Have you ever had a satori? [pronounced - suh-tawr-ee] The chances are you have and may not have been aware of it.

A satori is like an instant awakening, or a brief moment of enlightenment, where things become clear, or you have a deep realisation.

Anyone can have a satori at any time and on any given subject. There are a few ways you induce such events to perhaps give you that creative spark that you need in that moment.

Satori

– It can happen in any situation — whenever you fall in tune with the whole – Osho

You’ve seen it in the movies; when the hero is stuck in a rut and in a moment of relaxation, or releasing, the light bulb switches on and bam, they have their awakening.

If you’ve ever looked at them and thought, why can’t I have that? Well, the answer is simple, you can!

Most people associate the word ‘satori’ as something spiritual and only things that people who meditate can have; that’s rubbish!

Firstly, I believe anything can be spiritual to you. A business, a sport, whatever! We, as humans, should now be way beyond the paradigm of petty judgement.

The only 3 important things are:

1. Knowing how to have a satori.

2. Inducing it at will.

3. Acting on whatever realisations you have.

As I briefly mentioned earlier a satori is any kind of instant awakening. A split second of inspiration that could possibly turn you into the next Paulo Cohelo or lead to the next evolution of social networking beyond Twitter and Facebook.

However you choose to define it, most people don’t know how do induce these events deliberately. Often, they only happen accidentally when they’re taking a pee or doing the weekly shop. Sometimes there is no beating those natural instances; they happen at exactly the right moment for you.

But like anything else, the more you have, the law of averages states that sooner or later one of those is going to be a hit.

If you’re new to this concept just think back to any moment in your life where you’ve been inspired, you come up with a new business idea, you’ve invented something new, you’ve written a Pulitzer prize winning piece, you’ve thought of a new joke, you’ve experienced a moment of spiritual enlightenment. etc.

All of these moments could be classed as a satori and it’s your job in life to create as many of those moments as you can. Do the things that get you into a trance like state.

Here are some very simple ways you can do this.

1. The top tip today is read plenty of blogs like this or by other people. Very often, while perusing them, I have a satori. I’ve written a list at the bottom of this post which are my favourite blogs which induce a satori

2. Go to a place of elevation. Literally go walk up a hill and check out the scenery. Allow yourself to get lost in thought and in that meditative state allow satori to happen naturally.

3. Do something you wouldn’t normally do or don’t like. This is essential because when you do this you’ll be forced to see the world differently and this the fastest way to trigger a satori.

4. Stare out of a window and watch the world go by. I was literally doing that when I came up with the idea of writing that down! I’m fairly certain some of the best ideas in the world were conceived that way! If you were working in an office you’d probably get chastised for it but in reality is should be classed as creative time!

5. Fiddle with a pen or some other object. Keeping your body occupied this way takes away the attention of things going on with your body freeing up your mental capacity to go into ‘right brain’ mode.

I hope I’ve gone some way to helping reach a place you can have a satori at any time. If you do after reading this leave me a comment and let me know. Many of the people who comment here will also be able to give awesome guidance on such matters.

Blogs to read: Steven Aitchison; Arvind Devalia; Sandra Lee; Angela Artemis; Jonathan Wells; Rob White; Zeenat Syal; Robin Easton; Tess Marshall; Sybil; Preeti Bhatt; Copyblogger; Problogger; FamousBloggers;

Your life will be worth what you value yourself at.

I had my interview yesterday on the Inspire a nation radio show with Elliot Kay who himself is a fellow Radio Presenter and Life Coach. The hour went by so quickly and we unded up speaking so much he has invited me back again so that we can continue where I left off.

One of the project or goals that Elliot has set himself is to get 1,000,000 listeners to the show so if you haven’t already do check out his website and look him up on facebook too.

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I do this feature on my radio show called beditation which is kind of like a mock meditation for people that are still in bed! I do this just for fun and what we do is do it to focus all our vibez in one direction so whether that be to change the weather, for someone to get good grades in their exams, for good luck on a date or anything crazily of the like!

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How does that tie in? Well yesterday Elliot himself asked me and as did one of the listeners to the show what my goals are for the future and I was inspired by a new vision on Friday just as I happened to be driving along to play a game of badminton. One theme that is common among all the books I’ve by all the masters like Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra or John DeMartini is that they Meditate and then something occured to me.

I used to be a meditation teacher many years ago and only learned one type of meditation but I realised what I hugely powerful tool it can be. So the inspired vision that occured to me was very simple: I want meditation to be introduced in every school in the UK and possibly even the globe! I want meditation lessons to be as compulsory as learned to read or learn math.

Meditation is such an import skill to learn. Often the term ‘Meditation’ itself can been seen to have a religious attitude associated with it but let me make this clear that meditation is something everyone on the planet already does. They just do it in a very unfocussed way and so the challenge is bringing that skill to everyone so that they can make full use of it. Meditation is skill and tool to channel the mind. It’s a way of just for a few moments each day harnessing your internal creative engine and focussing it in a particular area. It’s easy to do and teach and all it needs is you…nothing more! You can use music as an aid but it isn’t necessary.

So there is a new inspired vision I have to bring a practical form of meditation into the education system to the point where it becomes a core part of the curriculam as learning to read and write.

Watch this space for more on this in the future!

On Monday I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing Deepak Chopra speak personally at a seminar in London.

For those who don’t know who Deepak Chopra is, he is a medical doctor by profession but over the years has fused eastern medicine with quantum physics and has developed his own philosophy on the mind-body-spirit connection. He has written over 50 books in which he very wonderfully and succinctly explains the connections in a way which even a child could understand.

His talk was lively, entertaining and very informative. He shared some very interesting facts about the make up of the human body and how within two years every atom in our body is completely replaced and so in essence; we are completely different. So what is it that retains the information that allows me to still know myself as Amit Sodha?

During the talk we had a brief 10 minute meditation in which all we did was repeat the words to ourselves in silence “I am”. So simple and yet it was so powerful. It also reminded me of a blog post in my ‘100 Days of Wisdom‘ series from day 2.

I was so engrossed in his discussion that I didn’t take many notes but he did share 15 thoughts at the end which I wanted to also share here too. I was scribbling as fast as I could and so I believe I captured all the messages correctly but if you think I missed something please do let me know.

1) There are hidden dimensions to our existence

Jesus – The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.

2) The world is in you

Jesus – Be the world and not of it.

3) There are 4 paths to unity

Jesus – For my yoke is easy and my burden is light

4) All fulfillment comes from within

Jesus – Ask and you will receive

5) Suffering is the result of not knowing the true reality

Jesus – Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

6) Freed comes from choiceless awareness

Be still and know that I am god

7) The world is a mirror of the self

Jesus – As you sow, so shall you reap

8 ) Evil is not our enemy , evil is the personal and collective shadow

Jesus – Resist not evil

9) You live in multi dimensions

Jesus – In my fathers house there are many mansions

10) Death makes life possible

Jesus – You must be born from above

11) The universe thinks through you

Jesus – You are the light of the world

12) The only time is now

Jesus – You are the light of the world

13) You are truly free when you are not a person; we all exist in consciousness

14) Consciousness conceives, governs, constructs and becomes reality through synchronicity, self interaction and karmic connections.

Jesus – For where there are two or three gathered in my name – I will be there

15) The goal of life is unity consciousness and transcending the limitations of space, time and causality.

Jesus – What does it profit a man to gain the world and to lose his soul.

If you didn’t get to see him this time join me in setting a very powerful intention for him to return in the very near future!

People are always searching about the truth and what is real, but is there such a thing?

Have you have recalled an event in your memory, a place you’ve visited, an object or anything of the like only to see it again, this time in person, and then realise that it wasn’t like you remembered at all? Or on the flip side, have you ever thought about how something was going to be only to reach there and then think “this isn’t how I imagined it was going to be at all”.

I remember trying a piece of food and thinking “eugh, that tastes horrible” only to try it again a few years later and then think “ahhh, actually, that doesn’t take too bad” and now I love it!

What this tells me is that no matter how I see things, even right now, I’m not actually seeing them as they are. I’m seeing them through a series of filters that I’ve built up over my life time. You’ve all seen mind magicians like Derren Brown do tricks like convince someone who’s seeing something that we think is red but after a bit ‘abacadabra’ suddenly the subject is now seeing the object as yellow.

This suggests that it’s all a matter of programming. No matter what I believe to be real it’s all just simple series of constructs and filters that I’ve built up over time and without being conscious I will skew those memories with my own opinions of how I wanted them or thought of them to be.

So is perception more real that what we perceive to be real? (Yes I like confusing my readers! )

Even science is now teaching us that what we see if not really what we’re seeing. I may look down and see my hand and just think I’m seeing four fingers, a thumb and my palm but what I’m really seeing is a sea of particles, sub atomic particles and all sorts of other wonderful things that are vibrating, dancing, popping in and out of existence, flying perpetually, etc the list just goes on!

Great…so how does that help me?

Think back and try and remember a time when you thought you observed something a particular way only to return to it and realise it’s completely different to how you remembered? So understand you’ve constructed and obscured that memory. What else have you obscured?

Now that you know that what is real is truly limited by your perceptual experience you can then choose to change alter your perception. Look at your life right now and ask is this real, or just my perception of it? If you’re perception has been skewed by your filters how can you alter your perception in order to alter your experience?

A very simple exercise you can do right now is think about something which you consider to be a problem for you right now. It can be anything at all you choose. Now you have this in your mind, change your perception of the problem; instead of calling it a problem call it a challenge! What can you learn from this challenge? How is this challenge going to benefit you, your experience of life and others? (Send your answers on a postcard to… )

So lets take this up a scale and think about global issues and what we see as issues that don’t just affect us but the globe as a whole. Think about the environment, recycling, world poverty and nations at war. If all you know about these issues is what you’ve seen on T.V. then your perception, or your definition of what you think is real about those events and circumstances, is filtered through another medium and then also filtered again once your brain has stored the information. So you’ve now got two layers of filtration.

Think again now for a second about what you think it real…

Your reality is really and truly your perception of it. Or is that just my perception of what the difference between reality and percption is? :-p

My reality is my perception of reality. There is no right or wrong with my perceptions, no absolute truth except my truth through my learnings and experiential filters.

Whatever task you’re engaged in right now…do it like there’s no tomorrow!

Remember this powerful thought and use it when you need it as it has got me through some challenging times of late.

Related Posts:
The True Value of Time
100 Days of Wisdom…Day 29

Enjoying the process

Now it may seem contrary to my previous article in the series from day 13 but there is also a strong reason to learn to enjoy the process. You can’t always be in this frame of mind though. It’s simply taking a few short moments to remember who you really are and what your existence is truly all about.

Having a strong focus on your desired result is awesome for long term achievement but very often what happens is people get to that point and then ask: “Is this all there is?” So what you must remember is that you won’t get satisfaction from the result. The satisfaction must come now through the process; in actual fact, the result is secondary. It’s fulfillment from the experience and the joy of doing now that will give you ultimate satisfaction. The result is the driving force to keep you going in the now. The fulfillment won’t come at the end though! That must also come now through an understanding that the process is very special time for you.

It’s a time for you to appreciate and acknowledge this wonderful gift that you have. It’s a time for you to understand that you truly have an amazing gift to be here, in the now, in this particular situation and are able to plough your energy into the things that you love doing the most. After doing this you will find that you energy levels will rise and surge. Now doubt you’ve experienced times of lethargy and low emotions? Well this is the way to increase your energy and lift your emotions. It’s a way of stilling the mind for just a few brief moments and just enough for you to feel recharged.

Related Posts: Minute Meditations Part 2

I love meditating, in some ways I exploit it to my advantage because I know that it carries with it some amazing power! (I’ve made it sound evil, but truly it’s not! )

Here are some of the perks of meditation that I’ve found over the 15 years I’ve been a practitioner.

1. Traffic jams and queues appear to move much much quicker!

This is so true and anyone who does this will know exactly what I’m talking about! When I’ve been caught in a major traffic jam or a long queue I, more often then not, meditate! It is the perfect time, because, lets face it, what else can I do? But if I get sucked into the emotions of stress and frustration I always feel like the queue or traffic jam takes 10 times longer and I get tired, I start to yawn, I slouch in my chair, I get back ache etc! However if I take control of my state, do some relaxing meditation, I find that the queue or jam almost vanishes in no time at all!

The type of meditation doesn’t matter. I vary it according to what I feel like doing. Sometimes I just focus on my breathing make sure I’m fully oxygenating my body. Obviously though, I would not do this method if it was a hot day stuck in a traffic jam as all I would be doing is breathing in harmful toxic emissions. If that were the case I would do some commentary style self talk internally and just do some visualising or just uplifting self talk. It truly doesn’t matter what type you do, but that focus will take your mind away from the situation and hand and your perception of time will change.

I also suggest that if you’re driving that you don’t close your eyes. You can meditate just as effectively with your eyes open just as well as when your eyes are closed. In fact, open eye meditation will improve your ability to focus in the long run and will give you the power to meditate any time, anywhere!

2. People will be much more naturally attracted to you!

Scientific studies have shown that meditation not only has beneficial positive effects on the body but on the mind too. When I’ve had powerful meditation, or even if I’m still in a meditative state while walking or carrying on with my day to day tasks, I find that people naturally get attracted to me and want to talk to me. Not only that but I find I get twice as many smiles and people are just much more responsive and friendly! Who knows what the true reasons for this are but all I know is because people are so much more responsive to me, it allows me to then share valuable information with people, such as the work I do or even tell them about meditation. Sometimes it even just ends up being a brief encounter with us both walking away with a smile!

I suggest you try this for yourself, do some meditation every morning first thing when you wake up, any type you wish; commentary, chanting, breathing, or visualising. Watch the wonderful amazing effects unfold! You will find people smiling at you and greeting you even if they don’t know you! You will find that you have more of a reason to smile and that in turn will make more people smile at you and in turn your day will go much more smoothly!

3. It takes away the awkwardness of being alone!

I personally love alone time, but I know not everyone does. Lets say you’re in a restaurant with a friend or you partner and they have to visit the bathroom or they get called away by an important phone call. Now you can choose to pass away that time feeling uncomfortable alone or you can choose to be constructive with that time to yourself. If you choose the latter and yes, you’ve guessed, I’m gonna suggest meditation! In this particular scenario, I would suggest some creative visualisation or deep breathing, however, go for chanting if you have the confidence!

Just like point 1, the time will fly by much quicker but you can be proud of yourself that you’ve done something very constructive with that time!

4. You will deal with the curve balls much more efficiently!

Meditation has the added side effect of giving you much more “inner strength.” You will find that generally you will be much more well equipped to deal with the unexpected curves in the road of life. You may be dumped by your partner, you may be given the sack at work, you may be diagnosed with a terminal illness. Somehow, because you have now made meditation a part of your life, these calamities will not seem as big as they once did. You will be emotionally more stable and generally find that you feel more happy for no reason! You will look these events square in the eye and say….”thank you” because you know that these events have come to you to make you grow. You will then be in a position to help others and share the wonder of meditation with those that need it the most!

It’s not often I go over and peruse the news articles on the BBC website but I happend to go over today and found an article up regarding meditation written by my old meditation buddy Trushar Barot. We used to attend the same meditation school together some years ago and it was just by bizarre coincidence (although coincidence is just a word, we all know better than that) that I saw a link at the bottom of one of the news articles which said “ticket to nirvana” so I decided to click and found his great article. Have a read if you get the chance!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6639857.stm

…what is it that is thinking these thoughts?

Minute meditations are a method through which you can empower yourself in many different way throughout the day. No matter how busy you are, no matter how much you have on your plate, you can always spare yourself a minute or two, 3 or 4 times a day to recharge your spirit. Remember, this is for your well being and so you will give as time and commitment to this in proportion to how important you feel your well being is to you. This is your life and your time, make it important to feel refreshed and to find time for yourself because before you know it, this thing called life, will seem way way distant in the rear view mirror.

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For much of my day I sit at an office desk in front of a computer. Working in I.T. there isn’t anywhere else I have to be unless I have to fix some hardware or attend meetings. What I find is that after even just an hour or two of sitting in the same position, when it comes to getting up and moving around, I feel very stiff and brittle throughout my whole body. It takes me at least a few minutes to regain my full flexibility.

For reasons of health and safety, our HR department recommends that we have a change of activity every 30 – 45 minutes to make sure we are getting plenty of movement and not doing to much damage to the body through sitting still for so long. In front of a computer, you eyes can strain, you can get headaches, your joints can get stiff, you can get dehydrated but most importantly you can become very dull from the lack of movement.

So what can you do during those few minutes free? Well for me, during those times where I change my activity, I have a number of minute meditations that I use to take my focus away from work for just a moment, and move it towards the bigger picture of human existence, as a whole, and the purpose of being. I try not to challenge myself with questions or bog myself down with proving what I feel to be true, I just allow myself to sink into the experience of being and enjoy the feelings of relaxed awareness and blissful communion with my innermost core.

I offer to you some suggestions and some of the momentary thoughts I use to regain alignment and enhance congruency with my being.

Thought 1 – As I sit here, I am aware that within this universe I am interconnected with every atom. I am a vibrational being and every atom of this body vibrates at a unique frequency just like each and every cell phone has a unique frequency. I know that my state of being will attract vibrational matches and so I, being the powerful creator that I am with unlimited choices, offer vibrations of love, happiness, peace, joy, caring, compassion to everything around me so that others around me feel the vibrations emanating from me. This in turn assists them in attracting vibrational matches.

Thought 2 – I am a 3 part being, a mind, a body and spirit. The body and mind are my tools for experiencing in this realm of the physical. I, the spirit, originated from a non physical plain and chose to inherit a body to come and experience the beauty of contrast within the physical dimension. This universe of relativity exists so that I experientially partake in that which I know of but have little experience in. I cannot know darkness without light; I cannot know happiness without sorrow. So I am grateful at all times to know the purpose of this physical see-saw.

Thought 3 – Every human spirit I encounter is a reflection of me just as I am a reflection of them. As I see each soul, I remember that we are ultimately one universal family. Skin colour, religion, nationality, languages, are all constructs of this social society but it is not the baseline of existence. These are just frames of reference and identity but ultimately we all originated with one purpose, with one desire, that is; to know ourselves through physical experience.

Thought 4 – At every single step I have a choice. I choose what to feel from one moment to the next. I choose how to perceive the world. Nothing shapes my perceptions other that those things that I have chosen to believe. I choose how I react to people, events and circumstances. No one is responsible for the way I feel except me. I have the power of choice. It is my greatest gift and is the most powerful force in the universe. No matter the outcome of my choices, I will remain empowered to know that I can choose something different the next time according to the purpose I’ve chosen for myself.

Thought 5 – I am extremely grateful to be here today. I am grateful for the joy of this experience. I am grateful for all the wonderful things in my life which I get to be a part of everyday. I take nothing for granted and appreciate everything. I am thankful that I chose this particular journey. I thank my creator and maker for offering me the freedom of choice whether to be here or not and I’m glad I made the decision that I did.

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These are just a few of the ones that I use on a regular basis and I encourage you to make up your own as you see fit. Make them light but something that has a profound impact on you. Think of new ones on a regular basis or just make them up as you go along. There are no hard and fast rules about how you can do this. Just a minute or two a couple of times a day to go deeper within yourself and you will feel more powerful that you have ever felt before and you will find yourself naturally more grateful for all your experiences. Have fun and make it a habit.

One of My regular readers Schumi sent me this lovely quote, we’re not sure of it’s origins but it was so eloquent I just had to post it up.

“Love is the most important ingredient of success. Without it, your life echoes emptiness. With it, your life vibrates warmth and meaning. Even in hardship, love shines through. Therefore, search for love — because if you don’t have it, your not really living — only breathing.”

Even though it’s said over and over again, it can never be said enough, without love there is no purpose to life. Love is more important that breathing. Love is.

As much as I love having pictures and observing the great pieces of art around the world, I remembered today to observe the artwork of life. I remembered that the human body is unsurpassed in both it’s mechanical workings and it’s beauty.

Just this evening, I gazed up, and the stars were out. I could see my favourite constellation; Orion. It still truly blows my mind how these giant balls of gas appear to us as tiny specks of beautiful light, scattered across the canvas of the sky.

This morning I was out walking, it was calm and clear, hardly any cars around, I didn’t need my iPod with me as the birds were providing music to lift and inspire me.

The picture you see at the top of this blog is one I took on my birthday last year. It was one of the most serene sunsets I have ever seen. the light scattering of clouds added colour, depth and and made it one of the most awesome sights to see.

Yesterday I was in Hampstead Heath. A glorious park situated in North London, it has to be one of the pleasant places to be on a Sunday afternoon. There is one point in the park which is quite high up on a hill, and from that point you can see all of London in all it’s glory. The skyline with all the wondrous man made creations made it truly a site to see. I could only stand in awe!

On a day to day basis, look at all the spectacular pieces out there, take a moment, absorb the truly magnificent creations and take snapshots of those priceless works of art!

…is to be grateful, especially, at your times of your greatest joy and enthusiasm.

Here are 5 powerful questions to wake up to, to shift your focus onto those things that make you feel more empowered and energised for the rest of the day.

1) What newness can I create within my day today? – Having some sort of newness and variety in your day is crucial for your happiness levels. The more new you do, try, experiment with, strangers you say hello to, etc etc, the more you feel re-vitalised. If you don’t have some form of newness in your day then you will find what will happen is that many of your days will feel the same. You will find yourself asking people what day it is because all your days are just a countdown to your death. You always naturally remember days that have variety and it is within that process of remembering that your body will release those chemicals which give you that good feeling all over. Not only is that great for your soul but it is fantastic for your physical well being too.

2) How can I make today better than yesterday? – Whether yesterday was a good day or a bad day, this question presupposes that today will be better. Naturally that assumption will be good for you on an unconscious level. You could even re-phrase this one to something like: “How can I improve on yesterday?” The end result with be the same. Truly think about this one and explore the numerous ways that you could better your daily experience, each day. If you exchanged some not so nice words between a friend or colleague perhaps, how can you remedy the relationship and make sure that that is the direction that it goes in from now on? Whatever score you gave yesterday, make it a higher one today. If you reach the peak of your scale upon which you measure your day…increase the scale.

3) What new perceptions of the world can I see today? – It was Proust that said: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new places, but having new eyes”. If you can change the way you look at things, then you have the key for creating your life exactly as you choose it to be. The quality of your life will be based on the quality of your perceptual experiences. If you see all things as bad, then that will be the quality of your experience. If you see the wonder and challenge within all things then that will be the quality of your experience. Ultimately, if you can see new places and have new eyes…you’re onto a real winner!

4) What must I achieve by the end of the day? – Have a simple goal for each day. These will be highly dependent on what you do or what you aspire to be but if you can create a simple goal for yourself each day, and achieve it, you will be creating habitual success for your life. Sure, there will be times when you won’t achieve your goals but having a small manageable one each day will give you the achievers and “go getters” mind set. If you’re in the process of writing a book, set yourself a target of how much you would like to get done. If you’re planning to go to the gym, in the morning decide what distance you will achieve when you go. Make it a record distance for you. If you have a backlog of work decide up front how much of that backlog you will clear with no exception. If you want a habit, this is a good one to have!

5) What can I do for others today? – This one almost goes without saying. Every time you assist someone you are creating a ripple that bounces back to you to participate in your success. Even though you may be experiencing some hardship, even though you may be having a bad day, the quickest way to surpass your challenges is by assisting others. That doesn’t mean to say you should negate your challenges and hope they go away. No, by giving to others you are giving yourself power. That power can then be used in any way you wish and will especially come in handy when it comes to solving your life enigmas. The more you help others, without expecting anything in return, it will come back to you in ways you will probably never be able to fathom. How can you get out of the “expectation” mindset? Quite simply, as soon as you’ve assisted someone, move straight onto the next person you can assist. When you participate in their success, the Universe will participate in yours.

And there we have it; the 5 morning questions to have each day to shift your focus into the direction of constructive creation.