The Great Soul

Around 2,500 years ago, a touching prince was born in North India. As soon as he was born, his mother passed away. It delivered a message, any human womb will be too small to accommodate this great soul. As soon as the baby arrived at the palace,  the old spiritual adviser of the palace wept. Especially after seeing the spiritual signs in the body of the baby.

This beautiful Light, that was the prediction of the old spiritual adviser,  will illuminate the world. But as soon as the Light shined, the old spiritual adviser died. And later on the last prediction came true, the prince who was later named Prince Siddharta, not only became a Buddha (a perfectly enlightened great soul), but also recognized by the Hindu holy book as the 9th Avatar (reincarnation of God).

While the birth of his physical body was characterized by the death of his mother, the birth of his great soul brought other signs and other lessons. When he was ready to attain enlightenment,  which was marked by the honour of mother earth with a small earthquake, and the bowing Light in the eastern direction, Siddhartha was attacked by 21,000 troops of devils. From the very fierce one till the very subtle . From a very threatening weapon until a very loving temptation.

But the demons were not attacked back. Rather they were hugged like a mother who hugs her own son. In the language of meditation, Prince Siddharta deeply meditated loving-kindness and compassion. To make it concrete, the demons were seen as a collection of mothers who had given birth to him in previous lives. And these mothers came not to attack, but to perfect his loving-kindness and compassion.

Even if the demons tried to eat the body of Prince Siddhartha, he will be willing to donate his phisical body. Just like giving healthy food to hungry mothers. The end of the story has been recorded by the world. He has not only survived, but also giving birth to the Great Soul. Even 2,500 years after his death, his beautiful light is still shining brightly.

A prominent professor from the University of Oxford summed up these moments of enlightenment with a graceful language: "In the moment when Prince Siddharta accepted satan Mara as part of himself, from that time he was no longer Prince Siddharta, but he was a Buddha". In short, never under estimate the healing and the liberating power of total acceptance.

What made the realms of gods tremble, when the last Great Soul firstly shared the Light, his first teaching was dukkha. Sadness, suffering, misfortune which are thrown away by almost all creatures in this samsaric realm, in the hands of Lord Buddha are transformed into the path to Light. Dukkha, as he taught, does not always make the soul enter the abyss. As long as one is able to transform it in the depth of meditation, suffering can help the soul fly.

Realizing that everything is flowing, that's the first step. Flowers flow into garbage, garbage evolves into flowers. The opponent in this day can be a friend on another day. Once a person perfectly flows, by then he comes out of a small cocoon called ego. Then he was born into a butterfly of greatness.

With beautiful wings of greatness, then all places and times become beautiful gardens of peace. In this kind of spiritual garden, the soul will be naturally full of love and compassion. It is as natural as water which is wet, as natural as flower which are beautiful. And the compassionate expressions of the enlightened beings can be in any form.

A question that is often asked by many people, is whether the Great Soul will be reborn after death or not? For the followers of Hinayana (small vehicle), the answer is no. But for the students on the path of Mahayana (great vehicle), the absolute body of the Great Soul is beyond birth and death. But the relative body will remain here. For that reason, when the Dalai Lama was asked whether he will be reborn or not, he directly replied: "no doubt". The last answer is closely connected to the relative body.

Acharya Shantideva even prayed in this way: "as long as there is space, as long as there are beings, let me be continually reborn again and again to share the beautiful Light." In Hinduism, such sacred souls are called Vyuthana. In Buddhism, such beautiful souls are named Bodhisattvas.

Author : Guruji Gede Prama

Proof : Kirsty Spence

Thieves of Peace

 In the academic world, every effort to put human souls into boxes are recommended to be avoided. Especially because human souls are far more complicated than any simple boxes. To quote a philosopher's opinion, the human soul is multi-dimensional or beyond any categories. However, for the practical purposes, simplification is very important.

 It is easier to heal the soul wounds if one understands the unique characteristics of oneself inside. As materials of reflection on the long journey to peace, there are two types of deep-seated peace thieves. These two thieves have stolen the deep peace of many spiritual seekers.

 Due to a series of past events that caused a lot of mental injuries, some friends tend to be too sensitive and easily injured. It is not only when they are attacked, even when someone is asked sensitive questions, they can be wounded. These kind of spiritual seekers like to create a wounded self concept inside. They call themselves the victim of life.

 It is this kind of self concept that keeps talking inside. From asking for protection until asking to be listened to. Once the wounded memory appears, this injured self asks for protection. Once the bad and the sad memory appear, this wounded self asks to be heard. As a result, the mind never take a rest.

 From time to time this kind of mind is busy between building self-protection within, or treating the wounded self to be constantly listened to. When this crying self asks for protection, he resembles a crying baby who asks to be hugged. When this wounded self asks to be heard, he is like a young son who keeps talking. The end result is predictable, they steal the quality of peace inside.

 The second thief of peace often comes to the opposite person, the one who is too confidence. They have no sensitivity at all. In the field of psychology, this kind of person is called a cow in the middle of glassware. They talk around here and there. And they do not know if the listeners are deeply hurt or not.

 While the sensitive seekers construct a wounded self concept inside, the cow will be followed by the guilty feelings wherever they go. It is this kind of guilt that also builds a false self concept inside. If the guilty feelings do not appear at young age, they will appear in old age. Sadly, if it does not appear both at a young age and in old age, this guilty feelings will catch up later after death. This is even more frightening.

 As the wounded self keep talking inside, this guilty self is also busy talking inside. From asking to be justified till the tendency to always blame the others. When bad memory comes from the past, it will accumulate arguments of justification. When the sad memory of the hated person appears, they will keep blaming others.

 The end result is the same, the mind is always noisy inside. As a matter of time, the soul will be exhausted. Again they steal the deep peace of soul. Any spiritual friends who have spent years in the depth of solitude will understand, these are the two types of peace thieves that follow spiritual seekers everywhere they go.

 On the path of deep meditation, once the last thieves of peace come, they are immediately hugged with a pair of hands of wholeness or completeness. As nature embraces night and day, learn to embrace both sorrow and joy, sad and glad inside.  As materials of contemplation, not only the beginners even the glowing souls are still wounded and hurt.

 As a result, slowly but surely the frequency of inner conversation will decrease. The self as a victim - for the easily injured soul, begins to shrink. At the same time one learns to be a master in their life. Guilty feelings which keep following are also similar. As one keeps hugging the guilty feelings using a couple hands of wholeness, slow but sure they will no longer steal the deep peace within.

Author : Guruji Gede Prama

Proof : Kirsty Spence

Photo : TeamCompassion

Rainbow In The Heart

A rainbow is a beautiful bridge that is connecting the father sky with the mother earth, that's a message which is often heard in the forest of silence. For the sensitive and the deep souls, there is a beautiful message that heaven is trying to send whenever a rainbow appears in the sky. And it's complete beauty can not be explained by any tongue. Even the tongue of the enlightened can not explain it.

Perhaps that is why, on the roof of earth called Tibet one of the names given to the enlightened beings is the rainbow body (a body which is as beautiful as a rainbow). At the moment of death, according to one of the Tibetan scriptures, such beautiful souls will be respected by nature in the form of rainbows in the sky, and small earthquakes on earth.

The Butterfly of Soul

In the Eastern society there is an old tradition saying that when the house is visited by butterflies, it is a sign that guests will come. It is not entirely wrong actually. However, it is difficult to deny that the butterfly is the symbol of beauty in nature. Each spiritual friend who are spiritually sensitive will understand, there are deep spiritual secrets which are hidden behind the butterfly.

 As it is often quoted in the world of soul growth, before evolving into a butterfly, the cocoon must go out of their house. It is worth contemplating, the process of the cocoon going out of their home is very painful. The same thing happens with spiritual growth. We are not just talking about the beginners, even the saints must pass through the unimaginable pain.

A Cup of Happiness

One day Nasrudin was so restless and sleepless. Here and there he met problems and obstacles. Not only the grumpy neighbors who created problems, even God appeared to be wrong in the eyes of Nasrudin. This old man tried to submit countless complaints to God. As a result, God could not sleep.

For that reason, one morning the Lord spoke softly to Nasrudin: "Din, I could not sleep because of your complaints, now you may ask anything, as long as you do it three times, I will give it to you." Suddenly Nasrudin was extremely happy, he spontaneously asked God to let his wife die. In his view, because of his wife, the house was burning like hell.

Touching Smile of Soul

There are touching souls everywhere. The number of suicides, mental hospital patients, divorce and violence are all increasing in every corner of the world. But it is not a sign of threatening disaster, but an invitation of nature to share beautiful light. And among the many options that are available, a smile is one of the beautiful options.

While the smiling lips are characterized by curved lips, smiling souls have another sign. The first sign of smiling souls, they can easily forgive. They can even forgive the most threatening enemy. As it is often discussed among the beautiful souls, forgiving does not change the past. But forgiving will definitely change the present and the future.

Gem of Patience

There is no inner fire which is more dangerous than anger, there is no inner jewel which is more beautiful than patience. That is a message which is often shared in the community of beautiful souls. The following question is; how to extinguish the fire of anger and finally rediscover the inner gem of patience?.

In a simple but deep meaning, anger occurs because someone did not get something they like, or they get something which they did not like. And the last old framework of 'like and dislike' is the fruit of very long past conditioning. It can not be eliminated in a night.