A guided meditation for you:

During the first part of meditation, many of us experience constant mind chatter—continuous random or fixated thoughts about “what is next?”, “what if?” Business and personal matters fly in front of our eyes, This phenomenon is directly related to the ego’s desire to perpetuate the “story of me.”

Many people may think it “weird” to chant the word “Om” before entering a meditation. But the ancient Hindu and Buddhist practice of chanting this curious word has a method in its madness. According to spiritual teachers down through the ages, “Om” elicits the energy of the universe by vibrating our bodies with the basic vibration of all creation.

The human organism, like all of nature, seeks homeostatic balance. When one aspect is out of order, the other aspects prop it up until it can function normally again. This phenomenon occurs in all of nature. In his book, The Hidden Life of Trees, biological scientist Stephen Wohlleben points out that a stand of trees whose roots are inter-connected become an organism unto themselves. And when one of those trees is ill, the others send extra nutrients to the ailing tree until it recovers. The trees are individual parts of a common life, shared by each of them. All the parts work in concert to compensate for any lack or deficit in the community.

There are many levels of the meditative state just as there are many levels of dream states. The deeper we are into the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep, the more vivid and intense are our dreams. Similarly, the deeper we go in meditation, the freer we become from the monkey mind, and the more satisfying is the meditation.

Once we close our eyes and follow our breath, we have virtually shut out the outer world. As we “go down into the deep of our own being,” we relinquish to the Higher Power. And because we have surrendered to the Divine, our meditative experience is like being on a guided tour.

A hypnotist takes us into a trance by inviting us to focus on one thing such as her voice or a pendulum she swings before our eyes. In a trance, the mind is “blank,” and therefore highly suggestible. In a trance state the ego is not engaged. Therefore, the mind is more likely to think or do as the hypnotist instructs. The person under hypnosis has a new reality.

September 12, 2025

I just listened to a great spiritual master leading a teaching to a global audience. This teacher is Daaji, the Global Guide for the Heartfulness movement based in Hyderabad, India. Today’s teaching was on meditation and human emotion. Daaji understands that regardless of how spiritually progressed we are, and how much meditation we have done over a lifetime, we are still human beings with human emotions. A common complaint of spiritual seekers is the following: “I have been working on myself for years and still let things upset me; I must not have developed as much as I think.” Daaji speaks to this common complaint: 

February 20, 2025

One of the greatest enemies of peace is uncertainty. In uncertain times, we want reassurance that all is well. But oftentimes, that assurance is not available. There may be a huge financial problem or a health issue that cannot be solved readily. Maybe someone we care about is in a severe crisis, and we do not know what to do.