Ajay0

The Guru within you is Satchidananda. It directs you continuously. It advises you. Sometimes you listen. Sometimes you don’t and then you get burnt and cry. It will say, “Please next time be careful.” We call that the antar Atma, the inner Self which constantly guides you. It is your conscience. “Be true to your Self,” we say. That is the Self. Listen to that Self. ` ~ Swami Satchidananda Don’t allow the monkey mind or the ego within to guide you; it will drag you into the ditch.~ Swami Satchidananda When you completely give up your ego, you hear the voice within. You hear the Guru within. Then it becomes very easy to face the life, to win the battle. ~ Swami Satchidananda

We all have a small voice within which tells us if something is not quite right. When you disregard that voice, then you do something inaccurate. When you do act upon that inner voice, you are usually pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. ~ Dadi Janki ( Prajapita Brahmakumaris) Our innate wisdom which we call the inner voice or intuition always knows what is right for us. It constantly guides us in the right direction, and all we need to do is to learn to listen to it. Let us spend a few minutes with ourselves on a daily basis. Meditation and spiritual study silences our noisy minds and activate our intuition. ~ Brahmakumaris Observe your mind and it gets silent. When the mind is still, intuition will speak. When the sound of your memories and beliefs will pause, the music of truth will play. ~ Brahmakumaris When you listen more to your intuition, you will also master the art of silencing your mind, thereby controlling your thoughts better. ~ Brahmakumaris

Insightful sayings by Dr. Frederick Lenz , also known as Zen Master Rama, on the nature of the Kundalini. https://ramaquotes.com/html/kundalini.html

What he states as per eastern tradition of meditation is correct. The goal of meditation is to bring about a thoughtless state of awareness or mindfulness. Because of the conditioning of the propaganda campaign and biased media narratives against him, it is natural to harbor suspicion and a negative attitude towards him and even vilify him further. I would suggest a clinical study and examination of his teachings without any bias before pronouncing a judgement on him.

There are moments in your life when you must act, even though you cannot carry your best friends with you. The 'still small voice' within you must always be the final arbiter when there is a conflict of duty. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Having made a ceaseless effort to attain self-purification, I have developed some little capacity to hear correctly and clearly the 'still small voice within'. ~ Mahatma Gandhi I shall lose my usefulness the moment I stifle the still small voice within. ~ Mahatma Gandhi Before one is able to listen to that voice, one has to go through a long and fairly serve course of training, and when it is the inner voice that speaks, it is unmistakable. The world cannot be successfully fooled for all time. There is, therefore, no danger of anarchy setting in because a humble man like me will not be suppressed and will dare to claim the authority of the inner voice, when he believes that he has heard it. ~ Mahatma Gandhi https://www.mkgandhi.org/momgandhi/chap05.htm

Dr.Lenz is basically a scholar and Buddhist teacher who taught Buddhism with some Hindu practices as well. He had similarly given insights on Christianity, Taoism as well. He elaborates on all practices, and this can be a good education for beginners or other people seeking some knowledge on these subjects.

Dr. Lenz died in 1998, a quarter of a century back, when eastern religions and philosophy were viewed with heavy hostility in the west due to the connotations of paganism and heathenry on account of its exclusivist Abrahamic conditioning. He was never convicted of any crime or misdemeanor on his part. Many eastern teachers who attained a level of popularity such as Vivekananda were subjected to a vilification campaign by vested powerful interests with fabricated allegations. Popular inter-faith speakers like Thomas Merton and Anthony de Mello were found dead in mysterious and suspicious circumstances in the west. It is very easy to plant false evidence and witnesses through bribes and other motivations to create a smear campaign intended to destroy the reputation of the target involved by skilled operators. Even in India, there are examples of the same. I recently read an autobiographical book by forensic expert Umadethan with a case study of fabricating false evidence against an innocent man. The man was charged with sexual assault on a young girl with the mother presenting evidence of the girls skirt stained with blood supposedly sustained during the assault. He was beaten by the cops brutally so as to confess to the crime. Dr. Umadethan on studying the blood in the skirt in his laboratory, found that it was actually chickens blood. Enquiring on the matter, he found that the suspect was owed money by the mother who had not paid it for a long time, and was verbally abused by the man for that. The false allegation was a way to ensure the man did not bother her again.

"The inner voice speaks unto him who has annihilated his ego or false personality." ~ Swami Sivananda Never mistake the lower mind’s promptings for the voice of the soul”. ~ Swami Sivananda “The pure conscience itself is the “Inner Voice”. But the difficulty in the ordinary man is that the voice of the lower mind, the voice of the brutal instincts, is often misunderstood as the voice of conscience. As a result of such misunderstanding, guided by his animal tendencies, he commits colossal blunders, involving danger to others. It requires a great degree of purity and calmness of mind to hearken the true Inner Voice.” ~ Swami Sivananda

“In each moment you must decide which is your master – the Truth or the ego.” ~ Maharishikaa Preeti You have at the center of your system this truth impulse. And you also have to deal with the great ego noise, the ego lie. And so every urge to action that arises from your system, its being like a scientist, you are trying to find out where is this urge to action arising from. Is it arising from the ego noise, the ego lie ! Or is it arising from the Truth impulse, the soul impulse ? ~ Maharishikaa Preeti Everyone needs to know that they have a guru, and that this guru is the Source of all the answers they need, to navigate this process of living. They need to know that this guru is the AntarAatman or Soul or Source that resides within them, and they need to know how to listen to the answers from Source. ~ Maharishikaa Preeti

Before knowing the truth if you depend on your intelligence you can be misled completely. Intelligence that is without the spiritual insight is your own ego, is not pure intelligence, it is just your ego, which says, “This is right”, “I say”, “I believe”, “I am like this” – that is ego. After realization the truth that comes to you is the real pure truth and is not your ego. ~ Nirmala Devi A person is wise who does not only know what is right and wrong, but also he knows very well his own power not to do something wrong. He just does not do it. Wisdom is a complete power within ourselves by which we try nothing. It just spontaneously works through us and we do things which are proper and right.~ Nirmala Devi Wisdom you don’t get in colleges, schools,universities, nowhere. Where do you get it, the wisdom? You get it through your spirit, which gives you a complete idea as to what is right and what is wrong. ~ Nirmala Devi

Productive and harmless Ideas and even decisions arise from inspiration and intuition, and it is the non-conceptual that enables access to this universal intelligence. Without the intuitive background of the non-conceptual behind, the chances of the ego taking over and bringing about ideas and concepts of a harmful nature in the long run is high.

Thank you for the interesting input.

I recently came across an interesting story of a South African conservationist named Lawrence Anthony. He was known for his conservatory work amongst elephants. It is said that just after Lawrence's death in his house, a group of elephants marched their way to his house for 12 hours, and hung around for two days before making their way to the bush. https://protectallwildlifeblog.com/2021/08/01/when-the-elephants-came-to-mourn-the-elephant-whisperer/ Imho, I think , considering this case study, animals are somehow capable of intuiting the state of close friends and responding accordingly.

It is said that dogs which had only one meal a day lived the longest as per research. https://dogagingproject.org/once-daily-feeding-is-associated-with-better-health-in-companion-dogs It perhaps may have similar implications for humans. Fasting is said to increase prana or life-force, which is usually expended in digestion of food. And when one takes an abnormally high amount of food, it means that more prana is consumed and dissipated. Prana saved during fasting usually work on enhancing the body systems Higher prana levels results in better capabilities for meditation, disease prevention or healing.

Kundalini activation does not mean that the energy will climb all the chakras to the top without the necessary preparation. Regular spiritual practices, satsang , disciplined lifestyle especially monastic, purified food for a period of time ensures that the energy will go to the top resulting in the unitary perception. For most, the kundalini activatation can result in high sexual energies, which if not successfully transmuted, will be wasted away in sex or masturbation.

It is the nature of the human mind that negative thoughts cause overthinking. When we dwell on someone’s good qualities, the mind remains calm and there are few thoughts. But think about something you do not like in someone and there will be a long train of thoughts. That changes our perception and attitude towards them. - Sister Shivani ( Prajapita Brahmakumaris ) Understand that you are ready for moksha (enlightenment), when you can see your own mistakes. Without awareness, no one can see his own faults. But if he needed to, he can easily see two to five hundred or so faults in others. ~ Ambalal Muljibhai Patel ( Dada Bhagwan )

Rajini Menon is a modern enlightened sage who attained Self-realization by adherence to virtuous conduct and following the inner voice of conscience. I had created a thread on her a few years back. Here is an Insightful article by Rajini Menon in distinguishing between the inner voice and mind noise. https://rajiniji.com/whatislife/

The pollution of the planet is only an outward reflection of an inner psychic pollution: millions of unconscious individuals not taking responsibility for their inner space. ~ Eckhart Tolle With the changing of seasons and the integrity of matter, the external form of the earth changes over time. The driving force behind this devolution is the human mind. The higher, pure consciousness manifests in a robust, verdant planet, while the lowest, impure consciousness produces a polluted, corroded state of existence. ~ Prajapita Brahmakumaris The damage we cause to the environment is a consequence of how we are within ourselves. If we realize that maintaining our inner climate is in our hands, we will understand that taking action for the environment is also in our hands. ~ Sadhguru

The Indian Catholic bishops’ media institute in New Delhi, India, has celebrated “Rakshabandhan” (bond of protection), the festival of siblings with a group of Brahma Kumaris. https://mattersindia.com/2023/08/church-media-institute-celebrates-festival-of-siblings-with-brahma-kumaris/ Rakshabandhan is a popular Hindu rite or ceremony where sisters of all ages tie a talisman or amulet called the rakhi around the wrists of their brothers. The rakhi is also tied by women and girls to boys and men who are not blood relatives, cutting across lines of class and religion, accepting them as brothers and to foster social harmony and cohesion. The above event is an example wherein the ceremonies and festivals in a religion can be used to initiate inter-faith harmony and brotherhood, mutual understanding and social well-being.

These three qualities or elements are sattva, rajas and tamas, which is referred to in Sankhya philosophy. Sankhya means number in sanskrit, and Sankhya provided the philosophical conception for the numeral system used by the Indians, and later on by the Arabs and Europeans to the present day. It is surprising hence for me that Sankhya philosophy is not studied by the world philosophers, as it would reap a lot of dividend and insight into Hindu and Buddhist philosophy and religions and world-view, as these elements are used extensively in their religious literature. It is also an integral element of eastern medical systems. It has helped me a lot in creating a coherent understanding of nature and existence . https://www.garthhewittyoga.com/blog/2020/5/21/samkhya-philosophy-tamas-rajas-amp-sattva#:~:text=The first principle%2C tamas%2C means,or mountain is very tamasic. https://www.hinduwebsite.com/gunas.asp

Thought alone, when it is no longer connected with the much vaster realm of consciousness, quickly becomes barren, insane, destructive. ~ Eckhart Tolle When scientific or rational thinking is grounded in presence it has a completely different outcome. It can never be monstrous. ~ Dr. Jean Klein Once you are corrupted by thought you have no sense of life, simply your own psychological process is more important than the whole cosmic dimension of the existence. ~ Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Thought is creating divisions out of itself and then saying that they are there naturally. ~ David Bohm The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately... you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. ~ Eckhart Tolle

An insightful article by Sadhguru on the subject ... https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/wisdom/article/plant-based-diet-benefits

'You don’t ‘have’ thoughts. You are not the ‘thinker’ of thoughts. That is not your true identity. You are the vast, clear, peaceful sky of awareness in which all thought-clouds are continually allowed to appear and disappear.Thought-clouds float by, feelings emerge and dissolve, and the vastness of what you are remains, always.' ~ Jeff Foster 'Awareness is the backdrop against which all individual consciousness and experience arises. As such, it is the unmoved, ever present Essence of All That Is. We may become actively involved with, or even distracted by, that which appears within the field of individualized consciousness or human experience, but even in the midst of all this mental and physical activity, our inherent, Natural Awareness remains the undisturbed constant.' ~ Metta Zetty

I only put my personal facts over here. What people eat is their individual choice, and I only provided data for informed decision-making. If it comes to starvation and eating non-vegetarian food for a person, I would whole-heartedly go with the latter. Reverence and gratitude to nature or the Divine would reduce any karmic impurities of the act. The Hindu/Sikh practice of Jhatka, killing the animal or bird in a single stroke so as to minimize physical pain or suffering is also a good practice in this regard. Meat-based dishes are more delicious than vegetarian food, imho. The tendency for most people is to keep eating even beyond their needs and hunger. Hence there is austerity and discipline involved in control of the palate and taste buds. The discipline of the tongue is also correlated to the discipline of the sex organs, and thus those focussed on celibacy would thereby try to discipline their palate as well. My perception is that eating fresh vegetarian food on a constant basis improves the quality of meditation. I have noticed that fasting or eating fruits alone as a meal brings about a tangible leap in the quality of meditation during the day for the better. I have also met advanced meditators who were totally vegetarian or ate non-vegetarian food sparsely. And this has increased my conviction in this regard. But I have also met an enlightened sage who ate meat as well and enjoyed such dishes, and drank beer and alcohol too (prior to his enlightenment). However he was someone who was able to discipline himself to live constantly in a state of total awareness or mindfulness in the midst of his wordly duties. And this is not an easy task. His mind was very strong and focused in this regard, and this resulted in his eventual enlightenment. He was also in his twenties, and blessed with good physical and mental fitness and vitality at that time. If you have cultivated such a heroic mind, I don't think meat or beer would be a problem for spiritual advancement.

Life is rooted in reality, not in your thoughts and emotions. ~ Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev Thought can be so seductive and hypnotic that it absorbs your attention totally, so you become your thoughts.~ Eckhart Tolle The stream of thinking has enormous momentum that can easily drag you along with it. Every thought pretends that it matters so much. ~ Eckhart Tolle When each thought absorbs your attention completely, it means you identify with the voice in your head. Thought then becomes invested with a sense of self. This is the ego, a mind-made "me." That mentally constructed self feels incomplete and precarious. That's why fearing and wanting are its predominant emotions and motivating forces. ~ Eckhart Tolle "You may see that every single thought you can entertain only serves to perpetuate the personal 'I" . ~ Jac O'Keeffe Following a thought is what maintains it. If you remain present without becoming an accomplice, agitation slows down through lack of fuel. In the absence of agitation you are taken by the resonance of stillness. ~ Jean Klein The thought 'I am meditating’ is an ego thought. If real meditation is taking place, this thought cannot arise. ~ Annamalai Swami