The ultimate goal of all spiritual practice is to transcend the ego, and awaken to your true Self. Throughout human history, many masters and teachers have developed many different ways and methods of approaching the problem – but there is none more direct than self-inquiry. Other methods often involve fixing the attention on the breath,
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Did you know that the English word “spirit,” has it’s roots in the Latin word spiritus – which means “breath”? We find a similar connection between breath and Spirit in many other languages. The Hebrew word ruach means “spirit, wind, breath, and/or mind.” The Greek pneuma, as well, means “air, breath, soul, vital force.” The
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One of the central aims of Buddhist meditation is to cultivate compassion, or loving-kindness – and metta meditation is designed to do just that. Metta is a word from ancient Pali (the language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures) which does not translate easily into English. It is a term which conveys warmth, friendliness, non-violence, benevolence,
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In a previous post, I talked about the many ways that the ego can sabotage our lives. Today I’d like to dig a little deeper, and get the heart of what the ego really is, and how exactly it keeps us from being happy and content. And, as always, some practical advice; some action steps
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Forgiveness is one of the most powerful tools we have for healing and personal transformation. Jesus, Buddha and Lao Tzu all taught that forgiveness is essential to knowing inner peace and spiritual wholeness. Now doctors and researchers realize that forgiveness is essential to our health – mental, emotional and physical. Anger and resentment suppress the
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Life can be hectic. Most of us have our hands full just trying to keep it all together. We do what we have to just to get by, from day to day. We seldom stop to ask ourselves, “Why am I here? Where am I headed? What’s it all about?” But it’s exactly this kind
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A few weeks ago I decided to try something a bit different… I meditated on the roof of a 61 story building. Unlike most of my meditation sessions, this one was unique… not only did it give me a breath of fresh air, it also helped bring me closer to the source that brings us all
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We all want to be happy. It’s human nature. But there’s another part of human nature – the ego – that constantly sabotages our happiness at every turn. If we let it. In order to be happy, we have to learn how the ego operates. We need to identify those destructive thought patterns that keep
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Have you ever had a hunch that turned out to be dead right? Did you ever “just know” something, even though there was no logical evidence? Of course you have. And you’re not alone! Whether we call it a “gut feeling” or a “sixth sense,” we all get these mysterious flashes of insight occasionally, that
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If you’re serious about personal development (and of course you are; why else would you be here?), sooner or later you’ve got to get serious about meditation. You can work hard to be physically fit and healthy, to reach your career and financial goals, and achieve all the trappings of worldly success – but if
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