Engaged Spirituality

Four times this week I had "anxiety flare-ups" and every time was because of ego. I define an anxiety flare-up as anytime I have the feeling of being scared for no reason. It usually lasts only moments but during these times the feeling is felt deeply and completely. At these times, thinking "Wow look I don't feel good right now. Hey, Stuff-Happens", actually keeps me from making things worse (projecting into the future that I will always feel this way and getting worried and depressed by... Read Full Story

David Icke and Bill Maher get into a little debate. Bill thought that David Icke would be another easy target to make a fool of, but it turned out ... Read Full Story

I do believe that the principal of "the opposite of fear is faith" is correct. Here is basically how it works: There is a "Higher Power" that will always take care of you. You have "faith" in #1 When anything happens, you just say "it's ok that I lost all my money, if all that matters is serving my Higher Power I can just devote the rest of my life to helping the poor if needed." On your deathbed you have no fear because you will finally reside with your Higher Power... Read Full Story

As I share this concept of 100% acceptance with others, the question comes up "what do you mean by acceptance? If I get fired from my job that is a bad thing. Trust me I wont like it". If you look up the definition of acceptance , you will find a number of them, so for the sake of brevity (I can see myself reading this years from now and I will be thankful that I quickly got to the point), I will define it as "lack of anger at the situation". The definition of anger is usually defined as... Read Full Story

These are the ultimate philosophy questions we all ask ourselves about religion and spirituality. Vote, get inspired and share. Part lensography, part hey monkeybrain lens - I hope you all enjoy. Read Full Story

Here's an amazing website and video 'The Story of Stuff''   by Annie Leonard, who spent 10 years researching the issues of the production/consumption patterns of western culture.  It's well-worth  20 minutes to watch the video.  While doing so you can also look at th workbook and other features on this well-designed, interactive site.  'Good stuff' so to speak!  From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of... Read Full Story

Carnival on Engaged Spirituality! Bill Wilson's pilgrimage to India and Nepal When I thought about hosting the first Engaged Spirituality Carnival, the first thing that went through my head was, “Carnival, eh?” I wonder what the root meaning of the word is?” The root is Latin, of course, and the Italian word that the English word flows from is carnevale , meaning the removal of meat from the bones. How fitting…even though we’re past the ‘carnival’…and deeply into the Lenten season, we are... Read Full Story

Review by Eric D. Lehman , Professor of English at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. Review is linked to Umbrella: a journal of poetry and kindred prose Note: While this book was published in 2003, it is a classic that VTH readers will want...( read more ) Read Full Story

I was sent this YouTube video by a friend yesterday that shows an elephant painting a portrait.  In the same series of YouTube videos are other elephants painting a variety of plants and some abstract art.  Being a bit of a sceptic, I looked the phenomena up on Snopes.com ...and this is what I found: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/elephantpainting.asp Indeed, it's a real thing.   Check it out. Pretty amazing. This image of elephants engaged in art is even more provocative when we read... Read Full Story

These are some of the teachers - past and present - who will keep reminding us that there IS more to life. There is more to US... Spiritual teachers are the salt that gives flavor to our otherwise somewhat dry western culture. With all the focus on s*x, drugs and rock and roll - development of the heart can very easily be forgotten or ignored. This lens is a lensography: I present my lenses devoted to spiritual teachers - in addition to that there are links here to specific spiritual... Read Full Story