Reflection for this weekend:
“Do one thing at a time! Consciously choose where your awareness goes.” ~ Dandapani
Photo: The full moon rises behind the Swayambunath Stupa as pilgrims circumambulate one of Buddhism’s holiest shrines during the celebration of the Buddhist new year in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Hindus wear markings on their forehead for many purposes. Some markings denote the sect they belong to, others tell if a woman is married or not, and some have deeper metaphysical reasons. Hindu priests and monks can often be seen wearing the most elaborate of facial markings. The markings are made of holy ash, sandal…
Read moreDifferent religions believe in different things obviously. Hinduism does not believe in heaven or hell but rather in heavenly states of mind and hellish states of mind. One of the core beliefs of Hinduism is that God is all pervasive. God is in you, in me, in the trees, in the stones. God is everywhere.…
Read moreHere is something deeper for you to reflect upon. I’ll touch on it, but won’t get too deep into this for now. As awareness repeatedly goes to a particular area of the mind, it creates a groove or a path to that area of the mind. As it repeatedly travels back and forth to this…
Read moreReflection for the weekend: “At the heart of everything is energy. Getting to know it, understanding it and learning to channel it is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.” ~ Dandapani Photo: The gorgeous waterfall at Celeste River (Rio Celeste) at Tenorio Volcano National Park in Costa Rica. The turquoise colored waterfall is quite a…
Read moreIn April, we headed down for the fourth year since acquiring the land to work on Siva Ashram. This year we focused on infrastructure, layout and the maintenance of the gardens versus just planting. We were joined by Nick and Tracey Bloor, our intrepid friends who “swung” over from Brisbane, Australia, “on their way” to…
Read moreIn looking to change our own negative traits, we should seek to understand them first: How did it come about? What caused it? How many lives did it take to create? Remember the trait was a product of decades or centuries of repeating a behavioral pattern and to expect to change it overnight or in…
Read moreMeditation is a fine art and we need to treat it that way. We need to treat it the same way we would treat learning any art form. If we wanted to learn the piano, we would not take a 12-week course hoping at the end of the 12 weeks that we would be able…
Read moreReflection for this weekend: “When we understand how the mind works, we can control it. When we can control it we can direct it. When we can direct it we can create the life that we want and sustain the changes that we seek.” ~ Dandapani Photo: The sun rises another day on the magnificent 9th-century…
Read moreToday I thought I’d share some images that I photographed of smiling and laughing children during my many travels to India. These pictures remind me of my favorite quote from my guru, Gurudeva Subramuniyaswami: “Life is meant to be lived joyously.” I always jokingly say that life goes up and down like the number of my Instagram followers but…
Read moreThe best way to teach children how to concentrate is for you to learn concentration and practice it yourself. Concentration is the ability for you to keep your awareness on one thing for an extended period of time. Parents struggle to teach concentration because they are not concentrated themselves. Children learn through examples — they watch…
Read moreEverything begins in the mental plane first before it manifests in the physical plane. You think to yourself first, “I would like some ice cream,” then you get up and get yourself some ice cream. But it began in your mind with a thought. Each thought has a picture, sound and color associated with it.…
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