Simple Steps: A New Years Gift to You: #40 The Lotus Flower

This post is the final installment in our 40 Simple Steps Series.  I hope you've enjoyed them!  I know you can find value here too, for the simplest step of all is the knowledge that within these words you are meeting and greeting your own true self.

In the East, the lotus flower is viewed as a symbol of spiritual unfoldment.

The lotus has its roots in earthly mud, but as it grows upward in aspiration toward the light, its petals open out in a beautiful flower.

This unfolding is the goal of reaching toward the eighth limb of yoga, Samadhi.

The Indian Lotus flower symbolizes divinity, fertility, wealth, knowledge and enlightenment.

It is associated with the goddess of wealth, Maha Lakshmi, who brings prosperity, purity and generosity.
She sits on a fully blossomed lotus flower, symbolizing purity, beauty and everything that is good.

Om Mani Padme Hum, meaning, "Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus" is the sacred mantra of the Tibetans. 

The meaning behind the lotus flower's use is beautifully articulated in the following poem by Swami Kriyananda, a teacher I studied with as a result of my introduction to the work of his teacher, Swami Paramahansa Yogananda in his book Autobiography of a Yogi.

May you breathe in peace as you read...

Todays Simple Step

Contemplating the Lotus Flower

"We were talking - about the space between us all - 
and the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion 
never glimpsing the truth.

Then it's far too late when they pass away.

We were talking - about the love we all could share when we find it -

to try our best to hold it there - 
with our love

With our love we could save the world - if they only knew.

Try to realize it's all within yourself - no-one else can make you change

And to see you're really only very small

And life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold

And the people who gain the world and lose their soul.

They don't know, they can't see - 
are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself

Then you may find peace of mind is waiting there

And the time will come when you see we are all one

And life flows on within you and without you."

Swami Kriyananda

May you find a way to keep walking the path of these 40 Simple Steps.

May they lead you to your destination "home" and bring you to your happiness.

As you leave this year behind - and embrace all that is present before you -  the spirit in me salutes the spirit in you!

Namaste,

Gael

Simple Steps: #39 The Door is Open

The eight linbs of yoga indicate a logical method that leads to the attainment of physical, emotional, and psycho-spiritual health.

Yoga does not seek to change the individual; rather it allows the natural state of total health and integration in each of us to become a reality.  That reality leads to joy and understanding, the result of the oneness we experience in the state of samadhi.

Todays Simple Step

What does it look like for you to walk through the door that is opening to the next step in your soul growth?

We all have a new door - a longer stretch - a deeper committment to our own truth...

No one else can really tell you what that looks like...

All the advice in the world is nothing compared to the innate wisdom you already have inside yourself.

Stop waiting for someone or something to tell you...

Take a moment now to allow yourself to know - without a doubt -

what it is that is waiting for you to say "I accept!"

In this way you will be guided, supported and attractive to the opportunities that already exist to help you find your way. In the words of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the German poet,

"Once one is committed, and not until then, will all manner and form of opportunity arise which would not have been there otherwise."

May you have many blessings along the way.

Till next time,
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Simple Steps: #38 Follow the Path

No one ever said the achievement of samadhi is easy.  In fact it is usually considered a difficult task.

The Yoga Sutra suggests the practice of asana and pranayama as a preparation for dharana, because these influence mental activities and create space in the crowded schedule of the mind.

Once dharana has occurred, dhyana and samadhi can follow.

Todays Simple Step

Take a few minutes today to follow the "yellow brick road" of links I have highlighted in the description above. 

Spend just these few minutes seeing for yourself how the steps move you from one state of mind to another.  

Once you have the ability to change your state of mind you have every possibility to change your state of being!

May you find the peace you seek in the process.

Till next time...
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Simple Steps: #37 Union with the Divine

Samadhi refers to union, or true yoga.

There is an ending to the separation that is created by the "I" and "mine" of our illusory perceptions of reality.

The mind does not distinguish between self and non-self, or between the object contemplated and the process of contemplation.

The mind and intellect have stopped, and there is only the experience of consciousness, truth and unutterable joy.

Todays Simple Step

Suppose you met a Divine guide on your journey around town today.  Suppose you were tapped on the shoulder while waiting in line.

 Would it be meaningful to you if the face of that Divine presence just lit up from within while looking at you?   Would you even be able to stand the radiance of love that would eminate from a presence so filled with the simple joy of seeing you that tears of recognition would stream from their eyes and wet their glowing smile?

Would you ... could you... see beyond the illusion of your own frail humanity to see what they see?

Give it a try.  You are so beautiful.

It is your ability to receive the truth of it that will bring you to the experience of Samadhi.

Till next time,
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Simple Steps: #36 Samadhi

In our 40 Simple Step Series, we have reached the final step in the eight-fold path of yoga.

It is the attainment of Samadhi.

Samadhi means "to bring together, to merge."

In the state of samadhi the body and senses are at rest as if asleep, yet the faculty of mind and reason are alert, as if awake.

In this state one goes beyond consciousness.

During samadhi we realize what it is to be an identity without differences, and how a liberated soul can enjoy pure awareness. The conscious mind drops back into the unconscious oblivion from which it first emerged.

Todays Simple Step

We often think that the attainment of such a state is only found in a haze of blissful unawareness.

That is the furthest thing from the truth.

Samadhi IS the attainment of consciousness in an endless observation of itself.

Just for today, practice NAMASTE..."The spirit in me sees - and salutes! - the spirit in you."

See it - Be it!  This is the essence of the golden rule.

May all that you are be a blessing to you and to others.
Namaste.

Till next time,
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