Spring blossoms remind me of change. Actually, everything reminds me of change, because everything is changing all the time. The seasons are changing, the creatures are changing, the Earth itself is changing. Who are we? What are we doing here on this strange, yet amazing planet? Why are we constantly trying to hold onto things that we can't really hold onto?

At the heart of all existence there are some spiritual principles that contain self-evident Truths. When we hear these truths, they resonate with us simply because they are true, and yet we can't seem to remember them for very long! Most of us need daily, if not hourly, reminders of who we truly are. We need constant reminders to go within and align with our true nature. We continually forget that we are spiritual beings who have been born into human bodies. It is like we have Collective Amnesia!  I find this situation to be both absurdly hilarious and insanely sorrowful. It reminds me of hearing a beautiful song that makes the heart ache.

We humans have so many aches and pains, on all levels: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. All these aches and pains arise from our forgetfulness. When we forget who we truly are, we experience pain and sorrow, but the converse is also true: when we remember who we truly are, we experience healing and contentment. Regular, daily spiritual practices help us to remember who we truly are. One spiritual practice is studying the spiritual principles. I describe this practice in my new pocketbook, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living. (This book is now at the printer. Pre-orders of this book will be discounted on this website store through April 10th.)

Spring blossoms reflect the most important spiritual principle: Change is the nature of the world. Most of us have heard this countless times, and we know the inherent truth of it, but because of our spiritual amnesia, we continually forget that everything in the physical realm is impermanent and changing. All of our expectations and disappointments stem from this forgetfulness.

Fortunately, the universe is naturally in a state of balance. The very fact that our amnesia exists means that our capacity for remembrance also exists. What is it that we need to remember and how do we remember it? We need to remember that we are spirits temporarily having a human experience. We cultivate this remembrance through regular, daily spiritual practices. When we regularly go inside our own beings, we experience a connection with Something Greater. Some call this God, others call it the Divine, and still others call it our Greater Nature. There are so many names for this Beloved Universe. However we conceive of That Great Mystery, when we go deeply inside our own beings, most of us experience and understand that That Something Greater is unchanging.

It is up to each of us to choose to direct our attention toward That which opens our hearts to the truth of who we are. To help myself remember, I regularly chant (sing) along with CDs, and I go to live kirtans whenever possible. Last night I attended a beautiful kirtan (call and response group chanting) with an amazing bhakti yogini who radiates pure sweetness: Prema Mayi Dasi. We sang traditional Sanskrit mantras to Krishna and Radha, as well as a lively chant to Shiva (led by Prema's son, Krishnadeva), that took me into a high state of devotion. (To read more about the Bhakti Yoga Path, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.) Between chants, Prema shared from the wisdom she has gained through many years of doing spiritual practices. She said, "We humans are so out of alignment now. We are out of alignment with Nature, and we are also out of alignment with our inner nature. We need to come back into alignment with our inner divinity. Through transcendental sound vibration, we will find ourselves in alignment." (www.premamayi.com)

We choose where to put our attention. Wherever we put our attention, our energy follows. When we practice cultivating the witness, we gain a greater understanding of where we put our attention and why we put it there. Once we see where we put our attention, then we can discern whether or not that is really where we want to place our attention. We can practice this in our daily lives, by asking ourselves this question throughout the day:

Am I keeping my attention on things that expand me and help me to remember who I truly am?

May we all commit to daily remembrance of who we truly are: spiritual beings who are connected with everyone and everything in one continuous web of energy and vibration. We are the seeds, we are the sunshine, we are the water, we are the spring blossoms.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini


Photo of spring blossoms by Pink Sherbet Photography - CC license