When I teach people about using their brains well, they often say they want, more than anything else, to become more creative. In response, I first tell them this: “You already are very creative!” Everyone is indeed very creative, but people often do not know how to use this built-in ability of the brain as they wish. They are busy all the time, and they are creating things all the time, but they are not creating what they really want.... Read more
During my career as a spiritual teacher I have written many books. One of my books that resonated particularly well with readers was The Call of Sedona: Journey of the Heart. Its success was unexpected because it is a simple, personal book. It’s a memoir really, with some spiritual guidance offered as well. In its pages, I tell the story of how I came to Sedona, AZ, and built a retreat center there. Although my other books tend to be... Read more
Love is not easy. We are all constantly bombarded with reasons to let other emotions take the place of love. Even though every single person wants to give and receive love more than anything else in the world, nevertheless it is always in short supply. Negative emotions like anger, jealousy, greed, and even hate seem to dominate our world instead. I’m here to tell you, though, that that is just an illusion. Despite the ugliness on the surface of the... Read more
If you are a parent, you are your child’s first spiritual teacher, just as your parents were yours. This is true even if your parents saw themselves as non-spiritual or raised you to mistrust spirituality. In cases like these, it had some influence on the way your spiritual path has unfolded and on how you view the world today. Without a doubt, the decisions we make regarding how spirituality will be presented to our children have profound consequences. If we... Read more
Who is the best teacher you ever had? Maybe you’ll think of a favorite primary school teacher or an inspiring professor you had in college. These people were probably great, but they cannot compare to your first and greatest teacher—nature herself. You might have forgotten about this teacher because she gives so ceaselessly and so generously that she is easy to take for granted. Our First Teacher Mother Nature began teaching you the moment you were conceived in the... Read more
Everyone faces difficulties in life, but truly wise people see the silver lining in every cloud and know how to be happy anyway. I believe that happiness is really just a matter of choice, but too often we choose otherwise, perhaps because we don’t even know we have the power to do so. With a positive mind, you can see that everything is a blessing and that even our darkest moments are here for our own growth. By taking a... Read more
For most of us, today’s world is full of many conveniences and luxuries. We no longer have to face the harsh conditions and the threats to survival that our ancestors once did, and we spend most of our time in comfortable, safe environments. Yet, life still seems hard. We experience a lot of stress, and many of us struggle with emotional issues of various sorts. The reason for this is that, although we have largely solved our hardships with nature,... Read more
Changing habits is hard. If you’ve ever tried to stop smoking or lose weight, you know how hard it is. But as hard as it is to change habits of the body, it’s even harder to change habits of the mind. Habits of the mind, though, are perhaps even more important than the habits of the body. Negative mental habits can degrade the quality of your relationships, and they can undermine your goals and ambitions. Also, they are often at... Read more
As people get older, they often become concerned about the health of their brains, even if they did not think much about the topic when they were young. We all hear stories of elders succumbing to the ravages of dementia, no longer able to recognize their loved ones or even to go about normal daily tasks. Losing our brain function seems like losing our independence and sense of self. Fortunately, such a fate is not a foregone conclusion. Brain scientists... Read more
Spiritual writers and teachers often use the word enlightenment. But what does this word really mean? The word enlightenment seems to mean different things to different people. In eighteenth century Europe, it meant a philosophy based on reason, not on tradition or superstition. In Eastern spiritual paths, it usually means transcending the physical plane to find a state of bliss beyond the sufferings of this world. In casual conversation, people will even speak of others with open-minded, progressive opinions as... Read more
Living Tao with Ilchi Lee
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