As a child I was active; I had “productive” and “work ethic” all over me. My girl classmates in the sixth grade would say, “We like boys, we carry pocketbooks, we cut our hair. You are so different than us”. They were right, I was different. I was boring in that I danced every day after school with a prominent …
Surrendering to Growth….
I am in the middle of a change. Change is never pleasant, no matter how positive it is. Throughout my life, there have been times when I was heading in a particular direction, only to find I was being guided to a place I had never thought about. So periodically I reach a place where I say I want to …
Mother’s Day….
Today in the States we celebrate Mother’s Day. Baba was for me both my mother and father. He brought me up; he cleaned me up. My first mother and father were my first teachers. They continue to teach me my life lessons. I owe them much, since they introduced me to the part I am playing and helped reveal the …
Ganesh….
Baba used to call me Ganesh. At the time, the name did not bring joy into my heart. What am I supposed to learn from this? Why is he calling me Ganesh? These were my questions. Yes, I was in charge of security for the ashram. Yes, Ganesh was the guard at the door for his mother, Parvati. Yes, I …
Clues in the Treasure Hunt….
Walking the path of spiritual practice is like a treasure hunt. Each clue will lead us down the path closer to the goal. The problem is, will we see the clues? Will we discern the clues properly? And finally will we follow the clues? Clues on this treasure hunt are always showing up. God does not want us to lose. …
Constancy in Practice….
Spiritual practice is not a crisis intervention to use only when we are in trouble. It is to bring us to peace not only for a moment but for all time. So we practice and get to a state of peace and then we go about the business of life. When we walk into the world somehow we lose this …
How Spiritual Practice Unfolds….
All is misery. This is because of the kleshas, the afflictions spoken of in the Yoga Sutras. Our ignorance of who we are is what causes our misery. There is always a sense of missing something, of not being true, of not feeling fulfilled or experiencing Love. We can have moments and then say we are fulfilled in our work …
We are our own worst victim…..
It is not my fault. It is your fault. This view works for me. The only time this does not “work” is when both of us claim the role of victim. Then we have a competition. When this happens we can have a standoff for hours or even days. We are committed to our small self as a victim, and …
We Are Not as Good as We Think….
We cannot go forward without first bringing down our small self. What is the small self? Simply, it is who we think we are. It is not who we are. The small self is just a set of ideas, but we then believe those ideas are who we are. Our true Self actually enlivens these ideas, but our small selves …
Dismantling the Victim and the Bully….
We have become a nation of victims and bullies. Everyone is encouraged to adopt one role or the other. We seem to have lost our sense of character and of the honor of taking responsibility for our actions. Our media and public officials have taken to name-calling rather than discerning what actually may be going on. We are all so …