Outside the gudwara “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. Kahlil Gibran It was a sacred day for my beloved host family—a celebration of sweet Vanya’s sixteenth birthday. In this culture, family is not simply a bond; it is a living temple of love, honor, and devotion. As the clock struck midnight, we gathered around her with joyful voices and warm hearts, singing into the new year of her life. But the re

“Concentrate on a single feeling – love for the Lord – while chanting.” Unknown There is a sacred hush that falls upon the soul when we chant with intention. It is as if every syllable becomes a bridge—one that carries us from distraction into devotion, from mind into heart, from human effort into Divine embrace. Years ago, during a beautiful conversation with my dear friend Karen Palmer, she shared that she was beginning nightly chanting and asked if I would join her. Kar

Pray for peace “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” —Will Rogers As I woke this morning to the first day of the final month of the year, a wave of emotion washed over me. How can it be that a year so rich, so miraculous, so full of Divine surprises is nearing its close? I have lived many firsts, fulfilled long-held dreams, and witnessed miracles that still take my breath away. And yet, woven into the beauty of this year has been the turbulence felt around the wo

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ― Ernest Hemingway As I sit here in India, in a land that vibrates with ancient wisdom and whispers from sages long gone, Hemingway’s words sink deeper into my heart than they ever have before. What if our greatest calling is not to outshine another human being, but to outshine the version of ourselves we were yesterday? What if true nobility is quiet, humble

“If we could simply live in the light of our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit, our daily life would be transformed.” ― Elizabeth George Growing up in the American “Bible Belt,” I was surrounded by churches of every size and style. Yet I never truly understood what a temple was—not in the sacred, energetic sense—until much later in life. Now here I am, in India, a land said to have anywhere from 650,000 to over 2 million temples, each one a heartbeat of devotion. Toda

“I read somewhere once that in the 1960s, fiction writers were troubled by the notion that life was becoming stranger and more sensational than made-up stories could ever hope to be. Our new problem - more profound, I think - is that life no longer resembles a story. Events intersect but don't progress. People interact but don't make contact.” Walter Kirn There is something profoundly humbling about being a stranger in a strange land. It wasn’t on my bucket list to be thou

“Thanksgiving and praise open in your consciousness the way for spiritual growth and supply to come to you. Spirit pushes Itself out into visible manifestation as soon as a channel is opened through which It can flow. You should be thankful for everything at all times. Realize that all power to think, and speak, and act comes from God, and that He is with you now, guiding and inspiring you.” Paramahansa Yogananda Today, as much of America pauses to gather around tables fil

“Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God — I am hallowed; my body touched that sod.” Paramahansa Yogananda For more than half my life, the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda have been a steady flame lighting my path. When I first opened Autobiography of a Yogi , it felt as though the pages themselves breathed. I devoured every word, hungry for the depth, truth, and love that poured from his life story. There were countless meditations in which I called out

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." ~ Oscar Wilde There is something extraordinary about sitting in the most populated country on earth and realizing just how many souls are moving, breathing, longing, and awakening all at once. Tonight, as I sit in my friend’s home here in New Delhi, the skies themselves seem alive. Every few minutes, I hear the thunder of another plane carving its path through the night—each one filled with people h

“People where you live, the little prince said, grow five thousand roses in one garden… Yet they don’t find what they’re looking for… And yet what they’re looking for could be found in a single rose.” — From The Little Prince (originally published in French as Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry There is a sweetness in this story that has followed me since childhood. I can still see my French teacher’s eyes light up each time she spoke of Le Petit Prince, especiall