Compassion is an essential principle in our human journey. The need for compassion remains constant amid our ever-changing concepts of what it means to be spiritual beings. Compassion’s primacy is often overlooked in our search for mystical meaning and esoteric understanding. As we grow in awareness, we come to see that compassion is crucial to every step of our development.

The core teaching of the Buddha is the radical understanding of the inter-existence of all things, or that all things are inter-related.

I would like to share a story from many years ago that happened over the course of a weekend ‘Exploring our Death to Liberate our Lives’. It is an experience that stays with me because of this woman’s bravery to face what was really true for her.

As I continue down the path of making peace with my emotional nature, I am inspired to share what I am discovering. Teaching and sharing what what I know to be true not only supports others but deepens my own understanding.

It is said by those that have studied such things, that manifestation is an exact science, with a formula that can be relied upon to get the results we are seeking.

The formula goes like this: We think of what we want, we feel passionately about it, we take action, and we get our desired result.

Have you ever wondered why we humans are endowed with this great capacity to feel a full range of emotions and yet are taught that some emotions are acceptable and good, while others are unacceptable and bad?

So far the year 2022 continues to be a time of great change, uncertainty and possibilities for transformation.

It is ever more clear that the only thing we truly have the power to transform is ourselves, and from this, we transform collectively. When we are centered in ourselves, the actions we take in the world come out of our wisdom nature, not from fearful media manipulations.

I write this second introduction during the Covid pandemic that began in 2019 and continues into the year 2022. Although we have been advised to socially distance, we know we cannot continue the social separation and that we will need to find a way to live with any virus that presents itself. Connection is a basic human need, perhaps the most basic, after air, food and water.

This aphorism has proven quite true in my own life. Knowing this has helped me make peace with the part of me that is still, and I imagine always will be, learning what I teach. 

Learning to love unconditionally, with clarity and wisdom, not sentimentality, has been my spiritual path, and the driving motivation in my life.

During my recent travels through middle America, I have been contemplating ‘the middle way’, a path discovered and taught by the Buddha in his search for enlightenment and freedom from suffering.

It has been quite a while since I last wrote as I have been taking time to contemplate how to best be of service through this ongoing time of great change and uncertainty.

Writing this letter, one that expresses an under represented opinion from the mainstream narrative, has been challenging, and has called forth my courage to speak on behalf of what I hold sacred.

Why would we want to explore death?

It may sound rather morbid at first consideration and yet my experience is that this practice awakens more joy than any other that I have encountered.

I am writing from the beautiful coast of Baja, Mexico where I am blessed to be quarantining from.

Like everyone, I am doing my best to make the most of this challenging time of radical change we find ourselves in. Spending lots of time on the beach, watching and listening to the waves, and asking myself ‘what is it that I truly value in this life? The beauty of Nature is definitely at the top of the list.

The power of forgiveness is a rich and wide terrain in our human psyche. Forgiveness has many dimensions, from forgiveness of a debt, to seeing that ultimately there is nothing to forgive, that our entire human journey is simply a shift in perception that returns us to our true Nature of compassion and understanding.

I recently returned from an almost month long road trip adventure from Colorado to California and back again. I love road trips for many reasons, most especially for how free and awake I feel – to the moment and to my surroundings. I also love how my thinking slows down, and how my thoughts detach from worry and become more expansive and creative.

I wanted to share a clip from a conversation between two people I admire, author Maya Angelou and comedian Dave Chappelle:

Dave: You have lived such an amazing life, and done things that many would say were impossible. What do you attribute this to?

Like many others, I have felt deeply saddened by the outbreaks of violence and destruction in cities all over our country and beyond. At the same time, I can understand why people are expressing themselves in this way. 

Change is not easy, which is why we want others to do it. We want others to conform to our way of seeing so we can feel more comfortable. The older and more entrenched we are in our perspectives, the more difficult it can be to change.

The Great Change, the Great Realization, the Awakening of Humanity. There have been many names given to and prophesied about this time we are living through and some who believe things will get back to ‘normal’.