Þennan mánuð mun Eckhart Tolle útskýra Bhagavad Gíta

 

This month, join Eckhart in an exploration of The Bhagavad Gita, the first in a series. Experience this work, considered one of our greatest spiritual treasures, together with Eckhart. Move towards consciousness and spiritual awakening in an exploration of the gifts that this illuminating text has to offer us.

Sjá hér: http://www.eckharttolletv.com/free/?f=1#/386108280/Current-Issue-Preview-The-Bhagavad-Gita&utm_source=whatsonthismonth&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=whatsonthismonth 

Paramahansa Yogananda on The Mother Aspect of God

 

In creating this universe God revealed two aspects: the masculine or fatherly, and the feminine or motherly. If you close your eyes and visualize vast, illimitable space, you become overwhelmed and enthralled − you feel naught but pure wisdom. That hidden, infinite sphere wherein there is no creation, no stars or planets − only pure wisdom − is the Father. And Nature with her diamond-dazzling stars, the Milky Way, the flowers, birds, clouds, mountains, sky − the countless beauties of creation − is the Divine Mother. In Nature you behold the mother aspect of God, full of beauty, gentleness, tenderness, and kindness. The beauty in the world bespeaks the creative motherly instinct of God, and when we look upon all the good in Nature, we experience a feeling of tenderness within us − we can see and feel God as Mother in Nature.

 

Paramahansa Yogananda

... því allt eru þetta mínir vegir

 

Margir hafa til mín horfið,

hjá mér leitað hreinir athvarfs,

lausir við ástríðu, ótta og reiði,

allir vígðir í vizkunnar eldi.

Hvaða veg sem mennirnir velja,

er þeir vilja til mín komast,

tek ég við þeim hverjum og einum,

því allt eru þetta mínir vegir.

 

Bhagavad-Gita. Indversk helgiljóð. S. Sörenson íslenskaði 

Bæn Sankaracharya til heimsmóðurinnar

 

Allar mínar athafnr eru þér til dýrðar. Allt mitt tal bæn til þín. Öll verk minna handa helgiathafnir þín vegna. Allt mitt iðjuleysi helgistund með þér. Þegar ég nærist er það fórn á þitt alltari. Þegar ég leggst útaf fell ég flatur fyrir þér. Allt sem ég geri er helgar þér.

Úr Saundarya Lahiri eftir Sri Sankara-Bhagavatpada. Sigvaldi Hjálmarsson þýddi. Tekið úr vorhefti Ganglera frá árinu 1979. Hægt er að fá gömul eintök af Ganglera í Lífspekifélaginu á 50 kr.

Nokkur ráð til að hefja reglulega hugleiðsluástundun

 

The benefits of meditation come with regular practice, and that means making it part of your life. That’s one of the great challenges of learning meditation, so here are ten tips for establishing a meditation practice.

1. Get some instruction
You can learn the techniques of meditation from books and CDs: there are some good ones around (check out our shop). But it helps a lot to learn from a real person.Take a course – or go to a class where you can ask questions about the issues. In time, it helps to have friends or even teachers who are more experienced meditators than you are.

2. Settle on a practice that suits you
On an MBSR course there are three main practices – the mindfulness of breathing, the body scan and mindful movement, and there are many others out there. It’s worth experimenting a bit and then settling on the practice, or combination of practices, that work for you.

3. Find a regular time for practice
You might start off thinking you’ll just try fitting meditation into your day somehow or other, but establishing a practice means finding a time that works for you. For many people, first thing in the morning before the day starts up is a good time; others prefer the evening. There are pros and cons with either so you’ll need to experiment.

4. Set up a meditation place
You can meditate anywhere, but if you sit down amid clutter it has an effect. So set aside a space that evokes the feeling of meditation. Some flowers, a candle or an image on a table can be enough to encourage the feeling that you’re leaving aside the usual preoccupations. It also helps to set aside the cushions or chair that need for meditation, and it’s worth thinking about getting some meditation cushions or a stool.

5. Talk to your family or housemates
To avoid people barging in or turning up the music just as you start to get settled, talk to the people you live with and let them know what you are doing. Don’t worry if they thing you’re weird: if they notice you’re calmer and happier they’ll soon change.

6. Meditate with others
It’s hard to keep anything going on your own, at least to start with. We all need encouragement and guidance. Many people find a setting where they can meditate with others: Buddhist centres, sitting groups, follow on courses.

7. Go on retreat
Retreats are a chance to get away from all the things that usually fill up our lives. They vary in length: you can find day retreats or residential retreats for a weekend or longer. Just being quiet and meditating several times a day lets everything settle down so your experience can go deeper. On an intensive retreat you don’t do much apart from meditate, but there are less demanding options as well.

8. Take your practice off the cushion
If you think of meditation as something that only happens in the formal practice time, it will be hard to maintain. So look for ways to keep the thread of mindfulness and meditation alive through the day. The Three Minute Breathing Space gives you time to stop and connect with mindfulness, and you can find many more, informal ways to do the same.

9. Reflect on your values
Most of us get enthusiastic, every so often, about a certain kind of exercise or studying a particular subject. But, looking back, we only maintain a few of these. They are the ones that touch on the values at the core of our lives. If you can make the connection between something that is a deep-seated drive like helping others or understanding the truth, or a pressing concern like not getting depressed or being more effective as a parent, then you’re much more likely to be able to sustain it.

10. Be patient … and persistent
Establishing a regular meditation practice is a long-term project. You may miss days, get discouraged or just forget about meditation for a while. The key thing is to keep going. If you force yourself to meditate when you really don’t feel like it, you’ll probably have a reaction to the whole idea; but if you wait until you do feel like it before you pick your practice up again, it may never happen. But with time,
Finally, if you have learned meditation with me, do keep in touch and come to the Practice Sessions. I’d love to hear how you are getting on.

 

 

There is a crack in everything ...

 

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen