The contemporary Zen Master, John Daido Lori, has said that for an aspirant to progress on the spiritual path he or she will need Great Faith, Great Doubt, and Great Determination. I capitalize these qualities in an effort to represent the magnitude of the spiritual undertaking. We are not referring to faith, doubt, or determination […]
The king called the yogi to his court and asked for a blessing. The yogi said, “What have I to do with blessings? I teach people how to end their own suffering so they can bless themselves. Regardless, since you asked, here is my blessing: May your father die, then may you die, and then
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No one is happy all the time. It’s impossible. Earth school can be tough. Cut yourself some slack, and avoid the stress and frustration of laboring for an unrealistic goal that is unattainable. What is possible, however, is to be happy a considerable amount of your life. Here are some suggestions. I hope you find
I suppose this is as good a place as any for a public confession. My disclosure is that for too many years I misunderstood the goal of yoga practice and paraded my accomplishments in sadhana as having some value. I could sit in the lotus pose until my knees went numb, I could go without
Two yogis had the habit of sneaking to the back of the ashram to smoke cigarettes. They started to feel lousy about it, so they decided they would speak to the guru. Later, they got together to compare their conversations. The first yogi announced, “Bad news. The guru has instructed me to stop smoking.” The
From the unreal, lead us to the real. From darkness, lead us to light. From death, lead us to immortality. Above is an ancient prayer from the yogic tradition that is fascinating to me for several reasons. First, it states that our current level of consciousness is unreal, dark, and morbid. Second, it suggests there
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The ashram was having a problem with mice, so the guru brought home a good cat. The cat did a fine job on the mice but she became attached to the guru and would follow him everywhere, even when he was performing his morning meditations. In order to keep the cat from disrupting his meditations,
Tulsi Dass, best known as the author of a popular version of the Indian epic, Ramayana, was a great believer in the potency of the practice of japa, repetition of the names of God, as a method of spiritual accomplishment. So great was his faith, it is said he cured people of their diseases by
A friend of mine recently returned from a yoga class dissatisfied. When I asked her why she didn’t care for the class, she replied that the mood in the room was “too happy.” Well, what’s wrong with being happy? After all, if an optional activity like a yoga class, is not bringing happiness, then why
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I recently read an interview with a guy who had been a life-long criminal. He tried living an honest life but felt he was working too hard and wasn’t earning enough money. He turned to a life of crime because he wanted more wealth, and he wanted it faster. Eventually, he also found his criminal
