Spirituality That Works

Q: In reading Master of Self-Realization by Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj, I find that his answer to everything is that we are experiencing an illusion. We need to let go and just stop caring about whatever it is. That’s all there is to it. But for me, it’s not helpful to be told to just let go. What am I missing?

This is one of the reasons why Eastern spirituality can be tricky for Westerners. The Advaita Vedanta teachings do … Read More

Q: Does everyone have an intuitive ability?

Yes. Everyone is born with an active intuitive awareness, otherwise known as the instinct for survival. Because this is essentially an unused sense, which is typically not valued or is feared, most parents teach it out of their children at a very early age.

Q: Are you saying that intuition is nothing more than a glorified survival instinct?

Intuition is a refined version, yes. Before the modern age when humans were on an … Read More

The human mind equates emptiness with negative things—lack of meaning, hunger, deprivation—rather than what it truly is—freedom from pain, the beginning of a healing process, cleanliness, a space opened to be full of creativity or love or other positive experiences and emotions.

Because people are so afraid of emptiness, even when they release a negative emotion, once they feel the emptiness, the tendency is to fill it right back up with another negative emotion. I feel empty therefore I feel … Read More

In the beginning, starting around middle school and often continuing through our early twenties, a mysterious sadness begins rising in our consciousness, usually arriving in tandem with a low-level anxiety. Until we figure out the cause, we do our best to live with this feeling of, “Oh no, I’m getting pulled under.”

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anyone to help us identify what this melancholy feeling is really about. Even at this early age, life can start to feel … Read More

Q: Is the Harry Potter story popular because people are interested in the good and evil story?

No. People are interested in the magical world and supernatural powers. Children like to fantasize about being powerful and having magical, wishful thinking become reality, as Harry does. The resonance is not to good and evil, but to the magicalness of life that people wish was there and sense somehow could be, should be there, but don’t know how to experience it on … Read More

Q: What is an “old soul,” and is there even such a thing?

It depends on how someone uses the term. The most common use is more of a poetical reference to another person who appears to possess wisdom, maturity, understanding, and insight beyond their years. It’s an acknowledgment of an individual’s unique, mature qualities, attitudes, and behaviors typically associated with someone much older.

Some additional common characteristics attributed to an old soul are a natural curiosity about the world … Read More

Q: Please share your views on suicide.

First, my answer will be speaking largely from a nondual perspective. Second, let’s get it out on the table that suicide is a highly charged topic that people have very strong emotions around. It’s an action that’s been condemned and there is a major effort to govern by fear of punishment, even eternal punishment, in the effort to prevent it. And yet, even these guardrails are not wholly effective.

So many judgments are … Read More

Q: There’s been so much in the news about anxiety and depression among the young. Some studies say there’s a direct correlation with cell phone use. Other studies say not so much. What are your thoughts?

The anxiety and depression of youth, and of the population in general, have a direct correlation to cell phone use and to game playing use. But the factor that is not being connected, one that’s almost equally as important, is that young people today … Read More