Photograph credit: Ryan Niven Humility, being truly humble means not wanting anything for the self, pure devotion. untainted love and willingness to give without reward and return. This is not coming from the limited perspective of the ego, that needs to be pampered, preened and fluffed. This is coming from an entirely different world of concerns, not to be misconstrued for martyrdom and co-depency. This is giving of the self and not expecting or even asking for any kind of reciprocity. “This work of the spirit, it is the one who thinks less and has the desire to do less that accomplishes more. What we have to do is beg like those who are needy, when they come before a wealthy emperor and lower our gaze and humbly wait.” St. Teresa of Avila This is the work of loving. Loving the people in your lives, and the world of mysteries…

I just had a grotesque flashback of some vivid movie about black slavery in the Southern part of the United States. I wonder what can justify that kind of treatment of other human beings? Pop, another flashback, a scene in a Star Wars film. The rebel pilots say that all the bad things they have done and all the killing they have performed were justified because it was done for the right cause. The mind is a powerful weapon. All these horrible things happen and they are condoned because of what we believe. That doesn’t seem right but it is does seem to be how things work. There is a bumper sticker that I like a lot, which says “Don’t believe what you think”. It is a major emphasis of many spiritual practices to learn how to evade our own programs of mind control, to see the illusions of our…

I just visited the most amazing exhibit in NYC. The murals of the Lukhang Temple and the Potala Palace, Tibet. They were created in the 17 th century and kept secret for many years. The temple of the serpent water spirits. The vast landscape depicts copious images painted with ground mineral pigment, showing every aspect of human development from pre-conception through all stages and aspects of human existence on through death and beyond. There are Buddhas, Deities, humans, Demons and animals: the murals keep your eyes roving up and down and side to side, feasting on the raw, gory, beautiful pictures. They stir something deep within, foster a insatiable craving for comprehension. What were the intentions of these murals? I was so attracted to the pictures, that I almost could tolerate leaving them and had a strong desire to see them again. I enjoyed the radical pictures of demons, and…

Misfits and Fringe Dwellers Unite! The disease of normalcy has corrupted our internal structures of self, it has eaten away at our foundations and created a fever pitch of fear driven insanity. It all has gone so very wrong and we are now so far away from an even tempered way of living that we are hard pressed to find a balanced environment to surround ourselves in. Some people find small communities that comfort them and some isolate themselves, it is all traveling against the current. What would going upstream mean and changing the way the water flows? It would take a large mass of people sticking together and standing firm. How can we unite the fringe dwellers and the misfits of the world? The ones that always felt they were different that they were called by the whispers of their heart to do more and go further. The mantra,…

The goal of human existence is to be happy. A ragged declaration, the ultimate statement that defines our society. We have been indoctrinated, little rats to follow the siren call of the pied piper, you must obey. We will buy the big screen T.V, cover our blemishes with makeup, starve ourselves thin and if we tout the line, we will be happy. Yes sir, Yes ma’am I will do what you say, I will bend myself backwards for you. It doesn’t work. Well then I will fake it and pretend it is working and still keep trying to make myself thinner, smarter and buy even nicer things. I will tell my neighbors it is working so that by them coveting my happiness, it will make it more real for me.I will play this game as long as I can. It is still does not work. What am I doing wrong?…

It seems just recently that I have crossed over some invisible bridge of aging. No one really tells you that it is coming or when you will feel it, then one day it just happens. I look around and realize that the cafe is filled with 20 year olds planning their eco-fermenting businesses. The new veterinarian and orthodontist are about 28 years old. A whole new generation of professionals are coming up and the bulk of the baby boomers are retiring. I am not really old but all of sudden it feels that I am not young anymore. In one way this feels like a relief. Some of the competitive challenges of youth are fading. No longer do I feel not pretty enough or not smart enough. I have a enough life experience to not really pay attention to those whimsical thoughts. I know that there are good and bad…

Photograph credit: Katherine Nagy Sita Ram, Sita Ram, Sita Ram, Jaya Sita Ram सीता राम सीता राम सीता राम जय सीता राम Sita is the incarnation of Lakshmi, Goddess of abundance. She is the embodiment of love and virtue. Her husband Ram, is the incarnation of Vishnu, Lord of the universe. He was a living vessel of effused truth, compassion and bravery. Together they symbolize the union of the feminine and the masculine energies, the powerful partnership of intuition and action. Mantras are prayers, patterns of letters, words, sounds and breath, that consecrate intention into form. By chanting the songs repetitively, we evoke the sacred energies. We can use this tool to unify the separate sides of the self and to heal the violent divisions in our culture. The intertwined energies of Sita and Ram, balance the right and left sides of the human brain and regulate the parasympathetic and…

In the haze of sleep, swimming in the place between being awake and in a dream, a thought about healing hijacks my mind. In order to heal, we have to crack open. The vessel of self has to split and then the light can get in, begin the work of restoring harmony. The space that is created, the energy that comes flooding through to guide us towards what will support us in the process of recovery. This self-discovery is not only cyclical within linear time but it is also happening on multiple levels. I have found that if it can occur in a different part of the self rather then the mind it will be more effective. If it happens energetically or physically there is more movement. If it is just in the mind or psychologically then it will get stuck in the cogs of mental process and only get…

Photograph credit: Jason Stern A month ago I sub-letted my small office to a colleague. I have worked alone for a long time and wanted to change up the energy around here, and have another acupuncturist to talk shop with. I thought if I had a really good acupuncturist working in the office next to me, I would work a bit harder in my own room. It has certainly done exactly that, in ways that I could not have predicted. He easily fit right in and filled up his one day a week with clients. Has great energy and is bringing lots of new people through the office doors. What I did not count on was that in the few minutes conversations that we get to have tucked in between clients, I have had to see myself a little more honestly… My self-esteem gets challenged really easily. I am a…