by Michelle Tessensohn

I worked at a shiatsu* therapy centre a few years ago, where my boss would constantly tell me how I was not good enough and there was a seemingly endless list of things I needed to improve on to be a good therapist. I tried so hard to please her day after day. One morning I woke up and realized how incredibly unhappy I was. My inner spirit had just had enough.

The Districts of Luk Wu ( 鹿湖 ) and Dei Tong Chai ( 地塘仔 ) in Lantau Island are historically sacred grounds for Buddhist practice for over 100 years. As Hong Kong’s precious cultural heritage, those lands should be jointly preserved by the Hong Kong Government and the public communities. Unfortunately, the Buddhist monasteries and spiritual oasis are now facing serious threats of being turned into a “Columbarium for Human Ashes”. Religious temples would become indistinguishable from columbarium for human ashes. Such situation is heartbreaking.

by Corinne McLaughlin

A Practical Visionary Perspective

When BP changed its name from “British Petroleum” to “Beyond Petroleum” some years ago to promote its new division for renewable energy, did the company have any idea about the dramatic role it would later play? Did BP realize what it would mean today when its earlier ads said, “We bring oil to American shores”? It literally has! But thankfully, BP has now catalyzed an urgent demand across the nation to truly go “beyond petroleum” for our future energy needs and end the era of fossil fuel dependency.

William Bloom writes about his favourite spiritual book

In my early twenties I worked as an editor in book publishing and one morning a manuscript arrived in the post from the United States. The accompanying letter said that the book was about astral travelling and out of the body experiences. I smiled because I did not believe in any of that stuff, but I read it anyway because that was my job. I remember sitting at my desk thumbing through it.

David Spangler reflects on the World Cup and the spiritual reflections from it.

I have been enjoying watching the World Cup the past two weeks. Not only have many of the games been thrilling in themselves with the fate of teams decided literally in the last few seconds of play, but they are wonderful in opening a window on the many different faces of humanity. It truly is a world event. Watching the games, I have on several occasions found myself aware of a global network of subtle energies linking up all the millions of spectators around the planet. During this time, there have been moments as well when I have glimpsed some of the great national angels and devas using this shared focus of human consciousness to assist their continuing efforts to weave a deeper sense of connection and wholeness within our human family.

An extract from Alistair Conwell's new book 'The Audible Stream' about facing up to Death.

Death is psychologically as important as birth. Shrinking away from it is something unhealthy and abnormal which robs the second half of life of its purpose. - Carl G. Jung (1875–1961)

David Spangler writes about the Oil Tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico and the spiritual dimensions of that spill.

There are times when events overtake intentions. There was another topic that I had planned to write about for this month’s letter, but events in the Gulf of Mexico loom so large with the spreading oil spill and the consequent devastation to animal, plant and human lives that no other topics seem fitting this month. The amount of email I’ve had asking for insights into what is happening, for perspectives from the subtle worlds, or for suggestions for subtle activism in response to this tragedy affirms for me that this is the subject close to people’s hearts and minds right now.

William Bloom writes about his recent surgery and the spiritual lessons of the crisis.

Here I am alive and well, having gone through my first ever general anaesthetic and surgery — and I am grateful to be so well. (What I thought was the natural decline of old age turned out to be a surfeit of calcium, which is now healed, and I feel vital again! And lucky.)

Miranda, Founder of the London Interfaith Seminary, writes about how we can allow grace to unfold in our lives...

Adele Leung writes about her journey to the Andes

I have had a fascination for magic and the earth ever since I could remember.
No, I did not grow up in nature and I was not a wild child. Quite the contrary, I grew up in a suburban area, living in a house in the city, far away from wilderness. When I was young, the only thing that gave me away was my dislike in wearing shoes. I love to run barefoot, and my father brought me and my sister to the beach often when we were young.