By Brian Luke Seaward You must remain very still to get a hummingbird to perch on your hand as you hold a small bowl of sweet nectar in your palm. The slightest movement signals these tiny birds that it is not safe to land, let alone feed. Last summer I taught my wife’s grandson how…
Category: States of Consciousness
The Present Moment
By Celia Coates Having to go to the bank in these pandemic times means finding a drive-through teller. I sat in my car after I had sent in my documents using that pneumatic canister that reminds me of the way money was moved overhead from counter to cashier in department stores long-ago. It was a…
“What Is the Color of Heaven?”
by Celia Coates That’s the question Oliver Sacks asked in 1964 – “What is the color of heaven?” Last week I heard a Radio Lab re-broadcast of an interview by Robert Krulwich in which Dr. Sacks described how he got his answer. The story was also published in the National Geographic * where Krulwich wrote,…
Loving the Child
By Celia Coates Right there, in the restaurant, sitting with my friend who was dropping bits of food from her mouth while she was talking, I was overtaken by love. Love for the small part of God that she is. It was most peculiar. I’d never felt anything like it – it wasn’t like the…
Words’ Worth
By Celia Coates The computer problem that kept me from publishing all of last week’s post may have been another example of just the right wrong thing – one of my favorite ideas. This was to have been the first line: I wish I could write this post without sounding preachy or crabby but I…
Finding Unity Consciousness
By Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. “You may say I’m a dreamer, But I’m not the only one I hope some day you’ll join us And the world will be as one.” – John Lennon I have to admit, when I…
The Sense of Wonder
By Celia Coates It’s rare that the introduction to a book is as fine as the book itself, but the one written by Linda Lear for Rachel Carson’s THE SENSE OF WONDER is a lovely equal to the text. Lear wrote, Carson urges us to explore nature with feelings and emotions, to use all our…
Screen Addiction and the Human Spirit
By Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. In a clever update of the renowned painting of Narcissus by John William Waterhouse, the ego-driven youth is shown lying on the riverbank obsessed with his own image on a smartphone. Technology evolves but human behavior is slow to change! Today it is very easy to become completely absorbed in…
How to Rest – and Why
By Celia Coates A recent blog in SATI Mindfulness began this way: “For most of us, most of the time, we’re running on fumes. Or, if not fumes, then on half a tank of gas. In a car that needs an oil change. And some new tires. We don’t give ourselves the rest we need.” Just…
Gandhi’s Lesson On How To Meditate
By Celia Coates Gandhi’s grandson, Arun, wrote, “Bapuji often had a spinning wheel at his side, and I like to think of his life as a golden thread of stories and lessons that continue to weave in and out through the generations, making a stronger fabric for all our lives.” This quote is from his…
Practicing Compassion
By Craig Hase There are many benefits that come with the practice of mindfulness meditation. Here is an account of my favorite empirically validated benefit – love. Yes, love. No, not that sappy, sugar coated, fickle, inconstant moon type of pop-song teenage love. Love as a stance. Love as practice. Or, as psychoanalyst Erich Fromm…
Wednesdays at Six
By Randolph Fiery Several years ago, I was impressed by research on the benefits of meditation conducted by Richard (Richie) Davidson at the University of Wisconsin. His scientific studies were coupled with collaborative conversations with both Buddhist and Christian practitioners of meditation. This combination of science, spirituality, and contemplative practice seemed to fit me, and…