How often do we actually recognize the butterflies that our personal metamorphoses produce? The caterpillar-to-cocoon-to-butterfly progression has long been a favorite metaphor for the process of human transformation. And rightly so; the stages of this remarkable biological metamorphosis are perfectly suited to illustrate the way something new emerges when we let go of old forms and patiently wait through a chrysalis stage before that something new is fully formed and strong

numinous 1: supernatural, mysterious 2: filled with a sense of the presence of divinity: holy 3: appealing to the higher emotions or to the aesthetic sense: spiritual -- Mirriam-Webster Today I called my oldest friend to wish her a happy birthday. As we went through the “how did we get to be so old?” conversation that increasingly dominates birthday phone calls, my thoughts kept gravitating back toward her birthday evening 49 ago, when being sixty-something was nearly a lifet

The spiritual path holds so much promise when we first embark upon it. Our consciousness seems so expansive. We soak up new information and ideas like sponges, and at times it almost seems as if those new perspectives have direct power to transform us simply because we understand things so much better than we ever did before. The call of the authentic Self motivates us to grow and change in ways that we might never have imagined before we tasted the sweet subtleties that Spir

I believe the integral view, more cohesive than mere eclecticism and more expansive than holism, is our best hope for healing, both personally and collectively. “Integral” is an interesting word. As an adjective it means “essential” or “necessary for completeness.” In that sense, when something is integral, it is a part that completes the whole or makes the whole work properly. The axle is an integral part of your car’s design. Without it, your wheels would have no connection