You could say that creative illumination is a kind of spiritual magic, a word that still carries the blemish given to it during the Middle Ages when the Christian church in Europe discredited it as …
The Gifts of a More Highly Developed Soul
In order to practice creative illumination we must liberate ourselves from the limitations of our materialistic conditioning. We’ve been taught that we live in an infinite expanse of three dimensional space. This vast ocean of …
The Individual and Collective Soul
In the first essay in this series I introduced the process of creative illumination and as I see it, this can best be understood as the soul’s journey to wholeness. I outlined the contours of …
Awakening through the Breath
Breathing has long been seen as a point of connection with divinity. In fact, the word spirit is derived from the Latin word spiritus which refers to the breath of a god. In his gospel, …
Inner Freedom and Creative Illumination
When I teach I always emphasize that there are two equally essential aspects of spiritual work – the attainment of inner freedom, and the art of creative illumination. On the spiritual path we must first …
The Birth of Love and Innocence
The story of Christmas is the story of a birth that occurred in the middle of a dark and silent night, and promised to bring peace and joy to the world. In that story I …
How Luminous Absorption Can Change the World
As I see it, the experience of luminous absorption reveals our True Self and the True Nature of existence at the same time. We’ve been taught that we live in a reality of three-dimensional space …
Unleashing our Potential for Spiritual Creativity
As a spiritual teacher, what I teach is constantly evolving. As I continue to explore, learn, and grow, what I teach reflects my current interests and discoveries. For the past few years I’ve been fascinated …
Practicing The Art of Creative Illumination
How do you meditate? Close your eyes and surrender. ~ Rumi For a long time I have talked and written about how the practice of meditation occurs in two distinct stages, but until now I …
Spiritual Attunement and Collective Awakening
In the enlightenment tradition of Hinduism, the notion of transmission or shakti pat often plays a prominent role. Within that tradition, a teacher or guru is often seen as possessing access to awakening energy that …
Spiritual Practice, Spiritual Freedom, and Spiritual Illumination
Part 1: The Art of Conscious Contentment I teach a form of meditation that I call The Art of Conscious Contentment and that practice offers a powerful path to spiritual awakening. In this essay, you’ll …
The Art of Meditating without Meditating: Breaking the Habit of Isolation
I feel that the meditation I teach is perfect for beginners even though it’s often seen as an advanced practice. The reason I believe it’s perfect for beginners is because it takes us straight to …
We are Cosmic Beings
Today I want to share something with you. It’s the kind of thing that is true of so many of us, and yet so few of us feel free to say it. I came into …
Living in Deep Trust
I think of myself as a teacher of meditation and mystical philosophy, but of course at least half of the things people ask of me are about how to live a better, more spiritual, more …
Living in Flow
Excerpted from: The Miracle of Self Realization: Reflections on the teachings of Ramana Maharshi by Jeff Carreira. ~ Ramana tells a story, in The Spiritual Teachings of Ramana Maharshi, about a boy who is fast …
Experiencing Transcendent Freedom in Meditation
As a meditation practitioner and teacher, I have experienced myself, and witnessed others experience, the miracle of radical liberation countless times. There are many forms of meditation designed for a variety of purposes. The form …
The Paradox of Power and Surrender
In my last essay, I explained that a powerful and positive sense of self is crucial on the path to awakening and it is equally important for the continued journey of conscious evolution after awakening. …
Personal Development, Spiritual Awakening and Conscious Evolution
The path of awakening is often talked about as a path of self transcendence, so what roll could work on the self play in that process? What is a self?
We Are Cosmic Beings
This video asks you to question why you are seeking for spiritual fulfillment in the first place? Do you really know why you feel so compelled to seek. I describe my own discovery of the …
The Hazy Sunshine of an Illuminated Mind
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious …