This interview took place on a gray January day in Portland, Oregon.

What is Self-realization?

Shambhavi: The term is pretty literal. It means realizing your Self in the largest sense. Every day we realize our ’small I’ self. We embody ’small I’ all the time with our basic defensiveness toward life. ‘Small I’ stays small by hanging onto fears, habits of separation and conceptual knowing. When we break out of the prison of our defensive “I pod,” we can begin to recognize and embody a more spontaneous, wise and pervasive Self. This larger Self is called Shiva nature or Buddha nature, or whatever. It includes the entire cosmos. (more…)

Sambhavi

An eight-year old Indian girl named Sambhavi is reported to be the reincarnation of Lahiri Mahasay and a past-life student of the Dalai Lama.

From what I can glean, she has visited the Dalai Lama and been received by him. He may be planning to visit her in India in December.

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I am very happy to report that a fourteen year old reader from Florida has asked this question:

Who is Ma?

People asked Anandamayi Ma this question from the time she was a teenager. (more…)

A reader from Pennsylvania writes:

I’ve spent most of my life taking care of others’ needs and wants and desires. I’m a mother, a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a good friend to many. I am fortunate. I’m just lost. People constantly ask me what I am gonna do with my life. My inner response is usually ‘I’m already doing it.’ But that makes me no financial gains. It is hard to survive when your purpose in life is just …TO BE. If you feel like giving me any guidance on this subject, I would appreciate it.

Sounds as if you are doing a lot; you are participating in fundamental aspects of life. But in our culture, work that is not a paid career is not considered to be doing anything much at all. (more…)