Stay in touch with special friends even though long distances may separate you. True kindred spirits can remind you what is really important in life and help you maintain a healthy and objective perspective amidst the ever changing highs and lows in this world of forms. Read ‘Talking with Don’ and listen to Household Music  by Ralph Vaughn Williams.

The moments between waking and sleeping have a deeply meditative quality when time is briefly suspended. When you are completely awake, stay in bed for a while with your eyes closed and listen objectively to the sounds of nature and the busy world you are about to enter. Fill yourself with radiant light before you rise and enter the world of forms. Read ‘Brisbane Dawn’ and listen to Full Moon   by Steve Evans.

We are often lost in the drama of our own thoughts either longing for or mourning the past or eagerly anticipating or dreading a future that hasn’t happened. Trapped in our mind’s endless thinking, we spend more ‘time’ in the past and future than we do in the precious present. Yet around us are many less neurotic creatures that live naturally and effortlessly in the present moment, manifesting the divine by their very being and presence. Read ‘Milo and Jeoffry’ and listen to East of the River   by Steve Evans and Gregg Soltesz.

We can become so focused on what we think we need that we rarely think about what others don’t have. Immersed in self-absorption we can forget our connection with many people on the planet and unconsciously proclaim that we are not our brother’s keeper. But if not us, then who? Isn’t everyone someone’s daughter or son, mother or father, brother or sister? Read ‘Homeless in Paradise’ and listen to The Protecting Veil Mvt(edited)  by John Tavener.

Traveling can provide the liberating experience of being in a place and not of it, making it easier to become the detached observer of what we see and hear, as well as what we think and feel. But we must also learn to be the objective observer of our thoughts, feelings, and reactions in the midst of our regular, busy lives. Travelers visit a place for a while and then must return home; we live for a while but must also return to the source. Read ‘Hsinchu, Taiwan’ and listen to Anasazi Dreams  by Ron McKean.

We spend a lot of time in our cars driving and commuting. We can become frustrated with the time we spend in our cars or we can choose to use the time behind the wheel for meditation, singing, chanting, praying, and spiritual awakening. It is an opportunity to be the silent observer of our thoughts and feelings. Read ‘My Car Is’ and listen to Square Knot  by Steve Evans.

Despite the howling of the chilly wind through my open windows, the intensity of the other drivers, and the roar of determined engines, a feeling of absolute peace and serenity pervades my car. Read ‘Eventide’ and listen to Iced Sunset  by Ron McKean.

Life will always provide situations that push us to the brink and challenge us to the very core of our beings. Sometimes there is no easy solution to a given situation and we must accept the circumstances as they are. However, we always have a choice: we can let situations tear us down or we can use circumstances as a spiritual practice to develop our objectivity and perspective, and strengthen our connection with the divine that dwells within us and within all things. Read ‘Robinson’s Choice’ and listen to The Lark Ascending  by Ralph Vaughn Williams.

The fury of sub-tropical storms are much like the tumultuous storms our minds can produce with their incessant and sometimes violent flow of negative thoughts. By observing both the outer and inner storms we can increase our sense of detachment and truly be present. Read ‘Storm Watcher’ and listen to Sinfonia No. 3 "Expansiva" Mvt. 1  by Carl Nielsen.

Too often we forget the calming silence and serenity of being present without thought. Our incessant mental preoccupations with the past and future prevent us from living fully in the present moment. When we identify with our mind’s racing thoughts, we see the world as hostile and threatening. Are you an angry road warrior? Read ‘Road Warrior’ and listen to Road Warrior  by Karl Bolkovac.

Each trooper is on the move, never dallying, never lingering, never questioning, never resting, never without duty or purpose. Always on to the next engagement, always on to the next goal, just a creature of habit! Are you an ant warrior? Read ‘Ant Warriors’ and listen to Attack   by Steve Evans.

Looking out of a plane window high in the sky can provide not only a panoramic view of what is below, but also an immediate sense of detachment. The thrill of separateness can also include what is going inside the plane. Be the observer of what is below, what is happening inside the plane, as well as the thoughts within. Read ‘First Flight’ and listen to Ribbon Falls  by Ron McKean.

Autumn can be particularly inspiring with its amazing bursts of intense beauty and color, while poignantly reminding us that everything in this world is ephemeral. Read ‘Autumn Thoughts’ and listen to Intermezzo Opus 118 No. 2  by Johannes Brahms. See and hear the narrated multi-media slideshow.

The great works of art and music come from a place of deep spirituality and can inspire us to enter our inner realm and be in the presence of the divine. Read ‘Inner Joy and Calm’ and listen to excerpts from Vespers  by Sergei Rachmaninoff.

She always worked the toll booth in the evenings when the sun was well on its way down and the chilling winds from over the bay began to blow. Read ‘Cold winds on Dumbarton Bridge’ and listen to I heard it through the grapevine  sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips.

We come into the world with distinctive physical, mental and spiritual characteristics, and varying natural abilities. Irrespective of what our personal beliefs are about how we came to be who we are so far in this life, we arrived into this world like unshaped clay with distinct qualities, nascent with potential to be developed and sculpted into something better. Read ‘Working with our Clay’ and listen to An American Quilt   by Thomas Newman.

I feel your calming presence and am aware of the beauty, poignancy, and ephemeral nature of this moment and all of the moments of my life. I close my eyes and am filled with your healing and energizing light emanating from within. Peace, joy, and thankfulness. Read ‘In Transitis’ and listen to an excerpt from the Symphony No. 9 Mvt. 4 Adagio   by Gustav Mahler.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor Frankl. Read ‘The Beast or The Angel’ and listen to Sempervirens  by Ron McKean.

If we are bothered by things that happened in the past, we must realize that they are irrevocable. There is nothing we can do to change anything from the past, so leave past experiences in the past! Read ‘Distracted’ and listen to Crisis   by Steve Evans and Ages by Ron McKean.