Saturday, December 31, 2005

The Light

I will sit in my car to meditate during lunch hour. I will breathe slowly and deeply the first few moments, send my intent to relax the body and the mind. Gradually, every muscle of my being will be limp and relaxed! The monkey mind though, will always be the last frontier to conquer before I enter into a state of mind expansion.

After a while, my forehead will be shrouded with energy, through my closed eye lids, I sense the sun light permeating my forehead, the light is golden and bright, very much like the clear mid-day Southern California brilliant sunshine. Several times, while conscious and aware in my meditative state, I remember that the day was cloudy and overcast, so I opened my eyes to confirm it and yes, the day was overcast, immediately and at that same time the golden light disappeared.

I had this light experience many times while in the meditative state, whether I conducted in my bedroom or in my car.

I sensed this phenomena but never consider recording them until now because of inspiration coming from the book "Autobiography of a Yogi". I had a sense of joy when I purchased this book in "Barnes & Noble" bookstore a couple of days ago. This book has crossed my path many times, but I always brushed it off as another boastful self-important inspirational book. Perhaps the student was not ready.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Heaven's Grocery Store

As I was walking down life's highway many years ago
I came upon a sign that read ' Heavens Grocery Store '.
When I got a little closer the doors swung open wide
I soon realised that I was standing inside.
I saw a host of angels.
They were standing everywhere, one handed me a basket and said
“My child, shop with care.”
Everything a human needed was in that grocery store
and what you could not carry you could come back for more.

First I got some Patience.
Love was in that same row.
Further down was Understanding, you need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of Wisdom and Faith a bag or two.
and Charity of course, I would need some of that too.
I couldn't miss the Holy Ghost it was all over the place.
Then some Strength and Courage to help me run this race.
My basket was getting full but I remembered I needed Grace,
and then I chose Salvation for
Salvation was for free.

I tried to get enough of that to do for you and me.
Then I started to the counter to pay my grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything to do the Masters will.
As I went up the aisle I saw Prayer and put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside I would run into sin.
Peace and Joy were plentiful, the last things on the shelf.
Song and Praise were hanging near so I just helped myself.

Then I said to the angel "Now how much do I owe?"
The angel smiled and said "Just take them everywhere you go."
Again I asked "Really now, How much do I owe?"
"My child" he said, "God paid your bill a long, long time ago."

From - Soul of Life

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Theater of life

Year 2005 is coming to a close. In retrospect, I wish I could say that I have made a giant leap in every area of my life. The reality is growth seems to be happening painfully slow and many times it was two steps forward and three steps back.

But in time, I realized all the drama of life is merely a staged play. A pre-script play that we are the directors and actors/actresses coming to the theater of earth playing out of our part as a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a sister, a brother, an employee, a friend, a seeker. We wear many hats while on stage. William Shakespeare said it well "All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts".

If we play the part with awareness and integrity associated with that role then we are graduated from that play. We will then be given a much more elaborate and more interesting role. But the curtain of theater can fold without any warning, when that happen, we leave the stage and go back to where we came from. We can be here for only several hours, or for as long as a hundred years, but in the end, the experiences are tugged away in the consciousness, the physical aspect of who we are, merely an empty shell after all.

Friday, December 23, 2005

Massive paranoia - A Dream

I got up this morning 6:00 am had a very relaxed meditation. I then got back to sleep at 7:30 am.

"I reported an anomaly in our Internet website serving just a warning to our IT department. Soon, IT department started the full scale investigation of possible sabotage. They rounded up all personnel, cubicles were erected, people were interviewed. There were hushed conversation, whispers and subdued volume of voices. There were finger pointing, back stabbing all around. IT department even gave a serious lecture to every department about security issue. A simple observation escalated to the massive paranoia. "

I woke up from the scenario incredulous of what was happening. It is amazing how the group mind once aroused and set in motion, it is like unstoppable avalanche. A little spark can turn into a forest fire, capable of destroying many acres of plantation and many lives.

Dream is an incredible inner experience, no less dramatic than the physical one. The span of time that houses the dream content is also marvelously short compare to the unfolding of physical event. Dream can serve as mini-lesson, if we are lucky enough to learn from it and avoid having to resort to drama of physical manifestation.

The ancient metaphysical teaching uses dream as different level of learning. They suggest the seeker not only pays attention to maintain certain level of awareness throughout the day, but also remember and record our dream content for the wisdom it impart and for future reference. The adept in metaphysics also warn us not to over analyze our dream. Dream is simply another experience just like any others. It could be fun, entertaining and educational.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Armchair Quarterback

It was long time ago that I heard the term "Armchair Quarterback". It struck me there are plenty of 'armchair quarterback' around, not only just about football game, but also about the game of life.

Yes, the armchair quarterback may never set foot on the football field, never have even played a game or two of football. But, they certainly know the rules of the game, they know how the real quarterback should position himself to gain winning advantage during the game, and if the real quarterback would consult them, they may be able to impart a pointer or two.

"Armchair quarterback" is pervasive in family, in society and even in nations. We certainly should teach other nation about democracy by sending the troop in to eradicate the dictatorship and their way of life, because their way of life sucks, and dictatorship is wrong. Our religion is certainly better than other strange sounding, ignorant and superstitious religion. We are more civilized and advanced therefore we are entitled to own nuclear weapons, but not other barbarian countries, because they might misuse the weapon but not us.

The mentality also exists in the fabric of our own family. There are people that have never "walked in your moccasin", or lived one day of your life. But they seem to know all the answers of your problem. They may not know how to handle their own affair but they know all about yours.

Due to the individualization of our experiences, we often can not understand or appreciate other people's effort. We usually do not see what lies behind the scene. The separation of our consciousness make us judgmental about our neighbors or even our own family. I have long abandoned the notion of criticizing, making assumption of others, putting a label of good or bad on others, for I know that I have not lived one day of their life, I am not qualified to judge, or condemn people who are vastly different from me. My duty to this world is to spread the light, uplift the spirit wherever I go with the understanding that in the end, all are gods.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

The best effort ?!

All these years, I believe that I have done the best that I can when handling interpersonal situation. I personally went through a rough start in life. My philosophy is that, If I have survived and thrived from the lowly beginning, anyone has a chance. So, I don't normally push too many buttons, thinking that everyone has lessons to learn according to their own pace; nature, time and maturity will take care of the plight that plagued us in growing pain.

I am now suddenly put in the stern realization that a choice need to be made to somewhat steer the course to the better path for others. It is not a matter of my own self development, it is about being a guiding light that can illuminate a better future for others. By integrating the other side of equation of learning is may be what I need to learn in this stage of my development. My best effort of the past might not be the best after all.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Astral Travel, a glimpse of our immortality

Last week, I have not had a single mind travel experience. There were several fussy, fragmented, mundane and inconsequential dreams only.

When life gets tough, it is always helpful to gain proper perspective of what we have gone through. With mind travel experiences, I am reminded of my immortal and eternal nature. It also reminds me that others are also immortal spirits who have made a decision long ago to bravely come down to this earth plane to learn and grow. Whatever I have gone through, I accept total responsibility.

Some people encounters difficulty by means of kicking, cursing, screaming, blaming and resorting to violent measure, but some quietly accept the experience with the divine understanding that they made a decision, may be eons ago, that they are now harvesting the fruits (whether good or bad) of their labor.

My mind travel experience provides me with a sense of detachment of all what is happening around me. Just as many ages of esoteric wisdom taught us, there are no death, we are merely shading our outer garment and transformed into butterfly-like spirit, a spirit that is indestructible and incorruptible. No bullet can pierce it, no knife can slice it, no bomb can shatter it, a spirit of pure energy, we are!

"How do you know this?", you might ask. By way of my mind travel, I flew through a great black wall, I was hit by spear, I passed the mass of concrete with all of my senses intact. For a seeker of wisdom and knowledge of life, the experience might not be necessary, but what comfort it provides that we have first-hand experience of who we really are!