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Trauma is becoming a mainstream topic as we are beginning to understand how our past still creates our present and future reality. Think about events that have occurred within your past, from how you were raised, what school teachers told you, what bosses or managers told you, being cut from the sports team, a family […]
Creativity is essential to getting something done. In the Buddha’s time, he wanted people to start a new way of life, to begin a scientific, psychological, and social ethical revolution—so he encouraged their creativity and mobilized their creative energy. Before he became Buddha, the buddha-to-be Siddhartha’s initial creativity manifested as an explanation to his horrified […]
When my dad died suddenly in 2008, I became depressed. Three months later I had a dream of him (which I now call a grief dream). The dream changed my grief in ways I still don’t fully understand. In my dream, my father was on the other side of my bedroom and he looked healthy. […]
Hope is being able to see the light despite all the darkness Desmond Tutu Have you ever been in a mental space that seemed to be filled with a negative, worst-case scenario or even depressing situation, only to be confronted by someone who reeks of positivity and hope? That encounter will mess with your […]
The Japanese kintsugi[i] vase is the perfect metaphor for healing scars in both people and organizations. The first time I saw one I was amazed that its golden joinery transformed something useless—broken shards pottery—into something so beautiful it nearly took my breath away. I knew that the art of kintsugi held valuable lessons on healing, […]
Recently, I lost one of my best friends to cancer. Cindy’s death left me sitting in a well of grief—but not for the reason you might think. Cindy was a student of Swami Muktananda, who brought Siddha Yoga to the West. She was heartbroken when she learned that he had seduced female students, and the […]
Early on my spiritual path I attended a worship service. After the service, one of the congregants gave me a little cartoon book that depicted an after-death experience. The cartoon showed a man cowering before a cosmic judge, pleading for mercy for his sinful life. The judge was not moved. “Off to hell with you […]
Grief cannot be defined in one simple sentence, as grief itself is not simple. It is a vast and complex topic with equally vast and complex presentations in terms of signs and symptoms, longevity, and intensity. Grief is closely associated with death but can also be triggered when we lose anything with which we have […]
Summer 1996: I opened my eyes at the end of my first darshan in India to hear Pujya Swamiji saying, “Yes?” I was the last one in the room, and he addressed me in English: “Yes?” I rose quickly from my place, went in front of him, and bowed low, trying to remember the protocol. […]
Crystals, stones and minerals have been prized for their unique appearance and perceived ability to provide and promote physical and emotional healing for centuries. During the Middle Ages, physicians and healers alike often prescribed using these treasures of the earth as part of their treatment protocol. For example, if a woman wished to conceive a […]