Author Archive

The first touches of fall, cooler weather, rain instead of heat, the feeling that life is ready to explode all round me. Nature is a good reminder that everything moves in cycles. There’s no rebirth without death; there’s no autumn without summer, and when that burst of yellow and orange covers vast stretches of ground, one can almost hear the trees sing and forests sigh; one can hear a voice that’s pure, unfiltered, and a manifestation of summer letting go ...

In every human being, there exists a system of energy centers that connects to spirit. These centers (or chakras), like physical muscles, must be developed to keep them from atrophying. It takes time, patience, and mastery of the craft of meditation to build an inner life that is strong enough to sustain openness. We’re born with the tools of the craft. They are the mind, breath, the need to have a spiritual life, and the will to do it.

The chakra ...

L to R: Sister Sharon, Dad Michael, Stuart age 11

At the age of sixteen I had a transformative, but tragic moment that affected me for the rest of my life.  My father suffered from acute colitis and 106-degree fever for three weeks. He didn’t recognize my mother, my sister or me. A few hours before he died, I went into his hospital room. He had clear eyes and a calm demeanor I’d never seen before. I ...

To understand the difficulty and pain we go through, to recognize that burn out, weakened immune systems, depression, etc. are a manifestation of energies that have been repressed inside us for a long time; to recognize that we’ve hit the motherload of a “negativity swamp” that’s painful and difficult and makes one miserable:

In order to win this internal battle, one must know the enemy; one must build an inner life strong enough to flush the “negativity swamp” from their system. A psychotherapist, ...

Imbalance, dysfunction, neurosis, greed and nonstop anxiety exist in almost every human being. We’re taught from an early age that we can fix these problems by imposing our will on the external world, but happy people are about as scarce as fifty-carat diamonds. It would be easier to find the holy grail than a person who can sustain love and joy over long periods of time, that can live with a quiet mind, open heart, and internal balance.

I’ve been told by media, politicians, academia and hundreds of other so-called wise men and women whose ideas have been derived from keen and logical analysis, who recognize the faulty nature of human self-interest, and speak about a populace that’s bent on destroying itself; I’ve been told they all want to fix the planet, but have never heard anyone speak about fixing themselves. Billions of dollars have poured into projects that are supposed to uplift our planet, yet life on ...

The development of an inner life and a strong connection with spirit merges both life and death and makes them one flow of energy that brings us closer to God. Both are essential if this evolutionary process is going to work. The only thing that dies is the body. The soul continues to evolve through a void that connects lifetime to lifetime until it attains a state of enlightenment. Life and death are married to one another and guide the soul on ...