SPIRITUAL LESSONS FROM CHARLESTON
The root of the horror of a young person killing his neighbors in a bible class cannot be found in the young person. It can be found in ourselves, if we look. What do you feel about these killings? Is it anger, sorrow, helplessness? If so, you will discover uncomfortable or painful physical sensations in your body – especially […]
ORLANDO, LOVE, AND LABELS
“Terrorist” is a label. There is no humanity in labels. There is no compassion in labels. Labels create villains and idols. The pain of an individual who claims allegiance to a symbol of hate and righteousness and then kills without connection is extreme. However, that pain is not as extraordinary as it might seem. It […]
THE BIGGEST COMMUNITY
Imagine a community that includes everyone. This is impossible from the perspective that is limited to what we can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. From this perspective power is ability to manipulate and control, and everyone seeks it. Survival requires it, and human evolution requires survival. From this perspective, communities are good things. Individuals […]
TOTAL ECLIPSE
Every eclipse of the sun represents symbolically the activation of a frightened part of your personality. While that part is active, it obstructs the experience of your love, which is represented symbolically by the sun. Yet in the midst of that obstruction there is a great deal of power and beauty that is visible physically […]
A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE OF CHRISTMAS
The commercial christmas is the season of obligatory giving, unrestrained consumerism, family differences disguised as gatherings of the heart, and piles of wrapping trash. The celebration of love and joy that was born in the barren desert of Palestine is very different. Love lifts us all. Even above the weight of forced familiarity, the spirit […]
SMALL THINGS WITH GREAT LOVE
Mother Teresa said, “We cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” In my experience, the smallest things require the greatest love. The smallest things we do are the intimate and personal choices we make each moment before we act. These choices are always between the intention of love and […]
WHAT ILLUSIONS ARE YOU CAUGHT IN?
When your painful emotions seem to be caused by something outside of you, you are in an illusion. For example, your child falls from a tree, and you feel fear, anxiety, and panic. The fall seems to have caused these emotions, but if you look inside yourself, you will see that they are not new. […]
The Most Dangerous Virus
Many people are speaking now and frequently about fear – of the political situation, unstable markets and weather, and now, a virus. Concern about the virus is now surpassing the other fears that frightened parts of our personalities put on inner display daily for us, if we are willing to look at (experience) them instead […]
Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice is a time of unmistakably large new beginnings. By the time of the Winter Solstice, everything that began growing at the Summer Solstice has contracted into one seed of potential, and that seed begins to expand. Add to this the Christmas story, and Hanukah, the Season of Light, and the point is […]
Keep Your Eye on the Ball
Once there was only one ball, and it hypnotized us. It seemed to cause our joy and pain and our pleasure and misery. It seemed to cause everything, and everything depended upon it. That ball was the world. Now another ball has appeared, and it has become the new star of the show. The show […]