When Ramanaha Maharshi sought to explain life, he used the analogy of a movie. He described life as happening on a movie screen – fleeting, transient images that were not “real,” but gave the appearance of reality. “Reality,” he maintained, took place somewhere else. I want to expand a bit on Maharshi’s analogy. But instead of a movie,Read more
compassion
Two Choices
Pretend that you are looking into two large rooms. The rooms appear identical – the same people, the same relationships, etc. But appearances can be deceiving. If you look carefully, there are important differences. In Room One, everyone operates from ego, much as in our world today. Every relationship in this room is based upon uncertainty and anxiety: “WillRead more
Prayer
We accept many things without thinking about them. Take the idea of prayer. We view prayer as some sort of a conversation with God. In this view, prayer is like making an international toll-free call. But, for very important reasons a conversation with God is unlike any other, and that changes the nature of the thing. As aRead more
When Something Happens
OK, something happens – good or bad – it doesn’t matter. In that moment you have a choice – you either hold compassion for the other or dump all over them. Every situation, every moment, presents you with that choice. Notice that I am separating out the content of the event from your feelings about it. You don’tRead more
Forgiveness
I am sure we were all moved by the expressions of compassion and forgiveness by the Amish toward the man who cruelly murdered five innocent Amish girls and seriously wounded five others. I could not help but contrast the reaction of the Amish Christians with the reaction of the Conservative Christians in Washington after the attacks of September 11,Read more