Yoga-Nidra at Himalaya Centre

Yoga-Nidra at Himalaya Centre 12-10-11 Download here

Rekomended Readings

Ekhart Tolle:
* The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
* A New Earth
* Stillness Speaks

'The Spirit of Reiki' writen by Walter Lübeck, Frank Arjava Petter, and William Lee Rand










'The Handbook of Dr. Mikao Usui' by Frank Arjava Petter

The Dr. Hayashi Reiki Manual: Traditional Japanese Healing Techniques by Frank Arjava Petter

Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith

The amazing secrets of how you can work with your chakras to bring healing, spiritual development, and more in this book. The chakras are the sacred architecture of your body and psyche. They function as portals between the physical and spiritual planes.










'The Hidden Messages in Water' Masaru Emoto

Huna - Enid Hoffman

Centuries ago, the Kahuna, the ancient Hawaiian miracle workers, discovered the fundamental pattern of energy-flow in the Universe. Their secrets of psychic and intra-psychic communication, refined and enriched by modern scientific research, are now revealed in this practical, readable book. Learn to talk directly to your own unconscious selves and others'.

The Way of the Shaman - Michael Harner

This classic on shamanism pioneered the modern shamanic renaissance. It is the foremost resource and reference on understanding shamanism. Now, with a new introduction and a guide to current resources, anthropologist and shamanic practitioner Michael Harner provides the definitive handbook on practical shamanism—what it is, where it came from, how you can participate.

The Shōbōgenzō - Great Master Dōgen’s Spiritual Masterpiece
a Zen classic... The Shōbōgenzō is the recognized spiritual masterpiece by the thirteenth century Japanese Sōtō Zen Master Eihei Dōgen. It is comprised of discourses that he gave to his disciples, in person or in writing, at various times between 1231 and his death twenty-two years later at age fifty-three. These discourses cover a wide range of topics pertinent to those in monastic life though often also relevant to those training in lay life. He discusses matters of daily behavior and religious ceremonial as well as issues involving the Master-disciple relationship. He also explores the deeper meaning that informs the so-called Zen kōan stories, which often puzzle readers by their seeming illogicality and contrary nature.
free Download at:www.urbandharma.org website

Mariana Caplan, Ph.D.  :
* The Guru Question: The Perils and Rewards of Choosing a Spiritual Teacher
* Eyes Wide Open : Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path

http://www.realspirituality.com/pages/book_eyes.html

Tantra

What is Tantra?


Tantra has been one of the most neglected branches of Indian spiritual studies despite the considerable number of texts devoted to this practice, which dates back to the 5th-9th century AD.
Many people still consider tantra to be full of obscenities and unfit for people of good taste. It is also often accused of being a kind of black magic. However, in reality, tantra is one of the most important Indian traditions, representing the practical aspect of the Vedic tradition.


The Meaning of "Tantra" is derived from the combination of two words "tattva" and "mantra". "Tattva" means the science of cosmic principles, while "mantra" refers to the science of mystic sound and vibrations. Tantra therefore is the application of cosmic sciences with a view to attain spiritual ascendancy. In another sense, tantra also means the scripture by which the light of knowledge is spread: Tanyate vistaryate jnanam anemna iti tantram.


Desire for Worldly Pleasures.Tantra is different from other traditions because it takes the whole person, and his/her worldly desires into account. Other spiritual traditions ordinarily teach that desire for material pleasures and spiritual aspirations are mutually exclusive, setting the stage for an endless internal struggle. Although most people are drawn into spiritual beliefs and practices, they have a natural urge to fulfill their desires. With no way to reconcile these two impulses, they fall prey to guilt and self-condemnation or become hypocritical. Tantra offers an alternative path.


The Tantrik Approach To Life avoids this pitfall. Tantra itself means "to weave, to expand, and to spread", and according to tantrik masters, the fabric of life can provide true and ever-lasting fulfillment only when all the threads are woven according to the pattern designated by nature. When we are born, life naturally forms itself around that pattern. But as we grow, our ignorance, desire, attachment, fear, and false images of others and ourselves tangle and tear the threads, disfiguring the fabric. Tantra "sadhana" or practice reweaves the fabric, and restores the original pattern. This path is systematic and comprehensive. The profound science and practices pertaining to hatha yoga, pranayama, mudras, rituals, kundalini yoga, nada yoga, mantra, mandala, visualization of dieties, alchemy, ayurveda, astrology, and hundreds of esoteric practices for generating worldly and spiritual prosperity blend perfectly in the tantrik disciplines.

By tantrik master Shri Aghorinath Ji.

Yoga-Nidra at the Forest

This is the record of the last Yoga-Nidra meditation program at the Forest Cafe

Yoga-Nidra at the Forest Cafe

Namaste!

Reiki and Karma

Reiki and Karma

In many Asian teachings, including Buddhism, karma is an important concept. Since Usui Mikao, the founder of the system of Reiki, was a Japanese Buddhist practitioner, we can wonder: Is the concept of karma contained within the teachings of the system of Reiki?

What is Karma?

The Sanskrit word karma (or go, in Japanese) literally means action or conditioned activity. However, Buddhism takes this literal interpretation and extends it so that karma is the action, the intention or motivation behind each action, and the ‘fruit’ or outcome of the action. In other words, every action — whether physical, verbal, or mental — results in a specific result or outcome. And the intention behind the action shapes the outcome.

Within Buddhism, this means that each action— which includes the intention behind the action and the actual outcome — leaves behind a karmic trace. It is believed that by performing a virtuous action you create a virtuous karmic trace, and by performing a non-virtuous action you create a non-virtuous karmic trace.

From this understanding we can see that inner happiness arises from virtuous actions, and inner unhappiness and general suffering arise from non-virtuous actions. In Japanese this is called go-o mukuu; 'to reap the reward or retribution of one's acts.'

Nagarjuna sais, that the action arising from hatred, greed or ignorance is non virtuous.And the action arising from non-hatred, non-greed or non-ignorance is virtuous

The concept of karma is a powerful perspective, one that enjoins us to observe every action that we engage in, and to act virtuously in order to experience a happy life. To ensure our success in this endeavour, we must first clearly define the characteristics of virtuous and non-virtuous actions. We do this by calling on our inner wisdom. Wisdom brings us a deep understanding of the workings of the mind, and it is through our mind and its intentions that actions take shape.

Watch your thoughts as they become words.
Watch your words as they become actions.
Watch your actions as they become habits.
Watch your habits as they become character.
Watch your character - it becomes your destiny.
Lao-Tze

For example, we might perform the virtuous act of donating money to a worthy cause, while our underlying intention or motivation might be solely to receive praise. The virtuous act flips over into a non-virtuous one, as the underlying intention stems from egotism and greed.

So what is the first step?By working with practices such as Yoga, Buddhism, or the system of Reiki, we purify our karmic traces. In Japanese this is called go o tenzu; 'to change the course of one's karma or improve it'.

The first step to self-healing within the system of Reiki always begins with the foundation practice, the Reiki precepts:

Just For Today:

let go of Anger

let go of worry

Be Humble and Grateful for the things the life bring you

Be Honest in your Work

Be Compassionate to Yourself and Others

These five reiki principles describe actions to be undertaken, living in this moment, with one day at a time.Precepts helps you to create a peaceful mind without anger and worry. By observing each action that we undertake we become more compassionate to ourselves and also to others. The precepts are instructing us to transform our intentions and purify our karmic traces, thus creating a better life for ourselves and others.

Yoga Nidra Audio 3

Todays Yoga-Nidra meditation audio record.The audio is copyright protected and is for personal use only.You can download it from the link bellow.Namaste!

Yoga Nidra Audio 3 

Ten Spiritually Transmitted Diseases

It is a jungle out there, and it is no less true about spiritual life than any other aspect of life. Do we really think that just because someone has been meditating for five years, or doing 10 years of yoga practice, that they will be any less neurotic than the next person? At best, perhaps they will be a little bit more aware of it. A little bit. It is for this reason that I spent the last 15 years of my life researching and writing books on cultivating discernment on the spiritual path in all the gritty areas—power, sex, enlightenment, gurus, scandals, psychology, neurosis—as well as earnest, but just plain confused and unconscious, motivations on the path. Along with my partner, author and teacher Marc Gafni, we are developing a new series of books, courses and practices to bring further clarification to these issues.

Several years ago, I spent a summer living and working in South Africa. Upon my arrival I was instantly confronted by the visceral reality that I was in the country with the highest murder rate in the world, where rape was common and more than half the population was HIV-positive—men and women, gays and straights alike. As I have come to know hundreds of spiritual teachers and thousands of spiritual practitioners through my work and travels, I have been struck by the way in which our spiritual views, perspectives, and experiences become similarly “infected” by “conceptual contaminants”—comprising a confused and immature relationship to complex spiritual principles—that are as invisible, yet as insidious, as sexually transmitted disease.

The following 10 categorizations are not intended to be definitive but are offered as a tool for becoming aware of some of the most common spiritually transmitted diseases.

1. Fast-Food Spirituality: Mix spirituality with a culture that celebrates speed, multitasking, and instant gratification and the result is likely to be fast-food spirituality. Fast-food spirituality is a product of the common and understandable fantasy that relief from the suffering of our human condition can be quick and easy. One thing is clear, however: spiritual transformation cannot be had in a quick fix.

2. Faux Spirituality: Faux spirituality is the tendency to talk, dress, and act as we imagine a spiritual person would. It is a kind of imitation spirituality that mimics spiritual realization in the way that leopard-skin fabric imitates the genuine skin of a leopard.

3. Confused Motivations: Although our desire to grow is genuine and pure, it often gets mixed with lesser motivations, including the wish to be loved, the desire to belong, the need to fill our internal emptiness, the belief that the spiritual path will remove our suffering, and spiritual ambition—the wish to be special, to be better than, to be “the one.”

4. Identifying with Spiritual Experiences: In this disease, the ego identifies with our spiritual experience and takes it as its own, and we begin to believe that we are embodying insights that have arisen within us at certain times. In most cases, it does not last indefinitely, although it tends to endure for longer periods of time in those who believe themselves to be enlightened and/or who function as spiritual teachers.

5. The Spiritualized Ego: This disease occurs when the very structure of the egoic personality becomes deeply embedded with spiritual concepts and ideas. The result is an egoic structure that is “bullet-proof.” When the ego becomes spiritualized, we are invulnerable to help, new input, or constructive feedback. We become impenetrable human beings and are stunted in our spiritual growth, all in the name of spirituality.

6. Mass Production of Spiritual Teachers: There are a number of current trendy spiritual traditions that produce people who believe themselves to be at a level of spiritual enlightenment, or mastery, that is far beyond their actual level. This disease functions like a spiritual conveyor belt: put on this glow, get that insight, and–bam! –you’re enlightened and ready to enlighten others in similar fashion. The problem is not that such teachers instruct but that they represent themselves as having achieved spiritual mastery.

7. Spiritual Pride: Spiritual pride arises when the practitioner, through years of labored effort, has actually attained a certain level of wisdom and uses that attainment to justify shutting down to further experience. A feeling of “spiritual superiority” is another symptom of this spiritually transmitted disease. It manifests as a subtle feeling that “I am better, more wise, and above others because I am spiritual.”

8. Group Mind: Also described as groupthink, cultic mentality, or ashram disease, group mind is an insidious virus that contains many elements of traditional codependence. A spiritual group makes subtle and unconscious agreements regarding the correct ways to think, talk, dress, and act. Individuals and groups infected with “group mind” reject individuals, attitudes, and circumstances that do not conform to the often unwritten rules of the group.

9. The Chosen-People Complex: Unfortunately, the chosen people complex is not limited to Jews. It is the belief that “Our group is more spiritually evolved, powerful, enlightened and, simply put, better than any other group.” There is an important distinction between the recognition that one has found the right path, teacher, or community for themselves, and having found The One.

10. The Deadly Virus: “I Have Arrived” This disease is so potent that it has the capacity to be terminal and deadly to our spiritual evolution. This is the belief that “I have arrived” at the final goal of the spiritual path. Our spiritual progress ends at the point where this belief becomes crystallized in our psyche, for the moment we begin to believe that we have reached the end of the path, further growth ceases.

It is in the spirit of Marc Gafni’s teaching that I believe that a critical part of learning discernment on the spiritual path is discovering the pervasive illnesses of ego and self-deception that are in all of us. That is when we need a sense of humor and the support of real spiritual friends. As we face our obstacles to spiritual growth, there are times when it is easy to fall into a sense of despair and self-diminishment and lose our confidence on the path. We must keep the faith, in ourselves and in others, in order to really make a difference in this world.

From 'Eyes Wide Open' by Mariana Caplan