Ramana Maharshi: Self-Inquiry Meditation Method Part 2

[Part two of Monday's insightful post on conscious awakening. Enjoy . . .]

Question: The yogis say that one must renounce this world and go off into secluded jungles if one wishes to find the truth.

Ramana Maharshi: The life of action need not be renounced. If you meditate for an hour or two every day you can then carry on with your duties. If you meditate in the right manner then the current of mind induced will continue to flow even in the midst of your work. It is as though there were two ways of expressing the same idea; the same line which you take in meditation will be expressed in your activities.

Question: What will be the result of doing that?

Ramana Maharshi: As you go on you will find that your attitude towards people, events and objects gradually changes. Your actions will tend to follow your meditations of their own accord.

Question: Then you do not agree with the yogis?

Ramana Maharshi: A man should surrender the personal selfishness which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.

Question: How is it possible to become selfless while leading a life of worldly activity?

Ramana Maharshi: There is no conflict between work and wisdom.

Question: Do you mean that one can continue all the old activities in one’s profession, for instance, and at the same time get enlightenment?

Ramana Maharshi: Why not? But in that case one will not think that it is the old personality which is doing the work, because ones consciousness will gradually become transferred until it is centered in that which is beyond the little self.

Question: If a person is engaged in work, there will be little time left for him to meditate.

Ramana Maharshi: Setting apart time for meditation is only for the merest spiritual novices. A man who is advancing will begin to enjoy the deeper beatitude whether he is at work or not. While his hands are in society, he keeps his head cool in solitude.

Question: Then you do not teach the way of yoga?

Ramana Maharshi:　 The yogi tries to drive his mind to the goal, as a cowherd drives a bull with a stick, but on this path the seeker coaxes the bull by holding out a handful of grass.

Question: How is that done?

Ramana Maharshi: You have to ask yourself the Question `Who am I ?' This investigation will lead in the end to the discovery of something within you which is behind the mind. Solve that great problem and you will solve all other problems.

Question: Why is concentration ineffective?

Ramana Maharshi: To ask the mind to kill the mind is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained. So you must turn inward and see from where the mind rises and then it will cease to exist.

Question: In turning the mind inwards, are we not still employing the mind?

Ramana Maharshi: Of course we are employing the mind. It is well known and admitted that only with the help of the mind can the mind be killed. But instead of setting about saying there is a mind, and I want to kill it, you begin to seek the source of the mind, and you find the mind does not exist at all. The mind, turned outwards, results in thoughts and objects. Turned inwards, it becomes itself the Self.

Question: How can I tell if I am making progress with my inquiry?

Ramana Maharshi: The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress towards Self-realization. But Self-realization itself does not admit of progress, it is ever the same. The Self remains always in realization. The obstacles are thoughts. Progress is measured by the degree of removal of the obstacles to understanding that the Self is always realized. So thoughts must be checked by seeking to whom they arise. So you go to their source, where they do not arise.　

Question: Doubts are always arising. Hence my Question.

Ramana Maharshi: A doubt arises and is cleared. Another arises and that is cleared, making way for yet another; and so it goes on. So there is no possibility of clearing away all doubts. See to whom the doubts arise. Go to their source and abide in it. Then they cease to arise. That is how doubts are to be cleared.

Source: from book "Be As You Are" by David Godman

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Copyright 2012, by Dardarji. All rights reserved. If you would like some additional information on self improvement, meditation, and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ to down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources. Like us on Facebook!

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Ramana Maharshi: Self-Inquiry Meditation Method Part 1

I don't know about you, but I like to cut to the chase - get to the point of the matter as quickly as I can. Often however, when it comes to conscious awakening, you must let time and reflection be your guide. I won't leave you high and dry however – following are some excerpts on conscious awakening given by whom I consider to be one of my spiritual teachers, Ramana Maharashi.

In this excerpt you will find actual questions by spiritual seekers just like you and I who were seeking to find the somewhat illusive path to spiritual awakening. I have found these questions and answers particularly beneficial in my own spiritual understanding and practice. Enjoy . . .

Question: You say one can realize the Self by a search for it. What is the character of this search?

Ramana Maharshi: You are the mind or think that you are the mind. The mind is nothing but thoughts. Now behind every particular thought there is a general thought, which is the `I', that is yourself. Let us call this `I' the first thought. Stick to this `I'-thought and Question it to find out what it is. When this Question takes strong hold on you, you cannot think of other thoughts.

Question: When I do this and cling to myself, that is, the `I'-thought, other thoughts come and go, but I say to myself `Who am I ?' and there is no answer forthcoming. To be in this condition is the practice. Is it so?

Ramana Maharshi: This is a mistake that people often make. What happens when you make a serious quest for the Self is that the `I'-thought disappears and something else from the depths takes hold of you and that is not the `I' which commenced the quest.

Question: What is this something else?

Ramana Maharshi: That is the real Self, the import of `I'. It is not the ego. It is the Supreme Being itself.

Question: But you have often said that one must reject other thoughts when one begins the quest but the thoughts are endless. If one thought is rejected, another comes and there seems to be no end at all.

Ramana Maharshi: I do not say that you must go on rejecting thoughts. Cling to yourself, that is, to the `I'-thought. When your interest keeps you to that single idea, other thoughts will automatically get rejected and they will vanish.

Question: And so rejection of thoughts is not necessary?

Ramana Maharshi: No. It may be necessary for a time or for some. You fancy that there is no end if one goes on rejecting every thought when it rises. It is not true, there is an end. If you are vigilant and make a stern effort to reject every thought when it rises you will soon find that you are going deeper and deeper into your own inner self. At that level it is not necessary to make an effort to reject thoughts.

Question: Then it is possible to be without effort, without strain.

Ramana Maharshi: Not only that, it is impossible for you to make an effort beyond a certain extent.

Question: I want to be further enlightened. Should I try to make no effort at all?

Ramana Maharshi: Here it is impossible for you to be without effort. When you go deeper, it is impossible for you to make any effort.  If the mind becomes introverted through inquiry into the source of aham-vritti, the vasanas become extinct. The light of the Self falls on the vasanas and produces the phenomenon of reflection we call the mind. Thus, when the vasanas become extinct the mind also disappears, being absorbed into the light of the one reality, the Heart. This is the sum and substance of all that an aspirant needs to know. What is imperatively required of him is an earnest and one pointed inquiry into the source of the aham-vritti.

Question: How should a beginner start this practice?

Ramana Maharshi: The mind will subside only by means of the inquiry `Who am I?' The thought 'Who am I?', destroying all other thoughts, will itself finally be destroyed like the stick used for stirring the funeral pyre. If other thoughts rise one should, without attempting to complete them, inquire `To whom did they rise?' What does it matter however many thoughts rise? At the very moment that each thought rises, if one vigilantly inquires `To whom did this rise?', it will be known `To me'. If one then inquires `Who am I?', the mind will turn back to its source [the Self] and the thought which had risen will also subside. By repeatedly practicing thus, the power of the mind to abide in its source increases.

Although tendencies towards sense-objects [vishaya vasanas], which have been recurring down the ages, rise in countless numbers like the waves of the ocean, they will all perish as meditation on one?s nature becomes more and more intense. Without giving room even to the doubting thought, `Is it possible to destroy all these tendencies [vasanas] and to remain as Self alone?', one should persistently cling fast to self-attention.

As long as there are tendencies towards sense-objects in the mind, the inquiry `Who am I ?' is necessary. As and when thoughts rise, one should annihilate all of them through inquiry then and there in their very place of origin. Not attending to what-is-other [anya] is non-attachment [vairagya] or desirelessness [nirasa]. Not leaving Self is knowledge [jnana]. In truth, these two [desirelessness and knowledge] are one and the same. Just as a pearl-diver, tying a stone to his waist, dives into the sea and takes the pearl lying at the bottom, so everyone, diving deep within himself with non-attachment, can attain the pearl of Self. If one resorts uninterruptedly to remembrance of one?s real nature [swarupasmarana] until one attains Self, that alone will be sufficient.

Inquiring `Who am I that is in bondage?' and knowing ones real nature [swarupa] alone is liberation. Always keeping the mind fixed in Self alone is called 'self-inquiry', whereas meditation [dhyana] is thinking oneself to be the absolute [Brahman], which is existence-consciousness-bliss [sat-chit-ananda].

Source: From book "Be As You Are", compiled by David Goodman

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Copyright 2012, by Dardarji. All rights reserved. If you would like some additional information on self improvement, meditation, and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ to down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources. Like us on Facebook!

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The Only Day That Matters

"Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. In other words, if we’re going to be more cheerful in the future, it’s because of our aspiration and exertion to be cheerful in the present. What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now." ~ Pema Chodran

"Do not carry the burden of the past; do not live in the future. The only important thing is that one lives in the present authentically and fully. Whatever your current life is, be the most you can be by living in the moment." ~ Chan Chih

There are two days in every week, about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.

Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and its poor performance; Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today. Any person can fight the battle of just one day. It is when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities Yesterday and Tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad, it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring. Let us, therefore, live but one day at a time.

Author: Unknown

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Copyright 2012, by Dardarji. All rights reserved. If you would like some additional information on self improvement, meditation, and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ to down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources. Like us on Facebook!

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Meditation: A Surefire Method to Find Inner Peace

How to find inner peace seems to be one of the biggest trends of the 21st century. Learning to seek out enlightenment and inner peace seems to be the buzz trend. People are buying up books everywhere and running from guru to teacher to try to find that inner peace they so desperately crave. So then, who really has inner peace and how did they find it? I dont know about you, but when I first began my quest for inner peace I felt a bit lost when it came to uncovering the Truth.

One surefire method for determining if you are on the right path on your way to discovering inner peace is to simply ask yourself the question, "Am I more at peace than I was a year ago or six months ago?" If you feel that you are finding more peacefulness as you progress on your path, then you know it must be working.

If you aren't sure if you have been more peaceful, or if you think that maybe it isn't working then I suggest that you learn to to sit still a little more each day. Sitting still each day, and closing your eyes as you sit, can be a great way to calm your mind and emotions so that peacefulness eventually becomes more normal for you. Here is a bit of wisdom for you to ponder on your path to peacefulness -inner peace only comes from one place and that's the inner part of you! If you find that you aren't feeling peaceful, it's time to look deeper within yourself.

Many times, when people decide to start a daily meditation program, they discover that their thoughts and emotions are running wild inside of them and they feel almost instantly discouraged. Common statements from beginners are "Am I doing it right?", "How should I sit?" and "Should I concentrate on my breathing?"

If you find yourself thinking the same thoughts, relax. There is no "right" way to sit still or "correct" thing to concentrate on when you meditate. You're goal is to simply sit still with your eyes closed and relax. Don't fall asleep but don't worry so much about whether it is "right" or "wrong". If you are sitting there with your eyes closed then it is right! That's all there is to it.

I think that, especially for beginning meditators, that the hard part comes when you start judging and analyzing all of the thoughs and emotions which arise. You then feel that this causes alot of frustration with what you are trying to do. But what are you trying to do? Nothing! So why then did you get so frustrated about nothing?

The main issue for novice meditators is that they think there is a special formula for meditation and a way of doing it that will make them an "expert". The truth is that there is no correct way of doing it and there is no set formula. Everything you do will be correct. Just sit there and, by doing it each day for a certain amount of time, this will eventually result in more calmness of your mental processes and an equilibrium of your emotions. The beginning, however, as you are teaching your mind and emotions to to not run rampant, can sometimes be the toughest time.

I like to think of it this way - did you ever try to teach a dog to sit still? You can usually teach him to sit but getting him to 'stay' is a bit tougher. This is oftent the same problem for people. People know how to sit but they never learn how to stay. If you can teach yourself to both sit and stay you will be among the very few people in the world who have learned a very valuable trick. For dogs, it takes some extra 'Scooby snacks' to get them to do it.

For human beings it sometimes requires a timer, a calendar and the fun game of checking off the days of the week as they complete their task of staying for 30 minutes or more. Some humans get to be experts at this trick and can sit still for over an hour and for several different times a day. These humans are sort of like the dogs you have seen on television who can perform in front of a panel of judges and can sit and stay for long periods of time. Their masters always love them a lot and they always win the contests they enter.

As funny as this comparison may seem, it actually applies quite well. If you learn to sit for longer periods of time without having to move around in your chair and without your mind doing cartwheels every moment, you will eventually start to win more things in life. The Master behind your thoughts and emotions will eventually come forward and reward you with a lot of great 'Scooby snacks'. Finding inner peace can be as easy as training a dog but you have to be a good dog who really wants to please his master. Now get out there and "sit" and, next time you do it, make sure and "stay" too!

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Copyright 2012, by Dardarji. All rights reserved. If you would like some additional information on self improvement, meditation, and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ to down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources. Like us on Facebook!

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Meditation 101: How to Meditate

Have you ever wondered how to meditate? There is no one set technique for participating in a meditation practice, no necessary tools, nor is there a prescribed set time for a meditation practice. Another great thing about meditation practice is that it can be performed anywhere, sitting down, standing up, or laying down.

So what is the best way for a beginner to perform meditation? In my own daily meditation practice I have found that the easiest and most practiced way to achieve a calm, meditative state is to focus on your breath.

The Buddha gave the following discourse concerning becoming aware of one’s breath:

“What is the way to develop and practice continuously the method of full awareness breathing so that the practice will be rewarding and offer great benefit?

“It is like this, the practitioner goes into the forest or to the foot of a tree, or to any deserted place, and sits stably in the cross-legged position, holding one’s body quite straight. Breathing in, one knows that one is breathing in; and breathing out, one knows that one is breathing out.

“. . . The full awareness of breathing, if developed and practiced continuously according to these instructions, will be rewarding and of great benefit.”

An Easy Meditation Practice For Beginners

1. Sit in a chair, or on the floor either in lotus or half-lotus position, keeping your spine erect.
2. Breathe in two to three times, inhaling through your nose, and exhaling through your mouth. As you exhale, physically relax your muscles in your body while still maintaining an erect posture. Feel your neck and face, and brow muscles relax.
3. Close your eyes. Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose, drawing the air down into the pit of your stomach. This will cause your lower abdomen to push out slightly. Notice the air as it enters you nose. Observe how it feels as it fills your lungs.
4. Next, exhale slowly through your mouth. Pay attention to the air exiting your mouth. Notice how it feels as it exits your lungs and mouth. Just observe it.
5. If a thought arises such as “Did I pay my electric phone bill?”, or “I’m hungry”, don’t ignore the thought, just notice it and return to your breathing.
6. Continue this process as long as you’d like to, preferably 15 to 20 minutes.

The greatest challenge in the above exercise is what I call “soft” focus on the breath. Don’t try too hard to notice or analyze your breathing. Just pay attention to it. Most important of all – relax!

Quite often when I am teaching meditation it becomes readily apparent who is trying to “force” their attention on their breath. Their shoulders tense and rise with each breath, their jaw may clench, and a lot times their eyebrows wrinkle together. The key is to allow yourself to completely relax and to just allow the breath to come and go while observing it.

Learning how to meditate is a simple as stopping your daily routine, relaxing your body, and pausing a few minutes to focus on your breathing. Practice your breathing meditation on a daily basis, and before you know it, your mind and body will be hooked!

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Copyright 2012, by Dardarji. All rights reserved. If you would like some additional information on self improvement, meditation, and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ to down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources. Like us on Facebook!

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10 Principles for Living a More Powerful and Enriched Life

As one of my spiritual teachers and mentors, Wayne Dyer has continued to be a rich source of inspiration and knowledge to me. The following are some thought provoking and wisdom packed notes for you to learn and enjoy.

10 principles for living a more powerful and enriching life:

1) Have a mind which is open and attached to nothing- There are no boundaries.
- Put your thoughts on what you want. If your thoughts are on what others think of you, you will become that.
- Never focus on the problem more than a few moments.
- Focus and put your thoughts off of what is and put on what you intend to manifest.
- Look at what you believe is impossible and rewrite your agreement with reality and make it possible for you.
- Live your life detached from outcome. I am not motivated by the outcome. I am not motivated by other people's approval.

2) Don't die with your music still in you - You come into the world with nothing and you leave the world with nothing, you cannot have anything. The only thing you can do with your life is give it away, serve others.
- Meditate of earth without you on it and you will see what you want to do while you are alive.
- Move into the direction of serving. Your job is not to say how? but say 'YES'.

3) You can't give away what you don't have- Love yourself to give away love.
- Energy comes in low and high and moves fast and slow. Everything is energy. There are no and vibrating at a frequency. Meditation slows down thought and raises your frequency.problems, there is only energy moving. Low energy thoughts weaken us. Spiritual energy is the fastest energy in the universe. All problems show up in the world of solid (slow energy). If we bring spiritual energy (fast energy) the problem is solved. Bring higher and faster energy in presence of slower and lower energy.
- Appreciate rather than depreciate, moves you into synchronicity with Energy of love,cheerfulness,kindness, peace( higher energy), when this energy is brought into your problems then problems cannot survive.
- You are energy which is moving
-The problem with force is it creates counter force. If you react to these lower energies you create a magnified lower field, instead of reacting, act with higher energy.
- If you die while you are alive (detach yourself from what people think), you enter into the world of spirit. And bring that higher energy in this world.

4) Embrace silence- Sound is made by silence between the notes. Meditate everyday and put your attention and energy to what you intend to manifest with passion and then surrender and let go.
- Surface of the pond has disturbance but deep below the pond there is calmness. Same with your mind it is full of chatter reduce the thoughts by meditation.
- Whatever it is you want to create it is out of the void. You can never divide the silence. Creation happens with the gap between thoughts.

5) Give up your personal history- Is it possible for the wake to drive the boat? No. Thus is also true for your life. The boat is driven in the present moment by the motor. Thank for all the past falls and struggles. Your life is going the way it is because of the choices you have made.
- Build yourself to be free from what somebody will say or think or use against you. Friends, relatives, parents, peers, girls, co-workers.
- Self-reliance...learn to rely on yourself, and get things done by yourself.
- Do not spend your time thinking about your past or facts of your life.
- Don't bond to your wounds or stick to your labels.
- Live in now free with love of god.
- Don't be bonded to the past. Do not use it to get attention to yourself. Its about letting it all go. I can never fail at anything.

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10 Secrets to Success and Inner Peace

Success and inner peace tend to go hand in hand but you may find one before you find the other. Many people struggle early on in life to obtain success in their careers but find that they are extremely taxed and turn to practices and techniques for inner peace as they grow older. Others may throw themselves into spiritual practices when they are young but find that they really need to concentrate more on money and success as they get older.

It doesn't really matter which of these you choose to pursue in the beginning, you will eventually see the importance of both as you grow in wisdom and you will be interested in finding some tips or secrets that can help you to obtain them both.

Here are ten secrets to help you find both success and inner peace in your life.

• Choose a career or course of study that actually interests you instead of what you think you are "supposed" to be. You will find more happiness and energy to pursue something you really love in life rather than something you think you are "supposed" to do and this will eventually bring both success and inner peace together.
  
  
• Choose your mate very carefully. This will be the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with!m Falling in love is easy but staying in love is very hard. Make sure you are with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with before you go making a lot of promises you can't keep.
  
  
• Take up some hobbies or self-improvements early in life so that you will grow into a person with a wide range of talents and abilities as you get older. Widen your horizons and you will find that life will come much easier to you as you grow.
  
  
• Avoid negative people and people with emotional problems unless you plan to be a therapist or professional healer. More than likely, a person with emotional problems will hurt you before you are able to "help" them. Kindness and good can go a long way but take care of yourself first and foremost.
  
  
• Depend on yourself before you depend on anyone else. You are the best person to trust of anyone you know and learning to depend on yourself will strengthen your character and assure you of having a great friend with you at all times!
  
  
• Find out what your weaknesses are and make an effort to overcome them. Everyone is born with some things that they aren't so good at. Very few people are willing to admit this fact and try to do something about it. Facing your fears can make you a stronger person and someone who you can always depend on.
  
  
• Avoid getting stuck in a bad habit or even worse, and addictive personality. Putting your own spiritual growth at the center of your life will make it possible to avoid the pitfalls of drugs and alcohol and find inner peace much easier.
  
  
• Don't expect yourself to be perfect. Mistakes and weaknesses are what makes you human and someone that people can love. If we all had this game figured out, we wouldn't need each other and that would make for a very lonely time.
  
  
• Helping others is great but help yourself first. If you learn to help yourself without hurting others, you will become the person that others can look toward rather than the person that others take advantage of.
  
  
• Finally, exercise and meditation are two great ways to make good use of your spare time. With a healthy body and healthy mind, you will find success and inner peace right around the corner.

Success and inner peace ultimately begins within. Begin to cultivate the ten secrets of success and inner peace in your life starting today and you will find your life increasingly becoming more and more fulfilled.

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If you would like some additional information on self improvement, meditation, and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ to down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources. Like us on Facebook!

Read More

10 Secrets to Success and Inner Peace

Success and inner peace tend to go hand in hand but you may find one before you find the other. Many people struggle early on in life to obtain success in their careers but find that they are extremely taxed and turn to practices and techniques for inner peace as they grow older. Others may throw themselves into spiritual practices when they are young but find that they really need to concentrate more on money and success as they get older.

It doesn't really matter which of these you choose to pursue in the beginning, you will eventually see the importance of both as you grow in wisdom and you will be interested in finding some tips or secrets that can help you to obtain them both.

Here are ten secrets to help you find both success and inner peace in your life.

Choose a career or course of study that actually interests you instead of what you think you are "supposed" to be. You will find more happiness and energy to pursue something you really love in life rather than something you think you are "supposed" to do and this will eventually bring both success and inner peace together.

Choose your mate very carefully. This will be the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with!m Falling in love is easy but staying in love is very hard. Make sure you are with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with before you go making a lot of promises you can't keep.

Take up some hobbies or self-improvements early in life so that you will grow into a person with a wide range of talents and abilities as you get older. Widen your horizons and you will find that life will come much easier to you as you grow.

Avoid negative people and people with emotional problems unless you plan to be a therapist or professional healer. More than likely, a person with emotional problems will hurt you before you are able to "help" them. Kindness and good can go a long way but take care of yourself first and foremost.

Depend on yourself before you depend on anyone else. You are the best person to trust of anyone you know and learning to depend on yourself will strengthen your character and assure you of having a great friend with you at all times!

Find out what your weaknesses are and make an effort to overcome them. Everyone is born with some things that they aren't so good at. Very few people are willing to admit this fact and try to do something about it. Facing your fears can make you a stronger person and someone who you can always depend on.

Avoid getting stuck in a bad habit or even worse, and addictive personality. Putting your own spiritual growth at the center of your life will make it possible to avoid the pitfalls of drugs and alcohol and find inner peace much easier.

Don't expect yourself to be perfect. Mistakes and weaknesses are what makes you human and someone that people can love. If we all had this game figured out, we wouldn't need each other and that would make for a very lonely time.

Helping others is great but help yourself first. If you learn to help yourself without hurting others, you will become the person that others can look toward rather than the person that others take advantage of.

Finally, exercise and meditation are two great ways to make good use of your spare time. With a healthy body and healthy mind, you will find success and inner peace right around the corner.

##

If you would like some additional information on self improvement and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ to down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources.

Read More

The Only Day That Matters

"Now is the only time. How we relate to it creates the future. In other words, if we are going to be more cheerful in the future, it's because of our aspiration and exertion to be cheerful in the present. What we do accumulates; the future is the result of what we do right now." ~ Pema Chodran

"Do not carry the burden of the past; do not live in the future. The only important thing is that one lives in the present authentically and fully. Whatever your current life is, be the most you can be by living in the moment." ~ Chan Chih

[The following insightful piece of wisdom was sent to me to share on my blog post from my teacher Chetsang Xian Rinposhe.  Enjoy, and thanks Master Xian . . .  ]

There are two days in every week, about which we should not worry, two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday with all its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.

Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back Yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed; we cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone forever.

The other day we should not worry about is Tomorrow with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and its poor performance; Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

Tomorrow's sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise. Until it does, we have no stake in Tomorrow, for it is yet to be born.

This leaves only one day, Today. Any person can fight the battle of just one day. It is when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities Yesterday and Tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad, it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring. Let us, therefore, live but one day at a time.

Author: Unknown

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If you would like some additional information on self improvement and spirituality go to http://www.transformationalspirituality.com/ and down load free ebooks, mp3's, and other resources.

Read More