Highlights The highest states of human consciousness appear to be consistently linked to states of self-transcendence (trans-personal states).States of self-transcendence are often accompanied by a sense of interconnectedness and unity, which often leads to pro-social behaviors like altruism, compassion and service to community.Increased altruism and compassion in a community leads to more harmony, cooperation and well-being both for...

“In the beginning nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.” ~ Jetsun Milarepa Over time, meditation/mindfulness and many other contemplative practices LITERALLY RE-WIRES THE BRAIN producing permanent changes to one’s psychology, emotional stability, character and overall ways of being. I know this from the neuroscience, the psychological science, the spiritual and mind-science literature of the East and I...

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience” ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Some people define “spirituality” as going to church and believing in a God. Others may define spirituality along the lines of one of the Eastern non-theistic traditions such as Buddhism, Taoism or Hinduism. Others still, may define spirituality simply as becoming a better person, engaging in...

“Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. It isn’t more complicated than that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it.” ~Sylvia Boorstein   What exactly is mindfulness and where did this simple psychological and spiritual practice get its start? Why is everyone doing it and why are so many doctors...

  “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” (Gandhi) “Our task must be to free ourselves… by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” (Einstein) We tend to (conveniently) convince ourselves that certain animals, below some sort of arbitrarily chosen phylogenetic level, are less conscious,...

 “All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.” (Edgar Allan Poe) “Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.” (Sigmund Freud) In the dream, I had just woken from what I thought was a sleep, which I soon learned was actually an operation on my heart. I was not in a hospital but some sort of room and it was small, a bit stark almost like a hospital room and I could see nurses but they...