I grew up in the church and up until two years ago, I didn’t leave the house in the morning or go to sleep at night without praying to God.  I have had an awaking of sorts in the past couple of years and my idea of God has expanded.  I am grateful to have undergone this experience, but I no longer understand how to pray (as silly as it may sound).  I always prayed to God as if I were talking to a person.  Now I read about ‘affirmative prayer’ versus ‘prayers that come from lack,’ and honestly, I really wish there were a way for me to synthesize and learn to pray again.

If there is one infinite being (and everything is an infinite possibility) then why do we need Reincarnation (individual souls having experience over and over?)  We are either one infinite possibility having this experience or we are a soul having many experiences. (term soul being one continuous being).

I have changed my life  and every day I am learning and growing spiritually, I have notice that the friends I have do not interest me anymore, even my family seems to be taking second place and this makes me feel so alone I feel like I have no one, my spiritual life comes first before anything else I am so happy to be able to embrace this part of me, and it have taken full control of me, all I can think about is how I can be of service to others, I do my meditations and breathing exercises every day, I feel happy and relax and contended my life is just Blissful, can you tell me why I don’t find my friends interesting anymore and why I feel fearful at times, that maybe I am doing something wrong, I am single as well and I don’t seem to be able to attract a relationship, before my life change this was not a problem, now I am happy and found my self and working to get to know me, I am feel I am standing all alone I am 47 yrs old how should I deal with this.

Question:

You can teach us about the “now” and we can think about being in the “now”, but in order to be in the “now”, we cannot be thinking about it.  How do we reach this mind frame if we cannot force ourselves into being there?  The very act of thinking puts us out of where we desire to be, and it seems almost impossible to stop thinking and just “be”.  Therefore, the instant you realize you are in the “now”, you have just brought yourself out of it.  What can we do to allow ourselves to “be”?

Answer:

You have astutely explained why using the ego directed mind can never take us out of the mind’s realm. What the sages have told us is that we must first transcend thought through meditation where we experience our essential nature, our pure Being in the now. In the beginning, this state of being and silence will be lost after we come out of meditation. However, over time that state of pure consciousness in meditation becomes so firmly established that it is not lost even when we are engaged in our daily activity. This is explained with the analogy of dying a cloth. The early method of dying involved dipping the white cloth in a vat of dye and then putting it in the sunlight where the dye would fade out. But some of the color would remain even after being bleached by the sun. The cloth would be dipped in the vat again and put out in the sun. Again it would fade, but this time a little more of the color would remain than the last time. And so the process of dipping and exposing to the sun would continue, each time making the color stronger and more colorfast. Eventually a time comes when after dipping the cloth in the vat of dye, the sun does not fade it anymore, it has become completely colorfast and permanent.

This is what happens when we dip our awareness into pure consciousness during meditation and then come out into our daily activity and it fades away. But each time a little more of that silent witness, or that presence of the now remains. Eventually the time comes when we engage in all our normal behavior, but we effortlessly maintain that inner attention that is always seated in the present moment. It is a quiet presence of Self that keeps awareness open and unconditioned regardless of what we are doing.

Love,

Deepak

My husband and I met while we were both on the rebound and were both doing a lot of partying which continued far too long into our married life. We both did quit our bad habits however in the following years I focused on the kids and their activities and he worked more hours. Now all the children have moved on and I continually feel alone in a house with 2 people. We don’t share any common interests and I think the love has gone out of the relationship for me. I am afraid beyond comprehension of making a wrong decision and asking for a trial separation. I did once before and was met with an ultimatum so I backed off. The economy is one of the reasons for my choice as I don’t earn enough to support myself. I have also been through periods of anxiety and depression and because I am going through perimenopause I have experienced many ups and downs in my energy and moods. My father also suffered from major depression.
At times I feel so overwhelmed with sadness that I think I need to be alone to sort out things. The next day I may feel better. I am afraid that once I make a decision that there will be no turning back. I question myself so much. Am I being immature and expecting too much? How can I know the answer? I realize this isn’t a yes or no situation but I need guidance as I feel my health is suffering. I have no zest for life anymore. I am too far into the forest to see the trees. Please help.