When is a cold just a cold? And when is a cold something greater, purification? It is true that sometimes a cold is just a cold. Right now I am in the middle of something more than just a cold. How do I know? On the physical plane we pretty much know where the virus came from. No mystery, no …
Guest Blog By Jim Condron: Graced….
In 2004, Rohini told me to accept an invitation to Amsterdam for an artist residency. I didn’t go, and it was the worst decision of my life. I would have had a studio and time and solitude to develop my own identity as an artist and person. But I didn’t want that. Instead I chose to move the personal items …
From hate to Love….
I have spent the last three years encouraging people to own, master and transcend their hate. This has been an uphill battle. At the beginning of this period, one person left. In one class, I gave everyone permission to hate; he was the most resistant and therefore the one most filled with hate. I called him out and said it …
Love Is Not Goodness….
I am disheartened these days watching the world steam ahead toward hate. And though we may acknowledge the character traits of reflection, honesty, care, and discernment, which come from purity and clarity, there seems to be ever-increasing inertia—heedless indifference—along with the painful traits of agitation, violence, fear, and turning further away from the Heart. In the face of this upheaval, …
Stand Firm by Surrendering….
Practice requires us to actually practice. And because this practice is internal, there is no place where practice is not appropriate. And yet, we decide when and where and how to practice. More insidious than this willfulness is our tendency to misunderstand what practice is. From the standpoint of the three gunas, our understanding of sādhana is determined by which …
The Wrong Surrender….
Today, the message being conveyed in all kinds of relationships is this: “You are perfect just the way you are. You do not have to do anything differently. If you follow my ideas, all will be okay. If you bring your view of the world in line with mine, all will be okay.” The paradox is that there actually is …
Discerning Evil….
We all must mourn the loss of innocence—of the delusion that everyone cares about others’ best interests—and accept the existence of evil in the world. In an Absolute sense, everything arises from Love. Dante understood this; in his Commedia, evil is simply twisted Love. But though evil, like everything else, arises from Love, it rejects its origin and deludes itself …
Accepting surrender….
Surrender is not throwing away or giving up and losing. Surrender is giving up the fruits of the outcome. Acting complete in every minute without expectation of winning or losing. Outcome is off the point. The question is, “Did I play with integrity and authenticity, and without thinking? Did I give my all without seeking any reward?” In his introduction …
Settling into Unsettled….
From the standpoint of relative reality, everything is unsettled. Even when good things occur, everything is unsettled. The world definitely is unsettled. And the news media and entertainment industry stake everything on keeping everyone unsettled. When there is a crisis, it rises to our attention, then settles down. The truth is, the crisis has not settled; we have grown bored …
Surrender….
According to Indian philosophy the world is made up of the three gunas or constituent principles. They are different vibrations. These three principles are tamas, rajas and sattva. They combine in infinite permutations to form the manifested universe. When we put these three in complete balance and still them, we are said to have completed our sādhana. Combinations of the …