When I read “Abandon Hope” in Shambhala Sun magazine, I was at first shocked! Wasn’t “hope” the cornerstone of human existence? Wasn’t it what got us through our darkest moments? I had to read further… What I learned was what I had heard so many times in spiritual study: To hope is to reject the experience of the present moment, the time window in which we are truly alive. If I “hope” for something, it means there is something more desirable than the present moment. So I

Have you noticed that you “feel before you think?” The body is wise and intuitive…the mind can be easily fooled. As I move into the practice of Reiki (light touch energy healing) I realize that it is a validation of what I’ve known all along. As they say in the East, the mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. My particular mind is capable of all sorts of mischief along with occasional wisdom. Notice the characteristic thought loops that feel familiar to you. T

We either move beyond a sense of limitation in these times of change, or we are left behind. There are moment described in spiritual literature when people accomplish transformation in an instant. These miraculous examples of upward mobility are referred to as “epiphanies” in Christian lore. They are sometimes described as a vision that immediately gifts enlightenment to an individual and bequeaths a halo or some indication that this person is now a “saint,” or has achieved