This Month Recommendation

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Sādhanā

(Quoted From Wiki)
Sādhanā
(Sanskrit साधना, literally "a means of accomplishing something")[1] is spiritual practice.[2] It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.

Kinds of Sādhanā

ādhanā or spiritual practice need not be directed towards a higher cause like enlightenment or moksha. Sādhanā can be done by individuals for lower aims like obtaining worldly pleasures. Sādhanā is also done by a group for the society at large.

Sakām sādhanā

Sakām sādhanā (Devnagari = सकाम, sa = yes / with, kām = desire) is spiritual practice done for worldly pleasures. This is the lowest form of sādhanā. There is no spiritual progress with sakām sādhanā. Examples of sakām sādhanā are praying for any worldly goals like getting money, a job, marriage or any other aim which are temporary and will not last beyond death.[7] In Ramayana it was mentioned that though Ravana and Kumbhakarna were great devotees of Shiva and performed various tapas, they were performing sakām sādhanā as their main aim was to become powerful and rule the world.[8]The fruits of this kind of spiritual practice are used to fulfillthe worldy desires of the individual and no spiritual progress takes place. Thus it is not possible to reach enlightenment, moksha or even heaven as the merits needed to achieve this are used up. So sakām sādhanā provides only temporary happiness and no spiritual progress.[9]

Niṣkām sādhanā

Niṣkām (Devnagari = निष्काम, niṣ = no / without, kām = desire) sādhanā is spiritual practice done for higher aims. It is done to achieve the aim of enlightenment or moksha. It is done for the spiritual upliftment of the individual so that he is taken out of the cycle of life and death (samsara).[10]

Vyaṣṭi sādhanā

This is niṣkām sādhanā done for one's own spiritual upliftment. No one else is benefitted except the person doing vyaṣṭi sādhanā. Thus this form of spiritual practice is an individualistic practice. This form of sādhanā is very important if one wants to do samaṣṭi sādhanā.[11]
Examples of vyaṣṭi sādhanā
Chanting God's name (nāmjap)
  1. Meditation
  2. Karmayoga
  3. Hathayoga
  4. Reading books on Spirituality
Benefits of vyaṣṭi sādhanā
  1. Spiritual Progress
  2. Increase in Sātvikta
  3. Increases Bhaava(faith)
  4. Increases the talmal (Desire for God)
  5. Lower level Anubhuti (Spiritual Experiences)

Pitfalls of vyaṣṭi sādhanā
Note: These pitfalls exist if the sādhanā is done without a guru and if not accompanied by samaṣṭi sādhanā.
  1. Ego can increase
  2. Needs a lot of time for little spiritual progress
  3. One can lose motivation as fast progress is not achieved
Samaṣṭi sādhanā

This is the kind of niṣkām sādhanā which is done collectively for the spiritual progress of entire humanity. It is the highest level of sādhanā. For samaṣṭi sādhanā to be maintained, vyaṣṭi sādhanā is a must. The same logic that a teacher must read the book first before teaching the students can be applied to this.[12] In Kaliyuga, samaṣṭi sādhanā is important as the people do not know the significance of sādhanā. This kind of sādhanā is more difficult and increases the sātvikta of the entire area. Samaṣṭi sādhanā is not possible without a guru.

Examples of samaṣṭi sādhanā
  1. Taking satsangs
  2. Helping in organising satsangs, meditation camps, etc.
  3. Telling others about spirituality.
  4. Helping others overcome ego by telling them their mistakes from the point of view of spirituality.
Benefits of samaṣṭi sādhanā

Samaṣṭi level sādhanā is more difficult compared to vyaṣṭi but it has added benefits.

We become closer to God
  1. Faster Spiritual progress
  2. Love for all living beings (prīti) increases
  3. Superior level spiritual experiences (anubhutis)
  4. After death we go to higher planes of existence ( swarga or heaven and beyond )
  5. Ego and Personality Defects can be easily removed
  6. Movement from saguna to nirguna

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Yoga for anxiety and depression

Benefits of controlled breathing

A type of controlled breathing with roots in traditional yoga shows promise in providing
relief for depression. The program, called Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY), involves several types of cyclical breathing patterns, ranging from slow and calming to rapid and stimulating, and is taught by the nonprofit Art of Living Foundation.

One study compared 30 minutes of SKY breathing, done six days a week, to bilateral electroconvulsive
therapy and the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine in 45 people hospitalized for depression. After four weeks of treatment, 93% of those receiving electroconvulsive therapy, 73% of those taking imipramine, and 67% of those using the breathing technique had achieved remission.

Another study examined the effects of SKY on depressive symptoms in 60 alcohol-dependent men. After a week of a
standard detoxification program at a mental health center in Bangalore, India, participants were randomly assigned to two weeks of SKY or a standard alcoholism treatment control. After the full three weeks, scores on a standard depression inventory dropped 75% in the SKY group, as compared with 60% in the standard treatment group. Levels of two
stress hormones, cortisol and corticotropin, also dropped in the SKY group, but not in the control group. The authors suggest that SKY might be a beneficial treatment for depression in the early stages of recovery from alcoholism.



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Monday, October 4, 2010

Full Moon - A Night Full Of Compassion...

It's 2nd day of my Sri Sri Yoga course, something happened at the end of the course. When the teacher instructed us to lay down for relaxation pose, with some breathing exercises.  One of it is to roar like a lion when exhale. I was laying down there, follow the instruction of the teacher. I cannot remember how mant times we do it but when I was doing the roar sound, the man laying down beside me making some screaming sounds, which making my heart trembled and suddenly I shedded tears silently without even me knowing it. But I know the reason why. The sound making by the man laying down besides me seems letting out all the pains in his body and scream out. Just like a soul crying out in pain. So many souls being released to this earth and learned how to finding the right path back to the source. I was touched by my own thought.

Maybe it's just because of it is full moon night, that my emotions is more sensitve. I remember my yoga teacher told me before that during full moon, you can get injury easily during yoga, I guess she forgot to mention about emotion as well.
It's a good release for me at least and seeing another softer side of me.


 


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Friday, October 1, 2010

心见闻,爱从不缺席-中国报副刊 China Press 28/09/2010

心见闻,爱从不缺席-中国报副刊 China Press 28/09/2010



報導:陳筱柔 

攝影:練國偉 


 人生中,你是否有過這樣的經驗? 在某個時間點上偶然相遇某個人,你們之間並沒有太多的交流,但,那個人卻莫名地讓你感覺溫暖,甚至,擁有一股慰藉心靈的力量? 這,就是古儒吉大師給我的第一印象。

果你充分活在當下,明日自有照料,如果你現在快樂,過去將不會折騰你,這就是生活的藝術。

去愛一個你喜歡的人,沒什么了不起。

去愛一個愛你的人,你什么分數也得不到。

去愛一個你不喜歡的人,你一定會在生命中學到一些東西。

去愛一個無緣無故責備你的人,你就學到了生活的藝術。

教導有三個層次

第一層次:“你們都是傻瓜,只有我聰明。我來教導你們。”

第二層次:“他們都受苦,我來解救他們。我是救世主。”

第三層次的教導,是把它當成遊戲,好玩。

你是上帝,你知道這一點,我是上帝,我知道這一點,所以我們來玩吧,人生是一場戲,樂趣無窮。

你從這個世界想得到的所有事物是愛,你第一個被提供的事物是愛,而你的本質也是愛。從開始到結束,一切都是愛。我們只有在中間的階段會感到迷惑,因為,我執出現了。

愛,就在你我他身邊,我們之所以看不見它,感覺不到它的存在,都只是一時的迷惑…

古儒吉
出生:1956年出生于南印度

學歷:印度班加羅爾聖約瑟夫學院畢業

經歷:1982年首創“淨化呼吸法”,是一

套以呼吸獲得能量的身心靈整合法

現職:國際生活的藝術基金會創辦人

不說話也能溫暖人心

誰能拒絕他?


我一直都覺得,關于人生的大道理,“說”總是比“做”來得容易,而部分善用用華麗詞藻自我包裝的身心靈“大師”,一經相處(或採訪),就會發現原來不過只停留在“說”的階段。古儒吉(Sri Sri Ravi Shankar)是一個例外。

也許因為他謙和的態度,或許因為他始終夾雜一絲頑皮的歡樂笑容、又或許,是他淺白卻充滿睿智的人生道理,但是,撇開一切的理由,採訪他,是快樂的。難怪,全世界的人都想見他,人生的不愉快已經太多,能夠見到即使不說話也能溫暖人心的大師,誰捨得拒絕呢?

哦,寫大師,總免不了要提一提豐功偉績和殊榮(雖然,我想古儒吉應該不在乎,呵……)。他是淨化呼吸法的創始人(一種能夠快速消除人們的緊張、壓
力與負面情緒,擺脫各種煩憂、體驗完全活在當下生命滋味的呼吸法);連續三年被提名諾貝爾和平獎、帶領過全球150多個國家、多達250百萬人同時靜坐,
為世界和平祝福;他創辦的基金會(生活的藝術基金會)在全球超過140個國家設有中心,幫助人們提升身心靈健康,服務社會。

他曾獲得的殊榮包括:印尼世界和平建築家獎、蒙古國總統頒發國家極星獎狀、臺灣周大觀文教基金會全球熱愛生命獎章、俄國聯邦頒發彼得大帝年級獎、
印度時代基金會頒發Mahavir和平貢獻獎、印度新德里國家和諧獎、美國伊利諾斯州頒發全球人道主義獎、印度總理頒授瑜伽至高無上師榮銜等等。

(嗯……再寫下去,版位會不夠,就此打住。)

想讓世間每一滴眼淚

都化作微笑


重聽錄音片段,“聽君一席話,勝讀十年書”這個老掉牙的“名句”突然浮現在腦海。關于壓力、關于憤怒,也有了另一種領悟。

你如何看待世間的變化?

世界本來就會改變,而且一直都在改變,壞事發生時,好事也同時在發生。近年來,環境被破壞、壓力變得更大、價值觀改變、大家庭變成小家庭、經濟形
態轉變,各式各樣的轉變都影響著人們的生活。但同一時間,我們也看到了一些好的轉變,例如:人們開始關注環保、更熱愛地球、尤其在災難發生時,我們更夠深
刻體會到人性的美好。

所以,凡事不要只看“不好”的一面,事實上,世間的改變是好與壞同時發生、也是好與壞同時並存的。

你如何釋放壓力?

當我們談如何釋放壓力,首先,你必須讓壓力進入你的生活。但是,我從來不讓壓力進入我的生命,我總是把壓力過濾、隔絕在外。事實上,透過呼吸的練
習,我們就能學會用更開闊的視野去看事情。我們的生命,時間太少,而該做的事情太多,何必讓壓力影響生命的能量?下一次,當事情不盡如人意、當你感覺壓
力、當你覺得憤怒,深呼吸吧!

你如何保持健康?

我從不擔憂,當一個人很快樂,健康自然就會伴隨而來。

你最快樂的事?

讓每一滴眼淚都化作微笑,這就是我最快樂的事。

擁抱心世界

世界和平,不能光靠嘴巴說…

們總是渴望別人多給我們一點愛,總是期望別人能夠改變,也總是尋覓快樂的蹤影,但其實,看在古儒吉眼裏,這一切,早已在我們身邊。

改變自己

每個人都有改變自己的潛能,但是,他們或許需要一點指引和幫助,來找到真正的自己。世界上沒有什么是絕對不可能的,想要透過改變讓自己變成更好的
人,其實一點都不難。我可以給你很多方法,例如:按摩、靜坐、感受大自然、看日出和日落、陪孩子玩樂等等。改變生活方式、改變習慣,改變看待和處理事情的
方式,你就能和整個大地的能量連接,但是,我們卻習慣一直坐在電視機前,吃零食看電視。透過一些小小的改變,我們就能擁有比較健康的生活。

愛的力量

對人,多一份愛和寬恕,少一點責罰。事實上,每個犯人/罪人背后,都隱藏著另一個受害者。當你治療了受害的靈魂,邪惡就會消失。

尤其像馬來西亞這樣的多元社會,人們必須擁有對自己所在的地方有歸屬感,雖然來自不同族群、說著不同語言,但我們都必須學會和平共處地生活。當然,世界和平不能用嘴巴說,而是發自每個人的內心深處,唯有這樣,才能創造出祥和的社會。

對大自然也一樣,學習尊重大自然、愛護大自然,我們就能夠慢慢地減少對環境的傷害,做到建設和維護自然並重。

快樂的心

想要擁有快樂的心,最簡單的方法就是遠離壓力。我們應該學會管理自己的憤怒和不滿,人世間的事不一定都能按照你的想法進行,學會如何控制自己的情緒、念頭和行為模式。可惜的是,學校都沒有教我們這些,當你生氣了、憤怒了,你該如何走出來?

所以,放慢腳步,給自己一段呼吸、靜坐的時間,同時,也學習在生活中給別人機會,你就會看見,人生還有很多精彩之處。

編者編  愛錢的人,相信錢的魔力,相信有錢能使鬼推磨;愛權的人,相信權的勢力,相信有權有勢就能顛倒黑白是非!

但愛錢愛權,都不是真正的愛!

真正的愛只有一個字,就是──愛,不附帶任何條件!

而在相信別人之前,要先學會相信自己,肯定自己!世間所有正面正派的宗教或學說,都是讓信徒或追隨者找到自己,而不是迷失自己。 


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