Such a Good Video

The Power of Breath

When one takes a deep breath, we are creating space in our mind for a fresh start.  That fresh start can contain either a new idea, a new emotional state, or nothing.  This nothing is the goal of deep breathing in meditation.  Initially, in meditation, we breathe deep to keep the mind from holding onto ideas, keeping the mind neutral and open for insight.  The longer we meditate, the slower our breathing becomes, although it should always remain balanced.  I think of it as the mind moving to the more subtle energy levels.  Say you're at the gym, working hard.  The breath is deep and fast, because we are fueling the physical body, which requires lots of energy.  As we move away from the physical in meditation our breathing slows, as we don't need as much energy to sustain ourselves.  Indeed, it is the body which still requires energy (it is on standby), while what fuels the mind isn’t in this dimension.  

Breathe in deep.  Take with it everything around you, be it negative or positive.  
Breathe out balanced.  With your heart, transform the negative into positive and release it into the world.  

How Many Universes Are There? Chris Anderson

The Space of Zero

Recently I read a wonderful book titled Zero: Biography of A Dangerous Idea.  The major idea from the book is that zero is both infinity and the void; two opposing extremes that exist in one symbol. Zero leads to life because it's the fundamental essence of opposing forces. If zero were a sentence it would be: "This sentence isn't real." It is the absence that exists, and is defined by its endless nothing quality.


Zero and consciousness have similar properties. Perhaps scientists and philosophers would prefer that zero and consciousness didn't exist at all. And yet they do, elusive and hard to describe. Riddled with contradictions, zero plays perhaps the greatest role in the universe; it holds everything together. Consciousness is the zero that exists in our heart that holds our body and spirit together.

Break the shackles of false victimhood.  Realize that there are no good or bad events, everything that happens is simply something that happens, it is neutral.  You decide how to view an event, which gives you the ultimate power; choice.  If you find yourself in negative situation after negative situation, decide the break the pattern and liberate yourself with your mind.

Help

The only way to receive help is by asking for it.  However, asking isn't enough because it's up to us to be open to the help when it arrives, and it's up to us to act on it.  

The (Cyber) Space of Love

"People don't change their minds. They die, and are replaced by people with different opinions"
- Arturo Albergati

     A few days ago, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) died, or rather it is no longer being supported. Why does something technology related matter to this blog?  Earlier this year I read an article explaining the advantages and disadvantages between being mortal and immortal. This was a computer experiment with one species being immortal and the other being mortal. When we think about it, species that are immortal should have the advantage. Imagine a world where people don’t die; where all the intelligence and knowledge that we have lasts forever. Where we don’t die and have to be reborn to relearn everything. It sounds amazing on paper, but the fact is immortal species, in the long run, can’t adapt like mortal ones can. 

     I remember in the mid 1990’s when IE6 was very popular. That was the best browser around, people adopted it, and it was the basis for all future browsers. I know some people who still use it. However, its popularity is now holding back web invention because websites still have to be designed with IE6 in mind. Today it died and this allows future inventions to evolve.  

     See, IE6 was such a standard that technology had trouble really moving past it. The benchmark that is IE6 didn't die (immortality), therefore future progress slowed because, instead of looking to the future, we were supporting the past. Sometimes it is good to kill an outdated, but very successful, predecessor to further evolve.  

     This explains why it is necessary for there to be death. We are sad when our grandparents, parents, and, finally, ourselves perish. However, death must occur for thought to evolve and refine itself. I feel the reason that we forget everything about our previous selves between karmic incarnations is so we can evolve and let go of outdated ideas. Even "the most important thing that has happened to you ever" is a product of this life, but our true quest is constant growth.  Sometimes holding onto the past will limit our future because we will try to define our future experiences based on past events and cycles.  Forgiving and forgetting these events, whether they are negative or positive experiences, is key.  They only serve to remind us who we were, not what we will become.  

     Ego is a product of this Human existence. Our true nature is one of forgetfulness. Without a brain, it’s always the present. The question is "What form is the best to overcome karma the quickest: Forgetfulness or Remembrance?" Why was it necessary for us to have a brain? I believe that the point of our lives is to overcome karma, so perhaps it’s to help us in that way.  If we can remember our past mistakes then we may not repeat them, allowing us to move on instead of dwelling on one lesson forever. 

     Every meditation session I’ve been to, I’ve been encouraged to go in a direction of oneness and completeness. That's good, we came from a place like that and will return to that place, but what if we had to grow a physical body to further rid ourselves of karma? We needed a brain, aka remembrance, to shed the next phase of our karma. Of course meditation is a great thing, it allows us to become realigned with our higher self and to act wisely, but for now we must come back to this reality that is moving, full of joy and pain, but is temporary, in order to be tested in an effort to refine our character. 

     Where did we get all our human karma? Is there a future step past our having brains, such as losing ego but still maintaining our physical bodies? I find that hard to achieve because our egos are what, essentially, protect our bodies. However, I am using my current brain to predict the future, so instead of doing that I will enjoy the ride. Maybe when this current IE has outgrown its usefulness I can refresh with updated ideas and have a better shot at it.