7 Principles of Enlightenment - Part 4 of 7

Discipline

What does discipline mean to you? As a child we were all taught about discipline - answer when an adult asks you a question, treat people with respect, behave when you are around a table, Ladies first (one of the more important ones for me)....

But it seems that this new generation may have lost their way somewhere, and I hope some of them read the following to give them a better view on what life really is about...

Live with Discipline

a. The Wisdom

i. Discipline is built by consistently performing small acts of courage;

ii. The more you nurture the embryo of self-discipline, the more it will mature;

iii. Willpower is the essential virtue of a fully actualized life.

b. The Techniques

i. Mantras/Creative Envisioning

Repeat this at least thirty times a day: 'I am more than I appear to be, all the world's strength and power rests inside me.' See yourself as a disciplined, firm person, fully in control of your mind, your body and your spirit. Picture yourself acting as Gandhi or Mother Teresa might act in a challenging situation.

ii. The Vow of Silence

Spend some time or a full day in silence, except to answer a direct question. When you can hold your tongue, you can increase the control of your body.

c. Quote

Wage war against the weaker thoughts that have crept into the palace of your mind. They will see that they are unwanted and leave like unwelcome visitors.

7 Principles of Enlightenment - Part 3 of 7

Hey everyone...

This part is my favorite right now, it revolves around the practice of a Japanese Philosophy called "KaiZen"

The word KAI means Change, The word ZEN means Good, combined the word Kaizen means Continual Improvement.

in other words never stop moving forward, always find a way to continue moving forward, continuously improve yourself.

3. Practice Kaizen

a. The Wisdom

i. Self-Mastery is the DNA of life mastery;

ii. Success on the outside begins within;

iii. Enlightenment comes through the consistent cultivation of your mind, body and soul.

b. The Techniques

i. Do the things you fear

Do the things you fear, and the death of fear is certain.

ii. The 10 Ancient Rituals for Radiant Living

(a) Ritual of Solitude, spends 15 to 50 minutes daily for a time of silence and peace to know who you really are;

(b) Ritual of Physicality, as you care for the body so you care for the mind. As you prepare your body, so you prepare your mind. As you train your body, so you train your mind. Take some time every single day to nourish the temple of your body through vigorous exercise.

(c) Ritual of Live Nourishment, fill your plate with fresh vegetables, fruits and grains.

(d) Ritual of Abundant Knowledge, read regularly. Reading for thirty minutes a day will do wonders for you. But do not read any subject matters. Be specific and focus.

(e) Ritual of Personal Reflection, review all you have done during the day, find the wrong action that you have committed and find a way to solve it and not to repeat the next day. Find the right action during the day and savor it more.

(f) Ritual of Early Awakening, rise from your bed as the sun is rising. You do not need to sleep 8 hours a day. The key thing is to improve the quality of your sleep and get up early every day.

(g) Ritual of Music, never forget the power of music. Spend a little time with it every day, even if it is listening to a soft piece on a cassette while you drive to work. When you feel down or weary, play some music. It is one of the finest motivators.

(h) Ritual of the Spoken Word, develop a positive self-talk. Use it anytime you want for any purpose you want to achieve. Words transform your life.

(i) Ritual of Congruent Character, take daily, incremental action to build your character. Strengthening your character affects the way you see yourself and the actions you take. The actions you take come together to form your habits and, this is important, your habits lead you to your destiny. 'You sow a thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your destiny.'

(j) Ritual of Simplicity, live a simple life. Reduce your needs and be content with less.

c. Quote

The Universe favors the brave. When you resolve to lift your life to its highest level, the strength of your soul will guide you to a magical place with magnificent treasures.

7 Principles of Enlightenment - Part 2 of 7

Well hey there, I guess this has been a bit delayed but i was actually on Holiday in the Mother City Cape Town, but any way lets get right back into the 2nd step towards enlightenment.

2. Follow Your Purpose

a. The Wisdom

i. The purpose of life is a life of purpose;

ii. Discovering and then realizing your lifework brings lasting fulfillment;

iii. Set clearly defined personal, professional and spiritual goals, and then have the courage to act on them;

b. The Techniques

i. The Power of Self-Examination
Know your goals. Write it down on paper. Goals that are not written down are not goals at all.

ii. The 5 Step Method for Attaining Goals
Step one is to have a clear vision of your outcome.

Step two is to create positive pressure to keep you inspired. 

The third step is a simple one: never set a goal without attaching a timeline to it. 

Step four is  staying with your goal for 21 days. After you do your daily activities for 21 days nonstop, then it will become your habit. 

Step five is to enjoy the process.

c. Quote
Never forget the importance of living with unbridled exhilaration. Never neglect to see the exquisite beauty in all living things. Today, and this very moment, is a gift. Stay focused on your purpose. The Universe will take care of everything else.

7 Principles of Enlightenment - Part 1 of 7

Not too long ago, I read a book that literally made my life do a complete 180 degrees and ever since then my life has been better.

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is a book about a high powered lawyer who has access to endless items which would normally make anyone happy, but what some of us fail to realize is that happiness in material things is so short lived we are constantly wanting more and more.

This lawyer eventually suffers a heart attack in the middle of a court room and after recovering he decides to sell all his possessions and goes on a pilgrimage to India to become a monk. While on this journey he learns 7 Principles of Enlightenment and the book is centered around these principles.

Over my next few posts I will be sharing with you these principles, but if you really want to learn about these I would strongly suggest going to read the book.

In my view the primary view of this book is to help us live a full and flourishing life filled with endless possibilities.

1. Master Your Mind

a. The Wisdom

i. Cultivate your mind – it will blossom beyond your expectation;

ii. The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts;

iii.There are no mistakes – only lessons. See setbacks as opportunity for personal expansion and              growth.

b. The Techniques

i. The Heart of the Rose

You need a fresh rose and a silent place to perform this. Start to stare at the center of the rose, its heart. Notice its color, texture and design. Savor its fragrance and think only about the wonderful object in front of you. At first, your mind will wander away. This is the sign of an untrained mind. However, you need not worry. Return your mind to the object of your focus. It gets better with daily practice. Soon your mind will grow strong and disciplined. Spend 10, 15 or even 20 minutes daily to perform this technique.

ii. Opposition Thinking

When an undesirable thought occupies the focal point of your mind, immediately replace it with a uplifting one. It's as if your mind is a giant slide projector, with every thought in your mind being a slide. Whenever a negative slide comes up on the screen, take swift action to replace it with a positive one.

iii. The Secret of the Lake

This technique was applied by the sages. The sages would look into the waters of the still lake and envision their dreams becoming reality. It is also similar to visualization. Everything is created twice, first in the mind, and then it is realized in a physical form. We can visualize everything that we want to be, do, or have.

c. Quote

The secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it. Once you do this, abundance flows into your life and all your desires are filled with ease and grace.

Rêver un rêve impossible

J'crois que je poursuis un rêve impossible
J'pense que ça marchera pas mais j'y ai cru quand même
Je me revois, je revois tes yeux, je revois ta bouche, je revois tes cheveux, ton visage
Je me demande si toi aussi t'y penses
Je me demande si toi aussi tu
Tu me revois quand tu fermes les yeux et quand tu rêves
C'est un rêve impossible, tu m'avais dans la peaume de ta main
Tout ce que tu avais à faire c'était de me dire de rester
Mais tu es reparti, puis tu es revenu et puis tu es reparti et puis tu es revenu
Encore et encore et à chaque fois c'est la même chose
Tout ce que tu avais à faire c'était de me dire de rester et je serai rester
Je serai rester pour toujours, toujours avec toi
Alors pourquoi tu es parti, pourquoi tu m'as laissé?
Ça va nous échapper entre les doigts, et un jour ou l'autre de toute façon, tout ça va s'arrêter

To Dream An Impossible Dream............

....Untitled......

You Know....

I keep telling myself I am not going to write a new post everyday but then something happens and I feel the need to just write about it. I tell myself its just going to be a short post but once I start I find it hard to stop....

Anyways...

I don't know if anyone has experienced this before but have you ever met someone that just changes your perspective on life? Someone that makes you look forward to each and every day? Someone that makes you smile for no apparent reason? Someone whose mere presence just changes your whole mood?

Well, I have been fortunate enough to meet someone like this recently....not going to mention any names but she knows who she is and maybe she will read this, I don't know...

For the longest time I have given up on relationships and romance because due to some things that happened to me a long time ago I decided that relationships and love don't really exist and also I made some horrible mistakes in my past - but that is a story for another time.

Anyway I met this woman not too long ago and everyday since then has been great, I look forward to waking up in the morning, I find myself thinking about her all day long. Now the tough part about this is: I am a very shy guy and have a hard time talking to other people, ESPECIALLY woman. So I find myself planning out a conversation in my head that I want to have with her but whenever I go up to her all that plans decide to jump out of my brain and leave me standing in front of her with a mouth full of teeth.

That Sucks So Badly though......

She is such an amazing person, even the little I managed to learn about her makes me want to learn more about her, but unfortunately I am just too shy especially around her and I get so nervous I even end up throwing sugar in the bin which was meant for my coffee!!!
I just don't know what it is about her but every time I see her my heart does this little dance in my chest and I feel like I'm gonna have a heart attack or pass out or break something.

She has the most infectious laugh I have heard that makes me wanna laugh every time she laughs.

Now I think there is something wrong with me but it doesn't really take much for me to be attracted to someone, and it has nothing to do with their looks or anything else. I find myself being attracted to something way deeper than the physical level....not sure exactly what that is but I just know that it feels right.

But I don't think that something between us would work out but who knows maybe something does, but if it doesn't I would purely just be satisfied by being friends...

As long as she is around I doubt I will ever have another bad day in my life.....

SuperMoon....

Morning Everyone....

As the world loses its mind with Mr. Donald Trump winning the US elections (or so it seems) I rather prefer to remove myself from the situation and look to the skies...

From time to time I look to the stars just to find a little bit of peace within me, and 100% of the time I find that it helps me out. Just take a second and look up at the stars, if you think about it the majority of the stars you see in the sky have died millions of years ago....yet this beauty still lives on in our night sky...

I don't know if anyone has heard about it but on the 14th of November, we will witness the first Super-moon in our skies since 1948. What this means is that the moon will be closer to earth than ever before (in my lifetime), and according to NASA the next time this will happen will be around the year 2034.

For some people, this has inspired them to be artistic and I came across a beautiful painting from one of our local artists who goes by the name Sam Griffin. She had a mini competition on Facebook, where if anyone could guess what she would paint they would receive the finished product. Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to guess correctly....but honestly this is a work of art and I look forward to seeing more of her Masterpieces. Only problem is Art is a very difficult company to get off the ground in South Africa....lets hope someone out there sees her work and takes a liking to it....

Sam also has a vinyl T-shirt printing company, so if you have any need for Vinyl T-Shirt Printing don't be afraid to contact her on Facebook. 

So that's it for me for today, if you all feel a bit overwhelmed by what is happening in the world today just take a moment and look to the skies for a moment of peace.....

All The Time....

Morning People....

I am going to try and keep this short, I just feel the need to write something but I have no idea what to write about....

Lets write about books, especially one in particular I read recently from a local author, I don't think anybody knows about this guy but he is actually a very talented writer.

Dane Chung is a humble young man from Johannesburg with an impressive imagination even if I do say so myself. The latest offering he has is a book called Arch's Hallow...

The book is a combination of The Twilight Saga, Percy Jackson and Game of Thrones. Which will, if you think about it, appeal to EVERY KIND OF NERD out there.

Among other things he has many different books from different Genres all the way from Romance to Spy Thrillers, and Dragons oh don't let me forget about the dragons.

But anyway that is about it, please click the link below to view the website for Sharko, where you would be able to find all of his novels.

SHARKO PUBLICATIONS

GenerationWhy

Hey guys....

So I am just gonna write about one of my favorite artists out in the music scene currently..

Now i think it was about 4 years ago I used to listen to a weekly radio show called the essential selection by Pete Tong (click here to have your life changed), and on one of his shows he played an essential new tune which was ZHU - Moves Like Ms Jackson and i went into a complete FRENZY!!!!

I had to know who this guy was at all costs and i started doing research on this guy, but unfortunately no one knew who he was, Just a mystery producer that had a love for good music and making people bounce with his funky basslines and killer lyrics.....

The next track he dropped was called Faded and with no surprise this was yet another Banger (check the video down below).

BUT STILL......

No one knew who this dude was. Then I heard again, on the very same radio show, Pete Tong mentioned that this guy does not want to reveal himself just yet and he has his reasons which will be revealed soon.

He regularly dropped banger after banger and each one of his songs were completely original, he wrote his own lyrics and produced his own music....

ZHU ft. AlunaGeorge - Automatic
ZHU - Cocaine Model
ZHU x Lana Del Rey - West Coast
ZHU - SuperFriends

etc. etc. etc......

And this went on for a few years..... when finally in 2015 the big reveal came. He revealed himself as a Chinese American 27 year old who just always had a passion for music and the reason why he chooses to remain anonymous is because, (and i am guilty of this also) People who listen to music generally judge the quality of music from a producer based on their race.

I agree and I think it is a shame that people , myself included, do this I mean you never know what gems you may find out there.

Click Here for a link to an anonymous interview of his,

So before you go any further take the time to give it a listen and maybe buy the album from iTunes using the following link:

GenerationWhy

Retro Adventures.....

Whatsup Gangsters,

So I am not gonna talk much about me today, but rather about 2 awesome crazy nutcases that managed to escape Sterkfontein and make their way to Johannesburg!

I am talking about the one and only Jaak Erasmus and Etienne_D.

Now these two fine gentleman are on a road trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg sharing their comedy and making movies and stuff, and i was introduced to Their youtube channel: Retro Adventures SA.

The idea behind Retro adventures is taking us old goats back to our childhood by playing games that are on the Sega systems, and Super Nintendo, Atari, That old Golden China thingy that used to have 99999 in 1 games where it was just ten games copied a million times with slight changes here and there.

In their latest episode you will find them playing the arcade version of Mortal Kombat 2, which was once upon a time the greatest game of all time.

Now if i must say so myself they are both very good players, but i don't think they will be ready to deal with the level of beatings i can dish out at a words notice.

Both of these guys are really cool to chill with there will never be a dull moment when you are with you are constantly trying to catch your breath because you will be laughing too hard.

Coming up this month they will be at Kitcheners in Braamfontein today the 1st of November, after that they will be doing a gig in Stilbaai, Cape Town on the 26th of November and then they will be performing in George on the 27th of November.

Stay Tuned for more info on upcoming events.

Check the Link below to view the latest episode of Retro Adventures. Don't Forget to Like and Subscribe....

Retro Adventures Episode 6

Brand New Me.....

Hey Everyone,

So after a long time of deliberation and analysis i finally decided to start writing on my blog once again....

I have removed all the old Junk that was here because after reading those posts i realized how royally F*&$ed up i was in my head....I was actually sitting back and laughing to myself, i really was an emotional wreck.

But anyways back to the present moment: Yeah man i am all better i faced the problems that i had head on and i dealt with them the easiest way possible.....by asking myself this question: HOW DO YOU EAT AN ELEPHANT??

The answer is simple: A small piece at a time.

So anyways back to me and where i am right now. I managed to sort my life out after throwing my previously amazing job away i made the decision to start from scratch and rebuild....I started work as a stock taker, then moved to a call centre and now i am in my dream job: Test Analyst at Discovery.

I plan to have a long and successful career at this place and this is all thanks to one person and one person only. GOD.

He helped me when i was down, He picked me up when i was in the dirt and He showed me the way back to the path i was on before i screwed it all up.

Now the objective of this blog is just to talk SH!T at least once a week, and maybe share a cool link from time to time,

I hope to have more followers....

See Ya.....