2018-05-10 08:27
A good exercise is to focus on breathing with your diaphragm. Feel your whole stomach gently moving. This breathing will also be very good for the health of your body. “Proper breathi… Read More
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Blog on spirituality, meditation and poetry
2018-03-15 09:32
Bahir was a very old disciple, but in the evening of his life, he was getting a lot of inspiration from visiting disciples and ashrams around the world.
On one occasion, Bahir visited an As… Read More
2018-03-12 13:37
Arjun and Cahit were good friends, but living together presented its own unique challenges. Arjun soon realised that in terms of tidiness and cleanliness they had different perspectives. It… Read More
2018-03-08 09:11
Many years ago there was a spiritual Master who had quite a few disciples. As a general rule, this Master did not believe in showing occult power as he felt the only force which could help… Read More
2018-03-03 19:23
Hiran and Advik were good friends in the spiritual life but they had different interests and temperaments. As a result, they often saw things from different perspectives.
On one occasion, t… Read More
2018-03-02 19:44
Many thousands of years ago, there was an Indian spiritual Master who had many devoted disciples. The Master felt the most effective form of teaching was silence. He told his disciples that… Read More
2018-02-26 11:28
Hari had been following the spiritual life for many years – when outer circumstance left him in poor physical health. Previously he used to get tremendous joy from running and becoming… Read More
2018-02-19 12:01
Hari was a good disciple. He led a disciplined life and tried very sincerely to follow his Master’s guidelines. However, he also felt it was his duty to tell his fellow brother and si… Read More
2018-02-15 20:41
A few thousand years ago, there was a spiritual Master who lived in India, with quite a few devoted disciples. This Master had also composed a few devotional songs – and he taught his… Read More
2018-02-10 08:32
Jenya and Kalap were good friends who both followed the same spiritual path. However, they had quite different temperaments. Jenya liked meditation and spiritual discipline, while Kalap was… Read More
2018-02-07 19:17
A story reflecting on how seekers can be at different stages of devotion and surrender. When following the spiritual path, we may start by seeing how it can improve our life, but as we progr… Read More
2018-01-09 20:53
Good meditation involves quietening the mind and opening the heart.
Usually our mind is constantly engaged in thoughts and can only experience a limited sense of peace. The first aspec… Read More
2017-12-21 19:18
Christmas is a significant date because of the birth of Jesus Christ – who offered a message of peace, forgiveness and divine love. Christmas is a special opportunity to put aside the… Read More
2017-12-20 19:15
He says that science
Has made life too easy.
Human beings have become
Lazy and lethargic.
I say that science
Is offering to humanity
More leisure time
To pray and meditate.
It is up to the i… Read More
2017-11-06 20:51
“Appreciate beauty to become beauty itself” – Sri Chinmoy
I was struck by this aphorism. Simple yet full of significance. To appreciate goodness and beauty is to make it p… Read More
2017-09-10 21:35
The hazel tree is an old adversary. Sitting at the corner of the garden, it casts a long shadow over the garden. The tree is no respecter of boundaries; it’s sprawling trunk cuts into… Read More
2017-08-05 08:54
There are some irritants of modern life – call centres, canvassers, getting a parking tickets e.t.c. But, before we take it out on the person at the end of the line, we should try and… Read More
2017-07-26 10:29
As an economist and someone who practises spirituality, I haven’t often contemplated this combination of unlikely bedfellows – economics and spirituality
Economics or ‘the… Read More
2017-03-13 19:16
Leonardo da Vinci was a remarkable man. A man of both science and art, who matched a ceaseless creativity with a passion and devotion for discovering the wonders and beauty of life.
In art… Read More
2017-02-11 13:20
A very wealthy man is distressed that he can’t take his wealth to Heaven. So, in his retirement, he spends many years praying to God – beseeching God to make an exception and all… Read More
2017-02-09 19:36
We have all heard the phrase ‘There is always two sides to the same story’. But, according to Jain wisdom, there are seven different ways of looking at the same situation.
When… Read More
2017-01-14 08:38
Over Christmas I saw quite a few beautiful rainbows. Their short-lived transience makes the thrill even greater.
However as a photographer, I was caught between living the moment and tryin… Read More
2017-01-13 07:49
Buddha Maitreya (Koji Takeuchi) has spent the last 35 years of his life transforming a two-acre plot into traditional Japanese garden. He uses the garden to teach meditation and offer a path… Read More
2017-01-11 13:02
My spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy is very keen on New Year’s Resolutions. He advocated both making a few personal resolutions and a few resolutions for achieving things outwardly.
In t… Read More
2017-01-06 15:52
Concentrating on the good qualities of other people helps to bring forward these values in ourself, and also gives real encouragement to others.
Over the New Year I heard an audio talk from… Read More
2016-12-06 14:11
On Nov. 24, 1954, Radio Peking (in mainland China) announced that eleven US airmen, as well as two other Americans, both of whom were described as special agents of the CIA, had been convic… Read More
2016-11-27 14:14
‘Markings’ is Dag Hammarskjold’s private journal. It was found in his New York apartment on a bedside table. This journal was written in Swedish and the title on the front… Read More
2016-11-16 17:12
Dag Hammarskjold came from one of the oldest and well-known families in Sweden who for more than three centuries provided the nation with civil servants and soldiers, many of whom attained… Read More
2016-11-08 15:47
Dag Hammarskjold was the second Secretary-general of the United Nations. He served as Secretary-general for more than eight years (1953-61). A few months after he joined the United Nations… Read More
2016-10-23 20:23
When the Civil War broke out in the April of 1861, Walt Whitman was staying in New York and Brooklyn, writing some extended newspaper pieces about the history of Brooklyn for the Brooklyn D… Read More
2016-10-22 19:52
I am reading a book about the Golden Age of Atlantis [1]. It is a picture of Heaven on Earth, a world with no conflict, but a society where willing individuals see and feel the underlying un… Read More
2016-10-16 09:16
My meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy gave many different meditation techniques, but also suggested that the real secret of meditation was – not just mastering technique – but our… Read More
2016-10-06 18:25
When I was at university 1994-97, none of my friends had a mobile phone or internet access. If you wanted to meet up with a friend, you would walk down to the other end of the corridor and k… Read More
2016-09-30 20:04
“Spirituality tells the seeker not to live in the hoary past, not to live in the remote future, but to live in the immediacy of today, in the eternal Now. This eternal Now embodies man… Read More
2016-09-13 19:48
Sister Nivedita
The first time Nivedita met Swami Vivekananda was in London in 1895. It was an informal gathering at a private house in a west-end drawing room on a cold Sunday afternoon in… Read More
2016-09-07 18:28
This is a thought-provoking aphorism on peace [Source] . What can we learn from it?
Peace is the most valuable quality
Without peace, all the material objects in the world will not give joy… Read More
2016-09-06 17:04
Sri Aurobindo
“Art can never really find what it seeks or succeed in liberating its soul in the highest perfection of speech unless it transfuses the rhythms of its exquisite moods int… Read More
2016-08-19 19:14
Nikki GiovanniOn April 16, 2007, a student at Virginia Tech, had killed 32 of the university’s students and professors besides himself. The tragedy had plunged the academic community a… Read More
2016-08-16 19:06
It is easy to make snap judgements based on partial information and first impressions, but these quick judgements can be misplaced. These are a few things to bear in mind.
Who is responsible… Read More
2016-08-11 12:06
This is a short story which is semi-autobiographical. It touches on issues relating to expectation and seeing beyond outer appearances.
There was a spiritual Master who had many disciples… Read More
2016-08-02 16:56
Statue of Matsuo Basho, Chusonji, Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, JapanIn one of his travel diaries, Oku no Hosomichi, the 17th century Japanese Haiku poet Bashō most famously wrote, &ldqu&hell…Read More
2016-07-21 19:03
Whatever problems we may have, it is helpful to remember they are temporary. When we remember the impermanence of our negative thoughts, it diminishes their power and enables us to let go of… Read More
2016-07-18 19:49
A story by Sri Chinmoy – ‘Four most important things in life’. Plus a commentary on these four spiritual precepts, mentioned by the spiritual Master Balananda.
One day Bala… Read More
2016-07-14 12:38
This post looks at the strictness of spiritual Masters and the discipline needed to follow a lifelong spiritual life.
***
I grew up in Yorkshire and when I went down south to Oxford Universi… Read More
2016-07-02 07:33
A look at the relationship between politics and spirituality.
As a student I took quite an interest in politics, and became involved on a fringe level. I think the attraction of politics was… Read More
2016-05-14 08:43
In the 1970s, my spiritual Teacher Sri Chinmoy met with Mohammad Ali. On one occasion the two meditated together. Although they outwardly had very different occupations (spiritual teacher vs… Read More
2016-05-07 09:37
One of our great challenges in life is to avoid negativity – a negative attitude to ourselves and others. It is easy to become suspicious, critical, depressed, fearful, but, despite th… Read More
2016-04-30 19:27
There are times when we can get upset / angry with the behaviour of someone else. How to respond? Philosophy is easy, but the practical implementation is more difficult. The only certainty… Read More
2016-04-23 09:01
It is said the one constant of life is that life is always changing. However, are we open to change or do we get stuck in bad habits?
One of the great challenges is to strive to change our… Read More
2016-04-21 07:02
A commentary on a poem by Sri Chinmoy and what it means to be a spiritual seeker. This poem suggests for long-term spiritual progress, we need to retain the ability and willingness to change… Read More
2016-04-09 20:29
If you struggle with low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy, these are some suggestions to gain self confidence and increased self-esteem.
Remember the good, forget the bad
If we are h… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
“A man began to sink a well, but having dug down to the depth of twenty cubits he could not find the least trace of the water-spring which was to feed his well. So he desisted from the… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
As long as your heart remains An ever-mounting aspiration-flame, It makes no difference What your weaknesses are. Sri Chinmoy, Ten Thousand Flower-Flames, Part 17, Agni Press, 1981. photo: T… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
But Savitri answered to almighty Death: “O dark-browed sophist of the universe Who veilst the Real with its own Idea, Hiding with brute objects Nature’s living face, Masking eter… Read More
2016-03-19 18:53
Q. Why do you not lead a family life with your wife? A. The God Kârtikeya, the leader of the Heavenly army, once happened to scratch a cat with his nail. On going home he saw there was… Read More
2016-03-19 09:30
We all know we should be kind to animals and considerate of other people. But, are we actually kind to ourself? If you regularly find that you are beating yourself up or are plagued by gui… Read More
2016-03-14 08:27
Firstly, I have a new location for blog at Write Sprit. This post is a look at the spiritual significance of trees including aspiration, strength from flexibility, service, and patience.
M… Read More
2016-03-05 09:55
In many of my articles on self improvement, I often suggest meditation can be an invaluable aid to alleviating many of our daily problems. I don’t look upon meditation just as a proble… Read More
2016-03-04 09:46
“The root of suffering is attachment.”
– The Buddha
“You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of re… Read More
2016-01-20 18:22
Story by Sri Chinmoy, AUM Magazine, Vol.II-1, No.11, November 27, 1974
There once lived in America a very great spiritual Master who had only twenty-five disciples. Nine of the discip… Read More
2016-01-18 20:25
Wisdom of the Idiots is a collection of stories about Sufi saints and Masters written by Idres Shah. The short stories are instructive of the Sufi philosophy, Sufi mysticism and the Sufi way… Read More
2016-01-14 13:07
Sri Chinmoy plays the flute. Ideal for a relaxing meditation.
Relax,
Relax soulfully,
Relax powerfully.
You are bound to feel
An inflow of creative energy
And constructive enthusiasm.
Sri C… Read More
2015-12-23 01:52
“
“Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.”
– Rabindranath Tagore
“Faith is a passionate intuition.”
– William Wordsworth
“… Read More
2015-12-22 13:57
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
– Matthew 7:3
This well known quote comes from the Bible… Read More
2015-12-19 10:48
Selected quotes on religious and spiritual unity.
“If we live in our oneness-heart, we will feel the essence of all religions which is the love of God. Forgiveness, compassion… Read More
2015-12-15 12:52
There is a story from long ago India of a great yogi – Narada – who is requested by the sage Vishnu to fetch him a glass of water from the river. Narada is a highly evolved soul… Read More
2015-12-15 08:17
I have been browsing through the Upanishads of late, enjoying their perennial wisdom and marvelling at the common ground they share with 21st century revelations about the primary nature of… Read More
2015-12-12 14:02
The only news I know
Is Bulletins all Day
From Immortality.
The only Shows I see —
Tomorrow and Today —
Perchance Eternity —
The only one I meet
Is God — The only Str… Read More
2015-12-11 13:18
Swami Vivekananda was a close disciple of the great spiritual Master Sri Ramakrishna. After Ramakrishna’s passing, Vivekananda began a whirlwind of activity. He travelled across India… Read More
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