A common rite of passage at midlife is the declining health, or death, of our parents. Those who brought us into the world are usually the ones to leave it first. They welcomed us when we got here; now we'll wish them farewell as they move on...

Each culture sees human life as a progression through a series of stages... in an attempt to understand the evolution of human beings. Those people on the outer circle are just holding onto life; for them it is a matter of survival.

What keeps us from reaching that state of continuous expansion and joy? What stands in the way of experiencing that place of no separation? What gets in the way of experiencing ourselves filled with light? What stops us from living life with gales of laughter?

The Judeo-Christian tradition has conditioned many to believe that God exists... in some remote far away region. This negates the idea of an indwelling God. Your spiritual hunger -- your search for God -- is the desire to become holy, wholly unified in mind, body, and spirit.

From the beginnings of human civilization, almost all the peoples of the Earth have used some variant of the practices that Romanian anthropologist Mircea Eliade baptized “techniques of ecstasy” to heal themselves, to communicate with spiritual forces and to ask their gods for help.

Tens of thousands of years ago the people of the Earth conceived the world as a place inhabited by spiritual intelligences: the spirits of nature, called, variously, fairies by the Celts, kontomble by the dagaras of West Africa, apus by the Incas; and tribal ancestors and ascended teachers. They communicated with these intelligences through a set of practices universally known as “shamanic.”

For thousands of years, ever since mankind started settling in cities, we evolved in rigid, patriarchal and extremely authoritarian structures – at least in the West. This started changing after the industrial revolution and the pace has been picking up since the end of the last war.  

For thousands of years, ever since mankind started settling in cities, we evolved in rigid, patriarchal and extremely authoritarian structures – at least in the West. This started changing after the industrial revolution and the pace has been picking up since the end of the last war.  

One of our most ingrained belief systems, and one that evokes the most fear whenever challenged, is our religious belief system. Conflict will surely arise every time anyone challenges our programming regarding religion. In the beginning, I was told what to believe about God, salvation, and eternity, by people I trusted...

Chanting is one of the easiest ways to turn within. When you are truly chanting you forget about yourself, and in that self-forgetfulness you begin to experience Ecstasy, Joy, Peace, Love and Compassion. For those few moments you suddenly realize the...

Americans are fascinated by magic. TV shows like “WandaVision” and “The Witcher,” books like the Harry Potter series, plus comics, movies and games about people with powers that can’t be explained by God, science or technology, have all been wildly popular for years.

As a society, we've made meditation into something mysterious and difficult to achieve, yet everyone can meditate; it's easy. All we have to do is to sit or lie down quietly, close our eyes, and take a few deep breaths...

We so often get in the way of grief; we try to suppress, truncate, postpone, or ignore it. We are afraid of being overwhelmed, of becoming nonfunctional: "If I start crying, I'll never stop:" But grief is more powerful than our resistance. In grief, it is natural to feel...

Don't think about enlightenment as a goal, it is not. It is not a goal; it is not something that you can desire. And if you desire it you will not get it. In desiring a thousand and one things, by and by you come to understand that all desire is futile. Each desire lands you in frustration; each desire again and again throws you into a ditch.

Why go to all the trouble of learning to meditate? Isn't it all too hard? The short answer is that learning to meditate will invariably help your well-being. One of the best answers is that you will feel the benefits almost immediately, which is definitely one of the greatest...

While you’re biting the heads off your chocolate bunnies this weekend, you might wonder how cartoon rabbits became so central to our Easter celebrations. It’s tempting to assume that because there’s no biblical basis for the Easter Bunny, rabbits and hares have no religious significance – but that’s just not the case.

Focusing keeps your eyes on the road, but awareness lets you enjoy the scenery. Almost all the satisfaction of a sitting comes not from watching the road but from those sideways glances at the scenery. Awareness is complicated because...

Whether you encounter persistent drowsiness or any other obstacle to meditation, if you are not ready to meditate just now, ask yourself, Why not? Is there something you are avoiding in your daily life, some relationship left unresolved? Ironically, as you look into this very question, you are...

The priests of the Age of the Father, whose job centered on sacrifice, would probably not have recognized their successors as religions. One of the charges the pagan Romans leveled against the Christians was atheism...

As I waded into the cold water, I noticed the body of a blue pond damselfly floating on the surface. I picked her up, and held her gently in my hands…at first to see if she may still be alive, and then, when I realized she was dead, I couldn’t put her down.

As I waded into the cold water, I noticed the body of a blue pond damselfly floating on the surface. I picked her up, and held her gently in my hands…

Lee Webster, president emeritus of the National Home Funeral Alliance, writes, “Home funerals are about empowering families to care for their own dead, to take the time to be present and absorb the loss, to complete a process that is intimate and meaningful..."

How long should you meditate? The first rule is, Don't be ruled by what others do. What works well for them may not work for you. Accept that in certain ways you are unique. Intensity of effort is far more important than the time spent in meditation. Never meditate to the point of mental fatigue, strain, or boredom...