The key to meditation is "integration," integrating the "state" we experience while meditating into our daily life. It is not enough to have a meditation "practice," where we close our eyes, cross our legs and repeat a mantra. It is ultimately about unfolding our heart, our inner awareness, the state of perfection that is within us and then remembering to bring that state into every moment.
Love and blessings, Alan
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
True Love
Whenever we say I'm sorry; whenever we express remorse; whenever we offer our forgiveness; whenever we share our gratitude and respect, the most important thing to remember is that everything is given unconditionally-without desire, expectation or motive-that everything always comes from the same place deep within us, ...and that our"STATE" never wavers. This is true giving! This is true LOVE! This is "Enlightenment."
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Best Thing I Can Do For You...
When we focus our attention on the mind, we are perpetuating and creating doubt and concern and bringing them, as our experience, into our life. When we focus our attention on the space of the heart, allowing the mind to do what it does--think--we align ourselves with the clarity and discrimination that lives there.
In this way, as we shift our attention from the mind to the heart, we no longer need to burden ourselves with the worry and concerns of what we think we need to "do." We simply follow the inner wisdom, the discrimination that arises from deep inside and guides us perfectly. It is always there.
Discrimination allows us to trust ourselves and to have faith in our own inner experience. It gives us the clarity to make "perfect" choices and flawless actions. This is the beginning of true strength and courage, and it will radiate from our being to all of life.
"The best thing I can do for you is to love me."
In this way, as we shift our attention from the mind to the heart, we no longer need to burden ourselves with the worry and concerns of what we think we need to "do." We simply follow the inner wisdom, the discrimination that arises from deep inside and guides us perfectly. It is always there.
Discrimination allows us to trust ourselves and to have faith in our own inner experience. It gives us the clarity to make "perfect" choices and flawless actions. This is the beginning of true strength and courage, and it will radiate from our being to all of life.
"The best thing I can do for you is to love me."
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Praise & Blame
How great we feel when we are praised and recognized. How crushed and broken we feel when we are criticized or blamed. Is this not part of our daily experience?
Have we really taken a good look at why this is so? Or do we rationalize these experiences as part of life, as feelings and emotions we have no real control, continuing to live each day on this frustrating, often frightening “elevator” like existence.
The Great Masters tell us that the need for praise and blame are some of the chief activities of the ego, that it is our own ego that identifies with these needs and desires, these stories going on in our mind-in essence, what we are thinking at any moment-thought itself-and projects them onto the world, thinking that praise comes from outside itself, therefore making it perfectly logical to blame that outside source when it doesn’t get what it feels it deserves.
In the end, it is a trap!
We seek praise because, like a drug, it temporarily makes us feel worthwhile, happy and proud of our accomplishments. But like a drug, when the “high” wears off we seek, once again, a new “fix”—more praise which, of course, makes us work again, this time just a little bit harder, to recreate the next high.
Can you envision a “burnout,” exhaustion, even a possible emotional breakdown looming on the horizon?
This process continues endlessly: reaching out, seeking praise, working harder and harder at what we do, so that we can get back something for what we do-praise, honor, recognition, fame and fortune, etc, so that we can feel good about ourselves.
Can anything or anyone ever give us anything that is lasting? It is in this question that we can put an end to all suffering.
When we get what we want we are inspired and happy, filled with a sense of worthiness and joy. When we don’t, the ego, not wanting to “look at itself in the mirror,” begins a process of blaming something or someone for its unhappiness and discontent.
Where is the love?
Is this whole process of praise and blame not a form of manipulation, a way the ego has cleverly learned to selfishly “take,” to get for itself.
If we are in the process of getting, where is the giving? Love is giving!
Does it not follow that the ego’s expectation of praise is the ultimate reason why we get frustrated and angry when it doesn’t get its way? Think about it! It is so obvious in its simplicity.
Praise and blame are only a source of pain and suffering when they are not understood.
Meditate. A quiet mind is free of praise and blame. In that place we feel worthy and totally free of all worldly needs and desires.
Love and blessings,
Alan
Have we really taken a good look at why this is so? Or do we rationalize these experiences as part of life, as feelings and emotions we have no real control, continuing to live each day on this frustrating, often frightening “elevator” like existence.
The Great Masters tell us that the need for praise and blame are some of the chief activities of the ego, that it is our own ego that identifies with these needs and desires, these stories going on in our mind-in essence, what we are thinking at any moment-thought itself-and projects them onto the world, thinking that praise comes from outside itself, therefore making it perfectly logical to blame that outside source when it doesn’t get what it feels it deserves.
In the end, it is a trap!
We seek praise because, like a drug, it temporarily makes us feel worthwhile, happy and proud of our accomplishments. But like a drug, when the “high” wears off we seek, once again, a new “fix”—more praise which, of course, makes us work again, this time just a little bit harder, to recreate the next high.
Can you envision a “burnout,” exhaustion, even a possible emotional breakdown looming on the horizon?
This process continues endlessly: reaching out, seeking praise, working harder and harder at what we do, so that we can get back something for what we do-praise, honor, recognition, fame and fortune, etc, so that we can feel good about ourselves.
Can anything or anyone ever give us anything that is lasting? It is in this question that we can put an end to all suffering.
When we get what we want we are inspired and happy, filled with a sense of worthiness and joy. When we don’t, the ego, not wanting to “look at itself in the mirror,” begins a process of blaming something or someone for its unhappiness and discontent.
Where is the love?
Is this whole process of praise and blame not a form of manipulation, a way the ego has cleverly learned to selfishly “take,” to get for itself.
If we are in the process of getting, where is the giving? Love is giving!
Does it not follow that the ego’s expectation of praise is the ultimate reason why we get frustrated and angry when it doesn’t get its way? Think about it! It is so obvious in its simplicity.
Praise and blame are only a source of pain and suffering when they are not understood.
Meditate. A quiet mind is free of praise and blame. In that place we feel worthy and totally free of all worldly needs and desires.
Love and blessings,
Alan
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Memories of Sept. 11th
I remember getting off the subway that morning, walking up the stairs and into the street, and finding myself in a scene so surreal that it felt as if I had stumbled into the shooting of a science fiction movie.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of people were running frantically, many screaming and crying,and all in the same direction-uptown-and away from the hub of the civic center in lower Manhattan. This alone was baffling to me, since it was a normal work day.
At first I thought it was a big accident of some kind, but when I approached a police officer and asked her what had happened, she said there was an explosion at The World Trade Center. This immediately made me think it was another terrorist bombing attack similar to the one in the trade center some years before.
I continued on my way to my editor's apartment in Tribeca on the Westside, about ten blocks from where I got off the subway. As I began walking, I noticed that smoke was billowing like a gigantic dark cloud all across the sky, and everywhere I looked I saw scores of frightened people running as if they were being chased by some prehistoric monster from a "B" movie.
When I finally got to my editor's apartment, I was just a few blocks from the World Trade Center. I walked up the stairs to her apartment and knocked on the door. She opened it immediately and flew into my arms, crying and shaking uncontrollably, frightened out of her mind. I asked her what had happened and she told me that a jet plane had crashed into one of the trade towers. She went on to say that she had been walking with her dog to her bank that was actually in one of the towers, when she looked up and saw a plane fly right into the building and burst into flames. She said she got so scared that she just turned around and ran back to her apartment.
At that point, although she was terrified, I persuaded her to go downstairs with me to the corner to see the extent of what had happened. At that moment, the TV, which she had on to get the news updates, began a report that was so incredible that I almost didn't believe what I was hearing. It seemed that another plane had crashed into the second tower.
We went downstairs and walked to the corner and looked up. There in front of us, about two blocks away, was one of the most unbelievable sights I had ever witnessed in my life. Both towers had been hit, and there were two big holes toward the top of both buildings with smoke pouring out from the places where the planes had crashed. We stood looking at this scene in disbelief. Some people had gathered to watch the spectacle, as we did, still others were making their way uptown, many running as fast as they could.
We stood looking at the buildings for about ten minutes, then I turned to my editor and said, "you know, I think I see people jumping out of one of the buildings." We both tried to focus more closely on what I thought I saw, since the activity was toward the very top of the tower. Then my editor screamed in horror as we saw two people, holding hands, leap from the building to their death. I could not get my mind around what I had just witnessed. It was too bizarre. A few seconds later, another person jumped, then another.
At that moment, I turned to my editor and said, "that tower looks as if it is going to go down." Just then, as if it was orchestrated by a demolition crew that knew precisely what they were doing, the building began to collapse. It went straight down, perfectly, as if it were planned. Everyone stood transfixed, unable to move, until the building had totally collapsed. In that moment, as the building crashed to the ground, debris came shooting out toward us, exploding, almost like an atomic blast. Everyone in the immediate area began to scream and run for their lives. I grabbed my editor by the arm and we ran around the corner, out of the way of the deadly fallout. We made it up the stairs to her apartment. I told her to pack an overnight bag as fast as she could, then we ran out of there, heading uptown to safer ground.
We walked a few miles uptown to 13th street. I left her at her sister's apartment, then spent the next few hours walking slowly up to 86th street, feeling very much as if I was being swept along in a dream. As I walked along, everywhere I looked, the streets were empty.There were no cars, no commercial traffic, except for police vehicles and barricades, blocking everyone from traveling downtown.
For the next few weeks, New York, as well as the rest of the world, had been touched deeply by all that had happened and went through an amazing, yet totally unexpected transformation.
Walking through the streets of Manhattan, I observed little prayer shrines appearing everywhere, seemingly on every
street corner, adorned with flowers and pictures of loved ones that were lost that fateful day. People congregated around these shrines, kneeling to pray, consoling each other, right on the sidewalks. In all the parks, people gathered together. Chanting groups from every religion and spiritual group offered their love through their hymns and prayers to soothe the hearts of our wounded city. It was very touching and very real.
Even the police officers were open and humble, caring and compassionate. It seemed as if the whole city had been galvanized by the tragedy and come together in an outpouring of love and human kindness unlike anything I had ever seen before, especially having lived in New York City all my life.
I had lived a spiritually based life for the past twenty years, centered around the practice of meditation and the teachings of an ancient spiritual path. My teacher was a wonderful meditation Master from India, and had always taught that the universe was benevolent, that everything that happened was for the benefit and upliftment of humanity. To listen to the reports of this tragedy on TV and in the media, one would be hard pressed to find anything benevolent in what had happened. And yet, to walk the street, to see the people, to experience first hand the actual reaction of the city and around the world, one could not help but feel a sense of hope and love, and a peace that just covered
everything. It was, without question, one of the most magical and beautiful experiences of my life.
Later that week, my meditation teacher called for devotees all over the world to come and meditate. We gathered together to find ways to help the world somehow get through this tragedy. Thousands of people, families and children,came from every city, every continent on the planet. The energy was magnificent.
People with microphones positioned themselves all throughout the audience. There were several thousand people present that afternoon. Our teacher then asked for only the children to give their insights. A few of the children raised their hands and gave some very sweet and heartfelt answers. Then, a little girl, around eleven years old, stood up, took the microphone in her hand and said:
"There are three things I think we all need to do. The first thing is that we need to send our love to the people that lost their lives in those buildings that day. The second thing we need to do is send our love to all of the people who lost their loved ones in those buildings that day. But those are not the most important things we need to do. The most important thing we have to do is to send our love to all of those people who did this, because to have done something so terrible, they could not have had any love in their hearts, and they need it more than anyone."
Hundreds, maybe thousands of people were running frantically, many screaming and crying,and all in the same direction-uptown-and away from the hub of the civic center in lower Manhattan. This alone was baffling to me, since it was a normal work day.
At first I thought it was a big accident of some kind, but when I approached a police officer and asked her what had happened, she said there was an explosion at The World Trade Center. This immediately made me think it was another terrorist bombing attack similar to the one in the trade center some years before.
I continued on my way to my editor's apartment in Tribeca on the Westside, about ten blocks from where I got off the subway. As I began walking, I noticed that smoke was billowing like a gigantic dark cloud all across the sky, and everywhere I looked I saw scores of frightened people running as if they were being chased by some prehistoric monster from a "B" movie.
When I finally got to my editor's apartment, I was just a few blocks from the World Trade Center. I walked up the stairs to her apartment and knocked on the door. She opened it immediately and flew into my arms, crying and shaking uncontrollably, frightened out of her mind. I asked her what had happened and she told me that a jet plane had crashed into one of the trade towers. She went on to say that she had been walking with her dog to her bank that was actually in one of the towers, when she looked up and saw a plane fly right into the building and burst into flames. She said she got so scared that she just turned around and ran back to her apartment.
At that point, although she was terrified, I persuaded her to go downstairs with me to the corner to see the extent of what had happened. At that moment, the TV, which she had on to get the news updates, began a report that was so incredible that I almost didn't believe what I was hearing. It seemed that another plane had crashed into the second tower.
We went downstairs and walked to the corner and looked up. There in front of us, about two blocks away, was one of the most unbelievable sights I had ever witnessed in my life. Both towers had been hit, and there were two big holes toward the top of both buildings with smoke pouring out from the places where the planes had crashed. We stood looking at this scene in disbelief. Some people had gathered to watch the spectacle, as we did, still others were making their way uptown, many running as fast as they could.
We stood looking at the buildings for about ten minutes, then I turned to my editor and said, "you know, I think I see people jumping out of one of the buildings." We both tried to focus more closely on what I thought I saw, since the activity was toward the very top of the tower. Then my editor screamed in horror as we saw two people, holding hands, leap from the building to their death. I could not get my mind around what I had just witnessed. It was too bizarre. A few seconds later, another person jumped, then another.
At that moment, I turned to my editor and said, "that tower looks as if it is going to go down." Just then, as if it was orchestrated by a demolition crew that knew precisely what they were doing, the building began to collapse. It went straight down, perfectly, as if it were planned. Everyone stood transfixed, unable to move, until the building had totally collapsed. In that moment, as the building crashed to the ground, debris came shooting out toward us, exploding, almost like an atomic blast. Everyone in the immediate area began to scream and run for their lives. I grabbed my editor by the arm and we ran around the corner, out of the way of the deadly fallout. We made it up the stairs to her apartment. I told her to pack an overnight bag as fast as she could, then we ran out of there, heading uptown to safer ground.
We walked a few miles uptown to 13th street. I left her at her sister's apartment, then spent the next few hours walking slowly up to 86th street, feeling very much as if I was being swept along in a dream. As I walked along, everywhere I looked, the streets were empty.There were no cars, no commercial traffic, except for police vehicles and barricades, blocking everyone from traveling downtown.
For the next few weeks, New York, as well as the rest of the world, had been touched deeply by all that had happened and went through an amazing, yet totally unexpected transformation.
Walking through the streets of Manhattan, I observed little prayer shrines appearing everywhere, seemingly on every
street corner, adorned with flowers and pictures of loved ones that were lost that fateful day. People congregated around these shrines, kneeling to pray, consoling each other, right on the sidewalks. In all the parks, people gathered together. Chanting groups from every religion and spiritual group offered their love through their hymns and prayers to soothe the hearts of our wounded city. It was very touching and very real.
Even the police officers were open and humble, caring and compassionate. It seemed as if the whole city had been galvanized by the tragedy and come together in an outpouring of love and human kindness unlike anything I had ever seen before, especially having lived in New York City all my life.
I had lived a spiritually based life for the past twenty years, centered around the practice of meditation and the teachings of an ancient spiritual path. My teacher was a wonderful meditation Master from India, and had always taught that the universe was benevolent, that everything that happened was for the benefit and upliftment of humanity. To listen to the reports of this tragedy on TV and in the media, one would be hard pressed to find anything benevolent in what had happened. And yet, to walk the street, to see the people, to experience first hand the actual reaction of the city and around the world, one could not help but feel a sense of hope and love, and a peace that just covered
everything. It was, without question, one of the most magical and beautiful experiences of my life.
Later that week, my meditation teacher called for devotees all over the world to come and meditate. We gathered together to find ways to help the world somehow get through this tragedy. Thousands of people, families and children,came from every city, every continent on the planet. The energy was magnificent.
People with microphones positioned themselves all throughout the audience. There were several thousand people present that afternoon. Our teacher then asked for only the children to give their insights. A few of the children raised their hands and gave some very sweet and heartfelt answers. Then, a little girl, around eleven years old, stood up, took the microphone in her hand and said:
"There are three things I think we all need to do. The first thing is that we need to send our love to the people that lost their lives in those buildings that day. The second thing we need to do is send our love to all of the people who lost their loved ones in those buildings that day. But those are not the most important things we need to do. The most important thing we have to do is to send our love to all of those people who did this, because to have done something so terrible, they could not have had any love in their hearts, and they need it more than anyone."
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Meditation for Children
Hi everyone,
A dear friend of mine, Susan Morales, wrote this article and I thought immediately about you guys and how this would be so appropriate and supportive in your lives with your children.
Click here to read the article now.
Love and blessings,
Alan
A dear friend of mine, Susan Morales, wrote this article and I thought immediately about you guys and how this would be so appropriate and supportive in your lives with your children.
Click here to read the article now.
Love and blessings,
Alan
Friday, September 3, 2010
Contemplation
In the end..right there at the bottom line..it's about love. I can have interesting conversations with you , but if I don't understand that we have been drawn together lifetime after lifetime because of love, then I understand nothing. I can chant all night, but if I don't chant with love and longing it is ultimately an empty chant. We can meet, we can chat about nothing and just visit as we like to do, but if my love doesn't reach out and touch you, we really haven't met, have we? I can see the magnificent blue pearl shining before me and be enchanted by it's beauty, but if I don't understand that it represents my own imperishable greatness, my own prefect SELF, then how can I know and love my self and therefore see and love the SELF within you? My friends, hold each other dear, each one of you is precious. My friends, value your beautiful immeasurable SELVES. My friends, lets all listen to the inner voices of our hearts. My friends, I will chant, meditate and be in your company with great love. My friends, always remember, LOVE is our glorious perfection.
Love and blessings,
Alan
Love and blessings,
Alan
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