Do you ever wonder why some people have everything they want in life, while others live in poverty? Or live day by day, always wishing they had something they don’t have and never get it?

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The Secret to Creating Abundance

It is the heart that swells you up.It is again the heart that sinks you down. Feelings of elation or depression ,that of joys and sorrows spring out of it. If the heart upbeats at times , it sinks low on other occasions. You are impelled and elated by feelings for the welfare of the nation, for the love of mankind, but often you go down with feelings of hatred, jealousy and revenge. With positive feelings you are apt to rise high but negative emotions hurl you to the ground and you are buried with shame and disgrace.As the thoughts are in the heart ,so is the man . It is the feelings that grow up in the heart that constitute the personality of an individual Take the example of Shivaji. His father worked under the mogul emperor.But his mother never allowed his son to bow down before the moguls. Instead she filled her son’s heart with the love for the country and Hindu dharma. As Shivaji grew up he conquered many mogul fortresses. But the mother desired that he should defeat the moguls by conquering the strongest fortress of Toran.And Shivaji after conquering this fortress went to his mother for her blessings and putting the sword down on her feet , asked what more she wanted from him. The reply of the mother is to be noted here.She said your body is mine,and I do not need your money,I only ask for your heart,a heart that will ever cling to my ideal.

How much can we speak about this heart whose glories are tremendous. It has a magical power beyond words. In whichever direction it swings it forces one to work.Good feelings raise the person to the heights while bad feelings push him to the ground. Anger,lust,vengeance,jealousy,and hatred can pull down a person ,while love , compassion and understanding can raise him high.. All these feelings ,good or bad ,take birth only in the heart.It is a place that is pure, a place where God resides.Lord Krishna himself says :-

” Indrayualam manushchasme.”meaning “I am the heart.” “Arjun I am the one who stays in the heart “Ishwar sarvbhutanam hriddashoarjun tishthati
Bhramasyansarvbhutani yantraruhani mayya.”
Chapter 18 verse61

We are born with a heart that is pure. But then gradually as we grow up it begins to gather dust.Unpleasant ideas and thoughts crop up.We more than often fail in chosing a right direction,though it becomes a primary duty on our part to control the heart and put it on the right path. Here I am reminded of an instance in the life of Shravan Kumar.He had a feeling of devotion for his blind old parents.On their request he took them both on a pilgrimage. Ill treatment given to his parents by his wife further pushed Shravan kumar’s heart to take them away. His heart was happy that he was on a noble nission, to serve his parents. He went around to some places,when all of a sudden his heart took a strange turn. He was overtaken by a feeling of disgust.What was he doing? Only he was ruining his life.Those were the days for him to enjoy. He was young. He had a wife who loved him and he had lovely children.He should be spending time with them.Youth meant pleasure. He ran away fast, listening to this voice of the heart, immediately putting down the scale on which he carried the parents as he feared that he might not change his decision.Running,he got tired.He happened to see a group of men and women who were being addressed by a yogi.He also sat down there to take breath as he was panting.The yogi was trying to elaborate and explain the episode of Ganesh,who circled round his parents and felt that he had traversed the whole world .Lord Shanker was then trying to explain to Kartiki and others present there that Ganesh was absolutely right , because one cannot achieve anything more in this world than by serving the old parents.Shravan Kumar got a big jolt on hearing this.He got highly annoyed with the feelings of his heart that tempted him to leave his parents.He ran back to the place where he had left his parents.He took the rod of the scale on which the parents sat and went on to the pilgrimage with greater joy and satisfaction.

As the heart is,so is the man.

First is our natural instinct,where happiness is momentary and is confined for the time being to the object only.Heart is happy when it hears a sweet melody or views a good sight.It is confined to that moment and is then forgotten.A beautiful sight touches the heart and sweet music refreshes it. It stays for some time only. If these sights are unpleasant the heart is repelled.

The second level of the heart is when it begins to seek the happiness for others,in which it feels lies his happiness also. He tries to work for others,to give inspiration to others, towards a more meaningful life.He goes a little beyond his own self .Self-centeredness begins to melt.Here there is the power to think, to argue and to give lessons to others.He wants to build a structure on the foundation of his thoughts and ideas.For example by writing poems,essays and novels. We have Kabir, Meera, Tulsi to sing and inspire us in Hindi Literature.We have similar writers in other litratures also.The great sages with their pious thoughts rose to give us, The Ramayan and TheGita. These all had put their thoughts of their hearts.The same can be said about great artists,architects and sculptures,who had put their hearts into their creations. They all try to lift us up and speak to the hearts of others through their creations.

The third level of the heart is when together with its own happiness,it seeks the happiness of others also. The sight of suffering seems to hurt him.It wants to lend its helping hand if one wants him.If one is drowning,he jumps to take him out.It is a heart that finds happiness in the motto “Live and help others to live”.Such a heart refuses to look for its own interest only. It is a heart that finds great joy in bringing a ray of hope to the distressed..It wants that if he eats,he should help others also to eat. If it is happy,he should create a similar world of happiness for others.If he rises ,he must help others to rise and not cut their throats.

The fourth level of the heart is the highest type which links itself with the Lord.It is the spiritual heart.It cannot bear the sight of suffering.It feels the misery, the misfortune and the pain of others.To make my point clear,I would like to cite an incident in the life of Swami Dayansnd Sarswati.Once a farmer was beating brutally an ox.,because it could not pull the cart which had got struck into the mesh. Swami felt the pain of every blow on his body and could not control himself.He came up,stopped the man from beating the ox. He then took the rod of the cart on his shoulders and pulled the cart out of the mud applying all the force at his command.Such a heart feels a bliss in living for others.It is a spiritual heart.It is a heart that feels the pain of others.This is the highest level of a heart.This is a heart that joins itself to God. It sees God everywhere and in everyone,all woven in one thread of love and understanding. The Lord is all round and the heart opens itself to visualize this truth and be with the Lord. The heart then begins to take only one direction,the love of God, which makes it to love all,men and animals.This is the internal heart ,the heart that is joined to Divinity.A new culture comes up,the culture of widening the heart and the spirit.It then follows its own vision.

But the heart is very unstable,changing at the slightest provocation.One minute it may raise itself but then it is slung into the mud again the next minute.So an important issue before us is how to make it stable.Then,the other question is how to make it rise from one level to another.It runs so fast that it is very difficult to control it,even more difficult than the course of a wind. This was what Arjun felt and so he asked The Lord:-

Chanchlam hi manah Krishna
The Lord says that in reality it is very difficult to control the heart,more than it is to control the force and direction of the wind.But there is no problem that does not have a solution.And what Lord Krishna says is really inspiring:-
Abhyasen tu Kauntai vairagyain ch a grihayte
It means that heart can be controlled by practice and renunciation.It is the practice for something high ,something ideal.If the heart runs away from it do not be disappointed,try to turn it back, do it every time it tries to go off.This is practice.It is quite natural for bad thoughts to overcome the good ones every now and then. But to turn away from them,always remembering the Lord, is Practice.Gradually the bad thoughts will leave the heart. The heart has to be its own guard.What may look impossible in the beginning ,by a spirit of dedication and determination, you can achieve your end. .Practice and determination will work wonders towards a direction of which you and others may be proud of .Whenever there is a turn towards the ugly, turn it towards the good. Practice this. .Remember your determination to succeed in your mission by constant practice will take you on the right path.Sometimes you may go astray,do not worry,continue your practice,try again and again.Do not forget that failures are the pillars of success.There is nothing higher than a heart which is determined to achieve its end, even though it looked impossible in the beginning .This in it self is “tapasya” .. You heart then is your major responsibility.It is the most powerful part of your body. You have a duty towards it. Your “tapasya” is to control your heart, to give it a right direction, a meaningful direction. If you can make your heart , not to waver,with the blow of the breeze of lust and passion,your senses will be pleased and you will be intellectually elevated.The desire to live for others , will enable you to do noble tasks. And finally practicing , you will feel the presence of God within your heart.This feeling will always inspire you to love one and all

So lift your heart, call the Lord to help you in your noble journey.If you have intentions that are good, He will definitely come forward to help you to walk on the path of righteousness Remember He comes to those who call Him and look to Him to move forward in His mission of love and understanding. It is hard to beat a person who never gives up but moves on and on…….

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"A Meeting of Spirits" by The innerguidance Network

This video gives an impression of a Spirits Onymous Meeting. Adrianus Van Munster, LCSW, BCD, Life Coach (www.Adrianus.org) and co-founder of The innerguidance Network, gives in this 8-minute video an impression of a “Spirits Onymous” meeting. The innerguidande Network embraces the knowledge that we are spiritual beings having human experiences experiences that are intended to be meaningful and joyful. If we align ourselves with our true essence we will attract everything we deeply desire. The Network offers a free on-line course at www.innerguidancenetwork.org and Spirits Onymous Meetings in the community. Keywords spirituality, spiritual, meeting, law of attraction, meditation, Karen Drucker, Zulma Alvarez, life coaching, life goal, The clearview Conspiracy, Aaik, kindred spirits, new age, enlightenment, alignment,empowerment,

Abundance is an inherent spiritual resource we all draw upon. We do this consciously or unconsciously. Everyone is abundant in one arena of life but abundance can be unconsciously channeled in the wrong direction, invested in negative areas, or show up in ways we don’t expect.

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Abundance – A Spiritual Resource

The history of Wicca or “The Craft” is complex but traditional Wicca is rooted in the so called “British Mystery Traditions”, for example the Picts, who existed before the rise of Celtic consciousness, the Celts, and some Celtic Druidism.

Wicca predates Christianity by about 28 000 years.

A variety of archaeological discoveries, reveal that the history of Wicca can be traced as far back as the Paleolithic peoples who worshipped a Hunter God and a Fertility Goddess. Cave paintings, that are dated at around 30,000 years old, depict a man with the head of a stag, and a pregnant woman standing in a circle with eleven other people.

Modern American Wicca has its roots in British Wicca, brought to the United States in the late 1950’s by English and American initiates of Gardnerian, Alexandrian and Celtic Wicca. These are different forms of Wiccan tradition. All of these cultures form part and parcel of the history of Wicca.

The ancient Greek Mysteries of Eleusis, Italian Mysteries of Rome, Etruria and the general countryside, Mysteries of Egypt and Persia before Islam, and various Babylonian, Assyrian and other mid-eastern Mysteries also find a place in the history of Wicca and its beliefs and traditional practices. Perhaps the best way to describe Wicca is to call it a modern religion, based on ancient witchcraft traditions. But do bear in mind that not all those who practice witchcraft today are Wiccas.

Wicca is a both a belief system and a way of life. Over the years information about how Wiccan ancestors lived and worshipped has been lost due to actions of the medieval church. However, modern Wiccas have tried to reconstruct the history of Wicca in an effort to lay the foundation for their practices.

During ancient times Wicca was called “The Craft of the Wise”. This name was derived from the fact that most Wiccas aligned themselves with the forces of nature. They also had knowledge of herbs and medicines, gave council and were important in the village and community as Shamanic healers and leaders. The history of Wicca indicates that Wiccas once had a prized place in society which is quite a contrast to how they are viewed today.

Ancient Wiccas felt that man was not superior to nature, the earth and its creatures. Instead they were only one aspect of the world. The idea of sustainable development to maintain balance and equilibrium was central to the belief systems of the ancient Wicca. The history of Wicca is a far cry from the way that man views the earth today.

In the last several hundred years, witchcraft and witches have been incorrectly labeled as evil and unrighteous. Where do these ideas that form so much a part of the history of Wicca originate? Some Wiccas believe that the medieval church of the 15th through 18th centuries created these myths.

This was done in an effort to covert people to Christianity. The history of Wicca contains many stories of the persecution of witches based on so called “evil” practices.

Another theory about the history of Wicca is that as medical science became more prominent in society those who did these initial studies did not understand female physiology, especially menstruation. This “mystery” seemed to fit in with the churches agenda in labeling healers as evil heathens and placing power and respect in the hands of male physicians.

Many of these myths and superstitions have survived in modern times giving The Craft a bad name. While Wicca is essentially witchcraft, those who practice it usually do not refer to it as such because of these negative connotations. The history of Wicca is important since it is the persecution of those who practiced it that has led to its current ethic of “religious freedom first”.