If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying? ~Shantideva How often do you find yourself worrying about something, big or small? Once a week? Once a day? Hourly? A recent Gallup Poll showed that 55% of Americans feel stressed or worried on any given day. (Compare that to the global average of 35%.) That’s not a good thing. Why do we worry so... Read more
There’s a dude named Aubrey Marcus who has a regular podcast—what might be better termed a bro’cast—and I tune in every few episodes. Marcus may put some people off with his sometimes off-color, occasionally self-absorbed banter, but this guy frequently delivers valuable insights and wisdom on how we can become better, more complete human beings. Marcus leads what might best be described as an unconventional life and freely admits that many of the lessons he has learned have come via... Read more
What’s the best spirituality book of our time? If you asked most spiritually-minded readers to come up with a short list, The Power of Now, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle would probably be on it. First published in 1997, The Power of Now has sold over 3 million copies, helped by a big push from Oprah Winfrey who has promoted the book in online webinars, on her TV show and most recently in a series of podcasts in which each... Read more
Did you ever hear the story about John Lennon and the promise he made about his death? He told his son Julian that after he left this world, he would communicate with him by appearing in the form of a white feather to let him know he was okay. Julian told no one about the promise and for many years there was no sign from his father. Then one day, while on tour in Australia, Julian was presented with a... Read more
At some point in time, have you wondered if God really exists? You may have asked God to show you a sign, any sign, that he or she is real. You want to know your prayers aren’t going out into an empty void, that your faith isn’t a sign of some deeply ingrained ignorance, that there truly is someone or something looking over our lives and world. The mystics say they know God exists because they have experienced God firsthand. There... Read more
Have you ever become aware of a voice talking in the back of your head—you know, the one that critiques and analyzes your every move—and it…just…won’t…shut…up? You’re not alone, this voice is a constant companion for many of us. Eckhart Tolle identifies this narrator in our heads as “the egoic self.” The ego is a voice you might falsely identify as yourself, “a mind-made me” in the words of Tolle, as opposed to other voice that lives within you—the deep... Read more
Do you remember the book The Shack? It was the story of a man’s journey from personal tragedy to spiritual rebirth, with a key component being his conversations with God, who appeared to him as a black woman. It sold more than 10 million copies after its release in 2007 and was later made into a movie—but it was not without its detractors. While the book was based loosely on Biblical scripture and was a huge hit with the Christian... Read more
Has anyone ever told you to “follow your intuition” or “go with your gut” and left you wondering just what they meant? The psychologist James Hillman defines intuition as a direct sense of knowledge that can happen to a person “without any reflective thinking.” Intuition comes to us as “a sudden idea, a definite judgement, a grasped meaning.” With intuition, we don’t have to think about something. We just know. Yet for some people intuition can be difficult to sense.... Read more
Are you familiar with Christ Consciousness? It’s also known as higher consciousness and plays into the idea that you actually have two types of consciousness. There’s the ordinary consciousness or awareness that’s part of our everyday lives—and a more profound type of awareness, or a higher consciousness, that has the power to put you in touch with God. While the idea of higher consciousness dates back to the Bhagavad Vita, which was written about the time Christ walked on this earth,... Read more
If someone asked you “Who is God?” or “What is God?” how would you answer the question? I gave it my best shot several years ago (here) and can tell you it is no easy task. It is, as the saying goes, like trying to define the undefinable. That’s why, when listening to a recent episode of the radio show Fresh Air, my ears opened wide when I heard the host Terry Gross put the question to Barbara Brown Taylor,... Read more
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