Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you . For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest." Gospel of Thomas (5)
As we realize the world was and is not as it seems and our physical and metaphysical worlds are inseparable, there is this age our yearning of who are we. More than ever it is important to look within ourselves and discover are true selves. This can only be accomplished by YOU. You are more powerful than you know.
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji and Bruce H. Lipton, PhD speak on the power of the mind, thoughts and beliefs to impact and change every aspect of our situation- the Self over Situation. Bruce and Sadhvi ji discusses how to live lives of joy, peace and health-A bridge of science and spirituality.
Prince Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, was born and raised with every possible advantage. He was born around 563 BCE near or around present day Nepal near the India Border. Unfortunately, his mother, Maya died seven days after his birth. Her sister, Prajapati, became his step mother. His father, King Suddhodana made every possible effort to keep his son shielded from the unpleasant world even knowing about death. His father made great efforts to hide the suffering from his son, even going as far as building another city to remove the poverty, sick and dying. Not seeing the real world, Gautama was married to Yaśodhara, daughter of King Suppabuddha. and had a son. Despite his father’s efforts to shield his son from the woes of the world, Gautama, did sneak away to explore. For the first time he saw a sick person, and old person and a corpse. He met a samara, an ancient Hindu ascetic who, despite of all the poverty and ills of the world, was serene and happy.
Gautama, after seeing the real world, knew there was more to life and wanted to seek the spiritual truth. He had to become a samara, a life of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence. He left against his family wishes.
His first order of business was finding a teacher. He began his studies under Alara, a famed yogi who taught him the meditative consciousness called the, “sphere beyond materiality”. He then went to Uddaka Ramaputta, who taught him how to reach the sphere of “neither perception nor non-perception.” Gautama realized neither of these were the highest attainments of spirituality. He added extreme asceticism to his practice by fasting and not bathing. He realized that drastic measures were going to kill him, so he renounced the life of pain as he did pleasure.
At a loss, Gautama rested under a tree. He thought, as a child attending to his breath made him more acutely aware of his surroundings and dispelled any feelings of boredom or unrest. The path to nibbana might lie in the form of contemplation or meditation, so he tried this technique again. The Pali accounts of what happened next are sparse. Later legends describe the onslaught of temptation and torment from the demon like Mara, designed to sway him from his goal. Gautama did not sway and as confidence bolsters, his mind expanded as he gained deeper insights into the human condition. Just as the morning star appeared in the sky before dawn, he became aware of the fact that he had finally discovered the ultimate truth. From that point on he was known as the Buddha.
Buddha’s wife and son later join him as disciples.
Buddha teaching is still cherish today. But like all things, man has incorporated personal teachings so finding Buddha core teachings is a difficult task. Scott Mandelker PhD provides his views-Action-Path in Buddha-Dhamma in this extended analysis series of Buddhist teaching on 10 Wrong Views, human rebirth & cosmology, 3 Marks, karmic results and path to Sotapanna awakening. Comparisons with Ra Material & Western philosophy (Materialism, Nihilism).
There are always questions about Meditation and techniques. This is something I read and wanted to share. Enjoy!
ESSENTIAL ADVICE ON MEDITATION excerpts from Teachings by Sogyal Rinpoche
When you read books about meditation, or often when meditation is is presented by different groups, much of the emphasis falls on the techniques. In the West, people tend to be very interested in the “technology” of meditation. However, by far the most important feature of meditation is not technique, but the way of being, the spirit, which is called the “posture”, a posture which is not so much physical, but more to do with spirit or attitude.
It is well to recognize that when you start on a meditation practice, you are entering a totally different dimension of reality. Normally in life we put a great deal of effort into achieving things, and there is a lot of struggle involved, whereas meditation is just the opposite, it is a break from how we normally operate.
Meditation is simply a question of being, of melting, like a piece of butter left in the sun. It has nothing to do with whether or not you “know” anything about it, in fact, each time you practice meditation it should be fresh, as if it were happening for the very first time. You just quietly sit, your body still, your speech silent, your mind at ease, and allow thoughts to come and go, without letting them play havoc on you.
If you need something to do, then watch the breathing. This is a very simple process. When you are breathing out, know that you are breathing out. When you breath in, know that you are breathing in, without supplying any kind of extra commentary or internalized mental gossip, but just identifying with the breath. That very simple process of mindfulness processes your thoughts and emotions, and then, like an old skin being shed, something is peeled off and freed.
Usually people tend to relax the body by concentrating on different parts. Real relaxation comes when you relax from within, for then everything else will ease itself out quite naturally.
When you begin to practice, you center yourself, in touch with your “soft spot”, and just remain there. You need not focus on anything in particular to begin with. Just be spacious, and allow thoughts and emotions to settle. If you do so, then later, when you use a method such as watching the breath, your attention will more easily be on your breathing. There is no particular point on the breath on which you need to focus, it is simply the process of breathing. Twenty-five percent of your attention is on the breath, and seventy-five percent is relaxed. Try to actually identify with the breathing, rather than just watching it. You may choose an object, like a flower, for example, to focus upon.
Sometimes you are taught to visualize a light on the forehead, or in the heart. Sometimes a sound or a mantra can be used. But at he beginning it is best to simply be spacious, like the sky. Think of yourself as the sky, holding the whole universe.
When you sit, let things settle and allow all your discordant self with its genuineness and unnaturalness to dissolve, out of that rises your real being. You experience an aspect of yourself which is more genuine and more authentic-the “real” you.
As you go deeper, you begin to discover and connect with your fundamental goodness. The whole point of meditation is to get used to the that aspect which you have forgotten. In Tibetan “meditation” means “getting used to”. Getting used to what? to your true nature, your Buddha nature. This is why, in the highest teaching of Buddhism, Dzogchen, you are told to “rest in the nature of mind”. You just quietly sit and let all thoughts and concepts dissolve. It is like when the clouds dissolve or the mist evaporates, to reveal the clear sky and the sun shining down. When everything dissolves like this, you begin to experience your true nature, to “live”.
Then you know it, and at that moment, you feel really good. It is unlike any other feeling of well-being that you might have experienced. This is a real and genuine goodness, in which you feel a deep sense of peace, contentment and confidence about yourself.
It is good to meditate when you feel inspired. Early mornings can bring that inspiration, as the best moments of the mind are early in the day, when the mind is calmer and fresher (the time traditionally recommended is before dawn). It is more appropriate to sit when you are inspired, for not only is it easier than as you are in a better frame of mind for meditation, but you will also be more encouraged by the very practice that you do. This in turn will bring more confidence in the practice, and later on you will be able to practice when you are not inspired. There is no need to meditate for a long time: just remain quietly until you are a little open and able to connect with your heart essence. That is the main point.
After that, some integration, or meditation in action. Once your mindfulness has been awakened by your meditation, your mind is calm and your perception a little more coherent. Then, whatever you do, you are present, right there. As in the famous Zen master’s saying: “When I eat, I eat; when I sleep, I sleep”. Whatever you do, you are fully present in the act. Even washing dishes, if it is done one-pointedly, can be very energizing, freeing, cleansing. You are more peaceful, so you are more “you”. You assume the “Universal You”.
One of the fundamental points of the spiritual journey is to persevere along the path. Though one’s meditation may be good one day, not so good the next, like changes in scenery, essentially it is not the experiences, good or bad which count so much, but rather that when you persevere, the real practice rubs off on you and comes through both good and bad. Good and bad are simply apparitions, just as there may be good or bad weather, yet the sky is always unchanging. If you persevere and have that sky like attitude of spaciousness, without being perturbed by emotions and experiences, you will develop stability and the real profoundness of meditation will take effect. You will find that gradually and almost unnoticed, your attitude begins to change.
You do not hold on to things as solidly as before, or grasp at them so strongly, and though crisis will still happen, you can handle them a bit better with more humor and ease. You will even be able to laugh at difficulties a little, since there is more space between you and them, and you are freer of yourself. Things become less solid, slightly ridiculous, and you become more light-hearted.
possible effort to keep his son shielded from the unpleasant world even knowing about death. His father made great efforts to hide the suffering from his son, even going as far as building another city to remove the poverty, sick and dying. Not seeing the real world, Gautama was married to Yaśodhara, daughter of King Suppabuddha. and had a son. Despite his father’s efforts to shield his son from the woes of the world, Gautama, did sneak away to explore. For the first time he saw a sick person, and old person and a corpse. He met a samara, an ancient 
Hindu ascetic who, despite of all the poverty and ills of the world, was serene and happy.
realized that drastic measures were going to kill him, so he renounced the life of pain as he did pleasure.
the 
to be very interested in the “technology” of meditation. However, by far the most important feature of meditation is not technique, but the way of being, the spirit, which is called the “posture”, a posture which is not so much physical, but more to do with spirit or attitude.
just remain there. You need not focus on anything in particular to begin with. Just be spacious, and allow thoughts and emotions to settle. If you do so, then later, when you use a method such as watching the breath, your attention will more easily be on your breathing. There is no particular point on the breath on which you need to focus, it is simply the process of breathing. Twenty-five percent of your attention is on the breath, and seventy-five percent is relaxed. Try to actually identify with the breathing, rather than just watching it. You may choose an object, like a flower, for example, to focus upon.
both good and bad. Good and bad are simply apparitions, just as there may be good or bad weather, yet the sky is always unchanging. If you persevere and have that sky like attitude of spaciousness, without being perturbed by emotions and experiences, you will develop stability and the real profoundness of meditation will take effect. You will find that gradually and almost unnoticed, your attitude begins to change.