Meditation

Everlasting Contentment

October 14, 2017 by kalani

Seeking happiness or contentment based on temporary states or conditions can lead to an experience of changing moods that are fleeting and fragile. When we focus on the sensation of being, we tune into our true essence, our shared life that is radiant, pervasive, and unwavering.

We have been taught and conditioned to believe that rearranging and managing our life circumstances is the key to happiness. We work to increase income, status, and raise our social capital, in the hopes that it will bring us greater joy and a sense of peace. Advertisements provide us with a constant source of insecurities, needs and goals to be met that send us scurrying to work, then to the mall.

Beyond seeing to it that we have food, clothing, shelter and a social network, very little beyond those basic needs has anything at all to do with reaching a deep state of contentment. How do we know this?

It’s quite easy to look back throughout the history of humanity and see that amassing great power or accumulating wealth can be directly correlated with happiness or contentment. There are many examples of individuals, who accumulated massive wealth and fame who were, by their own accounts, apparently quite miserable and unfulfilled. Fame and fortune do not lead to happiness.

At the same time, when happiness is studied and measured, what we find is evidence that it has more to do with personal choices, creativity, and the very simple act of pausing our thinking long enough to allow the deep underlying current of the life force that permeates the universe to fill our awareness. We can call this Beingness.

Spiritual teachers throughout millennia have all talked about universal love and the feelings that come with simple Beingness, noticing the beauty of nature and acknowledging that you are also part of that beauty, because you are also nature. The act is so simple, yet we forget it’s available. Perhaps we think there must be more to it.

Why is it, when so many have studies happiness and contentment, that we still spend so much time and energy striving to achieve material wealth and social Capital? We have the tools, but how are we using them?

Imagine someone rushing through traffic in their very expensive car, discussing a business deal on their cell phone, late for their yoga class and now worried they won’t get a good spot near the teacher

It’s just as easy to treat spiritual practices as we treat our work, as things to accomplish. It would be hypocritical not to acknowledge that the relentless pursuit of spiritual or religious deeds is in any way different, when it comes to creating space for peace and contentment, than the relentless pursuit of fortune or fame. When we link our self-worth to any form of achievement, whether it be financial, social, or spiritual, we risk missing the entire point of a spiritual practice, which is to bring it us a greater sense of contentment and feeling of connectedness to all that is.

Any system that seeks to measure and label spiritual “levels,” creating a hierarchy based on performance or achievement, is a result of a false premise, which is: People must demonstrate the depth of their spiritual status by performing tasks that are observable and measurable.

When we realize and acknowledge that spirituality and contentment are not performance-based, we will be closer to our goal because we will have it cleared away so much of the clutter that is burying that which is readily available. Everyone has access to the same spiritual tools, regardless of location, of language, of economic or social status, of age or ability, or of any man made construct or system.

Just as the accumulation of things can lead to clutter, so can the accumulation of religious and spiritual practices lead to a burying of the awareness you may have of your true essence and birthright of joy and contentment. Spiritual and religious practices exist to help remind us of what we already possess. They are a map, not the destination.

The fact is, you have always been where you need to be. You have always have the tools you need to build the life you want and deserve. Like so many of us, you may have become distracted in the pursuit of things and achievement. However; it’s possible to achieve while also being aware that achievement is not related to your ability to deeply connect with the life force that drives everything in the universe.

What we all need to remember, is that contentment is not the result of achievement. You don’t achieve your way to contentment. Contentment is a by-product of Beingness.

Something you can try: Pause several times a day to notice beauty in the smallest of things. Wherever you are, notice the space and textures around you. See everything as a work of art. Feel the air around and inside your body. Notice how everything is connected to everything else. Feel the sensation of gravity hugging you towards the earth. Notice the light reflecting off of the various objects and illuminating the space. Tune into the sensation of Being and feel the energy of life emanating from within. Acknowledge this miracle. This moment is eternal and never ending. Right here, right now, you have everything you need to achieve a state of deep contentment. This is the universe. This is your temple. This is you.

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Associations

July 5, 2016 by kalani

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Mindfulness

Your mind is wild, untamed, and organic in nature. Thoughts rise and fall like waves in your imagination. Memories play in the theatre of your awareness as your mind wonders into the future, like a child lost in a Bizarre. The question is: What will your experience be, one of panic or of wonderment?

Your mind is a beautiful tool. It helps you solve problems, presents you with options, and imagines the possibilities. It offers you myriad paths to follow, some of which will help you reach your goals. You mind is wild, unpredictable, creative, and complex. It loves to identify, label, compare and categorize. It seeks out patterns and makes predictions – and it does all of these things automatically, whether you prefer it to or not.

Understanding the nature of your mind and creating a peaceful and prosperous co-existence with it, is one of the goals of the Thoughtfulness Practice. The first step is accepting and acknowledging the dynamic nature of your very creative human mind. Know that having thoughts is not a problem, especially when you consider the alternative. Having an adverse relationship with your thoughts can cause you to suffer needlessly.

The good news is, there are ways to change your relationship with your thoughts that will liberate your emotions from the burden of over thinking.

Why is it, that certain thoughts seem to create a stronger internal reaction than others? It all has to do with Associations. Your mind is constantly making connections between things, ideas, and feelings. You meet someone for the first time who reminds you of someone with whom you’ve had some conflict, some unpleasant feelings, and you immediately feel those negative emotions, even though you have no history with the person standing in front of you.

We’ve all experienced having a certain type of emotional reaction to a person, place, or situation that shares some similarity with another experience from our past. Why does this happen? It’s simply your mind making connections, looking for patterns, exploring possibilities, and making associations between things.

Remember: Your mind is a network of memories and those memories trigger emotions. When one aspect of your mind is stimulated, other areas are as well. Thoughts about one thing ignite thoughts and feelings about other things. We know this to be true. An examination of your own thought process will confirm this.

Because our minds are making associations between things that are similar, the energies or emotions we experience along with those things are also drawn into our experience.

Because we cannot control this process, we sometimes have strong reactions to what we think of as a single event. In reality, it may be a new and unique event, but because our minds are always looking for connections, patterns, and similarities, we experience it along with the memories and emotions of many experiences, some which may carry with them undesirable or unsettling emotions. The more associations our mind makes, the more likely we are to have an intense experience of something. This is your neural-network in action.

What are we to do with our wild and uncontrollable minds? How do we stop this process so we’re not reminded of past trauma? How do we control our thinking?

We don’t.

Your mind is designed to be wild, to be creative, to make associations. This is what makes you human. Don’t make the mistake of viewing the way you are designed as wrong. Taking this position will only cause you greater hardship and suffering.

Accept your mind the way it is. Evolution is not about suppression, it’s about creating better relationships. If your mind is wild, accept that it is wild and work with it the way it is. Observe your mind like you would a natural landscape. Do you try to stop the wind from blowing? Do you try to make the birds fly in a particular path. Do you try to make the flowers show specific colors? Of course not. Why take the same approach with your mind?

Let go. Let your mind do what it wants. When a thought creates an emotion, observe that it did and accept it. You don’t have to believe that these associations are true or even valid. This is your mind at play, exploring, creating, and connecting things. Your mind loves to do this. Let it play. Let the emotions come up. Expect that they will. Know that they are remnants from past experiences, not your current experience.

Just because your mind creates an association between things, doesn’t mean that the association is true or even relevant. The person standing in front of you is who they are in this moment and no one else. The words of a stranger are not the words of your parent. The feelings you have now are not the feelings you had as a child. Know that your mind could be adding the weight of past trauma to your present experience through the instantaneous associations it makes.

Remember that ‘this experience’ is not ‘that experience,’ even if your mind is playing with the possibility. What is your current experience? It is what is happening in this moment and nothing else. Yes, part of your experience is what you think and feel, but that is your subjective world. Tune into your objective world by engaging your sense more than your mind, and you will likely find peace, tranquility, and love.

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The Truth

May 22, 2016 by kalani

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The truth doesn't need words to be known, only your attention. There is nothing hidden in the Universe.

Words help us express ourselves. They also lead to confusion and even suffering. They can uplift and bring great sorrow. They often are used to describe the truth, yet almost never do. How can they? They are nothing but distant echoes of experiences, reverberating in our minds.

The truth is always ready for your discovery. The truth is rarely the same from day to day, or moment to moment. This is why words often fail to tell the story of the truth. Words and stories are thoughts locked in time. They exist in our minds, whereas the truth, what is true for you, only exists in your present experience.

What is the truth of this moment? It is your experience of it. Pause for a to observe your environment, then observe your sensations, and finally your thoughts. This is your truth–right now.

People try to change the world through words. Their goal is to influence those around them, which often works, but it is not the world that is changed, only people’s minds. If you allow people to influence you through words, your thinking will change with theirs. This is always an option for you and it’s your choice. You are free to adopt any version of the truth that is presented to you. All you have to do is believe the words of others without questioning or verification. This is very easy to do and it’s what most people in the world do every day of their lives.

There is another way to know the truth, which is to be grounded in your own experiences. No one else can do this for you. No one else has your unique experience of the world. This is the way of mindfulness and the enlightening path, moving away from words and stories into your own authentic experience.

People will tell you that the world is fast-paced, crazy, and even dangerous. Is it? Take a moment to observe your life situation right now and see if this is true for you? Yes, it might be true for some people who are, in this moment, experiencing some great challenge, but is it true for you in this moment?

Some people say that one goal of meditation is to move away from what’s referred to as “Monkey Mind,” a restless, unsettled, and sometimes confused mental condition. Ask yourself: “Is my mind unsettled or just active? What is the natural state of the human mind? If you have observed your own mind for any length of time, you’ve likely noticed that it is very busy, very creative, and often working to solve puzzles. This state seems to be normal for the human mind. In fact, many people seem to experience great satisfaction when feeding their minds extra puzzles! They even spend money on books of puzzles and games to feed their hungry problem-solving minds.

Why then, should it be any surprise that our minds are conditioned to be active, to be busy, and to try to constantly solve puzzles? It’s normal for your mind to look for puzzles to solve. When there is no obvious puzzle available, it continues looking. It asks, “What about this? What about that? Could I solve those problems? What if I created some new problems to solve or borrowed some problems that other people have?

Your mind is looking for problems to solve–and words, because they are abstractions, are a great resource. “What did she mean by that? What does this or that mean? What did those people mean when they wrote those stories?

You have a choice when it comes to how you use your mind’s creativity. You can listen to your own self-talk, as if it were the truth, or you can observe your mind’s activity as if it were your enthusiastic helper who is always working to solve your problems. You can allow your mind to churn out thoughts, while you quickly scan them for anything useful. You can think to yourself, “These are all interesting ideas, but most of them are solutions looking for problems. They are a reflection of my beautiful, creative, human mind.”

Just as the words of others require verification before action is taken, so does your own self-talk. Your mind will offer you different scenarios until you decide to accept one, but even then, remember that you are accepting a story - words in lieu of experience.

Is it important to agree on a universal truth or can we live our lives accepting that every individual has his or her own truth, based on his or her experiences?

Does is help to try to correct other people's version of the truth? Does it help to tell someone who believes they are right, they are wrong?

Whose version of the truth is valid?

The answer is clear–yours. You are responsible for your truth. You are the only person who experiences truth the way you do. The way you experience the world is unique. The way other people experience the world is also unique. Are you able to accept this?

If you cannot, then you will likely experience tension between yourself and others, as you argue for different versions of the truth.

If you can accept that every person experiences a unique truth, then you can focus on developing relationships with people that are based on common experiences, where mutual support can be forged and acceptance can be gained.

Allowing others to have their truth, without feeling the need to correct or debate it, leaves more time and space in your life to enjoy the things you value - and to deepen your authentic experiences through active attention to this eternal moment.

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This episode includes music by Azam Ali, Layne Redmond, and Greg Ellis. Cover Artwork by Cameron Grey.

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Life Is Now

January 18, 2016 by kalani

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Immerse yourself in the rapture of music, you know what you love. Go there. Tend to each note, each cord, rising up from silence and dissolving again.

Vibrating strings draw us into this spacious resonance of the heart.

The body becomes light as the sky and you, one with the great musician, who is even now singing us into existence. – Radiance Sutras

This reading, from the radiance sutras, asks us to live in the present moment more deeply by using our senses and allowing ourselves to be enraptured by the continuous stream of input we receive from moment to moment.

As humans, we are conditioned to identify with thoughts. We are predisposed to believing that we can think our world into existence. But with thousands of years of history behind us, many struggle with simple questions, such as, “What is the meaning of life?”

Wisdom suggests that we bring meaning into our lives as a conscious practice, driven by our in-the-moment experiences. Our thoughts and beliefs about the world, however fascinating or perplexing, exist solely within the confines of our own minds. What is real, is waiting to be experienced–and can only be experienced through the senses. Life doesn’t happen in the past. It doesn’t happen later. It happens now.

Life is Now.

We are conditioned from childhood to identify with our minds. Soon after we acquire enough skills for basic communication, we are given problems to solve, riddles to answer, and we receive praise for our performance. We learn to identify our self-worth, in part, by the grades we receive in school and through praise from our and parents and peers. Our ability to solve problems, to identify, remember, and figure things out, becomes not simply a means to achieving quality of life, but a way for each of us to quantify our own value, and the value of others.

When the ego becomes associated with problem-solving, the status and importance of thinking can easily move from that of helper to that of ruler. Instead of using our minds to bring us more satisfaction, we allow ourselves to become slaves to the very questions that were created by our minds–or the minds of others. Does the fact that a question exists mean that there is an answer, or is the question itself flawed?

Consider for a moment, that humans are the only animals that create puzzles to be solved. So highly regarded is the human ability for thinking, that we create books of problems, and even television programs, to prove our mental abilities, to ourselves and each other. We not only seek out problems to solve, we take pride in having solved them. What does this tell us about the need for the mind and ego to consume problems? Does solving problems lead to greater life satisfaction – or is there a simpler way–a more direct path to joy.

Is it rational to presume that we can think our way through problems of the mind? Is it reasonable to assume that we can use the same tool to fix a problem that we used to create it? Could asking a question such as, “What is the meaning of life?” be just another way to feed the mind a puzzle, one that has no absolute answer. Is there any evidence to demonstrate that thinking is a reliable way to enhance your life experience? Does spending great amounts of time thinking about life’s problems often result in joy? Consider those times when you feel most satisfied, joyful, or at peace. Are you thinking or are you experiencing? Are you planning or are you doing?

Spiritual teachers throughout the ages point us not in the direction of contemplation as much as towards our own life experience. Be here now. I am that I am. Attend to this moment. How should we find meaning in our lives? The answer is simple. Pay attention. Pay attention, not to the internal process of thinking, but to your surroundings. Listen to the sounds, Take in the sites, enjoy the smells, tastes, and textures of the universe at play.

People talk about mind and ego. Let’s just drop this whole conversation. Consider instead: There is no mind. There is no ego. There is only incandescent reality at play, beckoning. – Radiance Sutras

Liberating the Soul

September 7, 2013 by kalani

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Splash13 Kalani discusses what causes us to add to our own suffering and provides ways to free us from the bonds of aversion. Based on "The Guest House," a work by spiritual poet, Rumi, this talk is about creating positive relationships with every thoughts and feeling, inviting them into "your home" so that they may fulfill their role in helping us navigate our lives. We each gain knowledge and guidance from these "uninvited guests,' but there's no need to suffer. The KEY is paying attention and compassion.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali, Greg Ellis and Layne Redmond & Tommy Brunjes.

Seeing as New

August 31, 2013 by kalani

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Splash10 Kalani discusses ways to increase one's sense of joy and contentment by raising his/her awareness and appreciation for his surroundings, attending to the many features and changes in the environment. When we connect with the physical world through all our sense, we root into the present and live life more deeply. This practice is called "Seeing as New," and can help anyone deepen his/her life experience and sense of spiritual connection to the world, to other people, and to his or herself.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali, Greg Ellis and Layne Redmond & Tommy Brunjes.

The Creative Mind

August 18, 2013 by kalani

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Splash15 Your mind is a creative and beautiful resource that is capable of producing all types of thoughts. It is in learning how to identify the various thought types that you will come to develop a practice that will help you reach your goals, both in work and play. In this talk, Kalani describes how to increase your awareness of thought types with the goal of improving your Thoughtfulness Practice.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali and Greg Ellis .

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The Crossroads

August 14, 2013 by kalani

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Splash16 Kalani Das explores spirituality, wellness, mindfulness, and the Thoughtfulness Practice in this audio series. In this introduction to the series,"The Crossroads," Kalani talks about the current need for a new perspective on how we use our minds, aimed at improving the lives of individuals, communities, and the world as a whole.

This podcast features music by Azam Ali & Greg Ellis

Finding Peace

October 19, 2011 by kalani

It's something that we all talk about and desire - Peace.

Watch the news and you would think that the world is in a constant state of unrest, but is this really true? Does conflict take the place of peace or can there be peace within struggle, within conflict and tension? Finding peace might seem like an almost unsurmountable task in 'times of conflict,' but there's another way to approach finding it that doesn't rely on others or even yourself to manifest this state of continuity and clarity that we all seek.

Finding peace can be the result of connecting to something that is peaceful. Anyone who knows nature has experienced the sense of peace that comes from taking a leisurely walk through a natural landscape, sitting alongside a gently flowing stream, or watching the clouds roll by from a grassy hillside. While we generally find these experiences peaceful, we're only scratching the surface. There's more we can do, purposefully and with full attention, to connect to peace and find that feeling within ourselves.

They say that 'It takes one to know one.' While this phrase has traditionally been used as a snappy come-back, aimed at the teaser and most often used in children's culture, we can use it as a starting point to help point us towards peace. Translated another way, we could say that "It takes knowing peace to be at peace." In other words, we can identify peace where it exists, connect to that active experience, and manifest that experience through our experiences.

How do we connect to peace? First, we locate something peaceful, something beautiful, something that is manifesting peace. This actually applies to just about everything in nature, but let's begin with those manifestations that are most recognizable as beautiful and peaceful: plants and more specifically, trees and flowers. For the purpose of this practice, the object of our attention will be a healthy, living, expression (life form), that we find pleasing to observe.

The Practice:

Preparation

Find a living plant (tree or flower) in a place where you will have 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted time. Make yourself comfortable and prepare your body and mind with some gentle stretches, deep, slow breathing, and making yourself comfortable. Once settled, focus on the object of peace. (Make sure that you are close enough to the object to observe detail) Begin by observing the item as a whole. Take in the beauty. Proceed to notice small details, lines, curves, points of interest, etc. Notice how it grows up and out, spreading into the word to show its beauty. Notice how peaceful it is - how calm - yet steady and in many ways, strong and grounded it is.

Finding Peace

Begin to imagine what it would feel like to be that plant. How does it experience the world? Imagine the feeling of having your roots spread out into the cool earth. Think about what they would feel like, not as a human, but as the plant. Notice the steam or trunk and imagine how it feels to be reaching upward, strong and connected. Notice the branches and stems and the feeling of spreading out. Notice the flowers and leaves and the urge and feeling to allow your beauty to show without reserve, without hesitation, naked for the world to see. Imagine the feeling of peace that this life experiences each and every moment: grounded, growing, reaching, opening. Imagine yourself 'as' the plant (not as a person observing). Use your ability to empathize with this life you see in front of you to find the feelings of peace that it so completely embodies.

Integration

Begin to imagine your own body in the same way as you see the plant, connected, growing, branching out, blossoming, showing your beauty without reserve. Find the same feeling of peace within yourself. You are a manifestation of the same force that is manifesting the plant. Know that you also represent peace, naturally. Connect with your own embodiment of peace that is an innate part of your existence. Feel the feeling. Experience the sensation of being alive, of growing without trying, of opening up to the universal love that creates the manifested. You are not a 'part of' or 'apart from' the Universe. You are an expression of the universe.

Closing

After spending a few minutes experiencing deep sensations of peace, begin to bring your awareness back to the general environment. Slowly transition out of your peace practice and use the experience to inform and shape how you experience yourself and others in the future. Represent peace to others. Be a model, even if they are unable or unwilling to follow your example. Represent peace through your ability to remain grounded, growing, and blossoming. Show your beauty to others in the hopes that they will find the beauty in themselves.

This is the Thoughfulness Practice of "Finding Peace."

How do you create this practice in your life?
What are some benefits of this Practice?

Share your thoughts and ideas below.

The Path to Mindfulness

June 27, 2011 by kalani

Mindfulness, the practice of conscious attention to the present moment while maintaining a non-judgmental mindset. This mind state has been to focus of Eastern practitioners for centuries and in recent years, has been of increasing interest in the West, as more and more people search for effective tools to help them cope with and manage what seems like an ever-increasing pace of life.

Neuroscience is examining the effects of conscious thought on people from all walks of life, including those who participate in various psychological therapies and those with specific needs. Studies are beginning to show that there can be measurable benefits from engaging in specific types of meditation practices, many of which include elements of mindfulness. It turns out that our minds are more plastic and receptive to conditioning than previously imagined. By actively participating in various thought processes, we can change our mental and emotional orientation, thereby increasing the quality of our thoughts and our lives. There are many different applications and approaches that incorporate and support mindfulness. Thoughtfulness is one of these approaches.

The Thoughtfulness Approach includes a collection of related practices. Thoughtfulness is based on several assertions that form the foundation of the approach. Some of these include:

The mind is a mechanism that decodes, associates, categorizes, stores, and retrieves data.
The mind produces myriad thoughts that are available for consideration, interpretation, and application.
Thoughts may be categorized according to their type, relevance, and usefulness.
Thoughts may be applied, discarded, stored, or transformed.
Thoughts often produce emotions, which are processed in a way similar to that of data.
Emotions are often felt in the body and may be processed in a number of different ways.
The mind/body is an empathetic system, and responsive to external conditions.
Thoughts and emotions are often over-associatioed and may result in misperceptions and dysfunctional thinking.
Dysfunctional thoughts and emotions may be cleared from the mind/body through the use of phycho-somatic processes, without the use of drugs or invasive procedures.
The tools one needs to effectively manage one's thoughts are universally available, regardless of race, gender, age, socio-economic status and spiritual or religious belief systems.
The Thoughtfulness Practice may be used in conjunction with spiritual and religious systems.

When practiced on a regular basis and with conscious attention, Thoughtfulness has the potential to reduce time spent in states of worry, anxiety, isolation, loneliness, anger, bitterness, depression and fear. Thoughtfulness has the potential to increase enjoyment, raise self-esteem, increase productivity, elevate mood, improve sleep, boost energy levels, and increase a general sense of wellbeing.