Karma Yoga Center

09/07/2025

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Namaste Friends,

We are in full swing of summer no!?
Every pool is packed; campsites are full; there are still a few blessed remaining music festivals we can attend, plus Red Rocks; the farmer’s market scene is full on; Its the season of family reunions, picnics in the park, hiking, biking, and paddleboarding. And of course, our gardens are in full show…we get to see the sweet flowers do their non-stop fireworks display May-Sept; the Sun is doing its full fiery thing as it moves into its home sign of Leo this month. I love this time of year!

Fun fact, this part of the season is referred to as “the dog days of summer”, meaning things can be a little more relaxed for porch sitting and the such. The phrase was derived from the Egyptian times when the star Sirius-called the “Dog Star”- rose above the pyramids in the constellation of Canis Major, named after one of Orion’s hunting dogs. When the Dog Star sat perfectly above the pyramids the Egyptians knew the Nile would soon flood and fertilize the banks for their growing season later. So they moved away from the banks and their regular activities and enjoyed the dog days of summer taking a break from work as they knew it.

My dog days of summer are quite busy however. I am not porch sitting as much as I would like. And funny enough, this is in part because we are dog sitting my Mom’s Fox Terrier puppy named Leo.

Leo has not been trained and is a bit of a spastic. She got him at the pound. This little 20lb dog has more energy than a electricity pole. He bounces 5 feet in the air non-stop, like he is on a trampoline. He runs maniacally back and forth through the house at full sp*ed, like he took some sort of race horse adrenaline shot. He will randomly leap onto my lap spilling my coffee. He barks incessantly for hours at the squirrel in the tree who taunts him. He wakes up every morning precisely at 4:50am with his wet nose in my face to say I need to p*e. He hogs the bed at night. And he cries for hours if you leave him home alone. He is a total pain in the ass. But he is adorable and we love him.

Leo is a sweet dog with an overactive mind. He is anxious, obsessive, and a little bit manic. If he were a person, a therapist would have their work cut out for them.
I have enjoyed our week with Leo overall, but I will be glad to bring him back to my mom. His frenetic energy has a ripple effect throughout the household. Ironically all of this is happening as Mercury (the mind) is going retrograde (out of alignment) in a few days, in the sign of Leo!-making everything more mentally challenging.

Coincidently, or perhaps a better word would be synchronistically, Michael and I are reading a book called Yoga and Psychotherapy by Swami Rama as part of our morning sadhana practice. Its interesting to study the way the mind works and simultaneously watch Leo’s neurotic behavior. I am learning a lot about ingrained conditioning and the lower mind behavior-of course an animal’s mind is different than a human’s mind, but not too far off.

I have always been fascinated by how the mind works and my first major in college was in psychology, but after a couple years into the program, I realized I didn’t fully align with the overarching principles behind western psychology. I intuitively felt there was something inherently missing from its theoretical philosophy. So I switched majors my junior year. It wasn’t until years later when I really dove into the study of yoga philosophy that I found, for me, the missing piece to western psychology: our spirit.

Western therapies do a great job looking at the mind/body, but it doesn’t usually address the spiritual aspect of our being. That said, in the last decade I have noticed some western therapists beginning to incorporate a more “whole self” approach to their wellness therapies. I am happy to see this integration of eastern into the western. I believe much of our collective struggle is due to the fact that we have greatly denied the importance and relevance of our spiritual energy.

My need for the spiritual component to be included in the process of healing our mental issues is something I personally find essential to my own well being. Whenever I am out of sorts-anxious, angry, lost, etc, I immediately try to find my center within-what the yogis call the hridyam heart or the spiritual heart. From there I have access to impeccable discernment that I can trust for guidance and wisdom. Its like having my own inner elder.

This is a shared perspective from the lens of yoga psychotherapy as well. In the yogic way, psychology is approached in the same manner as their spiritual philosophy. One is a microcosm of the macrocosm. They are not two different schools of thought. By studying one, you study them both. But western psychology and spirituality are often treated as two different subjects and often have two different approaches.

Western yogis often think that yoga is completely physical, with maybe a little breathwork or meditation, but the entire reason for doing warrior 3 or breath of fire, or meditition is ultimately so that we can swim past the disturbances of the mind (vrittis), and land in the sanctuary and wisdom of our great spirit (pure buddhi consciousness-or divine intelligence). If we can yoke (root word of yoga) our mind to our spiritual heart we can transcend our suffering and free ourselves from the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth-called the wheel of samsara. In other words, when we are able to merge our “little self” with our “High Self” we can become liberated souls.

What I am embarking upon here is a huge subject matter and is probably the book I have inside of me that I will someday write. But not now. Not here.
We don’t have enough time or space for that kind of discourse in this newsletter, and I already go on too long as it is. 🙏🏽
(But if you want more-I am putting together a mini fall weekend workshop, plus our Mexico retreat for in the 300hour ytt has its focus around this subject matter as well-that is in April 2026-we take a deep dive into all this!)

For now, I want to bring to light just a little glimpse of what I am referring to in regards to the importance of including our spiritual wellbeing into our daily lives.

In Sanskrit, a word for mental illness translates to “wrong view” or “incorrect comprehension”, it is called Advidya. It is one of the kleshas, or the mental afflictions that cause our suffering. It is what we call it “ignorance”. The yogis believe Advidya and its four sub branches, are the root cause of spiritual disease, and also mental disease. One is not without the other.

For the sake of keeping things simple, I am going to quickly identify the other four mental afflictions that branch off from Advidya or “incorrect comprehension” because they are rampant in the collective mental illness problem and perhaps if we can identify how it shows up in our lives, we can begin the healing process, both individually and collectively.

From the time we are born, our consciousness is being shaped by external forces.Our parents tell us what is right and wrong, our religions, our social systems, our governments all set the rules of how to live in this life experience. These handed down beliefs become quickly ingrained and we don’t even think to check in with our own divine consciousness to discern if the teachings are truth. Hence, we adopt the mainstream narrative of what is right or wrong because it is all we have been told. These external authorities begin to override the divine intelligence of our spiritual heart. Often we aren’t even taught that we have a divine intelligence that is connected to everything in creation. That we have a wellspring of cosmic knowledge dwelling right in our hridyam heart.

Instead, we are taught that we are separate and alone in the world; we might have a few family members and friends we can connect with, but generally speaking we are taught that we are all by ourselves without any internal guiding force or inner elder that we can turn to-what many of us call our intuition. So we adhere to the rules of the external forces and ignore our inner elder, who is the highest authority of all. This is ignorance. Or Advidya. Or the wrong view. And the foundation for mental illness.

This false sense of separation from Source creates insecurity and fear-based anxiety, But more over, this sense of separateness develops the unhealthy sense of “I-ness” or ego. Egoism, in this way called Asmita is the second obstacle to our mental health/spiritual health. When we start to identify ourselves with our ego or “I-ness”, it distorts our ability to see beyond the duality plane of right or wrong, good or bad, me and you. We can’t see the unifying field of spiritual consciousness that flows through all of us. We start to compare and compete with each other instead of seeing how we are all interconnected through Spirit. Thus, we develop our feelings of superiority or inferiority. Egoism drives a deeper wedge between our little self and our High Self or our inner elder.

From the ego our desires arrive. We use “I” statements like, “I want this” “I like that”. These strong desires can lead to attachments, and ultimately addictions. These attachments, called Raga, are the third obstacle to our mental health and spiritual well being. When our desires override our wisdom and discernment, we are no longer in a place of mental clarity. Our “want” for another glass of wine, or a second helping of chocolate cake, or to make out with that bad boy who will leave us feeling used, deafens our ability to hear our inner elder’s guidance. The attachment also called “clinging” to the desire is so strong that we will do anything to get it. And then we fall into a cycle of self-loathing. We hate that we did that-and possibly we have initiated an addictive behavior-and between the self-hatred and the addiction we venture even farther away from our inherent guidance of our spiritual heart.

The opposite of attachment or strong desire is Aversion or strong dislike, even hatred of something. This strong resistance to something is called Dvesha and it is the fourth obstacle to our mental health and well-being. Our ego or “I-ness” creates a list of dislikes and hates, often based on erroneous information or one bad experience. Our aversions cause us to reject things, we might throw out any future opportunities or experiences because we didn’t like how a similar experience went prior. For example, I have a friend who is afraid of dogs, all dogs-she hates them. When she was little her neighbor’s dog bit her, and although she was ok, it scared her greatly, and now she hates all dogs. Any hatred or strong dislike is poisonous to our spiritual heart. If we poison our inner elder, we can’t access its love or wisdom, and our sense of separateness deepens and we sink deeper into our discord between our peace of mind and our mental illness.

The final obstacle to our spiritual and mental wellbeing is called Abhinivesha, or fear. I like how T.V.K. Desikachar, a great yogi scholar and the son of the venerable Sri Krishnamacharya describes it in his book, The Heart of Yoga:
“Abhinivesha- or fear…is found on many levels of our everyday life. We feel uncertain. We have doubts about our position in life. We are afraid that people will judge us negatively. We feel uncertain when our lifestyle is upset. We do not want to grow old.”
Fear is the ultimate detriment to our mental and spiritual wellbeing. It prohibits us from accessing our “right view”, or “correct comprehension” of life. It shuts our eyes to what is Truth, and it blocks our access to our spiritual heart. We cease living our life fully and from the heart; fear kills our joy and we become the walking dead. And ironically, our greatest fear is the fear of death.

We typically don’t look at these 5 “obstacles” as being the reason for our suffering. According to the World Health Organization, 1 billion people worldwide experience mental health disorders and this number is expected to rise as the stigma for getting mental help lowers. I am sure we all know someone, maybe even ourselves who has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, dementia, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse-the top 7 mental illness diagnosis. And we also know many who haven’t been evaluated but would most likely fall into one of these categories. Traditional talk therapy and prescription medication are the main ways these illnesses are addressed. A 2025 report from the CDC states that nearly 65 million Americans are taking medications for depression alone.

I can’t help but wonder if we approached these afflictions from the yoga psychotherapy lens-meaning from the time we are little tykes we are taught the value of consciously directing our focus inward toward our spiritual heart, to learn to trust our own inner authority and follow the guidance of our divine intelligence. While our minds are young and formidable, we learn how to meditate and calm the turbulent ripples of thought (vrittis) and move our consciousness into a higher plane of awareness, instead of getting caught in the external world of comparison, judgement, and egoism. Imagine if children were taught how to manage their desires and keep them in balance, instead of gratifying their every want and demand. That giving is more rewarding than receiving. What if they learn that hate and resistance will only cause more hate and resistance, and that there is a mindful way to navigate our dislikes from a place of lovingkindness. And what if children were taught that Fear itself is the only monster in the world, and it goes away the minute they believe they are enough.

As adults, it is more challenging to undo some of the ingrained thought patterns and limiting beliefs we have acquired in our lifetime. But its not impossible. We can always reroute our thoughts with persistence, discipline, and devotion. Our intrinsic divine intelligence is timeless, ageless, flawless and eternal. It might be buried under layers of ignorance and neglect, but it can undoubtably be uncovered and brought into action through our strong will and our dedication.
As said above, I believe much of our collective struggle is due to the fact that we have greatly denied the importance and relevance of our spiritual energy.

As for Leo the dog, in the short time that he stayed with us he has become a bit calmer and less manic. Maybe all the chanting and meditation we do has helped him. But as I am signing off, I am watching him bouncing off the fence in effort to get that dang squirrel-so maybe he needs more time on the meditation cushion.
Don’t we all?

Enjoy these dog days of summer, find time for some porch sitting, relax the mind and take in the present moment.

Until next time,
Much love,
Katrina

08/07/2025

This month brings intense transformation with Mercury Retrograde in fiery Leo, Saturn Retrograde teaching karmic lessons, and Chiron Retrograde activating deep healing. We'll navigate the grounding Capricorn Full Moon, celebrate the sacred harvest festival of Lammas/Lughnasadh, and harness the creative power of both the Sun and New Moon in Leo. With multiple retrogrades creating cosmic pressure, our mantra "Quit your Cryin' and BE the Lion" reminds us to step into our sovereign power and roar with confidence! Whether you're seeking spiritual guidance, manifestation tips, or practical advice for surviving Mercury Retrograde, this forecast provides the cosmic roadmap to transform challenges into triumphs. Time to embody your inner Lion and rule your kingdom!

Join The Shaman & The Mermaid as Michael Shankara and Katrina Gustafson guide you through the powerful cosmic energies of July 10 - August 9, 2025! This mont...

11/06/2025

Read Full Newsletter: https://conta.cc/3HQDqIC
I am That, That I am..❤️ Spain Retreat Sep 2025❤️ 200Hr Fall YTT Opens... ❤️ MindFree Friday Sound Healings ❤️ 300Hr YTT Now Certified!! Starts April 10, 2026 in Mexico ❤️

Namaste Yogis,
Summer is officially almost here and joyfully we are right at the high points of the long days of light. And strangely, on June 20th-the Summer Solstice, the days will begin to shorten as we hit the swing back toward fall and winter. Fortunately, the pendulum moves slow so we can enjoy some longer summer evenings and rise early in the morning to our glorious Sun.

Michael and I have an early morning sadhana practice that we have been doing consistently for a couple of years now. We rise with the sun, have our morning wellness shot, which is warm water, tumeric, ginger powder, lemon juice, ashwaganda, and honey. Then we have our coffee in bed while we I read aloud our latest scripture study and discuss the content. Next we do about 30 minutes of chanting, and then meditation. Afterward we each draw our tarot cards for the day and write our thoughts in our journals. In all, it takes us about an hour and a half every morning. We get up early to do this, but we aren’t rushing around, we greet the day with our hearts open to spirit.

We are currently reading the works of a great saint, philosopher, and poet of India, named Adi Shankara (686-718 A.D.). From a young age he dedicated his life to God and spent his years teaching people about the idea of non-dualism, called Advaita Vedanta in Sanskrit. This is the belief that we are not separate from God, or Brahman, but in truth we are Brahman.

By the age of 10, Shankara was an academic prodigy, born into an upper caste of the Brahmin, he was fortunate enough to receive an education steeped in all the philosophies and teachings at the time. He was so adept at his studies; he had read and memorized all the spiritual scriptures, and even wrote commentaries on them. And moreover, he became disheartened with the emptiness of his book knowledge, and he noticed that his teachers also were remiss in adhering to the teachings themselves. He felt society had fallen into a form of spiritual decadence. That materialism and pleasure-seeking had taken over the hearts of humanity.

His youthful zealousness pushed him to leave home at a very young age and study with a famous mystic and seer named Govindapada, who initiated and mentored him into the whole practice of yoga and meditation. Very soon after that he felt ready to walk the roads of India to help bring people back to their hearts, and remember the sacredness of themselves and return to their practice of devotion to God and Truth.

He became well-known amongst the great thinkers and philosopher’s of his time as one who had a strong devotion to non-dualism, or that our soul (atman) energy is one consciousness (purusha), divided out into all the different forms that we see in creation (prakriti).

Shankara walked to and fro across the width of India seeking the main influencers who were promoting materialism and pleasure-seeking. He challenged them to a debate. He would make the deal that if he won, they would cease their selfish behavior and return to a life of devotion to Spirit. And if they won, he would stop preaching about the importance of devotion and become a pleasure-seeking householder.

Many took him up on his offer, but no one ever defeated him in the debate. Shankara’s dedication to upholding the true essence of the spiritual teachings and to shepherding society back to a heart-centered devotion influenced many teachers, saints, and gurus after him, who have trickled down the knowledge and practices today, even into this newsletter.

I am so inspired by his devotion to Truth. He could have easily followed the path of his Brahmin caste and led a life of ease and luxury. But inside his innocent ten year old heart, he knew he had to follow his inner knowing, which was not the mainstream pleasure-seeking decadence, but rather a return to living from a place of lovingkindness, truth, compassion and generosity. That these very qualities are the very qualities of Spirit, which is also him. He IS Great Spirit. We are ALL Great Spirit. Everything in creation is God.

I am sharing the story of Shankara because I believe we are also in a time of deep pleasure-seeking decadence. When I look around I see and hear the many people who feel disconnected from themselves, from society, from life. They see themselves as separate and alone in the world-without any relationship to their Spirit. Many of our brothers and sisters feel lost at sea floating aimlessly in the great ocean of life experience. And consequently look outside of themselves for comfort and connection. Sometimes, often times-they turn toward things that are not supportive to their well-being or health. They numb their loneliness or insecurity with drugs, alcohol, food, p**n, shopping, scrolling, etc…or in their desperation for connection, they associate with people or places that degrade them or bring them to an even lower place of self-esteem.

I want to give a gentle reminder, particularly at this time of long light from our sacred Sun, that we are all very much connected. Just as the Sun has rays of individual light that flare out from it, those rays are not separate from the Sun. They ARE the Sun.
Similarly, each of us are individual rays of light consciousness, that splinter out from our collective central source of consciousness; we are an individual ray of Spirit, but not separate from Spirit.

We don’t have to find solace from outside forces. We have everything we need inside of us. We ARE the Sun-each of us shining brilliantly like a diamond. If we want to find peace in the external world, first we must find peace in our internal world. See your own divine brilliance and your splendor. And let it shine out.

Sit down by the fire of your inner Sun and remember who you truly are:
You are not the body.
You have a body.
You are not your thoughts.
You have thoughts.
You are Divine Love. Let this remembrance warm your heart and fill you with confidence and purpose. The contents of your spirit is Truth, Consciousness, and Bliss-what the yogis call satchitananda -or the purest, highest LOVE.

You my friend, are a ray of the Sun. You are essential to life, and you are not alone. Our hearts are all beating to the same drummer, and beautifully expressing ourselves as our own drum solo. If you are lonely or disconnected from the rhythm, tune into your inner sun and feel the pulse of all creation moving through you. This is called the ritam or the “cosmic flow of life”
(ritam is actually where we get the word rhythm).

In The Upanishads, which is a revered compilation of ancient Indian philosophy, they introduce an important mantra that we can work with to bring our head to our heart, or to bring our sense of separateness into oneness. This mantra is “Tat Tvam Asi”-which means “That Thou Art”. This is a core statement in Indian philosophy. It is emphasizing the interconnectedness and non-duality of our existence. The “That” is the nameless, formless, beginingless supreme consciousness that is within everything…what we call God-Source-Brahman.
And when you repeat the mantra to yourself-you are reminding your little self (ego), that you are actually your Big Self (God). And that God energy is interconnected to everything in Creation. So you are not separate or alone. In fact, alone is really all-One.

Another beautiful and ancient mantra to work with at this time of intense light is the Gayatri mantra. It is often called the “Mother of the Vedas”, and is one of the oldest, continuously chanted mantras in the world. Some date it back 5000 years. It is authorless, and said to be created by Brahman-God-Source itself to help us remember who we truly are.

One of my favorite teachers whom I am studying with at current time is Dr. David Frawley-I have referenced him many times before. This is what he has to say on the Gayatri mantra:

“The Gayatri Mantra to Savita, a powerful form of the Sun God, is the most important of all Vedic mantras, and one of the most commonly used in Yoga practices. The Gayatri Mantra is an important tool for drawing the spiritual energy of the Sun into our minds, hearts and bodies. Savita represents the Divine light of awareness hidden within us that Yoga activates to bring about the evolution of our consciousness beyond time and mortality.”

Many believe that by chanting these mantras we help to restore, nourish and enliven the cosmic fields through their vibrations. And since we are also a part of the cosmic unified field, it will also help restore, nourish and enliven each of us as well.

Happy chanting. Happy Summer. Happy plugging back into the Light of supreme consciousness. And shine on you crazy diamonds!

I leave you with the Gayatri mantra:

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tat savitur vareṇyaṃ
bhargo devasya dhīmahi
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt

“We meditate upon the supreme light of the Divine transforming Sun (Savita) that it may stimulate our intelligence”.
-Rigveda 3.62.10/ Translated by Dr. Frawley

Much love and sunshine,
Katrina Marie

11/06/2025

June 11 - July 10 ~ The Cosmic Download
Seek The Truth
Without Your Sword
Trust Your Heart
Will Open Doors

The sword in astrology is likely associated with the sign of Aries and the aspect of a square. It represents the masculine principle of extending, going outward, cutting the edge, separating, creating, and projecting will and creativity into the world. When Aries is balanced and expresses from the Heart—the Spiritual Heart—it directs its fire toward truth and the inner light. When Aries is unbalanced, it turns away from the inner fire and gets distracted by outer lights. This can distort truth and create confusion, anger, projection, aggression, and an intent to harm. William Blake spoke of the wonder of turning the Aries energy inward toward eternal truth:

"If the doors of perception were cleansed,
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”

During this next astrological moon cycle, there is a lot of Aries energy with Saturn and Neptune transiting and being squared by Mars, the Sun, and Jupiter. This presents the potential for us all to choose the balanced expression of Aries: Seek The Truth Without Your Sword. Trust Your Heart, Will Open Doors.

It all begins with the Sagittarius Full Moon on June 11, squaring her own Lunar Nodes. This adds extra potency to the full moon and is called “the bending.” The Moon and Sun are positioned at the midpoint between two series of eclipses — the ones from February and March and those in the future in August and September. Time and space move both forward and backward. This is a fertile time to gain awareness of what we need to release and dissolve, as well as what we are journeying toward in our constant unfolding of the Spiritual Heart.

Mars squares Uranus on June 15- Leo to Taurus— along with Jupiter square Saturn—Cancer to Aries— that same day. Then, Sun squares Saturn on June 22 and Neptune on June 23— Cancer to Aries. All of this churning and intensity may ignite our consciousness outward, and one may seek the sword. This will likely cloud perceptions and create a greater need for karmic corrections. Live by the sword and die by the sword. Seek to yoke that Aires fire, and the squaring energy back to your every-loving Spiritual Heart. Trust. Seek the truth within. This will cleanse your perceptions and begin to lead you back to the infinite. Here you will find peace and resolution of the paradox. The sword will create more duality.

The Sun enters the sign of Cancer on June 20 to inaugurate the summer season, and now the light begins to wane and go inward for half the year. So the paradox goes and the light gently begins its journey inward. This is good advice to follow at this time- turn towards the inner light.

We receive more of this watery, nurturing, womb energy with the Cancer New Moon on June 25. This portal from the Solstice to the New Moon is a wonderful time to seek truth by turning inward, connecting with nature, reflecting, and engaging in self-study.

Venus moves into Gemini on July 4, coinciding with Neptune turning retrograde until Dec 9. Venus will also conjunct Uranus as this titan of unpredictability enters Gemini on July 7. Neptune will head back towards Pisces- the eternal, ultimate truth and unconditional love. This is likely the medicine we need after the squares. Fortunately, Venus shepherds Uranus into Gemini to introduce a softer feminine influence. Uranus was last in Gemini from 1942 to 1949—during WWII and the advent of the first computers. Uranus and Gemini are both electric, lightning, unpredictable, revolutionary, and revelatory.

What we need right now is kindness, compassion, tenderness, and forgiveness; this embodies Venus. Lay down the sword and rest in the heart; here you will discover peace. See you at the Capricorn Full Moon on July 11.

June 11 - July 10 ~ The Cosmic DownloadSeek The Truth Without Your Sword Trust Your Heart, Will Open Doors The sword in astrology is likely associated with t...

12/05/2025

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Greetings Everyone,
We have returned from India and feel inspired by all we took in over our two week visit to Kerala. We covered a lot of territory on this trip, and saw a variety of landscapes and cultural experiences. My top 3 highlights were walking among the lush tea hills of Munnar, witnessing a sacred agnihotra (fire ceremony) at the temple of Sri Narayana GuruDev, and the delightful 2hour shirodhara (warm oil drip to the forehead) and abhyanga (herb infused oil massage) that we received in the beach town of Kovalam. But the entire trip was incredible and it is hard to pick just 3 favs! We hope to share this experience with everyone by leading a group retreat to India in 2026.

If I could sum up my main take away in a simple sentence it would be this: Everything that matters comes from the heart. If it isn’t a heartfelt, or a deeply sacred thought, word, or action-it is superfluous to our existence. With 8 billion people sharing the same 5 elements for our sustenance, it is of extreme importance that we think, speak, and act from a place of Lovingkindness or Metta in Sanskrit. The world is in peril-even though you read this from the comfort of your modern life, all around us is depression, addiction, tension, aggression, repression, deterioration, suppression, confusion, delusion, and repulsion.
Many people are living with one or more of these mindsets. Their inner world is chaotic and stressful. By many I mean too many.

We must start doing things differently. We are depleting our Selves and our Source. Our current time is a wake up call to shift a gear. We are grinding out.
We have no time or space in our collective existence for greed, hatred, selfishness, meanness, prejudice, deception, manipulation, gluttony, apathy, or vengeance. Our current living conditions cannot tolerate these egocentric behaviors any longer. We either need to become heart-centered or we will perish.

This might sound extreme, and a bit exaggerated, but I truly believe we will soon face our demise as a human species if we don’t make a radical shift in our consciousness soon. We cannot sustain being self-ish and ego based much longer.

We have forgotten who we truly are- we are loving spirit beings. Instead, we have adopted the idea that we are separate and alone in this world-which is exactly the opposite of what we really are-and the entire reason we continue to have suffering and pain in our world.

We have a body, but we are not the body itself. We have thoughts, but we are not the thoughts themselves. We are Spirit, having a human experience in a body with thoughts. I like how Ram Dass frames it, “Treat everyone as if they were God in drag.”

The ancient wisdom teachings tell us that this life experience is like a dream, an illusion, called maya. And as long as we continue to operate as isolated minds-separate from one another, we will continue to know suffering and pain.
We will continue to spend our lives clawing our way to the top; competing and comparing, resenting and rejecting, manipulating and masquerading, deceiving and destroying, and it all drives the wedge of separation deeper.

But if we could look at one another and all of creation as sacred, and see that we share the same spirit, light, or divine spark, then we will find a way to co-exist in peace. We will shift from competitive to cooperative, from resentful to resourceful, from manipulative to mindful, and from deceptive to devoted. If we see each other as spirit beings cut from the same cloth of divine Love-which we are-we will be able to find the warp and the weft of this tapestry we call life. We are all individual threads woven together to form one unified fabric.

Yes-we are individuals, but we are not separate. Our common thread is God or Spirit. It weaves through each of our sacred hearts and is the seed of our divine essence. This golden thread is the highest vibration in the Universe (uni=one, verse=song: One Song) called LOVE.

This is why I say, Everything that matters comes from the heart.

I leave you with this beautiful sentiment from Sri Yukteswar, the beloved guru of Paramahansa Yogananda.
Sri Yukteswar had an emerald gold heart-the pure heart that many speak of as a heart of gold.
This is an excerpt from the final words he wrote in his book, The Holy Science:

CONCLUSION

*’Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
The men below and saints above;
For love is heaven and heaven is love.’*
-Sir Walter Scott

“The power of love has been beautifully described by the poet in the stanza quoted above.* It has been clearly demonstrated in the foregoing pages that "Love is God," not merely as the noblest sentiment of a poet but as an aphorism of eternal truth. To whatever religious creed a man may belong and whatever may be his position in society, if he properly cultivates this ruling principle naturally implanted in his heart, he is sure to be on the right path to save himself from wandering in this creation of Darkness, Maya.”
-Sri Yukteswar

May we all strike gold,
our heart’s gold-the true mother lode.
And may Love flow like honey,
let it be our currency instead of money.
Everything that matters comes from the heart.

Much love, and Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers!
Katrina