InnerSelf

by Roy Holman. While it is important to accept and learn from our pain and suffering, what can we do to stop creating so darned much of it!? Webster’s defines illuminate as “to give light to; to light up; to make clear.” The very next entry down the page, we find the word illusion...

by Dr. Lisa Love. If there is one secret truly worth discovering, it is not the secret of the law of attraction. It is the secret of Spirit. True, the law of attraction can bring you whatever you want in life, but it won't necessarily bring you what is good for you. Only Spirit understands what you really need and why you are here.

by Mark Nepo. It is one of the most difficult passages: not to turn away from injustice and not to be dehumanized by the righteousness that injustice invokes. The question becomes: is it justice or healing that we need? The myth that the angel of justice needs to be blind and cold of heart in order to do her work...

by Khenchen Palden Sherab & Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche. It is important to realize that enlightenment is totally dependent upon your own effort. It is not something that a teacher can give you or that you can find outside yourself. Your mind has an enlightened nature which can...

by Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. "I really learned compassion. Before, compassion was a word debated in philosophical schools. But when you’re faced with someone who only wants to harm you, then there is this question of whether you fall into resentment and fear, or...”

by Neale Donald Walsch. We carry with us into our future an extraordinary and enormous potential. We have all the equipment that we need to face our breathtaking tomorrows. We have the technology, and the ingenuity to create even greater...

by Pamela Jo McQuade. There are signs everywhere to point you in the right direction, guiding you as to whether you are to go or stay put. There are also many that give you the encouragement you may need to keep moving forward. Think of a time that you had a bad gut feeling and...

by Alan Cohen.

If you read the small print on contracts, no one is liable for "Acts of God" -- disasters beyond human control, like storms, floods, lightning, and (some would argue) protracted visits from uninvited relatives. I find it fascinating that in such contracts God takes the rap for everything that goes wrong, and rarely receives credit for the...

by Cassendre Xavier.

In the times we are now living, there are many cataclysmic changes in the earth and our atmosphere. There is a general consensus that the world is deeply troubled, and among some select “believers” that the end is near. Being calm, loving, peaceful, and positive can help us and even reverse some of the...

If there were no limitations, such as time or money, where would you choose to travel? While our chosen destinations and itineraries may be as variable as our personalities, I think there would be some fairly common themes in what we want to achieve on our dream vacation. I believe we would all seek to be revitalized and renewed...

While driving home one day, I noticed that someone had posted some cardboard signs along the roadside, leading guests to a party on my street. At every important choice point, there was a sign. It occurred to me that this is how Spirit gives us guidance -- we get signs when we need them...

by John Welshons. Once when I was at a lecture, a woman approached me during the break and said, "One of our problems is we don't cultivate wise elders in this culture.  People are surrounded all their lives by the belief that old age is a time of misery, defeat, irrelevance and meaninglessness..."

Without a doubt, we do live in a world of opposites. In theology, these opposites take on names and appearances that translate into the forces of light and dark, good and evil. While I'm not denying their existence, I am describing how it's possible to change what they mean in our lives and redefine...

by Neale Donald Walsch. Holidays and holy days are always difficult times if things aren't going well.  Yet, these can be times of healing. For the heart can be opened more easily at any time that a people's traditions...

by John Payne. The time has come for you to realize that you are always in safety. The reason why you fear such things is that you do not yet believe that you are the creator of your own experience. As we have said many, many times before, that which you turn your attention to is that which you draw unto yourself...

by Karen Anne Bentley.

We may think that doing God's Will is contrary to our individual will. We might think He wants us to do something that we don't really want to do or wouldn't like doing. Maybe He wills us to change everything in our life as we know it and become selfless like a Mother Teresa. Or even worse, we could be afraid of God's Will.

by Carolyn E. Cobelo, MSW.

Change is ongoing. So, you are finding yourselves energized, mobilized to move beyond the present motion in your lives, beyond the present attachments, beyond the present alienations. The alienation, aloneness, frustrations, resentments, angers, doubts, and fears -- all of this you can leave behind in one swoop...

by David Simon, M.D. "The world is moving too fast," lamented the successful middle-aged stock broker. He was having trouble sleeping and getting a migraine headache almost daily. From the Ayurvedic point-of-view this poor man's life was being ruled by movement without rhythm. He needed to remember what he was really made of and return to his true nature.

In the Kabbalah of the Jewish tradition, the soul is not something that needs curing from some affliction so much as needing to be repaired, tikkun. It is said that if one person truly knew how to fix the soul by celebrating the Divine Presence in life, then that person would repair the whole world. This version is an adaptation of a story told by Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach and included in the book Shlomo's Stories.

by Dan Joseph.

Many times we'll feel that we have 'received' something -- a prompting, a nudge, an idea. However, we're not sure if it's inspired by God's wisdom, or if it's coming from our own personal thoughts. How do we tell the difference? From the discussions I've had with people, there seem to be a vast number of discernment techniques. Some people, for example, feel a "happy glow" around one choice, and...

A story about the "Shining One" who explains the reason behind human cruelties and struggle: I leaned from the low-hung crescent moon and grasping the west pointing horn of it, looked down. Against the other horn reclined, motionless, a Shining One and looked at me, but I was unafraid. Below me the hills and valleys were thick with humans, and the moon swung low that I might see what they did.

"I am here for you. Remember, I love you always." Jackie awoke from her dream with a start. However, she could only manage to recall the last few sentences of his long message to her, but how powerful that voice felt! She wrote down as much as she could recall...

A lot of what we've been taught by well-meaning parents, teachers, and clergy, is not conducive to self-realization. We've been taught how to fit in, get by and do what we're told. That's fine for children. But there comes a time in everyone's life when you have to start thinking for yourself.

For spiritual growth to take place in your life, you must change. You must let go of some areas in your life and personality -- especially the areas that are not working well or are out of balance -- and allow them to heal. This process of change and transformation is not always easy and often takes courage -- but the rewards are more than worth the effort.

Many people have this fear of the city. It's understandable. Each night, on the evening news, the major emphasis seems to be on the latest stabbings, shootings, rapes, and suicides. The good news is often not heard. But fear of personal danger isn't the only problem people have with the city, and out-of-towners are not the only ones guilty of misconceptions.

God has managed the amazing feat of being worshiped and invisible at the same time. Millions of people would describe him as a white-bearded father figure sitting on a throne in the sky, but none could claim to be an eyewitness...

The hardest thing that we ever have to learn, even though Jesus said it 2,000 years ago, is to love your neighbor as yourself. Most of us don't have a problem loving other people; the problem we have is loving ourselves. We equate that with selfishness.

The instant we release self-judgment we are incapable of judging anyone else. We can only judge ourselves if we have not accepted ourselves unconditionally. The cause of judgment is lack of self-love and to surrender judgment, you must release fear. Every experience is an equally valid expression of life and as such we cannot judge it. True, justice is the allowance of all that is.

Scriptures common to Christian, Muslim, and Jew specify that both the male and female are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). We have not really absorbed that truth until we become able to name the Holy One in ways that can also appropriately name ourselves: God-She, Mother, Great Woman, as well as God-He, Father, and Lord.

Everyone works with people they like -- and with people they dislike. We dislike some of them intensely. Seldom is there the luxury of working only with people who are friends or who are in total agreement with us. Since conflict cannot be totally eliminated, it is important to learn how to deal with conflicting wants and needs.

by Alan Cohen. Real spirituality is beyond hope. Hope means there is a chance things may turn out as we wish, and if we are lucky we may get what we want. Inner knowing, on the other hand, proceeds from the awareness that...

by John Randolph Price. Think of a problem or challenge that you may be experiencing at this time. Where did it originate? Out of a belief in two powers. We grew up with this belief. As children, we had battles to fight, pains to alleviate, losses to compensate for, and...

by Shakti Gawain. It has been tremendously helpful for me to understand the difference between consciousness and spirituality. Spirituality is one type of energy — the energy that links us to our deepest essential nature and to the universal source. Consciousness is the awareness of all of the energies within us..

by Lawrence Kushner. In the sixteen-century, people suffered from hunger, disease, hatred, and war. "How could God allow such terrible things to happen? Perhaps," Luria suggested, "it is because God needs our help." When you see something that is broken, fix it...

by Tolly Burkan. Generally speaking, humility is a virtue. Foolish pride and ego glorification are pretty much universally recognized as the opposite of spirituality. An effective way to cultivate your spirituality and lessen your ego is to put yourself into the service of another...

by Bobbie Christmas. One of my most cherished Christmas memories involves a Christmas when the only gifts I received came without gift-wrap. The socks hung exactly as we had left them, lifeless and flat. "There's nothing there," I sobbed...

by Marie T. Russell. Maybe that is the problem with the world. Everyone is treating their neighbors (whether individuals or countries) the same way they treat themselves. In other words, if you criticize yourself, pollute your body, and don't take time to respect your own needs -- then your "neighbor" is in for a rough time.