It is common to assume that since religion is such a complicated topic, spirituality should be as well. The sprawling variety of deities, symbols, rituals, sanctuaries, traditions, customs and beliefs across the landscape and history of world religions might lead one to conclude that the spiritual life of humans is just as variegated. We mayContinue reading “A Glossary of the Spiritual Life”
Tag Archives: meditation
Our Human Adventure
I can absolutely guarantee that after a short orientation, you will be able to find yourself on the map illustrated above. Now, whether you build on that discovery and successfully find your way to the fulfilment of your human journey, also known as self-actualization, salvation, and the liberated life, is entirely your choice. You mightContinue reading “Our Human Adventure”
The Three Stages of Spiritual Power
One theory of meditation sees it as a portal to peak experience and enlightenment, providing access to transcendental dimensions of being and consciousness. People spend decades perfecting the mindset and techniques that facilitate these breakthroughs, dedicating great amounts of time to the discipline of meditation. Another theory sees meditation as a conditioning routine for meetingContinue reading “The Three Stages of Spiritual Power”
Save the Baby!
Just as we can think of the lifeforce, which remains a mystery to science, as something that animates the myriad living forms in existence, we might also regard the countless forms of religion throughout human history as so many expressions of another mystery, called spirituality or spiritual life. And just as when the lifeforce “goesContinue reading “Save the Baby!”
All and Nothing
It took a couple of centuries into the first Axial Age of the higher cultures (800-200 BCE) for the shocking realization to set in. In sixth-century Persia it came together in Zarathushtra’s idea of apocalypse, which regarded the world as a richly embroidered veil of illusion that must be pulled aside in our quest toContinue reading “All and Nothing”
Necessary Delusion
Check this out. Everything around you includes you in its higher wholeness, and what is within you grounds you in deeper oneness. Harmony and communion are the special terms designating these distinct dimensions of Reality – around and including you, within and grounding you. The concept of harmony requires you to be centered in yourself.Continue reading “Necessary Delusion”
Four-Square Spirituality
Ego sucks. I don’t mean that as a judgment, but as a simple statement of fact. I happen to believe that our separate center of self-conscious identity – ego (Latin for “I”) for short – represents a transformational breakthrough in the evolution of human consciousness, and we need it to get around in the world.Continue reading “Four-Square Spirituality”
Deckchairs on the Titanic
Are you familiar with that metaphor of arranging deckchairs on the Titanic? The message is that while we are busy piddling around with minor things, the really Big Thing needing our attention is going down – taking us and our trivial fixations with it. Besides being a helpful call-back to our priorities in business, family,Continue reading “Deckchairs on the Titanic”
The Truth of What You Are
This identity you are managing inside the world is not what you really are. What you are is deeper and more essential than who you are. What you are is a human being – or better yet, a human manifestation of being, while who you are is about your personal identity – the wardrobe ofContinue reading “The Truth of What You Are”
First Things
If we don’t really understand ourselves, how can we know what we need to be healthy, happy, and whole? In our ignorance we are left groping for what feels good, for what might help us get ahead of the game, or at least distract us from the anxiety of not knowing what “the game” isContinue reading “First Things”
Tracts of Revolution 