Why Compare?

Our Guru often reminds us that we are the Masters of our lives, and that with Yogic Power, we can achieve everything we set our hearts and minds in. 
 
As we walk the guided path, it is always good to be aware of the obstacles and boundaries that we set for ourselves knowingly or unknowingly. 

One of which is the tendency to compare. Most of us do it to somewhat evaluate ourselves. It bears a huge cost - often resulting in self-doubt, and a detrimental effect on our self-esteem. Once we begin down that road, we never find an end.

Our Divine Master often reminds us that the belief on the Self is one of the biggest pillar of Life. Let's not start doubting ourselves through comparison.

A True Life Account

He was unsuccessful in getting a job for several years. Tight monetary situation caused him to be heavily in debt. Desperation and disappointment led to his decision to commit suicide by jumping off his flat. High emotions greyed the fact that he will be leaving behind a wife and kid.

Just as he was about to jump, his phone buzzes. It was a stranger he met some days ago. She had shared with him about the benefits of meditation. Feeling highly emotional, he confessed to her about his plan to end his life. She successfully talks him into changing his mind. In due course, he decides to try meditation for a change.

He has since attended the Rajayoga Power Transcendental Meditation seminar, and has been practicing meditation for a few months now. When we met him, he was very hopeful and optimistic; it was clear his faith has been restored. He shared how his life circumstances has changed for the better, along with his attitude. With the help of the meditation techniques, he has since gotten himself the very job he was unsuccessful in getting in the past.

This is a simple but powerful example of how our life is highly dependent on our state of mind. Meditation promotes healing. It brings about emotional stability and harmony to the mind, enabling one to better cope with life situations. Eventually, it brings about a change in one’s inner attitude towards life. The butterfly emerges…

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"What we think we become" - Buddha

We manifest what we think - these form our reality tomorrow.  

What are your thoughts today? 

Are you laying the correct foundation? 

Questions we ask ourselves frequently. 

The side effect of this is the realization of the power of the mind.

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SMART Move with Yogashakthi

Why do we struggle so much with goal setting? Is it because we spend too much time thinking about what we don't want, rather than on what we want? (refer to my previous post "Do we know what we want") Or is it because our positive statements (i.e. our goal statements) are not "S.M.A.R.T." enough?

Consider the following statements (often made by students) as an example:

Statement A (Negative)        :  I don't want to fail my exam

Statement B (Positive)           : I want to pass my exam

Statement C (S.M.A.R.T.)       : I want to score 90% for my science mid-term exam this year

Obviously Statement C is going to get us somewhere.  When writing goals,  all you need to do is ask yourself - is this S.M.A.R.T. enough? Try this:

1. Take a blank sheet of paper and divide it to 3 equal parts
2. Put the following headers, and start thinking about what you want. If you know what you don't want, write that down on the left column, and think about how you can make that statement a positive one (what you want). Write your positive statement on the middle column, and then translate that that to a S.M.A.R.T. goal on the right column.
3. Check if your goal is S.M.A.R.T. by simply asking - is it specific? is it measureable? and so on....
4. Use your S.M.A.R.T. goal to do positive programming

  

Remember, with Yogashakthi, we get exactly what we want/ask for. So let's channel our energy SMARTly, and start achieving our goals. Give it some thought. Give it a try. Tell us what you think.

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Another Success Story

I think it’s about time for me to share my quest for distinction when I was in the U.K. last year. When I signed up for the MSc programme, I wanted to see nothing less than a distinction in the scroll that I would get at the end of one year. I am paying a hefty sum of money for this after all, so why not?

If you are a student, this is the “secret” I wish to share. I found it very useful to focus on the big picture. Every day I did my subconscious programming (though there were days that I missed, but those were very few) – I shall graduate with distinction. In order for me to do that, I had to first work out the scores I will have to attain in order to do that. Then, my mental image was that of an email result slip with "distinction" appearing at each subject code.

 Practically speaking, I had no idea how I would attain it when I started out. But I carried on with only 1 driver – my faith. Eventually I did graduate with distinction. How did that happen? When I reflect I realise how things fell into place. I made good friends – who were willing to share resources and learn together. A lot of collaborative learning occurred, inside and outside class. I was able to find good resources to get ideas and write my papers – not everyone had success with that. I was able to focus and my articulation of thoughts improved.

The strangest thing also happened – I started to dream. My dream showed me the errors in my work. My dreams showed me how I could correct them. I started getting brilliant ideas. It got to a point where I started sleeping with a notebook and a lamp near my bed.  Every time there was an obstacle (for example, identifying a dissertation topic), I found my solutions though many mediums like lecturers, friends, things, reflection on learning... somehow, it came to me. Subconscious programming – both negative removal and positive application did wonders -I see it as an indispensible tool, to fix everything – it was and still is, my one for all.

Of course, I wasn’t the best student. Of course, I could have done better – I attained 6 distinctions out of 9 subjects (got distinction for overall aggregate). Of course, I could have become the top student or win the best dissertation title, or even got a nomination. But I didn’t – why? Cos my only interest was to graduate with distinction... and everything fell in place to match exactly what I wanted.

My only advice to you if you are a student – be very very sure of what you want – cos that is exactly what you will get. Somehow, someway. But of course, you have to put in effort. Nothing works without effort. I did my part, I spent many, many hours reading, studying, writing, reflecting...etc. Besides my supportive family, my strongest pillar was my Divine Master, His Divine Grace.

I am still awed by this power... and it's all within us. If we can think it, we can become it.

Good Luck!

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Calendar Desktops

Time flies! It's nearly a month since the new year's begun. Reflection on the experiences in the past year makes me want to thank His Divine Grace over again for the wonderful miracles and numerous learning opportunities. I am still growing spiritually, learning from every obstacle faced. Yogashakthi is indeed my strength.

Below are some of my favourite pictures accumulated from various trips and I thought they'd make lovely desktop calendars for this year. I've added famous quotes (and translations) from His Divine Grace for an inspirational touch. Hope you like them. Feel free to email me if you'd like to have these pictures.

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I had the chance to listen to HDG's message broadcasted on the radio. I was stunned when I heard Him quote Swami Vivekananda, because it rightfully reinforces what I had just read - You become what/who you think you are. Concidence? Maybe, but it sure does make me value these words.

So what do these words imply, and how does it relate to the methods we practice? Remember subconscious programme, we always focus on end results - that we've attained that something we want. Thus in that way, we are in fact attaining or becoming what we think we are! The exclusive advantage we have is that we've been initiated by our Grand Master and the practice of meditation allows us to achieve our end results much faster. Isn't that great?

I decided to put these words as my desktop now, they accentuate the picture taken at Brugg during a trip there - just to share with you.

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My take on Faith

Thoughts on faith got rekindled when I went through my previous posts in here as it has been awhile since I wrote something. I realise that I have not shared my thoughts on faith. It is also coincidental that I finally started reading a book (different from the one I had mentioned in my previous post) that I borrowed from a dear friend.... a book on faith.
 

Though this book was affiliated to a particular religion, I realised the spiritual aspect of it, and how applicable it was to our practice of meditation and usage of methods. This book describes faith as “grasping the unrealities of hope and bringing them into the realm of reality”.... as “evidence of things not seen”.
 

What does this mean exactly? I pondered as I continued reading. The author did an excellent job simplifying things. Pay attention to the following thoughts:

1. I don’t see the thing that I have been praying for (or using the methods for), so I am not sure if I will get it
2. The thing I have been praying for (or using the methods for) is mine because God wills it to be mine

Notice the difference? Though it can been seen that both thoughts are from someone who believes in God, the first one is not sure the prayer will be answered, whereas the 2nd one has faith that prayers are always answered. How does this apply to me and the methods I use? I started reflecting, and got reminded of 2 persons I know of who practice self healing:

• Person A: Practices self healing hoping it will cure her of the sickness...groans and complains how feeble she feels most times... prays very hard because she feels so sick and only God can save her now..
• Person B: Believes that God has indeed already given her good health, and that she is completely healed of the illness she is suffering from while practicing self healing

It is a good thing that both practice self healing diligently and self healing sure does help both....but I won't be surprised if it takes Person A longer than Person B to be healthy. While person A is unsure if she can be healthy at all and focuses on the symptoms of the sickness, person B focuses on being healthy. I used to think that Person B is in denial. But now, I realise the power of faith and that of the mind. We are what we think we are! Most of us by now know that the SECRET is not much of a secret anymore – we attract what we think. Ahhh... now it makes sense! Isn’t it better to believe that we ARE healed so that we CAN be healed? It is about believing that we are healthy, to be healthy. Idealistic it may sound, but I realise that faith is believing.
 

The definition given by the author makes sense now. Faith is different from hope. While hope is waiting for something to happen, Faith makes things happen. Faith makes the stuff mind label as impossible, possible. I used to say this is believing blindly - blind faith. But now, I realise that faith is not at all blind – believing that you have gotten the something that you have been praying for (or practicing the methods for) is not being blind. In fact, it saves us from groping in the dark. I also realise that faith has little to do with feeling as feelings distract the mind. I believe that the methods our Divine Master has taught us are tools to help us... with faith as the driver. The powerful 3 (the heart, the methods and faith) combined result in miracles.

I decided to give faith a shot a few years ago, by believing with my heart (and not just the brain) in the methods that I use. Get the mind focused on the answer, the final destination, the résultat final ... or whatever else you want to call it... and not the problem. It is as simple as that! I started believing that I have already gotten the thing that I have using the methods for... and guess what.... you probably have guessed it by now.... IT WORKED!

I sincerely hope you give a shot at it too. What have u gotta loose anyway?

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How difficult is it, really?

I ask myself this question all the time, especially when given a “difficult” task. How difficult is it really? The answer I always derive after some thought – not very difficult indeed. It doesn’t fail to surprise me again and again.

You see, it has everything to do with the mindset. Positive versus negative. We hear about this all the time. Why do we become negative? I am not a psychologist, not even close, but I think it has everything to do with our experiences. Previous experience affects our perceptions. If it failed in the past, it will fail again – we tend to believe this.

I find the biggest challenge is to overcome this. It really is very difficult to turn negative mindset towards something to a positive one. When I try doing something that had failed in my previous attempts, I realise that I need a lot of courage, determination and willpower to try again. We are human beings after all, can’t be THAT perfect right?

Wait! My mind screams. Isn’t that an excuse?!! How lame!

So how do I make this process easier? The answer is obvious - negative removal and positive programming. It is easier said then done! It needs a lot of patience - the waiting for “it to happen like I want it to” can be soooo painful! The mind comes up with all sorts of things, and sometimes it can be difficult to be focused.

Is it really that difficult? I ask myself

My mind screams "yes!!!'

The next question that follows - Is it unachievable?

My mind says, almost refusing to admit, a faint... "no".

This makes me sit down to do it.

How do I deal with the "waiting-for-it-to-happen" part? I ask myself - what have I done to deserve this? What efforts have I put in to achieve it? Part of the effort is subconscious programming. This motivates me further to do my positive and negative more diligently.

Yogis do weird things like sleeping on nails, fasting etc to develop willpower. Perhaps this is my training in developing willpower (I somewhat struggled through the faith part).

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A Word of Thanks

We'd like to express our sincere thanks to those who have left comments as well as emailed us. It is encouraging to know that our intention of sharing valuable thoughts and reflections has been well received. Do feel free to share your thoughts too, so that we can have a meaningful learning experience

The following is my dad's experience, in his own words:

Hi all,

I became a disciple of His Divine Grace Yoga Jnana Sitthar Om Sri Rajayoga Guru in Johore Bahru in August 2006. My life has been blessed with many miracles ever since. My family has been richly blessed too. Let me recount my experience of His Divine Grace.
I have always been strong believers in astrology. On a trip to India, I consulted the Olai Suvadi readers at the Vaitheesvaran Temple in Tamil Nadu.

I found that everything that was read out to me was very accurate, including my childhood, marriage, kids, kids' life, etc. Being a very hardworking person, I wished not to agree when the leaf reader said that I shall only work until the age of around 58. I was 55 then. Retirement age in Singapore was 62.

I immediately resolved to work very hard to try and overcome that.

I am experienced in the aerospace industry as a planner and had worked for this company for more than 27 years. But soon after I got transferred to some department where I did not know and could not learn the work at all. I struggled there for one and a half years before I gave up and resigned. I was 58 then.

I tried without success to apply for other jobs. An aviation company with 3K starting pay selected me for a job but due to the fate I had to be hospitalised even before I started work!!Soon I resigned myself to fate. I realised that I was draining my savings.I took the Yogashakti course in August 2006 and immediately started using the methods taught to try and look for alternative sources of income.

Within a couple of months, I got some good news. My ex-employer was hiring for a posting to France. I have always loved the idea of overseas postings, and have been stationed in Australia and Turkey before. So I jumped at the opportunity and applied for the post.

The HR personnel who had tried to bargain down my asking salary called me a few days later to inform me that my appointment and asking salary had both been approved by management!!! (Of course I had made it a point to use the methods every day)By the grace of His Divine Grace, 'the Fate became lenient' to me. I joined for work in January 2007 and I went over to France on 23.02.07, the day after His Divine Grace's Divine Birthday!!!Do you know how old I was then?I turned 60 in September 2007.Now I’m driving a BMW320 and my total earning is more than SGDxxK a month.
How can I ever thank His Divine Grace.

Yoga Jnana Sitthar Om Sri Rajayoga Guru Saranam


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A Prayer

I got to know that His Divine Grace devoted this divine prayer to Lord Murugan at the Batu Caves earlier this year. I didn't realise the beauty of a prayer till I got to know about this. I wish to share it with those who missed the trip like I did.

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Reflection on Petition

Ask and you shall be given, is this really true? Does God give us everything we ask for? I have so many things on my list, sometimes I wonder - Why would God not answer all my petitions? But then again, won’t we become lazy and take everything for granted if God answered every petition we make? I could just stay in bed and request “Dear God, I need some food now, please grant me some food”. And food would drop from the sky. God will be our servant.

So let’s rephrase the question - Why would God not answer those reasonable petitions that we put forward? Well firstly, how do we know that it is a reasonable petition? And how do we know that what we've asked for is right for us? Beats me.

That aside, how do you know if God is granting your petition?

Say you are traveling in a foreign land, and you are not every sure of your route. You pray to God “Dear God, I want to reach place X and I believe route A will get me there. Please intervene and guide me to the place correctly.”

But God knows that there’s a massive jam at route A. Will God tell you that directly? I doubt it. So while traveling, you turn on the radio, and the DJ talks about the massive jam at Route A. And while driving, you see signposts on the road, showing you the alternative route to place X. All you have to do is to pick up the cues and use the alternative route, and you’ll reach your destination. But if you are going to be adamant, and insist since you prayed to God that your journey through route A will be smooth and that will be the only way you’ll go now - You are going to be stuck in the jam for hours. So what does this story illustrates? Sometimes things don’t just happen miraculously. Circumstances will be created and we might not even realize that God is actually answering our petition!

This reminds me of the Indian movie “BaBa” (hope I've spelt it correctly). I remember a scene in the movie where Rajini Kanth wants to have I think $10,000 rupees. He does a mantra, and then gets what he wants through a series of events. The money didn't drop from the sky. There was no magic. The whole event seemed like a coincidence that he saves a little girl's life and the parents reward him with the money. But he did get what he wanted in the end, of course with some effort like getting in middle of traffic and getting the girl out of danger (obviating stunts typical in his movies).

It's similar with Yogashakti. Firstly of all, we need to be clear on what exactly we want. Then we’ll have to figure out what would be the best technique to use.

Regular application of the technique results in us getting what we want, though most times, it doesn't drop from the sky or just appear from nowhere. God has a wonderful way of creating circumstances/opportunities for us, and with some effort from our part, we get exactly what we asked for.

Petitions do come true after all! That's the beauty of it.

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Do we know what we want?

Have you ever thought about it - Do you know what you want? Maybe we don’t know what life has installed for us yet (I know I don’t, and kudos to those who have already got that figured), but do we know what we really really want? Say I have a genie in front of you to grant one wish, just ONE wish. What would you ask for? (Asking for your every wish to come true is not counted.) How many would ask for world peace? Or solution to environmental stresses?

The point is, most of us would ask for fulfilment of a need, or some personal achievement. That’s why some of us make resolutions year after year after year right? To a point that some of us give up doing that cos we’ve never been able to do all those things we had listed. I mean come to end of year, do we even remember what resolution we made for this year??

Some of us may know what we don’t want better than what we want. "I don’t want to be caught sneaking back to the office late today." "I don’t want to fight with my spouse tonight." "I don’t want to be late for my appointment." "I hope I don’t run into that horrible person today." "I hope I don’t miss the bus" – sounds familiar? No wonder we have so many stresses.

Now, when you are doing the subconscious programming given by His Divine Grace, have you ever paid attention to your thoughts? Are you putting in a positive thought or a negative thought? Compare the following 2 statements:

(a) I don’t want my kid to fail the exam

(b) I want my kid to pass the exam

Statement (b) sounds more positive than statement (a) right? So why not from now, pay more attention to your thoughts, and make them positive ones? It’s very difficult to have positive thoughts all the time, but why not start with the subconscious programming? I mean before you start with the method, be more conscious about what you are really asking (Is this what I really want?), and make it more positive (Can I phrase this any better?).

So now that we are approaching a brand new year, you might have started working on your brand new resolutions. Why not include this in your list – "I’ll do positive subconscious programming always". That’s my only resolution for the new year.

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This is part of His Divine Grace's quote published in the Newspaper earlier this year. 

The first line translates: Examine yourself always.

The 2nd line translates: Failures are not for you.

When I first came across this quote, I read it as failures are not for me if I put in effort in finding out more about myself. Well if I know myself well, I will know my strengths and weakness. This in turn will help me deal with other people and situations. Thus, get better in avoiding failures.

Well, this is not bad an understanding I believed, but I gained a better spiritual insight when I read a chapter from a book by Paramahansa Yogananda.

My reflections based on the book:

Search yourself through meditation

This will lead to realization about the Self,

That the spirit is free

Realization leads to detachment of the Self from the body,

And that the Self doesnt experience failures and pain

This book came to me in a most unexpected manner, and it came at the time I needed answer to my many questions about spirituality. What is faith? Can faith be developed? How can I believe in something without questioning it? We're always told that we need to do prathanai (petition) with complete faith. But how can I do that when I don't understand what faith really means? I asked some people these questions, and they were not able to help me. Someone told me to put this question forward to Guruji through prathanai. And I tried it.

I got my answers.

I visited a friend at her place that week, and found the book on her coffee table. Picked it up and opened it. The first thing I saw was a chapter titled "Faith".

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We recently found out the meaning of this familiar Bhajan, originally written by Adi Shankara:

Guru Brahma
Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheswara
Guru Sakshath Parambrahma
Tasimai Shri Guruve Namaha
Translates:
Guru is the creator Brahma
Guru is the preserver Vishnu
Guru is the destroyer Shiva
Guru is directly the supreme spirit
I offer my salutations to this Guru

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Oli Sudar for Desktop

We took these beautiful pictures in New Zealand, and decided our Guruji's oli sudar will add an inspirational flavour to it. Hope you like it. Email us if you want any of these desktop pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

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