I love this Zen story. A famous Japanese swordsman disowned his son Matajuro because he considered him too mediocre and undisciplined to ever reach the level of proficiency required to inherit his school. Bent on redeeming himself, the young man headed to Mount Futara to find renowned master Banzo, in the hopes to study with him. When he arrived and…
Tag: emotional freedom
Master the Art of Listening For Emotional & Spiritual Freedom
How much time do you spend in solitude and silence? In this time and age, it’s easy to guess not much. We are attached to our cell phones, we constantly interact with people in person and on social media, and we get bombarded with all kinds of stimuli and news as we go about our daily routines. I live in…
The Liberating Practice of Moving Into Stillness
If I asked you to count how many thoughts you think within a minute, would you include the thoughts produced by counting or would you consider those part of your task? The answer may not be obvious, because there are different mental layers at play in any cognitive process. This is what allows you to tackle three different things at…
The Urgent Need For Spiritual Responsibility
I grew up in a dysfunctional family, like most people, experiencing the same emotional neglect my parents had likely endured growing up, and their parents before them—the lack of awareness and love passed on from one generation to the next. Although I was the youngest of my siblings, my natural disposition to lead and be of service placed me from…
Why You Should Nurture Feminine (Inner) Leadership
The external world, by its own nature, promotes and upholds the masculine aspects of life. That is, what appears as manifest, active, and objective. In this context, the idea of leadership entails the duality of otherness—of me leading others or others leading me. But if you understand that life is a play of Divine Consciousness exploring and expanding itself through…
From Stagnation To Inner Transformation
One of the things I love about living in the mountains of Western North Carolina is that as soon as the weather warms up, nature explodes everywhere, turning things colorful and expansive, and awakening the drive to get out, to release the stagnation of the winter months. As I work in my backyard, tending to the flowers and removing dry…
