CAN Hacking: Introductions

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There is a right way and a wrong way to design embedded systems.

The wrong way centralizes functionality that has no business being together, and makes it opaque to repairmen. This is usually chosen so as to “optimize for cost” by minimizing the number of computers… you know, in a “there’s maybe a market for 5 computers globally” kind of way.

The right way is to keep things as simple as will work, preferably not even using OS’s, when the tasks can be separated so one function per microcontroller. This way there is no multiplication of complication, and each separate processor’s code becomes simple and easily maintained. (and preferably also, kept with the install so that future repairmen have a chance to fix it!). This is known as robust design, engineering for maximum reliability, as a priority far above “cost”.

As manufacturers get better at this, expect, nay, demand that they become compliant! An essential, and yet still lacking part of this is the availability of the source, as well as the barrier-to-modification. The auto industry is notorious for keeping all their tech secret – so much so that most “scientifically published, peer reviewed” papers read more like sales brochures with even less actual detail than the patents that they’re trying to push.

Unfortunately, it seems keeping source code secret has a reputation as being some kind of “good” engineering practice, even though it’s basically fundamentally at odds with science and engineering. If you contract an engineer to make something for you, you will get the blueprints – if they don’t provide them, then they didn’t engineer it.

Car manufacturers have a lot to learn in this regard, but even more so do the “engineering software” companies who “sell products” in the MSFT style. It’s disgusting, and one day people will find it difficult to believe that it was ever considered reasonable business practice.

All that said: CAN is very good – no where near the performance of, say, FireWire, but still exactly as “KISS” like as you could hope for in a low speed / high reliability / easily debugged multidrop communications protocol. (Firewire is perfection at high bandwidth, but carries with it quite an overhead in terms of protocol, it was clearly designed by a comittee of computer engineers obessed with getting every little detail right. It is anarchistic democracy to USB’s benevolent dictatorship. CAN is just a few mechanics talking shop, and getting shit done whilst occasionally yelling over the other, but that’s ok, because everyone knows the pecking order, and shuts up and listens when it’s urgent.)

Apart from sheer BW, CAN shits all over ethernet’s stupid “if a collision, wait a random time, then try again” approach to sharing a wire. (Hint: this is why ethernet is not used to share wires anymore – do you know the difference between a “hub” and a “switch”? Remember 10Base2 ?)

Apart from the horribleness putting a “standard” behind a paywall (just like selling software licences imho, anti education.), CAN is a good bit of work, whose actual impact on the world for the better will be proportional to those benefiting from it, and therefore dependant upon being widely understood and used where appropriate. (Again, something that paywalls / licensing / general IP shit destroys).

I’m looking forward to this series :)

Introducing the Shapeoko 2

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For all the 3D printers that hit the Hackaday tip line, it’s surprising we don’t see more CNC routers. They’re arguably more useful tools, and with the ability to mill wood, plastic, and non-ferrous metals, open up the door to a whole bunch more potential builds. One of the most popular – and certainly one of the least expensive – CNC routers out there, the Shapeoko, just received a huge update that makes this minimal machine even more capable.

The new Shapeoko 2 keeps the same V wheel on an aluminium extrusion design with Makerslide, but fixes a few problems that limited the original Shapeoko. There’s a larger work area on this version, and the Y axes feature dual stepper motors. The biggest feature, we think, is the ability to handle materials larger than the machine itself thanks to its open front and back.

The Shapeoko 2 is available in two versions, a $300 mechanical kit that requires you to go out and get some motors, a power supply, and a grblShield, the full version, for $650, includes everything you’ll need to start routing wood metal and plastic at home.

Happy 2013 Birthday to Three Musical Superstars – Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, and John Coltrane

AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota Aquarius Papers - Global Astrology: Happy 2013 Birthday to Three Musical Superstars – Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, and John Coltrane Aquarius Papers - Global AstrologyUsing Astrology, Spirit, and Archetypes to move and groove through the intersections of fate and free will.

Today we give a giant birthday shout out to these three legendary greats!

First,"the Boss." Bruce Springsteen (September 23, 1949) is one of the brightest lights if the huge musical Libra tribe that includes such greats as John Lennon, Paul Simon, Ray Charles, John Coltrane, Justin Hayward, Jackson Browne, and John Mellencamp. Bruce's tunes grab people all over the world, whether as social conscience or just great music. Today we have lots of great live performance videos!

I've been hip to Mister Bruce Springsteen and his music since the early 70s and “Greetings from Asbury Park,” and he puts on one of the most electrifying live shows anyone could even want to see! For your consideration, a happy birthday assemblage of some great performances.

From the beginning of his career, "Spirit in the Night" - Live in Los Angeles with the E Street Band, 1973.

A more recent version from Sacramento, 2008 of "Spirit In The Night."

Another major hit from his first album, later made a hit again by Manfred Mann and the Earth Band, "Blinded By The Light"

A great acoustic performance of "Blinded By The Light" from Oct 15, 2005 in Madison, Wisconsin.

A GREAT must see alternate version! "Blinded By The Light" A total groove out!

An early one! From 1978, live in Phoenix, Bruce and the E Street Band doing one of his first and greatest, letting the world know he was a musical force majure! “Rosalita” (let it buffer so it doesn’t stop and start)

An October 2009 performance from the Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA of "Rosalita,"

THE song that woke a lot of the world up! A great performance of "Born To Run" from The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, on October 25, 1976.

Another great performance of "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ, July 8th 1978. (Let it buffer for awhile or it'll stop several times in the performance.)

Here are two more great performances of "Born to Run," this one from Landover,MD, from November 24th 1980, and this one at Madison Square Garden, New York, from the All Star Benefit for the Homeless Children on December 13, 1987.

From the same album, here's a great performance of "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" at the Capital Center, Largo, MD, on the 24th of November 1980.

Here's "Prove It All Night," another great turn from his early days.

From the same era, Bruce and the E Street Band doing the ever incredible "Thunder Road" from the 1979 No Nukes concert. Here's another magnificent performance of "Thunder Road" from 1976 (when he made the covers of Time AND Newsweek on the same week!)

Another of my favorites! This song gave me two of the best lines I’ve ever passed on to another human being! “Poor man wants to be rich, rich man wants to be king, and the king ain’t satisfied until he rules everything,” and “It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.”

This is pure gold from the Barcelona 2002 concert. If you want to catch a glimpse of what it’s like at a Bruuuuuuuce concert, check out the crowd!!

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – “Badlands” From the same show, the song that’s a declaration of hope and determination to take our destiny into our own hands! “Promised Land”

("Badlands" and "Promised Land" were the same two he did with Jackson Browne in Central Park at the 1982 Freeze Now! Concert after the march from the UN. A million people clocked in, making it the largest antinuke protest ever. I was a “peacekeeper” assigned to a section near the stage. When he broke into “Badlands,” a million people roared and stomped their feet and shook the Earth in a once in a lifetime experience!)

This one’s electrifying! From Bergen, Norway, in 2009, Intro & "Badlands"

Lest you think Barcelona has anything on the Brits, the crowd goes wild at Glastonbury in June 2009 as for the Boss cranks out a fantastic performance of “Badlands.” And from the same gig, “Thunder Road” When the crowd roars out the lyrics throughout the entire song, it’s some kind of statement!

Live in NYC in 2001, the awesome “Jungleland”

From the next chapter in his career, the awesome "No Surrender" by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in Washington DC, 11th October 2004.

Here's Bruce doing "I'm Goin' Down" live in Camp Nou, Barcelona, 20th July 2008.

Two more great performances of the same song! Here's "I'm Goin' Down"live in Kansas City, 1984, and "I'm Goin' Down" in Frankfurt on 7 March, 2009.

As long time fans know, Bruce has deep feelings about our country and all that's right and wrong about it. Here he is doing the legendary Woody Guthrie song once proposed as the "true" national anthem for the US, "This Land is your Land" live at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA on September 30, 1985. I also found Bruce and another American icon and champion of the working class, Pete Seeger, doing "This Land is Your Land" at Obama's Inaugural fete.

A while back I did a post on "Chimes of Freedom," one of the most remarkable songs ever written by America’s bard, Bob Dylan. Here is an amazingly powerful performance by the Boss of this paen to freedom in East Germany in 1988 before the fall of the Berlin Wall! “Chimes of Freedom in East Berlin”

From the same tour, here’s Bruce in Copenhagen in 1988 offering us "Chimes of Freedom."

At some point, please take a moment to reread my post linked above, since I posted the lyrics, and after all, the Chimes of Freedom are flashing for all of us.

As a bonus, here's the original 7 minute studio version by Bob Dylan of "Chimes of Freedom"

Bruce once said, "blind faith in your leaders will get you killed." I found an unbelievable video of Bruce Springsteen doing "War" in 1985 at the LA Colliseum, and posted it, along with the lyrics, back in 2007 during a global protest of the Iraq war. Since that video has been cut short for some reason, I found the entire performance which I linked below.

I saw him perform this way back when, and it still grabs me by the throat. This is a message for everyone who needs to remember that in fact, "blind faith in anything will get you killed." For your eye opening enjoyment, here's the entire performance of the musical juggernaut, "WAR"

Here's another great performance which you should check out! Bruce performing "War!" live, along with the man who originally did it, Edwin Starr! And from “the Rising” tour, yet another performance of the ever-amazing and powerful "War!"

Here are a few more great tunes written by others, done by Bruce:

"Blowin' In The Wind/Bad Moon Rising"

"Who'll Stop The Rain" live in Stockholm 2009.

From the same concert, we move back into three of my favorite songs written by the Boss:

"No Surrender" & "Badlands" & "Night"

Here's more of his hits,

"Dancing in the dark" from Barcelona 2002

"Glory Days" from Dave Letterman's last night on NBC.

Here's Youngstown done live in Youngstown.

The song he says Patti Smith "stole" from him, in that she definitely made it a major hit on her own before Bruce's version, the awesome "Because the Night" from a 2007 European performance.

Here's his rocking version of the Gary U.S. Bonds mega-hit "A Quarter To Three" in Sevilla.

I found a few clips of Bruce with various friends doing other people's songs. These are some great performances, so check them out!

First, U2 & Bruce Springsteen live at the 2009 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame doing "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

Here’s another great live video by these two doing this song at Madison Square Garden! Bono waxes philosophical about rock and roll, and what he says.... Bruce Springsteen and U2 performing “I still haven’t found what I’m Looking For”

Speaking of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, here’s Bruce and Axl Rose at the 1994 ceremony inducting John Lennon as a solo artist performing John’s song "Come Together."

Here’s an awesome performance by Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen doing "It's my life."

We close this Happy Birthday celebration with a full on, entire concert video from August 1978 in Landover, Maryland. This one is a young man at his peak during his Saturn Return! For your enjoyment,

Bruce Springsteen Live in Maryland – Part 1 (2 hours)

Bruce Springsteen Live in Maryland – Part 2 (42 minutes)

For our first encore, we’ll fast forward 7 years to another full show, with a different set list than he was playing in 1978! For your enjoyment, from Paris in June 1985, an entire 3 hour show. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live in Paris

For our second encore, Bruce joins Neil Young in 2004 doing one of my favorite tunes of all time, "All Along The Watchtower" in Minneapolis. Dylan wrote it, Hendrix did the definitive version, and Springsteen keeps it alive!

Thanks for being the voice of the working people all these years. I was once told that very few good things come from New Jersey, and that you were definitely one of them (along with Jon Stewart and a few more!) You've proved that true over the years. Thanks for the incredible tunes over the past 40 years! May you have many more as you rock on into your 60s!

*********

As I mentioned earlier, a very happy birthday goes out to two more great legends also born on this day, the awesome Ray Charles (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004). Ray took a variety of styles and took them over the top in his very unique way. Ray Charles was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century across many different genres of music. From Wikipedia:

He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business...”

For your enjoyment, Mister Ray Charles! I found some videos of Ray Charles that span his career from 1963-1999.

First, here's Ray performing live in Sao Paulo, Brazil 1963 doing two of his early hits! Rock out with "What'd I Say" and "Hit The Road Jack."

A great b/w live performance of "You don't know me."

here is an electrifying performance by Ray Charles of "Let the Good Times Roll!" Wow!

For another great dance tune, from what looks to be the same show, Ray ripping out "What'd I Say"

Another live video of an early hit! "I Got A Woman"

From The Dick Cavett Show on September 18, 1972, here's Ray live doing "America The Beautiful." From the same show, "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Georgia On My Mind."

Here's Ray in 1999 doing Leon Russell's masterpiece, "A Song For You."

We'll close this brief birthday tribute to the Amazing Ray with a clip called "The Giants Of Rock 'N' Roll" done live in Rome in 1989 featuring Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, James Brown, Fats Domino, and more! Enjoy this 8:49 of pure gold!!

*********

A big happy also goes out to the 'Trane Himself, the legendary John Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967). He pioneered several forms of jazz, was one of the most significant saxophonists in jazz history, and worked with the greatest of the greatest. He was so revered that he was actually canonized as a saint by the African Orthodox Church! Since I can't do an entire birthday tribute this year due to time constraints, here are a few videos I found of the Sax Master!

John Coltrane performing live in Belgium in 1965 playing "Naima."

From 1961, a great live performance of 'Trane with his quintet (Eric Dolphy on flute, Elvin Jones on drums, McCoy Tyner on piano and Jimmy Garrison on bass) doing "My Favorite Things"

Here's a live video from April 1959 of Miles Davis & John Coltrane performing "So What" From Miles Davis' album, "Kind Of Blue."

For your enjoyment, a 9+ minute live audio-only clip from 1958 of 'Trane and Miles at the Newport Jazz Festival doing "Bye Bye Blackbird"

Here’s a great 8+ minute video clip of ‘Trane and the great Wes Montgomery doing the Thelonious Monk jazz standard, “Round Midnight”

A live performance of "On Green Dolphin Street"

From Germany in 1960, a rare video clip of ‘Trane with Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb performing “Hackensack”

Here’s the John Coltrane Quartet in a rare 1965 video from France performing what is said to be the only live video of “A Love Supreme” and “Ascension” (it’s a 2+ minute promotional video for a 6 DVD set of that performance)

Since we just had the Equinox yesterday, I figure this one’s perfect for today! From 1960’s “Coltrane Sound” album, John Coltrane with McCoy Tyner on piano, Elvin Jones on drums, and Steve Davis on bass performing “Equinox”

The 11 minute studio version of the incredible "Blue train."

If you want to hear the entire one hour 1957 studio album, here’s John Coltrane’s “Blue Train”

Here’s the entire 38 minute studio album from 1960, the first with all compositions written by JC. “Giant Steps”

Here’s the entire 1 hour 15 studio album from 1962! “John Coltrane Plays the Blues”

Here’s the entire 40+ minute studio album from 1966! “Meditations”

We'll close this birthday celebration with his 1958 11 minute studio version of "Stardust"

For our encore, a full one hour 36 minute “Jazz Icons” television clip! John Coltrane Live 1960, 1961, 1965

All three of these guys were/are awesome, and set the standard for the ages. There’s a lot more of their music over at you tube, so if you’re inclined, check out anything and everything these major league talents ever did. They definitely influenced music across several genres for decades, and are still among the most loved and respected in their styles.

Copyright © 2013 Robert Wilkinson

September 23, 2013 | Permalink

Technorati Tags:Axl Rose, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, E Street Band, John Coltrane, Jon Bon Jovi, Miles Davis, Neil Young, Oscar Peterson, Patti Smith, Pete Seeger, Ray Charles, U2, Wes Montgomery

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Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From Fukushima

AppId is over the quota Translate Request has too much data Parameter name: request Aquarius Papers - Global Astrology: Expecting Godzilla Autumn 2013 - More Bad News From Fukushima Aquarius Papers - Global AstrologyUsing Astrology, Spirit, and Archetypes to move and groove through the intersections of fate and free will.

Fukushima just had another disastrous spill of “430 liters of contaminated water thousands of times more radioactive than legal limits, its operator said Thursday.”

From a story by Arata Yamamoto and Alexander Smith, NBC News, titled Water 6,700 times more radioactive than legal limit spills from Fukushima we read the latest unfortunate news about a global problem that’s getting worse by the month. From the story:

TEPCO, said the water which spilled from the storage tanks had radiation readings as high as 200,000 becquerels per liter -- almost 6,700 times higher than the legal limit of 30 becquerels.

Although sandbags have been placed to prevent further spread of the leak, some of that water may have already reached the plant's harbor on the Pacific Ocean through a drainage trench, TEPCO said.

... A TEPCO spokesman told a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday that the leak happened because workers miscalculated the amount of water the tank was capable of holding due to it sitting on a slope.

This has to be the most inept company in the world. The government says the usual blather about pledging to work with TEPCO to prevent any more leaks. Right. Because politicians are known for their expertise in containing out of control nuke spills.

Speaking of covering things up, later in the article we read “The operator announced Tuesday that four tons of rainwater contaminated with low levels of radiation had leaked during an operation to transfer water between holding tanks, Reuters reported.” Funny how that never made the news these past 48 hours.

So great. The tanks get flooded with every tropical depression that blows through, and we get major leakage we’re not told about until something else comes along that’s worse, forcing it back into the news. Only then do we seem to find out what else has happened and what hasn’t been working.

We also read a Japanese “fast food company,” Yoshinoya, now intends to grow vegetables within 60 miles of the contaminated site. Wow. There is some kind of extreme collective denial going on here. And the Japanese government says to drink and laugh more because it’ll mitigate radiation poisoning. Wow again. This is delusional thinking.

The entire miserable mess that IS “Fukushima” is a slo-mo train wreck unfolding right before our eyes. The longer the incompetents allegedly dealing with the problem are allowed their criminal negligence, the worse it’ll be in the long run for the entire globe.

Nuclear anything is bad for life on Earth.

 

The Silent Steps of Grace – A Book Review

I’ve just finished a remarkable book written by a remarkable man. It’s one of the best I’ve read in years, and a thoroughly enjoyable read!

The Silent Steps of Grace is said to be “a gripping tale of tragedy, transformation, and triumph.” For a historical novel (that could very well be a true story!) it’s definitely that and more!

Written by world renowned healer and author Alan Mesher, this latest work is a true masterpiece of the adventure of “the quest” offering universal spiritual truths in an extraordinarily appealing style. Set against the backdrop of the Chinese invasion and slaughter of Tibet and the 1960s, we follow the life and journey of a young Tibetan, Tenzin Osun, as he makes his way from orphan in Tibet to spiritual Master in California.

I found it difficult to put down this book. It is engaging, well written, intriguing, beguiling, and invites us on a journey of self-discovery via the timeless tests and lessons the characters confront and what they learn from their challenges. As one reviewer put it, “The novel’s central character, Tenzin, is the sort of irresistibly wise friend that we all wish we had.”

It’s one of those rare books that the closer you get to the end, the more you wish it were not ending. The good news is we are told it is Book One of the Tenzin Trilogy, so we can expect this tale of love, courage, adventure, and journey into higher awareness to continue!

Ultimately, it is the story of the triumph of higher spiritual awareness over the negativity that pervades our world, and has for a while. Tenzin’s wisdom is infectious, and yes, he is “irresistible.”

While I’ve never taken to pedantic works, there’s nothing of that sort of teaching here. The way that Alan tells this timeless tale of a young Tibetan Buddhist’s “hero’s journey,” the more I read, the more I found myself pondering Tenzin’s sage advice about certain very human issues, problems, and challenges. Through the wisdom of this work, we come to realize the applicability of universal truths offered through the very human characters.

That makes this book worth reading, enjoying, and taking to heart. I wholeheartedly look forward to reading part two, scheduled to come out in 2014!

Mahatma Gandhi’s “Seven Deadly Social Sins”

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of us have heard of the so-called 7 Deadly Sins. However, one of the greatest Beings to visit our Earth in centuries gave us another list, the 7 Deadly Social Sins. To find out what the "Mahatma," or "Great Spirit" thought were the source of all of humanity's ills, read on.

As many of you know, I believe Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was one of the greatest Beings to walk the Earth in millennia. He was a highly spiritually evolved politician, revolutionary, and statesman, master of non-violent non-cooperation with the sources of human degradation.

This "Spiritual Father of His Country" led the Indian subcontinent to independence through demonstrating the practical efficacy of the doctrine of Ahimsa, also known as "non-violence," or "least violence," applied through the power of Satyagraha, or "Soul-force." Though he was the first to admit that his tactics would work only when dealing with civilized opponents, he still strenuously insisted that each of us needed to be non-violent at our core to the degree we are able if we are to be genuine workers for peace in our world, since only peace can overcome war. While the world has known many "philosophers of peace," He was probably one of a very few since St. Issa to articulate the doctrine of "the peaceful warrior" in pragmatic action.

Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds humanity has produced, once said of Gandhi that "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood." One of the most effective politicians in history, he demonstrated the practical truth that the way of applied Soul force using non-violent techniques is the most powerful political tool we have.

Worship without Sacrifice

Sounds like most of the world's political parties (and religious dogmas) are the source of every social ill we have on Earth. May we live to see the day when these no longer exist to plague humanity. Aum Namah Shivaya!

 

Technorati Tags:ahimsa, Einstein on Gandhi, Gandhi's 7 deadly social sins, Mahatma Gandhi, satyagraha

This is not surprising at all from an individual with Pluto conjuct Jupiter sextiled by Uranus and that conjunction opposing Venus conjuct Mars. Someone like that would have had tremendous insight and will power to pull off these philosophical leanings about human relationships in its many forms of expression and ultimately enlighten humanity. A man for his time no doubt!

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There Are Many Ways To Meditate – Pt.3

Most of us are so busy living life sometimes it's convenient to forget to meditate. Yet from one point of view, living life is a meditation in itself!

This is the next segment in our multi-part series on meditation. I last offered this specific material 2+ years ago, and I’ve rewritten several parts and added new material to flesh out some concepts and make it more readable.

This article was inspired by a client who felt that life was showing her the importance of renewing her meditation practice which had fallen by the wayside due to work considerations. I reminded her that for our lives to be enjoyable, it should combine work and play, and if we keep working at playing and playing at working, eventually we'll find our way to a happy productivity 24/7!

Life can be a meditation if we learn how to view it as such and fully enter into the mystery of the process of our self-unfoldment. That means connecting some dots, renouncing some assumptions, and remembering that often it won’t make sense from a linear standpoint. We don’t have to learn to play in the key of A, then B, then C. Sometimes we are playing in keys we’ve never known before.

A good meditation on our existence can be had by taking a look from time to time at our inner and outer self-image, and seeing if the relationship between these two essential elements of “self” accurately reflects our Higher Self, or if we're off track or out of balance somehow. If the former, then we can contemplate the nature of the self to the Self, always a great meditation when we stop judging and enjoy the experience. And if we’re off track or out of balance, through seeing the relationship of the self to the Self, we understand how to bring the inner and outer back into alignment.

Given the immense number of distractions constantly streaming in from the outer world, it is important to learn how to step back from the chatter and white noise from time to time so we can be still and hear "the voice of the silence." While it's safe to say that meditation is one of the tools we can use to access the Higher Self and "All-That-Is," there are many ways to meditate, with different practices more efficacious for some and not for others.

My client had been given some clear signals that reminded her she needing a regular meditation. These signals involved chanting meditations she once had done. As I told her, there are many kinds of meditation, and different forms will create different results at different times in life. Silence may work better for some, while chanting may work better for others, and even these will shift in effectiveness over time.

Most valid meditational forms work for everyone to some degree, but again, much depends on our own path of Self-realization. Chanting is only one of many meditational forms, and while it does work for everyone to some degree, it's also not necessarily THE path, or even the best path to take, for those walking the Way of individualization.

That's because there are many forms of Yoga (Sanskrit for "Yoke," or that which binds us to Spirit). Mantra Yoga (chanting) is only one path of many. Chanting is no more or less valid than Jnana Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge) or Karma Yoga (Yoga of deeds/right action). We can come to Higher Awareness through many paths, and chanting is only one form of meditation among many. Much depends on our ability to focus, stay focused, and how easy or difficult it is to get out of our own way.

I've practiced meditations involving both "right action" and "right knowledge and right view" for decades. I've sat and walked and focused and not focused and done many other meditative forms, including reading astrological charts. At times I've contemplated mandalas and yantras, natural and manufactured symbols, as well as done structured meditations on the 7 Planes of Consciousness and the 7 Rays.

All of these provided me ways to access the Higher Planes and the subtle realms. All helped me "get out of my own way," including the "building a stone wall" meditation and the "lapping cat" meditation. Again, "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is not just the title of a book!

And yes, I've also chanted at various times across the years on my Path to Truth. I chanted with the Hari Krishnas in Austin for a while back in the early 70s, did Vedic chants and group healing affirmations in NYC at Hilda Charlton's gatherings in the early 80s, and chanted with the "Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo" sect of Japanese Buddhism in Southern California in the late 80s. I've done my own practice since then utilizing any number of mantras for various purposes.

I also asked for a mantra from Ammachi about 16 years ago for a specific purpose. (Yes, it worked perfectly!) So I do know the power of Mantra Yoga through a variety of angles of approach, which is a necessary practicum in discovering key elements of the science of vibration.

That’s also why a great meditation is learning to monitor our speech so that what we say accurately expresses our heart and our optimism rather than our pessimism. Learning to listen to what we say and how we say it, and then changing our words and how we express ourselves is one of the most important meditations we’ll ever do. It’s actually somewhat of an ongoing meditation, and as such it produces concrete results relatively quickly.

While chanting can in fact lead to forms of higher consciousness, I found that, being a devotional path, it doesn't allow for much individual self-expression beyond the mantra. Chanting the Sound allows us to lose our sense of the separated self but it does not address other factors required for individuated Self-realization. That said, if you do find one or more mantras that work for you and you surrender the fears and questions that arise in the discontented mind, there will be times when you do feel more centered and even joyous.

Tai Chi, Chi Gong, ceramics, painting, music, dancing, doing specific forms of walking meditations, and sitting still in one pointed focus are all forms of meditation. So are mental practices in understanding the interrelatedness of things, merging inner and outer views, stopping mental chatter and distractive influences, reading certain books that will open the doors of higher perception, and learning how to tame the five senses and the mind.

Even going into deep nature searching for a vision of whatever you believe will bring you higher awareness, along with practices in spaciousness and luminosity, are valid forms of meditation. You can definitely find yourself one with Nature once the mind and feelings are out of the way. We can lose ourselves and our fears in deep Nature, while finding our Self at peace with All-That-Is.

For those who want a basic meditation practice that will lead to interesting insights into the nature of the relationship of the self to the Self, start by creating a small altar somewhere in your home where you can sit and focus on how those "sacred objects" symbolize your Higher Self. The objects we value show us something of our appreciation for beautiful and/or meaningful forms, and as such mirror our values back to us. Many times what we value shows us part of the "floor plan" of our personality.

The point of meditation is to learn how to "get out of our own way," and commune with the subtle worlds of higher existence. (That's why Reiki is also a great meditational form!) I believe the best meditation is one where we can examine how we can still ourselves from responding to outer distractions, bringing our physical, emotional, and mental worlds to a smooth integration, resulting in realizations where we can see our lives as an uninterrupted integrating flow toward greater awareness.

I suppose the ideal is self-forgetfulness. I’ve actually achieved states of not remembering my body, feelings, or thoughts, but never for that long. I’ve also learned that one should NOT meditate while on a long drive, since forgetting that you’re on a road going at a fast rate of speed can have disastrous results! And one can meditate while driving in ways that allow for a much broader understanding of the experience of our lives, whether on micro or macro levels.

While I’ve known many who desired to forget this world and attain a “permanent,” or at least enduring sense of self-forgetfulness, it’s useful to keep in mind that as long as we are in a body with feelings and thoughts, there will be service to do in the world. Remember, there are many different kinds of Yoga to learn and practice so that we are well-rounded in our realizations about the relationship of the self to the Self.

The effectiveness of meditation often depends on our higher aspirations, and whether we're on a Path to Higher Realization through the school of Art, Science, or Philosophy. All Beings are not the same, and thus each responds in their own way to promptings on the Path that is most natural to them. While any valid meditational practice will help serve the goal of personality integration so that the Higher Self is made manifest as a vehicle for Soul expression, some meditational forms are more effective, and some less effective, at different times in life.

One caveat: no dogma will ever bring enlightenment, so beware of situations where someone is insisting their way is better than all other ways. While another may have found something that works (or seems to work) for them at the time, it may or may not be efficacious for us at that time. I have found my “still, small, inner voice” usually guides me right if I’m willing to listen to it rather than my own mental chatter and others’ opinions.

On a final note for today, a great meditation is to see the events and people throughout our life who helped us to a greater awareness and/or compassion and/or Self-realization. Then we see elements of our “Hero’s journey” leading us from ignorance to knowledge and wisdom. Through piercing the form and understanding the essence of the process, we can follow the breadcrumbs through the forest of our ideas and perceptions to come to understand our personality as a vehicle through which our Sacred Self manifests.

Since the Teacher, the Teaching, and the Taught are all one together, we can see our lives as a Sacred Quest that has brought us in contact with many who have shown us the Way, whether through positive, negative, or neutral events. Our entire life is showing us patterns, and through these we can come to know our Heart. In knowing our Heart, we come to know the integrity of our Truth of Being, the Light we Eternally radiate across lifetimes.

ALL forms of meditation should ideally serve this realization. Re-read as needed.

Aum Mani Padme Hum!

Previous articles in this series:

There Are Many Ways to Meditate - Pt. 1

There Are Many Ways to Meditate - Pt. 2

Copyright © 2011, 2013 Robert Wilkinson

September 26, 2013 | Permalink

Technorati Tags:chanting, different meditations, hari krishna, jnana yoga, karma yoga, mantra yoga, meditation, nam myo ho renge kyo, self-unfoldment

Comments

I was given a mantra meditation for connecting with my intuition by a Kundalini yoga 'guru' who has a very high standing. He said I should do this meditation daily for the rest of my life. A friend who is part of this community emphasized I should definitely follow this because it is apparently extremely rare that someone is being given such an instruction--she added she only knows one more person like that (who stopped doing her meditation, and the effects for her are 'disastrous'.) To me, it feels like a spell, because I don't want to be bound to anything. It is too easy to believe that, when something bad happens, it was because you didn't do your meditation.
I choose to be 'free'. Any opinion on this?

Posted by:Daniela |September 26, 2013 at 08:25 PM

Hi Daniela - If someone puts THAT absolute a command on something we're supposed to do, then we have the right to ask why, and if there are ANY alternatives that would work just as well. There are many roads that can lead us home, so to speak.

We have every right to require anyone laying a trip on us explain TO OUR SATISFACTION why they believe they can determine one thing about our life and destiny. I've never liked Kundalini since it unnecessarily stimulates certain centers that will do just fine if we tend to our heart chakra, which is not done through kundalini exercises. The Yoga of the Heart requires more than the spiritual materialists believe, and few are willing to do "the yoga."

Glad you're breaking through the fetter of superstition. Bravo!! "Yogic" practices are good, and loving-wisdom is better! And anything that induces fear is a drag, and unworthy of our Higher aspirations.

ps - connecting with your intuition is easy, once you reference the heart and not all the other blather coming at your mind. It's literally as easy as getting out of your own way. You don't need a highly regarded guru to know your intuition, and develop it as you need. That said, a good guide is always useful, but the trick is finding the right guide. It's usually not the one laying the gospel on ya....