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 June 2009 July 15, 2009 12:20 PM

Journey into the Unknown

We are all travelers on a cosmic journey back to the source of existence – the field of pure potentiality or pure consciousness that gives rise to everything in the universe, including our physical body, the forests, and the stars. Since we are an inseparable part of this divine intelligence, our journey to the source of existence is a return to the Self. It is an unfolding of consciousness that brings us the experiential knowledge of immortality, infinite love, and infinite creativity.

As we move from personal consciousness to universal consciousness, we progressively express the qualities of love, compassion, intuition, insight, imagination, and creativity. We step out of the complete identification with our body and sensory experiences, and our attachment to the past and future drops away, allowing us to experience the present moment in freedom and joy. We find that our thinking and behavior begin to function in harmony with the forces of the universe, and we notice more conscious choice-making, observations of synchronicity around us, the spontaneous fulfillment of our desires, and the manifesting power of our intentions.

As with any journey, being rigidly attached to the idea of arriving at a destination takes away from the joy and spontaneity of the unfolding of consciousness. The search for the certainty of timetables and outcomes comes from our limited ego self, not our unlimited Self.  If we surrender to the wisdom of uncertainty, we remain open to the wonder of the process and resist the clutches of the ego’s need to control by knowing the outcome.

The art of spiritual evolution is to enjoy the journey as we continue to grow. To quote Rumi’s beautiful phrase, “I came from Elsewhere, and though I do not know where that is, I am certain to return there in the end.”

Love,
Deepak

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July 2008 July 06, 2008 5:59 PM

A Letter from Deepak

Dear Friends,

Do you love your mind? I’ve never met anyone who did. The mind is the hardest part of ourselves to love because we so often feel trapped inside it, at the mercy of a host of uninvited guests – the fear that roams the mind at will, the dark depression that takes up residence and refuses to leave, the anger that blows through the circuits and ignites in turmoil.

Ancient cultures recognized the mind’s restless, unreliable nature. In India, the most common metaphor for the mind is the wild elephant, and in Buddhism, the mind is compared to a monkey peering out through the five senses. Monkeys are notoriously impulsive, liable to do anything without notice.

To cope with the frustrating antics of the monkey mind, the vast majority of people try to tame it – but that method never works. The mind is wild because we try to control and confine it. The solution is counterintuitive: To experience peace and calm, we have to free the mind. When it is free, it settles down and becomes a channel for peace. In freedom, our thoughts and impulses flow in harmony with what is right and best for each of us.

How, then, can you set your mind free? The first step is understanding that your mind traps itself by spinning an elaborate story about who you are and what you believe, and then fiercely defends that story. Observing this human tendency, the philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote, “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.”

The most common story the mind tells is that you are your ego, a fixed “I” that is separate from the rest of the world. If you believe this story, it keeps you in bondage. The ego is limited, subject to fear, and consumed with the idea that it has to know what is going to happen in order to feel safe. The truth is that we don’t know what is going to happen. Really feeling safe, peaceful, and content comes from knowing that your true self is pure spirit, unbounded in time and space.

When you know the real you isn’t inside your head, you have been set free, like awareness itself. Embracing the wisdom of uncertainty not only frees you from the ego’s illusion of control, it puts you right in the middle of the joyful flow of cosmic creativity. That is a much more enjoyable place to live life.

Love,
Deepak

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FEBRUARY 2008 LETTER February 15, 2008 8:17 AM

A Letter from Deepak

We are the only creatures on the planet who can change our biology through our thoughts, feelings, and intentions. Our cells are constantly eavesdropping on our thoughts and being changed by them. When we fall in love, positive thoughts and emotions course through our body and strengthen our immune system. On the other hand, the dark thoughts and feelings of depression can leave us vulnerable to illness.

Over the past three decades, hundreds of studies have shown that nothing holds more power over the body than the beliefs of the mind. This is the quantum worldview, which teaches that we are all part of an infinite field of intelligence – the source of our thoughts, mind, body, and everything else in the cosmos. This paradigm, which is gaining increasing acceptance in the world of modern Western medicine, is based on the following ten assumptions:

  1. The physical world, including our body, is a reflection of our perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. There is no objective reality “out there” that is independent of the observer. Instead, we create our bodies as we create our experience of the world.
  2. Although the physical body seems to be solid matter, it actually is composed of energy and information. Quantum physics tells us that every atom is 99.9999 percent empty space, and the subatomic particles moving at lightning speed through this space are bundles of vibrating energy. These vibrations aren’t random or chaotic, but are carrying information along specific patterns.
  3. The mind and body are inseparable. There is one single creative intelligence that can express itself as our thoughts – as well as the molecules of our cells, tissues, and organs.
  4. Our consciousness creates the biochemistry of the body. Our beliefs, thoughts, and emotions direct the chemical reactions that take place in every single cell.
  5. MindPerception is a learned phenomenon. The way we experience the world and our body is learned behavior. By changing our perceptions, we can change our experience of our body and world.
  6. In every moment, impulses of intelligence are creating our body. By changing the patterns of these impulses, we can change ourselves.
  7. Although to the ego-mind, we seem separate and independent, we are all part of a universal intelligence that governs the cosmos.
  8. Time is not absolute. What we call linear time is simply a reflection of how we perceive change. In fact, time is eternal and changeless. If we can begin to perceive the changeless, time as we know it will cease to exist and we will experience immortality.
  9. Our essential nature is pure being. Although we are used to seeing ourselves as personality, ego, and body, our true Self is eternal and unbounded.
  10. Since our essence is immortal and changeless, we do not have to become victims of aging, sickness, and death. These are caused by gaps in our self-knowledge and the centuries-old delusion that our bodies are material. As Ayurveda teaches, any disorder can be prevented if we can maintain balance in the body, mind, and spirit.

These may seem like vast assumptions, but they are rooted in the findings of modern quantum physics. I want to encourage you to see that you are much more than your limited body, ego, and personality. At the deepest level, your body is ageless and your mind is timeless. Once you identify with this reality, you have unlimited freedom to create greater health, joy, and whatever else you wish to bring into the world.

Love,
Deepak

ANY COMMENTS?

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 February 15, 2008 8:15 AM

Surrender Is …
Adapted from The Book of Secrets, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 2004).
Most people think of surrender as a difficult, if not impossible, act. It connotes surrender to God, which few except them most saintly seem to manage. It's much easier to do the surrendering on your own accord and let God show up if he wants to.
SIMPLE SOLUTION: 

Surrender is:
Full attention.
Appreciation of life's richness.
Opening yourself to what is in front of you.
Non-judgment.
Absence of ego.
Humility.
Being receptive to all possibilities.
Allowing love.

Exercise
Open yourself up to a Rembrandt or Monet painting, which is after all as glorious a piece of creation as there is. Pay full attention to it. Appreciate the depth of the image and the care in its execution. Open yourself up to what is in front of you rather than allowing yourself to be distracted. Don't judge in advance that you have to like the painting because you've been told it's great. Don't force yourself to respond because it makes you look smart or sensitive. Let the painting be the center of your focus, which is the essence of humanity. Be receptive to any reaction you may have. If all these steps of surrender are present, then a great Rembrandt or Monet will evoke love because the artist is simply there in all his naked humanity.

In the presence of such humanity, surrender isn't difficult.

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 February 14, 2008 8:08 PM

Meditate on the Heart
Adapted from The Path to Love, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1997).
The purpose of this exercise is to give you the experience of making your heart pure enough to witness spirit. Pure here doesn't mean good and virtuous; it means free from impurity, with no value judgment intended. In the words of William Blake, we are cleansing the doors of perception.
SIMPLE SOLUTION:  Sit comfortably in a quiet room by yourself, choosing a time when you feel settled and unhurried. Early morning is best, since your mind will be alert and fresh. Close your eyes and focus your attention on the middle of your chest, where your heart is. (Your spiritual heart lies directly behind your breastbone.)

Be aware of your heart as a space. Don't try to hear your heartbeat or any other sound you think a heart makes as it pumps blood. The heart center you want to find is a point of awareness where feelings enter. In its pure form it is empty, pervaded by weightlessness, absence of care, peace, and a subtle light. This light may appear as white, gold, pale pink, or blue. But again, don't strain to find a light of any kind. You are not trying to sense the purity of the heart center right now; all you need to feel is whatever is there.

Letting your attention rest easily there, breathe gently and sense your breath going into your heart center. Here you may want to visualize a soft pastel light, or a coolness pervading the chest. Let the breath go in and out, and as it does, ask your heart to speak to you. Don't phrase this as an order; just have the faint intention that you want your heart to express itself.

For the next five or 10 minutes, sit and listen. Your heart will begin to release emotions, memories, wishes, fears, and dreams long stored there, and as it does, you will find yourself paying attention.

Paying attention to your heart is the object of this meditation.

You will notice as you continue this exercise that three things are naturally coming together: Meditation, purification and attention. You are learning to be with your heart in order to heed its spiritual meaning—this is meditation. You are letting repressed material come up to be released—this is purification. You are listening to your heart without judgment or manipulation—this is attention.



This post was modified from its original form on 14 Feb, 20:09  [ send green star]
 
 February 14, 2008 7:49 PM

Advanced Meditation on the Heart
Adapted from The Path to Love, by Deepak Chopra (Three Rivers Press, 1997).
After some days or weeks of practicing to Meditate on the Heart, you will know whether you want to make it a permanent part of your daily routine. I believe that putting attention on the heart is valuable as an addition to any spiritual program. To live from the center of spirit is a constant goal for anyone on the path.

SIMPLE SOLUTION:  As you progress in the practice, you will begin to notice that sensations, thoughts, memories, daydreams and random physical manifestations start to decrease. The heart center will slowly reveal itself as it really is—through silence, peace, a warm glow, or subtle light. Even if these glimpses are only fleeting, you will find that things are starting to change for you outside meditation. You will start to walk with a more buoyant step. At unexpected moments you will feel a swelling sensation in your chest; you may want to take deep, satisfying breaths. Flashes of elation and well-being may sweep over you at odd times.

All these are signs that the contraction most people hold around their heart center is releasing its grip. The heart center is meant to feel open and relaxed. Before you can receive any profound spiritual insights, this openness must exist. Contraction, fear and tightness all keep spirit from entering you. In truth, spirit doesn't enter, since it is always there. But making contact with it is like being penetrated with light and insight; this is what we call the flow of love.

Love and spirit are forming a connection every time you meditate on the heart, starting with the first time. Advanced meditation deepens this experience and makes it more conscious. As you continue this practice, you will find it easier and easier to go to your heart for counsel and wisdom, or simply to feel that you are loved. You do not have to speak to your heart in words; your heart doesn't have to speak to you in words. The language of spirit comes to us as silent assurance, self-acceptance, patience, an appreciation of simply being. As these qualities develop you are maturing in your experience of the heart center.



This post was modified from its original form on 14 Feb, 19:50  [ send green star]
 
 December 30, 2007 6:27 PM

  Sit still in a chair listening to soft music, or outside listening to the wind in the treetops. As you listen, gently let your attention flow out of your ears as you easily exhale. Repeat for a minute, then do the same thing through your eyes, letting your attention go outward on the breath, slowly and gently. Repeat this through the nostrils, the mouth, then sit quietly just listening to the music with your whole body.

Now allow your attention to sink into your chest. Feel where your heart center is (at the point where the breastbone and ribs join) and breathe out through it, letting your attention go with the breath. Continue gently for another minute, then sit quietly, aware of your body. This exercise takes about two minutes but can be extended by doing another cycle or two.

This is a delightful exercise to conduct outdoors, sitting next to running water or under a tree when the wind is gently stirring its leaves. Feeling your awareness as it flows out on your breath gives you a powerful sense of being at harmony with nature.

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 December 13, 2007 8:53 AM

Love expresses itself in different ways, based upon one’s internal reference. When our physical body is the focus of identity, our seeking of expansion and unity comes through affection and sexuality. When people are engaging sexually, the boundaries of individuality become blurred and there is the temporary expansion of self through love making. When our subtle body, consisting of mind, intellect and ego, is our internal reference, we seek expansion and unity through revealment. Emotional love derives from nonjudgmental sharing of the intimate aspects of our life experience with others. We feel more connected and accepted when we are able to openly accept the ambiguities of being human.

Adding silence to emotional love enables us to move into compassion. Meditation guides us to the recognition that the infinite space within and the infinite space beyond are both expressions of the same underlying field of creative intelligence. As our sense of self expands through quieting the incessant thought-traffic of the mind, we recognize that all beings are disguises of One Being. Our love takes on the qualities of the sun―radiating in all directions without discrimination. As you’re sunbathing this summer (wear your sunblock), remember the words of the great Sufi mystic Hafiz,

“Even after all this time
The Sun never says to the earth,
‘You owe me.’
Look what happens with a love like that.
It lights up the whole sky.”

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 December 13, 2007 8:52 AM

What would your life be like if every decision, every word you spoke or whispered, every thought, and every deed first went through a filter of love? The Sufi poet Hafiz is quoted as saying, “When all your desires are distilled, you will cast just two votes: to love more, and be happy.” What if we could live for love in each moment? Imagine if rather than reacting to a pointed question with defensiveness and protection, we instead reacted with a smile. Imagine if we could gaze lovingly upon someone or something we have disdain for with sweetness, forgiveness, and joy. All love is in essence self-love. If you love yourself completely then there is no need to be defensive. If you love yourself unconditionally then everyone you see is a reflection of you. If you love yourself and forgive yourself and only want the best for yourself . . . then the best is love in every moment.

This Namasté celebrates love in all its expressions and invites you to shift the world to a more loving place simply by loving yourself a bit more. You can begin right now by smiling and saying “I love you” to yourself. Try it. How does that feel?

The next time your viewpoint is challenged – express love to your challenger. The next time you feel anger towards someone – give them a hug. The next time you are about to lash out – understand that the person could benefit from compassion. And most important, the next time you are about to blame yourself or beat yourself up for feeling “less than,” remember that you are worth all the love in the world – give yourself some credit because YOU ARE LOVE.

Regardless of whatever else is going on in your life right now or whatever regrets you have, you are a pretty remarkable being . . . divine in design, and universal in spirit. It took you years to create the patterns that make you who you are. It can take but a few seconds each day to begin the shift back to the whole, sweet perfection from which you first entered the earth plane – to a state of pure love.

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Say What...?! sorry... i must have fallen asleep...!!! Please repeat Yourselves... but only once...! November 17, 2007 12:17 PM

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Hey aehm... lol... sorry Excuse me please...! but... ah... i know the Good Work has started... but amn...? Do we have Peace Yet...? lol... Please... do explain... Masters... of the Universe...?!!!

With Love for All... as always... lol... j...

And Please forgive my incurable curiosity...? and i shall curbe the insollence...? lol... when we have Achieved World Peace... and Unity of Humanity...?!

With the Utmost of Humbleness... and Love for All... as always... j...

 [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
 November 17, 2007 9:35 AM

Ask yourself this question, is there an upset in my past that I am holding on to that is influencing my current life? Perhaps an early childhood incident positioned your perspective on the world around you; or maybe a love relationship that—at one point was the answer to all your prayers—broke your heart when it ended through death, divorce, or separation; or maybe there’s something that you’ve done that you have never forgiven yourself for. Throughout our lives we accumulate these moments of sadness, disappointment and regret and as we stew on them and build our lives around them, they bloom and become who we are. In time, they can evolve into such toxic emotions as hopelessness, negativity, anger, guilt and self-loathing. We honor those emotions because they feel real—not because they are right—and over time we unconsciously weave them into our emotional state and eventually into our physiology. Yes ultimately they become part of our body and begin to take on a life of their own. Headaches, depression, turbulent sleep, poor
digestion, chronic pain and constant anxiety are all signs that toxic emotions have taken hold within our bodies.

But we are not helpless. As beings gifted with free will, we can make choices—to forgive, to grow, to let go, to love ourselves again like no one has ever loved us before. Each of us has the power to liberate ourselves from the prison of the past but only if we embrace the present…and make peace with our past. The path to emotional freedom sometimes seems like it is a thousand miles long. But it’s actually only a few long inches and begins with the very first baby step. Each of us can move beyond the pain of the past but we must first give ourselves permission to be emotionally free.


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Unity of Humanity...!!! November 17, 2007 8:38 AM

Heavenly Unicorn is back___.jpg

With Love for All... and Eternal Thanks for Your Beautiful Wisdom...!!!

When Do We get on with the Unity of Humanity...?!!!

lol... To Begin With...?!

and Please... do forgive the little dragon... i am but a baby here... but my Goodness... i so do Wish to Learn...! But... with Gentleness please... lol...

Living in Gratefulness... and Eternally humble... j...

 [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
Coincidence or Synchronicity November 16, 2007 1:08 PM

Everything is connected with everything else. In the spiritual world, those connections become visible. But in the physical world, we only glimpse the connections in the clues given to us through coincidence. As our attention creates energy, intention brings about the transformation of that energy. Attention and intention are the most powerful tools of the spiritually adept. They are the triggers for attracting both a certain kind of energy and a certain kind of information.So the more attention you put on coincidences, the more you attract other coincidences, which will help you clarify their meaning. Putting your attention on the coincidence attracts the energy, and then asking the question “What does it mean?” attracts the information. The answer might come as a certain insight, or intuitive feeling, or an encounter, or a new relationship. You may experience four seemingly unrelated coincidences, then watch the evening news and have an insight. Ah–ha! That’s what they meant for me!The more attention you put on coincidences and the more you inquire into their significance, the more often the coincidences occur and the more clearly their meaning comes into view. Once you can see and interpret the coincidences, your path to fulfillment emerges.In most people’s experience, the past resides only in memory and the future resides only in imagination. But at the spiritual level, the past and the future and all the different probabilities of life exist simultaneously. Everything is happening all at once. addthis_url = location.href; addthis_title = document.title; addthis_pub = 'jackodog';  [ send green star]
 
LETTERS FROM DEEPAK THREAD September 13, 2007 10:31 AM

Letter from Deepak

Most of the eastern spiritual traditions teach that despite the appearance of separation, everyone is part of an unbounded, unlimited field of intelligence. For example, the Chinese sage Lao-Tzu describes this field in his beautiful work, the Tao Te Ching: "There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene . . . infinite. Eternally present. It is the Mother of the universe. For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao." And in ancient India, the Vedic teachers understood thousands of years ago that we all live, breathe, and move in a unified cosmic body.

Quantum physicists today are beginning to recognize what the wise seers realized so long ago: We aren’t just onlookers peering out at the unified field. We are the field – infinite, eternal beings unlimited by time or space. As you sit reading this article, all of the thoughts going through your mind are creating a wave in the nonlocal domain, rippling through the layers of ego, intellect, mind, senses, and matter, radiating out into the universe in all directions and affecting everything in nature.

We usually aren’t aware of the subtle changes our thoughts are producing everywhere because we’re bounded in our awareness, confined to the waking state. Yet these changes are constantly unfolding, even if they’re hidden from our consciousness. As we become aware of the intelligence underlying all creation, we realize that nature is as alive as we are, and we develop a deep reverence for it. We feel the unifying force that flows through everything on the planet, animate and inanimate, and a desire to harmonize with the natural flow of life spontaneously emerges.

From this state of expanded consciousness, it becomes impossible to knowingly make choices that will harm the environment or anyone else. Instead, we seek thoughts and actions that nurture ourselves and our extended body, the universe.

One of the ways I’ve chosen to support this process is become involved with an organization which I mentioned in last month’s Namasté – care2.com. I serve on the advisory board of this global networking community, which supports planetary health and green lifestyles. The beauty of their site is that you can donate to these causes simply by clicking on the link and the sponsors will contribute on your behalf. I encourage you to read more about Care2 in a letter from the executive producer of the group’s Living Green Channel, Annie Bond.

I also offer you these words from the Yoga Vashistha:

Whatever is in the mind is like a city in the clouds.
The emergence of this world is no more than
     thoughts coming into manifestation.
From the infinite consciousness we have created
     each other in our imagination.
As long as there is “you” and an “I,” there is no
     liberation.
Dear ones, we are all cosmic consciousness assuming individual form.

Love,
Deepak

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