What You Don't Know About Christmas--And Probably Should!

Source: http://spiritfeast.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-you-dont-know-about-christmas-and.html

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Are You Better Off Because Rich People Have Created So Many Jobs? Not Necessarily...

Source: http://spiritfeast.blogspot.com/2011/12/ddd.html

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World's Largest Crocodile.

A monster 21-foot (6.4-metre) saltwater crocodile, believed to be the biggest ever captured, has been trapped in the southern Philippines after a spate of fatal attacks, officials said Tuesday.

James: The giant croc weighs in over a ton!! Yet, what interested me most was that the people in the village chose not to kill the beast despite its violent past. They decided instead to build a nature park to include the crocodile to increase eco-tourism to the area and protect a species that has been over-hunted in the area. I applaud their efforts to make a tragic situation less tragic for all involved. There are unfortunately a lot of people in this world who would have killed that animal and displayed it like a grotesque trophy, so I bow in deep gratitude to those villagers in the Philippines. May their example lead to better and better treatment of animals in this world.

We are reminded by the Buddha that we are interconnected to all living beings, so animals are no different than our cousins. Thus, when ever possible they should be treated with the same compassion and care that one would show a human being. Sadly, however, some society's still allow the death penalty in certain criminal cases--including, unfortunately, my country of the United States. So, the plight of a misunderstood carnivore, such as the crocodile, is even less of a concern. Hopefully, however, we can continue to raise awareness that we can protect ourselves from dangerous animals without killing them all.

~Peace to all beings~

Source: http://thebuddhistblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/worlds-largest-crocodile.html

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The Gift of Life

I would like to remind you of something I often remind myself of. Life may not be wrapped in bows, and it’s not always pretty … but it is still a gift. We need to be willing to take delight in the unwrapping each day and taking pleasure at each stage of the unwrapping until [...]

Source: http://www.exploremeditation.com/gift-of-life/

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Wanted: Urban Monks.

"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."-Buddha

I really like this striking image--the pagoda speaks of the timelessness of the Dharma while the buildings project the essential, utilitarian-nature of day-to-day modern life. Perhaps some might try and crop out the buildings from this picture believing they take away from the pagoda. But nothing in this world exists in a vacuum--everything exists in relation to everything else. If the world were full of nothing but serene, Buddhist, pagodas full of chanting monks, who would provide the upkeep of this world that must get done regardless of the Dharma? We need "urban monks," as well; lay people who bring the serenity of the pagodas to office buildings, prisons, schools, apartments and every nook of this world. We can touch places and lives that a lot the ordained monks can't ever reach.

I use to want to be a "traditional monk" because I believed it would provide a haven from a world that I perceived of as pure disaster. I didn't realize then how foolish and naive I was being. I was only seeing the disastrous suffering in the the world because I was filtering out the positive stuff. Through meditating upon the pitfalls of perceptions, I became aware that I was projecting the disaster that I was ignoring inside my mind, out onto the world. So, of course, all I was seeing was a chaotic world!! It is a delusional trick that we perform, so that we can blame the world for all our troubles, and not accept our responsibility.

It doesn't mean we're bad people for making these mistakes. You don't blame the baby for shitting in it's pants, do you? It's simply being a baby--and so are we. We are simply being a typical but loveable infant who is trying his/her best to grow. It's natural for a baby to make a mess of things--that's how they learn. How are you going to know that some things are less helpful in your life until you make a mistake?

So, it's o.k. to shit your pants from time to time--spiritually speaking, of course. Shit, itself, isn't bad either. To paraphrase my teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, without shit, we wouldn't have roses!! Our mistakes, fertilize the seeds of our good intentions to grow roses of happiness and peace. The key is to not blame yourself for doing something that human's can't help but do--make mistakes. This world itself is imperfect and flawed, so how could we not make mistakes? You are trying, and trying is a pro-active action. A lot of people are too afraid to try, so go easy on yourself.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Hong Kong Pagoda, and buildings" by Stuart Miles for Free Digital Photos.

~may all beings know peace~

Source: http://thebuddhistblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/wanted-urban-monks.html

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Opportunities are knocking

At any given moment, infinite oportunities exist.  There are those you consciously notice and those you do not.  That which you are ready for suddenly takes centre stage in your life.  Ever notice how and when your conscious focus is shifting? What is your priority right now? Be aware of a variety of influences on your beliefs. Every 'ah-ha' moment is a teacher, an opportunity for shifts of attention, a gentle reminder all is always well from a vantage point always within reach.  Notice what happens as feelings of being centered now appear.

"The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention." - Alan Watts

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DreamBuildersAustralia/~3/hf0qk39q_Sg/opportunities-are-knocking.html

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Which 'Love Language' Suits You? And Your Partner?

Over the weekend, I read Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages, and I found it fascinating. (I have to confess: the book caught my attention because it's always clustered near, and above, The Happiness Project on the New York Times...

Source: http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2011/12/over-the-weekend-i-read-gary-chapmans-the-five-love-languages-and-i-found-it-fascinating-i-have-to-confess-the-book.html

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The Real (and Gruesome) Thanksgiving: A Little Bit of Troubling History

Source: http://spiritfeast.blogspot.com/2011/11/real-and-gruesome-thanksgiving-little.html

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Doggie, Kittie: It's All In Your Point of View...

Source: http://spiritfeast.blogspot.com/2011/11/doggie-kittie-its-all-in-your-point-of.html

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Top Yoga Poses with Pictures for Daily Practice

Yoga Poses with Pictures

Top Yoga Poses

In our busy lives, it is not always possible to do 2 hours of yoga daily. It would be great if we all had the time for such devoted practice, and even if some of us were lucky enough to be able to accommodate such a practice, there would inevitably be phases where time would be limited and we would have to make do with a shorter practice. Today I would like to present you with a great set, composed of many of the top yoga poses, which is ideal for meeting the needs of a quick yet complete yoga routine.

The set below incorporates many of the best yoga poses and exercises out there and is quite complete, but you can supplement it with other poses if you feel that there are some aspects that this workout does not cover. An example of such additions, would be adding Spinal Twists for the Lower Back, Frog Pose for Toned Legs or any of the exercises from the Simple Yoga for Upper Body Training Set. Each of the links I have cited above will take you to an article with details of those poses, complete with pictures and illustrations.

To help you customize your set and include such additions, you can use the tips from the article: 6 Guidelines of How to Create Yoga Sets.

You can see from the poses illustrated below, that this set of exercises already targets a wide range of muscle groups and works on many different systems and organs. It also includes some of the most important yoga poses and poses that according to yoga you should try to do daily. For this reason, it is one of my favorite sets and very useful for regular maintenance and upkeep.

This set will be added to our Free Online Yoga Sets and Kriyas Collection, which already has 22 wonderful yoga sets to help you develop and expand your yoga practice. All the yoga sets in the collection also come with pictures of the yoga poses and in many cases, videos are also included.

The building blocks for these sets are of course the yoga exercises, and complete details for each exercise can be found in the Illustrated Kundalini Yoga Exercises Collection and the Illustrated Hatha Yoga Poses Galleries. So if you are looking to enhance this set even further, you can find many more top yoga poses in those collections to do so with.

In addition to just the yoga poses that make up this set, I have added a yoga breathing exercise for you to start this set with and suggest that you end with a meditation of your choice. Incorporating these practices into your routine will ensure that you are not just enjoying the physical benefits of yoga, but are also getting the mental, emotional and spiritual benefits that these sister sciences bestow.

For Online Yoga and Meditation Certification Students:

For those students enrolled in the Yoga Certification Program or Meditation Teacher's Training Course, this set is great to do in a beginner's or intermediate yoga class, as I have seen that most students are able to practice these poses or at least do the modified versions quite well.

Each exercise title and image below are links which you can click for additional details about that pose, including benefits, cautions, modification and more pictures.

Please share any poses and exercises you enjoy. Thank you.

KUNDALINI YOGA SET FOR EVERYDAY HEALTH AND FITNESS

1. 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:

Along with the yoga sets and poses collections indicated above, the website also hosts the Free Online Yoga Breathing Exercises Collection. From that collection one of the best exercises to get you energy going is the 4 Part Deep Breathing exercise.

How to Do 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:

• To do this exercise, sit up straight to ensure that the spine is erect.

• Then inhale in 4 parts. This means to break up 1 inhalation into 4 parts, such that by the fourth sniff you have completely filled your lungs to capacity.

• After inhalation, exhale in 4 parts, such that by the fourth sniff you have emptied your lungs.

• Now start to breathe in again in 4 parts and repeat the cycle

• Start with 1 minute and work your way up to 3 minutes or more. Take breaks as you need.

2. Archer Pose for Power and Confidence:

Next come into Archer Pose. This pose is a great exercise for building confidence and energy. In addition, it helps strengthen your legs and opens up your energy pathways. Do this exercise with full focus and concentration.

Start with facing to the left and hold for 1-3 minutes and then switch and face the other way for an equal amount of time.

Do the pose with Breath of Fire or with Long Deep Breathing.

Kundalini Yoga Archer Pose Illustration

3. Forward Bending Yoga Pose:

Next come into one of the best yoga poses for healing and longevity, Back Stretching Pose, also called the Forwarding Bending Pose.

For this pose, make sure you stretch gently at first and only accent the stretch after you feel yourself warming up a little. It is fine if you can't reach all the way to your toes as shown in the illustration below. Simply reach forward as far as you comfortably can.

Hold for 1-3 minutes doing either Long Deep Breathing or the Breath of Fire.

Yoga Forward Bend Picture

4. Camel Pose for Optimal Health:

Camel pose in and of itself is great for maintaining good health as it has a long list of wonderful benefits, so it is only logical that such a useful pose would be part of a daily maintenance set.

For those who are new to yoga, don't feel intimidated by this pose, as it has some very good modifications that are very suitable for beginner's to do. You can find those modified versions in the article (simply click the title to be taken to the article). The full article has pictures of the modified versions of Camel Pose as well.

Hold this pose for 1-3 minutes doing either Breath of Fire or Long Deep Breathing.

Camel Pose Illustration

5. Stretch Pose for Core Abdominal Power:

No Kundailni Yoga set is complete without have an exercise for the abs and core, and the most basic pose for working on this critical region is the famous Stretch Pose.

Do this pose daily and you will enjoy the great benefits of energy, willpower and good digestion that this pose bestows.

Stretch Pose is typically done with Breath of Fire, so try to develop that combination.

Try to build up your time to 3 minutes. In the beginning you can take frequent breaks while doing the pose, or use the single leg modification until your abs get strong enough. The picture below shows the pose being done with both legs up.

Kundalini Yoga Stretch Pose Picture

6. Bow Pose for Eternal Health:

Perhaps one of the most famous yoga poses is Bow Pose. This is another superb pose and certainly one that is excellent to do on a daily basis.

Once you get proficient with the basic version of Bow Pose, try the advanced version where you rock back and forth on your stomach.

For this pose, you can start with doing just 15 seconds and building up from there. Doing this pose with just normal breathing is fine.

Yoga Bow Pose Illustration

7. Shoulder Stand for Brain Fitness:

If we are creating a set for daily practice, it only makes sense that it would have an inversion and a pose which is good for brain health. This pose is Shoulder Stand. Use your hands to support your lower back as I have shown in the illustration below.

Only do this pose for a maximum of 5 minutes a day and also be careful of your neck when practicing it.

While holding the pose just do normal breathing.

Shoulder Stand Pose

8. Meditation of Your Choice:

To Complete this set, select a meditation of your choice from the Free Online Meditations Collection or Free Kundalini Yoga Meditations Collection.

Try to practice your meditation for at least 5 minutes and build up to 20 minutes over time.

The Top Yoga Poses for Everyday Practice is a great set to do daily in order to stay strong, flexible, energized and fit.

Connect w/ Anmol

Related posts:

1. Basic Yoga Poses for Balance
2. Basic Yoga Poses for Weight Loss – Part 2
3. Yoga Positions for Beginners for Daily Morning Practice – Kundalini Yoga Morning Wakeup Series
4. Best Morning Yoga Stretching Poses – Surya Namaskar
5. 5 Excellent Yoga Poses for Stress Relief

Source: http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2011/11/21/top-yoga-poses-with-pictures-for-daily-practice/

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Normality versus Abnormality - Defining the Difference

We all question our normality at times. As human beings we are bound to have negative feelings that we're not proud of. We don't always act rationally with sufficient restraint, and so on. Of course, normality is a very vague term that only refers to a generally accepted consensus in the environment we know best. But as such, it does have some validity and we should allow ourselves to learn the lessons this very fact has to teach us. It's about us in relation to others - how can we get along better? Let me say first of all that the fact that we question ourselves is already a sign of mental health, because our inner censor is at work. This is not the case with deeply disturbed people who need to enhance their self-importance to ridiculous degrees in order to maintain a sense of self. To acknowledge flaws would be too catastrophical to them. They wouldn't be able to live with the suspiscion that they are not the perfect human beings they wanted to be. If we feel so inclined, we can feel sorry for the sad history that has made them into such people, but the world is full of them and very often all they need to do is just get a grip or seek help.

We may not always know with confidence whether we're acting within the framework of normality ourselves, but we usually recognize seriously and detrimentally deviant behaviour in other people. I am not saying all deviancy is bad, because the world needs many different kinds - I'm talking about the kind that harms other beings. This is yet another reason for studying other people; it may be a bit of a new age adage that we're only responsible for ourselves and should not concern ourselves with others since we cannot change them, but my opinion is nonetheless that by looking at others we may get a perspective on our own thinking and feeling. This is how we can identify patterns in ourselves that aren't working for us or for other people in our vicinity. In fact, if we look mindfully, we can see ourselves in other people as if we were looking into a mirror. What we dislike about someone else is often something we dislike in ourselves. If we didn't, we'd probably feel pretty neutral about them. Sometimes they disturb us because we are forced to take a stand; we have to decide whether we should be around these people and if we decide their presence is unwholesome to us, we may have to take steps to distance ourselves from their sphere of influence. All this can in truth be quite tiring. I for one have gotten a bit tired of worrying about other people and have decided that some people should simply not be bothered with at all. People are always going to disappoint us as they rarely meet with our expectations. There are times when it's best not to think about others too much but just get on with one's own life the best one can.

I have written extensively about manipulative people so whoever is interested in more is referred to older posts. I have been quite interested in this phenomenon but I think this should be my last post on the subject. Truth to say people who feel the need to manipulate are sorry people with unhappy lives, and the best you can do is leave them to dwell on their own issues. They have problems that don't have to be yours as well.

My husband had an affair with a woman some years ago but recognized after four and a half months that she was not quite "right". He ended the affair but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She became obsessed with him and wouldn't leave him alone. She would do whatever it took to get him in bed with her. When he found me she stalked me online, in the most vile manner. She infiltrated into my private FB account and when we found out, she sent my husband stories about her perception of who I "really am" in order to warn him. When this didn't work, she sent me some derogatory story about my husband, including accounts of their sex and how she would love him forever and ever. Her page was full of spiteful comments about my husband in Dutch (easy enough to run through a translator). She's still sending me anonymous manipulative comments online, obviously with the intent of creating unease. Perhaps she thinks I don't see through these games or understand that she's behind it all. The last thing that came to my notice was that she had forced her way into our house on the morning after our wedding when we were at a hotel. My mother was at the door but completely taken by surprise when this woman "with the mean eyes" ran upstairs uninvited to have a look at our home. The truly sad part is that this woman is a preacher. I don't suppose her God is particularly pleased with her transgressions.

As a side note, nobody that I know in this little town is impressed with her as a human being or a minister. Needless to say, they are sick and tired of her  rants about having been badly treated by my husband (who wouldn't hurt a fly). Among other things, she bought some stock for her shop from another local business and never paid for it. And this is not all... But she would probably not be able to see what she's doing, because presumably, in her mind she's not doing anything wrong. I am guessing that hiding behind a facade of spiritual authority in the role of a preacher is her way of justifying her existance in some way while trying to make sure no one sees her darker aspects. We have seen these kind of people over and over again - history is full of them. Religion is the greatest excuse and weapon humans have come up with, ironically the very anti-thesis of true spirituality.

Sometimes, people who want to be an authority within a church feel that as they consacrate their lives to God, God ows them something in return. They think they can expect God to be supportive of whatever they decide to do, and all means are sanctified. Some members of a parish believe that the authorities have been sanctioned by God, and this makes them especially vulnerable to manipulation. Some people are practically asking to be manipulated because they don't want to think for themselves.

While I don't know what drives the woman my husband had an affair with, she did actually do me a favour because she put normality in a perspective for me.

In extreme cases, people with sociopathic and/or narcissistic tendencies step beyond the boundaries of normality and common decency in ways we simply cannot ignore. Unfortunately, many live among us and therefore it's important to recognize the signs even when they are good at fooling people with their ingratiating ways. Intuition is your best guide. But I would also say that one sign of this type of personality disorder is the unability to let go of other people and instead continue to act as if they had a right to possess their victims, who should bend to their will. They are the first class bullies, with very little ability to feel empathy and understand other people's feelings - yet they love to tell other people how to run their lives because this is their power trip. The other sign is that there is no ability to see one's own wrongdoings, in fact there is a tendency to think that God or Satan or whatever entity inspire them is exclusively on their side, very much as fundamentalist religious terrorists or a cult leader would think. I don't think a normal person would be able to continue as an "authorized" advocate of deep religious values of truthfulness, kindness and love if they were able to acknowledge that they had these kinds of problems. If nothing else, this certainly is the greatest give away.

The term "sociopath" has nowadays been replaced with "antisocial personality disorder". Wikipedia says:  "...common characteristics of those with Antisocial Personality Disorder include superficial charm, shallowed emotions, a distorted sense of self, a constant search for new sensations (which can have bizarre consequences), a tendency to physically or verbally abuse peers or relatives, and manipulation of others without remorse or empathy for the victim. Egocentrism, megalomania, lack of responsibility, extroversion, excessive hedonism, high impulsivity, promiscuity and the desire to experience sensations of control and power can also be present. This type of disorder does not relate to assaults of panic or to schizophrenia." In other words, people border on the abnormal when their anti-social behaviour is excessive and harmful to others.

Artwork: digital photograph by author, all rights reserved 2010

Source: http://vivi-mari.blogspot.com/2010/12/normal-and-abnormal-how-can-you-tell.html

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The Tao of Joy Every Day by Derek Lin.

The beauty of Taoism is that the wisdom is simple yet profound and that is the strength of Derek Lin's book, The Tao of Joy Every Day: 365 Days of Tao Living. Its easy reference style makes it a great gift for those who are often too busy for deep, extended, contemplative meditation.

The book offers up easily digestible wisdom for when you need a quick bit of inspiration. It is a great way to start the day, and it's small size makes it ideal for a nightstand book. It's short but powerful entries are great for settling the mind before bedtime, or on nights when you can't sleep.

Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the ancient, Taoist wisdom is translated for a modern audience and tailored for today's society. Therefore, it's quite easy to see how the Taoist wisdom can be applied in our every day actions and situations. It's a great "stocking-stuffer" gift for this, and any other holiday season. It's a great addition to any Eastern wisdom book collection.

~I bow to the Buddha within all things~

Source: http://thebuddhistblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/tao-of-joy-every-day-by-derek-lin.html

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