Brother Zachary

  St Peter, holding the keys to the kingdom In the various stories associated with Jesus’ disciple Simon-Peter, we observe a most sincere disciple, imperfectly growing towards perfect Faith, and the herculean challenge which accompanies growing into that Faith.  What is faith? As an idea, faith often remains abstract or hard to fathom if we don't already possess at least a little. As an experience, it is the simple realization of God’s presence in our life. Yogananda said that “ Faith means total trust - intuitive knowing, from the soul, that God is real and that his help is ever ready to flow into man’s life.”  Peter's life reveals a universal template for growing in faith: in the first meeting of Master and Disciple at the Sea of Galilee, in the loyalty and sincerity of two Souls uniting in true friendship, in the colossal challenges and frequent shortcomings along the way, and in the ultimate transcendence of one who no longer doubts nor thwarts God's presence and wil...

  Jesus entering the desert As the world and its various faiths and peoples move towards greater familiarity and ultimate integration, so too do our google calendars have a much more international and diverse flavor of celebrations. This last week has been a full calendar when it comes to holidays - the celebration of those days which are indeed holy, when we treat them as such. First, beginning one week ago Saturday, was Valentine's day: a day for opening the heart and celebrating love and relationships, with its tradition tracing back to the martyred Saint, Valentine. Then, followed on Sunday by Maha Shivaratri, or the great night of Shiva, which celebrates Shiva on the 14th night of the lunar cycle, right before the new moon, for a full night of fasting, chanting and devotion to Lord Shiva. Tuesday was the official Lunar New Year, the first new moon, which is celebrated in many eastern cultures, like China, and gives way to longer festivals and celebrations for the remainder of ...

Yogananda made the statement “God is simple, everything else is complex.”  The Master’s simple aphorism provides us with timely and indispensable context for navigating life in a highly energetic modern world of increasing complexity.   The rapidity of man's movement alone, appears to be accelerating at previously unimaginable speed - what to mention, the speed of his thoughts! Just to be here, now, the average citizen is daily tasked with the balancing of worlds and the compartmentalizing of myriad perspectives.  In addition to our own personal, social, and familial realities, there are political, economic and religious wars waged across the globe; duality expressing itself in incredible and often drastic extremes. Like those engaged in fighting for a righteous cause for the benefit of others, and those invested in a kind of blatant oppression of the rights of others, existing side by side, without any kind of standardized agreement as to which is which. Or, the pil...

Arjuna, Surrendered to Krishna In the growing aspiration of every devotee for continual Christ communion, there is perhaps no more valuable experience than that of surrender.  Often, and understandably, we have trouble relating positively to surrender. Am I supposed to just quit? Do I stop fighting for a cause, simply because it has gotten difficult? Can I just stop showing up to work because I don’t like it? What can possibly be respectable about surrendering?  Obviously, such external notions of surrender carry not the same meaning as surrender on the way to ultimate ego-transcendence. As an attitude of spiritual development, surrender is an inner unfoldment for how to relate to life, from the inside out .  Far from waving a white flag on the battlefield, surrender as an inner process involves coming back into God’s fold, to make space for His Will, and not just our own whims and fancies. Intellectually, this can make sense enough, if one is prepossessing even a small p...

From Beach 1, near the mouth of the Quileute River This last week has afforded Peony and I a few days to step away from the normal rhythm of life at the Ashram. That is, daily group meditation, regular morning chores, breakfast prep and check-ins, a constant stream of communication and of tuning into the whole: what and where are the needs of today, and how shall we carry them out as a team? How are folks doing, and what can we do to take our positive steps today?  To step away from the shared, monastic rhythm is in some ways very liberating. Yet in others, it leaves a notable void, in aspiring to remain clear in the moment to moment attunement of seva and sadhana. This creates both a wonderful opportunity for God to arrive in new and unexpected ways, as well as a window for new expectations or desires to surface. Something to be careful with! For the last few days, I have found myself sitting in a now familiar spot - in a plush recliner, looking through very large picture windows ...