Religion Vs Dharma

hinduism.about.com — Hindu Dharma is also known by the names "Sanatana Dharma" and "Vaidik Dharma". "Sanatana" means eternal and all-pervading and "Vaidik Dharma" means the Dharma based on the Vedas. In simple terms, one can say that Dharma means code of conduct, i.e. doing the right thing, in thought, word and deed, having always in mind that behind all our deeds there is a Supreme Being. This is the teaching of the Vedas, which are the original source of our Dharma – “Vedo - Khilo Dharma Moolam.” read more...

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The Eye of the Beholder

yogajournal.com — We humans are predominantly visual creatures. As every yoga practitioner has discovered, even during practice we find ourselves looking at the pose, outfit, or new hairstyle of the student on the next mat. We stare out the window or at the skin flaking between our toes, as though these things were more interesting than focusing on God realization. And thwack! Where our eyes are directed, our attention follows. Our attention is the most valuable thing we have, and the visible world can be an addictive, overstimulating, and spiritually debilitating lure. The habit of grasping at the world is so widespread that the spiritual teacher Osho coined a term for it: "Kodakomania." If you have any doubt about the power of the visual image and the value of your attention, just think of the billions of dollars the advertising industry spends on photography every year! read more...

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Who is Your Best Friend?

dharmacentral.com — Do you have friends? Of course you do! Who doesn’t have friends? To even pose such a question would seem silly to many of us. As human beings, most of us are social by nature, and we need to express our need for relationship in the form of our many friends and loved ones. Most of us even have one or two people who we would call our very best friends – people whom we trust completely, and who we know are always there for us in times of trouble. While almost all of us can say that we have truly good friends, however, the truth of the matter is that most of us have no real knowledge about who our truly best of friend really is. The very best friend that we have is the same one whom we tend to ignore the easiest. Indeed, most of us spend much of our lives running away from our very best friend as fast as our little feet can take us. That very best friend in your life is Bhagavan: God. It is God who is not only your very best of friends, but who is responsible for the friends that you do have now. read more...

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Mind In Flow

westernchanfellowship.org — I have just returned home, and it seems sensible to write the report before the memories of the retreat begin to slip away. Yet even by writing about it, the events seem so strange and wonderful that words alone cannot express the sheer depth and vast space that has at times punctuated the practise; the clarity of perception, the long silences that can only be likened to the desert, not a silence that is threatening, but the clear silence that you get at high altitude in the mountains, or the space far out at sea in a small boat. Yet to get there is like treading a maze, a labyrinth of one's own illusions, the tricks of one's own mind, the beliefs and structures that slowly but surely have to be worn down, the conditioning, the expectations, the pain, the deception of one's own ego, the clouding over of events and their true origin, the shunning of responsibility for ones own actions, the lack of humility, respect and repentance. All these are obstacles to the path, the human mind like an otter swimming under water seeking the big fish in a large pool. read more...

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Video: Goa Gill - Meditation through trance music

youtube.com — documentary of hippies from goa and the music scene from " the last hippie standing " Goa Gil is Yoga teacher who uses yoga teaching in trance music setting! Cool! read more...

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Psychedelics and Religious Experience

submitted by rfurdzik 5 months, 10 days ago

deoxy.org — The idea of mystical experiences resulting from drug use is not readily accepted in Western societies. Western culture has, historically, a particular fascination with the value and virtue of man as an individual, self-determining, responsible ego, controlling himself and his world by the power of conscious effort and will. Nothing, then, could be more repugnant to this cultural tradition than the notion of spiritual or psychological growth through the use of drugs. A "drugged" person is by definition dimmed in consciousness, fogged in judgment, and deprived of will. But not all psychotropic (consciousness-changing) chemicals are narcotic and soporific, as are alcohol, opiates, and barbiturates. The effects of what are now called psychedelic (mind-manifesting) chemicals differ from those of alcohol as laughter differs from rage, or delight from depression. There is really no analogy between being "high" on LSD and "drunk" on bourbon. True, no one in either state should drive a car, but neither should one drive while reading a book, playing a violin, or making love. Certain creative activities and states of mind demand a concentration and devotion that are simply incompatible with piloting a death-dealing engine along a highway. read more...

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Does music have the power to send us to sleep?

submitted by rfurdzik 5 months, 12 days ago

timesonline.co.uk — A recent experiment in Japan tested the power of music to send us into a deep slumber. Leo Lewis stayed awake to test the results. read more...

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Venerable Guo Dong Prays for Cyclone-hit Victims at Vesak Ceremony

dharmadrum.org — On the morning of 11 May 2008, the Anhe Branch Monastery of Dharma Drum Mountain in Taipei hosted the Vesak Ceremony at the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. The Abbot President, Venerable Guo Dong, the Sangha community and the new-elected Vice President, Vincent Siew, were all present at the assembly to pray for cyclone-hit victims in Burma and to celebrate the Vesak Festival. Following an introduction on Vesak , Venerable Guo Dong asked every participant to pray for those who died in the devastating cyclone Nargis which hit Burma on 3 May, so that they may rest in peace. This is a compassionate action being put into practice, exemplifying Venerable Master Sheng Yen's idea of "uplifting the character of humanity and building the pure land on earth". read more...

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