One of the analogies that my guru often used to describe awareness and the mind is viewing awareness as a traveler and the mind as the world. When you go to San Francisco to visit you have experiences that San Francisco offers. You experience San Francisco but you are not San Francisco. You are in…
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“Change does not take a lot of time. It just takes a lot of will. That will has to be cultivated, just as we would cultivate a garden.” ~ Gurudeva Subramuniyaswami
Photo: Lily Flower, Hawaii
At an event in Portland, Oregon, I was asked, “What if we don’t have time to spend in reflection in the morning?” At the end of the day, it comes down to priorities. What’s important in your life? Everybody has time. I’m sure they have time to update their status or to talk with their…
Read moreThese days listening is a rare trait. It is rare because most people have great difficulty in concentrating. Another area in life where concentration plays a big part to me is in building relationships with people. One of the ways to build relationships with people is the ability to listen. But you cannot listen if…
Read moreTo understand how to live in the moment, we need to have an understanding of time. Let’s look at time in a very simple but practical way: If you could divide time into three parts, you could say there was the past, the present and the future. At any given point, awareness can be functioning…
Read moreTreat your awareness like a dog. I remember a few years ago I went on holidays to the Caribbean, and while I was there, I stayed with a friend of mine. He works for the FBI and is in the Canine Unit, so he has a German Shepherd. A big, beautiful dog. This dog is…
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“Taking responsibility for one’s own actions is the first step in understanding the law of karma.” ~ Dandapani
Photo: Mount Merapi at sunrise, Central Java, Indonesia.
Madurai’s Meenakshi Temple in South India, Hinduism’s grandest citadel to the goddess, is a sacred place of pilgrimage for Hindus the world over and one of the most famous temples in India. This temple, centuries old and hand carved out of granite, covers an area of 16.5 acres. In Madurai, the Goddess Meenakshi is considered…
Read moreWe really don’t know what happens at the point of death, so most of us don’t like to think about it. We live our lives like we’re going to live forever, but the truth is we don’t live forever. We all die at some point. When you realize that life is finite—not short, but finite—you…
Read moreI meet so many people that are obsessed about learning, that are perpetually taking one course after another. Learning is good, but more important than the ebullient need to consume knowledge should be the need to apply the knowledge learned in daily life. This is where most people fall short. Learning gives us a high,…
Read moreReflection for this weekend:
“Withdraw your energy from people in your life who are inherently energy vampires. Practice being affectionately detached with them but always kind, gentle, sincere and loving towards them.” ~ Dandapani
I am often asked, “What is the best time to meditate?” The best time to meditate is in the morning as soon as you wake up. Don’t look at your phone, don’t check your email, don’t listen to news, don’t go on social media. Take a shower, put on fresh clothes, and go straight to…
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