should move,” said Hegazy, explaining that he listens for God’s voice on such decisions. “So we moved immediately, and the next night the fundamentalists came to attack us.”

A group of Islamists camped around his former house for days. They also set fire to the apartment of Hegazy’s next-door neighbor, killing her. He said the neighbor, whose name was withheld for the security of her relatives, was the best friend of his wife and had helped them in their ordeal.

“The church denied that she was killed, and it was never reported publicly,” he said.

The convert’s hope is that one day he can get his family out of the country, but without passports that is a remote possibility. Passports are issued in the hometown of the citizen.

Both Hegazy and his wife are well-known and unwelcome in their hometowns.

His wife would need to go to El-Minya to apply for a passport, he said, “and as soon as she goes there she will be killed. Even if it’s not family, others will do it, so I can’t take that risk.”

Hegazy’s father has also filed to gain custody of his baby granddaughter so that she is raised Muslim. He has also given authorities false information, such as asserting that Hegazy hasn’t served his military service, and has publicly said that if his son doesn’t recant his faith he will kill him.

“Many lawyers volunteered to file a case against me,” he said.

Persecuted Converts

Hegazy risked venturing out of his house on a hot afternoon in August to speak to Compass. At a restaurant, he looked over his shoulder nervously to make sure he wasn’t followed.

What the convert-turned-political activist really wanted to talk about was the situation of thousands of converts in his country who suffer discrimination by the state, family and even local churches, he said, because the country’s constitution is based on sharia (Islamic law).

“The most important thing is to show how converts are persecuted and how they are suffering in Egypt,” said Hegazy. “I want to clarify this because converts are persecuted by society and the church and their families.”

Hegazy minces no words when it comes to what he calls the inability of the church to stand up to the forces of government and Islamic society in order to defend the rights of converts.

“The church in Egypt is impotent and cowardly,” he said, noting church leaders who do not stand up for religious rights and claim they do not evangelize and baptize converts. He cited Coptic Bishop Bishoy, who said that his church is against “proselytizing” and spreading the gospel and that the Coptic Church is not doing it. Coptic churches in Egypt – Catholic and evangelical – publicly claim they do not baptize converts, each blaming the other for doing so, while priests and pastors are known to baptize in secret so as not to provoke violent reactions from Islamists and the government.

“The priest that baptized me refused to see me for a whole year,” said Hegazy. “Not one priest is standing up to say, ‘I baptize converts.’”

Hegazy said that reactions like this leave converts feeling marginalized.

“You have to understand that the church is treating converts as second-class citizens. The only heroic thing they could do was baptize me secretly,” said Hegazy, who had to fight to get a baptismal certificate, as do so many other converts. “Can you imagine how a convert feels? Should we accuse converts of being discriminatory or sectarian if they want to establish their own church?”

Converts, Hegazy said, are attacked on all fronts of Egyptian society. “The government is Islamic, the society is Islamic, and the church is weak,” he said. “Converts are stuck between all of these, between the jaws of the government and society.”

A Little Help

Hegazy and other religious rights activists believe that individual cases such as his or that of Maher El-Gohary, filed last month, alone cannot gain legal rights for converts who wish to become officially Christian and accepted in society.

“I don’t believe my case is going to be resolved,” said Hegazy. “I’m not pessimistic, but if we are dealing with a personal case we can’t achieve anything. Instead we have to talk about the broad issue and discuss conversion as a big case, because there are so many believers persecuted.”

As have other activists, Hegazy said that if Egyptian converts living overseas and in Egypt were to file a joint case they would have more leverage. But they need greater support from human rights groups, which are not pushing enough for convert cases, he said.

“I can’t understand how we have so many human rights organizations, and Christian ones, and no one is taking any action,” he said.

Hegazy suggested that human rights organizations should publicly advocate a law that supports freedom of conversion, including committees to monitor developments. If such a law were in place, he said, the Egyptian government would stop using Muslim fundamentalist reactions as an excuse to avoid enforcing justice.

“This way the government can’t say, ‘We don’t [change religion on identification cards] because of fundamentalism, it will upset our society,’ because there will be a law in place,” he said.

Additionally, he said, converts must also fight against lack of action by human rights organizations.

“The problem is we’re struggling with the church, the society, our families,” he said. “So we don’t need an extra struggle with human rights organizations.”

Waiting

Hegazy and his lawyer are still waiting for a court date for his appeal. They applied for it in February.

“Every week we go to the court to find out when the appeal date is set for,” said Hegazy’s lawyer, Gamal Eid of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.

At a recent court visit they were told to come back in October, leading them to believe that perhaps they will get a court date that month.

Hegazy said he is ready to fight his case to the end. Already, he said, his case has made one gain for Egypt’s converts: the recognition that there are such persons as “converts,” and they are in the public debate.

“Nowadays, the word ‘convert’ is being used in the media here – never before!” said Hegazy. “That’s progress.”

From Compass Direct News

"IM AUGENBLICK DER TRAUUNGSZEREMONIE VERFLECHTEN SICH DIE KUNDALINIS DER EHEPARTNER

UND DARAUS ENTSTEHT EINE SEHR STARKE ENERGIE.

DIESE IST DIE BASIS FÜR DIE FAMILIE UND

FÜR DIE ZUKUNFT DER PARTNERSCHAFT!"

FLICKR FOTO von olduser "Its love?"

Bei der Hochzeit verschmelzen die Familien der Eheleute. Mehr oder weniger tritt das Karma der Familien zu Tage. Das erklärt auch, warum der Beginn einer Ehe oft schwierig ist. Es besteht für das Ehepaar die Möglichkeit, Teile dieser alten Familienmuster abzubauen. Das ist natürlich keine leichte Aufgabe.

****

"IM MOMENT DER TRENNUNG WERDEN DIE KUNDALINIS WIEDER ZERISSEN.

DADURCH ENTSTEHT DER TRENNUNGSSCHMERZ.

JE LÄNGER, DESTO SCHMERZHAFTER IST DIESES ERLEBNIS.

ES IST SO, WIE WENN ZWEI PFLANZEN NEBENEINANDER VERWURZELT SIND

UND MAN KANN SIE OHNE GROSSEN SCHADEN NICHT TRENNEN!"

Zitat von Eric Schneider

www.astroschneider.com

Eine ernste Geschichte zum Thema:

In meiner Familie gab es Anhänger des Nationalsozialismus. Verwandte meiner Schwiegertochter wurden im Konzentrationslager vergast. Vorige Woche erkannte ich nach einigen Meditationen, daß mein Sohn und seine Frau mit diesem Karma ihrer Familien zurechtkommem müssen.

Eine lustige Geschichte zum Thema:

Nach der Hochzeit übersiedelte meine Freundin in das Heimatland ihres Mannes. Er setzte seine täglichen Clubabende fort. Obwohl sie auch eingeladen war, kam sie mit dieser Gewohnheit nicht zurecht. Eines Abends packte sie ihre Koffer. Als der Ehemann heimkam fragte er:"Verreisen wir?" Sie antwortete:"Du nicht, aber ich!" Nach einer gründlichen Aussprache wurde alles wieder gut. Ihre Schwiegermutter, mit der sie ein sehr gutes Verhältnis hatte, erkannte die Schwierigkeiten und machte ihr ein besonderes Angebot:"Wenn du das nächste Mal die Koffer packen mußt, verstecke ich dich!"

Von Draupadi.

I've been trying to write this piece for some time, but now the timing seems to be just perfect.

**************************

Dear Guruji,

For a long time in my life I've been a very angry person. I know this is not a part of my basic personality (whatever that means). I do not remember ever being an angry child.

Nevertheless, I've been quick to anger, rile, annoy for most of this existence. I don't really know when that started.

It's now been almost 18 months since I was assaulted by a former friend and lover in my own home. At the time you gave me the advice to love those who perpetrate violence on you. And I have to admit that despite really wanting to, I have not been able to do that for the longest time.

At first I didn't know how. Then my anger kept me away from being able to or even wanting to try. Even after the vows taken at our powerful ceremony in Bali, I was not able to vanquish my anger. I was able to subdue it however, but that resulted in my being annoyed about lots of things I wouldn't have worried about previously.

I feel like I've been in some sort of cocoon, where I've been sluggish, unable to motivate myself and angry about everything. As a result I've felt that I've been living a bit of an empty life, but unable to shift this for whatever reason.

But strangely I've noticed since returning from Bali, that the more I struggle or get annoyed about something, the more the experience appears to be rubbed in my face. I've asked for guidance and help in my prayers, but it seems I've been waiting something out. And in the process, I've been learning that the more I surrender to whatever annoys me, the less it actually annoys me.

Tonight I've just finished reading Swami Radha's diary/book, about her time with Swami Sivananda. I seemed to read it very fast, even for me. In the last few pages, Sivananda is making a speech as Swami Radha is preparing to leave India. And in it, he repeats your original advice to me – to love those who try to hurt you.

And then the strangest thing happened, I can't really explain it. My throat got hot and heavy and every part of my body seemed to vibrate. Tears rose spontaneously although I wasn't crying.

Where before I've tried to imagine myself being able to offer love in response as per your advice, right at this moment I wasn't doing any trying. It just was my experience, and continues to be so. Actual love for this person. I'd almost given up thinking I had the ability to cultivate this. But I could feel a 'cramp' as you've called them, relax and ofcourse a great deal of energy released as you have described is possible.

I don't know if "all" of my anger has dissipated just yet! And somehow I doubt it. But I do feel a substantial shift within myself towards that direction.

As ever and always with love and gratitude...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was a MAJOR turning point in my healing journey. For about two-three weeks afterwards I retained this experience of openness and love. I grinned like an idiot at anyone who looked in my direction and had a sensation of inner radiance and light so intense I was sure it spilled out onto the footpath. It was very, very sweet.

Sadly at that point in my life/path I was not able to stabilise all of this as a permanent day-to-day experience. But it definitely gave me an insight into my true nature - all of our true natures.

My Guru wrote back and said "that is definitely an experience of healing kundalini energy". He was pleased for me as always. The thing I love most about my Guru is that he is not ever trying to be my saviour. Never does he treat any of us as special for having an experience like this. Its run-o-the-mill stuff. He wants each of his students to stand on their own two feet. Whilst he gives us the tools, he doesn't do the work for us. Unlike the stereotype of Gurus who want everyone to be reliant on them, mine does not.

Anyway... although the energetic state faded, the knowledge gained during that direct experience did not. I can't say all my anger has dissapated - seems I've still got some more work to do there. But it is greatly lessened. I may not always be able to apply everything I learned from that time, but its wisom I "know" and not just intellectually any more. Even now, a year and a half later I can say I love Andre and mean it.

Not in the "I wanna marry you" kind of way. But you know, genuine love for a fellow human being in suffering. Because how crappy must he feel about himself deep down, if he's compelled to hit other women? He must feel a whole lot worse than he can acknowledge. That kind of life must really suck, much more than I can imagine.

For I don't hate myself, not any more. And I don't hate him either.

Anger begets anger. Hate begets hate. How are we ever to release our own anger and hate if we continue to spew it outwards at others?

Recently my mother and I had quite the blow up. It takes a great deal of effort for me to become so angry that I yell, but parents and children are good at pushing each other's buttons, right?

I was mortified at this regression. Or was it? Perhaps, this whole "can't-get-a-job-stuck-living-with-my-parents" thing is actually the next phase of releasing old pent up family karmas?

Things have calmed down alot since that horrid fight (I really don't like fighting) and we've started getting along much better.

But possibly... it looks like I'm here til both my parents and I learn a few more lessons about each other.

Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. ]]> http://returnnow.wordpress.com/?p=263 Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:05:40 +0000 René Greenwood http://returnnow.org/2008/09/30/wisdom-and-might-are-his/

"Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his." (Daniel 2:20)

Men have sought wisdom all through the ages, "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). Others have sought great power. But then we read of Alexander weeping because there were no more worlds to conquer, and we see one rich man after another who cannot bring himself to say, "It is enough."

The problem is, of course, that they are searching for wisdom and might in the wrong places, and thus they can never be satisfied. Wisdom and might belong only to God. In the Lord Jesus Christ "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3), and to Him has been given "All power . . . in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). God, revealed in Christ, is both omniscient and omnipotent, and true wisdom and true riches must come only from Him.

Therefore, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . . and it shall be given him," (James 1:5). If we are in need of strength, we must become weak, for "when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10). If we need riches, we must know poverty, for before Christ can commit to us "the true riches," we must be found "faithful in that which is least" (Luke 16:11, 10).

Daniel's testimony, as recorded in this passage, was given to the most powerful monarch on earth, with access to all the wisdom of the most highly educated men of the age. But neither human might nor human wisdom could solve his problem. Only Daniel, drawing on the wisdom and power of the God of creation, could meet his need. God's servants, even today, have the same privilege and responsibility, because our God is "for ever and ever." HMM

From the INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH www.icr.org

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:2)

In addition to the numerous times when the writers of the Bible asserted that what they wrote came directly from God (e.g., Leviticus 1:1; Jeremiah 1:4; Revelation 1:1), there are at least four warnings against tampering with these revealed words.

The first is our text above, in which Moses commanded neither to add to nor diminish from anything he had written. This warning was supplemented later with the following: "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deuteronomy 12:32).

Moses was the first writer of the Bible and it was appropriate that he should give such a warning. The last was John, and his warning was even more severe, at the very end of the whole body of Scripture. "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life" (Revelation 22:18-19).

Since John was the last apostle, it is clear that this warning is against any later attempt to add some new "revelation" to the now-complete Word of God.

Then, very near the middle of the Bible, there is this: "Every word of God is pure: . . . Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar" (Proverbs 30:5-6). And remember also the words of Christ: "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:18). So don't mess with the Word of God! HMM

from a daily devotional from the INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH  www.icr.org

[googlevideo=http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7249375910775188680&hl=en]

About the Actress Nagma

INDIA (ANS) -- Popular South Indian actress Nagma has now become a Christian.

According to a news reported by www.christianmessenger.in, the actress, who ruled the roost in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi language films in India from 1993 to 1997, revealed about the transformation in her life while speaking at a prayer meeting for film artistes organized in Vijay Park Hotel, Chennai, by Jesus Redeems Ministries founder Pastor Bro. Mohan C. Lazarus.

Many film personalities including director Prabhu Solomon, actors Chinni Jayanth and Junior Balaiah attended the meeting.

The site reported that, at the meeting, she is said to have told the gathering that she is ready to preach the Gospel in every city and town that the Lord takes her to. According to the media reports, the actress shared her testimony and wowed the audience with her knowledge of the Bible at the meeting.

According to an actor who was present on the occasion, the actress was emotionally charged and spoke well for more than one hour. In fact she surprised everyone when she substantiated her speech with quotes from the Bible, added the actor. The actor also said that, reportedly the actress said in her speech that her stint in politics led to depression and she even went to the extent of attempting suicide. At that time, she had the chance to read Bible, which brought about a change in her. Now she wants to preach the Bible and spread peace everywhere.

The site reported the background for her change as She said that her life style forced her to attempt suicide and hence she sought the help of the Lord. Nagma told the gathering that Jesus Christ was the only super star in her life. Earlier, she made a reference to her acting career where she had paired as the leading lady with several actors in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Bhojpuri films (different language movies in India)

The actress also told that , she dabbled in politics briefly and a copy of the Bible that she got when she was depressed and contemplating suicide saved her from killing herself. All her problems, she said, started fading away one by one after she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior.

Actress Nagma was born in an ordinary Muslim family in the state of Punjab.

]]> http://returnnow.wordpress.com/?p=299 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:14:03 +0000 René Greenwood http://returnnow.org/2008/10/06/bible-verse-of-the-day-4/ Isaiah 26:4“Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.”Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. ]]> http://tao4all.wordpress.com/?p=218 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:38:50 +0000 tao4all http://tao4all.it.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/the-mysteries-of-abraham/ Abraham, the father of all?

..should we understand sacred writ to the letter, we should fall into the most enormous blasphemies.. -Source: Saint Athanasious, bishop and patriarch of Alexandria.

In the new testament saint Paul makes it perfectly clear that the story about Abraham is an allegory (Gal 4:21-31). Meaning that it has another meaning and that the figures in question are not people of flesh and blood. But even though this is clearly stated (and thus irrefutable for all who read the Bible as literal fact) - the Christian fundamentalist movement still proclaims Abraham as a historical figure.

This is what you get when you listen to people that don't understand the difference between historical facts and spiritual allegories. Abraham is not, never was - and never will be a human being. Not in the sense that these fundamentalist priests proclaim him to be.

Jewish numerology

As with many Jewish names, Abraham is a composite word. Meaning that it is a word construction that points to what the authors wanted to convey. So the statement made by the apostle Paul, that Abraham represents an allegory is absolutely correct. Abraham is not a human being of flesh and blood. The same goes for his wives and the children he made, and eventually for Jesus himself (something that is very important to understand, especially since there are Christians that call themselves "children of Abraham").

Now then. The word "Abraham" can be traced back in time to the Hindu word "Brahm", a deity that we today know as Brahman, a vital element in the Hindu trinity (trimurti).

In the trinity Brahman is said to represent the primal "spirit substance" that all living creatures are made from, the ground of being (hence Jesus says: God can create children of Abraham from these stones". From the ground). Abraham literally means "Father Brahman". The father of both Gods and men. In Babylon he was known as Rahman.

The Hindu original

In Hinduism Brahman is married to his wife and sister Sarasvati, and have two children with her. But he also had a fling with a free-woman called Gayantri. And the child that was born by her was called Purusha. The first soul. He sacreficed himself for all creatures, being torn apart - where each piece became a soul.

Purusha is a direct match to what Christians today call "the breaking of the bread". Jesus takes the bread and says "this is my body, do this in memory of me" - and then he divides his "body" between his disciples (the disciples here representing the 12 archetypes of nature). Purusha is identified as the Hindu Logos. The mystical body of Christ.

In Hindu scriptures Brahman is said to sit beneath the lotus, meditating on the universe. In one myth, his brother Vishnu wants to find out whom of them is the highest God - but with the appearance of Shiva, they both realize that Shiva is the ultimate God. He is the father above all other Gods, beyond all the universes and all creatures.

The Jewish copy

..and yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. -Source: Genesis 20:12.

The Jewish copy of this ancient Hindu text is Abraham. Abraham is married to his wife and sister Sarah (Genesis 20:12), and has two children with her. But he also has a fling with a free-woman. And the apostle paul makes it perfectly clear that Jesus is the "fruit" of this line. Not only does the function of Jesus (the tearing apart for the good of all living creatures) match the Hindu original, but the family tree (of the Gods) is also identical.

In India, a tributary of the river Saraisvati is Ghaggar. Another tributary of the same river is Hakra. According to Jewish traditions, Hagar was Sarai's maidservant; the Moslems say she was an Egyptian princess (Egypt also depicted their river as a goddess). Notice the similarities of Ghaggar, Hakra and Hagar. -Source: Mondovista

The bible also states that Ishmael, son of Hagar, and his descendants lived in India. "...Ishmael breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his kin... They dwelt from Havilah (India), by Shur, which is close to Egypt, all the way to Asshur." (Genesis 25:17-18.) It is an interesting fact that the names of Isaac and Ishmael are derive from Sanskrit: (Hebrew) Ishaak = (Sanskrit) Ishakhu = "Friend of Shiva." (Hebrew) Ishmael = (Sanskrit) Ish-Mahal = "Great Shiva."

Based on this fact it's probably not shocking to read that Abraham meet God while he was sitting under a tree in Sechem. Because the exact same thing happens to Brahman, expect that he was sitting under a lotus. We also find traces of the same story in Asia where the Buddha meditated under the tree (the human spine, focusing on the heart chakra. The burning heart of Christ in catholic terminology) to reach enlightenment.

But who is Gayantri, the free-woman in the Hindu original? Well Gayantri is the personification of a mantra. She is voice and healing vibration made manifest. And thus it came to be that her child, the Christ, would be called ... the word.

Sources

• Vedic Past of Pre-Islamic Arabia
• The Bible
• The New Jerusalem Bible
• Anacalypsis, Vol. I, p. 396.
• India in Greece, Edward Pococke
• Indic Ideas in the Graeco-Roman World, Subhash Kak
• Strabo's Geography, XV.I.19.
• Yadavas Through the Ages, p. 90.

Once we had got over our initial hilarity at the location, which was essentially a scout-hut with bar at the back of a housing estate, we soon realised what an absolutely perfect site it was: private, comfortable with bar and food, and no prying eyes of locals. Inside, the stage area was decorated with curtains and a beautiful arched painting of Nuit. She took my breath away and I looked at her often throughout the day.
Unfortunately the DuQuettes were absent, so the number of talks dropped to 6. First off were Peter Grey and his partner on Babalon. Each read their own incredibly evocative and thrilling interpretations of Babalon, the Whore, the Scarlet Woman. (I notice a discrepancy here in my understanding of their work, and TGW’s notes – this I think reflects my bias in favour of Babalon.) Their Babalon was a strong, indefatigable woman, independent and raw; she was the Babalon of two people in love; and the Babalon who challenged all preconceptions including those of Thelema. They called on Thelemites to reject dogma and to commit blasphemy to infuse new life into a partially degenerate philosophy that needed to change to respond and be relevant to the times. The raw sexual language was beautiful, challenging and ultimately deeply arousing. I later overcame my innate shyness to ask them for copies of their work because I very much want to read through both texts at my leisure.

A couple of talks later, this particular image of Babalon was shaken to its roots by Melissa Harrington who spoke about Thelema and The Feminine. (I would just like to say I admired her spirit and thoroughly enjoyed her talk. It's only because she posed such interesting ideas, that I feel able to engage in discussion and disagree with some of her points of reference.) Her first words, though not unkind, were to Peter Grey and partner, saying, "Come back when you've had children and tell me again about Babalon." I prickled at what I felt was a rather dismissive statement. Her talk went on to question the role of women in Thelema; that because the structure has been so male dominated since its inception, that there are not enough provisions made for women, either in a spiritual sense or practically in the form of crèches at rituals. She looked at the audience and marked everyone as a first generation believer, and wondered how on earth anyone could be expected to bring up a child in Thelema with the lack of structure and openness to families and children. This was a fair point, but one that could have been made in isolation. Instead she cited Crowley's behaviour with a string of women, the drugs, the abandonment and death through negligence of some of the children. She found this an unacceptable basis for a religion; that women were essentially given sexual freedom but not the power to deal with it. This is true, and perhaps because I don’t see Crowley as a prophet, but more as an inspired madman, I have no issue in taking the good and leaving the bad: when you start talking about “religion” then people start wanting absolutes; they want their prophets to be flawless and their gods to be manifest in dogma. Untidiness irritates such people. And such people irritate me. Whether it is directly Crowley's responsibility or actually a failure of responsibility by the women themselves, I find harder to say, and the discussion smacks to me slightly of arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Are the personality flaws of Crowley then, still relevant now? Can't we take the best of his work and just move forward with it? If we are looking to him as a cult leader, then his personality flaws certainly create stumbling blocks; but if he is an inspiration, in the true sense of the word as a source that inspires us to other things, then I don’t see that it matters.

Another thing that riled me slightly, was that all of these points could have stood strongly on their own without bringing in the image of Babalon. She said that Babalon was a whore, and a male wet-dream, that ultimately Crowley did not question the motivation of whores and the desperation that drove them to whoredom. A fair point to a degree. But she ultimately robbed Babalon of any power, citing her childlessness as indicative of the barren nature of her symbolism, and that consequently this barrenness was being expressed in current day Thelema by the lack of provision for women and children, and the concomitant outcome that no one at the conference had been brought up as a Thelemite. Two points need addressing here: one - I HATE the way women who have had children then interpret everything in their lives thereafter from the perspective of motherhood as the pinnacle of female achievement. I understand that to them it is the most momentous thing of their lives. But to invoke childlessness as an expression of barrenness, negativity, lack of self, lack of will, slavery to male sexuality is in my opinion entirely missing the point of Babalon. She is an independent woman figure desired by man. She holds tremendous power. I have seen so many women lose any sense of self and individuality to their children; so many merge and become solely the power engine for their brood. Rightly so. If you are going to bring a being into the world, it is your responsibility to give that being everything you can. I am not criticising this. What I criticise is the assumption that childless women are less because they do NOT sacrifice themselves for their children. (This was implicit rather than explicit in her talk; it was unaddressed and hence bugged me big time.) For me, Babalon is a powerful Goddess that represents the ultimate in freedom. Does feminist freedom always have to be entirely and utter split from men? Can't we be free and still in relationship with men? And if it is right to sacrifice yourself to your children whom you love, why is it suddenly wrong to sacrifice yourself to a man you love? The second point is that my understanding of Thelema is that it is a spiritual path which requires a spiritual awakening: it needs you to make the realisation of will to undertake the path; it is not a philosophy that can be taught at Sunday school. It is the philosophy of adults searching for a way to the divine. By trying to force a familial pattern of parental guidance on Thelema, she is trying (in my opinion) to make a tomato out of a chestnut.
Her second partial criticism was how women often came to Thelema through a male partner, but that often the women remained in Thelema once that original partnership dissolved. She used this as indicative of the non-woman friendly feeling in Thelema. Again, I disagree and believe that the reason for this is perhaps slightly more complicated. Thelema, the Gnostic mass and other tenets, are very sexual; to an outsider they could appear (indeed in some ways ARE) sexually aggressive. In today's world I think there are very few women who would feel comfortable entering such a scene on their own, however great their interest. So perhaps the fact that women often approach Thelema through a male partner is less about emphasizing the male dominance and male leadership in Thelemic male/female relationships, than it is about reflecting the sad status of our society, that women are often frightened of overt, public expression of sexuality and feel safer approaching it all through a male partner whom they trust will keep them safe (at least until they have gained trust and confidence in the community).
The second talk was The 5 Senses in AMOOKOS and Tantrik Traditions, by Mike Magee. This was a fairly basic introduction to the idea of Tantra; the balance of Shakti and Shiva, the balance of male and female internally. The only new bit of information for me was gleaned from a training level in the AMOOKOS tradition, where initiates were called on to practice sense focus for a period of 26 weeks: one week they would focus on sight and keep a journal about (for example) the different shades of grey they saw through the week; the second week focused on taste; the third on hearing; the fourth on touch; the fifth on smell and the sixth represented ether and was a week of meditating on the present, of grounding and feeling utterly in the moment. This sequence was repeated over the 26 weeks, by the end of which you would have an extensive diary of your sensory experiences, which often led to certain changes in the initiate and the integration of disparate memories and sensory experiences. An integrity of being seemed to be the ultimate focus, but the final outcome depended entirely on the initiate's own experiences and it was up to them to apply interpretations and learn from their experiences. This is a practice I am considering working through, as it could be very useful for my Kundalini practice.
Following Melissa Harrington, there was a talk by Charlotte Rodgers on Taboo & Blood Rites. There was in my mind very little information on generic blood rites, and it was more of a personal journey using blood; this was fascinating and I warmed to this woman greatly. She discussed the difference between venous blood and menstrual blood. She cited personal experience, which I don’t think it is appropriate to go into here. She touched on the subject of Mayan yoga, as in Maya/illusion. Performing this type of yoga in front of mirrors covered in blood symbols draws out aspects of self. This encourages a splitting of self to enable working on manifest aspects of self.

After this there was a talk on Goetic Magick by Jake Stratton-Kent. His experience seemed focused primarily on the Grimoirum Verum. The content of his talk passed me by, the prime interest for me came in the question time where he talked more openly about spirits with whom he had what he termed a "marriage type relationship". These relationships were concrete things that he worked on as any other kind of relationship. I enjoyed the matter-of-fact way that he spoke about spirits. His relationship with them seemed more concrete than my own, but the way he spoke of them as such an integral part of his life - "I get along with some spirits better than I do with some people" - this rung true for me, and I felt he was speaking my language.
The final talk was given by a young German man, David Beth, Into the Meon - Inside Voudon Gnosis. His English was excellent, but unfortunately he assumed that everyone in the audience was privy to certain knowledge, that TGW and I mostly certainly were not. Consequently we were unable to follow the thread and missed out on learning much of anything. I'm sure that wasn't the case for the more learned people in the audience. What did strike me was that in his tradition blood shares a cosmic essence with the “upper world”. The junction where these two essences meet in the adept is the hieros gamos. He also spoke of a concept called Las Prise des Yeaux, which is a form of esoteric vision of objects where you view the spiritual essence in all things animate and inanimate (another practical exercise in the offing).

This is a censored and curtailed version of the event, and hence the text at times appears a little choppy, for which I apologise. I took some hefty secateurs to it to make it publicly palatable :-) Some things are not appropriate for public consumption, some things are too personal to me to convey. Let it just be said, that this was a hugely important day for me, made all the more enjoyable by the company of TGW. I will definitely be going next year.
© starofseshat 2008

Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. ]]> http://blissfulbodyyoga.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/101/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:23:45 +0000 blissfulbodyyoga http://blissfulbodyyoga.it.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/101/

http://nileshmistryart.com/dancers.php

Yogi Tea is SOOOO good.
Once you start drinking it you will want to drink it all the time. It is so nourishing and calming to the body. All of the spices in the tea, following the Ayurvedic tradition, have a health building, medicinal quality; and many of the ones mentioned in this post – like ginger, cardamon and cinnamon – are very warming and appropriate for autumn and winter. They cure what ails you, and even better, the help to prevent the ailing in the first place.

Tea is comforting, and it can be used as a part of wonderful daily rituals that cultivate mindfulness, and foster gratitude for each small moment. Tea after yoga class is often used as a way to build sangha (community) by giving people a reason to sit down together to talk and share.

YOGI TEAS
These recipes came to me through a Kundalini Yoga yahoo group I belong to. Thank you, and Sat Nam, to RUTH SALDANHA, who posted them to the group. I have added some of my own notations as well.
This recipe comes from Yogi Bhajan, who introduced Kundalini to the west in the late 1960s. Yogi Bhajan is also the founder of the "Yogi Tea" brand, which is easy to find in health food stores.

Ingredients:
- 2 quarts water
- 15 whole cloves
- 20 black peppercorns
- 3 sticks of cinnamon
- 20 whole cardamon pods (split the pods first and be careful with the
tiny seed sticks that come from the inside)
- 8 fresh ginger slices (1/4" thick, no need to peel)
- 1/2 teaspoon regular or decaf black tea leaves (approximately 1 tea
bag)

Preparation:
Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Add cloves and boil one
minute. Add cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, and ginger. Cover and boil for
30 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for two to three hours. Remove from heat,
add black tea, and let cool. Strain and store in the refrigerator. Reheat
when you want a cup and add milk and honey to taste.

Spiced green tea
- 1 tablespoon organic green tea leaves,
- 3 pods black cardamom (green cardamom will do if black cardamom is
unavailable), crushed
- 1 piece of ginger, crushed

Makes one large teapot. Do not brew for more than three minutes, as green
tea becomes bitter after that. Black cardamom has a slightly smoky taste,
very different from that of green cardamom. This tea is good for digestion,
but it is heating, and both ginger and cardamom are said to be aphrodisiac,
so don't have it before bed, unless you are planning not to sleep immediately.

Chamomile and ginger tea
- 1 tablespoon dried chamomile flowers
- 1 piece of ginger, sliced timely

Chamomile is a relaxing herb, calming to the nervous system. Add a teaspoon of honey and sip slowly before your evening meditation.

Thyme and mint tea
- 1 pinch dried thyme, or better, a few twigs fresh thyme,
- 1 pinch dried mint, or better, a few leaves fresh peppermint
- 1 small twig rosemary (optional)
- 2 pints boiling water

Mint can be grown in any garden, and even in pots on a window sill. This tea
taste much better with herbs freshly picked from the garden. Brew for a few
minutes.

Liquorice and fresh mint tea
- a few leaves fresh peppermint
- 1 piece of liquorice stick (it's actually the rood of the plant, and
looks like a twig), about 1 inch long
- 1 pint boiling water

Pound the liquorice stick with a mortar and pestle. Brew with the mint for
at least five minutes as liquorice take a while to release its delicious
bitter sweet flavour. A great digestive tea, excellent for Pitta constitution.

Spicy pink tea
- 1 large pinch of dried hibiscus flower
- 1 large piece of ginger, crushed
- 1 stalk lemon grass, chopped
- 1 pint boiling water

Hibiscus flowers give this tea a reddish colour, as well as a distinctive
tang, which complement very well the fieriness of ginger. Brew for a few
minutes.

Indian Chai
- 1 tablespoon organic black tea leaves
- 5 pods green cardamom, crushed
- 1 piece of ginger, sliced
- 2 cloves
- 1 small piece of cinnamon bark
- 2 pints of water
- 1 cup milk
- 3 teaspoons organic cane sugar

Put all the ingredients in a large pan, bring to the boil and simmer for
five minutes. Strain and serve piping hot.

Clare island punch
- 1 large pinch of dried hibiscus flower
- 1 small pinch Bancha tea (black tea can be used as a substitute)
- 6 pods green cardamom, crushed
- 1 thumb size piece of ginger, finely sliced
- 3 cloves
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 3 seed black pepper, crushed
- 1 piece of liquorice root, crushed
- 1 sprinkle of allspice powder

Put all the ingredients in a large tea pot, cover with boiling water, and
keep on the stove for 10 minutes before serving.

Drink in good health!
Jai bhagwan-
Teal Marie

SIDE NOTE:
One interesting, and to me VERY surprising piece of information I came across regarding cinnamon: "Coumarin is a flavouring which is found in higher concentrations in the types of cinnamon grouped together under the name “cassia cinnamon”. Relatively small amounts of coumarin can already damage the liver of particularly sensitive individuals. However, this is not permanent damage."

You can read more about it here, and find out more about Ceylon cinnamon that evidently does not have this component here.

Now cinnamon has been shown to be a very effective assistant in lowering blood sugar, and has many other healthy benefits, so I wouldn't get to panicked about the coumarin issue. This article discusses the health benefits and the coumarin issue as well. Like all of these issues it is going to take some research to get to the bottom of. I will try to get back with some posts with my findings, I welcome any information readers may have to offer.

This site has a lot of useful information on the medicinal uses of herbs and spices. And this one as well. Here is a site for buying organic herbs.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Scientific Kundalini Yoga
• Roasted Carrots Recipe with Moroccan Spice Mix

The Kundalini Fire looks like the Caduceus Staff with the two Serpents around the spine:

The serpents has two different colors like the two outer pillars in the Kabbalah Tree of Life, and they have the same interpretations as the Feminine and Masculine energies.

Left side of Man is the masculine side and the right side is the feminine side.

1. Sahasrara or the Crown, corresponds to Keter
2. Ajna or the third eye corresponds to Binah & Chokmah
3. Vishuddha or the throat corresponds to Gevurah and Chesed.
4. Ahanhata or the heart corresponds to Tiferet
5. Manipura or the navel, where Hod corresponds to the Liver and Netzach corresponds to the Stomach
6. Svadhistana or the genitals corresponds to Yesod
7. Muladhara, the base of spine, corresponds to Malkhut

From the heart and up the feminine and masculine energies are nearly in Equilibrium with the heart near the center.

In the Anthroposophy Steiner describes the two sides of man as being a kind of fight between Luceferic and Ahrimanic powers, see Steiner texts about Lucifer and Ahriman where Lucifer is the masculine power and Ahriman is the feminine power. Both described in the literature as Serpents or Dragons.

I have used "The Kabbalistic Sefirot and the Chakras" in preparing this text.