Use your DESIRES to evolve CONSCIOUSLY

What is the difference between Yoga and Tantra?

Tantra says you have to accept yourself as you are – do not restrain, just accept, but be aware and you will transcend. Yoga promotes restraint. both ways are acceptable. Tantra and Yoga may be two different manifestations but their genesis is the same.

How is that?

In tantra you accept yourself because that is the expression of your life, of your consciousness, in its natural course of evolution. Within us we have both ‘good’ and ‘bad’, creative and destructive. Usually, religions tell us to accept ‘good’ and reject ‘bad’ or negative aspects of our personality, but we, with our limited understanding, tend to mess things up. We try to change the pattern of our behavior and thinking. This enforced change within the personality is suppression of the normal expression which applies to all levels of our consciousness.

Tantra talks of the union of Shiva and Shakti. Shakti has nearly always been defined as kundalini, and Shiva, the male aspect, has been defined as chetana or consciousness. Tantra is not really referring to a physical relationship. It says that in order to experience internal union you first experience external union; to experience internal bliss, experience external bliss. The difference is momentary; internal bliss is continuous.

In Tantra there are initiations which are awakening of Shakti. The practice of asana is an initiation for the body. Pranayama is initiation of the pranas. The only difference between Tantra and Yoga is that Yoga is outgoing; it deals more with the world, body, mind, personality, emotions, actions and environment; whereas Tantra is more meditative.

You acquire desire because, for the evolution of consciousness, conflict is necessary. It is a means for awakening part of the consciousness. If there were no conflicts, there would be no evolution. There would be a stagnant state of consciousness.

How should we deal with desires?

We must accept them. If I desire to slap you, I should think of the repercussions it can have, positive or negative. If I simply follow my emotions there will be a big fight between us. this is where you have to learn to detach yourself. Both processes happen together. You allow emotions to flourish, observe them, and learn how to control them. You come to know when it is the right time for action and let that energy manifest. then this manifestation will be positive and creative, rather than haphazard.

Do men and women have different spiritual attributes?

Tantra believes that feminine energy is more refined and of higher quality than masculine energy. in Tantra the female principle has the position of guru, and the male principle that of a disciple.

Why is this so?

because of a woman’s ability to flow without any kind of intellectual barrier which binds one to the material level. Women have intuitive ability because theirs is a psychically active energy. Male energy is passive and seems to tend towards tunnel-vision. Women are able to perceive things which the male energy cannot. One must learn to flow with sensitivity; one must learn to flow with higher awareness.

Seven steps to sharpen IT managers resume

When was the last time you took a good hard look at your resume? Even if your job description hasn’t changed much recently, you don’t want to become complacent. You need to make sure your resume refl ects your latest accomplishments so that you can be next in line for a raise or poised to pounce on the opportunity that’s just around the corner. A resume revamp doesn’t have to be intimidating, either. In fact, in seven simple steps, your resume can refl ect the more accomplished IT manager you’ve become.

1. Look at the big picture. This pertains to printed resumes rather than text-based ones sent via the Web. What does your resume actually look like? Ignore the words for a moment. Is the layout clear and concise? Is the font easily readable? Remember that a sans serif font is harder to read that a serif font—though a sans serif font can look more modern. Choose your font size wisely; don’t go smaller than 11 pt type if you want anyone to read about all your accomplishments. Use bullet points, bold type, and spacing to help break up the information on the page.

2. Use strong action verbs to describe your job duties and accomplishments. You don’t want to present a laundry list of your day-to-day duties. Focus instead on the parts of your job that earn you recognition. Stress your leadership skills. For example, instead of writing that you are “involved in running a team of programmers and keeping projects on schedule,” try saying that you “manage a team that consistently meets deadlines.”

3. Be careful with your jargon. Is the important information readily accessible? If you’re job-hunting, remember that the people who initially screen resumes often have only basic technical knowledge; they might not know an MCSE from a CCNA. Don’t hide your strong points in language that no one outside your field can understand.

4. Ease up on the technical details. Remember, you’re in management now, and even though your tech skills got you where you are, it’s a different skill set that will propel you forward. Yes, you can—and should—list your technical skills, but make sure the focus is on how those skills help you manage people and technology more effectively.

5. Stress benefits, not features. Think back to your days as a hardware engineer, for example. Did you stress that the chip you designed replaced up to 10 discrete components or did you stress the greater product functionality and smaller device sizes that your customers could enjoy when they used your chip in their devices? Now, apply that logic to your resume. Don’t just say that you devised a new off-site backup strategy for the company. Point out that your off-site backup strategy reduced hardware and labor expenses by more than 50 percent, reduced downtime substantially, and increased client satisfaction 100 percent.

6. Put the bottom line on top. Translate each of your accomplishments into hours saved, money earned, and other tangible results for the company. If you can’t figure out how the things you do every day fit into the big picture, you’re doing something wrong. If you know what the moneymaking tasks are and you’re not finding time for them, you also need to reprioritize. Your resume should reflect the net worth you add to your organization.

7. Ask someone nontechnical to read your resume. If someone who isn’t especially tech savvy can read your resume and get a sense of what you do and why someone might hire you, your resume is definitely on the right track. If that person can also proofread, have them do it and your resume will quickly be ready for prime time.

These pointers were taken from the article “Seven ways to revamp your resume ,” by Abbi F. Perets.

Take charge of your life

Everyone constantly faces challenges – at home with our spouse, children or other family members; at work with your peers and bosses. Sometimes life itself seems a challenge because it throws up so many relationship-based and situational challenges.

But the biggest challenge of them all is one’s mind. Often, it is possible to control everything else but one’s mind. Being master of the mind is no less than mastery of the world. Chapter 6 of Bhagavad Gita says, “Our mind is our best friend and our worst enemy. If we know how to manage our mind, we can manage our time, our relationships, our life, everything.”

This is where spirituality comes in. Spirituality is not a way to look at certain things, it is a certain way to look at all things. It is the path to a mentally decluttered value-based life. It is also about managing relationships in different sorts of challenging situations. Spirituality teaches us control of our thoughts, emotions and desires. It is actually the science of managing one’s mind.

The result: A sense of well being, tranquility and inner peace. It also creates the feeling that one is on top of the situation and in control of it, rather than the other way round. Spirituality is not bound by the confines of religion because it’s not about chanting prayers, undertaking pilgrimages or charitable work. It’s about much more than that. Contrary to what we all believe, spirituality is not just for mystics or old people. It is meant for everyone.

Life is beautiful but only if you really want it to be that way. This needs you to make a conscious decision to achieve your full potential and give your life greater meaning. Many of us are not aware of our potential. One must never let life slide by. Inspiration, curiosity, love, knowledge and enthusiasm give life its true meaning. We are said to be ‘living’ life only when we experience happiness, lvoe and fearlessness, not stress, anxiety, boredom and a sense of aimlessness.

The truth is we need sincerely to try to enjoy every step of this journey called life. One is always waiting for something to happen to be happy. Alternatively, we wait to complete the job at hand and then enjoy the fruits of it. But that means we are always postponing happiness. Happiness is in the journey not the destination.

It is important to do things we value because only then can we give 100% of ourselves ot it. Chapter 3 of Bhagavad Gita explains that this si about the concept of swadharma, or finding one’s true calling and following it sincerely. Once we value what we do, we start feeling good about ourselves. The self-esteem goes up. It also gives a sense of purpose and meaning to our lives.

Once we start to have some controls over our actions and become more positive in our outlook, we may also find the law of attraction coming into play. Inexplicable events occur and we find things falling into place for us. they seem to be coincidence but that’s the law of attraction working for you. You attract what you think. We can align our inner world with the strong belief that whatever we wish for will happen. When you think positive, you get positive results. Let the power of positive affirmation take over. It was well said that what you visualize it that you realize.

The capacity to sacrifice is something we must all reckon with. It is sacrifice that enables one to appreciate the real worth of what one does because it takes a great deal of effort, introspection and prioritization to give away something. Sacrifice always brings joy and growth. An important aspect of sacrifice is that it requires you to go beyond your comfort zone, which creates a physical, emotional and intellectual blanket around us and prevents us thinking new thoughts.

We become prisoners of our self created comfort zones. We don’t open up to new people and become averse to criticism. We cling to the emotional crutches we have created.

At the intellectual level also we become stubborn. “It’s either my way or no way” is the constantly nagging feeling.

On the other hand, when we sacrifice something, seek something else and transcend our comfort zone, we are no longer scared of change and grow as individuals.

In real terms, most of us are averse to change and resist it. We fail to realize that everything is changing anyway, whatever comes has to go and it is pointless to cling to it. That’s when one can start to come to terms with life’s ultimate truth, i.e. that change is the only constant.

The Bhagvad Gita says, “When we live in this world, we experience the pairs of opposites – hot and cold, joy and sorrow, success and failure. They come and they go. And even while they are here, they are temporary.

Most of times, it is resistance to a changing situation, rather than the situation itself that creates conflict. Instead, one should face a situation as it is and refrain from coloring it with biases. Lapsing into “why me” or “why did it have to happen” makes for mental turmoil.

Through acceptance of situation as it is, one automatically starts focusing on finding a solution rather than on the problem itself, And sure enough, one does come up with a sensible solution.

As Harivansh Rai Bachan said, “Apne man ka ho to achha. Na ho to aur bhi achaa. (If we get what we want, it’s good. If we don’t get it, it’s even better).”