In Persia, the mystical poet Hafiz referred to Divine Love as wine. And he would often write about having the tavern keeper (The Divine Beloved) fill his glass (his heart) with this wine.
But a glass (the heart) can’t be filled with wine (divine love) if it is filled with something else (desires). So to get [...]

Steve Pavlina writes: “You can’t be intelligent if you turn your back on truth and succumb to falsehood and denial.” How Much more true that is if you are striving for higher consciousness or even Self Realization.
This process of facing truth and not succumbing to falsehood and denial is a continual challenge. We so much [...]

Einstein once said that nothing happens until something moves. This is true in physics as well as in life. And as physics so well demonstrates, more energy is needed to move a stationary object than is required for one that is already moving. That is part of the law of inertia, which states that “A [...]

The roles of the head and the heart in our lives are significant.  For we live in a world that requires much of the head, but eventually we realize that though we live in the world, we are not of the world. We are of divine origin and we have a divine desination. To find [...]

People who are attuned to higher vibrations can see deeper aspects of reality, aspects that most people cannot. They have what I call inner vision. Some of these people experience nothing but bliss. They see beyond the denseness of the material world, into the finer realms of the subtle.
These types of people are rare, even [...]

The great striving towards higher consciousness is different from other goals we set out to attain. It’s not like wanting to lose weight by going to the gym three or four times a week to burn calories. It’s not like setting aside a certain time each day like you would to pursue a skill [...]

No matter what is being played out on the world stage, it is no excuse for losing hold on the primary reality of inner life. Yes, we have to live in the world, but while living in it, we need to remember what we are – spiritual beings. Every moment, if we allow it, is [...]

We all have within our being a sacred place where love is meant to flourish. It’s an inner garden.
For some, because there is such a lack of love, the ground is dry and hard as rock. Love has no chance to even take root. It’s like a seed thrown on a rock.
For others, there is [...]

Have you ever been happy for no reason at all? You don’t know why. But you are happy. That is causeless happiness.

Disillusionment is the key to overcoming the most difficult addiction to overcome: the addiction to illusion. People don’t even realize the addiction exists. They don’t even know that what they take for reality is, in fact, illusion. And even when they do realize that what they take for reality, is in fact illusion, they don’t [...]

Anyone who has an experience of the Divine Presence, for however brief a moment it might be, longs to return to that experience. For in those sacred moments, we discover deep within that nothing else matters. Not politics, not the stock market, not the baseball standings. Not even illness or impending death. The world of [...]

There is a Divine Presence. It can be most intensely felt in the realm of existence beyond the level of the gross senses — the inner world. This is the realm of subtle energy, inspiration, and illumination. This inner world is the gateway to the final goal, the only Real Existence — the Infinite Knowledge, [...]

In my college days, I was in a band that played at small nightclubs. We had a trumpet player, who sometimes would start out on a solo sounding awful. He’d stop and turn to me, and ask, “Hey Man, what key are we in?” I’d tell him and then everything would be beautiful.
In life, some [...]

I read the news today and saw a picture being painted of a world teetering on the brink of disaster. A never-ending war, a possible new war, global warming, a possible world-wide financial collapse, rising oil prices, and plummeting food supplies.
It has all the ingredients of a perfect storm which could reduce the world [...]

Presence alone can dissolve patterns of unconsciousness. Eckhart Tolle, in the 10 week web seminar being hosted by Oprah Winfrey, puts total emphasis on experiencing Presence. He says you can call it what you want – consciousness, awareness, God – but that it permeates the universe. And that it alone can dissolve the patterns of [...]

Note by Greg Butler: This is Part 3, the final installment of Plant Medicine and Patience, by Carrie Wenninger. In this post, she shares an intimate look into her experience of the mystical realms of consciousness by way of a shaman and the plant medicine known as ayahuasca. Since the publication of the best-selling book, [...]

Note by Greg Butler: This is Part 2 of Plant Medicine and Patience, by Carrie Wenninger. In this series of posts, she shares her experience into the mystical realms of consciousness by way of a shaman and the plant medicine known as ayahuasca. Since the publication of the best-selling book, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, [...]

Note by Greg Butler: The following posts on Plant Medicine and Patience was excerpted from a series of e-mails I received from a friend and reader of this blog, Carrie Wenninger. The e-mails were part of an ongoing conversation on this subject. Therefore, the tone of the piece is very personal, friendly, and free-flowing. She [...]

Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth — Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, is the focus of more than two million people world-wide. These masses of people are participating live in a free on-line course with Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle. Although the book was first published in 2005, it is now the #1 selling [...]

Patterns of consciousness define us. Consciously and unconsciously, we are forming patterns in behavior and thinking every moment of our lives. Some of these patterns contribute to internal freedom and creativity of spirit. Some contribute to states of internal bondage and suffering.
By the use of inner awareness, we can become conscious of what patterns are [...]

It is the ability to perceive wholeness that brings peace to the weary mind. With wholeness comes beauty, harmony, balance, knowledge and love. Without it, they are hidden.
Our view of the world directly influences how the world responds to us just as how you view a person directly influences how that person responds to you. [...]

There has been much written on the subject of transformation from both the practical and the philosophical perspective: lose weight, look sexy, make money, be more productive, find peace, increase personal magnetism, etc. And while each of these is a goal worthy of achieving, none of them represents the ultimate transformation. Rather, at best, they [...]

My friend and fellow blogger, Jenny Mannion (healpain.blogspot.com) tagged me for the Reveal Your Dream Challenge. One of the rules stated to aim high. You will see that I have.
Since this post is in response to the Reveal Your Dream Challenge, I find it interesting that it was a literal dream that became my challenge [...]

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this [...]

I was struck by the following words of Epictitus the other night at a local bookstore so I jotted them down:
“You are a primary existence. You are a distinct portion of the essence of God, and contain a certain part of Him in yourself. Why then are you ignorant of your noble birth? You carry [...]