Saturday, January 25, 2020

#Yoga Today ~ #Prosperity- The second Aim in Life


 
 
 
 
 
 
As human beings we are wired for pleasure. The human drive is not simply to survive; it wants to thrive and to thrive we seek pleasure. We are programed to strive for survival and longevity and an essential part of this is the drive towards pleasure. What would the world be like if we could not enjoy the pleasures of life?

Some interpretations of yoga appear to denounce pleasure. It is thought to distract us from our karmic work. But pleasure is as essential to life as air and water. It is the engine that drives us to create and thrive. The key is to never take pleasure to excess.

 

Your pleasure center is located in your primitive brain also known as the limbic system which is located in the temporal lobe. The limbic system is made up of multiple parts such as the hippocampus or your memory center. The one that is responsible for basic pleasures and pain is the amygdala.

Two neurochemicals send us messages regarding pleasure and pain. These are serotonin and dopamine. Both need to be in sync if we are to be balanced. Serotonin keeps us content, relaxed and satisfied. Dopamine drives us towards pleasure. And although it can take pleasure to extreme dopamine is necessary for our survival and our ability to thrive.

As well as being necessary for your survival, pleasure has many levels and layers. It can also be destructive if we allow pleasure to control our desires to the point of addiction. But pleasure at the deeper layers of our being instills beauty and when pleasure and beauty come together we truly understand the importance of enjoying the real pleasures of life. In harmony with life pleasures are never destructive, but always uplifting.  Understanding this is soul walking.

 

It’s not pleasure that destroys the good.  It is deceit and greed.  We sometimes greedily deceit ourselves into believing we need more. That is why yoga teaches us to enjoy life, but always in moderation and never to excess. It is our desire for excess that tips pleasure into pain. Just ask an addict how much pleasure there is in seeking the next fix?

 The Katha Upanishad, from an ancient Hindu Text, is about overcoming death by understanding it.  We cannot bargain with it. Death reminds us not to take our life for granted.  Our dreams and our desires are part of life. So enjoy the pleasures of life for life is short. A wise person however will always choose to do what is good over sheer pleasure.  This can be interpreted a number of ways. One way is that a wise person will choose what is good over the pleasure of comfort, or a wise person will choose to seek pleasure through effort and depth over laziness and superficiality.

 

The greatest pleasure comes from the greatest depth of our soul. When we truly experience something with full involvement by tapping into its essence we will discover the true nature of pleasure. Whether it is eating chocolate, sipping a great wine, buying a gift, making love, or spending tons of money it’s not the pleasure that should be avoided, but the greedy deceitful self-serving nature of the ego. The ego always wants and thinks it deserves more! Practice moderation in all things and in all things be moderate.

 

Pleasure has both a physical and emotional aspect.  Pleasure is comprised of five layers; it is sensual, loving, has a purpose, is creative and exercises free will. All of these layers are important to humans. They bring us pleasure, but can equally bring us pain if we are not careful in how we think, speak and act. Just remember all things in moderation.
 
 
 
Sensually connecting with someone you intimately love for the purpose of creating is the closest two souls can get to willful pleasure.  The more aware you are of the nature of pleasure the more likely you are to discover it and use it wisely. 
Namaste ~ I celebrate the place where our souls meet
Doctor Lynn
 
 

Saturday, January 18, 2020

#Yoga Today ~The Four #Directions or Aims in #Life


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The first direction or aim in life is the accumulation of wealth.  Don’t confuse wealth for money. Money in and of itself is valueless. It is only what we can purchase in exchange for money that gives it value. Wealth is abundant potential energy.

The Kama Sutra, a Hindi Sanskrit text, makes it clear that health, love and pleasure, as well as music, art and education can only flourish in a prosperous society. Poverty therefore is not a virtue. It can actually be an obstacle toward creating harmony.  Poverty can also be an obstacle when it comes to morals and ethics. It is somewhat difficult to be moral and ethical when you are starving and struggling to survive. Material wealth allows for the refinement of society and this refinement allows us to partake of pleasure, be kinder and more generous. Wealth is not just about the accumulation of money or material goods, although both have the power to make the world a better place. Wealth comes in many forms such as good health, love, happiness and rewarding work. Many people get lost in the illusion of material wealth and confuse the earthly symbols of wealth for success. Success is measured by the degree of your happiness and not the size of your bank account.

In this world no one would argue that it is better to be poor than rich. Wealthy people have greater access to the necessities and the luxuries of life. Wealth affords more options and choices.  But just remember this - it is not wealth that destroys. It is greed.

Problems arise when wealth is used to control other people and to abuse society. In a world such as ours, with so much wealth, no person should ever go without or be abused. So if you want to prosper, find a way to make the world a better place and you will become a wealthy person.  

 

Just remember the difference between wealth and material possessions. Wealth can mean having beauty, love and good health, and these can never be replaced with gold, money or material possessions. Your true wealth comes from within. It is the source of your abundant energy and this energy has the power to create. Draw from it and create.  Once found it can never be depleted. Money may come and go, or slip past your outstretched hand, but if you use your abundant energy wisely you will always create wealth and with this you prosper.

 

Namaste ~ I celebrate the place where our souls meet

Doctor Lynn



Saturday, January 11, 2020

#Yoga Today ~ The Energy of #Prosperity


 
 
 
 
 
 
Lakshmi is the Goddess energy of the yoga of prosperity. Her name means, “aim” or “goal”. She has four arms which signify her power to grant the four goals or directions towards a successful and prosperous life. These four goals grant us a fulfilling life.  The aim of the goals is to direct your highest potential into creating prosperity.  

The practice of yoga fully acknowledges the realities of living in a material world. It encourages us to incorporate the four important goals of; soulful growth, meaningful work, pleasure and wealth into living a fulfilling and meaningful life.

 

Lakshmi reminds us that affluence should be respected because in reality affluence is a forceful stream of energy that has great power. It can create or destroy, depending upon how we use it.

 

Although many people have the determination to create wealth, their attitudes in doing so can greatly influence the outcome. Inert symbols of affluence are not wealth; wealth is the byproduct of the energy of prosperity. As you think, speak and act so you become.

 

Be forewarned many sacred texts mention Alakshimi the evil sister of Lakshmi. With Disregard for order, disrespect of nature and poor hygiene she will bestow poverty and misfortune upon your house.

If you want to bring prosperity into your life, let the energy of prosperity flow out towards others. Apply the Golden Rule of prosperity; do not take without giving back. Those who lookout for ways to help other and ways to contribute to the betterment of life, without expecting anything in return are sure to receive prosperity. They have found a need and are fulfilling it. This brings us wealth.

 

The goddess Lakshmi tells us that prosperity has far more to offer us than a beautiful home and a large bank account. You are the source of your wealth. Whatever you have increase it. Instead of saying it could be less; say it could be more. Say I would like to have this, but do it from a place of consciousness contentment. Be content with what you have and then reach out for more. Lakshmi gives wealth and success to those who ask with sincerity and are willing to do the work. The work involves developing conscious awareness of how to use the dynamics of potential energy in complete harmony with the soul’s path.  When you combine the infinite force of the soul with the finite source of the material world to create good anything and everything is possible. This is the pathway to prosperity.

 

Remember this – the most abundant thing in the universe is energy. Use it wisely. The punja or merits we accumulate as we travel through life are with us from lifetime to lifetime.  They define us and are by far our most valuable assets. Money can’t buy you happiness, but prosperity can!

 

“Although you may gather a million gold coins upon death you cannot take with you even one copper penny.” (Chinese Proverb)

 

Namaste ~ I celebrate the place where our souls meet

Doctor Lynn

 




Saturday, January 04, 2020

#Yoga Today ~ # The Pathway to Prosperity


 
 
 
 
 
The pathway to prosperity is about learning how to walk through life in a soulfully conscious way while discovering the real treasures of life. Use them wisely and you will prosper. These treasures are available to everyone who has the desire to discover and use them constructively.  I have found these treasures to be of great value and so it behooves me to share them with you. Sometimes they come covered with rust, but if you look deep enough beneath the surface you’ll find gold. You just need to know where to find them, how to polish them and how to use them to prosper.





Remember this; poverty is not a virtue, but it can be a tremendous inspiration. All relationships matter; we are the mirror and the reflection of life. Enjoy everything; just remove excess. And stay connected to your true self.

 Before you can prosper you must gain punja and remove papa. This means to gain merits through good deeds while removing improper and disastrous behavior.

The practice of yoga fully acknowledges the realities of living in a material world. It encourages us to incorporate the four important goals of; soulful growth, meaningful work, pleasure and wealth into living a fulfilling and meaningful life. These fall in line with the four aims or goals of Lakshmi the goddess of prosperity. More on this in future classes.

 

The primary goal of yoga is expansion of consciousness into your highest potential. To access your inner potential you need to harness the energy of the ego. This will remove papa or obstacles and enhances punja or merits. With the expansion of potential comes a greater ability to deal with the concerns of everyday life. And this opens the door to prosperity.

To control this energy requires the ability to flow with life. Gratitude for what you have rather than desire for what you don’t have is the first step. Put your attention on what you have and be grateful. When you are grateful you appreciate, and when you appreciate you find grace and with this you gracefully move with refinement through this life.  Prosperity is a stream of consciousness. This stream of energy can reshape your life in either positive or negative ways depending upon how you use it. Wealth can bestow great power while misuse will surely make a person suffer.  The universe has a perfect accounting system. 

 

 As well as the stream of consciousness we also need punya which means merits earned through our action in this life and our past lives. When we see people who are wealthy and successful the Buddhist and the Hindis would call this punya that was earned from a past life. We in the western world might call it luck. Karma yoga calls it the “good” karma you have earned from your past lives, as well as the merits you are earning in this life.

Punja is not necessarily in the form of money. It might appear as talent, integrity, virtue, value, beauty, status, worthiness, assets, honor or goodness.

If we want to create punya we must exhaust papa, which means demerit or bad karma. Remember karma attaches itself to our actions, our thoughts and our speech. So we need to be consciously aware of how our actions, thoughts and speech affect our life. Papa might appear as dishonesty, disturbance, evil, worthlessness, demerit, fault or weakness.

To prosper requires strength, flexibility, balance and finding peace no matter what life brings to you. Let’s get started

 

 

The three basic methods of developing merit or punya are: giving without expecting a return, live a virtuous life, and spreading good will. These fall in line with the ten ways to make merits. They are: give, observe virtue, concentration and focus, honoring others, be of service, dedication, be happy for others good fortune, listen to and practice virtuous teaching and instruct other in being virtuous.

 

Yogananda was quoted to have said when asked if the spiritual path had an end,” No end, you go on until you achieve endlessness.”  This is the path to endless prosperity.

Namaste ~ I celebrate the place where our souls meet

Doctor Lynn