Channels for the Light

Happy Holidays to everyone! Have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season! “O Holy Night” is my favorite Christmas carol, and Celtic Woman does a beautiful rendition of it:

Enjoy!

“Being is born of not being.” — Tao te Ching

Being is what IS — the Creative Intelligence, the Ultimate Reality that underlies the physical reality that you perceive with your senses. It is there — always there — whether you are consciously aware of it or not. When you shift your focus from the cares and activities and problems of the day to your authentic inner self, you will discover Being — the rock-solid core of joy, peace, love, and contentment that resides within you — which is available for you to draw upon and gain strength from every moment of every day. When your nerves are frazzled or you are frustrated or otherwise disturbed and you feel the need to center yourself and find your calm inner core, shift your focus inward — and you will find every resource that you need available in abundance.

Please feel free to check out today’s newsletter, which is available at the link below, and subscribe if you wish!

http://channelsforthelightnewsletter.com/2009/12/14/newsletter-12-14-2009/

Have a blessed and wonderful day!

Namaste!

I’m currently reading a great introduction to Hinduism titled The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hinduism, 2nd Edition. I found a few great quotes while reading tonight that I thought were worth sharing:

This universe is the outpouring of the majesty of God, the auspicious one, radiant love. Every face you see belongs to him. He is present in everyone without exception. — Yajur Veda

Everything in the outside world changes constantly. But the Lord of Love in the inner world never changes. He rules both inner and the outer realities. Meditate on Him. Merge in Him. Wake up from the dream that you exist apart from Him. — Shvetashvatara Upanishad

God’s grace is like a strong wind that’s always blowing. All we have to do is raise our sails. — Ramakrishna Paramahansa

If you are interested in exploring and learning about Hinduism, I highly recommend this book:

Namaste!

This is a meditation I did this morning that really helped start the day out on a positive note.

Sit in a dark, quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Find a comfortable position so you can be relaxed. I used a couple of old pillows and propped myself up against the wall in my bedroom, but anywhere is fine.

Close your eyes, take several deep and relaxing breaths, and begin to imagine the Love of God filling your inner being. With each deep breath in, feel Love filling and infusing every fiber of your being. With every breath out, send that Love out into the world and envision it enveloping not just the world at large, but your family and your friends and everyone you care for. Love in… Love out… See yourself as a channel for the Light… A channel for Love…

And see if that doesn’t set the stage for a wonderful day ahead…

Namaste!

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” — Baba Ram Dass

The quieter you become, the more you can hear what is really important. The quieter you become, the more you can tune in to the peace of Being which lies behind and beyond thought. The quieter you become, the better you get to know the Self. The riches of Being knows no limits. When you and I cease striving for the riches of the material world for a while and look inward, we discover that we already have from birth all of the riches we will ever need — spiritual riches beyond measure which have always been and always will be for all of eternity.

As the Bible says, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Be still, and know that you already possess everything that you really have need of.

Namaste!

One of the things in my own personal life that I am really trying to focus on right now is awareness — awareness of each moment, awareness of what is happening in each moment, and awareness of my reactions to events of the moment. Those who teach mindfulness meditation refer to being consciousness or unconsciousness. If you are conscious in the moment, then you have the ability to be fully aware in the moment and you have the ability to consciously choose how to respond to events as they happen. If you are conscious in the moment, then you can watch your thoughts and watch your reactions to your thoughts, and change them if you wish to.

One thing that I see as vital to our happiness and fulfillment in life is awareness of our thoughts. We must become consciously aware of our thoughts, and we must learn how to control our thoughts. As Buddha pointed out:

The mind is everything, what you think, you become.

Or, as the Bible says in the Book of Proverbs:

⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

“ Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.
(Proverbs 23:7, New King James Version)

Or, as Earl Nightingale put it:

You become what you think about.

Of course, this timeless truth has been stated in much the same way by other well-known historical figures as well.

What I would like to encourage you to do is to work toward becoming conscious — conscious of each moment, conscious of your thoughts in each moment, and conscious of how you can change your thoughts to react in a healthier, happier way to events of the moment.

If you have an interest in learning more about mindfulness meditation, I can wholeheartedly recommend the following two books:

What you think, you become. So think your best thoughts today!

Be Blessed!

Namaste!

Those who seek the truth by means of intellect and learning only get further and further away from it. Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate. — Huang Po

This is where a lot of people miss it, and where I did too for a long time. Intellect will get you a long way if you want to have a scientific understanding of the world and the universe and how it all works. Science, and the scientific method, are fantastically useful for learning about the outer, physical world. But they are fairly useless if you want to address the inner, spiritual, non-physical world and learn about it and how it all works — in other words, spiritual truth.

There is no greater knowledge to be gained than knowledge of the Self. As the ancients in India knew thousands of years ago:

“When you hear about the Self, meditate upon the Self, and finally realize the Self…you come to understand everything in life.” –Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5

And as Socrates said:

Know thyself.

And… to know yourself, think for yourself.

And as Jesus said:

²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹ nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
(Luke 17:20-21, New King James Version)

People look for truth and fulfillment in all sorts of ways — in science, in organized religions, in material wealth, and the list goes on and on. But the truth isn’t somewhere “out there”. The truth actually is found exactly where the sages of old have always been telling us. The truth is to be found WITHIN US. When we look within ourselves and still our minds and discover the joy of just Being, then we come to know the Self, and we begin to understand everything in life.

Be Blessed today!

Namaste!

I found this a while back in a great newsletter I subscribe to called Kickstart, which is written by Martin Avis. Discovered it again while browsing through the accumulated stuff in my Documents folder, and thought it was well worth sharing. Hope you enjoy it. It is so true!!

No Limits

by Ralph Marston

There is no limit to the kindness you can offer.
There is no limit to the encouragement you can give.
There is no limit to the hope you can feel.
There is no limit to the amount of faith you can have.

There is no limit on how positive you can be.
There is no limit to the magnificence of what you can create with
your thoughts and actions.
There is no limit on the love you can give,
nor is there any limit on the love you can experience.

The things of true value and substance in life have no limits.
They are yours to experience in every moment,
in any circumstance,
no matter what others may say or do.

Some limits are imposed upon you by the world in which you live.
Other limits, you impose upon yourself.
Of the things that truly matter, however, there are no limits.
Experience them in abundance and let them fill your life with joy.

Please feel free to download and share the image below — which is suitable for printing on good photo paper — here.

This video is inspiring! Makes you feel good!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=127616106748

Be Blessed today!

Namaste!

This is a great video, and an excellent translation of the Gita, in my opinion. I fully believe and agree that our souls are indestructible!

Be Blessed!

Namaste!