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Sharing the “HU”

On January 24, 2024

In Animals, Divine Love, Guest Posts, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Guest Post by Dennis Ernst

While attending a retreat at a remote location in the Oregon Coast Range, I had a unique opportunity to share the sacred mantra of “HU.” I had gotten up a dawn to take a walk before breakfast and hiked up a gravel road, in the early morning rain. The road wound its way along a creek for a half a mile before starting up a steep ridge. I noticed a variety of wildlife along the creek. Canadian geese, a duck, many birds and even a blacktail deer. A little later I saw an elk, feeding on the early spring grass along the brushy bank.

A Circle of Friends

By Michael Avery

On January 19, 2024

In Animals, Health & Healing, HU: An Ancient Mantra, Love & Relationships, Meditation, Personal Growth, Spiritual Exercises, Spirituality

Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Michael Avery

My wife, Pichaya, and I have learned that Divine Spirit, Spirit, God, or “the Universe,” call IT what you will, won’t interfere in our lives unless we ask. When faced with an important decision or a personal crisis, we can ask for guidance through dreams, contemplations, visions, or waking dreams. Most people, however, forget to ask.

It is important that we do all we can to help ourselves in addition to asking the Divine. A number of spiritual exercises are available that can help us navigate “dark nights of the Soul” or other crises. Many can be found in a book called The Spiritual Exercises of ECK, by Harold Klemp.

One additional spiritual exercise that I have found helpful in stressful situations is simple, and yet powerful. It’s called “A Circle of Friends.”

The Buzzing of the Bees

By Michael Avery

On January 15, 2024

In Animals, Guest Posts, Love & Relationships, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Dennis Ernst

There are moments in life when you act on what you know and don’t think about it. That sense of knowingness trumps feeling and thinking even though it may not seem too logical at the time or make sense to anyone else. This kind of knowingness is often a reflection of your core values, who you are, and what you truly believe. Even though I was only four years old, the profound memory of a magical moment still resonates strongly with me.

Spiders, Sushi, and Books: My Shift from Atheist to Spiritual

By Pichaya Avery

On December 22, 2023

In Animals, Guest Posts, Meditation, Personal Growth, Self-love, Spiritual Exercises, Spirituality, Synchronicity, Waking Dreams

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Guest Post by Jamie Zella

For most of my life, I identified as atheist. This past year, however, something shifted.

A few things happened that pushed me onto my spiritual journey. First, it seemed that all the new people coming into my life were spiritual. My whole life, I had been closed off to believing in any sort of higher power.

There was no such thing as God, no spiritual beings, nothing and nobody watching over me. But after meeting these new people, I was also met with curiosity. I decided to befriend it. I opened my mind and started paying more attention.

Outfoxing a Fox

By Michael Avery

On November 22, 2023

In Animals, Guest Posts, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Riley Carson

I used to go running on a sheep trail along the river that ran in the valley behind the college I was attending. It was open countryside with no people or houses around, which is why I loved it.

One day I noticed a fox up ahead. She noticed me about the same time I noticed her. (Just guessing on the gender.)

A Flatlander in King Arthur’s Court

By Michael Avery

On November 1, 2023

In Animals, Guest Posts, Personal Growth, Spirituality, Stories from the Heart, Synchronicity

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Guest Post by Al Coffman

I was born in Wisconsin, in the heart of the flatlands, and never tired of the mountains’ majesties of the American west. We were winding up our vacation, enjoying the drive through the spacious plateaus of southern Oregon. After a number of high desert adventures we were ready to put it on cruise control. Little did we suspect that we were about to fall through the proverbial looking glass.

Can Singing “HU” Protect You from Harm?

By Michael Avery

On October 23, 2023

In Animals, Divine Love, Guest Posts, HU: An Ancient Mantra, Spirituality

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Guest Post by Dennis Ernst

Have you ever believed something but weren’t really sure how much you believed it? Tests are a natural part of life. They give us a chance to put our beliefs on the line and see if they really have meaning.

For a few years before my beliefs were tested, I had practiced singing a sacred mantra called HU, an ancient word for God. I often sang it in contemplation or when problems came my way. I had read accounts of the HU doing phenomenal things for others, and I believed in its power, or at least I thought I did. It’s funny how easy it is to say you believe in the HU and casually practice it, and how difficult it is to totally rely upon it for survival.

Why Did the Cardinal Have to Die?

By Michael Avery

On October 4, 2023

In Animals, Guest Posts, Inner Guidance, Spirituality, Waking Dreams

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Guest Post by David Rivinus

It is early December in beautiful rural Vermont. The snow is already a foot deep, and today the sky is cloudless—a vibrant blue. Veronica is meditating on this scene from her picture window. Suddenly, she watches as a Cardinal, flying full speed toward her house, crashes into the “invisible” glass barrier. Veronica gasps as she observes it drop, a lifeless, crimson splotch—like a blood stain—in the expanse of pure, sparkling snow. She is distraught and seeks a meaning.

When the Cats Wake Up First

By Michael Avery

On September 22, 2023

In Animals, Messages from Memories, Poetry, Stories from the Heart, Waking Dreams

Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Michael Avery

I remember the early morning antics of two, 10-week-old kittens like it was yesterday. They woke me up from a sound sleep, but they were so cute that I couldn’t stay mad at them for long.

Looking back at the memory, it is apparent that the experience was a “Waking Dream in Retrospect.” In other words, there was a lesson hidden in the chaos that morning, one I was only able to understand in retrospect.

Using Dream Tools to Interpret Outer Events

By Michael Avery

On September 20, 2023

In Animals, Dreams, Guest Posts, Personal Growth, Spirituality, Waking Dreams

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Guest Post by David Rivinus

The home of a woman named Ann abuts a wilderness area. She is used to wildlife. But even she was startled when, one balmy afternoon, while she was enjoying a tall glass of iced tea in her garden, she looked up in time to watch a mature bald eagle land on a tree branch not ten feet away from where she was sitting.

At first she was stunned; she was rendered breathless; she couldn’t believe her eyes. But, by the time she contacted me for another perspective, she had become the opposite: unable to stop her nearly manic chatter.

“I know it’s a sign!” she bubbled.

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