“If you see a fault in yourself, contemplate the results of continuing in that fault, and then meditate on its opposite virtue.  Little by little reform yourself, redeem yourself from the oppression of your bad habits, transform your negative attitudes into a willingness to do what you know is for your highest good.  Be compassionate with yourself, but at the same time, be firm.  If you will take control of the reins of your life and of the wayward tendencies of your mind, you will be successful in your life, and you will make progress toward eradicating those causes that produce suffering for yourself and misery for others.”

You want to learn meditation, but you don’t have a clue about what we are talking about. Nearly everything that we have described in the Mudrashram Master Course in Meditation and the Accelerated Meditation Program seems overwhelming and unfathomable to you. When you have tried to meditate in the past, it has been a complete disaster, and you are wondering, if spiritually, you are hopeless case.

Do not despair. We hear you!  We have a new course for you!  It is called the Introduction to Meditation program.  It is specifically designed for the terminally perplexed, the hopelessly confused, and the spiritual basket cases of the world!

The Introduction to Meditation program covers the rudiments of meditation over 26 weeks. It is low cost. It starts out with the basics of meditation and guides you step by step so you can go to deeper levels within you. It provides a firm foundation for you to move onto the more advanced practices taught in the Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and Accelerated Meditation Program.

We have begun to teach the Introduction to Meditation Course in San Diego. It will soon be available as an online webinar program. 

For Information about what the Introduction to Meditation Course covers, click  here. 

A Brief Introduction to Agni Yoga
Materials excerpted from The Agni Yoga/Attunement Meditation Workshop
© 2001 by George A. Boyd

What Is Agni Yoga?

Agni Yoga is the process of drawing upon and directing inner energies through visualization… 
Swami Prem Dayal, in The Yoga of the Seven Mudras: Introducing the Mudrashram® System of Integral Meditation, (Boyd, 1989) describes Agni Yoga as "a means by which we connect up the physical body up with the Soul.  It is a way of making the Soul fully expressed, fully incarnate.”
 “Normally, the Soul operates only through the Superconscious Mind, and the blockages of unconscious mind keep the Soul's energy out of your normal waking consciousness, separate from your experience in the physical body.  For this reason it seems that the Soul is an abstract principle, aloof and intangible, an unapproachable mystical essence.  In reality though, the Soul is very close at hand, and we can utilize this energy in many ways…"

Our Featured Meditation Series

In our featured meditation series, we will introduce three of the Agni Yoga methods that have particular relevance for the healer as part of our featured meditation series: the Color Healing Meditation, the Love Attunement and the Rainbow Technique.  Here is the first of our techniques, the Color Healing Meditation.

Please note: These are powerful techniques, and for some people, they can bring up poignant and painful material. If you are not a healing or counseling professional, we suggest that you have access to a healing professional, a trained counselor, or psychotherapist to assist you, in case these methods stir up issues that you may not know how to handle.

Color Healing Meditation

Color Healing Through the Chakras, uses the subtle power of color to gently stimulate the chakras. This technique promotes healing and harmonizing of the organ systems associated with the chakras, and also has a psychological effect, removing negative moods and attitudes.

Color Healing through the Chakras Meditation
 Sit with your spine straight with your legs crossed on the floor, or upright in a chair. Close your eyes.  Visualize your chakras as lotus flowers aligned along your spinal tube, the point between the eyebrows and the top of your head. Let your attention rest in the lowest chakra until the petals gently come open.  Move your attention to the second, the third, and so on until you have opened each chakra in turn.

Now imagine the colors of a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.  Visualize you are sending red light to your lowest chakra, and the red light is radiating out from the chakra to its associated tissues, organs and glands.  Send orange light to your second chakra, and see that it is radiating out from the chakra to its associated tissues, organs and glands.  Send yellow light to the third chakra; green light to the fourth chakra; blue light to the fifth chakra; indigo light to the sixth chakra; and violet light to the seventh chakra, and see the light radiating out to each chakras' respective tissues, organs and glands.  If there are any areas of weakness or disease in any of your organs or tissues, prolong your treatment of the related chakra until you can begin to feel increased circulation, or warming, of the affected parts.

In Color Healing, you are focalizing into the chakras, invoking the colors, and receiving these gentle energies, drawing them into your body. Color Healing exerts its effect through the etheric body.

For more information on this topic please refer to: http://www.mudrashram.com/ournewbooks.html#MFR

Note: if you are in recovery from addiction and have found this technique helpful, you may wish to obtain our book, Meditation for Recovery: Key Techniques for Maintaining Sobriety, Sanity, and Serenity, which details many additional meditation techniques in helping you to make progress with your addiction.

If you have any serious medical or psychiatric condition, we strongly recommend that you consult your health care provider before practicing any of the meditations on this website. We assume no responsibility for the consequences of the reader practicing these meditations incorrectly, and we do not guarantee or warrant that you will get positive results from using them.  While the vast majority of people who use meditation do obtain positive results, a rare few do have negative reactions to some of these practices. Should negative reactions occur, we recommend that you immediately stop doing the practice or practices that caused these problems, and consult a health care or mental health professional for assistance if this becomes necessary to resolve the problem

Basic Soul Reading – This reading is valuable when you want to know where you are on the spiritual path and what is ahead.  The Basic Soul Reading identifies what is your cutting edge of spirituality and shows you exactly where your Soul dwells on the Great Continuum of Consciousness. The Basic Soul Reading gives you insight into your essential nature at the level of the Soul, the Self, your mind, your emotions, and your physical etheric body. 

This reading is the foundation for our work with you, as it is the core snapshot of your spiritual and personal nature. We use this snapshot to find your transformational mantra and contemplative mantra in the Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the Accelerated Meditation Program. Each of our other Soul Readings are predicated upon knowing this essential nature, and ensuring that you receive appropriate guidance for where you are on your path.

To receive a reading, please send clear resolution photo of your self to George@mudrashram.com . You may now pay for your reading on Pay Pal. The cost for this Reading is $35.00. Your reading can be done in-person, by mail, by e-mail, or as a phone or video consultation on Skype.

Please note we prefer a picture of you front facing so we can see your eyes, your entire head, and your upper body. If there is more than one person in the picture you are sending to us, please indicate which one is you. You may also mail your picture together with a check or money order to Mudrashram, Post Office Box 463, Venice CA 90294-0463. Your payment should be payable to Mudrashram Institute.

We normally will not send a reading to you for someone other than your self. The exceptions are for a minor child under the age of 14, and you are the parent or guardian of the child. Individuals over the age of 14 should request their own reading; those under 18 should have their parent’s permission as well. If there are other extenuating circumstances, please let us know the reason why the individual cannot request the reading directly. If the individual is currently unable to receive the reading from us directly, we would like a statement from that individual that he or she gives you permission to receive this reading on their behalf.

In a large saucepan combine:

1 cup red lentils

2 cups water or vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, or until lentils are tender, and liquid is absorbed.
Add to the lentil mixture the following ingredients:

½ cup chopped mushrooms

1/8 cup finely grated carrot

1/8 cup finely chopped celery

1 medium-large onion chopped (may substitute with leek)2 tbs. finely chopped parsley

1/8 tsp. garlic powder or fresh minced garlic1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground sage

¼ tsp. ground thyme

1 tbs. lemon juiceSalt and pepper to taste

2 eggs

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs

Mix all ingredients together and place in a loaf pan that is well buttered and coated with breadcrumbs.
Bake at 375 degrees for 1 – 1 ½ hours or until firm and brown on top.
Carefully turn out onto a serving plate.  Slice and serve hot or cold.
Serves well with mashed potatoes, vegetarian gravy and a green vegetable.

VEGAN STYLE
Omit eggs and cheese and replace with 6 tbs. vegetarian margarine.
Instead of putting it in a loaf pan, form into a loaf on a cookie sheet and cover with bread crumbs.  Bake same as above.

Feng Shui, the ancient "art of placement", originated with the Form School, where topography and landscape were primary considerations to determine the best locations to build homes, public buildings, entire communities and kingdoms. The Compass School later added compass degrees for precise orientation based on the age of structures and birth dates of the owners and residents. Various schools have spun off from the Compass School, such as The Flying Stars School.

In the 1980s, Professor Thomas Lin Yun introduced Feng Shui to the west, combining teachings from Form and Compass Schools and his Tibetan Buddhist background with modern concepts and techniques to fit western lifestyles. As founder of the Black Hat Tantric Buddist School of Feng Shui (BTB), Yun initiated the practice of meditation, affirmation, visualization, and mantra when applying Feng Shui enhancements or cures, teaching students and clients the power of intention. Those who practice BTB Feng Shui realize the connection between their inner awareness and the outer world, and gain understanding that they are conscious co-creators of the environments in which they dwell. 
At the core of all Feng Shui schools is: the balance of the five elements, the balance of Yin/Yang qualities, and establishing harmonious chi flow. Central to BTB School is the bagua, a 9-square grid applied to a property, a floor plan, and individual rooms. Each of the nine sectors correlate to aspects of life, similar to houses in an astrology chart.

(Bagua (c) Renate M Bell)

If you do not have a floor plan of your home, draw a proportioned sketch, then divide the plan into 9 equal squares, like a tic-tac-toe board. Align the bottom of the bagua (the row containing the Knowledge, Career, and Travel sectors) to the wall where the front or main door to the home or room is located. (See example below)

(Example of Bagua over a Floor plan)

Determine where these sectors occur in your space. Then observe what's going on in each area. For example, does an area contain more clutter than other areas? Does an area contain a room you hardly ever use? Have these corresponding areas of your life felt stagnant or neglected? 
Visit each area with open eyes. Is the artwork appropriate to the sector? For example, does the artwork in your health sector make you feel good? Does the art reflect positive, uplifting messages or have relevant symbolic meaning to you? Write down anything that comes to you as you continue to observe each space. This will help prioritize where Feng Shui enhancements should be made.

In upcoming newsletters, we will visit the bagua sectors more closely, starting with the Career/Journey sector. 

Renate M Bell is a certified Feng Shui Interior Design Consultant, a Red Ribbon Professional Member of the International Feng Shui Guild, a certified Vedic Astrologer through the American College of Vedic Astrology, Sedona AZ, Jyotish Visharada and approved teacher for the Council of Vedic Astrology, Seattle WA, and a student of the Mudrashram Institute of Spiritual Studies, Los Angeles CA. Renate can be contacted at fsconsultations@aol.com or by visiting her website: www.integrated-interiors.com.

There are several "tools" in Vedic Astrology that are not, to the best of my knowledge, available in Western Astrology. To summarize a few: Vedic Astrology looks for numerous planetary configurations or yogas which help interpret the meat of the chart. It checks for the balance or imbalance between the four aims of life, the four doshas (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha), and the elements (Fire, Water, Earth, Air) and how these characteristics manifest through the personality. It recognizes Rahu and Ketu, the North and South Nodes of the Moon, in a more tangible manner. It offers a more thorough time-line, derived from the Moon's lunar station (nakshatra) at the moment of birth, which allows the astrologer to predict up to 120 years from the birth date. It provides additional insight from the 27 nakshatras, or divisions of the Moon's orbit on the 'wheel' behind the 12 zodiac constellations.

Vedic Astrology considers the Ascendant (life ruler), then the Moon (consciousness) primary, followed by the Sun (ego), whereas Western Astrology tends to emphasize the ego ("what's your sun sign?"). The Ascendant is the planetary ruler of your incarnation, your Life-Coach, if you will, and has an immediate impact on how you view the world from the moment of birth, how you act and react in life, how you handle what's given or what you can produce then put out to the world. The sign on the Ascendant changes every 2 to 2-1/2 hours. The Moon, which changes sign every 2 to 2-1/2 days, reflects your consciousness, your ability to nurture, to love, to feel, give, and receive. The Sun, which changes sign each month, is your vitality, the ego, your individualized self expression, and self-consciousness. Yet regardless of emphasis between systems, all planets are important and each plays its part in the orchestra of energies. 

To learn more about the difference between Western and Vedic Astrology, visit http://www.integrated-interiors.com/Vedic_Astrology.html.

Look for more insight into the planets and other Vedic Astrology topics in upcoming newsletters. 

Renate M Bell is a certified Vedic Astrologer through the American College of Vedic Astrology, Sedona AZ, Jyotish Visharada and approved teacher for the Council of Vedic Astrology, Seattle WA, a certified Feng Shui Interior Design Consultant, a Red Ribbon Professional Member of the International Feng Shui Guild, and a student of the Mudrashram Institute of Spiritual Studies, Los Angeles CA. Renate can be contacted at fsconsultations@aol.com or by visiting her website- http://www.integrated-interiors.com/