Something you know, which Google wish they did!

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​Dear All,

The chap above is Bill Maris, a venture capitalist and the managing partner at Google ventures. In 2013, he helped set up Calico, an independent research and biotech firm dedicated to finding a cure for aging and the illnesses that come with it.

Here's how you may have a headstart on this Google venture and all the other people involved in the growing human longevity movement. (see notes).

When the kundalini pierces the crown of your head during meditation and you start getting the sensation of coolness flowing from the head, down the face and into the left and right sides, it's causing a gradual, rejuvenating change in your body. Exactly how this is happening is described in this 7 minute clip : How effects of meditation show on the face.

It's been predicted in the 'Nadi Granthas' (ancient Indian astrological text) that at some point we'll neither get old nor sick, so there will be no need for hospitals. The body will become so light and completely under our conscious control that it will be possible to cover great distances by almost gliding.

If you find this hard to believe, then check this out:

Shri Chand lived to the age of between 118 to 151 years old but reportedly had the youthful appearance of a 12 year old when he was last seen. He practised kundalini meditation(sahaja yoga) when it was still a secret knowledge. Shri Chand(8th September 1494 - 13 January 1629) .

There probably aren't  many people who want to remain looking 12 years old :o) , but when you sit for your daily meditation, achieve your thoughtless awareness and feel a sensation almost like honey trickling down the face, then hold steady for a moment and enjoy that. This could be the fabled 'fountain of youth'.

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

Notes:

The human longevity(HL) movement is a modern continuation of a long tradition of the search for the secret of eternal youth. The cosmetics industry is another expression of that (apparently skincare products make up the largest percentage of the market in cosmetic care). The difference between the cosmetics industry and HL is that research in HL is more than skin-deep . It looks at how cells age and die, and even looks at genes and DNA changes during the aging process.

Some of the notable names in the field are: Craig Venter, who was one of the first to sequence the human genome ; David Sinclair , who is associated with a chemical called resveratrol, which certainly makes mice in a lab live longer ; and Aubrey de Grey , who seems to be the complete embodiment of a modern-day alchemist.

Alchemy, the search for a way of changing ordinary metal into gold, amongst other things, led to the invention of chemistry as well as the evidence-based scientific method (ref: Robert Boyle ).

To get a sense of the alchemists pursuit, which was sometimes shrouded in mystery and superstition Goethe's Faust provides a good fictional insight. The last line of which reads : "..the eternal feminine evolves us higher and higher."

Achieving Emotional Fulfillment

Dear All,

You may not have paid much attention to this before, but your emotions are connected with your breathing which is why any emotional response you have to anything will also have a physical manifestation. For example, if a person is sad they may cry or if they are happy they may smile.

Within the subtle body the emotions ('manas') are related to your left-side and the physical responses('prana' - breath) are related to your right-side. In order to achieve meditation we have to be centered, which means that somehow the left & right-sides have to be 'dissolved' ('laya').

When the emotions, which can be viewed as unfulfilled wishes, are dissolved, then their underlying causes can be resolved. By this means, it is possible to achieve emotional fulfillment as a result of meditation.

Shri Mataji explains how in this 7 minute video clip : Emotional fulfillment  .

For anyone involved in Drama/Theatre/Dance the notes below may be of interest.

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

ps previous week emails >>>>

Notes:

The above two panels are two different portrayals in Indian classical dance (bharatha natyam) of the nine universal sentiments or human emotions (Navarasa) : 1.Delight/Love 2.Laughter 3.Compassion 4.Wonder 5.Disgust 6.Bravery 7.Anger 8.Fear 9.Peace/Meditation/Fulfillment - Navarasa is the basis of aesthetic theory in Indian Art and has it's clearest expression in the dramatic arts - see Urmila Satyanarayan  As Shakespeare said: " All the world's a stage, and all men and women are merely players/actors" , which means emotions(left-side/manas) play a large part in our motivations and  aspirations ie how we act(right-side/prana) on our emotions or give physical expression to them.
The contemplative ancient sages of India got there first but the Russians followed. It seems that the long Russian winters coupled with the strictures of communism caused some introspective Russians to look for some meaning to life in their own mental and emotional reactions to the outer world. One such person was Dostoevsky . From Dostoevsky a line of influence can be drawn to Stanislavski and from him to the Method Acting teachers in America who influenced the 'greats' of American cinema: Marlon Brando , Robert de Niro, Al Pacino ('The Italian Street Actors') . America won the space race but Russia, via cinema, may have helped lay the foundations of American popular culture which has influenced the rest of the world. But, as with many things found in it's pristine form in ancient India, it's modern re-discovery in another place can be incomplete and  slightly deformed. So although the concept of Catharsis , the emotional resolution after dramatic tension is understood and used, the spiritual form of this, 'Shanti'/peace/meditation/self-realisation , which was the ultimate goal of all human life , according to the Indian sages, was missing.

'Lotus Feet' - referred to in video clip

The kundalini rising up and merging into the Sahasrara chakra is sometimes described by the analogy of a river flowing back into the sea. The point of contact between the river and the sea is called the 'mouth' of the river . With the kundalini, the meeting point is described as the Lotus 'feet' . Since this concept was too abstract and difficult to relate to, the first practitioners of sahaja yoga meditation, mainly in India, projected this onto the person of Shri Mataji or her photograph and discovered something real was happening in their meditation as a result. Not just one person,but many people experienced this. This is how they concluded that  Shri Mataji must be something great.

Interviews with Sahaja Yogis

Dear All,

Hearing other peoples experience of sahaja yoga meditation can sometimes help us in our own meditation practice. So collected here for you, are an assortment of short, mostly 2 or 3 minute, interviews with people who have been practicing sahaja yoga meditation for a few years to many years.

Some of the interviews contain tips: Helen on how to meditate on the go;Sofia on the boost provided by group meditation and Dave on how it's helped him with problem-solving at work.

Some are medical revelations: Dr. Brian Wells on the inadequacy of western medical science to explain the cool breeze experienced above the head; Dr Ramesh Manocha on scientific research and how previous research has been hampered by different definitions of what 'meditation' is; and then Diana on how she was able to give up a drug habit through the meditation.

A couple of the interviews are first-hand accounts from people who met Shri Mataji more than 30years ago and spent many years learning directly from her. Some notes are provided below to put into context some of what is said.

You may recognise some of the faces and hopefully be encouraged in your own meditation practice:

Interviews with Sahaja Yogis

See you at group meditation on Tuesday.

Regards

Previous weeks emails>>>>

Notes:

Phillip on 'People are still seeking the Truth'. Phillip referring to the tendency, especially among the generation of his youth, to seek meaning in life in a counter-culture lifestyle and not being able to settle once they'd found what they had been looking for. A case of travelling but never wishing to arrive at any destination.

Gregoire on the significance of Shri Mataji's life's work and Rajesh Shah's statement that "..in India, we believe that she (Shri Mataji) is the incarnation of Mary or Radhaji herself.." . The reason for this was that the feat of raising the kundalini was very difficult and the very few genuine yogic masters who could do this were only capable of raising it  in just one other person. Shri Mataji was able to give this experience en-masse. At one public program in a large park in Mumbai, India, Shri Mataji raised the kundalinis of an audience of as many as 100,000 people. As a result, in India Shri Mataji was recognised as 'Adi Shakti' ('Adi' in sanskrit means 'primordial' and 'Shakti' means 'feminine energy') or an incarnation of the 'primordial mother'(Adi-Ma/ Ma-Adi/ Mahdi or Mother in 3 forms - comforter-counsellor-redeemer: Ma-treya/Maitreya).

The Importance of grounding yourself.

Dear All,

A couple of weeks ago at group meditation, Neville reminded me of this beneficial practice that he does and which I'm passing on as tip to those of you who haven't already heard it.

The practice is: Grounding yourself.

Early in the morning, Neville says, he goes outside and walks barefoot on the dew-covered grass. His feet get wet from the dew and if he stands still for a while, the magnetic pull of the earth acts on him. By this he feels completely refreshed and energised for the day . The regular practice of this has also helped his ability to both feel vibrations and to meditate.

You don't have to wait for the dew however, or necessarily do this in the morning to gain some benefit of liberating your feet(see notes) and connecting to the bare ground a few times week. With summer here, it seems the perfect time to make use of your local park to cancel out some of the detrimental effects of living in artificial spaces, particularly if you are subject to Sick Building Syndrome .

There are benefits to sitting as well as standing on the green earth. When sitting, you can place both palms face down on the ground and go into thoughtless awareness for a few minutes. You'll quickly begin to appreciate the result of this.

Regards

Notes:

Source: fitness.mercola.comGrounding: The Overlooked Benefit of Going Barefoot

While much of the debate between the barefoot and the shoed-foot focuses on the potential for injury, another often overlooked aspect is grounding. The technique of grounding, also known as earthing, is simple: you walk barefoot to "ground" with the Earth. The scientific theory behind the health benefits seen from this simple practice is that your body absorbs negative electrons from the Earth through the soles of your feet.
The Earth is negatively charged, so when you ground, you're connecting your body to a negatively charged supply of energy. And since the Earth has a greater negative charge than your body, you end up absorbing electrons from it. The grounding effect is, in my understanding, one of the most potent antioxidants we know of and may have an anti-inflammatory effect on your body. As written in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine:⁴

"It is well established, though not widely known, that the surface of the earth possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons as a consequence of a global atmospheric electron circuit. Wearing shoes with insulating soles and/or sleeping in beds that are isolated from the electrical ground plane of the earth have disconnected most people from the earth's electrical rhythms and free electrons.
… A previous study demonstrated that connecting the human body to the earth during sleep (earthing) normalizes the daily cortisol rhythm and improves sleep. A variety of other benefits were reported, including reductions in pain and inflammation. Subsequent studies have confirmed these earlier findings and documented virtually immediate physiologic and clinical effects of grounding or earthing the body."

Unfortunately, few people ever walk barefoot anymore to experience the benefits of grounding. But it is very plausible that some of the people who have converted to barefoot running are experiencing benefits not only from the lack of shoes, but also from the increased connection to the Earth.

Walking Barefoot Is a Valuable Aspect of a Healthy Lifestyle

Exercising barefoot outdoors is one of the most wonderful, inexpensive and powerful ways of incorporating Earthing into your daily life and will also help speed up tissue repair, as well as easing the muscle pain you sometimes get from strenuous exercise. A review of the available research, published January 2012 in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, agrees with the concept of reaping health benefits when connecting to the earth⁵. According to the authors:

"Mounting evidence suggests that the Earth's negative potential can create a stable internal bioelectrical environment for the normal functioning of all body systems. Moreover, oscillations of the intensity of the Earth's potential may be important for setting the biological clocks regulating diurnal body rhythms, such as cortisol secretion.
It is also well established that electrons from antioxidant molecules neutralize reactive oxygen species (ROS, or in popular terms, free radicals) involved in the body's immune and inflammatory responses. The National Library of Medicine's online resource PubMed lists 7021 studies and 522 review articles from a search of 'antioxidant + electron + free radical.' It is assumed that the influx of free electrons absorbed into the body through direct contact with the Earth likely neutralize ROS and thereby reduce acute and chronic inflammation.

Throughout history, humans mostly walked barefoot or with footwear made of animal skins. They slept on the ground or on skins. Through direct contact or through perspiration-moistened animal skins used as footwear or sleeping mats, the ground's abundant free electrons were able to enter the body, which is electrically conductive. Through this mechanism, every part of the body could equilibrate with the electrical potential of the Earth, thereby stabilizing the electrical environment of all organs, tissues, and cells.
Modern lifestyle has increasingly separated humans from the primordial flow of Earth's electrons. For example, since the 1960s, we have increasingly worn insulating rubber or plastic soled shoes, instead of the traditional leather fashioned from hides. Rossi has lamented that the use of insulating materials in post-World War II shoes has separated us from the Earth's energy field. Obviously, we no longer sleep on the ground as we did in times past.
During recent decades, chronic illness, immune disorders, and inflammatory diseases have increased dramatically, and some researchers have cited environmental factors as the cause. However, the possibility of modern disconnection with the Earth's surface as a cause has not been considered. Much of the research reviewed in this paper points in that direction."

When indoors, using a grounding pad or sheet is an excellent way to lower your risk for cardiovascular disease and other problems, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis.
Source: fitness.mercola.com

Pay It Forward

​Dear All,

Did you watch the movie, Pay it Forward,  starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment ? No?  Well I didn't either but the message of the movie, which is in the title, sounds like an interesting one : If you point an arrow at three people and they each point an arrow at three other people, then soon everyone in town will have arrows pointing at them :o)

Just to put this in the context of your practice of sahaja yoga: what this means is that, with your daily meditation you're developing a certain ability, which no one else has, to help make the world a better place for all of us. This can be put into practice in three ways:

1. Give self-realisation to somebody else     2. Help a person or situation by giving a bandhan      3. 'Horizontal' meditation on a global problem

Like any ability, it improves or gets stronger with use but you don't have to believe it for it to work. If you want to give it a go when an opportunity arises, here's what to do.

1. Giving Self-realisation ie raising kundalini is very easy. If you have a friend or family member who is having a hard time of it, then have them sit comfortably on a kitchen chair; stand behind them, quickly raise your own kundalini and put on a bandhan to take you into thoughtless awareness, which you can do mentally, and then slowly lift your right palm from the base of their spine to the top of their head ; three times . Then hold your right palm over their head for a few moments until you can feel the cool sensation of the kundalini. You can then finish by putting them into a protective bandhan.

If they are some place else, then you could if you want, send them the 6 minute self realisation clip which they could hold their hands out to and get realisation online. Amazingly , it can work if the person is sufficiently receptive: 6-minute kundalini awakening

2. Is somebody you know in some immediate trouble or difficulty? Then go into thoughtless awareness; symbolically write the person's name down in your left palm and move the right hand around the left palm in a clockwise direction - like in this video clip

3. 'Horizontal' meditation is where you enter the thoughtless awareness state while holding a specific problem in your attention. And having an effect on the problem because your kundalini, like an internet connection on a computer, connects you to all that is happening in the world.

See you on Tuesday for group meditation. And, by the way, you can now access previous emails and share them with others at  Email Archive>>>

Regards