Want to help the world to be a better place? It starts with our own self...

I have just found out about today is World Peace Day...

May all beings have love and peace, and the world will be in peace...

 (Photos taken in Chiangmai from a painted wall beside the road)

We notice that there are many of us are very unhappy or depressed with the current situation in the world. We care for the world and want to help or make the world to become a better place for all beings to live in. We know that if the world is not in peace, there will be no peace in our own personal life as well. If the country is having problems, there is no peaceful condition for us to enjoy a good quality of life. If the world is having problems, it is difficult for us to be able to live in peace in anywhere of the world.

We want to have good and healthy living environment. We want peace and harmony among all beings disregard different nations, religions, believes and races. We want good, wise and selfless leaders to lead the world. We want all beings to respect and love and be kind to each other without anger, hatred, jealousy, violence and killings.

We also know that there are some people that don’t want the world to be in peace… Out of selfish intentions, they create disharmony and fear into the world. Some people just being very selfish not caring for the environment and damaging the environment consciously or unconsciously. Most of us might get very angry and frustrated with this. There’s nothing wrong to feel angry about this. But anger and hatred cannot stop this from happening. We should feel compassionate towards these people because they are being influenced or blinded by ignorance. They don’t have love, peace, compassion and wisdom in them. That’s why they are doing actions that are hurting other people and themselves.

Being upset, angry and hatred towards the bad situations that derive from wrong doings in the world now will not help the world to improve or to become better.

Anger and hatred cannot solve problems. They cannot remove negativity, anger and hatred that are existing in the world.

The only things that can stop ignorance, anger, hatred and violence, is compassion and wisdom. Only compassion and wisdom can help the world to change and evolve, to be peaceful.

This compassion and wisdom have to start with our own self. We need to realize compassion and wisdom in us. Then only we can spread compassion and wisdom to other beings, and share love and peace into the world.

If we ourselves are not compassionate, lack of wisdom, and are full of anger and hatred being disturbed by the “bad” happenings and “bad” people in the world, then how can we share love and peace with others and help the world to become a peaceful harmonious place, as we ourselves are not in peace?

If we don’t know how to take care ourselves and don’t know how to deal with our own mental and emotional tensions, then how can we take care of other beings or help others to be free from the mental and emotional tensions that contribute to the “bad” happenings in the world?

If we are full of negativity, how are we going to bring positivity and positive changes into the world?

Start with our own evolution. Love ourselves, be kind and compassionate towards our own self.

When we are compassionate towards ourselves, we won’t let ourselves to be over-powered by the impurities in our mind and be free from the influence of the selfish ego. All our actions are out of compassion and selflessness. Without intention to change the world, without expectation that the world will be changed, without discrimination of good or bad beings, wise or ignorant beings, we perform all actions that can be done to help the world to evolve. There is no anger and hatred. There is no disappointment and discontentment. There is no frustration and unhappiness.

Like the sun, the air, the water, the earth and the space. They give, provide and support all living beings and non-living beings to be exist in the universe. They perform their action of giving, providing and supporting unceasingly, selflessly, out of compassion, unlimitedly, unconditionally, without discrimination, without intention to give, they are giving all the time… Without expectation to benefit anyone or to receive anything in return, they just give, provide and support. It doesn’t matter if human beings are polluting the world, damaging the nature, and condemning the sun, the wind, the water and the earth for being too much or too little, they still continuously to give without anger, hatred and disappointment.

That is real compassion. Complete selfless. That is our true nature. Our true nature is selfless like the sun, the air, the water, the earth and the space, but we are being disconnected with this selflessness due to the veil of ignorance and the selfish ego. We become selfish and being influenced by all the impurities in the mind for us to act and react through thoughts, actions and speech.

All our actions are being influenced by the likes and dislikes, agreement and disagreement, craving and aversion that comes from the selfish and self-protective ego. And all these impure actions bring some consequences that are not necessary beneficial to anyone or as what we expected it to be.

In our true nature, there’s only selflessness and compassion, being free from the conditioned thinking mind, the limited intellect, the selfish ego, and be free from desires and ignorance. If all beings realize this true nature, being compassionate and wise, the world will be free from unnecessary and meaningless harmful wrong doings that come from human beings that are not happy, not peaceful and not satisfied due to ignorance and the wrong identification with the ego in the absence of love, peace, compassion and wisdom.

If we have love, peace, compassion and wisdom in us, we will know how to be happy and be at peace, will not be disturbed nor affected by the world, but at the same time we are aware of what is happening in the world. We know what is right, what is wrong but we are not being affected by neither of them. Out of compassion without selfish intention and expectation, we can perform many actions that need to be done and that can be done, to help other beings to realize the wisdom and compassion in them. But before that can happen, we ourselves need to be compassionate and wise. We ourselves must have love and are in peace. Then only we can share this compassion, wisdom, love and peace with other beings, and guide them to realize their true nature is love, peace, compassion and wisdom.

Only when we realize the wisdom and compassion in us, and start to reflect on our own thoughts, actions and speech, then we will have the awareness of what is right and what is wrong, what we should do and shouldn’t do. This justification of right and wrong, should do and shouldn’t do is coming from the wisdom within the true Self, and it is not coming from the limited and conditioned intellectual mind under the influence of the selfish ego, which is influenced by what the mind likes and doesn’t like, or what the mind thinks is good or not good, or what the mind agrees or disagrees with.

Knowledge that we studied from books or heard from somebody who told us or taught us since we were born until now, it’s not necessary absolutely true and correct. We were being manipulated or brain washed by so many informations that come from many impure sources.

Knowledge that will remove ignorance, anger, hatred, doubts, arrogance, jealousy, selfishness, discrimination, disharmony, violence, depression, greed, ill-will, fear and worry are true knowledge. Knowledge that will promote all these impurities are incorrect knowledge.

Knowledge and actions that are based on self-control (not being controlled or influenced by any influences that are other than ourselves and not trying to control others to be the way that we want them to be or what we think they should be), compassion (unconditional loving kindness) and selflessness (unselfish; not influenced by the ego) are pure knowledge and pure actions that cannot be judged by impure minds which are being conditioned or influenced by qualities of names and forms, selfish intention and expectation.

Some good people who love the world very much, “passionately” want to change the world, who “actively” want to help the world to become a better place, criticize those who focus on performing Sadhana spending their time meditating at a corner of the world, criticize them for sitting there doing nothing, didn’t go out to do something about the world’s problems, didn’t contribute anything to help to change the world…

The point is, when these meditator sitting there “doing nothing” is already contributing to the world as there is less a being generating negativity or harmful actions and vibrations into the world… The people who love the world “passionately” should be thankful for that.

While these meditator who seem like doing nothing, they are indeed generous contributors towards world peace, as they illuminate positive vibrations and energy of love and peace into the world…

If we don’t like what is happening in the world, and want to perform actions trying to change the situation or the condition of the world, this is very good. We should keep it up and do our best to help the world to improve, to be a better place…

But if at the same time, we are being proud and arrogant about ourselves being “good human being” or “responsible citizen of the world”, and start criticizing those who we “believe” and “think” that they don’t do anything to help the world, or they don’t contribute to a better world, and judging them as not “good human beings” or not “responsible citizen of the world”, such like “those who meditate sitting there doing nothing”, then we are not really helping the world, as we generate so much negative vibrations and energy into the world, just by being so proud and arrogant about ourselves and our “actions” that “want to change the world to be a better place”…

If we can perform all our “loving kindness” actions to help the world to be a better place without being proud and arrogant about ourselves, without criticizing those who “seem like” or “look like” they don’t contribute anything, without expecting other people will also be like us, to do what we do according to what we believe is right and good, and not doing what we don’t do according to what we believe is wrong and bad, then this is Yoga. This is selflessness and compassion…

Without peace, selflessness, compassion and wisdom in ourselves, even though we perform lots of actions try to help the world to become a better place, it doesn’t necessary means that we didn’t cause any destructions or didn’t generate negative vibrations or energy into the world…

If we want to help the world, please help ourselves first. Rise above ignorance, anger, hatred, selfishness, expectation, craving and aversion. Without being affected by what is happening in the world, out of compassion, selflessly we give and share love, peace, compassion and wisdom to every beings without fear and worry, without frustration and expectation, without attachment to our actions and the fruit of actions.

Be peaceful.

Be happy.

In peace and harmony...

In the same space...
At the same time...
The cow lies on the grass...
The bird rests on the cow...
Two chickens walk around the cow looking for food...
So peaceful and harmony...
No one owns this space, but everyone accept and respect one another to be sharing this same space of the universe...
Does the cow or the bird or the chickens require each other's permission to step into each other's "territory"?
But, if egoistic possessiveness starts to pervade one of these beings consciousness, then reactions of dislike, dissatisfaction, irritation and fear will surface and disrupt this peaceful harmony among these animals...

********

As for human beings...

When compassion exists, there's no anger and hatred...

If anger and hatred exist, there's no compassion...

There's no peace...

If we "think" we are good beings and are hating other beings that are not as "good" as we are, then obviously compassion is not there, even if we are "good"...

No matter how much we want to show our love to the "good things" that we love, and think that we are good beings and are being "compassionate", but at the same time, if we are hating other beings who are damaging the "good things" that we love, then what we thought was "compassion" in us is not really compassion at all...

Maybe we are good and want to promote "goodness", but it's not necessarily that we are being compassionate, if there is anger and hatred in us towards something that what we think is "bad" and "evil"...

There's no peace if anger and hatred exist in us even if we are "good" and love being "good"...

We try to, and want to be compassionate, but where is compassion when we are over-powered by anger and hatred?

We try to, and want to be in peace, but how can there be peace, when anger and hatred is there...

When anger and hatred disappear, compassion is there, peace is there...

Peace is never separated from compassion...

They exist together, they "come" together and they "leave" together...

Compassion and peace don't belong to "good" nor "evil"...

Compassion and peace are beyond good and evil...

It's beyond all the qualities and dualities of names and forms...

********

May all be in peace...

Be free from anger and hatred...

my daily yoga asana practice - video playlist

This is a sample of my daily yoga asana practice to share with those who want to know what I usually do for my personal asana practice.

Asana practice is an important practice in the path of Yoga to help us in purifying and controlling the mind, to render the mind calm and being at the present, as well as rendering the body strong and flexible preparing for meditation and to perform selfless service.

During the asana practice we learn to let go of judgment, comparison and expectation towards ourselves and other people. We learn to accept the present moment now as it is. We learn to accept ourselves as we are. We learn to accept the reality of the present moment now as it is, not necessary the way that we want it to be or the way that we think it should be.

It will not be the same in every session of asana practice (even if we perform the same asana routine). We learn about impermanence and allow impermanence to happen and accept the impermanence as it is. We learn to accept the ever-changing condition of the body as it is. We learn to let go of craving and aversion. We learn to let go of the ego.

When the body needs rest from the asana practice, I don’t do any asana practice for that time being. But yoga practice is always there continuously, in every moment, never ceased.

Here the asana poses were being held for a shorter period of time during the video recording and the resting time in between the asana poses was being edited for suitable viewing.

In my daily personal practice, it takes about 2 and a half hours to 3 hours to complete one session of asana practice. The asana poses are being held as long as my body feels like holding comfortably. The sun salutation is repeated minimum 10-20 rounds up to as many rounds as my body feels like doing. The resting time or relaxation in between the exercises or the asana poses is at least 15-30 seconds up to a few minutes depending on what type of exercises or poses and also depending on how my body feels after the exercise or the asana pose. The final relaxation is as long as my body wants to be completely at rest.

For the leg lift exercises usually I do as many times as my body can do. Sometimes I do more, sometimes I do less. There’s no need to count how many times. It is not important how many times we can lift the legs up, and it’s not that every one can keep the legs completely straight nor can open the legs as wide as some people do, it’s fine. Everyone has a different body type, different physical limitation, and different flexibility and strength. If the lower back is not strong enough or there’s some back problems, then put the palms down side by side under the buttocks to support the lower back. If there’s some injuries or physical limitations that you cannot perform certain exercises, then don’t do it or make some adjustments. Even if your body cannot perform any of the exercises or poses, you still can practice yoga.

Love and peace has nothing to do with whether our body is strong and flexible or not.

Yoga is not determined by how strong and flexible our body is. Yoga is not determined by how many times we can lift the legs up, nor how long we can stand on our head, nor how far our fingers can touch the toes. It’s about developing non-attachment and accepting the reality as it is at the present moment.

It doesn’t mean that we are “bad” or “weak” in practicing yoga if we can only do 5 leg lifts, and it doesn’t mean that we are very “good” or “strong” in practicing yoga if we can do 200 leg lifts. Just do whatever your body can do at the present moment when you are doing it. Every time or every practice it might be different. Sometimes the body is more energetic and sometimes it is less energetic. Sometimes it is more flexible and sometimes it is less flexible. That is the nature of impermanence.

Learn to be comfortable in all the exercises, not struggling and not forcing our body to go beyond its limitation. Relaxed into all the poses and hold as long as you can comfortably. Slowly the body will build up strength and flexibility.

Even if the body still not strong or flexible to perform certain poses after many years of practice, it’s fine. That doesn’t determine that we are good or bad in practicing yoga.

Learn to accept the condition of our body as it is, and be comfortable with our body as it is at the present moment now. Not comparing ourselves with our own past experience. Not projecting into the future what we want our body to become. Let the result or the benefits come naturally. Allow the strength and flexibility to come naturally. Even though we don’t know what are the benefits from doing the exercises or not having any expectation from doing the exercises, the benefits will still be there. It won’t increase when we know about it or have expectation. It won’t decrease nor disappear when we don’t know about it nor not having any expectation. Not comparing with other people nor try to become somebody else that we are not.

Be comfortable with ourselves for who we are, what we are, how we are, where we are, what we are doing and not doing, what we can do and cannot do. There’s no craving nor aversion. There’s no craving to become more strong, more flexible, more happy, more wise, or more peaceful… Because “we” are not determined by all these qualities… We are eternal peace itself. We don’t become peaceful or unpeaceful, that impermanent changing “peacefulness” and “unpeacefulness” is just the impermanent state of the mind… We are not the mind, but we are aware of all the states of the mind. There’s no aversion towards what we are now, how we are now, where we are now, what we are doing or not doing, what we can do or cannot do.

Peace is always there in us. It never increase nor decrease. This peace is not determined nor conditioned by the impermanent condition of our body or the ability of our body to do this or that…

Just practice. Keep practice. No judgment. No comparison, No expectation. No craving. No aversion.

I didn’t edit the part 10 – Headstand. The first few minutes is just basic headstand without any variations. Usually in a video that demonstrates headstand, it only shows about the variations of headstand moving in motion. I didn’t edit it to show that it is important to stay in the headstand without any variations for as long as possible and comfortably without checking on the time. It is not the time that matters, but being able to stay in the pose comfortably for a long period of time without the idea of time, without changing the pose or posture. This can train the body and mind to be patient and to develop strong determination and will-power.

It is essential to stay in the headstand for a minimum of 5-15 minutes for getting the effects or benefits of performing headstand. At the beginning, one may stay in the headstand just for a few seconds, and then keep practice until one can stay up to 5 – 10 minutes. It doesn’t matter if someone still cannot perform headstand after many times of practice, or someone who has some health complications or physical injuries that don’t allow him or her to perform headstand, know that this doesn’t determine whether we can practice yoga or not, or whether we are practicing yoga or not.

Peace, compassion and selflessness is nothing to do with the ability of our physical body to perform the asana poses/exercises. Anyone whether can perform headstand or not, can stay in headstand for a few seconds or for a few minutes, is still practicing yoga when they have unconditional love and peace, when they are selfless and compassionate, when they know non-attachment, when they have self-control over their own thoughts, actions and speech.

After coming down from headstand, it is important to stay in child pose for a few moments and then rest in savasan for a few minutes and then followed with some post-headstand counter poses like shoulderstand, plough and fish. This can help to release any muscles tightness that arise during headstand, and to balance up the energy fields and to ensure maximum benefits.

Om shanti.

It is not necessary that a spiritual giant should have a muscular body. The greatest Jnani may also be tubercular patient. There is no contradiction between the two.

一个灵性修行圣者未必会有强壮健全的身体。最伟大的智者也可能是结核病患者。两者之间并没有出现任何的矛盾。

Swami Sivananda

Anyway, a real yogi doesn’t need to labeling or naming or calling himself or herself a “yogi”…

There’s no “good” or “bad” yogi if he or she is a real yogi…

My Happiness

Happiness is myself. I am happiness. It is within me all the time. It is not something that I attained from outside. It’s not something to be gained or learned from the outside. It’s not something that I do or don’t do, like or don’t like, can do or cannot do. It is beyond happiness and unhappiness. It is beyond my mind, my intellect, my ego, my senses, my thoughts, my feelings, my sensations, my body and beyond all the names and forms that I can perceive with this mind. It is beyond like and dislike, comfort and discomfort, good and not good.

I am content with wherever I am, not longing to be somewhere else and not attached to be here either. I can be here or there. I am content with what I am, not longing to be what’s not me and not attached to be me either. I am not lack of anything. Not in search for anything. The void or emptiness is filled up with unlimited love and peace. I don’t feel happy, but I am happiness. I am one with happiness. It is not separated from me.

Before I realized this, I was still having some unhappiness that I couldn’t let go completely. I was still looking for happiness. I had tasted both happiness and unhappiness. But true happiness is beyond all these momentary happy and unhappy feelings. It is peaceful contentment in me that is undisturbed by all the happenings in my life and in the world. It is beyond any judgments and expectations. It is nothing to do with what my body and mind is experiencing all the time. It is nothing to do with all the good feelings, bad feelings, positive thoughts, negative thoughts, comfortable sensations or discomfortable sensations. Once I am beyond all these momentary impermanent phenomena, peacefulness is there. Love and peace filled up my entire consciousness. Everything is fine.

This happiness is unlimited and unconditioned by all the names and forms that are being given with all the good and bad qualities by our own mind. I am free not being determined by my body or my mind. I am free not being determined by what I do and don’t do. I am free not being determined by what I can do and cannot do. I am free not being determined by where I am and where I’m not. I am free not being determined by what I like and don’t like.

This is my happiness. I am free.

May you’ll be free too.

In Harmony With Nature

I was in the forest sitting quietly enjoying the serenity of the forest and listening to the sounds of the waterfall. There were no other people. There were a few monkeys around doing their own things. The forest is their territory and their home as well. The forest is the home for many wild animals, birds, reptiles and insects. And we human beings want to enjoy the forest and nature too, and come to this huge forest to take a swim in the natural pool made by the waterfall. No one can own the forest. It doesn’t belong to anybody. Definitely not us, human beings. But all beings, including the human beings or animals or birds or reptiles or insects are sharing this same space of the universe and all are eligible to enjoy the nature and consume what the nature provides to all living beings, the plants and the trees to be exist on this earth. We need to respect that animals also have their own privacy and freedom to be in the forest and they have certain behaviors too. When we go into the forest, we are invading the privacy and homes of many animals and insects.

After about 20 minutes enjoying the tranquility by my own and with some monkeys, there were some other people came to the waterfall. They talked loudly and were screaming while playing in the pool. It didn’t bother me. I continued my peacefulness with the nature.

Not long, someone shouted, “Look out for your bags! The monkeys are here! They are going to take your bags away and run into the forest!” and “The monkeys had stolen my friend’s things before!”.

Very soon there was a monkey approaching near to that group of people. Obviously, they had some food in their bags. I didn’t have any food in my bag, and so, the monkeys didn’t disturb me at all. The monkeys are very smart species. The monkey walked slowly towards one of the woman with a bag of snacks in her hand. And as soon as the monkey was close enough, it grabbed the bag of food from the hand of the woman. The woman was screaming really loud, furiously. Then came all the other members of her family. They all were very angry at the “behavior” of the monkey, and started to shout at the monkey and tried to beat the monkey with some sticks.

The monkey quickly climbed up to a tree nearby.

The people didn’t stop getting furious and aggressive. They continued to shout at the monkey and some of them picked up some stones and started to throw them towards the monkey. One of the stones nearly hit it. All of these people were cheering, “Yeah! That one nearly got him!” And they got very excited about that and threw more stones at the monkey.

While they were throwing the stones trying to hurt that monkey, some of them were having this conversation, “Bad monkeys! So aggressive!! Want to steal and eat our food!!!” It sounded like they were full of anger and hatred.

After a while, they gave up attacking the monkey and left the forest and continued to talk loudly and cursing the monkeys on their way out. They were very unhappy.

I continued to sit there enjoying the peaceful silence without the noices from people and no monkeys came to trouble me.

Well, who was the one behaving badly?

Who was the one that is very aggressive?

Who was the one that is invading other being’s space of living and not respecting other’s privacy and behavior?

That was a monkey, a wild animal. Of course it has a certain behavior, such like looking for food. For them, it doesn’t matter if it is from the trees or from a bag, it is still food for them.

If we cannot accept and respect the behavior of wild animals, then don’t go into the forest. And don’t bring any food with us when we go into the wild. Most people will bring food into the forest and leave so much garbage behind and it is damaging the eco-system.

We should respect the wild animals and be in harmony with them if we want to be in the forest to enjoy the nature.

When we start to behave aggressively attacking the monkeys like throwing stones at them and beat them with sticks, of course they will learn and imitate this aggressiveness, and will behave in such way towards human beings in the future. What is so bad when the monkey is hungry and wants to get some food? It is their natural behavior to get food when they are hungry. They don’t know what is “stealing”. They have no intention to steal. They just want some food to eat and take whatever they can take, even from somebody’s hand.

May we human beings have more compassion towards other beings and know how to respect the nature and all other beings who are sharing this same space of the universe with us. We don’t own the universe nor are we the lord of the universe. We all are just the same beings as other animals and insects that are living on this earth depending on the nature to provide us with heat, air, water, earth and space for getting the needs for survival. Without the sun, the air, the water, the earth and the space, we all are nothing, we won’t be existing at all. We are not superior than any other beings that live together with us in this space of the universe.

Be humble, be compassionate and tolerant. Show respect and kindness towards all beings.

Peace to all.

Happy Christmas To All

Happy Christmas to everyone...

I wish everyone love, peace, compassion and wisdom...

May all beings be happy...

Om Shanti, Meng Foong

This funky card is created by Marc.
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