Meditation is a subtle art. Although it’s essential to learn and practice its techniques properly, in the end we must make meditation a creative experience for ourself. Swami Kriyananda wrote an extremely helpful book in this regard called Secrets of Meditation. In it he gives seemingly simple, but profoundly insightful, suggestions for deepening and personalizing our practice.

The holidays have ended, and with it the flurry of outward activity. Now is a good time to turn within, but first a little humor, a balm for the soul.

Angelica, for that was the young girl’s name, had been wandering alone and hungry for nearly a week. The old lady who had let her sleep in the storeroom in exchange for her services had died recently, and her ramshackle house had been closed and shuttered.

At Prince Siddhartha’s birth, his father, the king of the realm, was told that his son would be either a powerful ruler or a great spiritual leader. Wanting his royal lineage to continue, the king did everything he could to prevent the young prince from seeing the ephemeral nature of life. This, he hoped, would keep him from seeking higher realities.

International travel can be challenging and stressful, but fortunately Jyotish and I handle it fairly well. For some people, however, flying in itself causes great anxiety. They’d rather take a train, boat, or car—anything other than a plane—to reach their destination.

Most people, even beginners, are able to see some kind of light in the forehead during meditation. This is because light is an innate aspect of our spiritual essence and is reawakened by any spiritual effort.

As a lifelong meditator, I love to hear people’s experiences of how meditation has helped them. Here are a few such stories which, taken together, show a broad spectrum of benefits that meditation can bring.

Anxiety is one of the diseases of our age, affecting almost two-thirds of the population, with nearly a third finding it debilitating.

We have all faced this dilemma in one form or another. With my friend’s permission, I’ll share with you some thoughts that I offered her about the art of helping others while remaining unaffected by their problems.

Karma is one of the fundamental laws of the universe. Basically, it states that every thought, feeling, and action has a consequence. In the Bible, it says, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”