On a similar and not unconnected note, Tony Robbins, the coaching voice of America is an ex-marine and John Grinder, the NLP meister wordsmith and one of its originators, was trained in linguistics and semantic rigmarole from those self-help, self-slapping-thwacking Jesuits: “Being trained by Jesuits, John was instructed by Jesuits for four years, during University, from the ages of 18 to 22. Jesuits are superb at argumentation and the structure of reasoning. John “admitted” he loves to argue with them.” (source: http://users.telenet.be/merlevede/john.htm ).

I agree, btw, all the tomfoolery is just shocking, terrible, very childish, unless authorised. And who is it who starts all this? I agree – Parmartha and Frank. Honestly – tut, tut, tut. Come on boys, you ought to know better….

Pull yourselves together!!!

And his support for the bronze medallist shows how essentially third-rate the whole third-rate enterprise of Sannyas, as based in the baboon house of London Zoo, has become!

And this revolting, cynical old freak-dog Frank, who urinates shamelessly on the holiest of thrones and, as you make clear, seems to think that the road to enlightenment is some kind of game and a joke, needs to feel the full force of your Zen-stick.

Unlike the newly-crowned yogi, N. Modi, who is the embodiment of Zorba the Buddha, as Arun has declared, this depraved baboondog Frank has probably spent his life in a whole catastrophe of doing a series of menial tasks, drinking heavily, chasing women, playing tricks on holy seekers, dancing and loafing on beaches, telling stories and blagging money from wealthy Englishmen and generally larging it up!
It is a disgrace!

And your guru, this therapriest Avikal, who claims that he knows that “to say “I know” is the biggest trap”, has clearly caught his own well-fed buttocks in the very same “I know” trap!
Ha! These would-be therapriest gurus!
They do not know of what they speak!

They should hurl themselves at the feet of Arun or my own guru, Swami Bharat, who said to me only last week,
“You know, Yogi, therapists are like the clap.
Once they enter your life, they are pretty hard to shake off.”

Hari Om!
Yahoo!

Such a revealing remark.
In the best possible way.

“Whether we are doing something good and worthwhile with our lives or not, time never waits but keeps flowing. Not only does time flow unhindered, but correspondingly our life too keeps moving onward all the time. If something has gone wrong, we cannot turn back time and try again. In that sense, there is no genuine second chance.

Hence, it is crucial for a spiritual practitioner constantly to examine his or her attitudes and actions. If we examine ourselves every day with mindfulness and mental alertness, checking our thoughts, motivations, and their manifestations in external behavior, a possibility for change and self-improvement can open within us.

Although I myself cannot claim with confidence to have made any remarkable progress over the years, my desire and determination to change and improve is always firm. From early morning until I go to bed and in all situations of life, I always try to check my motivation and be mindful and present in the moment. Personally, I find this to be very helpful in my own life.”

The Dalai Lama, ‘The World of Tibetan Buddhism’

I would like to share some Sundays like today rereading another of the numerous recent posts from another point of view, as I still trust that I am not facing a machine (algorhythem-wise) when writing here or reading here.

The following quote comes from Avikal (14 June, 2014 – Oshonews.com) and also belongs here, I feel.
And Frank, you are not at all “an old freak” to stick to some essential values in the realms of what is called “meditation” in precarious times and their marketplace.

Madhu

“The trap
The Inner Judge is wily and full of tricks. What we get from the teaching and use ‘just’ for survival is a trick of the Inner Judge. Justifying our actions with our spiritual understanding is another trick of the Inner Judge. Assuming spiritual superiority is another trick of the Inner Judge. The bottom line is that ‘I know’ is the biggest trap that causes the soul to wither.

Boxes
Every time we feel satisfied that we have found a name for something, given it a definition, put it in a box … time after time … every time we blame the other or look for a saviour we throw the precious richness of our humanness to the winds and our soul withers.

The way is the goal
Often I hear people say that this path is difficult. It is true that growing up involves commitment, attention and willpower and that at times it is difficult to find resources inside. It is also true that only that which arises from our intelligence, love and dedication gives us satisfaction. Nothing else but that. And you know it all too well.

It is also this temporary difficulty that gives us a great and growing sense of integrity and trust, and that makes us feel, “Yes, this is finally me!”

‘You are not alone’
In discovering our Authentic Self we are not alone. All around us there are people who have taken the fundamental step of placing themselves at the centre of their own lives. This is not in the narcissistic way of the ego that believes and expects that everything revolves around itself. It is for those who, forged by the fire of the responsibility of their own evolution, have the courage to ask themselves over and over again, “What has all of this to do with me?” These are the ones who turn their attention within; they turn their awareness and their energy within, too, and in doing so stop looking outside for answers, reasons, justifications.

And only then they find true understanding and meaning, immediately, magically, in the Self that is Truth.

The statement, “And the Truth will make You Free” makes sense only if YOU know yourself as the embodiment of Truth, if the teaching is not just words and concepts but living practice of your attention and flowering of your passion. Then The Truth makes Us Free, as We are Truth, Freedom and Contentment.

This is our true Nature.”

Avikal – 14 June, 2014

Could we at SN achieve similar feats of bioenergetic accomplishments and expanded chests of wisdom or should I just change my name?

Yours,
Rolf Harriswen

It happened in Japan.
Zen got roped in to the Samurai movement and those guys were scary killers doing breathing excercises etc. like these American Seals.

Did you know that the Shaolin monastery where Bodhidharma set up his martial arts shop is now
a huge military/police training complex churning out meditative and disciplined law-and-order killing machines for the Chinese govt?

If you feel that meditation is like a dance and that you do not do it in order to reach any particular place on the dancefloor but just for the joy of it, you probably don’t work in the corporate world or the security services.

You are probably a bit of an old freak like me!

Happy trails!

“Meditation and deep breathing help slow the cognitive process and open us up to our more intuitive thoughts,” says retired SEAL commander Mark Divine, who developed SEALFit, a demanding training program for civilians that incorporates yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques. He says some of his fellow SEALs became so tuned-in, they were able to sense the presence of nearby roadside bombs. Who doesn’t want that kind of Jedi mind power?

A good place to start: Practise what the SEALs call 4 x 4 x 4 breathing. Inhale deeply for four counts, then exhale for four counts and repeat the cycle for four minutes several times a day. You’re guaranteed to feel calmer on any battleground.”