Listen For The Sound

If you listen, you can connect with this voice which is underneath all the things that normally fill our senses. It is happening on a different wavelength, a different plane, but you can tune in to it if you have some patience. All the things right in front of us and all the things people are saying tend to distract us from it and sometimes we forget it is there, but our minds and souls are meant to be in a state of resonance with it. Call it the real reality, call it process, call it “what ...  Keep reading

Growing Down

We often think that as we grow spiritually, we will leave people behind. We tend to struggle with how to approach or talk to people we see as “beneath us” because we are just so “spiritually mature.” We act like we have entered some other realm they cannot even come near.

Then I look at Jesus, who embodied perfect consciousness, all wisdom, maturity and strength and I see how he treated people who might have been seen as “beneath him.” Beggars, cripples, the ...  Keep reading

Your Emotional World

We should pay attention to our emotions. It is our emotions that are the barometer for where our hearts are and where we are going. These subtle inner shifts in our feeling system are what the Spirit uses to shape us and teach us. It is problematic that we are always trying to dull important emotions and in that way, render the work of the Spirit ineffective. Our pathology springs from our attempts to always dumb down, lock up and forget about the myriad emotions that have been given to us to ...  Keep reading

Ol’ Brennan on Contemplative Prayer

“And do not evaluate, measure, or judge your periods of contemplative prayer. In our achievement-oriented society, we’ll probably begin to pray with a superficial concern for results in a futile attempt to discern if our investment of time and energy was worth it. Did it produce any luminous insight or any extraordinary experience? That kind of spiritual materialism will disappear, the ego will be purified, and self-consciousness will fade through the practice of daily prayer.

“Just ...  Keep reading

Legacy

I’ve been thinking a little about “legacy” lately, since I am in my 30s and all. And my mom just turned 60 and we are having another little child who is a girl. She is a wonderful gift, but one of the things about having all girls is that your “name” doesn’t get carried on through your own family. I mean there are other little Ybarras which grow up to be big Ybarras and the name will live on, but not from my immediate family.

That is okay. The whole idea of legacy ...  Keep reading

Back to the Beginning – The Presence

The Presence is available to you all the time – to come in and quiet your fears. The problem is we are convinced that we have to do something special – be somewhere special, say something special, “do the right thing” – in order to get it. The thing about the Gift is that it is just that – a Gift. This is also the beauty of the Gospel: as soon as you want it, you can have it. It might take some practicing of the Presence, but what is more important and life-giving ...  Keep reading

Attachment

What is called human attachment is really a profound idea. It’s the idea that from day one, we are all seeking connection with others, specifically “higher minds” in order to organize ourselves, feel sure of ourselves and secure.

If you think about it, nearly everything could be seen as attachment behavior. Everything is an attempt to secure our place, know we are safe, feel valued. I just remember thinking as a kid: “If someone could just notice me enough, then I would ...  Keep reading