From the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we fall into exhausted sleep, most of us are confronted

with so many challenges: social, psychological, ecological, and economic. Given the current troubles of the world economy, the harmful effects of global climate change, the occurrence of natural disasters and epidemic illnesses, and the persistence of acts of violence by individuals and groups, the world in which we find ourselves can seem like a ticking time bomb, moments away from exploding. Our interior lives, meanwhile, mirror the various dysfunctions of the external world. Weve become experts at multitasking the possibilities of disaster. Our minds work like perpetual news channels, complete with big windows showing the main story of the moment, side windows showing stock and weather reports, and crawlers providing the latest, often sensational updates. Or is it the other way around? Could the trauma evident on the world stage reflect a fractured internal imagea conflict between our longing for well-being and the fear, loneliness, and despair we acquire when someone or some situation inflicts a wound upon our hearts that seems impossible to heal? As human beings, we find ourselves in an uncomfortable position of balancing thoughts, feelings, and actions over which we can acknowledge some conscious control, and mental, emotional, and behavioral habits formed by factors beyond conscious awareness. For many of us this discomfort feels as though were living a double life. A shadow seems to stalk us, a self behind the personality we consciously acknowledge and present to the world. Identifying and coming to terms with this shadow, for most of us, can be an unsettling experience. But the process does have its upside. A shadow is projected by some source of light, and by recognizing and acknowledging our shadow selves we can begin to trace a path toward the light. Discovering this light is a gradual and deeply personal process through which we... SPIRITUAL LAWS The living Heaven thy prayers respect, House at once and architect, Quarrying man's rejected hours, Builds therewith eternal towers; Sole and self-commanded works, Fears not undermining days, Grows by decays, And, by the famous might that lurks In reaction and recoil, Makes flame to freeze, and ice to boil; Forging, through swart arms of Offence, The silver seat of Innocence. When the act of reflection takes place in the mind, when we look at ourselves in the light of thought, we discover that our life is embosomed in beauty. Behind us, as we go, all things assume pleasing forms, as clouds do far off. Not only things familiar and stale, but even the tragic and terrible, are comely, as they take their place in the pictures of memory. The river-bank, the weed at the water-side, the old house, the foolish person, - however neglected in the passing, - have a grace in the past. Even the corpse that has lain in the chambers has added a solemn ornament to the house. The soul will not know either

deformity or pain. If, in the hours of clear reason, we should speak the severest truth, we should say, that we had never made a sacrifice. In these hours the mind seems so great, that nothing can be taken from us that seems much. All loss, all pain, is particular; the universe remains to the heart unhurt. Neither vexations nor calamities abate our trust. No man ever stated his griefs as lightly as he might. Allow for exaggeration in the most patient and sorely ridden hack that ever was driven. For it is only the finite that has wrought and suffered; the infinite lies stretched in smiling repose. The intellectual life may be kept clean and healthful, if man will live the life of nature, and not import into his mind difficulties which are none of his. No man need be perplexed in his speculations. Let him do and say what strictly belongs to him, and, though very ignorant of books, his nature shall not yield him any intellectual obstructions When our heart is open, it can work in harmony with our head. Our mind is not the ruler of our heart, or vice versa. They must work together and balance one another, but this can only happen if our heart is open. When we reach this place, we can communicate from the heart, and we can heal ourselves, our society, and the earth. You can read all of the books about spirituality, you can take all of the workshops, and you can discuss what you learn with all of your friends for years, but true spiritual understanding will not come until your heart is truly open, and it can communicate with your mind. Intellectual understanding is not a bad thing, and it is often the first step on the path. But in order to progress, we must take it further. We must integrate our mental knowledge with our emotional selves. We must know it in our heart. What does it mean to have an open heart? Most people believe that their hearts are open, when in fact they are barricaded in some way. This doesn't mean that people aren't kind or loving. It just means that they are still protecting themselves by shielding their hearts from the things that they believe will hurt them emotionally. Everyone learns to do this; it's our natural defense mechanism. Our challenge, however, is to un-learn it. Fear makes us close our heart: fear of rejection, fear of being wrong, fear of failure, fear of ridicule, fear of not being loved or lovable. If we fear that we are not lovableand most of us do at one time or anotherwe internalize it and come to believe that it is true: we aren't lovable. Our heart closes some more, as we try to keep out anything or anyone that we believe will threaten this view of the world or reinforce this belief by rejecting us. In effect, we close our heart to make our world a smaller and "safer" place. Erecting barriers to others does not make you any safer, but it will isolate you and cut you off from other people. It is certainly possible to have so many barriers in