Practicalizing Spirituality

  Change is coming! “Dehino asmin yathaa dehe koumaaram youvanam jaraa Tathaa dehaantara praaptihi dheeras tatra na muhyati.” -- Bhagawad-Gita (2.13) In this verse Krishna talks about the six inevitable bodily changes - childhood, adolescence, youth, middle age, old age, and migration to a new body. He shares that this process will continue till the soul gets liberated. There are many verses in Bhagawad Gita that allude to the point that “change is the only constant.” Yet we are constantly plagued by change. Though we undergo it perpetually, we resent it, resist it, deny it, and decry it.  In this blog, we explore our love-hate relationship with change and how we can embrace change in order to reap the benefits of coming to terms with who we are and whatever situation we find ourselves in WHILE changing what we need to about ourselves in order to create greater wellbeing and working to remediate any aspects of the external environment that we can to improve the welfare of ours...

How would you live if today was your last day on earth? FACE TO FACE WITH OUR BIGGEST FEAR – DEATH That which gives us the greatest fear is our death and death of our loved ones. For many of us even bringing up the subject of death and dying is emotional. For someone who has helped a terminally ill family member or lost a close family member while they were young, or due to an accident or unmanageable illness, death can cause a lot of pain. Even if death is expected in a loved one who has a terminal illness, reconciling oneself with the actuality of it can prove to be very distressing.  Because we experience death without preparation it tends to be emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually draining. Death often comes as a shock to us or as an experience laden with unpleasant conversations, challenging discussions about end-of-life care, potential disputes about post-life transactions, not to mention the grief and suffering from a loved one’s departure.  Thanatophobia or dea...

OUR STORIES  As four co-authors and two couples, our spiritual journeys have been catalyzed, stimulated, and encouraged by the companionship of our spouses (our 'soul-mates'). Through a few different spiritual study groups, we have noted that couples participating together have found the learning and growth to be beneficial as it is mutual in nature and perceived more supportively. The learning is also more applicable because it is based on practical examples and realistic challenges from the lives that most of us lead as couples and family members. Based on our experience in learning from each other in these study groups, we decided to establish this platform where we can share our experiences with other couples in order to support the journeys that many of us are on. We hope you enjoy this forum and share with us your feedback as well as your experiences along your journey to further enlighten us all! “One soul, two bodies” is a prevalent understanding of soul-mates in societ...

Here are 10 concepts from India representing the power of universal spirituality which can help you realize your personal development goals this year! 1. Atman (Manobuddhyahaṅkāra cittāni nāhaṃ from Shankaracarya’s Nirvana Shatakam) You are not the mind or the body. You are not your thoughts, feelings, ideas, labels, concepts, memories, identities. These are mental objects that arise and fade within you - the Atman (Soul). Entanglement within the mesh of these mental objects is what creates attachment, desire, and suffering. You are the Witness of all mental and physical objects. This realization is central to your development so that you don’t get caught up in your thoughts and emotions and can then create enough distance between them and your true Self (Atman — the awareness or Consciousness within) in order to become more clearly identified with your true Self. Identification with your true Self (self-realization) leads to freedom from suffering. Simply remind yourself that you are ...