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Posts Tagged ‘religion’

A Brief History Of Hinduism

July 9th, 2011

Hinduism is a complex blend of polytheistic religion, a (belief in many gods, rather like the Greek and the Roman deities) and philosophy. It stemmed from Vedism, which dates back to the second millennium before Christ. It is not surprising therefore that numerous sects have developed or broken away from a faith of this age.

However, most of these sects rely on the one book, the Vedic texts known collectively as the 'Upanishads', and their differences are a result of their individual interpretations of it. These texts describe the activities of Shiva, the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe and they are based on even more ancient writings such as the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and, less well-known in the West, the Puaranas.

The Bhagavad Gita, the Lord's Song, a part of the Mahabharata, relates a dialogue between Krishna (another incarnation of the god Vishnu) and the student Prince Arjuna. This dialogue elucidates the three paths to enlightenment or union with God.

This might sound dreary, but I can promise you that reading the Bhagavad Gita could easily transform the way that you look upon life no matter which religion you believe in, if you have one.

The fundamentals of Hinduism are that individuals ought to endeavor to connect their selves (Atman) with the Godhead (Brahman) and reincarnation (samsara). Just what people come back as is determined by how people have led their lives, that is, one's actions (karma) and one's duty (dharma).

This constant reincarnation into a life of suffering can only be broken when one reaches the Godhead in a state of Atman-Brahman. Their are four paths to attain this divine condition in Hinduism. These are: jnana yoga, which is based on knowledge; bhakti yoga, which is based on service to God; karma yoga, which is based on work for God (rather than oneself) and raja yoga, which is based on psychophysical exercise.

Raja yoga, or the 'Royal Path', is the kind of yoga that most Westerners will have heard of and seen. Raja yoga is more popular in these West nowadays than at any other time in history.

Hinduism has three primary theistic traditions based on anthropomorphic gods. Vishnu is a loving god incarnated as Krishna; Shiva is both protective and destructive and Brahma is the creator. Saktism is a form of worship dedicated to the female partners of Vishnu and Shiva. Hindu's venerate all forms of life, but the most sacred animal to Hindus is the cow.

Hindu worship revolves around a person's and a family's devotion to a particular 'favourite' god or group of gods. The act of worship is carried out at a shrine, which can be at home or communally in public. There are a number of places of pilgrimage including the Ganges in northern India.

The three primary festivals are Dipavali - the 'festival of lights' - which sacred to Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity; Holi, a spring festival and Dashara, a harvest festival.

Hinduism is the oldest of the world's great religions. It is most widespread in India, which has outlawed the ancient caste system of Hinduism. This caste system used to divide society into five main groups: brahmins were leaders, philosophers and artists; kshatriyas were princes, soldiers and administrators; vaishyas were merchants and landowners; shudras were labourers and the rest were outcasts or untouchables.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on many topics but is currently concerned with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our web site entitled Celebrating Easter

Wales - The Land Of Song

July 5th, 2011

Wales has a long history of music and has been known as the 'land of song' since at least the Nineteenth Century. This reference to Wales as the land of song, probably comes from the passionate singing in Welsh churches and at Welsh sports meetings, particularly at rugby matches. However, Wales' links with music go much further back than that.

Wales has a tradition of folk music which is closely linked with Scottish and Irish folk music. There are several kinds of musical gathering that are similar to those in other Celtic countries in the United Kingdom. For instance there is the twmpath (folk dance session), g?yl werin (folk festival) and noson lawen (a traditional party similar to the Gaelic "C?ilidh").

Modern Welsh folk musicians have frequently resurrected traditions which had been suppressed or forgotten, but have competed with imported and indigenous rock and pop trends. This has been particularly true since the 1990's.

Despite contemporary Welsh trends in music, Wales will always be connected with Male Voice Choirs such as the Morriston Orpheus Choir and Treorchy Male Voice Choir which benefit from world wide fame.

These choirs were frequently made up of workers from one village or one coal mine and so it was quite natural for men to sing when one town played against another, particularly when that game was Wales' national sport of rugby. The first time the Welsh National Anthem, 'Yr Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' ('The Old Country of my Fathers', usually translated as 'Land of My Fathers'), was sung at an International sporting event was in 1905

Along side the choirs, brass bands sprang up in villages, working men's clubs, churches and at work especially in South Wales where brass bands are still very popular. In fact, the Cory Band is one of the most best brass bands in the world.

There were quite a few world famous Welsh singers in the Twentieth Century and some of them are still singing to jam-packed audiences worldwide. Ivor Novello was one of the first who became famous during the First World War as a singer songwriter. Then there was Geraint Evans and Delme Bryn-Jones in the Second World War.

After that, Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey started their singing careers in the 1950's but are still singing fifty years later. There were also popular bands in the Seventies and Eighties such as Man and Budgie and solo artists such as Shakin' Stevens, nnie Tyler and John Cale (Velvet Underground).

In more recent times, we have seen the Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia, Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci; the latter two bands being notable for lots of their songs' words being in Welsh.

There have always been operatic singers as well such as Rebecca Evans, Aled Jones, Bryn Tervel and Charlotte Church. Cardiff hosts the 'Singer of the World' competition and the Wales also has its very own Eisteddfod, where Pavarotti sang for years. It was because of Wales tradition as a nation of singers that Paul Robeson sang in Wales in the Fifties

If you are interested in a Welsh gold wedding ring, or Wales in general, go to our website at Welsh Products Online

A Brief History Of Christianity

June 14th, 2011

The majority of Christians believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Israel, the son of Jewish parents, Mary and Joseph, a carpenter, who had travelled from Nazareth to meet their annual taxes. Mary gave birth, so the story goes, on the 25th December in a stables and Christian countries mark that as the beginning of their calendar, in a similar way that Buddhists and Muslims mark the birth of their spiritual leaders as the start of their calendars.

However, not very much is actually known about Jesus and nothing is known about him from his own hand. The nearest we can get to him are books or gospels written some time after his death by alleged disciples. He was probably not born in the year one, or dot as it should have been, but four years earlier.

There is little to nothing known about him for the first thirty years of his life and then when he was thirty-two he was baptized by John the Baptist. Being Jewish himself, John the Baptist was continually on the look out for the Messiah and he saw Jesus as that Messiah.

Jesus was different from other ministers of the time in that he worked chiefly among the poor, although it is very doubtful that he came from a deprived family himself. He was after all from the House of David, the ruling royal family of the day and age.

Within a couple of years of ministering to the poor and calling himself the son of God, he was arrested by the Roman and Jewish ruling class and, as most Christians believe, crucified. After three days he rose from the dead and after forty days his spirit went up into Heaven to sit at the right hand of his father, God.

Christians see their Bible as an extension of Judaism rather than a denial or a breaking away from it. It is to be expected that the first followers of Jesus were ostracized by traditional Jewish leaders as a break-away sect and in many ways that is what Christianity still is to this day, although it now has more followers than Judaism.

The Christian Bible is in two sections, the Old Testament, which correlates to the Jewish Bible or Masorah and the New Testament, which relates to the time after Jesus' birth which is not included in the Masorah.

The most important part of the New Testament by far is the gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each of these gospels shows Jesus, his life and his teachings from the personal standpoint of the writer, each having been one of Jesus' apostles.

The foundation of Christian belief is: 1] that Jesus was the personification of God on Earth; 2] atonement - ie that Jesus' death atoned for the sins of all mankind in eternity, so we can all go to Heaven; 3] that the one God has three aspects: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.

After that it gets a bit complicated.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on many subjects but is at present involved with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our website entitled Celebrating Easter

Buddhism And Buddhist Sects

June 6th, 2011

Following Buddha's death in 483 BC, his closest adherents (his disciple monks) took time off their preaching to write down his sermons (sutras) and his regulations (vinayas). In the old tradition of Buddha, monks originally walked the countryside preaching and teaching for nine months of the year and went to sit out the monsoon period in a retreat for three months.

These retreats became monasteries and temples. The retreat into monasteries was important in the development of different interpretations of Buddha's teachings and in due course led to the formation of various sects which gained popularity in various regions of Asia.

There are three foremost Buddhist sects: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana or Tantric Buddism.

Theravada Buddhism is the principal sect in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand and is the sect that stays most faithful to Buddha's original teachings. Theravada Buddhism teaches that the path to the attainment of personal Nirvana is the aim of life. It is a very individualistic religion in that everybody is alone on their own path to enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddism became the largest sect and spread along the Silk Road from India through China to east Asia starting in around 200 BC. Mahayana Buddhists worship Buddha and the Buddhist saints (bodhisattvas - literally 'wisdom beings').

Bodhisattvas are beings that restrain themselves from attaining Nirvana (and therefore leaving the wheel of life or cycle of birth, death and reincarnation) so that they may help others accomplish Nirvana, which is a major difference between it and Theravada Buddhism.

Mahayana Buddhism is more easily absorbed by different cultures than the other kinds which accounts for it having spread so far. The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (272-232 BC) gave Mahayana a colossal boost in popularity by despatching missionaries to Sri Lanka, south-east Asia and China from where it was taken to Korea and Japan in the Sixth Century anno domini.

Zen Buddhism grew in popularity in Japan and China in the Seventh Century. Zen Buddhism is a variant of Mahayana Buddhism and teaches that Nirvana can be achieved through mental conditioning and meditation.

Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism arose in the Seventh Century as well and is most common in Tibet and Mongolia. Vajrayana Buddhism tries to identify the initiate with a visualized deity. Tantric cannon includes esoteric writings, teaching that meditation can engage the mind by the use of mantras (chants), mudras (hand gestures) and mandalas (visible icons). The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal head of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists.

Buddhism reached its height of popularity in China during the T'ang dynasty in the Ninth Century, when it was partially suppressed by royal command. Similarly Zen attained its height of popularity in the Nineteen Century when the Japanese royal family switched to Shintoism taking numerous royal hangers-on with it. Buddhism declined in India too in the Eighth Century because lots of its principles were absorbed into Hinduism. Buddism was virtually extinct in India by the Thirteenth Century.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on many topics but is at present involved with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our website entitled Celebrating Easter

A Short History Of Islam

April 26th, 2011

The teachings of Islam were passed down to humankind through Mohammed who is widely thought of as the last, so far, in the line of Middle Eastern prophets. The first was Abraham of Judaism renown, then there was Jesus for Christianity and then came Mohammed. Mohammed was born in about 570 AD in Mecca, western Saudi Arabia and died 62 years later in 632 in Medina.

The Koran, or the 'Recitation' in English, consists of 144 chapters and was related to Mohammed by God. These doctrines were written down by his secretaries over the course of 23 years.

Like its antecedent religions, Islam is a monotheistic religion and its narrative includes stories or references to Abraham, Moses (and the Ten Commandments) and Jesus, but does not accept Christianity's claim to his divinity.

Another major variance from the Middle Eastern religions before it, is that Jews trace their ancestry through Abraham's son Isaac, whereas Muslims trace their history through Abraham's son Ishmael by another wife.

The root of the word Islam - 's-l-m' - means 'peace' and 'submission' (to God). A Muslim's relationship with God is determined by the 'Five Pillars of Islam'. These five pillars are: Shahadah (profession of faith); public and collective prayer five times daily; charity to the poor; fasting during the holy month of Ramadan and a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest of places to Muslims, at least once in their lifetime.

Islam has strict dietary laws, notably about eating pork, and prohibitions against promiscuity, theft, gambling and lying. Muslims worship in Mosques and the services are led by Imams. The most important time to pray is at midday on a Friday, which is the Muslim Sabbath.

The vast majority of Muslims are Sunnites, who are the traditionalists, and the remainder are Shi'ites or 'partisans'. This could generally be compared with the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. The distinctions between the two sects in the both religions have caused untold misery over the centuries and there is no sign of it ceasing any time soon.

There is significantly more known of Mohammed than of Jesus. Mohammed was brought up by his uncle and at the age of 25 he became a trader. At the age of 40, in 610, an angel instructed him to proclaim the word of God. He was not accepted in Mecca but the authorities invited him to quell the city of Medina in 622, which he did.

His condition for accepting this quest was that the people accept the word of God. This they did - this move is known as the Hegim and it is the date from which Muslims record contemporary history - like the Western world uses the birth of Jesus.

By 632 Mohammed was dead, but by then the vast majority of Arabs were Muslims. For one reason or another, Islam spread east and west from Saudi Arabia taken usually by Arab traders probably. Islam never actually got a foothold in Europe (except Spain) but it did move East quite extensively.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on many topics but is currently concerned with Easter.If you would like to read more, please go over to our web site entitled Celebrating Easter

Three Ways To Increase Communication With Animals

April 24th, 2011

You can enhance your animal communication skills in your life by tapping into different types of alternative therapies so that you can balance all of them out in your life so that you can see dramatic improvement.

Let me explain a mind - body - spirit connection work for this issue in your life today.

There are many different ways that you can tap into this type of work through different types of complementary and alternative therapies in your life. You can work on these animal communication skills through these different formats.

When you're working with different types of therapies in their life, the very first thing that you have to comprehend is that everyone's going to find something there drawn to a little bit more than others. It is about understanding what resonates within you.

Each person is going to find something that resonate for little bit differently for their own life. We all came to this point through different pathways, as well as new pathways will unfold in front of us as well. So the different types of formats that we can work with are also going to be unique in their own ways.

For working with different types of animal communication issues, you also have to find ways to incorporate them into your life through these mind - body - spiritual level and actions. Let me give you some examples.

Working with meditation is something that can help you focus on the mental side of things for your healing processes in life. It is all about how long meditate, but rather that you calm your mind and sent to your thoughts and feelings during this time frame.

You can work with sound vibrational healing to work on all the physical issues that you are facing today. There are many different tools that you can work with, but some of the more popular ones are working with tuning forks, Tibetan bowls, Tibetan bells, and drumming techniques. Find the one that resonates within you for this exact vibrational sound that you're looking for.

You can tap into your spirit guides when you're working on healing all of the spiritual connections from within. They are more than willing to work with you at any given time; you just have to be patient, notice the signs, and be appreciative of their work today.

When you're working with your animal communication issues in your life, you want to incorporate all of these aspects into one healing session, so that everything is balanced out.

I have to give you one more tip on all of this work, and that is when your healing all of these areas, you have to work on balancing them out at the same time. This way one session will not be overwhelmed while another one is feeling neglected. If you balance all of them out successfully you will have a wonderful healing session completed.

Remember to incorporate all of them together and work with the ones that you feel resonate best within you.

It is all up to now, as you have the tools and techniques at your fingertips, so what are you going to do with them to help enhance all of your animal communication skills today?

Certified Healer, Nicole Lanning offers energy, spiritual, & holistic living sessions to clients around the world. Find out more information about holistic living from Holistic Healing Minute & Healing Art Forms today!

Add Spiritual Healing To Your Family Management Routine

April 24th, 2011

When you're working through family management issues in your life is all about understanding how things correspond on an energetic level in your life. This works for any type of issue you are facing.

It is really all about understanding that you have to heal and balance issues on an emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical level from within at your inner soul for your family management issues.

There are many different types of modalities that you can tap into for working on handling your family management concerns today. When you're working with spiritual healing well, you have to understand that each person's pathway is going to be a little bit different and unique, just as we all are.

To begin working on healing family management issue with an spiritual healing format in your life you have to take the first step and find the underlying trigger point for this issue. Everyone has one, so it is about discovering what is in your life.

Once you have located this issue, you then have to work with spiritual healing formats so that this can be released and purged in your life. I know this sounds a little bit off until you really understand how all of it works.

You can use all of these different techniques today, because we are all vibrational energetic beings living in a physical format on this planet. When you're working on healing something, you can use the same techniques for your family management concerns, and incorporate them for any issue in your life.

But you really have to understand with this type of work that it is about healing all of the different layers and levels so that one does not overwhelm another with the same trigger point in your life.

So if you're working on healing let's say an emotional level, but you're forgetting to work on the mental level, you're not tap into the full possibilities of these different types of spiritual healing techniques in your life. So there issues that are residing on the mental level, they can then move over to one of the other levels and causing the more issues for your family management.

That is why it is so important to work on healing all of the different areas of your life through spiritual healing methods today. There are many different ones that you can tap into, depending on which one that resonates within your own vibrational frequencies.

Your family management issues, or any other issues that you are facing in her life, you have to find the specific spiritual healing method that's going to work for you. There are many different ones out there today, see have to just take some time for yourself and find the one that is best suited for you.

By incorporating these new spiritual healing techniques into your life today, you can work on healing the family management concerns that you are facing. Remember it is all about balancing things out and healing on all of the different levels so that you can be successful at this work.

Enjoy the new steps today; understand how everything is balanced in your life, so that you can really enjoy every step of your journeying pathway to its fullest.

Expert Certified Healer, Nicole Lanning has shared her wisdom with clients globally using unique abilities in spiritual healing session, holistic healing, and spiritual healing distantly. Find out more info at Healing Art Forms.

Release Allergy Issues From Your Life

April 23rd, 2011

Springtime the here and what comes with this is dealing with allergies and hay fever. Many people face allergies during this time with the weather change, the pollen in the air, and many other issues that can cause them such as pet dander that has been in their home all winter long. This is something that many people face, you can work on healing this with the complementary and alternative therapy method in your life today. I can show you how to do this right at the end of this article.

You have to first understand that everything entire world is all based on energy. We are energy, or homes energy, everything that it is visible, and even invisible, is all consistent of energy, we can balance and heal all the issues that we are facing on an energetic field through different types of complementary therapies that you can learn.

It is all about understanding how to balance these things out on a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual level for all of this work to be healed. You do not have to be trained in any specific type of work for this, as you can start working with some of these techniques today from the comfort of your own home.

So how do you work on dealing with all of your allergies to your complementary and alternative type of method? Good question! You can tap into the power of crystal healing for this. When you're working with crystal healing for your allergy issues, you want to make sure to have a Carnelian on hand. Charge a bottle of spring water with this Carnelian for a minimum of two hours. After you've done charging this begins to spritz and mist lightly all of the areas that you are currently living in, as well is surrounding all of your aura an energetic fields. This will help balance out all the energy issues that are dealing with allergies so that they can be easier on you.

Enjoy the new crystal healing tips that I have shared with you for working on allergies, and remember to incorporate other different types of complementary and alternative therapies into your life today.

Crystal healinghas been a passion for the author, Nicole Lanning, of Practical Crystal Healing series tips books. She can help you with crystal therapy sessions.

Spousal Communication Enhanced With Alternative Therapies

April 23rd, 2011

Working in communication issues with their spouse is something that many people face at any given time in their relationship. This is not something new that has come about, but rather it is something that many people avoid in their own relationships. You do not have to work at understanding the opposite sex, but rather opening up your communication lines from within at your soul level so that you can communicate effectively with your spouse at any given moment.

With so many different types of methods at your fingertips today, you just have to understand which ones are going to resonate best within your own soul level for this type of work. You are not only going to be working on enhancing your own communication abilities, but also strengthening your spiritual connections from with in at your soul level for this type of work to be effective.

Each one of us is going to resonate a little bit differently for the techniques that I share with you today, so it is all about finding what feels right to you in a positive manner, as well as balancing everything out on a mind - body - spiritual level connection from within. I know this can sound a little bit overwhelming, and even confusing, but is actually very simple and easy to work with on a day-to-day basis.

I suggest to start working with self-healing issues by incorporating Reiki energy healing into day-to-day routine. It is important to make sure to send this self-healing through your crown chakra and down to your throat chakra and work with all of the stagnant and negative issues that may be compiled. Once you remove them, thoroughly cleansed the area and heal any voids that are left behind. You can also carry around a crystal healing stone for this process to be enhanced. When you're working with this make sure to have an aquamarine crystal that is cleansed thoroughly programmed before you began. This will help enhance all of your healing session processes.

You to spouse can both benefit from these types of healing tips and techniques, so you can both work on them to help enhance your communication skills today.

Nicole Lanning is one of the top certified healing experts in the Reiki healing spiritual session, holistic healing and reiki healing remotely. She is also the founder of Healing Art Forms and Holistic Healing Minute.

Use Holistic Living Techniques To Increase Your Students Abilities

April 22nd, 2011

Do you know how to be a better student? If you did, you will probably one of the reading this article right now. We all need a little bit of help from time to time when we're working on this issue on our life. You can tap into the power of holistic living techniques person different ways to increase this in your life.

Many people do not even believe that they can really learn to be a better student. Are you one of those people? I know it seems like a very hard question, but you must be facing this issue if you're reading my article. You can move forward in life with this though.

So let's talk about you. How does all of this resonate within your own life? Where do you see yourself going with this? Do you know how to take the first step? How do you see all of this visually on your new pathway in life?

Probably one of the hardest parts of this type of work is understanding that when you're working on learning how to be a better student you have to see how it fits into your own life. We are all different in our energy fields, vibrational pattern, and even the things that lead up to her life at this point. Because of all of these variables everyone's path is a little bit different.

It is because of all of these differences that we have to first take notice before we can move forward on this new pathway.

I can show you some of the very basics to get you started today on working with holistic living techniques in your life to focus and teach you how to be a better student.

With the power of holistic living techniques at your fingertips, you can work on healing all of the areas of your life that you're facing not just understanding how to be a better student, but many other areas as well.

One of the most important steps when you're working with different types of alternative methods is finding the one that best resonates for your own issues and your own life.

Does it sound a bit confusing? It can be. I can show you how to begin. There are some easy methods.

You have to understand what different types of methods you are going to feel drawn to. What does this mean? Let me give you a visual concept. Imagine two polar opposites that are being thrown together. This is what attraction, resignation, or being drawn to something feels like.

Now that you understand what this feeling is all about, you have to work on finding the one that resonates within your own energy fields that's going to give you the most benefit for this type of healing session.

You can work with holistic living in your life for this specific issue today. There are also many other things that you can tap into from a complementary and alternative standpoint.

You can also incorporate some other different types of work such as crystal healing, Tibetan bells, purging sessions, enhancing your spiritual connections, and even working with EFT.

Remember when you're working on learning how to be a better student it is all about understanding what resonates within you know and how you can incorporate this to have a balanced life.

So what are you waiting for? Take the very first step today and work on changing all of these things in your life!

Nicole Lanning is the founder of Healing Art Forms and Holistic Healing Minute. For more info about energy healing, holistic living and her unique holistic living methods contact her personally with your questions.