So what exactly IS spiritual enlightenment anyway?

Simply put, spiritual enlightenment is a concept mostly associated with Buddhism and Hinduism, but it also has unrecognized connections into most other religions as well. Enlightenment implies complete understanding of life and the universe, which usually is accompanied by a detachment of all things impermanent and a complete awareness of everything that is, at the moment that it is. The spiritual belief purports that non-enlightened life is full of suffering produced by desire and other emotions that attach the mind to worldly things; suffering is the inevitable result of attachment to these necessarily transitory things. A person thus becomes enlightened when they remain in the world yet becomes free of attachment to it. Enlightenment is considered the end of a beings spiritual journey, be it within one life or across many.

In Buddhism, enlightenment is called nirvana. Nirvana is believed to be a state of peace and unity with the cosmos. Different forms of Buddhism teach different techniques for achieving nirvana. Orthodox Buddhists, for example, try to directly follow Buddhas teachings: in particular, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Others, such as Zen Buddhists, may use challenging mental exercises, such as koans, which are solutionless riddles designed to jerk ones mind out of conscious thought into enlightenment. Most forms of Buddhism also use regular meditation as a central element of the path to spiritual enlightenment.

Hinduism also uses the concept of nirvana, called moksha, considering it a representation of freedom from desire and other worldly passions. Spiritual enlightenment is also part of the conclusion to the Hindu cycle of reincarnation. In this belief, souls enter many different bodies through the course of their existence. In each of the lives they lead, they develop spiritually. The ultimate goal of this spiritual development is moksha, a liberation from the system of earthly suffering, which includes the idea of spiritual enlightenment.

Christians who have passed through the portal of enlightenment have historically been deemed by the church to be mystics; one who through direct communication with God commands a mystical understanding of God and all things spiritual; one who has a mystical understanding beyond those who have spent a lifetime in religious study and servitude to God. But the two other major Abrahamic religions of Judaism and Islam have enlightened congregants as well. In fact, both religions have subset sects who focus on the attainment of enlightenment as their primary goal. Judaism has Kabballah. In Islam, the Sufis chase the mystical experience. It is because of this non-denominational foundation that enlightenment is generally considered a mystical concept. That is, it contains the promise of a spiritual clarity lying beyond description by words and attainment by action, regardless of religion. For example, one cannot become enlightened by reading, even if one can recite the words of every religious sage. Enlightenment is a potentially universal experience, but each being comes to it through a unique path. Teachers may provide assistance and provocation along the way, but they cannot impose enlightenment on their pupils; one becomes enlightened alone.

The concept of spiritual enlightenment in Buddhism and Hinduism is related to but distinct from ideas such as salvation and transcendence associated with Christianity. Whereas most versions of Christianity emphasize love of Jesus Christ as a prerequisite to spiritual completeness, enlightenment usually implies liberation from teachers and doctrineone famous Zen koan suggests: If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him! Enlightenment also does not involve the existence of a heaven distinct from earth, although it is also noted that even Jesus mentioned there may not be a separation of the two in the Gospel of Thomas and other Gnostic gospels. It places more emphasis on a transformation of the souls relationship to the world of objects. The enlightened being continues a corporeal existence after having gained awareness of the illusory nature of reality. There is no separate space to which one ascends.

As a person who has passed through the portal of enlightenment, I can say that there is a huge difference between simply deciding to reject worldly suffering and attachments trying intentionally to be enlightened compared to actually passing through the experience of spiritual awakening that is most commonly called enlightenment. There is an actual experience where you tap into the universal intelligence and energy that transcends our own lives and individual existences. It grants spiritual knowledge, wisdom, and ultimately inner peace. It grants immediate universal understanding of God, the Universe, the meaning of your own existence. Most importantly, it answers the question why.

To answer the question of HOW one achieves enlightenment. the answer is to simply stop all conscious thought in your mind, while listening for God. I say the word simply very tongue in cheek, because frankly, it is not a simple task to accomplish at all. But it is the process of stopping conscious thought that allows for the process of enlightenment to occur. You must cease the voice in your head to hear the voice that comes without sound. You must stop thinking about today, tomorrow, yesterday, what youre going to watch on TV, that youre hungry right now, or thirsty, or that theres a dog barking, or that you thought this answer to this question was too ambiguous, or too simple to be plausible. Stop all thoughts of color, of noise, of the fact that youre trying to clear the thoughts in your head. It is only when you silence the sights and sounds within your mind that you will see and hear what exists just beyond your minds grasp. The Energy, the Intelligence, God.

Let me clarify further:

Numerous people globally have found enlightenment in many various ways throughout history many spontaneously without even searching for the phenomenon. But the one common denominator that has not been noticed (until recently) is that every instance of enlightenment almost always come from a place where the mind has been stilled within the person who has experienced it.

Numerous methods have been the catalyst for the engagement of the enlightenment experience. Meditation, Yoga, Contemplative Prayer, Martial Arts Katas, Pilgrimages, Fasting, Dancing, Quaking/Shaking (ref: Quaker and Shaker religions), Exhaustion, Sweat Lodges, Psychadelics (Psilocybin Mushrooms, Peyote, LSD, DMT), Deep Emotional Despair, Near Death Experiences, etc. And in all of these, and all of the others not mentioned, there comes a point when the conscious mind is silenced.

In meditation, the point of the exercise itself is to silence the mind. In Yoga, you focus on the movements and the breathing, which quiets the mind down to thinking about just a couple things (close to a point of thinking of nothing). In contemplative prayer (Google it), you silence yourself, and listen for God. Through martial arts katas, you learn them so well, you dont have to think about them (reducing conscious thought). In fasting, you deprive your body of nourishment that helps the brain function at a higher level, which clears your mind. Through exhaustion or sweat lodges, you physically stress your mind into shutting down (not recommended). The same is true with the drug induced experiences they inhibit your brains ability to operate normally, ceasing conscious thought (however they also inhibit your ability to process and understand the experience when it actually happens not a preferred method). The latest studies on psilocybin that include live fMRI and PET scans prove this is more than just theory. Some people have found enlightenment through experiencing depression or deep emotional despair where their mind is so filled with pain, that it snuffs out other conscious thought. Near death of course narrows brain and thought activity. All these have been common catalysts for people attaining enlightenment.

So whatever path you choose, choose one that ceases your minds activity, and God will then touch you directly, and it is then that you will understand everything there is to know. And you will know it when enlightenment happens, because it will change your life forever. If you think youve had a universal-type everything is one experience previously, but arent sure if you experienced enlightenment, you have NOT passed through the enlightenment portal. You have experienced what is called an awakening, which is a less dramatic and less profound experience, but one that gives you a peek into the secrets of divinity and the truth about God and all existence.

In comparison to having an awakening experience, to attain a full enlightenment experience you must clear your mind of all conscious thought, reach out and LISTEN for God without thinking ANYTHING. Then if youre lucky, and can maintain a TOTAL thought void, God will touch you with a drinking-from-a-fire-hydrant experience of pure love, pure spirit, pure intelligence and pure knowledge that you will never, ever forget. And then you will know everything there is to know.

Where do people find enlightened teachers? The most popular answer to that question is India. There are tons of Gurus there. But there are also many false Gurus who believe they know the path but dont, or who know they dont know the path and who are intentionally pulling the wool over your eyes for monetary gain. Outside India, more and more of us human beings are becoming enlightened, and some of us are selecting the path to become spiritual guides. In our communication age, you should be able to find an enlightened teacher whom you can connect with intellectually rather easily without leaving your desk.

For instance my free video podcast series answers many questions like these and the others connected to the topic of enlightenment (IAMSpirituality.com). Ive tried to make it a no-BS format that speaks plain answers without the typical enigmatic riddles that spiritual guides usually use.

So how do you know when someone is enlightened? Tough one. But I think you will know it when you hear it. But as a warning, you will NOT know how to identify the unenlightened until you hear the messages from one whom is truly enlightened, so I suggest listening to people who are widely accepted as enlightened, such as the Dalai Lama, Gandhi, Eckhart Tolle, and to a lesser extent, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, etc. There are also some very good Indian Gurus on YouTube now. Keep searching until you find someone you can connect with whos approach keeps you interested.

Stay away from anyone who wants to charge you money for spiritual assistance. I like to keep all my stuff free, except where there are production costs (like with apps, books, etc.). We may accept donations for bandwidth, but beyond that, information on how to connect with God directly to get your own answer (I think) should be free whenever possible.

Ill stop here in the hopes that this article helps answer a few questions about spiritual enlightenment if you had any.

As always, Peace and Love to you.

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What is Spiritual Enlightenment? - Home - I AM ...

Below are nearly 100 stories of spiritual enlightenment. please look past any religious overtones and appreciate the spiritual meaning of each story.

Story #1A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly,I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it?

The teachers reply was casual,Ten years.

Impatiently, the student answered,But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice every day, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?

The teacher thought for a moment,20 years.Story #2Two traveling Zen monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.

As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out.Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!

Brother, the second monk replied,I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her.

Story #3When the Zen spiritual teacher and his disciples began their evening meditation, the cat who lived in the monastery made such noise that it distracted them. So the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening practice. Years later, when the teacher died, the cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the monastery and tied up.

Centuries later, learned descendants of the spiritual teacher wrote scholarly treatises about the religious significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice.

Story #4A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison. That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed. Then the words of his Zen master came to him,Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.

Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep.

Story #5During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would quickly sweep into a town and take control. In one particular village, everyone fled just before the army arrived everyone except the Zen master.

Curious about this old fellow, the general went to the temple to see for himself what kind of man this master was. When he wasnt treated with the deference and submissiveness to which he was accustomed, the general burst into anger.

You fool, he shouted as he reached for his sword,Dont you realize you are standing before a man who could run you through without blinking an eye!

But despite the threat, the master seemed unmoved.

And do you realize, the master replied calmly, that you are standing before a man who can be run through without blinking an eye?Story #6Four Zen monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks. By nightfall on the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out.

The first monk said, Oh, no! The candle is out.

The second monk said, Arent we not suppose to talk?

The third monk said, Why must you two break the silence?

The fourth monk laughed and said, Ha! Im the only one who didnt speak.

Story #7A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughters accusation, he simply replied Is that so?

When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. Is that so? Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.

For many months he took very good care of the child until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby.

With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. Is that so? Hakuin said as he handed them the child.

Story #8A student went to his meditation teacher and said, My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or Im constantly falling asleep. Its just horrible!

It will pass, the teacher said matter-of-factly. A week later, the student came back to his teacher.

My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! Its just wonderful!

It will pass, the teacher replied matter-of-factly.

Story #9A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him.

You have come a long way to visit me, he told the prowler, and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.

The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away. The Master sat naked, watching the moon.

Poor fellow, he mused, I wish I could give him this beautiful moon.

Story #10A disciple who loved and admired his Zen teacher decided to observe his behavior minutely, believing that if he did everything that his teacher did, then he would also acquire his teachers wisdom. The teacher always wore white, and so his disciple did the same. The teacher was a vegetarian, and so his disciple stopped eating meat and replaced it with a diet of vegetables and herbs. The teacher was an austere man, and so the disciple decided to devote himself to self-sacrifice and started sleeping on a straw mattress.After some time, the teacher noticed these changes in his disciples behavior and asked him why.

I am climbing the steps of initiation, came the reply.

The white of my clothes shows the simplicity of my search, the vegetarian food purifies my body, and the lack of comfort makes me think only of spiritual things.

Smiling, the teacher took him to a field where a horse was grazing.

You have spent all this time looking outside yourself, which is what matters least, he said. Do you see that creature there? He has white skin, eats only grass and sleeps in a stable on a straw bed. Do you think he has the face of a saint or will one day become a real teacher?.

Story #11A famous Zen spiritual teacher came to the front door of the Kings palace. None of the guards tried to stop him as he entered and made his way to where the King himself was sitting on his throne.

What do you want? asked the King, immediately recognizing the visitor.

I would like a place to sleep in this inn, replied the teacher.

But this is not an inn, said the King, It is my palace.

May I ask who owned this palace before you?

My father. He is dead.

And who owned it before him?

My grandfather. He too is dead.

And this place where people live for a short time and then move on did I hear you say that it is NOT an inn?

Story #12There once lived a great warrior well versed in Zen. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study under him. One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the first move, thus revealing a weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning speed. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move. Much against the advice of his concerned students, the old master gladly accepted the young warriors challenge. As the two squared off for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He threw dirt and spit in his face. For hours he verbally assaulted him with every curse and insult known to mankind. But the old warrior merely stood there motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior exhausted himself. Knowing he was defeated, he left feeling shamed.

Somewhat disappointed that he did not fight the insolent youth, the students gathered around the old master and questioned him.

How could you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?

If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it, the master replied, to whom does the gift belong?

Story #13Two people are lost in the desert. They are dying from hunger and thirst. Finally, they come to a high wall. On the other side they can hear the sound of a waterfall and birds singing. Above, they can see the branches of a lush tree extending over the top of the wall. Its fruit look delicious. One of them manages to climb over the wall and disappears down the other side. The other, instead, returns to the desert to help other lost travelers find their way to the oasis.

Story #14Once there was a well known philosopher and scholar who devoted himself to the study of Zen for many years. On the day that he finally attained enlightenment, he took all of his books out into the yard, and burned them all.Story #15One disciple is bragging about his master to the disciple of another master. He claims that his teacher is capable of all sorts of magical acts, like writing in the air with a brush, and having the characters appear on a piece of paper hundreds of feet away.

And what can YOUR master do? he asks the other disciple.

My master can also perform amazing feats, the other student replies. When hes tired, he sleeps. When hungry, he eats.

Story #16A novice once went to Abbot Macario to ask his advice on how best to please the Lord. Go to the cemetery and insult the dead, said Macario.

The brother did as he was told. The following day, he went back to Macario. Did they respond? asked the Abbot.

No, said the novice.

Then go and praise them instead.

The novice obeyed. That same afternoon, he went back to the Abbot, who again asked if the dead had responded.

No, they didnt, said the novice.

In order to please the Lord, do exactly as they did, Macario told him.

Take no notice of mens scorn or of their praise; in that way, you will be able to build your own path.

Story #17A rabbi spent his whole life teaching that all the answers to our questions are in ourselves, but his congregation insisted on consulting him about everything they did.

One day, the rabbi had an idea. He placed a notice on the door of his house, saying: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 100 MOEDAS PER ANSWER.

A shopkeeper decided to pay the one hundred moedas. He gave the rabbi the money and said: Dont you think thats rather a lot to charge for a question?

Yes, I do, said the rabbi. And I have just answered your question. If you want to know anything else, youll have to pay another one hundred moedas, or else look for the answer inside yourself, which is far cheaper and much more efficient.

From then on, no one bothered him.

Story #18A young man said to the abbot of a monastery: I would really like to become a monk, but I have learned nothing of importance in my life. My father only taught me how to play chess, and that does not lead to enlightenment. And besides, I was told that all games are sinful.

They can be sinful, but they can also be a diversion, and perhaps this monastery needs a little of both, came the reply.

The abbot called for a chessboard and summoned a monk to play with the young man. However, before the game began, he added:We may need diversion, but we cannot have everyone playing chess all the time. We will have only the best players here. If our monk loses, he will leave the monastery, thus creating an opening for you.

The abbot was deadly serious. The young man played an aggressive game, but then he noticed the saintly look in the monks eyes, and from then on, he began to play deliberately badly. He decided that he would rather lose because he felt that the monk could prove far more useful to the world than him.

Suddenly, the abbot overturned the chessboard onto the floor. You learned far more than you were taught, he said.You have the powers of concentration necessary to win and you are capable of fighting for what you want, but you also have compassion and the ability to sacrifice yourself for a noble cause. You have shown yourself capable of balancing discipline and mercy; welcome to our monastery!

Story #19A certain rabbi was adored by everyone in his community, who were all enchanted with everything he said. Apart from Isaac, that is, who never missed an opportunity to contradict the rabbis interpretations and point out errors in his teaching. The others were disgusted by Isaacs behaviour, but could do nothing about it.

One day, Isaac died. During the funeral, the community noticed that the rabbi was looking very sad. Why so sad? asked someone. He found fault with everything you did!

Im not sad for my friend, who is now in heaven, replied the rabbi. I am sad for myself. While you all revered me, he challenged me, and so I was forced to improve. Now that hes gone, Im afraid I might stop growing.Story #20An emperor said to the Rabbi Yeoschoua ben Hanania: I would very much like to see your God.

That is impossible said the Rabbi.

Impossible? Then how can I entrust my life to someone whom I cannot see?

Show me the pocket in which you have placed the love of your wife, and let me weigh it in order to see how large her love is.Dont be silly; no one can keep someones love in their pocket.

The sun is only one of the works which the Lord placed in the universe and yet you cannot look at it directly. You cannot see love either, but you know you are capable of falling in love with a woman and entrusting your life to her. Is it not clear then that there are certain things in which we trust even though we cannot see them?;

Story #21When the great Rabbi Yitzhak Meir was studying the traditions of his people, one of his friends said to him jokingly: Ill give you a florin if you can tell me where God lives.

Ill give you two florins if you can tell me where he doesnt live, replied Meir.

Story #22One of the monks of Sceta said to Abbot Mateus: My tongue is always causing me problems. When I am amongst the faithful, I just cant control myself and I end up condemning their wrong actions.

The old abbot said to the distraught monk: If you really dont think you are capable of controlling yourself, then leave teaching and go back to the desert. But dont delude yourself: choosing solitude as an escape from a problem is always a proof of weakness.

What should I do then?Admit that you have some faults in order to avoid any pernicious feelings of superiority. And do your best to get things right when you can.

Story #23An orthodox Jew approached Rabbi Wolf and said: The bars are full to bursting and the people sit there into the small hours enjoying themselves!

The Rabbi said nothing.

The bars are full to bursting, people spend all night playing cards, and you say nothing?

Its a good thing that the bars are full, said Wolf. Everyone, since the beginning of Creation, has always wanted to serve God. The problem is that not everyone knows the best way to do so. Try to think of what you judge to be a sin as a virtue. These people who spend the night awake are learning alertness and persistence. When they have perfected these qualities, then all they will have to do is turn their eyes to God. And what excellent servants they will make!

Youre obviously an optimist, said the man.

It has nothing to do with optimism, replied Wolf. It is merely a matter of understanding that whatever we do, however absurd it might seem, can lead us to the Path. Its all just a question of time.Story #24An American tourist went to Cairo to visit the famous Polish rabbi Hafez Ayim. The tourist was surprised to see that the rabbi lived in a simple, book-lined room, in which the only pieces of furniture were a table and a bench.

Rabbi, wheres all your furniture? asked the tourist.

Why, wheres yours? retorted Hafez.

Mine? But Im just passing through.

So am I, said the rabbi.Story #25A believer approached Rabbi Moche of Kobryn and asked: How should I best use my days so that God will be contented with my actions?

There is only one possible option: to live with love, replied the Rabbi.

Minutes later, another follower approached him and asked the same question.

There is only one possible option: try to live with joy.

The first follower was taken aback. But the advice you gave me was different!

Not at all, said the rabbi. It was exactly the same.

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97 Spiritual Enlightenment Stories - In5D Esoteric ...

Revealed more than 2,000 years ago, the Zohar is a spiritual text, originally written in Aramaic. The Zohar is credited to kabbalist Rav Shimon bar Yochai and was revealed to him during the 13 years that Rav Shimon spent hiding from Roman Emperor Hadrian in a cave in Pekiin, Israel. Rav Shimons writings remained hidden in manuscript form and were taught only to a select few until it was first printed in 1558. Around this time, the Zohar was discovered by Rav Isaac Luria, who through his teachings and writings decoded the ancient text. In 1945, Rav Yehuda Ashlag, the founder of the Kabbalah Centre, translated the ancient Aramaic text into modern Hebrew so that even more people could benefit from its wisdom, and in 2001, Kabbalalist and Kabbalah Centre co-director Michael Berg published the first ever unabridged 23-volume English translation. Today the Kabbalah Centre is translating the Zohar into many languages and has made this ancient text available to the world in hardcover and now digitally as well.

"Life without the Zohar is like driving at night without headlights." Rav Berg

The Zohar explains the secrets of the Bible, the Universe and every aspect of life. On a physical level, the Zohar is a set of twenty-three books, a commentary on biblical and spiritual matters in the form of conversations among spiritual masters. It is a voluminous guidebook to the lost divine nature of our souls and a compendium of virtually all information pertaining to the universe information that science is only beginning to verify today. Its vast and comprehensive commentary on biblical matters has captivated spiritual and intellectual giants for over two millennia.

But its codes, its metaphors and its cryptic language are not given to us purely for understanding. They are designed as channels for energy. Like all holy books, the Zohar is a text that not only expresses spiritual energy, it embodies it. To merely pick up the Zohar, to scan its Aramaic letters and allow in the energy that infuses them, is to experience what kabbalists have experienced for thousands of years: a powerful energy-giving instrument, a life-saving tool imbued with the ability to bring peace, protection, healing and fulfillment to those who possess it.

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Bismillahir Rahmanir RahimIn the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

SalmanSpiritual.Com :: Towards the Inner Vision of the Truth

Welcome to SalmanSpiritual.com. We are please to announce the launch of the Higher Spiritual Enlightenment Posts project. The Project started with jolt of aspiration and inspiration came on New Year's eve which led to the commitment of making 2017The Year for Higher Spiritual Enlightenment through the publication of Candle Post #138. My prayer for the Enlightenment Posts project is summarized below:

Let us pray to Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam to bless all of us with drops of Light into our spiritual hearts. The spiritual heart in each person is the representative of the soul, thus these luminous drops will start to illuminate and purify the ego, the vital, the mind and the body. The precise process is to usher Light into each cell of one's body through intense dhikr. This is the proven mechanism to eliminate all types of darknesses in our own personal world. This purification process will bring greater peace, light, delight and awareness within ourselves and will increase our aspiration to reach our own spiritual and luminous potential in the field of Higher Spiritual Enlightenment.

The Diamond Jubilee of Noor Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini Hazar Imam (a.s.) has inspired me to write posts on the topic of Higher Spiritual Enlightenment. This project was started on January 9, 2017 to increase our knowledge and enhance our yearning through Dhikr and Angelic Salwat. The web page and PDF links to the 7 latest posts for this project are shown below. All posts can be accessed through the Table of Contents section on the index page of Higher Spiritual Enlightenment Posts project.

Please share information about the Higher Spiritual Enlightenment project with family and friends! May Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam bless you for this seva and may he fill your spiritual heart with his NOOR and nothing else! Ameen.

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SalmanSpiritual.Com :: Focus & Contents

New Dhikrs/Tasbis

Download mp3 audio track titled 'Noore Karim, Ya Majma al-Nurayn' from audio.salmanspiritual.com. In this mp3 track, Noore Karim, Ya Majma al-Nurayn is recited 40 times. Click here to see the explanation of this dhikr.

Download mp3 audio track titled 'Noore Karim Plus 21 Tasbis' from audio.salmanspiritual.com. Download PDF or click here to see the lyrics and explanation of the dhikr, and how to spread the benefit of this dhikr.

The Candle PostsA Vital ResourceIn his Irshad on July 11, 2007 and his firman of December 13, 2008, Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam has put the onus on us to search for higher spiritual enlightenment under his supervision and then use this spiritual enlightenment as a continuous internal guide in our daily lives. This calling from our beloved Holy Imam needs tremendous effort. Therefore, I have made a very humble niyat to send motivational gems for higher spiritual enlightenment in the form of candle posts. Click here to see the candle postings index page for Volumes 1-4.

New Candle Posts

Candle Post #138 :: 2017 The Year for Higher Spiritual EnlightenmentThe Diamond Jubilee of Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam has inspired me to make 2017 the Year of Higher Spiritual Enlightenment. Let us pray to Noor Mowlana Hazar Imam to bless all of us with drops of Light into our spiritual hearts. The spiritual heart in each person is the representative of the soul, thus these luminous drops will start to illuminate and purify the ego, the vital, the mind and the body. Read more...

Candle Post #137 :: Hazrat Bibi Fatimat-az-Zahra (a.s.), Majma al-NuraynThis candle post is about a new title, majma al-nurayn (The confluence of two lights), of Hazrat Bibi Fatimat-az-Zahra, Khatun-i-Jannat ('Alayhi-s-salam). She is also the 'mother of Imamate'. Read more...

Candle Posts PDF ArchiveThe PDF versions of Candle Posts 115 to 138 are now available on a separate page. Read more...

Holy Quran ResourcesSalmanSpiritual.com is pleased to bring to you searchable versions of Yusufali's and Pickthall's translations of the Holy Quran. In addition to this, hyperlinks are provided to Quran Explorer, which is like an electronic Quran complete with meanings & with sound. Arabic text and English transliteration & translation of the Holy Qur'an are also available on SalmanSpiritual.com. The original source of these materials is at http://www.sacred-texts.com. Click here to explore these resources.

Resources for Holy Ramadan & Idd-ul FitrIn order to be spiritually and esoterically engaged in the month of Holy Ramadan, a number of resources have been created over the past four years. Click here to see and download these resources.

Foundation of Faith :: Curriculum for Spiritual EnlightenmentThese resources provide foundational knowledge on key aspects of our faith and are arranged in a sequential manner. The knowlege base addresses the requirements of being an active Ismaili who is searching for higher spiritual enlightenment under the supervision and guidance of NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini (a.s.). Precious gems have been compilied from our literature which spans over a period of 1400 years. Click here to see and download these resources.

Higher Spiritual Enlightenment :: Educational ResourcesOver the past 10 years, especially over the extended Golden Jubilee year, a massive effort was expended to develop the concept of a Golden Noorani Didar in the forehead of a seeker of higher spiritual enlightenment. In addition to this, the concept of a spiritual and a luminous nazrana was also articulated to augment the concepts of material, and time and knowledge nazranas. Click here to see and download these resources.

Audio.SalmanSpiritual.ComThe audio subdomain of SalmanSpiritual.Com has mp3 tracks of Ayatul Kursi, Anant Akhado (500 verses), Anant Naa Nav Chhuga (90 verses) and Moti venti (50 verses), Durood O Salaam Qasida and Dhikr tasbis. Click here to explore these resources.

Our ardent prayer is:May our beloved NOOR Mowlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini (a.s.) Hazar Imam bless us all with Noorani Didars during Bandagi and in Zaheri Noorani Didars with the different Jamats across the world during the Diamond Jubilee!Ameen

Rakh Mowla je Noor te Yaqeen (Certainly, we trust in Mowla's Light only)

Haizinda Qayampaya (Our Present Imam is Living and His NOOR is Eternal)

Your spiritual brother in religion,Noorallah Juma (noor-allah@salmanspiritual.com)SalmanSpiritual.comFriday, Jan. 5, 2018

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Salman Spiritual :: Diamond Jubilee Sparks :: 2017Year of ...

Ned, a 39-year-old man who works for a nonprofit, has suffered a series of calamities, from prolonged hospitalization to marital infidelity to rampant alcoholism, and has joined a weekend-long, mostly silent spiritual retreat in the hope that it will help him put himself back together. Hes sitting in a session with a match in his hand.

The teacher starts to play the recorder, playwright Bess Wohl writes. Ned has no idea what hes supposed to do. Hes slightly worried that hes supposed to set himself on fire. He half raises his hand, wanting to ask another question. The music stops.

Those are Wohls instructions to Ben Beckley, the actor playing Ned in Long Wharf Theatres upcoming production of Wohls Small Mouth Sounds, which runs Aug. 30 through Sept. 4. The emotion Beckley is supposed to convey is clear enough. But the fun of the play is that Beckley and all seven actors, at several points must convey such emotions mostly without words.

On the other hand, youd be surprised at how much people communicate without speaking at all, said Christine Scarfuto, Long Wharfs literary manager, who saw Small Mouth Sounds when it ran in New York in 2015. After all, much of our communication with others is nonverbal, as we all know from being in waiting rooms at doctors offices, or elevators, or public transportation when a delay is announced. We get a lot of information about people just by observing their behavior.

Even though theyre not talking as much, you still get a real feel for who they are, Scarfuto said.

The idea for the play people seeking some form of spiritual enlightenment or guidance came from Wohls visit to a retreat at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y. The playwright went on this silent retreat with a friend of her without knowing that it was going to be a silent retreat, Scarfuto said. So after her first night she starting looking around and her playwriting brain turned on, and she thought, this is fascinating.

The retreat was a model for how to write a play in which the characters are almost never allowed to speak. The silence of the play is a wonderful obstacle, Scarfuto said. When you dont have speech, you have to rely on other ways of telling who you are and to connect with other people. And it can be very, very funny, or very sad.

But that doesnt mean that the actors become mimes, or Carthusian monks. Its super-realistic, actually. Its very natural, Scarfuto said. Its kind of like youre watching in a fish tank and youre seeing what the chemical reactions between the characters are.

Yeah, you know, people, she added, were pretty funny just as we are.

But Small Mouth Sounds also gets at some real questions about how people search for meaning in their lives. New Age spirituality can be easy to mock, with its crystals and healing vortexes, a use of language that can sound like Buddhism lite. The hypocrisies embedded in it are easy to point out.

In a way, though, its also a little too easy, to the point that making fun of it can almost sound self-defensive. Is it really worthy of mockery that people are trying to improve themselves? Is it really better to not try? Its also easy to mock things that sound profound but arent, really. But is it so bad to search for profundity?

Small Mouth Sounds mines the New Age scene for comedy, but takes its questions and its characters seriously. In the text of the play, before the drama even begins, Wohl gives the actors their characters backstories, which are hilariously written but also underline that these are people with very difficult lives. Some are recovering from terrible situations. Their need for enlightenment, or even just some kind of change, is desperate.

The stakes are really high for the weekend of the plays action, Scarfuto said. The characters come at the spiritual retreat from very different places. Some are old veterans of the scene. For others, its their first time. But all are coming at it with some kind of intense need for change in their lives, Scarfuto said. And thats a very dramatic idea.

Rehearsals for Small Mouth Sounds began in New Haven last Tuesday, bringing with it an irony that would be at home in the play itself.

I actually hear them a lot, Scarfuto said. Youd think for a largely silent play that wouldnt be the case, but theyre right above my office.

Small Mouth Sounds, by Bess Wohl, runs at Long Wharf Theatre, 222 Sargeant Dr., from Aug. 30 to Sept. 24. For tickets and more information, click here.

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Long Wharf Hears The "Sounds" Of Silence | New Haven Independent - New Haven Independent

Men's Health

How Much Sex Should You be Having? Men's Health A general sense of the type of spiritual enlightenment embodied by fitness gurus on Instagram and people who don't wear shoes at 7-Eleven? is unclear.) The problem with dictating how many times you should be having sex, however, is that it's ...

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How Much Sex Should You be Having? - Men's Health

4 Aug 2017: Miner Auditorium @ SF Jazz Center San Francisco, CA

93-year-old saxman Marshall Allen continues to lead the Sun Ra Arkestra into the future

Few bands can survive their founder leaving the Earth and continuing to thrive, while both honoring the departed and pushing the music forward. The Sun Ra Arkestra is one of these ultra-rare musical entities. The avant-garde space jazz big band lost their founder and spiritual leader when Sun Ra passed on from the Earthly plane in 1993 at age 80. But the spiritual power of the bands music called for more, and so it was that long-time band saxophonist Marshall Allen would soon take the helm of the Arkestra to guide the group forward into the 21st century.

Now having experienced 93 solar returns himself, Allen is a heroic testament to the spiritually rejuvenating power of this music that goes beyond standard jazz to incorporate elements of myth, ritual, Afro-psychedelia, and futurism. Theres no other band quite like the Sun Ra Arkestra, as displayed in the early 70s film Space Is the Place, where Ra starred as himself in the role of a jazz master from Saturn who travels in a spaceship propelled by the power of his music. He took on bad guys from the FBI, NASA, and other supernatural villains in between concert performances because he wasnt just on a musical mission, he was out to help save humanitys soul with spiritual enlightenment about a better way of life.

With music, he would reach across the border of reality with myth; with music, he could build a bridge to another dimension, to something better; dance halls, clubs, and theaters could be turned into sacred shrines, the sites of dramas and rituals. And though people would be drawn to hear the music, it was they who would become the instrument on which it would resonate, on which he would create the sound of silhouettes the images and forecasts of tomorrow all of it disguised as jazz, writes author John F. Szwed in his 1997 biography Space is the Place: The Life and Times of Sun Ra .

In summing up Ras legacy, Szwed goes on to write, Music could provide a metaphysical experience through which one could enter the sublime, and come to know the cosmos. He understood music to be a universal language, and something akin to religion. Music could convey more than feelings about phenomena; it could express its essence, and thus could disclose secrets of nature not available to reason, secrets which reveal the true nature of the world. If that sounds similar to the semi-shamanic experience of a Grateful Dead or Phish show, it should come as no surprise that Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio recruited Marshall Allen and other Arkestra members to play in his 1996 free jazz project Surrender to the Air.

The chance to engage in such a metaphysical musical experience generates a buzz of anticipation as fans fill the SF Jazz Center on this Friday evening for what is the second show of a four-night stand. When the band hits the stage, the ensemble is adorned in their classic regalia of colorful, shiny outfits that blend a futuristic space age vibe with a tribal archaic revival. There are at least a dozen band members, with multiple percussionists, guitar, bass and a female vocalist accompanying the horn section and keyboards. A dissonant voice announces an arrival: People of Earth, prepare! The band cranks up their instruments and begin to conjure an otherworldly sound.

The uninitiated who have attended out of curiosity are tested early on as Allen leads the group through a wildly dissonant free jazz space jam that pushes the boundaries of Earthly harmonics. Such freeform jams are a longtime hall mark of the Arkestra, which can make sorting through their hundreds of recordings a tall task for those seeking more traditional jazz stylings. But theres a method to the madness here as Allen acts as the conductor, engaging each band member to help reel in the jam and bring it back down to terra firma for a big finish. The set then mostly takes on a more harmonically pleasing sound in the traditional big band mode, yet still featuring eclectic sonic landscapes and some great improv.

The first set goes by in a dazzling flash, leaving some realizing they should have had some dinner first. But the SF Jazz Center features a cocktail lounge with a full kitchen where hungry travelers of the interstellar low ways can still grab a bite and a craft beer at halftime. The second set moves to a higher level of metaphysics and musicality as the Arkestra opens with the classic Interplanetary Music. Multiple members sing of Interplanetary harmonies to kick off an extended jam that features an array of horn solos over a blend of electric piano and polyrhythms that light up the evening. The space journey continues with Neptune, as the female vocalist sings, Have you heard the latest news from Neptune? Its a bit more of a low-key jazz tune, save for the dissonant sonic blasts of sax and trumpet that assure this is no standard number. A funky piano part kicks off the traditional jazz classic Big Johns Special, and when the swinging horn section kicks in, it sounds a lot like the band from the Mos Eisley Cantina on Luke Skywalkers home planet of Tatooine.

Another uplifting jazzy jam finds the vocalists imploring the audience, Free your mind, be yourself, watch your soul shine Here several of the horn players move out into the crowd in a New Orleans style second line procession, raising the festive atmosphere yet another notch. But they dont just explore the pit area, they also come down the stairs from the second level, stopping to play at different locations to give some audience members personal solos for uplifting vibrational healings. Legendary UFOlogist Jacques Vallee built off the close encounters scale of his mentor J. Allen Hynek by suggesting that a CE4 would describe cases when witnesses experienced a transformation of their sense of reality (as opposed to a CE3, which is an encounter where occupants of a UFO are merely present.) The entire show is akin to a CE4, especially these encounters with band members that occur up close and personal.

The Arkestra brings the show to a climactic conclusion by announcing the introduction of a classic Sun Ra composition, Angels and Demons at Play. Allen leads the Arkestra in building a steady groove with layers of rich melodies over a tribal beat, with a torchy female vocal about those feisty angels and demons on the cosmic plane. Allen conjures some otherworldly sax tones here, helping paint a majestic sonic landscape that dazzles the senses.

In the end, its like suddenly being returned to Earth after an adventurous cosmic voyage on the Arkestras sonic spaceship. Allen invites attendees to return the next night because tomorrow will be all different, the hallmark of any improvisational band worth its salt. The Sun Ra Arkestra remains one of the longest-running and most influential acts in music history, a testament to how the immense power of music with spiritual intention can outlive even those who create it.

Greg M. Schwartz has covered music and pop culture for PopMatters since 2006. He focuses on events coverage with a preference for guitar-driven rock 'n' roll, but has eclectic tastes for the golden age of sound that is the 21st century music scene. He has a soft spot for music with a socially conscious flavor and is also an award-winning investigative reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @gms111, where he's always looking for tips on new bands or under the radar news items.

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Close Encounters of the 4th Kind with the Sun Ra Arkestra in San ... - PopMatters

Photo Robert Wright

OMS LAW: To the extent that Buddhism encourages its practitioners to cast aside the self on their way to enlightenment, it can seem like a fools errand. The self isnt so easy to shed, as Buckaroo Bonzai noted: No matter where you go, there you are. But that doesnt mean theres no wisdom to be found in the effort. The journalist Robert Wright a practicing Buddhist who often explores the intersection of science and religion, as in his 2009 best seller The Evolution of God makes the case for a Zen lifestyle in his latest book, Why Buddhism Is True, new at No. 4 in hardcover nonfiction.

Wright has been a spiritual seeker for a long time. In 2002 he founded a video site called MeaningofLife.tv, in which he talked to various people about matters relating to (wait for it) the meaning of life. Hes still editor in chief, and last month participated in a conversation posted there with the Buddhist author and emergency room doctor Daniel Ingram. The video, which touches on everything from current politics to Buddhist sociopaths to Wrights own level of spiritual attainment, offers an endearing look at Wright fumbling toward ecstasy. It also suggests that meditation can echo more pharmaceutical paths to enlightenment.

On my first retreat I had an experience that bordered on hallucinogenic, that had to do with viewing the interior of my mind, Wright says as Ingram beams an encouraging, euphoric grin his way. And at first I was, like, Whoa. I mean, this is my first retreat, right? And at first its like red and purple and Im like: Whoa. This is a new place. And then, what I observed was actually in a sense that thought, except that, for the first time, what it looked like was one entity saying it to another, and I realized it was kind of like the inside of my mind. I dont actually consider that the most interesting proximity to not-self that Ive had. But anyway, there is that. Such experiences, he added, can convince you that our ordinary way of seeing things is pretty deeply confused. You have apprehensions that are quite different from your ordinary way of experiencing things. Like and this is another version related to not-self youre meditating on a retreat, and you feel that the tingling in your foot is no more a part of you than a bird thats singing, right?

Right, Ingram said. That tingling is actually important, because thats impermanence, and thats vibrations

Actually, Wright interrupted, this may have just been a tingling in my foot. I dont mean this may not have been a special tingling.

Follow Gregory Cowles on Twitter @GregoryCowles

A version of this list appears in print on August 27, 2017, on Page BR32 of the Sunday Book Review.

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A Science Writer Embraces Buddhism as a Path to Enlightenment - New York Times

Just like many kids of the 90s, the first time I truly noticed Samuel L. Jacksonas the acting powerhouse and all around bastion of badassery was when he took a bite out of Bretts burger before delivering, with great vengeance and furious anger, one of cinemas most iconic monologues. As much of a star-making turn as Jacksons amateur monk/hit man in Pulp Fiction was, I gradually realized at the time that his genius has been brewing in many a supporting or even background role for pretty much a decade up to that point. He was the smooth-talking voice of reason DJ in Do the Right Thing, the tragic crackhead brother in Jungle Fevereven in a bit part as a robber in Coming to America he managed to make this mark.

Since Pulp Fiction, Jackson has been a staple of pop culture: Hes the consummate definition of a versatile actor, delivering countless different types of characters with incredible attention to detail and work ethic. Not only is he the go-to guy when you need a quick injection of effortless charisma into your blockbuster, but hes proven himself to be invaluable when it comes to subtle and delicate dramatic performances as well.

Hes such an important part of our livesevery baby born after the mid-90s has to learn speech, gross motor skills and Samuel L. Jacksonquotes to survive in this world. So we thought, with the upcoming release of the Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds vehicle The Hitmans Bodyguard, wed revisit the best performances of this great actor and greater employer of curse words. As you might guess, there are a lot of memorable Samuel L. Jacksonperformances from which to choose. Hell, the man currently has a whopping 175 acting credits on IMDB. Its hard to pick just ten when it comes to the purple lightsaber master.

So hold onto your butts, here are the 10 best Samuel L. Jacksonperformances:

10. Zeus Carver, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

As Zeus, the no-nonsense Harlem storeowner forced to join hardcore detective and unluckiest person alive, John McClane (Bruce Willis), on a deadly scavenger hunt across New York City, Jackson brings new energy to a franchise that was already on the verge of becoming stale. If youre uncertain as to how important it is to pick the right second banana with enough natural presence to boost Williss one-liner machine, consider: Jai Courtney in A Good Day to Die Hard. Not only does Jackson perfectly balance a well-needed dose of calm with some intense energy, he also delivers one of the best lines of his career: Dont fuck with me or Ill shove a lightning bolt up your ass!

9. Mister Seor Love Daddy, Do the Right Thing (1989)

Seor Love Daddy, the smooth and friendly neighborhood DJ in Spike Lees still painfully relevant masterpiece about American race relations, works as a Greek chorus to the ever-rising tension that takes place during the hottest day of the summer in 1989. The film opens with a jarring call to the audience to Wake up! and recognize the racial inequality and oppression that exists all around them, and ends with a solemn request for solidarity and peace. Jackson puts so much depth and character in the relatively small role, that this character is still, to get personal for a moment, such an important part of my life that I imagine Seor Love Daddy still filling the airwaves with silky tunes and the occasional Public Enemytrack dedicated to the memory of Radio Raheem (RIP Bill Nunn).

8. Ordell Robbie, Jackie Brown (1997)

AK-47! The very best there is. When you absolutely, positively, got to kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes, boasts cocky gangster Ordell Robbie in what is easily Tarantinos most underrated film. It was clear from Pulp Fiction that Tarantino had found his muse in Jackson, but it was their second collaboration that really solidified their bond. There were so many ways this character, the chief antagonist to Pam Griers slick and smart flight attendant, could have gone horribly wrong. On paper and upon first look, he comes across as a spoof of a blacksploitation clich. Yet while Jackson effortlessly delivers those cocksure Tarantino lines with expected gusto, he gradually adds layers to Ordell Robbie, revealing the inherent insecurity and fear hiding under his insatiable ego. By the time hes cornered in the third act, Robbie is a psychopath who earns your pity.

7. Louis Batiste, Eves Bayou (1997)

Writer/director Kasi Lemmons tender, bold and vastly underrated drama gave Jackson a chance to shine with an atypically subtle character. In Eves Bayou he plays a respected doctor in Louisiana whos accused by his daughter (Jurnee Smollett) of not only cheating on her mother, but of something far more despicable. Lemmons expertly strips all possibly lazy melodramatic moves from her emotionally charged story in order to get to barer truth, and Jackson steps up to the plate to deliver one of his best dramatic performances. This character could have easily turned into a one-dimensional Lifetime Channel villain, but Jackson digs always deeper to make sure that we get a lot more than that.

6. Valentine, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Jacksons hilarious turn as the eccentric (correction: batshit crazy) tech magnate with a final solution to global warming showcases how much fun he can have on screen. As powerful and dangerous as he is, Jacksons Valentine comes across as a petulant child with a dipshit skaters fashion sense, an aversion to violence (even though his goal is wipe out 99.9% percent of Earths population) and a pronounced lisp that makes him sound exactly like the larger-than-life bad guy hes supposed to be, perfectly fitting the hard-R-rated Saturday morning cartoon tone of Kingsman. The sequels villain has a lot to live up to.

5. Doyle Gipson, Changing Lanes (2002)

In another uncharacteristically melancholic and subtle performance by Jackson, he plays Doyle Gibson, an alcoholic divorce whose already chaotic world turns upside down after an unfortunate car accident makes him late for his kids custody hearing. Jackson is able to craft a believably tragic figure in Roger Michells thoughtful drama about the kind of casual racism that people of color experience every day. Jacksons mournful yet ultimately empowering monologue about Gipsons ideal Tiger Woods commercial perfectly encapsulates the bitter love-hate dynamic at the core of the film.

4. Carl Lee Hailey, A Time to Kill (1996)

The first thing that comes to everyones mind is Jackson screaming with trademark fury, Yes they deserved to die, and I hope they burn in hell! As iconic as that moment is in Jacksons filmography, the transcendent way he communicates the unbearable pain and anger of a father whose daughter was brutally raped (by a group of Klan members, no less) transforms an otherwise mediocre John Grisham adaptation, amongst many, as one of the most memorable courtroom thrillers of the 1990s.

3. Gator Purify, Jungle Fever (1991)

A performance so good, the Cannes Film Festivalcreated a Best Supporting Actor Award specifically to honor Jacksons haunting turn as the protagonists (Wesley Snipes) crackhead brother. Jackson used his own struggles with drug addiction to bring a stunning level of realism to Gator, once again serving as the only memorable part in an otherwise flawed and fairly forgettable film. Spike Lees study of interracial relationships tries to cram too many themes into its already bloated runtime, but the heartbreaking push-and-pull between Gator and his parents (Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis), which culminates in a tragic climax, is the one narrative element that Lee develops to its utmost potential. We have Jacksons fearless dive into the character to thank for that.

2. Elijah Price, Unbreakable (2000)

(Note: Spoilers for this 17-year-old film follow.) The fact that Jacksons Elijah Price is a relatively grounded supervillain amongst comic book movie tropes is of course by design, thanks to M. Night Shyamalans (at the time) unique approach to the genre, but it also shouldnt stop this character from taking his rightful place next to some of the most famous nemeses of all time. Unbreakable builds a formidable hero out of Bruce Williss seemingly indestructible protagonist, but a hero is only as good as his villainwhich is where Jacksons calm and calculated comic book art dealer comes into play, whose sadness hiding underneath a meticulously sustained veneer of emotional detachment gives depth to a character who otherwise might have ended up as a parody of such a personality. This role is a prime example of Jacksons ability to communicate formidable intensity without saying a single word.

1. Jules Winnfield, Pulp Fiction (1994)

What other role could have possibly taken the top spot? Twenty-three years later, there are two indisputable facts about Tarantinos game changer: It influenced more filmmakers and film students than any other movie of its generation, and every frame in which Samuel L. Jacksons gangster-going-through-spiritual-enlightenment character appears is an absolute delight. In or out of context, Jules is one of those iconic characters whos immediately entertaining and captivating. Did Jules eventually learn how to be the shepherd? Its hard to tell, but with the sheer amount of indelible roles hes filled, Samuel L. Jackson seems to be committed to answering that for himself.

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Samuel L. Jackson's 10 Best Roles - Paste Magazine

Published: Sun, August 20, 2017 @ 12:00 a.m.

Richmond doesnt belong in YSUs football family

I completely agree with a recent letter condemning the decision of Youngstown State University to allow Mr. Malik Richmond to be part of the football team even if he will never play. I am a community health provider who treats drug addicts at local clinics. Most, whether male or female, have been sexually abused. Having even a contrite Mr. Richmond as part of the YSU football family is wrong. It is a slap in the face to victims of sexual violence.

There is no more enthusiastic college football fan than myself. I also am a student of A Course in Miracles, which teaches forgiveness as the path to spiritual enlightenment. However, a college football team is the wrong venue for the redemption of Mr. Richmond. It sends the wrong message and has made YSU the target of nationwide criticism (i.e., the Aug. 11 column in the NY Daily News by Evan Grossman).

There are other meaningful ways that Mr. Richmond can make a contribution, such as advocating against sexual violence within mens groups. I support his right to higher education completely. But football Coach Bo Pelini, President James Tressel, and others really got it wrong this time.

Susan J. Sabo, MD, MPH, Avon, Ohio

Parole hearing for Poullas killers reflects immorality

I cant believe that I feel so compelled to write this letter, only because I believe our justice system is so flawed in many areas.

What is it about the Ohio Parole Board members who dont get the judgment life in prison? Who on this parole board would be so blas and apathetic toward low-life criminals who dont deserve the distinction of human being if what they did to Elaine Poullas back on June 3, 1979, was done to one of your loved ones?

I refer to David Jacobs (A156579), and Charles Teague (A156577-SB2). Why is there even a hearing for anyone convicted of a heinous crime? Why should taxpayers even have to support this scum of the earth, when we know what would have happened to them if they had committed this crime in, say, Singapore?

Our liberal society continues to move so far left that immorality is becoming the norm. Believe me, if these so called human beings get paroled, it will be highly immoral without justification.

God bless the Poullas family and their close friends. Let us all fight the battle to keep these two, whatever they are, behind bars.

Robert DeFelice, Poland

Ban exotic animals from being kept as house pets

The plight of an Ohio woman who made a desperate call to 911 after her boa constrictor clamped down on her face begs the question: Why is it legal to keep these dangerous animals as pets?

A Florida toddler was killed in her crib by the familys pet python and two Canadian boys were strangled to death by an escaped snake. People have been airlifted to hospitals after being bitten by captive snakes and neighborhoods have been evacuated when they made a break for it, costing taxpayers money and putting first responders at risk.

Contact with reptiles either directly or simply touching things theyve come in contact with also poses a serious risk of contracting Salmonella, which kills nearly 400 people annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most reptiles captured or bred for the pet trade end up ignored and neglected in cramped aquarium tanks or dark basements and garages. When the novelty wears off, many are simply dumped outside like trash, where theyll starve to death or die of exposure or predation. Those who survive can wreak havoc on local ecosystems.

How many people and animals must suffer and die before lawmakers ban exotic pets?

Jennifer OConnor, Norfolk, Va.

Jennifer OConnor is a senior writer for the PETA Foundation.

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Youngstown news, Richmond doesn't belong in YSU's football family - Youngstown Vindicator

At the start of his bands concert, Herbie Hancock noted that he feels like a refugee from Mars, loves science fiction, and contemplates moving to another area. This simple quote was a harbinger of the idiosyncratic Sunday night that followed at Red Butte Garden on August 20, 2017. After stating his feelings, Hancock then declared that my wife is here and she would kill me for talking too much tonight! True to his laconic words, the two hour set engendered a triumphantly transcendental feeling.

The moving music included soothe saxophone solos, gutting guitar, peaceful piano progressions, and deafening drums. Drawing on a myriad of genres that encompassed jazz, funk, electronic, and classical, the eclectic instrumentation was marked by abrupt changes in volume and tempo. The music was occasionally sprinkled with chanting, a nod to Hancocks spiritual practice of reciting the Mahayana Buddhist chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo every day.

The aforementioned chant, from the Lotus Sutra, emphasizes that all individuals are capable of Buddhahood. The concoction created by Hancock on Sunday night undoubtedly inspired a feeling that everyone is capable of enlightenment. In nod to their unique spirit, the band ended with a jazz funk encore that got the jovial crowd dancing even in nirvana.

Herbie Hancock At Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City

Herbie Hancock waves to the crowd prior to the start of his band's concert at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Herbie Hancock plays the keyboard at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

James Genus plays the bass at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Lionel Loueke sings and plays guitar at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Terrace Martin plays the saxophone at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Terrace Martins sings and plays the keyboard at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Lionel Loueke, left, and James Genus, right, perform at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Herbie Hancock, left, and Vinnie Colaiuta, right, perform at Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Terrace Martin, center, sings while Lionel Loueke, left, and James Genus, right, perform at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Vinnie Colaiuta plays the drums at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Lionel Loueke sings while James Genus plays bass at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

Herbie Hancock plays the keytar while Lionel Loueke, left, and James Genus, right, perform at Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. (Dr. Rishi Deka | Daily Utah Chronicle)

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Enlightenment with Herbie Hancock - Daily Utah Chronicle

Father Michael Van Sloun

The gateway sacrament. Baptism is the first of the sacraments. It is the beginning and the foundation of the Christian life of faith, and it provides access to the other sacraments.

Sacramental grace. The grace of baptism is a rebirth in Christ, opens a channel of blessing from God to the believer, grants a share of Gods divine life, delivers spiritual energy and power, provides nourishment and enables growth in virtue and holiness.

The gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to a person through baptism. The Holy Spirit is the ongoing indwelling presence of God, which makes the person a temple of the Holy Spirit and assures the constant companionship of God for the entire duration of the journey of life. The Holy Spirit offers inspiration, enlightenment and guidance, as well as the courage, strength and motivation to live according to Gods ways.

A child of God. Baptism makes a person an adopted son or daughter of God. Baptism consecrates a person to God. God owns the baptized person, and the person belongs to God. With this realization there is an ever-growing deep longing to know, love, obey and serve God.

Church membership. Baptism grants admission into the body of Christ, the Church, the army of light, a spiritual family in which the other members become ones brothers and sisters in Christ. It establishes a bond of fellowship with the community of believers and full partnership with the communion of saints of the living. The pilgrimage to God is not to be walked alone, but with the help and companionship of other disciples.

Spiritual status. The baptized person is elevated as priest, prophet and king: a person who prays alone and worships with the Church, praying both for ones self and on behalf of others; lives a good and holy life and calls others to greater holiness; and enjoys royal status before God, and who honors God as supreme, submits to Gods authority and obeys Gods law and will.

Forgiveness. Baptism is a spiritual cleansing. All sins, both original sin and personal sin, are washed away and forgiven, and purified. The person is in the state of grace. Liberation from sin gives the freedom and fosters the desire to conform ones life to Jesus and his gospel.

Apostolic zeal. Baptism makes a person a laborer in Christs vineyard and a minister of the Church, one who proclaims the gospel to others in deed and word; gives strong and bold witness; assists in liturgical roles; teaches and shares the faith; serves ones neighbors, particularly the poor and disadvantaged; is a good steward of time, talent and treasure; seeks, speaks and defends the truth; works for justice and peace; and upholds the common good.

Salvation. Baptism clothes a person with immortality, gives a person a share in the redemption that Christ won on the Cross, and makes salvation, eternal life and everlasting glory with God in heaven possible. It unites a person to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. St. Paul explained that those who are baptized in Christ are baptized into his death (Rom 6:3), and that, If we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection (Rom 6:5).

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata. Read more of his writing at CatholicHotdish.com.

Tags: Baptism

Category: Faith Fundamentals

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Spiritual effects and benefits of baptism - The Catholic Spirit

Danica Patricks got big questions, and Oprah Winfreys got answers.

Well, sort of.

The NASCAR star apparently is a big fan of SuperSoul Sunday, a weekly, spiritually themed segment on the Oprah Winfrey Network. And in the latest episode, one of Winfreys guests attempted to answer the mother of all questions: who or what is God?

And for Patrick, whos been known to get down with her spiritual self, the topic was essential.

Now, identifying omnipresent beings and forces isnt the only thing Winfrey is helping Patrick with. Last week, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver posted a clip of a SuperSoul Sunday guest who attempted to answer perhaps the second most profound question of all time: why are we here?

The answer, of course, is to give off vibrations.

So, the Earth is the densest place in the universe?

While our precious planet is the densest object in our solar system yes, even more so than the sun saying its the densest in the universe feels like a stretch. And yes, the earth is made of matter, but that doesnt make it unique since literally everything is comprised of matter.

With these types of posts, along with her affinity for sharing all-things yoga, Patricks Instagram essentially has become a go-to source for spiritual enlightenment.

Thumbnail photo viaBrian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports Images

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Danica Patrick Apparently Turns To Oprah To Learn Meaning Of Life, God - NESN.com

Walk the Mini Camino Aug. 19

Unity Spiritual Enrichment Center hosts its first Mini Camino Walk along the Larry Scott Trail on Saturday, Aug. 19.

The walk, set to begin at 10 a.m. at the Boat Haven marina, is a family outing and features a course set up for runners, walkers and those who require a wheelchair or walker, according to a press release.

The walk is inspired by the Camino de Santiago in France and Spain, which has served for centuries as a pilgrimage for those seeking introspection and spiritual enlightenment. The intention of the Mini Camino is to bring the community together and heighten awareness of other spiritual traditions from around the world.

In addition to an opening ceremony, there is to be live music at the beginning and end of the Camino performed by Jana Stanfield, Simon de Voil, Johnny Bryant and others. Stations along the 2-mile course are to be posted at each half mile. Like the original Camino, at the beginning of the walk, everyone receives a passport to have stamped at each station along the way; each stamp represents one of five world spiritual traditions. Participants can also receive a sacred token at each station.

Return transportation is provided. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 children, to cover costs for the event.

For more information, call 360-385-6519 or email

First Nations fund drive launches Aug. 22

A fundraiser to support the First Nations legal struggle against the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline is planned for 6-9 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 22 at Finnriver Cider Garden, 124 Center Road, Chimacum.

The event is intended to educate attendees about the perils this pipeline poses for the Salish Sea, according to a press release.

Eric de Place, policy director of the Sightline Institute and leading authority on fossil fuel transport issues in the Pacific Northwest, is the keynote speaker. De Place is to cover a range of issues connected to fossil fuel transport, including carbon emissions, local pollution, transportation system impacts, rail policy and economics. The program also features a fun Gangnam-style performance by North Olympic Orca Pod, PT Songlines Choir and Jamestown SKlallam storyteller Hawk Grinnell.

The event is sponsored by the Sierra Club, the Sightline Institute, Finnriver Farm & Cidery, the Native Connections Action Group and Green Sanctuary Environmental Action Committee of Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and other groups. RAVEN (Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs) Trust plans to distribute the tax-deductible donations, to be managed by the Sierra Club.

This event is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

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At a glance - Port Townsend Leader

Jerry Seinfeld loves cars.He also loves comedians and coffee, which most people know by now. But none of these is Seinfeld's favorite thing in the world. No, the legendary comic's favorite thing in the entire universe is energy, and the best way to acquire more of it (he claims) is through Transcendental Meditation.

Seinfeld raved about TM on the SiriusXM radio show "Success Without Stress," calling energy "the thing that I love more than money, more than love, more than just about anything... I think this is the reason, by the way, that I am so enthusiastic about TM."

He's far from alone. "It's a game changer," Katy Perry beamed about TM in the April 2017 cover story of Vogue, explaining that it makes her feel illuminated by "a halo of lights."

"I come from a line of neurotic Jewish women who need Transcendental Meditation more than anyone," Lena Dunham told a crowd at the David Lynch Foundation, a nonprofit that provides scholarships and pro-bono TM instruction to underserved populations.

Other celebrity advocates include Hugh Jackman, Ellen DeGeneres, Cameron Diaz, Aziz Ansari, Gisele Bndchen, Lykke Li, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah, Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney, Clint Eastwood, Mick Jagger, Heather Graham, and Moby -- to name just a few. In fact, the list of famous TM devotees could go on almost forever; it even includes Fox News and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, a firm non-hippie who probably doesn't even know about patchouli oil.

Among all the stars who practice TM, director David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks) is the most prominent and active evangelist. He and friend Bob Roth (a TM instructor and practitioner) founded the David Lynch Foundation in 2005, for which Roth serves as Executive Director. In the 12 years since, TM has become almost as ubiquitous in Hollywood as drinking green juice after sweating it out in a boutique cycling class.

But whenever a cadre of celebrities latches onto a spiritual movement and begins tossing around words like "energy" and "transcend," people want to know what the hell they're missing, whether or not this is some kind of cult, or if it's merely another example of the rich and famous existing on a higher plane.

Alternative spiritual practices have long been a hallmark of celebrity culture, with past examples ranging from the Source Family, the health-food pioneers parodied in Woody Allen's Annie Hall; to the Children of God, the controversial cult in which actor Joaquin Phoenix was raised. Then there's Scientology, which recently ignited a firestorm of controversy thanks to the documentary expos Going Clear.

Transcendental Meditation, on the other hand, doesn't have too many critics. Billed as an "effortless" form of meditation that must be practiced for 20 minutes twice a day, the TM technique requires practitioners to sit with their eyes closed and silently repeat a personalized Sanskrit mantra (word or phrase) to themselves.

The results are as varied as the people who practice it. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons says it's "almost like magic -- when you're awake, things become easier." Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio describes it as making him feel "like a ninja in a fight," while actress Eva Mendes saysit"helps creatively on a level that I cant describe... Its tapping into something so deep that when I reap the rewards, I dont even know Im reaping them."Descriptions differ, but a consensus emerges among the advocates: Transcendental Meditation is freaking great.

As a trademarked (!) methodology, the teaching and initiation process of TM has been highly organized, standardized, and, yes, monetized -- the only way to learn the officially sanctioned version is from one-on-one instruction, taught by licensed TM teachers, who are uniquely able to teach the technique to new practitioners by assigning them a personalized mantra based on factors like their temperament and occupation.

Like the well-chronicled practice of Scientology, Transcendental Meditation groups require adherents to shroud their spiritual journey in some level of secrecy. Followers of Scientology reveal past traumas to select members of the Church during the "auditing" process, which is intended to remain private; likewise, TM instructors ask that new practitioners not share their specialized mantra with anyone.

A four-day course to learn TM will set you back between $900 and $1,000 ($960, according to Roth), though the promises to the dutiful lifelong practitioner are designed to render the cost minuscule by comparison. What price can you put on stress and anxiety reduction, more focus and clarity, and a healthier heart, not to mention the specific conditions it purports to alleviate, like PTSD, ADHD, and depression?

The word "transcend" doesn't exactly conjure up thoughts of lower blood pressure or less stress, but the $1,000 you're spending ostensibly gives you the chance to transcend on a regular basis. In his book Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity, Lynch describes the experience of transcending as "bliss -- physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual happiness that starts growing from within. And all those things that used to kill you diminish...

"There's so much room for anxiety and fear. But transcending makes life more like a game -- a fantastic game."

Not bad for $960.

Roth has a pragmatic response to why an effortless practice costs anything at all: "I believe teaching meditation should be a profession," he says. "The one-time $960 cost -- $480 for college students, $360 for high school students and younger -- is what helps the TM instructor have a salary. But if you don't have the money, we won't stop you."

Roth clarifies that the price is a sliding scale, and that there are myriad grants and loans available for those that are unable to afford the standard price-tag. "More people learn to practice TM for free through the David Lynch Foundation than pay," Roth adds. "But when you pay, you're helping to pay the teacher and the rent of the center -- and you're also helping to pay for a kid or a veteran to learn how to meditate for free."

That's the mission Roth returns to consistently: those who can afford instruction not only receive a lifetime of benefits, but they help provide those same benefits to schoolkids, veterans, inmates, and others who wouldn't be able to pay for the course on their own. And it's easy to see the broad appeal beyond those who struggle with PTSD or have other specific issues they'd like to address, especially when someone like Oprah describes TM as "a powerfully energizing yet calming experience. I didnt want it to end. When it did, I walked away feeling fuller than when Id come in. Full of hope, a sense of contentment, and deep joy."

On the other side of the coin, though, comes suspicion, especially in light of stories from former Scientologists like Leah Remini and Paul Haggis, who accuse the Church of Scientology of aggressively soliciting funds from its members and inventing excuses to charge more for reaching supposedly higher planes of spiritual enlightenment. In both cases, rigorous standardization and tight-knit community engenders purity and precision, but also a sense of intrigue and elitism, both of which are ageless -- even defining -- aspects of celebrity culture. In that sense, it's easy to see why TM has taken Hollywood by storm.

As for how it all happened in a relatively short period of time, Roth concedes that Lynch has driven TM's spread among the elite creative cohort. "People in his field -- a Martin Scorsese, or a Naomi Watts -- would go to him and say, What's this meditation thing?' and he would say, 'Bobby' -- people call me Bobby -- 'Would you teach Martin?'"

Long before Lynch ignited a word-of-mouth trend, Transcendental Meditation had roots planted firmly in pop culture. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi founded TM after beginning his ascent to guru-hood after spearheading the "Spiritual Regeneration Movement" in India in 1958. The following year, Maharishi himself brought the newly minted technique of Transcendental Meditation to the US, picking up steam in the '60s, during the glory days of alfalfa sprouts and Esalen, the latter of which was portrayed in the final episode of Mad Men. As cultural winds shifted and a new generation became interested in free thought, free love, and expanded consciousness, TM began attracting celebrity acolytes, most notably members of The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

Today's George Harrison is Lynch, who hasn't made a film since 2006's Inland Empire, and whose legendary TV show, Twin Peaks, only recently returned after a 25-year hiatus. It's clear that Lynch has spent the last decade primarily focused on his TM practice, supporting advocacy initiatives for TM education at the David Lynch Foundation, and spreading the gospel of TM to Hollywood and beyond. "It was important for me to say something to the people... about my personal experience," Lynch told The New York Times, reflecting on studying TM under the tutelage of Maharishi himself in 2002.

Though Lynch has been meditating for more than 40 years, it was only after practicing TM with its founder -- spending an eye-popping $1 million to do so -- that Lynch began his journey as a missionary for the cause. Never mind that Maharishi didn't even make a physical appearance, merely communicating with Lynch via dial-in from his room. Apparently, it was one hell of a teleconference because it convinced the director that he needed to evangelize on behalf of Transcendental Meditation, eventually culminating in the formation of the David Lynch Foundation. "Lynch doesn't even want to make films anymore," director Abel Ferrara asserted in an interview with Indiewire back in 2011. "I'm a lunatic," Ferrara added, "And [Lynch is] pushing Transcendental Meditation."

It's that $1 million price tag to study with an absentee guru that gives cause for suspicion of this supposedly rigorous spiritual practice. And with celebrities now at the helm of TM's revival, it's no wonder that people have begun to wonder about its "cultic dimension." At what point does belonging to a costly spiritual community cross the line separating benign practice and coercive sect?

The very conceit of meditation is democratic, that anyone and everyone can benefit from its practice without a cost-based barrier to entry. So perhaps the draw of TM for celebrities is that it offers a sense of exclusivity: why wouldn't famous multi-millionaires spend a relative drop in the bucket to be a part of a spiritual cool kids' club? And the air of secrecy surrounding the mantra may offer a small sense of privacy to people who normally get very little of it, even though that secrecy could create the impression that TM is a relatively benign kind of cult.

Carole Cusack, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney in Australia, cautions that "cult" is an amorphous word used by the public to sensationalize stories about fringe spiritual practices, and not by scholars studying new religions and spirituality, "[The word cult] belongs to the world of tabloid journalism and sensationalist revelations about abuses in communities, etc.," she says, explaining why it so often appears in stories about Scientology.

"A cult is a religion or a spirituality that you don't like," she adds. "All the things that people criticize about Religion A happen in other religions; it's just that Religion A gets stigmatized."

Transcendental Meditation isn't a religion per se, so it can more easily avoid accusations of cultishness. But for Cusack, it's difficult to distinguish a practice from the religious tradition that spawned it: "TM is mostly taught as a technique... I think that it's a bit simplistic to imagine that you can completely sever a practice that is meant to be religious from its religious context." In other words, even if TM is for everyone, can it truly slough off its roots in Hindu religious practice? And if it's inherently religious, doesn't it open the door for accusations of cult-like practices? After all, it was founded and spread by a self-styled guru who charged David Lynch $1 million for a teleconference, and who by some accounts promised followers they could learn how to fly.

Since Maharishi's death in 2008, more and more critics have sought to interrogate the roots of TM, calling Maharishi a "controversial figure" and even "a fraud," pointing to John Lennon's eventual opinion of his former spiritual teacher. In 1986, former TM practitioner Robert Kropinski went so far as to sue the Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa for $9 million over allegations of fraud, neglect, and emotional damage (a jury gave him $138,000).

Today, Maharishi remains positioned as the iconic pioneer of the TM community, responsible for the organization's growth into a multi-billion-dollar empire -- while the David Lynch Foundation operates as a nonprofit, spreading any message (religious or otherwise) to the masses costs time and money, which means the DLF must raise funds. And soliciting money, no matter the cause, always has the potential to veer into coercive territory.

Roth wasn't shaken by the critiques of TM, which he addressed one by one: its price tag, its apparent secrecy, its elite celebrity cachet, its seemingly inexplicable trademark, even whether it could be considered a cult or passing celebrity craze.

"It's not a craze," he says. "We teach 10,000 kids and nobody knows about it. But when we teach 20 Hollywood actors, the whole world knows about it and thinks everybody in Hollywood is doing it. In fact, tons more kids... are learning it."

Cynthia Ann Humes, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College and an expert on Hindu practices and gurus in America, also points out that there's far more mainstream, casual acceptance of meditation than many people realize. "You have so many doctors completely on board with teaching patients meditation so that they can overcome [health] problems. Meditation is not fringe anymore. It is an accepted form of behavior that can produce multiple goods."

It shouldn't be a surprise that the kids receiving TM education, or patients with heart conditions learning meditation, aren't splashed on the covers of In Touch or Us Weekly. But Roth also doesn't deny that celebrity endorsements help the current goals of the David Lynch Foundation: "To raise sufficient funds to do large enough independent research studies on TM... and to make it available to anyone and everyone who would like to learn," in his own words. "The wealthy people I teach are the ones who are funding all these programs for the kids anyway," he explained. "Remember, the $960 pays for a lifetime of instruction and helps a child or veteran learn for free."

So when Hugh Jackman says, "In meditation, I can let go of everything. Im not Hugh Jackman. Im not a dad. Im not a husband. Im just dipping into that powerful source that creates everything. I take a little bath in it," he is also, by Roth's formulation, performing a transitive act of charity because he supports TM and the work of the David Lynch Foundation.

While Humes points out that many of the medical and psychological benefits of meditation don't necessarily specify that you have to practice a trademarked version to drop your blood pressure or reduce anxiety, there are also studies suggesting TM in particular offers benefits: the official TM website boasts 380 peer-reviewed research studies in more than 160 scientific journals. This enumeration closely mirrors the list of proven benefits of other, untrademarked meditation methodologies, from mindfulness to loving-kindness to Vedic meditation (a mantra-based technique that is said to be nearly identical to TM, minus the $960 price tag).

"There's too much siloing," Roth laments, speaking of people's tendency to over-categorize the array of meditation techniques out there. "They're different tools. And I think people should be given access to as many tools that are scientifically validated to work."

In explaining TM's particular methodology, Roth makes a sensible defense for the TM trademark: it's a matter of "quality control." Given that meditation has been rendered so much a part of capitalism that people casually market themselves as mindfulness "coaches," there's an even greater need for standardization. "Mindfulness is so diffuse that anybody can say anything," Roth said. "And from a scientific standpoint, that's very dangerous."

More simply: Are you transcending with a small t, or Transcending, capital T? For instructors of TM, it makes all the difference, and keeping the mantra a secret is a part of standardizing TM instruction, according to Roth.

"Keeping [the mantra] private is actually to avoid confusion. When you learn, I give you a sound, a mantra, and it's yours. These mantras are over 5,000 years old. I don't have 7 billion different mantras, someone else could have your mantra," he says. "But the way you think it, the way it fits you, fits your person, whatever it is, is going to end up being different than somebody else. And so we ask someone, when they learn, just keep it to themselves."

One thing is for sure: Celebrity support for TM has raised cultural awareness of meditation's benefits, which isn't just an inherent good, but potentially a cheap tool to help combat many of the chronic physical and psychological illnesses that currently require expensive, drug-based treatments to remedy. If saying, "I meditate" is no longer synonymous with dwelling in an incense-filled commune, subsisting on unhulled flax meal from the bulk aisle, then more people can reap its benefits. Companies like Google, Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank offer meditation classes to their employees for reduced stress and boosted productivity. From celebrity culture to professional life, meditation has become cool, normal, mainstream.

Whether or not its popularity will peter out in Hollywood remains a question. Will TM disappear from tabloid pages if and when David Lynch tires of holding its banner?

For Roth, it's an irrelevant question; only results matter. "Our whole focus is research now," he says. "If the VA pays for veterans to have Xanax, Ambien, or Klonopin, why can't they also pay for a veteran to learn TM or mindfulness or something else if there's research to show that it works?" Roth is quick to qualify that he has "nothing against the pharmaceutical industry," but his comparison demonstrates a compelling point. We don't dismiss pharmaceutical companies as unethical for promoting pills that have pages of adverse side effects, but we shudder when hearing that a branch of meditation cares about quality control, research, and compensation for its instructors.

Another thing Transcendental Meditation has in its corner is that it doesn't ask all that much of anyone who wants to practice it. "With TM, people dont have to agree to accepting the whole shebang -- Hinduism for example," Humes notes. "Scientology requires you to accept everything. TM isnt a religion in that sense. Its not even a fringe religion. It doesnt require you to change any belief patterns. The only thing you need to believe is that you need to practice meditation." Despite Cusack's skepticism of the distance from religion a technique based on religion can achieve, Hollywood has yet to convert to Hinduism en masse.

Unlike the bannermen of Scientology, Jerry Seinfeld will probably not be replacing his annual physical with spiritual devotion -- and we similarly dont have to worry about Katy Perry and Lena Dunham raving about Thetans. Tom Cruise, on the other hand, will likely continue to use the Church of Scientology as a reason to regard chemical depression as bunk.

Regardless of whether you think meditation is hokey, or Transcendental Meditation is an excuse to charge people more for something that should be free, it's somewhat reassuring to know that teachers and practitioners of TM take its name seriously. As Roth puts it, most of us would be pretty horrified to meet someone who said "I'm a cardiologist" who turned out not to be a cardiologist: "It shouldn't be like a horrible odyssey to find out the phone number of somebody who's a properly certified meditation teacher." If you seek out meditation, you shouldn't have to risk shelling out money to a genuine huckster with no training whatsoever.

As for whether Transcendental Meditation compares with Scientology as a coercive spiritual practice, Humes offers a telling anecdote. "I used to invite Scientology people into my class on cults. I stopped bringing them into the classroom because it was so complicated. The students were almost frightened by the people sent to represent Scientology. Its not the same."

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Charlotte Lieberman is a writer whose work has appeared in theHarvard Business Review, Cosmopolitan, and other publications. Follow her on Twitter @clieberwoman

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Inside the Blissed-Out, Tight-Lipped, Spiritual Movement That Has Hollywood Obsessed - Thrillist

The bloom of Spanish Revival architecture in San Jose, with its distinctive red tile roofs, arched windows and ornate entryways, can be traced back to a century to the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and to the partnership of residential designer Frank Delos Wolfe and Santa Clara architect William Ernest Higgins.

In just 14 years, the firm produced more than 500 buildings, almost all of which are in San Jose, Van Laan said. By 1922, the firm was known locally as the go-to architects for this style, and from that point on, they worked almost exclusively in the Spanish Revival style.

Eight homes and buildings that exemplify the style will be on display for the Presentation Action Councils fundraising home tour on Aug. 26. Tickets to the self-guided tour are available for $35 in advance and $40 on the day of the tour at http://www.WolfeandHigginsTour.com.

Van Laan had previously written about Frank Wolfe, a prolific San Jose architect who was responsible for more than 1,200 structures during his 34-year career. She was drawn to the Spanish Revival homes for the same reason most people are: Theyre beautiful.

The style incorporates arches, graceful lines, and exterior ornamentation such as sculptural terracotta and concrete relief work and decorative tiles, she said. I kept discovering that many of my favorite houses and buildings in San Jose are the work of Wolfe & Higgins, so I felt I had to do the book.

The homes on the tour are in the greater Rose Garden neighborhood and Naglee Park. Youve probably passed some and not realized their lineage. One of the homes on the tour is a 1928 mansion on The Alameda that once belonged to ambulance operator and San Jose power broker Charlie Bigley (It is now, perhaps ironically, owned by the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment). Another was built in 1929 as a Packard showroom and was restored in 2009 to serve as the headquarters for Biggs Cardosa Associates.

But not all of the homes were made to be mansions. Two of the Willow Glen stops are at smaller homes that still bear the signature look. Wolfe & Higgins worked for the most prominent people in San Jose, but they also designed smaller homes for the many residence parks that were developed in San Jose in the 1920s, Van Laan said. This was a type of design that appealed to everyone and came to be considered the architectural style of California.

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES: Last years CityDance San Jose series at Plaza de Cesar Chavez was such a hit that the city is bringing back the groovin for another season.

If you didnt catch the dance fever last year, heres the rundown: Each weekly event starts with professional instructors providing a 30-minute group dance lesson for a specific popular style, and then youre on your own for the rest of the evening. Theres a beer garden and food truck available for refreshment, too.

The series kicks off Aug. 24 with Salsa, followed by Country Two-Step (Aug. 31); Hip-Hop (Sept. 7); Bollywood (Sept. 14); Disco (Sept. 21); East Coast Swing (Sept. 28); Merengue and Bachata (Oct. 5); and Zydeco (Oct. 12). The floor opens at 5:30 p.m., with lessons at 6 p.m., and its free to attend.

I know, no Funky Chicken, right? Maybe for next year.

WEARABLE REMINDER: San Joses Director of Economic Development Kim Walesh and Rosalynn Hughey, the citys interim planning director, provided a rapt audience with an update on the citys economic progress at an SVO breakfast held Thursday at the Silicon Valley Capital Club.

They covered all the bases from upcoming residential projects to the potentially game-changing development around Diridon Station but they got the most cheers when they gave a gift of a T-shirt emblazoned with San Jose to Matt Mahood, CEO of the business group that switched names from the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to the Silicon Valley organization last year.

We know you changed your name, but we wanted to remind you, Walesh said with a smile.

CHEERING SECTION: The Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps finished its 50th anniversary season by winning a silver medal at the Drum Corps International World Class Finals in Indianapolis last weekend among a field of 40 drum corps. The 300-member Vanguard Alumni Corps, organized to celebrate the milestone season, also made the trip and performed for the crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium after Friday evenings semifinal competition.

And a round of applause is due to more than 100 volunteers who were pulled together by Somos Mayfair last Saturday to spruce up the campus of Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the East San Jose neighborhood. With support from Microsoft, Intel, Alum Rock Union School District and Vice Mayor Magdalena Carrascos office, the group got out the paint brushes and rollers to add some color to the campus. What a great back-to-school gift for the returning students.

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San Jose home tour celebrates a century of Spanish Revival - The Mercury News

South Africans are sitting on a ticking economic time bomb, and we need to do all we can to ensure that it does not detonate.

On releasing the quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter this week, Statistician-General Pali Lehohla said the labour absorption rate which is a proportion of those who are employed among the population aged 15 to 64 declined by 0.4 of a percentage point to 43.3%.

Youth unemployment is close to 56%, which means that 3.3 million of our young people are idle and not taking up any form of education or training.

South Africa and South Korea celebrated enjoying 25 years of diplomatic relations last week. This milestone could not have come at a better time in light of the current economic challenges we face and the ANCs upcoming elective conference in December.

The occasion afforded the ANC an opportunity to reflect on the progress of the National Development Plan and the lessons to be learnt from South Korea. It was also a chance for the governing party to analyse models that could accelerate the process of economic transformation.

Asias fourth-largest economy launched its first five-year economic development plan 14 years ago. It triggered the Republic of Koreas economic transformation. The country succeeded in achieving land reform and economic growth simultaneously, something that we are also striving for.

South Korea, now a major role player among the worlds top exporting nations, implemented its plan by focusing on developing its industrial sector. This bore fruit, resulting in the growth of its exports.

At the same time, South Korea directed its attention towards developing its rural and agricultural sector. Success at this endeavour also contributed to the countrys robust and sustained economic growth.

Three principles

South Africa must examine how South Korea managed to develop its rural areas by considering the political initiative known as the Saemaul Undong movement, which began in 1970.

This movement, aimed at modernising South Koreas rural economy, spread like wildfire as it gained buy-in from the citizenry.

The successful campaign was spearheaded by then president Park Chung-hee, who said: I am convinced that if we care for our communities with our own hands in a spirit of self-reliance and independence, doing our work by our own sweat, then soon our living standards will improve and we can remodel our communities into neat and attractive places to live.

In South Africa, the reality is that we remain stuck in a situation akin to pre-1970s South Korea, as much of our economic growth attained thus far is urban-based. Rural areas have been left out. And poverty is still very much a rural reality.

The situation cannot be left unchanged. For South Africa to learn from the Korean movement, the ANC leadership must understand the three principles that underpinned it.

Firstly, emphasis was placed on self-help and on improving village conditions, roads, irrigation and water supply, and the overall upkeep of the surroundings. In all participating villages, government supplied raw materials to the inhabitants free of charge and, on the basis of voluntary labour, let the locals decide what to do. Where roads were built, stream embankments repaired and other agriculture infrastructure set up, the equity realised lay in the voluntary labour.

The second phase saw the growth of self-reliance. Education and training were the impetus behind projects and served to instil the ideology of Saemaul Undong in villagers, inspiring them to come up with ways to raise their income and upgrade their skills and craftsmanship. Farming schools in particular offered courses in spiritual enlightenment aside from modern farming technologies, as well as practical lessons on how to operate and maintain farm equipment.

By the third stage, the movement had attained full development. There were many success stories involving cooperatives in villages and towns, along with a nationwide call for social reform.

The National Development Plan is a detailed blueprint for how South Africa can eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. The plan has various objectives, such as reducing unemployment by 6% by creating more than 5 million jobs.

Perhaps the main lesson to be gleaned from Saemaul Undong is that South Africa must become less reliant on government to solve its problems. If each of us contributes to providing a solution to the scourge of poverty, which breeds inequality, something greater can result.

As ANC branches prepare to nominate a new leader, the focus must be on electing a cadre willing to take up the challenge of developing our rural and agricultural areas. In doing so, the dream of a progressive developmental state will be realised.

South Korea remains a beacon of hope for what can be achieved through visionary leadership, a love for ones nation, abhorrence of corruption, the determination to make the most of the little one has and leading by example.

Nhlapo is a former print journalist, TV executive and communication strategist

24.com encourages commentary submitted via MyNews24. Contributions of 200 words or more will be considered for publication.

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Let's learn from South Korea's success - News24

Some of the ideas of those involved in its construction were loopy poopy. The Development Corporation, which strove to ensure that Milton Keynes had a cultural and socially inclusive backbone amid all the construction work, planned a sort of downtown Vegas which would include a souk, a wavepool and a rodeo. This was dismissed at the planning stage, but a proper force for good emerged in the form of the Open University, which opened its doors in 1969. Archive footage showed how local residents signed up in their hundreds, some little prepared for the required intellectual rigour. One elderly housewife rued the day she had embarked on a Physics degree: The second unit was on relativity and that really flawed me, she said.

What this documentary showed was that, ultimately, we all strive to be like everyone else. Milton Keynes had started out as a massive social experiment, but those who live there now are concerned less with Nirvana and more with the earthly delights of The Centre MK, a shopping complex with a Carluccios, a Cath Kidston and a Claires Accessories. And thats a shame even though Carluccios does a super macchiato.

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Milton Keynes and Me - this documentary will make you love Britain's most maligned city - review - Telegraph.co.uk

This years Chabad of Greenwichs parenting conference took an introspective journey into parenting, benefiting both parent and child.

The annual event, held at Carmel Academy at 270 Lake Avenue, is designed to inform, empower and inspire parents in the Greenwich community to become the best parent possible as they encounter the many challenges involved in raising a child.

Over a decadent spread of kosher sushi and wine, parents and peers gathered for an evening of guidance and inspiration. As one mother in attendance, Cori SaNogueira, said: My kids are the most important thing in my lifetheir positive growth is my lifes mission, but I need events like this to teach me and give me strength during the tough times to know I am on the right path.

This year the theme focused on cultivating respect and how to raise a child with an attitude of gratitude, particularly in a community as materially well-off as Greenwich.

The first half of the conference was divided into two smaller seminars: one for parents of younger kids and one for parents of teenagers, each followed by a question-and-answer session.

(This reporter attended the seminar for teenagers, thinking she could gain some much-needed guidance about her rising sixth-grade boy, who already possesses all the fixings of a teenager. And she did.)

The quiet, steady focus of the crowd of teenage parents conveyed their anticipation of Chabads Rabbi Yossi Deren and his words of wisdom: He is the father of 10.

Deren smiled generously and started the discussion with his customary humor wrapped around a truth: Without a question of a doubt, a parent of a teenager is not just a parent, but a hero.

We are in a unique position as a parent of a teen and must remember when they make mistakes that we have taught them well, but now they need to find their place as they figure out who they are and how to live on their own, unique path.

Deren offered advice for parenting different age groups and answered questions from the audience.

Deren recommended three fields of empowerment and transition during these older years:

1. Transition from teaching our children to respecting our children. Our job is to pull out their potential as they work to figure out their identity.

2. Focus our parenting tactics from discipline to love. As children grow older, their need for love grows even more as they encounter many difficulties in their lives, whether it be academically or socially.

He said a parents reaction to a crisis in their childs lives can completely change the trajectory of the relationship. If we react with shock and awe rather than showing our kids that we can identify and connect with their feelings, the outcome will be vastly different.

3. Move from more talking to more doing. The familiar adage, Do as I say, not as I do, does not hold up, according to the rabbi. Teenagers are very, very smart today, and our actions as parents say everythinglet them become the teenagers that we want them to become and set good examples for them.

When asked what kind of impact social media has on teenagers, particularly with an increase in online bullying and constant exposure, he said: Embrace its power for the good of life lessons [he referred to the recent suicide of a young boy whose friend had been an accomplice] and let them be exposed to the dangers of it in order to help them navigate through those dangers. Its our job to create that safe space and promote our teenagers peace of mind.

Deren discussed the importance of Shabbat in the Jewish religion (Shabbat entails a full day of rest and spiritual enlightenment, devoid of all technology) beginning at sunset every Friday evening and ending at nightfall on Saturday.

Its a sacred time for people to be completely unplugged and just focus on talking and being with family and friends, he said.

As the crowd shifted in their seats, Wolff posed a question to parents of their children: How are we going to create gratitude within them?

The second portion of the night featured an inspiring talk titled Raising a Child with Soul, powerfully delivered by keynote speaker Slovie Jungreis Wolff, a noted author, teacher and lecturer, as well as daughter of Rebbetzein Esther Jungreis, founder of the Hineni Heritage Center, and an international inspirational speaker and mentor.

For more than 30 years, Wolff has been teaching weekly classes for couples and families, helping them focus on the meaning of kindness and gratitude in a fast-paced, complex society.

While guests grabbed a coffee and a cookie, the crowd instantly quieted when Wolff walked up to the podium and shared a painful story of loss: Many of her family members perished in Auschwitz.

When you go through difficulties in life, dont sit in the darkness, said Wolff.

Its a gift to raise children, but kids need a spiritual foundation if we are to raise kids who stand for truth, honesty and have an attitude of gratitude, said Wolff.

Wolff discussed how kids today are growing up in a disposable society where they are always wanting more. Today, kids have no patience and have a need for instant gratification with too much of everything at their fingertips.

She referenced the many parents who are quick to replace a lost sweater or pair of shoes, or continually provide their children with everything they want and desire, presuming its the panacea that will make them happy and peaceful.

Wolff shared the story of a family she had once worked with. They lived in a gorgeous mansion, filled with every game and toy imaginable, and yet their child would sit in the middle of it all and say to her parents, Im so bored. Theres nothing to do.

As the crowd shifted in their seats, Wolff posed a question: How are we going to fix this in our childrens character and create gratitude within them?

Wolff says it starts with a simple thank you. The following are her suggestions for raising a child with soul:

Teach kids to be thankful for all the people in their livesto say thank you to ones parents, grandparents, teachers, bus drivers, etc., for all that they do. Wolff said to encourage kids when baking cookies or challah to donate them to a charity or to the police, who are always helping others.

Convey how time together with family is a privilegeone for which kids should have gratitude (Wolff mentioned that its often when we lose a family member what regret not having more time with them.) With too many material things to focus on, especially our phones, kids tend to stop appreciating the people in their lives.

Wolff went on to observe that the phone calls from the people on board the hijacked planes of Sept. 11 spent their last minutes confessing their love and their sadness that their time with loved ones would endnothing else.

Parents also need to show appreciation for one another in the home and set the example. When Mom or Dad thank one another for making a nice dinner, or for working a long, hard daythat has a huge impact on the family unit.

Wolff said its important to teach kids to be inclusive of the child that no one chooses on the team during gym class or for a playdate. Teach your child that you can change the world that way, and that compassion makes the world a better place.

We need to foster a home filled with less presents, and more presence in the home, Wolff said. We live our lives in black and white, and lose the color by letting little things get to us.

Wolff told a touching story about a young boy who kept asking his highly successful, yet preoccupied father how much money he made per hour. The parents were upset by this pointed question and were wondering where it came from.

So the father said $20.

The boy went away, and then came back holding his piggy bank and a $20 bill that he had saved up.

He gave it to his father and said: If I give you this, then you can get off your phone for just one hour and spend time with me?

This story originally appeared in the Greenwich Sentinel on Aug. 4 and on its online version Aug. 9.

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An emphasis on values, empathy and quality time with their children, above all else - Chabad.org

Its been half a century since San Francisco hosted the so-called Summer of Love, a months-long confab of mostly young people inspired by the mantra of turn on, tune in, drop out. The time was ripe, it seemed, for this eclectic group of music loving, war opposing flower children to band together in a joint affirmation of peace, love, and spiritual enlightenment.

Harmony and understanding / Sympathy and trust abounding, sang the tie-dye clad cast of the psychedelic rock musical Hair, whose co-authors had spent the early part of that same year in San Francisco. No more falsehoods or derisions / Golden living dreams of visions / Mystic crystal revelation / And the minds true liberation / Aquarius, Aquarius.

However, as pleasant and as promising as this all sounds, the lingering notion that casual sex and hallucinogenic drugs two of the musicals and that summers prominent themes might somehow play a role in someone achieving true enlightenment deserves further scrutiny.

Why now?

Apparently the last 50 years have done little to diminish the appeal of what were once considered pretty far out ideas. In fact, quite the opposite has happened. LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA or Ecstasy once banned by the FDA after they were embraced and often abused by those intent on using them for pleasure are now being touted as a great way to connect with your inner self, albeit under medically supervised conditions. As for casual sex, what used to be thought of as a largely recreational or, occasionally, procreational activity is being pitched as a vehicle for couples to experience a sense of spiritual connection.

One cant help but wonder, then, based on what weve seen over the last 50 years, the degree to which such potentially self-indulgent avenues to acquiring spiritual wisdom have proven to be either lasting or genuine.

Call me old-fashioned, but judging from my own experience, Id say the best way to achieve real and enduring enlightenment is through prayer, that deeply humble, indescribably peaceful bonding with God, divine Mind, that results without the aid (or potential interference) of any intermediary physical, chemical, or otherwise. Heres my instruction, writes St. Paul (Gal. 5:15 ESV), walk in the Spirit, and let the Spirit bring order to your life. If you do, you will never give in to your selfish cravings.

Granted, there are as many definitions of prayer as there are people in the world. But most would probably agree that prayer is something that not only has the capacity to inspire and enable us to do good to others, but also to better understand the all-knowing, always present source of such goodness.

True prayer is not asking God for love; it is learning to love, and to include all mankind in one affection, writes Mary Baker Eddy. Prayer is the utilization of the love wherewith He loves us.

What I like most about such a path to enlightenment is that its not the least bit self-indulgent. On the contrary, it can be a catalyst for engaging with others completely unselfishly, for mutual rather than merely personal benefit. Even better, its something that Ive found time and again, in and of itself, leads to mental and physical healing.

But it goes further than that.

Over and above whatever mental or physical regeneration I might experience, prayer continues to provide me with that kind of moral and spiritual grounding that, at least to my sense, can only be achieved through consistent communion with the Divine. It may not be as alluring as either drugs or sex (and thats a good thing), but nothing can compare to the immediate and completely satisfying impact it can have on our ability to connect with our inherently spiritual selves.

Regardless of whether the proverbial Age of Aquarius has come or gone, the desire to discover the decidedly and exclusively divine source of good in our lives remains forever.

Eric Nelson writes about the connection between consciousness and health from his perspective as a practitioner of Christian Science. He also serves as the spokesperson for Christian Science in Northern California. Connect with him on About.Me/NorCalCS.

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Rethinking remnants from the 'Summer of Love' - SFGate (blog)