Path to One Blog

Much has been, and will be, said and written about meditation. Due to its subjective nature, its vast methods to practice it, its numerous applications or purposes, and the myriad of benefits that it brings, it is not an easy subject to embark on, and worse, to try to encapsulate in a simple article or articles. The fact is that there are many ways to present meditation and many forms of practicing it. Every time that meditation is presented, we (the ones that teach meditation) tend to present it differently. This is how vast this subject is. In this article and others to follow in the future, I will try to give you a glimpse. Definition Let’s start by trying to define meditation, a task which in itself is difficult due to the myriad of types that fall under the “meditation” umbrella, including mindfulness, contemplation, concentration, communion, chanting, trance, etc. We could try to define meditation as: “the act of engaging in a mental exercise (such as concentrating on an ob...

It is sad and at times discouraging to see the degradation happening to our society and values, to our humanity. We live in a society where being normal is not good enough, where we all must be “special.” Since a young age, all the adults around us wanted us to be or do what they, most of the time, could not be or do. They wanted us to be better, famous, rich, successful, smarter, or some other flavor of “special.” And if they did not accomplish this goal completely, we did it to ourselves by believing all this misinformation and allowing it to influence who we are. Most of us grew up with a hero, superstar, and/or self-centered-based society, where being normal is perceived as weak, sheepish (submissive), and “dumbish.” We grew up imitating these heroes, wanting to have superpowers, and wishing to able to do what others could not. It is a society obsessed with the life of the “rich and famous,” idea that is continually thrown in our faces by the media, including movie stars, sport...

Although life has always been a race of some sort, lately, the competition seems to be more aggressive and furious than ever before, almost a survival of the fittest. Since we were very young until the present, whatever age you are, there has been pressure coming from all directions pushing us to be the best we can be, to differentiate ourselves from everybody else somehow, and sometimes at any means. Parents, educators, coaches, and (business, religious and even political) leaders want us to be the best we can be, to be more productive, efficient, and smarter. It seems lately that we are not good enough as we are, regardless of how smart, experienced, nice, etc., we are because there is always someone better than us. It seems that we are always racing to differentiate ourselves from somebody else at all stages of life, whether it is from a brother or sister, a neighbor, a relative, a coworker, a team player, etc. Everyone wants to be the smartest, the best student or worker, the p...

“Freedom is a birthright that only comes true through struggle!” - Mao Freedom is a word that is used indiscriminately and quite often, but that, in reality, most people do not even know or understand the meaning of the word. It is usually used more for convenience than for its real meaning. Phrases like “You are free to do as you please,” “You are free to say what you want,” “We are the land of the free,” etc., are slogans that we say or hear often to simply justify certain actions, to emphasize certain identities, or to incite certain feelings. Yes, most people have some sense of what the word means from the etymological standpoint, but they really do not have the most remote idea what the true meaning of the word is. Are we really free? Is freedom and liberty the same or are they different? In today’s political rhetoric and in most people’s speech, politicians and people seem to use these two words (freedom and liberty) indiscriminately, their meanings are almost synonymous ...

In last week’s article titled “Life is a Drama,” I used drama as a metaphor to describe what life is like, how to really act (consciously) if we must act, and how to cease the drama, the delusion of life (consciously and present). In this week’s article, I am going to continue with the subject but on a more personal level. Why is that some people are always creating drama? It seems that they cannot do anything without creating drama, without being dramatic, or overly dramatic, and without drama following them everywhere. Why is that when dealing with these individuals on almost every phone call, text, business dealing, visit, transaction, etc., they have to make such a big deal out of everything? Most of us have worked at an organization or known, been around, or lived with someone where you cannot have normal interactions. Everything is a crisis, needs to be done now and is, or they make it, so complicated and complex for themselves, and sometimes for everybody else around them, t...