Have you seen what happens when two cats meet on a fence or on top of a narrow wall? They stand facing each other, howling at each other and showing their teeth. No one is willing to let the other pass. It is like the video I posted a few weeks ago.

Similar incidents take place between human beings. Often, there is no tolerance, no patience and no flexibility, and also an inflated ego, each one thinking that he or she is right, and want to have his or her way. This leads to clashes, disputes, and lack of harmony. This happens at home, at the office, at the school, and almost everywhere else. This also happens between groups of people, religions, and countries.

It is as if people see that world through a certain kind of eyeglasses, which distorts reality. What about looking at the world, without the eyeglasses?

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© Remez Sasson for Remez Sasson Blog on Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth, 2011. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Are you awake? I don’t mean awake in the usual sense of not sleeping. I am asking if you are really awake. What does being awake mean?

Are you aware of opportunities that knock on your door?

Are you aware of how the people around you feel? Are you tactful enough in your relations with them?

Are you attentive when talking to people? Are you a good listener, or are you centered within your ego, not listening to the person talking to you?

Are you aware of your habits, and work on overcoming the negative one and developing positive habits instead?

Are you aware of the negative or useless thoughts that pass through your mind?

Are you aware of the sense of peace and happiness that is covered and hidden by your thoughts feelings and desires?

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Read the rest of Are You Awake? (139 words)

© Remez Sasson for Remez Sasson Blog on Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth, 2011. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: awake, Inner Peace, thoughts

Here are a few quotes on kindness:

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness Kindness in giving creates love.
- Lao-Tzu -

Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.
- Albert Schweitzer -

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
- Martin Luther -

Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.
- Deepak Chopra -

It’s so easy to laugh. It’s so easy to hate. It takes strength to be gentle and kind.
– Stephen Morrissey -

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.
- Mother Teresa -

Read more quotes at:
www.successconsciousness.com/quotes/kindness.htm

© Remez Sasson for Remez Sasson Blog on Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Is the world just an illusion or real? This is a question that some of the people who visit this website and blog ask.

The world is not real in the sense that:

• Nothing is permanent in the world.
• The reality or lack or reality of the world largely depends on our five senses.
• Everything is vibration in various wavelengths.
• Everything is made from the same tiny particles, so the same particles can take different forms.
• Everything that we call truth depends on our prior mental programming and education. What someone deems as truth, someone else deems as untrue.
• The world is an illusion not in the sense that it is non-existent, but in the sense that we create this illusion with our attitude, upbringing and ignorance. We often create with our feelings and thoughts an illusory world that does not exist. We create a veil that hides reality.

One can understand clearly the illusion only when he or she can free himself or herself from this illusion, and this does not come from just denying the reality of the world and becoming apathetic. This come from the ability to switch off the mind and look inside, and requires a lot of inner work.

We project our thoughts and feelings on the world around us, like a cinema screen on which pictures and light and projected. The screen is real, but the pictures are not. Yet, we respond and react to these moving pictures. They look real when we watch a movie. So it is with our thoughts, feelings and beliefs, when we project them outside. They look real us, and we do not see the reality that is beyond them.

Many things are made from clay, which we call by deferent names, such as vases, statues, plates etc, but nevertheless, they are made of clay, only temporarily turned into various objects.

(...)
Read the rest of Is the World Just an Illusion or Real? (390 words)

© Remez Sasson for Remez Sasson Blog on Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: illusion, real, world

Let’s take a close look at the benefits and challenges associated with staying long term in a spiritual community.

It’s useful to know that there are many types of spiritual communities. Some follow old traditions such as Buddhist monasteries while others are new-age centers, where the community members often follow their own spiritual paths.

Most seekers find it really inspiring to stay in a community. There may be a number of experienced meditators living at the center and the group energy is most conducive to spiritual practice.

The size of the community can make a lot of difference. At a large community with 50-100 residents it may take awhile to get to know all the members while the smaller centers are more personal.

Some communities practice a lot of meditation while others don’t. For example, there are Buddhist monasteries in Thailand where they only meditate for 20 minutes per day.

Of course, if you have the discipline you can always practice on your own. It’s much easier to motivate yourself though if the community has at least 2-5 hours of meditation practice on the schedule.

If you get the chance, join a meditation retreat while staying in the community, even if it’s only a 2-5 day retreat. The mind calms down so much by just living in a spiritual community, that you get more out of short retreats than anyone leading a stressful life outside the community.

Read the Complete Article:
The Essential Guide To Spiritual Communities

© Remez Sasson for Remez Sasson Blog on Self Improvement and Spiritual Growth, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Meditation, mindfulness, spiritual communities