KnowledgeReform.com » Spiritual Motivation

Jiddu Krishnamurti Points the Way Toward Wisdom

Jason Cooper — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:27:29 +0000

In the following two videos, Jiddu Krishnamurti advises us to illuminate the way, for ourselves, to freedom, peace, and spiritual enlightenment.

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Develop a Boxer’s Heart Towards Overcoming Adversity

Jason Cooper — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:06:48 +0000

You maybe asking, what has boxing got to do with self improvement, wisdom and overcoming adversity? Well, assuming the guise of a boxer in life brings with it many virtues that any would be philosopher will be proud of.

Who wouldn’t envy a person who has in their possession; courage, determination, and strength of will? These form the beneficial qualities of a champion pugilist, and are what is needed to stand up against the many difficulties we face daily in our lives.

Difficulties in life can happen to all of us at the best of times due to unforeseeable circumstances and through our own ignorance. Many of these difficulties can be endured or even avoided if we had the heart and foresight to deal with them.

We can learn many a wise lesson from boxing, and can apply both the wisdom of mental focus and a warrior’s spirit to our own lives. So let us develop a boxer’s heart to withstand the devastating blows of life towards coping with whatever fate chooses to use to dent our unbeaten records.

Thank the heavens for the fighting spirit that can be inspired from movies,

“Never stop fighting till the fight is done!”

~ Elliot Ness from the movie ‘Untouchables’

A true champion is one who, despite being knocked out in defeat, gloriously and bravely comes back stronger to take on his former conqueror. We must have the heart and willpower of a champion to erode fear and to dull the pain so that we can face any difficulty that stands in our way with equanimity.

Although we can initially be defeated by adversity, the most important thing is how we react to it, and must find the determination to come back from any devastating loss,

“He that fights and runs away, may live to fight another day.”

I’ll leave the final inspirational words to none other than movie Heavyweight Champion of the World, Rocky Balboa,

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!”

~ Rocky Balboa

Follow these wise steps towards dealing with adversity:

Always prepare yourself mentally (be philosophical) for the worse before it actually happens – it will soften the blow. Life is unpredictable and you must understand that both good and bad can happen.
Most difficulties are caused by our own ignorance or impulses. Develop your mental focus (consciousness and reason) so that you can make the right decisions and to choose as simple a path as possible when negotiating life, which will avoid much difficulty later
If an unforeseen disaster should happen, develop your strength in heart (spiritual motivation) by accepting the situation immediately. One thing you must remember is that you are still alive and have the opportunity to overcome the present situation towards making a brighter future

You can be a World Champion in your life – and don’t you forget it!

Stop Procrastinating Now! Invoke Action to Make a Creative Life

Jason Cooper — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:58:39 +0000

It is natural to be lazy – something that most of us can attest to. Once we are set free from the womb we immediately wish to submerge ourselves in sleep.

Upon reaching adulthood we long to be totally at leisure, as it brings with it pleasure, because we are completely free from responsibility. This freedom relieves stress and brings us back to our childhood of joyful play.

If we could choose, we would bite off the hand of procrastination whenever we get the chance because we seem to think that being lazy at the best of times brings with it impunity.

Not to say that being lazy is an evil, but we must keep careful watch. Careful because we must continually remind ourselves that life is short and that we’ll only be punishing ourselves if we allow our lives to slip from our grasp when we had the chance to live it to the full. Believe me, you’ll have plenty of time to sleep once you’re six feet deep.

Why not instead leave an indelible mark on your allotted time here, before your candle gets blown out by the wind of death. A sobering thought indeed, with the Grim Reaper slicing the following words into my consciousness with his resounding scythe: “Show urgency, man!”, “You have no time to waste!” and “Do something worthy while you still can!” I guess one day we all must pay heed to these promptings.

Life should mean action, and action should be a springboard for you to do something creative and beneficial for yourself and the next generation. Do not let your mind and spirit decay like our poor helpless flesh when the organism dies.

Become immortal by using your mind for practical wisdom and your spirit for advancing your passions, which may eventually touch others, and then can be passed like a baton onto the many generations to come, as they are helped across the finish line of creative action.

This action, if you so wish to entertain, will serve three purposes: firstly, it will give you a sense of achievement; secondly, it will help to give your life some meaning; lastly and more importantly, it may help you to learn something about yourself.

Don’t get me wrong, it will take great motivation and application to shake off the shackles of what comes natural to us, because it’s easy to learn wisdom towards action, but it’s another matter applying it to our own life, especially when laziness rears its ugly head.

Nothing is impossible in life, man! If you shake hard enough, procrastination will eventually fall loose. Just don’t stop shaking!

If you can live up to your full potential in regards creative activity, then you would have been truly successful, because a life not lived, is a life not worth living.

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Follow these wise steps towards ending procrastination:

Being apathetic can lead to procrastination. Avoid apathy by opening your mind to many different interests to keep you busy
Find a particular interest that you are good at, love doing and have motivation for
Be limitless in your knowledge of the activity you choose to do. It is much easier learning about something we enjoy doing
Apply it to your life through practical and creative means
Share it with others by either teaching or leading by example

The Truth is the Power of God is in you!

Jason Cooper — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:26:02 +0000

The Eye of God

No, I haven’t all of a sudden become a religious fanatic overnight, and begun preaching the lord’s words to his wayward followers. In fact, I do not belong to any organised religion or follow any particular faith at all, but I do believe one can live religiously and can empower oneself to believe that they are God themselves so to achieve things in life that they could not have done otherwise.

According to the iconoclastic German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, “God is Dead”, which was meant to signify an end to a belief in a false god created by man himself. Before you religious people out there start wagging the finger, I’m not here to argue the merits/demerits of your faith or to debate if a god actually exists. I’m only here to express my opinion on what “God” psychologically can do towards motivating people to find their true purpose and to becoming autonomous productive beings. In other words, if one can say “I am God” spiritually, something which connects all of us into one consciousness, then this can provide a positive outlook in regard having the power to create a life worth living.

So here’s where the following question comes to the fore: What is “Truth”? In my mind, “Truth” and “God” are synonymous with one another, and as such cannot be separated when mentioned in the same sentence. So therefore, “I am Truth”, this omnipotent thing that rules our lives behind a veil of vagueness very much like “God”.

The next obvious question that has to be then asked is, does “Truth” or “God” exist? I do not know. Although, if I did think they existed how would I recognise both “Truth” and “God” without ever encountering them before. Which is why I feel “Truth” is relative, something which cannot be contained and does not stagnate – it is forever moving.

Now, how can all what I have said beforehand relate to my life? Well, if you can look at it simply and not like the many thinkers who philosophised, debated and argued (something which Man has been doing for over 2000 years without finding any decent answers to help us) about what “Truth” or “God” is, you may be able to find a practical and logical use for the so called big questions in life.

There have been times in my life where I had no direction, and kept trying to find answers to all the questions on “Truth” or “God”, which have only served to debilitate my progress on something that we as human beings may never be able to answer. I also suffered frustration and despair whenever I observed the world’s problems with its materialism, greed, injustice and endless wars. It took me a good few years to realise that there was no point in carrying the world’s problems on my shoulders and trying to find a solution to the apparent flaws of human nature. Anyway, I had problems and pressures of my own that needed to be dealt with, so I started concentrating on myself from then on. First steps towards facing life’s problems with equanimity are:

To take every day as and when it comes instead of looking too far into the future. It’s far easier dealing with life on a daily basis rather than projecting future anxieties to the present, which cannot be dealt with in reality because they don’t actually exist
Not to attempt to solve any major issues I might have impulsively, which can make the problem worse
Try to keep the emotions in check and use the voice of reason. So before deciding what to do I will take the time to think about the situation or even share it with somebody who may offer good advice
Not to complicate my life with things I have no effect on, but to live simply (intelligently) and to maintain a clear perspective in my life
To be content with what I presently have in my life and not to strive for anything that is not a necessity

This regime has helped me immensely and I have continued to learn and to deal with anything that may arise inwardly and outwardly. The goal for me is not to be rich or famous but to attain total peace of mind, something that is absolutely priceless in regard wanting a good quality of life.

Each and every day is a challenge but most of all the biggest challenge in your life will always be you. This should give you a reason for trying to find any semblance of truth within yourselves. Yes, books and talks from so called gurus, philosophers and psychologist may claim they can help you in your life, but there comes a time when you must put down the book and find out how to live for yourself.

However, I’m not going stand here and contradict the purpose of this blog by saying that you cannot learn anything from somebody else – of course you can. But I do continue to stress that whatever life changing advice you wish to take from another source (including this site) to guide your life with, please use it only as a pointer for you to find your own independent truths. Just to remind you, that the point of this particular site is for you to learn to think for yourself (something we are not encouraged to do throughout our educational life) and not to be a slave to somebody else’s thoughts.

So you are God because:

You do not need to depend on another for happiness and to find your true purpose in life
You have the power to pursue right ‘actions’ and for you to avoid any false ones
You should have no fear of living itself and from anything outside of your godly kingdom (mind and spirit)
You have the power to take the necessary steps to improve yourself mentally, spiritually and physically
You have the power to liberate yourselves from all man-made superficialities and conditioning which can only restrict your personal growth and development
You have the power to overcome any adversity whilst facing it with equanimity
You have the power to create and produce something worthwhile that can go on to benefit others

So don’t waste your life and time wondering about the objective questions of life, something that may never be answered in your lifetime. It’s now time to instigate “Action” and be more practical towards the purpose you have set for yourself.

All you need do is to realise your godly powers which will hopefully bring you ever more closely towards the mysterious thing called “Truth”.