There are those who believe that the key to happiness lies in eliminating your personal desires. I, for one, don't believe that is the key to happiness. In fact, I don't believe that is even possible. Why? Because having desires is an inherent and inescapable part of your divine nature.

As an individual expression of that creative energy commonly called God, it is in your very makeup to be a Creator, and to be constantly creating. And that's all that your desires really are—intentions to create something in this world that didn't exist before . . . especially experiences.

It's interesting to note that if you look up the word "desire" in the dictionary, you will see that it came from a combination of the Latin words "de" and "sidus," which translates literally as "from a star."  To me, that supports the idea that desire itself is not of earthly origin, but is a celestial attribute . . . one born from that higher place—that Higher Self—that shining star that is your Spirit. Read the rest of this entry »

In an ambitious attempt to assess how humans are doing as stewards of planet earth, 28 leading scientists have drawn up a list of nine "planetary boundaries" that must not be crossed if we want to avoid drastically changing the global environment and imperiling our own existence. The only problem is, we've already crossed three of those thresholds.

The paper, published in Nature (and available for free), aims to define a "safe operating space" for human life on the planet. It's a first-draft users' manual for an era that scientists dub the "anthropocene," in which nearly seven billion resource-hungry humans have come to dominate ecological change on Earth [Wired.com]. What follows is a list of the nine environmental factors, and how we're doing on living within each limit. Read the rest of this entry »

It's been extremely frustrating for me lately, because I've been struggling with any sort of writing or creative expression due to an increase in kundalini activity and I've felt the need to explain my predicament. It's also embarrassing to mention since so very few people know about it, being an esoteric subject and difficult to explain to just anyone exactly what it is. My awakening is something I've been experiencing now for about five years, and mostly it doesn't negatively impact my life. Occasionally it will rise all the way to my crown chakra and produce amazing visions and experiences (my friend compared my last samadhi-like experience to one of her LSD trips she had in the '60s).

After each rising of the bio-electrical energy through my nervous system I notice perceptual changes that didn't previously exist, such as different colored orbs, auras, sensing people's thoughts and feelings, instant intuition, déjà vu, incredible feelings of love for the people in my life, synchronicities, and detailed 3D visions during meditation. And strangely, I've also noticed a lot more spirits hanging around wanting to get my attention one way or another! But that's another story. Read the rest of this entry »

The last activity I lead in my Divine Flow Retreats is a hike to the top of Mescal Mountain, one of Sedona's lesser-known Red Rock formations.

When I first explored this area of Sedona, I was painfully reminded of one of the principles for living life in the divine flow: Always keep your focus on your current step!

You see, this particular trail is not only loaded with lots of loose rocks, but it also has lots of cacti growing all along the way. If you don't watch where you are stepping, you might slip on the rocks and fall. Or, you might walk right into a prickly cactus—which is exactly what I did. Ouch! Instead of paying attention to where I was walking, I was looking too far ahead, and I suffered the consequence.

The same thing can happen as we pursue our desires in life. Read the rest of this entry »

We're familiar with the typical ways in which modern medicine aggressively detects and treats malignant growths — invasive biopsies, multiple applications of radiation, long-term chemotherapy, and surgery, if the tumor is isolated and in an easily accessible area.

There is one cancer specialist, however, who believes treatment should move in the opposite direction — opting for fewer screenings and less invasive, aggressive treatments — since cancer today, he says, is overdiagnosed and overtreated. Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, professor at Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and a nationally recognized expert on early cancer detection, challenges commonly-held beliefs and explains the latest findings with respect to cancer biology in his book, Should I be Tested for Cancer? Maybe Not and Here's Why. Read the rest of this entry »

From Mt. Everest to the Maldives, people worldwide are turning an arcane number into a movement for a stable climate. Bill McKibben asks: Will you join them?

Let's say you occasionally despair for the future of the planet. In that case, the place you need to be this week is the website for 350.org.

Every few minutes, something new arrives at our headquarters, where young people hunched over laptops do their best to keep up with the pace. News that activists in Afghanistan—Afghanistan—have organized a rally for our big day of action on October 24. They'll assemble on a hillside 20 kilometers from Kabul to write a huge message in the sand: "Let Us Live: 350." Read the rest of this entry »

In these weekly messages I often mention the word "ego," and I write about the various ways that choices made from your ego can severely limit your ability to be "in the flow" and fulfill your heart's desires effortlessly.

Usually, the ego is associated with an inflated sense of self-importance—of pride, arrogance, or grandiosity.  And it is easy to see how decisions based on those aspects of your ego can lead you into troubled waters. Read the rest of this entry »

Here's the good news: Plastic may break down in the ocean in as little as a year, not 500 to 1,000 years as scientists previously thought. Now, the bad news: This degradation could be releasing harmful compounds such as bisphenol A (BPA) into the ocean, according to research presented at the American Chemical Society in August 2009.

Ocean-borne plastic, such as that in the vast Great Pacific Garbage Patch, has traditionally been viewed as an environmental hazard due to the danger it can pose to sea life and birds. But to find out more about how plastic behaves when in the ocean, researchers acquired water samples from Japan, India, Europe, the United States, and other locations. The results? All the water samples were found to contain derivatives of polystyrene, a common plastic used in disposable cutlery, Styrofoam, and DVD cases, among other things [National Geographic News]. Read the rest of this entry »

The world's mythology and literature are haunted by spectral visitors from "the other side," ectoplasmic intruders aiding, warning, guiding, and terrorizing humankind. Every culture, from the aboriginal to the wired, spins tales of vaporous apparitions, of a constant commerce across the permeable boundary dividing souls freed of flesh from those still encased within it. If death silences the lips, whence arises the ceaseless clamor from beyond the veil? Read the rest of this entry »

You have probably noticed that the stories I use to illustrate particular points are almost always events that Carol and I have personally experienced . . . or readers like you have personally experienced.

Once in a while, though, I hear a story on the news that is such a perfect example of the divine flow in action, I feel compelled to share it.  Here is one such story:

There is a taxi driver in Phoenix, Arizona, who was repeatedly called to the pick up the same woman time and time again. That was somewhat unusual, because the taxi dispatching system is fairly random. It is mostly based on what driver happens to be in the immediate area at the time. The fact that this man would be continually dispatched to pick up the same person over and over again, seemed to defy the odds. Read the rest of this entry »