“When you have a toothache, you are enlightened”

When you have a toothache, you are enlightened. You realize that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. If you breathe in and breathe out and become aware of your non-toothache, you touch joy, you touch peace. This practice is to try to touch what is not wrong inside and outside us. Just touching [this], you get healed, and you will be able to bring this healing to our society.

Peace as a Path: Five Exercises by Thich Nhat Hanh

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ABC’s of dealing with unwanted emotions

I am currently taking the Kriya Yoga course with the Yogananda’s Self-Realization Fellowship. They are very strict on sharing any teachings (as they are easy to misunderstand without contextual knowledge). I am going to share a couple of minor techniques which I believe could be useful to anyone in day to day life. Specifically:

Practice Whenever Beset by Unwanted Emotions

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How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell

I’ve been interested in the idea of anti-work, downshifting, slowing down. The anti-thesis to the concepts of overwork, always-on productivity and hustle culture that the capitalist system is selling us. It started with learning about a concept of “doing nothing” in Buddhism (wu wei). There is the idea of FIRE and early retirements, or even punctuating one’s working life with mini-retirements.

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Daily prayer, based on Yogananda’s teachings

Heavenly Father, Mother, Friend, Beloved God, [Buddha, Maharaji, Ram Dass], Jesus Christ, Bhagavan Krishna, Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Swami Sri Yukteswar, Guru-preceptor [Paramahansa Yogananda], and saints of all religions, I bow to you all.

[Please] free my life from all obstacles of delusion, and give me [health], material, mental, and spiritual development. Lead me from desires to contentment, from restlessness to peace, from ignorance to wisdom.

Heavenly Father, I will reason, I will will, I will act; but [please] guide my reason, will, and activity to the right thing that I should do in everything.

I shall tune my free will with the infinite will of God, and my only desire shall be to do the wisdom-guided will of Him who created me.

[Ram Ram. Om. Amen.]

This is the prayer I use daily while studying Kriya Yoga with Yogananda. Additions in square brackets are mine.

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The 30-day Mental Diet

Uell Andersen proposes we go on the mental diet in his Three Magic Words. For 30 days, “you are not to accept a single negative thought nor dwell on a single negative premise.” He suggests to start by noticing and writing down any negative thoughts of doubt, jealousy, anger, sadness, worry, etc. (kleshas in Buddhism) for a couple of days (it is a very revealing and shocking experience).

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When in doubt, remember to believe

Universe keeps on giving. 
A fancy cocktail to enjoy,
Soft grass to run fingers through,
New experiences to cherish,
Precious moments to remember.
Warmth, joy, sea, sun, fun.
Yet, instead of overwhelming gratitude
For the abundance of the present,
My mind goes straight to anxiety
Over an old role that would not fit,
A loss of what would never work,
A gamble on a path that is not mine.
I’ve overgrown my self
But I forget and fall apart.
Choosing faith over panic is hard
But is the only way.
I give myself time and I do my practice.
I remember to step out of the illusion.
Broken-record thoughts and stinging feelings swirl beneath me.
I watch them. They are not mine. They are not me.
I sleep on my confusion,
And the fog of delusion settles.
I continue to believe.
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So what motivates you?

Quotes by Hayao Miyazaki
(of Studio Ghibli)
I know I am supposed
To reason, will, and act
(according to Yogananda)
But sometimes I just want to do nothing.

I have no reason, I never had the will,
And I am not a fan of action.
So I’ll sit here and conserve energy
Until doing nothing becomes boring.

I get why the Creator big banged this duality-driven mess.
Doing nothing suspended in the void for eternity
Can drive anyone, including God, insane.
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“You’ve already won/now”

badhguru
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“Prince of Flowers”

Source

Posting about the mysterious Greek/ Egyptian statue the other week made me wonder about this Aztec figurine that I found online ages ago. It is believed to depict Xochipilli, whose name in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, means “Prince of Flowers.” The figurine is holding mushrooms in each hand.

I finally found its source.

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On having faith

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Psychedelic mushrooms, cosmic serpent and stars in a Greek museum

I found this mysterious statue in a museum in Heraklion, Crete. The sign said:

Statue of an Egyptian deity. It depicts a standing male figure with long hair and dress decorated with stars, around which a snake is wound. He holds two sceptres with lotus, while a pallet, the symbol of the scribes, is showing hanging from his left arm. The figure is identified with a deity, in which coexist attributes of gods Osiris, Serapis, and Imhotep. Roman period, 1st-2nd century AD.

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Art therapy. The Good Eye Snakes by Joao Incerti.

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Art Therapy — Trippy Tunes with Ram Dass

Papadosio Who You Are featuring Ram Dass

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Three Magic Words by Uell S. Andersen. Success Meditation.

Ninth meditation. Success.

The infinite creative power of Universal Subconscious Mind lies within me. I attune myself, remove all barriers from my thought, become receptive to the purposes of God. I know that my life is great and good when I perform service with love. The right ideas are delivered to me, I accept them, and Subconscious Mind provides me with the means of bringing them into my world. I know that all things spring from Universal Mind, which is infinitely abundant. Lack and limitation are errors of thinking, and I banish them from my consciousness. There can be no lack. I need only let Universal Mind express itself through me, and my world is filled with creativeness and achievement and prosperity; my goals will be delivered to me, for they will be the goals of God, who never fails. Whatever my task, I perform it with love, for I know that when I serve another I serve the purposes of a greater design. All about me I see the law of mutual exchange, therefore I give as I would receive. I know that abundance and prosperity are mental conditions; I create them on the plane of mind with complete trust and confidence that they will manifest in my life. I refuse to accept undesirable circumstance as having final reality. First cause is mental and is never found in the world about me. A mighty truth is at the center of my consciousness, where no work is difficult, where peace always reigns, where all things are possible. I know that life is a journey which must be traveled step by step, and I am patient, enjoying the wonder of the way, with unshakeable faith in my destination. I submit my will, knowing that success will come when I fulfill the indwelling Self.

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Wilmon Forever 👑 🐸 💜

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On March 18, Netflix released the finale of the third and final season of Young Royals, a teenage drama about a Swedish prince falling in love with a commoner classmate. Prince Wilhelm is played by a very talented Swedish actor, Edvin Ryding, and his love interest Simon — by an equally talented Swedish/ Venezuelan singer, Omar Rudberg. 

Watching teenage shows in middle age is a strange experience. The show has a strong following among those over 40 because older generations often did not have the space to explore their identities and language to name them. Shows like Young Royals or Heartstopper help re-write the narrative, imagine the unlived stories and heal the teenage part that perhaps did not have the freedom to go through a similar experience.

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