Making mindfulness a habit seems paradoxical: habits are things that we do automatically and with little attention, whereas mindfulness is about paying attention to the present moment. Yet we can develop a habit of paying attention to the present.

I am realizing for myself that there are ultimately only two spiritual paths. And both are equally important! “We are human beings on a spiritual journey, and we are spiritual beings on a human journey.” Herein lie the two spiritual paths...

I’m convinced every person on this earth is a mystic. I’m also convinced almost every person on this earth has forgotten all about this. A mystical experience is more about remembering and understanding. The mystical experience profoundly propels you to not only transform ingrained beliefs about limitations, but also remember intrinsic wholeness...

Learning to trust your intuition takes time. The only way to accomplish this is through meditation — by silencing the mind and listening inward. If you have meditated before, especially on a regular basis, you know how much the practice can improve your mental fortitude. As a medium, I recognize that it is absolutely critical for me to have a clear and open mind...

Interviews with Palestinian youth suggest that differing religious beliefs don’t always incite aggression. In fact, the findings raise the possibility that beliefs about God can mitigate bias against other groups and reduce barriers to peace.

Material answers may come, often unexpectedly, in offers of supply or immediate practical help. But what about answers, like I needed now, for the next actions or decisions? I have found that these come inside, especially when we open our mouths—that is, our consciousness—and just ask.

Bombarded by the intensity and complexity of our life, it is easy to feel overwhelmed: “How can I possibly manage this situation?” We all need help, guidance, and inspiration to find our way and to stay the course at times when we may become distracted or dis­heartened.

After witnessing the overwhelming popularity of Star Wars, director Francis Ford Coppola told George Lucas he should start his own religion. Lucas laughed him off, but Coppola may have been onto something.

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes, as Benjamin Franklin famously wrote. Few of us find taxes exciting, but death – even just thinking about it – affects us profoundly in many different ways. This is why researchers across so many different fields study it from their perspectives.

December marks the beginning of whale season in Hawaii. Around this time majestic humpback whales appear in Hawaiian waters, having traversed 3,000 miles of deep blue sea from offshore Alaska. The whales stay through the winter, mating and bearing their young. To watch them cavort is a spectacle for the senses and the heart.

Great prophets, gurus, spiritual leaders, and teachers across the world encourage us to search for the Great Light and find this mysterious thing they call "enlightenment". Many people begin their spiritual quest with one major mission: to become enlightened. But what is enlightenment and how can we truly reach it?

Children of religious parents may not be as altruistic as their parents think, according to new research from six countries around the world.

Meditation is receiving from God. Prayer is petitioning God — it is a giving out. Meditative prayers are a type of supplication to the divine. In this type of meditation, you are making a specific request to the Higher and then receiving the blessing that the divine wishes to give you.

Do we want to get well — give up our complaining and blaming, our image of a sick self, to do what we protest we can’t? Or do we love our deprivation and misery? Do we keep repeating that the world is against us, that others have all the luck? Does our poor-me status make us feel special?

I created an exercise many years ago where I ask people to write a termination letter informing the old God he is no longer needed. He has served his time, but the job is over. This can be a fun exercise as well as deeply meaningful and transformational.

A Catholic, a Jesuit and a scientist walk into a bar. What do they have to talk about? And just how do those conversations go?

What helps us to let go is that appearances change so completely. Nature is kind in that way — we can't say we haven't been warned. Most leaves wither and fade before they fall, fulfilling every bit of their purpose. My mother came to visit after she'd had two rounds of chemo for ovarian cancer. She didn't look like my mom, but she was still my mom...

Though there is some advantage in doing meditation practice now and then, the real benefits come through establishing the discipline and momentum of daily practice. This is analogous with physical training: intermittent exercise may feel good on occasion, but does little to really develop strength, health, or vitality...

It was midnight, nearly a thousand midnights since Lucky had died, and all at once I felt his weight on my hospital bed. I had heard of it time and again, in accounts of dear animals once gone, come to touch us again. There was no body there just the belief of his weight, but I knew who it was.

Muslims have a religious duty to take action against climate change, according to a declaration released by a major group of Islamic scholars, faith leaders and politicians from 20 countries.

After more than two decades in the ashram with Maharishi, I had not experienced what I was seeking—a true connection and direct relationship with God in a personal way. Luckily, after leaving the ashram, I found a means to connect to Spirit through listening to the “still small voice” of divine guidance and wisdom within—to have direct, two-way “conversations with God.”

You don't have to like your losses, but the path to healing is through acceptance — a learned skill that comes only from doing. The more you courageously face your losses and accept what is, the more you will heal and the happier you will be.

Much of the world believes in a God who hears our prayers and sometimes gives us what we ask for and sometimes does not. Why do hoped-for events or conditions manifest in our lives if it’s not God’s “mood” that determines whether our wishes are granted? How do miracles happen? What makes dreams come true? And what is at cause when they do not?