For some, Christmas is a time of fun, festivities, and family gatherings. For others, it can evoke feelings of sadness, loneliness, or frustration. The season is often accompanied by Christmas carols playing everywhere— in stores, malls, and elevators. If you love these carols, that's great; however, if you don't, it can be quite challenging. Some of the new arrangements can feel excessively busy, but the melodies themselves are timeless and beautiful.

Today, on Christmas Eve, I want to offer you something special: a music meditation featuring the well-known Christmas carol "Silent Night." This rendition includes no lyrics, only the melody played meditatively on a double-reed harmonica with a soft piano accompaniment. For our meditation practice, we will focus on maintaining a quiet mind, using the music to guide us into an even deeper silence within ourselves.

In Eastern spirituality, a silent mind invites holiness. This is one way to spend Christmas Eve—becoming quiet and still wit...

This Diwali, I would like to offer you something special: an audio-visual meditation that reflects on the healing energy associated with Lord Rama. He is not only a central figure in the festival of Diwali but also one of the most revered deities in Hinduism.

In the blog below the meditation, I share the significance of Diwali and its connection to Rama, who has greatly influenced my life and consciousness.

Asha and I were born and raised in our native state of Tamil Nadu, India. Diwali was one of the most special times of the year for us. My childhood was spent living in an orthodox Hindu neighborhood and attending a Hindu school and where I knew only Hindu friends. Like many Hindu children, I grew up reading Amar Chitra Katha, a comic book series that conveys Hindu spirituality, culture, and history through art and text.

In the tradition of the Ramayana—one of Hinduism's two main epics known as ithihasa—Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom of Ayodhya, alon...

Often, at the close of a year, we talk about how fast the year has gone by, which, when you think about it, is a disservice to the gift of time, life, and consciousness.  

In case you didn't know, there are 31,536,000 seconds in a year. In other words, we have thirty-one-and-a-half million opportunities for awareness, awakening, and realization in the coming year, as much as we've had for this one.

Here are some journaling questions to ask ourselves at the end of this year in view of upping our game in 2025:

What did I do with my time, energy, and consciousness this year—2024?

Am I genuinely satisfied with my choices for improving my consciousness this year?

 Has the quality of my consciousness improved over the year as a direct result of my choices?

What do I hold responsible for my consciousness this year: my choices or my circumstances?

The biggest realization I've had in my life is that quality of life equals quality of consciousness. No matter what one has (or does not h...