Spiritual Social Commentary

In life, and especially spiritual, religious, or philosophical life, you have to keep your wits about you. You have to use your intelligence and intuition to guide you in terms of what you decide to believe. Just because someone tells you that you’re wrong, doesn’t mean that you are wrong, and vice versa. You have to be vigilant, whether you’re listening to the Pope or Oprah Winfrey, Creflo Dollar, Billy Graham, Deepak Chopra, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Robert Schuller, Dr. Phil, Jeremiah Wright, or your mother. And you have to be especially attentive and discerning when watching the combination of manipulative propoganda, tabloid trash, and current events that has pervaded our media landscape. For this, I do have to take some responsibility, since my first job in 1989 after a decade of living a monastic ashram life was editing for a brand new tabloid show called Hard Copy, whose success then set the stage for our current gossip-obsessed society. For that I apologize, though not as much as I apologize for helping to unleash Suze Orman upon the world. For Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and X-Men, no apologies.

I always tell people that you have to be a good editor on the spiritual path, and it seems that Barack Obama was doing just that in his church attendance, although perhaps he wasn’t thinking carefully enough in terms of political strategies when he chose this church to be his family's community. Still, when it comes to matters of spirit, you can't let others guide your steps away from what moves your heart. I learned this after leaving my atheistic family and university studies to spend ten years living a monastic ashram life.

Since that time, I’ve enjoyed experiencing houses of God of various denominations, including some political ones that said some fairly outrageous things. One pastor was talking about how the disastrous tsunami that had just hit India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand was clearly God's way of bringing Christianity to the east. As he said, "Can you imagine? These people are so primitive that they worship elephant gods!" I thought, well then, you probably wouldn't like my chanting and devotional singing page, which has a devotional chant to Ganesh.

Anyone on a journey of spiritual discovery will encounter some strange ideas being put forth along with the beneficial ones -- if everyone who disagreed or took offence with something said in their place of worship were to walk out, we would surely have many empty houses of worship -- although I do have concern about someone with spiritual power using words like damn together with America, because it suggests that they don't understand the power of their position or words. Sometimes a bit of spiciness helps to loosen the attachments to this world, but it seemed like the pastor's teaching was not moving parishioners above the world, but down into the mud of it all. I do accept that someone else may have a different view and purpose in speaking in a shocking way as part of a spiritual revival type gathering, however in general, I prefer that ministers inspire us to sing God Bless America, and of course God Bless the Whole World -- whether or not a disaster is taking place.

Now Jeremiah Wright has been intoxicated by a taste of fame, coupled with a perceived feeling of betrayal from Barack and others. He's not one to go and sulk in a corner -- this man is a preacher, and if he's got something to say, he's going to say it. In this way it seems that Obama may have misevaluated him the same way senior President Bush misevaluated Sadam Hussain, not realizing that to them, their personal honor as they define it is worth everything -- their purported missions and even life itself.

And the irony is that in the end, it is Jeremiah Wright who may play the largest role in "keeping the black man down." Proof once again that we ultimately become whatever we meditate and focus on.



From Spirituality For Dummies:

Being a good editor

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
—Aristotle

One secret to benefiting from spiritual teachings is this: Be a good editor! Drink the nectar and leave the dishwater. Eat the peanuts and throw away the shells. Use the good film footage and cut out the shaky shots. Choose and digest what makes sense and rings true and leave the discards respectfully in a bin for possible future consideration.

You have to be a good editor when it comes to reading and hearing anything in life, but especially with spiritual teachings. Be open-minded, but not naïve. The greatest teachings often come along with other ideas that appear to be less than great. However, if you completely avoid these teachings because you disagree with certain elements, then you may miss out on some of the greatest spiritual guidance for your spiritual journey.

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
—Mark Twain

Labels: barak obama, jeremiah wright, spirituality

It’s Valentines Day and love is in the air.

Actually, love is always in the air and in every particle of creation, but sometimes it takes a holiday to get us to shift our focus and see it.

Society and greeting card companies have seen to it that you'll be feeling disheartened on Valentines Day if you don't have a partner or significant other with whom to celebrate. Yet, you don't have to be held hostage by commercial interests that may want to limit and define this holiday to a very specific configuration that requires purchases of flowers, chocolates, and jewelry. Just as couples rekindle their love for one another on this day, so we can also rekindle our love for this entire universe, our love for ourselves, our natural state of lovingness. A true celebration of love can be so much more than an obligatory sharing of chocolate hearts, champagne, or candlelight dinners, and this celebration of love doesn't require anything more than the depths and richness of your own sweet heart.

Here are some alternate ways you can celebrate this day of love and deepen your experience of love on Valentines Day and every day:

1. Love your life! Spend time this Valentines Day enjoying the peacefulness and love of your own company. Take a walk in nature, contemplate your life and feel gratitude for the blessings you have and the challenges you've overcome thus far. Love yourself just as you are right now -- flaws and all. Light a candle inside yourself and sit quietly, taking stock of what you love most, and contemplating how to give more goodness to yourself, and others.

2. Love everyone! Go through this Valentines Day focusing on the feeling of love in your heart. Imagine that this was your last day on earth and with this exercise, see each person you meet with fresh eyes. Instead of going though your day with usual formalities, look into the eyes of every person you come in contact with, and bring an appreciation of them and their life story into your heart. Look at the supermarket cashier with the eyes of your heart, and buying milk will become an act of divine love.

3. Love anything! Whatever you naturally love in your life, focus your attention on the love you are feeling for that object, person, or situation. If you have a pet that you love, then hold your pet and allow the feeling of love to expand. One ancient technique is to feel the love you have for anything you love, and then to move your focus from the object of your love and onto the feeling of love itself. This practice helps you to strengthen your connection with the experience of love, so your intermittent drops of love can eventually expand into an ocean of love that stays with you all the time.

4. Love SPIRIT! Whether you consider yourself to be a spiritual or religious person, you can still love God, either as a religious persona, or as the formless absolute force of nature that creates and sustains everything. Feel how your heart connects with the universal heart. Love the divine, and become divine -- this is one of the great secret alchemies of spiritual life. The poet Hafiz said, "Someone inside of us is now kissing the hand of God and wants to share with us that grand news." On this Valentines Day, turn your attention within to taste this part of you that is kissing the essence of love.

Labels: blessings, love, self-help, spirituality, valentines day

For the past year, I've been writing the new 2nd edition of Spirituality For Dummies and producing the CD of inspiring music from Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Buddhist traditions that comes in the back of each copy. The book/CD set is now available at online and physical bookstore venues around the world. Amazon is offering an excellent discount price of only $16.95 for this 384-page book and full-length CD that will be a friend on your spiritual journey for life.


Here, I'll share an excerpt from the first chapter of the new Spirituality For Dummies, which explains part of the reason why I felt it was so important to create an updated 2nd edition of this book for today's world circumstances:

Finding Authentic Spirituality

Today’s topsy-turvy world brings a unique array of spiritual challenges. Religions east and west stand accused of indiscretions and violations, while spiritual teachers who should be lifting seekers into higher wisdom aremore often concerned with uplifting their own bottom line. Modern prophets cater to desire-obsessed audiences by teaching a kind of “Santa Claus” theol-ogy that is guaranteed to get you that new car you want, or if nothing else, that will get these prophets the new cars they’ve always wanted.

Newsflashes warn about small and large apocalypses that could happen at any moment in-between investigations about which star has revealed which bad quality to the paparazzi. Countrymen don’t trust their leaders; family structures are crumbling; autism rates are climbing, children are being over-medicated, and people feel cut off from their divine spiritual heritage.

The key to turning things around and bringing greater light and healing into this world is through authentic spiritual knowledge, awareness, and blessings.

What the world needs now is the kind of spiritual love, wisdom, and practices that provide an anchor into the peaceful, sublime happiness of the eternal universal soul. People today need authentic, intelligent explanations of higher-consciousness spiritual principles that honor, support, and guide them right in the midst of their lives. The goal of Spirituality For Dummies is to be a helpful guide for your journey — a friend on your path that opens new doors of awareness, understanding, and experience.

Find more info about the book, read more pages, the table of contents, and the index, and play tracks from the CD that comes in the back of every book at www.spiritualityfordummies.com.

Labels: blessings, dummies, inspiration, modern times, positive teachings, religion, spirituality, the secret

No unhappiness is as difficult to cure as the unhappiness that comes from being overly spoiled. Even a starving person can find happiness in a crust of bread, but someone who has had too much for too long can't find the inner resources to bear challenges happily, and can also become unhappy from the boredom of having too much for too long. Getting more of what you want can't help someone who has been "spoiled" by a life of ease. The only thing that can help a spoiled person is to go through the hellish experience of surrendering to unbearable demanding challenges, and to finally acquire the inner strength resources that most people gain through common usual struggles.

Today I sent a copy of my book, Spirituality For Dummies, to Paris Hilton at the Century Regional Detention Facility, to offer support for her recent attempts to raise herself up spiritually by parading past the paparazzi with some spiritual books, a somber face that perhaps was meant to look pious, and a silk blouse with no bra. Hey, you do what you can do.












The books Paris carried were probably carefully (and well) chosen by a publicist -- The Power of Now, and The Holy Bible – a good combination!

I've been in the midst of writing the brand new second edition of Spirituality For Dummies (January 2008, Wiley), so I thought of how this book would be a good introduction to advanced spiritual concepts for someone like Paris, or for anyone who is seeking to explore spirituality in an intelligent and interesting way (a tiny plug!).

I'm sure Paris and her publicists would never want to give Jay Leno and Kathy Griffin fodder for their humor by having Paris be caught carrying a book called Spirituality For Dummies. So I thought it would be nice to send the book to Paris in jail, wrapped in a plain brown bag (it was my last copy, no less).

(CLICK HERE to watch a video where I discuss how people -- especially spiritual people -- sometimes have a problem with the word dummies. So much for spiritual humility!).


Here is my letter to Paris:


Dear Paris,

I thought you might enjoy reading a copy of my book as you begin this challenging but hopefully beneficial part of your spiritual journey. Sometimes a challenge like this is just what it takes to jumpstart you on a better road, and it looks like you have had the intelligence and guidance (outer or inner) to recognize this.

May you continue on this good road of spirituality, and be a blessing to yourself and the world.

Stay healthy – bad food is better than no food!

Wishing you the best,

Sharon Janis


I added the “bad food is better than no food,” part, because this is probably not an issue Paris has had to deal with very often in her prosperous life. Poor folks know that bad food is better than no food, but someone like Paris might choose to not eat anything, which could cause health problems worse than the ones she’d have from eating bad quality prison food.

Prison is like the opposite of a health spa in one way, although I do feel that Paris has a lot of blessings, and that this could end up being a wonderful, life-transforming experience on her journey – a time when she’ll discover parts of herself that she never knew existed. Of course, looking at ourselves in the silence of solitude can also be difficult and challenging to do.

Clearly Paris was seeking this kind of rush while planning and creating her show, “A Simple Life,” which required Paris to leave her comfortable circumstances and –- in the one episode I watched –- to even do unsavory things like reach her hand in to impregnate a cow. Once you’ve voluntarily done something like that, a few weeks in prison shouldn’t be such a big deal (not that I'd want to have to do it). Paris should just consider this as one more episode: “A Simple Life: Alcatraz.” But perhaps the experience of being swept out of your comfortable environment is not so easy when there are no cameras to inspire or freedom of choice to leave the circumstances.

With Paris’ public position, she could become a very good example and a wonderful blessing to the world, and I think that would be just great.

Labels: paris, paris hilton, spirituality