excerpt from 'Do You' by Russell Simmons
It seems that whenever we turn on the TV, listen to the radio, or pick up a magazine, we're bombarded with the message that our life will improve once we get our body in shape. And while it's fine to get your body in shape, I would suggest it's more helpful to get your mind toned first. A six-pack on your stomach won't really make you happy unless you're also keeping your mind in shape through prayer, reflection and self study. How you look on the outside doesn't really matter if you don't have your spiritual self in shape first.
One of the best ways to get your mind in shape is through the practice of meditation. While physical exercise makes you stronger by building things up like muscle or stamina, the mental workout you get through meditation makes you stronger by clearing things away. It clears away the distractions of the world and gives you the clarity to see and the focus to pursue the God-given visions that will be the foundation to your success. No matter how many weights you lift, eventually your body will sag. No matter how much money you make, eventually it will lose its value and appeal. But a clear and focused mind will last a lifetime.
Even though we are born with a pureness inside of us, we also have to struggle with the world outside of us. And in that struggle, our pureness gets dirty pretty quickly. The first way is through physical impurities, as the world teaches our body to accept things that aren't actually good for it. Everywhere you look you see little kids, toddlers even, drinking cow's milk (which is bad for them, no matter what any doctor tells you), eating French Fries, and gulping down sodas filled with sugar and high fructose corn syrup. That's not what our bodies really want, in fact, most children spit out cow's milk the first time they taste it! Kids are supposed to eat fruits and vegetables and natural juices. Nevertheless, they eventually learn to accept what they instinctively rejected as harmful. They start drinking the milk, eating the French fries and chugging sodas, not because it's what they want, but because it's what society tells them is desirable. And it keeps happening over the course of our lives.
When we are teenagers, we take a puff of a cigarette and cough. But instead of acknowledging that smoke doesn't belong in our lungs, we keep smoking, because that's what the world says is cool. Just like when we drink too much alcohol and get sick, we get up the next day and do it all over again. Not because it's good for us, but because it's what we see the world is doing around us.
Just like we pollute our bodies, similarly, we pollute the purity of our minds. Emotionally, we are taught to act in ways that are harmful to ourselves. We're taught to have egos, to be envious, to be selfish, to be insecure. Soon, that beautiful blank sheet we're born with is filled up with the physical and emotional vices that the world pushes on us. It's an inevitable part of our being. And the end result is usually an adult who's totally lost touch with his inner self, who feels lost in the world and keeps making the wrong choices. We're born and then we are seperated from God. The beauty of meditation is that it brings us back.
Greetings Chicas/Chicos..Whew..I thought this was an amazing piece and I wanted to share that with you. I find it absolutely amazing how the world has so many convinced that natural world is a fad, is trendy, is 'un-natural'. The enemy has many so convinced that the chemical based pharmeceuticals that man makes (mainly for profit) is better than what God has put on this earth to heal us, cleanse us, feed us, naturally. in a world that has been so corrupted by so many things that are negative, even to the degree of deeming them 'normal' or 'acceptable' it's a great tool that HE has given us in the gift of meditation. Like the book of Phillipians says in chapter 4, verse 8..'Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.'
Remove the distractions of the world, the TV, the radio, the internet, your book, etc and take you a few clicks to be still, be silent and exercise your spiritual mind in a quiet place..It may be easier to understand your vision and your purpose if you sit back, be silent and listen.
Psalm 119:97-99 'Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.'
Happy Spiritual Health
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