By Joseph M. Marshall III *AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 1 2012

 In Lakota tradition, the bow and arrow were more than tools for hunting or battle.  The bow’s resilience and flexibility, the arrow’s grace and power, the archer’s focus and patience—in these, we find the essential qualities for living a life of strength, purpose, and simplicity. In The Lakota Way of Strength and Courage (Sounds True, February 1, 2012), Joseph M. Marshall III builds upon the central metaphor of the bow and arrow to provide a treasury of insights, stories, and irreplaceable wisdom. With elegant and captivating writings, this master storyteller illuminates timeless lessons on:

Michael Beckwith created the Life Visioning Process to be a transformational technology for applying deep inquiry and spiritual practice to enable the growth, development, and unfoldment of your soul. With Life Visioning, he details the process in its entirety, with invaluable insights and meditations to help you each step of the way, including:

• The four stages of consciousness: Victim, Manifester, Channel, and Being—the characteristics of each stage, and how we move through them
• The dance of co-creation—establishing the balance between effort and surrender
• Where powerful intentions come from, and why they are much greater than self-serving desires
• The “dark night of the soul”—a guide for navigating the uncertain transition between stages of consciousness
• Cultivating intuition as a key to realizing the highest vision for your life
• Applying the Life Visioning Process in all of your life structures including relationships, finances, livelihood, and spiritual practice

“When your thoughts and actions begin to align with the imperatives of your soul,” explains Beckwith, “you enroll the full support of the universe. Unimagined possibilities begin to open up as you synchronize with the divine.” With Life Visioning, this dynamic teacher shares an unparalleled method for navigating every stage of your evolutionary journey—and fulfilling your highest calling as only you can.

Beginner’s Mind

It tends to be a momentous occasion to intentionally stop all your outward activity and, just as an experiment, sit or lie down and open to an interior stillness with no other agenda than to be present for the unfolding of your moments — perhaps for the first time in your adult life.

The people I know who have incorporated the practice of mindfulness into their lives remember quite vividly what drew them to it in the first place, including the feeling tone and life circumstances that led up to that moment of beginning. I certainly do. The emotional topology of the moment of beginning — or even of the moment of realizing that you want to connect with yourself in such a way — is rich and unique for each of us.

Suzuki Roshi, the Japanese Zen Master who founded the San Francisco Zen Center and touched the hearts of so many, is famous for having said, “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” Beginners come to new experiences not knowing so much and therefore open. This openness is very creative. It is an innate characteristic of the mind. The trick is never to lose it. That would require that you stay in the ever-emerging wonder of the present moment, which is always fresh. Of course you will lose beginner’s mind in one way, when you cease to be a beginner. But if you can remember from time to time that each moment is fresh and  new, maybe, just maybe, what you know will not get in the way of being open to what you don’t know, which is always a larger field. Then a beginner’s mind will be available in any moment you are open to it.

The Incandescent Heart: Celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe

A FREE online event with the author of Untie the Strong Woman

To honor the Feast Day of Guadalupe (on December 12), Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés invites you to The Incandescent Heart: an unforgettable evening of insights, stories, prayers, and praises in celebration of Our Lady to commemorate the anniversary of her mystical appearance in Mexico City—when she spoke through the frail, humble, and frightened Aztec Indian Don Diego to remind the world that love comes to all people.

According to Dr. Estés, Guadalupe appears to each soul on earth as one can best apprehend and embrace her, so that each soul is individually invited to be held and lifted by the tenderness of her motherly care.  On this winter eve “by the fireside,” and with much love, much levity, and in celebration of the holiday season, we will gather so that we may together converse with her and bask in the warmth and eternal light of her love.

In Jai’s Words:
“When Ezra Gopal was first born a friend commented to me with some sympathy that my devotional practices must really be suffering as I devoted more and more time to being a daddy. I laughed inwardly, as only an exhausted parent can. But I also rested in the wondrous reality and knowledge that Bhakti, or devotion, only begins when we take ourselves out of the ‘number one’ spot and put another one there. And what better way to experience service than having a child. The surprise was that as I quite naturally and happily began to put my son’s needs before my own, I couldn’t help but notice that God seemed so much closer, and Kirtan seemed so much richer.