Swami Trailinga, when he died was reputed to be nearly 300 years old. Thousands of people, observed Trailanga floating on the Ganges for days, sitting ON TOP of the water or remaining hidden for long periods under the waves of Ganges river. A common sight at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, was the Swami's motionless body lying for hours on the burning hot stone slabs, wholly exposed to the scorching rays of summer Sun, with out deter.
Great saints that have awakened from the cosmic dream and realized this world to be an idea in the Divine Mind, can do as they wish with this body, knowing that the body is only a manipulatable form of condensed or frozen energy.
n spite of his round face and huge barrel-like stomach, Trailanga ate only occasionally. The yogi was great not only spiritually, but physically. His weight exceeded 300 pounds (about 140 Kg). After weeks without food, he would break his fast with pot full of clabbered milk, offered to him by devotees.
A jealous skeptic once determined to expose Trailanga as a charlatan. A large earthen pot filled with lime mixture (used in whitewashing walls), was placed before the swami by him. "Master," the materialist said, in mock reverence, "I have brought you some clabbered milk. Please drink it."
Trailanga unhesitatingly drank, to the last drop, the quarts of burning lime mixture. In a few minutes the evil-doer fell to the ground in agony.
"Help, swami, help!" he cried. "I am on fire! Forgive my wicked test!"
The great yogi broke his habitual silence. "Scoffer," Swami said, "You did not realize when you offered me this poisonous lime mixture that my life is one with your own. Except for my knowledge that God is present in my stomach, as in every atom of creation, the lime would have killed me. Now that you know the divine meaning of boomerang never ever again play tricks on anyone."
The sinner healed by Trailanga's words and he feebly moved quietly away with gliding steps.
It is said that Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was greatly attracted towards Trailanga. There are at least four references to the Trailang Swami in The Gospel of Ramakrishna. The story goes that when Ramkrishna Paramhansa came to Benaras, he met Swamiji, to whom he mentioned his desire to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple. But as time was running out, he concluded that it would perhaps not be possible. As he said this and turned around to leave, there stood, instead of Swamiji, Lord Vishwanath himself! After seeing Telang Swami, Ramakrishna said, "I saw that the universal Lord Himself was using his body as a vehicle for manifestation. He was in an exalted state of knowledge. There was no body-consciousness in him. After this divine sighting, Ramkrishna became a lifelong disciple of Trailanga Swami.
In another story, young Ramakrishna (later Paramhamsa) went to Benaras only to see the great Trailanga Swami in 1869. Trailanga Swami took his urine and sprinkled it on the idol of Goddess whom Ramakrishna worshipped and said that there was no difference between his urine and the Ganges water. Trailanga Swami had reached that great state in which there was nothing non-sacred. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa said about Trailanga Swami “I saw that Universal Lord Himself was using his body as a vehicle for His manifestation. He was in an exalted state of knowledge.
Trailanga Swami, the Greatest of the Known Kriyayogis (1607-1887), a very good reference has been made in the Autobiography of a Yogi. The greatest Kriyayogi about whom many events have been verified historically is the great Trailanga Swami. Briefly it is the word Trailanga, used mostly in Varanasi, is derived from the word Trailanga, referring to the area where Telugu language is spoken. It is the modern Andhra Pradesh, where he was born in a village near Vizianagaram in a Brahmin family. His father, Narasimha Rao, was a landlord and his mother Vidyavati was a great worshipper of Lord Shiva. The name chosen for him was Shivaram who once crept into the room in which she was worshipping. She saw a great illumination emanating from the Shivalinga that entered his son’s body. The puzzled mother had to be convinced by her husband that their son was a great divine person in human form.
The first guru of Shivaram was his own mother that initiated him to Shiva-mantra. He loved his mother so much that when she died, he attended the cremation and decided never to return home. His noble younger brother got built a cottage for Shivaram who was then 40 years old. He did his sadhana for 12 years and then moved to the great pilgrimage, Pushkar (near Ajmer), where he met a yogi, Bhagiratananda Saraswati with whom he stayed as his guest. This yogi initiated him into kriya yoga.
The king of Nepal and his courtiers were once hunting a tiger, which entered the cave where Trailanga Swami was in meditation and sat by his side like a cat. The king and his courtiers entered the cave but seeing a yogi hesitated to open fire. Opening his eyes Trailanga Swami asked the king to come near him assuring that the tiger would not even growl at them. The king then requested Trailanga Swami to be his guest at his palace but he went and stayed at the Pashupatinath temple. Once again, when crowds started collecting around him, day and night, he ran away, never to return to Nepal again.
No one knows when he reached Varanasi, the place of Lord Shiva. There he lay totally naked on the roads. The harassed police of Varanasi (the then Benares) considered him as a baffling problem. The Swami, like the early Adam in the garden of Eden, was unconscious of his nakedness. The police were quite conscious of it, however, and unceremoniously put him in jail but soon the enormous body of Trailanga Swamy was seen, in its usual entirety, on the prison roof. His cell still was securely locked, offered no clue to his mode of escape from the locked cell. The discouraged officers of the law once more performed their duty and this time a guard was posted before the Swami's cell, but the great master was soon observed in his nonchalant stroll over the roof of the cell again. They soon gave up and set him free to let him walk the streets of Benares, naked.
Yet once again a mischievous British magistrate collected feces and asked him to eat it in his court, since Trailanga Swami always said that everywhere he saw only God since he had reached the highest stage of yogic development possible in human form. He asked everyone to eat it but they refused. He put his hand on the plate containing feces and it turned into sweet smelling sweetmeats and he ate it. The English rulers did not trouble him after that event and Trailanga Swami came to be known as Sachal Vishwanath, (moving Lord Vishwanath or Shiva).
The Maharaja of Benaras took Trailanga Swami once on a boat. The Raja (king) was attired splendidly with a silver sheath containing his golden sword, studded with diamonds, tied round his waist. What it was, asked Trailanga Swami and when told that it was priceless family heirloom (valuable armor belonged to kingly family for several generations), he took it in his hand and threw it in the river. The Raja was depressed. Then Trailanga Swami put his hand in the flowing water and brought out more than four or five similar swords and, asked the Raja to recognize his. The pride of the Raja was reduced to dust and he learnt a lesson in detachment.
Trailanga Swami's died on Monday December 26, 1887 and his body was given “salilasamadhi” Or “Jalsamadhi” in the Ganges river, according to the funeral customs of the monks of the Dashanami sect, in the presence of a multitude of mourning devotees standing on the ghats. Out of these 280 years of his worldly existence Trailanga Swami spent 150 years in Varanasi, where for days and months he floated on the river Ganga without ever eating. There is no instance of such a great Kriyayogi as Trailanga Swami, which was ever got historically verified.
“All of your relationships are inside of you. There's no relationship out there. There is only the reflection of what you are doing inside yourself and how you're dealing with relationships inside of you, not out there. It may look as if a relationship is you with another person or with other people, but it is always you within you, and relationships are one of the greatest mirrors you can have for yourself-your patterns, your beliefs, your conditioned responses.”
-John-Roger
Most of us look in a mirror every day. Sometimes it’s consciously, sometimes out of habit, and other times for a specific purpose. We look in the mirror, see our reflection and get a sense of how we look. There is a greater mirror available to us as well, and that one holds the reflection of ourselves that we see in other people.
Our relationships can be one of the greatest teachers we have in life. They not only help us learn loving, patience, boundaries, effective communication, but they are a mirror of our relationship to ourselves.
Every doubt and insecurity we have about ourselves and our own worthiness is brought forward in our relationships. Every need to prove ourselves, to seek approval, and our sense of safety and security is played out with the people in our lives.
What this means then is that every relationship can show us a reflection of our own Divinity, where we are limiting ourselves or stuck in old patterns. Every relationship holds a key to our own healing and expansion.
What do your relationships say to you or about you? If you were to look in to your relationship reflections, what does this mirror tell you about:
- How safe you feel to open your heart
- How worthy you believe yourself to be
- How honest you are with yourself
- Unhealed traumas or emotional wounds
- Beliefs about being good enough
- What you value in others that you are not seeing in yourself
- What qualities you judge in others that you’re not owning in yourself
- How you love and take care of yourself
- How safe you feel to be yourself
- The responsibility you take for yourself or for others
- What your motivations are for your actions
- How comfortable you are to let go
The “themes” your soul is bringing forward for you to look at in this lifetime
Instead of blaming others for not being who we want them to be or not loving us the way we want, we can begin to look at our relationships in a new way. Rather than trying to change
http://www.morningstarcenter.com/pdf/worldyourmirror.pdf
http://lightworkers.org/wisdom/julie-miller/182781/relationships-spiritual-mirrors
http://www.ashtarcommandcrew.net/profiles/blog/show?id=2859786%3ABlogPost%3A2670312&commentId=2859786%3AComment%3A2674916&xg_source=activity
Archangel Michael comment: “Oh, do not think that you cannot hear the sound of your collective or of your planet! You are always hearing the sound of the universe, that high-pitched ringing in your ears.”
Many people consider it to be tinnitis, but Paramahansa Yogananda says it’s not. He says it’s the sound of the universal creative vibration that calls all matter into being, holds it in place for a while, and then returns it to the formless, the cosmic motor, the music of the spheres, in the first form in which it manifests itself to us. (1)
Some call it Aum or Amen, others Shakti, Prakriti/Procreatrix, still others the Holy Spirit, Wisdom (Solomon), Sophia, and so on. It’s synonymous with movement and sound. The Father is still and silent. (2)
Everyone is under the authority of the Divine Mother, Mahamaya, the Primal Energy. Even the Incarnations of God accept the help of maya to fulfill their mission on earth. Therefore, they worship the Primal Energy.” - Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (3)
Aum of the Vedas became the sacred word Hum of the Tibetans, Amin of the Moslems, and Amen of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians. Its meaning in Hebrew is sure, faithful.” - Paramahansa Yogananda (4)
Aum is called the word because the word signifies cosmic intelligent vibratory sound which is the origin of all sounds and languages. This intelligent cosmic vibration or word is the first manifestation of God in creation. (5)
All vibrating creation is accompanied by the Cosmic Sound of Amen or Om or the Word or Holy Ghost, which is the first vibrating manifestation of God. (6)
The Aum vibration that reverberates throughout the universe [is] the ‘Word’ or ‘voice of many waters’ of the Bible. (7)
Throughout the Bible wherever the word ‘VOICE’ or ‘GOD SAID’ is used, it signifies that God did not speak through a throat but that, whenever God wills to create something definite, His will stirs up and energizes the Cosmic Energy which produces various sounds. Hence, ‘God said’ means God vibrating, and His Voice signifies His Intelligent Cosmic Vibration and Energy. (8)
This entire universe is pervaded by me, in that eternal form of mine which is not manifest to the senses. Although I am not within any creature, all creatures exist within me. I do not mean that they exist within me physically. That is my divine mystery. You must try to understand its nature. My Being sustains all creatures and brings them to birth, but has no physical contact with them.” - Sri Krishna (9)
Aun [sic] or the Holy Ghost, [is] the sole causative force that upholds the cosmos through vibration. (11)
Ghost signifies an intelligent, invisible, conscious force, or intelligent cosmic vibration. It is holy because the emanent (outflowing) consciousness of God the Father, or Christ intelligence, guides it to create all finite matter. The ancients, not versed in the polished language of modern times, used ‘Holy Ghost’ and ‘Word’ for Intelligent Cosmic Vibration, which is the first materialization of God the Father in matter. (12)
The Hindus speak of this ‘Holy Ghost’ as the ‘Aum’. ‘A’ stands for ‘Akar’ or creative vibration; ‘U’ stands for ‘Ukar’ or preservative vibration; and ‘M’ for ‘Makar’ or destructive vibration.” The Aum vibration that reverberates throughout the universe (the ‘Word’ or ‘voice of many waters’ of the Bible) has three manifestations or gunas, those of creation, preservation, and destruction. Each time a man utters a word, he puts into operation one of the three qualities of Aum. This is the lawful reason behind the injunction of all scriptures that man should speak the truth.
Spiritually-sensitive people hear the first manifestation of this Holy Spirit or Divine Mother as a ringing in the ears. Others have to meditate deeply to have the sound arise within themselves.
The intelligent holy vibration, or the first manifestation of God the Father, … manifests as the cosmic sound of Aum, or Amen, which can be heard in meditation. (14)
Patanjali speaks of God as the actual Cosmic Sound of Aum that is heard in meditation. Aum is the Creative Word, the whir of the Vibratory Motor, the witness of Divine Presence. (15)
‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock (sound through Om vibration): If any man hear my voice (listen to Om), and open the door, I will come in to him.’ (Revelation 3:20). Patanjali (a great Hindu Raja Yogi) wrote: ‘Meditate on Om to actually contact [God]. Om is His symbol (manifestation of creation).’” (16)
Yogananda explains what the Yogi does with the sound of Aum, this ringing in our ears:
“[One] hears the sound of Holy Ghost when all bodily and astral sounds cease. Then, by deeper meditation on this sound, by higher processes learned from the Guru, he can be one with the sound and ‘touch’ it. Then, after touching or feeling it, by still higher methods, the spiritual aspirant will find his consciousness vibrating simultaneously in his body and in several continents. As he progresses further by deeper and longer meditation, he will find his consciousness vibrating simultaneously in his body, in the earth, the planets, the universes, and in every particle of matter.” (18)
When the Yogi … listens to cosmic vibration, his mind is diverted from the physical sounds of matter outside his body to the circulatory sounds of the vibrating flesh. Then his consciousness is diverted from the vibrations of the body to the musical vibrations of the astral body. Then his consciousness wanders from the vibrations of the astral body to the vibrations of consciousness in all atoms. Then the consciousness of the Yogi listens to the Holy Ghost or Cosmic Sound emanating from all atoms. This is the way the ordinary consciousness should be baptized or expanded into Christ consciousness through the expanding power of the Holy Ghost, or the all-spreading ‘Aum-vibrating-sound’ heard in meditation. (19)
All human beings find their consciousness hidebound by the body, but by listening to and feeling the ‘Aum’ vibration and intuitive Christ consciousness the Yogi realizes that God the Father’s cosmic consciousness exists inactively in regions where there is no motion or presence of the Holy-Ghost vibration. (20)
By listening to this omnipresent sound the consciousness of the body-caged soul begins gradually to spread itself from the limitations of the body into omnipresence. One listening to the cosmic sound will find his consciousness spreading with it to limitlessness. (21)
After listening to and feeling the cosmic sound in all the Physical, Astral, and Ideational cosmos, or in the Physical, Astral, and Ideational Holy Ghost, his consciousness will vibrate in all creation. Then when his expanded consciousness becomes stable in all creation, it feels the presence of Christ consciousness in all vibration. Then the [Yogi] becomes Christ-like; his consciousness experiences the Second Coming of Christ; he feels in his vehicle the presence of Christ-consciousness as Jesus felt Christ expressed in His body. (22)
A Zen master will probably call it original sound. Concentrating on it is a form of meditation. When [kundalini] becomes active it turns into a roar like a waterfall.
So if you’re hearing the blessed sound of Aum as a ringing in your ears, rejoice. Welcome it. Talk to it. Say, “Hello, Mother. What are your wishes for me today?” or “What are you bringing me today?” Listen to it and allow it to grow within your consciousness. Hearing the sound of the universal motor is a great blessing indeed.
http://goldenageofgaia.com/spiritual-essays/spiritual-dilemmas/what-is-that-ringing-in-my-ears/
The Winner is always part of the answer;
The Loser is always part of the problem.
The Winner always has a program;
The Loser always has an excuse.
The Winner says, "Let me do it for you";
The Loser says, "That is not my job."
The Winner sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser sees a problem for every answer.
The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it is possible";
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is too difficult."
When a Winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong";
When a Loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault."
A Winner makes commitments;
A Loser makes promises.
Winners have dreams;
Losers have schemes.
Winners say, "I must do something";
Losers say, "Something must be done."
Winners are a part of the team;
Losers are apart from the team.
Winners see the gain;
Losers see the pain.
Winners see possibilities;
Losers see problems.
Winners believe in win-win;
Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.
Winners see the potential;
Losers see the past.
Winners are like a thermostat;
Losers are like thermometers.
Winners choose what they say;
Losers say what they choose.
Winners use hard arguments but soft words;
Losers use soft arguments but hard words.
Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things;
Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.
Winners follow the philosophy of empathy: "Don't do to others what you would not want them to do to you";
Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."
Winners make it happen;
Losers let it happen.
Winners plan and prepare to win.
The key word is preparation.
http://www.inspirationalstories.com/10/1004.html
The Room.
As Master Dogen advised nearly a millennium ago, before starting to practice Zazen, you first need to find a quiet place where neither wind nor smoke will intrude. The room in which you will practice Zazen should not be too dark or too bright-average lighting is best. The temperature should comfortable in accordance with the season.
The Zafu and Zabuton.
Zen meditation is practiced on a special round cushion called a zafu in Japanese. The purpose of this cushion is to raise the hips, forcing the knees to touch the ground, which makes one's Zazen more stable and comfortable.
Zafus can be found in various sizes in terms of thickness and diameter, though they tend to be around 13-14 inches in diameter. Traditionally, the zafu is packed with kapok (a soft natural fiber from the Kapok tree) or buckwheat. You can buy a zafu on the Internet; alternatively, as a beginner, you can fold up a thick blanket to function as a zafu, or you can create a makeshift zafu in any way you can think of that works.
In order to be comfortable while practicing, you will also need a zabuton, which is a rectangular mat that is put under the zafu to cushion the knees and legs. Zabutons can also be purchased online, but again, you can use a thick blanket as a makeshift zabuton instead.
How to practice Zen meditation?
There are two ways you can practice Zazen, depending on your flexibility and experience-the half lotus position or full lotus. The half lotus style is generally best suited for beginners. Remember that the most important part of Zazen, whether it is done in the half lotus or full lotus position, is to hold your spine and neck bones straight up, pulling vertically upward. Your posture must be strong.
As Sensei Taisen Deshimaru once explained, "Your posture should be like a tiger ready to pounce, not that of a sleeping pig."
Half lotus (Hankafuza in Japanese).
First, sit down in the center of the zafu, with your buttocks centered straight on it. Bend and turn your right leg so that its outer side and you right knee are touching the zabuton. Bring your foot as close to the zafu as possible. Next, bend your left leg and put the top of your left foot on your right thigh. Finally, put both your knees on the zabuton. This might be difficult to do for some beginners, but with practice, your legs will become more flexible and the posture will become easier.
Full lotus (Kekkafuza in Japanese).
The full lotus posture is the standard posture for Zazen. To get into the full lotus position, first get into the half lotus posture. Then, gripping your right foot, bring your right leg over your left leg and put your right foot on your left thigh. Your legs should now be crossed with your feet resting on the opposite thighs. Again, this position will seem uncomfortable and unnatural for most beginners, but with time, your body and mind will relax and become more flexible, and you will find the posture to be quite comfortable.
Hand Position (Hokkaijoin in Japanese).
The position of the hand during Zazen is the same for the both the half lotus and the full lotus positions. Place your right hand palm-up on your left ankle, close to your belly. Your right wrist should rest on your right thigh. Next, place your left hand palm-up on your right palm so that the fingers of the left hand cover the fingers of the right hand. Let your left wrist rest on your left thigh. Slightly curve your hands so that your thumbs touch each other and form a straight line, with your thumbs on top and your fingers on the bottom.
The tips of your thumbs should lightly touch each other at the height of the navel. Keep your shoulders relaxed and at the same height. Your arms should be kept slightly away from your body, forming a horizontal line from one elbow to the other.
The Back and Neck.
During Zazen, you should make sure that your back and neck bones stay as erect as possible. Pull your chin back a little, and try to "push the sky" with the top of your head. Do not be too tense or too relaxed while you do this; try to find balance in your posture. During Zen meditation, your body should not bend forward or backward, or to the left or to the right. In order to avoid needless movement, make sure that the tip of your nose in roughly in line with your navel.
The Mouth and Tongue.
Keep your mouth closed at all times, placing your tongue against the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Your lips should be closed, and your teeth should be together. Breathing should be done through your nose.
The Eyes.
Keep your eyes open naturally during Zazen. There's no need to open your eyes unusually wide, or to half-close your eyes. Without focusing on anything in particular, keep your eyes looking one meter in front of you on the floor. Do not close your eyes; if your eyes are closed, you will easily become drowsy or drift into daydreaming.
Zen Breathing.
Traditionally, the Zen masters never taught proper breathing, which can be achieved through a correct posture. During Zen meditation, breathe quietly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Take a long deep breath in and out, and let it establish a slow and strong natural rhythm. Breathe out through your nose slowly and quietly, and let your inhalation and exhalation be natural. Zen breathing and martial arts breathing are similar, and they can be compared to the mooing of a cow or the roaring of a tiger.
The Zen State of Mind.
The essence of Zazen is to "not think", that is, to go beyond thinking. Thus, we should avoid having intentional thoughts and images in our head. During Zazen, various thoughts and images will arise in your mind from the unconscious, and this is perfectly natural. Do not become disturbed by these thoughts or caught up in them. Do not pursue them or try to escape from them.
Do not try to fight or struggle with any of these thoughts. The more you try to get rid of them, the more power you will give them, and the stronger they will become. Let them pass by effortlessly, like clouds in the sky. Again, do not fight or grasp them. Maintain a strong posture, and your breathing will naturally settle down, and your mind will become tranquil, serene, and undisturbed.
Beginning Zazen.
To avoid distraction and to calm down the mind, we recommend that you practice Zen meditation facing a wall, as in in Soto Zen. Place your zafu on your zabuton (or folded blanket), so that your body is about one arm's length from the wall. After you have placed your legs in the half lotus or full lotus position, take a deep breath. Put the back of your hands on your knees, palms up, and gently shift your body from left to right two or three times. Next, do gassho (place your palms against each other, as if in prayer, and bend your entire body forward a few seconds). Finally, position your hands in the Hokkaijoin position, erect your back and neck and start Zazen. Practice for 20 to 30 minutes as a beginner.
Finishing Zazen.
Once you have finished Zazen, remain calm and quiet for a few moments; don't hurry to stand up. Do gassho and start by slowly moving your legs first, and then slowly standing up. Try not to talk for a few minutes after completing Zazen.
http://zen-buddhism.net/practice/zen-meditation.html
By a guru-given technique of meditation on Aum (Om), such as I have taught to Self-Realization Fellowship students (available in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons), the sacred Aum vibration of the Holy Ghost can be heard in meditation through the supersensory medium of intuition. First, the devotee realizes Aum as the manifested cosmic energy in all matter. The earthly sounds of all atomic motion, including the sounds of the body—the heart, lungs, circulation, cellular activity—come from the cosmic sound of the creative vibratory activity of Aum. The sounds of the nine octaves perceptible to the human ear, as well as all cosmic low or high vibrations that cannot be registered by the human ear, have their origin in Aum. So also, all forms of light—fire, sunlight, electricity, astral light—are expressions of the primal cosmic energy of Aum.
This Holy Vibration working in the subtle spinal centers of the astral body, sending forth life force and consciousness into the physical body, manifests as wonderful astral sounds—each one characteristic of its particular center of activity.
These astral sounds are likened to melodic strains of the humming of a bee, the tone of a flute, a stringed instrument such as a harp, a bell-like or gong sound, the soothing roar of a distant sea, and a cosmic symphony of all vibratory sound.
The Self-Realization Fellowship technique of meditation on Aum teaches one to hear and locate these astral sounds. This aids the awakening of the divine consciousness locked in the spinal centers, opening them to "make straight" the way of ascension to God-realization.
As the devotee concentrates on Aum, first by mentally chanting Aum, and then by actually hearing that sound, his mind is diverted from the physical sounds of matter outside his body to the circulatory and other sounds of the vibrating flesh. Then his consciousness is diverted from the vibrations of the physical body to the musical vibrations of the spinal centers of the astral body. His consciousness then expands from the vibrations of the astral body to the vibrations of consciousness in the causal body and in the omnipresence of the Holy Ghost.
When the devotee's consciousness is able not only to hear the cosmic sound of Aum, but also to feel its actual presence in every unit of space, in all finite vibrating matter, then the soul of the devotee becomes one with the Holy Ghost. His consciousness vibrates simultaneously in his body, in the sphere of the earth, the planets, the universes, and in every particle of matter, space, and astral manifestation. Through the expanding power of the Holy Ghost, the all-spreading Aum-vibrating sound heard in meditation, the consciousness then becomes immersed, or baptized, in the sacred stream of Christ Consciousness.
These progressively higher states of realization are attained through deeper and longer meditation as guided by the guru. But from the very beginning, the blessings of contact with Aum become increasingly manifest. (...)
In deepest meditation, as practiced by those who are advanced in the technique of Kriya Yoga, the devotee experiences not only expansion in the Aum vibration "Voice from heaven," but finds himself able also to follow the microcosmic light of Spirit in the "straight way" of the spine into the light of the spiritual eye "dove descending from heaven."
First, the life force and consciousness must be withdrawn from the senses and bodily restlessness, and must cross the portals of Cosmic Energy represented by the golden ring of the spiritual eye. Then the consciousness must plunge in the blue light representing Christ Consciousness. Then it must penetrate through the silver star opening into Spirit, in the boundless region of Infinity. This golden, blue, and silver light contains all the walls of rays—electronic, atomic, and lifetronic—of Cosmic Vibration through which one has to penetrate before one can reach heaven.
In these highest states of meditation, the body itself becomes spiritualised, loosening its atomic tenacity to reveal its underlying astral structure as life force. The aura often depicted around saints is not imaginative, but the inner divine light suffusing the whole being. (p.123-125, The Second Coming of Christ by Paramahansa Yogananda)
http://www.yogananda.com.au/pyr/pyr_aum.html
All sentient beings are essentially Buddhas. As with water and ice, there is no ice without water; apart from sentient beings, there are no Buddhas. Not knowing how close the truth is, we seek it far away what a pity! We are like one who in the midst of water cries out desperately in thirst. We are like the son of a rich man who wandered away among the poor.
The reason we transmigrate through the Six Realms is because we are lost in the darkness of ignorance. Going further and further astray in the darkness, how can we ever be free from birth-and-death? As for the Mahayana practice of zazen, there are no words to praise it fully. The Six Paramitas, such as giving, maintaining the precepts, and various other good deeds like invoking the Buddhas name, repentance, and spiritual training, all finally return to the practice of zazen.
Even those who have sat zazen only once will see all karma erased. Nowhere will they find evil paths, and the Pure Land will not be far away. If we listen even once with open heart to this truth, then praise it and gladly embrace it, how much more so then, if on reflecting within ourselves we directly realize Self-nature, giving proof to the truth that Self-nature is no-nature We will have gone far beyond idle speculation. The gate of the oneness of cause and effect is thereby opened, and not-two, not-three, straight ahead runs the Way.
Realizing the form of no-form as form, whether going or returning we cannot be any place else. Realizing the thought of no-thought as thought, whether singing or dancing, we are the voice of the Dharma. How vast and wide the unobstructed sky of samadhi! How bright and clear the perfect moonlight of the Fourfold Wisdom! At this moment what more need we seek? As the eternal tranquility of Truth reveals itself to us, this very place is the Land of Lotuses and this very body is the body of the Buddha.
The Heart Sutra
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva,
when deeply practicing prajna-paramita,
clearly saw that the five skandas
are all empty,
and was saved from all suffering and distress.
Sariputra,
form is no different to emptiness,
emptiness no different to form.
That which is form is emptiness,
that which is emptiness, form.
Sensations, perceptions, impressions, and consciousness are also like this.
Sariputra,
all things and phenomena
are marked by emptiness; they are neither appearing nor disappearing,
neither impure nor pure,
neither increasing nor decreasing.
Therefore, in emptiness,
no forms, no sensations, perceptions, impressions, or consciousness;
no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind;
no sights, sounds, odors, tastes, objects of touch, objects of mind;
no realm of sight and so on up to no realm of consciousness;
no ignorance and no end of ignorance,
and so on up to no aging and death,
and no end of aging and death;
no suffering, accumulation, cessation, or path;
no wisdom and no attainment.
With nothing to attain,
bodhisattvas
rely on prajna-paramita,
and their minds are without hindrance.
They are without hindrance,
and therefore without fear.
Far apart from all confused dreams,
they dwell in nirvana.
All buddhas of the past, present and future
rely on prajna-paramita,
and attain full, complete realization.
Therefore, know that prajna-paramita
is the great transcendent mantra,
the great bright mantra,
the supreme mantra, the unequalled balanced mantra,
that can eliminate all suffering,
and is real, not false.
So proclaim the prajna-paramita mantra,
proclaim the mantra that says:
gate, gate,
paragate,
parasamgate,
bodhi, svaha!
The Heart Sutra of Prajna.
Skandas
1. rupa: bodily form;
2. vedana: sensations;
3. samjna: perceptions;
4. samskara: mental impressions or mental creations;
5. vijnana: consciousness
Prajna-paramita:
Prajna refers to a kind of intuition or intuitive ability. In Buddhism, real wisdom is based on this intuitive ability, and has nothing to do with intellectual knowledge. So prajna-paramita means complete attainment or accomplishment of real wisdom.
Sariputra:
Sariputra is the name of one of Gautama Buddha’s ten main disciples
Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi! Svaha!
This part at the end is Sanskrit and is usually chanted just as it is.
A literal translation is something like “gone, gone, totally
gone, completely gone, perfect wisdom, so be it!”
http://www.zen.ie/downloads/Heart_Sutra_with_notes.pdf
