Spirit
These are some of my favorite resources for shaping and guiding the mind.
- All
- Teachings
- Books
- Meditation
Eckhart Tolle | Living a Life of Inner Peace
Listening to this talk by Eckhart Tolle was a transcendent experience for me. Eckhart Tolle is a teacher that has influenced my life more than any other teacher. His teachings created such a profound shift in my consciousness, and took me into a place of peace and joy I did not even know was possible. This talk is one of his most powerful, and if you truly listen to this with your entire being, it will be the only spiritual teaching you ever need for the rest of eternity. It has the power to bring you home, to bring you to the here and now, and to be free of the illusions of this world.
Michael Singer | Weekly Talks
Michael Singer, author of Untethered Soul, founded the Temple of The Universe in the 70’s. His own personal spiritual journey began when he realized he wasn’t enjoying “the voice in his head.” The voice he was referring to was the constant thinking of the mind we all experience. In his quest to be free from thinking, he developed a deep meditation practice. During one intense practice that stretched many hours, he was tempted to get up. At that point, he heard a voice from deep within ask “do you, or do you not, want to know what you are?” He maintained in meditation, and experienced what can be best described as samadhi (liberation). That was the beginning of his epic journey on the spiritual path of surrender. His teachings are clear, honest, and rich with a truth you can feel in your soul.
Byron Katie | The Work, Weekly Calls
Byron Katie is the founder of a concept called “The Work”. The work is a series of simple questions that can apply to any challenge occurring in life. She offers free weekly zoom calls to walk through the process on whatever issue the audience may be facing.
The questions are always the same: 1. Is that true? 2. Can youabsolutley know that’s true? 3. How do I feel or react when I believe that? 4 Who would I be without this thought?
These questions, when asked and answered deeply, are keys to liberation. We tend to believe every thought that crosses our minds, without questioning them. The Work helps us to get breathing room from the illusions that come with unchecked thoughts.
Check out The Work Here
Caroline Mess | The Power of Prayer
Carloline Miss is a no nonsense teacher, with a curt delivery. I love it. She’s like the grumpy aunt that always knows exactly what you need to hear, and how you need to hear it. In this fabulous audio teaching, Caroline discusses the power of prayer, and how to use sacred language.
Listen to The Power of Prayer Here
I spent most of my early life cringing at sacred language due to its ties to bigotry (I went to both of my proms with my gay best friend). However, after listening to Caroline discuss sacred language in this teaching, I opened up to using sacred language for prayer, and it has deepened my spiritual practice. If you’re at all interested in the power of prayer, and how to fold prayer into your life, this teaching is for you.
Michael Beckwidth | Weekly Sermons
Michael Beckwith is technically a Christian minister, but I consider him a multi-faith preacher. His teachings include wisdom from buddhism, Hinduism, and more. His overall message is one of love, delivered in a fun and inspiring way. His weekly teachings are inspirational and so very uplifting.
Tara Brach | Sangha Sessions
Tara Brach is a meditation teacher, offering regular sangha chats. She’s also the author of Radical Acceptance, a phenomenal book on living in peace. Her teachings are based in buddhist principles, but delivered in a casual, insightful way. I appreciate Tara’s ability to link sacred teachings with everyday living of the western person.
S.N. Goenka | Intro to Meditation
The Dhamma Siri centers for meditation offer free, extended meditation retreats. They’re usually booked up so quickly, that’s it’s more practical to do a retreat on your own at home. On the resources page of the Dhamma website, they compiled videos of the found, S.N. Goenka. He covers the basics of vipassana meditation in these videos, and offers enough guidance for the beginner to start a practice immediately.
The Journey of Awakening
Journey of Awakening | A Meditator’s Guidebook by Ram Dass is technically a book about meditation. In truth, it’s about the ineffable Self. Ram Dass guided his students through the mystery of life, while fully admitting that he himself was mystified by it. He never claimed to have “The Answers”, as he knew that nobody can give you the sort of answers we all look for outside of ourselves. The true answers can only be found within. And even those “answers” only suffice to a point, until you finally reach the ultimate truth; there is nothing to know, there is nothing to find, there is nothing to fix.
Ram Dass never departed from his down-to-earth humanness, and openly shared his struggles with things like aging, sexuality, and loneliness. All the while, holding a presence and loving space that can be felt with any piece of his work. Journey of Awakening is a gift from Ram Dass that carries treasures you can use everyday, for the rest of your life.
The Mantram Handbook
Ecknath Easwaran is a marvelous, dynamic teacher of spiritual principles. In this beautiful little book, he covers how to use mantra in meditation. There are thousands of ways to meditate, and mantra meditation is one that is known to be effective for the busy western mind. Transcendental Meditation (also known as TM), is mantra meditation. But unlike TM, this book doesn’t charge you thousands of dollars to learn the sacred practice of mantra meditation. Ecknath does a fantastic job of simplifying mantra meditation in this book. If you have a “busy mind” and are intimidated by the thought of meditation, this book is a tool that will gently guide you to the simple practice of mantra.
The Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita is one of my favorite sacred scriptures. It is a story taken out of the hindu text of The Mahābhārata. The Bhagavad Gita has 18 chapters, and each one is clear, concise, and cuts through the noise of the mind like a sharp sword. Each chapter covers an aspect of work, spirituality, and all things pertinent to living a fulfilled life.
Chapter 4, Wisdom in Action, had such a profound impact on my life. There was my life before reading the Bhagavad Gita, and my life after. The Gita is my constant companion, and speaks directly to my heart. It clears my mind in times of confusion. It gives me strength in times of turmoil. I cannot recommend it enough.
(I recommend the Easwaran translation)
The Power of Now
The Power of Now should be required reading for all students, as far as I’m concerned. If it was, there would be far less suffering in the world. Growing up, we are never told “now is all there is”. In fact, we’re told the opposite! We’re told to focus on our futures, or we’re brought into dwelling on the past.
In The Power of Now, Eckhart gives the sweetest gift one could be given; the gift of awakening to the present moment. The magic that the present moment holds is enough to dissolve mind-made suffering that’s all too common in our culture. The contents of The Power of Now are simple to understand. But make no mistake, your ego will argue with the sound logic of this book, tooth and nail. So it’s simple, but not necessarily easy.
Yet, when one is good and ready to be done with suffering, the now is always here to greet you. The Power of Now will give you the tools necessary to meet the eternally benevolent present.
A Course in Miracles
A Course In Miracles is a channeled text, written through an atheistic psychologist names Helen Schucman. After a series of unusual events, Helen began to hear an audible voice that requested she take dictation. She began doing so, and the results were startling to her. She consulted with a psychiatric colleague about the voice, and showed him the writings. He read them, and was amazed by the beauty the words contained. He began assisting her with transcription, and the process lasted seven years until eventually, the words “and so we say Amen” were written, to finalize the channeling process.
It’s clear from reading ACIM that the voice of the text is either Jesus Christ, or a being of Christ consciousness. The language used in ACIM is Christian, which took me years to get past. I actually owned this book for TWELVE YEARS before studying it in earnest. I simply couldn’t get rid of it, yet couldn’t get past the Christian language. Once I let go of my preconceptions, and looked beyond my ego’s veil, the contents of The Course transformed me at my core.
The Course in Miracles Chooses you, and when the time is right, you’ll be called to study and practice its contents. Be ready for massive changes when you do.
(I recommend the Foundations for Inner Peace Edition, hard cover)
iRest Institute | Vimeo Channel
The iRest Institute is centered on my favorite form of meditation, Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is a deeply nourishing, healing, and liberating form of meditation. It entails getting into a comfortable position, and being guided into sensing different areas of your body. Yoga Nidra has the power to bring peace & joy into your life, as well as freeing you from false perceptions.
iRest Institute is where I received my meditation teacher training, so I’m partial. Regardless, the iRest Vimeo channel is my personal go-to for restorative meditation. I especially love Kathleen Knipp and James Reeves, though all of the content on their Vimeo is top notch.
If you can, catch some of the talks given by Richard Miller. He’s the founder of iRest, and a true sage. His talks are akin to being in a warm, soothing bath of love.
Mingyur Rinpoche | Guided Meditation
Mingyur Rinpoche is one of the greatest meditation teachers alive today. His guided meditations create a gentle, clear, and simple roadmap for meditators of all levels. I love this guided meditation, and highly recommend it for anyone wanting to start meditating right away.
Suzanne Geisemann | Making the Connection
Suzanne Giesemann is a former atheist navy seal commander turned psychic medium. Through an incredible series of events, Suzanne’s world turned upside down, and she discovered her calling as a psychic medium. She now teaches the world how to connect with the spiritual aspects of life. Meditation is a big part of her teachings, and she offers guided meditations on her website and YouTube channel.
I took a workshop with Suzanne in Sedona, and noticed a massive shift in the quality of my meditation practice when I used her techniques. If I’m ever in need of guidance from my spirit guides, I employ Suzannes meditation techniques.