I saw a funny bumper sticker: “Don’t call it karma if it happens because of your own stupidity.” How often have I heard that dodge to poor decision making? The law of karma is real, but it’s no excuse to indulge in complacency by ignoring the role our thoughts, words, and actions play in shaping…
Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Before my first samadhi experience, I had implicit faith in the wisdom of Dylan Thomas. He said we should rage against the dying of the light. As a sixteen-year-old boy with no experience in death and a great desire to be heroic, he won me over. Then a few months later, by focusing on my breath and…
Haynes, Grant Us Faith
Projecting Our Projections
John Sees My Aura
A couple of years ago some friends invited me to an evening gathering. Knowing my interest in meditation and yoga, they told me they were also inviting some other people who practiced yoga, reiki, shiatsu, and things broadly associated with Eastern traditions. The evening of the gathering, as we sat in the living room, the…
Encounters at the Mall
I visit shopping malls with the same pleasure as I visit the dentist. I see shopping, on the whole, as a distraction from meaningful activity. And consumerism dismays me. Still, there are occasions when I need to visit my local mall, and remarkably, these visits have sometimes produced interesting experiences. Two in particular spring to…
Joan of the Sixth Sense
An entire universe exists beyond our physical senses. Through a few decades of esoteric practice, I’ve occasionally glimpsed bits of it in sporadic instances of extrasensory perception. After more than forty years of yogic meditation, plus spurious encounters with various mystics, spiritualists, and psychics of all races and religions, I’ve had premonitory dreams, had my…