Karmic law is in force in every moment of our lives. Karma cannot be sidestepped but it can be transcended through earnest, unwavering spiritual practice. Devotees who have achieved self-realization may have many or all of their karmic debts mitigated or forgiven.
Seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the divine fires of wisdom. Paramahansa Yogananda
God-illumined souls break free from the revolving wheel of reincarnation and melt in loving union with divine consciousness. Whether it takes ten (more…)
Karmic consequences are certain but unpredictable. The same cause may affect two people’s karmas very differently based on their previous karma, their sacred contracts, and an infinite number of other variables that all coalesce into effects that serve the highest good of each individual.
Thus every act or thought has consequences, which themselves will have consequences; life is the most intricate web of interconnections. This is the law of karma . . . (which) states simply that every event is both a cause and an effect. Every act has consequences of a similar kind, which in turn have further consequences and so on; and every act, every karma, is also the consequence of some previous karma. Eknath Easwaran
Reincarnation explains why God’s plan for you (more…)
Call it karma, or reaping what you sow, or what goes around comes around. Every action generates a reaction in the unified field, which extends beyond the reaches of space and time.
With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see. Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Just like Garth Brooks, sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers:
Like today, when I was writing a profile of a local college professor for the school’s magazine. I saw a connection between a couple of unrelated comments so I tied them together with a little word play:
While he strives to make his students comfortable in class, he’s also determined to make them uncomfortable with being too comfortable. “My greatest challenge as a teacher is to get students out of their comfort zones,” he says. “Many people would rather hide and be anonymous in class. That isn’t a good way to learn.”
Any writer will tell you this: Finding just the right words to say just the right thing is the very definition of satisfaction. I can’t think of anything I could do or say that would (more…)
Reincarnation is consistent with the concept of a benevolent universe in that you are given unlimited opportunities to learn what you need to learn, atone for your errors, and complete your life’s work.
My life often seemed to me like a story that has no beginning and no end. I had the feeling that I was an historical fragment, an excerpt for which the preceding and succeeding text was missing. I could well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not yet able to answer; that I had been born again because I had not fulfilled the task given to me. Carl Jung
Just as your childhood memories are stored within you, so are (more…)
One person’s minor loss can lead to someone else finding something of great importance. This story, written by April Grube of Riverside, California, appeared in the August 2010 issue of Guideposts.
CHANCE ENCOUNTER A young woman on the verge of choosing a college has a life-changing experience that shows evidence of God’s love.
I settled into my seat on the red-eye from L.A. to D.C.—a trip east to tour some college campuses before I had to make the big decision.
The seat next to mine was empty and I couldn’t wait to get some sleep. Then I spotted a big guy maneuvering down the aisle, bumping passengers and apologizing profusely, and I knew—lucky me—I had a seatmate.
Sure enough, he sat next to me and started talking. “Never did like flying, always too hot or cold. And these seats are too small, don’t ya think? But I can’t complain. Lord knows, I’m a blessed man…”
I had to mail a 950-page document the other day and I did so in five minutes while sitting at my laptop. I shared this info with five people in the last couple of days and they all were thrilled that I did; they had no idea this was possible and couldn’t wait to try it themselves. Given their enthusiastic reaction, I knew there were plenty of other people who would appreciate this info.
Never again will you have to mess around with printing a document, packaging it up, and making a trip to the post office or overnight mailer.
“Well, how can you argue with The New York Times?” [Schreiber] says with a sly grin. “Look, I have a different perspective, but I’m glad they have theirs. Really glad. But if you’re going to accept that, you also have to be prepared to accept when someone calls you ‘the somnambulistic Mr. Schreiber with a head the size of a watermelon,’ which someone actually wrote once. I had to (more…)
My buddy Jim MacLaren made my day by lobbing me a phone call this morning just to say hi. He sounded better than he had in quite a while, which was terrific, since he’s been battling health issues for the last few years. I had interviewed Jim for my book, Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything, and we had become friends. If you’re unfamiliar with Jim, here’s his bio from my book:
MacLaren, a motivational speaker and author, has triumphed over two horrific accidents that would have destroyed a lesser man. At twenty-two, he was a Yale All-American athlete and aspiring actor when his motorcycle was broadsided by a New York City bus. Dead on arrival, he woke up after an eight-day coma to find his left leg amputated below the knee. Inspired by a book about triathlons, he became the fastest one-legged endurance athlete on the planet, routinely finishing ahead of most able-bodied athletes. Eight years later, a van plowed into him during a race, rendering him a quadriplegic.
On the spur of the moment, I asked Jim if he’d like to give people an update on how he’s doing and he was all for it. Click on the audio player below to hear Jim’s (more…)
As Paramahansa Yogananda wrote, when you can “stand unshaken midst the crash of breaking worlds,” then nothing can touch you where you live, and nothing of value can be taken from you.
Live in the midst of the battle of life. Anyone can keep calm in a cave or when asleep. Stand in the whirl and madness of action and reach (more…)
Last night, I was packing for a weeklong trip to see my mom who lives an hour away. I had promised her that I’d bring a written car repair estimate from a garage I frequent so she could ask her preferred mechanic about it. I had three sheets of estimates for three different repairs, so I took the one I wanted and placed the other two estimates back in my file.
When I got to my mom’s, I opened my planner to retrieve the estimate. Oh-oh. There were the (more…)
You know you have made a quantum leap in consciousness when you look back at the life you had so recently led, and feel like you are watching somebody else’s life.
Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough, is true security to be found. Anne Morrow Lindbergh
As self-awareness grows, your mind and heart are purified. As your heart opens and your mind clears, you (more…)
It was a treat to interview Pushcart Prize-winning author Harrison Solow. She is the author of Felicity and Barbara Pym, which is about to be launched in London, and then in the entire U.K. in late July. Her eclectic life includes stints as a Franciscan nun and the editor of a Jewish Hassidic Magazine. She’s written for everyone from celebrities and astronauts to Canadian prime ministers and NASA. Harrison has also lived a Hollywood life with her husband Herbert Solow, the former head of MGM, Paramount and Desilu Studios. A lover of all things Welsh, Harrison accepted a lectureship in the English Department of the University of Wales in 2004 and was appointed Writer in Residence in 2008. She was also invited to lecture at Harvard and Cambridge.
Click on the audio player below to listen to our (more…)
When you journey within, you transform your life. You are more comfortable in your own skin and more confident in your ability to add value to your work, your relationships, and the world at large.
Character—the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life—is the source from which self-respect springs. Joan Didion
You do not hesitate to reinvent yourself when presented with exciting new possibilities.
There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity. Douglas MacArthur
You interpret the adage “Let go and let God” as “Let (more…)
Karmic law is in force in every moment of our lives. Karma cannot be sidestepped but it can be transcended through earnest, unwavering spiritual practice. Devotees who have achieved self-realization may have many or all of their karmic debts mitigated or forgiven.
Karmic consequences are certain but unpredictable. The same cause may affect two people’s karmas very differently based on their previous karma, their sacred contracts, and an infinite number of other variables that all coalesce into effects that serve the highest good of each individual.
Call it karma, or reaping what you sow, or what goes around comes around. Every action generates a reaction in the unified field, which extends beyond the reaches of space and time.
I settled into my seat on the red-eye from L.A. to D.C.—a trip east to tour some college campuses before I had to make the big decision.
I had to mail a 950-page document the other day and I did so in five minutes while sitting at my laptop. I shared this info with five people in the last couple of days and they all were thrilled that I did; they had no idea this was possible and couldn’t wait to try it themselves. Given their enthusiastic reaction, I knew there were plenty of other people who would appreciate this info.
When you are firmly anchored in God, you know that whatever you must face, you will not be facing it alone.
The greater your self-awareness and self-knowledge, the greater your empathy for others.
Last night, I was packing for a weeklong trip to see my mom who lives an hour away. I had promised her that I’d bring a written car repair estimate from a garage I frequent so she could ask her preferred mechanic about it. I had three sheets of estimates for three different repairs, so I took the one I wanted and placed the other two estimates back in my file.
Triumph of the Spirit 