Category: spirituality

Why did you come into this world?
Why do you have to leave?
How are the hours between to be spent?

Are these questions
And their answers not related?

Do the work of the next realm
In this one,
And you will have no need
Of questions or their answers.

-SB

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Register for my upcoming retreat weekend atop Bangor Mountain, in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Kirkridge Retreat Center on Sufism & Enlightenment, May 30- June I, 2014. For information scroll down to program listing: http://kirkridge.org/programs/upcoming-programs/. Then click on Detailed Information for full program highlights.

Read my new book: Beyond The River’s Gate. Book is availabe on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle format or local bookstore.

To Order Your Copy Visit Amazon: http://bit.ly/bitkoffriver

By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff 

Each traveler must find their own wisdom, and will never be totally satisfied with the formulations of another. While a traveler can benefit greatly from a wise man / woman, ultimately each traveler must make their own way.

What a wise man / woman does is offer training, and is an exemplar, on how to unlock inner capacity to know. That is why there are so many books offering personal visions of wisdom; many travelers have found their own inner capacity and wish to share it. Yet what works for one will not work for another; hence the growing realization that self-help books usually fall short.

Ultimately, it is the grace of a Path and the traveler’s own inner capacity that leads the traveler Home. Waiting inside each is the Super Highway to God / Light; and precious are those who help a traveler unlock their own inner wisdom.

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Register for my upcoming retreat weekend atop Bangor Mountain, in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Kirkridge Retreat Center on Sufism & Enlightenment, May 30- June I, 2014. For information scroll down to program listing: http://kirkridge.org/programs/upcoming-programs/. Then click on Detailed Information for full program highlights.

Read my new book: Beyond The River’s Gate. Book is availabe on Amazon.com in paperback, Kindle format or local bookstore.

To Order Your Copy Visit Amazon: http://bit.ly/bitkoffriver

A Letter to the New Spirituality

By Daniel Moler

Remember in the year 2012 when everyone thought the world was either ending or ascending to some type of higher human consciousness? The world turned, wars still rage, and my rent still needs paid.

That same year, author Jonathan Talat Philips wrote a blog for The Huffington Post called “The Rise of the New Spiritual Counterculture.” In it, Philips describes a societal crowd of hipsters made up of “the Whole Foods sustainability crew, Yoga Journal aficionados or New Age healers” as a “rising planetary awareness with radically practical solutions to address global challenges.” Philips is associated with the Evolver Social Movement, a movement that I have been involved with myself over the years. They have published many of my articles as well as my e-book about Terence McKenna, himself a “prophet” of the psychedelic/neo-shamanic/spiritual counterculture that seems to be growing exponentially on the fringes of ordinary society.

Whereas Philips dubs this movement as a collective of pioneers engaged in spiritual activism, I have, over the years, come to disagree. Although many good things have sprung out of this cultural meme—like environmental activism and promotion of sustainable practices—there is a danger in the spiritual component attached to it . . . particularly, the hype and popular promotion of shamanic trance states  and shamanic plant medicines, otherwise known as psychedelics, as a modern panacea.

Interestingly enough I am a strong proponent of these particular spiritual traditions. However, I browse this “new spiritual counterculture” which claims to promote the concepts of shamanic practice and I see a great distortion of information.

We have turned the shamanic way of life into a fad. It’s fine that it is popular. There is, truthfully, a need for a reconnection with the natural powers of the world. But, what is being offered far differs from the philosophy and practice of an authentic shamanic life-walk. Take a look around at what the “new spiritual counterculture” has to offer: music festivals, ayahuasca retreats, and workshops promising to heal your wounds, expand your consciousness, and raise your kundalini.  We have assumed that we are spurring a revival of archaic theosophy through our tribal tattoos and drum circles; we believe we are the next evolution of neo-shaman, using our technology and hip psychology to move humanity towards spiritual progress—one  seminar at a time.

So, where is the futility in all this? (more…)

By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff 

Day- I

The people suffered.  Long had it been a time of fear and darkness.  All of the old ways had been tested and each failed. Greed consumed the lawmakers and Masters of Business.  Their decisions turned against them and the once great structures of finance and service lay in the ashes of burnt dreams.

After the collapse of government and halls of finance, the Generals took control and worked toward order.  Gradually, goods and services were restored. However, this system too was filled with graft and long delays.  Even under the Generals, the rich got richer and the people worked long hours to feed their family.

After the graft, little was left for the people. Their hearts cried out for deliverance and freedom from the struggle of their daily lives and empty promises.  Over time, the Masters of Religion had taken to hiding in the shadows.  Also, fearful the people would turn against them, blaming them for the chaos and destruction.  Had not the old prophecy come to pass?  Was not the world in disarray and darkness?  All could see greed and fear consumed the land. People from one sector turned against the people of another.  Nightly, mother’s cried as their children lay in their beds with swollen, empty bellies.

Lost in despair, most had forgotten the second part of the prophecy.  From the ashes, The Deliverer would appear. On an inner level, the people’s hearts called out for justice and redemption. Where was the One who would lead them from the darkness into the Light?

From the people’s heart, the Deliverer was reborn.  The people’s suffering called forth her arrival.  This was the time.  This was the place. (more…)

By Lt Col R K Langar

Bhagavad Gita says that to give is our duty. The Gita further underscores that real giving is when you do not expect any return from the receiver. It is said that joy of giving is sixteen times more than the joy of receiving. Giving elevates the giver. Giving makes you a selfless person who is ever prepared to give to others. Selflessness is a big virtue while selfishness is a great sin. A giver never gets tired of giving.

Giving has many dimensions. Giving includes sharing, caring, helping and most importantly serving others. Serving others means doing something good for the society you live in. swami Vivekananda had said those who live for others, they only live while those who live for their own sake are more dead than living. When you live in the thought of doing god to the world you attain fruit of good work out of sheer power of your thoughts without doing anything physically. When you send thought vibrations of good will and love to others from the core of  your heart, your own faults are washed away. Giving creates positive impression on the mind which neutralizes certain amount of negativity from the past samskars stored in the mind. Giving is conducive for our self evolution. The law of attraction states that what you radiate outside in thoughts feelings and mental pictures, it will come back to you because you attract the same in your life. If you send good wishes to some person good wishes will come back to you. And if you send vibrations of dislike or hatred, they shall be returned to you in the same state. You attract what you are and not what you want. To radiate something good outside, you must have abundance of goodness in you. We shall now study the art of giving under four heads as enumerated above. All four acts are interrelated. (more…)

By Lt Col RK Langar

One way of looking at life is that life is unpredictable and we have no choice but to react as we face different situations. We often say that we have to do what society is doing. But when we fill up our inside by manifesting the divine virtues inherent in us (our Atma is a fraction of God) than we realize that what ever we do, it is with our choice. Even if we do a wrong act we give approval to do it and we cannot say that we were forced to do it due to outer temptations and circumstances.  When I say I am leading a life as I want to live what it means to that I have a free will to decide my course of action irrespective of outer situation, or circumstances. Free will has been bestowed upon human beings by God since we have an intellect to reflect and discriminate between right and wrong and then use our choice based on our free will to take the right course of action. That we have a free will is authenticated in Bhagavad Gita when at the end of His teachings Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that  Arjuna should reflect fully on what has been taught to him and act as he chooses. The Gita also says that in all our actions of body, speech and mind there is one non human factor called Daivam or destiny or fate over which we have no control. But that does not mean that we have no free will or choice. Our past karmas which we perform based on our choice decide where we are born- our social status whether we are born in a poor or rich family. Once we are born and grow up we have freedom of choice, based on our free will, to act as we choose. (more…)