In today’s times when we there is so much of anger and unrest in the world, it becomes even more important to keep in mind this invaluable lesson from Jesus.

It is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which is also known as the Parable of the Ungrateful Servant and it appears in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of the bible. According to Matthew 18:21-35, it indicates the importance of forgiving others, so that we are also forgiven by the Divine for our own mistakes and trespasses!
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This parable was told by Jesus Christ as an answer to a question by Peter (one of his key apostles) about forgiveness…

After narrating this parable, Jesus explained to his dear apostle- Peter, that the Kingdom of Heaven is also very similar! If we seek forgiveness for our mistakes, sins, and trespasses from God, our father in heaven, then it is imperative that we show kindness, mercy, and compassion to those who have wronged against us.

It is not for us to judge if their mistakes are big or small… what we need to do is show love and compassion, so that we in turn can receive love, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness from the Divine!

I hope this parable touches your heart.
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Remember that even though we may think of ourselves as quite flawless, the reality is that we each have committed many mistakes and trespasses. Before we can expect the Divine to forgive our terrible sins, it is important we show kindness to his people, by forgiving those who have wronged us. If there is anyone against who you harbor anger or resentment, then forgive them… if you feel someone has deeply wronged you or terribly insulted you, still forgive them… forgive them, so you too can be forgiven!

​Categories: 
A Message For You,   Ancient Wisdom, Guidance, Karmic Clearing,     and   Special Messages

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A Zen master named Gisan asked a young student to bring him a pail of water to cool his bath.

The student brought the water and, after cooling the bath, threw on to the ground the little that was left over.

“You dunce!” the master scolded him. “Why didn’t you give the rest of the water to the plants? What right have you to waste even one drop of water in this temple?”
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The young student attained Zen in that instant. He changed his name to Tekisui, which means a drop of water.

Categories:
Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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​#ZenStories #ADropofWater #MaitreyiParadigm #zen #koan #buddhism #teachingsofbuddha #buddhastories #zenteaching #buddhateaching #bodhisattva #bodhitree #Buddha #Gautama #GautamBuddha   #banzan   

Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing in it to steal.

Ryokan returned and caught him. “You may have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.” The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.
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Ryokan sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, “I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.”

Categories:
Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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​#ZenStories #TheMoonCannotBeStolen #MaitreyiParadigm #zen #koan #buddhism #teachingsofbuddha #buddhastories #zenteaching #buddhateaching #bodhisattva #bodhitree #Buddha #Gautama #GautamBuddha   #banzan   

Sozan, a Chinese Zen master, was asked by a student: “What is the most valuable thing in the world?”

The master replied: “The head of a dead cat.”

“Why is the head of a dead cat the most valuable thing in the world?” inquired the student.
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Sozan replied: “Because no one can name its price.”

Categories:
Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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​#ZenStories #MostValuableThingintheWorld #MaitreyiParadigm #zen #koan #buddhism #teachingsofbuddha #buddhastories #zenteaching #buddhateaching #bodhisattva #bodhitree #Buddha #Gautama #GautamBuddha   #banzan  

Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.

Desiring to show his attainment, he said: “The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received.”

Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.
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“If nothing exists,” inquired Dokuon, “where did this anger come from?”

Categories:
Ancient Wisdom, and Buddhism ​

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​#ZenStories #NothingExists #MaitreyiParadigm #zen #koan #buddhism #teachingsofbuddha #buddhastories #zenteaching #buddhateaching #bodhisattva #bodhitree #Buddha #Gautama #GautamBuddha   #banzan   

​Tantra is one of the path towards liberation.  It is believed that the real spirituality started off with Tantra.  The path is not advised for all the levels of people in the society like the other path – karma yoga, bhakti yoga, etc.  

The basic objective of Tantra is to liberate the soul by expanding the consciousness.  Unlike other practices, tantric path can be followed only under the guidance of a spiritual master who has attained self-realization. Guru initiates the disciple to this path through “diksha”. 

​This is for highly evolved spiritual aspirants who are competent enough who can fight with the nether forces of ignorance in the self.  But that doesn’t mean that one who has passion towards tantric path cannot follow this route for the self-realization.

​For any type of aspirant, tantra finds the right starting place for him.  It naturally means, the aspirant has to perform the practices based on his level of understanding about himself.  Controlling the mind through the control of senses are the ways of tantra. 

The way of tantra is to understand the functioning of the mind in various situations, without the help of senses. From the scientific perspective, it is detaching the matter from consciousness.

One has to come out of the body consciousness in order to experience the self.  It is based on the principle of Shiva and Shakti – the consciousness and the energy manifested through the body. Existence is the combination of both the energy and consciousness. To reveal the real nature of the mind, it is necessary to free the mind from the past impressions, the unimportant knowledge, samskaras, etc. 

The entire human existence is based on two forces – prana and mind. These two forces are responsible for action, life and knowledge. Whenever there is a problem with the balancing of these two forces, there arises problems throughout the life. These two forces symbolize the ida and pingala nadis (energy channels). 

All these concepts are described in tantra by the ancient sages. Tantra is basically expansion of the mind and then liberation of the soul. When the mind is expanded towards several other planes of existence, mind starts experiencing the internal consciousness. This process increases the internal awareness by liberating the mind from its unlimited functionality.  

As a result of the intense spiritual practices performed by the spiritual aspirant performed under a guru, he evolves to the higher planes or existence there by expanding the consciousness. 

The serpent power symbolizing the human consciousness called as Kundalini shakti is awakened gradually as the aspirant goes forward in this spiritual practice. Starting with hatha yoga, the practices involves kriyas (physical purification), yoga, meditation practice, japa, etc. Yoga is part of tantra. 

Categories:
Ancient Wisdom,   Ascension,  Buddhism,     Global Vedic Wisdom,   Spiritual Awareness , and    Tantra Traditions
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​Here is a Zen Buddhist prayer made by ringing prayer bells, lighting candle and with an incense offering...

Categories: 
Ancient Wisdom    and   Buddhism

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#zen #ZenBuddhism #ZenPrayer #ZenBuddhismPrayer #koan #buddhism #teachingsofbuddha #zenteaching #buddhateaching #bodhisattva #bodhitree #Buddha #Gautama #GautamBuddha #AncientZenWisdom 

Smudging or burning dried plant material to release smoke which is intended to bring about cleansing  or healing has been an important and integral part of the Native American tradition.
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Smudge sticks are usually long bundles of fragrant dried plant material which is wound tight at one end. They are then lit at the other end until the material catches fire and then blown out so that it now continues to smolder to release the fragrant smoke. 

Such smoking is thought to clear negative influences, restore balance, induce spiritual purification, increase spiritual awareness or prepare a person’s mind, body and spirit for any special ceremony.

Such fragrant smoke is also used to cleanse environments, whether at home, work or for special purposes. The aromatic materials that are typically used by the Shamans include sage, wormwood, cedar or sweet-grass.

While burning the smudge sticks, the bundles are held in one hand, carrying the smoke to where it is required by working around the space and directing the smoke where required by wafting it by hand or with a feather.

​Categories: 
Ancient Wisdom    and   Shaman Wisdom

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#shamanism #shaman #incense #smudging #shamanincense #shamanwisdom #nativeamericanhealing #nativeamericanremedies #medicinewheel #shamanmedicinewheel #nativeIndians #Indians #fourquarters #shamanmedicineman #nativewisdom #nativewiseman​ #ShamanJourney 

Right now, as we look around us- there seems to be ‘craziness’ all around us!! This past year has been challenging to every single person on this planet in their own way. I recently wrote about the way in which we can best addresses any challenges or issues that we come across in our life. If you have not read that article, then you can check it here…
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We know that our attitude determines our altitude. So, the question is, how should we maintain ourselves as we are facing various situations in our life. Ofcourse, not every single moment of everyday is fraught with challenges. There will be good times and bad times, maybe certain days have a significant number of bad times or challenging issues, but in life, we are always going to experience a combination of these good and bad experiences. 

The ancients depicted our life as a wheel. They called it the “Wheel of Time” (Kaal Chakra) or the “Circle of Life”. Because we find that the activities in our life follow a circular repetitive pattern. At any given time, there are parts of us feeling up and at that same time, there are also parts of us feeling down. Like the individual spokes of a wheel, we experience different emotional and mental states at any given time. 

But if one is to note the center of the wheel- it is calm and stationary. Even though the wheel as a whole is moving forward on its journey, and the individual spokes move up and down, the center of the wheel stays calm. 

The ancients asked us to maintain this attitude of the “Center of the Wheel” in our life. When we live our life from our center- i.e., we take the time to reflect upon the various activities and situations of our life and focus within and center within the deeper recesses of our being (meditation helps with this), then it allows us to stay centered and focused within our core existence. 

Then we can carry on with the various activities of our life- some which will make us feel jubilant and happy and others that may upset or challenge us; but as we operate from our center, we will always feel calm and at peace. This will be the case, even if the happy or challenging situations are in our vicinity or are aspects of our life, i.e., our external situation or our life situations, neither will be able to ruffle or agitate us, because we are centered and operating from our core. 

This is the first step of Yoga. Yoga is the way to be in-sync with the Divine. By centering within our ourselves and operating from a calm, centered core- we complete the first step of Yoga- we get in unison with our own inner being. 
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We bring all the fragmented aspect of ourselves into our center- we bring ourselves together. We become united; this then allows us to continue with our ascension journey to further become united with the Cosmic Self.  

​Categories: 
Ancient Wisdom, Ascension,   Conscious Living,    Emotional Wellbeing,  Our Path Our Journey ,    Self Development   and   Yoga

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#emotionalwellbeing #mentalwellness #healthandwellness #ascension #joy #happiness #regeneration #dailymeditation #dailyreflection #ashtangaYoga #walkingthepath   #consciousliving   #quantumliving #spirituallessons #thinkonthesethings  #ourpath   #ourjourney