Saturday, June 30, 2012

True Words



Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it eludes you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes and sits softly on your shoulder.                    
 - Henry Thoreau

Simple Truths


True Words



People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason the world is in chaos is because things are being loved, and people are being used.                         
 - Unknown

Quote of the Day




I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
- Arthur Rubinstein

Product Review: Omharmonics Meditation Audio


Omharmonics was created out of the need of a modern day alternative to traditional meditation audios. As the first ever meditation audio developed using Multivariate Resonance Technology, it creates a phenomenon in the brain by exploiting binaural beat patterns than can induce an instant state of relaxation and creativity.”

And it sounds beautiful too. Our team here at The Philosopher's Guide to the Universe has tried this meditation audio, and its effect is almost instantaneous. You can actually feel yourself going deeper and deeper into relaxation. When it's over, you “awaken” feeling refreshed and with a clearer mind. Who knows, maybe you'll even return with an idea or two.


To learn more and get your free audio track, visit Omharmonics.com.

Friday, June 29, 2012

True Words



The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, then let it come in.                          
 - Morrie Schwartz

Free Your Mind


True Words



You are not in this world to live up to other people's expectations, nor should you feel the world must live up to yours.                          
 - F Perl

Quote of the Day




Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain

Using Binaural Beats in Your Meditation Practices


Meditation is the practice of maintaining a state of complete mental stillness. It is through this stillness that one becomes a conduit through which inspiration and cosmic knowledge flows. Visionaries, spiritual leaders and gurus all say it – meditation is an essential part of daily life. It provides clarity, improves cognitive abilities, and helps you in remaining calm and stress-free throughout your day. But, if you're like most people, you may find it hard to meditate. The mental chatter or, as some like to call it, “the monkey mind,” is all-consuming, and despite your best efforts to stifle it, it possesses no will to simmer down.
Luckily, for those of you whose thoughts are in a state of perpetual motion, there's a fun alternative that'll finally put the clamps on that monkey's mouth, and allow you to experience all the benefits that meditation has to offer. How? By incorporating binaural beats into your meditation practices.

So what are binaural beats? To put it simply, binaural beats are sounds that synchronize your brainwaves to a certain wavelength: beta, alpha, theta, or delta. Each of these neural oscillations are associated with a different level of consciousness, and different benefits.

If you're awake and walking around, your brain is operating in beta, a frequency of about 13 - 30 Hz. This is our normal, waking brainwave level. It provides for thinking, conversing, and everything else we do when we're awake. Alpha is associated with relaxation and reflection, an inner peace, and hovers around 8 – 12 Hz. It puts you in the “chill-out” zone, like closing your eyes and relaxing while you're awake. People who are able to access alpha are said to experience better results on physical and mental tests.

Theta is a very relaxed state that is associated with meditation and some sleep states, its frequency being at 4 – 7 Hz. It is in theta that we experience extreme relaxation, enhanced creativity and innovation, and vivid mental imagery. When in theta, the human mind is very open to suggestion – so theta binaural beats can be used in self-hypnosis. The next wave oscillation is delta, which is a frequency of 3 Hz and under, and is associated with deep, dreamless sleep. Don't expect to stay awake while listening to a delta binaural beat though – you're almost guaranteed to fall asleep. Even Zen masters can find it difficult to remain conscious.

For binaural beats to work, simply plug in some headphones, listen to the audio, and experience. By synchronizing your brainwaves to alpha, theta, or even delta, you will enter a meditative state induced by the binaural beats. It's quite an interesting feeling your first few times. If you're feeling adventurous, give it a try and let us know how it worked out for you!



Want to know more? Read Get High Now (without drugs) by James Nestor.

Download the “Get High Now” app on the iPhone to experience a number of binaural beats, mind blowing audio loops, and amazing auditory illusions, or use the good old Google to find more ways to listen.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

True Words



Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to by things they don't want, to impress people they don't like.                          
 - Will Rogers

Be In Love With Your Life


True Words



The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be.                          
 - Marcel Pagnol

Quote of the Day




Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself.
- George Bernard Shaw

Reality

R

E

A

L

I     IS JUST

T    A

Y
MIRROR
       PEOPLE,
                    EVENTS,
          CIRCUMSTANCES
   - THEY'RE ALL
               JUST A
            REFLECTIONOF YOUR INNERMOST
           THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS;
        GIVE YOUR FOCUS OR ATTENTION
                 ONLY TO POSITIVE THINGS
                                                                          AND YOU WILL
                         EXPERIENCE
                                                       ONLY THE POSITIVE.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

True Words



A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.                          
 - Lao Tzu

True Words



We don't see things the way they are. We see them the way WE are.                        
 - Talmud

Quote of the Day




Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
- Henry Thoreau

Evolvefest: The New Age Woodstock

Have you been waiting for the next Woodstock to come around? Wait no more! Evolvefest is a four day music and yoga festival in Monticello, NY. You'll enjoy live music and DJ's, art, installations, yoga for days, workshops, galleries, great food, central fire and daily ceremonies, healthy products, performances and more. 

Feel the oneness of humanity through this unique experience, meet interesting, spiritual and inspiring people just like yourself, and forge tight bonds and friendships with people from all different backgrounds and creeds. 

Evolvefest is a camping adventure - and when we say camping, we mean it. It's a completely off-the grid experience. That means no running water. Don't worry though, they'll have port-a-potties and hand-washing stations. The whole off-the- grid aspect is amazing. What better way is there to get in tune with yourself and be fully immersed in the here and now? 

This year's festival is from August 31st to September 4th. The great thing is, tickets for Evolvefest won't break the bank. The price for the four day pass is a total steal of a deal, and if you don't want to go for the full four days, they also have weekend and day passes at affordable prices.

Want to have a completely transcendent experience that'll stay with you for a lifetime? Then Evolvefest is for you.

To learn more and purchase tickets, visit their website at http://evolvefest.com/

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

True Words




The imagination exercises a powerful influence over every act of sense, thought, reason - over every idea.
- Latin Proverb

Disease = Dis-Ease


True Words




Heaven never helps the man who will not act.
- Sophocles

Quote of the Day



The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.                          
 - Frank Loyd Wright

Set Yourself Free With The Energy Mantra


You've all heard the saying, “old habits die hard.” The reason for this is because it's not our conscious mind that holds our habits – it's our subconscious mind. That's why just thinking positive thoughts doesn't always make much of a difference – if your subconscious is yelling “NO!” then no amount of conscious thought will free you of that old habit.

However, there is something more you can do to aid in the releasing of these old habits, called “the Energy Mantra.” Use this technique to release those bad habits for good.



Monday, June 25, 2012

True Words



Karma is the unfolding of the laws of cause and effect that have created what you are, and that still are effecting you lawfully.
 - Ram Dass

Did you know?


It takes 21 days to change a habit. Take one of your bad habits and eliminate it by using this proven step-by-step process for rapid goal achievement and personal transformation. Find out how your mind plays a key role in the circumstances you're experiencing right now, and learn how to take charge. Happiness and success are habits. So are failure and misery. These negative habits can be changed, and “Psycho-Cybernetics” shows you how.

It's just 21 days to a better life.


True Words




Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man who has the wrong mental attitude.                          
 - Thomas Jefferson

Quote of the Day




It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, "Always do what you are afraid to do."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tapping: A Sensation That's Sweeping the Nation


Want a simple, fast and effective way to improve your life?

Then you'll be interested in the new phenomena that's sweeping the nation called Tapping, or EFT.

It's so fast. It's such a powerfully quick process.”- Jack Canfield, Author “Chicken Soup for the Soul”

The results were...just short of phenomenal."- Joe Vitale, Author “The Attractor Factor”

“What's interesting about EFT is that it is a process that really,
in some sense, engages like 'super-learning.'”- Bruce Lipton, Cellular Biologist and Best-Selling Author

Interested? We thought so. EFT short for “Emotional Freedom Technique,” and is scientifically proven to quickly and effectively improves many areas of your life, like making more money, losing weight, releasing physical pain, creating the perfect relationship, and clearing negative emotions like stress and anxiety.

This may be the most important new therapy to arrive
in both medicine and psychology for a century.”- Dawson Church, Author and Energy Medicine Expert

So how do you use this technique? Good question. There are many sites out there that talk about EFT and how to do it, which you can find on Google, of course, but we're going to briefly outline a couple here for you. It is highly encouraged that you do some more research for yourself, to get you as excited about the technique as we are, and to watch the documentary, “The Tapping Solution,” which goes really in depth about the whole thing.


This website includes a great how-to video on the home page that gives you all the steps. You can get a free manual here when you sign up for their weekly newsletter, which will give you tips and new information on using EFT.

The Tapping Solution: http://www.thetappingsolution.com/

Here you will find the trailer for the documentary “The Tapping Solution,” which features visionaries and teachers such as Jack Canfield, Joe Vitale, Bob Proctor, Dr. Joe Mercola, Bruce Lipton, Dr. Patricia Carrington, Cheryl Richardson, Dr. Norm Shealy and Carol Look


Another how-to video! This website also includes everything you'll need to know about EFT in text format, for those of you who would rather not watch a video, or just want more information on the matter. It covers your basic steps, tapping locations and techniques, using EFT's affirmative statements, and more.

Happy Tapping!



Sunday, June 24, 2012

Product Review: The Silva Life System



Ah, the Silva Method. Out of the many personal development techniques out there, this one is definitely of the top tier. The Silva Method is a program that trains you to consciously improve your mental processes, and therefore your life. It uses guided meditations to help you become a better, more centered, and more successful version of you. Using a program like this, coupled with the exercises and information and articles featured on this blog, will better equip you for the transformation from who you are to who you want to be.

Get it on Amazon today!  


Silva Life System (The Silva Method)

The Philosopher’s Guide Now on Facebook and Twitter!

The Philosopher's Guide to the universe is now on Facebook and Twitter. Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @philoguide to keep up on the blog's latest news.

Quote of the Day



Do or do not, there is no try.
- Yoda

If you say so, so it is.


Taking Affirmative Action


Now that you've picked and created your visualization tool, it's time to get to work. Work? Yikes! Relax – this isn't dirty work. Think of it as spring cleaning for your habits and behavioral patterns.

That's right. Over our lives we accumulate a lot of different habits, attitudes and behaviors that we learned from our parents, teachers, the media, and just society in general. This excess “noise” can sometimes be negative, and lead limiting beliefs like “I have to work hard to have money,” or “I don't have what it takes to do that,” and “I'm not smart enough or creative enough or resourceful enough to do that.” Yes, it's that little naysayer inside your head that's sabotaging your dreams, the ego.

To put it simply, your personality, your learned habits and behavioral patterns, your mindset and belief systems, are all a part of your ego. It is the “I,” “me,” “my,” “his,” “hers, “theirs” mentality, which compartmentalizes reality, breaks it down and labels it in accordance with your personal belief system, that is to say, your unique perspective. That being said, if your perspective is at the positive end of the spectrum, you will experience a more positive reality. If it's at the negative end, you can expect that your experience will be more negative than positive. We all know what this is like, and it does not feel good.

Good news is, you have a choice.

Your focus determines your reality.”
Qui-Gon Jinn

Turns out the Jedi Masters were right (who knew?), and their ways are now being uncovered by modern physics to be scientific fact. This is incredible not only to Star Wars fans, but to the rest of the world as well. It literally means, what we focus on and think about the most, will indeed become our life story. So if you're always looking behind you and dwelling on the past, you're doomed to repeat it. That's why people find themselves reliving the same circumstances over and over.

So this spring cleaning business... If you're not living the life of your dreams right now, then you've got some old habits and behaviors that are keeping you from doing so. In order to clean up your act, so to speak, you don't need to use an extreme amount of brain power in an attempt to figure out “what's wrong with you.” You need only consult your list of goals and life vision and ask yourself, “how would I behave if I were living the life of my dreams?” and then do it.

You can do this throughout your day as you encounter decisions. When faced with a choice, ask yourself, “if I were living the life of my dreams, would still do this?” If the answer is no, or if it's a tad iffy, make another choice that you believe is in line with how the New You would act. This is called taking affirmative action. When you change just a few things about how you are living your life right now, it improves your quality of life noticeably. So if you want good things to come into your life, make room for it. Do the things you'd be doing if you had it already, talk about the lifestyle as if it's already yours. Believe that you have it now.

Your brain doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction – it cannot compute whether or not you're just thinking about something, or if it's actually happening right now. This puts you at a huge advantage for shifting your mindset and creating your ideal life. Basically, old Walt Disney was right when he said, “if you dream, you can create the most wonderful place in the world.” Dare to dream, dare to use your imagination, and the life of your dreams will become your life experience.

Book Review: Remember, Be Here Now by Ram Dass

Remember, Be Here Now is a book on spirituality, mediation and yoga, written by Ram Dass (formerly Dr. Richard Alpert). The book contains four sections: 


Journey: The Transformation: Dr. Richard Alpert, PhD. into Baba Ram Dass
A short biography.


From Bindu to Ojas: The Core Book
A fine mix of the spiritual, metaphysical and religious, with beautifully written words, artful typography, and thought-provoking illustrations. 


Cookbook for a Sacred Life: A Manual for Conscious Being
A manual for starting on a spiritual or yogic path, with practices for pranayama, yoga, and meditation, and quotes from well-respected spiritual gurus and visionaries.


Painted Cakes: Books
A list of recommended books on consciousness, spirituality and religion.


If you're on the spiritual path, this book is a must-read. Its words provide the reader with the knowledge necessary to live a fulfilling life, to be calm and have clarity.










Get it at Amazon today!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Quote of the Day


Success is within reach, if you believe that success is already yours. What you imagine is the seed of what you will experience.
- Ramez Sasson

You Are the Dream and the Dreamer


Creating Your Vision For Your Ideal Life


After you've set some goals for yourself, the next step is to create your vision for how your life is going to be. Creating your vision is a crucial part of the creative process, and shouldn't be skipped. Goal-setting isn't always enough. The goals you've chosen paint a picture of your new life – now it's your job to depict what that picture looks like, in a way that you can look at it every day.

There's quite a few ways to do this, and guess what? It doesn't have to feel like work. There are tons of fun and creative ways to create your vision, and you get to choose the one that works best for you.

Creative Visualization Tools:
  1. The Vision Board
  2. Mind Movies
  3. LifeBook
  4. Journaling

The Vision Board, a term coined by visionary John Assaraf, is a great tool to use for any age. It's fun, creative, and gets you thinking about what your goals look like. A Vision Board can be on anything – a bulletin board, poster board, or you can even glue or tape pieces of construction paper together to make your own. It doesn't matter, as long as you're happy with the end result and had fun doing it.

Next you'll want to take a look at that list of goals and find images that correspond to them. Surf the internet and print pictures to cut out and post on your vision board, cut pictures out of magazines, or draw. You can put scraps of colored paper or Post-It notes behind your pictures to spice it up, use glitter or virtually anything else you can think of. Once you've finished, put your Vision Board in a place where you'll see it every day. Look at it and think about what it feels like to have those things that you've put on your Vision Board, and really feel it. It's the emotion attached to your vision that's really going to bring it to you.

Mind Movies! This is one of my favorite tools. It really works. Mind Movies was created by Ryan Higgins and Natalie Ledwell, and enables people all over the world to reach their goals through motivational, customizable movies. They have the software to make these movies online, and let me tell you – you don't have to be a video editor or any sort of computer wiz in order to make this work for you. They make it easy on the user.

Mind Movies consist of photos that you either choose from their database or upload from your own computer, backed with music of your choosing and any number of present tense, positive affirmations. There's a wide variety of ones to choose from, but an example of these affirmations is “I am completely content” or “I have more than enough money.” Just watch your Mind Movie a few times a day and watch as your dreams come true.

If you don't want to pay the membership price, we suggest you try your hand at making your own. There's simple, user friendly video editing software that comes with most computers. If you're using Windows, you should have Windows Movie Maker already installed. If you're a Mac user, iMovie is a simple program to use and you should have your very own visualization movie in no time. We do suggest signing up for the mailing list at Mind Movies, as they provide you with 6 free, already made Mind Movies for your personal use. They also send a number of cool and inspiring videos, and sometimes they even have online seminars which are extremely beneficial.

Lifebook is a personal development tool created by Jon Butcher, and is a book that depicts the way you want your life to be, in all aspects of your life. This is particularly powerful for some people because it is based on their individual values, beliefs, goals, needs, and desires and encompasses twelve categories of life, so it is a very straightforward tool which allows for a clearer vision of your ideal life. These categories include your vision for your health and fitness, intellectual life, emotional life, character (characteristics/traits you want to have), spiritual life, love relationship, parenting, social life, financial life, career, quality of life, and your life vision (what it's all supposed to look like).

Jon has a program you can follow, or you can make your own, much in the same way you would make a Vision Board. Just get yourself a journal, notebook or scrap-booking book and you'll be set and ready to make your own Lifebook. Use pictures, words, and anything else you might think of to make this picture of your life-to-be.

The last tool we're going to talk about is journaling. This is definitely an option most enjoyed by the writers of our world. Basically you write the story of your life, much like you would write a fictional story, but here's the best part – it's your story for your dream that's going to come true! The key is to write everything in the present tense, and be as positive with your wording as you can. Write it how you want your life to be. Read that story every day and feel the feelings of having the life of your dreams.

Happy creating!



Check out these websites and what they have to offer:

Vision Board – www.johnassaraf.com/events-attractions/the-complete-vision-board-kit-is-here
Mind Movies – www.mindmovies.com
Lifebook – www.mylifebook.com


Friday, June 22, 2012

Quote of the Day

I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
- Henry Thoreau

Exercise: Discovering Your Core Values


1. Setting

Before you start this exercise, go to a nice, quiet room free of clutter (mostly). Preferably a place where you feel secure and have privacy. Light some candles or incense, open the window, or nothing at all – whatever makes you the most comfortable.

2. Have Your Tools at the Ready

Keep a piece of paper and a writing utensil nearby so you can jot down your values as they come to you. It is not recommended to use a computer, as you really shouldn't give yourself the opportunity to get distracted. This is your life-work, after all. Make sure you write on something you won't throw away. This list will prove to be a guiding light in moments of darkness.

3. Ask Yourself the Big Question

“What is truly important to me?” Think about what traits and values are most important to you. You could come up with anything from freedom or security, honesty, integrity – there is no wrong answer. Don't be discouraged if nothing comes immediately. You may not have ever asked yourself this question, or not given it much thought. Just keep thinking about it.

4. Write Down What Comes to Mind

Write down everything that comes to mind. Don't analyze, don't self-censor. Be completely honest with yourself. This list is just for you, so write down the words that most appeal to you, and don't concern yourself with what you think “should” be on the list. Don't worry about the order either – just try to get all the words that come to mind out of your head and onto the paper.

5. Widdle Down the List

Go through your list and rate the values based on the 1 to 10 system, 10 being the highest. This will determine the ones you feel the strongest about. Try to get the list down to five, but it's okay if you have more. There are no rules saying you can only have five values.

6. Prioritize

Prioritize your list in order from most important to least important. Mostly, your core values will compliment each other, but there may be times when they conflict. Just look at the conflicting values and determine which one is more important to you.


If you’re having trouble getting started, consult the list below to get some ideas. This list contains only a marginal amount of the hundreds of possible values out there. Good luck!


Accomplishment
Accountability
Accuracy
Adventure
Appreciation
Balance
Beauty
Calmness
Challenge
Change
Charity
Clarity
Cleanliness
Collaboration
Commitment
Communication
Community
Competence
Competition
Connection
Cooperation
Creativity
Decisiveness
Determination
Discipline
Discovery
Diversity
Dynamism
Efficiency
Enjoyment
Equality
Excellence
Fairness
Faith
Faithfulness
Family
Freedom
Friendship
Fun
Generosity
Gentleness
Goodwill
Goodness
Gratitude
Hard work
Happiness
Harmony
Health
Honor
Improvement
Independence
Individuality
Inner peace
Innovation
Integrity
Intelligence
Intensity
Justice
Kindness
Knowledge
Leadership
Love
Loyalty
Peacefulness
Privacy
Progress
Prosperity
Punctuality
Reliability
Resourcefulness
Respect for others
Responsibility
Safety
Security
Self-actualization
Self-reliance
Self-thinking
Sensitivity
Service
Simplicity

Skill
Solving Problems
Spirit
Spirituality
Stability
Status
Strength
Success

Teamwork
Tolerance
Tradition
Tranquility
Trust
Truth
Unity
Variety
Well-being
Wisdom

Life is a trip, let it in.


How to Set Powerfully Motivating and Life-Changing Goals


The importance of goal-setting as it pertains to personal growth must not be underestimated. It is quite possibly your most valuable tool in your quest for creating your ideal life. Goals not only spark the necessary motivation for change, they provide a positive vision for the future, giving you a sense of direction and purpose. The hitch is, proper goal-setting isn't necessarily something they taught in school. Most people haven't got the faintest clue on where to start, and therefore the goal-setting gets put off for another day, perhaps indefinitely.

So how does one set a powerfully motivating and life-changing goal?

Characteristics of Strong Goals:

  1. Focus-Driven
  2. Passion Evoking
  3. Relevant
  4. Measurable
  5. Attainable (Believable)

When setting a personal goal, it is important to make sure the goal is specific and has a clear focus. If your goal is to make more money, simply stating, “I want to make more money,” may not have quite as much effect as, “I want to increase my monthly income by $1,000.” Wording is key.

Your goal should be something that gets you excited when you think about it. You need to be on fire for what it is that you're wanting. If when you think about your goal, you start to feel down on yourself or you lack emotion for the goal, then it's time to go back to the drawing board and either rethink whether the goal is really in line with your higher purpose, or rewrite the goal to inspire more emotion within you.

The goal needs to be relevant to what you want to achieve as a part of your lifetime wants. If you don't know what your lifetime wants are – better get cracking. A good way to find out what your lifetime goals are is to figure out what your core values are. Your values are what drive you to do the things you do, and once you've got a list of your values, your lifetime goals will become clear.

A measurable goal is one that, when you achieve it, will be noticeable to you. A measurable goal for a person who makes only $8,000 a year might be to make $20,000 in a year. A measurable goal for a small business owner with only one shop might be to expand the business to another location, and so on and so forth. The important thing is that you set your goal to be at least slightly out of your comfort zone, so that you have this bright and shiny beacon to strive for.

Your goal should be attainable. That is to say, it should be believable and seem possible to you. If you're that person making $8,000 in a year, and you've set a goal to make $60,000 in a year, but feel doubtful or insecure about how achievable the goal is for you, then perhaps a smaller goal should be set to instill the confidence you need to get on track. It's all about getting the ball rolling. The initial friction is the most difficult to overcome.