Aligning with Grace

Yesterday, I quoted a wonderful article, "Blessing Heart" by Sally Kempton , the well known and loved meditation teacher. Giving blessings is a powerful form of spiritual practice that Sally writes about - and it can lead to deep transformation and healing on many levels - for the one sending the blessings, and the one receiving them as well. In Sally's words: "When we offer blessings, we align ourselves with the force of grace that runs through the universe. We become channels for the higher power. And according to some of the mystical traditions, this is the hidden purpose of human life. The Vedic sages, whose culture is the basis of the Hindu tradition, believed that one special function of human beings is to create conscious bridges between earth and cosmos. They did this through invocations and offerings, and bracketed their practices and ceremonies with mantras we chant to this day - Lokaha samastah sukhino bhavantu - May all beings be happy... Grace is everyw...

In the last few days I seem to have been caught in the vortex of a maelstrom of words, flying around the very globe with incredible intensity, passion, and power... Some of them truthful, some of them not... Some of them hurtful, some of them uplifting... Some of these words have brought tears to my eyes, because they were so touching, or because they engendered such sadness... How can such a community of yoga practitioners be so grateful, and gracious, and vindictive, and unloving as well? And yet, how could we not? We are all part of the same human family with all its foibles and limitations...Still, we loosely assent to and try to embody, an ancient code of ethics, The Yamas and Niyamas , with so many souls already radiantly striving towards greater luminosity... I have read the words of colleagues and friends who have spoken of a shared teacher whose instruction and genuine care has been nothing short of transformational in their lives. I know what they speak of - because they hav...