Plunge in

"Plunge into the vast ocean of Consciousness
Let the drop of water that is you
Become a hundred mighty seas.
But do not think the drop alone becomes the ocean
The ocean too becomes the drop."
-Rumi

Eastern & Western Philosophies Meet on: RIGHTFUL ACTION

  

“I express the principle of one’s freedom as a human being in this formula: No one can compel me (in accordance with his beliefs about the welfare of others) to be happy after his fashion; instead every person may seek happiness in the way that seems best to him, if he only does not violate the freedom of others to strive toward such similar ends as are compatible with everyone’s freedom under a possible universal law”.  -  Immanuel  Kant 

Each person should find their own personal path to happiness as long as they do not harm others along the way. Another idea of Kant is that while free to determine your path to happiness, you must perform rightful action along the way with no other motives than the for the sake of doing your duty as a part of society.

Rightful action can be defined as doing things to better the world around you: community service, helping a neighbor, being a working and law abiding member of society, carrying out tasks that are asked of you, and so on. These actions are duties we have as humans, and performing them with that intention will only increase your happiness and bring more positivity into your life. There are certain laws put in place that require us to do things, but the purpose of them is to maintain universal happiness, not to create happiness for individuals.

The third section of  the Bhagavad Gita is about Action. Lord Krisha tells the warrior Arjuna that he must perform action as a sacrifice, detached from the outcome: good or bad.  This is the yogic path known as Karma Yoga. Karma yoga is an active path of selfless service. Action is better than no action and in order to move forward in this life some action must be taken.

“Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life.”  -BG 3.19*

Both Kant and the Bhagvad Gita suggest that through meritous actions from which you are detatched to the outcome, happiness can be obtained.  Moral merit increases your moral worth, which increases your happiness.          

 “Action imprisons the world unless it is done as a sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!” -BG 3.9**

By performing action with the intention of sacrafice, a great amount of happiness can be found because there are no expectations for the result of your action. When action is done with altirier motives, we must deal with expectations and assumptions, which will only misguide our intention and create false ideas about what should be. If those ideas aren’t fulfilled, we suffer. When you do not think about the result of your action you can only find happiness. The intention of your action is then pure and pure actions have positive outcomes. Lord Krishna calls men who attach to their actions “ignorant” because they are afflicted with the qualities of nature. The qualitieis of nature are always changing. ….. The Bhagvad Gita emphasize detachment from your actions in the form of surrender. This requires an understanding of your duty, the will to fulfill it, and sense of contentment from the simplicity of performing that actiong. (There is a similar belief in Mahyana Buddhism which includes seeking out enlightment for the good of all beings.) 

“What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The stanards such people create will be followed by the whole world”- BG 3.21**

By doing good and being a positive reflection for others, you are raising the vibrations of the universe you live in which in turn raises your vibrations.

“Nature has willed that man, entirely by himself, produce everything that goes beyond the mechanical organization of his animal existence and partake in no other happiness or perfection than what he himself, independently of instinct, can secure through his own reason”-Immanuel Kant

You have the choice to take action in your life. The results of your actions will reflect the quality of your actions. You are the only one who can bring yourself to a point where you are worth of life and well-being. 

above picture is a scene from the Bhagavad-Gita



** From translation by Eknath Easwaran
*From translation by Barbara Stoller Miller

Yoga is so cool.

 "The Future is Open"

Great Essay by one of my Favorite philosophers Georg Feuerstein

We must assume that there are many pathways into the future. At the human level, nothing is predetermined. If I show kindness toward a neighbor, I am likely to earn his or her good will. If I am mean spirited, I will very likely alienate him or her.

Thus, our actions matter. They matter more than we would like to think. Fatalism is not a valid option. The belief in fate (moira) was, I think, a weakness of the ancient Greeks despite the genius of their great ones who forayed far into the fields of philosophical and protoscientific inquiry. We need not repeat their error. We can learn from history if we care to.

We also need not repeat the erroneous belief in progress, which arose with the technological development of the eighteenth century. As we can witness all around us, progress is not inevitable. If anything, it is a slippery slope. Any astute observer of the environment will by now know beyond any shadow of a doubt that, all supposed technological progress notwithstanding, we have messed up royally.

Change is certain. Whether we can make it a positive experience for us is entirely our choice in every moment. What needs to happen, then? First, we must recognize that we can determine our future as individuals and as a species. Second, we must realize that we are capable of choosing wisely.

What is wisdom? And how do we generate it in us? Wisdom is knowledge that entails self-transcendence and aims at the good not only of the person claiming wisdom but all human beings and also all nonhuman beings as well as the natural environment. This is a very broad definition, but I can see very little wisdom, if any, in knowledge that offers less than that.

Because wisdom has a moral component, we must consciously cultivate it, which is a matter of discipline. Knowledge as information is readily available and requires no special fitness on the part of the person wanting to acquire it. Not so with wisdom. It is knowledge that grasps the whole human personality, not just the intellect. Hence we could call it “integral knowledge.” A wise individual is not merely clever, but he or she radiates good-heartedness—the kind of person whom you would seek out when you are in trouble.

Yogins and yoginīs who immerse themselves in the wisdom tradition of Yoga have an undoubted advantage over most other people. By practicing Yoga as a lifestyle, they can themselves elicit the quality of wisdom. That’s why, in contemporary parlance, Yoga is so cool.


Georg Feuerstein

The Myth of the Eternal Return: Nietzsche

Nietzsche's Existential Imperative: to will an eternal return of the same  

"The Greatest Stress- What if a demon crept after thee into thy loneliest loneliness some day or night, and said to thee: "This life, as thou livest it at present, and hast lived it, thou must live it once more, and also innumerable times; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and every sigh, and all the unspeakably small and great in thy life must come to thee again, and all in the same series and sequence -- and similarly this spider and this moonlight among the trees, and similarly this moment, and I myself. The eternal sand-glass of existence will ever be turned once more, and thou with it, thou speck of dust!" -- Wouldst thou not throw thyself down and gnash thy teeth, and curse the demon that so spake? Or hast thou once experienced a tremendous moment in which thou wouldst answer him: Thou art a God, and never did I hear anything so divine!" If that thought acquired power over thee as thou art, it would transform thee, and perhaps crush thee; the question with regard to all and everything : "Dost thou want this once more, and also for innumerable times?" would lie as the heaviest burden upon thy activity! Or, how wouldst thou have to become favorably inclined to thyself and to life, so as to long for nothing more ardently than for this last eternal sanctioning and sealing?"

Full Moon in Taurus 11/21

CELEBRATE new life, new creations, new beginnings and RELEASE what is old, dead, and no more. LET GO of pain, hurt, and resentment. Conscious choices for the future can't be made if you are still unconsciously carrying the past. EXPLORE your energy, talents, values, and priorities  to make a difference in your life and recognize them as your strength grounding you to the earth. Find a natural rhythm that works for you as the solid earth energy of this Full Moon builds you up to your full potential! Take time to feel your body, feel your body in connection to the elements, and feel how amazing you are. Unleash the senses and be ready to create solid foundations.


i'm starting to feel these energies already... using them to push me through the week and getting ready to let them go as the full moon nears.

Perception

Drasta Drsimatrah Suddhopi Pratyayanupasyah

The seer is nothing but the power of seeing which, although pure, appears to see through the mind.

-Yoga Sutra 2.20

Tadartha Eva Drsyasyatma

The Seen Exists only for the sake of the seer

-Yoga Sutra 2.21

We are the mirror as well as the face in it.
We are tasting the taste this minute
of eternity. We are pain
and what cures pain, both. We are
the sweet cold water and the jar that pours. 
-Rumi

<<*..the sound of OM..*>>

~OM~ (Aum) is considered the original primordial creative sound that everything in this universe is manifested from. It is the sound that contains all sounds. OM is a mantra from the Hindu tradition and a Sanskrit word. OM is the Infinite, the One Mind, the all embracing consciousness—that which is the very essence of existence. Can be pronounced "OM” with three sounds: A-U-M.

A- represents the energy of Brahman the creator and creational process.
U- represents energy of Vishnu the preserver, preservation of what has been created
M- represents Shiva the transformer, vital transformational energy to shift and change what has been created and preserved.

A- physical plane
U- mental and astral planes
M- all that is beyond the reach of intellect

A- Body
U- Speech
M- Mind