Thursday, July 7, 2016

Meditations on Intention and Being

I think this book is what got me to restart blogging.
It's not another New Age book, it's a book on Yoga and Life. Or is Yoga a New Age by some definition?

Strange that despite having read many Buddhist books and New Age books, none has ever had the effect that this book had on me. No, I shouldn't be putting Buddhist books on the same line as New Age books with the same comparison. That's doing injustice as books on Buddhism are filled with solid hard truths of wisdom and empirical insights which went to my head but nevertheless, despite my attempt to push it to into my heart it doesn't connect to the heart nor stayed there longer than a few days if it did. Meanwhile, New Age books are airy-fairy whiffs of nice sounding positive and affirming statements, which might have filled me with ponderances of some confidence in these statements. But I was sorely disappointed after reading the likes of Eckhart Tolle.

This book really hit me, perhaps by the way some punchlines are written.

The biggest effect I noticed was that I walk much slower now without the incessant impatience in the heart.

The other effect would be that I have come to a new level of personal realization on the large impact that feelings - sensory feelings from our skin covering the entire body and the inner feelings of emotions - have on us, our reactions, perceptions and our well-being.

Perhaps the stars were aligned and no matter what book I had read I would have come to such a transmutation.

Right Action, Right Speech, Right Thought and then there's this Right Consumption which this book introduced as a one-liner.

Right Consumption of Food and of Activities
for This Body that is a Temple and this Mind that is the Altar of the Temple.

 The same thing in a new light.