Imagine a country whose citizens—maybe even its leaders—are brave, calm, and open towards each other; a country whose people realize that all human beings belong together as one family and must act accordingly; a country guided by Common Sense. This may seem more than...
Seeing Through the Illusion of “Normal”
Do we still believe that the sun travels across the sky while we stand stationary on a flat piece of earth? No, these once held beliefs were dispelled long ago. But how many other things do we accept as true simply because our limited senses tell us so, or that is...
The True Spiritual Experience
People sometimes ask me, “What has been accomplished by my practice of Yoga all these years? I haven’t realized God. I haven’t had any noticeable spiritual experience.” I don’t know what experience they want. They haven’t levitated up from the floor at least a few...
The Embrace of Gratitude
Imagine waking up in the morning with a palpable sense gratitude for being alive and having another opportunity to engage in life. Imagine what it would be like to approach your whole life with gratefulness as the foundation from which you encountered each moment....
Gratitude: A Short Film
The invitation: Open up your heart and feel grateful for this day, the beauty of this planet, the people we meet. How? By focusing on the positive aspects rather than the negative. By showing who other people are, in all their individual specialness rather than...
Being Thankful to Everyone and Everything
On Thanksgiving day, we thank God for providing us with all our needs. Nature and God are one and the same. Nature is another name for God. So sometimes if you don’t feel comfortable with the name “God,” you can say, “Nature provided everything.” We should be thankful...
Teaching of the Month: Sharing Abundance
In the northern hemisphere, autumn is a season known for harvesting all that one has grown and for giving thanks for the abundance of the earth. Celebrating the fruits of our labors with gratitude is a beautiful practice. But as spiritual aspirants, we want to take a...
Gratitude: Feeling the Great-Fullness
Most of us spend a lot of time planning for or anticipating the future. Though it is natural to make plans that support our well-being, we tend to constantly look ahead thinking about what we need to be happy. In doing so, we often miss the opportunity to fully...
Spreading Gratefulness One Light at a Time
Sample from the Spring 2005 issue of Integral Yoga Magazine Spreading Gratefulness One Light at a Time An Interview with Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB Br. David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine monk, has long been a close friend of Sri Gurudev and the Integral Yoga community....