Today every man desires to create a new universe. He does not like the present. The society in which he lives is not compatible with his thinking, so he is not comfortable in it. But a new universe and society can be formed only when a new mind is formed.

Psychologists say our mind is conditioned. It works on the basis of some established beliefs and set convictions Ñ unless these are shattered, the construction of a new society is not possible.

Read more here: » Conditioning: Get A Brand New Mind

Mudras and Bandhas are certain postures of the body by which Kundalini is successfully awakened. In Gheranda Samhita, the description of 25 Mudras and Bandhas, is given. The following 12 are the most important:-,, 1. Mula Bandha, 2. Jalandhara Bandha, 3. Uddiyana Bandha, 4. Maha Mudra, 5. Maha Bandha, 6. Maha Vedha, 7. Yoga Mudra, 8. Viparitakarani Mudra, 9. Khechari Mudra, 10. Vajroli Mudra, 11. Shakti Chalana Mudra, 12. Yoni Mudra.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Mudras and Bandhas: Kundalini Yoga - Mudras and Bandhas

Famous yogins from different ages.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yogins: Famous Yogins - Yoga Addenda

Part I of III of Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad is the eighty-sixth among the 108 Upanishads. It forms part of the Krishna Yajurveda. It deals with an exposition of Hatha and Lambika Yogas. It concludes with an account of the non-qualified Brahman. The Non-dual Brahman is the quest of all seekers.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Kundalini Yoga: Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad, Part I

Part III of III of Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad is the eighty-sixth among the 108 Upanishads. It forms part of the Krishna Yajurveda. It deals with an exposition of Hatha and Lambika Yogas. It concludes with an account of the non-qualified Brahman. The Non-dual Brahman is the quest of all seekers.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Kundalini Yoga: Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad, Part III

Dhauti, Basti, Neti, Nauli, Tratak and Kapalabhati. These are known as Shat-Karma or the six purificatory exercises in Hatha Yoga.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Shat-Karma: Shat-Karma or the six purificatory exercises in Hatha Yoga.

One should become perfectly desireless and should be full of Vairagya before attempting to awaken Kundalini. It can be awakened only when a man rises above Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and other impurities. Kundalini can be awakened through rising above desires of the senses. The Yogi, who has got a pure heart and a mind free from passions and desires will be benefited by awakening Kundalini. If a man with a lot of impurities in the mind awakens the Sakti by sheer force through Asanas, Pranayamas and Mudras, he will break his legs and stumble down.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yoga Sadhana: Yoga Sadhanas for Kundalini Awakening

To suit the different constitutions, temperament and purpose, in Pranayama there are many varieties of exercises, viz., deep breathing exercise, Sukha Purvaka (easy comfortable) Pranayama during walking, Pranayama during meditation, Rhythmical breathing, Suryabheda, Ujjayi, Sitkari, Sitali, Bhastrika, Bhramari, Murchha, Plavini, Kevala Kumbhaka, etc. Of all the above exercises only the last eight are described in the Hatha Yogic texts.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Pranayama: Breathing Exercices - Pranayama

Moral Education - A Bahai Perspective

For teachers, parents and all concerned with public life, moral education is an indispensable part of children's education. The systematic development of a moral education programme must be regarded as central to the building of a progressive society and a sense of true identity among its future citizens.

Read more here: » Bahai: Moral Education - A Bahai Perspective

Concept Of Freedom Down The Ages

The 20th century has been one of the most memorable periods in history. Imperialism, colonialism and feudalism folded up and monarchy died a natural death, showing that however powerful a tradition may be, it becomes redundant once its role in social evolution is over. The driving force and the foremost objective of that process is greater freedom for mankind.

Read more here: » Freedom: Concept Of Freedom Down The Ages

Deep breathing reduces stress, deepens insight, expands consciousness and increases intuitive perception. Men of wisdom fetch their breath up from deep inside and below, while others breathe with their voice box alone. Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela often relied on mind-cleansing meditation combined with deep breathing Ñ to restore their flagging energy and create inner peace whenever stress built up in their lives.

Considering our breathing becomes more and more shallow and ineffective from birth onwards, this is a matter of utmost concern.

Read more here: » Breathing: Take a Deep Breath

There are three kinds of energies: Internal, external and marginal. Internal or spiritual energy pertains to Krishna consciousness, Gods superior energy. The spiritual world is a manifestation of His internal energy.

Read more here: » Krishna consciousness: Krishna Consciousness And the Energy Matrix

In our 1st article on spiritual character ("The Power of Spiritual Character"), we shared with you the following equation that we use to define and develop spiritual character:

Spiritual Character = Spiritual Context + Spiritual Purpose + Spiritual Values

______________________________________ Ego Desires

The first element of this equation, your spiritual context, represents your spiritual view of life. The dictionary defines context as: the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs: an environment . So your spiritual context is the spiritual 'container' or 'frame of reference' within which you experience all of life, including your work.

See also: Spirituality At Work, Work As A Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Based Leadership)

Ayurveda is perhaps the oldest science of life and a system of diet, healing and health maintenance that is deeply spiritual in origin. In this article the healing properties of water will be presented.

Read more here: » Ayurveda – healing waters

The cannabis plant can be dried or otherwise processed to yield products containing large concentrations of compounds that have medicinal and psychoactive effects when consumed, usually by smoking or eating. Cannabis has been used for medical and psychoactive effects for thousands of years. Throughout the 20th century there was a massive upswing in the use of cannabis as a psychoactive substance, mostly for recreational purposes but to some extent for religious purposes. The possession, use, or sale of psychoactive cannabis pro ...

Including:

• Cannabis drug - History
• Cannabis drug - Ancient history
• Cannabis drug - Recent history
• Cannabis drug - New breeding and cultivation techniques
• Cannabis drug - Immediate effects of human consumption
• Cannabis drug - Cognitive behavioral or perceptual
• Cannabis drug - Physical or sensory
• Cannabis drug - Active ingredients metabolism and method of activity
• Cannabis drug - Lethal dose
• Cannabis drug - Long-term effects of human consumption
• Cannabis drug - Tolerance withdrawal and dreams
• Cannabis drug - Long-term effects on the mind and brain
• Cannabis drug - Long-term physical effects of smoking
• Cannabis drug - Medicinal use
• Cannabis drug - Spiritual use
• Cannabis drug - Preparations for human consumption
• Cannabis drug - Smoking
• Cannabis drug - Oral consumption
• Cannabis drug - Vaporization
• Cannabis drug - Legality
• Cannabis drug - Prohibition and criminalization in the US
• Cannabis drug - Related articles

Read more here: » Cannabis drug: Encyclopedia - Cannabis drug

Fetish

(derived from a Portuguese word for medals and crucifixes worn by sailors and extended by them to amulets used by Africans; first used as a generic term by Ch. de Brosses in 1760)

1)    An article of paraphernalia used in religious practice, or a physical object representative of religious authority. Fetishes commonly are misunderstood to be objects accorded magical or supernatural powers by their users. Objects such as the perfect ear of corn or Corn Mother, important in religious practices of Pueblos (American Southwest), medicine bundles of various North American tribes, and objects that represent the religious authority of clans in Native American communities are often referred to as fetishes.

1)    Small carved stone objects and feather arrangements, with no religious significance, manufactured for commercial sale by modern Native American peoples.

1)    An object or body part that arouses sexual desire, sometimes to the exclusion of genital attraction.

(See also: Fetish, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

A Theosophical definition of Karanopadhi :

Karanopadhi

(Sanskrit) A compound meaning the "causal instrument" or "instrumental cause" in the long series of reimbodiments to which human and other reimbodying entities are subject.

Upadhi, the second element of this compound, is often translated as "vehicle"; but while this definition is accurate enough for popular purposes, it fails to set forth the essential meaning of the word which is rather "disguise," or certain natural properties or constitutional characteristics supposed to be the disguises or clothings or masks in and through which the spiritual monad of man works, bringing about the repetitive manifestations upon earth of certain functions and powers of this monad, and, indeed, upon the other globes of the planetary chain; and, furthermore, intimately connected with the peregrinations of the monad through the various spheres and realms of the solar kosmos.

In one sense of the word, therefore, karanopadhi is almost interchangeable with the thoughts set forth under the term maya, or the illusory disguises through which spirit works, or rather through which spiritual monadic entities work and manifest themselves.

Karanopadhi, as briefly explained under the term "causal body," is dual in meaning. The first and more easily understood meaning of this term shows that the cause bringing about reimbodiment is avidya, nescience rather than ignorance; because when a reimbodying entity through repeated reimbodiments in the spheres of matter has freed itself from the entangling chains of the latter, and has risen into self-conscious recognition of its own divine powers, it thereby shakes off the chains or disguises of maya and becomes what is called a jivanmukta. It is only imperfect souls, or rather monadic souls, speaking in a general way, which are obliged by nature's cyclic operations and laws to undergo the repetitive reimbodiments on earth and elsewhere in order that the lessons of self-conquest and mastery over all the planes of nature may be achieved. As the entity advances in wisdom and knowledge, and in the acquiring of self-conscious sympathy for all that is, in other words, as it grows more and more like unto its divine-spiritual counterpart, the less is it subject to avidya. It is, in a sense, the seeds of kama-manas left in the fabric or being of the reincarnating entity, which act as the karana or reproducing cause, or instrumental  cause, of such entity's reincarnations on earth.

The higher karanopadhi, however, although in operation similar to the lower karanopadhi, or karana-sarira just described, nevertheless belongs to the spiritual-intellectual part of man's constitution, and is the reproductive energy inherent in the spiritual monad bringing about its re-emergence after the solar pralaya into the new activities and new series of imbodiments which open with the dawn of the solar manvantara following upon the solar pralaya just ended. This latter karanopadhi or karana-sarira, therefore, is directly related to the element-principle in man's constitution called buddhi  - a veil, as it were, drawn over the face or around the being of the monadic essence, much as prakriti surrounds Purusha, or pradhana surrounds Brahman, or mulaprakriti surrounds and is the veil or disguise or sakti of parabrahman. Hence, in the case of man, this karanopadhi or causal disguise or vehicle corresponds in a general way to the buddhi-manas, or spiritual soul, in which the spiritual monad works and manifests itself.

It should be said in passing that the doctrine concerning the functions and operations of buddhi in the human constitution is extremely recondite, because in buddhi lie the causal impulses or urges bringing about the building of the constitution of man, and which, when the latter is completed, and when forming man as a septenary entity, express themselves as the various strata or qualities of the auric egg.

Finally, the karana-sarira, the karanopadhi or causal body, is the vehicular instrumental form or instrumental body-form, produced by the working of what is perhaps the most mysterious principle or element, mystically speaking, in the constitution not only of man, but of the universe  - the very mysterious spiritual bija.

The karanopadhi, the karana-sarira or causal body, is explained with minor differences of meaning in various works of Hindu philosophy; but all such works must be studied with the light thrown upon them by the great wisdom-teaching of the archaic ages, esoteric theosophy. The student otherwise runs every risk of being led astray.

I might add that the sushupti state or condition, which is that of deep dreamless sleep, involving entire insensibility of the human consciousness to all exterior impressions, is a phase of consciousness through which the adept must pass, although consciously pass in his case, before reaching the highest state of samadhi, which is the turiya state. According to the Vedanta philosophy, the turiya (meaning "fourth") is the fourth state of consciousness into which the full adept can self-consciously enter and wherein he becomes one with the kosmic Brahman. The Vedantists likewise speak of the anandamaya-kosa, which they describe as being the innermost disguise or frame or vehicle surrounding the atmic consciousness. Thus we see that the anandamaya-kosa and the karana-sarira, or karanopadhi, and the buddhi in conjunction with the manasic ego, are virtually identical.

The author has been at some pains to set forth and briefly to develop the various phases of occult and esoteric theosophical thought given in this article, because of the many and various misunderstandings and misconceptions concerning the nature, characteristics, and functions of the karana-sarira or causal body.

See also: Karanopadhi, Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul)

Annie Besant

(1847-1933) The daughter of William Wood and Emily Morris. Her father, a doctor, died when she was only five years old. Without any savings, Annie's mother found work looking after boarders at Harrow School. Mrs. Wood was unable to care for Annie and she persuaded a friend, Ellen Marryat, to take responsibility for her upbringing. In 1866 Annie met Rev. Frank Besant.

By the time she was twenty-three Annie had two children. Deeply unhappy because her independent spirit clashed with the traditional views of her husband she began to question her religious beliefs. When Annie refused to attend communion, Frank Besant ordered her to leave the family home. A legal separation was arranged. After leaving her husband Annie Besant completely rejected Christianity and in 1874 joined the Secular Society. Annie soon acquired a job working for the National Reformer and during the next few years wrote many articles on issues such as marriage and women's rights.

In 1877 Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh decided to publish The Fruits of Philosophy, Charles Knowlton's book advocating birth control. Besant and Bradlaugh were charged with publishing material that was "likely to deprave or corrupt those whose minds are open to immoral influences". They were both found guilty of publishing an "obscene libel" and sentenced to six months in prison. At the Court of Appeal the sentence was quashed.

Besant also join the socialist group, the Fabian Society, and in 1889 contributed to the influencial book, Fabian Essays. Edited by George Bernard Shaw, the book sold 27,000 copies in two years. In the 1890s Annie Besant became a supporter of Theosophy, a religious movement founded by Madame Blavatsky in 1875. While in India, Annie joined the struggle for Indian Home Rule, and during the First World War was interned by the British authorities. She died in India in 1933.

(See also: Annie Besant, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

sound: Shabda. As the darshana, or "seeing," of the Divine is a central article of faith for Hindus, similarly, hearing the Divine is spiritually indispensable. The ears are a center of many nadis connected to inner organs of perception. Gurus may when imparting initiation whisper in the ear of disciples to stimulate these centers and give a greater effect to their instructions.

During temple puja, bells ring loudly, drums resound, conches and woodwinds blare to awaken worshipers from routine states of consciousness.

Meditation on inner sound, called nada-anusandhana, is an essential yoga practice. Listening to the Vedas or other scripture is a mystical process. Traditional music is revered as the nectar of the Divine.

See: Aum, nada, Siva consciousness.

(See also: Sound, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Cannabis has a long history of spiritual use, especially in India, where it has been used by wandering spiritual sadhus for centuries. The most famous religious group to use cannabis in a spiritual context is the Rastafari movement, though it is by no means the only group Ex. Church of the Universe. Some historians and etymologists have claimed that cannabis was used by ancient Jews, early Christians and Muslims of the Sufi order. Many individuals also consider their ...

See also:

Cannabis drug, Cannabis drug - History, Cannabis drug - Ancient history, Cannabis drug - Recent history, Cannabis drug - New breeding and cultivation techniques, Cannabis drug - Immediate effects of human consumption, Cannabis drug - Cognitive behavioral or perceptual, Cannabis drug - Physical or sensory, Cannabis drug - Active ingredients metabolism and method of activity, Cannabis drug - Lethal dose, Cannabis drug - Long-term effects of human consumption, Cannabis drug - Tolerance withdrawal and dreams, Cannabis drug - Long-term effects on the mind and brain, Cannabis drug - Long-term physical effects of smoking, Cannabis drug - Medicinal use, Cannabis drug - Spiritual use, Cannabis drug - Preparations for human consumption, Cannabis drug - Smoking, Cannabis drug - Oral consumption, Cannabis drug - Vaporization, Cannabis drug - Legality, Cannabis drug - Prohibition and criminalization in the US, Cannabis drug - Related articles

Read more here: » Cannabis drug: Encyclopedia II - Cannabis drug - Spiritual use

Cannabis has a long history of spiritual use, especially in India, where it has been used by wandering spiritual sadhus for centuries. The most famous religious group to use cannabis in a spiritual context is the Rastafari movement, though it is by no means the only group Ex. Church of the Universe. Some historians and etymologists have claimed that cannabis was used by ancient Jews, early Christians and Muslims of the Sufi order. Many individuals also consider their ...

See also:

Cannabis drug, Cannabis drug - History, Cannabis drug - Ancient history, Cannabis drug - Recent history, Cannabis drug - Wild cannabis, Cannabis drug - New breeding and cultivation techniques, Cannabis drug - Immediate effects of human consumption, Cannabis drug - Cognitive behavioral or perceptual, Cannabis drug - Physical or sensory, Cannabis drug - Active ingredients metabolism and method of activity, Cannabis drug - Lethal dose, Cannabis drug - Long-term effects of human consumption, Cannabis drug - Tolerance withdrawal and dreams, Cannabis drug - Long-term effects on the mind and brain, Cannabis drug - Long-term physical effects of smoking, Cannabis drug - Medicinal use, Cannabis drug - Spiritual use, Cannabis drug - Preparations for human consumption, Cannabis drug - Smoking, Cannabis drug - Oral consumption, Cannabis drug - Vaporization, Cannabis drug - Legality, Cannabis drug - Prohibition and criminalization in the US, Cannabis drug - Related articles

Read more here: » Cannabis drug: Encyclopedia II - Cannabis drug - Spiritual use

Main article: Health issues and the effects of cannabis There is little conclusive scientific evidence about the long-term effects of human cannabis consumption. The findings of earlier studies purporting to demonstrate the effects of the drug are unreliable and generally regarded as junk science, as the studies were flawed, with strong bias and poor methodology. The most significant confounding factor is the use of other drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, by test subjects in conjunction with cannabis. When subjects using on ...

See also:

Cannabis drug, Cannabis drug - History, Cannabis drug - Ancient history, Cannabis drug - Recent history, Cannabis drug - New breeding and cultivation techniques, Cannabis drug - Immediate effects of human consumption, Cannabis drug - Cognitive behavioral or perceptual, Cannabis drug - Physical or sensory, Cannabis drug - Active ingredients metabolism and method of activity, Cannabis drug - Lethal dose, Cannabis drug - Long-term effects of human consumption, Cannabis drug - Tolerance withdrawal and dreams, Cannabis drug - Long-term effects on the mind and brain, Cannabis drug - Long-term physical effects of smoking, Cannabis drug - Medicinal use, Cannabis drug - Spiritual use, Cannabis drug - Preparations for human consumption, Cannabis drug - Smoking, Cannabis drug - Oral consumption, Cannabis drug - Vaporization, Cannabis drug - Legality, Cannabis drug - Prohibition and criminalization in the US, Cannabis drug - Related articles

Read more here: » Cannabis drug: Encyclopedia II - Cannabis drug - Long-term effects of human consumption