The “Cereal Syndrome”

My favorite cereal is the classic Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds, but you’ll still find me standing in front of a barricade of cereals at some supermarket, trying to figure out if I want to try something new. And you know what? After much thought, I still end up buying the same old cereal or two.

Recently, I scanned through a cook book and found plenty of good dishes to try out. Nearly every page had an exotic recipe with a great photo. And guess what? I still end up favoring those few tried dishes that always seem to hit the right spot. It isn’t to say that I don’t try new dishes, but maybe it’s about practicing restraint instead of indulging in the luxury of choices.

With so many choices in the market, I find that time is often wasted on choosing because whether one likes it or not, nearly every product or service has competition. So if left uncontrolled, being choosy becomes a habit of one’s daily life. Even when one returns home after shopping, the “Cereal Syndrome” remains. It may translate to one’s personal life where one isn’t satisfied with one’s life partner and may move on from one to another. It may also enter one’s work life where one changes jobs so often that saving money becomes an issue. Even in spirituality, from dancing yoga to tibetan monasteries, the choices are plenty.  A person who tries various spiritual paths may end up looking like a hippie and experience dissatisfaction. If the habit remains uncontrolled, bad choices are easily made and can be quite harmful.

With a little restraint in a world of choices, one could probably solve half of one’s worries and problems, and that’s pretty good. So the next time I reach out for a different cereal, I might give it a second thought just for the sake of self-discipline.

Distractions

A breeze may pass through a room so gently that if it isn’t for, say, a flickering candle flame, it may go unnoticed. Similarly, thoughts that burden our minds can slip away if we don’t pay too much attention to them. When we focus on every little thought then we risk losing our balance.

Just as an insect or wind can disrupt a burning candle, so can thoughts disturb our inner silence. Sometimes our attention or focus is as delicate as a candle flame. We get overpowered with ideas or attachments with the result that all our energy is consumed, and then we completely burn out. So why not let thoughts pass by without involving ourselves! This way we can focus on the present and not on past or future events which don’t exist. In the present we would surely be more alert and attentive to our environment as well as ourselves.

Being in the moment is really being anchored to one’s spirit. Where the mind is clear, the true self shines. It is said that nothing can disturb the spirit. While the flame may be put out, the wick always remains.

No Year Resolution

Surely it is hard to come across people who have kept up each of their New Year resolutions. Kudos to those few who have!

On the whole, a New Year resolution is something to contemplate about. It is a bit like meditation–we focus our attention on improving ourselves. We tell ourselves to cut back on sweets or maintain a healthy lifestyle and so on. This urge to improve oneself is not foreign to meditators, but the main difference is that in making resolutions we use our mind while in meditation we don’t.

With the mind, we make sweeping declarations that satisfy our egos for the time being. Eventually we find our efforts fizzle out and we are back to square one. We may feel a little saddened about our lack of accomplishments. So, if meditation is about helping ourselves but it goes beyond the mind, there is no question of feeling saddened or overly elated. We simply need to enrich our meditative experience and the rest takes care of itself. As we balance out, so does our lifestyle and personality.

Unless you’re planning on a weight loss or garage cleaning schedule, toss out those resolutions and start bringing some real balance within.

Happy New Year!

December

Ah, December! Isn’t it a lovely month? In Arizona, its not too cold, the snow birds come visit bringing tales of bitter winters, and our usually barren streets come alive with music, food and art festivals. ‘Tis really the season to be jolly!

In fact, it’s hard to focus on anything black and white including words on a computer screen. So, I think I will go and change the water for the gigantic roses a Scottsdale friend gave me. The roses love this weather, and I can’t help but share the enthusiasm with which they seem to be blooming.

I must stop now and for a while. I’ve decided to spend my time outdoors, and my next post will be after New Years. So wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Only 30 more days till 2010… see you then.

Buried Treasure

The men who dug into the earth had heard about the legend of the buried treasure. For ages, treasure seekers had been misguided, returning home with hollow expressions. A few who found the place were unable to dig through the mysterious layers of ice and earth that enveloped the chest of treasure.
But these group of men were well equipped. On their search, they had met a master who told them the secrets of uncovering the layers. They also learnt about the nature of the buried treasure, which was unlike anything the earth had ever seen. Even a glimpse could give a man the key to eternal joy.

The men worked at the hard layers for days. They had learnt that it would respond to their inner state of being. So they used cool water to wash away the heat of their anger and thoughts. The layers of earth began to soften too, and they found it easier to dig. Next, their shovels hit a layer of ice. They knew the warmth of fire would melt the hardness away, so they lit a large bonfire. Soon it began to warm their cold hearts and brought forth a love so pure that it nourished their exhausted bodies. The ice melted. Soft golden rays danced into the dark atmosphere. The men had finally reached the treasure, but the golden light came from some other source. They glanced about and noticed that each of their hearts contained a golden chest, which was now open and emitting beautiful waves of joy.

They realized that the hidden treasure had been with them all along in their hearts. Beneath the hardness of their impenetrable mind one one side and frozen emotions on the other, the chest had lain buried. The master had equipped them with elements like water and fire to balance their inner self and meditative silence to reach their spirits. They now knew neither happiness or unhappiness, only eternal joy.

Maintain the Shine

Pardon the directness but–stop sitting around, and go take that car for a wash! Seriously. In fact, some people say caked on dirt can chip the paint off a car. You don’t want that, right? Still not convinced? Maybe you just had your car washed. Alright. Let’s change gears then.

How about considering the next item on your list…not dry cleaning or the doctor–but you. Perhaps you could use some cleaning right in those little crevices of your heart and mind. You know, those hard-to-reach places. It’s easy to visualize how a car gets dirty–bird droppings, dirty water, dust, leaves and so on. It may not be so easy to figure out the pollutants of your heart and mind though, and that’s why meditation is a must. Whether you’ve collected bad thoughts and habits over a period of time or you’ve let stress and bad decisions take control, meditation will help you get your act together.

When you station a car for an automatic car wash, it’s pretty fast. You don’t inspect each speck of dirt and think about where it came from and what to do about it–you just get the whole thing cleaned. Similarly, you don’t need to sort through the whole medley of thoughts or figure out each little thing that is pushing the stress button. Just station yourself in a quiet place, and let your inner system take care of the rest. With the silence and alertness that meditation brings, you’ll stay as perfect as a magical dirt-resistant car.

Right here, right now

Considering how expensive frames are, I decided to make one, which got me heading toward a library. After scanning through a whole shelf of books, I selected about four or five “how to’s,” and sat by a table in a cozy corner to begin reading. Soon, I was too engrossed in my books to notice the friendly voice, “You look like you need help framing.”
I glanced at the man, smiled and politely declined his help. “What I need is right here in these books,” I thought to myself. After an hour or two of reading, I realized that making a frame wasn’t going to be so easy. Feeling a little discouraged, I decided to go home. As I was leaving, I happened to walk by the man and notice his large bag … he was carrying frames. I turned back and asked him about the frames and soon went home with a bag of beautiful frames I’d got at a dirt cheap rate.
This small incident made me realize the need of being in the moment. I was so engrossed in my books at first that I missed the opportunity standing right before me … a guy willing to sell his frames for a great price, which was just what I needed.
I wonder how many of us miss special moments every day. Sometimes we miss the opportunity to simply enjoy because we’re too involved in our thoughts to notice the beauty of our environment, the love of our families or the peace that sits quiet in our hearts.

Gems of Society

Whether you’re watching Kevin Skinner on America’s Got Talent or enjoying the kindness of a trusted neighbor, there are some qualities that calm, inspire and touch our spirit.

These qualities are common in great men from Abraham Lincoln to Mahatma Gandhi. Such people represent ideal human beings, transcending nations, cultures and religions. They are citizens of the world. And as a global race, we have much to learn from their fruitful lives.

Let’s, for a moment, also take a look at history. Centuries before Abraham Lincoln or even Shakespeare, great “men” existed all over the world. They came as saints, prophets and incarnations.
Somehow as years passed, humans identified with only one prophet or messenger of God, failing to imbibe the essence of others. Perhaps it would serve us better to study saints and prophets from around the world, and let their eternal qualities be enjoyed and imbibed in us.

Watch Your Attention

Photo credit: www.smh.com.au

When someone kicks you on the shin, blood rushes to your head, you’re angry, and you want to retaliate.

Back in school, soccer was a favorite sport among boys and girls alike, but all too often someone would get hurt on his or her knee or shin. Surprisingly, that didn’t stop the game. In fact, the “victim” would keep playing, forget the hurt, focus on the game and play the best he or she could to score a winner goal.

In the game called life, sometimes we too face people who hurt us whether intentionally or not. When our focus stays on the hurt or on them, we can’t forgive, and all our thoughts are obsessed with how to get them back. We lose focus of the present and dwell in the past which doesn’t exist. In soccer, when a player does not pay attention to his game, he loses, and it brings the whole team down. Even if the attention shifts for a minute, the opponent takes control of the ball, and the game can be lost.
When someone takes control of your thoughts, you lose the enjoyment of being in the present moment. Perhaps, it’s better to forgive and move on. When we keep our attention on our spirituality, we connect better to our spirit, which is a source of deep joy within our hearts.

Preventive Health Care

Preventive health care and cutting back on health care costs are important topics these days, and maybe we need to look beyond politicians, doctors and medicine for a solution.
Consider a person who’s been regularly visiting a doctor as a preventive health measure, and one day the doctor discovers that the person is developing a tumor and needs surgery. The surgery is performed and the patient is well again. Perhaps the same cycle begins- a person visits the doctor and after years they discover another problem and treat it.

The point is that no matter how many times you visit the doctor, he or she still can’t reach inside you and prevent every harmful virus or bacteria from settling in your body. The doctor may treat an illness once he sees it, and he or she may use technology or knowledge of symptoms to “see” it and then cure it before the illness becomes life threatening. While this may be a type of preventive health measure, it isn’t complete because modern medicine does not cure from the roots.

The understanding of the roots can be found through a proper meditation practice. Not all meditations provide that in-depth understanding, so one would have to be aware.

An understanding of your intricate network of chakras and channels is helpful. When a disease begins to develop in the body, you can detect it even before a doctor “sees” it, and with meditation you cure it quickly. The most important part of staying healthy not only physically but also mentally and emotionally is– regular meditation practice.
Meditation replenishes the life giving force within us that looks after our well being. Sahaja Yoga meditation has helped me to practice true preventive health care as it gives me the knowledge of the roots.
More information on health and meditation is available at researchingmeditation.org and freemeditation.ca