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

Success Strategy That Works: Keep Showing Up

One of the earliest, simplest and best pieces of success advice that I took on board was from a youtube video in which successful bloggers were interviewed. (I didn’t bookmark it so I no longer have the URL for it.)

One blogger, when asked for a single success tip for new bloggers, told with a knowing smile that no matter how much you suck, if you keep blogging no matter what, sooner or later you will succeed.

This advice rang true for me, so I decided to follow it. And correct advice it was.

No matter, therefore, how inexperienced you are at what you do, keep doing it. Keep at it, and day by day the quality of your work will improve, you’ll learn from your mistakes, and people will keep being exposed to you until they become familiar with you, start trusting you, talking about you, and soon the word would spread.

Think about it this way. If an actor really sucks, but he dutifully shows up on the same stage every evening. People boo him at first; then they might think him a fool or a clown. With time, however, since he’s always there, people get used to him, naturally start thinking of him like of someone they know. They gradually start taking him more seriously and start discussing him with others. His special style of acting, once thought to be foolish, gradually becomes his unique selling point, and he achieves fame.

So keep at your heart’s work. If you keep at it, you’ll develop your own style that will become your unique selling point, though at first people might boo it, since that’s how novelties are sometimes met. And even though you may not have a truly unique style at this moment, if you continue your work, you will chisel it out.

Though there are people who never learn from their mistakes and never succeed, I’m sure you’re not one of them, since you’re reading self-improvement materials such as this one. So keep doing your work, and keep your eyes opened to objective feedback from your customers. If you listen to the objective feedback, keep improving your service, and always show up, your popularity and people’s trust in you cannot do anything else but rise.

Even most-determined-to-succeed people quit blogging after about six months, because results are so small. But if you keep at it despite this seeming lack of success evidence, the road to success becomes much broader after some time. It’s as though there’s a set mark after which the journey becomes much easier, yet very few have a strong enough belief in themselves to give themselves enough time to go past that mark.

Like the sun that’s so predictable for giving light, be as predictable in giving excellent service to the public. Like the sun, by such regularity you’re gathering amassive magnetic field, which translates into an increasing amount of customers and abundance.

Conclusion

I’m truly grateful that I came across a simple tip to just always show up no matter what. Most people quit any line of work after a few months because of a seeming lack of success evidence; yet only those who, despite this seeming lack of evidence, continue on, eventually succeed.

Do not, therefore, be discouraged if you see no results when you put so much work into something. It’s impossible to know the day when the seed of your work will germinate, so be patient, and do your best no matter how little evidence of success is seen. (Though at least little evidence should be seen; otherwise you’re doing something wrong and thus you need to listen to the given feedback.)

Resource: simonarich.com

How to Learn Quick – Let Go of the Other Shore

It’s obvious that you cannot reach another shore if you’re not willing to let go of the old one, yet many people fail to apply the same logic when trying to understand or master a new subject.

I will give two examples from my own life to illustrate this way of understanding/learning.

Firstly, let me tell you about letting go of my Western understanding to ‘get’ the Indian one. A few years ago I would be truly unable to let go of the old shore to reach the other one, yet having learnt some lessons, mainly patience and acceptance, I matured enough to fully let go of what connected me to my Western heritage. As soon as I did, like a flower, Indian culture fully opened up to me, and disclosed sacred things that were hidden from my view when I was unwilling (fearful) to fully dive into it.

Like a plant that might even die if it keeps being transferred back and forth between two different soils, I was unable to fully understand Indian culture when I was holding onto my own. By letting go of the old shore I didn’t lose anything, though at first I thought that I would. Since the knowledge of my old shore never left me, plus I explored the terrain of a new land, this greatly enriched my understanding of life.

The second example of fully letting go is the process I used to learn English. I really loved the English language, but I started learning it late at school. I instinctively knew that in order to master it, I would have to fully attach myself to this new shore.

So I studied English every single day after school, skipping all kinds of entertainment, even on weekends. Instead of watching Lithuanian TV programs I listened to the English radio. Instead of reading Lithuanian books, I read any English book I could get hold of. It came to a stage where my spontaneous thoughts were in English, and my dreams were about England or English subjects. This indicated that I finally reached the other shore, and not surprisingly I scored hundred percent in the English state exam – the only person in the capital to do it.

So hopefully these stories will inspire you to apply this never-failing strategy in your life too. Whether you want to master a completely new subject such as a new language, or to understand something totally unknown to you like a different culture, be willing to fully let go of the shore you’re currently familiar with. Don’t be afraid; by letting go of what you know you won’t lose anything – all will be retained in your memory, and your personality will only be enriched by exploring a new terrain.

Things that are new to us usually frighten us, but if we simply trust, let go, and fully delve into a new experience, we emerge mentally and spiritually enriched.

Resource: simonarich.com

Walking on the Razor’s Edge

Walking the path of truth is really like walking on the razor’s edge. The road is so narrow that it’s very easy to lose your way.

When you walk and you get good at walking it, you may become quite proud about it; this pride goes into your head, and lo, you lose the way.

Or you might walk the right way, but you get discouraged by others; doubt creeps in, and lo, you lose the way.

Or you don’t allow others to influence you, and walk bravely, but thoughts arise from past insecurities and make you doubt yourself. And lo, you lose the way.

Or not reaching any prominent landmark you get tired and turn back, and lo, you lose the way.

Or some beautiful distraction catches your sight and you go after it, and lo, you lose the way.

Or you mistake spiritual experiences for destination rather than seeing them as passing sights in your progress, and lo, you lose the way.

Or you start following some guru and believe in him totally, but he has no real knowledge, and is just making profit out of believers, and lo, you lose the way.

Or you start getting involved with magic rites and deep occult things without initiation, and this brings on extreme mental imbalances, and lo, you lose the way.

Or you neglect the body whilst totally focusing on the spirit, and the body gives up on you, and you can’t continue your spiritual journey, and lo, you lose the way.

Or you fail to keep the balance between the spiritual and the physical, and start resisting the physical, thus losing your good judgment, and lo, you lose the way.

You can trip yourself and fall, others may make you fall, your insecurities, doubts, negative traits may make you fall. Circumstances and events may make you fall.

Be careful. Don’t fall down because of too much pride or vanity that may come as a result of new knowledge or some spiritual experiences, and don’t lose your way because of fear and doubt.

The way is the middle way – the way of balance, total presence, peace and harmony. Keep your head cool, listen to the God within, and slowly but surely make your way on the razor’s edge.

Resource: simonarich.com

Are You Ready for this Sacrifice to Become The Master of Your Work?

You cannot have the cake and eat it too – it’s impossible. Though logically people know that, they still fail to apply the underlying principle to many life’s situations, including work.

People think that they can master their chosen work but at the same time have a family, many hobbies, many friends, and so forth. That’s not possible, however, because of two reasons.

Reason number one – if you have many other things to do, you’ll not have enough time to daily perfect your skill, and thus you won’t be able to master the subtleties of your work. The subtleties is what makes you a top person at what you do, and it’s hardly likely you’ll get a grasp of them if you have many other things to juggle in your life.

Reason number two – your focus will be divided. Only when the focus is totally on one subject can the subject fully reveal its secrets to you.

To have enough time to perfect your skill and to not divide your attention are two important requirements to succeed at what you do. When you dedicate almost all your time to perfecting a skill, coupled with total focus on your work, you quickly progress to become the best at what you do, whilst those with not enough time and scattered attention achieve the same results many years after, or never.

Not everyone is meant to become masters of their work. Some people feel the need to have a family and a rich social life. That’s obviously not bad; every person is different, and in this post I focus on people who feel that they want to fully express themselves through some line of work.

You know you’re the person that’s supposed to dedicate most of the time to express oneself through work if work has always been number one in your life. That’s definitely a big sign that you need to spend as much time as you can to perfect your skill. Usually people for whom work is number one in life have the gift that humanity is in great need for, and that’s why they have this inner urge to work, whilst others may find work an unavoidable evil.

So if you’re one of such people, please think carefully before committing yourself to anything but your work. Because if you commit yourself to something else, be it having a family or a mortgage to pay, or even a pet to look after, you’ll acquire responsibilities that might prevent you from becoming the best in your occupation.

That especially applies to artistic people. They must follow their inner urges, so that they would be totally opened up to the Divine and manifest it perfectly through their line of work. Geniuses of this world always had an uncommon life. They usually were (and are) anti-social, with peculiar habits and ways of life. That’s because they totally follow their inner urges, which help them to discover their unique natures. But if one has a spouse, for example, limitations might be placed on them which would extinguish the fire of creativity – most people are not evolved enough not to try to control others in some way.

If an artist would feel the need to go into seclusion, meditate, pray to God, burn incense and then create, create, create… but he or she has a family and at the moment the child needs help with homework, or a spouse needs to be dropped to work; the artist would be deprived of creating when the Divine impulse reaches him or her, which would deny his or her full expression, which equals denying God trying to manifest through a human being.

That’s the danger of having a family. It will need to come first, always. That’s because you’ve made a choice to have this responsibility, and if you have other people dependent on you, your number one priority must be them. And that’s okay for most people, but it’s a big trap for those who’re not supposed to have families but do so due to social pressure or culture in general.

I’m truly grateful that I didn’t commit myself in any way to this world, and thus when the urge comes to seclude myself from the social life, I can easily take such a step. Sometimes my friends can’t see me for days. My phone is switched off, and I don’t answer the door. I stay at home, listen to devotional music, meditate, read, do yoga, and go deep into contemplation. Sometimes I sit in the evening with a cup of coffee in my jungle-like garden, simply watching coconut trees move, and listening to grass hoppers. I can sit this way for a very long time, until mosquitoes start to truly annoy me, and then I go to my partly covered porch, light incense and candles, and meditate.

Or sometimes when I wake up I feel that I must pray; I offer my gratitude to the Divine for my being, and I get lost in the bliss of the connection with the Source for hours, and writing becomes a spontaneous expression of this beautiful state.

Now how would I be able to do all these things if there would be a husband that needs attention, or a child that needs to be dropped to school? I don’t even see the absence of family or other commitments as sacrifice, though that would seem so for people who are meant to have a family. For me it’s common sense and a necessary thing to avoid to become the best at what I do. When you sacrifice other aspects of your life, it’s a law that you must truly perfect your work, as all your attention and time will be spent on one thing only.

Also, it would be very selfish of me to have a husband, or a child, since they would never come first. And I urge everyone to contemplate this, especially those who know for sure that their work will always be a top priority.

So if work comes first to you too, and it always did, know that you’re meant to perfect your skill, and to offer it for the benefit of humanity. Be careful, therefore, with any sort of worldly commitments so that they wouldn’t cage you. If sacrificing your social or intimate life seems like too much for you, then this post is not for you and it’s okay – not everyone should become perfect at their work, and the world needs parents to gift beautiful souls to this world.

Resource: simonarich.com

Why I’m Destined For Aloneness and Why It’s a Good Thing

If I ask myself whether I want to have someone close to me who’s constantly there, the honest answer is a firm no.

Such a choice feels so natural to me as it’s natural for fish to live in water; I feel sadness and compassion for some who try to squeeze themselves into an unsuitable-for-them-box labelled ‘relationships’, so that to be approved by the society.

Although I have a few really close friends in my life, they’re not in India, and thus I hardly see them. Apart from these few souls there are really no close people in my life.

I’ve noticed that whenever I meet someone that’s on the same vibe, something always happens to part our ways. It’s really not a personal belief, since I was always open to meet like-minded people. But my recent reflection on all like-minded people that I met showed the same pattern of parting of the ways.

I cannot ignore this pattern anymore, and I came to the conclusion that this happens because I’m not supposed to have close friends living near me and having access to me all the time. The probable reason for this is that having such close friends would keep me in the Maya, in the action of life, rather than being a spectator of the Earth’s play. Also, being in constant contact with certain people would influence me sooner or later, and the only influence I want to be affected by is God’s.

Since my purpose in life is to help others to grow by observing the world and my life and sharing conclusions with readers, that would be tough to do if I’m fully in the action of life. How can an actor fully focused on his play be also aware of what the film producer is planning next, and what’s going on behind the scenes? People fully involved in the interaction with others and the world have no time to reflect on the true nature of existence, and without such reflection there would be no eye-opening revelations.

Since Life always discouraged me from attachments, I have no real investment in this world. I don’t own a house; I don’t even have a pet or expensive stuff to worry about. I guess the most expensive stuff I own is my laptop (which is not that expensive), and a good quality microphone, which I’m thinking of giving away since it’s too heavy to travel with.

This lack of pricey possessions keeps my mind peaceful, and it’s not preoccupied with daily worries about subscription payments, the stuff getting stolen, and responsibilities created out of such ownership. So since my mind is not weighted down by such thoughts about the world, it naturally rises to grasp higher concepts.

The Universe always through my inner voice and feelings warned me to avoid things that would chain me to this Earth. This ‘attachment indicator’ is very strong in me, and I know far in advance about something having the capability of binding me to Earth, and thus I avoid it. Some people, not having such sensitivity, bind themselves in matter and, when chains become too heavy, realize the mistake they’ve made.

I’m truly blessed to have listened to that quiet voice, and to always have said no to things that would keep my soul caged. Though some things appear really good and nice at the beginning, when you’ve ‘signed up’ for them, they turn out to be your oppressors.

Strong relationships, marriage, kids, mortgage, and similar things would have been too oppressing for my soul, involving me too deeply into the action of living, and weakening the bond with the Divine. Though to some people these things may not be oppressing at all – it all depends on the lessons you came to learn here, and which ones you’ve already learnt.

So if you, too, find yourself always alone, and not attached to anything in this world, maybe it’s a message the Universe wants you to get. Maybe you’re not supposed to have an active social life or be invested into too much stuff; maybe you’re destined to be an observer of the world, not troubled by worries about the accumulated stuff, so that you can see the forces of life at play, understand the mechanism of life, and share your awareness with those so much involved with the world that they’re blind to such matters.

Resource: simonarich.com

Personal Update About Five Major Events That Happened in Sri Lanka

After two months in Sri Lanka, I’m back to India. I missed India as I always do, as I consider it to be my mother country.

Five major events happened during my stay in this beautiful island, and I consider my stay there the ‘turning point’. You’ll understand why when you read this post.

Here are the five events that were of major importance during my stay in Sri Lanka.

1. Meeting a Buddhist monk from the same soul group

The first major event was meeting a person from the same soul group. He was the head monk of a remote Buddhist monastery in the mountains. I couldn’t believe that he too learnt Carnatic music, had good skill in painting, and was able to tune into the Universal currents and channel its messages.

He also knew how to heal with Ayurvedic herbs, was interested in stars and planets, and spoke less, but observed more.

He was also surprised to meet someone like him, and he was even more surprised to hear what I had to say, which was coming not from me, but from the common source that’s found within each of us.

Since we all need to help each other to reach higher levels of awareness, I’ve become aware of some of the incorrect information that the head monk probably learnt from altered Buddhist texts. Sometimes it’s easy to miss such false information because of long indoctrination, and it serves as a hindrance to further spiritual progress.

Since he asked for my opinion about his discourse, I had a chance to correct the false information that my intuition picked up on. He spoke of a human body, imperfections of it, and karmas. He held an opinion that the human body is inherently imperfect, but it becomes even more so when a person generates new karmas.

I heard myself responding that it’s true that a human being corrupts his or her body by generating karmas, but the human body was perfect from the very start, and became corrupt when personal will diverged from the One Will of the Creator.

This answer was so unexpected that he for a few minutes didn’t say anything. Though he didn’t accept this view, I saw him thinking deeply.

I also commented on his request to hear my opinion about the unconscious mind, to which I responded that unconscious mind is unconscious because people are unaware of its workings, and it’s important to bring unconscious mind into consciousness, so that two minds (conscious and unconscious) would become one, and duality would end. This also made him think deeply.

When it was time for me to leave his monastery, he asked a few times for me to stay there. I politely refused his offer since I strongly felt that I must leave for India. I guess the reason I felt the need to go to the monastery was for the source to correct a few minor distortions of truth that the monk had. That’s important to correct for every being, especially for those who have many followers seeking for spiritual guidance (because then false information would spread like wildfire, distorting the view of many).

2. Responding to a verbal attack with compassion and love

In the monastery there was another layperson staying – a middle-aged Chinese woman. She was totally focused on getting to the Nirvana stage, and meditated for long hours. Her problem was that her goal was a very selfish one – only to achieve liberation for personal happiness.

She was rude to many people, and was not willing to change her character thinking it’s not important. Yet nobody can achieve liberation, no matter how many hours one meditates, if one doesn’t work on polishing up the character too, as one’s ego must be killed.

I had the ‘pleasure’ to stay for a few nights with her, because it was a festival time, and so the monastery was full of people and no rooms were available. During my stay I noticed many of her sharp edges that prevented her from achieving further light.

One time, when she was meditating and I was typing at the other side of a big room, I heard her sigh, and then, unexpectedly to me, she attacked me verbally with all her force. She cried that I was making too much noise typing, and that she couldn’t focus on her meditation.

Though this was an unexpected verbal blow, I centered myself, and spoke words that came from within in a totally calm manner. I told her that if, after six years of practice, she still is unable to meditate when she hears the slightest noise, she’s doing something wrong. After so many years she should be able to meditate totally undisturbed even in the train station.

This reply was so unexpected to her that she didn’t know what to say. She probably expected me to get angry and shout back at her, and yet I was totally calm. She started denying the validity of my argument, which was, of course, an imbalanced and not right view. And then again it came from within me to say that her energy is very negative, to which she replied that it was my energy which was negative. I didn’t respond in any way to her reply, which made her observe that it’s her, and not me, that’s shouting and channeling low energy.

When she started shouting unreasonable accusations again, I told her that I’m not trying to attack her, but trying to help. I really felt compassion and unconditional love for her. It must be hell to live in such a state of mind that’s always judging and on the defensive. After my last words she could no longer bear the energy of peace, I guess, so she left the room, came back after five minutes and wanted to probably shout again, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she started coughing and couldn’t say a word.

After that day another room freed up and I was transferred there. I don’t know if my encounter with her did any good, but I really hope that it did. I’m very certain that it wasn’t coincidence that I had to spend a few nights with this lady.

This was the first time I could totally center myself when attacked unexpectedly, and channel peace and love to the attacker. It’s a huge achievement, and I’ll be forever grateful for the Divine to be given such grace. I wish to always respond this way to such hurt and lost beings, so that my response would be an opportunity for them to open up to greater light.

3. My real birth-day – the birth of Christ Consciousness

I was doubting for a long time whether I should disclose the third major event that happened in Sri Lanka. It’s a very personal one, and many people will probably misunderstand it. I’ll reveal a bit of what happened, but since this process isn’t finished yet, I cannot write much about it.

Christ consciousness birth is a physical process in which you don’t waste any sacred fluids coming from the brain, they travel down into your navel, form a seed, and travel back to the brain to ‘enlighten’ it – to give it vital nutrients for it to function better. Such seed forms every 29.5 days, and if you manage to continuously save 13 seeds, your brain will be fully illuminated.

I managed to save the seed in June, but I lost the new seed in July, but at least I know that this is for real, and that it’s possible to save it. I may publish my diaries of my efforts, failures and successes and more about this process and the importance of it in a future ebook. But I cannot really guarantee that I will publish the book, or when I would do so, as it’s a process that can take a lifetime, because it’s so tough.

Most people save none of such seeds, because the seed is destroyed whenever blood is disturbed.

To save such a seed, that’s born every month when the moon is in the zodiac sign under which you were born, you must abstain from:

• sex
• sexual thoughts
• romantic thoughts (that lead to sexual thoughts)
• overeating
• alcohol
• anger
• greed
• jealousy

…and anything else that causes your blood to be disturbed. But the sure ‘killers’ of the seed are in the list above.

So my body birth took place in Lithuania, and the Christ consciousness birth – in Sri Lanka, a Buddhist monastery. This was one of the happiest and most shocking moments of my life so far. I struggled for three months to pluck out all such thoughts, and reduce my food intake (most people overeat) in order to save the seed. And I succeeded, with God’s help, because I prayed daily.

Many spiritual books talk about this process with a codified language, including the Bible (however much altered it is), even the Santa Claus story is the symbol of this process, and this book uses plain language to explain it.

4. Sharing everything without reservations

After leaving Buddhist monastery I went to Kandy, which is a nice big city of Sri Lanka – its cultural heart.

There I became aware that during the whole trip my sharing habit reached another level. No longer do I need to hoard anything – I feel pleasure when I have the opportunity to share of my personal belongings or knowledge. When I met fellow travelers, it was so natural for me to give useful advice that really benefited them, and to offer them the food that I had, my caring and support, and unconditional love.

Their happiness was my happiness, and this made me understand on a core level just how upside-down the world is, where people think that getting stuff for oneself creates happiness, and giving something away makes one poorer. It’s the opposite.

5. Meeting a person who got a message during meditation to be given to me

Finally, I met an elderly lady from Spain who was staying in the same hotel in Kandy. The way we met was very interesting.

I was in my hotel room when I heard a conversation taking place right outside my room door. I heard a lady tell to the room boy that she lives in South India. It was such a ‘coincidence’ (since I live in South India too), that I knew I must meet her – there’s a reason why she was right next to my door telling this information.

I finished writing an article in my room, and then went to ask the hotel staff about that lady. When given her room number, I located it and knocked on her door. That’s how our friendship started.

It turned out that she was on a very similar spiritual journey to mine – she was alsocelibate and meditated and prayed daily, and was able to give me important information about some aspects of spirituality. We became such close friends that it was hard to say goodbye, and she went with me to the bus station and waited in the hot sun for a long time for my bus to come which would take me to the airport.

When I was at the airport hotel, far away from her, I got a Watsapp voice message from her. She was meditating and got a message to give to me. She told that now I reached the stage on reaching which I died in my past life in India. That’s why my road has been so easy – it was the recapitulation of my spiritual progress in the past life. She said the stage I’m now at is called ‘Enlightenment’, since I’m fully awake. But it’s not the last stage.

Hearing her voice in the recording sent shivers down my spine, because that voice was impersonal and not hers. And when I heard about having reached enlightenment in my past life I started crying, and crying, and crying. Finally the knowledge held all this time within and beheld only through tiny glimpses, was released to me, and my soul breathed a sigh of relief.

I knew it all the time, I knew why the road was so easy – I’m just remembering the lessons I already learnt the hard way in my past life. That’s why it takes me a  few months to learn what it takes years for some people to do, including the ancient South Indian Bharatanatyam dance, Carnatic singing, forgiveness, non-attachment. That also explains why India is so dear to me – it was the country I lived in the past live(s), but I knew this in my heart already.

I think it’s better to call this stage not Enlightenment, but Full Awakening, since eyes are wide open to what is, yet you’re not fully aligned with the source yet, because you cannot access all knowledge at will. The final stage is Absorption, when you’re completely aligned with the Divine and know God. In between there are still many lessons to learn, and then there comes a definite call to teach, and then people leave everything, travel where God sends them to, and only teach – they forget about themselves completely. They then become perfected tools for the unconditional love and care of the Divine to manifest to human beings.

Conclusion

This stay in Sri Lanka was very meaningful for my spiritual journey. I guess now the stage is approaching where I will be given to learn completely new lessons.

With great joy and expectation I’m looking forward to what the Creator has in store next. I feel totally at peace and very strong, because daily prayers keep me rooted in the source.

I hope this post gave you some new things to think about, and inspired you to happily continue your spiritual journey, as you really never know what wonderful experience or realization from leading a pure life can bring you next.

I’ll leave you with an important piece of advice. Pray and follow the Divine impulsecoming from within, as then you’re totally aligned with the Universe, your life is full of meaning and richness, and you feel deeply peaceful, because you know you’re doing what you’re supposed to do.

Some pictures from the journey

Mountains near Buddhist monastery

Resource: simonarich.com