What You Should Know About Emotions

Though psychopaths are a nightmare to meet, they do teach valuable lessons. Because they don’t have almost any emotion, their heads are cool, and that’s why most of them are really smart.

They’re not influenced by emotion, and so they can calmly think over the best way to act. That’s the reason they get into top positions of many companies, and they almost always achieve what they set their minds to.

Not only psychopaths, but high meditation adepts have the same ability. Because they transcended the mammalian, emotional side, their heads are no longer heated with emotion. But unlike psychopaths, meditation adepts have compassion and unlimited love, and so the decisions they make benefit humanity.

Since emotional burden is not there, meditation adepts’ lives are simple (due to simple minds), and they feel joyful and at peace. No longer are they influenced by emotional ups and downs, because they gradually detached themselves from emotion until such non-reaction made emotions cease.

Emotion comes as a result of external stimulus – I’ve noticed this myself, and Nikola Tesla wrote it in his autobiography; I’d just add that emotion might arise from self-talk too. Though when we no longer identify with the emotion it becomes less intense until it’s no more. In the place of it, understanding arises.

Unconditional love as the finest spiritual feeling

What remains in high meditation adepts is unconditional love, but true love, unlike a human one, doesn’t heat up the body or make you dizzy or one-sided. Instead, it gives you absolute harmony.

Unconditional love is the blueprint of all creation. Unconditional love is your true nature, with all the impurities removed. So when emotions that heat up your head are no more, unconditional love is uncovered, totally harmonizing your body and bringing you inner peace.

Unconditional love is not an emotion; it’s more like a fine feeling. Emotions and feelings are different; I’ve noticed this myself, and Omananda Puri’s (a gifted musician and esotericist) writings confirm that too. Emotions mess up your blood or give you a one-sided perception; blood starts ‘boiling’ as in the case of anger, or is seemingly ‘drained off you’, as in the case of fear. Or when you’re happy as a result of some happening, you tend to see only the bright side of life.

Fine feelings, however, give you a glimpse of an unseen depth in you, so their nature is different. Such feelings are sympathy, harmony, bliss, peace, and limitless love. Now as I’m thinking about it, it would be less confusing to call them ‘states’, rather than ‘feelings’.

The mind, not affected by emotional ups and downs, remains cool, and only then good decisions are made. Nerves are no longer super-excited (intimacy, caffeine), blown up (anger), or deprived of nourishment (fear, after-effects of caffeine). So nerves develop, become finer, and function much better, increasing the overall intelligence and your connection with the Divine.

Being emotional versus being cool-headed can also be compared with walking during the storm versus walking in a clear weather. The storm can get so bad that you can totally lose sight of your destination and end up in another place; this can be compared with bad decision-making because of arisen emotions. But when the weather is clear and pleasant, you see your way home clearly, and take the shortest route to reach it.

Emotions are addictive

People are addicted to emotions because of the way the body reacts when agitated. A very strong electro-magnetic current is felt, taking one out of balance, and though it’s harmful, it’s addictive. This can be compared to the body’s addiction to sugar, alcohol, caffeine, or tobacco. Everything that takes one of out balance, such as sex, is highly addictive.

That’s the reason people love romantic or horror movies. It makes them strongly feel in a certain way. People also can get addicted to overly spicy, sugary, or salty foods. We get addicted to that which gives the strongest stimulation to our nerves. But this stimulation over-excites and then dissipates the nerves, leaving us less intelligent than we were, and leaving us less awake to the reality.

We make mistakes not only when we’re really upset or angry. We make mistakes also when we’re overly excited. When our mood is artificially lifted, like because of watching something entertaining, we might end up overestimating our abilities, or promising to someone something later we regret doing. So any kind of emotion, be it high or low, is likely to lead us to wrong choices, because it takes us out of balance. Keeping the head cool, thus not tinted by any emotion, makes us see the reality clearly.

Balance yourself with meditation, yoga, prayer, sattvic food, and pure life. These aids will make you more inwardly minded, and thus less identified with emotions. The fewer emotional swings you have, the more harmonious your energy field will be, finally manifesting into the external world in the form beautiful surroundings, the work of love, and right decisions.'

Resource: simonarich.com

My Current Vibration-Raising Playlist

Due to my Carnatic music studies many of the songs are of this style, though you’ll also find Hindustani classical music, as well as modernized ragas (the type of Indian musical piece).

1. Relaxing Sounds of India (instrumental) – this album is great to leave playing in the background all day. It harmonizes mind, raises vibration and relaxes.

2. Treasures of Classical Indian Music (instrumental) – this album consists of light devotional compositions for lord Krishna, and is again good to leave playing in the background whilst you go about your day.

3. Compositions of Sri Muthuswamy Dikshithar (instrumental) – Muthuswamy Dikshithar is one of my favorite Carnatic music composers; many of his compositions are uplifting and auspicious. The compositions and instruments of this album energize, so it’s good to listen to such music in the morning. It’s a typical music you hear in South Indian temples, and is said to get the attention of deities.

4. This is Carnatic Fusion: Jagadananda Karaka (third song in the album) – I love this Carnatic piece; Haricharan, the singer performing it, has a beautiful voice. It’s a modern remake of a very old composition, and although some instruments are out-of-place (in my opinion), the singer’s voice compensates for it.

5. U. Srinivas Mandolin Duo (instrumental) – the whole album is perfect for relaxing and greatly raising vibration, but the highlight of it, in my opinion, is Maha Ganapatim. It’s an auspicious piece usually played/sung at the beginning of Carnatic concerts, as it is said to remove obstacles.

6. Hanuman Chalisa – I couldn’t find this full-length composition on Amazon or Google Play, so I’m listening to it only on YouTube – a link displayed on the YouTube video leads to the album, but this piece is short there. (I like to support such great artists by purchasing their songs rather than listening to them for free.) This composition fills me with peace and relaxes, as well as uplifts.

Here’s a video of it:

7. Vedic Mantras by Saaswathi Prabhu – beautifully rendered various ancient mantras, taking you into another world.

8. Banaras – Indian Classical Music – devotional classical chants taking you deep into your Self. These chants not only make me feel calm and centered, but there’s a definite energy of North India and the sacred river Ganga felt in almost every composition. This album makes one detached from the world and turns one’s mind to God, so it’s perfect for those practicing modern ascetism.

9. Satnam Shri Waheguru – Mera Man Prem Lago Har Teer – this song touches my heart. The voice of the singer is divine.

10. Kishori Amonkar Raga Rageshree – I like to listen to such dreamy music before going to sleep. This is a Classical Indian raga (Hindustani). Kishori Amonkar is a truly gifted musician who could also be called a musical scientist, since all her life is dedicated to not only singing, but understanding music, down to each individual musical note (she says that musical notes are conscious).

I hope this playlist, or at least some songs in it, will raise your vibration and harmonize your energy as much as it does to me.

Resource: simonarich.com

Should You Have Desires or Not? Three Growth Stages

Having desires isn’t bad. In fact, this stage cannot be avoided – you must go through it, in order to finally achieve the desire-free stage. Let me explain these stages of growth from the very beginning.

The inert stage

The first stage is what I like to call ‘inert’. It’s the stage where you unquestionably go through life being pushed into choices by the society, family, as well as the life path that was written in stars for you.

At this stage people don’t question things, and are not aware of who they really are; they simply go through life as though they are on auto-pilot.

This stage is really not the same as being in the flow – in fact, it’s the opposite. A divine spark is so covered up in such a human that it’s not felt; decisions are made not as a result of an inner urge, but because of society, circumstances, others’ opinions, and conditioning.

Such people are obviously not happy, but they haven’t yet arrived at the stage where they could even question their inner feelings. When such a questioning starts, the next stage arrives.

Some people live this way all their lives, leading a kind of vegetable existence. However, some experience awakening and enter the next stage. Awakening can be triggered by a thought, a feeling (as I just mentioned), an accident, someone’s comment which produces a desire, and in similar ways.

The desire stage

Once the awakening into the next stage occurs, the person triggered by an internal or external stimulus starts using her energy, resources and willpower to make things happen. She becomes more successful as a result of this change; she earns more money, becomes independent, gets in control of her life. She really enjoys such a lifestyle for some time (such a stage can last lifetimes!), until she realizes that there’s more to life than success, money, fame, or power.

In developing countries some people are awakening to this stage, and some are enjoying material success. The peak of this stage has been achieved by many more people in the developed world, though many still enjoy material success, life dramas, and use willpower to achieve further desires. They cannot comprehend how life could be joyful without desires.

Some people chase after new desires all their lives, exerting their willpower to get what they fancy. They feel in control of their lives and this feeling of power drives them to achieve more. Some people, however, start realizing that there’s more to life than ‘making things happen’, ‘being in control’, and ‘being a high achiever’. Once a person understands there’s more to life, she enters the last stage.

The desire-free stage

At this stage naturally desires start falling away, because one understands their empty natures. One gets more in touch with the laws of the universe, thus he knows that ‘stirring’ ethers by generating desires ends up generating new karmas and more desires.

Having gained such knowledge a person naturally stops stirring up the energy, and relaxes into the present moment. He starts accepting reality as it is, and thus for the first time in his life he sees things how they really are, and has inner peace.

Since such a person has less and less of his own willpower but is more and more aligned with the will of the Divine, there’s no longer any need to ‘push’ through life and use energy unnecessarily; instead, he’s aware, and acts when the Universe sends an impulse to act. He, therefore, becomes a perfect channel of the Divine.

Selfishness starts being replaced by humbleness and simplicity. Finally all such person’s actions are taken for the benefit of others, rather than to please his own self. Such a stage is accompanied by bliss and peace, since now his will is the will of the Creator. No longer he denies that he’s a ripple in the vast ocean, and this acceptance makes him as big as the ocean itself.

No longer there is fear or struggle, because there’s no selfishness involved. So, for example, a musician who achieved this stage no longer sings for personal power or fame, so she’s not afraid to sing in front of masses. Instead she sings to heal others with her voice, totally aligned with the will of God, so the voice becomes a perfect healing tool, and the singer sings without any strain, from total harmony.

It’s rare to meet people who achieved such a stage. But when you do, you’ll certainly know. Because whatever work they do, that work leaves indelible effect on you. Such work heals, or makes you feel at peace, happy, or more present.

Tamas, Rajas, Sattva

In Indian spirituality you can compare these three stages of growth with the three components of the Universe: tamas, rajas, and sattva.

Tamas is inertia; tamasic people are ignorant, lazy, without any ambition or inspiration.

Rajasic people are the ones who make things happen. They’re always on the move, they’re driven by lots of energy, and they often suffer stress and overwork.

Sattvic people are peaceful and calm. They’re not lazy, but they don’t exert energy to push through life. They’re in the flow, thus in touch with a spiritual side. They’re happy and blissful, but this happiness doesn’t come from worldly achievements, but emanates from their inner world.

Eventually, all these three should be transcended, but the only way to transcend them is to become completely sattvic.

Something you must know

These three stages of growth can only be quickened through constant personal development, but none of the stages should be denied! Each person must go through these three, though some people went through first or second stages already in past lives.

Some people go through these stages really slowly, some – really fast. Each person is different; no need to try to intend the seed to grow when it’s not ready – it will happen at the right time.

Conclusion

I hope now it’s clearer why I wrote about how to achieve desires, as well as about the lack of them. I wrote these posts for people of different growth stages. Whatever your growth stage is, don’t attempt to artificially alter it, as you’ll, after some time, fall back to the stage you tried to escape from. The next stage will come gradually and naturally, as a result of your conscious work to improve yourself, or simply as a result of your personal evolution.

Resource: simonarich.com

My Success Strategy

Though it would have been easy for me to waste myself on different activities without mastering any skill at all, I managed to find a strategy that allowed me to succeed despite having many interests.

It’s a two-fold strategy, which is perfect for those whose attention span is short, who have many talents, or who are simply interested in many things.

By the way, only follow this strategy if it resonates with you.

This strategy comes in two parts, and here’s the first one:

Commit to the work that’s flexible and broad.

(It will take longer to succeed than in narrow, specialized, work, but you won’t get bored. Over the long run, however, a broad sphere can bring much more abundance than a narrow one.)

For example, since my work is self-improvement blogging, this allows me the flexibility of working anywhere, anytime, and writing about a broad range of subjects. Nearly every subject in the world can be linked in some way to self-improvement! So this activity never bores me, but, in fact, is pleasurable, and energizes me.

I’ve found my ideal work by paying attention to what I was good at. Since childhood I used to put my thoughts down on paper, in the form of poetry or diary writing. In fact, sometimes I need to record my thoughts on paper and then look at them to understand my own ideas. So this clearly pointed that writing was my calling.

So to use the first part of this strategy firstly you need to find a sphere, a broad sphere, of your activity. What’s natural and effortless for you? What do you engage in often? Is it writing, painting, talking, making stuff, fixing things, teaching, leading, contemplating, or something else?

Once you find this broad sphere, direct it to a channel that has enough variety and flexibility, and which interests you. (For me, for example, this channel was self-improvement.) Ideally, you should never change your sphere, but have it broad enough from the start for you not to get bored.

If you keep this strategy, you will be successful. However, you must select the channel that’s natural for you; otherwise after some time you will quit the sphere altogether. As a general guideline, if you have been naturally engaged in that sphere since childhood, you will keep at it.

Let’s not forget the second part of my success strategy, which is equally important for you to become successful and not to quit, which is:

Allow energy outbreaks from time to time.

Even the calling of your life can become tasteless and constricting if you don’t allow energy outbreaks to happen.

Of course, it would be ideal to fully focus on one thing only and put all your energy there; but if you are, like me, interested in many things, such strictness would only dampen spirits and work quality would suffer, or it might even cause to quit work altogether.

So I never constrict myself, and if some energy wants to break out into another sphere, I always let it, fully knowing that it will not last, and that the activity will bring a different shade to my writing, enriching it this way.

I know in my heart that I will always stick to self-improvement writing because keeping this broad sphere and allowing energy outbreaks after some time made this work grow into a strong, probably impossible to root out, tree. I didn’t allow, however, energy outbreaks at the very start of my blogging, because that might have never allowed my blogging to take off.

So I advise you to do the same. First, keep only in your sphere, but when you feel yourself established enough, and the sphere of your work as though gets its own intelligence and life and thus doesn’t need your constant attention, you may allow yourself to temporarily explore other fields of activity that interest you. You will know in your heart when it’s safe to do so.

If you’ve just sown a seed but then you ignore it by watering other seeds, the original seed will die. But if you keep watering it, it grows into a stronger plant which requires less care. With your regular attention, it grows stronger and stronger, and then you can leave it alone for quite some time, and you’ll still find it as strong, or even stronger, when you come back.

Taking this analogy further, when you leave an already strong tree to do something else, you might get tips from others about how to care for your tree even better, so this time away from the growing tree can be beneficial to it, because upon your return you’ll have new skills of how to make it grow bigger and faster. (So this ‘going away’ is extra activities that you engage in once you’re established in your sphere of work which serve to enrich your work.)

You’re indeed likely to find after such time away that you can resume your work with more inspiration, renewed energy, and produce results that are more unique.

Conclusion

If you have multiple interests, many talents, or your attention span is short, select the sphere of work that’s broad enough for you not to get bored.

Though it’s very important, if you want to be successful, to stick to your sphere of work without changing it, once you’re well established in it you can afford some time away from it.

Considering the sphere of work is truly the one you should be engaged in (your calling), the time away from it may infuse you with new inspiration and creativity, and thus you’ll produce better results.

Though I cannot guarantee that this strategy will bring you success, if you’re like me, interested in many things, it’s very likely that it will.

Resource: simonarich.com

What Butterflies Teach Us About Spiritual Awakening

A butterfly is a fascinating insect because its transformations are so extraordinary. It goes through four major transformations in its life:

1. Egg
2. Larva (caterpillar)
3. Pupa
4. Adult

Although I already wrote about the three stages of growth, which can be compared to the butterfly’s growth stages of egg, larva and adult, it’s the pupa stage that I missed in that post, and the butterfly’s example is perfect to expound on this stage of growth.

The pupa stage of the butterfly’s life-cycle is when a larva encapsulates itself into a shell-like structure that hangs from a twig.

It looks like this

…and it can be compared to the human stage of the dark night of the soul.

Though from the outside it doesn’t look like anything is going on, inside this capsule the insect is rapidly changing. If talking about the dark night of the soul, you feel stagnant, but under the surface intense transformation and preparation is taking place.

Quite a few people in the West are undergoing this spiritual crisis and they should take it as a natural growth stage, the stage that cannot be avoided, after which their true selves will emerge and direct their lives.

So the feeling that one lacks purpose, or sadness and loneliness are passing stages. These must be felt, especially the feeling as though you’re grieving, because indeed you are grieving the old you. Though the new you will be certainly wiser and happier, there’s always a sort of melancholy felt by unconsciously knowing that the old you will be no more.

Accept these feelings fully, knowing that they signify the ‘pupa’ stage of your development. The reason nothing on the surface seems to be happening is because all the energies are focused on bringing about an extraordinary change within. This change, once completed, will manifest externally too, and thus your whole life will shift. But first the work must be done within!

When you emerge from this stage, you’re no longer the same person. It’s hard to imagine how a pupa could transform into a splendid butterfly, and it’s as hard to imagine how a common person could transform into a magnetic being with a spiritual eye wide open. Such a person indeed grows spiritual wings during this intense transformation, which enable him to become the master of his life.

Once the dark night of the soul is no more, dependence on various teachers ends, because no more lack is left within. As all the search ends, all the desires leave you naturally; the chains that kept you in ignorance melt into nothingness, and your soul is freed again.

Then you become the Light in your own right,

and you can shine the path to those who are still blind.

Resource: simonarich.com

The Meaning of The Fool in Tarot

The beauty of the tarot deck is that to different people the same cards tell a different story.

Symbols speak to us, and our personal experiences and lessons learnt determine our interpretations.

This is my own interpretation of The Fool card, and the tarot itself being the encoding of the Universe, each interpretation is a valuable addition to the understanding of the All.

My interpretation of a fool’s card is that it doesn’t depict a fool at all.

The fool’s card in the tarot shows a dreamy young man ignorantly walking towards the cliff, with eyes fixed on the sky.

This is the depiction of how the masses view a particular type of person. That person is the master of life, therefore the number 22 (fool’s card can also be numbered 0), but to the masses such a person looks like a fool.

He’s looking up because he’s trusting his higher self, whilst most people look down because they trust only that which they can see. Even most religious people are hard materialists, because when some bad event shakes them, instead of trusting God, they make fear-based decisions according to what they see in this reality.

He looks like a fool because he doesn’t do things the way the masses do. The masses think he makes decisions randomly, and that only by luck he escapes dangers. Yet what the masses don’t see is that he is led by higher intelligence, thus in the card you see him looking up.

So the way I see this card, is the way such a person is viewed by the masses – looking in the sky whilst ignoring ‘the reality’, which to the masses seems like a quick way to fall off a cliff.

Since he’s not relying on worldly intelligence, the masses think him fool. Yet he’s tuned into the higher intelligence, and this higher intelligence is greater than the worldly intelligence. So what seems to happen by luck, is actually happening by definite laws, but those laws are not understood by the masses, so they think that the fool is simply lucky.

So the fool’s card is a good card, and we all should aim to be such ‘fools’ no matter what the masses will think of us. The masses will laugh at you when you make unusual decisions, and will make excuses when those decisions turn out to be right. What’s important is to be constantly tuned into the source, the higher intelligence, so that you’re always protected by it, although the masses may think you are going over the cliff.

You see in the card the fool carrying only a few personal belongings, which shows his meager investment in the world. He’s not attached to the world, which the look up shows too, and thus he’s truly the child of God, protected from world’s traps of success, money, fame, power, worldly love, and so on.

The fool holds a flower in his hand, which can be a symbol of otherworldly beauty, lightness and goodness. The white color of the flower can represent purity and innocence, pure spirit. The white dog beside him is spirit guidance and protection, which is always present with those who are innocent and pure.

From the look you can see that the young man in the card lives a care-free life; he’s not worried or afraid of the future. That’s definitely an example we can all learn from this fool. The world will be less mentally sick if people would stop worrying of what lies ahead, but instead, holding the connection to the source strong, trust that they will be protected, and that they will make the choices that are right for their growth, no matter how random and silly those choices seem to the world.

Fool’s card stands apart from other tarot cards, like a seeming fool stands apart from the society. Some may call the fool too innocent for this wicked world, but little do such people understand that this innocence is the greatest protection there is. Innocence is not ignorance.

So this is my interpretation of the fool’s card. It’s no coincidence that the fool’s card is sometimes numbered 22, which is the master number. It’s truly a master-card, though the world doesn’t usually recognize masters, but look up to those who are most flashy and talk loudest. When the world stops worshiping wealth and ego, maybe their tired eyes will catch the radiant ones standing outside the system, and will re-assess their ‘foolish’ judgments.

Resource: simonarich.com

Faith Keeps You Up, Doubt Makes You Fall

I love the story in The Aquarian Gospel of Matthew walking on water. He was on a boat and the storm came, and he saw in the dark another boat with Jesus on it.

Jesus ushered him to walk towards him, and Mathew, full of faith in Jesus, stepped out of the boat and indeed he found himself walking on water.

When he was about to reach Jesus, a thought of doubt creeped into his mind; he started thinking how he could possibly walk on water.

As soon as he took heed of this doubt, he started drowning.

This story might not be true, but it teaches a true lesson. As long as you have faith that things will go well for you, they will. Situations of this life are like houses of cards; stronger wind could easily destroy them, and by wind I mean your thoughts of doubt.

As long as you keep your vibration high by thinking thoughts of joy, goodness, love and faith, all is well. But if cloudy thoughts of fear, doubt and lack come, and you believe them to be true, the house of cards starts shaking and eventually falls down. So you really uphold your success by the quality of your thinking.

Sometimes the destiny written in stars has some catastrophes planned, so sometimes an external wind seemingly coming out of nowhere would start blowing and destroy your house of cards.

Fear not such events, because if your thinking is unaffected by such a seeming catastrophe, your unchanged vibration must recreate the same level of success – that’s the law. And if you change your thinking to a higher one, sooner or later this higher order of thought will be reflected in your external reality too.

So whatever life throws at you is not as important as the evenness of your positive thinking. Keep your moods always high without introducing negative energies, and this will keep you safe from poverty, negative surroundings, and similar seeming misfortunes.

Resource: simonarich.com