In Natalie Goldberg’s book, Writing Down the Bones, she has a chapter called “Doubt Is Torture” in which she talks about a conversation between her friend and their Zen teacher, Katagiri Roshi:

A friend of mine was planning to move to Los Angeles with the hope of connecting with the music industry. He was a musician and songwriter, and it was time for him to follow his aspirations. Katagiri Roshi said to him, “Well, if you’ve decided to go, let’s see what your…

Do you believe that you are here at this time and in this place for a reason? That your birth was no accident?

Do you want to attract the people who resonate with you and your life's purpose?

If so, then it would serve you well to have and declare your personal manifesto.

When you know what you stand for, you gain a good understanding of why your life has a reason. You understand what kind of mark you want to leave when passing through during this lifetime. When you…

What is holding you back from reaching your potential?

Maybe you have a dream that keeps nagging at you in the back of your mind, but you brush it away. It keeps tugging at your heart, but you push it down again and again. What are you afraid of?

3 Big Fears

There are three main emotional fears all humans have in common. See if any or all of these ring true for you.

1. Fear of being rejected or being unloved.
2. Fear of being…

In his book, What They Don’t Teach You In The Harvard Business School, Mark McCormack mentions some interesting statistics about setting and achieving goals. In 1979, a poll was conducted of new graduates from Harvard’s MBA Program and found that:

• 84% had no specific goals at all
• 13% had goals but they were not committed to paper
• 3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them

A decade later, the researchers tracked down and…

Scientists have discovered that the arc of a modern human life can be measured like that of a hummingbird – by the tapping hammer of 1 billion heartbeats. Though at 1200 beats per minute a hummingbird’s heart reaches the 1 billion mark in a hurry, we humans have the capacity to slow down the hammer, and in doing so, extend life's experience in real time.

Kriya Yoga is one of the ways we have to slow the hammer. If you’ve never heard of Kriya Yoga, don’t be surprised. No, it’s not a…

Scientists have discovered that the arc of a modern human life can be measured like that of a hummingbird – by the tapping hammer of 1 billion heartbeats. Though at 1200 beats per minute a hummingbird’s heart reaches the 1 billion mark in a hurry, we humans have the capacity to slow down the hammer, and in doing so, extend life's experience in real time.

Kriya Yoga is one of the ways we have to slow the hammer. If you’ve never heard of Kriya Yoga, don’t be surprised. No, it’s not a…

Did you know that there’s a growing field of science known as “Positive Psychology”? Dr. Martin Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism, put this area of psychology on the map during the late 1990s when he served as president of the American Psychological Association, but it has its roots in the work of Dr. Abraham Maslow and other well-known social scientists from the 20th century.

Instead of merely focusing on “how can we relieve suffering?”…

How can you make work into a spiritual practice?

More specifically, how can you do it and still live within a secular framework? After all, the most obvious way to make work into a spiritual practice is to do something like join a religious order or get a job in a house of worship. If that’s not an option for you, then how do you consciously integrate your career or job into your spiritual practice?

The first step is to acknowledge two of the most prevalent…

Many people think that if you’re a creative person, it must mean that you’re an artist, a writer, a musician, or something along those lines. But actually, the definition of creativity is very broad. Even everyday activities like setting up a filing system, preparing a meal, and writing computer code fit the definition.

According to Merriam Webster, it’s “the ability to make new things or think of new ideas.” So, since you have opposable thumbs, reasoning ability and can…

Have you ever noticed that success isn't really based on environment, upbringing, education, being from a certain neighborhood, etc.? Even those from the most humble beginnings can rise above their circumstances. History proves this over and over.

Though some successful people might simply attribute their accomplishments to luck when asked how they’ve done what they’ve done, that’s not all there is to it. In fact, some of us would even say that there’s no such thing as luck at all.…

Did you know that the idea that your thoughts control your happiness and make you what you are isn't just some newfangled concept? It’s age-old wisdom.

More than two hundred years ago, Martha Washington – wife of the first official President of the United States, George Washington – wrote to a friend after her husband became president. She was discussing her willingness to support his "duty in obeying the voice of the country" in spite of their desire to retire to a private life at…

Did you know that figuring out your life’s purpose has been scientifically proven to help you reduce the risk of stroke by 22% or more?

In fact, finding and living your purpose positively affects several areas of physical health, as well as improves your resilience to stress.

Purpose & Health

A study done on employees during a major company restructuring in the late 1970’s revealed that a key trait possessed by “stress hardy” individuals is…

Conflict is the beginning of consciousness.

–Mary Esther Harding

Conflict is inevitable when humans live together, so the only way you can avoid it is to live a hermit’s life. Not interested in living like a hermit? Want to develop and nurture long-lasting relationships instead? Then you’ll definitely want to improve your skills in dealing with conflict.

Before we get into some great tips on how to do that, let’s debunk the myth that all conflict is bad. It’s not.…

In this age of technology, with instant commerce and global connectivity, everyone seems to be busier than ever. It’s difficult to achieve balance in the midst of so many changes and fast-paced demands. But did you know that the challenge of achieving balance is not unique to the modern era? Euripides, a Greek playwright who lived in the 5th century BC, wrote, "The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that,…

Sitting down and writing the answers to questions in longhand sparks the internal flame of intuition, creativity and problem solving.

Answers start to flare up as you unclutter your mind and make room for creative solutions.  You are able to “hear” the intuition coming from the right side of your brain.  Then you capture it with the left brain’s language and analyzing ability.

Journaling

Whenever I think of journaling as a practice, I think of Henry David…

You are here at this time in this place to carry out a mission – one that you knew about and agreed to do before you even incarnated into this lifetime. The contract you have with your Higher Self, God, I Am presence, the Source (whatever name you prefer) is that you are doing something with your life.

It’s a precious thing to have a life and a body to use on the playground called “life on Planet Earth.” So, in order to get to play here, you have agreed to do something that makes a…

We live in a dynamic place of complimentary opposites – positive/negative, male/female, light/dark. When we are born into this plane of complimentary opposites, the unconditional becomes conditional. However, somehow we are still able to grasp the concept of being unconditional even as we are being conditional about love. Just as we are able to grasp the concept of being one, while we are being more than one. We don’t see it logically with our mind, but we know it is true at some other level…

Over the course of human history, storytellers and historians have regaled us with tales of famous human relationships.

When it comes to lovers, the most famous that come to mind include Romeo & Juliet, Lancelot & Guinevere, Samson & Delilah, Cesar & Cleopatra, and, of course, there’s Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal for his beloved Mumtaz Mahal.

When it comes to friends and family, maybe you've have heard about one of the bloodiest and most dysfunctional…

Did you know that there is never a time when you are separated from the Divine essence that runs through your life – not even for a nanosecond? It is always there, unwavering and steady, but your perception can make you think otherwise. And that mostly happens whenever you are feeling fear, anxiety, worry, etc. One way to ease your anxiety and get back into alignment with the Divine essence is to practice being in the present moment as much as possible.

Eckhart Tolle, says in his…

"The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is quite real for everyone. It requires no force or effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than changing our ideas about what is normal." ~Deepak Chopra

“When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.” ~Kahlil Gibran

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's…