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Spirit News Blog - February 2007
The God of Wild Places By: Roger Chamberlain
Overlooking Lake Rydal
It seems to me that this is one of the great paradoxes of our time. As a race we have been struggling for millennia to tame the forces of nature and to make for ourselves a more comfortable life than our ancestors could have dreamed of, insulated and protected from the daily hardships they suffered just to get by. Yet, now that we can live divorced from those privations and wander at our leisure through a neat and controlled world of concrete, Plexiglas and carbon fibre, our urge to return to the wild and primal world of untamed nature in search of something indefinable, but at the same time powerfully attractive, is stronger than ever.
The mountaineer, the adventure racer, the desert explorer, the backpacker trekking in remote mountains or jungles- what is it they are seeking, and why are they seeking it in the extremes of nature and the elements? Undoubtedly there is some "vital urge" in us that thirsts for new and more intense sensations and experiences, even those potentially painful or arduous. But does this urge have its roots in something deeper, a spiritual longing or impulse from the soul?
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This week, Vietnam's most famous exile has returned home - to lead prayers for the dead of a war that ended more than 30 years ago but still haunts the country.
He is an 80-year-old Buddhist monk who has lived outside the country for four decades, and massive crowds are expected to greet him everywhere he goes. Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh is Vietnam's best-known peace activist and, after the Dalai Lama, is probably the most influential Buddhist spiritual leader in the world.
Like the Dalai Lama, he has spent half his life in exile. A best-selling author, he is feted in Europe and the US, but he was barred from his own land by the US-backed South Vietnamese government and the communist regime that displaced it.
Swami Satchindananda
Swami Satchidananda is a respected yoga teacher, who studied under the Spiritual Master Swami Sivananda. In this short extract Swami Satchidanada offers a spiritual approach to breaking bad habits
How can you trick your mind into breaking a bad habit?
How can you trick your baby so you can take away something that would hurt it? Suppose the baby is playing with something sharp. What kind of trick would you use? You would give her something nice to distract her.
In the same way, find some nice positive habits. Present them to the mind. Admire them “Oh, look how terrific this habit is. So useful. Something to be proud of.” Certainly your little baby mind will jump to grab it. As soon as it jumps for the good habit, take away the bad one.
Sitar Melodies at Radio Sri Chinmoy
These beautiful and uplifting Sitar Melodies are performed by Dr. Madan Shankar Mishra and his son Vijay. The music is composed by Sri Chinmoy.
I really enjoy listening to this track they play with an energizing and soulful dynamism. It is really infectious. Listen Now m4a Format.
"When we play soulful music, psychic music, then immediately we are transported to the highest realm of consciousness."
- Sri Chinmoy
- More Indian Music
St Therese of Lisieux
As a young girl, St Therese's greatest wish was to become a Saint. At the age of 15 she felt God was calling her to enter into a religious order. As the convent would not accept somebody so young, she travelled to the Vatican to personally petition the Pope. Soon after her heart's desire was filled and she became a nun of the Carmellite order in Lisieux.
St Therese died at the age of only 24, however she left behind a rich treasure of writings which spelt out her approach to the spiritual life. Her belief was that if one should try to do everything, even the smallest things, with an attitude of love.
"Love!...that is what I ask...I know but one thing now - to love Thee, O Jesus! Glorious deeds are not for me, I cannot preach the Gospel, shed my blood...what does it matter? My brothers toil instead of me, and I, the little child, I keep quite close to the royal throne, I love for those who fight."
view: biography St Therese
Dilip Kuamar Roy was a rare combination of the a keen intellect and the devotion of a Bhakti. After a certain amount of deliberation, he forsook a materially prosperous life, to enter under the guidance of Spiritual Master, Sri Aurobindo. In his book “Sri Aurobindo Came to Me” He recalls with great humility and openness his joys and trials of being a spiritual aspirant. Dilip was a supreme singer and musician. His soul stirring songs transport the listener to a realm of heavenly delight, far beyond the domain of worldly thoughts. As Mahatma Gandhi said of him.
“I may make bold to claim that very few persons in India – or rather in the world – have a voice like his, so rich and sweet and intense.”
"There are people who say that spirituality is not meant for this world or this outer life. There are people who say that spirituality should be practised only in the evening of one's life-that is to say, after having had all the experiences that the outer world can give, one should enter into the inner life. But these opinions are not true. Spirituality can and should be practised irrespective of place and time. Anybody on earth can practise spiritual life. Spiritual life can never be an artificial life. Spiritual life is something which is natural and spontaneous."
By: Sri Chinmoy
Read more on True Spirituality
"The truth mind could not know unveils its face,
We hear what mortal ears have never heard,
We feel what earthly sense has never felt,
We love what common hearts repel and dread;
Our minds hush to a bright Omniscient;
A Voice calls from the chambers of the soul;
We meet the ecstasy of the Godhead's touch
In golden privacies of immortal fire."
Excerpt from "Savitri" by Sri Aurobindo, Book I, Canto Four, lines 78-85)
Yogananda on Sleeping
Quotes by Yogananda
'To meditate truly is to concentrate solely on spirit. This is esoteric meditation. It is the highest form of activity that man can perform, and it is the most balanced way to find GOD.'
'Every day undertake something that is difficult for you and try to do it. Though you fail 5 times, keep on, and as soon as you have succeeded in that direction, apply your concentrated will on something else. You will thus be able to accomplish increasingly greater things. Will is the instrument of the image of God within you.'
'HE who is persistent will realize God. So try your best to make meditation a regular experience in your life.'
'TO be able to concentrate is essential for spiritual progress; without concentration you shall never find God. Learn how to shut out of your consciousness all sounds and other earthly distractions.'