For a meditator, Vivek, the power to discriminate between the Unchanging and the ever-changing, is an absolute necessity. Without it s/he is eternally caught in the wheel of the mind that can only discriminate within the duality of its limited spectrum. The mind will know the difference between good and bad, black and white, right or wrong and especially between what it likes and doesn't like. In other words, the mind has the ability to discriminate within the dimension of th

The eternal Self, our Source, is unchanging and ever-present. The same is true for Grace, which is the very nature of the Self. In fact, we could say that Self, Source and Grace are synonymous, for all three words are attempts to describe the indescribable, infinite Space of Divinity. Grace is not something we need to deserve or seek, it is who we are in essence. We may have accepted our body and mind as our identity, just like a wave has accepted the sense that it is separat

Sound is innocent. In and of itself, sound is neutral and it has no meaning. Whatever its quality or level of intensity - if there isn't someone listening, taking it in and giving it meaning - sound is innocuous. It takes the presence of a witness hearing the sound, giving it meaning or having an opinion about it, for the sound to become "something". As an example, a dog can bark its heart out all night; if I am not next door getting irritated because the noise keeps me awake

Our friends in the United States will be celebrating Thanksgiving this coming Thursday. The Holiday of Thanksgiving is traditionally a time when people count their blessings. Engaging in gratitude is also a recommended practice in many ancient and more recent spiritual traditions. As for how to practice gratitude, it is commonly understood as focusing on the good things and the blessings we have in our lives. Often it means paying attention to the things we take for granted:

As human beings we think of ourselves as "I"; a body and mind that functions within this world into which we wake up every morning. The Sages and Saints however have been telling us throughout the ages that we are much more than that! Even though we feel certain about the physical reality of our bodies and the world that surrounds us, it is helpful to remember that their perception is deficient due to the limited ability of our senses. We tend to forget that our main sense or

Happiness of the waking state is always determined by the fluctuations of mind and circumstances. We are high and happy one day, unhappy and depressed the next - depending on whether or not our hopes, desires, expectations and preferences are met. Even though we aspire to be happy at all times, for human beings the state of continuous or unchanging happiness is elusive. The reason we can't find it is that we are looking for continuity the wrong place. We expect to find stabil

In our waking state awareness, the thoughts in our head are what we experience as reality. As the thoughts arise when we wake up in the morning, their meaning and their content define how we experience our circumstances as well as ourselves. Whatever mood the thoughts project on a given day - that will be the colour and flavour of the day’s experience. Whatever thoughts the mind produces - they dictate what we do and who we think we are. When we live our lives on automatic pi

From a human perspective, with our mind as the instrument of evaluation, we see every situation we find ourselves in as either good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant. The mind's vision is dualistic by nature. It forever assesses life in terms of black or white. Although we rarely argue with pleasant experiences, as soon as something unpleasant happens we are quick to try to get away from it. When circumstances go against our preferences it is human nature to assume that "this sh

Just as love is much vaster than the sense of attraction or infatuation we experience as humans beings, compassion is much vaster than the sympathy, commiseration or care we may feel towards our fellow human and animal friends. True compassion is unchanging and unconditional in nature. It is a state of being rather than a feeling - and it is one of the characteristics of the all-permeating Self. The fullness of compassion lives hidden in our innermost core as the knowledge of