These days, it feels as if like we’re living in an upside-down world. If we’re paying attention, the “way things are” can be very troubling. People in our spiritual community are not bliss bunnies. We don’t put our heads in the sand of our practice or try to rationalize catastrophe away as “God’s plan”.

We know live in an interconnected web of life with all beings. And if we look around, we can see that the web has got some pretty horrific elements to it at the moment. I don’t need to name all of the elements. You know them. They’re all terrifying and it seems there’s no end in sight.

We’re living through the age of Mad Kings. The mad king is an archetype - the ruler has lost their mind and their kingdom is falling apart. In our case in this time, it’s like there is an epidemic of madness that is sweeping through the world making all the leaders mad: political leaders, business leaders - even leaders within the celebrity world. And yes - in the spiritual “industry” too.

The leaders have more outer power than ever - more money, more influence, more weapons - and less inner power than ever. They are unprincipled, corrupt, inept, deluded and unscrupulous on a level we’ve never seen before. The wicked leaders are more vile than ever and their “not as bad” counterparts are compromised and impotent. It really seems like there is NOBODY steering the ship - the captain has lost his mind and we’re headed straight toward the rapidly melting iceberg.

We’re living through an epidemic of regardlessness.

How does this relate to our inner practice, our process of evolution?

How about a cult!?

These kinds of times are ripe for cults. The doomsday cults have some powerful arguments these days don’t they? And doesn’t it sounds lovely to get into a utopian cult where we can all just find a patch of land (that isn’t on fire) and tune in, turn on, and drop out together? Maybe our mindless scrolling on social media is some kind of combination of the two; a virtual doomsday utopian delusion cult of sorts.

But what about us?

We’re not going to join a cult. And somehow we can’t seem to effectively tune it all out either. Can spiritual practice help us? My answer: It has to.

The Fire

Our practice in times like these is like a fire in the night.

The fire doesn’t fix everything or take away the darkness, but it gives us the light to see and the warmth we need to make it through the night. It also is an important signal to others. It can be seen a long way away and lead people toward you.

The fire is our wisdom and clarity that we refuse to compromise, even when there is delusion and ignorance prevailing around us. The fire is our love and compassion that keeps us from becoming bitter and rotten within. The fire is a “working fire” - it’s a remedy to powerlessness when we’re feeling like there’s nothing we can do. It gives us light to see and heat to cook. And it’s contagious.

If we have a strong container for our fire, we can transport the flames and coals and share them with others who are still shivering in the dark.

Self Care

This course is mostly about self-care and self-healing. It's about using the practices to keep our inner fire kindled and staying rooted to our core values NO MATTER WHAT.