The True Meaning of Spirituality

Inspiring Energy

What really is spiritually? Is it preaching the word of God, yet practicing something totally different? Is it going to church and temple every day, yet having an “impure” mind / heart? Is it quoting from religious text, yet having the gall to pass judgment on others? Is it about proclaiming that one’s religion is superior to another?
Well, if we agreed with any of the above, we indeed do not know the true meaning of spiritually.

Spirituality is a way of life. It is more about “being” rather than “doing”. It is being loving and caring; going the extra mile to assist someone. It is giving hope to others in times of distress. It is about putting others before you (yet not neglecting the self). It is helping to build others’ faith and positive outlook. It is about self -realization and living from your inner core; your divinity. It…

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Embracing Confusion

Often times, seekers pursue spirituality to overcome a sense of confusion. Yet, the deepest intention of spirituality is not to overcome confusion in pursuit of more clarity. It is the sincere and heartfelt willingness to find true clarity by relaxing into any sense of confusion, as an essential part of awakening to your true divine nature. Confusion arises during the unraveling of the overstimulated nervous system which represents the withering away of ego consciousness.

Think of confusion as the maturing of a flower. The confusion symbolizes the flower forgetting all the memories of being a seed, as it blossoms open to reveal its true identity; a reality no seed can ever anticipate or imagine. As memories of being a seed are forgotten, it recognizes itself not just as any flower in particular, but as the vastness of the garden miraculously exploring itself – throughout such a unique journey of blossoming.

During your experience of blossoming, any sense of confusion invites you to let go of all beliefs, identifications, and attachments to all ideas of yourself, just as the flower metaphorically forgets being a seed as it grows into the purity of itself. Ironically, the same spiritual path one pursues to advance their experience of awakening quickly becomes a path of never-ending distractions. Whenever you find yourself in pursuit of infinite spiritual ideas, or constantly engaging in endless practices, or even running toward the next spiritual milestone, you are overlooking the simplicity of relaxing into confusion by imagining it must be avoided in favor of some form of clarity.

As confusion is avoided by remaining in search of the clarity of conceptual understanding, one is led directly into further heartbreak, loss, and failure – to inevitably unravel what relaxing into confusion is always ready to reveal. If constant heartbreak, loss, and failure doesn’t sound like the smoothest path available to you, then it’s time to demonstrate your deepest level of sincerity and face the experience of confusion with the innocence and curiosity of an open heart.

Once confusion arises, all one has to do is relax into it, like a seed that has finally found a home in the ground, beginning to sprout roots on a journey of growth only leading one upward.

Just like when tending to a garden, seeds don’t usually need too much coaxing once they are planted in place, nor do flowers require specific rules to follow, or endless streams of ideas in order to grow. All they need is the gentle care and loving attention from those who are inspired to support their growth, so all the elements may come together to express the uniqueness and wondrous beauty of life’s eternal Source.

The spiritual journey may include the collecting of wisdom, the repetition of practices, or following a step-by-step process promising some elusive carrot at the end of a stick. While such experiences are widely available at the beginning of the journey, they are discarded along the way. As this occurs, you are invited to shed ideas of personal security, preparing you to remain open and unopposed, as the precision of confusion invites your deepest level of sincerity to bubble up to the surface.

At this point, there are two distinct options. One is choosing to embrace confusion however it appears, while the other is a diligent need to further avoid it. You may ask yourself: Are you willing to relax into confusion and discover in yourself what no organized spiritual concept is able to reveal? Or, are you more interested in rushing back to a full-time schedule of repeating quotes to others, debating ideas of truth, and engaging in the repetition of practice that never intends to guide you beyond the need for more practice?

There is no right or wrong answer to be found here. The spiritual path always contains the ongoing theme of uncompromising sincerity. No matter what you imagine the spiritual path may help you find, all you can ever do is ask yourself the most direct questions possible to reveal where your deepest interests are ready to lead you.

No matter what feels appropriate for you at any stage of the journey, no one is ever being helped whenever you’re assisting them in escaping the essential opportunity of embracing confusion. Such an opportunity is what expressions of disappointment, loss, heartbreak, and failure invite into our lives. These blessings in disguise are commonly overlooked by endless judgments through any need to constantly seek conceptual forms of spiritual clarity. If avoidance is chosen, it can quickly become the next practice you’ll be inspired to constantly employ. That is, until the insistence to avoid confusion breaks apart, leaving you with no other alternative, but to face what only the innocence of heartfelt honesty may ever survive.

If you wish to assist yourself or others when awakening into spiritual maturity, discard every idea, belief, or concept that only serves to feed the hungry overthinking mind, and dare to love each and every heart – just as it is. Remember, while a seed may grow impatient in the blossoming process, the sun always knows there is nothing to rush.

By Matt Kahn © Copyright 2011 True Divine Nature, LLC 

Reasons Why You May Be Addicted to Facebook

Can’t Resist Checking Social Media?

Are you one of those people who just can’t resist checking your Facebook page, no matter where you are and what you’re doing? How often do you log on? Once a day? Twice? Every 20 minutes? Perhaps you’re constantly peeking at Facebook while you’re at work, even though you know your boss doesn’t approve? Well, you’re certainly not alone. With well over a billion registered users around the globe, it’s obvious that whatever Facebook offers, a lot of people want it. And the reason for this worldwide obsession with Mark Zuckerberg’s social network is because when we use Facebook there are several complex emotional processes at play.

When we go online and see that we have lots of friends, it reassures us that we’re loved and valued. We feel popular and liked, and this boosts our self-esteem. It gives us a little buzz and we feel better about ourselves, and this can be very addictive. In fact, social networking can become a dangerous obsession – and for those of us who have an addictive nature it can lead to consequences that are highly negative. You could find that Facebook starts getting in the way of important things in your life that you neglect to do as a result. Or maybe you wake up exhausted in the mornings because you’ve spent half the night trawling around on your mobile or PC.

If you find yourself regularly experiencing niggling little worries about how people will interpret what you’ve posted—or you fret about what others have said—then it could be a clue that you’re developing an unhealthy relationship with social networking. Of course, there’s nothing evil about the idea of Facebook in itself and I use it myself as a communication tool. But if you find yourself becoming a slave to the buzz it can give you then it could be a sign that you suffer from deep insecurity.

The problem for some of us is that it can create an altered reality in which everybody seems to be having a great time, even when their life might actually be falling apart. When Andy Warhol said that in the future everybody would be famous for 15 minutes, he underestimated it, because these days everybody wants to be famous—and all the time—on Facebook. And this creates an expectation that everything ought to be perfect all the time—so when things go wrong in your off-line life, or you find yourself bombarded with messages from all these friends who seem to have wonderful lives, you end up wondering why your own life doesn’t run so smoothly.

Through my work as a therapist, I’ve encountered numerous young women (and some men), who panic if they can’t check Facebook, yet when they do they go into meltdown because everyone seems so be doing so much better than them. It forms a vicious circle. You go online looking for affirmation in order to give yourself a boost—but you end up feeling awful, which in turn makes you all the more likely to go searching for a boost again. It is for this reason that I normally advise rehab patients who are in recovery from addictions or eating disorders to completely avoid Facebook. Experience has taught me that recovering anorexics—who typically have low self-esteem—can be particularly vulnerable.

As I explain in my book, Who Says I’m An Addict – addicts are people who by nature are emotionally codependent on others (this is when we rely on other people to validate our sense of self-worth, rather than having our own healthy levels of esteem). And this being the case, it’s easy to see how Facebook can become a dangerous jungle in which we go searching for validation, because we can rarely live up to the false expectations the social network creates. At its best, social networking fulfills a very deep human need to feel connected to others. The irony is that sometimes it does the just opposite.

By David Smallwood, Source: Heal Your Life

Mind

Source: Osho.com

People come to me and they ask, “How to attain a peaceful mind?” I say to them, “There exists nothing like that: peaceful mind. Never heard of it.”

Mind is never peaceful; no-mind is peace. Mind itself can never be peaceful, silent. The very nature of the mind is to be tense, to be in confusion. Mind can never be clear, it cannot have clarity, because mind is by nature confusion, cloudiness. Clarity is possible without mind, peace is possible without mind; silence is possible without mind, so never try to attain a silent mind. If you do, from the very beginning you are moving in an impossible dimension.

Osho, Tantra: The Supreme Understanding, Talk #2

Remember always that whatsoever is happening around you is rooted in the mind. Mind is always the cause. It is the projector, and outside there are only screens – you project yourself. If you feel it is ugly then change the mind. If you feel whatsoever comes from the mind is hellish and nightmarish, then drop the mind. Work with the mind, don’t work with the screen; don’t go on painting it and changing it. Work with the mind.

But there is one problem, because you think you are the mind. So how can you drop it? So you feel you can drop everything, change everything, repaint, redecorate, rearrange, but how can you drop yourself. That is the root of all trouble.

You are not the mind, you are beyond mind. You have become identified, that’s true, but you are not the mind.

And this is the purpose of meditation: to give you small glimpses that you are not the mind. If even for a few moments the mind stops, you are still there! On the contrary, you are more, overflowing with being. When the mind stops it is as if a drainage which was continuously draining you has stopped. Suddenly you are overflowing with energy. You feel more!

If even for a single moment you become aware that the mind is not there but “I am,” you have reached a deep core of truth. Then it will be easy to drop the mind. You are not the mind, otherwise how can you drop yourself? The identification has to be dropped first, then the mind can be dropped.

Osho, The Book of Nothing: Hsin Hsin Ming, Talk #5

When all identity with the mind is dropped, when you are a watcher on the hills and the mind is left deep down in the darkness of the valleys, when you are on the sunlit peaks, just a pure witness, seeing, watching, but not getting identified with anything – good or bad, sinner or saint, this or that – in that witnessing all questions dissolve. The mind melts, evaporates. You are left as a pure being, just a pure existence – a breathing, a beating of the heart, utterly in the moment, no past, no future, hence no present either.

Osho, The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol. 1, Talk #6

 

Mind is illusory – that which is not but appears to be, and appears so much that you think that you are the mind. Mind is maya, mind is just a dream, mind is just a projection…a soap bubble – nothing in it, but it appears like a soap bubble floating on a river. The sun is just rising, the rays penetrate the bubble; a rainbow is created and nothing is there in it. When you touch the bubble it is broken and everything disappears – the rainbow, the beauty – nothing is left. Only emptiness becomes one with the infinite emptiness. Just a wall was there, a bubble wall. Your mind is just a bubble wall – inside, your emptiness; outside, my emptiness. It is just a bubble: prick it, and the mind disappears.

Osho, A Bird on the Wing, Talk #2

 You say, “Why are you so against the mind?” I am not against the mind; I am simply stating the fact – what the mind is. If you see what the mind is, you will drop it. When I say, “Drop the mind,” I am not against the mind. I am simply making it clear to you what the mind is, what it has done to you, how it has become a bondage.

It is not a question of using it or abusing it. The mind itself is the problem, not its use or abuse. And remember, you cannot use the mind till you know how to be without the mind. Only people who know how to be without the mind, are capable of using the mind, otherwise the mind uses them. It is the mind that is using you, but mind is very clever, it goes on deceiving you. It goes on saying, “You are using me.”

It is the mind that is using you. You are being used; the mind has become the master of you, you are a slave, but the mind is very clever, it goes on buttressing you. It says, “I am just an instrument, you are the master.” But watch, look into the mechanism of the mind, how it goes on using you. You think you are using it. You can use it only when you know that you are separate from it; otherwise how will you use it? You are identified with it.

Osho, The Book of Wisdom, Talk #2

 Osho, Are mind and consciousness separate things? Or is the silent mind, or the concentrated mind, what is called “consciousness”?

It depends, it depends on your definition. But to me, mind is that part which has been given to you. It is not yours. Mind means the borrowed, mind means the cultivated, mind means that with which the society has penetrated you. It is not you.

Consciousness is your nature; mind is just the circumference created by the society around you, the culture, your education.

Mind means the conditioning. So, you can have a Hindu mind, you cannot have a Hindu consciousness. You can have a Christian mind, you can’t have a Christian consciousness. Consciousness is one: it is not divisible. Minds are many. Societies are many, cultures, religions are many and each culture, each society, creates a different mind. Mind is a social by-product. And unless this mind dissolves, you cannot go within; you cannot know what is really your nature, what is authentically your existence, your consciousness.

To struggle for meditation is to struggle against the mind. Mind is never meditative and mind is never silent, so to say “a silent mind” is meaningless, absurd. It is just like saying “a healthy disease.” It makes no sense. How can there be a disease that is healthy? Disease is disease, and health is the absence of disease.

There is nothing like a silent mind. When there is silence, there is no mind. When there is mind, there is no silence. Mind, as such, is the disturbance, the dis-ease. Meditation is the state of no-mind – not of a silent mind, not of a healthy mind, not of a concentrated mind, no. Meditation is the state of no-mind: no society within you, no conditioning within you – just you, with your pure consciousness.

Osho, The New Alchemy: To Turn You On, Talk #27

Pleasing

Source: Osho.com

Stop fulfilling expectations of others, because that is the only way you can commit suicide. You are not here to fulfill anybody´s expectations and nobody else is here to fulfill your expectations. Never become a victim of others´ expectations and don´t make anybody a victim of your expectations.

This is what I call individuality. Respect your own individuality and respect others´ individuality. Never interfere in anybody´s life and don´t allow anybody to interfere in your life. Only then one day you can grow into spirituality.

Otherwise, ninety-nine percent of people simply commit suicide. Their whole life is nothing but a slow suicide. Fulfilling this expectation, that expectation… some day it was the father, some day it was the mother, some day it was the wife, husband, then come children – they also expect. Then the society, the priest and the politician. All around everybody is expecting. And poor you there, just a poor human being – and the whole world expecting you to do this and that. And you can´t fulfill all of their expectations, because they are contradictory.

You have gone mad fulfilling everybody´s expectations. And you have not fulfilled anybody´s. Nobody is happy. You are lost, wasted, and nobody is happy. People who are not happy with themselves cannot be happy. Whatsoever you do, they will find ways to be unhappy with you, because they cannot be happy.

Happiness is an art that one has to learn. It has nothing to do with your doing or not doing. Instead of pleasing, learn the art of happiness.

Love Yourself More Than Ever- A Story of Anita Moorjani

By: Sheena Dhillon- Andaaz Online Editor

“The more you love yourself, the less fearful you are”, a quote said on our Andaaz interview with Anita Moorjani, an author and cancer survivor. Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, responsible for 7.6 million deaths in just the year 2008 alone. Cancer has impacted all of our lives in one way or another, whether it be someone you know whom has passed away due to cancer, someone you know struggling right now to beat cancer and to save their lives, or even someone you have heard of. With our hectic work schedule, between balancing our family and career, college or personal issues people forget to appreciate and love what they have already been blessed with, a healthy body. From the time we are children, we are taught to think that it is selfish to love ourselves or to make “me” a priority.

Anita Moorjani, the author of the book Dying to be Me, shared her exceptional recovery story in an interview with our guest host Sindia Bharwani. Moorjani was diagnosed with the last stage of lymphoma in February 2006. The doctors even advised her family that she was in her “final hours.” While in a state of a coma, she says that she was aware of everything going on around her, “It felt like I could connect to what everyone around me was doing and feeling.” All of a sudden Moorjani says that she was overcome and felt like she was surrounded by a state of being unconditionally loved. “In that moment when I made the decision that I wanted to stay in that realm, it seemed almost simultaneously I experienced this incredible clarity. As though all this knowledge suddenly became available, and I understood. It was like I understood why I had the cancer. I understood why I was here in this life, like everything just made sense.”

While some may call this a miracle, Moorjani seems to believe that this wasn’t just a miracle, but a state of mind that everyone needs to understand and believe in. She says that she realized that what she was lacking in her life, and what was causing the cancer, was fear and the lack of self-love. Being so concerned about pleasing everyone else, she (as many do) forgot to love herself. “The more you love yourself, the less fearful you are” Moorjani states. Upon having this realization, and coming to terms with it, she was able to then enter back into her body and her body was able to heal- and it healed very fast.

Many may question if that was what really healed her body, but hearing this story first hand and seeing how healthy and happy Anita Moorjani is now, only made me a strong believer. Watch our episode from our last season, posted below, and I only hope that we can make a believer out of you.

 “If you realize how amazing you are, all you have to do is be yourself.” –Anita Moorjani

Pooja Tolani – Bringing out the Innocence of North-East India

Source: The Art of Living

Having been born and brought up in North East India, she always had a soft side for that part of the country. In 2001, she started her venture to teach meditation to the people of Darjeeling, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.

While on her journey to teach meditation to those people, she felt a touch of the warmth of the people there. Whether it was teaching a hardcore criminal in the jails of Kohima, a tribal leader in Arunachal Pradesh, or an intellectual politician in Shillong, she believes meditation brought out the innocence in each one of them.

In conversation with Pooja Tolani, a dynamic teacher, who is on the go to transform people’s life through meditation.

Q1 You have ventured into so many dangerous places in North East India and taught meditation to people there. Can you share some transformation stories? And what does meditation do, that people change so much?

In Shillong, I conducted a course in a drug de-addiction center. I had a group of about 15 boys, some of whom had been taking drugs ever since they could remember. On the first day of the course, they laughed and joked about what I was going to teach them. I was half their size and probably the only female in that facility at that time. They sat in front of me with blood-shot eyes, smelling of cigarettes, chewing pan. But all it took to completely transform them was one session of meditation and Sudarshan Kriya.

One of them, who had been suffering from insomnia for 13 years, slept like a baby that night. (Meditation can relieve people with insomnia). Today, one of those boys is an Art of Living Teacher! He is teaching so many others like him these days. He really set an example for other youth.

As tough as these boys looked, the child in them—an innocence—was evident right from the start. This is the core of every individual; only covered by stress in most cases. Meditation really helped them to wipe out their stress, break through the shackles of the past, judgments, prejudices, anger, and other inhibitors so that they could clearly see and be themselves, which is being in a state of love and service. They seemed to have only forgotten for a short period of time that life need not be what it was then for them. And they knew they were the only ones who could change it, and that too easily.

Q2 Sometimes the lives of people who live there is so full of challenges. How does meditation give a new direction to their life?

Yes, their lives are full of challenges, but whose isn’t? The challenges may differ from person to person, but everyone faces them. A challenge for one may be a comfort to another. Only getting non-vegetarian food in Nagaland was a challenge for me but a huge comfort for the locals.

Yet everyone who meditates feels the same relief, peace, energy, and happiness. This is what makes meditation so universal. Anyone in any situation or stage in life can do it and benefit just the same. And these benefits are a means for people to realize that life need not be a challenge with a few moments of joy—life is mostly joyful with just a few challenges. Once they see this, life takes a new meaning.

Many people have shared that they feel like they’ve been given a new life. But in reality, they have only begun to experience the newness of their very ancient lives.

Q3 Can you share what are the challenges that people face there and how meditation can help in overcoming those challenges?

Some of the challenges that I’ve seen people face in the North East are a lack of proper education, unhealthy diet consisting of meat and alcohol, and not enough opportunity for creative outlet. All this leads to extremely short tempers, stress, and violence in them and their society. Meditation seems to be the only practical solution to all of this. Our education system teaches everything but the knowledge of the mind—how to handle the mind. Meditation helps you go even beyond the mind.

They indulge in meat, alcohol, and tobacco and use it as a stimulants. Meditation gives them so much energy that they don’t feel the need for any external stimulants.

They don’t have enough opportunity for creative outlet. Meditation brings in them clarity and confidence to create these opportunities for themselves.

They become angry, stressed, and violent. Meditation makes them realize that that is not their true nature and takes them closer to what it truly is, peace and love.

Q4 We have heard that there is a lot of violence there. And Sri Sri says, “Violence ends where love begins”. So do you also think that meditation can bring more love in people?

I am absolutely, 100 percent sure that it does! I have seen this knowledge prove itself true, whether it is in North East India, courses for terrorists, or with hardcore prisoners in jails across the world.

Q5 You taught meditation to some tribes! Could you share some experiences from there?

Yes I have. These experiences for me have been some of my biggest learning experiences, the most hilarious moments, and yet the most humbling, which have left me feeling nothing but grateful.

What the rest of the country hears or thinks it knows about the North East is that it’s violent and unsafe. But I have lived there and know that it is one of the most beautiful, untapped natural beauties of our country. There is a certain innocence in the people there that is sometimes heart wrenching, a love that is so heartwarming. It just gets hidden sometimes. But all I needed to do was to make them meditate and it wasn’t long that I could see those qualities shine in them. And these qualities shine most when those people meditate.

Loving Ways How to Help People With Depression

Source: The Silva Method

We can all go through brief periods of “the blues” but if someone you know and love is struggling with chronic depression, you may be at a loss how to help. You may be wondering how to help people with depression but the good news is, you can do more than being a comforting shoulder to cry on or a sounding board for someone’s woes.

First, it’s important to realize that depression is a medical condition. Love and a sympathetic ear can’t always cure depression, and although long-term use of anti-depressants is rarely a good idea, the patient can always get a jump start on healing using medicine. Therefore, the first course of action is to seek the advice of a doctor. This approach may be helpful to the patient’s loved ones, too, because may be frustrated and wondering why they cannot help someone who is clinically depressed.

Aside from medical treatment, here is what you can do for someone suffering from depression:

1. Support their treatment. Some people feel there is a stigma associated with being on antidepressants and may resist taking them, even short-term. If the patient understands that depression is a medical condition, they may be more willing to get help – but approach this carefully, with love, compassion, understanding and avoid saying the dreaded “you should.” A better approach is through education. Once a patient understands that help is available and that it is effective, they will likely seek treatment on their own. In severe cases (if you suspect suicidal tendencies) of course you must take decisive action, even if it goes against the patient’s will.

2. Support small achievements. A depressed person may not even want to get out of bed, so encourage them to set and achieve small goals (even getting out of bed and joining you for a cup of tea in the kitchen). Whenever possible, help them engage in an activity that brings them joy. It doesn’t matter if their happiness lasts only a few minutes – that’s something. Let small achievements build up to larger goals that bolster their self-esteem and happiness.

3. Keep in touch! People suffering from depression may have a tendency to withdraw and isolate themselves from social contact – either they feel they don’t want to be a burden, or they don’t feel welcome, or they may feel a need to hide out and heal. Gently coax the person out of their shell by engaging them in social activities they enjoy. Don’t start dragging them to every cocktail party, though – social activity in small doses may be more manageable!

4. Help them promote a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise, good sleep, excellent nutrition and stress-relieving activities like meditation. If the depressed person is resistant to taking care of themselves, (“why bother?”) then at least get them out into the sunshine for a companionable walk as often as you can, and offer to make them a few meals. Exercise and meditation both stimulate the production of endorphins and other feel-good substances in the body. So does a daily dose of sunshine!

5. Help them improve their mindset. Go to a comedy club together or watch funny movies; listen to music; create art; go for a bike ride; go outside in Nature… and help them reprogram the negative self-talk that is constantly running through their head by pointing them to the Silva Method where they will learn to stop self-destructive, negative thoughts in their tracks and replace them with positive, empowering and uplifting thoughts. This will take a bit of work but the results can be astonishing!

6. Change up the routine. Sometimes, depression can be the result of hopelessness (being stuck in a bad job or relationship). A change of scenery may help: organize a weekend getaway with enough of the right activities the person enjoys, to get their mind off their woes.

7. Say the right things. You may be wondering what to say to someone with depression. Here’s a list of what to say, and what to avoid:

• Say: You’re not alone. I’m here for you. You can get help. Never say: You’re not alone. Lots of people are depressed and many of them are way worse off than you!

• Say: There is hope! There is help!Never say: Try to snap out of it!

• Say: Let me help you. Would you like a hug? Do you want to talk? Never say: Stop feeling sorry for yourself!

• Say: I’m going to see you through this. Never say: You have to be strong and get over it!

• Say: You matter to me and I love you! (if “love” is appropriate) Never say: Life’s a bitch, isn’t it? It’s no wonder you’re depressed!

• Say: Depression is a treatable medical condition. Here are some options. Never say: You don’t need to see a doctor for this, there’s always a rai

  nbow after the storm!

• Say: I haven’t walked in your shoes but I’m a good listener. Do you want to talk?Never say: Whoa, I was totally depressed once so I know just how you feel!

• Say: You can get through this – I’m (we’re) here to help you! Never say: You can choose not to be depressed, you know!

• Say: You have the right to feel good and take care of your needs! Never say: Quit this “me, me, me” stuff, you’re not the only person with needs!

• Say: We’re in this together. Never say: I’m tired of this behavior!

8. Encourage them to speak up and express their feelings and thoughts. It’s not always easy to know what to say, so when in doubt, offer a smile, a shoulder, a hug… just a compassionate, empathetic ear might be enough to get them talking. Don’t give your opinions. It’s best to ask open-ended questions that en

courage the person to look deep within themselves and perhaps solve their problems just by talking about them. They will appreciate your non-judgmental listening!

9. Educate yourself. Depression affects more than just the patient. Know what the options are.

10 Greatest Life Lessons from Albert Einstein

Source: Mind Power News

Albert Einstein was an immortal of science who made noteworthy changes and contributions in the 20th century. He was an inspiration for the remarkable scientists subsequent to him thanks to his brilliant discoveries.

Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.”

Aside from his triumphant academic career, Einstein was a distinguished teacher not only to the confines of the classroom, but as well as to the globe. His works were indeed immortal and superior from his lessons on the subject of life. For that superiority, everybody ought to remember at least 10 quotes from him, which brings forth valuable lessons about life.

Lesson 1: Cultivate a Curious Mind

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Do not hold back curiosity. It has a reason for its existence. Keep a questioning mind.

Lesson 2: The Worth of Perseverance is Intangible

“It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” The price of perseverance is beyond the corporeal things. It cannot be measured. It cannot be sold. It has no price.

Lesson 3: Devote Attention To One Thing At A Time

“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” Do not do several tasks at once. It is in doing one task at a time that excellence is achieved.

Lesson 4: Give Weight to Imagination

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Imagination is cheaper than free. It is in imagination that one recognizes the knack he has.

Lesson 5: Mistakes Are Inevitable

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” More often than not, mistakes are stepping stones to new discoveries. It is part and parcel of living.

Lesson 6: The Future is Not Ours to See

“I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.” The future is a result of the things we do today. Thinking what lies beforehand is not a bad scheme, but most of the time the present is being neglected.

Lesson 7: Value is Superior to Success

“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” Success is a goal worth striving for. However, creating value has an enduring effect for people to remember.

Lesson 8: Change Triggers Another Result

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. Different results occur when you change the way you do things. Only unwise people will expect a different result from doing the same thing over and over again. Different results will only be possible by way change.

Lesson 9: Information is not knowledge.

The only source of knowledge is experience

Lesson 10: Understand the Basics

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”

If all men are created equal, why do people treat each other so badly?

A 91-year-old woman died after living a very long dignified life. When she met God, she asked Him something that had really bothered her for a very long time. “If Man was created in God’s image, and if all men are created equal, why do people treat each other so badly?”

God replied that each person who enters our life has a unique lesson to teach us. It is only through these lessons that we learn about life, people and our relationships with God. This confused the woman, so God began to explain:

“When someone lies to you, it teaches you that things are not always what they seem. The truth is often far beneath the surface. Look beyond the masks people wear if you want to know what is in their hearts. Remove your own masks to let people know who you really are.

When someone steals from you, it teaches you that nothing is forever. Always appreciate what you have. You never know when you might lose it. Never take your friends or family for granted because today, and sometimes only this very moment, is the only guarantee you may have.

When someone inflicts injury upon you, it teaches you that the human state is a very fragile one. Protect and take care of your body as best as you can; it’s the one thing that you are sure to have forever.

When someone mocks you, it teaches you that no two people are alike. When you encounter people who are different from you, do not judge them by how they look or act. Instead, base it on the contents of what is in their hearts.

When someone breaks your heart, it teaches you that loving someone does not always mean that the person will love you back. But don’t turn your back on love because when you find the right person, the joy that one person brings you will make up for all of your past hurts times a thousand fold.

When someone holds a grudge against you, it teaches you that everyone makes mistakes. When you are wronged, the most virtuous thing you can do is forgive the offender without pretense. Forgiving those who have hurt us is often the most difficult and painful of life’s experiences, but it is also the most courageous thing a person can do.

When a loved one is unfaithful to you, it teaches you that resisting temptation is Man’s greatest challenge. Be vigilant in your resistance against all temptations. By doing so, you will be rewarded with an enduring sense of satisfaction far greater than the temporary pleasure by which you were tempted.

When someone cheats you, it teaches you that greed is the root of all evil. Aspire to make your dreams come true, no matter how lofty they may be. Do not feel guilty about your success, but never let an obsession with achieving your goals lead you to engage in malevolent activities.

When someone ridicules you, it teaches you that nobody is perfect. Accept people for their merits and be tolerant of their flaws. Do not ever reject someone for imperfections over which they have no control.”

Upon hearing the Lord’s wisdom, the old woman became concerned that there are no lessons to be learned from man’s good deeds. God replied that Man’s capacity to love is the greatest gift He has. At the root of kindness and love, and each act of love also teaches us a lesson.

The woman’s curiosity deepened. God, once again began to explain:

“When someone loves us, it teaches us love, kindness, charity, honesty, humility, forgiveness, acceptance, and all of these can counteract all the evil in the world. For every good deed, there is one evil deed. Man alone has the power to control the balance between good and evil, but because the lessons of love are not taught often enough, the power is too often abused.

When you enter someone’s life, whether by plan, chance or coincidence, consider what your lesson will be. Will you teach love or a harsh lesson of reality? When you die, will your life have resulted in more loving or more hurting? More comfort or more pain? More joy or more sadness? Each one of us has the power over the balance of the love in the world. Use it wisely!”

Shared by: Suneina Kanji