Secrets of the ocean

Ever wonder how our tears and sweat and sea water are all salty. The scientific explanation points to the presence of sodium and chloride ions. An observation that has been completely validated and proven in several experiments.
But is it possible that presence of salt in our bodily fluids is our vital link to the ocean? Proof that we indeed evolved out of the oceans?

Your ego is not your amigo !! But wait, is that true?

Ego is like money. Keep it in your pocket.. Take it out when necessary. Ego defines you. Life is a process of expansion of your ego. The same definition, when expanded includes your family, community, country, planet, even the universe. When you believe that the planet, the divine belongs to me, that's when ego becomes dangerous. To work, to face challenges, to succeed, to fight, pump up your ego. But to identify with success would an unwanted product of ego manifestation.

When in meditation or prayer, surrender yourself, your identity, your ego to the divine. At times of celebration, learning or accepting mistakes, let go of ego.

When to use ego and when to subdue it, that is very subtle. What do you think?

Birth of a Guru

July 14th marks Guru Purnima (Full Moon of the Guru) is the time to honor the Guru in you. Traditionally celebrated to honor Sage Vyasa, he is believed to have completed writing and classifying accumulated spiritual knowledge at the time. The knowledge, known in the form of sound, was classified into 4 Vedas (Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva).

This is the time to acknowledge the river of life that flows through you. This river is the teacher who removes fundamental ignorance and sets the seeker on a spiritual path. The full moon is significant; knowledge puts an end to the scorching agony of ignorance and sheds cool comfort on the mind. GU-ignorance Ru-destroyer, he who removes darkness and delusion from the heart and illuminates it with higher wisdom.

Bird Poses

Once you have flown
you will walk the earth
with your eyes turned skyward,
for there you have been,
and there you long to return.

- Leonardo da Vinci

The bird poses in yoga such as eagle, crane, crow, pigeon, bird of paradise teach us to soar above our limitations.These poses are perfect for tight hips because it stretches the hip rotators (the buttocks area) and the hip flexors (the long muscles that run along the front of your thighs and pelvis). Be aware that you might taste some bitterness before getting to the pose's sweet spot.
One way to achieve effortless flight is enagaging mulabandha in these challenging poses. In Sanskrit, "mula" means root; "bandha" means a lock or binding. Not only physically but also in more subtle ways, mulabandha is a technique for containing and channeling the energy associated with the mula-dhara ("root place") chakra. Located at the tip of the spine, muladhara chakra represents the stage of consciousness where basic survival needs dominate.
"Mula" also refers to the root of all action, and the root of any action is a thought. As we begin to refine our thoughts - restricting and binding the intentions behind our action - the actions themselves become refined. In yoga practice we bind our body and mind, restricting our impulses into the orderly channels of ethics, individual responsibility, and right action. While performing bird poses, as we escape the pull of gravity, we learn to use more refined means to soar effortlessly.

Disciplined Bodies - Quieter Minds

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=180795825308884

The guys in the video are amazing. No doubt, they have spend countless hours training and cultivating their bodies to develop maximum strength and flexibility. But how do you cultivate a quiet mind? When people think of meditation, usually images of far-away yogis sitting cross-legged chanting mantras are conjured up. Meditation for most people’s minds involves sitting still, closing one’s eyes, relaxing the body, breathing deeply and trying to find that place in which many Zen practitioners call “no mind”. How is that possible, to have “no mind”? The no-mind principle is the idea that one can reach a meditative state in which there are no thoughts running in the head. Getting rid of the busy head is one of the main reasons monks, yogis meditate.

Four rules to inner cleanse:

1. Say what you mean. Mean what you say.
2. Don’t say to anyone unless you can say to everyone.
3. Don’t say inside, what you cannot say outside.
4. Don’t say it unless it is true, useful or kind.