I had a most interesting experience some time ago…

I went to Castro Street for a walk with my wife and to have a coffee at Red Rock. Outside the shop I saw a cute, tiny dog. A woman had the adult dog in a small baby carriage.

There’s a good friend of mine who is an American living in India, where he has been a teacher of yoga philosophy for many years. He has been a disciple of Yogananda for over 50 years, and is one of those I have looked up to as a friend and mentor for decades.

It is a natural tendency to focus on what would be better for everyone were a given situation different. Obviously there are times where focusing on and preventing something from happening is both best and entirely sensible.

But it is a habit of the mind to focus on the darkness and it is very often not particularly helpful for either the situation or for ourselves.

We live in such an us-centric universe in our own minds that we assume our perceptions are rock solid, so whatever we are seeing that is “off” must itself be out of whack. If you knew that someone had slipped a drug into your drink, you’d be less confident in your own perceptions as being true to reality. Well, the truth is — we all have been slipped a drug. The Yogis call it maya, the sanskrit word for “delusion."

I want to tackle a challenging topic this week. Yogananda said, "All conditions are neutral. It is our response to conditions that determines whether they are good or bad."

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).