Ajay0

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Everything posted by Ajay0

  1. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    Without the practice of morality, there’s no enlightenment, no liberation from samsara, not even good rebirths in future lives. ~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche The more we abandon ill-will and hatred, the easier it will be to meditate. ~ Ayya Khema
  2. Dead thirteen year old teenager comes home after eight years as an eight year old Indian boy claiming he had a rebirth... https://www.ibtimes.com/dead-teenager-returns-home-after-8-years-claims-he-had-rebirth-3277864 https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/uttar-pradesh-boy-who-died-eight-years-ago-claims-he-had-a-rebirth-1843294-2021-08-20 Rohit Kumar, the thirteen-year-old son of Pramod Kumar from Nagla Salehi village in Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri district, had died on May 4, 2013, drowning in a canal near Kanpur while taking a bath. On August 19,2021, Chandraveer alias Chotu, eight year old son of Ramnaresh Shankhwar, a resident of the nearby village, Nagla Amar Singh, came to Pramod Kumar and said he was his son Rohit in previous birth. He claimed he had a rebirth and identified Pramod and Usha Devi as his parents. On meeting his 'previous' family, Chandraveer, started narrating stories from his previous birth. He also identified his sister. Enthralled by his reincarnation stories, villagers soon gathered at Pramod's place to listen to Chandraveer's tales. Meanwhile, when Subhash Chandra Yadav, the headmaster of the village's former secondary school, stopped by, Chandraveer immediately identified him and touched his feet ( to show respect as per Indian tradition) and said, "This is Subhash, sir," . Villagers took Chandraveer to the same school where Rohit studied earlier. Teachers asked him questions that Rohit could have answered.Surprisingly, Chandraveer answered them correctly, according to the report. Chandraveer's father Shankhwar said his son would always talk about reincarnation since childhood and insisted on coming to Nagla Salehi.They feared losing him and consequently avoided bringing him to the village till then.
  3. Below are some sayings on the nature of auspiciousness from various Hindu and Buddhist masters that I have compiled for better understanding of the subject from the perspective of eastern philosophy. So from here, we can see that it is the agitated mind that is productive of negative vibrations or inauspicious energies while the equanimious mind is productive of positive ones.The Bhagavad Gita states that mental equanimity is yoga and leads to skill in action.Awareness or mindfulness comes about in an equanimous mind.What agitates the mind is numerous strong desires in the form of cravings and aversions. In an extreme form, these cravings and aversions take on the form of vices like greed, hatred, lust, egoism, inordinate attachments which are the source of all crimes as well devoid of virtue.In the enlightened sage, the mind is equanimous at all times, and this results in undisturbed awareness or mindfulness productive of positive vibrations and energies which have a beneficial effect on those around them.In a village in my district , there lived a female enlightened master in the last century. This region, in comparison to other regions have a very low crime rate and low incidence of natural disasters which people attribute to the master's grace. Even now one can still feel the positive vibes and auspiciousness over this place and it is now a popular tourist site as well.I know of similar other regions which has an auspicious air about it due to the presence of enlightened sages. I think this is the factor that is in work at pilgrimage sites too.
  4. 10 year old boy named Ryan recalls past life as Hollywood actor and agent Marty Martyn... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/10-year-old-boy-says-784090/ https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/boy-says-he-remembers-past-life-hollywood-agent-n327506 https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/world-news/boy-believes-reincarnated-chilling-perfect-28761843
  5. "I Have Lived Before": The True Story of the Reincarnation of Shanti Devi. This is the first known book on reincarnation based on the recollections of a little girl named Shanti Devi (1926-1987) in Delhi, India, who claimed to remember a past life as a wife and mother in a different region of India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanti_Devi Shanti Devi persistently pleaded to her parents to let her go to the region mentioned (Mathura) and once even ran away from home at age of six to reach Mathura. When Mahatma Gandhi heard about the case he set up a commission of 15 prominent people, including parliamentarians, national leaders, and members from the media, to study the case. He also invited Shanti Devi to his ashram. The committee was instrumental in persuading her reluctant parents to allow Shanti Devi to go to Mathura with them. Upon reaching the place she was able to remember minute details of the place and her past life family, though she was seeing the place for the first time in her young life. A brief article on her life by Dr. K.S. Rawat can be found in this below link. https://www.carolbowman.com/dr-ian-stevenson/case-shanti-devi/ Sture Lonnerstrand, a Swedish critic, came all the way from Sweden to expose the “fake,” as he thought it to be, but after investigation wrote, “This is the only fully explained and proven case of reincarnation there has been." A book about her was published by Sture Lonnerstrand in 1994, and the english translation appeared in 1998 titled, "I Have Lived Before: The True Story of the Reincarnation of Shanti Devi". She was also interviewed by Dr. Ian Stevenson who stated, “I also interviewed Shanti Devi, her father, and other pertinent witnesses, including Kedarnath, the husband claimed in her previous life. My research indicates that she made at least 24 statements of her memories that matched the verified facts.”
  6. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    When we develop ethical qualities, our spiritual growth comes in leaps and bounds. ~ Sant Rajinder Singh Another helping factor to still the mind is to lead our life according to positive qualities, such as nonviolence, humility, love for all, and selfless service. We should strive to lead a life wherein our thoughts, words and deeds are nonviolent, humble and focused on God. We should treat others the way we want to be treated, in a loving, caring way.~ Sant Rajinder Singh
  7. Informative article by Sister Shivani of the Brahmakumaris on using willpower to overcoming negative sanskars (habitual tendencies) into positive ones. Sanskar is an Indian word meaning subconscious impressions that determines a habitual tendency. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/using-willpower-means-exercising-our-power-to-choose-and-to-do-what-we-want-bk-shivani-in-the-power-of-one-thought/articleshow/102537823.cms?from=mdr
  8. Researchers have found that meditation offers genuine pain relief that goes beyond the placebo effect of expecting a response. https://www.sciencealert.com/not-a-placebo-study-finds-meditation-offers-genuine-pain-relief
  9. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    The purer the mind, the easier it is to control. Purity of the mind must be insisted upon if you would control it.....Perfect morality is the all in all of the complete control over mind. ~ Swami Vivekananda Morality requires a certain degree of mental control as a prerequisite. You can’t follow any set of moral precepts without at least a little self-control, and if your mind is perpetually spinning like a fruit cylinder in a slot machine, self-control is highly unlikely. So mental culture has to come first. ~ Henepola Gunaratana,
  10. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak. ~ Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati 'Often you do the act thinking it’s coming from a deep place, and then a moment later, you see the dissonance that it creates, or the feeling that it’s not quite right, and there’s a tuning mechanism. You keep using feedback. There’s a feedback process, to learn how to listen to that. The more you go into meditative practice, the deeper you can hear it. Part of it is learning how to trust that inner voice. People who are very enamored with their intellect don’t trust that inner space.' ~ Ram Dass https://www.ramdass.org/know-difference-ego-true-nature/
  11. The festival of Onam in south India begins on September 6 and end on September 15. It is in honor of an ancient Indian ruler named Mahabali who was known for his generosity and virtuous conduct. Due to the large spiritual merit attained by him in this universal cycle, Mahabali is said to ascend to the post of Indra, the king of the gods in heaven, in the next universal cycle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onam
  12. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    “Using intuitive intelligence alone is not enough. The concept or ideas that have been internally gathered by intuitive intelligence must still be analyzed, scrutinized and validated by using mental intelligence and actual experimentation.” ― Choa Kok Sui, The Origin of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga “Geniuses use intuition and are far superior to the intelligentsia and the masses. A genius uses intuition to know the truths and extracts secrets from Mother Nature; he uses the intellect to validate or check what has been learned intuitively. A genius is one who uses both intuition and intellect in a coordinated, effective and objective manner. It is the purpose of the human race to eventually develop the intuition.” ― Choa Kok Sui, The Chakras and their Functions
  13. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience. ~ Harper Lee Conscience is a man's compass. ~ Vincent Van Gogh
  14. A recent study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology by researchers from the Universities of Bath and Southampton reveals that just 10 minutes of daily mindfulness practice can enhance well-being, alleviate depression and anxiety, and increase motivation to adopt healthier lifestyle habits, such as improved exercise, eating, and sleeping routines. The research, which enrolled 1247 adults from 91 countries, demonstrates that brief daily mindfulness sessions, delivered through a free mobile app Medito, can have profound benefits.. https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjhp.12745 https://scitechdaily.com/new-study-just-10-minutes-of-mindfulness-can-reduce-depression-by-19/
  15. Going through a buddhist theravada website, I found the following explanation of the eight fold path, which I found useful and insightful... https://www.sangha.ee/buddha-s-teaching/noble-eightfold-path Would this prioritize right view and right resolve over the others as the rest such as right action, speech and livelihood would follow in their wake !
  16. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    “Conscience is the voice of the soul; the passions of the body.” ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau "Whence do I get my rules of conduct? I find them in my heart. Whatever I feel to be good is good. Whatever I feel to be evil is evil. Conscience is the best of casuists." ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau
  17. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    Are you perplexed by the problem of life? Don't worry! go into silence! Thou will glimpse a solution. ~ Sadhu Vaswani Intuition is the inner sense, the spiritual sense – as distinguished from the physical senses.~ Sadhu Vaswani Do not allow the voice of your conscience to be extinguished - for it is your guide to right thinking and right living! ~ Dada J.P.Vaswani Trust the Voice within you! It will lead you on! ~ Dada J.P.Vaswani
  18. Insightful article by the Brahmakumaris on developing one's intuition. https://www.brahmakumaris.com/soul-sustenance/practice-listening-to-your-intuition/
  19. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    “Practice stillness and find solace in silence. The answers reside in the quiet spaces within.” ~ Sister Shivani ( Prajapita Brahmakumaris ) Intuition is the inner tuition you get when you spend time in silence. ~ Brahmakumaris A silent mind can silently find accurate and creative solutions to every problem. ~ Brahmakumaris Your conscience is your core, innately pure and divine. It is always there to guide your actions but its voice is unheard by the noise of your waste thoughts. Your only effort is to quiet your mind by tool of awareness and your peace will emerge. ~ Brahmakumaris
  20. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    “If we can feel that it is not our voice, not our fingers, but some reality deep inside our heart which is expressing itself, then we will know that it is the soul’s music.” — Sri Chinmoy Conscience can live in two places: In the heart of truth and in the mouth of falsehood. When conscience strikes us once, we must think that it is showing us its unconditional love. When it strikes us twice, we must feel that it is showing us its unreserved concern. When it strikes us thrice, we must realise that it is offering us its boundless compassion to prevent us from diving deep into the sea of Ignorance. — Sri Chinmoy https://www.yogaofsrichinmoy.com/the-higher-worlds/inner-voice/
  21. Gary Weber recounts on how the teachings of Ramana Maharshi influenced him to shed the excitement seeking ego, resulting in enlightenment . https://happiness-beyond-thought.com/legacy/theauthor.html
  22. An interview with Gary Weber where he elaborates on SRIN meaning 'self-referential internal narrative'. https://www.spiritualteachers.org/gary-weber/
  23. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    A good conscience is a continual Christmas. ~ Benjamin Franklin Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it. ~ Albert Einstein "There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders." ~ Captain Picard (STAR TREK, THE NEXT GENERATION)
  24. Everyone post some favorite quotes!

    The foundation of the true joy is in the conscience. ~ Seneca “There is a voice that doesn't use words. Listen.” ~ Jallalludin Rumi
  25. Who or what is "satan"?

    If I may say so, imho, the so-called Angra Mainyu and Satan in the Abrahamic systems stands for the untamed or untrained mind cited in eastern religious philosophies. As per eastern religious philosophy, the mind is considered to correlate with Maya/Mara. The nature of the raw mind is to tend to the negative, as per eastern religious philosophy. Hence training of the mind is emphasized to overcome these defects and ensure the mind becomes an asset instead of a liability. It is to be noted that in the Gatha, or primary Zoroastrian scriptures, the prophet Zarathustra does not mention any evil spirit. The enemy of the divine order is considered as "the Lie" , an abstract concept that is impersonal. It possibly denotes the same meaning as falsehood or delusion in the Dharmic religions. The satan-like evil spirit of Angra Mainyu seems to be a later development. As per the article, Angra Mainyu can also be conceptually spoken as 'destructive mind' or 'malignant mentality' , similar to that of the dharmic interpretation. It is possible that the prophet similarly meant Angra Mainyu to be the 'untamed mind', which was later personified or anthropomorphized as an evil spirit of sorts and probably the antecedent to the Abrahamic Satan.