A reader from Illinois recently asked this question:

I am suspicious of people who say, for example, they talk to animals, see orbs, have past lives, etc. I tend to lean toward the approach of just being with what is without making up a story about it. Although my heart sometimes cries out for deeper meaning in things, I often find out that, for example, the bird that comes into the room is just a bird that has lost its way. It does not have some deeper meaning of impending death or whatever.  I have a friend whose feelings I think I hurt because I said she was superstitious. She says her dog talks to her and sometimes seems to read peoples’ minds. I’m afraid I’ve lost a friend because of my big mouth. Also, with regard to deities, are they just symbols of powerful forces in the universe, and within us, or are they really personalities?

How could you long for deeper meaning if there is none? If you had no knowledge of chocolate, could you long for it?

Each of us, without exception, has some memory, even if it is only an intermittent glimmer, of our real nature — the real nature of the world. This is the focus of our naturally arising longing. (more…)

Two Jaya Kula readers asked similar questions recently. Both are about doubt. One reader wondered why she gets so angry when a person acts blissed-out, or spiritually above it all. (more…)

Most of us are ambivalent most of the time. We tie our vital energy up in knots with our compulsive worrying, thinking, deciding, and analyzing. Please note: these activities are the same activity. They are all based on fear of the big zero, the void. (more…)