Easter is here, Hooray !!

Ah yes, spring is here at last, the freshness in the air, the sunshine, the returning of the birds, the emerging green grass, little animals running around in the back lawn, the shaking off the winter blues. Shedding the previous years ills and welcoming the time for renewal, is essentially how I imagine springtime. The little bunnies and squirrels are born, the fledgling birds are chirping, and children are getting ready for easter egg painting and egg hunts. The traditions of Easter maybe somewhat rooted in Christianity with the symbolism of the rebirth of Christ in the resurrection, however spring time festivities have long time been part of numerous cultures in different parts of the world. Connecting nature and man as life begins anew is part of the life cycle, with this time of the year bringing you your own personal resurrection and rejuvenation. 

Letting go of the past is as important as embracing the future, and existing in the present. Nature does this very efficiently, as it clears away the winter mess, and lays out the scene for spring and life to flourish. Similarly we should do the same just like when we do the cathartic spring cleaning, we should mentally, physically and spiritually let go of the past biases, hates, bad habits, and disappointments that occurred last year, or previous years or prior lifetimes. Give way to the splendor of the  good experiences, the wholesome foods, the energetic exercises, and the peace of meditation that is about to come your way. This can only happen by letting go. What a crazy state of chaos it would be if nature held on to the winter and mixed it into the spring season. Animals would be confused, plant life would not be able to grow, water in snow, ice and liquid forms all at once, nature would be run amok. You cannot hold on to the past troubles and have any hope of a bright future if you are not with a clean conscience and consciousness. You would be riddled with anxiety and fear, as is much of the cause of the ailments in this modern world right here, right now. 

 Easter has its own charm with the egg hunts, festivities, the colored decorations and the celebrations regardless of religion. But one day in the year does not have to be the only day when you can enjoy the season. Every day is another opportunity to start afresh, with clear vision, renewed hope and a bold expression of your inner self. Let not the winter gone past hold you down from being in tune with the present moment. Let not the cold of the winter leave you with no chance of warming your heart with inspiration for a better future. 

As little children run around on their easter egg hunts, following clues, following trails, you can see they are very focussed and persistent with their endeavors while in their shell of  innocence. We too can take a page out of their books and follow suit and be focussed on the tasks that we choose to do with diligence and not sweat the small stuff. Looking for happiness, and peace are lofty goals, but the hunt is the real fun. When you find your bliss it may take you by surprise just as it may a child finding an egg. So let the flood gates of goodness, compassion and happiness be wide open and overflow your mind and soul. Let the excitement of a brighter future quicken your heart and temper and steady your spirit with gratitude for the present. 

This season put a spring in your step, vigor in your goals, and enthusiasm on your face, and joy in your heart, and leap forth like the easter bunnies into your glorious life with conviction and purpose. 

An Experience of a lifetime

How many times have you wished that you did something outrageous? Skydiving, learning kungfu, learning a foreign language, riding in a hot air balloon. The feeling of being alive fills your entire body. SO why not do it? What is holding you back? 

Let us explore the concept of an experience.This can best be done through examples. Whatever I can conceive in my mind and think about there usually springs forth 3 possibilities. One is the idea of the ability to see it into reality. The second is the ability to comprehend at the intellectual level and the third is the experience itself. So for example, you go to a restaurant and you sit at your table, and the waiter gives you a menu. You examine the menu, you make your choice and await your meal. You can at that point see the food or beverage item on the menu you have  chosen and be satiated with it. Second possibility, is that you look  around the room and see other people eating the same meal and you note the joy on their faces as they consume their meal, and accept that as what you are going to eat and be satisfied. So intellectually you have understood the food.  The third is the meal that you get and you taste it for yourself. It is not until you eat this meal that you can say you have experienced it fully. 

Another example is that of when a doctor gives you a prescription for a medication for an illness. Firstly you can see the paper that has scribble on it intended for a cure. You can feel that you are being cured by the very nature of a paper being given to you. Secondly you can pray that you are being cured as you have the cure in your hand, you can see it after all, and then you have faith in this prescription and the doctor and so on a devotional level you feel the healing.But not until you actually fill the prescription and you consume the medication that illness is eradicated, and therefore you have experienced the cure. 

Similarly while growing up you are taught as a child  through religious studies and parents about religious principles, and the various cultures tell you what you should and should not do. You have faith and so at the devotional level you follow blindly. Now you grow up and perhaps you read the religious scriptures for yourself and then again at the intellectual level you understand and acknowledge about life and death and the ideas that you are not this body, but a soul. Until you finally reach the experiential level through meditation and slowing down and feeling each moment passing, that you truly experience the impermanence and grasp the concept of change. Everything has to be experienced, and it is not sufficient to simply understand through reading or seeing at the intellectual or devotional levels. Faith is very much a corner stone in getting you to this level as the other levels are easy enough to reach, but this requires discipline, and dedication. 

Awareness and enlightenment is a state of being. It can be achieved through meditation, and  being awake in each moment. Listening to yourself is the first part of self  healing as is following your heart. Your mind, spirit and consciousness all experiencing your life, creating your realities, your future, your dreams. 

Are you simply living or living simply through your experiences?

Controlling your Joystick

You remember what it felt like playing games on your Atari, Nintendo, PS3, or the Wii when you are holding onto a joystick literally a stick of joy, and holding onto it tightly while fully engaged in your interaction with fictional characters playing out roles of fantasy. The excitement, the intense power of focus, the fleeting emotions of daring, and sometimes the crossing the fine line of loss and a win, all streamlined through a little stick or console with buttons and your hands linking your humanity and your wild mind to a piece of technology. 

The wild mind is so erratic, so "uncontrollable", so shapeless leading to flighty thoughts and then aimless wills. The wild mind is like a wild animal such as a bull or a horse, but amazingly once tamed, once controlled, the animal performs such significant feats that are of service to the community. Now expand this idea to our wild minds. Tamed, controlled, focussed and calmed by OURSELVES, not by others, you can see what great accomplishments we perform. From art, medicine, agriculture, technology, transportation, exploration and imagination, we can provide such great service to humanity as a whole. 

Why do we get agitated when others do not do the tasks that we wish for them to do? My answer is a different question. Why do you think you can control others to do anything? Why  can I not change the outcome of my future? My answer is a different question. Why do you think that you cannot control and change the outcome of your future?

It is very interesting that we think we can control so many things in our lives, but in fact most of these things we can absolutely not control, yet what we believe inherently we have no control over, are the only things that we can really control. We are so ingrained that things such as fate, destiny are not in  our control, but in fact we make our own fate and destiny. We have absolute control, through free will and choice. We can stop unhealthy habits, we can change the way we think, speak and do. We can choose to help a needy hungry person, we can choose to provide medical service to the sick, we can choose to speak kindly to others, and in doing so control our thoughts, words and actions and therefore our destiny towards our fellow man. You can choose to lose weight, stop smoking, get an education, begin meditating, and in doing so control your personal interaction with yourself. 

 Yet what we cannot really do is force anyone to bend to our will. Those that do, chose to see your point of view ( an art well known to politicians !) by making it appear that their view point is in your best interests and is in fact yours ( rarely so !) when in fact it is in their own self serving interest. Try telling a child to do anything without a threat, and have it done, impossible unless you let them come to terms with their own reality of choice.  Ideas, ideals, beliefs, philosophies can all be shared but controlling others is a different matter all together. On the other hand it is the perception of control that we entertain as we continue to DO things, such as household or office chores in an effort to maintain a control level of our lives. A foolish endeavor. 

But is it so important to have this control? Why not let everything be as it is and do what needs to be done without exerting this unnecessary force. This control sense comes from the "I", the "Me" the "Ego" with its survival instinct, but if a focussed letting go occurs, a serenity of peace overtakes us, letting you and the universe to link up and you can then control that what you can effect, namely your reality. 

It is time for you to let go of the joystick of control, and let your mind open to the freedom of no  control. How tightly are you holding on?

Oh dear not another birthday !

 It came around again so quickly this time, not like all the  earlier years, when they took their time. I remember the variety of elaborate birthday cakes, the decorations, the list of friends being invited, the games being played. Was it not just yesterday that I was being wished "a Happy Birthday" by friends and family ? As the years roll by, the parties, the gifts and the friends change but the essence of remembrance does not. On the positive side, you get delicious cake to eat, bountiful presents to open, tight hugs and firm hand shakes from friends and most of all tremendous smiles from everyone with the customary  melodious monotone song of " We wish you a Happy birthday.....la la la" 

What are you thinking on the inside? Another year gone by. What did I accomplish in this year? What will I wish to accomplish this year? Will all my troubles be gone for this season? The party dies down and all the guests leave and you clean up and all the while these thoughts start setting roots and festering, awaiting an answer on your minds reflections. We celebrate everyones birthdays young or old with jubilation. The younger or older you are the more the enjoyment in the celebration. Do we realize that we may be marking the persons day of birth, but it is another year closer to their death. Wonder if that is what is pestering the "birthday  boy or girl." We all came to this world for a purpose and as these anniversary days zip by we awaken to the fact that we are on a timeline, with lessons to learn, dreams to fulfill and missions to complete.  These days serve as reminders of taking stock of where you are and where you have been and what more is there to do.

The deadline ( no pun intended) is coming, and there is no time to waste with complacency or ignorance. The days, the weeks, the months and years pass by quickly enough but when decades go by and your true nature has not surfaced, it can be quite frustrating. In my opinion, the birth-day should still be remembered as a happy one. You survived the birthing process, and came in to the world for a great experience, and a wonderful purpose that only you can achieve. It is a reminder of your uniqueness as you heralded forth into life with ambition and substance. It is the day of joy as you joined the human race to bring your consciousness into the collective to make a difference. A time to remember with pomp and grace that you and only you can offer yourself to the world, that has been waiting patiently for your presence. 

The older you are the more you have learned in your lifetime and to offer others  and future generations freely of your experiences. What can be more joyeous and celebratory as you  check off another year? Do not take this day with regret. Partake in the festivities and give yourself the best present of all, a launch into this year with openness, and  love. When you blow out the candles, blow with full force each and every one of them, and close your eyes with gratitude to the universe for everything that has been, is happening, and all that is about to happen in your marvelous year ahead. 

Happy Birthday, your birth was truly a happy day !!