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Ramakrishna Ananda

The Despair

Find out how compassionate despair helps you be more clear and loving

Whether you’re an eager traveler seeking the benefits of higher consciousness, or a driven traveler desperate for satisfaction and meaning, you’re traveling in the same direction. You’re sharing the same freeway and most of the events along the way.

Keys to Higher Consciousness, Afflictions, Seeking, Compassion

While this road to higher consciousness is the road of highest joy, and while a sense of well being and greater wisdom develops quite regularly, you should be warned that there will likely be times of despair. When you travel this road, loved ones and business acquaintances may wonder why. The goal seems so shining and clear to you, yet others who know you cannot sense or perceive your goal at all. They may feel, and express themselves quite emotionally, that you’re wasting your time or your resources. They may say you’re wasting your time becoming a nothing when you could become someone great. “Superstition, abstraction, unreality,” they say.

Friends may accuse you of striving to escape from the facts of life, or from the fun of life if your choices for growth are in conflict with their ways of celebrating life. If they can’t see what you’re doing and in no way comprehend what you’re striving to do, and if they think the deprecatory words they’re saying are for your good, you will have to incorporate your despair and their lack of understanding into your quest. Let the obstructions of their unkindness become motivating forces which compel you to succeed. Your compassion and love, along with the strength that you must develop, will be extremely valuable as you enter higher consciousness. If you will be kind, or strong, or strive as best you can to love and serve those who oppose you, you will become successful. Those who are against you today may one day consider you great. They may deem it an honor to have known you way back when you glimpsed the reality of a higher consciousness.

Feelings of Separation

In periods of despair you will primarily sense the painful separation from others, especially those you care about most. You will also feel at times, in your despair, separate from humanity. You will feel the way humanity is going creates much concern in your heart but that you, in seeking higher consciousness, are going in a different direction.

Your most painful despair comes when you feel divided within yourself. You feel that a higher purpose within you is being blocked or cut off due to an inadequate, stubborn, and insensitive nature. You may, in despair, bemoan your inadequacies and lament the seeming wall or chasm between you and where you sense you ought to be.

“Multitudes have gone before you. They suffered these moments of despair too. They dried their eyes, got up and went on, as you will. They became more determined in their despair and focused on the great importance of their destination. In their despair their hearts became more universal and they became keenly sensitive to the hearts and minds of other people. Your periods of despair, if not selfishly or slavishly indulged in, can become moments of expanded compassion and of deep concern for the well being of all people. You will find each tear helps to wash away the sense of separateness. Each tear affirms life and your caring heart. Each tear, in this instance, makes your mind clearer and nobler.

Becoming Clearer

The indication that your despair is a genuine aspect of your quest for higher consciousness and not an emotional illness will be: does your despair make your life fresher? As a consequence of your compassionate despair you will find yourself becoming clearer and more loving in daily life. You will begin to develop, even while suffering times of despair at night or during other private times, a more cheerful and accepting attitude for the world and for others. Also, your despair will give you greater insight into your own mind and heart. You will find greater patience with yourself. The quality of your despair, which seems so deep and gloomy, will nevertheless lighten your life noticeably. You will find it a joy to be free of tears stored so long in your heart. It becomes a sweet joy to have a despair borne of a concern for higher values and greater possibilities for everyone.

If your despair does not develop compassionate qualities, then it is destructive and you would be very wise to discuss it with a counselor who can help you work through it, and get back on the road to higher consciousness.

Your periods of despair on your path to higher consciousness affirm life. They also affirm your value and your uniqueness as a precious human being. So, even despair has grand dimensions. The goal, however, is to pass through your periods of despair and go forward as quickly as possible. The journey is much too beautiful to be blotted out by watery eyes and otherwise occupied hearts.

Reflection

I don’t know where you are.
I don’t know if you hear me.
Please, if you are able,
Listen to my heart:
I need you more than air.

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#2 THE MYSTIC GAZE
A Classic Technique

This classic technique is one of the mystic’s greatest treasures.

It is designed to stimulate your mystical faculties and begin the process of spiritual awakening.

With the Mystic Gaze enjoy the developing sense of clarity, coordination and attunement with life in all you do.

  1. Sit calmly and relax your eyes
  2. Gaze slightly upwards 20-30 degrees
  3. Look into space 20 feet or more
  4. Gaze, don’t stare or strain your eyes
  5. Simply observe and appreciate your awareness of space
  6. Enjoy the dawning wholeness for several minutes
  7. Gear down and go about your day

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#7 EXPANSION THROUGH ATTITUDE AND GOOD WILL
Change Your Heart

Your practice of good will cultivates the heart’s truest, deepest feeling:  love.

These good will practices are a boon to mystical study.

The goal of good will practice is the change of the heart.

When your heart naturally and spontaneously radiates forth a palpable good will, then you are a changed person.

  1. Consciously direct your thoughts and feelings toward an attitude of good will
  2. Bring a person to mind
  3. Or place your awareness on a person closest to you
  4. Direct good will toward this person
  5. Feel free to add specific well-wishes like health, love, courage, etc.
  6. Allow your heart to expand, to change

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#6 EXPANSION LEVEL ONE
Quality of Life

Mystics break out of body bondage through numerous expansions of the heart — of the sense of self.

Your feeling of self-awareness imprisons or frees you.

Happily, you can do something powerfully liberating about the state of your heart and the quality of your life.

  1. Sit comfortably for 15 minutes
  2. Choose a person you know
  3. Imagine you’re walking in his/her shoes
  4. Feel you’re inside this person
  5. Say “If I were (name), I’d feel and think…”
  6. Have fun with it and let your heart expand

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#5 THE HEART AND ITS LIBERATION
Your Sense of Self

Mystics break out of mind and body bondage through expansions, expansions of consciousness.

Your “Heart” is your sense of self, your feeling about who you are.

Who are you as a distinct person from everyone else? This is your core individuality, your mystical heart.

  1. Focus on your mystic heart
  2. It is located in the right-central chest or inside the spine behind the heart
  3. Practice The Radiance or The Mist:
  4. Feel that your mystic heart…
  5. Radiates love, light and energy, or
  6. Generates a white mist flowing outward

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#4 THE MYSTIC BREATH
Your Window

Your breath is the key to the mystery of your life. The Mystic Breath is conscious use of this key.

Our individual natures will require different windows — different energy centers — from which to view the life force.

Allow the mystic breath to reveal your personal window.

  1. Stretch and then sit comfortably
  2. Take 5 to 7 deep breaths
  3. Focus on the center of your upper lip
  4. Witness the breath come and go
  5. Let your mind move to a natural center
  6. Watch your breath and the life force from this “window”

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#3 THE ASCENT
The Essence of Your Life

We begin meditation on the Infinite by focusing our awareness on Spirit, the life essence within us.

How can we do something so seemingly abstract? It’s easy. Spirit empowers your breath night and day.

Let the life force reveal itself to you. Sense the higher power which flows through you.

You’ll feel more alive.

  1. Stretch and relax your body
  2. Sit comfortably
  3. Take 5 to 7 deep breaths
  4. Focus on your nostril rims
  5. Witness the breath come and go
  6. Enjoy for 10 to 12 minutes
  7. Inhale deeply and stretch

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#0 THE MYSTIC SELF
Our True Nature

In the view of mystics, the major problem in life for most of us is ignorance of our true natures.

The Mysteries reveal many ways that you can actually contact your mystic self — and the Infinite Consciousness.

Do you, can you, contact your Mystic Self? Yes, indeed!

  1. Practice this anytime you like
  2. Probably your mind wanders quite often
  3. At times during the day, look at your mind and notice when it’s wandering
  4. Then, turn your attention to that part of your consciousness which observes that your mind is wandering
  5. That special overseeing awareness is part of your marvelous mystic self

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#1 MYSTIC AWAKENING
Benefits

Stimulate your mystical awakening.

When you wake up from a dream you realize you were only dreaming.

Consider too that this normal state of awareness in which you live may be a kind of sleep also.

As you do this technique you’ll find the world becomes more beautiful and enjoyable.

  1. Try this many times a day
  2. Whisper to yourself, “Wake up!”
  3. Mentally say, “Wake up!”
  4. Increase your attention, appreciation and feeling of love
  5. Just cheerfully exhort yourself
  6. Wake up!

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How to Succeed

As you may know, we do not charge for our courses. All Yoga World content is free and available to you with our blessings. However, we do have a simple, but important request that’s key to the transformations necessary to succeed on the path.

We ask you to commit two hours a week to selfless service. This service can be anything you choose ranging from helping a family member or neighbor to volunteering at a nonprofit organization.

I Commit to Serve

This commitment is solely between you and your inner self.

Why the Commitment?

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