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Second Law of Motion
Friday March 7th/30th Day of Pisces 1

Gary Zukav writes in his chapter on "addictions", from his poetic and profound book
The Seat of the Soul, that the second law of motion states: A change in
momentum (mass, direction of movement, and speed) of a body in motion is
directly proportional to the force affecting the body in motion, and takes
place in the direction that the force is acting. He than goes on to say, "By the
magnitude of the costs of your addiction you can measure the importance of healing it
to your soul, and the strength of your own inner intention to do that." Wow. What he
is saying here is that an addict is going to need something really significant, significant
as the actual addiction, in order to stop the addiction. And the bigger the cost of an
addiction is, the bigger the addiction must be or otherwise it would have been already
conquered. And in addition, the bigger the cost of the addiction the bigger of desire
the soul has to be healed and the bigger your strength is of your own inner soul's
intention to stop the addiction! This book changed my life and I hope you can read
this and see why. It's all about physics. Science shows us the spiritual laws of the
universe. Another law of motion: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction
is known as The Golden Rule. The Golden Rule states: Do unto others what you
would want done unto you. BKS Iyengar further educates us on this subject in Light
on Yoga, the yoga bible for the modern yoga world, when he writes, "For a wrong
done by others, men demand justice; while for that done by themselves they plead
mercy and forgiveness." We can see that science and spirituality are two sides of the
same coin and they can shed light onto some of life's dark shadows -- like addictions.
Addictions show us what we believe truly believe in and how we spend our energy.
They show us who or what we worship. And they also provide us with the
opportunity to rid ourselves of these false idols and connect to a truer and more
fulfilling source like God. Today, lets say a prayer for people who need help.
Maybe our group prayer can be that force that is proportional to the addiction and
we can help make that change in momentum. And that's true caring.

Posted by Joseph at 403PM

Remembering Why
Tuesday, March 4th/28th Day of Pisces 1

Yoga is a spiritual path. Not an exercise. Geeta Iyengar, daughter of the "father" of
yoga, BKS Iyengar, reminds us that "We are missing the gold if we do asanas as a
physical practice only. Yoga is an eight step spiritual process. Here is an overview
of the eight steps of yoga with paraphrasing from Geeta Iyengar's Yoga a Gem For
Women (A guidebook for both sexes however). Each step builds on the previous
step and is prerequisite for the next step.

1. Yama: Here we learn to be truthful, non-violent, non-covetousness, to practice
moderation in sex and non-acquisitiveness.

2. Niyama: Next we learn cleanliness of the internal and external body,
contentment, austerity, study and believing in a higher power.

3. Asanas: This is our physical yoga practice. They take us from the physical to the
spiritual plane. Asana means holding the body in a particular posture with the thought
that God is within. The asana is held firm so as to not shake that Divinity. This
eventual stability leads to bliss. An asana held in a still state is no longer performed by
the physical or the physiological body but by the Inner Self.   In this state the body
has been conquered, dualities have disappeared, and the union of the body, mind and
the soul is achieved.

4. Pranayama: Pranayama is breath control. As we ascend on this spiritual ladder,
breath control further quiets the mind preparing it for concentration.

5. Pratyhara: Pratyhara is the work of placing the senses under restraint -- releasing
attachment with the taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing.

6. Dharana: Concentrating on the inner soul is now able to begin.

7. Dhyana: Dhyana is the meditation that develops from Dharana. This is the
merging of the Individual Self with the Universal Self.

8. Samadhi: Samadhi is our final goal of Self-Realization. The eighth and final stage
of Yoga. As a river merges into the ocean, losing its identity, so the Individual Soul
merges with the Supreme. At this point Supreme happiness, free from pleasure, pain
or misery is experienced.

So, as you can see, the path of yoga is not limited to the physical postures. In BKS
Iyengar latest book, Light on Life, Iyengar reminds us that mediation is the Olympic
final to yoga. So, I ask you today: Where is your practice heading? Where are
you on this eight step process? Have you become lost? Have you missed the
gold of yoga? Is your asana practice based on the philosophy or is it merely a
hybrid of American athleticism? Do you even care about traveling higher up
the eight steps of yoga?

I suggest deep meditation upon these questions. Whatever your answers are is fine.
There is no coercion is spirituality. You cannot force anyone to be a certain way nor
should you. One must choose for him or herself his or her own path. Find out what
you truly want from yoga. I suggest it is now time to make a choice. If you think this
is the path your interested in than take it seriously. If not, be honest with yourself.
However if you choose the latter, you or I can no longer anymore turn a blinds eye.
We can no longer call what you do yoga, we must call it what it is -- and all it is is
exercise. And that is OK too. Good luck.

Namaste.

Posted by Joseph at 9:32PM

Quote of the Day
Tuesday, March 4th/27th Day of Pisces 1

"It's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes."
----Josef Stalin

Posted by Joseph at 1:23PM

Quote of the Day
Wednesday February 27th/21st Day of Pisces 1

"Treat life seriously and life will be a game. Treat life like a game and it will soon
become serious." --Moshe Dahan

Posted by Joseph at 1107AM

Wake Up Call
Monday February 25th/20th Day of Pisces 1

Death is a wake up call. It causes us to look at what truly matters. If you, god
forbid, only had one day left to live -- what would be your top five things you would
want to do? Right down these five things and post them up in your bedroom closet
so you can see every day what really matters to you. We need to keep focused
on what's important. It is so easy to be intoxicated into apathy and drawn into
focusing on things that bear no fruit of importance. What can you do today to make
your life be more meaningful? Specifically, what action can you take right now to
bring more meaning into your life? Let this be a wake up call. Time is finite. We do
run out of time. Find out what you need to do in this life to feel fulfilled and take a
step or two towards it. Leave childish actions behind and get serious about your life!
Love will show you the way. Heed the call and what ever you do --- don't fall back
to sleep.

Posted by Joseph at 1109PM

End the War on Science
Thursday February 21st/16th Day of Pisces 1

Did you know that Einstein was a very spiritual man? This is because science is like a
candle in the dark room of religiosity -- and Einstein had one of the brightest candles
in our modern times. Religion and spirituality are not the same thing. Religion will
always divide and fragment people -- always. As long as you feel your way is the
only way and right way, you will continue to divide people and create chaos. True
spirituality will always unify because it is about truth and truth is always universal.
Yoga is a universal spirituality, because it allows the practitioner to find his or
her own truth and never coerces the individual to believe in something without
fact or experience. Religion is a group belief system that manipulates the individual
to believe in set of rules based on tradition, lure or stories and not fact. When
science brightens the dark recesses of our world it abolishes the stories, manipulation
and traditions of religions that have only served to divide, hurt, anger and control us
all. The authorities appose science because it serves only to dismantle their entire
manipulation campaign. Find the book, Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa
Yogananda. This beautiful seamless memoir of science and spirituality is sure to
enlighten us all further on the path that will only lead to freedom and unification of all
of God's creation.

Recommended Reading:

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda

Posted by Joseph at 703PM

Study
Monday February 18th/13th Day of Pisces 1

A few days ago, we discussed the importance of the 6th chakra -- the mind. We
spoke about, how although the heart is significant, it is not more significant than the
mind. For the heart is about feeling, albeit it a vitally important action, but the mind is
about wisdom and wisdom is far superior to feeling. Today, I'd like to let you know
that the location of the soul is not in the chest region (4th chakra) as we may think, but
the soul is in fact in the mind. Through study and learning, one can connect more with
his or her own true Divine soul. In the lower chakras, you will find the lower parts of
your soul. The lower part of your soul is called the animal soul. The animal soul has
been glamorized in the modern world. We are encouraged to be like animals by
corporations trying to sell us food, weapons, pills, sex and toys. As yoga practitioner
John Lennon once wrote: Keeping us doped on religion and sex and TV. The
animal soul helps these businesses profit, so they want you to connect to that aspect
of yourself. The truth is, connecting to your higher soul is where heaven is -- sky fits
heaven. This higher soul is the part of you filled with love and compassion and
wisdom and it resides up in the mind and you can access it through spiritual study.
Today, be more willing to learn. Take a new class. Read a new book. For the more
you can connect to the Divine Higher Soul there will be waiting for you more joy,
fulfillment and far less chaos which is heavily associated with the animal soul.

Recommended Reading:

Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar
Becoming Like God by Michael Berg

Posted by Joseph at 840pm

Come Tomorrow
Friday February 15th/9th Day of Pisces 1

Mark Twain was said to have proclaimed on his death bed that "I have spent most
my life worrying about things that have never happened." Interesting thought. Can
you imagine one of our spiritual teachers like Buddha, Jesus, Abraham, a yoga
teacher or even our therapist saying, "Worry heavily about tomorrow and remember
to dwell deeply in the past"? No. It's a ridiculous concept. We all somehow
inherently know we should not dwell in the past or the future. Yoga, along with many
other tools, help us learn to live and breath in the present time. Each yoga class is a
lesson on how to deal with conflict and strengthens are "living in the moment" muscle.
I think after almost 30 years of experience as being an entertainer and earning the title
as the most successful entertainer in history, Madonna has earned some status as a
teacher. Upon studying yoga in 1997, Madonna said that she realized she had been
rushing the moment away in order to enter the next moment and that when she looked
back at her life she realized she wasn't ever really living. I think about this statement
a lot. If over a years time, we are always waiting for the day to be over so we can
get home, then the week to be over for the weekend to come and we continue that
for 52 weeks -- what has our year become? A collection of moments pushed away?
Unwanted and unlived. What keeps us from living in the moment? In yoga class,
what keeps us from the moment is most likely the discomfort, effort or fear of a
posture and in life we can say the same thing. It is the discomfort, effort and fear of
our current situation in life that causes us to push it and wish it away. But as we come
to learn, life is made up of time and to squander it is a foolish thing.

Was Mark Twain right? Are we worrying for nothing? I think so. It's been proven
that about 72% of our thoughts are negative -- we are naturally negative thinkers!
We have to change. We have to be unadulterated. We have to think like children
again who manage to live in the "now" free from the doom of our own thoughts.
Today, whatever you may be worrying about it -- let it go. You may want to practice
some meditation or yoga today with this as your theme. See if you can live today
honoring ever breath and second hand movement. Look for the joy where you think
there is none. Stretch the time with appreciation for your health and prosperity. And
by all means, enjoy your day -- don't wish it away. For come tomorrow, may be too
late.

Posted by Joseph at 124AM

Buffoon
Thursday Valentine's Day February 14th/8th Day of Pisces 1

Why do we roll to the right side after Savasana (Corpse Posture)? We learn in yoga
that the heart is not balanced -- it is off slightly to the left. Yoga is a practice about
finding balance and the heart is no exception. We turn to the right side so the heart
has an opportunity to slide to the center of the body -- giving way to balance. On
Valentine's Day, we focus on the heart and its real purpose.

Yoga teaches that the heart is King, but the mind is the Advisor. We must recognize
that the heart is not and should not be the sole ruler in your life. We have an
advisory committee known as the Mind. Energetically, the mind is a higher chakra
then the heart -- meaning the mind has a higher vibration and thus we can deduce it is
wiser. The heart is about feelings. The mind is about truth and wisdom. Two
completely different concepts. Because the heart is off to the left, the heart is more
likely to be selfish, self-involved, overly sensitive, judgemental and fearful. These are
qualities of the left side. The right side has qualities of sharing, love, mercy and
compassion. When we find the center, we are able to give love and mercy when
appropriate and apply judgement and discipline when necessary. We are not
completely on the right or completely on the left. The heart is special because it is
nearly in the center of the body. However, as mentioned earlier, the heart is off to the
left physically in the body. As a result, we have to make an effort not to "let our
emotions carry us away" or "take too many things to heart." Utilize your advisor the
mind to help you think and feel clearly and appropriately. Wisdom is before
feelings. If we lead only with the heart we run the risk of becoming a buffoon --
relying only on our emotions and feelings and never using what we have learned from
the past and the knowledge we have gained. But, if we learn to balance the heart and
lead with the wisdom of the mind and the heart together, we can surely become
powerful rulers of our lives. Happy Valentine's Day.

Posted by Joseph at 1241pm

Long Day's Journey Into Light
Saturday February 9th/3rd Day of Pisces 1

Probably the most influential information on addictions for me has been Gary Zukav's
addiction chapter in his poetic and truthful new age work entitled The Seat of the
Soul. I recommend going out and getting The Seat of the Soul and own it as one of
you staples of your spiritual library. Addictions are much like vampires.   They drain
you of your vital energy a little at a time, slowly killing you. And if you aren't willing to
see what's happening you may find yourself one day irreversibly stuck in the dark
shadows of life.

What makes an addiction so divisive is the lie it tells you. The addiction tells you that
you cannot live without it. It tells you that it is harmless. It tells you that it is apart
of life and life is apart of it and the two are interconnected and inseparable. It
threatens you that if you are ever to leave it, you will be left with unhappiness and
powerlessness. Now who can defeat such campaign? Many can not. Many will not.
It reminds of the story in the New Testament of Jesus being tempted by the devil in
the desert. The devil offered Jesus all the treasures of the physical word in exchange
for his soul.   This is what an addiction is -- an exchange for one energy for
another.   But the trick is we do not realize what we are really giving up.

An addiction is always an exchange for a sensory pleasure (physicality) for a
piece of your soul (spirituality). You will never find yourself in rapturous
intoxication of spiritual work and loathing the warm novocation of a physical
pleasure. It just doesn't work that way. Caroline Myss reminds us that
"Unconsciousness is always more fun then consciousness."

It is always going to be about you making a choice between what you can see and
what you cannot see. It will always be about making a choice between a short term
feeling of joy and a long term feeling of contentment. Zukav reminds us of one very
vital truth: Every time in every moment of every day, when you make the choice not
to participate in the addiction, it looses power and you gain power. And we must
become in love with the long term benefits of being free from whatever addiction we
may have. We must find the beauty and splendor of all the benefits life can offer
when we are free from the addiction.   If we do not want the freedom more than
the addiction then we are doomed --the addiction can never be conquered. The
pay off of releasing the addiction must be greater then the short term benefits of it.
Today make a list. Write a list of all the benefits of the addiction. And then write a
list of all the benefits of ending the addiction. Study the list. And fall in love with the
truth. See the benefits of the addiction as nothing more than cheap artificial joys --
with no substance or lasting power. And see the benefits of ending the addiction as
your true treasure in life -- treasure worth working for.   You must love freedom or
you may never get to the end of the tunnel. Ultimately, it is about desire. What kind
of life do you want? How maxed-out do you want to live? How alive do you want
to be? Traveling this road to recovery could be the reason for you being here on
earth -- this one task could be your only true work here. It's not easy. But I promise
you that at the end of the tunnel, the Light is waiting for you. And the Light is one
addiction you are safe having.

Posted by Joseph at 107AM

Speak the Truth
Friday February 8th/2nd Day of Pisces 1

Welcome Pisces! We are now in a brand new energy frame as the new moon of
Pisces started Wednesday evening. Approximately for the next 60 days (this year we
have two months of Pisces), we will be swimming in the calm waters of the Piscean
good fortune and power. We all are now influenced by this energy whether or not we
are actual Pisces. This month are theme is Confrontation and Structure. These
are two things that the Pisces, and us during this time, need to implement in order to
work on the correction of the Pisces. Like a fish that runs away when we tap on the
aquarium glass, the Pisces (and even us non Pisces) tend to runaway from telling
people what the need to hear in order to grow. Is there someone in your life who
needs to hear something but you are being too weak spined to mention it? As hard as
it is to say the truth, it must be said. Take yourself out of the picture and say kindly
what needs to be said. During this month, we have the highly intuitive energy of the
Pisces so we ought not feel that we may be incorrect in our assessment. Trust your
feelings and say what you know needs to be said. Because the Pisces is the souls last
incarnation, when Pisces acts towards this correction, the Pisces has the ultimate
power for miracles, wonders and complete enlightenment! Also, it's important for
us, and especially Pisces, to structure itself like water is structured in a glass --without
the glass, the water spills out on the table. This month, schedule your yoga, make a
commitment to your spiritual work, sign up for classes, make yourself accountable
and tell people your goals and when you wish to have them complete.   Because of
the Piscean lack of structure addictions tend to be common.   Are you addicted to
anything? Are you drinking, eating, complaining, crying, resting, working too much?
Try giving up one or all of your addictions this month. Replace the negative habit with
another more serving one.   This month offers us a lot of fantastic blessings ---
counting on the fact that we work to really care for others. If we really truly care for
others, we will tell them what the need to hear and not be afraid. When Rosa Parks
was asked if she was afraid when she refused to give up her seat she said no she
wasn't. She said fear is present only when you have a choice -- if there is no choice,
there's is no more fear.   Speak the truth and enjoy the water -- it's warm down here!

Posted by Joseph at 1:16AM

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Pisces 1 / Feb. 7th- Mar. 7th 2008

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