We came up the steep mountain on Sunday 8 July. Not sure what was ahead, I really did not care because the view was magnificent. Everything I imagined the Alps to look like–Ian had not deceived us. Our room has large French doors looking out over Lake Geneva, the towns below, the French and Swiss Alps, and a most classic …
Human security….
Human security starts within. The single greatest source of human insecurity is ignorance. Human security is the removal of ignorance; ignorance of who we and everyone truly are. You, the actor, are okay. The character, the lower self, is in fear for its life. To be truly secure you must let go of the character. That means not being identified with …
Gurupurnima….
Today is Gurupurnima, the Guru’s Full Moon. Everyday I bow down in deep appreciation for my Guru, Swami Muktananda, and all that he gave and continues to give me. The Guru is said to not be a person, body or a personality, but manifests in a being that has purified himself/herself and has then become one with his Guru and …
Who am I?….
Who am I? At any given moment, I appear to be the furthest thing out that consciousness has enlivened. So “who I am” changes from moment to moment. My job is to return to Me and stay there, and not identify with what I enliven. This seems so easy, “just be myself”; however, it requires intense work and Grace. We …
Grandiose self assessment is….
Grandiose self assessment is as detrimental to living fully as low self assessment. They are both faulty and cause decision making that brings the person to misery. There is no harmony when we operate from our self-esteem. Self-esteem is just a set of ideas that we have identified with; we have allowed our actions and decisions to be informed by …
St. Symeon’s discussion….
St. Symeon’s discussion of contemplative prayer in the Philokalia might serve as a good reference point for the practice I teach. He establishes three levels of attention and prayer. The first level relates to the five senses, with God as Other; the practice makes use of outward props such as icons, statues and formal ritual. The second level relates to the mind, …
Beginners….
I like seeing myself as a beginner. I have always been a beginner. This way I can always learn. If I ‘know’, then there is nothing more to learn. For all of us in relative reality, thinking we ‘know’ is dangerous. If we lived in Absolute Reality, then I could say ‘fine I know’. But then, if I were in …