How Is Your Heart Doing?

How Is Your Heart Doing? - Omid Safi

 

In many Muslim cultures, when you want to ask them how they’re doing, you ask: in Arabic, Kayf haal-ik? or, in Persian, Haal-e shomaa chetoreh? How is yourhaal?

 

What is this haal that you inquire about? It is the transient state of one’s heart. In reality, we ask, “How is your heart doing at this very moment, at this breath?” When I ask, “How are you?” that is really what I want to know.

 

I am not asking how many items are on your to-do list, nor asking how many items are in your in-box. I want to know how your heart is doing, at this very moment. Tell me. Tell me your heart is joyous, tell me your heart is aching, tell me your heart is sad, tell me your heart craves a human touch. Examine your own heart, explore your soul, and then tell me something about your heart and your soul.

 

Tell me you remember you are still a human being, not just a human doing. Tell me you’re more than just a machine, checking off items from your to-do list. Have that conversation, that glance, that touch. Be a healing conversation, one filled with grace and presence.

 

Put your hand on my arm, look me in the eye, and connect with me for one second. Tell me something about your heart, and awaken my heart. Help me remember that I too am a full and complete human being, a human being who also craves a human touch.

 

I teach at a university where many students pride themselves on the “study hard, party hard” lifestyle. This might be a reflection of many of our lifestyles and our busyness — that even our means of relaxation is itself a reflection of that same world of over stimulation. Our relaxation often takes the form of action-filled (yet mindless) films, or violent and fast-paced sports.

 

I don’t have any magical solutions. All I know is that we are losing the ability to live a truly human life.

 

We need a different relationship to work, to technology. We know what we want: a meaningful life, a sense of community, a balanced existence. It’s not just about “leaning in” or faster iPhones. We want to be truly human.

 

W. B. Yeats once wrote, "It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a solider to fight on a battlefield."

 

How exactly are we supposed to examine the dark corners of our soul when we are so busy? How are we supposed to live the examined life?

 

I want us to have a kind of existence where we can pause, look each other in the eye […] and inquire together: Here is how my heart is doing. […]

 

How is the state of your heart today?

 

Let us insist on a type of human-to-human connection where when one of us responds by saying, “I am just so busy,” we can follow up by saying, “I know, love. We all are. But I want to know how your heart is doing.”

Beauty Of The Mosaic

Beauty Of The Mosaic - Rosalina Chai

For as long as I recall having memory, I've found mosaic incredibly mesmerising. Alongside the increasing presence of grey hair on my head grew my awareness of how aptly the mosaic can serve as a metaphor for perceiving and understanding the human condition.

Mosaic is at once intricate yet majestic. And it is precisely its brokenness that lends mosaic its perception of fragile beauty - the space between the tiles is as much an intricate part of its language of beauty as the mosaic tile itself. And isn't this true too of our humanity?

Whilst there are numerous titles out there extolling the necessity, power and beauty of our essential brokenness, more often that not, our daily interactions with our fellow human beings appears to be motivated by unconscious "should-ism" that demands perfection of one another. What is it about brokenness that we find so offensive?

What would happen when we accept and embrace that being broken is an essential part of humanity's be-ing? What would happen when we cease to label brokenness as bad? What would it take for us to cease labelling brokenness as bad? I can imagine one certainty ... more peace.

Accepting and embracing brokenness is not the same as using another's brokenness to feel better about ourselves. Rather, it is an acknowledgement of our common humanity. When I accept my own brokenness, and do not judge myself harshly because of it, I find myself capable of more compassion towards others regardless of whether I am aware of the form of brokenness they've experienced.

Finally, it is the coming together of many many many mosaic tiles that the meaning of its language of beauty is expressed. We were not meant to be alone in our brokenness. We were meant to come together, so that another form of beauty may be birthed through the collective.

I would like to leave you with this story.

At the beginning and end of time, Truth was a beautiful glowing orb. One day, the orb was shattered into shards that outnumbered the stars in the universe by one to infinity. These shards became souls. Thus it is that each soul represented one part of Truth. But Life intervened, and many souls believed that they were Truth, and so Hatred was bred. But some souls held onto the memory, and attempted to remind the souls who've forgotten.

I do not know the end of the story as it is yet to be written. But I do know that when all the souls are reunited, the space between the shards would be where the light shines through. And that Truth's beauty would then take another form.

Need To Be Liberated

The Oppressor and the Oppressed must both be Liberated - Nelson Mandela

 

I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there is mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.

 

It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.

 

When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved. But I know that that is not the case... We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.

About the Author: From Nelson Mandela's autobiography: Long Walk to Freedom. 

Reverence Protects Life

Reverence Protects Life - Gary Zukav

 

As you work toward becoming reverent, your tendencies toward harming others and other forms of life diminish. As you acquire a sense of reverence, you develop the capacity to think more deeply about the value of Life before you commit your energy to action. When you are fully reverent, you cannot harm Life, even (if/)though you are unempowered. Without reverence the experience of being unempowered can become a very cruel one because a dis-empowered person is a frightened person, and a frightened person is a person with no sense of reverence, he or she will harm or kill indiscriminately.

 

Reverence is a level of protection and honor about the process of life so while a person is maturing toward the journey and through the journey of authentic empowerment, he or she harms nothing. Because we have no reverence, our journey to empowerment often includes the experience of victimizing life. Therefore, there are victims and victimizers. The process of destroying Life while we are learning about Life that has characterized our evolution would cease, or at least would be very different if we approached Life with a quality of reverence.

 

It is because(/when) we have no sense of reverence, no true belief in the holiness of all of Life, that Life is destroyed and tortured, brutalized, starved, and maimed while we journey from unempowerment to empowerment. If a sense of reverence were brought into the process of evolution, then as each of us, and our species, moves through the cycle of being unempowered to becoming empowered, the many learnings that are contained within that growing process of evolution would not likely produce violence and fear to the extent that it is now experienced.

 

[...]

 

If we perceived Life with Reverence and understood the evolutionary process, we would stand in awe at the experience of the physical Life, and walk Earth in a very deep sense of gratitude.

About the Author: The above is excerpted from "Seat of the Soul." Gary Zukav is a renowned American spiritual teacher and the author of four consecutive New York Times Best Sellers. Gary now works through The Seat of the Soul Institute, which assists people across the world in creating meaning and purpose, creativity and health, joy and love. 

True Prayer

Father and daughter went to a temple. Suddenly, daughter  shouted after seeing the pillars of Lions at the entrance of the temple. "Run Dad, or those Lions will eat us"

 

Dad consoled her saying "they are just statues and wont harm us"

 

Daughter replied "if those lion statues won't harm us then how could statues of God give us blessings"

 

The father wrote in his diary...
"I am still speechless on my child's answer and have started searching for God in Humans instead of statues. I didn't find God but I found humanity!!
 Let us do your best to people who are around us...

• Prayer doesn't just happen when we kneel or put hands together and focus
• When you hug a friend that's a prayer
• When you cook something to nourish family and friends.. that's a prayer
• When we send off our near and dear ones and say Drive Safely or Be Safe, that's prayer too
• When you are helping someone in need by giving your time, energy and money..you are praying
• Prayer is a Vibration. A feeling...A thought...
• Prayer is the Voice of Happiness !!

A Happy Soul ...

A Happy Soul ...

• A Happy Soul stops trying to change others, but instead focus on changing self.
• A Happy Soul is one who accepts people for who they are.
• A Happy Soul is one who understands that everyone is right in one's own perspective.
• A Happy Soul is one who learns to "let go".
• A "Happy Soul is one who is able to drop expectations from every relationship and gives for the sake of giving.
• A Happy Soul is one who understands that whatever we do, we do it for our own peace.
• A Happy Soul is one who stops proving to the world, how intelligent one is.
• A Happy Soul is one who does not seek approval from others.
• A Happy Soul is one who stops comparing with others.
• A Happy Soul is one who is at peace with oneself.
• A Happy Soul is one who is able to differentiate between "need" and "want" and is able to let go of one's wants.
• A Happy Soul is one who stops attaching "happiness" to material things.

Every Seed Carries A Secret

Every Seed Carries a Secret - Angela Fischer

We will never come to fully know this secret, because it belongs to the mystery of creation. Yet we can learn again what hundreds of generations did before us, namely to live with the secrets, to use them as gifts, and to honor them as a source of life on this planet.

The first step in learning to live with a secret is to listen.

When I was a young child, my mother gave me a seed of a bean. She showed me how to plant it into a pot filled with black soil and how to keep it warm and moist. And then I had to wait.

For a young child this took a very long time. Every morning I would visit my seed, invisible in the darkness of the soil, and because I could not see anything, I remember that instead I tried to hear something. It was around the same time that my mother was pregnant, and I used to put my ear to her belly to communicate with the baby I could not see or touch. So I did the same with the invisible seed: I put my ears close to the soil and listened. I do not remember if I ever heard something, but I remember the listening. It was like an intimate conversation, though silent and unheard by anyone else.

The seed is a symbol for the deepest mystery of creation, and at the same time it is the mystery. For thousands of years farmers have known how to listen to these mysteries, and so found ways how to grow and to harvest, how to preserve the seeds, how to provide for them the best circumstances, considering the conditions of the earth, the soil, and the weather, and considering how much they connect us with the past and the future, our ancestors and our grandchildren. This goes back to an ancient feminine wisdom about the connection with the Earth, the knowledge of light being born out of darkness and an intimacy with the circles of life.

Every seed contains a light. Through greed and disconnection from the sacredness of life, this light is threatened. Genetically modified seeds become sterile. If the fertility is removed from a seed, its light is taken away; it withdraws. The divine light that is present in every seed is manifested through its fertility, through the potential to grow and to be a source for new life. When this light withdraws from a seed, it withdraws from the whole of creation, and our souls begin to starve.

As every seed embraces an outer as well as an inner reality, we need to care in outer and in inner ways. We need to protect the purity, diversity, and freedom of seeds through outer engagement, but we also need to protect the sacredness of life inwardly. The inner way is to hold the awareness of the sacredness in our hearts, to remember and to respect the feminine mysteries of creation–and to deeply listen. The same light that is contained in the heart of the biological seed is also present within our heart; it is the seed of love.

About the Author: Born in 1955, Angela Fischer is a Sufi, author of several books on feminine spirituality and the oneness of life, and has seminars and meditation retreats since her twenties.  Excerpt above is from the book 'Sacred Seed'.

Death

Death -  Henry Scott Holland

Death is nothing at all.

I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name.

Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed

at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you.

For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.

All Is Well.

Working With Soil, Attending To Soul

Working With Soil, Attending To Soul - Gunilla Norris

A garden tends to get inside us. If we go there to accomplish something or to get something, the garden soon becomes a burden. With expectations that it must look good or that it has to produce no matter what, we will soon grow tired. The garden is really a place in which we can give ourselves away. This is true of any serious contemplation, too. We are transformed by it. We are reduced and revealed by it. In it we may experience a lived sense of our connection to the earth, to our inner freedom, and to the Sacred, the ground of our existence.

"For me gardening is a process that invites me to be fully engaged. It is also a constant exercise in letting go since so much happens that is not in my control. Strangely this duality seems to cultivate a joy that embraces impermanence and finds refuge in the invisible.

"Gardening brings food and flowers to the table and sustenance to the soul. I am not talking about having a perfect garden. Ours certainly isn't! Weeds are as happy here as are flowers. Bushes get bushier and need trimming. What may start out as an elegant garden plan becomes more haphazard over time. With the years our garden has turned out to be a bit of this and that and always too big to really tend properly.

"From the start this is not the garden I designed. Someone else did, and before that there was a yard of sorts. Coming here to live I have inherited what already was, just as I inherited my parents, my siblings, and my particular time in history. We work with what we are given. That's the real garden. I can't claim anything here. I can only 'be' in the garden, tend it, and further it. Isn't that what we all do, what life asks us to do?

"In my garden while I am digging I am also tilling inner soil. My garden is a place of commitment and of neglect, of arrogance and humility. It is a place of taking stock and of deep silence — a place of contemplation. And so for me over time it has become a place of grace.

"I experience as the particular human being I am. I have no choice about that, but I trust that I am more like other people than not, and that what I find working the soil might also be what others find working theirs. I want to trust that with reverence for the place and awareness of my foibles, I can grow to be more present and a better steward of my small corner of the earth.

A Circle Of Trust

A Circle Of Trust - Parker Palmer

Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places. I learned about these qualities during my bouts with depression. In that deadly darkness, the faculties I had always depended on collapsed. My intellect was useless; my emotions were dead; my will was impotent; my ego was shattered. But from time to time, deep in the thickets of my inner wilderness, I could sense the presence of something that knew how to stay alive even when the rest of me wanted to die. That something was my tough and tenacious soul.

Yet despite its toughness, the soul is also shy. Just like a wild animal, it seeks safety in the dense underbrush, especially when other people are around. If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out. But if we will walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently at the base of a tree, breathe with the earth, and fade into our surroundings, the wild creature we seek might put in an appearance. We may see it only briefly and only out of the corner of an eye - but the sight is a gift we will always treasure as an end in itself.

Unfortunately, community in our culture too often means a group of people who go crashing through the woods together, scaring the soul away. In spaces ranging from congregations to classrooms, we preach and teach, assert and argue, claim and proclaim, admonish and advise, and generally behave in ways that drive everything original and wild into hiding. Under these conditions, the intellect, emotions, will and ego may emerge, but not the soul: we scare off all the soulful things, like respectful relationships, goodwill, and hope.

A circle of trust is a group of people who know how to sit quietly "in the woods" with each other and wait for the shy soul to show up... In such a space, we are freed to hear our own truth, touch what brings us joy, become self critical about our faults, and take risky steps toward change - knowing that we will be accepted no matter what the outcome.

About the Author: Parker J. Palmer, is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, and Healing the Heart of Democracy. Above is an excerpt from his book titled A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life.

Returning To The Language Of Life

Returning To The Language Of Life - Anat Vaughan-Lee

We do not always know what it is or how to articulate it, but deep inside there is a longing, a longing to live according to a true calling. A calling that comes not from the personality but from a deeper part of ourselves, a part that is connected to a greater whole that, if we recognize, opens a door to a different experience of life. Like a new horizon that opens before us, it offers the possibility that we can see and experience and connect to life in a new way. A way that enables us to participate differently and more deeply, from an awareness of a great and unfolding mysterious whole which we are a part.

But if we give it a second look, this emergence of the new light, a new beginning in the winter, belongs to a mystery of light and dark that we have always been part of. So although it may appear to be an end of a cycle, we are really participating in a mystery that has been celebrated in every culture over the thousands of years of recorded history.

I call it a participation of being.

The need to participate with a greater awareness evokes in me the image of the seed and the question: in today’s culture, what are we really rooted in? We wish for a fresh start, like a new seed, a new growth. The power of a seed is unimaginable. Within it lies the mystery of time, the cycle of the seasons and of death and rebirth. It possesses both masculine and feminine qualities which are in constant creative dialogue. From the dark womb of the feminine the direct force of the masculine emerges and shoots up into the light. Light and dark are in constant relationship. The seed is also both the center and the circumference, calling us to remember the sacred nature of life, the interconnected language of the universe, a song of oneness communicating to us and telling us, again and again, that we too are partaking in a primordial whole.

When we begin to realize this, a very mysterious process is awakened within us. We begin to participate in the great mystery of being that is so central to our existence. We begin to realize we are rooted in a greater rhythm, the reality of a greater whole which is at the same time unique to each of us. If and when we begin to live from such awareness, I wonder if our whole view of what a new year can mean will bring with it a very different understanding, an understanding that is so essential to the quality of our life, providing us a new sense of our roots.

Returning to such awareness is a returning to the language of life, no longer from a place of separation but from a place of sacred communion. When we hold this awareness within our body we become a full participant with the earth and the cosmos—at that moment something is allowed to live according to its true nature. We remember. That which is remembered lives. When we hold this consciousness in our heart, we naturally offer it back to life. This not only gives life meaning, but like a seed, revitalizes it. We then participate not only in the mystery of our own being but in the whole wonder of creation.

About the Author: Anat Vaughan-Lee has followed the Naqshbandi Sufi path since 1973. For many years she has been working with groups and dream work in the Sufi tradition, which encourages the deep feminine way of inner listening. In 2003 she was a delegate to the first Global Peace Initiative for Women conference at the Palais des Nations (UN) in Geneva. She also gave a presentation at “Making Way for the Feminine”; a gathering of women spiritual leaders held in Jaipur, India in 2008. Recognizing the need and urgency of the moment for the re-emergence of the feminine, she compiled and edited the writings of her husband, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, on the subject of the sacred feminine, which has emerged as the book The Return of the Feminine and the World Soul. 

Paramatma Mujhe Bas Itna Hi Dena ...

Don't Look Back In Sorrow Or Regret.

Don't look back in sorrow or regret.

Know deep in your heart that everything up to this point has helped to shape your life and mould you into the beautiful soul you are today.

Remember that soul growth can only come from change, and hardships force us to do just that.

When you think back and wish things could have been different, take a moment to examine the beauty around you and remember that without your past, you wouldn't be where you are today.

Embrace it. Love it. Learn from it. You are continuously growing.

Be grateful for all that has transpired and for the lessons and experiences that they have shown you to help you along your journey.

Are You Doing Enough For Yourself?

12 Symptoms Of Spiritual Awakening

Soul's Journey

You will sometimes meet someone you believe is a soul mate; you feel the connection on many levels, perhaps instantly. And as you get to know each other more, you begin to feel the connection deepen and you feel that you must have an arrangement with this person that predated this lifetime

Do not assume, however, that this soul connection necessarily means that you are meant to be happily together for this lifetime. It may be that you are meant to be friends and allies, helping each other out. It may be that you are going to help each other in ways that even involve conflict and separation, but with an end result that is beneficial to you. It may be that you are going to learn some lesson from each other and then go your separate ways.

What you need to do with all relationships, including those that have that instant and deep connection, is let be. You need to allow all of life, including close relationships, flow and evolve. You need to let people be who they are, not what you want them to be. And above all, you must not try to control, push and prod, manipulate and orchestrate relationships.

Have the courage and the heart, the centeredness, to follow your own path, to be who you are and love being who you are, no matter what. Shine out and show us who you are, so that people who are looking for someone exactly like you can find you. Do not allow setbacks or even major betrayals to dampen your shine and your being.

In life’s journey you will encounter much, narrow paths blocked by avalanches, forks in the road shrouded in fog, deep valleys of darkness and bright sunny days in meadows of golden poppies. It is all a part of life. And as you walk your path, other people will join you for a time: a dear friend, a lover, a spouse, children and parents. And then they may go away.

And through it all, the only constant is that you are you, that you have a core of truth within you and a path to walk, and if you allow your core of truth to tell you which fork in the road to take, if you allow that internal compass to tell you which mountain to climb, then you will do well indeed and have a fulfilling, interesting life. If you go chasing after others, trying to make things be other than how they naturally are, then you will find yourself suddenly awakening in a deep forest without knowing where to turn. You will find yourself lost and confused, because you have lost touch with your own personal truth.

And when this happens, you must just sit down, become very still, and return to yourself. You must reach down and find yourself again before you continue walking, or else you will simply go around in circles, becoming more desperate and alone and lost.

You are everything you need to be, just as you are, right now. You are the center of your own life. You are the beacon that shines and shows the way.

Be glad when others walk beside you, enjoy their company, connect as closely and deeply as you can, but always, always, shine your own light and walk your own path and allow them to do the same.

Soul mates: Are You Spiritually Connected To Your Partner?

Soul mates: Are you Spiritually Connected to your Partner? By Pallavi Thakur

Are you in a Spiritual Relationship?

Almost all of us have a “perfect match” check-list. In theory, the more of each other’s boxes you can tick off, the more well suited you are for each other. But what works in theory doesn’t always work when put into practice. It goes deeper than your surface needs or earthly desires. A spiritual connection is when you’re souls are attracted to each other and are in sync. Two people who have a spiritual connection are not just properly aligned - they bond.

So what exactly is a spiritual partner?

He or she is an ally for personal growth. You both decide that you want to work together to become your best selves as quickly as possible. You commit to helping and loving each other - and, here's the key - everyone around you. Because, it is only when you are living love and kindness that your relationship will truly flourish. Try it and see…when put into practice, you can make all your dreams come true.

Creating Wholeness

Maybe that’s why love is often called chemistry when you combine certain elements, they combine together to create a new unified whole. If and when you do spiritually connect with someone with whom you are also very compatible, the relationship is taken to a whole new level. It’s that spiritual connection that can really drive the passion. When you connect mind, body and soul, you have all the ingredients for success.

Signs of Spiritual Connection

Spiritual connections are usually perceived on a much deeper level. Once spiritually connected, you can get really comfortable with each other. You probably notice you have different sides to your personality - you have the side you show your close family/friends and the side you put on in public at large. When a spiritual connection is sparked, you are able to drop that public persona and let the other person get to know the real you.

When you spiritually connect with someone, it usually goes beyond sharing interests, hobbies, religion, political ideologies, education or things like that. When you connect spiritually, you realize you share deeper things - values, principles, a way of looking at the world or a particular point of view.

10 Steps to a Spiritual Relationship

If we use our relationships to make us wiser, kinder and more compassionate, we can actually change how they function. We can have the relationships and lives we've always dreamed of. Let's take a look at the steps to building a spiritual relationship with a soul mate, whether you are married, taken or single…

Step 1: Commit to something higher!

The element that elevates a partnership is the idea that your role is to support each other on your path to reach ultimate evolution, to become your best self. Get clear that what you are looking for is not just physical security or emotional support but spiritual evolution. Whatever goals you set for your relationship will dictate how it functions day to day. If your goal is financial security, don't expect satisfaction. If your goal is evolution of your body, mind and spirit, expect fulfilment beyond your dreams.

Step 2: Be what you want your partner to be

Make a list of the qualities you most want in a partner. Instead of looking for amazing features in someone else, develop them in yourself. For example, If you want a partner with financial stability, get stable yourself! You want someone fun? Be fun! The beauty of perception is that you will see all your own qualities, both good and bad, reflected back to you in your partner. Be complete in yourself, and you will see completion in your partner.

Step 3: Cleanse past relationships

Think of your exes. What comes to mind? If it's anything other than love, you have some work to do. The images and feelings that arise in your memory color how you experience your current relationships. Learn to forgive. No matter how bad your past relationship was, it taught you exactly what you needed to learn.

Step 4: Recognise change and use it to grow

Part of healing past relationships is embracing change. In Buddhist philosophy, this understanding is the foundation of wisdom. There's no start without a finish, no beginning without an end, no life without death. Your relationship will transform as you each evolve. As spiritual partners, your job is to love and support each other through this process. Use change for growth - don't fight it.

Step 5: Cultivate a daily meditation practice

If you want to see a wise, loving, spiritual partner, you must be that yourself. Create a daily practice that includes meditation, prayer or deep contemplation. There are a multitude of studies that prove the mental and physical health benefits of meditation. Learning to get still and meditate well is just like anything else: it takes training. Find and practice a method that speaks to you and connects you to something higher. The time and attention you give your meditation practice determines the results you will get.

Step 6: Get physical, every day

You may find this hard to believe but touch, intimacy and connection are essential ingredients of spiritual partnerships. A satisfying intimate relationship starts with having a body that you feel good in. Yogic teachings explore the subtle energetic connections we have with each other. In order to access these deeper dimensions, your physical form must be healthy. Commit to a healthy diet that works with your needs. Commit to a regimen that enlivens you. Do something fun! Turn yourself on, and watch what happens in your intimate partnership.

Step 7: Face your demons

We all have shadows that we don't want to see. Being in a spiritual partnership requires that we grow up into the person we were meant to be. An essential step is bringing what we most deny in ourselves into the open. Partnerships are challenging. Your relationship is going to bring all your darkness to the surface. This is usually when the relationship ends, or when the trouble starts. Help each other work through the psychological issues that arise. Otherwise your own shadows will inevitably undo your relationship.

Step 8: Make your partner feel special

How you treat your relationship will create the results you experience. Is this the most special person on the planet to you? If so, how should you treat them? If you relate to them as a sacred being, they will be. If you treat them as ordinary, they will be. Remember the blissful feelings when you first met and recreate those times. Dress up, go out to the best restaurant, or make his/her favorite meal at home. Take time to make everything special.

Step 9: Align your visions

A spiritual partnership is all about supporting each other's deepest desires. In order to stay together, your two visions must align. Ask each other: What do you most wish for? Explore questions with courage and honesty. Your visions do not need to agree, but they need to align. Find the common aspects of both of your visions for the future. Maybe one of you wants to live abroad, while the other wants to live near family. Instead of getting caught in dualism, look for "mid ways."

Step 10: Go for your dreams

We are all meant to be the heroes of our own lives. No one can do it for you, even your spiritual partner. The best thing you can do for your relationship is to become the being you dream of, the being you were born to be.

It's OK to get stuck!

Sometimes we become spiritually stuck and cannot evolve in a relationship. These are not spiritual relationships. These types of relationships hold us there not allowing for growth or other experiences. It is true that being a victim, martyr, persecutor, rescuer or love addict may have a karmic lesson but in this case the spiritual lesson is learning how to let go.

Togetherness: A Spiritual Celebration!

In conclusion a true spiritual relationship is one where both parties feel wholeness and complete together. It is the harmonization of male and female energy, which creates freedom within the relationship to accept each other unconditionally without hidden agendas. In a true spiritual relationship one knows how to give or take without being asked and to meet the other party’s needs without question.

A small exercise to make life better

Take 10 quiet minutes alone, and do the following contemplation: Imagine the end of your life. You are happy, healthy 100 years old. You have accomplished everything and have no regrets, nothing left undone. The 3 people you are closest to get up to speak of everything you have done and what they admire about you. Spend some time writing down what they said. Now work towards the things that you want them to say. It’s a simple way of stepping into that dream.

Spirituality and Love

A spiritual partnership is a beautiful, powerful method to help you achieve a perfect relationship and anything else your heart desires. Because in the end, it all comes down to love.

Very Nice Conversation Between Radha And Krishna

स्वर्ग में विचरण करते हुए

अचानक एक दुसरे के सामने आ गए

विचलित से कृष्ण ,प्रसन्नचित सी राधा...

कृष्ण सकपकाए, राधा मुस्काई
इससे पहले कृष्ण कुछ कहते राधा बोल उठी

कैसे हो द्वारकाधीश ?

जो राधा उन्हें कान्हा कान्हा कह के बुलाती थी
उसके मुख से द्वारकाधीश का संबोधन
कृष्ण को भीतर तक घायल कर गया
फिर भी किसी तरह अपने आप को संभाल लिया

और बोले राधा से .........
मै तो तुम्हारे लिए आज भी कान्हा हूँ
तुम तो द्वारकाधीश मत कहो!

आओ बैठते है ....
कुछ मै अपनी कहता हूँ कुछ तुम अपनी कहो

सच कहूँ राधा जब जब भी तुम्हारी याद आती थी
इन आँखों से आँसुओं की बुँदे निकल आती थी

बोली राधा ,मेरे साथ ऐसा कुछ नहीं हुआ
ना तुम्हारी याद आई ना कोई आंसू बहा
क्यूंकि हम तुम्हे कभी भूले ही कहाँ थे
जो तुम याद आते

इन आँखों में सदा तुम रहते थे
कहीं आँसुओं के साथ निकल ना जाओ
इसलिए रोते भी नहीं थे

प्रेम के अलग होने पर तुमने क्या खोया
इसका इक आइना दिखाऊं आपको ?

कुछ कडवे सच ,प्रश्न सुन पाओ तो सुनाऊ?

कभी सोचा इस तरक्की में तुम कितने पिछड़ गए
यमुना के मीठे पानी से जिंदगी शुरू की
और समुन्द्र के खारे पानी तक पहुच गए ?

एक ऊँगली पर चलने वाले सुदर्शन चक्रपर
भरोसा कर लिया और
दसों उँगलियों पर चलने वाळी
बांसुरी को भूल गए ?

कान्हा जब तुम प्रेम से जुड़े थे तो ....
जो ऊँगली गोवर्धन पर्वत उठाकर लोगों को विनाश से बचाती थी
प्रेम से अलग होने पर वही ऊँगली
क्या क्या रंग दिखाने लगी
सुदर्शन चक्र उठाकर विनाश के काम आने लगी

कान्हा और द्वारकाधीश में
क्या फर्क होता है बताऊँ
कान्हा होते तो तुम सुदामा के घर जाते
सुदामा तुम्हारे घर नहीं आता

युद्ध में और प्रेम में यही तो फर्क होता है
युद्ध में आप मिटाकर जीतते हैं
और प्रेम में आप मिटकर जीतते हैं
कान्हा प्रेम में डूबा हुआ आदमी
दुखी तो रह सकता है
पर किसी को दुःख नहीं देता

आप तो कई कलाओं के स्वामी हो
स्वप्न दूर द्रष्टा हो
गीता जैसे ग्रन्थ के दाता हो

पर आपने क्या निर्णय किया
अपनी पूरी सेना कौरवों को सौंप दी?
और अपने आपको पांडवों के साथ कर लिया
सेना तो आपकी प्रजा थी
राजा तो पालाक होता है
उसका रक्षक होता है

आप जैसा महा ज्ञानी
उस रथ को चला रहा था जिस पर बैठा अर्जुन
आपकी प्रजा को ही मार रहा था
आपनी प्रजा को मरते देख
आपमें करूणा नहीं जगी

क्यूंकि आप प्रेम से शून्य हो चुके थे

आज भी धरती पर जाकर देखो
अपनी द्वारकाधीश वाळी छवि को
ढूंढते रह जाओगे हर घर हर मंदिर में
मेरे साथ ही खड़े नजर आओगे

आज भी मै मानती हूँ
लोग गीता के ज्ञान की बात करते हैं
उनके महत्व की बात करते है

मगर धरती के लोग
युद्ध वाले द्वारकाधीश.
पर नहीं
प्रेम वाले कान्हा पर भरोसा करते हैं
गीता में मेरा दूर दूर तक नाम भी नहीं है
पर आज भी लोग उसके समापन .
पर

" राधे राधे" करते है ।

Prayer Is The Cry Of A Soul

We often hear people say that behind every successful man is a woman. I will modify this by saying, behind every success, there is the Divine, saying, “I am behind you”. The Divine dawns in you when you pray for Grace; when you cry for it.

Prayer is a vital tool to improve your life. What you can do, do it. What you cannot do, pray for it! When you feel the obstacle is too much to handle, deep prayer can work miracles. Whatever you do, know that a higher power has the final say and you can tap that power through your prayers.

You don’t need any special qualifications or abilities to pray. Whether a fool or a wise person, rich or poor, anybody can pray. Prayer doesn’t mean just sitting and chanting some words. It’s about being in that serene, calm, meditative state. That is why, in vedic tradition, dhyana, meditation, is done before prayer as well as afterwards. When the mind is focused, prayer becomes far more powerful.

Prayer is the cry of a soul. To whom you pray is not so important. Whereas religion puts words to the prayer, and adds symbols and rituals to it, prayer itself transcends them. It happens at the subtle level of feelings; feelings transcend words and religion. The act of praying itself has the power to bring transformation.     

When you pray there should be total involvement. If the mind is preoccupied elsewhere then that is no prayer at all. When there is pain, there is more involvement. That’s why people turn to prayer when they are in pain. Prayer happens when you feel grateful or when you feel utterly helpless. In either case your prayers will be answered. When you feel helpless, prayer happens by itself. That’s why in Hindi we say 'Nirbal toh Balram'. If you are weak, God is with you. Prayer is that moment when you get in touch with your limitations, your boundaries.

Usually when you love something, you want to possess it and you pray for it. True prayer, however, is just the opposite of wanting to possess. It’s about honouring and offering everything to the Divine. Honouring brings devotion and leads to surrender. Devotion heals.

True prayer can’t happen without devotion and faith. Having faith is to realise that God’s protection is there for you. Devotion is inner flowering; it starts from where you are. Unless you are lit in devotion to the Divine, your life will remain restless. In devotion, longing will arise in you and true prayer happens by itself.

Be sincere in your prayers. Do not try to outsmart the Divine. What type of time do you give the Divine? Usually you give time that is leftover; when you have nothing else to do, no guests to attend to, no parties to go to, then you go to the Divine. This is not quality time. Give prime time to the Divine. You will definitely be rewarded. If your prayers are not answered, it is because you have never given quality time.

There are four types of people who go to God -- first, those who seek the truth (knowledge and freedom); second, the wise ones (gyanis); third, the ones who seek material comforts (wealth) and fourth, ones who are in misery. The wise one does not pray for something. His life itself is a prayer.

If at all you have to pray for something, pray for happiness of all the people in the world. Loka Samastha Sukhinou Bhavantu -- May everybody be happy.

Some Words of Wisdom - Mother Teresa