Brad4d Savasana

People can be really cruel to one another on social media, or any place where they don’t interact with others face-to-face. You can take them personally, or you can see them as lines in a play, where the other is merely playing a role. Good or bad, these words don’t define you. If anything, it shows the other person’s projection of wounds. In the book, In Search of Wisdom, the writers tell us that...

Certain days can be difficult to endure. You don’t see light anywhere, and the path just seems long with no end in sight. You grow tired, thinking, “I have no fight left.” But Hope whispers in your ear, “Just keep going.” Hope can come in the form of a memory of someone dear or of a dog who finds joy in simplicity. Hope isn’t an escape hatch but rather a small drink of water when the spirit is thi...

It can be difficult to be grateful when we're in a state of anxiety, clinging, or desire. We want so badly to get what we want, or we're angry because life isn't working out the way we'd planned. We can be grateful for one thing--our breath. Our breath is a kind servant, giving us life-giving oxygen. This meditation allows you to focus on your breath to induce a state of calm. Then, you send the c...

We might strive to get what we want, but ultimately that’s never enough. When we mindlessly indulge in our egoic desires, we live a life that swings between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. We can still this pendulum by living beyond our hyperindividualism. This means recognizing that the world moves much more easily when we surrender to its movement. This means that the option we demanded for ou...

My heart was truly moved this morning reading an article from Lion’s Roar about the US election result. Hearing these Buddhist leaders resonate their teachings with our current state of affairs is what we all need. We all have a role in weaving the fabric of society back together. Once your emotional reaction subsides, stay awake. There is work to be done.

We engage in a lot of testing and measures to gauge change in our physical health or intellectual progress, but how about spiritual or emotional growth? If you look back a few months or years, have you learned from your mistakes? Have you transformed through your suffering? It’s important for us to take time to reflect on our growth so we aren’t winding up circling back to past mistakes.

No one on this planet is truly “self-made.” If not for the hundreds, thousands, or millions of people who have had to work to create conditions for one’s success, the person would not be successful. One person not attending to their task can create a ripple of conditions for another’s failure. This suggests our interdependence. Rather than allow an inflated ego to give ourselves the credit, we sho...

It is easy to get caught up in collective delusion, especially when it feeds our desire to belong. But can we look deeply within to see how our desires and impulses influence our behavior? Are we chasing after something abstract without looking at the concrete? Do we rely on others for our esteem and worth, fearing and distracting ourselves from the Voice of Truth? James Allen writes how important...

The tension of uncertainty can be quite overwhelming. Personally, I feel it in my chest. I recognize it coming, and I also notice when I layer it with more unproductive thoughts. Then I ask myself, “who’s in charge here?” As much as we can’t control the chaos in the world, we can be more productive and proactive when we take charge of our own self. Rather than ruminate over the past or fear for ou...

The force of truth or love live on in spite of conflicts in our families and nations, Gandhi had written. Although history often cites series of conflicts, the mundane element of compromise is often overlooked. Our egos want to win, but that only breeds more resentment and division. Do we want peace, or do we just want to be right?

We might be beloved and admired in our spiritual or religious communities, but how are we outside of them? Do we abandon our teachings and participate in the suffering of the world? While it’s important to heal your own soul, it’s equally important to engage in our unique role in healing the world of its suffering.

You might have heard the parable of two wolves that battle inside us all. But another version of it, perhaps the more authentic one, ends a little differently. Rather than “feed” or “starve” the “dark” wolf of jealousy or rage, we investigate the nature of it. Perhaps it’s a suppressed reaction to an event long ago that never healed. Or it might be an appropriate response to a current situation. T...

I cannot say I’m a “good” Christian. Instead, I’m a “wild” one. I seek spiritual truth in all religious and spiritual disciplines and how they heal the body, mind and spirit. But in the continual process of healing, I know I have a purpose in healing the world. So do you. Your purpose might differ from mine because your gifts are different from mine. Joan Chittister asks us, “What will you do here...

When we are consumed with our own needs, we believe the world is limited in its resources, so we compete with others for fame, fortune, love, and power. However, when we offer our gifts to the world in service to God and others, we can recognize the world’s abundance. According to the Upanishads, we must go to those in need, seeing the Lord of Love in all living things.

As more people live their lives without a spiritual grounding, they might ask, “What drives people to believe in some spiritual or divine entity?” Are they living a lie? Are they just crazy? If you look at the accounts of some (not all, because some are truly crazy), you have to open up to the possibility that there might be some energy, some force, that binds or connects us all. Gandhi’s belief i...

When things don’t go our way, we sometimes adopt a selfish perspective by saying, “Everything happens for a reason.” This implies that as a result of this disappointment, you will be rewarded next time. However, we often don’t see what needs to be learned from this disappointment. It might be something about ourselves or an understanding of how this disappointment fits into the web of life. Instea...

Anthony de Mello’s book, The Way to Love, has had a profound influence on my life. He introduced me to the concept of attachment, particularly how they become obstacles to our joy. In this passage, he relates the Christian story of how the rich man cannot enter the kingdom of God because he’s attached to his wealth. Only by dropping our attachments can we experience joy. Sorry for the few pauses i...

The actor Chris Evans, who played Captain America, recently created an Instagram account to help promote his political information website, A Starting Point. What is interesting, though, is that his Instagram promotes his love for simple things, such as his dog and the changing of the leaves. We need more role models like this—people who show us that life is more than our personal gain. We need mo...

The most popular concept of yoga is someone, usually a thin, white female, contorting her body in an unnatural position inaccessible to 99.9% of the population. Some might believe it’s a religion so they eschew it without the slightest bit of inquiry. If you look back at some of the ancient texts that informed the varieties of yoga practices, you’ll understand that it’s less about what’s on the ou...

If you have a little more time, here's a little longer podcast episode that will settle your mind, body and spirit. Savasana is also called "corpse pose," and it's typically done at the end of a yoga practice. It's a time to restore and cultivate healing. Lie down on your back and settle into this time of relaxation. Music: "Enlightenment" by Chris Collins at indiemusic.com. Collins is one of my f...

We often hear Christians cite John 14:6 as a means of excluding those who don’t believe. But what does Jesus mean when He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life?” It means living a life of compassion, truth, forgiveness, and service of others. It’s about putting others’ interests before our own, especially if they are in need. Gandhi said, “Your Christians aren’t very Christ-like” because he...

Relationships can become toxic when one person controls the decisions. Our attachments to approval, being right, or being loved can seize control of us, preventing us from being free. Once we recognize how our attachments influence our decisions, we make choices that benefit not only us, but also others. Freedom happens when we respect ourselves and others.

When we begin a relationship, we become mesmerized by the great “high.” However, once the honeymoon is over, that’s where the work begins. We deepen our relationship in a continual process of growth and renewal. However, it’s easy to get stuck in the sensory experience and believe THAT is the relationship. So it is with our relationship with God. Our “born again” conversion experience might be gre...

Early church leaders recognize acedia as one of the vices that plague humankind. It strikes during the midpoint of a journey, where the beginning and end seem nowhere in sight. Evagrius (I keep pronouncing his name wrong, including here) called it the “Noonday Demon” that makes the day seem too long to endure. Rather than escape, he tells us to recognize it as a temptation to abandon our journey....

I’m reading a beautiful letter from a man who is a great role model of humility. The letter is rather long, but it is a careful, thoughtful appeal for all people to come together and care for one another. He calls for a new culture of dialogue, mutual cooperation, and reciprocal understanding. Can we drop our sense of righteous indignation and heal our communal suffering?