Spirituality

You don't need to have an interest in spirituality to awaken but a sufficient amount of surrender is required. If you try to surrender, you can't. If your mind is telling you to do something because it believes it'll get it some state it thinks it needs, tell the mind to ignore itself and watch it chase it's tail.

You don't need to heal every trauma but IF the people that BRING VALUE (whatever that means to you) to your life keep saying there's a problem, maybe it would be in your best interest to listen and see if you can't address it. You better listen in deep to find out what you value. What really gives access to that feeling of not wanting anything? Or does your mind always need a problem to solve? What if you just watch the mind chase it's tail?

Catch and release.

We've become so used to just roughly using something until it breaks and then just buying a new one. If there's a hole in the sock, into the trash it goes. We don't look at the laundry label. We don't fix things when they break. And we treat the body the same way. We take it to the doctor and get some pills to compensate for all the ways we don't care for it. We can't buy a new one. I frequently take pain pills to cover up the pain in my knees that could go away if I used my knees more. I don't numb the pain in my back; I want it to remind me to move. I will eventually need some heart medication to bandaid my desire for salty and fatty food.

However I am more aware of my body. If I feel my resting heart rate is starting to creep up, I better start doing more cardio. Never sit down to put on socks, balance instead. Get on the floor and get up. Focusing on being present with the body and I suddenly don't feel like eating too much. I feel more alive. Stopping. Checking in with myself. What are the needs of the body? Suppose I want to save the world. Suppose I want to feed my kid. Suppose I want to sit down for a meditation. How to do any of that if my body is broken?

It's not about a "should". It's not about being more virtuous. It's just moving the priority closer to the foundation of one's life. Why would you try to build a life on uncertainties. Why not find out what is most true, care for what is true, and then expand out. Take care of what has been given to your care.

It's weird how much the mind resists this. "No but I have to think about my work/family/friends thing..." No, what if you really considered paying attention to your present moment the most important thing. "But I have to eat" yeah, you don't have to be stationary, it's just that the most important thing is paying attention to your current experience. And so on.

"well nobody would get anything done" we currently have a lot of people getting a lot done all around the world, and most people seem to be pretty unhappy with the world. Maybe if more people prioritize paying attention to the very center of their being as it is before thought, we wouldn't have so many people getting swayed by fear and shallow dopamine rushes.

i mean failure to do this is perfect too but it certainly makes me experience less Suffering when I can keep it up.

Animals have long been seen as more than just creatures of the wild. In many cultures, they are powerful spiritual symbols carriers of messages, traits, and life lessons. At Sabiduri, each spirit animal is explored for what it represents emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

For example, the owl is often linked to wisdom and intuition, while the wolf represents loyalty and instinct. A butterfly may signal transformation, and a deer reminds us to approach life with gentleness and grace.

These spirit animals don’t just show up randomly. Many believe they appear when we need guidance, clarity, or a reminder of our inner strengths. If you’ve been noticing a specific animal around you in dreams, nature, or thoughts it could be your spirit guide reaching out.

Explore the complete spirit animal guide on what do animals represent.

These are some thoughts I had after meditating.

So powerful and compelling

May your new year be sweet and good.

A great introduction to Sufi Islam

Slate Star Codex

“Burn worldly love, rub the ashes and make ink of it, make the heart the pen, the intellect the writer, write that which has no end or limit.” ― Guru Nanak, Sri Guru Granth Sahib

O Shaykh! The breezes of Revelation can never be confounded with other breezes. Now the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing standeth laden with countless fruits before thy face; besmirch not thyself with idle fancies, as have done the people aforetime. These utterances themselves proclaim the true nature of the Faith of God. He it is Who witnesseth unto all things. To demonstrate the truth of His Revelation He hath not been, nor is He, dependent upon any one. Well nigh a hundred volumes of luminous verses and perspicuous words have already been sent down from the heaven of the will of Him Who is the Revealer of signs, and are available unto all. It is for thee to direct thyself towards the Ultimate Goal, and the Supreme End, and the Most Sublime Pinnacle, that thou mayest hear and behold what hath been revealed by God, the Lord of the worlds. Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Pp. 114-115.

I wish you all the very best on this Krishna Janmashtami.

Jai Sri Krishna! 🙏 🕉️

From the video description:

The division of OM into A-U-M originated in the ancient Mandukya Upanishad where the three letters represent three states of experience – waking, dream, and sleep. But rules of Sanskrit grammar require the letters A and U to combine into the letter O.

According to the rules of sandhi (euphonic combination), the letter a followed by u must combine to form o. They can never remain side by side. For this reason, to say that om has three letters, aum, is incorrect. The Mandukya Upanishad's represented OM as A-U-M for symbolic purposes, not for pronunciation or writing.

Sanskrit vowels are generally short (hasra) or long (dirgha). But the o of om is prolated, that means it's extra long, it is three units (pluta) in duration. So, om is properly pronounced with an extra long o, om.

"As the water is necessary for the beauty of the lotus, and as the lotus makes the waters beautiful, so, when the expression of life is destroyed, when it is made hideous and horrible to behold, then life itself, which is in each one, becomes perverted, mutilated and ugly. So, friend, do not cease to admire beauty. Do not hold back the laughter that awakens in your heart when you see a dancing leaf. Do not thwart the expressions of life by misunderstanding the purpose of life. To bring that expression to perfection, to its fulfillment, life must be free, life must not be bound by traditions, by your stagnating moralities and beliefs. The expressions of life will then be naturally beautiful."

• J Krishnamurti Life in Freedom. Talks in Benares, Ojai and Ommen, 1928.