The Awakening Intellect

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On a recent retreat, Lorne Hoff spoke of the role of the intellect in awakening. I thought the point valuable to share. When we first wake up, there is often an unknowing. We step into a place we’ve never been in many lifetimes. It is Self that wakes up to itself, well beyond the mind and any concepts we may have about it. We shift from experiencing ourselves as an egoic me to infinite and eternal being. It is like nothing changes and everything changes, both. It feels perfectly ordinary and normal. We can be surprised how simple the shift … Continue Reading… →

Updates

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I recently read a great article on author web sites and realized the book and I were still semi-invisible and there were a few other issues with this site. The visibility has been upped, the banner changed, the tag line replaced, and a new “presentation” style of home page is added. The sidebar has been simplified and a link to the book added, the menu simplified with recommendations merged, a footer section added, and more. I also need a new head shot as the beard is off again. Took it off for full advantage of the Abhyanga (oleation massage) during … Continue Reading… →

An Ayurvedic Cleanse

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Many people treat their cars better than their bodies. They’d never consider putting a coke in their gas tank and yet all sorts of dubious things end up in their mouths. Even if we have good intentions, sludge builds up in the physiology over time. This gradually leads to chronic health issues. But that sludge can be flushed periodically. This flushing is known as a cleanse. Consider it routine maintenance. Want to know if you have crud buildup? Just look at your tongue. Is it perfectly pink? Or does it have a white overlay? Just in the middle back or … Continue Reading… →

True Samyama

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The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is a short but potent text that describes Yoga or union. It also contains dozens of formulas to get specific results, like knowing past lives, getting great strength, or flying through the air. You can go into any spiritual bookstore and find many translations of this text. There are also many yoga studios. And yet most have little clue of what the simple contents are describing. This is because it’s experiential. It has to be taught properly so the experience can unfold. Right off the top, the text defines Yoga. 1v2-3: Yoga is the complete … Continue Reading… →

Choice and Surrender

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There is a curious dance in the progression of life between choice and letting go. A key feature of early childhood is separation from mother and establishing a sense of personal self. As we approach spiritual awakening, we learn a new process of surrender, of letting go of those old habits of personal self. This allows the deeper cosmic Self to emerge from behind our constructs. With awakening, the process of surrender deepens into more subtle layers of being. But it also deepens right on the surface. We discover the ego has been laying claim to our thoughts and actions … Continue Reading… →

Different Divinities

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When someone uses the term Divine or God, it’s important to look for context to see what they’re talking about. This is because Divinity is different in different stages of development. Put another way, there is one Divinity but many, many ways of experiencing. For the average person, the terms come down to concepts and belief. Do you categorize yourself as a Theist, Agnostic or Atheist? These are about belief. What of direct experience? Many people have had glimpses or experiences of something greater. Often, this is seen through the filter of their beliefs or it may cause them to … Continue Reading… →

Going Off-line for a Spring Cleanse

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From an Ayurvedic perspective, issues that have been building in the physiology come to a head at the change of seasons. Each season has its dominant dosha so when they change in the world, it can amplify imbalances within. As a result, Ayurveda recommends a cleanse in the spring and fall to re-balance the physiology and maintain health. This year, I’m doing the full deal including panchakarma (meaning 5 actions or treatments). As a result, for the first week of April I’ll be off-line and not responding to messages or comments. I’ll catch up after I get back. Meantime, I … Continue Reading… →

Invocation

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In ancient Indian tradition, a ceremony is performed prior to instruction. This is known as a guru puja. The ceremony recognizes the tradition from which the teaching comes. Such a puja typically has three parts: the lineage, offerings you would make to a guest in your home, and a celebration of the wisdom. It also serves to raise the consciousness of the teacher prior to instruction. At the beginning of the guru puja is an invocation: Apavitrah Pavitro va Sarva Vasthan Gatopi va Yah Smaret Pundari-kaksham Sa Bahya-Bhyantarah Shuchih “Whether pure or impure, whether all places are permeated by purity … Continue Reading… →

Dosha Changes

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Ayurveda is the ancient Indian system of medicine. It focuses on maintaining balance of the body-mind as a whole to avoid health issues. It’s often better at handling systemic and chronic conditions than western allopathic medicine is. I’ve spoken before about how we’re born with a certain balance of laws of nature. We all have roughly the same principles but are each a unique combination of emphasis. One may do well at sports and be a natural public speaker who struggles with other languages. Another speaks multiple languages fluently but is uncomfortable with public speaking and only enjoys soccer. Both … Continue Reading… →

Purest Divinity

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First, lets explore what I mean by pure Divinity here. This is beyond form, beyond vibration, beyond silent being, beyond consciousness, and beyond Brahman. It is Divinity in its purity, unconstrained and uncreated. We can consider our experience of consciousness for comparison. We can explore the layers and dynamics of consciousness and consciousness aware of itself globally and at every point. But pure consciousness is just that: consciousness, quietly alert in its own nature. Pure Divinity is similar but deeper – beyond all forms and phenomena yet bathing everything in its presence. How we come to know it is by … Continue Reading… →

Update on Security

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Once upon a time on the Internet, you only needed to secure your website if you were selling there. Yet browsing any unsecured website, especially on public WiFi, can easily be snooped. To make your activity more secure, web browsers are increasing their warnings about ANY site that doesn’t have a security certificate. The little “i” beside the web address is soon to go red and add warnings. As a result, I’ve jumped through the hoops to add a security certificate to this site. “https” is now supported and you should see a green lock or similar beside the web … Continue Reading… →

Reading Articles

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I usually publish articles in the sequence in which they arise. They sometimes tie into each other. And I tend to publish articles in batches. It makes more marketing sense to post one or two at a time and spread them out but that’s not what usually happens. (laughs) Both the blog and the newsletter post the latest article to the top so you can find yourself reading the articles backwards, newest to oldest. You may find it flows better if you start with the oldest. At the bottom of each article, you’ll find a link to the right for … Continue Reading… →