Taking Care
One of the curious dynamics of being human is the tendency not to do what we know is good for us. Certainly some of this is due to things like the addictive properties of some …
Category: Heart
a daily practice
Submit to a daily practice Your loyalty to that is a ring on the door Keep knocking and the joy inside will eventually open a window and look out to see who’s there. –Rumi (in …
What’s the Point?
Recently, I had an off-line discussion with a reader I thought was useful to share here. “If this world is nothing more than a dream, why would a person still care about the rules of …
The Power of Speech
In both spiritual circles and popular expressions, we find a number of sayings that suggest something important about our voice. Always speak the sweet truth. Sticks and stones… Never speak ill of another. Thy word …
Unfolding God
The direct experience of God is one of the most significant events in anyones life. Even more profound to live it, to become what has been experienced. At it’s crown, this is God Realization. And …
What is Lost is Gained
Recently, I ran into more of the story of Bernadette Roberts. When she was a Carmelite nun, she had a superior who believed she was deceived or under Satan’s grasp for experiencing pure silence. As …
The Battle to Surrender
It recent readings, it occurs to me there is 2 opposite approaches to the spiritual journey here. The Bhagavad Gita presents the spiritual journey as a battle to overcome ego, mind and sense control. In …
Deeper I-Ness
Another process Yogananda reviewed was the evolution of the ego self. What we might call the concept of self or the level of identification. First thing to note is that he describes our person as …
The Seat of the Soul
Recently, I was reading some of Yogananda‘s commentary on the Bhagavad Gita (the Song of God, a key section of the Mahabharata where Krishna teaches Arjuna about the ways of action, yoga, etc.) In it, …
Clearing Clarity
Sometimes, we can be disturbed by surfacing emotions. Or a sense of something being unresolved, incomplete. A shadow is cast over our day. We may even notice physical sensations. This is something we just allow. …
Practical Maya
In the past, I’ve written about the 3 forms of Maya, the dream of the world. When inertia (tamas) is dominant, Maya presents a covering. It hides. When activity (rajas) is dominant Maya is the …
Coming Home
Some describe the experience of the spiritual journey as a coming home. This is surprisingly literal. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi used to use the phrase “mother is at home” to describe the security one felt in …