- By Alan Cohen
Every morning after we walk our dogs, two of them chase each other around the living room coffee table. It’s quite entertaining to watch these exuberant spirits tease each other, bark, and run around in circles. The little one eggs the larger one on and keeps slightly ahead of him in the chase...
The oldest surviving great work of literature tells the story of a Sumerian king, Gilgamesh, whose historical equivalent may have ruled the city of Uruk some time between 2800 and 2500 BC.
Congregational membership in the United States is slowly declining. Data from the General Social Survey show that 17 percent of Americans attended a religious gathering weekly in the 1990s. By 2010, this number had dropped to 11 percent.
In an era where traditional church attendance has declined and the fastest-growing religious affiliation in America is the “nones” – those who claim no affiliation with an organized faith – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has continued to expand.
Many people are weakened by the influences of others. Negative messages from parents, teachers, clergy, peers, the media, and other manipulative powers hold sway and weigh them down. In a web of confusion and fear, they...
- By Vishnu Swami
Spiritual wisdom is not simply meant to be philosophy, some ambiguous jargon, or blank promises. It is meant to be relished, and used practically in every action and in every millisecond of life.
Mindfulness courses have less effect on the attitudes and emotions of men than on those of women, new research suggests.
I wonder whether “not harming” or not hurting other people — near and far — feels more reasonably within reach than loving them? As you think about it now, does it seem more realistic to affirm that you could refrain from harming, rather than “loving” others?
We are on our way to Chicago to meet a man who has found a way for the living and the dead to talk. He knows how to induce a state in which those who grieve can hear directly from the ones they have lost. I don’t fully believe, but it’s all I have.
For many of us, family competes for our meditation time. This is perhaps one of our greatest struggles: how can we find time for ourselves without taking it from them?
This type of meditation is different from most meditation. Our approach to meditation is patterned after that of the Western shamanic spirit walkers or dream walkers and Hindu samadhi mystics. Samadhi mystics go into deep meditative states to leave the body...
Excessive thinking is rarely creative thinking. More commonly it is driven by craving (or desire) and aversion (or fear), and is often aggressive or defensive in nature. Excessive thinking loves to “attack” problems and anything or anyone that...
On Palm Sunday, April 9, the Islamic State targeted two Coptic churches in coordinated bombings in the Egyptian cities of Tanta and Alexandria.
- By Itai Ivtzan
Many of us are obsessed with certain things such as food, sex, gambling or work, or with certain people or emotions. When it comes to these obsessions we are out of control. But all of us have one obsession that we tend to ignore: we are obsessed with thinking.
The Washington Post recently published a profile on Karen Pence, the “prayer-warrior wife” of Vice President Mike Pence.
Christians will be celebrate Easter, the day on which the resurrection of Jesus is said to have taken place. The date of celebration changes from year to year.
- By Lisa Smartt
One day you will sit at the bedside of someone you love and have a final conversation. That conversation will invite you into a unique territory — the one that exists between living and dying. You may hear words expressing a desire for...
Notice your emotions. What color or colors are they? What shapes do they make? Notice your thoughts. Again, what colors are they? What shapes do they have? Notice your emotions....
In the process of becoming all you can become, it is sometimes expeditious to have special help in cutting old bonds. Here is an excellent exercise in Creative Visualization.
- By Vishnu Swami
Not all love is created equal: Love comes in different intensities. We may be head over heels in love with our boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, or children, but just be moderately in love with our neighbors, friends, and acquaintances. This is natural.
Part of my job is to conduct the memorial whenever a death occurs. Although each service is tailored to the circumstances, I begin many of them with the same reading: “To everything there is a season...” It helps me to remember that our lives proceed according to a natural rhythm.
Mindful eating is increasingly being promoted as a solution to being overweight. Mindful eating, we are promised, will help us eat less, transform our relationship with food and end our battle with weight once and for all.