Self-Reinforcing Optimism: How to Engineer Serendipity

Source:http://www.finerminds.com/consciousness-awareness/self-reinforcing-optimism/

Marianne Williamson: Mental Alchemy and finding love for those who hurt you.

25 November 2014

How are you dear friends.  
       I am glad to be back after a short break.  
              All the very best !

Have you heard of Divine Compensation?

Watch this video in which Marianne Williamson shares her thoughts with Oprah Winfrey.

 Enjoy it !

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In this video, Marianne shares her thoughts about forgiveness with Oprah, who reminisces over a past grudge, and what advice was given to her.
http://www.finerminds.com/happiness/marianne-williamson-on-forgiveness-and-mental-alchemy/

Om Namah Sivaya (I Salute The Divine Within You)

19 August 2014 by Carmen Burby

As I was reading a book I came across a beautiful passage by D H Lawrence, which filled me with joy, wonder and awe. I am quoting it here for you to read. I hope you enjoy it!

D H Lawrence wrote to a friend: 

 “We are having very beautiful weather, so hot and bright. I have never seen anything so beautiful as the gorse this year, and the blackthorn. The gorse blazes in sheets of yellow fire, and the blackthorn is like white smoke, filling the valley bed. Primroses and violets are full out, and the bluebells are just coming. It is very magnificent and royal. The sun is just sinking in a flood of gold. One would not be astonished to see the cherubim flashing their wings and coming towards us, from the West. All the time, one seems to be expecting an arrival from the beyond, from the heavenly world. The sense of something magnificent approaching, is so strong, it is a wonder one does not see visions in the heavens” 

Have a lovely day, dear friends

Om Namah Sivaya

 (I Salute The Divine Within You)

A Lesson In Humility

17 August 2014 - Image by Carmen Burby

A Lesson In Humility 

One of the most important understandings, we come to gain, through our physical journey, is the lesson of humility. The truth is that power can/will become corrupt in the absence of humility. As the famous spider-man dialogue goes – “With great power comes great responsibility”, and without a sense of humility we cannot stand true towards using our power responsibly. Life-energy is invincibly powerful owing to its ability for creation, it can create through “thought” and hence has the power to manifest anything – good as well as bad. We are simply the same life-energy, a stream of life-energy (or what I call “stream of consciousness”), like a river that outflows from an ocean – the ocean and the river are inherently the same thing, same properties, same attributes. In your physical perspective you may not “know” your power of creation and your invincibility as life-energy, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have it and in your non-physical perspective you do recognize this power much more easily. So, basically, through your experience of the physical journey you learn the lesson of humility, so that you can use this understanding to not become imbalanced in your power as a stream of life-energy. Earth provides a perfect environment to learn this lesson.

As you gain more and more understanding of your true nature, as life-energy, you also start becoming cognizant of your power. For example, as you deepen in the stability of your awareness you are no longer afraid of the mind, or the outside influence, this potentially can make you feel very invincible and free, and this gives you a sense of huge power – and this power can breed arrogance in a big way, or worse it can cause you to be insensitive or cold. I’ve seen this in my own personal experience as much as I’ve seen it in others who come to realize this inner power. For me, personally, the lesson of humility has been the hardest to learn, I’ve inherently been strongly rooted in arrogance since my childhood and hence the process of bringing humility within feels like a recoding of my genetics. The good part is that life does not cease teaching you a lesson until you learn it (called “fierce grace” in some teachings), so there comes a point where you finally let go towards allowing the “inner transformation” that’s being called for. When you are thick skinned you usually need a strong lesson, whether you like it or not.

If you get a feeling that you are being beaten up by life, there is a very strong chance that you are being taught a lesson in humility. A common attitude people develop when they are challenged this way is to develop the “warrior attitude” of trying to fight back from a place of anger/hate, with a strong resentment towards life – basically this only causes you to delay learning this lesson, and your struggles continue. It’s important to understand that arrogance is an imbalance in the dark nature, and “power” is also dark nature, and humility is the light nature that’s needed to balance it. Without humility, power will always take you into imbalance as is evident in the lives of some many powerful people who have tragic endings.

Teachings of humility have always been around

In all religions there are very evident teachings towards humility, and ironically the fanatics of religion usually miss this very core teaching.

- In Hindu religion there is the teaching of removing your foot-wear outside the temple and walking bare footed. The act of folding hands in prayer is a teaching in humility as is the act of prostrating before the deity. There are also many other traditions that indirectly ingrain the teaching of humility – touching the feet of elders and folding hands as a sign of greeting are some examples of it.

- In Islam, the way a prayer is conducted is by itself a strong directive towards humility. Here also there is the tradition of removing the foot wear, and even assisting in washing the feet of other people in the mosque, before the prayer.

- In Christianity people are asked to dress up formally for the Sunday mass. This formal dressing is like an act of respect or a humility towards the place of worship. There is also the tradition of saying grace before the meal, as a practice of humility (this tradition is also ingrained in many religions).

- The Chinese tradition of bowing down when you meet another person is a teaching in humility, also the traditional way of eating in silence as a sign of respect to the food.

You can find these teachings of humility in all religions, it’s just that a lack of understanding causes people to misinterpret these teachings as a directive towards “meekness”. Humility is not meekness, it’s a balance of power. You are not being asked to be fearful and meek, you are simply being taught a mindset of humility so that you don’t end up becoming arrogant.

In monasteries, the students are not imparted the core teachings until he/she has been seen to gain an understanding of humility. They are made to take care of mundane chores and be of service to the monastery, sometimes for years, before they are given the teachings. The reason is simple, when you come to “truth” there is bound to be freedom, and when you sense freedom there is bound to be power, and power has the ability to take you over in the absence of humility.

Isn’t life-energy already whole and thus humble?

Humility comes from “understanding”, it’s not a “nature”. We are all streams of life-energy and you can see the various imbalances that are exhibited by us. So, a stream of life-energy has to gain understanding of itself before it can come to a conscious balance, in the absence of this understanding it will always move into some imbalance or the other. Your journey as a stream of life-energy is towards this growth in understanding and the physical plane is the best place for learning these lessons. You can’t hope to learn as much in the non-physical plane mostly because in the non-physical you are not faced with “limitations” and hence there is very little scope for learning. You can sense this arrogance in some kids, they are still under the influence of their limitless nature that they knew of in their non-physical, and feel very peeved by the limitations they sense in their physical nature, inevitably they learn the lesson of humility even if it takes a few lifetimes.

You are not here to suffer, you are only here to grow in balance (through understanding) and the more you grow the less you suffer. Every suffering that you face has a seed of growth in it. Much as we hate suffering, it’s the most potent means to grow, as accurately pointed in the adage – “we grow more in times of failure than in times of success”. What is this growth towards? What’s the point of it? The point is always to bring you to an understanding of your power as well as the understanding of humility – these are inherently the only two lessons we are to learn consciously. If you see the posts on this blog, they are a mix of understanding your power (such as power of creation and awareness) and understanding surrender/allowing (which is a pointer towards humility). You can be rest assured that when you’ve learnt the intended lesson, and have allowed the intended inner growth, the perceived “negative” in your situation will automatically be erased – growth is thevalue of negativity.

The difference between being driven by joy/hatred/boredom/sexuality and being driven by love (Read the post “What are you driven by?”) lies mostly in this lesson of humility. When you are driven by fear you are “meek”, and this may come across as humility, but it’s not. There is a teaching by Jesus, where he says – “the kingdom of heaven belongs to the meek”, by meek he did not mean the “fearful”, he meant the beings who learn “humility” – this is true because in many of his other teaching he talked about being fearless and true to oneself (“Kingdom of heaven” was just his pointer towards a life of alignment, free of psychological suffering). In the absence of humility you can enjoy power but it will also instigate some form of imbalance, slowly but surely – only humility can bring a balance to power, hence it’s one of the most important lessons that’s required for any stream of life-energy.

Allowing the lesson of humility

From my own personal experience, I can understand how difficult it can be for someone who has an inherent inclination to “arrogance” to allow the understanding of humility. It feels like a loss of identity, a sense of deep defeat/failure, a strong feeling of vulnerability and helplessness – in fact, when-ever you get these feelings you can be sure that you are learning a lesson in humility. The mind has a feeling that arrogance is a positive deal and hence it constantly defends this attitude, in fact this arrogance gives you a sense of power and letting it go can feel highly counter-intuitive, and very much against the survival instinct. In fact, growing in understanding of life, and coming to inner stability, can also cause one to feel more arrogant even if it’s just a subconscious feeling – it’s very natural that power, or sense of freedom, breeds arrogance. This can make it even harder to allow the lesson of humility, because it feels like a regression or a backward step.

The only deal is that you won’t stop being given the lesson until you learn it – much as you would hope that life would just give you a break, it doesn’t. Sometimes, what feels like an achievement or a build-up of success or an experience of joy ends up being a setup to bring you the lesson of humility – what’s called the “high before the crash”. If you allow the intended growth you wouldn’t need to learn the same lesson again, but most of us are too hard-headed and hence there are a few repeat lessons until we finally learn. The lessons usually come from the things that you value the most – for example, if relationship is what is most important to you, your lessons will come from your experiences in a relationship, and if career is what’s most important to you, you lessons will come from the field of your career.

When you feel “helpless”, it’s the perfect opportunity to allow it in, using it as the energy that burns through your arrogance – just allow this feeling of helplessness, instead of trying to fight it with a stand of aggression. Depending on how strongly ingrained you are in arrogance, it can take a while before humility seeps in fully – it can be quite a painful process especially when we keep resisting this lesson. Every fiber in your being needs to learn the lesson of humility before the learning is done with. The reason why the physical plane is the best place to learn this lesson is because only this plane affords the “fear of uncertainty” (and other fears), and there is nothing as powerful as fear to create a sense of helplessness which, when allowed within, causes you to break through the rigid structures of arrogance, thus, bringing in humility.

Source:

http://www.calmdownmind.com/a-lesson-in-humility/

Turning Reality Into Poetry: The Importance of Eliciting Wonder and Awe

Awe: “An experience of such perceptual vastness you literally have to reconfigure your mental models of the world to assimilate it.”

How can we disrupt our daily mental programming, which has come attuned to overstimulation, so we can go from being numbly unaffected by the here and now, to becoming completely awestruck by life’s limitless magnificence?

In this 3-minute video, philosopher and contagiously enthusiastic filmmaker, Jason Silva, explains the importance of moving out of our comfort zone so we can experience awe and wonder in our daily lives.

http://www.finerminds.com/consciousness-awareness/turning-reality-into-poetry/

Dealing With Depression

Following the death of Robin Williams, we look at the symptoms of depression, how to recognise it in others and how it can be treated

The tragic death of Robin Williams, who is believed to have committed suicide, has put the issue of depression firmly in the spotlight, demonstrating that even those who appear to lead the most charmed lives can fall victim to the black dog of depression. The actor has always been open about his fight with the illness, recently telling an interviewer, "Do I get sad? Oh yeah. Does it hit me hard? Oh yeah." But what do we do when concerned about friends and loved ones who are struggling with these issues?

In the UK, one in four people will experience a mental health problem in the course of a year, and depression is the is the most common type, so it's worth brushing up on the warning signs and knowing how to approach people you're concerned about.

What is depression?

Depression, by its nature, is hard to diagnose. However, the World Health organisation describes depression as "a common mental disorder, characterised by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness, and poor concentration." It's also a condition which is incredibly hard to describe and can be experienced in different ways. Sufferers often hide their condition from those around them.

Symptoms

Depression can strike at any time, and can affect anyone, and if you're concerned that a friend or loved one might be depressed, knowing the warning signs can be a big help. "Warning signs include not sleeping, loss of appetite, loss of enjoyment in activities that previously would have excited, irritability (particularly in men) negative thinking and thoughts which are dominated by hopelessness, worthlessness or guilt," explains Dr Paul McLaren, consultant psychiatrist at the Priory Hospital Hayes Grove.

The stigma associated with mental illness is diminishing but sadly, it still exists. It's important to remember that depression can affect anyone at any time of their lives, but knowing the risk factors can be useful. "Depression results from a complex interaction of social, psychological and biological factors," explains Professor Katharine Barnard, a health psychologist based at the University of Southampton. "Women are more likely to suffer from depression than men, and a previous episode of depression increases your chances of developing it again. People with relatives with clinical depression are at greater risk themselves."

Depression or a bad mood?

One issue which can make the identification of depression tricky is the fact that the world has generally become a more stressful place to live in. News reports herald a constant reportage of death and destruction and, closer to home, the financial crisis has wreaked havoc for many of us. So how can we tell whether a friend is simply suffering from a bad case of the blues or potentially experiencing something more serious?

"One of the key questions to ask is about loss of enjoyment," says Dr Paul McLaren. "When we are depressed we lose the capacity to react to good things happening. This is the best way of distinguishing between depression and stress." If you're concerned about a friend's dark moods, try to remember when the situation started. "Watch out for prolonged symptoms lasting for two weeks or more and an inability to ‘snap out of it’ in a few days and resume usual mood," advises Professor Katharine Barnard. "People suffering from depression often feel sad, hopeless and disinterested in life in general."

How to approach the situation

When it comes to approaching a friend or relative you're concerned about, tread carefully. Telling them to "snap out of it" or joking that "life can't be that bad" is unlikely to help someone suffering from depression. "Be frank and open about your concerns," says Dr Paul McLaren. "Don't try to cheer them up or to jolly them along, as this can make someone who is depressed feel more alienated and rejected. Depression is not a life choice that we can switch on and off. It's a serious malfunctioning of the brain that usually requires treatment with a talking-based treatment or medication."

Treatment

The good news is that recent developments relating to the treatment of depression are yielding impressive results, with more sophisticated therapies and medication which doesn't have the side effects which were once common. "The main psychological treatment for depression is cognitive behaviour therapy and there is a strong evidence base for its effectiveness in mild to moderate depression," explains Dr Paul McLaren. "With moderate to severe depression medication is required. While there are a number of drugs available there is no wonder drug, and the newer drugs, while safer, are no more effective than older antidepressants."

Dr McLaren adds that there's continued research into other types of treatment, but a combined approach remains the most effective option. "A new physical treatment is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) which is like ECT but uses a magnetic field to produce therapeutic changes, rather than the electric current which is used in ECT.  However while initial trials in this have been encouraging, its use has remained limited. The most effective treatment for moderate to severe depression is a combination of psychological and pharmacological treatment delivered in a timely manner."

Whether you're concerned about a friend or believe you may be suffering from depression yourself, there are plenty of organisations which can help, details of which are below:

• Mind -  The UK's largest mental health charity.
• Sane - Another large UK charity set up to help people suffering from mental health problems
• Rethink - A UK-based charity which deals with all type of mental health problems, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

http://wellbeing.uk.msn.com/mind-body/dealing-with-depression

Meet Yourself: A Practical Guide To Building Your Self-Esteem

No matter where you are in life, no matter what state your self-esteem is in, it’s completely possible for you to build it yourself, from the ground up. It may seem like an impossible feat, as many of us have tried so often to change, but here are some ideas and exercises for you to try. 

In this 9-minute TED talk, Niko Everett, founder of Girls for Change, shares a practical guide on how you can build your self-esteem, and help those around you.

Source: http://www.finerminds.com/happiness/how-to-build-your-self-esteem/