DAILY GURU

Sunday 27th Of February 2005

Inner peace is within reach of everyone.

It is not dependent on outer conditions, richness or poorness, health or sickness, physical freedom or lack of it. Everyone possesses the potential to enjoy peace of mind.

Peace of mind seems to be in this world, but out of this world. It is experienced here and now, yet independent of outer circumstances.

Inner calmness and serenity can be experienced even under the most trying circumstances. Of course some training is needed first.

DAILY GURU

Saturday 26th Of February 2005
If you are afraid that peace of mind might make your life dull, uninteresting and boring, you do not have to worry about that. You can enjoy life with a peaceful mind. In fact you will enjoy it more, because you will experience calmness, happiness and inner strength.

You will not feel threatened by anything. You will have constant inner joy. You might need to give up some activities that agitate your mind, but the rewards are greater than these activities.
When you begin to appreciate the benefits of a peaceful mind, and start experiencing real peace, you will love and enjoy it. It will become more precious to you, than many other activities you loved and enjoyed until now.

You will be able to enjoy an action movie or a thriller, yet stay calm and relaxed. You will be able to enjoy a football game, while at the same time your mind is at peace. You will be able to enjoy food, physical exercises, your hobbies or anything else, while you mind is enjoying peace.

Performing inner work to gain inner peace, will in time turn peace of mind into a natural habit.

Think about all the anger, resentment, unhappiness, physical and mental tension, nervousness, quarrels and the waste of time and energy that resulted from lack of inner peace, and you will start to appreciate the importance of gaining real peace of mind.

DAILY GURU

Friday 25th Of February 2005
What do you prefer, a restless, agitated mind or peace of mind?
Do you enjoy tension and mental unrest or do you prefer a calm and peaceful mind?
When the mind is peaceful the body is peaceful too.

Peace of mind is conductive to health, increased energy, stronger mental powers, improved memory and a better ability to learn and study.

Peace of mind also helps to handle more efficiently the daily affairs of life, and stressful and difficult situations and circumstances.

Do you know that stronger concentration ability brings more peace of mind? Do you know that more peace of mind strengthens the concentration? They are interconnected.

We live in a world where fear, tension and restlessness abound. You may believe that there is nothing to do about it, and accept it an inevitable evil. But it is not so.

You can experience inner peace under stressful conditions and circumstances, but it does not come instantly. It is developed gradually through special training.
Just think how important it is for you. Become convinced of its importance, and decide to do something about it.

Study and practice concentration and meditation on a regular basis, and your peace will grow. Repeat affirmations about peace, and eventually your mind will accept them. Visualize peaceful circumstances, and envision yourself acting calmly in situations, which usually make you feel tense and nervous.

Daily practice will calm down your mind.
This calmness will influence your inner being, your body, your circumstances and the people you meet.
It will transform you into a peacefulness and calmness generator.

DAILY GURU

Thursday 24th Of February 2005
Inner peace and balance are of great importance in everyone's life. They are highly valued by most people, though really few possess them. Yet, everyone can develop them, some more some less. What do inner peace and inner balance mean? They mean the presence of self control and discipline and the ability not to let outside events influence our emotions, actions and reactions. Their presence mean the possession of common sense and good judgment, and of not letting the outside world shake our inner world.

How many times have you been overwhelmed by emotions, lost your temper and got angry or impatient? How many times have regretted about your reactions or attitude? Do you shout at your children, spouse, co-workers or employees? Do you get angry with them? Are you happy with this situation? Do you let your work, the weather, other people behavior and attitude, the movies or the newspapers influence the way you feel and think. Do outside events distract your mind and make you think about them, instead of what you choose to think about?

This is loss of inner balance and lack of inner peace.

Lack of inner balance causes fluctuations of the emotions, lack of decisiveness and wasting time on unnecessary thoughts, emotions and actions

DAILY GURU

Wednesday 23th Of February 2005
When you free yourself from the erroneous idea that you are a separate ego, happiness, joy and inner strength step into your life.
By developing the power of concentration, and through meditation and detachment the mind becomes quiet, and nonduality becomes a fact for us.

Then life is lived differently and in a better way.

A practical method that Sri Ramana Maharshi has taught and advocated, and which I can vouch for from personal experience is called the "Vichara".
It is a form of meditation in which you incessantly ask yourself in your mind the question, "Who am I?"

Do not try to find the answer through the mind. Just ask the question and let the answer come from the inside. Keep looking inside yourself and asking the question, and your awareness of this "I" will increase.

You will find out that as your mind becomes concentrated and silent it becomes easier to experience this inner awareness.

DAILY GURU

Tuesday 22nd Of February 2005

Let me now share with you a story. A big piece of sponge was divided into many small pieces, which were thrown into a large container of water. All those pieces of sponge got soaked in the water, which was one homogenous body of water. After a little while, the water in each piece of sponge started identifying itself with the sponge, and began feeling and believing that it was a separate independent entity.

The water stayed as one body of water. Each quantity of water present in each piece of sponge stayed connected with all the water in the container, but strangely, the water present in each piece of sponge started believing and acting as if it was part of the sponge, and was a definite entity separate from all the other pieces of sponge and the water in the container.

The water is the spirit, and the pieces of sponge are the materials composing the physical body and the feelings and thoughts. There is one spirit expressing itself through various forms, but each form thinks and feels that it is separate and independent.

This erroneous belief in a separate individuality is the ego. From this ego come disagreements, selfishness, anger, resentment and violence. Each expression of the spirit, through each body, erroneously believes in its separateness as a unit, and fights for its existence. These units, when united with other similar units possessing similar characteristics are called a family, tribe, nation or race.

It is not easy to see that everything in the Universe is the expression of the one Spirit. The illusion of life is so perfect that it is hard to look through this illusion.

When the mind is active, everything looks real. The mind is the projection machine, which constantly projects pictures on the screen we call reality. In sleep or while there is no consciousness of the world such as in a swoon, this projection machine is temporarily switched off and everything disappears. The world reappears after the mind is switched on again.

It is the mind and ego, which are responsible for the appearance of the world. When you are able to switch off the mind and the ego you realize in a direct manner the Spirit that is always here, beyond the illusion of the outside world.

DAILY GURU

Sunday 20th Of February 2005

You may live in a free country, yet in your inner life you may not be free. Real freedom means to be above thoughts and the mental world. It means becoming the master of your mind. It is being able to think and accept into your mind only the thoughts of your choice, and when there is no need to think, you just stop thinking.

Only when you are free from the compulsion of thinking you become free. You switch off the engine of your car when you arrive to your destination, because there is no necessity for it to keep on running. Why not do the same with the mind?

Imagine a state when mind is calm with not a ripple of a thought. In this state you become conscious of your inner self and know who you are. You feel your inner power. Happiness, which is inherent in each one of us, emerges when the walls of thoughts are removed. In this state there is no compulsion to think.

With the help of concentration, meditation, detachment, calmness, and the ability to filter and sift thoughts, without getting involved and swept by them, it is possible to reach and live in real and true freedom.

DAILY GURU

Saturday 19th Of February 2005

Freedom from the compulsion to think is real freedom. Your mind thinks from the moment you wake up in the morning until you fall asleep. It gives you no moment of rest. It creates thoughts and also receives thoughts like a radio. This habit is so strong that nobody thinks of changing this situation

In this state you are not free. You may live in a free country; you may have economic independence, yet the mind keeps shackling you with thoughts, mental images and ideas.

Only by silencing the hectic mind you become able to enjoy true peace and freedom. The mind is made of thoughts, so it does what it knows well, which is thinking. It provides a constant mental movie. It is as if we are riveted in front of a screen, where we watch movies all the time. The movies are so real that we never question their validity.

If you could have been able to watch people's inner mind, you would have seen a very interesting spectacle. You would have seen each person living in a kind of closed, imaginary world, watching his/her thoughts.

You would have seen thoughts created by different minds float through the air, and are picked by others, who believe they are their own thoughts. They cherish these floating thoughts and talk, act and behave as if these thoughts are a part of them. So where is freedom?

DAILY GURU

Friday 18th Of February 2005

You change your job, car, house, but yet you still are the same one. These are outside changes. The "inner you" never changes. Most people consider their possessions, dress, name, job etc, as being an inseparable part of themselves. If something of theirs is broken or lost they feel as if they have lost a part of themselves. This is the ego at work.

The ego is the erroneous identification of the limitless spirit with the physical body, the emotions and thoughts. The perfect homogenous spirit expresses itself in the world through these three, and identifies itself with them.

The ego is not an independent entity. It is just the union of the spirit with the other three components, the body, emotions and thoughts. According to the philosophy of nonduality, these components, except the spirit, are not independent and constant, and therefore are not real. They are the products of the mind.

The spirit infuses them with life and expresses itself through them. The identification of the spirit with this trio is so strong that hardly anyone notices this erroneous identification. The spirit is free, perfect and independent. The body, thoughts and feelings are temporary and dependent on the spirit. This mixture is the cause of fear, desire, misunderstanding, anger and conflicts in the world.

DAILY GURU

Wednesday 16th Of February 2005

A resolution made on the spur of the moment is usually useless. The emotion that triggered it may die a short while later, and there will be no desire left to carry on the resolution. Another important point to mention is that subconscious habits are stronger than any resolution, and they usually overcome any decision and desire for change.

All this has brought people to regard willpower as unreal, as an illusion, but this is not so. Real willpower is something utterly different. It is not gained in a day, but requires training over a period of time. You cannot expect a physically weak person to lift heavy weight, but if he trains for a while he will get stronger. It is the same with the strengthening of the power of the will.

Real willpower is not dependent on feelings, emotions, temporary enthusiasm or optimism. It is an ability that is developed over time and becomes a habit. It is an ability, which can be always displayed, whenever and wherever required.

Training of the will also develops self-discipline, as both abilities are interconnected. The training also develops concentration, perseverance, assertiveness and self-confidence. At a particular stage, if the training is taken earnestly, it may awaken in you an inner power and consciousness that are above the mind.

This inner power gives you the ability to make decisions with a balanced, calm mental attitude, and carry them out until their successful fulfillment. It gives you the ability to give up instant gratification for something better and more useful. You become conscious of a wonderful inner power, which is an inseparable part of you.

DAILY GURU

Tuesday 15th Of February 2005

Willpower and making emotional resolutions are two completely different things. There is a common misunderstanding of what willpower means, and confusing it with promises and resolutions made emotionally and without much thinking, and which lack the inner power to support and carry them out.

People often make resolutions and promises to do something, behave in a particular way, study, look for a job or a partner and so on. They may even start acting according to their resolutions, but this goes on only for a short while.

They may start with much noise, but end in silence. They make resolutions enthusiastically and optimistically, but after a short while lose their enthusiasm and stop doing what they promised themselves to do. These kinds of actions weaken the power of the will, and make people lose their faith in their ability to use willpower. Then they might start believing that willpower is a myth, an unreal thing. This is a wrong assumption, because no real willpower was involved here.


Most of the resolutions that people make are triggered by emotions. They make them in response to some outside event or due to a strong emotion or thought, and rarely because of common sense and reasonable, balanced thinking. The driving powers behind these resolutions are feelings and emotions, but feelings and emotions are not stable and not constant. One moment you may feel you can conquer the world, and a moment later you may feel weak and incompetent, and everything seems so impossible to do.

DAILY GURU

What can be done to increase happiness in daily life?

1) Endeavor to change the way you look at things. Always look at the bright side. The mind may drag you to think about negativity and difficulties. Don't let it. Look at the good side of every situation.

2) Think of solutions, not problems.

3) Listen to relaxing uplifting music.

4) Watch funny comedies that make you laugh.

5) Each day devote some time to reading some pages of an inspiring book or article.

6) Watch your thoughts. Whenever you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, stop them, and try to think of pleasant things.

7) Always look at what you have done and not at what you haven't. Sometimes you start a day planning to do several things. At the end of the day you feel frustrated that you haven't been able to do all of those things, and you become unhappy. Look at what you have done, not at what you have not been able to do. You may have accomplished a lot during the day, and yet you let yourself become frustrated because of some small things that you did not do. You have spent all day carrying out successfully many plans, and instead of being happy and satisfied you look at what was not done and you feel unhappy. It is unfair towards yourself.

8) Each day do something good for yourself. It can be small thing, such buying a book, eating something you love, watching you favorite program on TV, going to a movie, or just having a stroll on the beach.

9) Each day do at least one thing to make others happy. This can be a kind word, Helping your colleagues, stopping your car at the crossroad to let people cross, giving your seat in a bus to someone else, or giving a small present to someone you love. The possibilities are infinite. When you make someone happy, you become happy, and then people try to make you happy.

10) Always expect happiness.

11) Do not envy people who are happy. On the contrary, be happy for their happiness.

12) Be where happy people are and try to learn from them to be happy. Remember, happiness is contagious.

13) When things do not proceed as intended and desired, do your best to stay detached. Detachment will help you to stay calm and control your moods and reactions. Detachment is not indifference. It is a completely different thing. Detachment has much to do with inner peace, and inner peace is conductive to happiness.

14) Smile more often.

DAILY GURU

Saturday 12th Of February 2005

What is happiness? It is a feeling of inner peace and satisfaction. It is experienced when we get what we want, or when circumstances and happenings proceed in accordance with our desire. It is usually fleeting. Circumstances change, and it changes with them. But what if we reach the inner core of happiness and stay there? Won't we then enjoy constant happiness, which cannot be affected by any outer influence?

By developing inner peace, the moments of happiness increase. By practicing daily meditation, the mind becomes more peaceful, and we become more able to control our moods and reactions. Then it becomes easier to choose the happiness habit.

DAILY GURU

Friday 11th Of February 2005

Daily life can be made happier. It is a matter of choice. It is our attitude that makes us feel happy or unhappy. It is true that we meet all kinds of situations during the day, and some of them may not be conductive to happiness. We go through various situations and circumstances, but do we have to let them influence our reactions and feelings?

If we let outer events influence our moods, we become their slaves. We lose our freedom. We let our happiness be determined by outer forces. On the other hand, we can free ourselves from outer influences. We can choose to be happy. We can do many things to add happiness to our lives.

DAILY GURU

Thursday 10th Of February 2005

If you want an instant prescription for feeling better, then make it a habit to help another person for no reason at all. Here are some examples:

Open a door for someone. Let someone get ahead of you in line.
Help an elderly person cross the street.
Put money in another person's parking meter.

Your benefits will be many; try it and see!

DAILY GURU

Thursday 10th Of February 2005

If you want an instant prescription for feeling better, then make it a habit to help another person for no reason at all. Here are some examples:

Open a door for someone. Let someone get ahead of you in line.
Help an elderly person cross the street.
Put money in another person's parking meter.

Your benefits will be many; try it and see!

DAILY GURY

Wednesday 9th Of February 2005

Your attitude is the way that you feel about yourself, other people, a situation or a circumstance. Napoleon Hill, the author of the best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich, put it so eloquently when he said, "The only thing over which you have complete right of control at all times is your mental attitude.

Right of control means that you can control it, it does not mean that you do control it, you must learn to exercise this right as a matter of habit."

Think about the power of that statement and how it holds the key to building your positive attitude habits. You have the right of control over your mental attitude.

The purpose of the power of positive habits is to give you the information you need to exercise that right of control by the selective acquisition of positive habits. By doing this, you are creating a new mind set, a mind set geared towards success.

DAILY GURU

Tuesday 8th Of February 2005

Make It a Habit to View Your Failures as Stepping Stones to Your Success.

A failure should not be viewed as the end of the story but instead as a stepping-stone to a larger success. Every time you fail at something, make it a habit to stop and visualize the failure as a necessary step to success.

Thomas Edison had failure after failure in his attempts to invent a working light bulb. In fact, it took over 1100 experiments before he succeeded! Each one of those failed experiments was a necessary step to his eventual success in the greatest of all of his inventions.

DAILY GURU

Monday 7th Of February 2005

When Stress Hits, Count to Ten.

Make it a habit to slowly count to ten the moment you encounter a stressful situation.
This slow, ten-second countdown may be just enough to cool you down.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say that men who respond to stress with anger are three times more likely to be diagnosed with heart disease and five times more likely to have a heart attack before the age of 55.

As you count down, take a few deep breaths; this will also help calm your nerves and relieve stress.

DAILY GURU

Saturday 5th Of February 2005

Believe it or not, people who speak more about others then themselves in conversations are less likely to suffer from heart disease!

Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D., a research scientist from the University of California, conducted an innovative study in which he taped the conversations of approximately 600 men; A third of these men were suffering from heart disease; the rest of the men were all healthy.

He counted how often they used the words I, me, and mine in conversations. When he compared his results, he discovered that the men who used those words the most had the highest risk for heart trouble.

Yes, self-centeredness is indeed a risk factor for coronary heart disease

DAILY GURU

Friday 4th Of February 2005

It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of goal-setting as a positive habit. It is recommended as a primary habit because it can truly be life changing.

Research studies have shown that people who regularly set goals are far more likely to be successful then people who do not. Napoleon Hill, author of the best-seller, Think and Grow Rich, once said, "Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement, and its lack is the stumbling block for ninety eight out of every one hundred people because they never really define their goals and start toward them."

A study was done to determine the importance of goal setting. College students who had gone on to achieve great success in business were asked to list their habits. The students who had made a habit of setting goals were in the top 3% of earnings in the population!

Goal setting is simple, yet 97% of the population never do it. By making goal setting a habit, you can start placing yourself in the top 3% of the population of successful people. Your goal-setting habit can help you reach any of your goals, regardless of whether they are for business, personal, relationships, and so on.

DAILY GURU

Wednesday 2nd Of February 2005

Fear can keep us humble and open. Be aware and present with fear so that you can work with it. Try not to hide from it or push it away. If the fear in another or in the relationship is stronger than the love in the relationship, it can be destructive.

Once you live with a healthy connection to your own heart, not shut down or in fear, you can create the opportunity for healing with your partner while communicating and sharing from a safe place in you.

Once you see the lie, only the truth remains.the lie is the illusion to bring up the truth .

Thursday 3rd Of February 2005

Any relationship can be the gift that opens your heart to truth.

We continue to be triggered by the same relationship issues until we see ourselves reflected in them. The part in us that shuts down reacts, withdraws, denies our own love, feels guilty, angry or not good enough and resentful. All of these triggers stop us from loving fully.

When we heal with our mothers and fathers, we can attract and experience our partner differently.

MOON PHASES

lunar phases

DAILY GURU

Tuesday 1st Of February 2005

Heavy, suppressed emotions created darkness and a void within me , the disconnection from my own love. I learned to reach inside myself, through a process of understanding, to find my own love and peace to fill the void and create strong self-worth.

When we work on releasing stuck, dark or dense emotions and we experience the flow of life, we can feel more open than we did before. When we are pulled down by people or experiences that shut us down and our vibration is low, our light can become dim.

Nelson Mandela, who was in jail for 20 years, evolved from the darkness of the prison, beyond his suppressed pain and fear and was able to break out of the prison of his mind. When Nelson Mandela was released, his vibration was extremely high. He became an amazing example of truth and greatness of spirit, a remarkable leader and an inspiration of inner strength.

DAILY GURU

Monday 31st Of January 2005

Our ANGER, FEAR AND CONTROL can become the toxicity of a relationship.
Criticism is another expression of our own self-hatred and self-loathing projected on another.

Weave your life opportunities with conscious relationships that are healthy. Try not to get caught up in the web of criticism, judgment, negativity and neediness.

Love dies when the relationship is poisoned with the toxic energy of anger that is projected or anger that is shut down. We all have anger. what do you do with it? Anger in any relationship will eventually cause separation and anger in our heart will cause illness.