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15 Spiritual Laws I wish I had been taught as a child
1) The laws of nature operate such that you cannot steal anything and you cannot give anything away. Anything you steal will be taken from you at a later time. Anything you give away will be given to you many times over. What you do to someone else will be done to you.
2) Every thing you experience, good or bad, happiness or suffering is the direct result of action you have taken sometime in your past. You alone are responsible for your present condition in life. Suffering arises because you have caused suffering to others. There is no other reason. Your more recent actions affect you much more strongly than the actions you committed in distant lifetimes. Therefore, you can change your karma for the better if you stop wrong action and start performing right and good actions now.
3) The laws of nature are setup to fulfill your desires. You live in a desire world and when you desire something, you begin to draw fulfillment of that desire toward yourself. The more spiritually advanced you are (the stronger your consciousness), the faster your desires are fulfilled. A man in Brahmin or God consciousness has his desires fulfilled instantly. If he wants something not available then the desire is fulfilled internally on the level of his consciousness. For others, the process to fulfill a desire takes longer, but if you keep desiring, it will arrive. Be careful what you desire.
4) That which you put you attention on grows strongest in your mind. Think about God and you draw God toward you. Think about sex or wealth or luxury and you will draw that toward you. Think about world peace or helping others and you elevate yourself. Think negatively about others and you create a negative effect on yourself. Your thoughts create a powerful effect. Be careful what you think.
5) God is everywhere, but where you will find Him first is within yourself. Only when your mind has been purified to experienced God within on the level of your consciousness, can you begin to find Him external to yourself on the level of your consciousness. Inquire within.
6) There are seven states of consciousness, the three normal states waking, dreaming and sleeping; Transcendental consciousness, which is experienced in meditation; Cosmic consciousness (“I am That”); God consciousness (“Thou are That”); and Unity consciousness (“All this is That”). There is a further refinement of Unity, referred to as Brahman consciousness. Always desire to obtain Unity consciousness for yourself and enlightenment for the entire world. You will begin to draw this toward yourself.
7) To find God, you need to purify yourself. That can be done most easily through daily meditation. Prayer and intellectual knowledge, are important, but insufficient. Seek a meditation technique that comes from a long tradition of Saints. The meditation you practice should provide you with the experience of your own pure consciousness within yourself, complete silence beyond time or ego, the experience of Transcendence. Your meditation should be effortless and pleasing (the Transcendent is pleasing!). If not, then move on. Keep seeking.
8) That which is closest to the truth lasts longest. Seek ancient wisdom.
9) Natural disasters such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, lack of rain arise because the people in that area of violating the laws of nature, God’s laws. The “disaster” is an attempt by nature to purify herself, to remove the negativity.
10) Whenever you meet people, be watchful and notice your first reaction to them. This tells you much about whether you knew these individuals before in a previous life. Anyone that becomes your friend is someone you knew and became comfortable with in a past life or the friendship would not be possible. Avoid people who are engaged in wrong action or negativity. They will affect and drain your spiritual consciousness.
11) Don’t eat red meat. The karma from killing any animal isn’t good, but the karma from causing the suffering and death of higher level animals is something you don’t want to incur.
12) Don’t eat frozen food, leftovers, processed food, food that has been fermented or aged, genetically engineered food or food that has chemical additives. Don’t eat mushrooms. Eat a vegetarian diet if you can do so comfortably. If not, eat turkey, chicken or fish, and eat these during the mid-day meal when digestion is the strongest. This is the most basic wisdom of Ayurveda (the science of life).
13) Avoid having a southern entrance to your home in any degree. It is best if the entrances to your home face east (influence of enlightenment) or north (influence of prosperity) to within five degrees, but at least avoid a southern entrance in any degree because it brings all influences of negativity. This is the most basic wisdom of Sthapatya-Veda (Vedic Architecture), planning and building in accord with Natural Law.
14) “Do good works without hesitation.” “The world is your family.”
15) “To get a human body is a rare thing—make full use of it. There are four million kinds of births which a soul can gather. After that one gets a human body. Therefore, one should not waste this opportunity. Every second in human life is very valuable. If you don’t value this, then you will have nothing in hand and you will weep in the end. Because you’re human, God has given you power to think and decide what is good and bad. Therefore, you can do the best possible kind of action. Whatever may have happened up to now may be because you didn’t know. But now be careful. After gaining a human body, if you don’t reach God, then you have sold a diamond at the price of spinach.” (Swami Brahmananda)
2) Every thing you experience, good or bad, happiness or suffering is the direct result of action you have taken sometime in your past. You alone are responsible for your present condition in life. Suffering arises because you have caused suffering to others. There is no other reason. Your more recent actions affect you much more strongly than the actions you committed in distant lifetimes. Therefore, you can change your karma for the better if you stop wrong action and start performing right and good actions now.
3) The laws of nature are setup to fulfill your desires. You live in a desire world and when you desire something, you begin to draw fulfillment of that desire toward yourself. The more spiritually advanced you are (the stronger your consciousness), the faster your desires are fulfilled. A man in Brahmin or God consciousness has his desires fulfilled instantly. If he wants something not available then the desire is fulfilled internally on the level of his consciousness. For others, the process to fulfill a desire takes longer, but if you keep desiring, it will arrive. Be careful what you desire.
4) That which you put you attention on grows strongest in your mind. Think about God and you draw God toward you. Think about sex or wealth or luxury and you will draw that toward you. Think about world peace or helping others and you elevate yourself. Think negatively about others and you create a negative effect on yourself. Your thoughts create a powerful effect. Be careful what you think.
5) God is everywhere, but where you will find Him first is within yourself. Only when your mind has been purified to experienced God within on the level of your consciousness, can you begin to find Him external to yourself on the level of your consciousness. Inquire within.
6) There are seven states of consciousness, the three normal states waking, dreaming and sleeping; Transcendental consciousness, which is experienced in meditation; Cosmic consciousness (“I am That”); God consciousness (“Thou are That”); and Unity consciousness (“All this is That”). There is a further refinement of Unity, referred to as Brahman consciousness. Always desire to obtain Unity consciousness for yourself and enlightenment for the entire world. You will begin to draw this toward yourself.
7) To find God, you need to purify yourself. That can be done most easily through daily meditation. Prayer and intellectual knowledge, are important, but insufficient. Seek a meditation technique that comes from a long tradition of Saints. The meditation you practice should provide you with the experience of your own pure consciousness within yourself, complete silence beyond time or ego, the experience of Transcendence. Your meditation should be effortless and pleasing (the Transcendent is pleasing!). If not, then move on. Keep seeking.
8) That which is closest to the truth lasts longest. Seek ancient wisdom.
9) Natural disasters such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, lack of rain arise because the people in that area of violating the laws of nature, God’s laws. The “disaster” is an attempt by nature to purify herself, to remove the negativity.
10) Whenever you meet people, be watchful and notice your first reaction to them. This tells you much about whether you knew these individuals before in a previous life. Anyone that becomes your friend is someone you knew and became comfortable with in a past life or the friendship would not be possible. Avoid people who are engaged in wrong action or negativity. They will affect and drain your spiritual consciousness.
11) Don’t eat red meat. The karma from killing any animal isn’t good, but the karma from causing the suffering and death of higher level animals is something you don’t want to incur.
12) Don’t eat frozen food, leftovers, processed food, food that has been fermented or aged, genetically engineered food or food that has chemical additives. Don’t eat mushrooms. Eat a vegetarian diet if you can do so comfortably. If not, eat turkey, chicken or fish, and eat these during the mid-day meal when digestion is the strongest. This is the most basic wisdom of Ayurveda (the science of life).
13) Avoid having a southern entrance to your home in any degree. It is best if the entrances to your home face east (influence of enlightenment) or north (influence of prosperity) to within five degrees, but at least avoid a southern entrance in any degree because it brings all influences of negativity. This is the most basic wisdom of Sthapatya-Veda (Vedic Architecture), planning and building in accord with Natural Law.
14) “Do good works without hesitation.” “The world is your family.”
15) “To get a human body is a rare thing—make full use of it. There are four million kinds of births which a soul can gather. After that one gets a human body. Therefore, one should not waste this opportunity. Every second in human life is very valuable. If you don’t value this, then you will have nothing in hand and you will weep in the end. Because you’re human, God has given you power to think and decide what is good and bad. Therefore, you can do the best possible kind of action. Whatever may have happened up to now may be because you didn’t know. But now be careful. After gaining a human body, if you don’t reach God, then you have sold a diamond at the price of spinach.” (Swami Brahmananda)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Janeth on -
Thank you so, so very much for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us, Frank!! :)
Not long ago I tried to contact a friend. I know my friend is a very busy guy. I got the voice mail. I decided not to leave a message out of concern to him. Last Sunday, out of the blue a phone call from him came in; he was trying to reach someone else and for some reason he pressed the wrong bottom and instead reached me. I needed to hear from him. I needed to hear his voice...The amazing thing is that there was not cell coverage on top of the hill I was, yet his phone call came in...Yet his phone call came in...I had thought so much and deeply about my friend and how he has enlightened my life with his sincerity, his brilliant mind, his kindness and generosity..., my friend is like a pearl at the bottom of the ocean, very hard to find. What I love most about my friend is that he lets me know when I have done something wrong or when others perceive me doing that. He just says a few intelligent words and it is like magic. I do love his beautiful mind, heart and generous soul!!
If you can spare a moment, Frank, kindly, will you please little, by little, when time permits, will you please tell us more about...
A) How do you interpret that my friend's phone call came in even though there was no coverage? I tried to make a phone call and was not allowed to.
B) "Stronger consciousness" --What are the signs we should expect to recognize when we are getting closer to it?
C) "..There are seven states of consciousness.."<---Respectfully, will you please consider creating a new forum on this fantastic subject? And will you share with us as much as you can of what you have been able to learn about them, not in small measure to your diligent personal will and determination to move up the scale in the spiritual Path, I am sure!! :)
D) "..To find God, you need to purify yourself..."<---Will you please share with us some other ideas you may have that could help us in this pursuit?
E) "..wisdom of Ayurveda (the science of life).."<---I do not recall seeing a blog or forum on the wisdom of Ayurveda. If some one has seen it on our TC, kindly, please let me know where I can find it, will you? If we do not have one yet, will you please consider creating one, Frank?
F) Point 15) says: "..one should not waste this opportunity.."<---Will you please share with us any and all ways you may think of things we (human beings) might be doing and might not be aware we are doing it and is making as waste the opportunity you talk about? Any and all, Frank, it doesn't matter if it feels silly to say this or that, or if it feels it is not important, or if feels people know about it or should know about it..:)
G) "..You alone are responsible for your present condition in life. Suffering arises because you have caused suffering to others. There is no other reason..."<---I would like to offer a thought on this. I believe there are other reasons we find ourselves in the condition we are at present. Other things such as the intentional pain others have caused to us because they in turn have been hurt by others. Some people have the capability of recognizing that and have a better control over their own immediate bodies and not do to others what others have done to them. Things like this affect us all!! :) It is so, so wonderful to have you back, Frank!! :)
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Permalink Reply by Frank McLaughlin on -
B) "Stronger consciousness" --What are the signs we should expect to recognize when we are getting closer to it?
Reply: Stronger consciousness just means having more purity, more goodness, reflecting more of the divine light inside all of us.
C) "..There are seven states of consciousness.."<---Respectfully, will you please consider creating a new forum on this fantastic subject? And will you share with us as much as you can of what you have been able to learn about them, not in small measure to your diligent personal will and determination to move up the scale in the spiritual Path, I am sure!! :)
Reply: I already have. In the Theosophy Forum on May 4, I posted an essay on "The Seven States of Consciousness" in which I tried to explain each state in detail.
D) "..To find God, you need to purify yourself..."<---Will you please share with us some other ideas you may have that could help us in this pursuit?
Reply: Learn to meditate and do so daily.
E) "..wisdom of Ayurveda (the science of life).."<---I do not recall seeing a blog or forum on the wisdom of Ayurveda. If some one has seen it on our TC, kindly, please let me know where I can find it, will you? If we do not have one yet, will you please consider creating one, Frank?
Reply: I'll create on next month and post more details on diet and health.
F) Point 15) says: "..one should not waste this opportunity.."<---Will you please share with us any and all ways you may think of things we (human beings) might be doing and might not be aware we are doing it and is making as waste the opportunity you talk about? Any and all, Frank, it doesn't matter if it feels silly to say this or that, or if it feels it is not important, or if feels people know about it or should know about it..:)
Reply: I think the saint who said this is saying, Seek God and don't get caught up in the superficial things of the world. It is okay to enjoy the world, but recognize that it is not important. Finding God is.
G) "..You alone are responsible for your present condition in life. Suffering arises because you have caused suffering to others. There is no other reason..."<---I would like to offer a thought on this. I believe there are other reasons we find ourselves in the condition we are at present. Other things such as the intentional pain others have caused to us because they in turn have been hurt by others.
Reply: The Vedas say others cause you pain because you have caused pain and you are reaping what you have sown. All suffering is self-inflicted.
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Permalink Reply by Janeth on
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>"..The Vedas say others cause you pain because you have caused pain and you are reaping what you have sown. All suffering is self-inflicted.<---All human beings have free will (for the Hispanic community = libre albedrio), as such, people may use it to do good or evil. When it is used to harm others, it doesn't necesary mean that the individual(s) being hurt had done something wrong and deserved said harm. There is no such thing as perfection/black and white without a middle path/gray area.
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Permalink Reply by Janeth on
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Hi Frank, I do not think I phrased question A) correctly. What I meant to say was how do you iterpret that my friend ""apparently"" pressed the wrong bottom? I could tell by the way he asked for the person he was trying to reach he thought he had pressed the right bottom..--I could tell he had no idea he had misdialed!! :)
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Permalink Reply by Frank McLaughlin on
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Your friend's impulse to call someone else arose in his/her consciousness specifically at that moment. Consciousness, the source of our thought, originates from God within. The timing occurred, the impulse arose, at a time when you were able to receive the call, and the mistake was made, the wrong number dialed, due to another impulse in that person's consciousness, perhaps as a response from Nature (God) to fulfill the desire you were having. Perhaps God wanted you to hear a specific message or perhaps God wanted the caller who made the mistake to be inspired by you! I'm just speculating. I don't have any special knowledge about the synchronicity that comes in our life.
I often think that God speaks to me through the voice of others when He can't get through to my inner voice.
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Permalink Reply by Janeth on
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I too believe He does, Frank!! :) I also think He does the same with others!! :)
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Permalink Reply by Janeth on
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>"..The timing occurred, the impulse arose, at a time when you were able to receive the call,.."<---I have been thinking about your reply since I read it, Frank, and it is so interesting the way you explained this. "The timing occurred"!! "The impulse arose!!"-Exactly!!
It had been over a week since I had tried telephoning my friend. When the phone call came in, the place and moment were perfect for the occasion.
I was at home (it was a holiday); suddenly, I felt the impulse to get out and look for a nice and quiet place, so I went to the top of a hill. This is most interesting!! I am confident I have met my friend in previous incarnations. I liked him the moment I met him!! :) Thank you much for teaching me and helping me understand!! :)
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Permalink Reply by Kerry James Goodhew on -
Nice post Frank!
there's a number here in NZ particularly interested in developing a theosophical education for children. http://theos-newzealand.ning.com/
We've got Vic Hao Chin of the Philippines touring the country (again) right now. They are big on educating children in the theosophical way. He has just announced that they are going all the way to having a theosophical University! This excites me (I've been saying on this forum that I see theosophy as an open relgion and science integrated-inclusive "university"!).
Vic arrives down here in Dunedin next week, Tuesday, with a presentation, "Theosophy and the Problems of Society". Very much looking forward to this!
Frank, your post would be greatly welcomed on our NZ site: I could copy and paste but it would be great (and I would be grateful) if it came from you! Our site is much quieter than this "big brother" TC as our nation is only 4 million total population (about 1000 paid-up members! with not many signed onto the site = relatively new) so your message would have prominence and influence for quite a long time !
Regards
KJG
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Permalink Reply by Janeth on
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>"..your post would be greatly welcomed on our NZ site.."<---Hi Kerry, does this mean you, TS brothers and sisters in New Zealand do not wish to share your comments and sentiments with us here?
Isn't the purpose of TS to try and unite us all?
What better way than trying to share our knowledge and any wisdom we may have acquired by now with others here, were a lot more people from all over the world would be able to benefit from it?
I believe we, TS members, should try our best to share knowledge and wisdom at a place where more people would benefit from it; what better way of doing that than doing it at one place instead of several places having people swiching back and forth between sites. At the fast pace the world works now, wouldn't it save people a lot of time and energy?,
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Permalink Reply by Kerry James Goodhew on
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Hi Janeth,
it didn't mean anything like that. It was simply a request to share. Transfering site to site is sharing ! I'm not trying (intending) to pull anything away from TC. There is "plenty" to go around (abundance). We simply have our own small New Zealand network which is within greater networks and it was just a way to bring it quicker to the attention of fellow NZers! The NZ site in some ways serves completely different purposes to the TC site. For example there would not be much point in announcing the meeting dates and venues on the TC site for Vic Hao Chin as he goes around New Zealand! NZers would not expect these notices to be on the TC site !
Keep it cool sister!
;-)
kjg
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Permalink Reply by Janeth on
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What if I was planning to go to NZ, Kerry? Perhaps one should try not to assume others might not be interested in other Section's activities just because of the distance..:) One may even know of someone who either live in Newzealand or will be there vacationing or something...One never know, ya know? :) I think your announcements are most welcome!!
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Permalink Reply by Frank McLaughlin on
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Kerry,
I'd be happy to post to your NZ site if you tell me where to go (send link). Keep in mind that the readers on this site are pretty sophisticated spiritually, and as such I left off explanations that I would normally include on any list like this. I assume an understanding of reincarnation and karma and that reincarnation stops when Enlightenment or God-Consciousness is obtained. I assume that the reader is favorably disposed toward the ancient teachings of the Vedas from India, from which my list derives, that people understand terms such as Ayur-Veda as referring to specific books or branches of the Veda.
Frank
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