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“People don’t know- every line of the Hanuman Chalisa is a Maha Mantra” –Neem Karoli Baba  Many of us have come to kirtan and felt inspired, felt our sorrows lifted, or even experienced a deep healing or surrender. These are beautiful experiences that are meant to be cherished, but they are also ultimately just initial…
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Earlier this month I was a guest on the Quantum Alignment Podcast with host Dr. Pepper Hernandez. We discussed the usual suspects- Bhakti Yoga, kirtan, the importance of daily spiritual practice, suffering, grace, psychedelics, and Ram Dass, to name a few.  It was just posted yesterday, and I am excited to share it here. Each…
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There is this place in the woods outside of Eugene that I would often go to clear my head. It was a short drive and hike to reach my favorite spot, a small clearing with an unassuming tree that I claimed as my own. On this particular day, I sat down in my little forest…
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About a year ago, I was interviewed by Reverend Derek Moody and Sister Tracy on the Church of Rock radio show out of Southern Oregon (KSKQ 89.5 FM & 94.1 FM). They just recently posted this on their youtube channel. We discussed our love for Ram Dass, the power of living from the heart, Be…
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These medicines will allow you to come and visit Christ, but you can only stay two hours. Then you have to leave again. This is not the true Samadhi. It’s better to become Christ than to visit him – but even the visit of a saint for a moment is useful. But love is the…
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*This is based on my notes from a recent training I offered to staff who work with teens in a crisis home. It involved a meditation, experiential body-awareness exercise, and group discussion about the relationship between crisis and deep embodiment. If you are interested in having a similar workshop or training at your agency, write…
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Jesus said to Love your enemies. I don’t think he meant that our inability to do so should prevent us from acting. Dismantling oppression is an act of love, and in my mind it is one of the highest, deepest and most important expressions. We can’t wait until our love has matured to act. Our…
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I was recently interviewed by Nate Hankes on The Humboldt Lighthouse, a spiritual podcast based in Humboldt County. We had a great conversation that covered all of my favorite topics- Grace, God, the Guru, Ram Dass, psychedelics, Maharajji, suffering, systemic oppression and our complicity with it, spiritual bypass, not holding too tightly to any concept…
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If I were to pick one word that is central to my spiritual worldview, it would be Grace. And yet, I often find it to be the most difficult to talk about. It is profound as Truth and simultaneously problematic as a concept. It is a word that points to the deep nature of Reality and our soul’s relationship with God. But any explanation I can possibly think of is problematic if taken literally and applied inappropriately.

For instance, the words, “Everything is Grace,” can be either a soothing balm or a dagger to the gut depending on our understanding and application. They can be used to minimize danger, trivialize the suffering of others, or to spiritually bypass our own journey. They can also be that deepest reminder of our inherent OK-ness, even when our body, mind, and life circumstances are not OK.  They point us to the indestructible nature of Being, even in the face of death.

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” -Audrey Lorde, Our Dead Behind Us: Poems There is a troubling belief gaining traction within the various spiritual communities I am apart of. In various ways, people are claiming that so-called “identity politics” further separate us…
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