Meditation & Me
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A recent study by Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario found that a person has an average of 6,200 thoughts per day. These cusps of the thoughts are also referred to as “thought worms”. As we jump on the cusps of thought waves, our attention is frittered away on the them. The thoughts are thus our distractions and affect our ability to focus and our efficiency.
“Only one thought, whether good or bad, is enough to bring a whole series of thoughts one after the other. It then becomes a never-ending process where each thought gives rise to another. ” The nominee of Nobel Peace Prize Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi mentioned about how thoughts can ripple into more thoughts in a speech dating back to 31st December 1980.
She also mentioned how to overcome this. “If we really want to indicate this ‘Nih‘ (which means no) feeling within ourselves then we must do one thing: whenever thoughts come into our minds, we must say to ourselves that it is nothing but deception and is thus useless. You will have to do this over and over again. Only then will you all understand the true meaning of the word ‘Nih‘!”
The term ‘Nirvicharita’ refers to a state where one is in complete union with the whole and can be achieved easily with meditation after Self-Realization. Reducing our thoughts not only brings about higher work efficiency, it also reduces stress and brings about better mental, emotional and physical health.
Try out the guided meditation below with an open mind to dissolve into the state of thoughtless awareness and enjoy the benefits of being in the state of oneness with our ‘self’.
www.singaporemeditation.org
“Yoga” means union in Sanskrit and is a term in spirituality, where one seeks our connection with the divine. Union is a common term in ancient philosophy and ancient medical theories, including Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is strongly believed that humans are a microscopic entity living in a macroscopic world. Whatever changes in the environment has an impact on humans and vice versa, whatever changes we have within will gradually and subtlely make an impact on the world.
As we see the pandemic causing fear, anxiety, stress within individuals and tensed sentiments amongst different countries, let us reach in depth to our inner self, seek our connection with the whole, inner peace within ourselves and spreading this peace externally, across continents, across borders, across different races.
In event of International Day of Yoga to propagate Yoga, take a few minutes to see what different saints from different culture mentions about Yoga (including indian saints as well as Lao Tzu, William Blake etc.) in the video below.
It’s in the recent news that some Mexicans had turned to methanol as COVID-19 had brought about a shortage in alcohol beverage provision which led to some deaths due to consumption of the adulterated alcohol.
For many people in the modern society, life revolves around work, money, family and…. alcoholic beverage. The things that makes people happy are having people (friends and family members) around to socialise, to love, money which can buy whatever we want, and of course, many turn to beer, which can trigger different emotions in different people. Ultimately, as human beings, we seek to feel good (confident, stress-free, loved, good spirits). However, alcohol’s effect on humans, whether it is to elevate our mood, to reduce stress or to gain confidence, are momentary and comes with a side-effect on our health.
The other thing humans turn to is shopping, that is, using our hard-earned money to buy ourselves things to pamper our mind. Whatever our mind tells us is useful, is good for us, is a necessity, we buy. But why is there a saying that “money can’t buy happiness”? Is there a logic for that well-known phrase? Well, there is a saying in economics that wants are never satiable. After all, if money can truly buy happiness, what about the children whom we see are always as happy as they are, content with being able to play with a pebble, observe an insect crawling or being able to draw, dance or play.
Many of us must have heard about the story of Buddha, also known as Siddharta Gautama. He was a prince, who left his much-sought-after life in his palace to seek a realm beyond sufferings and sorrow. I believe in everyone of us, there must be a desire like Buddha. However, as we are thrown into the sea of modern society, our focus on swimming to stay alive in the society gradually led us to lose touch with that little seed of desire within us.
As we go through different phases of life, let us never forget the seeking, as within us we never did, we took to drinking to seek elevation of our moods, to be stress-free and to be confident. What if, we could actually achieve all these without the side-effects of alcohol, i.e. the negative impact on our health and have longer-lasting effects?
All we need is to desire, desire to be in that realm that is free from the sorrows of life, that is stress-free, that is so fairy-tale like.
Let’s place our right hand on our heart and feel our heartbeat. What is it that our spirit desire? Let me feel the love and joy of my spirit. Close our eyes and feel the silence in our heart for 1-2 mins.
Secondly, let’s place our right hand on our forehead. Our minds are full of clutter. Let us declutter our minds by forgiving everyone and everything. We can say innately, “I forgive everyone, including myself.” With our eyes closed, enjoy the state of forgiveness for 1-2 mins.
Lastly, let us place our right hand on top of our head, with a little pressure and rotating in a clockwise manner, let us desire, like Buddha, to establish our connection, to enter to the realm of emptiness or thoughtlessness. Let us close our eyes and enjoy this state for 1-2 mins.
If you have felt the silence within and enjoy that realm, do visit our meditation resources link for more info! Hope you’ve enjoyed the silence!
What is Yin? What is Yang? What is Yin-Yang in harmony?
Yin is like the dark side and is prevalent at night, while Yang is like the bright side and in daytime, Yang is prevalent. Yin governs the internals while Yang fights the external. Let us understand more with some illustrations..
The mouse is chosen to represent Yin because of its characteristics, it likes darkness and hides from the sun and is timid.
The tiger is chosen to represent Yang for its characteristics: it is fearless and aggressive.
In summer, Yang is more prevalent, clocking longer hours of sun. In winter, Yin is more prevalent, clocking shorter hours of sun. In the day time, our Yang energy is active, while in the night time, our Yang energy returns back and Yin becomes prevalent as we move into the state of sleep.
When Yin is overpowering, we might be overwhelmed with these emotions:
When Yang is overpowering, we might face these emotions:
Of course, we hope to have these qualities:
In order to have these good traits or qualities, it’s important for the Yin and Yang within to be in Harmony. For that, we need to have a balanced lifestyle and diet, and we can also make use of nature’s elements and meditation to keep our Yin-Yang in harmony.
If you want to try meditation, you can try the below link:
Few days back while eating breakfast, as my mum tuned in to the radio, I heard the DJ mentioning that consuming beef is not environmentally friendly as cows need to consume lots of grass and also release methane gas. It sparked some thoughts within me.
Well, cows are herbivores, so they are considered to be placed in the lower portion of a food chain. Humans, on the other hand, consume different types of animals and greens, positioning us on the higher side of the food chain. If by rearing cows or consuming beef are considered to be not environmentally friendly, then what is the use of human beings, a tertiary consumer, on this Earth? What then, is the purpose of our life?
And I remembered this award winning short film… If you believe as human beings, our purpose of life is not to hurt Mother Nature nor just to make a living, if you believe there is a higher purpose to our life, to have our self-realisation and to be connected to the mains, follow through the video (takes only 3 mins to watch) and enjoy…
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, as humankind, many understood that we have neglected and polluted Mother Nature and misused our powers as human beings. When production factories shut down, we have seen the pollution levels worldwide falling, the ozone healing and the majestic himalayan mountain region becoming clear in punjab, India.
For the aboriginals in Australia, Mother Nature and Mother Earth are part and parcel of their being. They have a profound spiritual connection to land. Aboriginal law and spirituality are intertwined with the land, the people and creation, and this forms their culture and sovereignty. [1]
For the Chinese, in ancient Chinese philosophy or Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theories, holistic or oneness with the whole is one of the key principles. In TCM theories, they often refer to changes in the climate etc in relation to humans as they believe that man is part and parcel of the entire creation.
For the Indians, the Sanskrit term Yoga means union, union with the entire universe. Yoga is a common exercise in many countries. However, the essence of Yoga is to acheive one’s union or one’s Yoga. For that, one needs to be in a state of thoughtless awareness.
From these traditional principles and ideologies, people have love and respect Mother Nature for they believe that we do not own the land, the air that we breathe nor the rivers that run and Mother Nature is deemed as sacred. The Earth and the living beings were created from the creator right from the start of creation but for economic gains and materialism, we damage the Mother Earth, ignore the damages and continue to damage the creator’s creations time and again.
Scientific researches have found that it is highly probable that covid-19 is a result of animal to human transmission of the virus. With the tiger in New York’s zoo being infected by its zookeeper, human to animal transimission of the virus shows the breadth of its infectivity. [2]
Amongst all these happenings, have we pondered about the origins of all type of viruses? According to Dr D Wessner, viruses may represent previously free-living organisms that became parasites. They may be the precursors of life as we know it. [3] From this understanding, viruses are part and parcel of the creation.
Let us apply the traditional wisdoms in modern times by establishing our connection with Mother Nature, with the creator and seek Her forgiveness, keeping our attention more frequently on the nature and praying with utmost sincerity for the virus to return to where it came from.
References:
[1] Jens Korff 2019, creative spirits, accessed 12 Apr 2020, https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/land/meaning-of-land-to-aboriginal-people
[2] Graham Readfern 2020, The Guardian, accessed 12 Apr 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/09/how-did-the-coronavirus-start-where-did-it-come-from-how-did-it-spread-humans-was-it-really-bats-pangolins-wuhan-animal-market
[3] David R. Wessner 2010, Scitable, accessed 12 Apr 2020, https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-origins-of-viruses-14398218/
在全球疫情加剧情况中，愿每个人能够唤醒内在这束光，点亮我们，带走担忧，带来安宁、健康、满足，与自然界合而为一。
（图摘自 Finestre D’inchiostro Facebook）
看到别人分享的冥想图，好想跟着试试
随着中医被世界卫生组织（WHO）认可（中医在2019年正式进入世界卫生体系），读者是否会感到好奇中医的原理为何如此精微而注重整体观？
在中国古时，人体被视为是神圣的，所以与古希腊和古罗马文化不一样，中医理论的形成过程中并不包含人体解剖。中医理论围绕着人体和自然界中的精微系统而形成，与现代医学截然不同。
源自另一个古文明社会的瑜伽，也记载着人体内精微的能量系统（见下图），包括了轮穴及经脉。而这些，也是解剖人体所见不着的。
两个古文明社会又如何形成了精微的体系呢？在解剖、病理理论尚未发展时，人们在哲学理论基础上对人体有了些了解，并从精微之中了解人体和形成了医疗和修复的体系。
天地万物之间，存在着精微的生命能量。是祂，滋养着万生万物。心脏自主的跳动、种子的发芽、自然界中的生长收藏等，都由祂所控制。如老子云：道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。中医理论中也认为人与天地相应，根据自然界中能量的运行形成了子午流注和运气学说。
对于一些国家的原住民（如澳大利亚、加拿大等），他们识大地母亲（大自然）为神圣的。他们认为是祂给予了万物生命，也认为我们并不拥有自然界，而是自然界拥有我们（We don’t own the land, the land owns us. The Land is my mother, my mother is the land. ）。
此时，如果读者想感受内在精微能量的运行，
找个舒适的地方坐下，
可以做几次的深呼吸～～～，
双手掌心打开放在腿上，
在内心祷告请大地母亲带领我进入精微能量里。
