Some people awaken spiritually without ever coming into contact with any meditation technique or any spiritual teaching. They may awaken simply because they can't stand the suffering anymore.

I have lived with several Zen masters -- all of them cats.

The pas has no power to stop you from being present now. Only your grievance about the past can do that.

You can enjoy the present moment, and you can be aligned with the doing. A different state of consciousness, then, is the foundation for what you do. Presence flows into what you do. Even though what you do may be the same, there is a fundamental difference: The energy that flows into what you do, although it may be high energy, is very peaceful energy. It is not out of alignment with life.

Life always is now. Life is inseparable from now.

But there's a shift happening in humanity, a shift in consciousness, happening now because it has to happen now.

Music bypasses the conceptual mind. Music does not give you food for thought.