Brad4d Savasana

Our environment affects us in many ways. If our outer world is toxic, it feeds on our inner toxins, and we respond with the same toxicity. We must pay attention to what our external environment feeds us and limit or give up media or people who nourish our afflictive emotions. If we can’t avoid or limit these people or media, it’s all the more important for us to spend time alone to nourish our min...

Belief in God and religion altogether is waning, even though research shows that faith in a divine being that connects us improves our lives in different ways. I don’t know if solitude is possible without God, but it certainly is much more pleasant and peaceful.

We go to extremes to get noticed, but that isn’t sustainable. It’s also inauthentic. We might put on an act to try to get more likes for our videos, articles, and pictures, but there will always be another who goes further to the extremes. Then we feel compelled to act more extreme, even though we know it’s a lie. Then all we see on our feed is extreme content, and moderate content gets lost or ov...

We can make beautiful music if we sing the right note. God implants this note in each of us. We can wish to sing someone else’s note, but that’s not authentic. Rumi tells us, “Be your note.”

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. We make choices each day that bring about heaven or hell. None of us are perfect, yet we’re all the more willing to call out others for their imperfections. Rather chastise others for their mistakes and “cancel” or boycott them, we should first acknowledge where we’ve missed the mark.

Many people are agnostic about God because they don’t have evidence of an existence. That’s where faith comes in. Faith calls us to look at all things differently, with a glimmer of optimism. Although the present moment might be unbearable, our faith gives us the strength to endure.

How violent or angry are the media you attend? Do your favorite songs describe angry stories? Do your favorite shows or movies advocate violence as a means of justice? Studies show that even seeing an angry face can trigger those same emotions in your brain. If we aren’t more mindful of the media we consume, it might mix with other stressors in our lives, contributing to the collective anger in so...

Does God conjure an image of love or judgment? How you see God, particularly if God has a heavy influence in your life, can affect different areas of your brain. If you adhere to a fear-based God, it has the ability to trigger more of a stress response. If you believe in a loving, compassionate God, it elicits more openness towards other faiths and traditions.

If you look closely at the four gospels in the Bible, you’ll notice that some stories are omitted, and some are told differently. Even the number of angels that appear to Mary Magdalene are different. So which one is “true?” All of them. Each gospel was written for different audiences, so some details were included or omitted. Rather than argue details, we instead look at the overarching message o...

We are responsible for our actions. We must therefore engage in healthy self-inquiry so that our actions don’t bring more suffering to ourselves or to others. A positive mindset only puts a covering over your suffering. It doesn’t heal it. We can heal the world by first healing ourselves.

In a society that likes to emphasize identity, we don’t see how these identities create separation. Even if we do, we are content if we belong to an identity, and we are angry or sad if we don’t. These identities change over time, and they cloud our perception of reality. They also cloak who we really are inside. If we drop our identities, we just might find that we belong to one another.

Many of us fear change because we're comfortable in this moment. On the other hand, we embrace change when we're uncomfortable. Each moment passes, and it's important for us to release it. We can't see into our future, but instead we can use this moment to move in the direction we choose. All the small movements and changes in our lives move us forward in life. Take a small step today.

It’s easy to feel frustrated when our prayers and petitions aren’t answered. We might be tempted to abandon our faith. Instead, we can ask ourselves if we’re being authentic in our prayer. Do we put on our spiritual “Sunday best” during our prayer time, only to act and speak differently when we go about our lives? The door to God might seem locked, but the lock is on our side.

Until we move, we might not take a look at all the things we accumulate. Little trinkets, sample sizes of cosmetics, and even clothes tend to pile up over time. So do our attachments to these things. Can we let go of the things we think we need to experience something new?

The answer to this question tells you what is most important in your life. Oftentimes we might believe that “righteousness” or “justice” might be driving us. However, many of those times what drives us is our need to be right, our desire to get what we feel we deserve, or our unconscious addiction to sensory pleasure. Rather than act from impulse, which might be impure due to our temporal emotions...

I loved the movie, “Mulan.” Three powerful virtues—loyalty, bravery, and truth—are stamped into Mulan’s father’s sword. These are virtues we can all uphold. We must, however, ask ourselves, to whom or what are we loyal? Money? Power? God? How do we show bravery without hurting others? And most of all, are we being truthful? Can we be loyal and brave in regards to the truth? Can we make an effort t...

Just as several factors might contribute to your stress, you might need several factors to contribute to well-being. Yoga might not work, but perhaps yoga and eating healthy might. A job change or location change might alleviate stress, but meditation might also reduce the mental fluctuations. It’s important for us to explore our “nexus of mediating factors” that cause us to bubble over or simmer...

I struggled many years with the idea that if you “just believe” in Christ, that you will be saved. This says little about the continual conversion, the inner transformation. We repent from our past transgressions, but we continually strive to transform ourselves from within so that we make wiser choices that bring about peace, love and compassion. This means letting go of our attachment to people,...

It’s anticipated that as the pandemic and its restrictions ease, people will search for meaning through spiritual practices. My guess is that “influencers” who ride on trends will try to exploit this for material gain. But God never goes out of style. Instead, we go out of step with God and wonder why we’re experiencing so much suffering.

It’s natural for us to direct our attention to our negative emotions and thoughts. However, we can’t be consumed by them. We also have to see the silver lining of each cloud. We take note of the cloud and its warning, but the silver lining reminds us of what’s behind the cloud. Some of us who are overly identified with our false self have become so attached to the clouds—the problem—that we don’t...

If you look at what occupies your day, ask yourself what benefits your body, mind, or soul. Is there something you’re consuming, such as negative media or junk food, that might bring harm to you or those around you? Sometimes what we believe to be innocent consumption might be actual addiction or attachment. Try letting a piece of something go to see how you react. You might find that what you con...

We all lean towards the easy, but most things require effort. We then go to extremes of effort and ease. Quick fixes and three-day fasts might bring immediate results, but they don’t form habits that lead us to continual progress. Instead, our spiritual practices require moderation—the right amount of effort and ease—to sustain us throughout our lifetime.

Living alone doesn’t mean leaving society or our current surroundings. Instead, as The Buddha taught, living alone means living without the heavy baggage of our past and anxieties of our future. Solitude can’t occur when these ghosts accompany us. Instead, we experience stillness in the present moment, even in the company of others.

Who makes our decisions for us? Do we consider the consequences of our choices? If we make decisions rooted in our sense of entitlement, it might mean someone else loses. It might bring about suffering among our community, which will come back around and cause us suffering. Instead, we trust in karma, recognizing that the intention behind our action results in eventual consequences.

Like a gardener uses old scraps to feed new seedlings, we can use our processed experiences to cultivate something new in our lives. Instead of tucking away our afflictive experiences, we mindfully reflect on them. We recognize what we can learn from them and nurture our new experiences with them.