Channelling The Way

It seems the catalyst to many spiritual awakenings is pain, suffering and despair. The dark night of the soul event, where our will power or persona (identity) could no longer withstand the discomfort of our existence and we are left in confusion or helplessness. It is my experience that these periods of darkness and despair are actually monumental gifts that are disguised. As Mooji explains, “If we have a strong conviction in personhood, then the attraction to come into the

There is a saying in the yogic sciences that “your habits define you”, so it follows that the problems in life come from our habits. And the biggest problem we often have in life is that we can fall into a pattern of viewing life as a series of problems that are happening TO us, that keep us stuck, versus seeing life as a series of opportunities that are FOR us, that allow us to grow and thrive. This is the definition of a victim versus creator mindset, and it can be the diff

There I was boarding the plane to Italy. I felt the hesitation and nervousness creep in…it was fear. Past memories flooded my mind. And the uncertainty of repeating these experiences sober caused immediate fear. What would it be like sober? Will it even be fun? My mind was attempting to pull me back into safety…”Do you even want to go?” “Maybe you should just stay home". I knew that was my insanity speaking so I ignored it and focused on the present. I pulled myself back to a

Suffering is a road that leads to salvation. It may be that suffering is the only way to salvation. On the surface this statement sounds extreme, but it is because it is conditioned on our individual definition of suffering. Like everything, it is subjective. We can’t compare our pain to others because we each feel it our own way. But we must somehow accept and feel our suffering, feel our pain, and then make one of two decisions. We either decide to travel the road of rese

The topic of discipline came up in a recent conversation I was having and it made me want to explore the concept a bit deeper. Living in our current society the idea of discipline might have mixed connotations. There can be this “all or nothing” mentality conflicting with the new desire for “balance” in our lives. It seems we as humans see discipline as something we internally battle on our own. In my own past experience I remember watching disciplined people and thinking “th

I listened to John Bernthal interview Shia LaBeouf on his podcast “REAL ONES” and it had a profound effect on me. In fact, I have listened to it three times and have sent it to at least two dozen people who I thought would benefit from hearing his message. I have come to believe that everyone could potentially benefit from his message if they are open to hearing it. It has a strong message for people in recovery from substance abuse disorders, and if you are in recovery, it

“When you first rise in the morning tell yourself: I will encounter busybodies, ingrates, egomaniacs, liars, the jealous and cranks. They are all stricken with these afflictions because they don’t know the difference between good and evil. Because I have understood the beauty of good and the ugliness of evil, I know that these wrong-doers are still akin to me . . . and that none can do me harm, or implicate me in ugliness—nor can I be angry at my relatives or hate them. For w

It is like a distant memory today, but I can still remember the feeling. At first it felt like my clothes had become weighted or I had suddenly become heavier, and I was carrying around more than usual. As time went on, I became very aware of it first thing in the morning when I woke up. It felt like I had a heavy blanket on me, ever so slightly pushing on me, tempting me to not get out of bed. That heavy blanket slowly turned into a blanket of lead like they use at the denti

“Life rarely unfolds exactly as we want it to. And if we stop and think about it, that makes perfect sense. The scope of life is universal, and the fact that we are not actually in control of life’s events should be self-evident. The universe has been around for 13.8 billion years, and the processes that determine the flow of life around us did not begin when we were born, nor will they end when we die. What manifests in front of us at any given moment is actually something t

The journey of consciousness is different for every person. There are an infinite number of paths up the mountain, but the view for everyone is the same at the top. In his writings on the teachings of Yogi Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky outlines this journey of consciousness as an evolution and presents a model of a seven step evolutionary ladder. I have found Ouspensky’s material and frameworks very helpful in my own journey and wanted to share it with you despite it’s complexity

“One of the huge imbalances in life is the disparity between your daily existence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you have within yourself of some extraordinarily satisfying way of living." - Wayne Dyer Have you ever felt the momentum of your journey, as it picks up speed in a forward motion and then suddenly you feel stuck? The momentum comes to a halt and you wonder why? You’ve been doing all of the right things, being productive, checking all of the boxes but

“Desires make slaves out of kings and patience makes kings out of slaves” – Hazt Imam Al-Ghazali Like many other wise sayings, I had seen this before many years ago and thought it made sense. But only through living it, and experiencing it, have I begun to understand it. A desire is an urge or strong wish for something. This definition sounds rather mundane and practical and most of us simply see some desires as a normal part of life without questioning it. Similar express

“Hidden in the heart of every creature Exists the Self, subtler than the subtlest, Greater than the greatest. They go beyond All sorrow who extinguish their self-will And behold the glory of the Self Through the grace of the Lord of Love.” - The Upanishads The Upanishads is a book of spiritual teachings. “The aim of all Upanishads is to investigate the ground of all Being, postulating an undying essence, Atman (self), beyond the ever-changing appearances of physical reality,

‘It is not a shame to be knocked down by other people. The important thing is to ask when you are being knocked down, “why am I being knocked down?” If a person can reflect in this way, then there is hope for this person” – Bruce Lee Bruce Lee, known all over the world for his combination of martial arts and acting, is as super human as they come. He was able to do 1,500 push-ups without stopping on two hands, 400 push-ups with one hand and 200 with two fingers. He was also

“Love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is red

“Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called ‘the love of your fate’. Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say ‘This is what I need’. It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring LOVE to that moment—not discouragement—you will find the strength is there. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature,

“ Your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths. ” - Rumi Have you ever been in a troubling situation and suddenly you receive an answer? You may not understand the reasoning behind the answer but you know in your core it is right? This sense of knowing, is our intuition. The heart is connected to a type of intuition not bound by time or space. How do we tap into that more often? How do we spark divine energy? The heart has the answers. Heart is th

My last blog post, “The Narrow Gate”, provoked several questions, comments and queries from clients, friends, and peers. In particular, there was inquiry around why I chose a Bible passage as the foundational support for the main theme. I relate to the Bible (and many other scriptures) as metaphysical maps of human consciousness. A guidebook on how to transcend the terrain of our own existence into higher states of consciousness. From darkness to light. The passage I chose in

Surpassing three years of sobriety has given me a moment to reflect on the most impactful changes during my journey. I am beginning to understand the power of my mind, the power of awareness, the power of living in service of others and the power of living every moment by spiritual principles. The Mind: My old “self” was not aware of the voice in my head guiding me on a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. The momentum of any positive change that I attempted would be sabotag

We are conditioned to experience life as a perpetual struggle. A struggle to get our needs met. Our needs for food, shelter, love, connection, belonging, comfort, status, fame, etc. in a presumed hierarchy that eventually takes us to a place where we can finally take a deep breath and start to strive for self-actualization - whatever that means. And woven into this matrix of unmet needs is pleasure seeking; in search of unfulfilled desires that become programmed as entitlem