By: Meghan Toups & Heather Brown

More and more people are wanting to find safe, natural options for boosting their health. And, understandably so! With the state of healthcare, chronic stress and disease, feeling more in control of our health can make us feel empowered and strong.

Immune building and alternative ‘get well’ remedies are becoming abundant and easily available. As you begin to delve more into the world of natural healing, it’s important to become conscious consumers and educate yourself on products and services that interest you.  Essential oils have been used for thousands of years with great benefit.

While they can be extremely effective in helping our bodies heal and prevent illness, building our knowledge base before use is very important. High quality, therapeutic essential oils are very potent and it’s important to understand how and when to use these beneficial healing aids.

Arjun Walia, Collective-Evolution
Waking Times

Karma is a concept taught by various cultures throughout human history, and is an idea that dates back thousands of years. Despite its proliferation, the idea of karma seems to be generally misunderstood and  frequently tossed around without any real understanding of its true meaning.

What is Karma?

In the Bhagavad Gita (one text out of many from multiple cultures that speak of karma), there are constant dialogues about how to attain what’s referred to as “moksha”.  Moksha is the release from the cycle of rebirth; a sort of transcendent state or freedom from the world we currently know – a world in which our senses deceive us. It’s a state of bliss that can only be attained when we have freed ourselves from the web of Karma. Once we reach that point our soul is ready to move on to another experience that goes beyond rebirth.

Valerie Tarico, AlterNet
Waking Times

Some of humanity’s technological innovations are things we would have been better off without: the medieval rack, the atomic bomb and powdered lead potions come to mind. Religions tend to invent ideas or concepts rather than technologies, but like every other creative human enterprise, they produce some really bad ones along with the good.

I’ve previously highlighted some of humanity’s best moral and spiritual concepts, our shared moral core. Here, by way of contrast, are some of the worst. These twelve dubious concepts promote conflict, cruelty, suffering and death rather than love and peace. To paraphrase Christopher Hitchens, they belong in the dustbin of history just as soon as we can get them there.

1. Chosen People –The term “Chosen People” typically refers to the Hebrew Bible and the ugly idea that God has given certain tribes a Promised Land (even though it is already occupied by other people)...

By David Gelfand

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

At the very core of our being, from the moment we’re born, it becomes apparent that not all things are like. There are good and bad, hot and cold, lazy and relentless, and so on. Life, from the moment we’re born to the day we pass, becomes a balancing act.

The concepts of choice, freedom and will power are what define our every move. We choose our destiny, define our action and live with the results. The beauty of a human being is that he or she has the capability to understand and analyze choices as they play out in life.

Balance, when demonstrated on such a grandiose and high-level approach, may appear daunting, confusing and uncertain. However, when broken down, balance can become much more manageable. When applied to our daily lives, balance represents the handle and organization of various elements within our lives, both internal and external.

Success is often a popularity contest, where one person holds a group of people hostage in their mind and imagination.
 
The mind is easily influenced by anything, or anyone, promising relief from the pain of existence.  Like frightened sheep, they will follow anyone claiming to possess the staff of authority, the price often clouded in deception, ignorance, and personal delusion.
 
We must be careful not to sell ourselves out to anyone offering the newest snake oil, or quick fix.

Namaste.
Robert and CJ

**If you enjoyed this post, please share it!
email Robert: robertcosmar@gmail.com
email CJ: cjheck60porsche@gmail.com

Each year that goes by, we get a spectacular new set of things to see in our skies. How exciting is that? Be sure to mark your calendars for these amazing celestial events.

April 4th, Total solar eclipse

You won’t see a moon in the sky on April 4th, but right around noon, the Earth will pass between the sun and the moon, triggering a total solar eclipse visible to the south Pacific, including Australia, Alaska and Japan. North America will see a partial eclipse. Womp womp.

July 30th, Jupiter and Venus.

On July 30th, Jupiter and Venus will be side by side in the night sky. This paring will be visible for only 7 days.

September 27th, Super Moon

North America, Africa and Europe will experience the spectacular super moon on September 27th beginning at 10pm.

I’ve always loved the religious philosophy of Zen Buddhism, for many reasons, and one of those reasons is that just by speaking a few words, Zen masters are able to transmit tremendously important messages that are of immense value to all seekers on the path to spiritual awakening. Here you will find for yourself a collection of some (100!) of the best zen sayings and proverbs of all time, which will hopefully help you see yourself and the world with new, fresh eyes.

The Present Moment and Mindfulness

“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”- Alan Watts

“The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That’s all there ever is.”- Eckhart Tolle