Tarot Card

I have trouble following guided meditation from my Metaphysical Science study. Actually I have hard time even listening to Jonathan Parker's guided meditation when just a year ago I was absolutely enchanted with those meditations. Is there a change of heart? I am so used to the tranquility of silence that I find any guided words are disrupting and unnecessary. Stillness and silence are where we can commune with our inner self.

Lately, I have rekindled the habit of consulting Tarot card for my daily inspiration. My strongest spiritual tendency is Prophecy ( if I ever have one). People with spiritual gift of prophecy knows what they know without any physical sensation associated with the knowing. It is kind of like illumination out of blue. You just know, and don't know how you know it. Often times, I will have doubt of what I know. I am just not 100% sure of what should be done. Occasional Tarot card consulting changes everything.

In my Metaphysical Science study, there is a section of Divination presenting Tarot Card. I own a set a few years back, I remember I had a sense of fear when dealing with these cards. I did not have metaphysical background at the time. Much of divination, psychi abilities and any sort of metaphysical phenomenon would seem mysterious and fearful to me. Now that I have four or five years metaphysical study and meditation tugged in my consciousness, I am able to deal with these cards with confidence. Knowing that this is a divination tool very ancient indeed and can be traced back for thousands of years. The power of Tarot card can be tapped with proper understanding.

Tarot Card actually helps me strengthen my resolve when I have a mission or commitment to make. It brings my intangible resolution to a concrete confirmation that I desperately need at the time. Several times during the week, when I knew what was right, but since I didn't have any guide to validate what I was about to do, I looked up the tarot card after my prayer of inspiration, it provided confirmation of what I already knew to be the right thing to do. I was able to impart my knowledge with great confidence. It is not superstitious like some might think, it is just one of the tools that can help us know ourselves better.

Shadow Self - A Dream Reflection

It has been a long time that I did not remember my dream. My daily routine is getting up 5:00 am, meditate one and half hours, relax about ten to fifteen minutes and start morning preparation going to work.

This morning's routine was not much different except, I relaxed a full thirty minutes. When I woke up, I was able to remember some part of my dream.

"My sister and I met in a restaurant, and she was expecting to meet her long time friend, a Falun Gong member. When she arrived, they exchanged gifts of image of deity, religious figure that I am somewhat familiar with. The figure of deity is made out of either ceramic or hard cardboard. They are to be hung or put on the table for worship. Strange thing was that I was silent throughout dinner. I did not say much and was uncomfortable of my own behavior of having nothing to say. I also sensed my companion's discomfort of my lack of response and little conversation. Before leaving the dinner, I searched for waiter and asked him for a bowl of water; I explained to him that I needed a bowl of water to wash my face. Of course before I get to the water, I was awoke and suddenly realized that I have over slept."

During the last two days, I have just studied the course of "Metaphysical Sciences" about shadow self, the part of selves that we do not like, the part that we feel ashamed of. We usually are not consciously aware of the shadow self, they are dormant and buried deep into of our psyche. I am wondering during the dream I might have experienced a part of my shadow self. I remember that I felt extremely uncomfortable of my strange behavior but also felt that I couldn't do much about it.

The other element of my dream was a bowl of water that I requested from restaurant waiter so that I can clean my face. Perhaps I still put a lot of emphasis on my appearance even though my years of metaphyscial study should indicate that I do not dwell too much on appearance alone. But in the dream I felt that I need to take care of my face so that I will look presentable in any circumstance. Apparently there is a great concern of how I present myself in a subconscious level, and it has a sense of insecurity if I don't keep a tab on it.

I wish I was lucid in that dream. The dream was like many dreams that I had in the past, my logical mind was completely turned off, nothing that happened was out of ordinary. I went along with the odd scenario, oblivious that I was in the illusory state of mind.

Do I know myself?

Later on, I drew a tarot card, it was "Seven of Swords".

The Journey Begins

I got the first six courses and eleven meditations from University of Metaphysical Sciences. The first course is World Religions. I am not particularly interested in religion, but ever since the existence of mankind, religion plays a very important role in humanity's searching for meaning and truth of life, therefore the knowledge of origin and evolution of world religions is essential for understanding how we, as a species, evolve consciously and spiritually.

After started reading the materials, I found out that there are so much that I don't know and don't remember. For instance, I supposed to be familiar with Buddhism, but truly I only know a fraction of it's essential teachings.

The other day, I tried meditation CD during lunch hour, the music and the voice was so beautiful and relaxing, I lost track of time. In the midst of meditation, suddenly I realized that I was taking my lunch time. By that time, I have already listened about fifty minutes of guided meditation. I have taken one and half hour lunch that day.

A Meditational Ritual

I have so much trouble stilling my mind while meditatng. I feel that I am going ten steps backward from my progress. I sense that if I just plunge myself ino meditation without preparatory work, I will end up fighting and clearing the cobweb and all intruding thoughts. The precious time that I spend will be unproductive.

I now set a clearing process for meditation.

1. Say a prayer - Dear God, my Higher Self and my spiritual guides, please help me still my mind so that the magic presence of God will reveal itself to me.
2. Resonent tuning on "OM" sound 7 times while exhaling on deep breath. The humming of "Om" sound raises the frequency and vibration.
3. Imagine the golden light energy from my Higher Self descending down from heaven, entering in Crown Chakra, and gradually permeate every cell, every atom of my being. The light now expands, radiates out 10-ft. all around for the duration of the meditation. The golden light is to protect and repel external undesirable influences, and it purifies entire being so that I am ready to meet my guides, converse with Higher Self, and be one with God.
4. Affirmation - I am the infinite universal consciousness, infinite in love, infinite in wisdom and knowledge, infinite in abundance and prosperity. Be still and know I am God.
5. Relaxing every muscle of body, gradually move the focus of relaxation from toe to head and reach a state of "body comfortably at sleep, mind fully awake and aware".
6. Stay silent for the duration of meditation about one and half hours.

A triumph for all

Over the past 2 and 1/2 months, I was working on trying to settle Newmans Own account.

We started with having disagreement with physical inventory count at the end of Dec 31. Then we have discrepancy on sales and cash receipts. I took their every request with a sincere intention to help and to resolve. I meticulously laid out the detail of my analysis in a way that was easier for them to understand. I radiated good will every step of the way. Sometimes their request could take quite sometime for me to accomplish, but I did it with no complaint. I work only toward a common good among people. I was very proud of myself, I believe God within me will be proud too.

Finally, all the good intentions paid off. I got an email from Newmans Own on last Friday. Joan Williams in Newmans Own agreed with our inventory value, agreed that we overpaid them $72,000 due to no fault of anyone but our programming error. An adversity turns into opportunity for future cordial business relationship.

I believe what happened is that I am able to accommodate other people . Knowing what I know, I have completely turned away from the conventional business dealing of winning and losing. I saw people in Newmans Own trying to do their very best from their business perspective. The only way to play fair is honestly assessing the situation and helping them see the truth with irrefutable data. I am happy with the outcome. The situation is resolved with good will beautifully established among all of us making it possible for further successful partnership.

Getting a Ph. D. In Metaphysical Sciences

I have enrolled the Ph. D. program in the University of Metaphysical Sciences. It is time for me to work on organized and disciplinary higher knowledge learning.

I have worked on many programs, read many books, I have bits and pieces of broad knowledge and direct experiences from meditation to astral travel, but I feel that I need a more structured learning.

In this day and age, a higher degree or credential is a must if one wants to establish oneself in the field of metaphysics. I have done research about several distant learning schools, the University of Metaphysical Sciences is by far the best and the most affordable. The curriculum are very well rounded, covering many topics that I like to gain in-depth knowledge. I read several sample courses and know the courses will be in attunement with my five years exploration of human consciousness. I am happy to have taken that initiative, and very excited about the study.

Revisit Jonathan Parker' Enlightenment Series Program

I have not read many books that are really inspiring lately, so I decided to revisit Jonathan Parker's tape program that set me on the path five years ago. I tell you what! It is still awesome! I am planning to listen to the program while commuting to and from work, and I will use forty five minutes of my lunch hour to work on the meditation that usually followed the lecture.

Today, I listened to the topic of space and time. I found this topic very difficult to understand if I view it from our physical point of aspect. Dr. Jonathan Parker elegantly explained the concept in a non-technical fashion.

In a nutshell, space and time is a human construct based on our limited experience and understanding of true nature of our universe(s). But when we reach expansive awareness of other realities and dimensions, we then are able to understand that past, present and future practically exist simultaneously in higher plane of existence.

I remember several years ago I had a conversation with a lady who is able to psychically attuned to other people's energy field. I mentioned to her that I like to accomplish highest level of consciousness this life time. She replied that if I thought a lifetime was a long time then thought again, a lifetime was only a blink of an eye in eternity.

At that time, I didn't really appreciate the fact that my hard working life is only a blink of an eye, if it is true then all my suffering and my sacrifice will amount to very little in the scheme of thing of what we call eternity. Later on, I realized that if that is true then all the suffering, misery, pain that a lot of people have to endure in our life time is only a blink of an eye. Well, if I can endure a blink of an eye of suffering and enjoy eternity of happiness then I think we have a bargin.

Well, I have just sidetracked of the topic of space and time, but it is comforting to know that in reality all seeming tragedy, happiness, wealth or poverty are only learning tools that help us get back to our state of pure glorious being.

A truly grand production - The Living

I don't have much insight from my meditative practice. Lately I can't even remember my dream when I wake up in the morning.

Good and deep meditation is not easy to attain. Sometimes I set out to have great expectation for a good session, but I ended up abandon it after half an hour's sitting. But other times, I will have total expansion of my being with not even a thread of thought. At those moment, the inner mind was blank, expansive, a sense of sweetness floated around my forehead; a rare moment indeed!

I started to contemplate of how to increase the effectiveness of meditation. One of the technique is to focus on the area between the eyebrows, the spiritual third eye, the other ones I use often are to listen to our inner sound or to focus on our inhale and exhale of our breath, yet another is just don't focus on anything at all.

I found that the eyebrows and inner sound focus can help cultivate concentration ability, but ultimately the goal is to focus on nothing. So, I started to focus on nothing. Why bother with other methods when there is a sure way to heaven? But the fact is it is difficult not to think of anything. Given our daily encounter of many mundane, unenlightened people and situations ( including myself), and the fact that our livelihood are dependent on it made it difficult to ignore these nuisance.

That is where Jonathan Parker's "Enlightenment Series" teaching is so effective. The nuisance, the inconvenience, the interference, the quarrel between people, the jealousy display among colleague, the stress on the job, the argument among family members are vehicles that our higher self use to strengthen our integrity and our character. It is a drama of life consented by us, scripted and directed by our higher self, and we play a starring role with supporting actors and actresses being our family members, our co-workers, long time friends and even casual acquaintances. All things, all people work together for the good of all. It is truly a grand production that in some cases even movie will be pale in comparison of its intrigues and synchronicity of the unfolding events.

Cosmic Consciousness: a study in the evolution of the human mind. Richard M. Bucke

All at once, without warning of any kind, he found himself wrapped around as it were by a flame colored cloud. For an instant he thought of fire, some sudden conflagration in the great city, the next he knew that the light was within himself. Directly afterwards came upon him a sense of exultation, of immense joyousness accompanied or immediately followed by an intellectual illumination quite impossible to describe. Into his brain streamed one momentary lightning-flash of Brahmic Splendor which has ever since lightened his life; upon his heart fell one drop of Brahmic Bliss, leaving thenceforward for always an after taste of heaven. Among other things he did not come to believe, he saw and knew that the Cosmos is not dead matter but a living Presence, that the soul of man is immortal, that the universe is so built and ordered that without any peradventure all things work together for the good of each and all, that the foundation principle of the world is what we call love and that the happiness of everyone is in the long run absolutely certain. He claimed that he learned more within the few seconds during which the illumination lasted than in previous months or even years of study, and that he learned much that no study could ever have taught.

Life's challenges never end

I found myself being challenged again and again with various circumstances and with different people at work. Well, where else will be? Perhaps I should be cheerfully said, "Why not me?" I am just lucky to be situated in this school of hard knock. I then remember what Jonathan Parker said about situations and circumstances were specifically created for our benefits. Our enemy is not truly our enemy. They were just assigned by the divine to play a role of villain in our stage play. We should thank them for they were kind enough and brave enough to play such an unpopular role.

Seven weeks ago the saga just started when we had negotiated a different contract with a customer. Alas! things were never that simple. A goodwill gesture turned into a tug of war. A war about money, a war about ego. Essentially, our ordinary existence is to protect, nourish and enlarge our ego consciousness. Hence, the saga continues.....

An initiation - Our Ultimate Reality (Adrian Cooper)

Every single experience, positive, negative or indifferent happens for a reason, and in full knowledge of your Higher-Self. Each such experience is an opportunity to make progress towards a full initiatic experience and should be joyfully accepted as such without complaint, taking it personally and above all without blaming others.

Every single situation was known and chosen before we incarnated for its value in our ultimate evolution. If we fail the initiation then we have to experience similar circumstances over again until we finally pass the initiation which in some cases might take many "lifetimes". Therefore we must look closely at every event, however insignificant, dire or indeed joyful it might seem and ask ourselves these simple but important questions:

1) What does this event mean?

2) Why has it "happened" at this particular time?

3) What must I do to accept this situation, learn from it and never have to face it again?

In asking these questions and facing every situation we are presented with, however large or small, "good" or "evil", horrific or joyous, we can face the situation with total confidence and
ultimately prevail, thus attaining an important initiation towards our ongoing evolution.

Important points to keep in mind are:

1) There is no such thing as "chance". Everything happens for a reason.

2) Everything that happens to us we chose and knew before we incarnated.

3) We are never, ever, ever presented with a situation that is beyond our current ability to prevail. No harm can come to us.

In knowing, understanding and living our lives accordingly we can not only save ourselves considerable suffering, we can also save ourselves potentially many physical incarnations, because whatever a person fails to achieve in a current lifetime they will need to return again to pass that initiation in a further lifetime.

This is also a solution to the secret of "alchemy". The legend of the transmutation of base metals into gold is actually symbolic of the process of the transmutation of our base characteristics into the gold of perfection. The biblical fable of the turning "water into wine" is exactly the same process and meaning.

Knowing these important facts we can face life joyfully and with confidence, being thankful for every situation we are presented with as an opportunity to progress, in the knowledge that we are never presented with a situation that is beyond our capability, and above all no harm can ever come to us.

From Ultimate Reality Newsletter -Adrian Cooper

Change hour of my morning meditation

I have started since yesterday to move meditation hour from 5:00 am to 4:00 am. Incredibly, I do not feel any adverse effect even though I have just slept only 4 hours last two days. My energy is good and I do not seem to feel I miss any sleep.

Given such a short experiment, it can not prove that meditation is better than sleep in terms of relaxation and revitalizing of body and mind. I did find myself being restless after an hour and 45 minites' sitting, and my lower back was also bothering me. Well, we are a creature of habit, if we do something out of our comfort zone then our body or our mind will certainly let us know. The key is to expand our comfort zone gradually , then one day we will operate in a whole new level.

Jonathan Parker, my teacher, is the founder of Quantum Quest International. He practiced meditation every day between 3 to 8 hours for three years. He said that in that three years, all that he experienced was blank screen and nothing else. It was through determination and perseverance that he has reached the summit of great God Consciousness. In retrospection, I started to realize that I have not committed myself hard enough and long enough for the attainment of my objective. Anything worthwhile to achieve will require dedication and persistence for as long as it takes, even if it takes many lifetimes. I am all for it.

Meditative effect

I don't know if there is any reference about intoxicating feeling in meditation either in book or in Internet. So far, I could not find any information that can describe what I have felt while meditating. I first heard and read in "Autobiography of a Yogi" referring a deeper meditative sensation as "intoxicating".

I personally have not used any substance or gotten drunk for that matter, I certainly did not have experience of being intoxicated. I suspect the feeling can be somewhat similar to the blissful feeling in many of our extraordinary experiences when we are so focused, time seems to stop, and we are "in the zone". I remember when I read the book "Disapperance of Universe", there is a section of conversation mentioning the bliss of communion with the cosmic consciousness as thousands times more profound than anything we will experience in our normal life. I reckon my experience is not as fantastic, it is may be miniscule in proportion.

The reason I want to explore this subject is that no one has mentioned about that level of experience in definitive term. I heard and read about benefit of long-term meditation. It is well established that regular, deep meditation relaxes body, mind and spirit, even more astounding is that regular meditator can retard aging process due to the profound effect on some of the hormone producing glands. It is like having a second wing. Well, speaking of second wing, it is due to regular practice that I had many wonderful conscious astral travel experiences. To be true to my intention, I use meditation as a means for my spiritual advancement, I am not too concerned about my physical well being. Having understood the true nature of our existence, I have come to realize that the physical aspect of self is insignificant in comparison of our grander multi-dimensional self.

Last several months, I have not had single astral travel experience even though I have meditated in earnest, one and a half hours in the morning and forty five minutes during lunch hour. I surely missed it. I can understand that with the current level of my development, I simply have no control over the frequency of its occurence. I will learn what I need to learn at any given moment, and the knowledge and wisdom will unfold and reveal to me at its natural course. I can not expedite the process. There is time for everything.

The Power of the Subconscious Mind--from Adrian Cooper

I receive numerous messages every week regarding the question of
the differences and significance in practical terms between
the conscious and subconscious mind.

The first thing we should always know beyond any doubt is that the
entire Universe and everything within the Universe at all levels,
all dimensions and all manifestations is "Mind". Everything,
without exception is a manifestation of the supreme Mind of The
Source, The First Cause, of "God". This Mind is infinite,
conscious, intelligent, Energy, often known simply as "Spirit".

As human beings we are individuations of Spirit, this Infinite Mind
of "God" through which "God" experiences and thereby evolves and
expands. The entire Universe is in a perpetual state of expansion
and evolution. It is important to keep in mind however that
although we are "individuations" of The Source, i.e. individuated
Energy configurations within the Universal Energy field, we are also
still integral aspects of this Energy field and therefore of God;
there is no separatedness in the Universe; everything is one.

In order to understand this better we only need look at quantum
physics which is discussed in considerable detail in Our Ultimate
Reality for this very reason.

Because the Universe is infinite intelligence of which we are all
integral aspects, Quanta of Energy are influenced by the Mind;
thought also being pure Energy. Whenever you look at a "possession"
such as a house, a car, a television set, they are in fact nothing
more or less than an arrangement of Energy, or "Quanta", ultimately
created by thought processes of the Mind. If these objects were to
be inspected very closely, it would be apparent that they are not
solid at all but are rather composed of Quanta of Energy vibrating
and moving at extremely high rates in an out of the object being
observed.

Nothing can exist permanently unless it is observed because it is
Mind that controls and shapes Quanta of Energy, and without that
focus of the Mind the Quanta would once again become a "quantum
potential" for something else. If for example everyone in the world
were to cease observing the world and everything in it, by ceasing
to focus on it's perceived existence, then everything would cease
to exist. There would be no thought Energy to maintain the illusion
of its existence anymore. This is why the Earth and everything it
comprises, as well as the entire three-dimensional Universe is
referred to in some cultures as "maya", and illusion. The Earth and
physical Universe are indeed an illusion and a grand scale, and
will one day be realised as such by all mankind once evolving
beyond the illusion of the physical Universe.

Quantum physics completely confirms this by recognising that
something can only actually come into "existence" when it is
observed. Of course "existence" is a term relative to the five
physical senses; everything that exists now has always existed and
always will exist, it is only the illusion of form that changes in
response to thought, Mind. When something is observed, Quanta come
together to form sub-atomic particles, and in turn atoms, then
molecules until finally something manifests in the physical world
as a localized space-time event that can be observed by the five
physical senses.

This process is the very basis of how each and every person creates
their own reality. Every single thought, as Energy, directly and
instantly influences the quantum field causing Quanta in the form
of Energy to arrange themselves into a localised, observable event,
object or other influence.

So where does the subconcious mind come into this?

Well quite simply in order to create our desired reality we must
focus our thoughts in order to influence the Quanta of the Universe
and bring ourselves into vibrational harmony with our desires. In
doing this the hitherto formless substance around us, the Quanta or
Spirit from which all things are made takes shape in accordance
with our thoughts, and when we come into vibrational harmony with
this formless creation it can then manifest into our physical world
as a physical manifestation where it can be enjoyed.

Where most people "go wrong" is that they have no control over this
creative process. The conscious mind, our everyday, waking mind is
heavily influenced by the demands of the ego, and seeks to filter
and logically analyse everything presented to it through thought or
any of the five senses, only allowing thoughts tp persist that are
consistent with what it considers to be "logical" and in accordance
with the materialistic demands of the ego.

This is why most people are constantly creating unwanted realities;
usually without thinking about it or realising it.

The solution therefore is to bypass the filters of the conscious
mind in order to access the extreme power of the subconscious mind.

There are three fundamental aspects to Mind; the conscious mind, the
subconscious mind and the super-conscious Mind. By impressing our
desires on the subconscious mind the subconscious mind will
interact directly with the super-conscious Mind where our thoughts
and therefore desires take shape, and then brings us into
vibrational harmony with our dsires so they can manifest into
physical, experiential reality.

We cannot experience anything unless we are in vibrational harmony
with that which we are experiencing. Everything we are experiencing
at this moment is a direct result of our thoughts and of being in
vibrational harmony with that thought experience; and this applies
equally to positive, negative or neutral experiences.

Although affirmations can be very powerful, they are often
intercepted by the logical, ego driven conscious mind, analysed and
then rejected as being "impractical". For example; we might repeat
an affirmation such as "I have a new car". The conscious mind
immediately picks-up on this and says something like "don't be
ridiculous, you are still driving that old wreck of a car". And so
it will be that you continue to perpetuate the reality of, and be
in vibrational harmony with the "old wreck of a car".

Our objectives are clear therefore. We must bypass the filters of
the conscious mind in order to "program" the subconcious mind with
our desires. The subconscious mind is sublime; that is to say it
never, ever questions anything. The subconscious mind will
willingly accept anything presented to it, intentionally or
otherwise, and bring it into reality. This is why we must be very
careful indeed about what we impress upon our subconscious mind.

This is particuarly true just before sleep at night and just after
awaking in the morning. At these times we are most closely in
communication with our subconcious mind. This knowledge can be
extremely powerful in that if we use these "windows of opportunity"
to communicate our desires to our subconscious mind, the
subconscious mind will accept them and bring them into our
experiential reality.

However, if we take to bed our worries, concerns and fears then the
subconcious mind, being sublime, will also act upon those thoughts
and bring them even more into reality. So if you go to bed at night
being worried about debts for example, you will attract more even
more debt. It is extremely important therefore to ensure that
before you sleep at night, or any other time for that matter, you
only keep in mind those thoughts that are compatible with your
desires. If this is done consciously it can be a very powerful way
of manifesting your desires.

Volition

A volition is the act or an instance of making a conscious choice; the power or faculty of choosing.
A volition consists of a series of continuous, undiscourageable, unceasing determinations and acts revolving around a desire, until it becomes dynamic enough to produce the much-craved result.

There are times in our life, volition is needed in every turn of our path in order to attain our life-long objective.

I had a hard time falling to sleep last night until about 1:00 am, I set my alarm to wake up 4:45 to meditate. When the alarm sounded, I almost tried to turn it off and went back to sleep. But I am glad that I didn't. I fought back the desire to go back to sleep and followed my schedule to meditate 1 and 1/2 hour. Even though I had to spend at least 10 minutes to clear my thought, I felt triumphant after the meditation.

For the last several days at work, I am happy with the action and attitude that I had towards some personnel in other company. I believe I handled the situation well. In addition to the right attitude, I presented my case very convincingly. Finally the other party had agreed with my finding and my conclusion. The situation is by no means resolved, but that section of the issue is cleared.

Come to think of life, most of people seems to fully immerse in the physical world without any inkling of our truer and grander reality. The result of this kind of attitude is division and conflict.
The notion is forever you or I, yours or mine, win or lose, have or have not, good or bad, the typical polarity of the physical dimension. The ultimate reality is that whatever we experience in life, be it pain or pleasure, all but entertaining and learning opportunity for our higher self. It is only the ego that always gets in the way of judging and labeling the situation as good or bad.

A Mantra - Om Ma Ne Pad Me Hum

Lately there were too many things happening in my outer world making my meditation a very difficult task. I had a sense of desperation in my work situation. I simply could not empty my mind while meditating. As soon as I felt I was ready to clear the thought, a full motion picture will stream through my consciousness. The movie in the mind screen would play back frames after frames of daily encounter, before I knew it, it was completely out of control.

So, two days ago, I set out to revise my meditation routine, I chanted a Mantra to help clear my mind of intruding thought. The Mantra that I use is one of the highest Mantra blessing for humanity according to Tibetan Monk.

I started using it on Friday morning meditation, I was quite successful with it and since this mantra also invoke a cosmic sound of blessing, I felt that my situation in life can only be helped by it. So, I used the Mantra again this morning. When I finished my meditation, my anxiety, sadness and hopelessness that I felt for the past several days was gone, replacing it with a sense of calmness and serenity.

The most incredible thing is I set out to solve problem that I have at work. I have some kind of inspiration and just know what to do to solve it. This afternoon, I went online to my company website, retrieved the needed data for my experiment. After about one and 1/2 hours concentration, I have figured out the problem of the account that I am currently managing. I feel great confidence that I can present the case. Here is the affirmation I have used for the last several days. The affirmation helped me to set a positive mind set in a could be very negative situation.

I relax and cast aside all mental burdens,
allowing God to express through me
His perfect love, peace, and wisdom.

From:

Electrical current

I am using electrical current as an analogy for my meditative experience. It does not happen often, but when it does, it is like a wave of electrical current course through my entire being in just a second. I am wondering, what happens in that instant physiologically?

I now realize when science claims that energy and matter are interchangeable, they are basically one and the same, matter being the lowest vibration and the highest density.

When we meditate, we are piercing into higher level of vibrational reality; and with that, the veil of inner world of ultimate reality is gradually revealed to us.

Autobiography of a Yogi

It is fortuitous that I have the opportunity to read "Autobiography of a Yogi". It is a treasure for people who seek the truth of our ultimate reality without outward guidance of a teacher. My teacher is my living environment, my teacher is my daily interaction with people, my teacher is the book that I have the fortune to read, my teacher is my meditation, and ultimately, my teacher is my Higher Self, the part of me infinitely resourceful and infinitely wise. My Higher Self that sets up circumstances so perfectly for me to learn and grow not just once, but numerous times until I assimilate each lesson into part and parcel of my very being. Yes, the learning opportunity is relentless, and insistent. Yes, the lesson will be presenting itself over and over again until I got it. Some lessons I will learn it in an instant, but some may take me a few hundred years, nevertheless, learn I will. And so will everyone else in this world. Not a soul will be lost!

When I read this book, I am savoring the aroma of wisdom emitting from the pages. I will read a sentence or two and so enchanted with the profound meaning and wisdom that I will put the book down and contemplate it. It is a splendid gem among the spiritual jewels.

Don't lose sight of The Goal

Last three days, while in meditative state, I had an intoxicated feeling first permeating in the forehead and then gradually descending down to the upper body, at the same time I also felt a great sense of relaxation, like layers of layers of tensions and worldly concern melted. In this state of meditation, thought intrusions of any kind have no disurbing effect on the meditation. It is like clouds that floating in the blue sky, once dissolved, left no trace on a clear day.

I remember I had the same meditative feeling two years ago when I meditated in earnest. How time has quickly passed and it would take me two years to pick up the pieces again.

I was like a traveler aimed originally to climb Mount Everest of 29,000 feet, and yet was distracted by the green pastures and beautiful flowers, wondering around the forest and thought that the pastures and flowers weren't too bad after all. The ambition of climbing the steep mountain was forgotten, the 360-degree panorama view from the highest peak seemed impossible to reach.

Lucid dream, astral travel, are like little distractions here and there all the more enticing me to yearn for inner experiences. I have come to realize that they should not be the reason of my meditation. Meditation is a means to have deep communion with our source, to realize our true nature. If meditation leads to other spiritual adventures, then they are treated as extra bonus and not to be focused on exclusively. The goal is to reach the highest level of frequency, vibration, consciousness and awareness. So, press on and persevere!

A flashback

My main spiritual goal for last year was to learn lucid dreaming. I will not say that I failed, but I could say that I was not successful. Actually the last several months I practically giving up trying. The main reason is that I had decided to focus my energy to serious meditation. I can not juggle, within my limited time, with both meditation and lucid dreaming. I have to choose either one of them but definitely not both.

I had some interesting dreams, read some good books, took a trip to Hawaii, rode a helicopter. These were the things that I did, but the most important growth came from within, an inner understanding and constant endurance of personal relationship among family members and my co-workers.

I have known several wonderful people in my professional life outside of my company. I can impart goodwill,fairness and understanding towards others, because they don't stay with us at the end of the day. The most challenging interpersonal activity will always be the people in our inner circle. life is not a race that you win or lose, life is a progressive learning toward the realization of our infinite self.

I shall continue walking the path of liberation!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

A shadow

Last night I had two cups of coffee before going to bed. I figured that I probably could not fall asleep immediately, so I meditated about an hour. It took me quite sometime to fall back to sleep after that. During the transition, I had the following experience.

Seeing through my mind's eye, a shadow emerged from nowhere, it blended into my being and I floated out of my body immediately without vibration or other usual sensation. During the time I floated out of my window, the flying got faster and higher, I looked down on the changing scenery below and felt that I was not alone. There was something else that was present that blocked my view below while flying. I saw the usual city, mountain and trees quickly zoomed by. After a while the floating sensation stopped and the scene faded!

When I got back to my senses, I could not make out what was happening. I have done the Aura Cleaning before the meditation. I believe my aura was fairly bright, strong and clear. There would not be any intrusion into my energy field and I was certain of that.

It was an interesting experience. What was that shadow? I don't know. It did not do any harm, on the contrary the flying seemed to be invigorating.

A Trial?

A trial meant to test how well that we have learned our lessons and how well we have applied our lessons to our daily living. For the last several months, I feel that I am in a stage of being tested spiritually. Sometimes I am triumphant, I am being my best self, loving and supportive in every way. but other times I fall back to my old doubtful and bitter self. Am I encountering what they called, "dark nights of the soul" that every seeker bounds to meet sooner or later?

For all that I know about why are we here, why some people have to suffer while others live a charmed life (at least it appears that way). I still can not brush off the possibility of my contribution to other people's suffering. I have a feeling that finally karmic debts that have accumulated over past and present lives have caught up with me. In spite of good work that I have done ( at least I think I have done) at work and in other areas of my life, my family situation is dire. Bitterness, blame, illness and depression hung over the air that we breathe, most unhealthy to the spirit.

I hope I know the answer of what should be done! But non existed that I know of! I shall continue walk the path and do the best that I can and let the Divine take care of the rest.

"The Genius Factory" by David Plotz

This is incredible. I accidentally picked up this book from Rowland Heights library. I never heard of sperm bank before. After I read the book, I searched Internet, there are several such banks exist just in California. The whole thing sounds very much like science fiction.

Mr. Plotz took us a wild ride of grand venture about parent's shopping for a genius child, the long tale of one man's crusade toward saving humanity and the complication of seemingly single-minded mission. This is indeed an eye-opening book.

In the end, no one really knows whether a Nobelist's sperm can produce a Nobel Prize winner. We just don't know enough whether or not if we can engineer our next generation with scientific precision. Mr. Plotz told the story with consideration and compassion toward the donors, parents and children. A very interesting read.

No matter how is our upbringing, in the end there is "free will" involved that ultimately determine the path of our life. Yes, there is destiny, but there is also free will. You have a choice. The choice we made today, may not change much of our immediate future, but it will definitely shape our distant future. And yes, we will be back again to resume our study once we are done with this incarnation. Unless, of course, we have reached a state of being that we have graduated from this earth school of ours.

I must be in a dream - cell phone as a dream sign

I checked in a hotel. The next morning, While I was walking on the lobby, I suddenly heard an announcement through intercom, "James will not have... class this morning. The class has been cancelled". Well, I heard James name. I said to myself, I need to call James to let him know.

I searched in my purse and found my cell phone. I quickly used my normal voice command to dial. Well, it did not have any response, so I manually dialed it again, still no dial tone. I then found that cell phone looked strange; there was a Viking Marking on it. It did not look like my phone. When I looked a little closer and the cell phone turned into an old worn black shoe. And all this time I was holding a worn shoe? How strange! I remember I brought a cell phone with me. So, I searched my purse again, now I touched my cell phone. Instantly I felt relieved that I did bring my cell phone.

I took the phone out and it looked more like a camera than a phone. At that instant, I said to myself, "I must be in a dream, I am in a dream". At the same time, I also realized that I will be late to work, I need to get up now. I got up fully awake. It was 10 minutes later than my usual get up time.

"Lightning Strike" from Donald Davis

All the last week, I read a down-to-earth accounting of what truly happened of WW II, Chief-in-Command General Yamamoto incident in the battleground of Pacific Front. A history book read like a novel. Very interesting.

Three women hanging clothes - A dream

Keep going!

I had a good session of meditation. I usually lied down for about 15 minutes afterward. I started a sensation of vibration and off I went floating about in my bedroom. It was dark and I could not see anything. After several rounds, the floating stopped. I was disappointed and I thought to myself, "Is that all"? Then about one minute later, I floated again, this time while the floating almost stopped, I thought to myself "keep going, keep going". To my surprise, I started the floating sensation again. I floated out of the window of my bedroom. The atmosphere was gray and chilly winter scene. Immediately, I saw tree leaves spreading over the concrete floor, brick houses dotted below from my aerial view, three women were working outside their houses hanging clothes. I was so close to the ground, I felt that I was almost able to touch the women. Then gradually the scene faded.....

The place that I have been did not feel like in United States, it almost like in China or something. The fact that women working outside hanging clothes indicated an unusual phenomenon if it was in US. But who care? I can't get verification anyway.

This conscious projection was not any different than others, except I was able to consciously prolonging the vibration and floating process by just saying to myself "keep going". I am still not able to direct my travel destination, but at least my consciousness has played a part in the process. That was significant.

Vacation In Hawaii

Mom, I, my sister MingYea and her husband Jim were on our long-awaited Hawaiian 9-day trip from October 21 to October 29. It was made possible by my sister's effort. She arranged everything from where we are to stay in hotel to airline ticket purchasing. We stayed in the Kona Island four days and another four days in Maui. What was my impression of Hawaii? It is a beautiful place, green and blue all around. The condo we stayed in Kona Island is just absolutely wonderful. There is a golf course in front of our second story porch, and beyond the golf course, there you are, a 180 degree ocean view. The condo is lovely furnished with crafted sea life, turtles, fish dotted the wall. In the early morning, there were all kinds of birds chirping happily. I got up 6:00 am as usual to do my meditation.

I intended to see the live volcano in Kona Island. We drove to the Volcano National park, but due to our Mom's physical condition, we hiked a little bit but did not venture far enough to see the volcano. But on the way, we saw blackened lava mud and lava rocks all over the place. Jokingly, I was proposing a business deal with Volcano National Park to sell lava rocks and lava mud to the civilized population overseas. Later on, through conversation with locals, my sister found out that the legion has it that the Goddess of Hawaiian Volcano, Pele, is safeguarding the lava rocks and Lava mud as if they were her children. Therefore removing lava rocks from this island is doomed to bad luck. Well, that is the end of our proposition.

In Maui, we drove to the summit of Haleakala National Park of 10,023 feet above sea level. The crater on the summit is expansive and awesome looking. I took a picture on the summit, and probably should have left a graffiti behind noting that I have been here on the wall or something, like some travelers that wrote their names on the bathroom door. :) One of the most impressive trips was the one we visited a rain forest in Iao Valley. Just several miles outskirt of small village, there you are, a sanctuary away from civilization.

On second day in Maui, we traversed on northern coast of Maui called Hana. The Hana highway is a narrow winding road along the coastal area, there are 600 turns and a dozen narrow one-lane bridges. The road to Hana isn't far, but the twist and turn make it a slow going highway. We traveled about half way and decided to turn back, and it took about 6 hours for round trip. The rain forest along the highway is beautiful and it is worthwhile experiencing it's unusually frequent tight turns.

I took a helicopter ride in Maui against the opposition that tried talking me out of it. The ride was an air tour exploring the west of Maui where there are beautiful rain forest, 4000 feet high waterfalls and then across expansive Pacific Ocean to Malokai, known for its highest sea cliff in the world. Through this trip I was able to get some verification or confirmation of my inner experiences.

For years, I had astral travel or mind project experiences at night. I never was able to compare my inner experience with real, physical counterpart. Now that I had it. Yes, my inner experience are just as real as my helicopter ride. While I mind travelled, I sometimes felt the sensation of sharp turn when changing the flight direction without my conscious control, I felt the same sensation when I rode on the Helicopter. While mind travelling without a body, I felt the same way as I did in the helicopter ride.

This experience got me thinking, what a crude method of travel with a body! If I train myself long enough and hard enough, I would be able to surf the Himalaya mountain, cruise over the Mount Everest, fly above the galaxy, the star and anywhere I want using only my consciousness with instant vibration! It is not impossible to do! Why a body that need to wait in the long line for custom checking and inspection, a body need to be fed, a body need to sleep in a fancy expensive hotel, a body need to be transported by car, by plane that cost thousands of dollars. Why?

I know it is a strange phenomenon that I have experienced in my inner world. But the truth is, it is not strange at all. Majority of humanity forget about the origin of who we are, our divine origin that is. We are free spirit, pure and simple.

Last night, I had a strange pressurized sensation around my head area while I was ready to sleep, it felt like someone was pulling my hair, and in an instant I was off flying. My night musing is usually short, it lasts about 10 to 15 seconds. Since I am conscious and aware and the places I visit are unusual, all the while making the experience very memorable.

The truth!

From beginning of time, mankind is searching for the truth of our identity. Is it accident or is it by design that we are born into earth plane to pain and pleasure? Is there something call fate or destiny? Do we have free well in the midst of our destiny?

I don't have answer for all of them, but with my understanding, I don't think truth has been conveyed in an enlightened manner. Majority of mankind are sleep walking, spending lots of energy doing the things that have little consequence, while failing the grade by doing the things that are seeming monumental to our temporary existence.

Religion tells us to do good, be good, you reap what you sow, "Do unto others as you want others do unto you?" The problem is no one bothers to tell you why you should do that. Well some people argue, because the law of Karma, you get what you put out. But why?

One of the truth is that we are one and the same. We might have ten thousand, ten million or ten billion faces, those faces are fragments of God, sparks of God. Through us, God experiences. So, it is probably correct to say "We are gods".

A human body is composed of many different organs, every organ has different function, one is not better than other. But by every organ working in concert, our life is sustained. Who is to say that heart is more important than liver? To support life, every part has to do its share, or life is lost. Every cell of our body could be compared to every individual in the planet earth. Every one of us is an expression of God. By living in concert and in harmony with each other, we are fully expressing God in highest level, we are then in good health, enjoying happiness.

Jason, the tiger - A Dream

I got up at 5:00 am, the meditation was not going well, the images, random thoughts came in and out of my conscious mind. I decided to lie down for 15 minutes before the alarm sounding at 6:30 am. After several minutes later, I had this familiar swirling sensation around my head area, then I floated round and round. I found myself in a warehouse, I was walking down aisle between rows and rows of racks that hanged industrial, heavy duty clothes. Not a soul was around. After a while, I felt a little bored of seeing rows of clothes, so I decided to fly up to the ceiling. When I got up there, I also saw racks of khaki Jeans and coats, all made of same heavy duty material...

I lied down the second time... My mom and I went shopping in a department store. The store was not very organized and people work there have very strange behavior. I came up and asked a clerk some question, I got a blank stare back from him.

My mom went to hardware section, she picked up something mechanical, some kind of unusual instrument, the kind of thing that my son will be interested but definitely not my mother. But I went along with the item and curious about the use of this equipment. We were waiting in the check out counter, I suddenly realized that my purse was not with me. I walk back several steps and tried to think and then I immediately got back to the check out line and found the purse was right there on the floor next to the counter. But I did not see mom. She might have paid the item and left.

The day is getting late and dark, I was worried. I went to the parking lot and called her many times, but there was no response anywhere. I then met a girl about 10 year old. I asked her if she was familiar with this area. While we were talking, I saw a mass image of gold and black stripes moving my way. At that time the girl said, "please meet Jason, the tiger." My heart skipped several beats, I was frightened. Somehow I managed to remember projecting love to the tiger. The tiger now running and jumping around us, I kept at the mantra of projecting love. Then suddenly the tiger jumped right in front of me and unexpectedly put its massive head toward my belly. It was just like my bird fluffy, he will lower his head when I touch him so that I can massage him. So, I touched the head and back of tiger, it felt like touching a carpet...

The 5 Daily Devotions -The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - A Book

I am reading a book from Robin Sharma called: "Discover Your Destiny With the Monk Who Sold His Farrari". A book full of wisdom. The challenge for the seeker of truth is to dedicate ourselves to learning the process and staying with it until it becomes second nature. There are seven stages of Self-Awakening. Most of the people on the planet earth are in the stage 1. Let's see what are the seven stages: (I copied to my blogpage for my ongoing reference)

Stage 1 Living a lie (The Stage of Self-Betrayal)

Stage 2 The Choicepoint (The stage of Relasing Control and Breaking Your Chains

Stage 3 Awareness of Wonder and Possibility (Ths stage of Seeing with New Eyes)

Stage 4 Instruction From Masters (The Stage of Learning, Failing and Preparation)

Stage 5 Transformation and Rebirth ( The Stage of Emptying and Refilling)

Stage 6 The Trial ( The Stage of Testing and Conifrmation)

Stage 7 The Great Awakening of SELF ( The Stage of Fearlessness)

These are simple daily ritual that we can practice to reach that enlightening stage.

The 5 Daily Devotions:

• Devote yourself to rising at 5 A.M. each and every morning. Those who get up early are those who get the best from life.
• Devote yourself to setting aside the first sixty minutes of your day as your "Holy Hour." This is your sacred time to do the inner work required to help you become your best. Use this period to read from the wisdom literature, to meditate or pray, to reflect on the state of your life and the progress of your dreams in your journal, or to think deeply about what must unfold over the coming hours of the day in order for you to feel it was a successful one. Performing this ritual daily will help you to shine brightly in the world and live at your highest.
• Devote yourself to displaying a standard of care, compassion, and character well beyond what anyone could ever imagine from you. In doing so, you will be doing your part to aid in the building of a new world.
• Devote yourself to displaying a standard of excellence at work far higher than anyone would ever expect from you. Abundance and fulfillment will flow back to you.
• Devote yourself to being the most loving person you know and thinking, feeling, and acting as though you are one of the greatest people currently on the planet (because you are). Your life will never be the same and you will bless many lives.

Excerpt from "Discover Your Destiny with the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" by Robin Sharma

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of confidence but where he stands at time of challenge and controversy" ----Martin Luther King Jr.

Valet Parking - A Dream

I had trouble doing my meditation this morning, after about 1 and 1/2 hours struggle to still my mind, I gave up and went back to sleep. Then I had the following fragmented dream.

I was working in my office, and using this bulky, ugly, old and dusty computer at my work. I felt a little distressed of working on that computer. When the day was over, we were all line up in the parking lot, waiting for bellboy to pick up our car because our company have valet parking service. I was nervously fumbling into my purse to get my ID and my ticket. I sensed the unusual nature of valet parking, but just like any other dreams, I did not question it's validity. So the valet parking at my company seemed to be normal, but I had a little sense of annoyance of having to wait for my car.

note: As to Calea Z experiment, I took six capsules on Friday night, it was about 3,000 milligram, but I had no lucid dream experience, as a matter of fact, I did not recall any dream at all, let alone lucid! Apparently, Calea Z of dream herb has no effect on me. I guess I will have to learn lucid dreaming on my own.

Calea Z, "Leaf of God"?

Eight months ago when I started to learn Lucid Dreaming, I cam across websites and some books mentioning Calea Z, a dream herb, that is also called "Leaf of God". I managed to get 24 capsules just several days ago.

I tried three nights in a row taking 2 capsules the first two nights and 3 capsules the third night. Guess what? I had no recall of any dreams at all during these three nights. It is like my memory was being wiped out to a clean slate. This herb was supposed to help me to have vivid, lucid dream. My experience was completely opposite of what it supposed to do. I was really disappointed. Well, after the uneventful third night, I decided to give it a rest for three days, and I will pick it up again on Friday and will increase the dosage to 4 capsule.

Some people also mentioned about having a sense of well-being and clarity of consciousness after taking Calea Z, but I simply could not experience anything good or bad.

I don't know this herb that I bought is really Calea Z, but I did open the capsule and tasted a tiny bit of it, and it was very bitter just as some books have described.

Tomorrow, Friday, I will resume taking the "Leaf of God" and see what happens.

The first small taste of lucid experience

I got up 4:55 am, had about 1 1/2 hours meditation to 6:30 am , I then intended just to rest a few minutes. Within the next 15 minutes, I had a dream that I believe I was lucid and was able to control and direct my thought. I woke up feeling odd, happy and could not stop laughing at myself.

I drove to the direction of international airport. I parked my car and for some reason I needed to get something in the car, I looked up and down the parking lot and could not find it. I thought that was strange cause I just parked it a minute ago.

I walked into the busy terminal, crowds were all over the place, people were standing and walking shoulder to shoulder, at that point, I gained some lucidity and purposely touched the luggage, travel bags and thought to myself, "It is so real". I suddenly remember the book that I read about lucid dream and what people do when they are lucid. I decided I want to kiss someone. So, I searched male passengers that is at least ok-looking and find one person standing there as if he was waiting for someone. He had mustache and not bad looking, I approached him and kissed him on the lips, I really did not feel anything particular except the bristle touch of his mustache.

I stood in the terminal a while trying to figure out what I wanted to do next that I was lucid. I thought I like to fly. In the instant that I out-stretched my arms, off I went flying. I flew to the top corner of the terminal, looking down enjoying hustles and bustles of frenzy activities below. Knowing that nothing can hurt me, I purposely flew past the concrete walls of the terminal and landed on the other side. And then I thought to do the 360 degree spin over just to see how it felt, while I was spinning I also started to wake up.

I woke up smiling. Wow, that was the first lucid dream I have experienced.

"The Justice On the Grass" A Book by Dina Temple-Raston

I have read a book, "The Justice On the Grass" recounting the 1994 Rwanda Massacre by Dina Temple-Raston. It is a story of Tribunal's media trial. A must read for people interested in the unfolding and underlying historical causes of genocide in Rwanda.

Millions of people were swayed by decades of hatred and media incitement, Rwanda was a Dante's Inferno. The incident was so profound, even now when anyone mention Rwanda, genocide is the first thought that pop into people's mind. And this happened just a decade ago in the late Twentieth Century, a recent history.

In the book, the author indicated that Nazi's extermination of Jews took about nine years to manifest, a million lives were lost, but Rwanda lost about 800,000 people in a span of only 100 days. The killing were quite efficient. It was like entire nation was hypnotized by the sphere of hatred and completely lost their senses in the mindless killing spree, humanity at it's darkness.

For me who is in the path of wanting to know the truth of the universe, I often ask, "Have these people learned a lesson in their lifetime?" "Are these experiences necessary for the growth of souls?" I don't know the true answer, but from want I have learned and experienced, I know that all pain and suffering are life lessons in disguise, it meant to be a spiritual test; just like the test in which I am now undergoing.