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Looking for light is vital for our future

July 15, 2020 by Andrew Marshall Leave a Comment

looking for lightIs there light in a cup of tea, a blade of grass or a butterfly? There is, of course, and it is in everything if we choose to look, even in what we regard as unpleasant. Looking for light, particularly when it seems to be absent, can be very therapeutic. Nature tends to draw us out of darkness. Evolution is concerned with just that – the process of enlightenment.

Everything vibrates, and what we describe as light simply has a faster rate of vibration than darkness. Someone once said that all on our planet, and indeed the planet itself, is solidified sunlight. Between light and dark is where we may think we find ourselves now, in innumerable shades of grey – but, if we look, there is also an incredible spectrum of colour.

Recognising light

Looking for light has to do with recognition. In the human being, light is akin to our higher nature – our better, finer qualities. How we perceive the world around us, from our immediate environment to all that we see or hear, depends on our inner state. If our heart is heavy, everything we see or hear seems miserable, but if we see the good in the world and in other people, a magical change occurs.

Our world may seem to have been turned upside down but there appears to be a shift in the way many people are starting to think. Instead of a desire simply to return to life as it was, there is evidence of a growing desire for change, for goodness to emerge.

Increasing our inner light

Our own inner light, which has its source in our spirit or soul, is always ready to grow. We just need to give it some encouragement. When the world seems a little dark, which it can at times, recognising the inherent goodness in people and in things is vital for our emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. As we all contribute to the collective consciousness of humanity, that’s good not just for us but for the whole planet.


Awakening Heart – The Blissful Path to Self Realisation

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Filed Under: Awakening Heart Tagged With: awakening heart, blame, bliss, body, cause and effect, change, choice, collective consciousness, compassion, earth, environment, healing, humanity, loving kindness, mind, mindfulness, positive thought, self-liberation, self-realisation, spirituality, thinking, transformation, vitality, zen

Taste with your ears? It makes sense

May 18, 2019 by Andrew Marshall 2 Comments

Taste an apple, a strawberry or a piece of Wensleydale cheese – or indeed anything you fancy – and a magical process is set in motion. Our whole being engages in the initial assessment, quickly transforming it into appreciation or otherwise. The array of flavours can trigger all manner of reactions in the brain. Taste consciousness absorbs us in the food, and it in us. For a few glorious moments, taster and tasted become one. Unity through food – wonderful!

Taste asparagusMore than a matter of taste

The all-too-brief asparagus season is upon us in the UK. Ah, the noble green spears! Smooth and strong, yet delicate. Mysteriously, not everyone likes it but for those who do, there is nothing quite like fresh, locally grown asparagus. The health values of this culinary vegetable are renowned. According to Ayurveda, asparagus balances all three doshas. What does it taste like? No-one can really tell you – just try describing the taste of a strawberry – but there is more to this than flavour. Sight, smell and touch play their full part in the appreciation of food, too. Even hearing sometimes joins in – the crunch of an apple, the sizzling of food cooked at the table, for instance.

One taste or one sense?

Scientists have recently discovered that the tongue can detect odours. Have you have ever accidentally opened your mouth in the vicinity of slurry-spreading on farmland? Or fetid toilets or garbage? If so, you will already have known this for yourself. More enlightening research will no doubt come. Tasting with the ears may well be possible. Perhaps it will help us to reach a new conclusion – that there are not five senses but one. After all, are the senses not just the pathways of information that, with our mind, give us our picture of the world? There is a perspective in Tibetan Buddhism that invites us, in the quest for unity, to perceive everything in the universe “with one taste”. It frees the mind. That sounds good to me.


Improving our energy and balancing it with the environment is the subject of our next workshop Managing Life on 10th June 2019. A few spaces are still available. More information

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Filed Under: The Art of Not Doing Tagged With: bliss, cause and effect, consciousness, desire, diet, emptiness, energy, happiness, health, mindfulness, ojas, vitality, wellbeing, zen

Energy circulation: why it is better for health than jogging

October 27, 2018 by Andrew Marshall Leave a Comment

Colourful energy circulation Energy circulation in the body is probably the most important factor in maintaining good health. When illness strikes, it is usually the result of an imbalance in the body that has been going on for some time. Inflammation and congestion are known causes of many modern ailments and are the result of poor energy circulation. Cardiovascular health is a top priority in fitness regimens, as is body mass index, but the slimmest, fittest person I know was recently found dead in a ditch, following a massive coronary attack whilst on a bicycle ride. Intense aerobic exercise is not always the best option and often ignores body types and constitutions. Energy circulation acknowledges the importance of overall health and fitness but approaches it with a different emphasis – nurturing the body rather than seeing it as a challenge to be overcome.

How can I use energy circulation?

There are many techniques and practices that help to circulate energy through the body. Most involve physical movement of some kind and, essentially, all employ the mind. There is a very close correlation between mind and energy. Borrowing from Taoist thought, yi (mind) leads the qi (energy). If the mind is tense, so too is the body. The natural state of the mind is openness but past conditioning and innumerable emotions create tension in most of us. Letting go of these is a gradual process and is a key component in allowing qi to flow through us, so promoting health and vitality. Meditation is one very useful practice; qigong is another. Tai chi (taiji) can be thought of as combining the two in a system of slow martial arts moves.

Energy circulation focus

A simple qigong exercise

  • Stand with the feet apart and back straight. (Alternatively, sit upright.) Lift the head slightly, as though you are lengthening the neck. Place the tip of the tongue lightly on the hard palate, just behind the teeth. Breathe slowly.
  • Bring the hands to a few inches in front of the chest, as though holding an orb of light, with the fingers pointing upwards.
  • Breathe in and imagine the orb expanding, pushing the hands apart a little. As you exhale, close the hands, shrinking the orb to its original size.
  • Continue doing this for at least a couple of minutes and then lower the hands and rest them on the lower abdomen, just below the navel, for about half a minute.

This is a wonderful start to the practice of energy circulation.

For a free guided meditation on circulating energy, go here.

Other free meditations.

More information on health and energy in my book on happiness.

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Filed Under: Happiness, Health Tagged With: ageing, body, breath, chi, chi kung, emotions, emptiness, happiness, health, letting go, meditation, qi, qigong, tai chi, vitality, wellbeing, zen

Passion is life: why we are dead if we don’t have it

March 26, 2017 by Andrew Marshall 2 Comments

Passion is not something we get very excited about very often. Let me re-phrase that. Passion is something we don’t get excited about often enough. Why? Because without passion there is no heat, no fire and no life. A person who chooses not to be passionate about life is like smouldering coal or damp firewood. The energy is there, inside – but produces little warmth. When we are like that, we are half-asleep. Something in us is slumbering and needs waking up.

Passion is light, life and fire

When we are enthusiastic about something, it is as if we have thrown a switch. The lights come on, our eyes sparkle and our skin seems to glow. We feel good, don’t we? When we feel passionate, it is as though we have become more alive. Our speech is more animated and we have the power to motivate. Passion is good! Or is it? Is it just trouble ahead?

passion fire

Emotions are not bad

I have met many people over the years who want to become “more spiritual”. In their quest, they have come across teachings that describe emotions as being problematical. So following that logic, they decide that they need to train themselves into overcoming them. Or avoiding them. They aim to become the colourless sap of the tree instead of being the glorious effulgence of the tree itself. The error there is that if we do that, instead of allowing consciousness to flow, we tend to block it. In blocking the flow of consciousness, we also obstruct the natural flow of energy in and around us.

Love life and all is good

To have passion for life is not to let the emotions run riot. Rather, it is about letting our natural inner light do its job of illuminating what we do. And all we have to do is be interested and love. We don’t need to make a drama out of mindfulness or turn it into a tough discipline. Just loving what we do, being genuinely interested in others and our world will naturally generate mindfulness. Let the awareness expand and fill the senses. Be natural, be life, be alive. It’s so much better than being dead.

This theme will be explored further in our evening workshop Mind – The Way to Bliss on Monday 3rd April 2017. More information.

Read more on passion in life in the book Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self-Realisation

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Filed Under: Awakening Heart Tagged With: attachment, bliss, body, consciousness, desire, emotions, fulfilment, heart, joy, love, mindfulness, passion, self-discovery, spirituality, vitality

Qi: the elixir of youth?

August 19, 2016 by Andrew Marshall Leave a Comment

There have always been tales and legends of an elixir that brings everlasting youthfulness. These are matched by qi rejuvenation chistories of the fruitless attempts to find it. Even today, consumers spend vast sums on countless products in the hope that using them will make them as fresh and young as a new daisy in the morning dew. But daisies, you may have noticed, don’t stay fresh and young for very long. Perhaps some creams and serums do give a temporary lift of some sort or the other. Or maybe it is just seductive marketing.

Rather than searching for the latest exotic substances to eat or drink or rub in our skin, maybe we already have what we need: qi (chi). This is our natural energy and it is influenced hugely by the mind.

Qi is strengthened or weakened by our thoughts

How the mind affects the body and our sense of well-being is quite extraordinary. A mind that is aggressive, for example, will cause the body to wear out more quickly than one that is calm. If we are in a negative state – worrying or fearful perhaps – notice how our sense of well-being takes a nosedive. Our thoughts have a very definite affect on the body’s responses.

The mind and its reactions to everyday life are the cause of most of our troubles. However they play out, stress and tension arise in the mind. Like a spiral, negative thinking always produces more negative thoughts. So any product we buy off the shelf is unlikely to provide the cure. If we want to improve our sense of wellbeing, we must look after the mind.

Is qi the elixir?

When our qi is strong and balanced, we have vitality. But what can we make of tales of an elixir? If the mind is the cause of producing many of the body’s ageing compounds, it must also be capable of maintaining, or at least prolonging, a more youthful state.

The Chinese regard qi, the vital energy of the body, as an elixir. They talk of a centre in the abdomen just below the navel, the lower dan tian, as being the ocean of elixir. Qi can build up very strongly in the dan tian. There are hundreds if not thousands of specific exercises (qigong, sometimes written chi kung) that can help to increase qi. This energy can then flow through the body and the internal organs, revitalising them.

Apart from the physical movements and breathing, the mind is also very important in this process. An exercise carried out with full awareness can increase the flow of qi enormously. The same exercise done inattentively or carelessly will have far less of an effect.

Rejuvenation: being younger for longer

People with strong, well-balanced qi tend to maintain strength, vitality and mobility for much longer than those whose qi is poor. Mind, body and breath can together build up our energy and improve the quality of life. This increase of energy and quality of life is sometimes attributed to a substance or elixir that is produced within the body. At a physical or clinical level, this substance may simply be the product of enzymes, hormones and biochemicals secreted by various glands. Whatever it is, how we think seems to hold the key to staying younger for longer.

Read much more on this in Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self-Realisation

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Filed Under: Awakening Heart, Health Tagged With: chi, chi kung, elixir, health, mind, qi, qigong, vitality, well-being, wellbeing, youth, youthfulness

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