Whay  do you know  about spritual practise  (SADHANA)?
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How is that you know?
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I once saw a one legged witch turn a storm.\n\nMy first ritual, we were all comfortable throughout the ritual, but the instant the ritual ended, we realized that the room was cold. The heat hadn't been on and the whole time and it was spring equinox.\n\nI do spiritual healing with singing bowls. I play the bowl in someone's hand, and feel the vibrations as they extend through the person, and can tell them where the vibrations are and what they're doing.\n\nI used to work with a Reiki master who could put healing energy into people and tell people many details about their lives while we were doing our energy work. Very specific things\n\nI have this one singing bowl which plays differently, responding to the place where it's played, or what chakra it's played on. I use it to locate blockages for spiritual healing. I also used it to find the perfect place to set up my tent the first time I camped in Kansas. One night the wind ripped through the camp. By morning, just about every tent had blown over except mine.\n\nFor a while, a friend and I maintained a karmic connection through an object which was divided and each of us kept half, and sometimes I would smell something, and call her up, and it was exactly what she was smelling.\n"Did you just make cookies?"\n"Was the dog just breathing in your face?"\n"Did you just disinfect something?"\n\nAs for Vampires, many people drain those around them of life force, but there are some who can do it purposefully. They have the ability to reach out and drain a person's energy. They say it's better than caffeine. \n\nI have a good friend who can do that. She's the only energy vampire I know who uses her power for good. She takes people's headaches. She also has an amazing ability to sense energies, making her one of the most powerful witches I know (I know a lot of witches who claim to be powerful, but very few who actually are). I have known her for many years and we are very close friends.\n\nOne time it was the dead of winter, she was sitting next to a window, and she felt someone looking at her. She looked and there was someone dressed in black with no color in their body sitting across the road, intently looking at her. She looked down for no more than five seconds, looked up again, and he was sitting on her side of the road, still intently looking at her. He was not dressed for the cold, but was not shivering at all. Just intense calm looking at her. She immediately closed the blinds realizing that she had just had an encounter with a real vampire. A real vampire and a kindred spirit. It probably wasn't a vampire like Dracula or what we see from Hollywood, but it was definitely something from outside of our mundane existence.
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Meditation... Towards a Stress Free Life \n \n\nMeditation: What it is !!!  \nAn ordinary person may consider meditation as a worship or prayer. But it is not so. Meditation means awareness. Whatever you do with awareness is meditation. "Watching your breath" is meditation; listening to the birds is meditation. As long as these activities are free from any other distraction to the mind, it is effective meditation.\n\nMeditation is not a technique but a way of life. Meditation means 'to join together or to yoke' . It describes a state of consciousness, when the mind is free of scattered thoughts and various patterns . The observer (one who is doing meditation) realizes that all the activity of the mind is reduced to one.\n\nA Tibetan Lama was being monitored on a brain scan machine by a scientist wishing to test physiological functions during deep meditation. The scientist said - "Very good Sir. The machine shows that you are able to go very deep in brain relaxation, and that validates your meditation". "No", said the Lama, "This (pointing to his brain) validates the machine!".\n\nThese days it is commonly understood to mean some form of spiritual practice where one sits down with eyes closed and empties the mind to attain inner peace, relaxation or even an experience of God. Some people use the term as "my gardening is my meditation" or for jogging or art or music, hence creating confusion or misunderstanding.\n\nThe word meditation, is derived from two Latin words : meditari(to think, to dwell upon, to exercise the mind) and mederi (to heal). Its Sanskrit derivation 'medha' means wisdom.\n\nMany years ago meditation was considered something just not meant for modern people, but now it has become very popular with all types of people. Published scientific and medical evidence has proved its benefits, but it still needs to be much understood.\n\nTraditionally, the classical yoga texts, describe that to attain true states of meditation one must go through several stages. After the necessary preparation of personal and social code, physical position, breath control, and relaxation come the more advanced stages of concentration, contemplation, and then ultimately absorption. But that does not mean that one must perfect any one stage before moving onto the next. The Integral yoga approach is simultaneous application of a little of all stages together.\n\nCommonly today, people can mean any one of these stages when they refer to the term meditation. Some schools only teach concentration techniques, some relaxation, and others teach free form contemplative activities like just sitting and awaiting absorption. Some call it meditation without giving credence to yoga for fear of being branded 'eastern'. But yoga is not something eastern or western as it is universal in its approach and application.\n\nWith regular practice of a balanced series of techniques, the energy of the body and mind can be liberated and the quality of consciousness can be expanded. This is not a subjective claim but is now being investigated by the scientists and being shown by an empirical fact.
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HAHAHA.  I read this pretty late last night.  I thought you said "medicate."\n\nTo mediTATE, you can check out some of these simple methods:\n\nhttp://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/Meditations/index.html
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oh ! you didnt read from the website....?\n\nits buddhism....
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its just a stage...\n\nlower forms of workships are prayers and rituals,\nfor common people, for children who wont understand abstract philosophies..\n\nbut when one advances in understanding of god..there rituals and prayers disappear...and they take up higher practises like meditation....\n\nwhen you are praying, what you are doing is focussing your mind on god....\n\nin meditation u do the same thing but in a higher level...\n\nrituals and festivals are there to remind us of god, to keep us in the path of god...\n\nwhen we plant a seed, we put mesh around it so that animals wont eat it, but when the tree has become big, there is no need of the mesh...we take it away...\n\nin the same way all rituals, festivals drop off, when one reaches a higher stage of understanding....that person is always thinking of god, so there is no need of rituals or festivals..
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I've heard of this, but don't know of 1st-hand examples.\n\nthe best part? you get to explore spirituality on your own terms, yet within a solidly self-responsible framework. It's quite beautiful and liberating.
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That's a bit more complicated than you think to answer. The basic beliefs are that there is one Divinity (God) from which everything in the universe manifested. Everything! That the soul reincarnates over and over again until it reaches moksha. Moksha is the liberation from samsara and union with God. Samsara is the cycle of birth, death, birth, death, birth, death, etc. Karma (Sanskrit word that means "action") is also a belief. Karma is the fuel for samsara. The Law of Karma is basically a lot like the Law of Cause and Effect in science. Every action (physical, word, or thought) produces effects that cause other actions that eventually have an effect on you. Hindus believe that there is a heaven, but that it is temporary. That it is projected by your consciousness, Eventually your desires and karma cause you to incarnate again in another body. While the entire universe manifested from God (thus it's true inner nature is also divine) God also still pervades the universe as well. God is then both formless and multiform; nameless and all names. Hindus believe that you can call God by whatever name you desire and you can use whatever symbols/forms you desire to help you to pray to God and worship God. \n"There is only one God, though humanity calls It by many names." Rig Veda 1:164.46\n\nSome great websites about Hinduism that I, as a Hindu, recommend are:\nhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion\nhttp://www.hindukids.org\nhttp://www.hindunet.com\nhttp://www.sacred-texts.com\nhttp://www.religioustolerance.org\nhttp://www.himalayanacademy.org\n\nSome great books about Hinduism are\n"The Complete Idiot's Guide To Hinduism"\n"Windows Into The Infinite : A Guide To Hindu Sacred Texts"\n"Am I A Hindu?"\n"Paths To God : Living The Bhagavad Gita"\n\nHope this helps
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In vedic literature you can find good information about it:\n\n We (the spirit souls) have two material bodies: the subtle and the gross. The gross material body is the one that we always see, it consists of gross material elements. within the gross body there is the subtle body, which consists of subtle material elements (namely: mind, intelligence, and false ego). The spirit soul (what we really are) is situated in the soutle body. \n At the time of death, the spirit soul leaves the gross body, but not the subtle one. The subtle body is the carrier of the spirit soul from a gross body to another. So we change our gross body at the time of death, but remain in the same subtle body.\n\n Sometimes, at the time of death, the soul will not be transfered to a new gross body. This can be because:\n\n1- That person has commited suiside, so should wait the remaining years of his/her predefined lifetime without a gross body.\n\n2- The person has a very strong attachement to his material belongings, like house or children, or spouse, so refuses to leave the place he lived. (This is the case you can see in "The Ghost" movie).\n\n3- ... (I don't know other causes)\n\n\n This causes that soul to remain in the subtle body for some time. This is what we call a ghost. They have a really painfull life, because they can not perform any action, but have desires to act.\n\n In the vedas (and most religions also) there are some prescribed duties (named Shradha) for the son to do for his forefathers to help them rescue from such suffering and continue their path of rebirth.
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For me, it's meditation, because that is my time to be alone with the god and goddess and to commune with them one on one. I remember one particular meditation I performed several years ago...\n\nI had been having a very bad weekend and was feeling extremely low in spirits. I found a secluded spot surrounded by wilderness, out of sight and earshot of any kind of civilization. Sitting on a sturdy branch over a babbling brook, I closed my eyes and let myself drift into a meditative state. After a few moments, I became acutely aware of everything around me.\n\nI could see and hear everything at once! It was fantastic, like the blinders had been removed and suddenly I was one with the gods! It lasted only a split second, but in that second, the goddess allowed me to touch her mind and I knew that all was right with the world. \n\nIt faded as quickly as it had come, and I went on to complete my meditation as normal. I have never managed to reach that place again. I think that the gods knew what I was feeling that day and decided to let me know that everything was alright and remind me that they were there. \n\nOne day, after I have completed my cycle of reincarnations, I will go to that place again, this time to stay. Though I look forward to that day, I'm in no hurry to get there. I have the memory of that moment to sustain me.
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I am Christian and I don't practice magic, but am interested. I do know that this is the holiday which follows the Roman celebration of Winter Solstice, where the days are getting longer and the sun is returning from battle with darkness (so goes the mythology). I have not read much about Imbolgc, though, except that is something about the celebration of the recovery of the Goddess after giving birth to the God. I'll read up more on it. I have a question for you. Have you ever been able to achieve anything with your practice? I've never run into anyone who actually practiced anything other than Wicca, and I'm curious. I'm not actually interested in learning it, just in learning about it and what you've actually been able to do. And is this more than just a fun thing for you. Is it a spirituality of sorts for you? I'm learning about several belief backgrounds and I'd like to learn something from you. I do know a little about alot of religions, but not pagan traditions.
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1st stage:\nthere are many many kinds of meditation. i'm doing pure concentration meditation, designed to quieten and clear the mind so that i can use it to look deeply, to see what's going on in my mind, and develop mindfulness & insight. its a difficult form of meditation @ the beginning, but it's well worth becoming competent in. it forms an ideal foundation for further practice in the future, and it's also very conducive to a happy, stable life in the present.\nchoose a suitable place in your home where you can practice meditation uninterrupted. it needs to be quiet, not too bright, and out of sight of other people.\nonce you found the spot, find a good firm cushion, so that you can sit cross-legged, having something to cushion your ankle.\nto start, sit down on your cushion, sitting towards the front of it so that your body is sloped very slightly forward. experience will show you the optimum position. fold your legs so that your knees & ankles are touching the floor. the important thing is to have a good straight back & reasonably comfortable legs, so that your pgysicaly energy isn't blocked. place your 2 hands in your lap, palms up, one on top of the other.\nonce sitting there, wriggle a little bit to find an effortlessly comfortable position for your back & arms. you don't want to feel tension anywhere. then you can begin.\ntake a breath, hold it for a moment, then let it out gently. pause for a moment, then take the next breath. again hold it for a moment, and let it out again. do this for 10 breaths. once you've got the rhythmn, start to count your breaths. a breath is a complete cycle-- in, hold, out, hold- and most meditators find it better to count towards the end of a cycle rather than @ the beginning. in other words, you are counting complete breaths. simply count 1 to 10 in this way. when you've reached 10, start again. if your mind wanders and you lost the count, start again from one.\ndo this for 10mins @ a time for a week or so. when you are ready, increase your sitting time to 20mins. you can do it anytime, but most people do it regularly @ the beginning of the day & @ the end of the day.\nthis is all there is to it, and @ first you'll wonder why on earth you are doing it. your mind will wander, you'll probably feel twitchy, and you'll be bored. but persevere. ther's absolutely nothing better than this for calming the mins & opening mental doors that you never knew were there.\nwhat comes after this? once you've got to a stage where you can follow your breaths effortlessly, so that you can say, 10-20mins, and not lose count even once, you'll be ready for the next stage. in this, you start to observe the contents of your mind. you'll still be using the method of following your breaths, but now, beacause of the concentration you've already developed, you'll be able to add in a new activity. it's not possible to do this until you've gained control of your mind. \n2nd stage:\nIt's a practice where you develop mindfulness of your own mind. This is the most popular form of meditation among Westerners because it's very practical and really, really helpful. The main way in which it helps you is to show you what's arising in your mind almost before it arises. That way you become master of mental states like anger and attachment and so on instead of them becoming master of you, because you never saw them creeping up until they were right there, completely occupying your mind. Mental states can occupying your mind in the same way an occupying army of soldiers becomes firmly entrenched in the country they've been sent to occupy. By the time the local people realize what's happened they can't do anything about the occupying force -- they just have to live with the misery. When a meditator becomes adept at Vipassana meditation, mental states can't occupy their minds in that way.\n\nTo do this kind of meditation you sta
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Samadhi :- Samadhi is a state of meditation which one achieves during it. In this state we are in deep and in connection with the ultimate power which is inside our heart. we have no sense of external world. Now I am telling you something about Sahaj Samadhi. In this state of samadhi we are in deepest core of our inner being as well as we have sense of external world.\n\nSalvation :- Salvation is freedom from the circle of life and death. But this state is short-lived and after some time we have to come back in the circle of life and death.\n\nLiberation:- It means the permanent freedom from the circle of life and death. Once we achieve this state we don't come again here.\n\nI hope you may have got something.\nwith best wishes \nyour brother\nAmit wanger
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To know more about it, please visit :\nhttp://www.parapsychology.org
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You could try this meditation method:\n\nhttp://www.sahajayoga.org\n\nwhich has a whole system of mantras integrated in it - you can't use them separately though, got to go through the whole lot, otherwise it makes no sense.\n\nAs for meanings, there is a mantra for every chakra and energy channel, based on the idea that each chakra and channel has the potential to give you a certain moral quality, and is therefore governed by a certain aspect of God (what in Hinduism is called as Deity):\n\nhttp://www.sahajayoga.org.uk/bottom_know_4.html\n\nThere is more to it but I don't want to flood you with information from the beginning :-) The method is very logical and, in my long experience with it, very effective. So it's worth giving it a try. Good luck!
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It would be better if you learn it from a Yoga teacher as posture, breathing and procedure to do pranayam should be correct.
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I got into that a while back. I was indoctrinated by someone who had me bring some offerings such as an orange, a handkerchief and some other items to a ceremony where he uttered my "magical" word. Mine was "Om". I was to take this magical word and chant it in my mind continuously while I closed my eyes and sat in meditation for around 15 minutes. 2 minutes in the beginning to clear you mind and think of nothing, then repeat the magical word over and over again for the rest of the time. Towards the end, stop for another 2 minutes and think of nothing, then slowly open my eyes. If I'd open too fast, or stop in the middle of my meditation, I usually got a bad headache immediately.\n\nSeems to work for me, but it was definetely not better than praying in Islam.