For the secularized mind, meditation fills a spiritual vacuum; it brings the hope of a better, happier individual and the ideal of a peaceful world. That meditation was primarily designed not to make us happier but to destroy our sense of individual self – who we feel and think we are most of the time – is often overlooked in the science and media stories.
- By Pema Chödrön
Generally speaking, we regard discomfort in any form as bad news. But for practitioners or spiritual warriors — people who have a certain hunger to know what is true — feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad...
For Christians, the death and resurrection of Jesus is a pivotal event commemorated each year during a season of preparation called Lent and a season of celebration called Easter.
No matter what your beliefs, all you need to be able to recognize signs from heaven are an open mind and heart. Opening your mind to receiving signs simply means believing it can happen. If you have faith in God or in the next life, you are already ahead of the game.
Sitting quietly, doing nothing. But what’s the point, you ask? Why should I do this? Why should I waste my precious time sitting quietly doing nothing when there is so much to do, so much to accomplish and achieve?
African-American women comprise more than 70 percent of the active membership of generally any African-American congregation one might attend today. According to one Pew study, African-American women are among the most religiously committed of the Protestant demographic – eight in 10 say that religion is important to them.
We are powerful beyond our wildest imaginations, and our ability to make a profoundly significant difference in what is happening on Earth at this time is staggering. All we have to do is remember who we are and where we have come from. I am not referring to the specifics of particular lifetimes; I am talking about who we are at the very core of our Beings, within the deepest recesses of our Divine Blueprints.
- By Robert Alter
An essential fact about the Hebrew Bible is that most of its narrative prose as well as its poetry manifests a high order of sophisticated literary fashioning.
It is important to understand that to develop awareness in daily life we do not need to go around with an empty mind. Rather, we strive to be awake and centered in the present, clearly knowing at each moment what we are doing.
- By Osho
If hate arises for someone or against someone, or love arises for someone, what do we do? We project it on the person. You project your love or hate or whatsoever. You forget completely the inner center of your being; the other becomes the center.
- By Sophus Helle
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Babylonian poem composed in ancient Iraq, millennia before Homer. It tells the story of Gilgamesh, king of the city of Uruk.
The present is the only time we can choose between love and fear. When we fret about the past or worry about what to do in the future, we accomplish nothing. And yet, our mental habit of reliving the past and rehearsing what is to come generates various forms of pain.
The more you observe, the more you allow yourself to experience the infinite field of energy swirling in you and around you, the more you will discover that orderly patterns exist everywhere in Nature. Then it will probably dawn on you—if it hasn't already—that not only is the Universe intelligently organized, the Universe Itself is Intelligent!
Is it likely for most of us that past life, early childhood, and then community experiences all generate doubts and self-imposed limits that cloud our ability to see that we can be a successful creator of a terrific life. Further, such experiences cause us to question our own lovability and the goodness of the universe.
Have you felt the deep inner calling of hidden truth? Do you feel sacred knowledge is just waiting for you to grab it? The Mayas believe this is a time when everyone will begin to remember. In the spring of 1995, we entered a new cycle of time that the Mayas believe to be deeply profound and exceptionally transforming.
I had a strong feeling that if I see it, it is my responsibility. I began wondering what would happen if I started responding to everything that caught my eye. So I began an around-the-clock practice that went like this: anything that entered my awareness became my responsibility, anything that was my responsibility I would attend to, and anything I attended to I would complete.
- By Tobin Blake
From TV sets and radios to sirens, jet aircraft, horns, and the constant yammer of too many people with too much to say, our world is filled with noise. When we are not engaged in listening to something or someone, we are usually yapping away ourselves, either externally or at least in our own heads.
- By Lisa McClain
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark “Humanae Vitae,” Pope Paul VI’s strict prohibition against artificial contraception, issued in the aftermath of the development of the birth control pill.
Many people have this fear of the city. It's understandable. Each night, on the evening news, the major emphasis seems to be on the latest stabbings, shootings, rapes, and suicides. The good news is often not heard. But fear of personal danger isn't the only problem people have with the city, and out-of-towners are not the only ones guilty of misconceptions.
- By Dena Merriam
I began meditating at the young age of 20, when meditation was not common in the United States, and I took very much to heart my guru’s instructions to develop a regular and committed meditation practice. Over the years I found an intuitive faculty developing, a way of knowing that surpasses the rational, logical mind.
- By Alan Cohen
We live from our heart or we do not live at all. Here is a benchmark by which you can assess the quality of your actions and make important decisions: What is your intention? If you truly seek to serve and give love, you cannot fail.
The ancient people of Rapa Nui, Chile, better known as Easter Island, built their famous ahu monuments near coastal freshwater sources, according to new research.
- By Denise Linn
We are all getting older every day. One day you and I will both be old, if it is our destiny to live that long. It is our choice whether we live in fear and act according to other people's expectations of what an older person is or whether we allow ourselves to be authentic and real. Start now; you are an elder in training...