#that the human body can get perpetually AND INFINITELY more refined

[colorisbyshe]

LeBron James' athlete, young son had a heart attack yesterday and it really just illuminated how fatphobia doesn't just hurt fat people.

Like, a lot people were blaming the vaccine because... why else would a fit teenager have a heart attack? To be clear--I know a lot of these people would be blaming the vaccine even if he was hospitalized because, idk, he went skydiving and his parachute didn't deploy. They'd blame the vaccine if he lit himself on fire. I know that.

But a lot of people who //wouldn't// blame the vaccine were also baffled and looking for explanations as to why an athlete so young could have a heart attack.

What people don't understand is a lot of "wellness" and "fitness" culture is fucking kill yourself. The pursuit of thinness, athletic ability, and obvious muscle tone is dangerous and can be lethal. A lot of it involves starving yourself, dehydrating yourself, and then pushing your body past its limit. People try to min-max their physical form and end up destroying it.

And I know this isn't specifically about fatness but I think there's a massive issue where people see someone with some flab on their stomach and feel comfortable saying "Oh, you're gonna die young, put down the cheeseburgers" as if a. having fat on your body is a consequence of bad choices and isn't just... some people's natural state and b. making a 'bad choice' (that would harm literally no one else) makes it okay to predict and mock someone's death.

But we cheer on young people, often EXTREMELY young people (a lot of sports have people peaking as teenagers, in their early or mid 20s) working themselves to death, permanent injury, or brain damage. And we can sometimes recognize that's happening--a celebrity with a too prominent rib cage or too hollow a face--but when muscle is involved, we assume that's a sign of good health.

When most muscle that prominent is a sign of extreme dehydration, extremely taxing diets where people starve all day and then have three course dinners, and likely dysmorphia and disordered thinking and/or eating.

A lot of sports--and not just the full contact sports that we associate with injury like football or wrestling--are extremely dangerous. But people would rather demonize fat people for just existing, not even knowing what choices did OR DID NOT come into play, than like... investigate why we need young people pushing themselves so fucking hard to throw and catch a ball.

To be clear, this is me both saying leave fat people alone AND hey... maybe we need more protections for athletes. This is me saying the same culture that is used to punish fat people is killing non-fat people as well (or at least putting them on the brink of death).

We need to change our understanding of wellness and fitness. Both in the sense that we need to stop demonizing people for being "unwell" or "unfit" (whatever the fuck that might mean) but also to stop promoting actually unhealthy things to reach the VENEER of wellness and fitness. A lot of people into fitness and wellness are at infinitely higher risk for health problems than fat people and are often actively encouraged to continue this dangerous behaviour.

Athletes who can dribble a ball real well but are having heart attacks at 18 are not well. They are deeply unwell. And we need to pull back, as a culture, on using them for entertainment if this is the cost.

[alivingstillness]

The heart intervention

A text about relationship, self-refinement and self-honesty, for the waking one.

You have come to the point of a story with another human being, where you feel tremendous urge for change. Unclear language and action between each other feels like it pushes you further towards the edge of a cliff that you no longer feel familiar with. 

To be infatuated with someone, ones actions and emotions often have the sense to be completely irrational. It is a forgetting of structure and behavioural patterns because for sometime, the feeling of union pushes mind to the backseat of our mechanism. It is not unusual that love-relationships are being built on this uniting desire to dissolve in one and another, but that the relationship takes new form when being tainted by life-experience outside of what is usually this first phase. 

“You need to love yourself, before you can love another.”

As long as union with another human being is the only experience one has had for complete absorption in love-bliss, the desire to experience union will be projected and wished for in the other person, - mistaking feeling and inner joy for the working of the other being. 

Since sex is such a potent way to for a moment shut the mind up and forget about the world, while one is in presence-absorption with flow of experience, it often becomes the gateway to project unity on a relationship that has gone sour or that is past the infatuation phase. It is a vicious habit because it is perpetuating ones own self-realisation and forcing the responsibility on your partner to fulfil yourself. Bodily urges can be satiated only for a short time, but recognising a deeper layer to our urges can make us go the root of them which makes us stop projecting our lack on other people. 

It is absolutely not about abstaining from sensory experience, or stopping the body or heart from attraction. But from self-realisation or awakening there is union beyond body, making the heart more infinite that one could ever dream of. 

To make love from the view of oneself already being in union, and being in the heart of awareness is like instead of acting as drops to become an ocean, you are the whole ocean in every drop, fully experiencing and never projecting. It gives you the opportunity to go into relation with another without tainting the relationship with your inner desire to feel whole. 

When realising divine union as yourself, there is tremendous energy, not only in your body but you become one with it. A journey with kundalini within your being, can work as layers upon layers of unfolding until focus becomes meditation and you surrender yourself to the Self, -rarely an instant transformation. On this journey, the human body and its energies change. 

There is frequent increase of experiencing on a more subtle level, which makes mystical experiences very common. Our whole vibration changes, making our vibratory field a natural director of things. When recognising awareness as yourself, the mind gets to be more of a witness of your path that has become pathless, watching new vibratory play take form, appearing as the path. 

Now, living as this bundle of vibratory potential, heart in Self-awareness and mind tagging along, can be sort of irruptive in the world of “I” the doer, for you are no longer that, and “I” is more like a divine act, a play of living form, no longer personal, yet very intimate. 

To act without acting or embodying the rays of uncaused and free will, one has to surrender the “I” completely. Even though some realisation of yourself might have taken place, it is hard to embody this divine surrender when living roles as mother, spouse, boyfriend, child or employee. One can understand the value of asceticism in this recognition. But it is also a bit of escapism of the play that is also the absolute, and if you have a structure that gives resistance to your truth, there is opportunity to surrender to that as well. But this is complex since some things are meant to stay and some to shatter. 

Embodying virtues of self-union and giving them form is alchemical, it lets awareness into maya and you get the opportunity - if you long for truth and purity enough, to play one last game in total freedom, which from a social perspective can be damn hard to let happen. 

If you have undergone some expansive self-understanding, your relationship with others will take new forms. Ones perspective about everything changes when there has been a new climax in self-exploration. A wise teacher once said: 

“A seed, having become a tree can never go back to being a seed, it is a tree!” - Rohan Ji. 

Since you are now a tree, you see the potential and recognition of a tree in the whole spectrum of form. It will change the way you look at things and others as much as it changes the person looking. Even your eyes will transform. Interactions with others are therefore in for a change as well. 

When being in an intimate relationship with someone who has not yet sparked his or hers desire towards the path of self discovery while you have jumped on the express train of inner fire to complete oblivion, turbulence are bound to happen. 

When the resonance between two beings become disruptive and your wavelengths of expression and understanding have become very different, the relationship structure easily becomes a battle of separate forces. Unless your parter is is willing to jump on the same train or is someone who embody enormous acceptance and security, then resistance, confusion and sorrow are some feelings likely to emerge. It might also be intimidating when noticing new behaviours, and a state of contentment can receive the opposite reaction from a partner that does not understand what perspective you are coming from. 

There is no right or wrong or anyone who can tell you how to handle your relationships or life situations after having discovered a new truth as yourself. But what can be helpful is a reflective reminder, that even though you might not be able to agree with each other or understand the others perspective, you do have the power to fully accept and surrender to what is. To recognise your feelings and your new vibration that speaks for itself and wants to be given the opportunity to direct your being in its natural flow. 

If you have already gone to the depth of your being, then there is no protection from hurt that will align anyone of you with the truth that you are. I am not telling you to to give up on someone or something as soon as things get uncomfortable, for there is much learning and growth when we confront feelings of discomfort. But they have to be confronted within, so we can have a clear language toward ourselves before we express it outwardly. Remember the seed that you were and the view that was once yours. It is not your task to push someone else forward because guidance has to come from within. If one is ready for existential pointers or true spirituality, then that will come from the desire of ones own path. It is a matter of heart longing for freedom that is outside of your personal directing. 

Stay as awareness and notice where there is stagnation and where there is flow. Be attentive and get to know your radiance in the world. Always surrender to what is presented and don’t put your wise heart behind bars. 

Embody your truth and see where it leads you. Give space for seeds to germinate, but do not make your personal ego the one to water them. What comes will come and what goes will go. Do not cling and do not be afraid, for you are eternal love. You can not give conditioned love from the structures of a finite mind when you have recognised it for its permeating liquidity, sipping through where tension can relax or be recognised as source. You are not responsible for your past feelings but you are responsible to recognise what is appearing now and act accordingly. 

Do not judge bundles of vibrations, but notice them from your heart. Honour hurt and honour joy. Stay in the present and let form be form. Let life be a grand intervention, but don’t forget yourself while investing in its wondrous play. 

Be humble, Stay awake.

/Alexandra

Artwork by James R. Eads and Chris McDaniel 

[meditationadvise]

Ahimsa and the Internal Practice That Destroys the War on Terror

If any individual still believes that the power brokers of our time do not control every element of human culture, consisting of the current acceleration of war in Syria, and North Korea, with additional threats being hurled at Russia and also China, after that this post will not likely reach them.

For those who have actually ultimately tossed their hands up in shock as well as horror, but are obliged to absolutely look at just how we got here - once more - it is most likely that you will certainly profit from a conversation on the topic of ahimsa, a Sanskrit term significance "non-violence," or "do no harm" as part of the yamas and niyamas which are studied in yoga.

It is ending up being increasingly obvious that the "chemical weapons" made use of "by Assad on his own individuals" in Syria are just an additional gear like the "weapons of mass damage" which were "found" by the U.S., as well as which consequently provided "consent" to start a battle in Iraq.

Our governments and political system have actually come to be so distorted that they don't also have to fake proof any longer - they simply do what they desire, with their terrifying program in mind, without treatment for the devastation of people, home, or financial price. Physical violence is always a reason for more violence in this upside-down globe where we live.

With proof that the sarin gas assaults were staged, we can keep blaming all the gamers beyond us, yet to really conquer this headache, we have to look within.

The idea of ahimsa has its roots in old India. If we exercise ahimsa, we do not deliberately harm any living creature, not also a lifeless item. If we unintentionally step on a pest, that is ruled out a terrible act, however the overall intent behind our activities and also thoughts forms the core of this philosophy. Within ahimsa is the idea of global altruism towards all people as well as animals.

Ahimsa was promoted by individuals like Mahatma Gandhi as well as Martin Luther King, Jr., who preached as well as practiced non-violent resistance, however there is something much more that we need to do to transform the globe we stay in aside from simply take posters to the roads, as well as inhabit federal structures or facedown pipe projects.

In the most innovative method of ahimsa, we not only oppose physical violence, however we liquify violence by utilizing it as our utmost tool. We transform our adversaries into pals. You can imagine that dropping bombs in Afghanistan, performing 3,000 airstrikes against Syria considering that 2014, or launching a projectile assault on any kind of country may not make close friends of your intended enemies. This is the reverse of ahimsa. It does not get rid of the opportunity of additional dispute, but ensures that conflict continues.

It is our inner mindset which looks for to punish our enemies that causes our perpetual hell. We could free ourselves by changing our minds and hearts - by practicing universal generosity - or, as Tulsi Gabbard has actually suggested, we can produce much more horror by sustaining terrorism.

We need to comprehend this principle in refined methods our day-to-day and individual lives prior to it could ever before be used on the grander stage of globe geopolitics. It is apparent that we disrespect various other countries, as well as their people by battle them, but just what regarding just how we deal with others within our very own tiny spheres of influence? Do we injure individuals with angry words, or by using them contemptuous body language?

Does our very own inner hatred hemorrhage out into others around us? Has our apathy toward our fellow humans damaged them in terrible means? Means before physical violence comes to be an armed, full-out, no-holes-barred battle, it starts in small means within us.

As Martin Luther King Jr. has actually stated, “Nonviolence indicates not only staying clear of external physical violence, however also internal violence of the spirit. You not only choose not to shoot a man, but you additionally choose not to dislike him.”

This activity is exhibited in Daryl Davis, the African American blues musician that has actually befriended plenty of participants of the KKK over the past Thirty Years, causing a lot of them to renounce their energetic disgust of another race and their subscription in the organization.

You could also see ahimsa being practiced when two mommies from North Ireland, one Protestant, and also one Catholic, had actually both lost sons to the countless combating in the area. They place their differences aside, as well as stated to the militaries who were leading the fight, "NO MORE." Several state that these moms' actions assisted result in the tranquility arrangement there.

In our own lives, opponents don't show up as anime bad guys that cackle behind our backs, yet we could recognize that we proactively dislike an additional individual, as well as that they dislike us. You might become aware of how they dislike you with emails or chatter, and never ever even trade a personal discussion with them. The "enemy in camouflage" is the individual that regularly sends out words or activities of a negative flavor in your direction. Making them your friend is probably the last point you would certainly imagine doing.

Often, an enemy has just composed his mind about you without really learning more about you. (Or you, them.) You can make friends by offering information concerning your life, or opening up to them. Consider Dale Carnegie's suggestions from How to Win Buddies and also Influence People and just use their name a great deal, or permit them to discuss themselves. This makes people enjoy you. They can not assist but soften up if you claim their name continuously, or ask regarding their individual lives. You can additionally adhere to Carnegie's other eleven techniques to earning pals offered in this ageless book.

You can likewise find typical rate of interests with one more individual to damage down the walls of the "other" that we wrongly think in.

We needed our ego to create when we were little babies to ensure that we might recognize that we were separate from our mommies. This process is called individuation. Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell speak about it abundantly, nonetheless, the vanity starts to obtain unmanageable. It begins to set up barriers based upon our previous experience and also our constrained, limited 3-d experience of time and area, and also consequently the people within this matrix of time and also space.

There truly is no YOU, IT, HE, SHE, ME, THEM, etc. It's all attached, however in order to operate with seeming autonomy and individualism, we allowed the vanity run the program. We create an "around" which is truly simply an ideal reflection of "in right here." In standard psychology, this is usually called projection. Carl Jung additionally called this the darkness self. He said,

“To come to be mindful of it [the darkness] includes acknowledging the dark aspects of the character as existing as well as genuine. This act is the vital condition for any type of type of self-knowledge, and it as a result, as a guideline, consults with significant resistance." (CW 9ii, para. 14-15).

We locate these dark elements of our individualities - self-hatred, other-hatred, fear, jealousy, wish for infinite power, temper, etc. - as unsavory so we pack them inside ourselves. They after that wait, like a tiger ready to pounce on a gazelle, for the moment we fulfill anyone that we could pin these undesirable qualities on - equally as long as we don't have to check out them in ourselves. Our inferiorities come to be another's mistakes. Our discomfort come to be one more's ignorance, etc.

These estimates isolate us from others, and develop "opponents."

As Jung also explained,

“While some characteristics peculiar to the shadow could be acknowledged without way too much problem as one's very own individual high qualities, in this case both insight and goodwill are unavailing because the source of emotion appears to exist, past all opportunity of doubt, in various other individual. Despite exactly how evident it may be to the neutral viewer that it refers forecasts, there is little hope that the subject will certainly regard this himself. He must be convinced that he throws a very lengthy darkness before he is ready withdraw his emotionally-toned projections from their things ... As we understand, it is not the mindful subject yet unconscious which does the projecting.” (CW 9ii, para. 16- 17)

If you want to practice ahimsa, you have to begin breaking down your very own forecasts. That is exactly what Martin Luther King Jr. truly meant. You can't despise an additional if you are also active taking a look at ways to enjoy yourself - to approve your darkness, as well as not allow it to taint your suggestions of the world around you.

In timeless Jungian style, the United States is forecasting its anxiety and power-hunger into every nation around it, while refusing to look at its very own darkness. We, residing in the United States, and various other components of the globe though, are not 100% specialists yet at considering our own darker stuff either, and also so the video game of war continues.

We could take this also additional and begin to liquify our worries and wishes. A guy without any needs says Paramahansa Yogananda, has no rage. A man without rage has no craze, and also a man without any craze makes no violent wars.

As the Buddha taught, the feeling of a different 'I', which we call ego-consciousness, is straight associated to the stamina of ignorance, greed, as well as hatred. The dissolution of a separate self, and also its accompanying wanton lust, greed, and anxiety, also makes method for real peace. This is national politics we need to be practicing.