The Holiday Rush

It's funny and ironic how the holidays can be even more stressful than all the other days of the year. Making up a list of presents and who to give them to, determining how much budget you have for them, actually going out and buying the presents, attending parties and family reunions left and right, going for an out of town road trip. It's no wonder that one of my friends exclaimed that she needed a vacation from the vacation! The holidays aren't that friendly to one's waistline either, although this means good business for the fitness gyms, at least for the first two or three months of the new year.

I myself am not immune to the lures of the holiday season, which is why I've only managed to post at my blog now. Yet for all the stress of the holidays, I think none of us would really give it up. The holidays are a chance to catch up with friends and/or family that you rarely get to see the rest of year. This is all the more true for friends and family who live and work abroad. The holidays are the only time they usually get to come home.

It makes me wonder though, with all the activities one is expected to engage in during the holidays, if all of this has devolved into a mere checklist of things to do before going back to our normal routine. Perhaps it's time to take another look at Christmas. There is of course the popular theme of the birth of Jesus, although closer investigation would reveal that Christmas was historically not about Jesus' birthday.

Christmas day marked the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, and it also marked the feast of Saturn. The early Church adopted Christmas day into the calendar in the hopes of convincing the pagan population to convert to the new religion. The practice of exchanging gifts is actually a holdover from the Saturnian festivities.

Such little tidbits shouldn't come as a shock to Christians. The Church adopted a lot of pagan practices with the intent of integrating the pagan population into the new religion. After all, conversion is easier when you still get to do the religious practices that you grew up with.

Regardless of the actual origins of Christmas, most people are in agreement that the holidays are a time of giving and sharing, of coming together and hopefully, forgiveness. These basic qualities have been buried under tons of advertising and partying, but they're still there for anyone to notice.

It's interesting to note that Christmas used to be a Saturnian feast. The Saturn sphere is normally associated with the Lords of Karma, and in Master Choa Kok Sui's Kabbalistic Cycle, the Saturn period is a time of creative destruction and materialization of negative karma. Alternatively, it is a time to rebuild and start anew. It's interesting that such definitions coincide with the timing of the winter solstice, which signals the end of the year in order to give birth to the new.

Knowing these things, this holiday season is a good opportunity for all of us to plant good seeds for us to harvest in the new year. After all, that's essentially what New Year's resolutions are for. There's this Christmas song, "Let's give love on Christmas Day....". However, we need not confine good behavior and firm resolution to the holidays. Imagine how much more different the world would be if we adopted good holiday attitude the whole year round?

The year 2012 has come to acquire some pretty grim connotations, especially in light of all the disasters of 2011. However, let's not forget that it's entirely up to us to generate good karma that may be used to neutralize or mitigate negative karma and also to create a better future. Adopting this new attitude may be a real challenge for some, or a breeze for others, but the goal is no less worthy of the effort.

Here's a heartfelt Merry Christmas to everyone and a blessed New Year for all!

The Vajra Guru Mantra

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM

So goes the Vajra Guru mantra, which can be literally translated as, "I invoke you, the Vajra Guru, Padmasambhava, by your blessing may you grant us ordinary and supreme siddhis." The Tibetan Buddhists pronounce it slightly differently, Om Ah Hung Benza Guru Pema Siddhi Hung, but the essential meaning is the same.

Just as the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is considered the mantra of Buddha Kwan Yin, so is the Vajra Guru mantra considered the mantra of Buddha Padmasambhava. The Vajra Guru mantra is said to be held in high esteem by sadhakas (those who follow sadhana or spiritual practices; can also be used to refer to spiritual initiates and aspirants) because of the tremendous benefits encapsulated in the mantra.

In the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, mantras are more than just canned prayers to the deity. Just as the Kabbalists believe that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and their different permutations, hold an inherent universal power, so do the very composition of the mantras hold power and provide a "direct line" to the essence of the deity being invoked.

According to legend, the Buddha Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche in Tibet, was born of the lotus flower, incarnating as an 8-year old child in a lotus blossom floating in Lake Dhanakosha. Like most legends, this story is an esoteric symbol. What the story is trying to say is that Padmasambhava was born fully illuminated, a truly great soul who entered the world. Padmasambhava went on to Tibet at the invitation of King Trisong Detsen (742–797), the first Emperor of Tibet. Thus was Tibet introduced to Tibetan Buddhism and Tantra.

In the Nyingmapa tradition, the Vajra Guru mantra is believed to be a powerful mantra that can engender union with the Three Vajras (body, speech and mind) of Padmasambhava's mindstream and consequently those of other enlightened beings. Because of this, we can say that the Vajra Guru mantra forms part of guru yoga because guru yoga seeks to unite the mindstream of the practitioner with the mindstream of the guru. Sharanagathi leads one to achieve the goal of guru yoga.

In his book Inner Teachings of Hinduism Revealed, Master Choa Kok Sui states that sharanagathi simply means internal conductivity. Just as a copper wire can easily transmit electricity because it is conductive, so must we have internal conductivity in order to fully receive the blessings of our spiritual teacher and the Higher Beings. Sharanagathi is not just the form or act but is rather one's state of being. Master Choa goes so far to say that if one has sharanagathi (internal conductivity), even without doing a lot of sadhanas (spiritual practices) the blessings one is receiving are so intense, it would be like doing sadhana. This is similar to what Jesus said that if one had faith the size of a mustard seed, one could move mountains.

The 14th century terton Karma Lingpa wrote a detailed commentary about the benefits of the Vajra Guru mantra. A terton refers to someone who discovers terma (treasure) teachings. It is said that Padmasambhava hid many of his written teachings in certain locations within Tibet, to be discovered in the future when it was time for those teachings to come out (the Tibetan Book of the Dead is an example of such a terma teaching). Most tertons are believed to be incarnations of Padmasambhava's 25 main disciples.

Karma Lingpa's commentary is quite long, so if you want to read it in full you may visit this site. But just to get a feel of the commentary, I give you this extract:

If this mantra is recited a hundred times a day, merely a hundred times a day without interruption, one will become attractive to others and will effortlessly come by food and wealth and the necessities of life.

If one recites it a thousand or ten thousand times on a daily basis, one is able to literally overwhelm others with one's brilliance, in the sense of becoming very charismatic and influential in exerting a positive influence over others, and one will gain unhindered force of blessings and spiritual power.

If one repeats it a hundred thousand or a million times on a regular basis one will become capable of effecting an immeasurably great benefit for beings, exactly as one would wish to.

If one recites the mantra three or seven million times, one is never separate from the buddhas of the three times and one becomes inseparable from me. All the gods and demons of existence will attend to one and offer their praises.

In the most excellent cases, individuals will attain the rainbow body, and the final level of attainment in this lifetime. On a more middling level, at the moment of death, the mother and child aspects of radiant luminosity will meet. At the very least, individuals will behold my face in the bardo state and all the appearances of the bardo state will be free in their own ground such that these individuals will be reborn on the continent of Ngayab and from that vantage point, be able to accomplish an immeasurable amount of benefit to beings.

The stated benefits of the Vajra Guru mantra are numerous, but aside from that, this mantra should also be recognizable to Arhatic Yogis in particular. After all, in his book Om Mani Padme Hum: The Blue Pearl in the Golden Lotus (available in National Bookstore), Master Choa revealed that Padmasambhava is none other than Mahaguruji Mei Ling, Master Choa's spiritual teacher.

Arhatic Yoga is a synthesis of spiritual practices from many cultures around the world, one of them being Tibet. After all, spiritual truths are universal, so they can be consistently found in different cultures and traditions. The threads that link Arhatic Yoga to its Tibetan lineage are there for those who sincerely search. As a practitioner of Arhatic Yoga, whenever I discover traces of this lineage, it makes me further appreciate my spiritual practice.

Typhoon Sendong: Lessons (Not) Learned

I already had a topic in mind for today's article, but after the events that happened during Typhoon Sendong (international name Washi), I thought it would be more appropriate to devote a few words to this tragedy for the sake of the victims and for better awareness about possible future disasters and how to mitigate or cope with them. As a victim of Ondoy, I can imagine very well what the victims in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City went through and are going through right now. The profile of both disasters are in fact eerily similar. Both happening on Saturdays, higher than normal rainfall, government agencies caught flat-footed.

One would have thought that after Ondoy, the different government disaster management agencies would have learned their lessons. However, by different accounts it seems PAGASA (the state weather bureau) was again caught sleeping even if international weather bureaus and even some local weather watchers knew what was coming.

Around the middle of last year, Typhoon Basyang was predicted to pass through Northern Luzon. Instead, it changed track and slammed directly into Metro Manila. Luckily, that typhoon brought more wind than rain, so the damage was not as bad as it could have been. President Aquino sacked the PAGASA chief at that time, saying that if meteorologists during World War 2 and the Korean War were able to accurately forecast the weather despite the technology of that time, why couldn't PAGASA perform similarly? Most people must have thought that this incident would have turned things around for the weather bureau, and over the next few months there were occasional news reports about new Doppler radar stations being set up. Unfortunately, Typhoon Sendong has shown that nothing has really changed. The evidence points to a problem that goes beyond the lack of modern technology or budget.

What happened last week was the Normalcy Bias in action over a massive scale (I wrote an article about this back in October). The people at PAGASA couldn't believe that a typhoon was really heading towards Mindanao, because the projected track of the typhoon covered areas that were not in the traditional typhoon belt. In the case of the people in the affected areas, even after the storm signals went up, no one really paid much attention because again, typhoons never really passed their areas. The tragic results speak for themselves.

Geo Farms founder and manager Edgard Guevara commented that the Typhoon Sendong tragedy only shows that we cannot rely on government or other agencies to watch over our welfare. The best way to prepare for a disaster is to ready oneself and one's family first, and then eventually involve the whole community. Any outside help that comes will then become a bonus that will merely supplement one's own preparations.

Victory loves preparation, so if you want to start educating yourself, you can watch a few YouTube flood survival videos here and another one here. It's strange that just last week I was also watching the National Geographic channel's Doomsday Preppers. One doesn't need to go to the extremes that the people featured in the show went to, but some level of preparation is definitely necessary. Beyond physical and material preparations, meditation and prayer should also become part and parcel of one's life. The power of sincere prayer should never be underestimated.

But while we proceed with our own preparations (or debate their necessity), there is still the immediate concern of helping the victims and survivors in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City and other areas. If you want to help, please visit this site in order to identify which avenue of support you want to use.

Exercising In Bed

Exercise, for all its benefits, can be such a tedious chore for most people. Throw in a busy schedule and the thought of exercise is pretty much toast. I understand the feeling because I've gone through the struggles of trying to drag myself away from what I was doing (including sleep) in order to huff and puff and basically give myself a hard time. It's just so much easier to lie down and sleep.

The term "exercising in bed" sounds like such an oxymoron given our current ideas about what constitutes exercise. But such a set of exercises does exist, and it's not some recent exercise fad that's being raved about in the Internet. I'm not referring to the more carnal pleasures of sex (although sex is also a good form of exercise; in fact, some new findings point to some forms of sex that could reduce the incidence of breast cancer in women). In the early 1900s, a man named Sanford Bennett published the book Exercising In Bed. At the time Bennett published the book, he was nearly 70 years old, yet he looked like a much younger man (see photo).

Bennett attributed his youthful appearance and vigor to the set of exercises he developed and had been practicing for nearly 20 years (at the time of publication). Not much is known about Bennett's life, but according to his own account, at 50 years old he was quite an unhealthy man. He had all the signs of old age and was suffering from numerous chronic ailments. Not content to rely on the treatment of doctors and drugs for the rest of his life, he embarked on a quest to rejuvenate his way to good health. The result of his research is a set of 35 simple exercises that can be done in bed. Bennett died of an accident well into his 80s but it's safe to say that if Nature had taken its course, Bennett could have lived a healthy life into his 90s or even beyond.

According to Bennett, the key to good health is to retain the pliability and flexibility of the different muscles, organs and other parts of the body, thus ensuring good circulation of the blood all around. This is the state of the body at youth, but as we age and misuse the body, the corresponding muscles, organs, etc. slowly deteriorate and exhibit signs of ill health. Therefore, by exercising these different parts, health and vigor may be returned.

Bennett's exercises consist of alternating muscle tension and relaxation called isometric exercises. As per Wikipedia: Isometric exercise or isometrics are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction (compared to concentric or eccentric contractions, called dynamic/isotonic movements). Isometrics are done in static positions, rather than being dynamic through a range of motion.

If you've ever experienced straining to open a bottle of jam or a stuck window, that's isometric exercise. In Bennett's exercises, you mainly use your own body to create the opposing tension, which is why they can be done while lying in bed. Interestingly, Bennett developed these exercises precisely because he didn't want to get up and strain himself with regular exercise!

Of course, Bennett's exercise routine is the product of a late 19th/early 20th century understanding about the human body. However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and Bennett himself had shown that he was able to reverse the ill conditions he had when he was 50. In the book, the doctor even mentioned that Bennett had the physiology of a 30-year old athlete. Whatever you may think about Bennett's approach, it seems the exercises do work as stated.

We've approached this subject from a more physiological viewpoint, and what little we've seen seems to make sense. Let's try looking at it now from an esoteric standpoint.

According to Master Choa in his pranic healing books, aside from the major chakras, there are minor (smaller) chakras and even micro chakras for the really small and delicate organs. These chakras govern how much prana (life force) passes through the different parts of the body and these chakras are also responsible for expelling used up or dirty energy. This is why chakras are clairvoyantly seen as spinning wheels of energy, the alternating clockwise and counter-clockwise rotations of the chakras draw in and expel energy accordingly.

When a chakra is not able to expel enough dirty or used up energy, the dirty energy tends to get stuck around the chakra, sort of like a clogged drain. This in turn also affects the chakra's ability to draw in enough fresh prana to "feed" the corresponding body part. What results is the disease that we commonly see.

What physical exercise does is that it stimulates the chakras of the parts being exercised to loosen up and spin even faster, thus it can dislodge any stuck up energy. Once the chakras are clean and able to function normally, health returns to the body. This is why we tend to feel good and energized after exercise even after using up so much energy in the effort.

Since Sanford Bennett's exercises target practically every part of the body, we can imagine that all the chakras (major, minor and micro) are being stimulated within the same short span of time. This could explain why Bennett was able to achieve such amazing results even if the exercises don't follow our regular understanding of how exercise should be done. Fresh prana coursing throughout the body will regenerate every part, even leading to a youthful glow.

If you would like to know more about Sanford Bennett and his books, you may visit this site. The exercises are so simple and easy to do, it's really up to you to try them. It can start you on the road back to good health and rejuvenation.

In this holiday season when there is an abundance of good food and our schedules may be filled to the brim with Christmas parties and family reunions, now may actually be the perfect time to try out Sanford Bennett's exercises. There's nothing to lose and certianly everything to gain.

Change in Magnetic North More Obvious

Earlier this morning, a friend texted asking me to check my compass because his compass was pointing to a different direction of North than before. So my wife and I took out three compasses (why we have so many compasses lying around is another story), put them side by side on the table and confirmed that what used to be North is now NorthWest in the compass. So the new compass North is what used to be NorthEast. I don't know if that type of change is significant as far as science is concerned, but for a layman like me it seems like a significant movement.

The movement of the magnetic north is a fact. In a National Geographic article, it mentions that magnetic north is racing towards Russia at a rate of 55 to 60 kilometers a year (as of 2009). This is much faster than the steady 15 kilometers a year recorded in 1904. The movement of magnetic north sped up in 1989, and yet again in 2007. What all this means is anyone's guess, although there are some theories that it could lead to a pole reversal.

Incidentally, I've also noticed that the movement of the sun has tilted further to the south than before. I know that the sun rises in different spots as the year goes by due to the Earth's wobble, but it seems to have moved more than last year this time around. The back of the house faces straight East and when I meditate I'm facing straight towards the sun, so I notice when the direction of the sun changes. Now the sun is much farther to my right than before, such that the south windows have sunlight streaming through them now. I don't know if this is related to the bigger change in magnetic north.

Changes in the magnetic north have become so significant that early this year, airports in Florida had to renumber the runways to adapt to the new magnetic north. This could also explain why there have been a lot of beachings among whales and dolphins this past year. Migratory animals navigate using the Earth's magnetic field and if this changes, they could be heading towards land when previously that direction led through open water.

In any case, whatever the changes in the magnetic north, it seems one can now detect it through the compass. This will definitely have an effect on outdoor navigation, though I don't know how this will affect the feng shui of some places. Feng shui practitioners often use a compass when determining favorable directions and other energy factors.

Let's see how the next few weeks unfold.

Experiences with the Lunar Eclipse

Last week I wrote about the astrological significance of the December 10 total lunar eclipse. While that day passed without incident, the day after the eclipse (December 11) was certainly interesting for me and a few close friends.

First of all, my friends from our airsoft team were supposed to play airsoft that day, but when we showed up at the site, there were no players present although the site was open. It didn't rain that morning, so it didn't explain why no one was there at a time when there should already have been a few people around. My friends and I just decided to hang out in a nearby mall and eat lunch there before heading home. It was still fun and enjoyable and the food was great, although I was really looking forward to the exercise.

Over lunch, I later learned that a few of our other friends were supposed to join us for airsoft but for one reason or the other couldn't make it. One had something come up with the schedule, another suddenly had to attend to his papers, and another was downed by food poisoning the previous night. If there were more of us we still could have played even within our own team. As it was, we had to think of something else to do.

That morning before I left for the playing site, I also learned that my meditation group wasn't going to push through with our afternoon session because our group facilitator had to drive out of town at the last minute for a special project. In the evening, she related that her own sudden out of town adventure took so many twists and turns and what happened was nothing like what she expected.

Taken all together, there was too much similarity in the circumstances to attribute them to pure coincidence. It was probably the Mercury retrograde that was magnified by the energy of the lunar eclipse. What an interesting way for all of that to manifest.

In any case, even though things didn't go as planned for that day, it didn't really turn out too bad. At least I got to spend some time relaxing with friends I rarely get to see anyway, and I suddenly had time in the afternoon to catch up on rest and a couple of other household projects that were pending.

The lesson for me here is that even if things don't go your way, as long as you go with the flow instead of throwing a fit, things will still fall into place and you can still find yourself having an enjoyable and productive day, albeit one that you didn't plan for. But sometimes, that's just exactly what we need.

The Hidden Power of Symbols

We often take symbols for granted, yet they surround us everyday, full of meaning yet often recondite. For all our conscious ignorance of symbols, they can still grab our attention and imagination once we are aware of them, as the success of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol has shown.

The arcane glyphs and symbols of the ancients have been replaced by the corporate logos and advertising hype of today. Who wouldn't think of a Big Mac every time one sees a McDonald's logo, or almost taste the chicken and gravy upon encountering the KFC sign?

According to Prentiss Tucker, author of the book The Lost Key: An Explanation of Masonic Symbols, one of the functions of a symbol is to instantly communicate a huge amount of information at one glance, but the message only makes sense if the one looking already holds the information in the first place.

As an example, Mr. Tucker cites the symbolism of the American flag. Every child in the United States is schooled about the different meanings of the symbols found in the American flag, the number of stars (50 stars representing the 50 states), the red and white stripes (the 13 red stripes representing the original 13 colonies), and so on. They represent different aspects of the history and identity of the United States, all encapsulated into one set of symbols. This is why an insult to the flag is an insult to the identity and being of the nation that the flag represents.

To every American, one look at the flag immediately recalls the whole history of their country and the accompanying feeling of pride and patriotism that the flag is meant to evoke. But to a foreigner who may not be acquainted with the history of the US or the significance of the symbols in the flag, the US flag would just be another set of colorful images and shapes.

The second function of a symbol lies in its ability to continuously bring up the appropriate message or information in the mind of the one looking at it. This constant repetition imprints the information in the subconscious and therefore reinforces whatever lesson or instruction is inherent in the message of the symbol. The subconscious is a powerful force to harness when schooling oneself in the esoteric arts, therefore every serious esoteric school and student includes mastery of the subconscious as part of their training. It is no wonder that every esoteric tradition the world over is full of symbols.

There is one other aspect about symbols that The Lost Key does not discuss, and it is the fact that symbols often try to communicate what cannot be explained but can only be experienced. Symbols try to form the bridge between the intuitive and the rational mind. This is why in deep meditation, one may sometimes see different shapes and scenes that are symbols for something that their rational minds cannot yet apprehend. Dreams are also a rich playground for symbolism as our subconscious tries to communicate with us.

Given these different functions and abilities of symbols, they constitute powerful tools of learning and development in the esoteric arts. Whoever creates and controls the use of symbols holds great power over people. Therefore, symbols can also be misused to great effect, as the power of advertising has repeatedly shown throughout the decades. Again, refer to my statements about the McDonald's symbol and the KFC logo. But there is one symbol that is so ubiquitous that we hardly notice it at all, yet if different accounts by prominent lightworkers like David Icke are to be believed, it has been one of the most insidious tools being used by the forces that seek to keep humanity in bondage. I am referring to the bar code.

The bar code is everywhere. You see it in price tags, books, pens, food packaging. Literally everywhere. The bar code is the mark of convenience that has allowed the modern world to ship, process, sell and buy large quantities of goods in the most efficient manner possible. No one in the modern world has not encountered the bar code. This is why it's one of the most insidious tools out there. You could position yourself off the grid, but if you have any modern manufactured item, chances are you'll have a bar code nearby.

How can a simple stamped design be so insidious? To understand this, one has to have an idea of how subtle energy works. By subtle energy, I refer to energy that for the most part science cannot detect or measure, such as pranic energy. The way subtle energy works, distance does not matter as long as the intent is there. It's the same principle that works for voodoo dolls. It doesn't matter where in the world the target is, as long as the voodoo doll is "tuned in" to the target, what one does to the voodoo doll will affect the target.

So the bar code in this sense serves as a "homing beacon" for whatever energy or program that the overall controller wants. What program, exactly? There are many theories out there, but none of them include anything good for anyone around the bar code. Examples include affecting the nutrient value of food in packaging marked with bar codes, making the contents of books harder to understand, fuzzing the mind and emotions of people holding items with bar codes in them, making people more susceptible to suggestion, and so on.

If one believes in subtle energy, the above theories can be easily verified. One can try to "scan" the energies emanating from bar codes. If one were clairvoyant, one could simply try to see the types of energies coming out of the bar codes. Or if one had a pendulum, one could put it over the bar code and test what type of energy is coming out of it.

Fortunately, there is a very simple fix for this, and that would be to cross out the bar codes (when possible) off the items marked with them. This includes the packaging on food or the ones in books. A simple black marker pen should do the job. Sometimes simply removing the price sticker is enough, although there are products that are absolutely bristling with bar codes (usually the case with some books). Use the subtle energy tests in the previous paragraph to compare the energy after removing or crossing out the bar codes.

Symbols are not to be underestimated, and there are unscrupulous forces that have been taking advantage of the power of symbols for many years now. Try to educate yourself, and like what a referee tells boxers and fighters before a match starts, "Protect yourself at all times."

Everything is Breath

You can last a few weeks without eating food, a few days without drinking water, but you would only last a few minutes without breathing. So important is breathing that the Indian yogis have a science of breath, which they call pranayama. Other esoteric disciplines would also have their own sets of exercises and practices (e.g. chi kung) to control and master the breath. Esoteric practice would be incomplete without any attention devoted to breathing.

The secret of breathing is not in the air. This is something more than a biochemical process. The way one breathes helps regulate how much prana, or life force, the body absorbs and generates. Prana is the life force energy that permeates all things. Prana is a sanskrit term, but in Chinese they would call it chi, and in Japanese it's called ki. Some western esoteric disciplines call it vital force or vital energy. The more fresh prana that one can absorb and utilize, the healthier one is. This is actually one of the principles of pranic healing, where stale prana is removed so that the healer can project fresh prana into the patient.

Prana is associated with the air element. It's interesting to note that the mind or intelligence is also associated with the air element, given that there is the popular esoteric phrase, "Energy follows your thoughts." Given the relationship between mind and prana (breath), it's easy to see how regulating the breath can help calm the mind. In fact, in pranic healing, patients with anger issues are advised to practice deep abdominal breathing for about 10 cycles when angry so that they can regain control of themselves. Deep abdominal breathing (also called pranic breathing) is often done with a 7-1-7-1 rhythm, meaning one cycle insists of inhaling for 7 counts, holding for 1, exhaling for 7 counts, holding for 1; then repeat the cycle.

More than just the health implications of breathing, I believe that the deeper significance of breathing is related to its cyclical nature. Breathing consists of continuous cycles of inhalation and exhalation, one alternating after the other. I suspect that the ancient sages put so much emphasis on breathing because it was something intrinsic to us, and therefore can easily clue us in on the cyclical nature of everything (incidentally, cycles are the bread and butter of astrology). Why do you think we need to give, in order to receive? It's the secret to prosperity, and it also follows the same rhythm as breathing. You can apply this model to almost anything.

It's easy to think that breathing is solely about inhalation and exhalation, but there is a third factor: the space in-between the breaths. So we encounter the mystical trinity: inhalation, exhalation, and retention (the space between the breaths). This is why in breathing exercises, one should pay attention to the space in-between the breaths, because that is the secret to generating enormous amounts of prana. It is the stillness between the OMs.

It's interesting how cycles are so intertwined with the breath. A baby that just entered life will take its first breath, a dying person will exhale its last breath before transitioning to the other side. Life itself and the state before being born (which is also the state after death) constitutes one big space "between breaths." So life and death itself is one big cycle, alternating one after the other (if you believe in reincarnation, that is).

But the breath is not confined to a person's life. The Hindus say that the existence of the universe constitutes one exhalation of Brahma, and there will come a point in time that Brahma will inhale and everything will return to the state before creation. This simply follows the maxim "As Above, So Below."

So don't take breathing for granted. It's not only the key to better health, it could also be the philosophical key that unlocks the secrets of the universe.

Lunar Eclipse: December 10, 2011

Astrology isn't my forte but according to one of my friends who has an interest in astrology, the coming lunar eclipse on December 10, 2011 should be interesting. The following is an extract of what he told me:

Lunar eclipses are always a full moon and usually mark endings or culmination points. They bring up memories, dreams and emotions so they pack a big punch. Eclipse of the moon will center more on the prominent women in your life (e.g. mother, wife or female boss) although this is not always the case. Events that follow an eclipse have more weight than events brought by a normal new or full moon. An eclipse is like a new or full moon on steroids! Additionally, there is a Mercury retrograde from November 24 to December 14, 2011 so expect delays, confusion and misunderstandings. There is also an ongoing Jupiter retrograde that started in July and will run until December 27, 2011. Almost anything related to prosperity will be affected.

The above should be enough to get your mental gears turning as it pertains to your personal life. However, I'm more interested on what impact such cosmic forces may have on world events. After all, what applies to one person should apply to the bigger grouping of persons called humanity.

What we are seeing, in the days immediately before and following the lunar eclipse, is a confluence of three major astrological events: the lunar eclipse itself, the Mercury retrograde and the Jupiter retrograde. There are probably more cycles and influences that a more expert astrologer would be able to point out, but I think we've covered the basics.

As my friend pointed out, lunar eclipses herald endings, and the confusion brought about by the Mercury retrograde and the Jupiter retrograde will probably magnify such an influence. With the ongoing Euro crisis, such astrological events could possibly scuttle any efforts at reaching a solution. There are even some sources that warn that if the Euro falls, the US dollar will soon follow. If there is any "ending" that a lunar eclipse could influence, it could very well be that of the current financial system. At the very least, professional astrologers say that lunar eclipses generally don't bode well for financial markets.

The current tensions with Iran is a another situation that is vulnerable to the influence of the lunar eclipse and double retrogrades. Aside from the recent attack on the British embassy in Tehran and the subsequent expulsion of Iranian diplomats in Britain, it seems a secret war is already being waged in Iran, right under our very noses. Such maneuverings, no less deadly despite the clandestine nature of such actions, can easily spiral out of control into open warfare. If it does, that can only contribute further to global financial woes because the price of oil will definitely be affected.

According to one astrological article I've read, the effects of a lunar eclipse will last for a duration of one month for every hour of the eclipse, up to 6 months. I think the coming December 10 lunar eclipse will last for 6 hours, and if so, the next half-year could witness a host of interesting events.

But again, astrology isn't my forte so I'm not taking any bets about what may happen next. It still wouldn't hurt to be on the alert, though.

Mercury Amalgams and Consciousness

Mercury is the most toxic non-radioactive metal known to man. It is more toxic than lead, cadmium or arsenic. One then wonders how such a toxic substance has found its way into something as ubiquitous as dental fillings. If you want a detailed list about the known toxic effects of mercury amalgams, you can visit this site.

One look at the list of toxic effects should make one thing clear: there are no "safe" levels of mercury exposure. That alone should be enough motivation in order to have any remaining mercury amalgams removed. I myself just had all my mercury fillings removed a few weeks ago, although my journey towards that point wasn't easy.

I must admit that the state of my teeth is a product of bad diet choices that started when I was a kid. An overindulgence of sweets not only added to my weight but also earned me regular trips to the dentist over the years. Having my cavities filled in with amalgams, what we colloquially call "pasta," formed a large part of my "dental regimen" that time.

A few years ago, one of my pranic healing friends already mentioned that I should have my mercury fillings removed. But because of cost considerations, plus the associated trauma of all those visits to the dentist, delayed that decision for me. However, after reading more and more articles about the damaging effects of mercury fillings, I figured that I might as well get it over with. Plus, one of my other pranic healing friends was able to recommend a dentist who removed mercury amalgams for a very reasonable fee.

I've been observing the effects of having those mercury fillings removed and one thing that stands out is that I'm now more sensitive to my energy. It's easier to achieve a state of stillness in meditation, and the overall experience is different. I decided to observe myself for a few weeks just to make sure my experiences were not just from the full moon energy (I had the fillings removed a day after the full moon).

When one of my friends had her mercury fillings removed, she said that it was like a switch was thrown and she suddenly became more conscious. That's when she started her research about the Illuminati, David Icke and other topics that I've also picked up on. I now understand what she meant. It felt like this was how meditation is supposed to be experienced.

Based on this, it seems mercury really does affect consciousness on a certain level. Let's take stock of the other bad stuff that we're surrounded with right now such as fluoride in toothpaste and water, cellphone radiation and high fructose corn syrup. All of these have effects on the different glands, and these glands are the physical counterparts of the major chakras. The chakras are also the centers of consciousness. If these different glands malfunction, then it follows that this would have a similar detrimental effect on consciousness, and for those substances that affect the pituitary and pineal glands, it would affect higher (spiritual) consciousness.

We have all sorts of processed food (even mental food) that makes us sick and a medical system that more often than not keeps us sick, with an advertising machinery that's meant to keep us within this established cycle. This really bolsters the notion that there is an organized effort to keep humanity on a lower consciousness level.

But even if you don't buy into the conspiracy theories, there is already enough medical and scientific evidence about the negative effects of the substances I mentioned above. If not for your spiritual consciousness, at least do something for your physical health. As I found out, one leads to the other anyway.