Working to redirect to the true center is not easy; sometimes it can be extremely difficult. Somewhere in popular discourse, “ease” became a word that sat next to “spirituality”. Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, the question needs to be “easy” for whom? If “spirituality” is a lifestyle driven by concepts and ideals, then “our small …
I’m All for Nondualism….
We have to die. Who has to die? The one that never existed. This seems unclear, but from the standpoint of the Self it totally makes sense. As long as the small self believes it exists, we are living a dualistic life, separate from God. Nondualism does not occur except in philosophy and theology class until we actually remove our …
Practicing for the Right Reasons….
Are you practicing? No one has to know except you. Practice is done inside of you. What does it mean to practice? Being in the Heart. Staying in the Heart. Not straying. What do you do when going into the Heart is painful? You face the pain and burn it up. How do you burn up the pain? You burn …
The False Idol of Self-esteem….
Being strong-willed is not being willful, and freedom is not getting to do whatever you want. Our first lessons in these realities come from our first caregivers. These people demonstrate and reflect for us how to live. They both model and teach. Good leadership is like good parenting. Both embody and encourage behavior that is healthy for everyone involved. This …
The Buck Stops Here….
There is a hidden joke in the title of this blog. I approach the protection of my garden in very much the way Baba taught me to handle security in the Ganeshpuri Ashram. In Ganeshpuri there were walls with broken glass on the top. Intruders came in through the drainpipes or the front gates. After we put screens over the …
When Are We Responsible?….
What would happen if God decided He wanted to no longer be responsible? What would happen if God decided He wanted to be selfish instead of Selfish? Who would He be? He would be us. That is how we got here; did you forget? For God to not be responsible He has to limit Himself and pretend nothing He does …
The Business of All Businesses….
St Bernard called this work we do here “the business of all businesses”. And it is. I am in the business of going to God; going home to God. That is my business, my profession. If you are looking for winter clothes, you came to the wrong store. If you are looking for a mommy, you came to the wrong …
The Gardener….
Every tradition uses the gardener as an analogy for spiritual work. The garden is a place where everything grows within a prescribed area. We are gardens where everything grows, both beautiful and ugly things. And many times in a garden a beautiful plant begins to be seen as a weed because it has been allowed to grow to the detriment …
Sadhana Is Uncomfortable….
We have been looking at how we repackage things to suit our small selves, and seeing that it is so sad. If we do not restrain our small selves, we only repackage. Repackaging is just another word for twisted love. We are unwilling to love openly and honestly, so we twist and repackage and then present that to the world. …
Stop Repackaging the Practice….
Be with your experience. This does not mean “in it”. This means “let it happen”. Always did. When I first wrote down the practice Baba taught me in A Spiritual Survival Kit, it was 1992. The truth is the truth and it has not changed. Be with your experience, whatever it is. This is so important. We are not to …