Category Archives: Awakening

There is a great story in the Zen tradition that you probably know. A farmer’s horse runs away leaving him with no means to work the fields. “What a pity,” his neighbors say. “Poor you.” “We’ll see,” says the farmer. The next day the horse comes home leading three wild horses. “That’s great!” say theContinue reading “The Solution is Simple (That’s Why I Resist It)”

There is a certain pattern to my practice of A Course in Miracles. Lately it has become more pronounced. I stumble into a state of genuine happiness and peace. It’s heavenly, if you’ll forgive a cliche. But then – after a minute or a few hours, sometimes even a day or two – doubt andContinue reading “The Journey Ends in Love”

From time to time I talk to students of A Course in Miracles who feel bad that they still experience guilt and anger and fear and sorrow and whatever other icky emotions you can name. How can it be after all the lessons and study and prayer? Aren’t we supposed to be deliriously happy allContinue reading “Forget Your Inner Feelings”

When I was growing up it sometimes seemed as if prayers were offered up to just about anybody, so long as they had some connection to the Christian monotheistic tradition. God, the saints, Mary, dead relatives, Jesus, Jesus’s dog. If you had ears – or had once had ears – then you were a fitContinue reading “The Mutuality of Prayer”

Thomas a Kempis once wrote that he would rather feel compunction than know its definition. Sage advice for those of us studying awakening while also pursuing it. I am often aware of the degree to which my intellect seems to ally with the ego at the expense of my right mind. At first blush, it’sContinue reading “Right Mind vs. Intellect”

One of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems is #236 – Some Keep the Sabbath. It captures for me several of the qualities that I admire most in her work: playfulness, irreverence and – deeply related to the first two qualities – a profound awareness and commitment to waking up to one’s identity in God. AsContinue reading “Some Keep the Sabbath . . .”