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Chakra Meditation

Image January 21, 2016 jcisnowjs 2 Comments

We are fooled by the term Yoga(Yog). We do Surya Namaskar and say we have done Yoga. We will do kapaalbhati, Praanayam, a few OMs and we will start preaching ourselves as Yoga Guru.There is nothing wrong in doing all these, but to term them as Yog is like ignoring the big picture. Pardon me for using the term Yog and not Yoga, I just prefer it as this is more apt to its hindi nomenclature, like it is Lord Raam and not Lord Rama. I don’t want to pronounce it Yo-Ga. It is Yog.

Yog in simple plain hindi means – To Add, To Sum,To Join.

It is the Yog of us with our spiritual being. Joining of body with mind and soul.

Yoga, however is the most popularized version of physical exercises which are teachings of Yog, to make your body apt for meditation. Only a healthy body can have a healthy mind; and only a healthy mind can have a healthy soul. This is the basis of Yog. We use Pranaayam, and other type of Yogic exercises to make our body fit. Meditation is used to make our mind distraction free and focused, so we can receive the knowledge of beyond. When this is reached, Yog helps us to reach our highest spiritual self. To be one with The One. This joining of trinity. Mind + Body +Soul.

There are so many ways to practice Yog in your life, like Hath Yog,Raaj Yog, Tantra, Mantra, Gyan, Karm. One of them is Kundalini Yog, which involves almost everything from breathing exercises to mantras, to meditation. Kundalini enlightenment works by awakening our Chakras.

I felt fascinated with Chakra Meditation and Kundalini Yog, as somehow, this is the most scientific and processed form of a ritualistic meditation. It’s not just about making your mind blank, it is about enriching your mind/soul. It works on body, mind and soul simultaneously.

There are 7 Chakras, 6 in our body and 7^th on our outer body, just crowning us on top.

Muladhar – Base chakra, or Root Chakra is at the end of our spine. Its representing color is Red and Mantra is Lam. In senses it represents smell. It’s element is Earth. How apt is that when we say – come back to earth, put your foot down, to touch your roots; what we actually means is to be stable and secure, to become grounded; and all these take us to our root which is earth, our Muladhar, our base. This is the Chakra of stability, of the first step. We start from earth. This is our base.

Svadhishthana – This Chakra represents reproductive organs, and our emotions. Water is its element. Water which also represents emotions, feelings, and reproduction. Have you noticed how much watery terms when it comes to our reproductive organs, like flow, blockage, pipes, swimmers, etc… In senses it represents taste. It’s color is orange and Mantra is Vam. Water over Earth.

Manipura – It is the fire element, and quite suitably denotes our digestive system. This fire is used to digest our food, to burn it. Fire over water. Yellow is its color and Ram is its mantra. Sense is sight. It governs fear, power, and anxiety etc. Butterflies in stomach, feeling sick in stomach… we say all these things when we are anxious or scared.

Anahata – It is the Heart Chakra. It governs circulation, love, compassion, and well-being. All matters related to heart. Its color is green, and mantra is Yam. Sense is touch. Has anyone touched your heart? Its element is Air. Air over Fire. It is the most powerful chakra for emphats. Person with strong and awakened Heart chakra is full with love and compassion. It is one of the strong point in being an empath.

Vishuddha – This is throat chakra. Visuddha meaning pure. This chakra govern communication and expression. Its element is Ether. Ether is what this universe is made of. Our sound can not travel without this medium ether. Sound which is a part of communication, ruled by throat chakra. Its color is blue, mantra is Ham, and sense is hearing.

These were 5 chakras with elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. 5 elements. Our body is made of these 5 elements, 5 matters. These are those 5 matters. Now, what resides over matter.

Mind.

Mind over matter.

Ajna – Aagyaa, or gyan chakra. This is our 6^th Chakra. Our mind. Mind over all the matter. It is above all the physical elements. Our mind can go beyond this Ether filled universe. Its color is violet, or indigo. Its mantra is OM. It is also called as third eye chakra. It govern intuition. Clarity. Knowledge. Our consciousness. The sixth sense. This is our 6^th Chakra giving us 6^th sense. This is our inner voice. Its sense is insight.

Sahasrara – thousand petals chakra, also known as Crown chakra is at the crown of our head. It is not inside our body but rather just on the top, where our aura is. This is the final destination of Kundalini shakti, where she unites with her Shiva. Shining like millions of sun put together. The perfect union of Shiva-Shakti. Perfect Yog. This is the place of pure bliss. Enlightenment. Samaadhi. This is where our higher spiritual self resides. To reach there is attainment of Moksha. To attain pure knowledge. To know all. To be all. To be The One. Where there is no difference in body, mind and soul. It’s just a single point. Nothing matters. You are one. Shiva is one with her Shakti. Yog.

This is Yog for me.

Life

Article from one of my Addict Friend

Image January 5, 2016 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

You may or may not feel proud of your addict friend, but for me it’s a totally different case.

I am proud of you Kalyani, and your addiction too.

Do read her article How I became an addict after the birth of my children

Keep up the good work.

Sketch

Leaning against you

Image December 20, 2015 jcisnowjs Leave a comment

Life, Spiritual

Face Of Jesus

Image December 17, 2015 jcisnowjs 1 Comment

Science, most specifically the Forensic Anthropology branch of it, has done what can only be termed as miracle. It has given a humane face to the Son of God.

Forensic Anthropology is the application of science to aid in identification of deceased individuals. Anthropologist uses physical markers present on a skeleton to identify sex, age, race and cause of death too. It is widely used technique in identifying remains, solving crimes and assisting in exploration of history.

A British scientist along with an Israeli archeologist has used forensic anthropology to draw the scientifically most accurate face of Jesus of Nazareth. Most astonishing thing is that this face is so real and humane that it is nowhere near that white, westernized, pale, thin face, blue eyes, and, flowing golden hair of Jesus, which we are accustomed to see in every church glass window. It is the biggest breaking of stereotype of Jesus’ image.

Surprisingly the holy face of Jesus that we see everywhere is nowhere mentioned in Bible. Infact there is no physical description of Jesus in Bible. If one has to find any proof of physical existence of Jesus, he has to search really hard, because till now there is no scientific proof has been found to support Jesus’ existence. There is however no denying of the fact that no matter how he may have looked; stories of this Son of God, have changed the course of world’s religious history.

If there was no description of his physical appearance of Jesus in Bible then how did we came to know of his holy face?.

Here comes Shroud Of Turin. This shroud could be termed as the most debated, yet most believed religious artifact of all time. Shroud of Turin is supposedly the linen cloth that was used to wrap Jesus’ body after his Crucifixion. The shroud is mentioned in every gospel of Bible but it was never found until much later in 15^th century (as per records). This shroud has imprints of a man having wounds similar to a Crucifixion victim, most specifically of Jesus’, with blood stains on head, arms, and parts of body consistent with Jesus’ injuries and death. This shroud also has an image of a face with a mustache, long beard and hair, a thin and old-looking man, with about 6 ft height.

This is the face of Jesus, we all know. Face we all are very familiar to. A face which was further transformed by the contemporary artists of western imagination.

With shroud of Turin itself failing to scientific tests of authenticity, the image on it can be hardly considered an accurate depiction of what Jesus must have looked like. There are other contradictions too, like holy image of Jesus is nowhere similar to a person who has lived in his time and region. Fact is when Jesus got arrested, Judas had to specifically point him to authorities, as they were not able to differentiate him from his disciples. It was mentioned in the bible that he looked like his disciples. So, in no way he would have looked like how he is depicted in churches across the world.

This new scientifically correct image that has come up now, seems to be more accurate and near to what he must have looked than the holy one. As per this new image of Jesus, he has typical features of a dark-skinned Galilean Semites era man, with short curly black hairs. Height about 5ft. 1in., and average weight of 110 pounds. It may not be the real image of Jesus, but by far it is the most near image of what he may have looked like.

Question remains, does it matter how he looked?

The way current political and religious scenario and events are unfolding, I would answer, yes, it matters. Will your faith in Jesus change, if instead of white he would be of dark skin?

No.

We need to see this new image and think in our heart, does it matter what race, sex, age, nationality or color of a person is, when we love him?

If we can love our God, despite the color of his skin, why can’t we love our fellow humans. Why do we need to judge others, based on their race or their sexual orientation?

Isn’t Love greater than all of this?