Trust the process of awakening. \”The path to love requires open-hearted attention to the very things that seem to block our way to it.\” ~Ezra Bayda~    Sometimes it takes years (or lifetimes!) before we fully understand a particular aspect of our spiritual growth. We go through repetitive circumstances and often explore various aspects of […]

Acceptance is an act of love. \”The spiritual practice of relationships is about working on ourselves only, freeing ourselves from the constricting grip of our own unhappiness. It is not the other person’s job to take our unhappiness away; our discomfort is our own responsibility. Attending to our spiritual tasks – seeing our judgments, opinions,

When you are able to celebrate all life as sacred, there is nothing to fear. \”The great miracle of Zen is in the transformation of the mundane into the sacred.. and the miracle of Zen is neither interested in the past nor in the future. Its total interest is in the present. Maybe that’s why

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. \”Lord make me an instrument of your peaceWhere there is hatred let me sow loveWhere there is injury, pardonWhere there is doubt, faithWhere there is despair, hopeWhere there is darkness, lightAnd where there is sadness, joy O divine master grant that I maynot so much seek to

You are never alone. \”These friends and helpers offer assistance in a variety of ways. They can act as teachers, healers and providers of knowledge both for yourself or for other people through you. You may have one recognized spirit guide or literally hundreds. Sometimes you work with only one, or perhaps with a variety,

Let your life be your message. \”To be a seeker is the beginning of the gamble. You are risking your life, you are risking your ego. You are risking because you are dropping all your securities, all your safety arrangements. You are opening windows – who knows who is going to come in? The friends

Attachment creates suffering. \”Disappointment is always a reminder that you’re still attached to something. Take that disappointment as opportunity to investigate.\” ~Ezra Bayda~  Consider the moments in your life when the mind has attached to a specific outcome. How much energy was wasted by planning, worrying or attempting to get life to conform to a

This is the moment of transformation. \”The little self, driven by fear and a craving for comfort, identifies only with ‘me.’ The true self, driven by nothing, identifies with the unbounded awareness that we truly are.\” ~Ezra Bayda~  For those of you who know my backstory, my most challenging relationship this lifetime was with my

The peace you are able to experience in the present moment is a barometer of your current level of consciousness. \”We taste the profundity of existence by simultaneously holding both the suffering and the wonder of being alive.\” ~Ezra Bayda~  When you really pay attention, everything and everyone is your teacher. Life presents endless opportunities

Illness is just another pathway to awakening. \”Believing that we ‘create our own illness’ and that with ‘better’ practice we can ‘defeat’ it, is another version of believing in sin and salvation. Sickness, old age, and death are natural parts of life; and pain simply is. None of them are sins, enemies, or failings.\” ~Ezra