Being Human

“The more laws and restrictions there are, the poorer people become.
The sharper men's weapons, the more trouble in the land.
The more ingenious and clever men are, the more strange things happen.
The more rules and regulations, the more thieves and robbers.
Therefore the sage says:
I take no action and people are reformed.
I enjoy peace and people become honest.
I do nothing and people become rich.
I have no desires and people return to the good and simple life.” Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching, 600 BC

All the signs are here- a major paradigm shift is coming.
In these times of disruption, chaos and the enforced slowing down of all human activity, long-standing patterns of behaviour are drastically altered.
Things suddenly become more fluid, more amenable to change.
At such times, an individual or a small group of people can alter the course of history, perhaps even transform the very consciousness of the human race.

In solitude, we can introspect deeply, see things more clearly than ever before.
Suddenly, priorities change- what was important or coveted before now seems trifling.
Faced with uncertainty and the fear of premature death, re-appraise those things you value the most.
What does it really mean to be human?

The Upanishads exhort “ O ye children of immortal bliss, awaken to the glory of your true nature.”
Humanity -seize this opportunity to reflect deeply, to find the true power and grace and beauty that is at the core of the human spirit!
Break the blind, brainwashed adherence to a global socio-economic system that is destroying the race and its only home, this green and good Earth.

Stop being possessed by the demonic ego-mind complex!

Break through the matrix and be free!

Give up time and live in the Now. Give up compulsive thinking and find the joy of pure being.

Give up greed and embrace compassion, give up hatred and champion love, give up anger and cultivate joy, give up fear and celebrate divine bliss.
Slow down. Be content with less. Share freely with others.

Live gently upon the land. 

Do no harm.

Be one with Nature and the divine.

Surely our intuition, our creativity, our inventiveness and courage can show us far nobler, kinder and more wholesome ways to live in harmony with each other and with all other living species on this planet ?

A simple life is a good, peaceful and happy life. Isn’t that enough?

Reclaim your birth-right : be extra-ordinary, be human! 

All Will Be Well

“When a man knows God, he is free: his sorrows have an end, and birth and death are no more. When in inner union he is beyond the world of the body, then the third world, the world of the Spirit, is found, where the power of the All shines, and man has all—for he is one with the One.”

Krishna Yajur Veda, Shvetasvatara Upanishad 

In a world going mad with fear and uncertainty, have faith, stay calm, stay strong.
Do not give in to panic and despair; just do what you can each day to help yourself and others.
Live fully in the present : alert, aware, conscious, anchored firmly in Being.

Remember -everything will pass.
For this human body, life is short and death is certain, anyway,
So every moment is a gift to be fully honoured.
Use your time wisely to discover the divine nature that is your own most precious treasure.

An immortal, conscious, intelligent and omnipotent power is the source and substance of all that exists.
You are one with that power.
Discover this in stillness, in silence, in the depths of your own being.

Once you experience this, there is no more fear or doubt -just perfect, tranquil bliss.

Stay anchored in this state and let love and compassion radiate from you like warm spring sunshine to bless and support all around you.

Whatever needs to happen will happen; what needs to be done will be done.

All will be well.

“As rivers, flowing down, become indistinguishable on reaching the sea by giving up their names and forms, so also the illumined soul, having become freed from name and form, reaches the self-effulgent supreme Self.” – Mundaka Upanishad.

This Too Shall Pass

“How swiftly the strained honey
of afternoon light
flows into darkness
and the closed bud shrugs off
its special mystery
in order to break into blossom:
as if what exists, exists
so that it can be lost
and become precious.” In Passing, by Lisel Mueller

Life is both ephemeral and eternal,

Tiny and infinite,

nothing and everything.

Stop and be still.

Let the mind turn inwards to the center.

Listen to the silence.

Feel deeply.

Be.

Beneath all the noise and the fear and the drama,
There is only love and light

And a deep, immovable peace.

"There's no such thing as enlightenment. To realize conclusively that the Buddha Mind you have from your parents innately is unborn and marvellously illuminating—that's enlightenment. Not realizing this makes you deluded. Because the Buddha Mind is unborn, it has no thoughts at all. Thoughts are the source of delusion. When thoughts are gone, delusion vanishes too. And once you've stopped being deluded, talking about wanting to attain 'enlightenment' certainly is useless, don't you agree?"
Bankei (1622-1693)

Divine Instinct

“ Attention to Self is supreme devotion to God because God exists as Self.” Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi, Guru Vachaka Kovai.

Since the first man looked up in awe at the stars,
a profound instinct has existed in the human race.
This is the instinct which bids man look up,
which grants him the gift of hope and sustains him when life has darkened,
which gives him courage even when all seems lost.

As an unfathomable and ever-present yearning,
this instinct to discover the Divine has never faded from the human soul.
Since the dawn of Time,
this instinct has persisted in its belief
that the esssence of life is good and joyful and true.

If you would live anchored in unshakable peace
and die with fearless dignity,
look deep into yourself and discover
that this instinct burns ever-bright within you.

Look deeper still and you will know
that the source of this instinct
is the immortal divine Self

that is your true being.

“ Know the Self and the truth will blossom within your heart like sunshine. The mind will become untroubled and flooded with real happiness, for happiness and the true Self are identical. Once you attain this Self- awareness, you will have no more doubts or fears.” Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi to Paul Brunton, from A Search in Secret India.

Nothing More, Nothing Less.

“Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
The way of nature is unchanging.
Knowing constancy is insight.Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.
Knowing constancy, the mind is open.

With an open mind, you will be openhearted.

Being openhearted, you will act royally.

Being royal, you will attain the divine.

Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.

Being at one with the Tao is eternal.
And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.” Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching

Let the quiet mind sink deep into its source.
Like the grass grows and the fruit ripens,
What must happen will happen, in its own way, in its own time.
In stillness and silence, divine wisdom shines forth.

Awaken from the dream of individuality into the infinite Light of the Self!
This timeless benediction of Grace is your true birthday.
The rising sun that is the Guru makes the heart-lotus blossom in ecstatic surrender.
In pure delight, a fountain of nectar shoots up into the thousand-petalled sahasrara.

Acting without doing, teaching without words, 

the river flows, the mountain stands tall against the sky.

This is the thought-free, spontaneous, exquisite elegance of Nature.
This is the bliss of wu-wei, of just being in effortless perfection.
This is how it feels to be one with the immortal Tao.

Living thus is true harmony.
Nothing more, nothing less.