The Struggle To Find Silence In The Ancient Monastic World And Now

In our contemporary world, noise pollution has reached dangerous levels. The World Health Organization has argued that “excessive noise” is a serious threat to human health.

How can we break the silence about what happens when we’re dying?

There really is no explanation nor prescription for loving, for being with and available to those you love until the last breath and then on. And there is no one way to provide the best possible care for your loved one or for yourself and others who are the caregivers.

Following the terror attack on two New Zealand mosques in March 2019, many Muslim communities across the world gathered as usual for their most important weekly ritual – Friday prayers.

Modern neuroscience has now found that altru­ism brings us happiness in addition to being a stress reliever. This mirrors Buddhist teachings. Through our meditations and practice of loving-kindness and compas­sion, we gradually come into an experiential sense of our basic goodness. 

Once you decide to see only love, you can relinquish judgment and see people for what they are. In the end, everyone benefits, including you. As it says in A Course in Miracles, “You have no idea of the tremendous release and deep peace that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers totally without judgment.”

Spiritual development doesn’t happen automatically. You may want enlightenment very badly, but it only happens through your daily application of spiritual principles. One of these principles is sankalpa, which means "will power" in Sanskrit.

What keeps us from reaching that state of continuous expansion and joy? What stands in the way of experiencing that place of no separation? What gets in the way of experiencing ourselves filled with light? What stops us from living life with gales of laughter?

People who tried a new mindfulness app reported smoking fewer cigarettes a day, according to a new study.

Anything that is worth doing, is worth doing with a whole heart. And mind. And body. I saw a romantic greeting card which showed a couple kissing in the front seat of a car. The message said, "If you can kiss while driving safely, you are not giving the kiss the attention it deserves."

Although there are many different approaches to meditation, all meditation methods share some basic characteristics and work in similar ways. The fundamental requirement in meditation is that we find some way to manage the monkey mind so that we can start training it.

"When I have a problem and I dance, at the end the problem is gone!" Ultimately, I am convinced that it is the connection to one’s sense of the spiritual that infuses dance with the power to heal and transform.

For someone on the spiritual path, one of the most beautiful discoveries is that everything becomes inwardly simpler and simpler as she or he progresses in their quest. The complexities of social relations just vanish in the discovery that the essence of every being is divine.

The number of U.S. children age 4 to 17 practicing yoga rose from 2.3% to 8.4% – or from 1.3 million to 4.9 million – between 2007 and 2017, federal data show.

The death of a friend is a loss that most people face at some point in their lives – often many times. But it is a grief that may not be taken seriously by employers, doctors or others.

High rates of mental ill health among students, including some tragic cases of suicide, have highlighted the vulnerability of many young people facing the pressures of higher education while away from home for the first time.

It was three days after I met with her that I realized Grandmother Twylah Hurd Nitsch is a small woman. Her fathomless eyes, her great good humor and the magnitude of the peace that effortlessly flows from her heart convey a physical presence that reaches far beyond her diminutive frame. She is warm beyond measure, mercurial and deeply connected to the Earth...

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims around the world will not eat or drink from dawn to sunset. Muslims believe that the sacred text of Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad in the final 10 nights of Ramadan.

Priests are Catholicism’s greatest figures: shepherds who manage believers’ relationship with the divine.

The problem with thoughts is not that we have so many of them but that we identify ourselves so closely with them. Thoughts come and go. Some are clearly more interesting than others. But regardless of their content, we take the emergence of thought seriously because we tend to believe that...

Every world religion and every form of education has tried to teach us Universal Law in one form or another: the Law of Cause and Effect, the Law of Karma, an eye for an eye, reaping what we sow. In more scientific terms: like attracts like, action and reaction, radiation and magnetization.

Nearly 300 people were killed in several coordinated bomb attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter.

The burning wreckage of the 12th-century Notre-Dame de Paris led to an immediate outpouring of grief over the damage to its irreplaceable architecture and works of art.

This 17 minute guided meditation welcomes balance and clarity to your mental and emotional self. Practice regularly to connect brain to body for mental health and optimal physical wellbeing. This practice

In 1952, a bill proclaiming an annual National Day of Prayer (NDP) was unanimously passed by both houses of congress. President Truman signed it into law. Then in 1988, a bill was introduced to Congress which fixed the annual National Day of Prayer as the first Thursday in May.

Elliott Jaffa, Ed.D., a behavioral psychologist who conducts "active listening" seminars for businesses and other groups, says, "In reality, very few people really know how to listen. There's more to active listening than sitting back and letting your eardrum collect vibrations. When done properly, it's actually hard work..."

It's up to us. We can spend our lives cultivating our resentments and cravings or we can explore the path of the warrior -- nurturing open-mindedness and courage. Most of us keep strengthening our negative habits and therefore sow the seeds of our own suffering.

So runs the story of one of the Italian nuns I interviewed earlier this year, as part of a wider investigation into the unsung contributions of women workers, and why they have been historically undervalued. 

By engaging in sacred reciprocity with the raw forces of nature as well as the spiritual powers present in the area, you deepen your awareness of interdependence with all life’s dimensions...

It has been tremendously helpful for me to understand the difference between consciousness and spirituality. Spirituality is one type of energy — the energy that links us to our deepest essential nature and to the universal source. Consciousness is the awareness of all of the energies within us..

While flames engulfed Notre Dame on the evening of April 15 and the world watched in despair, French president Emmanuel Macron told news cameras that the Paris cathedral was part of the history of all French people:

There’s a lot of confusion about Easter – not least because this most important of all Christian festivals moves around so much from year to year, decided by a complex set of calculations based on the vernal equinox and the phase of the moon.

Within all of us, there’s a light that shines like a lantern’s bright flame. We may call it love, divine energy, or an expression of our Source. No matter what name we give it, that light never goes out.

There is a lovely teaching (or ‘Sutra’) of the Buddha that clearly illustrates the importance of acceptance. It is called the “Sutra of the Arrows” and it relates how even the good and the wise are regularly struck by the first arrow, which is that of the unavoidable pain of life.

This planet needs as many of you as possible to create the consciousness shift now occurring. And how you feel it! It can feel beautiful, wonderful, joyous, humorous, light, fun. It can also feel torturous and wretched. The shift involves a whole spectrum of emotional states. 

My pious Baptist grandmother once shockingly confessed, at the ripe old age of 93, that she didn’t want to go to heaven.

Our real existence is as Spirit, and only in the degree that we perceive our real existence as Spirit, do we drop the false sense of life as material. Then we see that the structural life of man, animal, and plant is but the false sense of existence; that our concern for the so-called necessities of material living has been unnecessary...

As Christians observe Good Friday they will remember, with devotion and prayer, the death of Jesus on the Cross.

On the Thursday before Easter, more than two billion Christians worldwide observe the Eucharist, a special ritual that commemorates the Last Supper

Scrolling through news of the Notre Dame fire on social media feeds was like watching a real-time archive of grief in the making, as people expressed their dismay and sorrow at the damage wrought.

A new review digs into existing research on the connection between grief and the immune system.

The Québec government is proposing a secularism law to prohibit any new public servants in a position of authority — including teachers, lawyers and police officers — from wearing religious symbols while at work.

Many agree on the factors contributing to a good death. People want to be treated with dignity, have relief from pain and, as much as possible, to control what happens to them.

Once upon a time, a boy named Alexander was living on an island in the middle of the ocean. He was joined by a special mentor who had become quite close to him there. This mentor was a peculiar sort in that he appeared and disappeared at will, and the boy never knew when these visits might occur.

Silence is not particularly my thing. I remember, many years ago, when my closest and dearest friend shared with me that she was attending an eight day "silent retreat" -- just the thought put me in a twitter. Yet, now that I'm in my fifth decade, I'm beginning to appreciate at least a measure of silence...

Euthanasia debates often focus on people experiencing unbearable physiological or psychological suffering. But research suggests “loss of autonomy” is the primary reason for requesting euthanasia, even among patients with terminal cancer.

From conflicts over wedding cakes to university admissions to religious schools, the tension between equality rights and religious freedom is often in the news in Canada, the United States and beyond.

These two practices, seeing similarities and offering kind­ness, are incredibly rich in terms of building inner resources and incredibly valuable for loosening our fears and biases and allowing us to see that we are all one tribe, one family — the human family.

Publishing the Quran and making it available in translation was a dangerous enterprise in the 16th century, apt to confuse or seduce the faithful Christian.

The first spiritual law of success is the Law of Pure Potentiality. This law is based on the fact that we are, in our essential state, pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is pure potentiality; it is the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. Other attributes of consciousness are...

Whatever kind of body we have, it is our vehicle for realizing inner light. Our bodies are the matter in which the light of our soul temporarily resides. 

'What words adequately express the pain and suffering of 50 men, women and children lost, and so many injured?' asked New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern during her address at a memorial service

I have these words on the bulletin board above my desk: Expect Miracles. In my healing and animal communication practice, I am incredibly blessed to be able to witness miracles almost every day.

No matter how many psychics you consult or how many readings you have, only bits and pieces of one's personal path is ever revealed. The rest remains your mystery -- for you to solve. While I cannot tell you the why of your life, I can briefly offer spiritual and mundane viewpoints to consider...

What happens after death? Do deeply loving feelings exist when we are no longer in physical bodies?

New Zealand is a religiously and ethnically diverse country with an almost negligible global terrorism index. Muslims have lived in New Zealand, peacefully, for more than a century.

Generally speaking, we regard discomfort in any form as bad news. But for practitioners or spiritual warriors — people who have a certain hunger to know what is true — feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad...

What came first – all-seeing Gods or complex societies? When you think of religion, you probably think of a god who rewards the good and punishes the wicked.

Thich Nhat Hanh, the monk who popularized mindfulness in the West, has returned home to Vietnam to enjoy the rest of his life.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing. But what’s the point, you ask? Why should I do this? Why should I waste my precious time sitting quietly doing nothing when there is so much to do, so much to accomplish and achieve?

We are powerful beyond our wildest imaginations, and our ability to make a profoundly significant difference in what is happening on Earth at this time is staggering. All we have to do is remember who we are and where we have come from. I am not referring to the specifics of particular lifetimes; I am talking about who we are at the very core of our Beings, within the deepest recesses of our Divine Blueprints.

In 1997, my students and I traveled to Croagh Patrick, a mountain in County Mayo, as part of a study abroad program course on Irish literature I was teaching for the University of Dayton.

It is important to understand that to develop awareness in daily life we do not need to go around with an empty mind. Rather, we strive to be awake and centered in the present, clearly knowing at each moment what we are doing.

If hate arises for someone or against someone, or love arises for someone, what do we do? We project it on the person. You project your love or hate or whatsoever. You forget completely the inner center of your being; the other becomes the center.

For the secularized mind, meditation fills a spiritual vacuum; it brings the hope of a better, happier individual and the ideal of a peaceful world. That meditation was primarily designed not to make us happier but to destroy our sense of individual self – who we feel and think we are most of the time – is often overlooked in the science and media stories.

For Christians, the death and resurrection of Jesus is a pivotal event commemorated each year during a season of preparation called Lent and a season of celebration called Easter.

The present is the only time we can choose between love and fear. When we fret about the past or worry about what to do in the future, we accomplish nothing. And yet, our mental habit of reliving the past and rehearsing what is to come generates various forms of pain.

No matter what your beliefs, all you need to be able to recognize signs from heaven are an open mind and heart. Opening your mind to receiving signs simply means believing it can happen. If you have faith in God or in the next life, you are already ahead of the game.

African-American women comprise more than 70 percent of the active membership of generally any African-American congregation one might attend today. According to one Pew study, African-American women are among the most religiously committed of the Protestant demographic – eight in 10 say that religion is important to them.

An essential fact about the Hebrew Bible is that most of its narrative prose as well as its poetry manifests a high order of sophisticated literary fashioning.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Babylonian poem composed in ancient Iraq, millennia before Homer. It tells the story of Gilgamesh, king of the city of Uruk.

Twelve beliefs and practices for you to cultivate as you develop your abilities to manifest miracles in your life. I use the terms spiritual and non-spiritual in the sense that a spiritual being has a conscious awareness of both the physical and the invisible dimension, while the non-spiritual being is only aware of the physical domain.

The more you observe, the more you allow yourself to experience the infinite field of energy swirling in you and around you, the more you will discover that orderly patterns exist everywhere in Nature. Then it will probably dawn on you—if it hasn't already—that not only is the Universe intelligently organized, the Universe Itself is Intelligent!

From TV sets and radios to sirens, jet aircraft, horns, and the constant yammer of too many people with too much to say, our world is filled with noise. When we are not engaged in listening to something or someone, we are usually yapping away ourselves, either externally or at least in our own heads.

Many people have this fear of the city. It's understandable. Each night, on the evening news, the major emphasis seems to be on the latest stabbings, shootings, rapes, and suicides. The good news is often not heard. But fear of personal danger isn't the only problem people have with the city, and out-of-towners are not the only ones guilty of misconceptions.

Is it likely for most of us that past life, early childhood, and then community experiences all generate doubts and self-imposed limits that cloud our ability to see that we can be a successful creator of a terrific life. Further, such experiences cause us to question our own lovability and the goodness of the universe.

In the sixteen-century, people suffered from hunger, disease, hatred, and war. "How could God allow such terrible things to happen? Perhaps," Luria suggested, "it is because God needs our help." When you see something that is broken, fix it...

Have you felt the deep inner calling of hidden truth? Do you feel sacred knowledge is just waiting for you to grab it? The Mayas believe this is a time when everyone will begin to remember. In the spring of 1995, we entered a new cycle of time that the Mayas believe to be deeply profound and exceptionally transforming.

I had a strong feeling that if I see it, it is my responsibility. I began won­dering what would happen if I started responding to everything that caught my eye. So I began an around-the-clock practice that went like this: anything that entered my awareness became my respon­sibility, anything that was my responsibility I would attend to, and anything I attended to I would complete.

The world of distraction spins around and around, while moving continuously to keep itself amused and entertained. It transports us to a world of fantasy, or a world of controversy, or competition, or of just about anything other than the one true existence that is right before us. Distraction keeps...

We live from our heart or we do not live at all. Here is a benchmark by which you can assess the quality of your actions and make important decisions: What is your intention? If you truly seek to serve and give love, you cannot fail.

We are all getting older every day. One day you and I will both be old, if it is our destiny to live that long. It is our choice whether we live in fear and act according to other people's expectations of what an older person is or whether we allow ourselves to be authentic and real. Start now; you are an elder in training...

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark “Humanae Vitae,” Pope Paul VI’s strict prohibition against artificial contraception, issued in the aftermath of the development of the birth control pill.

Before you start any action toward your Dream—a call, meeting, class, exam, presentation, creative session, difficult situ­ation—use this visualization technique: Send Love Ahead. I learned this most precious method from a study group in A Course in Miracles. Here’s how it works...

I began meditating at the young age of 20, when meditation was not com­mon in the United States, and I took very much to heart my guru’s instruc­tions to develop a regular and committed meditation practice. Over the years I found an intuitive faculty developing, a way of knowing that surpasses the rational, logical mind.

Some people say, If there are all these angels waiting to help us, then why haven't they already done something about this problem in my life? But what they don't realize is that the universe doesn't work in a top-down management style; it's based on free will and team work.

The ancient people of Rapa Nui, Chile, better known as Easter Island, built their famous ahu monuments near coastal freshwater sources, according to new research.

Just be what you are and don't care a bit about the world. Then you will feel a tremendous relaxation and a deep peace within your heart. This is what Zen Buddhists call your "original face" - In this essay Osho, through parables and narratives, helps you understand how to find yourself.

The power of affirmation, prayer, and blessing has been used for thousands of years in both spiritual and folk rites, by priestesses and priests, and by people trying to bring health, harmony, and happiness into their lives. In earlier times at the gigantic stone temples that dot the English countryside...

Most of us have heard the word mindfulness, which we instinctively recognize as something beneficial for us and our children, but what is it, really? And how can it possibly help, especially in the midst of the daily grind of ensuring that homework is completed, devices are turned off, and drama is kept to a minimum?

Pope Francis faced a testing year in 2018, which culminated in a spate of resignations that challenged his authority as the head of the Catholic Church.

A man came to a guru and challenged him, "I will give you an orange if you can show me where God is." The guru thought for a moment, then answered, "I will give you two oranges if you can show me where God is not."

Karma is a strange word. No matter how many times I talk about this issue, people are still convinced that karma is something they're working through with another person. No -- you're working through your own karma, which means your own experience.

An estimated 3.3 million American Muslims celebrate Ramadan. The month of Ramadan marks the time when Prophet Muhammad is believed to have first received revelations from God and has been celebrated at the White House since 1996.

Each of the major religions has the same goal: to provide us with a way to know and experience God. The only difference lies in the instructions for accomplishing this knowing. It's very hard to know where to focus my attention to find peace. I am sad to discover that I can't find it in my morning New York Times.

The breaking open that is happening right before our eyes and under our feet is actually creating conditions, situations, and circumstances that are ripe for transformation. It’s up to us to be clear and intentional about how we respond to what is happening.

You might think that digital technologies, often considered a product of ‘the West’, would hasten the divergence of Eastern and Western philosophies.

This is a shamanic method practiced by the shamans in Siberia and Mongolia who believe a man will lead a hard life until he takes his spirits with him. The most powerful expressions of the soul are the spirits, the so-called power images...

In this Wireless Philosophy video, Richard Holton (M.I.T.) discusses the classic philosophical problem of free will.

Spirituality has become a kind of buzzword in today’s culture, especially for the millennial generation. Increasingly, North Americans identify as spiritual as opposed to religious.