“Only those who risk going too far can find out how far they can go.” – T.S. Eliot I once asked a spiritual teacher a question that had been preoccupying me for months. I had … Read More

For twenty years, I lived in a spiritual community that was rooted in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta and the lineage of the great Indian saint Ramana Maharshi. During those years, I had the luxury … Read More

As we gain access to spiritual power, it becomes more important to remember that the aim of spiritual work is always and only to be more surrendered to divinity.

There are two diametrically opposed dimensions of meditation that are both absolutely essential if we want our practice to result in dramatic spiritual breakthrough.

In the late nineteenth century, the great Indian sage Ramakrishna Paramahamsa lived and taught in Kolkata. This divinely inspired being lived with his wife in a modest home. There, in his Temple Garden, the great mystic taught to all that came to visit him.

The answer to that question is a resounding Yes… and No! In my work as a teacher, I am always attempting to explain the indescribable, ethereal and always awesome realms of spiritual revelation and awakening. I want to demystify these holy realms by describing them in terms that are satisfying to our rationally trained intellects.

What makes paradigm shifting so challenging is that a new paradigm cannot be built from inside the existing paradigm – and we all live inside the existing paradigm. We have experiences beyond the current paradigm, but we don’t live there because it’s not established enough to live in yet.

Once during a two-month-long meditation retreat, I was sitting and deeply embracing an impossible combination of opposites. I was focused, concentrated and alert on one hand, and at the very same time, relaxed, at ease, … Read More

One way to describe spiritual awakening is as the recognition that “this is it.” The experience that you are having right now is already awake and there is no other experience to get. The challenge … Read More

My work is aimed at the liberation of the human spirit. That means liberating the energy and intelligence that animates your heart, mind, body and soul so that it can manifest its full potential in … Read More

The way I see it, spiritual awakening means having experienced the mysterious truth of who we are deeply enough to lose confidence in our common conception of self, and I see enlightenment as the measure … Read More

When we talk about the spiritual path we use the words awakening and enlightenment as metaphors to explain profound shifts in our experience. In this essay I’ll give you one way to understand the difference. … Read More