The Awakening
In 1990 I received a calling to go to India with my good friend and partner Jim Smith. I closed down my business, packed away a few belongings and said goodbye to my family and friends to meet up with my first guru, Yogiraj Vethathiri Maharishi ("Swamiji"), a Kundalini Master from an ancient lineage in the Tamil Nadu state in South India. I had been apprenticing with Swamiji for five years and it had been at his suggestion we created The Self Awareness Institute back in 1985 to teach these methods of enlightenment to a western world in a western way.
During those first few months staying at Swamiji's ashram in a suburb of Madras I began to notice a profound shift in my awareness. While sitting in meditation 12 hours at a time each day, my awareness was liberated from my mind and the presence of God was no longer objectified by my mind or limited by it. His gift to me was the presence felt in his presence, a natural state of being that was not subjugated by the mind and senses…a perfect peace. A peace that had always been, and is, unchanging, but now the mind was aligned and at peace with it. Nothing actually happened, it just is, but my mind was at peace with it at last.
After receiving Swamiji's blessings, I left the ashram to pay my respects to the Arch Yogi Sri Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaj (also "Swamiji"). A yogi I originally heard about from Satya Sai Baba and Satchan Charan Lahiri, of the Kriya lineage, who both encouraged me to see him. This yogi had sat in samadhi for 23 hours a day for 8 years of his life, and then for 12 hours a day for another 4 years, and had tremendous powers to heal and enlighten through the transmission of this Shakti, or life force energy, called Shaktipat. It was this Yogi that supercharged my own sadhana, or meditative practice, and had me increase my Shakti through what is called Yoga Tapas.
While sitting in Bangalore, India, Sri Swamiji had me increase my sitting time up to 16 hours, 20 hours, and then up to 23 hours a day for 40 consecutive days and nights. Under his guidance my body and mind was being developed to be a vehicle of this Divine Love, or Darshan, and upon completing this training he installed me into his lineage and gave me his blessings to give Shaktipat. Shaktipat is what you feel on the free intro calls we hold each month. Upon completing this Yoga Tapas I was given a revelation of the impending awakening of consciousness that is presently occurring throughout the collective consciousness of humanity. It is this revelation that is shared in my new book The Awakening: An Evolutionary Leap in Human Consciousness that has just been re-released. You are part of this awakening as is evidenced by your reading of these words. I hope you enjoy the book and join us in uplifting the consciousness of the planet. May the whole world live in happiness and peace.
From the heart, Steven S. Sadleir
Steven S. Sadleir is the Director of the Self Awareness Institute and is recognized as a Shaktipat Master in two lineages. He has developed powerful distance learning programs for people of all cultures and faiths, trained thousands of people from all over the world, and welcomes all of you who are ready for full Self-Realization. Visit http://www.SelfAwareness.com for FREE guided meditation mp3s and ebook!
Finding Peace
No matter how stressed you get, no matter how life tests you or what challenges come up in your life, you can always find peace within. Everything you experience is teaching you something about yourself. You are being stretched to evolve your conscious awareness to its highest expression. Life is teaching you exactly what you need to know to learn and grow and realize your full potential:to self-realization. It's those times where your life seems chaotic, that you are too busy or too stressed, that you need to meditate the most. These are moments where you can breakthrough the mental patterns, limiting beliefs and fears and transcend. Each of us has an inner compass; an inner guidance mechanism that can help you through difficult times. As you gaze at the point between your eyebrows in meditation you align with the subtle currents of your own life force current, or spirit, that is always guiding you. Your "3rd Eye" is the place where you can dial in on the movement of energy that is guiding you, like a compass needle moving north your spirit can guide you within to gain clarity and insight. By meditating on this chakra you find greater happiness and peace. It has helped millions of people over thousands of years. But it only works if you use it. Each of us innately knows that the answers lie within us, each of us knows that the source of happiness and peace lies within too. This 3rd Eye Shaktipat meditation is the gateway to that inner knowing and inner strength. Through regular practice your ability to tune in gets stronger. The more you practice the easier it gets too, and the deeper you will go. But even though you know this, or sense it might be true, and have every intention to practice regularly, your mind is going to test you. Through the choices you make you pass through the gates of consciousness that brings you back home and to the promised land. Each time you override your mind's tendency to distract you and sit in meditation and tune in, you progress a little more on your path. The more you practice, the more powerful you become. The 3rd Eye meditation becomes even more powerful when you work with a teacher. The meditation in its pure form is not an exercise to get something or go somewhere, but rather a time to commune with the part of you that is already realized. It's a time when your body and mind can enjoy the presence of your own indwelling spirit and enjoy it. The practice is empowered by working with a teacher on the inner, were we join in spirit and merge in consciousness. My hand is reaching out to you. I invite you to join me and experience the sublime bliss that I had spent a lifetime looking for, and now I have found it I want to share it with you. Listen to our Internet radio station on Live365.com called Enlightenment Radio (www.live365.com/stations/sair), download some MP3's or get some CD's, take a class when you are ready but don't deny yourself the joy and peace that this meditation will provide. I will meet you there. From the heart, Steven S. Sadleir
Steven S. Sadleir is the Director of the Self Awareness Institute and is recognized as a Shaktipat Master in two lineages. He has developed powerful distance learning programs for people of all cultures and faiths, trained thousands of people from all over the world, and welcomes all of you who are ready for full Self-Realization. Visit http://www.SelfAwareness.com for FREE guided meditation mp3s and ebook!
Good Luck Charms and Magic Amulets of Thailand
Thailand with its 60 million +/- people are very spiritual and superstitious.
Almost all Thai people you meet wear a Good Luck Charm or Magical Amulet on a necklace around their neck. Which kind of Charm or Amulet they wear normally, but not always, depends on several things: The part of country their come from and/or their occupation. They wear these Good Luck Charms and Magical Amulets either for Good Luck and Prosperity or Protection. Sometimes these Charms and Amulets serve both situations. For example; people in the Armed Forces, police and people in a very dangerous work situation, i.e.; high rise construction, are primarily interested in protection, obviously. A high percentage of these same people even go so far as to have Magical symbols (yants) tattooed on their bodies, both front and back. Most of these tattoos are done by Buddhist monks at several well known Buddhist temples in Thailand. These are not your common basic tattoo parlors. These are done in elaborate ceremonies, with much chanting of blessings, candles, incense and lots of garlands of lotus flowers. I have been there and saw that these are a very highly charged, holy ceremony.
The Basic Question of course is;
Do these Good Luck Charms and Magical Amulets work? Do they bring Good Luck and/or offer protection? A large number of Thai people swear they do. Many Thai’s attribute their winning the lottery, getting a major promotion or finding their soul mate because of the power in these Good Luck Charms/Magical Amulets. Many Thai people claim they were saved from being harmed in a major accident and many Thai policemen claimed to having been saved in a sticky situation from being either shot or stabbed because of the power in these Good Luck Charms/Magical Amulets.
So, do they “Really” work?
I know only this for sure. I have never seen a Thai soldier without one, a Thai policeman without one and every month when someone wins the Thai lottery, the person winning swears to everyone, that they won because of the power in their Good Luck Charm or Magical Amulet.
If all these people believe in these Charms and Amulets, who am I to say their wrong or crazy.
p.s. I wear one and I won a small lottery once and haven’t been shot yet. :-)
Good Luck Charms and Magical Amulets of Thailand
William is a retired American living in Lopburi, Thailand. He was a ordained Buddhist monk for a period of time. He enjoys playing golf and investigating the phenomenon of Good Luck Charms and Magical Amulets of Southeast Asia.
No comments:
Post a Comment