Recommended Material

I just wanted to share some really helpful websites that I've found to be of tremendous value. First up is Nick Good's website:

http://www.nickgoodpersonaldevelopment.com/index.html

Nick specializes in spirituality and health. He overcame cancer and has written a lot of material about how to overcome that and other diseases as well. He offers a lot of great nutritional tips on how to get and stay healthy as well. A lot of that material can be found in the PDF documents here towards the bottom of the page:

http://www.nickgoodpersonaldevelopment.com/Meditative_Yoga_Conscious_Living_Kilauea_HI.html

The other parts of his site that have to do with spirituality are very inspiring and helpful. I've always found it to be incredibly beneficial to read or listen to his material.

The other website belongs to Michael Mackintosh and can be found here:

http://michaelmackintosh.com/

A lot of his material has to do with mixing spirituality with business, but he also has a lot of other great articles in videos relating to other things of high interest as well. I've found his material to be incredibly helpful and beneficial as well.

Simple, Yet Effective Life Advice

"Primum non nocere" (First, do no harm).
 

1. Give unconditional love and respect to everyone you interact with. This will be reciprocated to you.

2. Remember to respect yourself.
 

3. Be kind and compassionate.
 

4. Listen with your complete attention to what someone is saying and seek to understand them from their point of view. Let go of the filter of your opinions or judgments.
 

5. If you make promises, keep them. Don’t make any you can’t keep.
 

6. Clarify your expectations and stay on the same page as the other person.
 

7. Develop a mentality of abundance: there is plenty for everyone.
 

8. Be kind, be generous; do no harm to any living being. Be true to yourself! Make time and space for creative expression. Your actions are like seeds, of which you will reap the crop.

-Michael Mackintosh, Co-founder of Success Ultra Now

My Highest Recommended Books

http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Grace-Principles-Living-Natural/dp/1556437307/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349748662&sr=8-1&keywords=amazing+grace+david+wolfe

 

This is probably the best book I’ve ever read in my life. And I’d go as far as saying the most important one, as well. Reading it in full, this book has the potential to be completely life saving and changing. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s the perfect introduction for anyone who is looking to develop a sense of spirituality, and to gain advice about taking better care of yourself, and the world in general. I believe that most personal problems can be resolved and fixed by reading this and applying the contained information. And it’s completely possible to change your life into something amazing and graceful. If it was mandatory reading for everyone, I believe we really could live in the best world ever.

http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Beauty-David-Wolfe/dp/1556437323/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349748705&sr=1-1&keywords=eating+for+beauty+david+wolfe

This is the recommended follow-up book. It focuses mainly on nutrition, health, and how to make the best and wisest decisions regarding all of that. It’s one of my highest recommended nutrition books. It’s very good for natural healing as well as it can tell you the recommended foods, herbs, supplements etc. to take for whatever kind of ailments you may be experiencing. Anyone who’s interested in learning to live a healthier lifestyle, not only for just themselves, but the planet in general, will really appreciate this book. It promotes a very Earth-friendly nutrition that’s also the most beneficial for the body as well.

Karma: The Good, The Bad, and What You Can Do About It

So far in my life, one of the things that I’ve learned I can be certain about is the existance of karma. There’s been so many instances that I’ve experienced by now, both big and small, that even the most hardpressed skeptics would be forced to stand down and agree that it’s most likely real. It’s just way beyond coincidence by this point. I’ve found that even having to kill a bug or insect (one of the thing’s I’ve vowed to never do again) resulted in several small bad things happening to me over the rest of the day. And oppositely, doing good and positive things for people, animals, the world, etc. results in good things and experiences. I’m not saying that doing good things and being a good person will help you to win the lottery and become a millionaire, but you can certaintly expect peace and things that will make your life atleast a little bit easier and better. And over time, perhaps some big good things as well.

So if karma is in fact a universal law that no one is exempt from, what would you choose to do with that newly found information? Hopefully you’d let it inspire you to live your life in a more positive and caring way. If you live a life that consists of a lot of bad things and experiences happening to you, that might mean that you’re stuck in the negative wheel of karma. Focus on the things you say and the actions you take. If you can recall getting caught up in negative behaviors, that could explain a lot. All you have to do is shift your behaviors and intentions to more positive and helpful ways. Find the strength and willpower to never say or do bad things to anyone. That can be tough at first for some, especially if negativity has become a habit in your life, but you’ll be surprised to see how quick that actions of good and kindness can become habit as well.

I understand that there’s tons of influences in the world that condone and inspire negative behavior, especially the mainstream media promoting all of their corruption. As well as lots of other people caught up in negative behaviors and actions, and sometimes, people can be inspired by their peers in those circumstances unfortunately. So the most important thing becomes rising above all of that, commiting yourself to goodness and grace, and not caring if others have any kind of a problem with that.

In conclusion, if you live your life based on negative intentions, behaviors, and actions, you can expect negative things to happen to you and your life as a result. Little by little (or quickly and big in some instances), things will happen that will make your life harder, add hassles to deal with, and cause unpleasantness in general. I wouldn't call karma a punishment, I think it's just a way for the universe to help you learn and grow. Oppositely, if you shift your attitudes and intentions and base them on positivity, kindness, and being helpful, you’ll see a lot of improvements in your life situations. Good things will come easier, and it’s just much more rewarding in general. Plus, there seems to be a lot of evidence to suggest the possibility of reincarnation, in which your karma gets carried over to any further lives you live. So if you were to devote your present life to negativity, ill treatment of others and the world, etc. then you might be in for a rude awakening in your next life. Something to atleast consider.

Practice Compassion and Kindness

One of the more unfortunate aspects of our society has to deal with the large amounts of disrespect and poor treatment of others that takes place so often. It doesn’t seem to be immune to any age groups, either. It seems like bullying exists even amongst little children that are just barely learning to speak. It also seems like bullying in general is getting more common and intense, especially now that we have things like social media and smart phones. Even people that are more aligned with being good can fall in the trap of judging and hating on others. Even some of the nicest people I’ve known have judged and hated on people behind their backs at one point or another.

 

So what is causing all of this hate and disrespect in not only just our society, but the world as a whole? I’m afraid there aren’t any simple answers. And I’m not going to pretend that I know all of the science and sociological reasoning’s behind it. But I do have some very simple and easy to follow advice on how to stop experiencing those attitudes and actions, if you have them, and how to hopefully inspire others to stop them, if you don’t.

 

I think that the most important step is to gain at least a little bit of spirituality as you walk through this life. Most people are already affiliated with some type of religion and that’s a start, because I’d say that the majority of religions contain parts of their holy scripts that teach people to be kind and loving towards one another. And any church or temple that you attend will most likely have religious officials and leaders promoting those concepts as well. So if you align yourself with any religion and take it seriously, you should feel motivated to follow those parts of the teachings.

 

When you develop a strong sense of spirituality, you’ll learn that the best advice is to love everyone and to respect everything. Try to never judge anyone, no matter how different they are from you. I know there‘s millions of things that make people different from each other and separate us into different groups, but instead of focusing on differences, try to see everyone else as eternal spiritual beings who are also connected to God. Everyone deserves love and respect.

 

There will always be mean people out there unfortunately, and when confronted by them, the best bet is to ignore them and avoid them in the future. Once you are brought down to their level and become mean as well, it only leads to bad karma. So always try to take the high road.

For all the atheists out there, well, just try to find it in your hearts to do the right thing and treat people right at all times. You can use science to look at this issue as well. For example; the brain is such a complex and intricate thing with billions of cells, synapses and all kinds of things doing a trillion things every second. When you say or do bad things to a person, you’re causing a great deal of disharmony to that whole system and it results in pain that can degrade the brain, at least temporarily, but could do long-lasting permanent harm if done enough times. And the resulting hurt feelings could greatly degrade a person’s life if intense enough.

So the question becomes; do you really want to do that kind of harm to someone else? I hope that the answer is no. Otherwise, just try to remember the golden rule. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Would you want anyone yelling at you, insulting you, spreading rumors about you or doing any other kinds of mean and disrespectful actions towards you? I’d be willing to bet that the answer is no. It would probably cause you hurt and pain. So keep that in mind before ever doing anything bad to anyone and let it motivate you to treat people with kindness and compassion.

Positive Sources of Influence and Insperation

Success Ultra Now:

Michael Mackintosh, Nick Good, and occasionaly David Wolfe really know their stuff. These guys are experts on nutrtion, spirituality, positive living, etc, and they've really influenced me in a big way. They have a lot of great material on their Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/successultranow and even more on their free advanced training website at http://mysuperherotraining.com/basecamp/intro-with-nick-michael/.

David Wolfe:

This guy is without a doubt the authority on truly healthy nutrition and lifestyle in my opinion. This guy's information and knowledge has benefited me in huge ways and I'm forever in debt to him. First I'd recommend a few of his books as a good place to start. Amazing Grace http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Grace-Principles-Living-Natural/dp/1556437307 is easily one of the best and most important book I've ever read. It's a huge life changer filled with invaluable information. And then one of his books that focuses primarily on nutrtion, Eating for Beauty http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Beauty-David-Wolfe/dp/1556437323/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343706093&sr=1-1&keywords=david+wolfe+eating+for+beauty is extremly informative and invaluable as well. You can also see him speaking about nutritional tips a lot on the Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Longevitydvds. And his website http://www.longevitywarehouse.com/Default.asp is a place where you can find all of the health enhancing products that he recommends and produces. Anything ranging from superfoods, to supplements, to hygiene products.
His additional websites are http://www.davidwolfe.com/ and http://www.thebestdayever.com/bde-david-wolfe.html.

Some Good Advice and Words of Wisdom

1. Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect
2. Remain close to the Great Spirit
3. Show great respect for your fellow beings
4. Work together for the benefit of all Mankind
5. Give assistance and kindness wherever needed
6. Do what you know to be right
7. Look after the well being of mind and body
8. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good
9. Be truthful and honest at all times
10. Take full responsibility for your actions
-Ten Principles of the Kanien’Kehake Tribe

1. Focus on creating pure, powerful thoughts about your eternal self
2. Love and accept everyone and maintain an attitude of humility and service
3. Surrender the ego and ego desires to God
4. As much as possible, spend time with good company - people who you feel inspired by
5. Expose yourself to high vibe music, art, and spiritual books
6. Be teachable by those who have what you want
7. Don't believe everything you hear in the 'news'. Instead, think for yourself
8. Relax - don't take everything so seriously
9. Have fun!
10. Do less - and focus on only what is the greatest contribution to your true self and the world
-Michael Macintosh, Co-founder of Success Ultra Now

Introduction

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog. I named this blog after the Italian translation for "Lotus Flower" because those were viewed as the symbol of enlightenment amongst many of the ancient cultures, especially those of the Hindu/Yogic variety. They gave great praise to the flower because, although it has its beginnings and roots in deep mud far from the sun, it has the ability to overcome such obstacles, reach the light and fully bloom. I feel like this is big symbolism of my own life so far, or atleast what I'm attempting, but this blog will have very little to do with me or my own experiences. Instead, I'll be offering guidance on making healthier and more positive choices to look into, not only for your own life, but the world as a whole. The advice will range in topics from nutrition, exercise, books/movies to take a look at, brands and products that I've found to be tremendously healthy and beneficial, and many other things. I might offer spiritual advice, and perhaps talk about my views regarding political issues, world events, and other things going on. At times it might sound like I'm a salesman trying to market certain things or people, but I am in no way affiliated with anyone like that. I just recommend something/someone if I find that my life has been greatly enhanced by the services offered and will take the opportunity to allow others to look into those things so that they might enjoy them as well, if they like what they see. So with that said, check back every now and then, and hope you enjoy!