Buddhism is one of the religions that influenced Ernest Holmes heavily as he wrote The Science of Mind that we study.  After all, it was Buddha who said – “What we think, we become.”  Sounds like Holmes to me! 

Who are you traveling the road of life with these days?  As many of you know, I just returned from a long period of traveling, and I did so with 7 other people, therefore there were 8 of us on planes, trains, boats, touring vans, and buses.  Eight of us were constantly together trying new foods, wearing interesting sarongs, feeding large bats, walking steep terrain to waterfalls, navigating crowds of people, observing the culture around us, dancing, telling stories, laughing and sharing everything. 

There’s an old joke about a man who finds a magic lamp with a genie inside. He rubs the lamp, the genie appears and grants him three wishes. Sarcastically, the man says, “Make me a cheeseburger.” And with a puff of smoke, the genie turns him into a cheeseburger.

There is a traditional Buddhist saying – “Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”   Maybe you are like me and have heard that many times.  But, over the past few weeks, I learned more about that phrase and got to deepen my understanding of it through a personal experience. 

In his book, A Hat Full of Sky, Terry Pratchett wrote - “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”

It is amazing just how many choices there are to be made on a Sunday morning, just to single out one day of the week. I can choose to sleep in and cuddle my cat.  I can choose to arrive at the Center early enough to join Sacred Cup.  I can choose to arrive later for just the service, or I can choose to watch it online live or later.   And, that is just Sunday alone! 

By the time this newsletter is distributed, I will be somewhere in Thailand, but I can guarantee that I will be thinking about our upcoming Summer together at CSLTB!  

Diagnosis from a medical standpoint is naming an illness or condition on the basis of testing and symptoms. Prognosis is what is expected as a result of the diagnosis. Medically I seek a cure, a relief of symptoms, by doing physical things such as taking medications, exercising, heating healthy, surgery, etc.

Ah, it’s April – one of my favorite months of the year.  I’ve always liked April because I could see the light at the end of the school year tunnel, my favorite flowers were blooming, I could almost taste the Easter chocolates, spring break was usually part of it, and the days were noticeably growing longer. 

This week in Centers for Spiritual Living, the topic of discussion is about becoming a “possibilitarian”.  Don’t you love that word? 

I was talking with a neighbor friend earlier this week and our conversation turned to the reality that “there is a lot going on in the world.”  She was overwhelmed by how much was going in the “wrong direction” and how helpless she felt to make things better.  It seems I keep having this type of interaction wherever I go, and I am sure you can relate.

The sound of chainsaws woke me up this morning on Monday when I’d hoped to sleep in.  When I went outside to investigate the source, I saw that a neighbor was finally having their vastly overgrown philodendrons brought back to a manageable size. The denuded trunks looked ridiculously small, as though they couldn’t possibly be the source of all that jungle-worthy leafiness.

I hit a rough patch at work late last year.  I found myself feeling overwhelmed by the number of things that were on my to do list versus the number of things I could do in any given day/week.  The math wasn’t adding up, there was just no way I could keep up at the level I expected of myself. 

Near my home is a fresh market that sells produce from local farms at pretty remarkable prices.  They also bring in produce from other places so that their available products meet most shopping needs, making it a very popular place to be on any given day.  But, it is one of the few grocery stores where seasonal offerings vary widely.

On October 26, 2025, a group of Buddhist monks from the Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, along with their rescue dog named Aloka, which means light, illumination, brightness, started out on a 2,300-mile Walk for Peace. The 108 day journey, a number that symbolizes the union of the individual with the universe, bridging the gap between the physical and spiritual realms, concluded on Feb. 10, 2026 in Washington, DC. Their mission to spread mindfulness, compassion, and unity across the United States was greeted along the way with gratitude, acceptance, and many tears. Those who were directly encountered by the individual monks described it as life-changing.

Growing up in Colorado, I often found myself in the mountains with friends and family. It was there, in that wild and beautiful landscape, that I first experienced a natural phenomenon that perfectly illustrates a spiritual principle we’re being called to remember right now.

Ernest Holmes was developing his spiritual self at the same time several other people were discussing “new thought” ideas. It was radical thinking at that time – because they were challenging the idea that there is one KING-like God that controls everything and must be worshiped to gain his favor. And if you don’t gain favor – you are doomed to an infinity of hell, pain, torture, and suffering. 

This has been a very big week for spiritual practice. I’ve found myself repeatedly re-centering—coming back to an awareness of my place within my own realm of influence—and I know I am not alone. When we explored these themes together at the Center on Sunday, it became clear that many of us are carrying the same sense of uncertainty and asking similar questions about the role faith plays in the midst of it all.

Information is energy that flows your way.  You get to decide how much and what types of energy you allow into your field of awareness.   One of the coping strategies I have been using in relationship to this flow of information energy is to curate my social media streams and overall consumption of “news.”

As we approach the day when our country honors Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I find it timely to remember some of the wisdom he brought to the conversation of how humanity moves forward into a greater expression of ourselves.  Having lived so many years in his home city of Atlanta, I thought I had been exposed to most of his messages, but this week, in preparing for this article, I was reminded of an unfamiliar topic he preached about throughout his life.