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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tara is the Star who Saves

There is a very special deity known throughout Buddhism named Sgrol-ma, which means “she who saves”. This savior goddess is most popular in the regions of Tibet , Mongolia and Nepal. She is known simply as Tara or “star” in the Sanskrit language.

Tara is the goddess of universal compassion, she is the representation of all virtuous, enlightened action. Her love for all living things is stronger than the love of a mother for her child. Tara protects us during our earthly travels, giving us longevity and stands guards us as we fumble our way through the spiritual journey to enlightenment.

Before the sixth century CE Tara was not known to Buddhists but she was very well known in Hinduism by another name, the goddess Parvati. When Buddhists discovered Tara they say she was born out of Avalokiteshvara, through her tears of compassion. As the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara wept for the world and its beings who endure suffering, her tears formed a lake. Inside this lake of tears grew a lotus and when the lotus opened the goddess Tara was inside! In another legend Tara was born from a blue light beam coming from one of Avalokiteshvara's eyes.

The body of Tara is envisioned in different colours, each colour symbolizes separate things. In some traditions it is said that White Tara, with her lotus in full bloom, symbolizes the day, and was born from the tears of Avalokiteshvara's left eye. Green Tara with her half-open lotus, represents the night, and came from the tears of Avalokiteshvara's right eye. Green Tara is the embodiment of virtuous activity, White Tara symbolizes the immense compassion of the goddess who labors day and night to relieve suffering.

In Tibet,Every pious woman was believed to be an incarnation of Tara. She was associated with two wives of the first Buddhist king of Tibet, Srong-brtsan-sgam-po. The Buddhist kings wife from imperial China was known an incarnation of the White Tara, while the king's wife from Nepalese was an incarnation of the Green Tara. It is possible that the strong need to see both these pious women as incarnations of Tara was the reason Buddhists came up with the concept of green and white forms of this goddess.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Is What Buddha Did Not Teach, More Important?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bhaskar_Banerjee]Bhaskar Banerjee

Buddha, his childhood name was Gautama, was born in 536 BC. His father, the king of Kapilavastu, India (now known as Nepal) wished to learn the future of the boy, and an assemblage of seven great astrologers of the age sat to discuss mutually and make a correct foretelling. Six of them raised their middle and index fingers, indicating two possibilities: either that he would become a Chakravarti Raja, the all-conquering King of all four directions, or a foremost ascetic, the likes of which the world had never seen. Now this is no prediction at all, because every one of us has these two possibilities. Why we are not able to attain our pinnacle, and remain in a quandary all our lives, is quite another matter.

So, this group of the Six of the Wise Words, left Shuddodhana, because that was the name of Buddha's father, and meaning "the purity of opulence', in more confusion because, as a king he could make every necessary wherewithal available to make Gautama a great warrior, and that is what he had wanted his son to become. But there was one astrologer, his name was Kodanna, who sat silent, as if in meditation; he did not seem to have participated with the other greats in their findings. He was the youngest of the group and had, in a short span of time, earned quite a reputation. The King demanded of him his opinion. Unlike others, he raised but just one finger to the great happiness of Shuddodhana, in anticipation of what he wanted to hear. He was disappointed, however, because Kodanna merrily announced that there was no possibility ever other than the child growing to be the lotus of all asceticism.

The lotus has always been very symbolic of Indian philosophical thinking. It grows only in dirt and watery mire but is ever untouched by water. A drop just rolls over without wetting a lotus leaf, which symbolizes detachment - untouched by either happy or the sad events of life. Kodanna's prediction ended here, but what a living prediction for the world to remember of the Buddha's life!

I am reminded of another incident of Buddha's life. A middle-aged and very revered practitioner of the austere ways of life, called a sannyasin, once came to the house of Shuddodhana, and kept looking transfixed at the young Gautama for quite a while. A faint sign of recognition and veneration came about in his countenance, and he quietly got up, and bowed his head down at Gautama's feet, to the surprise of neither, excepting the father, who was simply amazed at the unbelievable goings-on before his eyes. To add to his astonishment, he saw a stream of tears running down the sannyasin's eyes.

All he could ask in his shock was "What happened?" The sage replied, "This boy, I could see, carried the Lotus of Renunciation, the highest realization of the order of our practice". "But why Sir, why those tears in your eyes", enquired Shuddodhana. "Because", said the hermit, "I will not be there alive any more to witness the greatest of events of the Buddha attaining to Buddhahood".

Let us now focus on our turn to be surprised: When this incident happened Buddha was not even the Buddha as we know of him today. He was all of twenty-four then, and was first initiated into a life of a Mendicant Wanderer at the age of twenty-nine. Protected by his father who was bent on proving Kodanna the forecaster wrong, Gautama was afforded a life of utter material affluence, the underlying idea being that he remained distracted from his predicted path of a life away from home. But this was not to be! Destiny had other greater design in store for him, and through him, for the benefit of mankind as a whole.

How could the sannyasin see the future so uncannily in its realism when it seemed inconsequentially improbable and out of place that not even an iota of wild imagination could have dreamt of, and the sage was yet a neophyte in the hierarchy ranks of enlightenment? In fact, it would be wrong to use the word "hierarchy", as there is no such prescribed rule in the course of one's enlightenment; the overwhelming effect being all so gripping, that one is from tip to toe wholly engulfed in it.

I am not in the least trying to impress upon anyone that these stories are true historic accounts of the life of the Buddha. It may be, it may be not; what science or what clairvoyance did Kodanna or the sannyasin possess or did not posses, is not the point in question. To me the yarns spun around such tales are very significant in that they hammer home the mysticism surrounding the lives of these man-gods, encapsulating subtle fleeting messages for the imagination to capture which would otherwise be very difficult to convey in words. What is not said, therefore, becomes more important than what is.

Indeed, what Buddha taught the world can not be understated; the teachings are immeasurably priceless. But think of it from another dimension: Did what Buddha not teach more important? To me, the answer is an affirmative "Yes", if only if we were to become receptive enough as also a receptacle to his all-pouring rain of Silence.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bhaskar_Banerjee http://EzineArticles.com/?Is-What-Buddha-Did-Not-Teach,-More-Important?&id=834556

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

About Reiki

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Tami_Brady]Tami Brady

Reiki is an ancient healing technique that makes use of energy to heal and regain balance within the body, mind, and spirit. Some say it is the basis of that used by Jesus and other spiritual healers throughout the ages. What is commonly called Reiki today was discovered, or rediscovered as the case may be, by Mikao Usui in the beginning decades of the 20th century. Over the course of the last century, his techniques have been adapted and added to make up dozens of Reiki variations. Many of these variations are interpretations made to better suit particular belief systems. Reiki in and of itself is not connected to any particular faith.

To gain a better understanding of what Reiki is, we need to take a deeper look at into the philosophy of illness. Contemporary medicine sees the body as a machine. When a part of the system breaks down, it needs to be either fixed or replaced. Thus, drugs or surgery are often used to treat illness. Essentially, one problem equals one solution. Have a headache take a pain reliever.

Holistic medicine takes a different approach to health. Practitioners see the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of a person as part of a whole. In this way, when one part of the body isn't working properly, it tends to affect other parts of a person's life as well. Thus, chronic back pain may increase pressure on the hips or shoulder as the individual tries to compensate for the pain. He or she might also suffer mentally and emotionally as activities they used to love have to be put aside or when money becomes tight because the injury results in job loss. All of these issues need to be addressed.

To do so, the root cause of the problem has to be located. Fortunately, the body leaves a bread crumb trail of symptoms that leads the way. We all know that our bodies are built to survive. If we are in danger from a bully or a wild animal, our brain automatically sends out the message to fight or flee (or tend and befriend for women) as appropriate. What we don't often realize is that our body also sends out other little warning signs. If we are stressing ourselves beyond what it can handle, we might feel tired, overwhelmed, or moody. If we don't pay attention to these signals, we may eventually get a cold, have chest pains, or even suffer a heart attack.

Reiki practitioners follow these clues. Then, use Reiki energy to release or heal that issue. Finally, once that symptom has been cleared, practitioners encourage the individual to make changes that will assure balance and health in the system as a whole. In this way, the problem won't simply return or reappear after a time.

Dr. Tami Brady earned a BA and MA in Archeology and Heritage before turning her interests to alternative medicine (RP, RM, DD), largely due to her own experiences with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Today she provides Whole Health Therapy sessions to help people with Fibromyalgia. She is the author of nine books. The latest of which is Strategies: A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Journey.

More information about Tami, her Whole Health Therapy services, and her various publications can be found on her website at http://www.tami-brady.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tami_Brady http://EzineArticles.com/?About-Reiki&id=1891633

Friday, February 13, 2009

Uncover Your Higher Human Being

All of us can agree to some degree that Humans have a "guardian angel," depending on your beliefs where this guardian comes from. Some people believe in an woman with wings who comes down from heaven and makes their dreams come true. In this case the guardian does not come from an outside source, but from within your higher self.

The higher self is part of the trinity of the three selves that Dan Millman writes about in his book Journey of the peaceful warrior. The other two parts of the trinity are the basic or “child like” self, and your conscious self, sometimes called the “ego”. The role of the higher self is to watch over basic and conscious selves kind of like a "cheerleader to the soul." The higher self will reminding the conscious self of what spiritual possibilities are beyond this material world.

The higher self that is inside all of us is where we hide our selfless courage, it is where our love, compassion, wisdom, and joy all come from. Your higher self is filled with deep empathy for our other selves, although it cannot help us to achieve a heightened sense of awareness until we can control our basic instincts and our conscious thoughts.

Our higher self has to remain detached much like a parent sending their child to school. In this sense our higher selves are able to gently guide and watch over the conscious and basic selfs while not interfering with the natural learning process. Just as we did when we were children learning from our own mistakes, the higher self stays out of the way and lets the conscious self make choices and learn the lessons it needs to learn.

When we are finally able to master the powers of the basic and conscious selves, we are free to enjoy great personal success in the world. Our Basic selves will evolve into conscious selves like a child grows into an adult. Our conscious selves will mature into higher selves as we live and allow ourselves to have an open mind. When we stay in touch with our higher self it adds to the deep dimensions of joy and love, we are able experience of the higher possibilities this life has to offer.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

She Is The Star Who Saves

There is a very special deity known throughout Buddhism named Sgrol-ma, which means “she who saves”. This savior goddess is most popular in the regions of Tibet , Mongolia and Nepal. She is known simply as Tara or “star” in the Sanskrit language.

Tara is the goddess of universal compassion, she is the representation of all virtuous, enlightened action. Her love for all living things is stronger than the love of a mother for her child. Tara protects us during our earthly travels, giving us longevity and stands guards us as we fumble our way through the spiritual journey to enlightenment.

Before the sixth century CE Tara was not known to Buddhists but she was very well known in Hinduism by another name, the goddess Parvati. When Buddhists discovered Tara they say she was born out of Avalokiteshvara, through her tears of compassion. As the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara wept for the world and its beings who endure suffering, her tears formed a lake. Inside this lake of tears grew a lotus and when the lotus opened the goddess Tara was inside! In another legend Tara was born from a blue light beam coming from one of Avalokiteshvara's eyes..

The body of Tara is envisioned in different colours, each colour symbolizes separate things. In some traditions it is said that White Tara, with her lotus in full bloom, symbolizes the day, and was born from the tears of Avalokiteshvara's left eye. Green Tara with her half-open lotus, represents the night, and came from the tears of Avalokiteshvara's right eye. Green Tara is the embodiment of virtuous activity, White Tara symbolizes the immense compassion of the goddess who labors day and night to relieve suffering.

In Tibet,Every pious woman was believed to be an incarnation of Tara. She was associated with two wives of the first Buddhist king of Tibet, Srong-brtsan-sgam-po. The Buddhist kings wife from imperial China was known an incarnation of the White Tara, while the king's wife from Nepalese was an incarnation of the Green Tara. It is possible that the strong need to see both these pious women as incarnations of Tara was the reason Buddhists came up with the concept of green and white forms of this goddess.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Conscious Human Being

There are a few key things that make humans different from animals, one of the biggest differences is the human consciousness. As animals survive on basic instincts as do humans, but humans are able to reason with one another and think logically. (I'm not saying that animals do not use logic or reason, it just has not been proven). The conscious self- as Dan Millman describes in his book Journey of the Peaceful Warrior- serves as the center of logic, reason, and discrimination which of course are all necessary tools to survive in this life.

The most obvious role of the conscious self is the ability to adapt to new situations by learning new skills. Conscious learning helps us to thrive in our environment, skills like reading, math and cultural differences. Your basic self also looks to your conscious self for guidance and reassurance just like a child will go to it's parents. Because the basic self is so primal it is natural for the conscious self to be the serious counterpart.

By helping the basic self understand the fundamentals of life while still allowing the it to be expressive and creative our energy's are working together and we are in balance. When our energy's are out of balance, it is likely the conscious self using logic and reason to devalue natural feelings and intuitions from the basic self, similar to the way adults sometimes devalue the feelings of children. When your conscious self takes control it is impossible to feel our intuitions and gut feelings.

In order to heal from this control struggle and become balanced again we can help our conscious self learn to listen and reestablish rapport with our basic self. This will cause a renewed sense of vitality in your everyday life, a wonderful sense of pleasure from the little things, and better overall health.

Although we do need to value our conscious selves and their use of reason, logic, and the other functions, we must also recognize its limitations. When we can see our conscious self in perspective, we will then be able to recognize that our life work better when our basic self and conscious self are cooperating under the loving yet watchful eyes of the higher self.

The Spiritual Nature of Human Consciousness

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=George_Lockett]George Lockett

During sleep, I am noticing more and more the spiritual nature of human consciousness. It becomes very clear as our awareness evolves and the veil between us and our spiritual nature becomes more transparent in our experience.

I am increasingly noticing this as I move between states of consciousness in my sleep. I have witnessed my sleep for many years and, if my awareness just watches consciously what is going on in my sleep and dreams, I can have a clear experience of what is happening.

Over the past few days some things have happened to make this natural experience even more vivid in my awareness.

A couple of days ago, in the early morning my two and a half year old grandson came and jumped on me as I was sleeping, bringing me abruptly back to the waking state.

This allowed me to observe the very clear contrast between where I had been in my dream and the reality of waking consciousness.

In my dream I was being given a guided tour of another world. I was swimming on the surface of a slow-moving river of crystal clear water. Swimming along underneath me were figures with human bodies but eyes like ping pong balls on the outside of their heads a bit like insects' eyes.

As I swam along with my companions I was hearing telepathically a voice which informed me that they were my ancestors; we were related and a part of the Universal Life Force which everyone shares as a common source.

The veil between our waking reality and other dimensions is getting very thin and it is easy, by relaxing and releasing, to allow the awareness to merge with the subtlest of energies within.

When you consciously relax and allow the mind to settle - perhaps by using conscious breathing, i.e. being aware of the breath as it enters and leaves your lungs; feeling the oxygen spreading throughout the body, and taking time to thank all the different cells within the body for working together in a happy, peaceful frame of mind - when you take the conscious mind down through the layers of the body in this way, it is easy to become aware of the cells, molecules and atoms which make up the physical body and its corresponding energy fields or consciousness.

From there it is only a short step to transcend the physical as you become aware that the fine particles which make up the atoms are switching from a particle to a wave: from physical matter into light.

Then with another very short step you transcend the light of the body's electromagnetic aura back to its spiritual source, where you come to the junction point between all the dimensions of physical and non-physical reality.

This is currently being called by physics the zero point field, and by religions communion with God. It is a state of conscious awareness where you feel at one with everything - in union with the whole universe.

When we transcend the body in this way, we come back to our true nature, which is an eternal spiritual being. We can leave the physical behind for a while and move our conscious awareness around our spiritual nature, tapping into all the other dimensions, which are also a part of our Self and make up the greater wholeness of our conscious awareness.

In this state we feel a heightened awareness - a raising of our vibration; it is as though we can feel around us angels' wings swishing and thrilling in ecstasy. The more we research these subtle levels with our conscious awareness, the more consciousness we breathe into them and the livelier they become for us.

Therefore, as you enjoy your sleep experience at night, be aware of what you are feeling and bring that awareness back into your waking consciousness; help make your life more aware and integrated with the greater wholeness of who you are.

George E. Lockett IIHHT, SSHA (C) Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved.

* New book * "A Journey into the Self -- The Multi-dimensional Nature of Being Human" by George E. Lockett, visit the Website for details: http://www.healergeorge.com

If you would like HealerGeorge to send healing to you or someone else, please click the link: [http://www.healergeorge.com/absent_healing.htm]Request Distant Healing

What is Distant Healing?

Distant Healing is similar to prayer and its advantage is that it allows patients to receive Healing energies just as effectively as if they were in the presence of the Healer. Patients receive Healing equally well even when they are too ill to know that it is being sent. Distant Healing is equally effective whatever the patient's beliefs, although a desire to get better intensifies the effect of Healing. Any aspect of the body, mind or spirit can be reached by Healing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Lockett http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Spiritual-Nature-of-Human-Consciousness&id=1779673