Inner Engineering - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

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Date: 24 Aug 2009

Time: 7.30pm

Place: Suntec Convention Hall, Ballroom 2, Singapore

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From Wikipedia

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is an Indian yogi and mystic. He is the founder of Isha Foundation which administers yoga centers around the world, including India and the United States.

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Jagadish Vasudev was born in Mysore, Karnataka. At the age of twenty-five on September 23 1982, he had a deep spiritual experience, and subsequently established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, not-for-profit, public service organization, which addresses all aspects of human wellbeing. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs intended to heighten self-awareness through the ancient practice of yoga. These programs are offered to people ranging from the highly educated to the illiterate, from corporate leaders to prisoners.

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Sadhguru spoke in four panels at the 2007 World Economic Forum, addressing issues ranging from diplomacy to economic development, education and the environment. In 2006, he addressed the World Economic Forum, the Tällberg Forum in Sweden, and the Australian Leadership Retreat. He has also served as a delegate to the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit and the World Peace Congress. He is the only speaker to have been invited to the World Economic Forum three years in a row.

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Sadhguru has had interviews with the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNNfn, and Newsweek International.

He was a delegate to the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit - and a participant at the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Read more

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[I think there must be at least 2,000 attendees for the evening.]

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Sadhguru arrived and sang a lovely mantra. Then immediately he greeted, "Good morning". *silence* "I said 'good morning'", he repeated. The crowd not prepared for the first greeting quickly responded with "Good morning".

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Note: This is written as first person for ease of reading. It is not an ad-verbatim recording of his speech. Any errors and omissions are mine and most likely accidental.

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I thought you already have trouble with me. *laughters* Not now. May be by the end of the evening, you may have trouble with me. Not yet! *more laughters*.

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This is the first time I am addressing an audience in Singapore, so I let you decide what you want to talk about. What shall we talk about?

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From the floor: How did you become spiritual?

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Oh, you want a story? *grins* How did I become spiritual? So you want to know what works for me and perhaps it'll work for you. :)

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For the beginning, I started the same way as everyone of you - from the womb. However, as a child, my memory is a little different from others. At the age of 3-4 months, I could remember many things I see and hear of everyone around me. Most people cannot remember anything of themselves or surroundings, when they are earlier than 4 years old. I could tell my mother, who were around with her on certain occassions, what colour sari they wore and what gossips they spoke.

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By the time I was 4-5 years old, my thought process became a 'certain way' and now it is more of the same. Either I am still a child or that I have never grown up.

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I grow up with a lot of scepticism. I am a serious sceptic.

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I don't come from a particularly religious family, but you know we do the usual stuff. They are just there (religion-wise). One day, my parents brought me to the temple. I asked a lot of questions just outside the temple that they couldn't answer me, so I never went in. Then, I was only 4-5 years old.

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I was not very involved in school. Well, I was very involved with friends. I have no problems with that. But I was not academic, because I didn't think that I should listen to anyone if they are saying things that does not matter very much to them. I mean if it doesn't really mean much to them, why should I be listening? I can listen if it mean a lot to them, even if they speak nonsense that mean a lot to them, I'll listen. So, I didn't listen.

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As a child, I spend time in nature, perhaps because I don't find questions in nature. In other stuff, I have a lot of questions. Sometimes when I asked questions, people get angry. Why do people get angry or insulted? Because they don't have the answers or they have vested interest.

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I have a billion questions, so I started reading the works of Western philosophers. When I was 14 years old, I read Marx. But none of the books answered my questions. Instead, they multiplied my questions.

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After school, I went into business and became very successful. Many people were surprised that I became so successful. When you are young and successful, eventually you even think that all the planets of the solar system revolved around you and not the sun. I then refused to listened to anything others say.

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In Mysore city in Tamil Nadu, there is a little hill that everyone goes there. If you fall in love, you go there. If you fall out of love, you go there. If you have nothing to do, you go there. One day, I decided to go there to practise some yoga. I have practised yoga since the age of 11. After that, I sat on a rock for a while. After some time, I felt as if I was somebody else. I was then not sure who that person sitting on the rock was, and where was I. Where I was felt like I was everywhere around the person sitting on the rock. It was 'me' everywhere.

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I sat there, what I thought was 10-15 minutes, but was surprised that 4.5 hours had passed and I was in tears that have by now drenched my clothes. Every cell in my body was bursting in ecstasy. I was drenched in a different blissfulness. I thought, may be I was going off my rockers! I mean I have never been religious then and grown up on Western philosophies. The thought of me being spiritual was out of the question.

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When I told people what happened to me, the first reaction I got was, "Have you been drinking?" or "What have you been smoking?"

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But the experience I had was too beautiful to be annoyed by these remarks and I didn't want to lose it.

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Then, time seems to pass very fast. What was to me 1-2 minutes, hours have passed. It felt like I have just turned my head and a lot of time has passed. It's strange. I mean I was aware of what is going on around me. One day, I thought only 15 minutes have lapsed when 13 days have passed. I have never prayed nor bowed to anyone or any god, but here we had people falling on my feet. And when I look at people, their entire life exploded in me. Oh! By the way, if you meet me you will not have any privacy left! *laughters*

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I didn't know what it was, but I didn't want to miss it.

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Six weeks later, my wild youth evaporated. My whole body got re-aligned. My eyes, voice, gait...etc. People around noticed that. I too noticed that. Something was happening. Lifetimes of memories passed in front of me. So I went traveling alone to figure out what was actually happening.

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Some of you here will think, "it is not fair, I have meditated for 25 years and nothing like this happened, but you go sit on a rock and everything happened." *laughters*

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It is not a matter of how long... Why has not life revealed itself to you? It is because you have identified yourself with everything that you are not. Identification with your race, nationality, religion, gender, you body...etc.

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My mother is very dedicated. She has 4 children. As she is so dedicated, it was not necessary to express love. It is just there. No need to say it. But one day, she told me she loves me. Then, I asked if I am the child of the next house, will she still say she loves me? She was surprised, hurt and then in tears, and she left the room. When she came back she came and touched my feet. I was only 13!

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I question everything. I question everything that most people accept. If your intelligence is not entangled with anything, it is very easy to be spiritual. A prejudice can't see and reveal reality in life. Your intelligence will become fret.

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Some people may say, "I am very broadminded, I am not prejudice." Ok, you have broad prejudice then. *laughters*

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I'll tell you a joke...

Only a joke, don't take it too seriously...

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There is this man who died and went to the gates of heaven. At the gates god asked him to spell "Love", which the man had problems initially, like spelling it as "Lu..", er "Lvo...", but finally got it right "LOVE". Then god ask him to take over the gates for a while as he is busy for a bit and do the same to demand the person coming in to spell a word.

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The man agreed and stood guard at the gates. After a while, his wife appeared. "Why are you here?" he asked.

The wife said, "Well, I crashed the car on the way back from the funeral and now here I am. Can you let me through the heavenly gate please?"

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Which the man quickly said, "Spell 'Czechoslovakia'"!!! *LOL*

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[I guess the moral of the story is to depict hidden prejudices that we have in us.]

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[Sadhguru reached out to a glass of water...]

If I say "this is my glass", it is ok. But I can't say, this (the glass) is me. It is too much. It can be yours, but cannot be you. Same with, "This is my food", I eat it, but it is not me. It may accumulate as my body, but my body is not me. The food can be yours, but cannot be you.

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Same goes to other aspects of your life. Your husband/wife, house, car, race, religion...etc, is not you. If you identify with these aspects, then you have lost your intelligence.

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Let me tell you a story...

You know Talani Raman? ["Yes" from the audience.]

There is this Emperor Krishna Deva Nair who was given away when he was 18 months old to another woman who is also a mother of a boy a few months older than him. This woman treated both the babies as her own and breastfed them. The boys grew up, the older one of them did not use his resources properly and ended a poor man, the other (Krishna) became an emperor.

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One day, the older brother went to see the younger brother Krishna who is now an emperor. On reaching his palace, he met many intelligent and capable people serving his government. He was impressed, but thought that if he has the same clever people working for him, he too can be emperor. When he eventually met up with Emperor Krishna, he was particularly impressed with Talani Raman, the court jester.

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So he wanted to ask the Emperor to give him Talani. The Emperor thought it was a good idea and spoke to Talani. Talani suggested that it would be better to offer him his elder brother. So the Emperor told his older brother that he would instead offer Talani's elder brother to serve him. His older brother was delighted! Having Talani's older brother must even be better, since he is older and probably better.

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So arrangement was made to hand over Talani's older brother to him the next day. When the next day came, Emperor Krishna's older brother was surprised to find Talani presenting him a cow!

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"Why are you giving me a cow?" he asked.

"Because that is my brother, we drank milk from the same mother", Talani replied.

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[The moral of the story...]

So you see, we mustn't exercise repetitive intelligence. This is how karma works. What we get is due entirely to our own doing.

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One day I was walking around in the primary school and met a young boy 8-9 years old. He asked, "Is life true or a dream?"

"Wow!" I thought, this coming from a 8-9 year old.

So I replied, "Life is true, but it is a dream." *Laughters*

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I'll tell you another story...

There is this young woman who went to bed and started to dream. In her dream, she saw a hunky young man approaching her when she was asleep. Then he got nearer and nearer, and she got a bit apprehensive and began trembling. Then she asked, "What are you going to do?"

Which the hunky young man smiled and replied, "Well lady, it is YOUR dream...(tell me)". *Laughters*

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It is like your life. Life is a dream, but at least manage it properly such that you get what you want. You must learn how to manage your mind such that you get what you want. For instance, this microphone. It is useful to me only if it takes instructions from me. If it says things by itself, then it is not a useful instrument to me.

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Similarly, what most people are experiencing is that they are handling their life by chance. It is like closing your eyes and running across the highway. You may be lucky and got over the other side safely. Perhaps there were no cars near enough to knock you down or some cars have avoided you. But if you are going to do that over and over again, we'll know where to find you.

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A few years ago, I was in Mangalore to visit a friend of mine who is 75 years old but still practising as a medical doctor. I was quite impressed that he is still doing so at his age. At his clinic I saw a poster saying that he has an antidote for all snake venom. "How can this be?" I thought. As far as I know, there is one type of venom that attacks your nervous system and the other that can cause cardiac arrest. The antidote can't be the same! So I confronted him with the question and he replied, "You see, 90% of the time, the snake bites are not poisonous, so it'll work 90% of the time!" *Laughters*

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Well 90% is good enough.

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But if you are living your life by chance, then it can be as good as flipping a coin. So you take a coin, flip it and make your decisions and actions. If you do this, you have a 50% chance of success. If so, there are only two careers for you that you can get away with: an astrologer or a weatherman.

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So is your life working by intent or by accident?

If it is by accident, then it is an anxious mess, even if it is working.

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You don't feel well when you are anxious.

If you feel well, you are happy even when you are ill.

When the mind is pleasant, you call it peace.

When the mind is very pleasant, you call it joy.

When you feel pleasant emotionally, you call it love.

When you feel very pleasant life energy, you call it bliss.

... and so on.

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You are pleasant when you are successful.

So address pleasantness directly.

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Now I have a question. Where do you see me now? Where from?

[I was a little confused and turned my head directly to see him instead of the giant screen in the ballroom. Many others did, and when asked we pointed to him, to indicated that's where see him and not the projection screen.]

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Hmmm... here? *rolls his eyes and smile*

I am a mystic! *laughters*

You see me here? Or you see me inside you?

You know about this isn't it. It is the light that shines on me, reaches your eye, and the retina sends the signals to your brain to see 'me'.

So where do you see me now?

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Audience: Inside?

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Yes, you see me inside. Whatever you think happens outside actually happens inside you.

Have you actually experienced anything outside of you?

Audience: No.

So you are the source of experience within you.

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Experience by chance is therefore very fragile. If anything can make you happy, like somebody said something you don't like to you that made you happy. Or somebody said something to you and you are not happy. Or somebody should have said something to you but he didn't say it and you are not happy. *Laughters*

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So we get very stressed up and you have what you called "Stress Management" these days.

When I heard the term, I was wondering why you want to manage stress. You want to manage something precious to us, like our money, our assets...etc, but 'stress'??!! Then I figured out that it is because many people has already come to accept that their life is stressful and stress is here to stay. And they don't know how to manage their system.

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Nobody in your life will happen the way you want 100% of the time. It is imposssible. That is not a problem, but if you are not happening the way you want, then it is a problem.

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This is because your five senses are not reliable.

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When it gets dark, it is the night for you, but for the owl, it is 'good morning'. If you are to argue with the owl, who is right?

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Some in the audience: Both.

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Both? If you say both, it is either you are in the diplomatic corp or that you have a successful marriage! *LOL*

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Nature open your senses for the purpose of your survival. If survival is all you want, then it is enough, otherwise it is inadequate. But this doesn't happen for human beings. You see, once survival is taken care of, then it is no 'big deal'. A human does not stop at 'survival', unlike a tiger. A tiger hunts and eats and lives. He doesn't ask if he is a great tiger or aspire to be one.

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Human beings have the freedom to be anything he wants. Humans are suffering from the freedom he has. Only when survival is taken care of, human beings start to find expressions. He may feel that he is still no good. Compare to someone else, he may feel that he has done well, but by himself, he doesn't know. So human beings are suffering from his own freedom, and that is truly a 'tragedy'.

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I'll tell you a joke about 'tragedy'.

President George W Bush in his public relations seem to be in kindergartens when there are problems. In this instance he was in a class and asking the children to make sentences with the word 'tragedy'.

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One of the kids came up and said, I have a friend, he was on the road, a car came and killed him. The president said, "No, this is an accident, not a tragedy."

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Next another kid said that a bus full of people went out of control and fell off the cliff killing everyone in it. The president said, "No, this is a great loss, not a tragedy."

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Then another kid came up and said, "The President is in Air Force 1 and it got shot by a missile. This can't be an accident, it is not a great loss and therefore it must be a tragedy." *LOL*

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It is sad to live life and let everything happen pass you and you miss them. That is, to miss the grandeur. Many people are more into their psychological reality than their existential reality. When we create value, we live life blissfully. So pay attention and experience.

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People who worship the most suffer most. I have observed people coming out of temples to see if they are more joyful. The moment some of them are out, they are back to their usual self. And in the case of temples in India, some shoes would have gone missing and they will already be cursing the thieves and so on. Then I observe that the people coming out from restaurants seem to find more joy! So you have the humble dosai bringing more joy to people more than from god! If that is so, something is not right.

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Let's do an experiment. Just an experiment:

How many of you here believe in god, put up your hands.

[Most people in the audience put up their hands.]

Now, how many people here believe that they have two hands, put up one hand.

[More people put up their hands.]

So, do you know you have two hands or believe you have two hands?

Audience: ...know. *grins*

So for your hands you 'know', for god, you only 'believe'. Do you 'know' there is god, or do you 'believe' there is god?

[Audience's minds now thrown in disarray.]

Why don't you just say there are some things you 'know' and some things you 'don't know'?

That way you make it simple. Otherwise, for things you 'don't know' and you say you 'believe', then you 'assume'. This is also culturally convenient.

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So we have belief system. If we start from young, we can make you belief anything. Can't we ask questions?

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I as in Nashville (USA) and I was using 'him' when I referred to god, when a woman stood up and asked, "Why are you using 'him' to refer to god? Do you think god is a man? God can be a woman too you know?" I told her it is just a joke I was telling, but she said no, I still shouldn't use the masculine pronoun.

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You know this wouldn't happen in India. We have the man god, woman god, cow god...etc. Everybody is happy. *LOL*

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You know (the late) Idi Amin? From Uganda? He said that god is black. That is ok, if he sees it that way, then god is black. It'll appeal to the Southern States in the US where there are many blacks.

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[Said in jest...]

You see god came to India nine times He wanted to come here himself. For other places, he sent only his son. Here he goes hands-on and yet he fails!! *LOL*

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I'll tell you a story...

Two young energetic boys are constantly in trouble. You know when boys are energetic, they get into trouble. People have been talking about them and the parents are embarassed. They don't know how to fix them. With kids, we never know how to fix them. We can only weigh it out with them.

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So the parents brought the boy to the parish to see the priest. The priest paced up and down the hall with a bit of drama. It works better with religion if you have drama. *grins* Then the priest thought, if he tells the child that god is in him, the child will be more lifted and feel better about himself and perhaps not get into trouble. You know, people without kids usually have ideas about how to fix kids!!! *LOL*

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So he brought the boy to a room alone with him and pointed at the boy's chest and said, "You know, god is in YOU." This appeared to have stunned the boy so much, he quickly ran out of the room and out of the church, then to his friend and said, "Look, we are in real trouble now!!! They have lost their god and think that we have it with us!!!" *LOL*

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We have religions that meant well, but they soon fracture humanity. We struggle with what is sacred and what is ridiculous. It becomes such that we are told that we can't change our thoughts. But thoughts are meant to be fluid. It is your dream, so dream with freedom. Express the process and then die one day. It is not about capability but willingness to go outside your comfort and convenience. There is the science and technology for this inner well-being - this Inner Engineering.

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Do you want to be the creator or the creation? It is all up to you.

Let me ask you sir, "What did you eat today?" (pointing to someone in the audience).

That someone in the audience: Fish.

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Fish. You ate fish and you converted it to a human being. *Laughters* Isn't that great. Charles Darwin (its 200 years annivesary) says it takes thousands of years for evolution and you did it instantly. How did it happen in you? But did you do it consciously? You didn't isn't it? It all happens automatically.

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Questions:

Question: About previous births...

Reply: Experience you are NOW. Stories can entertain but not liberate you. Who am I? The more you know, the better you can live. Do you exist? Yes. Turn inward, beyond body and mind. Everything exists because this one (you) exists. It is time to pay attention.

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When we were born, we already know about survival. We know all about survival. Let's say if we put a baby in the forest and he is hungry and got hold of something, he will put it in the mouth, not in his ass! But not for the ability to write. That has to be learned. Same as to know yourself. If you are willing to spend 28-30 hours of focused time, you will be able to learn about looking inwards. It is easy if you know how and are looking at the right direction.

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For instance, it will be difficult to watch sunrise, if you face west. However if you face east, it is easy to see sunrise. Or the case of a traveler asking for the way to the ashram and got a reply 34,000 miles, at which he replied, "I thought it is nearby here?" Then the local man said, "Yes, if you turn around and head that direction, is is 4miles".

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Question: I am a nasty sort of person. I have seen magicians perform magic...etc. My question is, why do you look the way you are? Why do you keep your beard and dress like that? Instead of shaving and showing us your beautiful face. *Roaring laughter from the audience*

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Reply: (Pointing to his beard) It grows on every man and you remove it. Why? Do you know why you remove it? *Laughters from audience* You don't know and you ask me?

As for clothings, I am wearing stitched clothings now, because I am overseas. Normally, I wear unstitched clothings in India. When the body is well exercised, the mind is well exercised and the energy well exercised, then you would like to be in a certain way, like you will prefer loose clothings, not tight fitting ones...etc.

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I have not performed magic did I? When it comes to magic, it will be very impressive to pull a rabbit from the hat, but if I drink this glass of water and it becomes me, you won't be impressed.

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Question: Are there no limitations what humans can achieve?

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Reply: What do you mean by 'limitations'? Is it to beat the 9.8seconds (for 100 metre sprint) or...?

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The questioner replied, "Physical limits".

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Reply: Physicality has a limit. Any thing physical has a boundary. It is not boundless. That which is boundless is not physical. However, realise the immensity of humans. Not 1% of abilities has entered into our consciousness. Sometimes people look at me and ask me how can do certain things. "Are you superhuman?" they asked. It is not that I am superhuman, it is that being human is super!! *applause*

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I'll tell you a story:

There is a man who went into the forest to meditate. There he saw a fox with no legs. What is more surprising is that this fox doesn't seem to be starving. It looked well fed. Then one day, when the man was meditating, he heard the roar of a lion. Fearful, he scramped and climbed up a tree. Then he saw the lion approaching the fox and drop it a piece of meat, then it left, and the fox ate the meat.

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The next day, the lion came again with a piece of meat and dropped it to the fox, who again consumed the meat. This went on for day after day. So the man understood that this was how the legless fox kept itself alive.

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Then the man began to ponder if there could be a message behind the scenes he witnessed. There must be a message. Perhaps it says that I can be taken care of in nature no matter what. So the man contented with the message, continued to meditate in the forest without worrying about who is going to feed him or take care of him. He went on to meditate and starve, but he didn't care as he believed something will happen to help him.

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Then one day a yogi saw him and asked why he is starving himself and meditating, which he related that he saw fox being taken care of by the generous lion and that there must be something similar in nature that will take care of him. After listening to his story, the yogi replied, "You witness the lion and the fox, but why do you rather be the crippl fox, than the generious lion?"

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Miracles

Everything is a miracle. For instance, you put filth into the ground and then a mango tree grows to produce sweet mango. Yet there was no sweetness in the filth you put into the ground. Can you treat the filth and the mango as the same?

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Yet another way is to think that 'nothing is a miracle', as everything has a cause and effect. When we understand how the filth helped to give sweet mangoes, then it no longer is a miracle. So, we have called anything we don't understand as a miracle.

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Can we say that (holding a bud of flower) that we understand everything about this? Yes?

We can say that. At the same time, we can also say that we cannot finish studying and understanding this. That is the beauty of it all.

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So we are human and divine at the same time.

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Question: Do you mean to say that we should not visit temples?

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Reply: Did I say anything like that at all?

By that I mean you refer to Indian temples. Temples in its original form are not meant for prayers. Temples are supposed to be energy centres. You are supposed to go there quiet and sit there for a while.

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There is a whole science and technology involved in making a place divine, like making a stone divine...etc. This process is called 'consecration'.

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God is your making. It is whatever you can relate to. God is not the goal. Liberation is the goal.

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It is the moment you love someone that the someone becomes beautiful, not you love someone because that someone is beautiful.

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Belief evolves. Belief is reality. If you are denied many days without water, anything that nutures the you, is god. The more consciously you make it, the better you exist here.

For the videocast of the talk, click here

---end of talk----

Kids Play 14 - Golden Spirituality

The family was watching a documentary on Venice that explained the art of Italian mosaic and its adding of real gold to symbolise the spirituality of Jesus, Mother Mary and the various saints.

Vic (12 years old) immediately commented that it should be more useful if they melt the gold and convert it to cash. Dad then asked Vic what he would he do with the cash, which Vic was a little shy about his love for money and merely grinned. Mum mocked him by suggesting that he spend the money to buy spiritual books. Dad thinks that Vic would end up spending it on spiritual gurus! People who eventually got all the cash would still seek for their spirituality. :)
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Spiritual Parenting 3a - Voice of Authority

I have just finished reading Mike George's book "Don't Get Mad, Get Wise". Click here
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What I learn from the book is that nobody can make me angry, other than myself; and that it is silly to get angry over something for a long time, sometimes years, over something someone did for 5 minutes. If I am angry, it means I am turbulent inside to start off with and the turbulence became active because I allowed it to be so.

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In it, it says that parents who get angry with their children amounts to making their children feeling guilty and shameful of themselves, resulting in low self esteem. Where the low self-esteem persists, the child will grow up as ill-adjusted adults, some even committing crime. That's why I think anger does not solve anything. Actually, this inflicting of guilt and shame extends to our relationship with adults too, when we get angry with them.

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I think anger is fear motivated. In the absence of anger and fear, peacefulness reign.

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Some quotes from the book:

Page 64

Peace is the state of being, which shapes a state of mind, which generates positive and focused thinking, which are expressed as proactive attitudes and behaviours.

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The presence of peace means the absence of emotional disturbance, and when there is emotional freedom it means the inner eye is not distracted by the world outside or by memories of the world inside.

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page 75

To go with the grain of truth about peace is to realise your peace is not just for you, it is also for the world... when you realise this, you will also recognise how the vibration of peacefulness radiates outwards. When you consciously realise your peace to others and to the world, that's when you will feel its power.

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page 80

Your peace is unquestionably yours, it is you, but unless you channel its power and give it away, it will disappear... when you give it away, it increases in depth and therefore quality.

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In the example of Hadri and his mother getting angry with each other, the father in contrast was peaceful and radiated the peace to both of them. In the end peace and normality resumed in the family. See Spiritual Parenting 3 - Voice of Authority

Vacuum State 2 - Everyday and Everywhere

The content of Vacuum State posts are getting more varied and wide in scope. This is so because we encounter the wonders of creation everyday everywhere and spiritual life is not confined to places of worship, or the time one allocates to sit down for meditation. Just like our spirituality, meditation does not stop the moment we open our eyes and leave our half lotus seating positions. Over time, the way of non-personal thought ought to be built into our daily lives.

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It is hoped that by posting my journey, that others can likewise share theirs and are encouraged to observe and reflect on what we think of and do everyday. As, it is often amidst the daily mundane chores that we see many of our discoveries and lessons.

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1% ECUADOR

1% NEW ZEALAND

1% INDIA

1% GERMANY

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Thank you for visiting. Come back again! :)

Kids Play 8

This is a conversation I have recently with an 11 year old boy called Vince. It gave me an interesting insight into how a child would view religion in their own instinctive way and also the sad reality with the current state of religions in the world.
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Vince: I hate religion class.
Me: Why?
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Vince: It's boring. During religion class, I would sit behind, put up my book on the table, put my head down and sleep. Once, the teacher came and asked me what I was doing and I told him I was praying.
Me: What did you say you were praying about?
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Vince: I didn't say. He didn't ask too. He believed me. He thought I was an angel.
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Me: But why do you say religion is boring?
Vince: They kept saying out loud that they love Jesus and so on.
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Me: What's wrong with that?
Vince: Loving Jesus is fine, but why must they close their eyes, stretch out their arms and hands wide, and go on a trance-like state when they sing in the church?
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Me: Do you know that when you were three years old, you would stop the car and ask to go into the cathedral? And you will get all of us to go with you.

Vince: Yes, I know, but that's because the cathedral is such a beautiful architecture.

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Me: Ok. So do you believe in Jesus?
Vince: No. I don't believe in any religion.
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Me: Why do you not believe in any religion? Do you know that not believing in any religion is also a religion in itself?
Vince: Yes, but at least you don't get killed.
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Me: What do you mean?
Vince: Many people get killed because of religion. When you don't have a religion you don't get killed.

Vacuum State

Deep in the esoteric we are in the vacuum state.

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We can't see this with our human body.

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In the human form, we exist in the physical plane. However, the physical plane co-exists with the other more subtle planes, which are not visible by the physical eye.

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Nothing exists in isolation. We are all connected. Hence there is no such thing as one's spiritual life separated from one's business life, the latter usually wrongfully perceived as necessarily ruthless unethical and uncaring.

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Business is about profits and about adding value to products that serves society. It has to create life supporting wealth in order to be sustainable. A business model needs to direct money to such values. The more value, the more people shall benefit and the more money and goodwill shall flow to the business.

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Sadly, in practice, many businessmen overlook what values they can add. Instead they focus at how they can win business deals, and if need be, to buy their way into the deals. This can mean sleazy entertainment or bribery, which is a result of fear. Fear of not winning. (Singlish: "kiasu"). It is this that gives many the perception that business need to be sleazy and immoral. Let's bring back business values. This is what sells best and is sustainable.

Blame - The Sexy Women

Malaysian spiritual leader of Parti-Islam in reference to women who wear sexy clothes in public complained

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"We always (hear about) the abuse of children and wives in households, which is easily perceived by the eye, but the emotional abuse of men cannot be seen... Our prayers become unfocussed and our sleep is often disturbed."

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Poor fella. If only he can stop thinking about these sexy women.

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But where should the buck stop?

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It reminded me of the story of two Buddhist monks who were walking along a river to their temple. Halfway they saw a woman drowning in the river. One of the monks rushed to save the woman, carried her to the shore, and as the woman was unhurt, he left her there and proceeded with his walk.

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The second monk who didn't help started lecturing the first monk who helped, since monks are not supposed to touch women. The first monk explained that the woman would have otherwise drowned, but the second monk was not satisfied and went on and on about the first monk's misbehaviour. Feeling helpless, the first monk just kept quiet and let the complaining rant on until they reach the temple.

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At the temple, the second monk complained to the Abbot that the first monk had just touched a woman and monks are not supposed to touch women. The Abbot listened intently, smiled and replied to the second monk, "He has helped the woman, saved her from drowning and has already left her there hours ago, but you have kept that in your mind all along. So who do you think have been thinking of the woman all along?" At that point, the second monk was embarrassed and learned his valuable lesson.

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The human mind is such that by consciously not wanting to think of something, we subconsciously think of it more. This applies to everyone - monks and spiritual clerics alike.

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My other observation is that the second monk blamed the first monk for his own weakness. By blaming others, he gave up his own power of acknowledging, accepting and moving on and away from the woman. Likewise, why think of all those sexy women? Acknowledge that we are distracted, accept it and move on. Life is not all about sex!

Spiritual Parenting - Nurturing Spiritual Growth For Children

Dear Parents,

The purpose of this 1-day seminar on Spiritual Parenting is to provide you with action-based ideas for raising happy, kind children who remain connected to their spirits and their families. By intending to become a spiritual parent, not only will your children flourish, but your own soul will be fed.

We are trying to be good parents and give our children all they need to develop into well-rounded and successful adults. We may, however, be missing the very core of our child's being, his spirituality. Spirituality is the base from which grows self-esteem, values, and a sense of belonging. It is what gives life direction and meaning.

Spiritual Parenting occurs when we expand our awareness to include our children’s vivid inner lives. When we approach our kids as grand spiritual beings housed in rapidly changing bodies we are parenting spiritually. Spiritual parenting is an authentic, honest way of interacting with our children day to day.

Spiritual Parenting isn’t a scientific approach to parenting or a formula to follow but rather an attitude and consciousness to acknowledge, connect, love, and honor your child’s very being.

When children are spiritually parented, their self-esteem increases, they feel empowered, they have a belief system to count on, they feel connected to something greater than themselves, they have hope, they articulate their dreams and follow them, they begin to ask of themselves: “What is it I might give?” rather than “What is it I might get?”

You have the potential to live a balanced, alive, joy-filled life. You can make a difference in your children’s futures, manifest your own dreams, and create a soulful home.

I invite you to attend this life-changing seminar to discard the burden of perfect parenting but explore the exhilarating honesty and joy that comes through nourishing your child’s spirit and seeking balance in your life.

With warmest best wishes,
Aaron
Dr. T. Aaron Lim

Registration

Don’t wait another minute to live a more joyful, prosperous and abundant life. Call and register NOW! Seats Are Limited - So Do Register Early !

Date : Saturday May 26, 2007
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Venue: Parkroyal on Kitchener Road

181 Kitchener Road , Singapore 208533
( formerly known as New Park Hotel, nearest MRT Farrer Park Station )

Contact: Finella Lim @ 98359197 (mobile)
Email: treeoflifesg@gmail.com
Contribution: S$70 per pax ( a sumptuous lunch and tea breaks are included )

( All surplus arising from this seminar will be donated to Bodhi Fellowship’s Miracle Children’s Home as its support of orphaned / unprivileged children in Batam, Indonesia; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Kashmir, India; Cuzco, Peru and Bedong, Malaysia)

105 Universal Laws - Part 5 (1st draft)

This posting is based on what I have learned from the "105 Universal Laws" seminar on the 22nd Apr 2007 in Singapore by Dr Aaron Lim. This seminar comprises a series of lectures conducted one Sunday a month. This is the eighth lecture of the series. The second last of the series.
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Warning: This posting contains opinions that may be considered unacceptable by some people. If you are easily offended by unconventional views about religion and spiritualism, then DO NOT READ FURTHER THAN HERE. If you do, then do it at your own risk! If you do not agree with the views expressed below, it does not mean that you have not 'arrived', rather it just mean that you 'do not agree'. Meanwhile, try to be open. There are lots to discover about ourselves when we are open. Do feel free to leave comments. BELIEVING IS NOT NECESSARY!

Good morning all, thank you for coming here every month to listen to this forum. You have come here because you choose to. This is a free forum. There is nothing to join. There is no hidden agenda, so just relax. Belief is not compulsory, there is no punishment for non-belief.

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We live our lives in our own belief system. Even 'not believing' in itself is a belief. When our beliefs are challenged, we can be uncomfortable. For instance, when I was a student in the United States, it was the time of the Vietnam War. I had problems with the White people sometimes. There was an instance when I was trying to look for a motel room.

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The "Vacancy" sign was on, but when I asked, ...

...the landlord, said, "Sorry, we have no rooms tonight!".

Then I said, "But you had your vacancy sign on..."

He replied, "Yes, but now we don't have rooms..."

I said, "You have rooms, but you are not letting it to me."

He replied, "I won't let it to any Vietnamese"

I said, "But I'm not Vietnamese, I am from Malaysia"

He replied, "You are all the same..."

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You see, the landlord already had a belief system in him that he refused to change. Later on, I learn that he had a son killed in combat in Vietnam.

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The point is not to live life so defined that there is no room for anything else.

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We all come to this life with previous experiences. Many don't change since the day we are born, and when we encounter new experiences, we feel uncomfortable. So there is no growth, and we come back to earth again until we are free from the earth.

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The Malays for instance are very proud of, Bangsar, Ugama and Bahasa (Nation, Religion and Language), and as a result they do not speak other languages and do not adapt very well in foreign countries. The Chinese conversely, are very adaptable. Everywhere you go, you will find the Chinese speaking the local language, whilst keeping their cultures at home.

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We all come here for the same mission, though outwardly we may appear different. Our minds lead us to where we want to go. When our minds are strong enough we will get what we ask for. Life is extremely fair. Of course desires fluctuates with time and also change in priority over time - just like the sound indicators on your hi-fi set, where the light bars fluctuate up and down every second.

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[Question from the floor: So does it mean that if I think of money, I will get money?

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Answer: No you won't, because your desires come from the thoughts of 'lack'. And therefore you will get 'lack' (of money). ]

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So, we are not only a body. We have a spirit.

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Some of us are afraid of ghosts/spirits, but we are also spirits. To the ghost living in a different dimension, we are the ghosts.

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As we sleep and our spirits are free, we forget about religion. When we let go of religion, we are free. Religions are man-made. More importantly, we check ourselves by asking if we are more loving today than yesterday.

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Also, check how much separation to we practise, because where there is no love, there is fear and eventually 'separation'. Our level of love is our level of God.

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There are many people without religions, but are very inclusive. Religion are like culinary school, it has presentation, but more importantly, we should focus on the nutrition.

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When our days are over, there is no religion.

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There is no permanent state, so do not grasp. There is a difference between having strong desires and 'grasping'. The latter is based on 'lack'. It is akin to grasping for any breath of air or the any piece of flotsam when one is drowning in water.

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The first law of the Universe is the Law of Change. Even languages have changed. The Malay language has changed. English has changed. Look at SMS languages, even PhD people may have problem understanding SMS languages sent by kids!

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Law of Karma

Before I go on with the other Universal Laws, I would like to go through with you again the Law of Karma. This is the major law, though all laws applies simultaneously. The Law of Karma is the law of Cause and Effect. Causes are effects of previous causes. Effects in turn will become causes of further effects.

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There are Individual Karma and Group Karma. Group Karma comes in a 'package'. For instance if you yearn to be a Malay in your previous embodiment, you may end up as a Malay in this embodiment, but also most likely to be a Muslim, though you did not choose to be a Muslim. That is, individuals get the effect of the group.

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In the aftermath of the recent Virginia Tech massacre, Koreans will be perceived unfavorably by the Americans, since the murderer was a South Korean. Some Americans may even harbour ill feelings about East Asians in general. So if you are Chinese, you fall into the Group Karma.

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Karma can take effect very fast or very slow. It can take thousands of years. Seeds discovered from ancient tombs when planted started to sprout and grow. They couldn't grow in the tomb because the different pieces for action were not together yet. But once, there sunlight, water and air, the seeds started to grow. The cause for growth was already in the seed waiting for the effect. It is the same for our daily actions. Some effects will come later when the environmental conditions are ripe.

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Karma has no hold on us if we are not attached to the effects.

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[Question: But how about physical pain? Isn't it difficult to ignore these types of effects?

Answer: True. It is difficult to ignore. But have you ever have a pain in your body and then suddenly a big truck came quickly around the corner so near you that you have to duck and jump away from it. What happened then? The pain disappeared momentarily. Where did the pain go? Then when the commotion is over, the pain came back. So the pain is not even real.]

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Plant your seeds for desired effects. Be loving, but don't make bonds of each other (attachment).

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Start the day with love.

Go through the day with love.

End the day with love.

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56. Law of meditation.

This is the other half of prayer. Meditation is not just sitting positions. It is to see life as it is. To cut the illusions, to dwell within, to be still and allow God to talk to you.

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Live your life by listening to God. You will hear a message to "Come Home". God does not talk as in human conversation. They tend to be very short. In meditation, we listen to the voice that guides us.

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We are all Assemblers not Creators. We can be co-creators. My parents didn't create me. If they did, I would carry their thoughts, but no, I have my own thoughts. Our children are not created by us. We facilitated them to come to this world. They came here after some 'heavy-breathing' in the night between two persons. :)

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We talk to God as a God in ourselves. It is the God in me honoring the God in you. All relationships are God relationships.

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The beginning of the Chinese language version of the bible is well translated. It said, "In the beginning there is ONE, ONE makes TWO, TWO makes THREE, and THREE makes ALL."

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[My own notes:

The THREE are: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit OR Thoughts, Manifest and Love.]

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57. The Law of Mentalism

"The ALL is the MIND". The All is substantial reality underlying the outward manifestations and appearances which we know are empirical.

All things begin and end in the mind.

If you believe you are the doer, ego kicks in. If not, the power greater than you guides you.

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58. The Law of Miracles

This law is operable by any person who has realised that the essence of creation is light. A master is able to employ his/her divine knowledge of light phenomena to project instantly into perceptible manifestation the ubiquitous light atoms. The actual form is determined by the master's wish and by his/her powers of will and visualisation.

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Miracles are natural happenings. They happen to miracle minds.

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59. The Law of Monadic Return

This law concerns the 'force of evolution'. Monad = Soul.

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60. The Law of No Judgments

The Universal Spirit does not judge us; judgments are human inventions, a means to compare, contrast and control as we judge ourselves against artificial, and often idealistic standards of perfection, morality and truth. Under the law of equalities, our judgments attract judgment to us in equal measure. The life/karmic review conducted by yourself after death is a condition of living in duality/third dimension.

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61. Law of Non-Attachment

Attachment to the self creates karma. Non-attachment to the self dissolves karma. This non-attachment to the self is made possible through the realisation that the ultimate nature of the self is Empty. The self does not exist as a separate entity. A full conceptual understanding needs to occur, but mere conceptual understanding does not lead to liberation. Many methods have been devised to help human beings attain this realisation, and usually fall into two categories. The first is 'non-attached behaviour' and the other is called 'spiritual practice'. Through diligent application of these methods, an individual can free himself or herself from the confines of karmically determined existence. Enlightenment is real and attainable.

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Everything is changing and so we should not be attached to anything.

Watch the movie, "What Dreams May Come", starring Robin Williams.

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62. The Law of Non-Intervention

This law concerns the individual rights of people and society situations to serve self rather than live in the vibration of service to others. This law prevents physical beings and non-physical biengs from intervening or correcting what they see as wrong or harmful. If this law is violated, there is great karma incurring. Another aspect of this law is that spirit is not permitted to channel material to a recipient that would froce a change in the evolution of the person. There is an exception when the channeler is willing to undergo a trance, and the consciousness leaves the body for another consciousness to enter and impart knowledge that was previously unknown to the individual.

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A person that cries with you, buys into your pain. He is delusioned.

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[Question: But isn't it painful to see someone suffering and yet not helping? Should we advise that person?

Answer: Only if they ask.]

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63 The Law of One

The Lord is ONE. All that is, is His - of self, of the universe, of the activities in the earth. All moves and has its being in Him. So it is in self. Life itself is the consciousness, the awareness of the Oneness of that Universal Consciousness in the earth.

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64. The Law of Order of Creation

The beginning of law carries all the way through. And that which comes or begins first is conceived in spirit, grows in the mental and manifests in the material. First, it was the means and source or manner by which the powers that be made the centralisation for making known to the children of men, and children of God, the directing forces or powers. Man eventually turned into this into that channel for destructive forces. While man developed in this direction for many centuries, humans are leaning towards light. We are reaching toward the critical point of more in the light than in darkness.

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65. The Law of Patience

Luke said, "In your presence possess ye your souls." Patience involves spiritual, mental and physical thought and action. Through it, we learn to know our self, to measure and test our ideals, to use faith and to seek understanding through all the other virtues. Patience allows all other virtues to manifest more profoundly. Patiently we realise that any fault we see in another is one we have personal knowledge of from prior experience. Patiently we seek true understanding, not just knowledge, as we realise that every soul is totally unique and will come to its enlightenment in its own time.

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Impatience is the body trying to join (or keep up) with the mind. We experience least joy due to impatience. Due to ego, we think we can make things happen.

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66. The Law of Patterns

Any habit or pattern, whether we call it good or bad, tends to reassert itself over time unless we break that pattern by doing something different. If it is good, we can reinforce the pattern with small self rewards. We have the power of spontaneous action, doing old things in new ways, changing and restructuring our lives and our behaviour. Some of our chantge ability is dictated by the ways we learned when we were young. We learned to make sense of the world by observing patterns, and this has survival value. We can correct the patterns we see as dysfunctional, negative or destructive by doing something different that will have sufficient impact to interrupt the old pattern.

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By habit we build patterns. Some of these patterns can be built into our genes for survival reasons.

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67. The Law of Perfection

This law concerns the absolute perfection of the process of our unfolding. From a transcendental perspective, everyone and everything is unconditionally perfect. From a conventional viewpoint, perfection doesn't exist. Excellence is the best we can achieve, and achieving it takes time and patience. When we understand the larger picture, we understand our role and responsibility in helping the world we live in to become more loving, giving, kinder and gentler. When we live up to this responsibility, we expand into the perfection of our higher selves.

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68. The Law of Periodicity

Training for the aspirant will be cyclic, and will have its ebb and flow, as all else in nature. Times of activity succeed times of pralya, and periods of registered contact alternate with periods of apparent silence. If the student devleops as desired , each palayic period is succeeded by one of greater activity, and of more potent achievement. Rhythm, ebb and flow, and the measured beat of the pulsating life are ever the law of the universe. In learning to respond to the vibration of th high Places, this rhythmic periodicity must be borne in mind.

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Earth is entering another cycle, the Age of Aquarius, by year 2012. There will be more yin and heart.

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69. The Law of Planetary Affinity

This law is concerned with the connection and the interaction of the planets with each other and their eventual marriage.

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70. The Law of Polarity

Everything is Dual. Everything has poles. Everything has its pairs of opposites. Like and unlike are the same. Opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree. All paradoxes may be reconciled. The evidence of the principle is observed in the polarity of planets and various celestial bodies that includes our earth, solar system and galaxy. Everything has polarity. Without the law of polarity - light, gravity and electricity would not be possible.

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On the mental plane, this principle manifests itself in the heart centre of each person as the enlightened or dark mind. The Principle of Polarity makes possible the choices we make on the scale of life between good and evil, right and wrong, generosity and greed, love and fear, truth and lies. The law of cause and effect is closely connected to polarity and holds us true to the choices and actions we make by returning to us what we have measured out to ohters. Like the swing of the pendulum, it always returns where it began.

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This is the world of Duality. Go beyond this law to be unified.

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71. The Law of Prayer and Meditation

In prayer, talk God to God. Not beggar to God. Do not beg. Do not pray for blessings as you are already blessed. Transform yourself to match what you want to be. You can only have what you already are. Express gratitude to what you already have. There is no need to change religion to have what you want.

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Thou shall not use the name of God in vain.

eg. People who hide behind religion in business.

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[Personal note: I have recently met a christian pastor/businessman who was extremely rude and arrogant when he met us. He said that has no friends on earth and his only friend is Him. And all these he said has nothing to do with the deal we were suppose to discuss about. We felt unnecessarily harrassed.]

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People who are very at ease with God, do not talk about God.

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In prayer, ask God what we can do for God and listen to what he wants. You may be mentally stretched on that. :)

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72. The Law of Present Moment

To live in the present moment, we live moment by moment, as spirit extends and ego projects.

Go with the flow.

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73. The Law of Process

This is the creative law. We are created in the image of the creator.

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74. The Law of Progress

If there is no progress, we whither and die. It is the same if you seemingly doing something to pretend there is progress.

Have you ever tried staying in bed and watching DVD the whole day? How did it feel like?

[Someone from the floor: "Horrible, rotten".]

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75. The Law of Prophecy

There is no such thtng as the "last prophet". Religions say that to create monopoly through fear.

I AM that I AM.

The mention of "sinner" keeps you small for control, and that you do not have in you to talk to God. Thus God is spoken to through the religious leader. That is entirely false.

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Nobody can bless you. Only you yourself can.

How fast can you bless yourself?

Instantly - According to the law of present moment.

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We need spiritual guidance. Some through religion. It is like a staircase without guide rails on its side. We walk close to the side where the wall is with our hands touching the wall as we walk down. Touching the wall is only a "feel good" feeling. Actually, it doesn't make any difference whether you walk down touching the wall or not.

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Bomohs do the same. After giving the advice, they give you a physical object as a point of focus. Once you are well, they take the object away. Actually, you did not need the object to heal other than to focus.

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Everyone is a prophet.

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76. The Law of Radiation

This means going 'outwards'. Transform and radiate. There is nowhere to go to, nothing to look for, it is all there.

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"When your eyes are single, your body shall be filled with light."

That means that you no longer see the world in duality.

And like a beacon on the hill, they will see you from afar.

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Separate Jesus from the church.

Separate Buddha from the temple.

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77. The Law of Rebirth

You never ever die. Energy can't be created or destroyed. It changes from form to form.

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78. The Law of Rebound

No matter what you do, all will be alright.

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79. The Law of Repulse

This law does not work independently, but complementarily with the Law of Attraction.

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80. The Law of Responsibility

It was God's idea to separate, to give our soul existence. It was our idea to go away from God into materiality with the original purpose of profound and speedy soul growth. There are some souls who have experienced, to some degree, soul loss. God is responsible for us through love and we are responsible to become or reclaim this divine love. Once we establish the limits and boundaries of our responsibility, we can take full charge of that which is our duty and let go of that which is not. We find more enjoyment supporting others as we create more harmonious co-operative relationships by understanding that which falls within our realm of responsibility. Under this law we understand a person's need to over co-operate to such an extent that one becomes codependent - the condition which is obsessive focus on other people's lives. This law reminds us to respect our internal values and find our own point of balance.

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We are responsible for our own life, not the life of others.

[Personal note: I found this from the Internet...

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Once we establish the limits and boundaries of our responsibility,we can take full charge of that which is our duty and let go of that which is not;in doing so, we find more enjoyment supporting others,as we create more harmonious cooperative relationships.
For peace of mind,we need to resignas general manager of the universe.

--Larry Eisenberg ]

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You can see we go through some laws in more detail than the others, as some are more important. Next month, we are going to finish discussing about the remaining laws.

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Seminar ends here. Nobody fell into the $5 fine for raising questions pertaining to 'other people'. The point of the fine is to instill a habit of thinking by ourselves for ourselves and not unduely bothered by other people's thoughts. Seems that the fine is working well. Very Singaporean! :)

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[My notes: The 105 Universal Laws can be found in

http://www.awakening-intuition.com/Universal_Laws.doc ]

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Past posts: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Next seminar
(THIS WILL BE THE LAST SEMINAR FOR 105 UNIVERSAL LAWS IN SINGAPORE FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE.)

Date: 27 May 2007
Time: 9.30am to 5pm
Place: Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Lecture Theatre 1, Singapore
Fee: $30, for meals and drinks
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All Welcome!
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All financial surpluses from the seminar go to the orphanages that Dr Aaron Lim supports.