Spirituality Blogs

When we don’t shift into open-hearted awareness, our hearts can be painfully closed, or they can be too open so that we’re frequently overwhelmed. Then we end up looking to our thoughts to create a sense of self. The result is a small, mental sense of self that makes us fearful and unworthy. Sadly, a [Read More...]

A New Moon, or Dark Moon, since you actually won’t see any moon, occurs once a month (sometimes two, but I don’t want to completely confuse you or force you to make more cupcakes than you have to). The New Moon is the darkest phase of the Moon, but it also marks the beginning of [Read More...]

Few of us can disconnect from our jobs, families, and full lives to live like Michel Pascal at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal where he mastered the art of meditation to overcome stress.  However, we can learn from his experiences and those shared by Leonard Perlmutter, one of the Western world’s leading pioneers in the [Read More...]

On April 8, 1990, I was twelve years old. For whatever confluence of events, I tuned in to watch the pilot of Twin Peaks on ABC. The uncanny, surrealist, dream-state quality of the show was unlike anything I had ever seen, a glimpse into how much more was possible beyond the standard-fare network television of [Read More...]

Prayer never fails. But if we think it is outside and we are praying to an entity that is going to intervene from the outside, we get it wrong.

"I am so close, I may look distant. So completely mixed with you, I may look separate. So out in the open, I appear hidden. So silent, because I am constantly talking with you." ~Rumi. Why do we cheat ourselves by thinking we know the secrets of our existence? May we never stop asking "What lies beyond?" and "What lies within?"

I’ve recently been teaching an online program based on A Course in Miracles, and I want to share the first lesson because it’s so central to the way we experience our lives. It introduces the principle of Self love, because the quality of all your relationships depends on the quality of the relationship you have [Read More...]

Through the hotel wall a woman cries, “I can’t do this anymore!” One soft life in one small box in thirty-story boxes across the city. She sends her alarm like a cell letting the body know it can’t hold up its part anymore. If I were a superhero, I’d put my hand to the wall [Read More...]

New Dimensions’ guest, Susan Moon, tells the story of her mother’s circle of women friends. They called themselves “Mothers of Daughters” and would meet each time a daughter came to visit from far away. Although their hands were shaking and many used walkers to help them get around, they had each lived vibrant and interesting lives. [Read More...]

Don't allow yourself to remain mired in the political muck that has consumed America this election season. Whatever side of the divide you were on, get up, dust yourself off, and start rebuilding our nation, one relationship at a time.

Abigail Carroll sends Saint Francis a series of letters in the form of poems in the lovely book A Gathering of Larks.

  I attend a High Mass Anglo-Catholic Parish in Vancouver called Saint James. There are sometimes 12 people in the Chancel at a time, attending to the consecration of the Eucharist, swarming in dervish like semi-circles around the eastward facing priest. Priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, thurifer, torch bearers and crucifer. No single one of us, [Read More...]

Many of you who come here to the Spirituality Channel on Patheos are likely familiar with the concept of “getting a reading,” whether from a Tarot reader, clairvoyant, astrologer, or whatever. A Facebook Friend of mine (not an “actual” friend in any usual pre-social media sense) recently asked (upon reading my astrological analysis of the [Read More...]

If it weren’t for crystals, we wouldn’t be able to communicate or even tell time!  Crystals are so important in our every day lives and can be used for so many things! Want to feel more grounded, protected from negative energy or perhaps attract love? Here is a list of my top 5 “go to” [Read More...]

Here is a talk from the San Rafael Meditation group with Rick Hanson. It is titled, “The Awakening Factor of Samadhi”. More information on the San Rafael Meditation group can be found here.The post The Awakening Factor of Samadhi appeared first on Dr. Rick Hanson.

Sa Re Sa Sa Mantra This mantra takes away negativity from within oneself, awakening the Infinite Creative energy to burn away obstacles to achieve higher consciousness.  Complete Mantra Sa Re Sa Sa, Sa Re Sa Sa, Sa Re Sa Sa, Sa Rung Har Re Har Har, Har Re Har Har, Har Re Har Har, Har Rung [Read More...]

Failure is part of life. From the time we are toddlers, stumbling in our first attempts to walk, until our last days on earth, we will all experience failure. In fact, there is no way to succeed or to grow in any way without failure. It is simply part of the learning process. A painter [Read More...]

With only a few days to go until Election Day, the stakes couldn’t be higher. We’re choosing our next commander in chief, role model, and leader of the free world. Policy making for decades will be influenced by new Supreme Court Justices. The choice is clear, and depending on whom you ask it’s absolutely Clinton [Read More...]

Occasionally, the Light shines brightly, and I just stumble forward. And I am learning to trust it.

Follow Mystic Post on Facebook VATICAN CITY After 5 years of investigation Vatican committee concludes “Early Medjugorje apparitions were real” Michael Swan, Catholic Herald THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 Contradicting recent statements of skepticism — including those of Pope Francis — the Vatican commission charged with investigating the apparitions has concluded that the ones reported back [Read More...]

Last week, Elizabeth Gilbert announced via Facebook that she has left her husband to pursue a relationship with a woman. Her decision was met with an outpouring of love, in large part thanks to the overwhelming support of the LGBT community. But though I send love and support as well, I couldn’t help but also feel a [Read More...]

Barefoot basics in an insulated world . .

“But you aren’t self-centered. Instead, you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you.“ Romans 8:9  The call of Christ is the call to die to our “self”, which is our egoic self, and to live our lives from the place of the Spirit, which is our truest essence. At our [Read More...]

As I mentioned in my last blog post, unlike progressive traditions such as the United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalism, and Humanism—all of which stick closely to the college-educated demographic—atheism crosses all lines, from race to class to gender, et cetera. Some people never believe in a god; some realize one day that they have [Read More...]

In a series called By Heart, The Atlantic features authors’ reflections on their favorite passages of literature. Iranian-born Dina Nayeri,who wrote the recently released A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea, choose from Marilyn Robinson’s quiet but strong book, Housekeeping: There is so little to remember of anyone—an anecdote, a conversation at a table. But every [Read More...]

As we move into the winter season, I’m looking out of my office window gazing at thousands of pine trees swaying in the gusty winds. The potent sound of these gusts can be heard swirling around the house sprinkled with the whining vibration of the wind trying to make its way through the cracks of [Read More...]

The sacred container of sisterhood holds a community in an atmosphere of safety where sisters (members) feel confident to share their stories, embrace silence, pray, create, celebrate beauty, and break bread. It could be said there is a sacrament within the spirit of sisterhood. The Way of Belle Coeur: A Woman’s Vade Mecum by Sibyl [Read More...]

I’m the opposite of a Jock, whatever that would be, though I played ice hockey in my youth and now still play a little tennis and golf. I do like to watch American football and, having lived in New Hampshire for twenty years now, I root for the New England Patriots. I was one of [Read More...]

Here is a tool you can use to help you make decisions. Think of a choice you need to make between two options. Now imagine you are at the apex of two different paths – paths that form a “V” shape, with one path going off to the left and one going off to the [Read More...]

Hello, iPhone This past January marked the 10th anniversary of Steve Jobs’s historic announcement at MacWorld Convention of the revolutionary iPhone. In the now infamous presentation, Steve Jobs, Apple’s minister and magician, stands on a darken stage in front of his most ardent supporters. Over Jobs’s shoulder the iconic Apple logo silhouetted with a heavenly [Read More...]

For the many of us—clergy and laypeople, academics and plain citizens, in the U.S. and throughout the world—who for decades have been saying that the environmental crisis calls for a religious perspective and an activist religious response Pope Francis’ bold words are a wonderfully welcome addition. At least three things give those words special weight: [Read More...]

How Healthy is Our Spiritual Life? There are people who see spiritual life pretty much the same way they do physical health. They sit nervously in their doctor’s waiting room hoping everything is basically OK. Some people know they need help from the doctor and worry about what they will learn. Others have a vague sense of [Read More...]

Does one’s inner state really matter that much? What if what is going on inside of you really is all that matters? Find out more…   I recently asked “Do You Live in a Friendly Universe?”. In that blog post, I reflected on the importance of one’s inner state and how to connect in with a larger, [Read More...]

Last month women gathered via signals across the country to share, to listen, and to try to make sense of our new political reality. Today is the first day of the new presidency and the future for our country looks grim. Each day, lines are crossed that used to be off limits in a democracy [Read More...]

Are you still trying to find your “purpose?” The problem is not finding it. The real challenge is what to do after you figure it out! I starting teaching a workshop over twenty years ago called, “Discovering Your Bliss.” I was in my Joseph Campbell period, a ministerial student and wild about realizing in my [Read More...]

(cc) maf04 The simple definition of the word “home” by the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary reads: “the place (such as a house or apartment) where a person lives.” So what if your soul feels at home somewhere other than where you currently live?  This can create a painful paradox, one my wife and I have been [Read More...]

It’s funny how we usually think of heaven as being in a faraway place, one we can’t reach until after our death. But Jesus left a clue that may indicate heaven is a lot closer than we imagine. If you were brought up in a Christian household like me, from a young age you heard [Read More...]

The world is divided into two camps by the answer to this question: Is human failing finally tragic or therapeutic?** If one omits the adverb, “finally,” of course, it is possible to believe that both the tragic and therapeutic provide windows into human behavior. One can believe that human failing is often tragic without excluding [Read More...]

By Barbara Falconer Newhall Huston Smith was well into his 90s. His mind was sharp. His last books, though slender, were inspired. But his hearing was going, and he had taken to a wheelchair. Finally on December 30, at the age of 97, Huston Smith left his millions of fans and readers behind. I’m just [Read More...]The post Huston Smith — A Spiritual Companion to Millions appeared first on Wrestling with God.