Jill Bolte Taylor: My Stroke of Insight

This is a phenomenal and fascinating story that is well worth listening to. Enjoy and learn!

Dr. Christine Page: "Healing & Knowing Your Body"

Dr. Christine Page, "Healing and Knowing Your Body" ISSSEEM Conference from BVMA on Vimeo.

Einstein and Yogananda on Wholeness

ALBERT EINSTEIN:

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings and something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA:

My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms. People on distant streets seemed to be moving gently over my own remote periphery. The roots of plants and trees appeared through a dim transparency of the soil; I discerned the inward flow of their sap.

The whole vicinity lay bare before me. My ordinary frontal vision was now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive. Through the back of my head I saw men strolling far down Rai Ghat Road, and noticed also a white cow who was leisurely approaching. When she reached the space in front of the open ashram gate, I observed her with my two physical eyes. As she passed by, behind the brick wall, I saw her clearly still.

All objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick motion pictures. My body, Master's, the pillared courtyard, the furniture and floor, the trees and sunshine, occasionally became violently agitated, until all melted into a luminescent sea; even as sugar crystals, thrown into a glass of water, dissolve after being shaken. The unifying light alternated with materializations of form, the metamorphoses revealing the law of cause and effect in creation.

An oceanic joy broke upon calm endless shores of my soul. The Spirit of God, I realized, is exhaustless Bliss; His body is countless tissues of light. A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and floating universes. The entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being. The sharply etched global outlines faded somewhat at the farthest edges; there I could see a mellow radiance, ever-undiminished. It was indescribably subtle; the planetary pictures were formed of a grosser light.

The divine dispersion of rays poured from an Eternal Source, blazing into galaxies, transfigured with ineffable auras. Again and again I saw the creative beams condense into constellations, then resolve into sheets of transparent flame. By rhythmic reversion, sextillion worlds passed into diaphanous luster; fire became firmament.

I cognized the center of the empyrean as a point of intuitive perception in my heart. Irradiating splendor issued from my nucleus to every part of the universal structure. Blissful amrita, the nectar of immortality, pulsed through me with a quicksilverlike fluidity. The creative voice of God I heard resounding as Aum,1 the vibration of the Cosmic Motor.

Suddenly the breath returned to my lungs. With a disappointment almost unbearable, I realized that my infinite immensity was lost. Once more I was limited to the humiliating cage of a body, not easily accommodative to the Spirit. Like a prodigal child, I had run away from my macrocosmic home and imprisoned myself in a narrow microcosm.

From Autobiography of a Yogi

SHADOWS

 

During my Mysticism course at Holos, I experienced a walking vipassana meditation, in which we were asked to focus on one thing/aspect during a 30 minute silent walk. Since it was early afternoon, and the sun was shining, my attention was drawn to my shadow.

I noticed that my shadow was created by my body/physicality blocking the light of the sun, the main source of light on our planet. As I moved, my relationship to the light changed, as did the shape and position of my shadow. When I walked in the shadow of an object that was larger than myself, my shadow was swallowed up by the larger shadow, and I didn't see it anymore. When I walked on the shadow of a object smaller than myself, my shadow engulfed it. Sometimes I could not see my shadow because it was behind me. Just because I didn’t see it, didn’t mean it wasn’t there!
If I looked back I could see that it was still there, faithfully following me.

This meditation led to a number of insights that have affected my perceptions of light and shadow in my life. For example, I realized that in order to see my shadow, I had to be in the light; that my physicality created the shadow by blocking the light.

I realized that in my relationships and interactions with others, if their shadow issues were greater than mine, I often get sucked in by their dramas and tend to lose my sense of self and perspective. At other times, my issues might consume others around me and suck them in.

That shadows are visible only when there is light was an important revelation to me. If we are in total darkness, there are no shadows, and we lose our equilibrium and sense of self.

This simple exercise of focusing on my shadow was a satori moment that deepened my understanding of the relationship between light and shadow that constantly interacts and coexists side by side. My shadow is a symbolic reminder of the duality I have chosen to experience through my physicality.

Photo Credits: Ruvan Wijesooriya - www.illerfiller.com

GARDENING

Gardening is how I celebrate my relationship with Mother Earth. In my garden I get to interact and co-create with this beautiful living, breathing being and can love and appreciate her in a very personal way. My herb garden was my first attempt at establishing this relationship. The small water fall and mini pond is an open invitation to birds, chipmunks, frogs, worms, bugs, and thousands of other creatures who share the patch of earth that I tend to quench their thirst on the hot, dry days of the Virginia summers. Occasionally deer come by to feast on the Hostas, and I have seen a red fox chasing squirrels or running through the yard in broad daylight, who twice, stopped to check me out for a minute. I once saw a huge black crow, swoop down and catch a baby squirrel, and fly off with the tiny ball of fluff in its beak. Seasons come and go. Flowers bud, bloom, fade and die. Seeds fall to the ground and new life will appear in the Spring. The dramas of life and death have played on and on since the beginning of time and space. Here in the microcosm of my my garden, I get to watch, learn, and know that we are all participating in Earth's process according to universal order.



Photo:Suchinta Abhayaratna

WORTH

I received the following passage via e-mail from a friend, but don’t really know who the author is. I am publishing it in my blog, with gratitude to whoever wrote these wise and true words.

Though much of who and what we are changes as we journey through life, our inherent worth remains constant. While the term self-worth is often used interchangeably with self-esteem, the two qualities are inherently different. Self-esteem is the measure of how you feel about yourself at a given moment in time. Your worth, however, is not a product of your intelligence, your talent, your looks, your good works, or how much you have accomplished. Rather it is immeasurable and unchanging manifestation of your eternal and infinite oneness with the universe. It represents the cornerstone of the dual foundations of optimism and self-belief. Your worth cannot be taken from you or damaged by life's rigors, yet it can easily be forgotten or even actively ignored. By regularly acknowledging your self-worth, you can ensure that you never forget what an important, beloved, and special part of the universe you are.

You are born worthy—your worth is intertwined with your very being. Your concept of your own self-worth is thus reinforced by your actions. Each time you endeavor to appreciate yourself, treat yourself kindly, define your personal boundaries, be proactive in seeing that your needs are met, and broaden your horizons, you express your recognition of your innate value. During those periods when you have lost sight of your worth, you will likely feel mired in depression, insecurity, and a lack of confidence. You'll pursue a counterfeit worth based on judgment rather than the beauty that resides within. When you feel worthy, however, you will accept yourself without hesitation. It is your worth as an individual who is simultaneously interconnected with all living beings that allows you to be happy, confident, and motivated. Because your conception of your worth is not based on the fulfillment of expectations, you'll see your mistakes and failures as just another part of life's journey.

Human beings are very much like drops of water in an endless ocean. Our worth comes from our role as distinct individuals as well as our role as an integral part of something larger than ourselves. Simply awakening to this concept can help you rediscover the copious and awe-inspiring worth within each and every one of us.