Three steps to listening the AUM sound within you

IN DOING SADHANA ON AUM, IS IT BETTER TO REPEAT IT LIKE A MANTRA OR TO TRY TO HEAR IT AS AN INNER SOUND?

Osho : The mantra Aum has to be done in three stages. First, you should repeat it very loudly. That means it should come from the body – first from the body because body is the main door. And let first the body be saturated with it.

So repeat it loudly. Move to a temple or in your room or somewhere where you can repeat it as loudly as you like. Use the whole body to repeat it, as if thousands of people are listening to you without microphone, and you have to be very loud so that the whole body trembles, shakes with it. And for few months, almost three months, you should not bother about anything else. The first stage is very important because it gives the foundation. Loudly, as if your every cell of the body is crying it, chanting it...

After three months, when you feel your body is completely saturated, deep down it has entered into the body cells. And when you say it loudly, it is not only the mouth: from head to toe, the whole body is repeating it. It comes If for three months you repeat it continuously at least one hour per day, within three months you will feel that it is not the mouth, it is the whole body. It happens – it has happened many times

If you do it really honestly, authentically, and are not deceiving yourself, it is not lukewarm but a hundred-degree phenomenon, then even others can listen. They can put their ears to your feet, and when you say loudly they will listen it from your bones coming because the whole body can absorb sound and the whole body can create sound. There is no problem about it. Your mouth is just a part of the body – a specialized part, that’s all. If you try, your whole body can repeat it.

It happened: one Hindu sannyasin, Swami Ram, did it for many years, loudly chanting ”Ram”. Once he was staying in a Himalayan village with a friend. The friend was a very well-known Sikh writer,
Sardar Purnasingh. In the middle of the night Pumasingh suddenly heard a chanting of ”Ram, Ram, Ram”. There was nobody else – only Ram, Swami Ram, and himself. They both were sleeping on
their cots, and the village was far away – almost two, three miles away. There was nobody.

So Purnasingh got up, went around the cottage; there is nobody. And the more he went further from Ram, the sound was lesser and lesser. When he came back, the sound was again more. Then
he came nearer Ram who was fast asleep. The moment he came nearer, the sound became even more loud. Then he put his ear to Ram’s body. The whole body was vibrating with the sound of
”Ram”.

It happens. Your whole body can become saturated. This is the first step – three months, six months – but you must feel saturated. And the saturation is felt just like when you are hungry you take food – you feel when the stomach is satisfied. The body must be satisfied first and if you continue, it may happen in three months or six months. Three months is the average limit; to few people it happens even before; to few it takes a little time more.

If it saturates the whole body, sex will disappear completely. The whole body is so soothed, it becomes so calm with the sound vibrating, that there is no need to throw the energy out, there is no
need to release, and you will feel very, very powerful. But don’t use this power – because you can use, and all use will be misuse – because this is just a first step.

Energy has to be gathered so that you can take the second step. If you use it... You can use – because the power will be so much you can do many things – you can simply say something and it
will come true. At this stage it has been prohibited that you should not be active, and you should not say anything. You should not say somebody in anger that ”Go and die,” because this can happen.
Your sound becomes so powerful when it is saturated with your whole body energy, so it is said at this stage no negative thing should be said – even unknowingly. No negative thing should be said

You may be surprised, but it is good I should tell you: we were making a roof at the back of this house; it fell down. It fell down because of many of you. You are doing tremendous effort in meditation, and there were at least twenty persons who were thinking that it will fall. They helped: they helped it to fall. At least twenty persons were thinking continuously... When they were there, they will look at it, they will think it will fall because the shape was such that it was unlikely to their minds that it is going
to remain.

It fell. And when it fell, they thought, ”Of course we were right.” This is the vicious circle. You are the cause and you think you were right. And you are all doing much effort in meditation. Whatsoever you think, can happen. Never think a negative thought when you are meditating. It is possible because you gain some power. But I am not concerned with the roof that it fell. Because of this falling many of you have lost a certain quantity of power; that is more a concern to me because nothing happens without your power used in it.

Those who were saying that it will fall... the roof fell. And they can watch themselves. For few days they remained very impotent, sad, depressed. They lost their power. They may be thinking they are sad because the roof has fallen – no They were sad because they have lost a certain quantity of power, and life is an energy phenomenon.

When you don’t meditate, there is not much problem. You can say whatsoever you like because you are impotent. But when you meditate, you should be watchful of every single word that you say
because your every single word can create something around.

The second step is to close your mouth and repeat and chant the word Aum mentally – first bodily, second mentally. Now the body should not be used at all. The throat, the tongue, the lips, everything, closed, the whole body locked and chanting only in the mind – but as loudly as possible: the same loudness as you were using with the body. Now let the mind saturate with it. Three months again, let the mind saturate with it.

The same time will taken by the mind as it has been taken by the body. If you can attain the saturation within one month with the body, you will attain with one month in the mind also. If you attain in seven months with the body, seven months will be taken by the mind, because body and mind are not exactly two. They are rather body-mind – psychosomatic phenomenon. One part is body, another part is mind: body is visible mind, mind is invisible body.

And the third step is when the mind feels saturated. And you will come to know it when this happens; there is no need to ask how one will feel it. It is just like eating: you feel, ”Now, enough” The mind will feel when it is enough. Then you start the third step. The third is: neither body has to be used nor mind has to be used. As you lock the body, now you lock the mind.

And it is easy. When you have been doing the chanting for three, four months, it is very easy: you simply lock the body, you simply lock the mind. Just listen, and you will hear a sound coming to you
from your own heart of hearts. The Aum will be there as if somebody else is chanting; you are just the listener. This is the third step, and this third step will change your total being. All the barriers will drop and all the obstacles will disappear. So it can take almost nine months, average, if you put your total energy in it.

TRIPURA RAHASYA

•  The sight must be turned away from other objects and fixed on a particular object in order to see it. Otherwise that object will not be perceived in entirety. The fact that the sight is not fixed on it is the same as not seeing it. Similarly is it with hearing, touch, etc.

• The same applies to the mind in its sensations of pain and pleasure, which are not felt if the mind is otherwise engaged.

• The other perceptions require the two conditions, namely, elimination of other objects and concentration on the one. But Self-realization differs from them in that it requires only one condition: elimination of all perceptions.

chapter XVI, verses 29-33

The Life of Yogi Ramaiyah (The One sitting on the ground, beside Bhagavan Ramana) No words to describe it, if you are looking to intensify your spiritual practices.

Yogi Ramiah belongs to the community of Reddiars and was a wealthy land proprietor of Annareddipalayam, near Buchi Reddipalayam, Nellore District. He received hardly any education. Being the sole owner of his properties he had every inducement to pass his days merrily with his thoughtless companions, boys of his own age. But at about the age of eighteen his thoughts took a serious turn and he gave up his former associates and took an interest in religion.

A Brahmin Guru imparted to him the Rama Taraka Mantram and asked him to repeat it five thousand times daily. "If the number is exceeded, what then?" asked the ardent youth.

"So much the better," was the Guru's reply.

"If I repeat it always?" was the next query. The Guru was delighted at the keenness of the disciple's enthusiasm and expressed warm approval.

Ramiah went on with his japam from morning till night, whatever he might be doing. He also began to practice pranayanam, breath control. Consequently, vairagya, or disgust with his worldly surroundings, grew so strong in his breast that he suddenly left home to go north to perform tapas in holy places like Kasi, etc.

On the way, he met his Guru who asked him if he had obtained his mother's permission for the pilgrimage. When he admitted that there was no intimation or permission, the Guru sent him back to Annareddipalayam, telling him to "Go and do your tapas in the seclusion of your garden and later on I shall come and see how you have progressed." Ramiah returned home and went on with his tapas. He developed both breath control and meditation without any one to help him. He was able to remain several hours in a blissful mood, beholding the tip of his nose, i.e, breath being easily regulated and stilled. His mind was equally stilled and happy. Perfect continence, sattvic food, just barely enough to keep the body and mind working, and intense devotion through his japa to God (Rama) carried him soon to illumination in samadhi. He noted with surprise how God Rama as an external being vanished and gave place to the feeling of God in the Self. Again he noted that though at the outset he retained the distinction between himself (the subject) and the objects he perceived or thought of, the distinction was dissolved as soon as he was lost in Samadhi, when he experienced no real difference between subject and object. Yogi Ramiah sitting on the ground, B. V. Narasimha Swami behind him, with pencil and paper. Circa 1929 "Could the two be after all identical?" was the thought that occurred to him. As it was a novel and puzzling experience, he did not feel sure of his conclusions and asked local pundits about it. Their replies did not satisfy him. So he came to Tiruvannamalai in 1925 and in Maharshi's presence asked Kavyakantha Ganapathi Sastri about it. "The subject is of course different from the object," was the Sastri's reply. Ramiah was disappointed and looked up to the Maharshi, who at once supplemented or corrected the Sastri's reply: "Subject and object are distinct in the phenomenal world to the ordinary man, but in samadhi they merge and become one." Ramiah was very glad to note this corroboration from this eminent Swami. Thence forward he took Maharshi as his sole guide.

For many years he still continued with his life of yoga, with mounam (silence) and tapas, as its support. He ate little, controlled his breath and stayed many hours at a stretch in blissful ecstasy, mostly in the cottage of his own garden. He would also stay for a few months each year with Maharshi at Ramanasramam. He loved and was loved by the Maharshi. As Yogi Ramiah did not know Tamil, the Maharshi translated his Tamil poems .Upadesa Saram. and .Ulladu Narpadu. into Telugu. In appreciation, Yogi Ramiah helped in repairing Palithirtam, in the construction of Asramam hall and the Asramam well.


The original manuscript, wherein Yogi Ramiah tells in his own words about his life and experiences:

From my boyhood I had great devotion (bhakti) towards Sri Rama Namam. Till I was nineteen years old I was generally of a rajasic temperament and was fearless. I used to listen attentively whenever elders recited stories of God or taught dharma; and I used to make friendship with such elders. Once I heard of the life of Kabir from an old gentleman and at once I became sorrowful that I had wasted my life till then. "How to get undistracted devotion (ananya bhakti)?" "How can I become fit for God's mercy (kripa)?" These were my desires. Though I was not a bhakta from childhood like Kabir, I got vairagyam and wanted to do penance (tapas) like Valmiki, until the body is covered with ant hills. I then knew that penance meant meditating on Rama Namam continuously like the constant flow of oil, and to be in samadhi, forgetting this body. Thus I acquired bhakti and vairagyam. Subsequently love for the body (dehabhimanam) disappeared.

Formerly I had many friends, but the feeling of friendship for them left me. I couldn't leave the continuous dhyanam (meditation) even for a minute. I used to feel sorry that the nights were being wasted in sleep. I used to feel that I was meditating even in my sleep. I used to be in meditation when I awoke. I used to get up at 3 o.clock in the morning, bathe and, sitting in a secluded place, would meditate till 8 o.clock. From 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. I would read Bhagavatam. After meals I would listen to Bhagavatam read by a Brahmin. In the evenings, I would go outside the town and meditate sitting alone. Even if such a place be the pathway used by men and cattle, I would neither know of or hear anything during meditation. I used to offer puja, imagining the form of Vishnu in my heart.

When Brahmanantha Thirtha Swami was at Nellore, I went and prayed to him to give me upadesa and teach me yoga so that I could meditate upon Rama and conquer the mind. He then gave me Rama Tarakam Mantram and asked me to meditate on it, observing pranayama, for a little while, at the time. He said that to practice pranayama vigorously, solitary living and food restrictions are necessary.

I was then meditating by focusing my attention towards the middle of the eyes. In a short time, Chitkalas (guiding spirits) began to appear in a variety of ways, but they disappeared after some time. Then a flame like the sun began to appear. This would appear even when meditating with eyes closed, but there would be nothing when opening my eyes. I thought that Surya Bhagavan was appearing. Knowing that the vision was from inside, I began to practice vigorously. After some time the vision assumed a clearer form like the moon. Later on in the place of this moon a jyoti began to appear. While in this condition, the drik (subject) and drisyam (object) would disappear and I would feel that the atma was Poornam, the Perfect survivor. At that time this condition would not last continuously, but would only recur from time to time. I then got extra vairagyam. It was at that time that I left my home.

Without telling anybody I wanted to go to Dandaka Forest and do penance like Valmiki and the rishis. Before traveling north, I got down from the train to meet my Guru at Bapatla, in the Guntur District. As soon as he saw me he asked whether I had left home after informing my people. I told him the truth, that is, that I did not inform anyone. He then told me, "You cannot stay there (Dandaka Forest) and do penance. There are many difficulties there. Have an asramam in your village and do penance there. I will come and see you occasionally. Go back home to your village." Before leaving to return to my home, he gave me upadesam.

When I first got vairagyam I started a water pandal for distribution of water on Narasimha Jayanti days. It is still going on. I started my own asramam and named it Rama Asramam. It has been useful for meditation and also other purposes. Within two years of my spiritual life there was a break in yoga. I felt very sorry for this break and with firm determination, giving up all things, I joined this Rama Asramam in 1922. By constant meditation, sitting on an asana, I used to become fatigued. To get over this fatigue I would immediately do pranyama. While doing this and learning from books, such as Jnana Vasishtam, Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavatam, that yoga should be practiced keeping the lakshyam at the tip of the nose, I began to do likewise. Practicing like this for some time and seeing nothing at the end of the nose I began to feel discouraged. Summoning confidence, however, from my firm belief that what is written in the sastras can never be untrue, I gave up interest in food and sleep and assumed a meditative posture. I was always doing dhyana, dharana and pranayama. Gradually I achieved breath retention. Now and then I used to feel the sushumna, subtle force, rise up. Since then a jyoti began to appear. For some months there was no body sense and the Self was all pervading. Ahamkara disappeared. It was realized that it was not I that was meditating, the I was the witness of the ahamkara, that I really am Atman and that this is my true form. The external vision decreased by constant concentration of the Self.

There was no desire to eat anything. In spite of bodily difficulties the mind was always happy. I was thinking of Rama in saguna aspect and offering puja to Hari in my heart.

As the external vision decreased, I wanted to go to experienced gurus with Brahma Nishta and tell them about my experiences and to find out what their experiences were. By enquiry I found out that there were many who had read books only, without experiencing the Self and I could not find any with Brahma Nishta. In my boyhood when I came on a pilgrimage to Arunagiri I saw Bhagavan. Since then, at times, I used to think of him. Learning that Bhagavan knows Telugu, I went to him, offered my respects, sat in his presence and was looking at him. I found that he was introverted, his eyes were not moving, breath appeared to have stopped . no movement was visible in him. Seeing that, I also turned my vision inside. As I had acquired dharana siddhi at the tip of the nose, I found it easy to turn my vision inside. When the vision is turned to the drik (subject) inside, the drisya (objects) are not seen. Self was all pervading and perfect (purna). In this state I was sitting for two hours. I came to the conclusion that when the mind was subdued and the objects are not seen, the subject and object are merged in the Self, and that Self is all pervading and perfect. Ganapathi Sastri had come there and I questioned him about this. The sastri replied that the subject and object are different. I couldn't agree with what he said. Bhagavan immediately said that when the mind is subdued there is only one thing, and that the subject and object are not different. I felt very happy on hearing this and concluded with certainty that he was the Guru and that he had realized the truth.

I then told Bhagavan about my eyes and he replied that they would get right after some time and that there was no danger. As it was Kartika Deepam time and, as there was a big crowd of people, Bhagavan said that if I went to see him in the night it would be more convenient. I agreed and went away. When I went there in the night, the doors were closed and all inside were asleep. Thinking it would not be proper to disturb them in their sleep I lied down on the pial outside. As it was the winter season the cold was severe, mosquitoes began to bite and I was unable to sleep. At about three in the morning Bhagavan came outside and saw me. I prostrated. Bhagavan who was all kindness said that I had been put to much trouble and asked me to come inside and sleep by his side. That night I asked him some questions:

Q. What is Nirvikalpa Samadhi?
A. That which has no sankalpam to Nirvikalpa.
Q. In Samadhi, will there not be even the Brahma Bhava?
A. If there is Bhava, it will not be Nirvikalpa.
Q. What is meant by Rama?
A. That in which everything takes its origin, exists and disappears, is Rama.

I then determined that all practices are only means to attain this final stage. I was giving up my former spiritual practices little by little. I felt immensely attracted to Bhagavan and felt quite at home in Ramanasrmam. Bhagavan was all love. After meeting Bhagavan I did not go to any other Guru.

I then read the life of Maharshi. By reading it one acquires vairagyam and dispassion. Just to see him is upadesam; to sit in his presence gives peace. This is my firm belief.

After some time, with Bhagavan's permission, I went back to my native place. I would come twice every year to see him. I heard blessed words from him regarding his experiences.The Swami himself would look after my food arrangements. Just as a father would nuture motherless children, he was always filled with limitless kindness. As I have no strength to walk any distance, I always stay in my cottage or with the Maharshi. And as speech may cause chitta chalanam (thought movement), I observed mounam (silence).

Some time later I came to see Bhagavan again and was in the Asramam for some days. One day I told him about my experience of that time. I told him that at the time of meditation only, the whole thing would appear to be one, and then at other times the subject and object appear to be different, and I asked him how this difference would disappear. He told me that there was still dehavasana, i.e., attachment to the body, and asked me to carry on with my meditation till it disappeared entirely.

I then asked him to tell me how to concentrate. He then said: "When a man dies the funeral pyre is prepared with fuel and the dead body is laid on the pyre. The pyre is lit. First the skin is burnt, then the flesh, and then the bones, until the whole body is converted into ashes. What remains thereafter? Only the spirit. But by Self inquiry the spirit also disappears."

"When this dehavasana goes, ahamkara also vanishes and the Self alone remains."

He had composed "Upadesa Saram" in Tamil. I prayed that he might translate it into Telugu. He rendered it in dwipada (couplets) form in Telugu. I then stayed in the Asramam for some days, went abroad for some time, and then returned to my Asramam. I then gave up everything. When I returned to Tiruvannamalai I would sometimes stay in the Mango Tree Cave near Mulaipal Thirtham.

After Bhagavan had composed "Ulladu Narpadu" in Tamil (.Reality in Forty Verses.), I prayed to him to teach it to me in Telegu. He rendered it into Telegu prose and taught it to me. Reflecting on what he taught me the mind was subdued and dissolved in the Self. Now nothing different from Self is seen.

When prayer rises from the depth of your being

"At all times, again and again, we should make vast prayers for the sake of all beings. When falling asleep we should think, 'May all beings achieve the absolute state'; when waking up, 'May all beings awake into the enlightened state'; when getting up, 'May all beings obtain the body of the Buddha'; when putting on clothes, 'May all beings have modesty and sense of shame'; when lighting a fire, 'May all beings burn the wood of disturbing emotions'; when eating, 'May all beings eat the food of concentration'; when opening a door, 'May all beings ope the door to the city of liberation'; when closing a door 'May all beings close the door to lower realms'; when going outside, 'May I set out on the path to free all beings'; when walking uphill, 'May I take all beings to the higher realms'; when walking downhill, 'May I go to free beings from lower realms'; when seeing happiness, 'May all beings achieve the happiness of Buddhahood'; when seeing suffering, 'May the suffering of all beings be pacified'."

- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Are you feeling weak ? You could be the one, who is leaking energy.

Osho : Second obstacle is languor: languor means a man who has very low energy search. He wants to seek and search, but a very low energy search – lukewarm. He wants to evaporate, but that’s not
possible. Such a man always talks about God, moksha, yoga, this and that, but talks. With low energy level you can talk; that’s all you can do. If you want to do something, you need a high energy
effort.

Once it happened: Mulla went with his horse and buggy to some town. It was a hot summer day; Mulla was perspiring. Suddenly, on the road, the horse stopped, looked back at Mulla and said,
”Saints alive, but it is too hot!” Mulla could not believe. He thought he has gone crazy because of the heat, because how the horse can say? How the horse can talk?

So he looked around if anybody else has heard, but there was nobody except his dog who was sitting in the buggy. Not finding anyone, but just to get rid of the idea, he told to the dog, ”Have
you heard what he says” The dog says, ”Oh, he is just like anybody else – always talking about the weather and doing nothing.”

This is the man of languor – always talking about God, doing nothing. He always talks of great things, and this talk is just to hide a wound. He talks so that he can forget that he is not doing
anything about it. Through a cloud of talk, he escapes. Talking again and again about it, he thinks he is doing something, but talk is not a doing. You can go on talking about the weather, you can go
on talking about God. And if you don’t do anything, you are simply wasting your energy.

This type of person can become a minister, a priest, a pundit. These are low-energy people. And they can become very proficient in talking – so proficient that they can deceive, because they always talk about beautiful and great things. Others listen to them and get deceived; philosophers – these are all people of languor. Patanjali is not a philosopher. He himself is a scientist, and he wants others to be scientists. Much effort is needed.

Through the chanting of Aum and meditating on it, your low energy level will become high. How it happens? Why you are on a low energy level always, always feeling exhausted, tired? Even in the morning when you get up, you are tired. What is happening to you? Somewhere in your system there are leakages; you leak energy. You are not aware, but you are like a bucket with holes. Every day you fill the bucket, but you see it is always empty, getting empty. This leakage has to be stopped.

How energy leaks through the body? These are deep problems for bio-energetics. The body leaks always from fingers of the hand, of the feet, eyes. The energy cannot leak through the head: it
is round. Anything round helps the body to preserve. That’s why yoga postures – siddhasana, padmasana – they make the whole body round.

A person who is sitting in a siddhasana puts his both hands together because the body energy leaks through the fingers. When both the hands are put together on top of each other, the energy moves from one hand into the other. It becomes a circle. Feet, legs, are also put on each other so that the energy moves in your own body and doesn’t leak. Eyes are closed because eyes release almost eighty percent of your bio-energy. That’s why, if you
continuously are traveling and you go on looking out of the train or the car, you will feel so tired. If you travel with closed eyes, you will not feel so tired. And you go on looking at unnecessary things,
even reading advertisements on the walls. You use your eyes too much, and when eyes are tired the whole body is tired. Eyes give the indication that now it is enough.

A yogi tries to remain with closed eyes as much as possible, with hands and legs crossing each other, so the energy moves into each other. He sits with the spine straight. If the spine is straight
while you are sitting, you will preserve more energy than any other way – because when the spine is straight, the gravitation of the earth cannot force much energy out of you, because it touches only one point of the spine. That’s why when you are sitting in such a leaning posture, slanting, you think you are resting. But Patanjali says you are leaking energy, because more of your body is under the influence of gravitation.

This won’t help. Straight spine, with closed hands and legs, with closed eyes, you have become a circle: that circle is represented by Shivalinga. You must have seen the Shivalinga – the phallic
symbol, as it is known in the West. In fact, it is the inner bio-energy circle, just egg shaped.

When your body energy flows rightly, it becomes like an egg: the shape is like an egg, exactly like an egg. And that is symbolized in the Shivalinga. You become a Shiva. When the energy is flowing into yourself again and again, not moving out, then languor disappears. It will not disappear by talking; it will not disappear by reading scriptures; it will not disappear by philosophizing. It will disappear only when your energy is not leaking.

Isha Glimpses - February 2014

Population Explosion | Sadhguru speaks about being concious, if we are to survive the harsh realities of Life

Prasoon Joshi with Sadhguru explores Death and Fear of Death

Is Old Age a curse ? Ramdass shares his wisdom.

Expand your perception of the world to include the horrible beauty of decay. Look at decay and see how beautiful it is in its own way. My dear friend Laura Huxley had a collection of beautiful pharmaceutical jars in her kitchen over the sink. She’d taken old beet greens and orange peels and things and put them in water in the jars and let them slowly mold and decay into beautiful formations catching the light. It was decay as art. There is true beauty in that.

There’s horror and beauty in everything. I look at my hand, and it’s decaying. It’s beautiful and horrible at the same moment, and I just live with it. See the beauty and perfection of decay in the world around you and in yourself, and just allow it to be.

There are some unappreciated advantages to aging. The very frailty of age guards its secrets. To many people you become irrelevant, which gives you more time to do inner work. Francis, a resident in a nursing home, wrote to me, “Lack of physical strength keeps me inactive and often silent. They call me senile. Senility is a convenient peg on which to hang nonconformity. A new set of faculties seems to be coming into operation. I seem to be waking to a larger world of wonderment – to catch little glimpses of the immensity and diversity of creation. More than at any other time of my life, I seem to be aware of the beauties of our spinning planet and the sky above. Old age is sharpening my awareness.”

Ramdass

 

It is interesting to see how aging can work to one’s advantage spiritually. I used to go to Burma to sit in meditation. I’d go into a cell. I’d just sit down – no books, no television, no computers, no one to talk to. I’d just sit and go inward. I’d go into as quiet a place as I could find. Just look at what happens when you get old. You lose your hearing, you lose your sight, you can’t move around so well, you slow down. What an ideal time to meditate. If any message is clear, that’s it. Yet we treat aging as an error or a failing.
That distortion comes from defining ourselves in terms of doing instead of being. But behind all the doings, all the roles, you just are – pure awareness, pure consciousness, pure energy. When you reside fully in the present moment, you are outside of time and space.

Trungpa Rinpoche notes, “Our lives awaken through ordinary magic.” It’s in everyday things that the miraculous happens. If we practice being here now, we develop the sensitivity to perceive and appreciate the daily miracles of our lives.

Source Link :  http://www.ramdass.org/being-with-what-is/

Yogasana - Not Just An Exercise

Give up everything for a truthful existence. - Jeff Foster.

Speak your deepest truth, even if it means losing  everything--your pride, your status, your image, even your way of life.

A life of lies and half-truths, the burden of unspoken things, will eventually suffocate you and everyone around you.

Give up everything for a truthful existence. Know that you can only lose what's non-essential.

~ Jeff Foster

Papaji - Quiet

Night is the time when the yogis remain awake." - Amma.

"At night the atmosphere is calm, for at that time
the birds, animals and worldly people are all subdued  by sleep. There are, therefore, fewer worldly thought  waves in the atmosphere at night. Flowers bloom in  those late hours. At that time the atmosphere has a  unique, energizing effect. If you meditate then, your mind will easily become one-pointed and be absorbed in meditation for a long time. Night is the time when the yogis remain awake."

—AMMA

Where, there is witnessing, and nothing to judge, life becomes celebration

Witnessing....

Some people abused and threw stones at Ramateertha when he was in New York. When he returned home, he was dancing.

A disciple asked, ”What happened, why are you so happy?”

Ramateertha replied, ”It is a matter of joy. Today Ramateertha was in great difficulty. Some people started abusing him, ridiculing him and some people started throwing stones at him. It was great fun seeing Ramateertha being harassed and trapped. He was badly trapped!”

His disciples were puzzled and they asked, ”Who are you talking about? Who is this Ramateertha?”

Ramateertha replied, keeping his hands on his chest, ”This Ramateertha was badly trapped and I was just watching and enjoying seeing him trapped. I saw those who were abusing him and I also saw that man Ramateertha who was trapped and being abused.

I kept watching the whole scene.”

Working with Detachment towards worldly ties or spiritual ties

Working with Detachment towards worldly ties or spiritual ties
Swami Kriyananda narrates from Yogananda's life.

The Master summoned Clifford Frederick, a disciple at Mount Washington, to his desert retreat, Clifford came, but was privately worried about the duties he was neglecting by his absence.

The Master said to him, "I know you are worried, but this, now, is your responsibility.  I go by the orders of the "Supreme Boss" up there.  It is to Him you are answerable.  Don't bother with anything else.  Be free, inside.

"If God told me at this very moment , "Come home", I would gladly drop everything - organisations, buildings, work, books, people - everything, to do His will.  This world is His business.  He is the Doer, not you or I."