Black Lotus Maha Yogi

I had written about my journey with Black Lotus earlier here when I reached the “Yogi” stage. Well, I chalked up to the next level recently – pat on my back again 😊.

Crossing this milestone needs:

·        23000 Reflect Points (earned by Meditation and Chanting)

·        23000 Act Points (earned by Breathwork, Acts of Kindness, Mindfulness Activities and Gratitude)

·        2250 Reinforce Points (earned by reading and watching Wisdom content)

·        10000 Evaluate points (earned by Daily Evaluation)

This leg of the journey has had a new set of learnings. But first, my stats as on 8-May when I reached this level:

Go on – say something nice. I’m not shy of accepting some praise any more. I’ve done something awesome and I’m sharing it with the world to know. I don’t mind if people say a few good words.

For this is an important realization that has dawned – acceptance of oneself.

I have accepted I like being praised (I guess everyone does anyway). While it does go to my head and bloats up my confidence to the level of being over-confident, that is as I am. Striking the balance between seeking and accepting appreciation while balancing the ego is my ongoing effort while I traverse this wonderous life further with the aid of Black Lotus.

Interestingly the notification came up unexpectedly. At one point of time, I was viewing my points often. Somewhere in the early April, I stopped looking at the points. It was overwhelming when the notification came.

Some more experiences and learnings along the way below:

Higher tolerance of pain:

I’ve been known to be intolerant to pain – even the injections and the syringes for blood tests used to make me shirk away. (My family enjoys teasing me about it 😊). I don’t generally fall ill – I’ve had fever maybe for 2-3 times in the last 20 years – but when I do, I have found it quite intolerable. I’ve had a tendency to make a big fuss and attract a lot of attention.

However, when I was down with COVID infection in January, I can say with confidence that my tolerance of the discomfort due to high fever was considerably higher than on previous occasions. 

The ability to withstand pain and discomfort has grown with the practice of regular meditation.

Deeper interest in meditation and the Chakras:

While the Black Lotus meditations and goal packs are very well tuned to a balanced, happy and peaceful life, the practice of meditation also created an interest in spiritual practices. I’ve been drawn to understand more of the Chakras, the Divine Energy and other non-tangible forces. Considering my available time and ease of access, I learnt the practice of Reiki earlier this year.

Acceptance:

Though I spoke of acceptance earlier in this post, there are more aspects to it.

·        Acceptance of events

·        Acceptance of mistakes and shortcomings

Each aspect is unique. Acceptance of events (or life) has given peace and joy. Acceptance of my mistakes and shortcomings has given me courage.

I recently made an error in a calculation at work. Normally, I would have tried to hide it, avoid the situation, manage it, manipulate my way out of it. This time, I simply told the relevant colleagues that I goofed up. (Fortunately, I work with some really good people and we worked our way out.) But irrespective of that, I’m now firm in the belief that I cannot be right all the time and would make mistakes. But the fastest way to move ahead is to accept and look for a solution.

Importance of rest:

This has been another great realization. Over the last 2-3 years, I’ve been pushing my body and mind hard by reducing my hours of sleep so as to do more during the day. The practice of meditation and mindfulness acts, clubbed with the wisdom content have made it dawn upon me that the body and mind need their due rest. Meditation, contemplation and acceptance have helped me understand the need for sufficient rest. While this would vary from person to person, I’ve found my optimum. Rather than trying to manage more time for meditation by sleeping less, I’ve increased my sleep time and found that the day goes off much better.

Maintaining a diary:

This may seem trivial but its importance cannot be understated. I’ve had a diary on and off but after doing the “Live Like a Champion” goal pack, I understood its value. Though I just make entries every week or two – the time spent in writing (physically) does have a good impact in organizing my thoughts and plans.

So, in summary, this leg of the journey has helped me strike a balance in my life, understand myself better and adapt my lifestyle to the needs of my body and mind. Needless to say – daily kindness, everyday gratitude, lesser distractions and day-to-day mindfulness are key findings but I’ve spoken about them before.

Immense gratitude again to the Black Lotus team and Om Swamiji for this wonderful guide to a balanced and happy life.