Many of us have appreciated the four agreements brought to us by don Miguel Ruiz. For many years they have assisted us in altering old behavior patterns that no longer serve our lives. Briefly they are: do not take things personally, stop making assumptions, be impeccable with your words, and…

Many spiritual practices guide us in what is known as “waking up.” Even though this process gives us a great sense of freedom and spaciousness, John J. Prendergast suggests that the path to “waking up” is by “waking down.” As we tune into our bodies, we receive messages where our…

Never have we needed collaboration more than at this time in our cultural evolution. Research has shown that collaboration increases our intelligence, and in these threshold times we need to be functioning on the highest creative level we can possibly reach. Dawna Markova and Angie McArthur share with us the…

The legacy of authentic indigenous healing practices and traditional shamanism is disappearing. Marie-Rose Phan-Lê is doing her part to preserve this precious human resource, which has gifts to give humankind in these challenging times. She has traveled the world seeking healers who have been trained in some of the most…

Matthew Fox’s spiritual enthusiasm has taken him beyond the dogma of the Catholic Church and for this he’s been censored by the Vatican and ultimately expelled from the order of the Dominicans. However, this has not stilled his voice for a theology that both harkens back to such religious philosophers…

Ralph White came to America in the early 1970s while the Vietnam War was still raging. On his Christmas break while teaching courses in Chicago he drove Route 66 to Los Angeles. In the desert of New Mexico he had his first spiritually transcendent experience. He says, “I felt like my…

There is a Native American concept of a seemingly malignant spirit called wetiko and it’s known by many other names in many other traditions. It’s a psychological force within the unconscious mind that predisposes us toward unwholesome impulses such as the thirst for power and control, greed, and jealousy. It…

Magic can be described as the art of sensing energy, then learning how to flow with the energy rather than resisting it. It’s spiritual aikido. As humans we find comfort in what is predictable and unchanging. However, the nature of reality is that everything changes, everything is in flux, everything…

Zen priest and actor Peter Coyote gives us a concise description of Buddhism and the pursuit of enlightenment as “[T]he wisdom that transcends likes and dislikes.” He also has conceived and conducts mask workshops that offer improvisational mask games as a way to see more clearly into a deeper wisdom available…

A spiritual experience has been described by some as an encounter with the presence of the infinite within our finite universe of time and space. It takes on many forms and can be conceived of in a wide variety of ways. Here Steve McIntosh addresses such questions as: How do…