In poetry, and in my study in graduate school, I was drawn to a particular poet, Theodore Roethke. I did a dissertation on "The Evolution of Matter and Spirit in the Poetry of Theodore Roethke" for my Ph.D.

The things you see are real, but they are not a complete seeing - Samsara.

There is a certain beauty and refinement that is often found in our world and it is expensive. It shouldn't necessarily be so. It is just the way our economic system is.

As I'm sure you know by now, most people aren't really very happy. Beyond their surface appearances, the smiles they wear for the rest of the world, most people are soul-sick.

It is necessary to bring our life in order, to examine each thing, and ask ourselves if it is bringing power into our life or if it is draining us. Ask yourself, is your life taking power from you or adding power to you?

People who are involved in self-discovery lead different types of lives. The lives they lead are not necessarily the lives of renunciation. Rather, it is a structuring of the elements in your life in a particular way.

Mindfulness is the ability to do physical things in a harmonious way; it is a way to remain centered in a physical world that is out of balance.