Monday, February 2, 2015

Monday Mantra: Secret #3

mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation".

Every Monday I will post a new thought, idea, or focus for the week. When you need a breather from life, when you need a little inspiration, or when you're about to jump over the conference table and strangle your co-worker, remember the mantra.


Monday Mantra: Four paths leads to unity
"Do not turn your eyes from the things you wish not to see.
Instead, face the giants, see the injustice, and let them change you.
Let the world call you to action."
Society 6

Secret #3: Four Paths Lead to Unity

The progression from passenger to pilot to designer is symbolic of a spiritual journey.

The passenger is trapped in the world of the five senses.
The pilot knows the principles of flights, which transcend the five senses by going to a deeper law of nature.
The designer transcends even further by coaxing the laws of nature to arrive at an intended effect. He is the closest to the source of reality, acting not as a victim of the five senses or a passive participant in the natural law but as a co-creater with nature.

You can take this journey yourself.

The simplest definition of consciousness is awareness.
Awareness is all that changes in the journey from separation to the one reality.
"Who am I who is doing all of this thinking?"

You acquire full power by realizing you have been using that power all along to thwart yourself.

The secret belongs to you, with you, in you.


The first thing Secret #3 taught me was that I probably shouldn't have (accidentally) skipped to Secret #4..."All the spiritual secrets from this point on...depend on your accepting the existence of one reality." Whoopsie. Oh well, Secret #4 seemed to apply perfectly to my life at the time. In fact, it seemed to pick me, as mentioned in my post on it here. I've felt more genuinely like myself, like the "real me" than I have in a long time. I know that sounds weird, but I hope you understand what I mean - that there are variations of yourself you go through over the course of time and with change, but at the heart of your true self there is always a true you, beyond the time, beyond the change.

 Anyway, I'll be working on both of these together before I move on to Secret #5. For now, let's get down to business with the lesson of Secret #3.

In this lesson, you learn to move beyond your five senses. You learn that your five senses separate you from the source, the one reality. When everything you do relies on the five senses you see the world as a separate place outside of you. Chopra goes on to describe how you can connect the dots of your experiences to lead you to expanded awareness. For example, have you ever had an out-of-body moment, deja vu, a feeling so strong of belonging that it stays with you years after you felt it? Those are all momentary glimpses into an awareness beyond your consciousness, beyond the five senses of the reality your brain knows. 

Yoga means "union" and was intended to merge us with the one reality. The yoga poses you do were specifically designed to allow your body the ability to sit quietly and meditate - movement before meditation, to deepen the meditating state. This is where the four paths come in to play. Each one points you in the right direction as they are lived. Each directs you down the right path when you experience a specific aspect of them.

Feeling -  When you experience or express love
Thinking - When your mind stops being restless and speculative
Action -  When you surrender
Being - When you create a self beyond ego

With this secret, you're asked to complete two exercises. First, you're asked to start becoming aware of the four paths in the small ways, like loving something rather than resenting them. As you let yourself feel these small shifts, you begin to settle into a new, better, reality.

Second, you're asked to meditate. Chopra offers one version of meditation, but for me, the closest I've gotten to finding a meditation where I am truly meditating is this, what I simply call the "Thinking, hearing, breathing, feeling" meditation. Sounds kind of familiar to the four paths, huh? While you meditate, mentally you repeat these words over and over - whichever it is that you're attention draws to in the moment. Maybe one second you notice your breath, the next two or three seconds you hear something outside, and then you notice your breath again. Your meditation would be something along the lines of "Breathing, hearing hearing hearing, breathing..." and then it would switch just as soon as you noticed one of the other four. Eventually, your mind tunes all of them out and you find a true state of meditation. Chopra suggests meditating for at least 10 minutes twice a day. That will be tough for some of us (me included) but key to fully living Secret #3.

For me, this secret means changing my thoughts to align with the four paths. When I feel upset I will turn it into love. When I overthink something I will let go and let it be what it is. When I over react or act in a way less than desirable I will surrender. I will work on letting go of the "I" in my thought, words, and actions. 

What will you do as you start down these paths?

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