One of the most essential, yet difficult, skills we must learn in order to navigate life well is discernment. In other words, good judgment--knowing who and what to trust. We ask ourselves: What do I know? What do I believe? How can I be sure what is “real” and what is not, what is “true” and what is not? How will I know the difference? And as soon as we start to ask these questions, we quickly discover we have myriad other questions in need of answers: what is safe, what is good, what is balanced? Indeed, what is “reality” and what is “truth”? I unexpectedly waded deep into these … [Read more...]
The Light Shines Through Many Windows
I got to thinking recently about belief systems after listening to a radio interview with writer and director Kenneth Lonergan (about his film Margaret, now out in an extended DVD version). What caught my attention was his description of himself as a “committed atheist,” and more particularly his explanation of why. In his view, all religions are creations, stories, myths, that are constructed as a way of trying to understand something that is not comprehensible. In other words, we create belief systems to help us wrap our minds around things we can not understand. Things like why are we … [Read more...]
Indiana Jones, Winston Churchill, Coincidence and Synchronicity
What are coincidences? How do they happen? Why do they happen? What do they mean? Coincidence, as commonly defined, is when two or more events happen at the same time by accident but seem to have some connection. But this definition only considers events that are causally related. Synchronicity, a term coined by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung in the 1920s, recognizes that concurrent events may be connected by meaning, rather than cause. Synchronicity is when two or more events that appear not be connected, and are unlikely to occur together by chance, in fact do occur together in a way … [Read more...]
Whatever Happened to Summertime?
Remember when summer used to be a time when we slowed down? Days were longer and often more lazy? It was a time when taking it easy, or at least easier, was expected and accepted. Where did that go? I have been noticing over the last few weeks how many people are not taking down time, even in the summer, and how stressed we are. Everything moves faster now—that is the price of technology—and we have become so accustomed to this acceleration that we don’t slow down like we used to. We are on a trajectory that hurtles forward on its own momentum much of the time. The problem with too … [Read more...]
Building a World Wide Wave
There is great movement taking place—and I am sure many of you have felt it, perhaps without understanding even that you have felt it or exactly what you are feeling. The last several months have been especially challenging for many. This is a time of transition, and transition is most always uncomfortable. But transition heralds change, and positive change is what we look towards now. Many of my colleagues also involved in spiritual practice, teaching, writing, and mentoring report perceptions very similar to my own at this time: many of us now experience an increased inner awareness of … [Read more...]
Inner Partnership
We live in a time when many are unaware of, or doubt, the reality of unseen consciousness and the ability we each have to access it. But sometimes, extraordinary events occur that cause even the most skeptical to pause and reconsider. Here is a remarkable—and true--story of one woman’s inner contact with her ancestors that recently resulted in her winning a half million-dollar MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant! Meet Jessie Little Doe Baird, a member of the Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. (The Wampanoag were the first Native Americans to meet the Puritans when they arrived in the … [Read more...]
New Math: Subtracting From Your Mind
What do you yearn for, and where does it direct you? As we savor the last sweet days of summer, and many prepare for school, I have been thinking about this. And about the nature of the scholar and inner learning. What is it we really want? What are we studying and learning and trying to achieve in this life? We live in both our inner and our outer experiences, and the emphasis on one or the other ebbs and flows, and perhaps the balance shifts over time. But the outer distractions have a way of taking over. It is important to find ways and means of attending to our inner growth … [Read more...]
A Call to Inner Action
These are interesting times. Our home, Earth, seems to be taking a strong, outward stand, erupting and quaking and behaving in volatile ways, all-in-all making quite a concerted effort to get our attention. Natural disasters, and, tragically, man-made ones, seem to be clustering together over the last many months, as if upping the ante each time. Many of us have a feeling that something in this is trying to get our attention, but don’t know what it is or what this means or what to do about it. We need to expand our response. We must craft a fuller response. But that response is not … [Read more...]
In the Spring Garden
These are the days when my garden bursts with life and color and fragrance. Daffodils yet bloom, though fading, alongside heavily perfumed grape hyacinth. Phlox have been putting on a show for nearly three weeks now. Pansies, parsley and lettuce share common ground in harmony. The viburnum is still fragrant, lilacs early and lush, wisteria opening. What a delight to be present for such an extravaganza of creation. But in truth, we are not merely present, we are collaborators! We live in a wondrous universe of co-creative force and possibility and we can and should and do work … [Read more...]