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	<title>Yang Town</title>
	
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	<description>Practical Spiritual Wisdom for Men</description>
	<pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2009 03:41:59 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Spiritual Movie Review: “The Shift” from Ambition to Meaning by Wayne Dyer</title>
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		<comments>http://www.yangtown.com/spiritual-movie-reviews-films/spiritual-movie-review-the-shift-from-ambition-to-meaning-by-wayne-dyer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:41:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Spiritual Movie Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yangtown.com/?p=498</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Is it possible to achieve our dreams of success without a spiritual practice?
Can we be both spiritual and successful? Or are the two mutually exclusive?
I remember growing up I started developing ambitions about the future of my life.
I fantasized about having a successful business, having lots of money, and being cool and confident in social [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Is it possible to achieve our dreams of success without a spiritual practice?</p>
<p>Can we be both spiritual and successful? Or are the two mutually exclusive?</p>
<p><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=o7g3uLQAGbM&amp;offerid=139925.10000076&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0" target="_blank" title="Wayne Dyer the shift movie" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/click.linksynergy.com');"><img src="http://www.yangtown.com/wp-content/uploads/wayne_dyer_the_shift_ambition_to_meaning.gif" border="0" alt="Wayne Dyer the shift movie review ambition to meaning" title="Wayne Dyer the shift movie review ambition to meaning" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="140" height="199" align="left" /></a>I remember growing up I started developing ambitions about the future of my life.</p>
<p>I fantasized about having a successful business, having lots of money, and being cool and confident in social situations&#8230;the usual aspirations for a young man.</p>
<p>Yet deep down, I felt a small and subtle but ever-present longing for becoming more &quot;spiritual&quot;.</p>
<p>Whenever that feeling would come up, I would usually brush it off and say to myself, &quot;I&#39;ll study spirituality when I&#39;m older&quot; or &quot;Once I get my life together and achieve most of my goals, then I can spend time on spiritual stuff.&quot;</p>
<p>I&#39;ve come to realize the irony in it all because without the &quot;spiritual stuff&quot;, it becomes pretty tough to achieve anything in life and truly be happy.</p>
<p>Sure, you can achieve anything without being spiritual, but in my own experience, to truly find fulfillment, one must begin to focus inward and reconnect with their source.</p>
<p>At that point, everything changes <u><em>quality</em></u> and fulfillment is experienced <em>not through achievement but by alignment</em>.</p>
<p>Because of this, many of the old ambitions fall away and are replaced by new ambitions, ones that are created out of a new paradigm of reality; a new understanding of the world.</p>
<p>Instead of the cycle of reaching for a goal and suffering until it is reached, one aligns oneself with a deeper purpose and all action arises out of that purpose.</p>
<p>The fulfillment comes from the purpose itself, rather than in the achieving of any particular goal or action.</p>
<p>In this way, one is happy when they start a new project or goal, they are happy while it is in progress, and they are happy when it comes to fruition.</p>
<p>This way one lives in a state of constant fulfillment - every moment is full and complete just by the fact that it is happening.</p>
<p>Sounds good doesn&#39;t it?</p>
<p>This is the basic premise of Wayne Dyer&#39;s first feature film, entitled &quot;The Shift&quot; (originally it was titled Ambition to Meaning: Finding Your Life&#39;s Purpose).</p>
<p>Wayne Dyer is a widely known and well respected author and speaker in the area of personal development and spirituality.</p>
<p>He has created many video programs centered around his various concepts but this is his first full-on movie with actors, a plot, and more.</p>
<p>I really like the way they created this film.&nbsp; It&#39;s a new and unique approach to film making.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The movie follows 3 separate story lines that all weave together at a retreat center in Northern California.&nbsp; One story follows a woman as she handles the pressures of being a loving wife and mother while coming to terms the feeling that something is missing from her life. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Another story follows an ambitious young filmmaker who is on the verge of making his breakthrough film that will launch his career into the big league.</p>
<p>&nbsp;The third story follows a young corporate executive who&#39;s drive to succeed at work has taken a toll on his relationship with his wife, and with himself. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Interspersed throughout the movie, Wayne Dyer narrates with words of wisdom that describe the transition from the ambition phase of our life, where success is &quot;out there&quot;, to the meaning phase of our life, where success is &quot;in here&quot;.</p>
<p>Wayne is also part of the movie, since the filmmaker character is supposed to film Dr. Dyer as a mini project before his big movie deal.&nbsp; So in this way Wayne is actually a character in the movie, even though he plays himself.</p>
<p>As the 3 story lines start to culminate, the various characters start to see parts of their lives breakdown or transition as they make the critical shift.</p>
<p>Although to them it seems confusing and frustrating, when viewed from the context that Wayne provides, we see that life does have a deeper meaning and when we connect with our own inner calling and align ourselves with this purpose, we find an unending source of joy, love, and guidance.</p>
<p>I especially liked this film because it sheds new light on one of the biggest sources of suffering and misunderstanding in the western world - <u>the confusion between a needy, longing desire for something and the steadfast, accepting path to actually realizing it</u>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>So many of us, myself included, confuse wanting something <em>really really badly</em> as progress toward attaining that thing.</p>
<p>As discussed in the post, <a href="http://www.yangtown.com/spirituality/fulfillment-is-found-not-through-attainment-but-by-letting-go/" title="Fulfillment is found by letting go of attachments to desires" >Fulfillment is Found Not Through Attainment but by Letting Go</a>, we can see that by letting go of something we want <em>in advance</em>, we actually make it much easier to bring into our lives.</p>
<p>Another reason I like this film, besides the powerful body of wisdom presented throughout, is the living and breathing example of a man who has integrated his yin and yang side (his masculine and feminine parts), which is Wayne Dyer of course.</p>
<p>Wayne Dyer creates out of a deep connection to his innermost purpose and lives life with an open heart.</p>
<p>Rare is a man who expresses both truth and love in such a way as him.</p>
<p>Here is an excerpt about the <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=o7g3uLQAGbM&amp;offerid=139925.10000076&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0" target="_blank" title="Ambition to Meaning The Shift" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/click.linksynergy.com');">movie</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><span class="MainFont2"><strong>Best-Selling Author and Renowned Spiritual Teacher, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Presents His First Feature Film&mdash;<em>The Shift </em>(formerly titled <em>Ambition to Meaning)</em>.</strong></p>
<p> What is <em>The Shift? </em> It&rsquo;s the story of the most important moment of your life&mdash;when you stop striving and start arriving! It&rsquo;s the choice you make to move toward a life that gathers up the pieces of your best, most fulfilled, most loving self. It&rsquo;s the moment when you start living a life rich with meaning and begin playing the music you came here to play!</p>
<p> Are you ready to make <em>the shift</em> that changes everything? When will you find the joy, the peace, and the love that you came here to give and to receive?</p>
<p> In this inspiring new movie, you&rsquo;ll enjoy an engaging, heartwarming and humorous tale of transformation on vacation. You&rsquo;ll marvel at the beauty of the windswept ocean scenery. Share the characters&rsquo; delight as they receive the most precious gift&mdash;permission to follow their hearts. Hear Wayne say, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t die with your music still in you&rdquo; and see everyone set free to join the orchestra!</p>
<p> Early in life, we follow the path mapped out by ego, a path of ambition, competition, and striving. When midlife dawns, we too often find ourselves stranded in a lonely and desolate place we never intended to visit. Our feelings of sadness and frustration tell us we took a wrong turn. Like a shift in the wind or a change in the tide, the yearning we feel at midlife is a call to renewal. <em>The Shift</em> shows us the path home, the path to rediscovering our true self, our purpose, and the life of meaning that is our true calling.</p>
<p> <em>&ldquo;When you get it&mdash;that you don&rsquo;t do things because of what somebody else is going to do for you, but you do them because you&rsquo;re living your life&rsquo;s purpose&mdash;you can light up the whole world with that kind of love. That&rsquo;s how it works for me.&rdquo;</em><br /> <strong>&mdash;Wayne Dyer</strong></span>&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To view the trailer and view or purchase the movie, visit <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=o7g3uLQAGbM&amp;offerid=139925.10000076&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0" target="new" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/click.linksynergy.com');">Wayne Dyer&#39;s The Shift: Ambition to Meaning</a><img src="http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=o7g3uLQAGbM&amp;bids=139925.10000076&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0" border="0" width="1" height="1" /></p>
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		<item>
		<title>What is God?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/YangTown/~3/uhCO1eq-4lE/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yangtown.com/spirituality/what-is-god/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:19:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Spirituality]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yangtown.com/?p=484</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is one of those questions that can be a very sensitive topic for many people.
Who is God?&#160; Or better yet, What is God?
I know for me, the meaning of this question has changed quite profoundly in the past few years.
Like many in the west, I seemed to have this notion of a judging, watchful, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is one of those questions that can be a very sensitive topic for many people.</p>
<p>Who is God?&nbsp; Or better yet, <em>What</em> is God?</p>
<p><img src="http://www.yangtown.com/wp-content/uploads/what_is_god_loving_presence_awareness.jpg" border="0" alt="What is God but loving awareness" title="What is God but loving awareness" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="200" height="301" align="left" />I know for me, the meaning of this question has changed quite profoundly in the past few years.</p>
<p>Like many in the west, I seemed to have this notion of a judging, watchful, man in the sky who would dole out punishment to those who did &quot;wrong&quot; and help those who did &quot;right&quot;.</p>
<p>I can understand when people question &quot;if there even is a God&quot; or reject the ideas that were handed down to them earlier in life.</p>
<p>What is God?</p>
<p>For one thing, God is subjective; a little different to each person.&nbsp; To some it is a silly fantasy, while to others, a lifelong companion. &nbsp;</p>
<p>For most of Western man&#39;s history, the way to know God was through a middleman - a priest, rabbi, or otherwise holyman.</p>
<p>For the average person,<em> </em>the<em> experience of God</em> was just not a possibility, let alone a part of their life.</p>
<p>Because of this setup, most men had to rely on their designated holy man to guide them in spiritual matters.</p>
<p>Of course, in their humanness, there were some who misunderstood or misused their position and overtime this notion of God became a mixed bag of ideas, agendas, misunderstandings, and wisdom.</p>
<p>Soon a dogma formed around &quot;God&quot; and many positionalities became entrenched in some of the organizations and people.</p>
<p>(A dogma, in my opinion, is a strict adherence to an idea of which the person does not have any direct experience regarding.&nbsp; A positionality is the state in which a perspective is skewed to one polarity, or side, of the mind, which blocks out a large, opposing, part of reality).</p>
<p>Fast forward to today and we see a new definition of &quot;God&quot;.&nbsp; As we stop relying on outside sources to tell us what our own personal spirituality is, we begin to take our power back.</p>
<p>No longer is God an idea or a belief system&#8230;rather God becomes <em>a direct experience</em>.</p>
<p>What is God?</p>
<p>To me, when I sit quietly, close my eyes and calm my mind, I allow my awareness to fade out.&nbsp; I let all that is going on in the world drift out of my mind and I become open.</p>
<p>Soon I feel a presence, a feeling within me yet also encompassing me.&nbsp; I feel a connection, a communion is you will, with an intelligent field of pure love engolfing my being.</p>
<p>My awareness extends beyond my personal self and I begin to feel as if I am going up, not up as &quot;in to the sky&quot; but more &quot;back&quot; as if I were drifting out of this dimension of existence.</p>
<p>In these moments, it feels as though <em><u>all is well</u></em>, and a powerful peace encompasses my awareness.&nbsp; I feel a deep and personal love; a 2 way love going out and coming in.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>I am the giver and the receiver all at once</em>.</p>
<p>Waves of blissful energy pulsate through my body and for a moment, I am home.</p>
<p>Then I return to my world, but this time, I bring more of that loving state of peace with me.</p>
<p>And every once in a while, during my day to day life, I will run into someone who says &quot;God doesn&#39;t exist&quot; or who &quot;Isn&#39;t sure about God&quot;.</p>
<p>And I smile, knowing that they are really just releasing an outdated concept; a belief system.</p>
<p>I know that as they search for their own truth, they will come to experience that same presence as I have.</p>
<p>With this awareness, there is no longer any question about it.&nbsp; There is nothing for me to argue or defend.&nbsp; Instead, I just allow&#8230;and trust.</p>
<p>All IS well.</p>
<p>I know that this question of &quot;what is God&quot; is a reflection of our relationship with our own inner masculine energy.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Do we deny it?&nbsp; Or do we realize our own true nature?</p>
<p>I know that as our culture finds what true masculine power is and begins to heal it, it will come face to face with this question of &quot;What is God&quot;.</p>
<p>&nbsp;For God is the ultimate masculine, the unmanifest, the silent presence&#8230;&quot;The Father&quot;.</p>
<p>As we heal our relationshiop with God, through direct experience, we begin to integrate true masculine power.</p>
<p>As we do that, we also begin to integrate our deepest purpose and, simultaneously, start to live from our authentic, loving, and joyful Self.</p>
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		<title>The Power of Being a “No Man”</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/YangTown/~3/0uSocmif4E4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yangtown.com/spirituality/the-power-of-being-a-no-man/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:39:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Spirituality]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yangtown.com/?p=471</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Are we more empowered when we say &#34;Yes&#34; or &#34;No&#34; to life? 
What role does our peer group play in our ability to choose?
How do we manage our energy in such a way that each choice strengthens us and improves our life? 
I recently had a chance to see the movie &#34;Yes Man&#34; with Jim [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Are we more empowered when we say &quot;Yes&quot; or &quot;No&quot; to life? </p>
<p>What role does our peer group play in our ability to choose?</p>
<p>How do we manage our energy in such a way that each choice strengthens us and improves our life? </p>
<p>I recently had a chance to see the movie &quot;Yes Man&quot; with Jim Carrey and I gotta say I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p>It&#39;s good to see him back doing comedies again and it&#39;s also good to see a movie with an overall positive message and uplifting vibration.</p>
<p>One thing that amused me during the film was the whole concept of being a &quot;Yes Man&quot; and how Jim Carrey&#39;s character seemed to empower himself and improve his life by saying &quot;Yes&quot; to more and more requests from others.</p>
<p>It was funny because, in my experience, <em>it has been the complete opposite</em>.</p>
<p>Don&#39;t get me wrong, there is definitely a good side to being open to life and to be able to give a full yes with all of our being, yet I&#39;ve come to learn that <em>this is only possible if we can also give a full no if the situation calls for it</em>.</p>
<p>&quot;No&quot; is one of the most empowering words in the human language.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="http://www.yangtown.com/wp-content/uploads/the_power_of_being_a_no_man_door_yin_yang.jpg" border="0" alt="The Power of Being a No Man, The Yin and Yang of Choice" title="The Power of Being a No Man, The Yin and Yang of Choice" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="230" height="150" align="left" />Every time we take back our power, we say &quot;No&quot; to something we are no longer choosing and in that moment we are becoming conscious.</p>
<p>In those times when we say &quot;No&quot; to something that we have unconsciously said &quot;Yes&quot; to for all the years past, we are waking up and reclaiming a part of our spirit.</p>
<p>In every full &quot;No&quot;, there is the seed of a full &quot;Yes&quot; to something else.</p>
<p>When we have the inner strength to say &quot;No&quot;, it is because we have decided what we are no longer willing to accept in our life, and instead, we have figured out what we do want in life and <span style="font-style: italic">we will not compromise our spirit in the meantime</span> <em>for anything less</em>.</p>
<p>Many of us fall into doing things because they are easy, comfortable, and safe, even though they are not what our soul longs for.</p>
<p>We often do things because that&#39;s how everyone does it in our social group and we&#39;ve never consciously chosen these things for ourselves.</p>
<p>Other times we do things because those we depend on choose for us and we may not be strong enough to withstand their disapproval or rejection.</p>
<p>In all of these situations, when we gather enough courage to break free from these outside authorities and consciously choose for ourselves, often it is in the form of a solid and unwavering &quot;No&quot;.</p>
<p>Saying &quot;No&quot; is like a tool for inner energy management, a door that we close to all things that are not in alignment with our inner being.</p>
<p>It is the guardian of our inner integrity; a way to silence the cries of need that come out of fear and insecurity.</p>
<p><span style="font-style: italic">What you say &quot;No&quot; to in life determines how you use this divine currency known as choice</span>.</p>
<p>Let me give you an example to illustrate this idea.</p>
<p>For many years during college and afterwards, I would party with my friends at bars, clubs and other events.&nbsp; We drank a lot of alcohol, of course.&nbsp; In fact, it didn&#39;t matter as much where we went so long that we got drunk and had a good time.</p>
<p>I had many good times doing this (though my health was suffering), yet I don&#39;t really remember there being a point where I said &quot;Yes, I&#39;m choosing this drinking/partying lifestyle&quot; (from a deeper level, that is).&nbsp; I just sort of fell into it since this is how everyone in my social group did it.</p>
<p>Only this past year did I start to question this pattern of excessive drinking and start to separate myself from it.&nbsp; I soon realized that almost everything revolved around drinking and that there were many &quot;issues&quot; under the surface that pushed one to drink.&nbsp; </p>
<p>As I healed these &quot;issues&quot; within me through constant use of things like EFT, TAT, Holosync, and other spiritual practices, I started to not feel so driven to drink.</p>
<p>I also realized that I was not honoring my body, my physical tool for bringing divinity into physical form, by drinking so much. </p>
<p>Eventually I realized that I felt so good normally (both physically and because of the self-love), that drinking actually made me feel worse without any of the &quot;high&quot; that I used to get.</p>
<p>After I realized this, it became time to strengthen my backbone&#8230;by saying &quot;No&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>I began to turn away drinks, or spend nights out with friends at bars and clubs completely sober.</p>
<p>Sure, I would get flack from the guys about not drinking and at the beginning I would sometimes cave and drink a few, but eventually my inner &quot;No&quot; became more powerful than their outer &quot;Yes&quot;.</p>
<p>(In fact, I think that sometimes our friends will put a lot of pressure on us if we try to improve our lives&nbsp; because it subtly means that they will have to face all the issues they have been avoiding or denying in themselves, but that is another story).</p>
<p>Now it&#39;s at the point where any outer &quot;Yes&quot; is so quiet, if someone throws one out there or tries to pressure me in anyway, I either laugh it off or don&#39;t even give it a second thought.</p>
<p>One thing that I notice as I hang out with my friends while embodying this choice to not drink, is that just by my example and presence, something in them is waking up.&nbsp; They are starting to question this need to drink, yet now they have someone who can anchor this reality for them.</p>
<p>I truly believe the most powerful catalyst for change comes from living the change yourself.</p>
<p>Your example, as communicated by your presence alone, is potent enough to wake up the hearts of those around you (even though their minds may resist you at first).</p>
<p>The way to embody your powerful presence starts with consciously choosing &quot;No&quot; to all things that drain you.</p>
<p>This applies not just to addictions but also to relationships, thought patterns, habits, and any area of your life where your power of choice resides outside of you.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, also, that I&#39;m not saying &quot;No&quot; to alcohol itself, but rather to a tribal belief system or the way in which alcohol is used.</p>
<p>We never say &quot;No&quot; to the specific substances, person or activity at hand, we are saying &quot;No&quot; to the energy field which determines the role these things play in our life.</p>
<p>In my case, I was not saying &quot;No&quot; to the alcohol because &quot;it&#39;s wrong to drink alcohol&quot; or anything like that, I was saying &quot;No&quot; to the underlying energy field that subconsciously says that alcohol is the way to have fun and is the answer to life&#39;s problems.</p>
<p>See, this is where people get caught up.&nbsp; They think that breaking free of an addiction means never using that drug again or never seeing that person to whom they&#39;ve given away their power.</p>
<p>So they avoid that specific substance or person and think they are healed or &quot;clean&quot;, until one day they find a new substance or enter a new relationship and they find themselves in the same addictive power struggle all over again.</p>
<p>The root cause is never the outer substance or person (they are just a trigger), it&#39;s the underlying energy field that we have not yet evolved out of; the context of how one relates to the world.</p>
<p><em>Make one conscious choice to let go of a type of addiction and you&#39;ve let them all go, <u>for good</u></em>.</p>
<p>Two people can be having a beer in the same bar, yet be in two completely different worlds on the inside.</p>
<p>The path of empowerment comes to us as a process of waking up to this inner world and using this awareness to make better choices; one&#39;s that lead to peace, happiness, and self-love.</p>
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		<title>Yang Town’s Design Now Available as a Print</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/YangTown/~3/mND-0rwg7yU/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yangtown.com/general/yang-towns-design-now-available-as-a-print/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:51:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yangtown.com/?p=465</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So ever since Yang Town launched I&#39;ve been receiving many compliments about the blog&#39;s design, specifically the header (some people have even asked if they could buy prints).&#160;
I&#39;ve been a big fan of the many incredibly talented digital artists over at the DeviantArt.com community, (in fact the Yang Town design was inspired by a dozen [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So ever since Yang Town launched I&#39;ve been receiving many compliments about the blog&#39;s design, specifically the header (some people have even asked if they could buy prints).&nbsp;</p>
<p>I&#39;ve been a big fan of the many incredibly talented digital artists over at the DeviantArt.com community, (in fact the Yang Town design was inspired by a dozen or so of various deviant art peices), so it only made sense to submit Yang Town as a new deviation (a deviant art creation) and make it available as a print. &nbsp;</p>
<p>This means you can purchase a print of the Yang Town header design through deviantart.com and have it framed if you like as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>I&#39;ve been intending to do this for and finally got around to printing one for myself to see the quality, and also to anchor the energy of Yang Town in my room.</p>
<p>You can <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/print/5124639/" target="_blank" title="Yang Town Print" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.deviantart.com');">view print here</a>.&nbsp; There are many sizes available, ranging from small postcard size prints to large 20 x 30 inch prints.&nbsp; The quality is amazing, especially if you order what&#39;s called &quot;Lustre&quot; (Simply click on the word &#39;Matte&#39; to change between Matte, Glossy, and Lustre).&nbsp;</p>
<p>Lustre is a new printing technology described like this:</p>
<blockquote><p> &quot;<em>Lustre</em> is wonderful for both, capturing the best qualities from <em>Glossy</em> and <em>Matte</em> and combining them into one beautiful finish. The Lustre finish has more saturated inks which can sometimes result in a darker image. The quality this finish adds to your artwork is beyond description. You must see it to believe it!&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Check out the pics below to give you a size of the scale (the pic below is the 20&#215;30 print w/ frame):</p>
<p> <a href="http://www.yangtown.com/images/yangtown_print_2.jpg" ><img src="http://www.yangtown.com/images/yangtown_print_2_small.jpg" border="0" alt="Yang Town Print" title="Yang Town Print" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="225" height="148" /></a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.yangtown.com/images/yangtown_print_1.jpg" ><img src="http://www.yangtown.com/images/yangtown_print_1_small.jpg" border="0" alt="Yang Town Print Deviant Art" title="Yang Town Print Deviant Art" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="225" height="169" /></a>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Having the print serves as a reminder of the Yang Town Mission of developing masculine power, emotional strength, a sense of purpose, personal integrity, and an open heart.</p>
<p>If you like the design, you will appreciate the quality up close (it looks <em>really</em> good).&nbsp; So once again, <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/print/5124639/" title="Buy the Yang Town Spiritual Wisdom Print" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.deviantart.com');">here is the link to buy the Yang Town Print</a>.</p>
<p> I would also encourage you to checkout all the amazing artwork at <a href="http://www.deviantart.com" target="_blank" title="Deviant Art" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.deviantart.com');">deviantart.com</a>, there are tons of incredibly innovative and provocative creations. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Sat Nam. </p>
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		<title>Q &amp; A Volume II: Finding Peace in a Painful Truth, Feeling Energy, and Letting Go of PickUp</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/YangTown/~3/RGhWIj7e9Fs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yangtown.com/question-answer/q-a-volume-ii-finding-peace-in-a-painful-truth-feeling-energy-and-letting-go-of-pickup/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:34:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Question &amp; Answer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yangtown.com/?p=459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Is it possible to find peace in the midst of sadness?&#160;
Is there a practical exercise to sense subtle energy?
Where does pickup and seduction fit in with our spiritual path?
These are some of the questions featured in Volume II of the Question and Answer Series.&#160; Check out Volume I: Humility vs Confidence, Finding Your Mission, and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Is it possible to find peace in the midst of sadness?&nbsp;</p>
<p>Is there a practical exercise to sense subtle energy?</p>
<p>Where does pickup and seduction fit in with our spiritual path?</p>
<p>These are some of the questions featured in Volume II of the Question and Answer Series.&nbsp; Check out <a href="http://www.yangtown.com/question-answer/q-a-volume-i-humility-vs-confidence-finding-your-mission-and-saying-hi-to-women/" title="Humility and confidence, finding your misison, and saying hi to women" >Volume I: Humility vs Confidence, Finding Your Mission, and Saying Hi to Women</a> in case you missed it and feel free to submit any questions of your own in the comments section.&nbsp;&nbsp; Thanks and enjoy.</p>
<p><u><img src="http://www.yangtown.com/images/post_qa_2_truth_energy_pickup.jpg" border="0" alt="Finding Peace in truth" title="Finding Peace in truth" hspace="5" vspace="5" width="190" height="347" align="left" />I have heard that truth always brings joy, yet sometimes it feels like the truth hurts more than a lie would.&nbsp; Are there times when life is simply painful, like in the case of a loss of a loved one?&nbsp; How can we make peace with this apparent painful truth?</u> </p>
<p>On one level, I can understand how sadness can seem to come from outside events.&nbsp; Emotions, whether they are unpleasant or pleasant, are constantly passing through us and that&#39;s ok.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It&#39;s totally natural to experience chaotic emotions at times.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I think it really comes down to our ability to <em>allow life to happen</em> (rather than resist it) that determines whether we bounce back or suffer for long periods of time.&nbsp;</p>
<p> We often beat ourselves up for having feelings, and that is where some of the deeper pain comes in. </p>
<p>In our humanness, we create energetic bonds with others and when those bonds are broken, our entire emotional system undergoes a change.&nbsp; Crying, for example, is one way that our system clears this energetic charge.</p>
<p>However, if our mind takes over and begins to resists reality, we can fall into depression where we relive traumatic memories over and over again. &nbsp;</p>
<p>In cases like these, it may be useful to do Self-Inquiry (which is a process of questioning stressful thoughts and meanings, since these are the source of the real suffering).</p>
<p>Let&#39;s do some together&#8230; </p>
<p> Truth can bring sadness.</p>
<p>Is that true?</p>
<p> Sit with this one for a moment if you like.&nbsp;</p>
<p> What I&#39;ve discovered is that <u><em>it&#39;s not possible</em></u>.&nbsp; What happens is always for good, the only question is whether I can see the good or not.</p>
<p> I&#39;ve often discovered that the only way to feel sadness is to believe sad thoughts. To believe a story that the mind is telling.</p>
<p> If someone dies, one doesn&rsquo;t immediately (in that exact moment) feel sad. One first hears about it, then the mind brings up a story (a collection of thoughts), and then that story determines what the event means and results in a feeling (a positive or negative feeling).</p>
<p> The only way to have anything other than peace is to believe thoughts that aren&#39;t true.</p>
<p>And what&#39;s true is what is happening; reality.</p>
<p> Remember, it&rsquo;s not the event that is causing us pain, it&rsquo;s what we believe that events means that is painful or joyful (ie, it&#39;s holding beliefs that argue with reality, thoughts that cause us to resist).</p>
<p> For example, if we feel pain when a loved one dies, it&rsquo;s often because our mind has determined that it means: </p>
<ul>
<li>We will never experience their presence again</li>
<li>They no longer exist, or are somehow suffering where ever they are</li>
<li>We should have acted differently while they were alive and now it is not possible to right all the wrongs we have done.</li>
</ul>
<p> These are just a few of the meanings that may be triggered upon someone&rsquo;s death, all of which are the mind getting stuck in a polarity or less than useful reality. &nbsp;</p>
<p> If you were to really work through any of these, you would see how ridiculous they all are.&nbsp; Then you might experience new meanings like these:</p>
<ul>
<li>We can experience their presence at any moment</li>
<li>They exist, and always will, and are in a joyful experience where ever they are</li>
<li>We should have acted exactly as we did, for both of us were co-creators of our experience and even though it wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;perfect&rdquo;, it was how divinity unfolded.&nbsp; It allowed us to grow and choose a better way through our life experience.</li>
</ul>
<p> A close family member just passed a few months ago and I felt almost entirely feelings of love while others in my family were in deep sadness.&nbsp; Of course, I did feel some emotions of grief come up at first but I allowed them to pass through me without resisting them.</p>
<p> Then, I was able to feel love because I was not caught up in an untrue story but was aware of the moment. In the moment I felt love for the person who had passed on.</p>
<p> If one is struggling with past regrets and constantly beating oneself up over what should have been, they are likely stuck in the mind and resisting reality, rather than in the heart and feeling the moment.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> It also may mean that one is holding on to other&#39;s truth rather than finding their own.</p>
<p> So to clear the emotions, use EFT and TAT as I have mentioned before.</p>
<p> To cut through these deeper, more &ldquo;painful truths&rdquo;, try using <a href="http://www.yangtown.com/spirituality/how-to-let-go-of-any-stressful-thought-using-the-work-of-byron-katie/" title="The Work of Byron Katie" >The Work of Byron Katie</a>. &nbsp;<br /> Check out the 4 questions and the turn around and you will usually end up finding inner peace. </p>
<p>. </p>
<p><u>You talk a lot about sensing energy in your posts, Can you describe what you experience when you feel energy and is there an easy way for me to feel it too?</u></p>
<p> When I talk about energy, I am referring to the subtle energy emanating from the chakras and aura and also the energy within the meridians.&nbsp;</p>
<p> Even though everything is made up of energy, I usually refer to experiencing subtle sensations in these areas of the body when I talk about energy.&nbsp;</p>
<p> I remember a year and a half ago, I was reading Donna Eden&rsquo;s book Energy Medicine and she had a simple exercise to feel energy:</p>
<p> Step 1: Clasp your hands together in front of your chest and begin to rub them faster and faster to generate heat.</p>
<p> Step 2: Stop rubbing and, with eyes closed, slowly begin to move them away from each other until they are about 6 inches apart then slowly move closer together and then farther apart.</p>
<p> If you can feel sensations against your hands, that is energy.</p>
<p> When I first did it, I felt barely anything.</p>
<p> Now, it feels like a cool breeze and also like my hands have become magnets that have a push/pull force between them.</p>
<p> If I close my eyes, sometimes it feels like my hands are touching when I get close even if they are 2-3 inches away. It&rsquo;s pretty cool.</p>
<p> I suspect that if one is left brain dominant (logical, scientific, linear cause/effect thinking) it is harder to feel energy.</p>
<p> The more one brings in the right brain, the more they will begin to experience energy and other spiritual phenomena.&nbsp;</p>
<p> A good program to check out for this type of left-right brain connection is the <a href="http://www.yangtown.com/holosync" target="_blank" title="Meditate like a Zen Monk at the Touch of a Button" >Holosync Meditation Program</a> It&#39;s a system of exposing each ear to different sound waves (behind music) that cause each side of your brain to start communicating with each other, resulting in more inner peace, super-learning, creativity, and it also begins to stimulate the release of things like endorphins, human growth hormone and other cool stuff, all naturally.</p>
<p>.</p>
<p> <u>What is your take on Pick Up and Seduction as a means to having success with women?&nbsp; Are these helpful processes for personal growth or are they negative blocks to a fulfilling life?</u></p>
<p> It seems to me that the pickup artist stuff is a stage one may go through to break out of many limiting beliefs.</p>
<p> What I&#39;ve come to realize is one is often trading a belief system of being the &quot;nice&quot; guy for a belief system of being a &ldquo;pickup artist&rdquo;.</p>
<p> Granted, one has more outward success with women, they are still belief systems that will eventually be let go of.</p>
<p> So pick-up can help those at one level get to a new level, but eventually pickup will start to hold one back. For those familiar with David Hawkin&rsquo;s work, pickup is mostly force-based not power. &nbsp;</p>
<p> This means that pickup can be a good stepping stone out of limitations, yet in many cases, it is a stage where the person still has lots of integration left to do (that is, they are still bringing themselves into integrity).</p>
<p> When one starts to come into the full power of their being, they will understand that none of that outer technique-based stuff is needed. &nbsp;</p>
<p> They attract women into their life through their energy, as a conscious reflection of their inner world. &nbsp;</p>
<p> When one feels this inner power, there is zero pull toward expending any time or energy to gathering pickup material because it becomes completely irrelevant.</p>
<p> I began to let go of pick up when I realized how much mind-driven, forceful effort it took to adopt the lines and routines.&nbsp; I focused on changing who I was internally rather than learning someone else&rsquo;s material, that way I could do &ldquo;nothing&rdquo; and have success with women (which is exactly what&rsquo;s been happening). &nbsp;</p>
<p> If you think about what power is, it&rsquo;s being able to do the most with the least amount of effort. &nbsp;</p>
<p> Pick up is way too much of an energy drain, for me at least.&nbsp; Attracting women with one&rsquo;s energy is much more fun and lasting (and everything seems to work out better).</p>
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		<title>Q &amp; A Volume I: Humility vs Confidence, Finding Your Mission, and Saying “Hi” to Women</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/YangTown/~3/tECTqaX_ZfU/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yangtown.com/question-answer/q-a-volume-i-humility-vs-confidence-finding-your-mission-and-saying-hi-to-women/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:17:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Question &amp; Answer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yangtown.com/?p=449</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How does one balance the openness of humility with the strength of confidence?
How can we go about finding and living our mission so that our life is more fulfilling and rewarding?
What happens if we say &#34;hi&#39; to a woman and they don&#39;t say &#34;hi&#39; back?
These are several of the questions I have been asked recently [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.yangtown.com/wp-content/uploads/qa_vol1_humility_confidence_finding_mission.jpg" border="0" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="left" />How does one balance the openness of humility with the strength of confidence?</p>
<p>How can we go about finding and living our mission so that our life is more fulfilling and rewarding?</p>
<p>What happens if we say &quot;hi&#39; to a woman and they don&#39;t say &quot;hi&#39; back?</p>
<p>These are several of the questions I have been asked recently that I think many of us have had to deal with them at one time or another. &nbsp;</p>
<p>As you can see, it&#39;s been a while since my last post (I have been doing some major inner growth which you probably have been as well), so to get the creative juices flowing, I&#39;m going to be doing a series of Question &amp; Answer posts.</p>
<p> I&#39;d like to invite you to think of any questions that you have about personal or spiritual growth and post them as comments or send them through the <a href="http://www.yangtown.com/contact/" >contact</a> page and I&#39;ll do my best to answer them either in the comments section or in a new post. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Below are the first 3 questions of the series.</p>
<p>Enjoy and Happy 2009.&nbsp; Sat Nam!</p>
<p>. </p>
<p><em><u>Where do I draw the line between being humble and being confident in my own abilities.? Do I &quot;own&quot; any of my abilities or do they all come from God? It seems to me that being humble and being confident cannot mix.</u></em></p>
<p> I think many people confuse humbleness with giving away their power or going into sympathy (which means lowering yourself so others don&rsquo;t feel bad).</p>
<p> You can be humble while still owning your own strength.</p>
<p> For me, humility is the awareness that everything is an expression of source energy or Divinity, that you are simply a channel for consciousness to flow through.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s also about having gratitude for all the gifts you have been given and mentors who have helped you along the way.</p>
<p>You realize that everyone is Divinity expressing itself, and therefore no one person is inherently &quot;better&quot; than anyone else.</p>
<p>Giving away your power, on the other hand, is putting other people&#39;s needs in front of your own.<br /> Likewise, sympathy means sacrificing your happiness so that you can be on the same level as someone else.&nbsp;</p>
<p> This is the ego trying to make itself equal to another person.</p>
<p> Ironically, when you realize that we are all Source Energy, you see everyone as inherently equal, unconditionally.</p>
<p> If I am rich and that man is poor, then I still see us as equal, therefore there is no need to dumb myself down.</p>
<p>It&#39;s the ego that has forgotten that we are all equal, and that leads us to sympathize with others.</p>
<p>We can still choose to help them, yet here I am referring to your inner state, not what actions you carry out.</p>
<p>. </p>
<p><span style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline">I know that a big source of power for me as a man comes from finding and following my mission in life, yet I&rsquo;m not sure how to go about doing that.&nbsp; What is the best way for someone to find their mission?</span></p>
<p> In my experience, finding one&#39;s mission is very counter-intuitive. I thought a lot about finding my mission and tying it to my unique gifts.</p>
<p> I was good at computers, information, creating systems, marketing, business, all that stuff. I decided that my mission was to simplify technology for the world and thereby help people in this information age.</p>
<p> I raised money and started a business with a friend only to find myself stressed out leading to rapidly declining health, less emotional well-being, and lack of abundance with money and women.</p>
<p> One day at a health fair, I met an energy healer and she read me very well, described which chakras I needed to work on (very accurately), then said my purpose was in healing the world in some big way.</p>
<p> I had no motivation to be a healer at all and this weirded me out a little.</p>
<p> Over the past 2 years since starting along the spiritual path, I&#39;ve been able to quiet the mind some and connected to source energy to a much greater degree, which has allowed me to really take a journey inward to self healing.</p>
<p> The more this happened, the more I felt guided to start something with no clear path laid out (whereas with my &quot;business&quot; my path had been &quot;planned out&quot; with 5 year projections).</p>
<p> To me, finding one&#39;s mission and purpose involves quieting mind so that the desires of the ego fade to the background (still there though), and the purpose that&rsquo;s always been there beneath the surface starts to rise up.</p>
<p> It&#39;s like driving a distance of 500 miles at night, only being able to see 10 ft in front of you.</p>
<p> You will feel pushed to do something but you don&#39;t know how this particular thing will help you. It&#39;s not until afterward you see the utter perfection that the universe has lined up for you to grow in that moment.</p>
<p> It&rsquo;s adopting the attitude of being of service, living with humility, and cultivating the ability to trust that subtle voice that guides you.</p>
<p> Also it&#39;s a willingness to live, and, a let go from needing to have a mission at all.</p>
<p> You don&rsquo;t really think your way into your mission, you feel it.</p>
<p> My current mission feels like healing today&#39;s masculine, or being an example of masculine love.</p>
<p> It&rsquo;s ok if you don&rsquo;t feel it at first, just ask for it to come and then let it go and go to work healing your relationships.</p>
<p> Do what gives you the most joy.</p>
<p> Ask yourself, &quot;would I be doing this work if I wasn&#39;t being paid for it?&quot;</p>
<p> If you are driven to do it with no regard for personal gain, then you will be on the right track.</p>
<p> Ironically, the universe will provide you with all you need the more you step into your path.</p>
<p> Also, the specifics of your mission can change in any moment too (its a fluid thing), yet your underlying purpose will be quite consistent.</p>
<p>. </p>
<p><span style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline">The other day I said hi to a girl in my class and she just ignored me which gave me an unpleasant feeling in my stomach.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t want to be just walked on but I also don&rsquo;t want to be a jerk over something so small.&nbsp; How should I have responded?&nbsp; Should I have called her on it or just let it be?&nbsp; What would a man of masculine power do?</span></p>
<p> Well first off, do you have an agenda for saying hi or was it just an expression of who you are, a gift?</p>
<p> You can tell if your offering has an agenda or a need behind it if you become frustrated or reactive if others do not give a desired response.</p>
<p> If I say hi to someone, I have no conditions. I am offering a greeting, the moment I express it, a gift has been given. I need nothing in return.</p>
<p> If they smile back and say something, then great. If they turn their shoulders and snub me, no problem.</p>
<p> In fact, if they don&rsquo;t respond well, I take it to mean that is how they treat themself; cold and unresponsive.</p>
<p> I only ran in that energy in that particular moment, but they have to live with it 24/7&#8230;ouch!</p>
<p> This leads me to feel compassion for them, their negative self-talk must be very harsh, so I send them pink light and bless them in my heart.</p>
<p> My emotional state is unaffected because it requires nothing outside of me (or at least this is what I am working towards and embodying more each day).</p>
<p> Love that comes from within is not subject to anything or anyone&#8230;its rooted within your being.</p>
<p> It&rsquo;s ok if unpleasant feelings are triggered in these types of situations.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s just means you have more attachments to clear using things like EFT and TAT.</p>
<p>Our power is always within us, the outside world simply helps by reflecting parts of ourself that we may not fully see.</p>
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		<title>Yang Town 1-Year Anniversary and Update</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/YangTown/~3/wsFgy_BTqmk/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yangtown.com/general/yang-town-1-year-anniversary-and-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:16:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ryan</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yangtown.com/?p=440</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You may have noticed that Yang Town recently turned 1 year old a few months back (in August).&#160; So&#8230;to celebrate, I&#39;ve decided to&#8230;delete some of my most popular old posts  
Basically, I am going through all old articles (and the revive your sex drive ebook) and sort of updating the energy so that it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You may have noticed that Yang Town recently turned 1 year old a few months back (in August).&nbsp; So&#8230;to celebrate, I&#39;ve decided to&#8230;delete some of my most popular old posts <img src='http://www.yangtown.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>Basically, I am going through all old articles (and the revive your sex drive ebook) and sort of updating the energy so that it resonates closer to where I am currently at and where we are headed.</p>
<p>I also removed all guest posts, simply so that I can maintain a singular focus of energy across all published material.</p>
<p>I am dedicated to providing you with the very best energy that I have available, yet at the same time, I want to share life&#39;s lessons as I learn them in all their imperfect glory.</p>
<p>So it&#39;s a bit of a balancing act.</p>
<p>Anyway, We&#39;ve come a long way in the last year.&nbsp;</p>
<p>From August 2007 - August 2008, Yang Town has had:</p>
<ul>
<li>53,234 Visits</li>
<li>117,791 Pageviews</li>
<li>1,413 Email Subscribers</li>
</ul>
<p>Not too shabby&#8230;as for an update on the blog:</p>
<p>We all go through rhythms and cycles in our life.</p>
<p>When we are in a yang cycle, we are expanding, teaching, and giving.&nbsp; When we are in a yin cycle, we are nuturing, learning, and receiving.&nbsp;</p>
<p>At the moment, many of us, (myself included), are going through a yin cycle where we can heal; heal our financial systems, our career paths, and ourselves.</p>
<p>It is in these yin cycles that it appears like nothing is happening (except perhaps chaos) but this is the stage where a lot of energy is shifting beneath the surface; we are becoming clear about what we truly want in our life (and what we don&#39;t want).</p>
<p>This is the time to go inward and rearrange our relationships, our surroundings, and our life, from the inside out.</p>
<p>These past 6 months I have been doing just that and I have some incredible content that I am still in the process of learning, integrating, and putting together.</p>
<p>During this time, I have been fortunate to have found an incredible spiritual teacher and friend with whom I will introduce you to in the near future.</p>
<p>In the meantime, study the resources and posts presented here as well as the value online products such as <a href="http://www.eftmefree.com/" target="_blank" title="EFT Tapping Videos via the Emotional Freedom Technique" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.eftmefree.com');">David Childerly&#39;s EFT Videos</a>, the <a href="http://www.yangtown.com/tryit/" target="_blank" title="EFT Tapping Try It on everything Documentary on emotional freedom technique" >Try It On Everything EFT Documentary (&amp; Free Bonuses)</a>, and the <a href="http://www.tatmefree.com/" target="_blank" title="Tapas Flemming Acupressure Technique TAT Emotional healing" onclick="javascript:urchinTracker ('/outbound/article/www.tatmefree.com');">Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT) products</a>.</p>
<p>If you have a pressing spiritual or emotional-related question, feel free to post it in the comments section (or contact page) and I&#39;ll do my best to respond with valuable insights to assist you. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Thanks for your support and readership.</p>
<p>Sat Nam! </p>
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