Why do we pray?

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays. – Soren Kierkegaard

Prayer is heart talk. It becomes effective when it is isolated from the mind, when it is purely a heart feeling, when the external doors are closed, then only one door opens—the internal door. When all of the mind is closed, only the door of the heart opens. When the crookedness of the mind is has been stilled, when the agitations of the mind have become peaceful, when the deviousness and dubiousness of the mind has been transformed, then the heart becomes active. Prayer is only directed to God. – Swami Niranjanananda

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901 – My Selfie, Self-image, my Self-Schemas

How do we perceive ourselves? We have forgotten that we went through 84,000 births to be a human. So why do we think that we are not perfect. I know one must be humble but one must not feel rejected. I came across jokes on dating sites in the New Yorker magazine. Now New Yorker magazine is read by cerebral persons and it is an amazing magazine. I love its articles, stories, jokes and poems. If one is published in this magazine, then one is recognized. Coming back to my original thought, I found the jokes funny but humiliating. They had a mean barb in it. They could lead to further undermining of one’s self esteem. Continue reading

817 – Give yourself a hug

How does one give oneself a hug? Cherish yourself and work on your hormones, the big four.

  • Dopamine, which acts on specific areas of the brain to produce feelings of pleasure and satisfaction.
  • Oxytocin stimulates positive social interaction and reduces stress.
  • Serotonin stabilizes one’s mood and regulates sleep patterns and digestion.
  • Endorphins help to relieve pain, reduce stress and work on wellbeing.

What does one do to be content and happy?

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246 – Our eight senses

We have eight senses, and they all require prana management. Our five senses which we are familiar with are sight (vision), sound (hearing), smell (olfaction), taste (gustation), touch (tactile perception), and the three senses we are not so familiar with are vestibular (balance), prioceptive (movement) and introceptive (internal). Let us take a quick look at them. Continue reading