The 7 Spiritual Laws of Love

Adapted from Kama Sutra by Deepak Chopra (Virgin Books, 2006).
Within every love story hides the wooing of the gods and goddesses. This is one area of life where the practical meets the mythical. For many people the experience of romantic love is their first experience of spirituality, although they may not know it.

SIMPLE SOLUTION:

The First Stage of Love: Attraction
The Law of Attraction states, "To be attractive, you have to be authentic." What makes a person attractive? The wisdom traditions tell us that attraction first and foremost comes from naturalness. Nothing is more beautiful than naturalness.

The Second Stage of Love: Infatuation
This law states that infatuation exists to open the door to a deeper, transcendent reality. Infatuation happens when the attraction between two people is so intense that it transports them beyond ordinary perception and the ordinary world becomes enchanted.

The Third Stage of Love: Communion
The Law of Communion says that communion is contact of soul with soul. Communion is the sharing of spirit. Therefore, communion is the basis of trust. In this stage, lovers move into territory of the unknown, taking from each other what they did not possess alone.

The Fourth Stage of Love: Intimacy
The law of Intimacy states that in true intimacy flesh merges with flesh, and spirit with spirit. In intimacy, sexual energy and spiritual energy are recognized as one. Sexual energy is seen as the creative energy of the universe.

The Fifth Stage of Love: Surrender and Non-Attachment
The Law of Surrender says that losing yourself in another person is the best way to find your true self. Surrender is the result of relinquishing the ego's last claims to separation. Surrender and non-attachment open the door to the miraculous, because miracles exist outside the realm of I, me, and mine.

The Sixth Stage of Love: Passion
The Law of Passion says that higher reality is experienced in the merging of the masculine and the feminine in one's own being. Passion for life and passion in love are the same thing. This is because life, in its essence, is love.

The Seventh Stage of Love: Ecstasy
The Law of Ecstasy says that ecstasy is our original state. This is where we come from, the Garden of Eden, the state of grace to which we shall one day return. Ecstasy is the final stage of intimacy with spirit that flows through love.

Spirituality and Animals

Friends, I now have sad news to tell you: The Canadian Seal Hunt is begining soon. It begins each year around the end of March. As of the date of this blog post, we have 26 days until the Harp Seal Hunt begins. I encourage you to sign this year's petition to help end the Canadian Seal Hunt.

http://www.hsus.org/protect_seals.html

Here is a list of 15 things you can do to help stop the cruel deaths of beautiful creatures:

http://www.hsus.org/marine_mammals/protect_seals/protect_seals_what_you_can_do/

Thank you for your support!

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Today's blog:


Animals and Spirituality go hand and hand. Since ancient times, animals have been looked upon as sacred. The wise one's has taught us to respect all of mother nature - animals included. Below are a few great philosophies on respect for animals:

George Bernard Shaw:
“When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity.”


Native American:
"Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her."

“Every animal knows more than you do.”

Immanuel Kant:
“If man is not to stifle human feelings, he must practice kindness to animals, for He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”

Dalai Lama:
"Because we all share this planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony about peace with each other and with nature. That is not just a dream but a necessity. We are dependent on each other in so many ways that we can no longer live in isolated communities and ignore what is happening
in those communities."

"Taking care of animals is essential to developing more happiness in human beings"


Abraham Lincoln:
“I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.”


Pope John Paul II:
“Animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren…the fruit of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect…as near to God as men are.” He reminded people that all living beings came into being because of the “breath” of God. He spoke of St. Francis’s love for animals declaring, “We, too, are called to a similar attitude.”

Judaism:
“For all forest creatures are mine already, the animals on the mountains in their thousands. I know every bird in the air, whatever moves in the fields is mine.”


Mahatma Gandhi:
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated… I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by [people] from the cruelty of [human kind]”

Prophet Mohammed:
“A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is a bad as an act of cruelty to a human being.”

Pythagoras:
“As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower livings beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”

Ko Hung:
“Respect the old and cherish the young. Even insects, grass and trees you must not hurt”

Albert Einstein:
“Our task must be to free ourselves— by widening our circle of compassion to embrace
all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”

Hippocrates:
“The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different.”

S. Parkes Cadman:
“Personally, I would not give a fig for any man's religion whose horse, cat and dog do not feel its benefits. Life in any form is our perpetual responsibility.”



May Peace be with all of you this weekend.

Compassion is the Gateway to True Love

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


*Love for your mother, father and siblings is natural and organic. We can have love for our partner if we have one and love for past partners. To have unconditional or true love is to love other beings whether or not they love you or even like you.~dharma teaching.


True love is the answer to all problems, pain and suffering. If you have true love and compassion for your fellow man then you shall inflict no harm. Love is an earnest and anxious desire for and an active and beneficent interest in the well-being of the one loved. Yet, at times, you will feel a rage of anger, frustration and wish your fellow man ill not because you hate her but because modern views of compassion has taught us this.

Common definitions of compassion read like the following: a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. There is a strong desire to 'get your point across' to the one loved to help them release their pain and problems. These definitions create the idea that compassion requires us to join another in their misery and can lead to you becoming angry and sometimes wishing them ill for making you feel so terrible. Does this really help anyone? We may need a definition of compassion that is more powerful. For true compassion we will have to expand our understanding so we don’t mistakenly create more sorrow from suffering.


Think of the modern definition of compassion is not true. Say to yourself: What if compassion does not allow us to feel the suffering or pain of another? What if compassion is simply the active expression of acceptance for the world and people just as they are?

In Buddhist practices sadness, sorrow, and pity are referred to as the near enemies of compassion. Being compassionate involves understanding the suffering of another without feeling sorrow or pity. When there are these emotions, compassion has turned into personal unhappiness and only adds to suffering. Feeling the emotional pain of another doesn’t relieve their suffering. In actuality it adds to the collective field of unconsciousness creating suffering.

An example of Buddhist logic:
If you see a peron suffering and unhappy then you would feel sad for her. Now there are two unhappy people. If two people saw the two unhappy people and took the same approach then there would be four people suffering over frustration and sadness. Four more people could feel saddened and frustrated by our plight and then there would be eight more unhappy.If we keep going in this direction the whole world would end up feeling sorrow and pity because one person was unhappy. As you see, now we have several unhappy people and most will agree that unhappiness is harmful and a form of suffering.


"Just as compassion is a natural effect of true love for just being, so ahimsa or ‘non-harming’ is a natural effect of compassion. If we feel true compassion and tenderness for the feelings of others, we will automatically take care not to do any action that might cause any harm or suffering. Therefore the most important quality that we should strive to cultivate is the true love to subside and rest in our natural state of self-conscious being." [from the Happiness of Being: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana]




A Zen teaching:
Empathy Practice. The first step in cultivating compassion is to develop empathy for your fellow human beings. Many of us believe that we have empathy, and on some level nearly all of us do. But many times we are centered on ourselves (I’m no exception) and we let our sense of empathy get rusty. Try this practice: Imagine that a loved one is suffering. Something terrible has happened to him or her. Now try to imagine the pain they are going through. Imagine the suffering in as much detail as possible. After doing this practice for a couple of weeks, you should try moving on to imagining the suffering of others you know, not just those who are close to you.

A Buddhist teaching:
Compassion can take active forms - helping others who are having difficulties of whatever kind (mental, emotional, physical) - but can also be seen as a broad approach inherent in all that one does. Knowing that all beings are suffering in some way, compassion can become a permanent part of one's mindset. If something practical can't be done, then there is the inner feeling of concern for all beings and a desire for their suffering to be alleviated.


A Jainism teaching:
The teaching of ahimsa (non-violence) refers not only to wars and visible physicalacts of violence but to violence in the hearts and minds of human beings, their lack of concern and compassion for their fellow humans and for any other living being. Ancient Jain texts explain that violence (Himsa) is not defined by actual harm, for this may be unintentional. It is the intention to harm, the absence of compassion that makes action violent. Without violent thought there could be no violent actions.In a positive sense ahimsa means caring for and sharing with all living beings, tending, protecting and serving them. It entrails universal friendliness (maitri), universal forgiveness (kshama)and universalfearlessness (abhaya).


Compassion knows no limits; there are no exceptions. Compassion is continuing learning process. There is never a point when one can say "I'm compassionate enough" or "I'm done being compassionate with you". That way of thinking is not compassion. True compassion is infinite, it knows no boundaries.

Once we learn true empathy we can develop true compassion. Once we learn true compassion we can develop true love for our fellow man as strong as we love those close to us.



Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men. - Confucius



References:
http://zenhabits.net/
http://happinessofbeing.blogspot.com/
http://trueanduseful.eponym.com/blog
http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/index.htm

Music for the Soul

Music for your meditations is more than just going to Wal-Mart and picking up a CD of environmental sounds or the latest Yanni tunes. Finding the right music for your meditations is essential to the meditation process. It is about self realization and self expression. It is what guides you into new realms. It is what brings about the images that will carry you to the sacred place. That is the goal of meditation.

I have been asked on numerous occasions about recommended meditation music. I have spent the last 6 hours combing through music to give you my top picks. I have separated the music into 2 categories for easier choosing: Light Ambient and Dark Ambient. The Light Ambient music houses a list of various styles: Native American, Piano, Neo-Classical, Indian, Environmental, Celtic and so on. The Dark Ambient section is a list of darker sounds; a lot of Goths, Pagans, Vampires, Horror Fans and others prefer the dark or heavier sounds to meditate to.

For sampling the music I have recommended, 2 good places: Last.FM and Amazon.com. Most of the music can be bought at Amazon.com or through the artists own websites and scrobbled/sampled at Last.FM.

Most of the artists below have has several CDs to pick from. I have chosen my favorites from each artist to recommend to you for your meditations. This is just a very small list of wonderful meditation music to pick from. I can also tell you that if you are just in the mood for some good chill-out music, relaxing music to sleep by or need good music for your 'tantric connections' then this is a fairly good list of for your listening pleasure.

I have them listed in no particular order:


Light Ambient:

Artist - Album

Anugama - Shamanic Dream II
Dean Evenson - Healing Sanctuary
The World Of Osho - In Wonder: The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Osho Musicians - Ten Thousand Budhas
Pete Namlook - Air
Medwyn Goodall - The Grail Quest
Ben Tavera King & Eric Casillas - Hunting Magic
Dean Evenson & Soundings Ensemble - Soundings Tapestry
Kitaro - An Ancient Journey
David & Steve Gordon - Sacred Spirit Drums
Paul Schwartz - State Of Grace III
Kamal - Mystery Road
Anthony Miles - Even Wolves Dream
Bioshpere - Substrata
Tangerine Dream - Dream Sequence
Acoustic Alchemy - Early Alchemy
Genius Loci - Hortus Sanitatis
Harold Budd - Glyph
Jeffrey Koepper - Etherea
The Sushi Club - Sushidelic
R. Carlos Nakai - Earth Spirit
Chinmaya Dunster - Yoga On Sacred Ground
Tom Barabas - Piano Impressions
Aeoliah - Divinaura
Upanishad - Spiritual Chillout
Green Sun - Non-Complex
Ellis Hadlock - Pyramid Dreams
Rodrigo Rodriguez - Across the East
Sangit Om - The Feng Shui Effect
Palash - On a Gentle Shore
Bahramji & Maneesh de Moor - Call of the Mystic
2002 - River of Stars
Meditation - Food of Love
Thom Brennan - Silver
Sounds that Sooth - Silver Streams
Ravi Shankar - Enchanted Dawn
Al Gromer Khan - Turya
Deva Premal - Embrace
Parijat - Buddha Garden
Vangelis - Antarctica
Enigma - Love Sensuality Devotion



Dark Ambient:

Artist - Album

Paan - Phosphor
Vestigial - Aeon
Abandoned Toys - The Witch's Garden
Rapoon - Cidar
Lull - Continue
Necrophorus - Gathering Composed Thoughts
Atum - Where are you Europe?
Midnight Syndicate - Born of the Night
Bruno Sanfilippo - Visualia
Hans Christian - Phantoms
Nox Arcana - Carnival Of Lost Souls
Arcana - Dark Age of Reason
Robert Rich - Trances / Drones
Lustmord - Heresy
Kevin Braheny - Desert Solitaire
Mathias Grassow - Prophecy
Instincts - The Mystery Visions
Dargaard - Eternity Rites
Funeral Catering Service - Graveyards & Hilltops
Post Scriptvm - Sea Green Series
Coph Nia - Shape Shifter
Dead Voices on Air - Shap
Crassus - These Darkening Days
Steve Roach - Artifacts
Kilvo - Take Me To The Castle In The Sky
Felixdroid - Odd Dots and Squiggles
The Future Sound of London - Cascade
Henri Seroka - Celtic The Music Of The Kells
Project Divinity - Divinity
Dark Sanctuary - De Lumière et d'Obscurité
Mystical Sun - Deeperworlds
Bardoseneticcube - Strange Various
Algol - Searching for Inner and Outer Void
Kammarheit - The Starwheel
Gustaf Hildebrand - Primordial Resonance
Entheogenic - Spontaneous Illumination
Ophelia's Dream - All Beauty Is Sad
Zoviet France - Decriminalisation Of Country Music
Ultra Milkmaids - Music For Dreamachine

Animal Abuse Cases

Animal cruelty seems to be on the rise. Abuse cases are soaring. Being an activist for animal rights, I decided to provide you some links today to the latest stories and updates. The links are only a small handful of what I receive daily and gives you an idea of what I'm fighting so hard to stop - ANIMAL ABUSE! I realize this isn't much of a blog today... but this needed to be shown here because of the way I feel towards animal abuse. Thank you readers for understanding.

If you would like to help for FREE then please click on these pictures. All it will cost you a minute or two a day to click - no money involved.









Warning: Some of the pictures and videos provided in these links are graphic.

Paris Hilton’s Pets Are Being Monitored By L.A Authorities


Dogs Kicked and Beaten, Caught on Videotape

Video Footage for the above: Dogs Kicked and Beaten


Macao Teenagers Detained for "Barbecuing" Cat


Pet Store Performing Surgery Without Anesthesia

Polar Bears Lose in Big Oil Auction

2 Arrests In Calif. Animal Abuse At Slaughterhouse

Starved Dog Dies in Arms of Rescuer


Musher Charged With Neglecting Dogs

Update: The Owner of a Mt. Pleasant Animal Rescue Shelter Was Charged With Six Dog Law Violations

Update: 2 Charged With Animal Cruelty in Cat Case

Zoo 'Shoot to Kill' Action Out of Order


Horrific Case of Dog Cruelty

Man Accused of Drilling Holes in Dog's Head Pleads Not Guilty

Woman Explains Why She Drowned Her Cat

Plea Bargain for Couple Who Drowned Cat in Bucket

One Of Worst Cases Of Animal Abuse, Humane Society Says


An East Ridge Man Is Charged With Two Counts of Animal Cruelty


Twenty Pit Bulls Neglected, Drugs Seized