A Guide for Living....or Quick Tips for Personal Development...

I really have to thank my friend LG for this post..she posted it on her blog a few days ago..and I loved it so much, I had to put it here..the more people who read it, the better..I know it woke me up and continues to each time I do..which is Quite Often~

Quick Tips for Personal Development ~ By Chononita Fabian Piorkowsky
1. Just as you can’t develop your muscles just by reading about exercise, you can’t develop your consciousness just by reading about esoterics or spirituality.
2. Unless you change your internal life, your external life will never really change.
3. What you assimilate into your mind affects your mental and emotional well-being in much the same way as your diet affects your physical well-being
.4. Trust life and have faith that it will provide you the experiences you require for your continued evolution.
5. Accept the fact that there are no accidents and everything happens for a reason.
6. Learn to trust yourself, your instincts, your intuition and your inspiration.
7. Don’t hold on to the past or worry about the future - just live one day at a time.
8. By helping yourself you help no one, but by helping others you also help yourself.
9. Those who live in accordance with the laws of life are better than those who preach them.
10. Try to notice every motive and desire that passes through your consciousness. Give conscious energy to those of a high order and discard those of a low order.
11. You won’t find peace and happiness by looking outside of yourself.
12. Try to contact your higher self for a few minutes every day and imagine how it might direct your life.
13. Remember that you are not your body, your emotions or your mind - they are separate beings and you (the ensouling monad) are their master. If they are well trained they will serve you well, otherwise they will run wild.
14. Learn to distinguish between your wants and your body’s wants.
15. Free yourself from addictions, e.g. alcohol, drugs, coffee, sugar, tobacco, sex. You can still enjoy them from time to time; just don’t let them become habitual.
16. Make little sacrifices to help develop your will-power. For example, give up chocolate or alcohol for a month.
17. Be true to yourself and never pretend to be anything you are not. If people don’t accept you for who you are, you don’t need them in your life.
18. Don’t be too critical because any fault you see in others probably also afflicts you.
19. Be unconcerned about other people’s opinions. You are free to form your opinions and they are free to form theirs.
20. Whether people like you or not is their business not yours, so don’t take it personally.
21. Forgive everyone and everything - you can’t change the past so there is no point being bitter. It hurts you far more that it hurts them; so why torture yourself?
22. Give up the need to win and the need to be right.
23. Don’t interfere in other people’s affairs, but always be willing to help if you are asked.
24. Don’t pass on hearsay or gossip - break that cycle of vindictive negativity.
25. Don’t be offended by anything because it is all part of the divine plan.
26. Calmly accept whatever life deals you - you probably can’t do much about it so there is no point getting angry or depressed.
27. Remain optimistic - if times are tough be thankful they are not worse and be grateful that you are working off some of your karmic debt.
28. The only evil that can befall you is of our own making. Rather than fearing what you are due it is better to welcome it, because at least you will have re-paid part of your karmic debt.
29. Don’t blame other people for your misfortunes because you alone are responsible for your life. The one’s you blame are merely instruments who helped to manifest your karma and destiny.
30. Accept people for who they are - their behavior merely reflects with their level of development.
31. Make allowances for other people failings rather than judging and condemning them.
32. Try not to judge people who are at a lower stage of development because you were once just like them.
33. See the good in everyone, no matter how bad they may appear.
34. Be happy and think happy thoughts - if you don’t identify with negative emotions they can have no hold over you and will quickly pass.
35. Love unconditionally - treat everyone as you would like them to treat you, and try to treat everyone the same whether you like them or not.
36. Be willing to make sacrifices and put the needs of others before your own.
37. Do your best and you will always succeed, even if the world considers it a failure.
38. Be unconcerned about failure - there is no such thing as failure, only opportunities to learn lessons.
39. Don’t regret anything - the cyclic nature of life means there will always be another opportunity.
40. It takes time for noticeable improvements to manifest in your life, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t seem to be making much progress.
41. Forget about your self and how far you have come.
42. Thinking highly of your self is a clear sign that you still have a long way to go.
43. Don’t take yourself too seriously because life is just an educational game.
44. Maintain an inner awareness to ascertain your motives before you speak or act.
45. Remember that the solution to all your problems lies within you.
46. Recognize that all your troubles are caused by uncontrolled emotions. Emotionality feeds a conflict but rationality brings resolution.
47. Be honest, upright, dependable and sincere, with no hidden agendas.
48. Be impartial in every decision you make, irrespective of any advantage you may gain or disadvantage you may incur.
49. Always set a good example to other people.
50. Stand up for freedom and fight for your rights.
51. Stand firm in matters of great importance but yield in matters of no importance, and remember that most things in life are unimportant.
52. If you let go a little you will have a little peace, if you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace, if you let go completely you will have complete peace.
53. Don’t conform to customs and arbitrary rules - they stifle freedom and expression.
54. Don’t succumb to advertising - it is nothing but mental and emotional manipulation.
55. Ignore public opinion - investigate things for your self and make up your own mind.
56. Study esoterics and apply it in order to develop wisdom, but don’t read too much too quickly because you will dilute what you already know.
57. Read slowly so that you have time to fully absorb the information, contemplate it to develop your understanding then apply it in your daily life.
58. Remain open minded but not gullible.
59. Be generous and charitable - can you really justify another spending spree when there are so many poverty-stricken people in the world?
60. You get what you give, not what you take.
61. Don’t want more than you need.
62. Too many possessions are a burden, so give away anything you don’t need.
63. Don’t envy other people’s wealth because it is better to have a reasonable standard of living in all your incarnations rather than one decadent life followed by ten poverty stricken lives.
64. Wealth, power and fame only give you an advantage in one lifetime; a developed consciousness gives you an advantage in every lifetime.
65. Be kind to everyone, without exception.
66. Stop harming other people with negative words, feelings and thoughts.
67. Do right for the sake of right, not for recognition or reward.
68. Don’t just refrain from doing evil; actively do good.
69. Do what you can (no matter how small) to make the world a better place.
70. Remember why you are here!

It's just the way it is...Perfectly Perfect

Have you ever wanted something so badly, so badly that you could NOT even imagine not having it the way YOU wanted it to be?

Sort of like, if it didn't turn out just how YOU wanted it to turn out..that you would almost react in such a way as if you were 2 years old again. You know what I mean, the stomping of the feet, the fists flying in the air and the utter Outrage that 2 year olds just seem to have instinctively?

Well, things did Not turn out how I imagined they would be..or should I say, One Thing.

But you know how sometimes even when they don't turn out the way you Imagined they should, everything is perfect just how it turned out? Even if you don't see it that way instantly..if you sit and Really look at the situation and how it is now...

It turned out just as it was supposed to have been all along...

Perfectly. Perfect!

May 18, 2009

Guruji passed away today at 2:30pm (Indian Standard Time).

Forever in our hearts .

His spirit and guidance will forever be ingrained in my thoughts and in my practice...and I am so blessed to have met him and to have learned this Ashtanga Practice. It is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received in my life.

Thank You Guruji..Godspeed my friend.

Operation Shanti!

If you have been reading my blog for any length of time now..or know me personally, then you know how much the organization called Operation Shanti means to me..
They are one of the reasons I continue to return to India over and over and over again, year after year. I have attached a link to their May newsletter and I hope you can all take a few moments out of your day to read it...
it may just Inspire you to do something Great that will pay You back in ways that you could not even imagine!
Shanti my friends~
http://www.operation-shanti.org/pages/enews_may09.html

Enlighten Up! Two HUGE thumbs up!

Could it be that I was anticipating this movie for so long..that I just KNEW I was going to love it?

Was it the Yoga part, or was it the India part that made me cry?

Was it seeing my friend Saskia in the front row where she always practices at the shala in Mysore.. seeing our Guruju so strong leading Mysore class...or the street vendor and flower seller that I see and know so well when I am there...

it could possibly even have been the great shot of our Beloved Beck, the coconut man who we lost earlier this year...

Whatever it was that touched my soul to the depth of my being this afternoon, sitting in the Rafael Theater on 4th street in my also beloved Marin County while watching "Enlighten Up" was just so perfect and beautiful, that I can honestly say with all of my heart that Kate did an Amazing job on this film and you MUST not miss it when it hits a Theater near you....

I promise, you will thank me for the recommendation..

Shanti~