An Introduction to the Art of Ascension

"The high mission of any art is, by its illusions, to foreshadow a higher universe reality, to crystallize the emotions of time into the thought of eternity.”



Since the beginning of the human race, we have engaged the mind and the senses to perceive the world around us, and to recognize a relationship between the world and our own human interaction.
 We begin this relationship at birth; from our first recognition of our growing sensory perceptions we learn to recognize our parents. From them, we learn to recognize the world around us and from what we perceive of that, develop a relationship with that world through our experiences.
 We all have experiences, that is what being human is all about. Yet we do not always have the same experiences. What makes us so unique is our ability to integrate experience into life and to socialize with others and their experience.
 We have the mind to take experience and integrate it into our perceptions of reality and improve our perceptions, or to put it in other words, we can choose to evolve.



From the very beginning we have tried to see the world and ourselves in the best way we can. Everyone always, and at all times, does the very best they are capable of doing to live life in a way that will create happiness, or fulfillment through satisfaction.
 In retrospect it would appear that some do better than others, but the truth is we will try to do the best we can rather than to intentionally choose to create suffering in our lives.

Excerpt from the Library, read the rest of this article: HERE

Ride the Tiger

 Inspired by “Life of Pi”

What is the story of my life? Whichever one I choose to make real or bring into my focus. There are the events played out and the experiences that I have had in my life… and yet were you to ask me that question, I would have to choose which story to tell you and from what angle.

The secret is that you can as if rewrite your entire story from this present moment. You can change the past and you can direct your future to wherever you want it to go. None of us live in a life created by somebody else or something else. This gives us both the freedom to change and it also dissolves our victim-consciousness.

Some of the most liberating experiences in my life have been those moments where I have been able to rewrite the script. To see how an entire chain of events has shifted into one of appreciation and love instead of the dreadful march through the darkness of ignorance. The slightest change in the inner environment towards what is real changes everything.

No one can make this change happen for me as it does not come from the outside, but I have never been alone with it either. The story of my life, the original draft of it, is created from Unconditional Love, Infinite Wisdom, Unyielding Strength. Connecting with That through direct experience is what changes everything. Every single moment of my life is seen in a different light, it becomes enlightened through clear perception of reality.

That story is worthy of telling. It is worthy to be found and experienced. Unique to each individual and yet born from the One source.

Ride the tiger into the night, have the courage of a thousand, dive into the depths of the great waters. Live a life worthy of who you really are.

Nataraja



Meditation in the Military and in Universities Higher Education

January 2013 marked an era of new beginnings.  The Marines and the University of Virginia are have both begun what may be continual offerings of meditation mindfulness (aka mindfulness meditation) courses!

Camp Pendleton School Infantry-West will offered an eight-week course in mindfulness starting on Tuesday (January 22, 2013) to about 80 Marines. The plan was to give Marines a tool to regulate their own stress levels before they lead to problematic behavior: "We have doctors, counselors, behavioral health scientists, all sorts of people to get help for Marines who have exhibited stress type symptoms but what can we do before that happens? How do we armor Marines up so they are capable of handling stress?"  said Jeffrey Bearor, the executive deputy of the Marine Corps training and education command at its headquarters in Quantico. (1)

Adding to behavioral issues while in the military, veterans by the thousands are seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress. A record number are committing suicide, causing the military to search for ways to reduce strains on service members and veterans.

Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training" or "M-Fit" was designed by former U.S. Army Capt. Elizabeth Stanley, a professor at Georgetown University who found relief doing yoga and meditation for her PTSD. (“Mindfulness” includes practices that emphasize non-judgmental active attention to keep the mind in the present.)

Stanley, who is also involved in studies for the Army, said the techniques can help those in battle think more clearly under fire when they are often forced to make quick decisions that could mean life or death, and help them reset their nervous systems after being in combat.

"If indeed that proves to be the case, then it's our intention to turn this into a training program where Marines train Marines in these techniques," Bearor said. "We would interject this into the entry level training pipeline - we don't know where yet - so every Marine would be trained in these techniques."

The growing movement of mindfulness courses, as well as student interest in the topic, is being spurred in part by research showing how stress affects the ability to learn. The University of Virginia offered ‘Mindfulness as a Tool for Learning and Living,’ for the January 2013 term.  The course included a number of contemplative exercises as well as a dozen guest speakers who taught the class a variety of contemplative practices, including yoga, nia and t’ai chi. (2)

UVA’s new Contemplative Sciences Center, to be launched in April, will also offer a 180-person class this spring on ‘Buddhist Meditation and Modernity’ that will cover mindfulness. There are 50 students already on the wait list.

______________________________________________

(1) http://www.13abc.com/story/20632304/marines-test-adding-meditation-stretching-to-training)

(2) http://anniemurphypaul.com/2013/01/colleges-begin-to-offer-meditation-101/#
Enlivenment Newsletter_March2013_English
Enlivenment Newsletter Masthead
March 2013

Coherence out of Chaos

Fear has been the ruling emotion for a long time. We have come to accept a very low standard for living, an existence almost devoid of the potential that is within us. Scientists have found that we use only 5-10% of our DNA, of our mind, of our potential at every level. This is reflective of the state of affairs and humanity's current level of consciousness.

What we need in this time of change is clear understanding of how our minds and bodies naturally function and how we can align with the unlimited power that lies within. How can we access that 90% of our potential that lies dormant? This is what Ascension literally means –– to rise beyond the waking state's narrow awareness of reality. It is our ability and choice to Appreciate that will bring in the age of enlightenment.

Nataraja Ishaya
   In this Issue:
  1. Coherence out of Chaos
  2. Mind is the Master that Moulds and Makes
  3. One Thorn to Remove All Others
  4. Appreciation Effects on the Heart
  5. Individuality and The Personal Reality



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Mind is the Master that
Moulds and Makes
"Mind is the Master power that moulds & makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:--
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking-glass."

James Allen 1864-1912
"The Ishayas' Ascension" is a name given to an aspect of reality, a way of life, a way of thinking, a meditative tool.....

In the Enlightenment book authored by MSI, there is a word relating to a process. An approach, or what is sometimes identified as cause and effect. That word is Samyamah, it is described as the natural evolution of awareness as it ascends the ladder of cognitive function, when it (awareness) is removed from the subjective realities of the ego and moved to the ascendant in the recognition of the subject object source.

Having direct knowledge of the Ascendant as the source of all things, anything can be traced back to that source, and all knowledge of the subject/object can be known/cognized.

The mind intuitively becomes witness to the creation of any subjective reflection of consciousness from the beginning, or the first thought (relatively speaking) to the manifestation of the thought into reality, as it steps out of the subjective identification of self (ego), and into the Ascendant, which is beyond all quality of subjectivity.

MSI made no bones about the fact that this teaching of Ascension, which he lived and breathed, was nothing new. In fact he made mention of the fact that "Ascension" has had many names throughout history on this planet. No doubt it has many names in humanity regardless of what planet humanity has occupied, since it is the nature of the Consciousness to engage in creation and maintain a rapport with its creation.

From the simplest reflections of humanity to the most complex, there is within every reflection, the potential that is the Ascendant. All subjective appearances of humanity are clothes for the soul to wear, on the stage it creates, to perform and experience creativity.

(Continued on The Ishaya Foundation's Online Forum.)
 
Jai Isham Ishvaram
Mahadeva Ishaya


The heart loves and, knowing no reason,
it loves and it loves and it loves, expanding and swelling in waves of love, storming the citadel of Eternity to reunite that which has been sundered. Heaven and hell may stand in the way of the heart’s desire, but heaven and hell will both fall
before the expanding heart if they must,
because God is love.

MSI – First Thunder

One Thorn
to Remove All Others

When we witness the movements of the surface mind after closing our eyes, we might be surprised just how active the mind can be at times. The busyness of the world is reflective of the usual state of the Waking State mind of 100,000 thoughts. For the most part, those thoughts are not very creative and are reflections of our awareness being occupied by things of the past and the future. Our minds are running many useless silent streams of thoughts or programs that fill up the hard drive.

Some practices advocate the approach of controlling the thoughts or trying to create an experience of stillness or a state of thoughtlessness. This betrays unfamiliarity with the natural functioning of the mind. Attempting to change the flow of the surface mind without taking the mind inward to the Source of all thoughts is futile. There is no trying or controlling in Ascension.

MSI has used the analogy of taking one thorn to remove all other thorns in our hand. So we add one more thought to those 100,000 thoughts to remove them. And how does this happen?

The Ascension Attitudes have the quality of a pure thought and because of that they resonate with the level of pure consciousness -- the Ascendant. Unlike the thoughts of the surface mind, the Ascension Attitudes direct the mind back to the Source of all thoughts; and as a byproduct of this natural movement of the mind, Ascendant consciousness grows in our awareness. We use this one new thought to activate deeper levels of the mind that are fully connected with the Ascendant.

Because we are now using the mind in a way that it was designed to be used, the functioning of it changes radically. It consumes less energy and is much more capable of using its full potential. In other words, the mind becomes coherent and functions from one-pointedness instead of being all over the place.

The effectiveness of this one thorn, the Ascension Attitude, comes from the fact that it is given to us from an enlightened source, directly from the Ascendant Self. Ascension Attitudes are not inventions from the surface mind of some modern person. Rather, they are statements of Absolute Truth beyond the distortions of the Waking State.

How would the world reflect back to us if we were seated in the Reality of the First Ascension Attitude?

Nataraja Ishaya


Appreciation Effects
on the Heart

We all know from introductory talks and the First Sphere workshop the diagram of a coherent mind; one where the left and  right hemispheres are connected and working in a smooth orderly fashion. We have learned that the tools of The Art of Ascension can help us activate this type of functionality in our brains the more regular we are with our practice. As it turns out, there are studies showing how Appreciation creates coherence in the heart as well.

Researchers at the Institute for HeartMath have found that talking to a subject during a period of their frustration and leading them toward appreciation greatly affects the heart rhythm. The heart then sends its pulsating waves to every inch of the body and creates a wonderful environment that nurtures health and vitality.

What is even more interesting is that, when one is relaxed there is not the same coherence as when one is in a state of appreciation. That causes me to think of times when my practice or life is a bit challenging and I continue to use the tools of The Art of Ascension, the study says there is more coherence in the heart in times of stress than in relaxation IF one is able to maintain a state of appreciation.

As I read this article I was even more touched by the depths of wisdom of the Masters who have passed these techniques down to us. Of course the studies are great and it is nice to have what I already know verified by science. But really it was having plenty of my own first-hand experience of such moments of appreciation within my own body that has kept me practicing The Art of Ascension.

To read the article yourself visit here.

Sivani Ishaya





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Individuality and The Personal Reality

What is individuality and the personal reality? Is individuality separation and does it isolate the Ascendant into the personal reality? Is the personal reality something you can own, or control? Is it separate from the Universal reality where everyone can step in and share, or is it private only to you?

There is really only one reality. The Ascendant reality.

Anyone who has been to a First Sphere, and learned how to Ascend from a Teacher of the Ishaya Foundation has heard that we typically think up to 100,000 thoughts per day.

Why? Because you can. Should you? That depends on what you choose to do with your mind.

Some people are really good at multitasking, and others... not so much.

Imagine if there was a mind so powerful that it could follow every thought, but never lose sight of where it was and what it was doing as it followed every thought simultaneously. Such a mind might be Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent.

The state of consciousness known as Unity has several qualitative levels to it, such as immortality, miracle power and Brahman. Brahman is described as having the awareness in a thousand places at the same time.

Some of us get confused if we try to manage more than one thing at a time.

Something else you probably heard in the First Sphere; "Every thought has direction".

IF such a powerful mind created you, then that thought must be more than a haphazard and random eruption of chaotic energy. That thought came about by an activity within consciousness.

If we compare our 100,000 thoughts a day with the seven billion individuals we share this planet with, as well as the planet and all that it is composed of and how it neatly fits within the order of planets in this solar system, and how that fits within the arrangement of other solar systems that make up the galaxy that is the Milky Way Galaxy, and how this Milky Way Galaxy fits into other Galaxies to make the known Universe.... That's a lot of thoughts.

Have you ever just looked down onto the earth and observed the complexity of form and function in your back yard? The blades of grass in a lawn, with the many insects that live and move in that lawn; the other plants, shrubs and trees that live and breathe in the same air. They inhale and absorb a gas which we exhale and we inhale and absorb what they exhale, creating a symbiotic relationship. Everything interacting together in such grace and form... although, I still have not found much appreciation for ticks and mosquitoes. Consciousness must have had some idea about them that I don't share in my personal opinion.

OK, so looking at the idea of individuality. If you were consciousness and gave a thought some direction, it would take its direction but would be transmitting all of its information and experience back to you. Sort of like sending a satellite into space to observe something your physical body can't while seated in your chair in front of the TV. Though I doubt Consciousness as the source of all is preoccupied in the same sense as my analogy, you might still get the idea. This satellite then is on a course that no other satellite will duplicate in its position and direction as it encounters the other objects of nature which have their own course, as they are making their way through the created universe.

This satellite is connected to the source of all creations and through the source can get feedback as to what course changes it could make so that it does not run into something the source knows about, but it (the satellite) does not. Its senses are programmed to receive and send signals, within the limits of its construction. The source that it connects to is not limited to its construction or senses. By its very connection to the source it has unlimited resources, but physically it can only perform within the limits given to it by its design.

Each human individual is similar in that it is like the satellite but the mind of the human is not only connected to the source, it has all the capabilities that the source has to create the reality it moves in.

The human soul is a mirror of the One Ascendant consciousness and it has many forms. None of which are lesser or greater than the other. The soul also has an Over soul. It (the soul) is one of many forms imagined by the Over soul. That Soul is neither less nor greater than any other soul. Each soul has its own direction and its own abilities to make choices.

Matter contains ether (conscious particles), or matter is ether in form. Quantum physics tells us that matter takes its form from consciousness.

The following is from "The Hidden Truth" by Wade C. Wilson

The Conundrum of Consciousness

Though perhaps counterintuitive, consciousness cannot be easily sidelined from scientific examination. Doctors have found a person's state of mind can have significant effects on their body's ability to heal itself.

While that anecdotal observation has not provided enough solid evidence to cause every doctor to prescribe meditation as a form of medicine, quantum physicists have found definitively that at the sub-atomic level, the act of observation actually affects the reality being observed. This fact became known as the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: one cannot observe a phenomenon without changing or affecting it.

Some physicists have wondered whether the universe in some strange sense might be brought into being by the participation of those consciousnesses that have chosen to participate. The term 'participator' then has become an incontrovertible new concept given by quantum mechanics. It strikes down the idea of passive observation, given by classical theory, and shows that the vital act is the act of participation. In this way, there can no longer be a scientist who stands safely behind a thick glass wall and watches what happens in an isolated manner from the observed experiment without influencing the outcome simply by observing it.

Quantum mechanics insists such isolation cannot occur.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli described that from within one's inner center our psyche seems to move outward, experiencing, influencing, and even creating the physical world through the act of participation.

Thus physicists have found themselves, through the study of quantum mechanics, to be in the unanticipated field of the study of the structure of consciousness.

Christian de Quincey likened this phenomenon to being in the odd position of having to confront daily the indisputable fact of one's own consciousness, and yet having no way of being able to explain it.

What is consciousness and where does it come from? That is a philosophical question that dates back thousands of years. We can conclude consciousness is not composed of matter. But we have only assumed thus far that matter does not possess consciousness.

We must still ask, 'From whence then does consciousness originate?'

Greek philosopher Descartes was famous for his ability to doubt any given theory or philosophy. He could doubt what people said. He could doubt the validity of what his eyes showed him of the world. He could doubt himself; his own thoughts and feelings. He could even doubt that he was present in a physical body. But the one thing that he could not doubt was the fact that he was doubting. This revealed his one and only certainty: he was thinking. Descartes thus concluded if he was thinking, he had to be a conscious, experiencing being. As he put it in Latin, Cogito, ergo sum: I think, therefore I am.

This was and is the paradox of consciousness. Its existence is quite undeniable, and yet it remains totally inexplicable.

For the materialist meta-paradigm, consciousness is a monumental anomaly.

Religious people may claim God is the creator and the source of all creation. But physicists might say the same of consciousness.

Philosophically, the implications of quantum mechanics are mind blowing. Not only does quantum mechanics insist that we influence our reality, but also, at least to some degree, we actually create our reality.

Because quantum mechanics tells us that we can know either the momentum of a particle or its position, but not both, we are forced to choose which of these two properties we will want to determine.

Metaphysically, this is very close to saying that we will create those specific properties because we have chosen to measure them. In other words, it is possible that we can create something at a specific position, like a particle, for example, simply because we were intent on determining some thing existed at that position.

Returning to the discussion of conscious interpretation of the physical world, it can even be argued that our entire physical world – everything we can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch; as well as our private, inner world – every thought, feeling, fantasy, intimation, hope, and fear – is a form that consciousness has taken on for our benefit. Thus, consciousness becomes both the source and creator of everything we know.

For those who are interested his book is not yet published but available (at least the first few chapters) as a free download. http://www.thehiddentruth.us/

Getting back to the topic at hand, regarding individuality and the personal reality, we can determine that the state of mind has everything to do with scope of vision. If you are of the mind that you are separate from the whole, then the whole will be isolated from your experience by the walls you create between yourself, and the outward appearances of isolated objects of interest that you project from your mind.

A big part of this isolation was initiated as a momentum of thought which had its direction at the level of the soul. It began before your physical body came into creation, but still exists in the potential now. Or you could say, that the impulse of thought made you manifest as you appear and make yourself part of your surroundings. You (from the level of the ego) have no clue as to the ultimate direction of your future, but that doesn't mean it's not available. There are no absolute futures but there can be probable futures within possible choices in reality. You have free will so there is no set course in your life that is not open to deviation towards the probable outcome that is the eventual end of the form (body), that consciousness inhabits, even as it turns to dust.

The level of consciousness (waking, sleeping, dreaming, ascendant consciousness, etc.) will determine just how you experience yourself, whether it is as the isolated form or whether the awareness is seated in the Heart of the soul where consciousness is more expanded and omnipresent. There is nothing that is separate from you, and unless your reality is set to the standards where the unknown is the unknown, anything can be known. You will simply have to step out of your current mindset to sample a different experience, in life as a human being.


Jai Isham Ishvaram,
Mahadeva Ishaya

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