I thought to share some thoughts about the true meaning behind Easter according to deeper mystical teachings. After all, it's not just about hidden eggs, bunnies, and chocolate. (It'’s better than that. I promise...!)

The real resurrection is not about a man and a single miracle. It is about our own resurrection that is ready to take place in our minds and hearts.

This is a tricky topic because there are so many facets to it. On the one hand you might think, "What is a Spirit-oriented newsletter doing talking about money?" Rest assured, we will not be talking about the hottest investment trends, or how to get rich from the latest multi-level marketing scheme.

It is easy for some folks who are spiritually inclined to think that "meek and mild" is the way to go. That a lowered voice, slightly bowed head, and slow movements indicate great spirituality. Someone once said to my Teacher, "Several people are mad at me." His shocking reply was, "Good! It shows you are doing something!” Vivekananda said it is better to steal than lay around doing nothing. At least energy can be redirected through learning, but it is hard to create energy from nothing.

"You're stuck in your head." "Stop overthinking things." "Truth must be experienced, not understood." "Book learning is not real knowledge." — etc. The mind often gets a bad rap, but like many things with some truth in them, this oftentimes is due to a misunderstanding.

Music is a special thing. It has a way of going right to the heart in a way that bypasses the conscious mind. This is a good thing as our minds can thwart our best intentions at times. Vibration is often more important than content.

Isn't that a great quote? I'd like to look at it a bit this week... First off, it actually does matter what others think. We are here to learn and to grow, so closing our minds and hearts to feedback from the world around us is not helpful. That said, the "none of my business" part is about our emotional reactions to things and not about shutting off from reality.

We live in a material world. As such, we see things as fixed forms. While this is of course true, there is quite a bit more going on than what is clear to the eye.

I wanted to share a few thoughts this week about renunciation. It’s a common phrase but tends to leave people feeling that denial is involved. That of course is somewhat unattractive, so renunciation tends to be quite unpopular! True renunciation is of the heart. It is not about denial; it is about understanding that nothing on the outside will ever truly fill the hole in our heart.

We all want to do what’s right. We all (hopefully!) accept that our own sight is limited by our past experiences and our current fears and desires – the twins that cloud judgment and intuition. I have personally made it a life-long practice to do my best to constantly ask for guidance. There are many images of Spirit, and each speaks to us individually, but the process is the same.

The world is a mixed bag. There are lovely, heartwarming, and inspiring things going on. And also dark, troubling, and somewhat frightening things going on. I am sure this is not new information for anyone. For us, however, we have a choice to make, as the situation is much like radio waves. We are bathed in signal waves all the time, so the question becomes: what station are you tuned to?

I have read a number of articles about “balance” recently, especially as things seem more chaotic than normal. Surely it is better to be balanced than imbalanced! But there is an implication in that concept that I am not sure is as helpful to us as it appears, or at least may not be addressing the more important issue.

Last week I wrote about accepting what comes on its own. But that idea can easily be misunderstood of its meaning. It absolutely does not mean becoming passive. Acceptance is an attitude and not a behavior.

Saying "Yes!" to life means embracing whatever comes our way. One of Yogananda's most advanced disciples put it this way: "What comes of its own, let it come."

lmost everyone has inner voices that are unhelpful. They say things that are false but that bring us down. These voices deplete our energy and make it almost impossible to feel the Joy of Spirit. They can leave us feeling alone and isolated. But there is good news! As powerful as they are, they have an Achilles heel, and if you learn what it is you can actually defeat them somewhat easily.

I wish each of you a very joyful and uplifted Christmas. It seemed appropriate to share some thoughts about this season (which really apply to all spiritual Holy-days, for those inclined towards different traditions).

A question that comes up from time to time is whether Spirit is impersonal (“The cosmic ground of being”) or personal. Yogananda referred to God as Divine Mother. He said the Mother is closer than the Father. But is Spirit really either?

People talk about freedom all the time. The general usage is that freedom is about being able to do what you want when you want to. But... (You knew there was a "but" coming, right?)

It is common to think of the ego as an enemy of some sort. It is true that our tendency for self-preoccupation is something that leads to unhappiness, and prevents us from feeling kinship with the world around us and the presence of Spirit in our lives.

On the other hand, a weak ego creates other problems: insecurity, negative self-talk, and fear, among them. So what are we to do? Build it up or take it down?

Yogananda talked about the different parts of the mind. Without going into the Sanskrit words and definitions, how they operate is worth a look. As is often the case, an example is the best way to show these different facets.

Life on this planet is interesting. It is perfectly designed for us. Yogananda said we are here to learn and to be entertained. The entertaining part is more fun but the learning part is actually more important.

Some people are perhaps familiar with the term “ahimsa.” It is known, in part, as Gandhi’s practice of non-violence. While strictly following the path of non-violence, he was able to dislodge the British from India and set his homeland free.

But what really is ahimsa? In Sanskrit, "a" means 'not' while “himsa” means 'injury', so it is the avoidance of doing injury to any other living being. But I’d like to go a little deeper.

The last two newsletters have been about how to deal with the recent spate of unhappy news. It seemed appropriate to go in the other direction this week. When doing yoga postures if you stretch one way, moving the other way is normally recommended. So let’s try that now...

I’m afraid the world news has not gotten a lot better since my post of last week. I wrote about hearing the news, but being less affected by it, which starts with being less affected with the minor things around us every day. Practice makes perfect, and there is actually no causality between external circumstances and how you feel. This is infinitely easier to see in the minor ways, so start there and move up the scale over time. We can become more rooted in ourselves and less buffeted by the people or circumstances around us. But there is another aspect to the news: Read less of it!

Another tough week of news. While the details change and each event is sadly tragic in its own way, the “news” might properly be called the “olds”. Conflict, atrocities, and other horrible news has unfortunately been around as long as human life. Whatever we choose to call it, how can we relate to it as responsible citizens and as children of Spirit? I’m glad you asked… :-)

On its face, hoping something unpleasant will go away on its own seems perfectly natural. And it is. Unfortunately, it is also perfectly natural to experience aches and pains. However, if we work out and eat well, we can often do better than “perfectly natural.” Does that mean you “should” work out and eat well? No! Only if you want to maximize the chance you will be healthy. Similarly, none of the “moral” laws of spirituality have to do with “should.” They have to do with cause and effect, just like the cause and effect at play with our bodies.

Almost all of us get discouraged at some point in life. No matter how hard we try, sometimes multiple things are just not working. Everything I do lately has blown up in my face; I try to be as kind as possible but somehow everyone is mad at me; my relationships always fail. The list of possible hope-removers is long. But as with every aspect of life, the trouble is really in our heads and not in the unfortunate circumstances we are facing…

It is very common for people to be uncomfortable with change. There is a deep rooted natural reason for this. Our fundamental delusion on this planet is that we need our circumstances to be just right in order to be happy. And everyone wants to be happy. No one ever wakes up in the morning thinking, “I sure hope I am miserable today!” We all want to be happy, and we are sure that happiness can only be achieved if our circumstances are improved (a little more money, better relationship, good health, more satisfying work, well-adjusted children, etc.)

Contentment, it has been rightly said, is the supreme virtue. While I believe this is true, there are a number of ways to misinterpret this. Contentment does not mean passivity. It means an open, receptive heart, able to accept reality for what it is. Once the heart is calm, true intuition and knowledge is free to enter.

I remember a great joke I heard years ago. The pilot of a commercial jet comes on the intercom and says, “I have good news and bad news [I bet they are never supposed to say that!]. The bad news is our navigation and communication systems are down, and we are completely lost. The good news is that with our current tailwind, we are making great time!”

Our natural state is to feel the deep joy of Spirit. One might wonder… if that is so natural why is that state amazingly rare for each of us and for people in general? Glad you asked… :) Joy is not created. There is nothing we need to do directly to bring it into our lives. Joy being our natural state, the better question is, “What then blocks it from manifesting more fully in our lives?”