Conscious Breathing

Exploring Breath Work may help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Friday).

There will always be situations and circumstances in your life when someone will cross some personal boundary, triggering a emotional response. You can use Breath Work to help release that tension and diffuse those initial feelings of anger and fear.

Here is an idea for using Prayer Beads as "Breath Beads":

Begin by creating a quiet or sacred time each day to do your deep breathing. Hold your beads in your hand while sitting in a chair with both feet on the floor. Scan your body for any areas of tension or holding. Once you have identified these areas, take in a big breath of air and release it with a sigh. As you take this 'cleansing breath', see the tension and the thoughts about your day leaving your body. Your breathing practice will take you through a series of deep breaths.

Begin each breath by inhaling slowly through your nose and exhaling through your mouth, as if you are blowing out a candle. Take a moment to pause at the top of every breath and after every exhale. Use your thumb and forefinger to slide past a bead after you have completed a breath. Allow the beads to keep track of how many breaths you have taken so that all of your focus is on the way in which the breath feels as it moves through your body.

At any time during the day, when you need a meditative moment, or feel a need to step back from a situation or a person, run your fingers over each bead as you take a slow, deep, rhythmic breath. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth as if you are blowing out a candle. Relax your body with each breath.

You can wear your beads, and be use them as a reminder throughout the day to stop, take a moment to regroup, and let go of anything you are holding on to (whether it be stress, emotion or physical pain).

Conscious breathing can also be used as a tool that helps us to return to our center. Use the quiet intervals throughout your day to retrieve any scattered energy you have released. With each breath that you take, practice saying the following: on the inhale say, "Receive", and on the exhale say, "Release". Use your breath to bring in Peace and on the exhale release anything you no longer need (i.e. fear, anger, judgment, etc.).

If you are experiencing physical pain, picture the breath going directly into the affected area. Pain is a result of blocked energy. See the breath dissipating the congested energy and bringing light into that part of your body.

Using breath work can assist you in being more present and grounded. If used consciously, breathing can help us to release old patterns and behaviors. It allows us to pause and make choices from a calmer place instead of being at the effect of the circumstances in our life.

If you don't have prayer beads, or if you don't want to use your rosary or mala for anything other than prayer, any necklace or bracelet made with beads of a manageable size can be used, or you could create your own "breath beads."

Intention for Today

The intention for today's exercise is to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Thursday).

A working definition for intention is: “to have in mind a purpose or plan, to direct the mind, to aim.” Lacking intention, we sometimes stray without meaning or direction. But with it, all the forces of the universe can align to make even the most impossible, possible.

Without our dreams all we have is our present reality. Reality is not a bad thing. We have to know where we are so we can design the appropriate strategy for getting to where we want to be. The challenge is our attitude around “reality” and being “realistic” and what being realistic has cost us. Often that’s our passion and joy, our hopes and dreams. Given the unknowns and sometimes craziness of life, there’s never been a more important time to dream and setting your intention is the first step.

When should you set an intention? You could set an intention every day. Your intention could be to work less and make more, or to find a new career that you are passionate about. It could be to get healthy and physically fit, or to spend more quality time with loved ones or alone. It can be specific and about something in particular or more like a quality, such as to be more relaxed or involved with life.

A Success Story: At seventy, Bessie set an intention to become a world famous photographer. Although many thought she was too old, she didn’t. She entered a photo contest where she won the first prize of $10,000. Her prize-winning photo toured around the world with a Kodak exhibit. She said, “We’re never too old to make a dream come true.”

Some Basic Steps:

1. Get clear about something you want and write it down.
2. Share your intention with someone in a way that will supportively hold you accountable to taking action.
3. Do something today to demonstrate your commitment to your intention.
4. Acknowledge that you did what you said you would, feel love and gratitude to yourself, and then, take the next appropriate step.

Questions to help define an intention:

1. What would I like to feel, experience or gain from today?
2. What stands in the way of me creating what I want to experience?
3. What resistance might I encounter along the way?
4. What am I willing to give up, compromise or surrender to have my intention be true for me?
5. What am I willing to commit to doing?

At the end of the day, take time to reflect in writing on your day’s experience. Think back over your activities and review your intentions to identify situations that match your list.

1. When did you feel love?
2. When did you have the experience you were looking for?
3. How did you manage the resistance factor?
4. Make a note of each instance where you were successful at creating your intention.
5. Practice develops awareness and with awareness, you can create the life you truly desire.

A Bonfire of Pure Love

Here are the links to the the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Wednesday).

Today, instead of posting anything new, I worked long and hard on my inner dialogue. Here are some of the things that I did:

I started out the day using this as my mantra: "I am a bonfire of pure love."

When I did my 20 minute meditation, I alternated between the bonfire of pure love mantra, and imagining and visualizing pure love consuming every cell of my body, transmuting all the "junk" into warmth and light, and then, every now and then I remembered to stick in the sutra for today "sat chit ananda".

For the rest of the day, every time I noticed myself having a negative thought, a stressful thought, or a painful thought, I went back to the "I am a bonfire of pure love." and used that mantra to totally consume and transform the thought and the perception that caused it.

So my day went something like this:

• Oh my god! You are getting so fat! What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you eat so much junk?
• But it doesn't matter now, because I am a bonfire of pure love and any excess is being burned away right now, transforming into pure energy, warmth and love. And as a veritable bonfire of love this all consuming fire turns everything I eat into energy and light, there is no excess that isn't fuel for the fire of love that I am.


• How the hell am I going to pay for that? What if it costs more than I have? What if my car breaks down totally? What if the transmission is next? How will I be able to afford christmas presents this year? Where is the money going to come from?
• Hey, it doesn't matter because there is no lack. I am a veritable bonfire of pure love. I can have what I need because what I need is drawn to me like a moth to a flame. I am warmth I am love.


• Those assholes! They are cutting down even more trees! Why can't they just leave the trees alone! We need trees. What about the birds that lived in those trees? What about the squirrels and the little beings that depend on the cover and the safety of the branches of those trees. How would how would those redneck mother f--krs like it if somebody came and chopped their house down and burned it? Huh? huh? huh?
• I am a bonfire of pure love! I consume them in my love. They are - the men, the trees, the machinery - they are consumed by the flame of pure love that I am. I see only love. There is only love.

And how did it work for me?

I took my car in to get the windshield wipers repaired. When I had called earlier, they told me that if the wipers had popped off the rocker arm it would be $89 minimum to repair; and that if the motor itself had to be replaced, then I was looking at upwards of $275 to $300. (That's where the whole "how the hell am I going to pay for that" dialogue came from.)

So, I had my oil changed, and all my fluid levels checked... a routine maintenance, and asked them to fix the windshield wipers. I figured that if it cost me a total of $120, my check wouldn't bounce, and if it was more than that, my check still wouldn't bounce, but my electric bill, my house payment, and my telephone would all be overdue and possibly shut off. So, as I sat in the waiting room, I concentrated on remembering that I was a bonfire of pure love and that any hinderances to my safety and comfort were being consumed, transmuted, transformed... etc etc.

After an hour or two, the mechanic came out to tell me the car was done, and that a string had gotten tangled around the windshield wiper motor and popped the rocker arm off, and that it was now fixed. What a relief! I loved him intensely! And then, I went to pay for it and I loved him even more, because the bill was only $30. Yes. $30! They fixed the windshield wipers for free! Now, how cool is that? This love thing works!

Energy Contacting Others

Today's essay is targeted for a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Tuesday).



Energy is continually created and exchanged through contact. Beings who are open, interact, intersect, interfuse, interlace, interchange, interest more than people who are closed - tight - isolated.

Healthy relationship is an inter-relationship, verbal or non verbal commun-i-cation. Vitality in a flow, to and fro, an invisible, feelable, connecting intercourse between energy beings, in various ways, on a multitude of levels.

Or for that matter, openness can become direct contact with any external-internal source, thoughts, feelings, food, flowers, work, play, anyway, it all depends on the degree of separation and unity.

At the opposite extreme, contracted, subject - object relationships are unconscious, automatic, and defensive, closed off. Not really alive or real because the current, the ongoing, ingoing, outgoing experience - energy - feeling is blocked off.

The excessively defensive individual is buying safety and security at the expense of minimizing vitality and life; only letting experience be partially or hardly at all, continuous contraction, supression, and inhibition, a trickling expenditure of energy with little or no return.

Contact on the other hand, for example, between two or more sensitive, aware, interconnecting beings is stimulating, recharging, regenerating. A perpetual, perpetuating glow, a flow that moves back and forth, that recycles, that nourishes. When this exchange becomess more fully open, there is less and less sense of separation. In stillness, activity, or conversation, the other ultimately becomes the self, and the self becomes the other, and what is, is.

Meditative love is only one of many ways, openings, to ultimately join with any - every - no - thing to become, to be, unity, consciousness, energy, fully with one's self.

In an I - thou flowing union, boundaries dissolve, and you - it are one. Whether it is contact with the sun, the ground, the sea, breathing, touching, people, emotions, contemplation, or action, it is all energy.

Contact is some degree of totality, and ultimately it can be at-one-ment, communion. You become the flow. This point is meditation, the experience, essence is tantra, realization that you are love, wisdom, all. The perfection that is, always was and always will be.

~from Energy Ecstasy
by Bernard Gunther

I Am Pure Spirit

The Pure Spirit meditation is an exercise specially formulated to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Monday).

I know that I am pure spirit, that I always have been, and that I always will be. There is inside me a place of confidence and quietness and security where all things are known and understood. This is the Universal Mind, God, of which I am part and which responds to me as I ask of it.

This universal mind knows the answer to all of my problems, and even now the answers are speeding their way to me. I needn't struggle for them; I needn't wory or strive for them. When the time comes, the answers will be there. I give my problems to the great mind of God; I let go of them, confident that the correct answers will return to me when they are needed.

Through the great law of attraction, everything in life that I need for my work and fulfillment will come to me. It is not necessary that I strain about this, only believe. For in the strength of my belief, my faith will make it so. I see the hand of divine intelligence all about me, in the flower, the tree, the brook, the meadow. I know that the intelligence that created all these things is in me and around me and that I can call upon it for my slightest need.

I know that my body is a manifestation of pure spirit and that spirit is perfect; therefore my body is perfect also. I enjoy life, for each day brings a constant demonstration of the power and wonder of the universe and myself. I am confident. I am serene. I am sure. No matter what obstacle or undesirable circumstance crosses my path, I refuse to accept it, for it is nothing but illusion. There can be no obstacle or undesirable circumstance to the mind of God, which is in me, and all around me, and serves me now.

~from Three Magic Words
by U S Andersen

Inner Cosmos Meditation

This meditation on attaining a space of stillness within will help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Saturday).

From the space of stillness, something beautiful can flower.
Life can be a song, a dance.. from that space of stillness...
Where you become magnet of abundance at all levels.

How to attain that stillpoint? Concentrate the energy on the Hara, the point two inches below the navel.

That is the center from where one enters life and that is the center from where one dies and goes out of life. So that is the contact center between the body and the soul. If you feel a sort of wavering left and right and you don’t know where your center is, that simply shows that you are no longer in contact with your Hara, so you have to create that contact.

When: In the night, when you go to sleep and first thing in the morning.

Duration: 10 - 15 minutes.

Step 1: Locate the Hara
Lie down on the bed and put both your hands two inches below the navel and press a little.

Step 2: Take a Deep Breath!
Start breathing, deep breathing. You will feel that center coming up and down with the breathing. Feel your whole energy there as if you are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking and you are just existing there as a small center, very concentrated energy.

Step 3: Center While U Sleep!
Fall asleep doing it — that will be helpful. Then the whole night that centering persists. Again and again the unconscious goes and center is there. So the whole night without your knowing, you will be coming in many ways in deep contact with the center.

Step 4: Reconnect with the Hara
In the morning, the moment that you feel that sleep has gone, don’t open your eyes first. Again put your hands there, push a little, start breathing; again feel the Hara. Do this for 10 - 15 minutes and then get up.

Do this every night, every morning.
Within three months you will start feeling centered.

It is very essential to have a centering otherwise one feels fragmentary; then one is not together. One is just like a jigsaw — all fragments and not a whole. It is a bad shape, because without a center a man can drag but cannot love.
Without a center you can go on doing routine things in your life, but you can never be creative. You will live the minimum. The maximum will not be possible for you. Only by centering does one live at the maximum, at the zenith, at the peak, at the climax, and that is the only living, a real life. For example, there will be less thinking because energy will not move to the head, it will go to the Hara.

The more you think of the Hara, the more you concentrate there, the more you will find a discipline arising in you. That comes naturally, it has not to be forced. The more you are aware of the Hara, the less you will become afraid of life and death because that is the center of life and death.Once you become attuned to the Hara center, you can live courageously. Courage arises out of it: less thinking, more silence, less uncontrolled moments,natural discipline, courage and rootedness, a groundedness.

found at Inner Cosmos Meditation

The Heart Sutra

This is a meditation exercise that demonstrates the power of intention. but it is more than a mere demonstration. Do this regularly so that this ritual can focus your attention and your intention.

Go to a quiet place where you are not likely to be disturbed for fifteen minutes. Close your eyes, practice the primordial sound mantra "so hum" for five minutes, placing your awareness on your breath.


After five minutes put your mental awareness in the area of your heart, in the middle of your chest. With your attention on your heart, you may begin to feel your heart beating more strongly This is normal. As you experience the beating of your heart, begin to also experience gratitude. The way to experience gratitude is to think of all the things, events, and relationships in your life for which you have reason to be grateful. Allow those images to surface in your consciousness while you keep your attention on your heart. Take a moment to think of all the people whom you love and all the people who share their love with you.

Then say to yourself: "Every decision I make is a choice between a grievance and a miracle. I let go of grievances and choose miracles." Certain resentments and grievances - and the people associated with those resentments and grievances - may surface in your awareness. If they do, just say, "I let go of the grievances. I choose the miracles."

Then become aware of your heart again, and consciously start to breathe into your heart. As you do, say to yourself, "Love . . . knowingness . . . bliss . . . love," and then breathe out for the same count of four. Between each inhalation and exhalation pause for several seconds. Do this for three or four minutes.

Through the heart sutra meditation, the fire of your soul - which is love, knowingness, and bliss - will start to broadcast itself through the heart. This is where the third principle of synchrodestiny meets the fourth principle. The fire in your soul now begins to create your intention.

After having said "I let go of grievances and chose miracles" a few times, start to repeat mentally the phrase "They will be done." This prepares your mind to receive the intention of the nonlocal intelligence, and to understand that it is, simultaneously, your intention.

After about a minute, let go of all thoughts and bring your awareness fully to your heart. Experience your heartbeat, either as a sound or as a sensation. Feel it throbbing. Once you can sense your heart, transfer your awareness into your hands, and feel the throbbing of your heart in your hands. Introduce the intention to increase the blood flow to your hands. Just have the intention. As the blood flow to your hands increases, either the throbbing will increase or you'll feel warmth, tingling, or some other sensation. Introduce the intention of increasing warmth so that your hands become warmer and warmer. Feel the warmth in your hands as your intention alone increases the blood flow.

When your hands have become warm, move your awareness into your face, the upper part of your face around the eyeballs, and have the same intention. Increase the blood flow to your face so your face starts to flush and get warm. Just the intention. You may feel a pulsing or tingling sensation around your eyes as the blood flow increases and your face becomes warm.

Finally, bring your awareness back into your heart. Imagine that there is a pinpoint of light pulsating in your heart, matching your heartbeat. This pinpoint of light pulsating in your heart is the light of your soul as it pulsates with the three qualities of the soul: love, knowingness, and bliss, or sat chit ananda, which is also the sutra for the third principle. As it pulsates, experience the pinpoint of love, knowingness, bliss. It is sending radiant light to the rest of your body. Slowly let that pinpoint of light fade away from your awareness, and tune in to your whole body. Feel the sensations. Then open your eyes. The meditation is over.

A Thanksgiving Blessing

Looking at Your Empty Plate
My plate, empty now
will soon be filled
with precious food.

Looking at Your Full Plate
in this food
I see clearly the presence
of the entire universe
supporting my existence.

Contemplating Your Food
This plate of food,
so fragrant and appetizing,
also contains much suffering.

Beginning to Eat
With the first taste, I promise to offer joy.
With the second, I promise to help relieve the suffering of others.
With the third, I promise to see others' joy as my own.
With the fourth, I promise to learn the way of non-attachment and equanimity.

Finishing your Meal
The plate is empty
My hunger is satisfied
I vow to live
for the benefit of all beings.

Washing the Dishes
Washing the dishes is
like bathing a baby Buddha
The profane is the sacred.
Everyday mind is Buddha's mind.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Love

Today, (Wednesday) we are working with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for mastering our inner dialogue.

You will not exhaust the love in the universe
if you were to absorb it from now until the end of time.

Love is all that exists.

Love is the universal communication.
It is the energy that has created the universe and is keeping it going.
God is love.
All matter is formed by love.
There is an organic love that speaks to everyone if they could but hear.
A leaf holds together for love.

Love can turn the world around and it does.
What did you think was spinning your planet if it wasn't love
and what do you think the fires of your sun consist of
and the cells of your body
and the stars in your sky
and the consciousness in your heart?
It is all love.

There is nothing but love.
Don't let the masks and postures fool you.
Love is the glue that holds the Universe together.

The greatest need in a soul is to achieve that loving of self which will bring about the unity wherein the judgements that have caused such pain are eliminated.

True self-love is not ego.
True love is great humility.
Love and compassion for others cannot exist until there is a goodly supply for self.
How can you feel the love of God if you do not love yourself?
Are they not one and the same thing?

Until you can accept yourself, you lock the doorway to the expansion of all that you yearn for.
This expansion comes through your heart.
Be kind to yourselves.

~Emmanuel's Book

Your Standards of Integrity

Today's post expands our understanding of and experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Tuesday).

Your heart recognizes and is drawn to people who possess qualities you admire. You cherish or delight in these attributes because you know what they are. They reflect your own potential. When you see these qualities in others, you experience joy, inspiration, and gratitude. That's the signal that your heart is responding to them.

Take a moment and think about someone whom you admire. What qualities do you prize in them? Below the surface of physical attributes or possessions, which traits reflect their basic goodness? Do you admire their courage, loyalty, or creativity? Do you honor their love, compassion, or truthfulness? Even as you are thinking about the person, do you notice a certain warmth in your heart?

Your heart warms in response to these qualities because they are inside you. You can't appreciate a trait unless you've experienced it - whether or not you are currently experiencing it. In order to value loyalty, for example, you must know what loyalty is. You must sense what it means to be dependable, steady, faithful, and dedicated - and you must also know the pain of disloyalty. This is true for any other attribute to which your heart responds.

To use a physiological metaphor, if you respond to the trait you must have a receptor site for it, a location in your heart that recognizes and reacts to the quality when you see it in others. To be moved by a trait in another person, you must have that quality inside yourself as a possibility.

Remember the old saying that you don't like certain people because they have some traits that you dislike in yourself? What if the opposite were true as well?

Why are you here?

This is an exercise specially formulated to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Monday).

For this exercise you will need paper and pen, and ten minutes of uninterrupted time. Ask yourself, Why am I here? Write down the first thing that comes to mind. This question is open to many interpretations, so jot down whatever thoughts it triggers. Don't worry about the writing itself. You don't even have to use complete sentences.


Then pose the question again: Why am I here? Write down a new response. Do this twenty times. Keep looking for different ways to interpret the question so that each answer is unique and speaks to a different facet of the question.

Now look over your responses. What do they tell you? Do you see any pattern or progression in the answers? What does this tell you about how you see your life?

You can see your life as a series of external and internal events, but you can also learn to see those events as connected with each other and with something more spiritual. When you do that, you will begin to see your life as an opportunity to share the special gift you alone can bestow upon the world. That's one answer to the question of why you are here. Having this kind of clarity of purpose will help you focus your intentions.

Putting it all Together

This exercise will help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Sunday).

Go to a place where a lot of activity is taking place, such as a shopping mall. But something to eat from the food court. Sit on a bench. Close your eyes. With full awareness, taste the food, smell its aroma, and feel its texture. While keeping your eyes closed, pay attention to all the sounds in your environment.

• What's that music in the background?
• Christmas carols?
• The theme song of a movie?
• Can you tune in to the conversaton of the people next to you?
• Can you hear scattered phrases, words?
• Do any sounds strike you as attractive, or draw your attention more than others?

Now put your awareness in your body, feel everything around you. The hardness or softness of the bench or sofa - is it wood, or metal, or fabric?

Now open your eyes and observe the scene around you, the people walking, the colors, the shops, the items in the windows, and the art galleries.

Now close your eyes and in your imagination note once again what you have experienced - the tastes, the smells, the textures, the colors and the objects you saw, the sounds you heard. Now pick an item from each of your sensory experiences. An example of these might include the following:

• strawberry ice cream on your tongue
• the smell of baking bread
• the touch of craggy rocks under your feet
• a beautiful painting of the sun setting over the hills
• Christmas carols
• theme song from the James Bond movie Goldfinger

Now tell yourself that all these sounds, smells, textures, and tastes are part of a story. Ask yourself what the story is. Ask your nonlocal self to reveal the story to you. Now let go and assume that your nonlocal self will provide the answer in the form of a synchronistic experience.

-0O0-

Chopra goes on to say:

The exercise above is an actual example of an experience I had at a shopping mall during Christmastime. One year later I was in Jamaica. I had taken a drive into the countryside. I saw a scene very similar to the picture in the painting - a beautiful sunset over a hill by the ocean. Upon inquiry I learned that this place was called Strawberry Hill and the James Bond movie Goldfinger had been shot here. There was a beautiful hotel on Strawberry Hill. I decided to go inside. They had a luxurious spa. The spa director was delited to meet me, and he told me that he had been looking for me for the last several weeks because he wanted advice on Ayurvedic therapies. We ended up talking about a mutual collaboration.

Several years later I also met the owner of the hotel, who was a record company executive. His wife had an illness for which she consulted me, and we became close friends. He helped me with great advice when I produced my first music CD with healing meditations.

Finding the Cosmos Within

This meditation on finding the cosmos within will help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Saturday).

Read this into a tape, and play it to yourself:

Sit or lie comfortably with your eyes closed. Quiet your internal dialogue by observing your breath.

After a few minutes put your attention on your heart. Visualize your heart as a pulsating sphere of light. In this sphere visualize two or three diving beings or archetypal energies. These could be angels, gods, or goddesses. Now visualize the rest of your body also as a body of light.

Now slowly imagine this light body with its pulsating sphere of divine beings expanding so it fills the entire room in which you are sitting or lying. Allow the expansion to occur beyond the confines of the room so that you are no longer in the room but in fact the room is in you. Continue the process of expanding your light body so that the entire city in which you live exists in your being - the buildings, the people, the traffic, and the country side.

Continue to expand your sense of self to include in your physical being the state in which you live, your country, and ultimately the entire planet. now see that the whole world exists in you - all the people, all other sentient beings, trees and forests, rivers and mountains, rainfall and sunshine, earth and water - these are different components of your being, just like different organs in your body.

Now quietly say to yourself, "I am not in the world, the world is in me." Whatever imbalances you see in this world of yours, as the divine beings still dancing in your pulsating sphere of a heart to correct them. Ask these diving beings to fulfill any desire you have and to bring harmony, beauty, healing, and joy to the different parts of your cosmic self. Continue to expand your sense of self to include planets and moons, stars and galaxies.

Now say to yourself, "I am not in the universe; the universe is in me." Slowly begin to diminish the size of your cosmic self until you can once again experience your personal body. Imagine trillions of cells in your personal body - all part of a dance, each cell an entire universe unto itself. Remind yourself that your true being inhabits all these levels of creation, from microcosm to macrocosm, from the atom to the universe, from your personal body to your cosmic body. Remind yourself that at each of these levels of your existence you have available to you the divine energies that nonlocally orchestrate the cosmic dance to create the harmonious interaction of elements and forces that can fulfill any desire. Express your gratitude to these archetypal energies.

Now just remain sitting or lying quietly, feeling all the sensations in your body. You may feel tingling or exhilaration. After two or three minutes open your eyes. The exercise is over.

Nonviolent Communication

Exploring nonviolent communication will help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Friday).

There will always be situations and circumstances in your life when someone will cross some personal boundary, triggering strong emotional responses. An excellent book from which the following is derived is: Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg.

There are four basic steps to nonviolent communication, which involve questions you ask yourself whenever you find yourself becoming defensive. When someone pushes your buttons, it's tempting to want to push back. But that is not an optimal response - it is not productive, it wastes valuable personal energy, and it creates more turbulence in the world. As you go through these basic steps, it might be helpful to think of a recent experience you may have had that left you feeling defensive.

Step 1: Separate Observation from Evaluation.

Define what actually happened, instead of relying on your interpretation of what happened.Be as objective as possible when describing the event. Ask yourself:

• What did you actually respond to?
• What actually occurred?
• What did you see and hear?
• Were you responding to the actual event?
• Or were you responding to your interpretation of the event?

Whenever you find yourself having an emotional reaction, stop for a moment and try to discern the difference between your interpretation of the event and the objective observation of the event.

Step 2: Define your Feelings

Describe your feelings in a language that reflects only the feelings that you are responsible for and avoid words that victimize you. Also avoid words that require another person to "make" you feel a certain way. Think to yourself:

• What feelings arose as a result of the situation?
• What am I feeling?
• Which words best describe how this feels within me?

For example, you might feel appreciated, angry, antagonistic, anxious, afraid, bold, beautiful, confident, blissful, bewildered, glad, free, exhilarated, calm, astonished, cheerful, eager, hopeful, joyful, optimistic, proud, sensitive, ashamed, bored, confused, dejected, disgruntled, displeased, fatigued, guilty, hostile, jealous, lazy, or lonely.

Words to avoid might include: abandoned, abused, betrayed, cheated, coerced, diminished, manipulated, misunderstood, overworked, rejected, unheard, unseen, unsupported. These words do not arise from you, instead they describe your response to the other person or the event. These words give others too much power over your emotions. And when you do that, the tendency will be to get caught up in a vicious cycle of attracting people who evoke these feelings.

Step 3: State your needs clearly

You wouldn't be having strong feelings if all your needs were being met. Identify the need as specifically as possible. Ask yourself:

• What do I need in this situation?
• Why?

Continue that line of thought until it eventually leads to something you can ask of another person. For example:

• I need to feel loved. Why?
• I feel lonely. I need to feel less alone. Why?
• I don't have close friends.
• I need to find some friends and develop relationships.

You cannot ask another person to make you feel loved; that is beyond any one's capability. But you can ask another person to go out to a movie with you, to come to a party, to have a cup of coffee. etc.

Step 4: Ask, Don't demand.

Once we identify a need and are ready to make a request, we often demand rather than request that our needs be met. Demands are less likely to be fulfilled because people inherently respond poorly to demands. Most people, however, are happy to fulfill a request. Also, the more specific you are, the more likely your request will be answered. Here are some examples along with the alternatives:

• Pick up the dry cleaning. / Would you please pick up the dry cleaning?
• Love me forever. / Will you marry me?
• Can we spend more time together? / Can we go to the park this afternoon?

In summary:

Whenever you are part of tense situation, allow yourself to take a step back from the emotions of the moment and choose conscious communication.

1. What do you observe?
2. How does it make you feel?
3. Determine your need.
4. Make a request.

Focusing Intention

The Focusing Intention exercise is specially formulated to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Thursday).


The best way to focus on intentions is to write them down. Although this may sound like an obvious first step, it is a step that many people ignore. As a result, their intentions often remain unfocused, and therefore unrealized.

Go to a quiet place where you are not likely to be disturbed. Write down what you want on all different levels of desire. Include material, ego gratification, relationship, self-esteem, and spiritual desires. Be as specific as possible.

Ask yourself what you want on the material level, in terms of abundance and affluence. Do you want to own your own house with four bedrooms? Write that down. Do you want to be able to send your children to college? Write that down. Think also of your desires for sensory gratification - sound, touch, sight, taste, smell, and sensuality - anything that gratifies the senses. Write those down.

Ask yourself what you want in terms of relationships. Write down your desires for all your relationships - romantic partners, children, peers, parents, friends, and professional relationships.

Write down what you want in terms of personal accomplishments or recognition. Note what you want on a more universal level - how can you help? What do you want to do with your life in terms of your society, your country, your civilization? What do you want to contribute? Write down what you want when you think of discovering your highest sense of self. Whom do you want to be? What spiritually do you want to add to your life? Write down everything you desire on a single sheet of paper. Add or subtract from the list as your desires change or become fulfilled.

Meditate on what life would be like if all these desires were to manifest. See if you can create inner visions of genuine fulfillment on both material and spiritual levels. Don't be concerned about having these visions in any kind of order, or whether they're very realistic or not. Just see them all happening - feel them with all your five senses. The goal is to have congruent attention on all these four levels of aspiration. when that kind of congruency is in play, the internal dialogue is very powerful and clear, and will help you gain unity of consciousness.

Intentions do not need constant attention, but they do need to remain focused. This is a habit that you develop over time. Look at your list once or twice during the day. Read it over again just before you meditate. When you go into meditation, you silence the self. The ego disappears. As a result, you detach from the results and outcomes, you don't get involved in the details, and you let the infinite organizing power of the deeper intelligence orchestrate and fulfill all the details of your intentions for you. The key is to move away from the level of the ego, away from the level of the self and self-esteem, to let the nonlocal intelligence orchestrate the fulfillment of your desires through synchronicity.

In the beginning, you can be as selfish as you want. In the beginning your intentions may be all about "self" and the little details of what you want to happen in your life. But eventually you will realize that the goal is fulfillment on all levels, not just the personal or ego level. As you start to see the fulfillment of your intentions, your self-interest will diminish because you know you can have it all. When you have enough food to eat, you don't obsess about eating all the time. It's the same with intentions. When you know that fulfillment is possible, you will think less about your personal needs and more about the needs of the rest of the world. This is a process that works through stages. Be patient, but watch for the miracles to begin.

Fire in Your Eyes

The Fire in Your Eyes exercise is specially formulated to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Wednesday).

The fire in your soul will be reflected in your eyes. Whenever you look into a mirror, even if it's just for a second or two, make eye contact with your image and silently repeat the three principles that are the foundation of self-referral:

• "I am totally independent of the good or bad opinions of others."
• "I am beneath no one."
• "I am fearless in the face of any and all challenges.

Look into your eyes in the mirror and see these attributes reflected back at you. Just in your eyes, not in your facial expression. Look for the shine in your eyes to remind yourself of the fire in your soul.

Namaste

The Namaste exercise is specially formulated to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Tuesday).


The Sanskrit word namaste (pronounced nah-mah-STAY) means "The spirit in me honors the spirit in you." Whenever you first make eye contact with another person, say "Namaste" silently to yourself. This is a way of acknowledging that the being there is the same as the being here.

When you do this, everything about you - your body language, your expression, and your tone - will be recognized by the other person at some profound level. Even though this greeting is silent, the other person will consciously or unconsciously register the respect implicit in your greeting. Practice this exercise for a few days, and see if you notice a difference in your interactions with other people.

The Silent Witness

The Silent Witness meditation is an exercise specially formulated to help you find a deeper understanding of and better experience with the Principle and Sutra Exercise for today (Monday).


Go to a quiet place where you are not likely to be disturbed. Put on a tape or CD of your favorite soothing music. Close your eyes. As you do so, turn your attention to who is really listening. Begin to notice two different facets of yourself.

Your ears pick up the sound and your brain processes the notes, but that's only the mechanics of hearing. Who connects the notes so that they form music? As you are thinking about listening, who is doing the actual listening?

Notice the silent witness, the silent listener who is always present. This presence exists not only in yourself, but also in the space around you. It is that part of yourself that is beyond the thoughts and feelings of the moment, the part that never tires and never sleeps. Nor can this part of you ever be destroyed.

Recognize that this silent witness is always there. It is that part of you that can be glimpsed when the chatter of your thoughts is silenced by meditation. Can you feel this deeper current of consciousness within you?

Awareness of this silent witness is the beginning of awareness of the conscious intelligence field - the source of all the synchronicities in our lives.

Sunday's Principle

The Seventh Principle: Accessing the conspiracy of improbabilities.

Sutra: Ritam (REE-tahm)

Meaning: I am alert, awake to coincidences, and know that they are messages from God. I flow with the cosmic dance.



The seventh principle incorporates all the other aspects of synchrodestiny to form an approach to life that comes from peaceful awareness. Ritam means "I am alert to the conspiracy of improbabilities."

Every event has a particular likelihood of happening, or probability. The probability of winning the lottery is very low. The probability of winning the lottery without buying a ticket is even lower.

We maximize the probability that something will happen by our actions. And many of our actions are determined by our karmic conditioning -- those interpretations of past experiences and relationships that form and affect our life's memories and desires. If we have had past experiences of being lucky, the probability of buying a lottery ticket increases. But a person who has never won anything feels defeated even before the ticket is purchased, and may never buy the ticket at all.

In order to change your life, therefore, you must break free. You've got to change your interpretation of what happens in your life. You must transform yourself into the person for whom the probability of great things happening increases. And this transformations starts at the level of the soul. The soul gives meaning to events. The soul takes actions by influencing our minds.

The goal of enlightenment is to go beyond the probability pattern and experience true freedom. This is why it is important to never ignore a coincidence. never pass up a chance to see what the universe has planned for you. And if you pay attention to coincidences, you'll find that they accelerate, creating even more opportunities.

read today's sutra exercise

Sunday's Sutra Statements

Sutra Statements
for the Seventh Principle

Imagine that you move in rhythm with the impulses of a conscious universe.

ritam

*

Imagine that you dance to the rhythm of the universe.

ritam

*

Imagine that your body's rhythms are in perfect order.

ritam

*

Imagine that your body is a symphony.

ritam

*

Imagine that you are the harmony of the universe.

ritam

*

Imagine that every time you seek something, the universe provides clues in the form of coincidences.

ritam

*

Imagine that there is a connection between what happens in your dreams and what happens in your waking life.

ritam

*

Imagine that you are transforming and evolving into a higher being.

ritam

*

Imagine that there is meaning and purpose to everything that happens and everything you do.

ritam

*

Imagine that you have a contribution to make to the world.

ritam

*

Imagine that life is full of coincidences.

ritam

*

Imagine that you notice what others may not notice.

ritam

*

Imagine that you see the hidden meaning behind events.

ritam

*

Imagine that life is full of peak experiences.

ritam

*

Imagine that you have unique talents that you use to serve and help others.

ritam

*

Imagine that all your relationships are nurturing and playful.

ritam

*

Imagine that you delight in play and humor.

ritam

How to:
When you have an image of each statement in your mind, say Ritam (REE-tahm), continue with each image until you have visualized each one and repeated the sutra. You can print out these statements, and repeat the statement and the sutra any time during the day that you feel anxious or stressed.

Saturday's Principles

The Sixth Principle: Celebrate the dance of the cosmos.

Sutra: Shiva-Shakti (SHE-vah SHOCK-tee)

Meaning: I am giving birth to the gods and goddesses inside me; they express all their attributes and powers through me.

The sixth principle encourages us to live life fully by embracing both the masculine and the feminine aspects of our being.

One way to embrace both aspects of your self it to call upon both masculine and feminine archetypes. According to Carl Jung, archetypes are inherited memories represented in the mind as universal symbols, and can be observed in dreams and myths. They are states of awareness. Archetypes are universal concentrations of psychic energy.

It is possible to consciously trigger your archetypes through intent. Once you discover your primary archetypes, you can begin to call them to you daily. Surround yourself with symbols, words, or representations that remind you of your archetypes. With such symbols next to your bed, let these be the first things you look at when you wake up in the morning. Ask your archetypes for their guidance and wisdom, and ask that they become a part of you and work through you.

If you invite your archetypes in this way just after your daily meditation, you will start to feel their presence more strongly and more directly. They can provide access to the hidden strengths within you.

read today's sutra exercise

Saturday's Sutra

Sutra Statements
for the Sixth Principle

Imagine that you are a shape-shifter

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you can be both masculine and feminine if you choose.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you are strong, decisive, courageous, articulate, and powerful.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you are beautiful, sexual, intuitive, nurturing, and affectionate.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you are as stable as a mountain.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you are as flexible as the wind.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you are an angel with wings.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you are an enlightened being with infinite compassion.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you are a divine being of God playing in celestial realms.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine once again that you are a shape-shifter, that you can become any animal, any bird, any insect, any plant, or even a rock.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that all the mythical beings reside in you, although there are some that are your favorite archetypes.

Shiva-Shakti

*

Imagine that you can become the heroes and heroines you most admire.

How to:
When you have an image of each statement in your mind, say Shiva-Shakti (SHE-vah SHOCK-tee), continue with each image until you have visualized each one and repeated the sutra. You can print out these statements, and repeat the statement and the sutra any time during the day that you feel anxious or stressed.

Friday's Principle

The Fifth Principle: Harness your emotional turbulence.

Sutra: Moksha (MOKE-shah)

Meaning: I am emotionally free

Once we understand that external reality can't be separated from the internal reality, once we understand that the universe really is our extended body, it becomes very clear that negative energy within ourselves is destructive. Emotional turbulence is a major barrier to the spontaneous fulfillment of desire, but it is possible to transform negative energy into a higher level of awareness.

The work moksha means "freedom." As this sutra resonates within you, it expresses "I am emotionally free. My soul is disengaged from melodrama. I am free from resentment, grievances, hostility, and guilt. I am free of self-importance. I am free of self-concern. I am free of self-pity. I can laugh at myself. I see the humor in life." These are all contained in that freedom; if I'm not emotionally free, then I overshadow and cloud the experience of the spirit with the ego, and my best intentions cannot be fulfilled.

Anytime we have emotional turbulence, we upset our natural internal balance, which can block our spiritual evolution, and may even disconnect us from synchronicity. This is not to say that emotions are, in themselves, harmful or to be avoided. As human beings we will always have emotions; these are part of the human condition. There will always be events or relationships in our lives that trigger strong emotions in us. There will always be things in this world that cause great pain or anxiety. What we need to do is avoid getting stuck on one emotion.

read today's sutra exercise

Friday's Sutra

Sutra Statements
for the Fith Principle



Imagine that you are without physical form, a field of awareness everywhere at all times.

moksha

*

Imagine that you have left behind forever any sense of anger or resentment.

moksha

*

Imagine that you are free from blaming, free from feeling blame and guilt.

moksha

*

Imagine that you are never drawn into melodrama or hysteria.

moksha

*

Imagine that you can choose any emotional feeling you want to experience.

moksha

*

Imagine that you can set any goal you want to achieve and actually achieve it.

moksha

*

Imagine that you are free of your habitual compulsions and patterns of behavior.

moksha

*

Imagine that you are free of any addictions.

moksha

*

Imagine that you never participate in any gossip.

moksha

*

Imagine that you are free to respond at the highest level, no matter what the situation is or how anyone else behaves.

moksha

*

Imagine that there are no limitations to what you can manifest.

moksha

*

Imagine that you can see infinite possibilities at all times.

moksha

*

How to:
When you have an image of each statement in your mind, say moksha (MOKE-shah), continue with each image until you have visualized each one and repeated the sutra. You can print out these statements, and repeat the statement and the sutra any time during the day that you feel anxious or stressed.

Thursday's Principle

The Fourth Principle: Intent weaves the tapestry of the universe.

Sutra: San Kalpa (sahn KAL-pah)

Meaning: My intentions have infinite organizing power.

Our intentions are a manifestation of the total universe because we are part of the universe. And our intentions hold within them the mechanics of their fulfillment. All we really need is clarity of intent. Then if we can get the ego out of the way, the intentions fulfill themselves.

Our intentions attract the elements and forces, the events, the situations, the circumstances, and the relationships necessary to fulfill the intended outcome. We don't need to become involved in the details - in fact, trying too hard may backfire. Let the nonlocal intelligence synchronize the actions of the universe to fulfill your intentions for you.

Intention is a force in nature, like gravity, but more powerful. No one has to concentrate on gravity to make it work. No one can say, "I don't believe in gravity," because it is a force at work in the world whether we understand it or not. Intention works the same way.

Intention is not simply a whim. It requires attention, and it also requires detachment. Once you have created the intention mindfully, you must be able to detach from the outcome, and let the universe handle the details of fulfillment. If you don't, ego gets involved and clouds the process. You'll feel frustrated if your intention isn't realized soon enough. Your sense of self-importance may be threatened, or perhaps you'll start feeling sorry for yourself. Intent in nature orchestrates its own fulfillment. The only thing that could interfere is domination by your own ego needs and totally selfish concerns.

Of course, the best way to have all your intentions realized is to align your intentions with the cosmic intent, to create harmony between what you intend and what the universe intends for you. The best way to create that harmony is by nurturing an attitude of simple gratitude. Give thanks for everything in your life, and abandon your grievances.

read the sutra exercise for today

Thursday's Sutra

Sutra Statements
for the Fourth Principle

Imagine that the whole universe is a vast ocean of consciousness, and your intentions shoot out from within your heart and ripple across the vast ocean of consciousness.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that your intention is orchestrating the infinite activity of the universe, counterbalancing the whole ecosystem.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that your intention can heal those who are not well.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that your intention can bring joy and laughter to those who are in sorrow.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that you can bring success to those who are failing.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that you can bring strength to those who feel weak and fearful.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that you can bring hope to those who are feeling helpless.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that your thoughts affect the natural forces of the universe, that you can bring rain and sunshine, clouds and rainbows.

san kalpa

*

Imagine that every thought you have, every word you utter, every deed of yours brings some benefit to the world.

san kalpa

How to:
When you have an image of each statement in your mind, say san kalpa (sahn KAL-pah), continue with each image until you have visualized each one and repeated the sutra. You can print out these statements, and repeat the statement and the sutra any time during the day that you feel anxious or stressed.

Wednesday's Principle

The Third Principle: Master your inner dialogue.

Sutra: Sat Chit Ananda (saht chit ah-NAN-dah)

It means: My inner dialogue reflects the fire of my soul.

The third principle describes how your mind creates your reality - and how, by mastering your inner dialogue, you can literally transform reality to create abundance.


The sutra - sat chit ananda - tells us that our souls is that place which is spontaneously love, knowingness, and bliss. Sat means truth, freedom from all limitations. Chit means total knowledge, spontaneous knowing or pure consciousness. Ananda means bliss, total happiness, complete fulfillment. So what the phrase really says is, "My soul is free from limitations. My soul has spontaneous knowing. My soul exists in complete fulfillment."

When we find ourselves looking at the world and saying, "There's nothing out there for me," we should probably also look into our hearts and ask, "If there's nothing out there, is there anything in here?" We need to examine our inner dialogue to discover where we might be blocking the conscious energy flow, then remove the ego, step out of the way, and let the fire of the soul shine through us.

If you have fire of the soul, then Vedic sages say it is reflected in the shining of your eyes. It's reflected spontaneously in your body language and body movements. Everything you think, feel, say, and do will reflect that same fire.

When you practice positive inner dialogue, people will want to bond with you, help you, be near you. They want to share in the love, knowingness, and bliss that shines through your eyes and is reflected in your every action. This is true inner power.

read today's sutra exercise

Wednesday's Sutra

Sutra Statements
for the Third Principle


Imagine that you are centered and totally at peace.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that you are looking at the world with knowingness and peace.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that all beings are your equal.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that you are not affected by flattery or criticism.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that you are focused on the journey, not the destination.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that in your presence all hostility is overcome by a profound peace.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that you're detached from the outcome.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that a deeply profound ocean of calm exists in you that is not affected by any turbulence.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that love radiates from you like light from a bonfire.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that you are in love with everything and everybody. Imagine that you are intoxicated with love.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that the right answer come to you spontaneously whenever you are confronted by any question.

sat chit ananda

*

Imagine that you now exactly what to do in every situation.

sat chit ananda

How to:
When you have an image of each statement in your mind, say sat chit ananda (saht chit ah-NAN-dah), continue with each image until you have visualized each one and repeated the sutra. You can print out these statements, and repeat the statement and the sutra any time during the day that you feel anxious or stressed.

Tuedsay's Principle

The Second Principle: Through the mirror of relationships I discover my nonlocal self.

Sutra: Tat Tvam Asi (taht t'vahm AH-see)

Meaning: I see the other in myself and myself in others.

The sutra for this principle mans "I am that." This principle builds on the first principle, in which we learned that we are all extensions of the universal energy field, all a single entity with different points of view. I am that involves looking at everything in the world, everyone else in the world, and realizing that you are looking at another version of yourself. You and I are the same. Everything is the same. I am that, you are that, all this is that. We are all mirrors for others, and we need to learn to see ourselves in the reflection of other people. This is called the mirror of relationship. When I look around me, everything I see is an expression of myself.

Through the mirror of relationship - all relationships- we discover extended states of awareness. Those whom we love and those whom we are repelled by are both mirrors of ourselves.


Who are we attracted to? People who have the same traits as we have, but more so. We want to be in their company because subconsciously we feel that by doing so we, too, might manifest more of those traits as well. By the same token we are repelled by people who reflect back to us traits that we deny in our own selves. So if you are having a strong negative reaction to someone, you can be sure that they possess some traits in common with you, traits that you are not willing to embrace. If you were willing to accept those qualities, then they wouldn't upset you.

When we can see into the mirror of relationship, then we can begin to see all of our selves. To do this, we need to be comfortable with our ambiguity, to embrace all aspects of ourselves. At a deep level we need to recognize that we are not flawed simply because we have negative traits. No one has only positive traits. Recognizing that we have negative traits simply means that we are complete. And in that completeness we gain greater access to our universal, nonlocal selves.

When we are willing to embrace both the light and the dark sides of our selves, we can begin to heal both our selves and our relationships. We are all multidimensional, omnidimensional. Everything that exists somewhere in the world also exists in us. When we embrace these different aspects of ourselves, we acknowledge our connection to the universal consciousness and expand our personal awareness.

read the sutra exercise for today

Tuesday's Sutra

Sutra Statements
for the Second Principle

Imagine that your spirit is not only in you but in all other beings and everything that is.

tat tvam asi

*

Imagine that everybody is a reflection of yourself.

tat tvam asi

*

Imagine that when you look at the universe you are looking at your mirror.

tat tvam asi

*

Imagine that you see what others see.

tat tvam asi

*

Imagine that you can feel what others feel

tat tvam asi

*

Imagine that you are the qualities you most admire in others.

tat tvam asi

*

Imagine that others reflect the qualities you cherish in yourself.

tat tvam asi

*

Imagine that you are a person in a hall of mirrors where you can see yourself for miles and every reflection you see is of yourself, but appears different.

tat tvam asi

*

How to:
When you have an image of each statement in your mind, say tat tvam asi (taht t'vahm AH-see), continue with each image until you have visualized each one and repeated the sutra. You can print out these statements, and repeat the statement and the sutra any time during the day that you feel anxious or stressed.

Monday's Principle

The First Principle: You are a ripple in the fabric of the cosmos.

Sutra: Aham Brahmasmi (ah-HUM bra-MAHS-mee)

Meaning: The core of my being is the ultimate reality, the root and ground of the universe, the source of all that exists.

The first principle of synchrodestiny acknowledges the underlying intelligence that gives rise to my body, your body, and the universe as a whole - everything from stars and galaxies to subatomic particles. This conscious intelligence field is the wellspring of the cosmos. It is the extended body we all share; it connects us all. The core of my being is also the core of your being, and the core of all beings.

Every aspect of ourselves is articulated and orchestrated by this boundless nonlocal intelligence, the endless sea of consciousness from which you and I and the universe arise. Even our thoughts, our wishes, our desires, or dreams. They are manifestations of the total universe. And when you realize that the intentions and desires that arise in you are the very intentions of the universe, you can relinquish your desire for control and let the miraculous you were born to lead unfold in all its unimaginable magnificence.

Read today's sutra exercise.