Category Archives: Ancient Wisdom

Where Is Heaven?

“In the arena of knowing,
there’s no make-believe.
You experience.
It’s not a fantasyland…
You are here
to experience Heaven.”

A few quotes from Knowledge, The Essence of World Scriptures

The coming of God’s Kingdom
is not a matter of external observation.
People won’t be able to say,
“Look, here it is!” or, “Look, there it is!” because
the Kingdom of God is within, inside of you.
Luke 17

If those who lead you say,
“Behold, the Kingdom is in heaven,”
then the birds of the heaven will be before you.
If they say unto you,
“It is in the sea,”
then the fish will be before you.
But the Kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you.
The Gospel of Thomas

Open the eye of Truth,
Discover the spiritual path.
Put your feet in the way of God
and seek his celestial court.
Once you have glimpsed that glory
you will no longer be attracted
to the tinsel and glitter of this world.
Farid ud-Din Attar

Where are you looking to find me?
I am closer than you imagine.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque,
neither in synagogue nor cathedral,
neither in rites nor rituals,
neither in yoga nor austerities.
If you are a true seeker,
you will see me immediately.
You will meet me in an instant.
Kabir says,
God is the Breath of all breath.

In the city of God is a secret dwelling place —
the lotus of the heart.
Within this dwelling is a space
and within that space
is the fulfillment of all desires.
The secret within that space
should be longed for,
actualized and realized.
As great as the infinite space beyond
is the infinite space within —
the lotus of the heart.
Heaven and earth are contained in that inner space —
fire and air,
sun and moon,
lightning and stars —
Everything is contained in that inner space.
Chandogya Upanishad

Dance like Rumi, sing like Kabir

What was the true purpose of the masters of old? Were the saints, sages, mystics and masters merely here to model how to live a holy life? To tantalize us with their descriptions of the “other side”? Or were they revealing to their followers the holiest of holies, the exquisitely beautiful and powerful source of life and love itself, the kingdom of heaven already within, to be enjoyed any moment they chose?

What was it that made Rumi dance? What made Kabir laugh? What gave Jesus the love to say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” even as he was hanging on a cross? What gave Socrates his wit and wisdom? What gave the Buddha so much joy?

What is the full potential of your life here and now in this moment and every moment? Can you too have a direct connection to the divine light and love that the masters knew? Can you too access the profound wisdom that gave them the ability to love as they did?

Knowledge of the Lord is your birthright. The pure in heart shall see God. Once you decide you sincerely want it, Knowledge is available to you. Read the book and allow your thirst to develop.

With the ability to see and hear and feel what the scriptures praise, your current religion may grow in even more meaning and depth for you. Knowledge will provide you with a lifetime of inspiration.

Science & spirituality: Jeff Lieberman at TEDxCambridge 2011

 

Thank you, Jeff! It’s so good to hear an artist/ scientist/ engineer talk about this subject.

You are clarifying an ancient mystery that can be solved on an individual level. Only I can choose for myself to stop thinking and to allow that beauty to fill my consciousness in place of my fears, angers, sorrows, need, greed, planning and other forms of suffering.

In ancient times they said, “God is Light”… or maybe “God IS Light”… and now we have the lovely word “Energy”… which many modern people can relate to better than “God”. Einstein’s equation E=MC2, from what I understand, was originally written M=E/C2… He knew that what appears to be “matter” is simply – beyond appearances – shimmering light.

When we let go of the distracting thoughts in our minds, all of a sudden ‘matter’ takes its proper place – replaced by that all-encompassing light/energy – real fulfillment.

All that has to shift for us to see, hear and feel pure energy, is for us to stop the “quack, quack, quack” between our ears.

I published a collection of quotes from world scriptures that specifically describe that light/energy in all its forms. The book is called Knowledge, The Essence of World Scriptures. In it is a clue of what we need to do to learn how to stop listening to the mind’s seemingly endless, meaningless chatter.

Transcript of Jeff’s talk here.

Zen story – “No amount of thinking…”

A student watched as his master sat on the ground and rubbed a large stone with a smaller one.

Curious, he finally asked, “Master why are you rubbing that large stone so vigorously with the smaller one?”

The master looked up and said, “I am polishing the large stone with the smaller one too make a mirror.”

“But master,” the student replied, “no amount of rubbing those stones together will make a mirror.”

The master smiled and said, “Quite right! … Just as no amount of thinking will ever make you see your true nature.”

“Killer Germs” Obliterated by Medicinal Smoke Smudging

Patricia says: I have smudged in the past and will be smudging more now. I also diffuse essential oils. You can sprinkle them around, put them on a diffusion ring and place them on the top of a lightbulb, use a diffuser, or even wear the yummy ones as perfumes. Different ‘flavors’ perform different functions. Cedarwood and lavender are a good combination for bugs that bug pets. I am becoming quite fond of geranium oil. Eucalyptus encourages you to breathe fully and freely and deeply. Some scents perk you up; others calm you down for a restful sleep.

Sage Smudge SticksThe following is an excerpt from an article by Sayer Ji, founder of the fabulous website GreenMedInfo.com

…The burning of herbs and plant resins for medicinal and spiritual purposes – so-called ‘smudging’ – is an ancient practice among indigenous people around the world; one increasingly adopted by Westerners. Smudging is a technology believed to unlock the ‘spirits’ of various plant allies to restore balance and ease to the individual or group. Some liken it to taking a ‘spiritual shower,’ enabling you to wash away emotional and spiritual negativity that accumulates in your body and the spaces you live…

First, we uncovered a 2006 review published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology titled “Medicinal smokes,” that looked at single and multi-ingredient herbal and non-herbal remedies administered as smoke from 50 countries across 5 continents. The researchers found, with surprising overlap worldwide, medicinal smoke is mostly used to address the following specific organ systems: “pulmonary (23.5%), neurological (21.8%) and dermatological (8.1%).” They also found that “ambient smoke,” which is the type of passively inhaled smoke generated by smudging/incense, is traditionally believed to be an effective “air purifier.” The review argued that modern medicine should investigate medicinal smoke as a drug delivery system, owing to the following advantages: “The advantages of smoke-based remedies are rapid delivery to the brain, more efficient absorption by the body and lower costs of production”…

The researchers reported their amazing findings:

We have observed that 1 hour treatment of medicinal smoke emanated by burning wood and a mixture of odoriferous and medicinal herbs (havan sámagri=material used in oblation to fire all over India), on aerial bacterial population caused over 94% reduction of bacterial counts by 60 min and the ability of the smoke to purify or disinfect the air and to make the environment cleaner was maintained up to 24 hour in the closed room. Absence of pathogenic bacteria Corynebacterium urealyticum, Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens, Enterobacter aerogenes (Klebsiella mobilis), Kocuria rosea, Pseudomonas syringae pv. persicae, Staphylococcus lentus, and Xanthomonas campestris pv. tardicrescens in the open room even after 30 days is indicative of the bactericidal potential of the medicinal smoke treatment. We have demonstrated that using medicinal smoke it is possible to completely eliminate diverse plant and human pathogenic bacteria of the air within confined space.

Did you catch that?

Not only did the burning of medicinal herbs clear aerial bacterial populations by 94% within one hour, but a full day later, the closed room was still effectively decontaminated. Even more amazing, a full month later, seven other pathogenic bacteria in the open room were still non-detectable.

When one considers that modern urban air has been found to contain at least 1800 diverse bacterial types[1] – including families with pathogenic members – this finding could have profound implications for combating a increasingly deadly array of antibiotic-resistant bacteria against which even the CDC itself has acknowledged its impotence. Consider also that a recent microbiome of NYC’s subway system found close to 1700 different microbes, including those responsible for Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) and Bubonic Plague (yersinia pestis).[2]

Also, considering that conventional methods of air and surface sterilization and odor neutralization use chemical cocktails (e.g. Lysol) that are much less effective than advertised (one study found them up to 10 times less effective than believed), smudging or the use of natural incense products might constitute a far safer and more effective approach…

Read more and see study abstracts from the Journal of Ethnopharmacology here: “Killer Germs” Obliterated by Medicinal Smoke Smudging, Study Reveals | Wake Up World