by Leatrice Evanne Asher Published in the WORD Magazine, Spring issue, March 2023 Individuals and religious groups may practice different forms of meditation, such as listening to music, repeating certain sounds, words, or phrases, or just sitting quietly. These activities certainly are worthwhile as they can promote relaxation, peace of body and mind, and other … Continue reading Be Still and Know
Why We Should Look to Them for Guidance by Leatrice Evanne Asher This earthly plane is where the lessons that need to be learned by its inhabitants come into being. If adversities were received as such, they would be approached differently, not as something undeserved, not as another irksome event that we have to try … Continue reading Eternal Truths
by Leatrice Evanne Asher Many religions and spiritual paths strongly advocate forgiveness, and self-help practitioners often recommend it. The merits of being able to forgive are considerable, especially when we see how self-destructive the inability to forgive can be. But, as with promoting positive thinking, the attempt to forgive may arise from the belief that … Continue reading Forgiveness
by Leatrice Evanne Asher “This above all: to thine own self be true.” —William Shakespeare Balance is a fundamental principle in the universe. Applied to our lives, balance can be equated with equilibrium—evenness—a quality that allows us to move through the world with ease. Yet, how often do we wake up, go to work, relate … Continue reading From Disequilibrium to Equilibrium
by Leatrice Evanne Asher —William Shakespeare; from Hamlet Freedom is waking up to the true condition and conditioning of the human. Once awake, we can begin to detach from that which we are not. We create and recreate ourselves continually by acting out roles of our choosing, a kind of desire-driven day-dreaming creation. This may … Continue reading What We Are Not
by Leatrice Evanne Asher (this is an abridged version of the original article that was published in the Word Magazine, Published by The Word Foundation, Inc. – Autumn issue 2015) The tendency to view our Beings and the world through judgments, assumptions, and false beliefs stands in the way of correct information reaching us. Seeing Rightly … Continue reading Seeing Rightly
by Leatrice Evanne Asher We think of a humble person as someone who is modest and lacks self-importance. A person of false humility may seem just as unpretentious because they are exhibiting similar characteristics. The difference is that these characteristics are contrived to satisfy an imagined ideal of how one is supposed to be. This … Continue reading True and False Humility
by Leatrice Evanne Asher (This is a condensed version of the original article published in The Word Magazine) Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth ―Albert Einstein Spiritual vanity is one of the more elusive forms of self-deception—elusive, because when we adjudge something to be “good” or praiseworthy it is more difficult … Continue reading Students and Teachers: The Roles We Play
By Leatrice Evanne Asher Language is a medium of communication, but the words we choose to convey our thoughts and feelings often reveal much more than the information we are explicitly conveying. They also reveal our beliefs, our prejudices, our partialities—our inner world. They reflect who we are, what we have become. We all know … Continue reading Changing Our Language to Change Our Pain
by Leatrice Evanne Asher The way we handle pain is a good indication of how we are likely to handle our dying—both the anticipation of it and the process itself. Like pain, death becomes troublesome only if we are not present in the reality of it. Death is something we can, even should, be preparing … Continue reading Death and Dying
Leatrice Evanne Asher 