To bless, says Pierre, means to wish, unconditionally and from the deepest chamber of your heart, unrestricted good for others and events.
To bless is to acknowledge the omnipresent, universal beauty hidden from material eyes
Credits:
Music: Secret Garden, Sleepsong
Text: Freely adapted from Pierre Pradervand, The Gentle Art of Blessings: Sasha T Moore, The Forgotten Art of Blessing; and Daily Om, Understanding Oneness
12 Universal Focus Phrases to Quickly Bring Peace and Inner Clarity
Throughout his pioneering career as a psychologist and spiritual teacher, John Selby has sought new solutions to confusion and suffering, and discovered proven techniques for attaining mental, physical, and emotional well-being. The streamlined daily practice presented here is the final result of a lifetime of psychological research born of John’s personal struggle and spiritual awakening.
The twelve simple yet potent Focus Phrases taught in this book integrate the wisdom of the world’s spiritual practices with cutting-edge cognitive science, inserting realistic “intent messages” into your inner dialogue and encouraging creative insight and emotional healing. These core statements constitute a root psychological meditative practice to help you tap the power of the present moment — naturally, pleasurably, and with life-affirming consistency.
Here is a sampling of the focus phrases Selby offers:
➢ I choose to enjoy this moment.
➢ I feel the air flowing in and out of my nose.
➢ I am ready to experience the feelings in my heart.
➢ I honor and love myself just as I am.
“Expand This Moment” Introduction with John
In this short discussion of John’s new book Expand This Moment, you will learn the origins of the Wake Up meditation program taught in the book and online at www.TappingDaily.org. This is the short version of the video introduction to the Expand This Moment process – the longer version is also available at the author’s site.
Full of encouraging guidance, The Four Purposes of Life speaks to all those who seek to better understand their place in the world. It can help bring your life into focus by providing a clear look at what you’re doing here — and what you’re really here to do — day by day, moment by moment.
Beginning in the realm of daily life, the book addresses career and calling, including the hidden calling (or destiny-path) you, as an individual, are here to fulfill — and it ends with the most important purpose of all, one that ties together all the others to bring more sense and meaning to all our lives.
Dan Millman is author of the spiritual classic, Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Like the facets of a crystal, his many bestsellers since have brightened and expanded on his vision of the planet as the soul’s proving ground, a place to strengthen our skills at achieving inner peace.
Dan’s books have been read by millions of seekers in 29 languages, and Peaceful Warrior is now a feature film. He spoke at East West about the inspiration behind his latest work, The Four Purposes of Life.
Dan Millman is a former world champion athlete and author of 14 books, including Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1980). In his latest book, The Four Purposes of Life, he puts together for the first time essential elements from the peaceful warrior teachings in their full context. Dan distills his lifetime experience into a concise map of the journey — the full scope of what we’re each here to accomplish on planet Earth, including Learning Life’s Lessons, Finding Your Career and Calling and Fulfilling Your Hidden Life Path.
Within this extraordinary memoir, Radhanath Swami weaves a colorful tapestry of adventure, mysticism, and love. Readers follow Richard Slavin from the suburbs of Chicago to the caves of the Himalayas as he transforms from young seeker to renowned spiritual guide.
The Journey Home is an intimate account of the steps to self awareness and a penetrating glimpse into the heart of mystic traditions and the challenges that all souls must face on the road to inner harmony and a union with the Divine. Through near-death encounters, apprenticeships with advanced yogis, and years of travel along the pilgrim’s path, Radhanath Swami eventually reaches the inner sanctum of India’s mystic culture and finds the love he has been seeking. It is a tale told with rare candor, immersing the reader in a journey that is at once engaging, humorous, and heartwarming.
H.H. Radhanath Swami has been a source of inspiration for several projects both in India and outside of it. Radhanath Swami is also a great source of inspiration for several thousands of people aspiring to seek spiritual enlightenment in the line of bhakti yoga. His efforts to help people in this field have been delivering positive results. Radhanath Swami’s students come from various walks of life, age groups, castes, races, and nationalities
The Journey Home by HH Radhanath Swami
At the age of 19, in 1970, Radhanath Swami started his journey of spiritual quest. After meeting several people and studying various paths of spiritual enlightenment along the way, he finally reached India. Radhanath Swami’s experiences through the journey enabled him to understand the truth from all cultural perspectives. The deep realizations that he gained in the process reflect in his teachings today.
The sufferings and exploitations he had to endure on this path made Radhanath Swami more determined and focused, it increased his faith and humility. Radhanath Swami’s uncompromising determination to find a guru who can provide answers for his questions made him reach the holy land of Vrndavan, India, the holy place of Radha and Krsna. Radhanath Swami
Radhanath Swami learned from many but accepted one guru. Radhanath Swami’s surrender and service to his spiritual master is a great source of inspiration to all his followers. Radhanath Swami’s lectures, kirtans, and yatras sustain the spiritual lives of many. Radhanath Swami’s explanation of complex topics of scriptures and the insight that he provides into apparently confusing philosophical topics is amazing.
H.H. Radhanath Swamy is an extremely rare personality that anyone would meet during the journey of his or her lifetime.
Stories From Journey Home-1 Book by HH Radhanath Swami
Stories From Journey Home Book – A Lecture by HH Radhanath Swami given at Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram in Hrishikesh in the year 2012.
Ilie Ciora
lie Cioara was an enlightened mystic who did not belong to any lineage. He is unique in a way, in the sense that he lived in almost complete isolation, in Eastern Europe in a communist country, completely oblivious of nonduality, zen etc. Originally a Christian mystic, he practiced a mantra for over 20 years.
One day, he felt an intuitive impulse to drop the mantra, and just practice the silence of the mind, by listening to the noises on the street, in the now. After following this practice for a few years, one morning, as he was waking up from his sleep, he suddenly experienced Enlightenment. His description of meditation is fresh and devoid of any tradition and jargon.
His writings in 16 books describe the experience of meditation and enlightenment, as well as the practice of “Self-knowing” using all-encompassing Attention. Like Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti, Ekhart Tolle, his is a simple message of discovering our inner divine nature through the silence of the mind.
The Silence of the Mind is the first in a tetralogy by Ilie Cioara to be published by Obooks. Soon to follow: The Wondrous Journey into the Depth of Our Being, Life is Eternal Newness and I Am Boundlessness
Petrica Verdes (Deva Daan) A translator and a seeker of truth, he has been practicing meditation and living in various meditation communes in Italy, Germany and the UK. Translating Iie Cioara’s work has been a labour of love and a process of spiritual growth.
NDM: Can you please tell me about how you met Ilie Cioara?
Petrica Verdes: In 2002, I came across one of Ilie Cioara’s books in a bookshop, and I wrote the publisher straight away, asking if they could pass me the address of the author. The book just mesmerized me, I felt an energy around the text and I used to meditate with it and carry it with me. To my surprise, after a month, I received a reply from the editor, with the author’s address and telephone number. I called him the same day and arranged a meeting with him the next morning. Ilie Cioara’s door was always open to whoever was interested in the truth. He did not ask any questions: you were the one who asked the questions, if you needed to.
After a 10 hour train journey, I knocked on his door. The door opened and I was welcomed by the most amazing eyes. I had seen these eyes before, in photos of Ramana Maharshi, Osho, Papaji, Yogananda – yet it was the first time I saw them in real life. In front of me stood a very vital and alive old man, who I thought was around 60 years old. Little did I know at the time that he was 86.
The room was full of an energy which made my mind become silent. He asked me if I had any questions to ask him, but I couldn’t think of anything, my mind was just blank. I just wanted to sit and meditate in his presence, and look into those eyes. He said to me that this had happened to other people as well, and that, if necessary, I needed to write my questions at home, and bring them with me the next time.
There was a strong meditative energy in the room. I just wanted to relax into that energy.
I remember two anecdotes from this encounter. At one point, he told me a woman had come to him, and she had the gift of reading other people’s thoughts. She came to him for recognition, yet his reply was simple: “Aren’t your thoughts enough, now you want to have other people’s thoughts?”
Another thing he told me during our meeting – the famous saying by Descartes; I think, therefore, I am. Ilie Cioara commented this was one of the stupidest things he had ever heard, because, only when I do not think, I truly Am. This was an deeply untrue statement. A correct statement would be “I think, therefore, I am not”
NDM: So did you meet up with him again?
Petrica Verdes: I only met him once while he was in the body. After a few months I left the country to Italy, to live in a meditation commune there, I had other dreams and ideals. By the time I got round to seeing him again, in 2004, he had passed away.
NDM: Can you please tell me how this man and his book impacted you?
Petrica Verdes: I’ve been reading and re-reading this book for many years. Each reading adds a deeper level of understanding.
This is not a book about meditation, or describing meditation. The book is a meditation in itself. Words are used as a device to transport the reader in a state of meditation.
Ilie Cioara – The Silence of the Mind
To give you a firsthand example, the poem The Power of Emptiness:
The mind is completely silent, we are attentive – a clear consciousness, / All meanings, boundaries disappear – us and the Infinite are “One”; / Practically we have a new mind, always fresh. / Being in the pause, I become infinite! / It separates two worlds. I leave the limited world / And enter Boundlessness, through total melting; / The whole being is calm – a constant sparkle. / There is no time, no space – just everlasting Eternity; I move in direct contact with life, in a permanent present.
The book is a journey of self-discovery for the reader. Through these mirror-poems, he is able to see the reality of his being as if in a mirror. The approach of the book is very intuitive and practical, rather than descriptive. He does not explain – he gives the reader an experience, using words. All the verses are followed by explanations in prose.
The book is not necessarily meant to be read from beginning to end. One can carry it in his pocket, open it randomly and read a passage: it will help reconnect with the reality of being. Like looking into a mirror, we are reminded of the original face we had before we were born and after we die.
I had been carrying this book in my pocket for a long time. The particular thing about this book is – usually, enlightened people do not write books – they speak to disciples, and the discourses are written. One feels like one is eavesdropping – the master is speaking to the disciple, and we are listening to this as spectators. Some of it may regard us as well, some of it is specifically directed at that disciple.
Because Ilie Cioara was almost alone, during the communist years, he had to communicate this experience in writing. He is using words directly, as a device for awakening. He is addressing the reader directly, but he is not there to provide information, he is there to awaken.
In a way, this setback has created a unique book. It is not a discourse – the reader can use the book as a device to awaken. And Ilie Cioara is the first to remind the reader:”You don’t need anything outside yourself. Forget the author completely and just stay with the experience of being in the moment. Read the words and transcend them.”
NDM: So as a result of reading this book, did you experience some kind of an awakening your self? If so can you please tell me what this is?
Petrica Verdes: One can read a book, close it and forget about it. Or re-read it again and think: this is a wonderful book, and close it again and forget about it.
Rather than merely reading the book, it is the daily practice of what is described in the book, that simple attention to the present moment that changed my life. It is a daily practice, wherever I am, in whatever circumstances, from early morning until late in the night, to just watch the mind and do not buy into its games and most of all, do not give it any energy. Mind exists because we give it energy, because we believe in it. If we disidentify with it, if we detach from it – its energy supply is cut off. It cannot exist without us. And the reverse is also the case – we cannot exist without the mind. When the mind is not – we stop existing as an “ego” entity.
This is why it is in our best interest to keep the mind going. This is how we can also continue to exist, with our dreams, ideals, aspirations – all these are fuel to our “ego” identity.
So the ego pretends – I want to be rid of the mind – but in fact, “ego” and mind are in a deep partnership. You watch the mind, but you don’t want to disappear as an entity. You want the mind to disappear, without realizing that – with the disappearance of the mind, you will also disappear.
So we give the mind energy, because the mind allows us to exist as an individuality. We pretend we meditate, this is a game that every meditator plays with himself. We don’t want to disappear. There is still something unaccomplished, something we long for, something we need to achieve, we have not let go and just be in the present moment.
Ilie Cioara – Creation is Eternal Freshness
So this is one thing to be remembered, by not giving energy to the mind, you also cut off the energy invested in the “ego” identity. Accept death as an “ego” because sooner or later this is the end result of meditation. This is what I learned by practicing Ilie Cioara’s teachings.
It’s years of observation of one’s thoughts that finally bring an awakening, without needing to do something in particular, just a simple observation. It is not cheap. The mind is lives upon lives of living in ignorance, a huge deposit of unconscious mechanical impulses which does not go away so easily.
Whenever I read the book, I find a deeper dimension of myself. It’s one of those books that can be re-read, time and again, because it is mystical. It does not give you knowledge, it gives you an experience, using poetry. But the practice is not confined to the book, the book is just an indicator sign.
As translator, reading or translating the book is like a satsang with Ilie Cioara, it is a process of growth, being in the energy of an enlightened being. Each enlightened being that lived on this earth is alive in the infinite dimension, and one can come into contact with that infinite energy. Buddha is present in the Buddha statue. Jesus is present in the communion. Other enlightened masters are present in a photo. So from this point of view, the fact of translating, reading, re-reading the book, day after day, has been an individual process of growth and deepening of meditation that goes beyond knowledge. Reading and re-reading, one goes beyond words. But that has been my individual journey, each person has his own journey, his own enlightened masters that light one’s path.
NDM: Ok, your description daily practice sounds like Buddhist vipassana. Buddha first developed this method 2,500 years ago. Is his method any different from vipassana is what I’m asking?
Petrica Verdes: No, it is not vipassana. Vipassana is still a technique – you follow the breath going in, going out, going in, going out. It is a method.
Ilie Cioara’s practice (and he describes it better in his own words, but I will try sum it up) is not about watching a particular thing. You watch whatever is going on inside of you, thoughts, emotions, sensations, and you also watch what is going on outside of you, whatever “is” in the present. He calls it an “all-encompassing Attention”.
In the end inner-outer become one movement. There is no more inner and outer. It is difficult to describe, it is an experience. In the end the meditator transcends into the infinite dimension, when the “ego” is no more – you become infinite, beyond body, beyond mind, beyond emotions.
Of course it is difficult in the beginning; one starts with watching the mind, or the breath, but as watching deepens, as you go deeper in watching, this watching becomes all-encompassing, spontaneously, no need to force it. Start with watching and this watching will slowly expand. Do not get fixated on an object, such as the breath.
In one sense, vipassana has something in common with it – the act of watching. Watching the breath in this case. But as the experience deepens, watching becomes without object and effortless – you just watch whatever is, in the present, inside and outside. In the end watching dissolves into itself, and with the phenomenon of enlightenment – you disappear as “ego” and you are a pure silent effortless consciousness – who can still use the mind, who can still inhabit a body – but you are infinite, limitless, in the infinite dimension. The barrier or the illusion of the ego has disappeared.
When the body dies, you say good bye to your dwelling, but you continue to exist, nevertheless, nothing is taken away.
However, Ilie Cioara’s practice is not new. It is an old practice, expressed in a new form.
NDM: When you say “When the mind is not – we stop existing as an “ego” entity. “
Ilie Cioara – The Power of Emptiness
Petrica Verdes: Yes. but that happens every night in deep sleep, but let me ask you his question, why is it that when we wake up from deep sleep we are still sleep, sleepwalking during the day and do not know what we are?
NDM: Also how do we wake up exactly? Can you please tell me the process of how this works?
Petrica Verdes: Deep sleep is deep unconsciousness. During deep sleep, we completely lose consciousness of who we are – it is very different from the state of transcending the “ego” entity.
It would be a different matter if we were conscious during deep sleep. The body is asleep, yet you are conscious of it, and awake. This is the experience of turyia, the fourth state of consciousness.
I remember a story about Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. He used to encourage his students to catch him unaware, whatever time, day or night, and to try to hit him with a staff. No one succeeded.
One of his students recalls waking up in the middle of the night, getting his staff and going to Ueshiba’s room, where he was sleeping. As he was about to hit him, Ueshiba’s eyes opened and he said “You aren’t going to hit your master, are you?”
Morihei Ueshiba was enlightened, and he had the experience of being aware, awake 24 hours a day, even during deep sleep. No one could catch him unaware.
So during the day we are in a state of unconsciousness, and during deep sleep we fall into an even deeper state of unconsciousness.
The experience of ceasing to exist as an ego entity is an oceanic experience. You become the ocean of consciousness, even if you keep living in a body, this is just a temporary abode for you.
Many masters have described the experience of awakening, enlightenment. In fact, descriptions do not help. It is an experience that needs to be experienced. You need to go through it.
In order to learn what love is, you need to go through the experience. No descriptions of love can help. Only after you fall in love with a woman or a man, then you will know what love is.
It is the same with awakening. You put all your energy into awakening. You will discover what it is when you experience it. There is no way to learn it from descriptions.
Transcending the “ego” is a mystery which needs to be experienced. There are many masters who have offered many descriptions of it. Descriptions are a hindrance because you already create an idea about it, so that prior idea becomes an obstacle.
In the Zen tradition nothing is said about enlightenment. People do zazen, and when someone gets it, he packs his meditation mat and goes away to teach. Or maybe he receives a slap from the master, as recognition. They laugh together, because he has got it. Someone else has not got it yet, but it is just a matter of time. He will only find it by himself, through experience.
NDM:Also when you say” We pretend we meditate, this is a game that every meditator plays with himself. We don’t want to disappear.’ Do you feel that traditional meditation doesn’t work? That it’s just a game of sorts?
Petrica Verdes: What I meant is we simply need to be aware of this game. Any meditation works if the person is sincere.
It is natural. In the beginning stages, the ego has a lot of energy, so it is the “ego” who wants to become enlightened, the “ego” meditates, the “ego” wants to be liberated. But it is just a natural stage. Everyone goes through this.
IlieCioara-PerfectlyConscious’
As the ego starts to weaken, as its energies weaken, we become more silent; quiet naturally, a new dimension opens. We realize the “ego” is the very problem, the very obstacle separating us from the ocean of existence. And this separation is just imaginary. We are never really separate. The fish is always in the ocean.
So meditation touches a new dimension – the ego starts to dissolve, there are short moments of union with the whole.
But these are just natural stages in meditation, what I meant is we need to simply become aware of this game, stop chasing one’s tail – and a new dimension opens.
Also when you say “Each enlightened being that lived on this earth is alive in the infinite dimension, and one can come into contact with that infinite energy. Buddha is present in the Buddha statue. Jesus is present in the communion. Other enlightened masters are present in a photo.”
NDM: What do your mean by this exactly? How is Jesus present in communion for example. How can a person who was executed two thousand years ago be in a piece of wafer bread today? Do you mean in an imaginary way of some kind, as a belief? The same applies to Buddha. How is Siddhārtha Gautama who was cremated and turned into ash or someone else like this who was buried and consumed by maggots be in a statue which is made out of stone?
Petrica Verdes: Buddha’s body was cremated, but Buddha was not the body. An enlightened person lives in a dimension beyond time and space. He is the ocean of consciousness, and the ocean itself is timeless and spaceless, it is beyond form.
Yet the enlightened person is very much alive, even after the death of the body, nothing changes. He belongs to the infinite, timeless dimension. Words are too poor to describe this.
Nevertheless, one can feel this. If someone is a devotee, or aware enough, you can feel Osho’s energy in a photo.
Meera, an Indian mystic woman, lived 4.500 years after Krishna’s death, yet she was a devotee of Krishna. She saw him, she danced with him, she felt his energy. Time and space are irrelevant.
An enlightened being lives in the infinite dimension – he is one with the infinity of the cosmos. He is beyond form. Yet, one can feel this person as energy.
Ilie Cioara – Listening and Watching
With modern mystics, if someone focuses on a picture of Ramana Maharshi, or Anandamayi, or Ramakrishna, one can feel an energy enveloping us, as if in an embrace. This has been experienced by many people. The enlightened person who is not in the body is not limited by time and space. It is a satsang.
In the past, when there were no photos, enlightened masters left their disciples certain symbols and rituals by which they could be contacted.
Jesus says – if three gather in my name, I will also be here.
Now this can be interpreted mystically. The three are the body, mind and spirit. When the three are one, I will also be here.
Baptism is one of such rituals. Communion is another. In the last supper, when he gives them the bread and the wine, and says “Eat this bread, this is my body. Drink this wine, this is my blood.” He leaves them a symbol, a means to connect with them when he is no longer in the body, yet he is still present in the infinite dimension.
Each enlightened person of antiquity left a key, a means to contact him. Nowadays, if there is a photo, there is no need for such key.
The same with the Buddha statues. Genuine Buddha statues were created by people who were in a state of meditation – and the statue has a quality of meditation. No one knows what Gautam Buddha looked like, and no one cares. It’s only appearance, form.
When a sculptor, in a deep state of meditation, creates a statue of Buddha, if someone meditates in front of that statue, he will come into contact with Buddha. This does not happen with all Buddha statues, unless they are created from a state of meditation.
Buddha is not in a statue, it does not matter what the statue is made of. Buddha is energy, and the statue is just a trigger, like a telephone, by which you contact the boundless, infinite, ocean of consciousness that is Buddha.
If someone from the middle ages came and saw people speaking on the phone, he would think they are mad. Why are they speaking to this small box? What is the point? This small box made of wires and copper and buttons!? Yet the person is not speaking to the phone, he is speaking to a real person, who is at the other end of the phone.
Similarly, if a person meditates with a Buddha statue, people think he is mad. How is Buddha in a statue made of stone? He is not in the statue – the statue is just a trigger.
Stone is a very primitive material. Nowadays there are photos. The photo is like a cellphone for contacting enlightened beings. Gurdjieff, Ramana Maharshi, Osho, Lahiri Mahasaya, Ramakrishna, Ma Anandamayi. Just sit in meditation, in full awareness, and look at the photo. Ramakrishna will be here, Osho will be here. Not Ramakrishna’s body, which was eaten by maggots. He was never the body. The body was just form, a temporary abode for the universal boundless spirit.
NDM: When you say a photo is for contacting enlightened beings. What do you contact exactly? Do you mean like their spirit, soul or their ghost of some sort?
For example can you contact Buddha’s spirit or his soul? Also what about looking into their eyes. For example if I were to stare at Ramana’s or Papaji or Gangaji or Moojis eyes, could I get direct transmission from them? Is this an esoteric eye method of some kind?
Petrica Verdes: There is nothing esoteric about it. Enlightened people are always available, Krishna is always available, Jesus is always available, Osho is always available.
We are just not aware enough to feel this. The more we grow in awareness, when we wake up, we simply see, that from the picture, an energy envelops us.
They are always available, only we are not available to them. We are in the mind. We live and dream in the mind.
When we get out of the mind, we see that they were always there. In a photo, looking into someone’s eyes.
The key is awareness… the more we are aware, the more we tune into their level of consciousness. The world is full of masters, but everyone has his eyes closed.
They have transcended the ego, they have entered into the infinite, timeless dimension. They exist as infinite energy, boundless, without form. In a dimension beyond space and time. In the eternal now.
There is no technique involved. The more we live in the now, in the same dimension they live in, the more aware we are to their presence.
Time does not make any difference in this dimension. Thousands of years have passed, Krishna is still alive as boundless energy in the timeless dimension.
A thing to be remembered is that we are also the same boundless energy. Only we have identified with a body, with a mind, we have created our own limits, in the form of the “ego” shell. But essentially, we are also boundless energy.
So when our boundless energy meets an enlightened person’s boundless energy, it helps the “ego” to dissolve. You surrender to this boundless energy and you have the courage to let go of limitations, allow this boundless energy to envelop you into boundlessness, like when the ocean flows into a dam and tears it down. This dam is the “ego”.
NDM: When you say” Many masters have described the experience of awakening, enlightenment. In fact, descriptions do not help. It is an experience that needs to be experienced. You need to go through it. ” How can I experience this? Is this something you can give me or transmit to me?
Petrica Verdes: There are many methods and techniques of meditation. The essential ingredient is the sincerity of the person, and the thirst for truth, otherwise one plays with meditation, postponing endlessly: Sometime, in another life, it will happen to me. I am just a poor mortal, not like the great enlightened beings that lived on this planet.
In fact, there is no difference between you and Osho, Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharshi. You have the same potential – only you are under the domination of the mind. The mind creates dreams, and you are daydreaming continuously. Everything they have, you also have. In fact, you are already in It. Only you are daydreaming, you live in a dream. To put it more clearly: you live in the mind. All thoughts are dreams.
So the mind is the only problem that needs to be addressed. When the mind is no more, or better, when the mind is completely silent, and it only comes into action when you want it to come into action – in that moment you see reality as it is and you realize you are already in It.
The only problem are the dreams of the mind. Papaji, the enlightened being who originated the neo-nonduality trend, had only one teaching. Be silent. Let the mind be silent. This is it. Many Papaji disciples forget this. How many non-duality teachers have a truly silent mind?
When the mind is silent all is revealed. Truth is simple intellectually; it is immensely difficult in practice.
Witnessing is the key. Witnessing, watching, you detach from the mind, you give it less and less energy. You are the mind. The mind is an extension of you.
The mind exists because you have so much energy invested in it. Stop investing energy in it and it will wither away. Just watch, constant watchfulness.
There are many teachers who describe witnessing, watchfulness. Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now is a good example. Osho has many books on it. Ilie Cioara describes the same. It’s the same thing, explained from every angle.
The important thing is to practice it, to explore it within us. To start with a practice and explore our inner being. It is a space where only we can enter.
Truth is simple, very simple. Most mystics were not intellectuals; they were simple people who walked the path. Practice is all. It is an inner exploration and there are no maps, because all is One, how can you map the One ocean of consciousness?
NDM: Also what do you mean by experience of turiya , the fourth state of consciousness. How can I “experience” this as you say?
Petrica Verdes: Turiya is the end of meditation. When the shell of the ego is broken and you become the infinite ocean of consciousness, beyond time and space, that is turiya.
It is practically the state of enlightenment, liberation etc. A state of permanent awakening, beyond time and space. It is a mysterious state, impossible to describe. It is impossible to understand with the mind because it is a state beyond mind.
It is the end of the road. The beginning of the road is witnessing, watchfulness. When the witness dissolves into itself, and you become limitless, spontaneously, effortlessly conscious, this is turiya. But turyia just happens, it cannot be achieved or attained. If you simply prepare the ground, by giving less and less energy to the mind, witnessing the mind – one day, the mind is so silent that boom, something happens, the witness dissolves into the limitless.
NDM: How would someone know if they were enlightened or not? Is there a test someone would take?
Petrica Verdes: I would say a good test is: when you go to sleep, if you lose consciousness during deep sleep, then you are not enlightened yet.
Who we really are is eternally awake and conscious. If you go to sleep, and the body falls asleep, but there is something in you that continues to be awake and aware of your surroundings, even during deep sleep, 24 hours a day, you are It.
NDM: When you speak about meditation, what kind of meditation are you speaking of?
Petrica Verdes: There are many techniques of meditation. The state of meditation is one.
There are many types of meditation because there are many divisions of the mind. But meditation is beyond mind – so it is beyond types. It just is.
The funny thing is, there are therapists who invent new meditations, CD guided meditations, trademarked meditations, only adding a new division and increasing the confusion.
Meditation is beyond techniques, labels, types, divisions, tradition. It is being one with the ocean of alive consciousness. We begin by having short glimpses of oneness.
Any technique is ultimately a burden, because it belongs to the mind. But some people need techniques. Even when practicing a technique, the important thing to remember is that meditation is beyond techniques and that sooner or later, the technique will need to be dropped.
Ultimately, even witnessing is a technique which will ultimately be dropped.
Adyashanti dares all seekers of peace and freedom to take the possibility of liberation in this life seriously. He began teaching in 1996, at the request of his Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for 14 years. Since then many spiritual seekers have awakened to their true nature while spending time with Adyashanti.
The author of The End of Your World, Emptiness Dancing, and True Meditation, Adyashanti offers spontaneous and direct nondual teachings that have been compared to those of the early Zen masters and Advaita Vedanta sages. However, Adya says, “If you filter my words through any tradition or ‘-ism’, you will miss altogether what I am saying. The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts and be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond—awake and present, here and now already. I am simply helping you to realize that.”
A native of Northern California, Adyashanti lives with his wife, Mukti, and teaches extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area offering satsangs, weekend intensives, and silent retreats. He also travels to teach in other areas of the United States and Canada.
“Adyashanti” means primordial peace.
Interview recorded 8/30/2011
We are happy to feature a video for the song Sacred Hymn by Diane Bardwell Masters.
Be sure to check out Diane’s latest CD Emergence, which takes the ancient art of chanting and gives it an original, contemporary, and deeply evocative treatment. See below for more details….
Here Diane describes the inspiration behind Sacred Hymn:
One day in late March 2005, I came across the website of Robert Augustus Masters, and there began looking at descriptions of his books. I noticed that he also posted his poetry on his site; when I read his poems, particularly one called Sacred Hymn, I literally gasped and touched my heart. With total certainty, I realized that I knew the music for these “poems,” which I felt were meant to be lyrics for songs.
And so I emailed Robert to ask if he would allow me to try composing music for them, and he consented. After 3 weeks of talking on the phone, consulting about the songs and having many conversations about everything else imaginable, Robert came from Canada to where I was living in California to meet me and hear Sacred Hymn during a concert I was giving. Our connection was extremely easy, deep, and natural right from the start. That was the beginning of our cocreative relationship, working partnership and, since April 2, 2006, our marriage!
In 2007, I recorded Sacred Hymn and 7 other songs on the CD O Breathe Us Deep. The lyrics for each song on the CD are Robert’s, and the music is mine, but the entire CD is ours to share. May you hear it in the spirit in which it was created.
–Diane Bardwell Masters
Beautiful video for Sacred Hymn, composed and sung by Diane Bardwell, with lyrics from Robert Augustus Masters. Features stunning artwork from Freydoon Rassouli. Edited by Laura Loescher.
About Emergence by Diane Bardwell Masters
Emergence takes the ancient art of chanting in one’s own language and gives it an original, contemporary, and exceptionally evocative treatment, featuring seven very unique chant-songs in English, each of which invites contemplative depth, soul-centered singing, and spiritually vibrant movement.
In Emergence meaning, melody, richly layered harmonies, and deeply moving singing all resonate together with transformational power, providing a soundscape and meaning-infused environment that alerts us as much as it opens and rejuvenates us.
This is music that doesn’t just uplift us, but also expands, deepens, and grounds us, moving us into a more deeply fulfilling sense of wholeness. This is music to guide us through the challenges, troubles, and transitions of our lives, helping us not so much to rise above our difficulties, as to pass through them and EMERGE!
Diane is not just singing but is fully expressing, with her whole being, the meaning of her deceptively simple words, weaving them more and more fully into us as we listen. Emergence mixes skyflung joy and earthy exultation, guiding us into a more liberated way of being, without any bypassing of our humanity.
This is a rare work of art. Diane sings with the heartfelt, soaringly alive maturity of her entire being, and world-class producer Stevin McNamara is at the peak of his many years of musical wizardry and exquisitely attuned sonic sensitivity, doing wonders with the arranging, so that each chant-song very clearly stands on its own, in contrast to chant CDs in which most of the cuts sound similar. Pure magic.
As we let Emergence touch us, we find ourselves feeling more and more unshackled, swept to our core on a river of sound and primordial meaning, emerging in ways that truly serve us. We may sing with it, we may dance to it, we may silently listen to it, but whatever we do, we are brought closer to who and what we truly are.
“I was struck by the astonishing beauty of Diane’s new album Emergence, both aesthetically and lyrically. I love how the music plays with tribal rhythms, conventional pop/R&B song structures, and sweet transcendent melodies. Diane’s voice sounds absolutely gorgeous–I can feel a real transmission coming through her, evoking a subtle sense of being ‘pulled up’ out of mere gross-body awareness, even as the music keeps me grounded in the sensual. Highly recommended!” –Corey W deVos, Editor, IntegralLife.com
Purchase Emergence
Diane Bardwell Masters is an intuitive healer, relationship expert, and highly skilled psychotherapist, as well as a longtime songwriter and professional singer. She brings great heart and insight to the work she shares with Robert. Six years ago she began bringing her music into the psychospiritual work she and Robert share, finding that her singing and words greatly benefited their clients. Soon it became clear that when they were actively singing with her, moving sound through their bodies and minds, and at the same time letting the meaning of the words permeate them, they benefited much more; this way, the words became their own. Out of this arose Emergence, Diane’s latest CD (original Western contemporary chants in English), fulfilling her dream of creating music that truly heals and awakens. See www.dianebardwell.net.
The Blue Butterfly tells the extraordinary story of a 10-year-old boy, diagnosed as terminally ill, whose dream is to catch the most beautiful butterfly on Earth, the mythic and elusive Blue Morpho. His mother persuades a renowned entomologist (William Hurt) to take them on a trip to the Costa Rican rain forest to search for the butterfly, leading to an adventure that will transform their lives.
William Hurt in The Blue Butterfly: An Excellent Film About Unity
Etymologist Alan Osborne 10-year Old Pete Carlton Challenge Death and Hunt the Miracle Butterfly
There are several unusual pieces to this film, not least of which is the discordance between actors, a discordance that cannot escape notice. From the beginning, the principle actors seem to have no sympathy with each other. The cast seems to fight within itself. This would represent a flaw in the casting except that it, instead, represents the integrity of the film. It is a visual representation of the meaning of the film, the theme of the movie.
The discordance and disunity between the actors in the beginning of The Blue Butterfly is the result of deliberate directorial choices made by director Lea Pool, native of Geneve, Switzerland (Lost and Delirious). Further, it is the result of deliberate and excellent acting from William Hurt, Pascale Bussieres and Marc Donato.
In the beginning of the film, the actors portray the characters as being individuals who are independent and discordant, without unity with other people. They are sympathetic of the others’ needs and situations, but, still, they are independent and out of accord, and un-united. This discord continues until the moment of epiphany when the mother makes what is an enormously hard decision to send her wheel-chair dependent son out into the tropical rain forest of South America with a the man they are following through wild and potentially dangerous terrain.
Epiphany is followed in due course by crisis. The man gets hurt and the boy must stand on his own: he must set limiting factors aside and come to the rescue of the man. As epiphany led to crisis, crisis leads to dissolution of discordant independence and to the moment of unity. The moment of unity comes when a vision of spearheads and potential fatality touches the boy.
In The Blue Butterfly, a boy, Pete Carlton, played by Marc Donato (White Oleander), who is a fiend for etymology (he collects bugs by the score) develops a brain tumor and is expected to live for only months longer. His individualistic and self-sacrificing mother, Teresa Carlton, played by Pascale Bussieres (primarily European films), who demonstratively loves her son boundlessly, devotes herself to helping him procure the dream of his heart: He wants to go into the jungles of South America with North America’s premier etymologist, Alan Osborne, played by William Hurt (Syriana), to find the spectacular Blue Morpho Butterfly. Pete desires this because he has learned, and he believes, that the Blue Morpho is a miraculous butterfly that can unravel the puzzles of life – and dying – if you behold it for even a moment. He has so many inner questions about the meaning of being a living creature that he feels he must find and catch this miraculous Blue Morpho.
His mother agrees to find and persuade the etymologist and to then brave the dangers of the jungle, spending all her money, for her son’s dream of a miracle.
The etymologist, under circumstances which cannot fail to impress him, reluctantly agrees to lead the expedition, even though it is too late in the butterfly season to hope for any success. The three, the adults not liking things or each other all that well, set out for the jungles of South America where they make headquarters in a village Alan Osborne knows well and where his friend, Alejo, played by Raoul Trujillo (The New World), lives with his motherless young daughter, played in her debut role by Marianella Jimenez. In this village they also meet Topo, a debut role for Gerardo Hernandez. From here, Osborne leads Pete and Teresa on day excursions to hunt the Blue Morpho.
Another odd discordance in the directing of The Blue Butterfly is that between the unity expressed within the two groups of people: one group is all harmony and sublime unity, the other is all dissonance. The group of South American villagers to whom the butterfly expedition travels is represented by Alejo, his daughter and Topo, the village elder cum medicine man cum story teller. It is these three that discuss the belief in the Blue Morpho’s miraculous nature in right and enlightened terms, explaining how it is said that the Morpho grants miraculous wisdom and physical miracles.
Alejo’s daughter further explains to Pete that it is in the attainment of unity that the miracle occurs: She explains that the miracle lies all around and in each being. Discord turning to unity is the theme and the meaning of the film.
Music (Stephen Endelman, DeLovely) in The Blue Butterfly is vibrant like the rain forest and the butterflies (except when they are drunk…). Music, rich and full, acts like a unifier in bringing the two groups together and in bringing them both together with the jungle around them. Endelman’s music acts a central role demonstrating the integrity of the film: It is the one unified piece in a film that has intentionally disunified principle parts. Cinematographer Pierre Mignot (6th Day) and production designer Serge Bureau (Lost and Delirious) work in synchonicity with each other to develop the disunified individuality in the early parts and to capture the feeling of flight in pursuing the miracle of the Blue Morpho in the last portions The film editing, by Michel Arcand (Gospel of John), is one other unifying element in The Blue Butterfly: Arcand’s editing choices make the divided parts flow with each other, bringing the scenes, like a ride on a river, to the final resolution.
One question remains after watching The Blue Butterfly. Pete says that they were “set up.” After you watch the film you’ll know who set them up, but the question that remains is was it for good or was it for ill? Were they set up to be harmed or to be benefited? One clue is that in The Blue Butterfly unity and miracle are presented as existing in symbiosis: each integrally dependent on the other as illustrated by what Osborne says while standing in the river, “No insect, no flower; no flower, no insect.” Other clues (that won’t spoil the film) is that the crisis comes before the unity, the unity comes before the miracle and the Blue Morpho alights beside Alejo’s daughter.
The Blue Butterfly is a brilliant screenplay and story, written by Pete McCormick (See Grace Fly), embodying a deep and profound meaning that goes beyond the true story upon which it was based. This meaning is important and of great relevance today in light of the discord that rocks our world over both global warming (and the discord caused by the footprint of global warming), and the metaphysical disunity as religious and political factions tear the world asunder. Would it were that instead of seeking that which is the captured and mounted trophy we would, as a world of individuals, seek the unity and miracle represented by the Blue Morpho and trade our discord for harmony.Prime Movie Reviews www.pmr-reviews.com
James Twyman travels around the world singing his songs of peace and harmony to people of all races, cultures, and beliefs. Inspired by the life of St. Francis of Assisi, he has been to every war-torn country in the world, often at great personal risk. But this is the story of a different kind of journey.
One night, while giving a talk in a private home in San Francisco, Twyman met a ten-year-old boy. When the boy touched Twyman’s finger, suddenly Twyman could bend spoons with the power of his mind, could read thoughts, and could transmit images to others. Yet, later, no one who had been in the room could remember seeing the child!
The boy had said his name was Marco, and that other special children like him could be found in a monastery in the mountains of Bulgaria. Without knowing who or where they were, or how he would find them, Jimmy Twyman began an extraordinary journey to find Marco and the psychic children. In the process, he learned that the children had a message for all the world-and learned, too, that he was the one to deliver that message.
This is that message.
“The Indigo Evolution” is a documentary that attempts to answer the question – Are these ‘Indigos’ only the fanciful notions of a few individuals embracing new-age, metaphysical beliefs, or is there real evidence that they truly do exist? Most importantly, why are they here and how can we help them achieve their goal of creating a world based upon the laws of compassion and peace? Interviews with some of the most profound children on the planet today combined with discussions with authorities in the fields of medicine, psychology, education, philosophy, and religion will provide information for the viewer to draw their own conclusions to these questions.
‘The Indigo Evolution‘ is a documentary about the shifting human, evolving beyond the five sensory perceptions into a multi-sensory being of light ! The term Indigo refers to the Indigo color Aura seen around certain individuals who exhibit certain enhanced abilities well beyond their age and learning. Commonly labeled as suffering from some kind of deficit (ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia …) these children clearly have more of something most of us fail to recognize. Their non conformance to authority and the social conditioning sometimes earns them the label of being problem children.
Indigo Evolution, a feature-length documentary by James Twyman, was released Jan. 28, 2006 in more than 350 churches and wellness and spiritual centers around the world. The attendance far exceeded expectations, demonstrating how interest in understanding the “Indigo phenomenon” has grown. Indigo Evolution illuminates the lives of children who are referred to as “Indigos.” The movie describes them as creative, eccentric and independent. Impatient with the status quo, these children possess a high degree of integrity and intuition. Many are both intelligent and gifted, often in the areas of art and technology, and some are said to bring healing gifts.
According to Indigo Evolution, Indigos often sound very wise for their age; however, they are very sensitive physically, emotionally and spiritually, and not always comfortable in their own bodies. They easily experience sensory overload to lights, smells, sounds, touching and toxins, and need help in becoming grounded. Many Indigos have attention and social problems in school and may frequently correct the teacher. While their behaviors vary, their philosophy of life is consistent; they have a high level of social consciousness and desire to make the world a better place. They are here to bring the Dawn of the Golden Age!
Hopi Elders reveal ancient prophecies:
After the premiere test screening of “The Indigo Evolution”, the Hopi nation contacted James Twyman, and told him that they were willing to reveal their ancient and guarded secrets about the children of the planet in this movie. The new section containing interviews with Hopi elders about their ancient prophesies and how they relate to the Indigos was added to the documentary. Their message was astounding, and has now become the central theme for the entire film. The Hopi elders shared that it is not too late to reverse the tide of earth cleansing, but only if we come together, and the children have a critical role to play.
About the Filmmakers:
James Twyman (Producer / Director) is a singer/songwriter and the author of “Emissary of Love-The Psychic Children Speak” and “Messages from Thomas: Raising Psychic Children.” James wrote and was the Executive Producer for the movie INDIGO which premiered in January 2005.
Stephen Simon (Executive Producer) has produced such films as “Somewhere in Time” and “What Dreams May Come” and is the author of “The Force is With You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives.”
Kent Romney – (Co-Producer / Co-Director) This is Kent’s first feature documentary as a Director and Producer. In recent years, traveling to distant lands and cultures of our world, he worked on production teams that created film and television projects shown on The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, ABC Primetime and other broadcast networks. As a filmmaker, he creates video and film projects reflecting his interests in adventure travel, social topics, cultural issues and spiritual growth.
Doreen Virtue – (Associate Producer) holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in counseling psychology, is the author of more than 20 books about angels, chakras, Crystal Children, Indigo Children, health and diet, and other mind-body-spirit issues. She is recognized as an expert in the area of Indigo Children and her books on the subject include “The Care and Feeding of Indigo Children” and “The Crystal Children.”
