The pursuit of happiness is something which has captured humanity’s imagination since literally the dawn of time. Sometimes we give it a different name like “everlasting life,” “untold riches” or “true love” – but really, all these experiences only have value because of the inherent happiness we feel they will bring.

In fact, without this yearning for happiness most of history’s greatest stories would never have been told. Think of all the classics which hold “everlasting life,” “untold riches” or “true love” as their central theme. Even the Declaration of Independence, one of our greatest modern pieces of thinking, holds the “pursuit of happiness” as an “unalienable right”.

We search happiness here and there, reaching for this, grabbing for that, all the while becoming more and more frustrated that real happiness remains just beyond our grasp. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect to this universal striving is that abiding happiness can only be found within us, by gaining access to our highest self, by diving deep within and merging into the truest part of our inner nature.

In The Jewels of Happiness, the author, Sri Chinmoy,  not only identifies with our deep seated need for happiness, but actually helps us discover it through his innate wisdom supported by simple, yet effective exercises.

This remarkable book stands as the perfect companion-guide to our discovery of inner happiness; a journey that is eagerly awaiting our embarkation. So let us delay no longer, and set sail for the journey of our lifetime with The Jewels of Happiness.

(The image above has been enhanced with rich media tags – mouse over the image and discover all the interest links contained within.)

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” – John Keats

“I love the pristine beauty
Of a flower-flame.
I love the pristine purity
Of a flower-lamp.
I love the pristine reality
Of a flower-life.” – Sri Chinmoy (1)

Beauty has fascinated humans since the dawn of creation. It is something we love and identify with. Largely because it is a reflection of the beauty we each have inside ourselves.

You can try to feel this beauty you have inside yourself by practicing this meditation exercise.

First click on one of the dots on the lower right of the image – this will get Sri Chinmoy’s meditative music started. If you’re reading this in an RSS feed you’ll have to go to the actual website – come on it is just one click.

Find a nice comfortable place to sit where you will not be disturbed. Sit up straight while still making sure you are comfortable. Focus your attention on your breath and make your breathing very calm quiet and relaxed – this will help still your mind and calm your emotions.

Next, close you eyes and imagine the most beautiful flower. Imagine its color, its texture and its fragrance. Dive deep into the beauty of this flower. Try to feel the life force of this flower is pulsing in time with your breath.

Continue this exercise for 10 minutes. Do not worry if you get distracted, merely turn your attention back to your breath.

Enjoy!

Free meditation classes in New York City

While I’m hesitant to attempt to encapsulate an entire religion into a single blog post I was inspired to at least share a very informative email I received yesterday from a long-time friend, Dr. Charles Mercieca, President of the International Association of Educators for World Peace (IAEWP). Dr Mercieca periodically sends his thoughts on a wide range of topics and this one was on Lord Buddha and the Buddhist Philosophy.

While in no way does it capture the Buddhist Teachings in their entirety, it hopefully provides a foundation for this beautiful religion.

The image above has been enhanced with rich media tags so you can move your mouse over the image and hover on the small dots to learn more about the Buddhist philosophy and religion.

Below is the body of the email from Dr. Mercieca.

Lord Buddha: Master of Inner Peace and Harmony

Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. President
International Association of Educators for World Peace
Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education,
Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament
Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
Hon President & Professor, SBS Swiss Business School, Zurich

Lord Buddha was born in a rich family as Siddhartha Gautama in Nepal. He is said to have lived to be 80 years old covering the years 563-483 B.C. In his early years, he found out that the secret of inner peace and harmony consists of detachment from material things. Thus, he left his family fortunes and went to live in poverty, spending most of his time in meditation and contemplation.

Four Noble Truths & Noble Eightfold Path

In the process, Siddhartha Gautama began to gather quite a number of disciples who were eager to follow his ascetical life. As a result, he developed the concept of the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path. These two elements served as a guideline for his disciples to follow. Later on he became known as the Buddha, which means, the enlightened one. Let us now have a good knowledge of these two stated elements.

The Four Noble Truths may be enlisted as follows:

1. Suffering is to be viewed as a part of life. We are constantly faced with it in various degrees from the very first days of our existence. Learning how to accept it with patience willingly enables us to become strong and courageous.

2. Sensuality needs to be brought under full control because it is bound to lead to unhappiness. Anything in life that gives us pleasure temporarily will make it difficult for us to develop eventually inner peace and harmony.

3. Identification seems to be one of our major struggles in an effort to really find who we are in terms of character and personality as well as ability to perform. Today many people tend to carry on the so called Identification Card.

4. Annihilation, which represents the destruction of everything we can imagine, seems to be, quite often, an element that we cannot avoid easily. Hence, we need to be often on the guard with caution.

Soon after, Lord Buddha developed the Noble Eightfold Path, which later inspired a few millions to follow this route. This element deals with basic human rights that could be outlined as follows:

1. Securing Right Understanding: The secret of human relations lies in our ability to develop mutual understanding. This should then make our inner peace and harmony in human relations more possible.

2. Developing Right Thought: Our thought, quite often, represents the seat of judgment. It enables us to form a mind-set, which is bound to do a lot of good when it happens to be positive and constructive.

3. Forming Right Speech: As many ascetical writers and philosophers told us over the centuries that what counts is not really what we say but “how” we say what we need to say. Some tend to call this good diplomacy.

4. Taking Right Action: Very often we are faced with taking an action, which could be beneficial or disastrous. If such an action is beneficial to all people without exception, then we may assume it must be right.

5. Making Right Livelihood: This needs to be done by taking into consideration the welfare of others. We cannot make livelihood at the expense of others, that is, by making people desolate and suffering.

6. Seeking Right Effort: In everything we do we are always expected to make an effort, that is, to do our best to achieve what we want properly and successfully. When we do our best it means we are making our best effort.

7. Enjoying Right Mindfulness: Good and honest people are always expected to be mindful, that means honest and respectful for others. People do expect from us to perform anything that is good and beneficial.

8. Practicing Right Concentration: In every piece of work we do, the more we concentrate on it the more likelihood our piece of work is going to lead to success. The power of concentration is often the source of our success.

If we were to make a careful study of the history of religions that evolved over the past several centuries, we would discover that Buddhism has proved to be very peaceful. Lord Buddha is viewed as the founder of Buddhism. When in conflict with other religions, Buddhists always tend to remain silent and resort to contemplation and meditation, rather than to struggles and wars. This explains why Lord Buddha can be hailed as master of inner peace and harmony.

“Simplicity is the most valuable treasure in God’s creation, in God’s realisation and in God’s manifestation. God is always simple, but we think of Him as complex. With our fertile mind, it is we who make God complex and then create problems for ourselves. The simpler we can become, the sooner we shall reach our destination. A life of simplicity is a life of constant progress. It is in simplicity that we can make the fastest progress, progress which is everlasting.

Simplicity is our natural or conscious awareness of reality. The moment we realise our highest transcendental Reality, we become simple. In the spiritual life, the higher we go, the deeper we go; the farther we go, the more we will see that Reality is only the song of simplicity and nothing else. The entire cosmic Game is extremely simple, but we look at it from a different angle in an obscure way. That is why we feel it is very complex, but everything is simple.” Sri Chinmoy (1)

No mind, no form, I only exist;
Now ceased all will and thought;
The final end of Nature’s dance,
I am it whom I have sought.

A realm of Bliss bare, ultimate;
Beyond both knower and known;
A rest immense I enjoy at last;
I face the One alone.

I have crossed the secret ways of life,
I have become the Goal.
The Truth immutable is revealed;
I am the way, the God-Soul.

My spirit aware of all the heights,
I am mute in the core of the Sun.
I barter nothing with time and deeds;
My cosmic play is done.

- Sri Chinmoy

The image has been enhanced with in-image tags. Place your mouse over the image above to reveal audio (bottom right of image) of Sri Chinmoy reciting The Absolute.

Free meditation classes in New York City

How to meditate? A question that has been asked countless times over millennia. A simple answer is firstly to begin a regular practice. Read this exercise below then try it looking at the image. The image has been enhanced with in-image tags. Place your mouse over the image above to reveal meditative music and poetry to enhance your experience.

Sit comfortably and tell yourself for next ten minutes you will just focus on this exercise and nothing else. First click on one of the dots in the upper right hand corner of the sunrise image. This will play meditative music by Sri Chinmoy. Sit up straight and focus your attention on your breathing. Try to make your breath very slow, deep and relaxed. Your breathing is intrinsically connected to your thoughts and your emotions so by calming your breath you inherently calm your thoughts and emotions.

Imagine yourself on the shore of a deserted beach and the sun is just beginning to appear over the horizon. Hear the gentle rise and fall of the waves as they wash up onto the sand. Feel the warmth of the first rays of sun caressing your face. See the beautiful colors dancing on the wispy clouds.

With each inward breath you notice the waves gently wash up onto the shore and with each outward breath the waves gently recede. Your breath is controlling the movement of the waves. The slower you breathe the slower the movement of the waves.

After a while you slowly rise and wade into the cool, clear, refreshing water. As you wade in deeper and you find this ocean is washing away any remnants of tension, fear, doubt and worries that may have been clinging to your awareness. This water is cleansing you to the very depth of your soul.

You find yourself miraculously dissolving into the ocean until you no longer exist as an individual – you have become the ocean.

Now with each breath you find your awareness, your consciousness is expanding. Your essence is now stretching from horizon to horizon, from infinity to eternity. And still your find yourself expanding with each inward breath. Become absorbed in this inner expansion, this inner awakening.

Gradually, while still maintaining this remarkable sense of expansion you find yourself naturally and reassuringly returning to your normal existence but with a new enriched and rewarding sense of expanded self.

Aum… Aum… Aum (you might like to chant Aum as an appropriate end to the exercise)

Free meditation classes in New York City

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.”

Henry David Thoreau

If inspiration is real then it is inspiring. Kind of a circular statement I know but what I’m getting at is the feeling of inspiration is something inherent in each one of us. We know it when we feel it in ourselves and we know it when we see it in someone or something else.

Inspiration can’t be manufactured -- it already exists and our job is to give it expression through all that we create in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

At every moment we choose either consciously or unconsciously to act with inspiration or not. For the next 30 minutes try to be a natural channel for inspiration and then decide if it was worth the effort.

Take a look at these two videos which I think capture a young woman’s inspiration and her courage to act on it. You’ll probably cry a little, I did.

Maggie Doyne -- Do Lecture part 1

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dgA0WasFus

Maggie Doyne -- Do Lecture part 2

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH1tNoL0CaE

I originally got the idea for this blog to serve as a resource for people who will be attending a meditation workshop I am giving this weekend. Hence, a big part of this site is dedicated to meditation exercises, again using the “rich media tags” – hopefully these exercises will be of service to you.  Also, there’s nothing better than a deadline to provide the inspiration to get something done.