Happy Mind: Meditations from the Ancient World to Modernity

The heart is the place where information and power that is beyond time and space can be received by our conscious, thinking self. It is said to be the temple of the divine or the throne of the god within us. And it's job is to rule. Unfortunately it makes a reluctant, quiet ruler. But it pays to heed its guidance. It is at the center of the human body and is the point around which everything else...

In traditional Buddhist or Hindu tantric traditions the Fourth Chakra is called the Anahata Chakra. Anahata means "unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten". As the translation suggests, Anahata is associated with balance, calmness, and serenity. The Fourth Chakra is also sometimes labeled the Air Chakra: the foundation of your life giving breath, lungs, heart (oxygen), and your sense of spaciousness. It is...

Your Heart Chakra is located in the center of your chest towards your spine, behind your sternum. Blockage of this chakra will manifest in your life as dysfunction in your relationships with others (think codependency, marital or friendship difficulties, jealousy, neediness or withdrawal, loneliness, etc.). Relatedly, it is said to govern the love of oneself and others, as well as the important se...

Every major spiritual tradition has this same metaphor of the heart as the point of connection with God or the higher self. In the Hindu and Buddhist tantric traditions this heart-bridge is called the Anahata or Fourth Chakra. In the Koran the heart or Qalb is referred to over 100 times and in the Bible, heart or Lebab, is mentioned over 1000 times and is also seen as the seat of intuition or the...

Everyone has heard the phrase "follow your heart". But what does that mean? And where does it come from? It turns out that regardless of place or time, all the major spiritual traditions have this same metaphor of the heart as the point of connection with God or the higher self. In the Hindu and Buddhist tantric traditions this heart-bridge is called the Anahata or Fourth Chakra. In the Koran the...

"Follow your heart" is an oft repeated piece of advice. But why do people say that? And where does it come from? It turns out that regardless of place or time, all the major spiritual traditions have this same metaphor of the heart as the point of connection with God or the higher self. In the Hindu and Buddhist tantric traditions this heart-bridge is called the Anahata or Fourth Chakra. In the Ko...

The life of Jesus holds a profound mystery within it that can be used to unlock an experience of peace and contentment for you. Broadly speaking, Easter commemorates four key parts of the Jesus phenomenon: 1) his Incarnation; 2) his Passion (betrayal, trial, torture and death); 3) his Resurrection; and 4) his Ascension. This guided meditation loosely follows this four part sequence minus the Chris...

Even though this is not a religious podcast, the religions of the world contain within them profound secrets to human existence: to its purpose and meaning. The life of Jesus is a great example of a mystery that can be used to unlock an experience of peace and contentment. Broadly speaking, Easter commemorates four key parts of the Jesus phenomenon: 1) his Incarnation; 2) his Passion (betrayal, tr...

This is not a religious podcast but the life of Jesus holds a profound mystery within it that can be used to unlock an experience of peace and contentment. Broadly speaking, Easter commemorates four key parts of the Jesus phenomenon: 1) his Incarnation; 2) his Passion (betrayal, trial, torture and death); 3) his Resurrection; and 4) his Ascension. This guided meditation loosely follows this four p...

Jesus' life story holds a profound mystery within it that can be used to unlock an experience of peace and contentment for you. Broadly speaking, Easter commemorates four key parts of the Jesus phenomenon: 1) his Incarnation; 2) his Passion (betrayal, trial, torture and death); 3) his Resurrection; and 4) his Ascension. This guided meditation loosely follows this four part sequence minus the Chris...

From Palm Sunday, through Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the Christian Easter week celebrates the life of Jesus. This Holy week holds a profound mystery within it that can be used to unlock an experience of peace and contentment for you, regardless of your religious convictions (or lack thereof). Broadly speaking, Easter commemorates four key parts of the Jesus phenomenon: 1) his Incarnation; 2) h...

Thich Nhat Hanh is a revered Buddhist monk from Vietnam. One of his more memorable Dharma talks is based on the buddhist notion that beauty and filth are concepts in our minds. They are representations that we use to affix a skin to the surface of reality. The truth is that beauty and filth are two halves of single whole. If you look deeply enough at a rose and rubbish, you will see that they are...

The Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh teaches thatt the beauty of a rose and the filth of garbage 'inter-be". Beauty and filth are concepts in our minds. They are representations that we use to affix a skin to the surface of reality. The truth is that beauty and filth are two halves of single whole. If you look deeply enough at a rose and rubbish, you will see that they are one and the same. We can...

The Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh used to give a Dharma talk about the beauty of a rose and the filth of garbage. He taught that these are concepts in our minds. They are representations that we use to affix a skin to the surface of reality. The truth is that beauty and filth are two halves of single whole. If you look deeply enough at a rose and rubbish, you will see that they are one and the s...

The beauty of a rose. The filth of garbage. These are concepts in our minds. They are representations that we use to affix a skin to the surface of reality. The truth is that beauty and filth are two halves of single whole. If you look deeply enough at a rose and rubbish, you will see that they are one and the same. We can uncover this truth through a mind training technique known as ‘cognitive di...

The mind naturally holds onto energies. It uses emotions to unconsciously sustain tension and fear as a basic survival mechanism. It is doing this to keep us at the ready, to protect us from harm in the short term. This has been an evolutionarily successful strategy. But over time, this tension or fear can result in ill health and harmful negativity in our life. Evolution selected for more genes p...

The great masters of old taught that each of us has a divine self within us. It is a beautiful, bountiful, and joyful part of our self that awaits awakening. One of these great masters, harkening from Persia in the second millennium BCE, was  Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) . The wisdom he gained from his awakening resonates with us even today, thousands of years after he penned the famous "Gathas"...

In the lands of Eastern Iran, sometime in the second millennium BCE, a great spiritual master named  Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) awakened to the true nature of reality and uncovered the meaning of life itself. The wisdom he gained from his illumination resonate with us even today, thousands of years after he penned the famous "Gathas" tome. While this meditation is not at all religious, it is Za...

Walking the lands of Eastern Iranian plateau sometime in the second millennium BCE, ancient Iran's  Zarathushtra (Zoroaster)  was one of humanity's greatest mystics and spiritual masters. The wisdom he gained from his awakening resonate with us even today, thousands of years after he penned the famous "Gathas" tome. While this meditation is not at all religious, it is Zarathustra's wisdo...

The Gathas, traditionally attributed to ancient Iran's  Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) himself, is one of humanity's greatest literary and mystical monuments. Its author is on a mission to share the truth about reality and human's true nature and in the verses, preserved since the second millennium BCE, he sets down this profound wisdom from ancient Persia. While this meditation is not at all relig...

Ancient Iran's  Zarathushtra (Zoroaster)  was one of humanity's greatest mystics and spiritual masters. Walking the lands of Eastern Iranian plateau sometime in the second millennium BCE, he experienced a profound awakening and shared his insights which even today, thousands of years after his death, are practiced by nearly two hundred thousands Zoroastrians around the world. While this...

This 60 minute guided meditation will help you to break the pattern of negative emotions that impact your life. We are focused here on situations where your emotional response, from the perspective of someone outside the situation looking in, wasn’t a fit with what was going on. An event where you reacted to the situation in a way that now you aren’t proud of or would like to have behaved differen...

The premise behind this 45 minute guided meditation is the fact that your life experience can change and that the change begins inside your own mind. If you can change what is happening on the inside, almost as by a miracle, you will witness the outside start to change around you. The idea is that if you are feeling any negative emotions, there is a bug in your software, a set of connections in yo...

The training method we will be using in this 30 minute guided meditation is for anyone that is ready to let go of unwanted feelings or emotional responses that don’t fit the situation. It starts from the premise that your life experience can change and that the change begins inside your own mind. If you can change what is happening on the inside, almost as by a miracle, you will witness the outsid...

This 20 minute guided meditation / mind training exercise starts from the premise that your life experience can change and that the change begins inside your own mind. If you can change what is happening on the inside, almost as by a miracle, you will witness the outside start to change around you. The idea is that if you are feeling any negative emotions, there is a bug in your software, a set of...